In the latter half of the 21st century, the world was consumed by corporate greed, political unrest, and the constant threat of nuclear war. Many of the world's upper class were able to channel their wealth and power into political influence; often turning whole armies into their personal fighting forces. Eventually, clashing interests and desires consumed those in power and the Corporate Wars began. Over the next several decades, the rich and powerful lived in comfort and abundance while the world around them was consumed by the flames of a thousand atomic fireballs. Knowing their influence over the world would only last as long as there were people to lord over, cooler heads prevailed and the Megacity Plan was born.
The survivors of the Corporate Wars soon found themselves being ushered out of the wastelands that were once their homes and sent to live within the confines of the Megacities: vast Metropolises built by the amassed wealth of the corporate elite. Constructed upon the skeletal remains of the old world, the Megacities spanned hundreds of miles in size. To ensure the survivors would be coaxed into the Megacities, incentives were offered such as the promise of a safe place to live, and luxuries that would be impossible to obtain living in the wastes outside the walls. Survivors of the Corporate Wars flocked to the cities in droves, many of them unaware they were simply being dragged into massive cages to be ruled.
The year is currently 3085, and the promise of the Megacities has long since grown stale. Every day, it feels like something is falling apart and the cities are in a constant state of disrepair. Most consider it a blessing if they can get through a week without having to put out a call for maintenance. Crime is a common occurrence and the cities are more often controlled by local gangs rather than any unifying police force. While there is some level of law enforcement it's really just there to protect the interests of the Heirs, the last living descendants of the elites who started the Corporate Wars.
Despite the poor conditions of the cities, there is one luxury that makes life there tolerable: Geonet. An upgraded internet with lightning fast connection speeds and overseen by a powerful AI; all citizens are connected to Geonet and their GEO-IDs serve as a means of identification as well as keeping track of their personal information. Using their GEO-ID, citizens can readily keep track of their money, health records, and even access public transit. A GEO-ID is typically a small green disk that’s linked to a specialized armband, but it can be attached to different articles of clothing (i.e. glasses, earrings, rings, etc.) or it can be directly installed into a citizen’s cybernetics. Due to being DNA locked to an individual, stealing or masquerading another person’s GEO-ID is NEARLY impossible. Despite GEONET being one of - if not the only - useful thing in the Megacities, there are some who elect not to use it, preferring a life of freedom without the watchful eye of MCPD on your back.
One of the most common sights to see in the Megacities - and the most profitable business - are Modified-Humans, or Mods for short. Simply put, these are humans who’ve elected to visit the ModDocs and had cybernetics installed. The type of modifications one can receive are vast as new cybernetics are developed on what feels like a daily basis. However, laws have been put into place as to what types of cybernetics can be legally installed. This hasn’t stopped Back-Alley ModDocs from setting up shop and acquiring upgrades on the black market.
While some may find it tempting to acquire as many modifications as possible, there is a drawback to this. For every cybernetic enhancement, the brain has to be re-wired to account for the new nerve inputs. The more modifications on a single body, the more the brain itself becomes taxed. Too much stress on the brain can lead to a condition known as “Program Stasis” in which human traits such as emotion, ethics, and basic morality are overwritten by logic and computer code. In short, losing your humanity is a very real possibility.
Due to the fear of Program Stasis, many ModDocs take a hippocratic oath of sorts to steer clients away from over-modification, but for just about every legitimate ModDoc in Megacity-01, there are two who will take the credits and ask questions never.
Given the impossibly vast size of Megacity-01, it’s no surprise that what little police force they have is unable to cover all of the various districts and areas. This has resulted in street gangs, cartels, and other organized crime taking up residence in the areas. Some of the major groups that operate within Megacity-01 are as follows:
]NOTICE FOR PICKING FACTIONS: If you want to create a Sk8te cell of your own, please DM me your pitch prior to submitting your character sheet. If you think you want to be the leader of any of the listed factions, you are welcome to write it into your character sheet. Bear in mind, if two or more people want to run the same faction, the final decision will come down to the overall quality of the character sheet. Ideally, each character will have ties to some faction in order to keep the story cohesive. I’m happy to find a role for you!
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