Ten years ago the American
government collapsed. It wasn’t war that did it, or foreign powers. It was debt
mostly. The corporations moved in to bail the government out, just as they had
been bailed out in the past. However, the damage had been done. With politicians
in the pockets of mega-corporations and a lack of funds leaving the
central government all but powerless to enforce their laws, the corporations
started to become a law unto them selves.
It was
basically a civil war, but it wasn’t the citizens fighting each other. It was security teams, assassins and eventually privatized armies; It was corporate
espionage, bought judges and corporate take-over, often enough with a gun
instead of a check. The war never spread to the streets though and many people
still consider it an urban legend. The delusional rants and conspiracy theories of
the paranoid. All they could see was lay-offs and government incompetence. The
war lasted years really, or maybe it’s still going on. Things are stable enough
now, assuming you don’t mind a corrupt government that’s having it’s strings pulled
by corporations with enough money to buy a country and that not only flaunt the
law, but are the law in everything but name.
By the time
things stabilized there were 7 mega-corporations standing tall. I’m not gonna
name them, you should know if you ever go to a mall or watch a vid screen. The
point is those 7 run everything and control everything. That’s not say small
businesses don’t exist anymore. You can still live the American dream as long
as that dream involves a corporate franchise and paying your dues. Don’t open
it on another corporations turf though, some dogs are too loyal.
It was only
a few years ago that the first Eden
was built. I’m not sure which corporation built one first, but it wasn’t long
before they all had them. Self sustaining cities that put thick walls and a lot
of guns between them and the rest of the world. Allegedly to protect the corporation’s
assets and their families. The name is appropriate enough though, little
paradises amidst the squalor, as long as you ignore the corruption at their heart. Stay as far away from them as you
can.
The
comparison of heaven and hell is apt enough. It’s not all squalor though. There’s not much rural area left and
it’s owned and fenced off anyway. Theirs still the middle class. Not as much of
it, but it’s still there. They live outside the Eden’s
but work for the corporations; Factories, retail and services, same as always.
It’s just that now there are so many more places they fear to drive.
It’s the
old cities, slums and ghettos that have slowly crept over the land that people
avoid. They’re the bad parts of town where gangs and drugs rule, a cancer that
has slowly been creeping across the land since before the collapse. Corporate
Spook teams will occasionally sweep the streets, killing off or capturing
anyone they see, but for the most part they are lawless areas where anything
goes and you sleep with one eye open.
I see the
way you’re looking at me. Wondering why I’m giving you a history lesson at a
bus stop. It’s simple enough. I know where you’re headed and sometimes, you
need to know where you’ve been before you can figure out where you are.
Too deep
for you?
Let me
start over. My names Prophet and I know what you are...
You’re a mutant, a neo-human, one
of the reborn, a demon, whatever you want to call it. One day you woke up with
powers no human has and you realized you either have to run and hide in hell or
spend the rest of your life in a lab. I’m here to tell you how to survive.
Hmm, Why do
I care about you?
Because I
saw the future…and you’re in it.
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