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In 2033, the world is a scary place, thanks in part to technology. Ultra-modern futuristic is suddenly commonplace, and the norm. Most people don’t know how to fully operate everything in their house, much less how it works, or how to fix it. A new type of depression is settling into place.
‘Technoshock’ is a good buzz word to describe the phenomena. People feel more and more isolated in their ignorance, unknowing of their technology’s full potential or its implications. Withdrawing further, they become automatons, living in a state of complacency, willing to live in a bubble, where their technology can separate them from the rest of society. Television and the Net lets them know everything they need to, and their windows will project any image they want, not the gloomy, dark neighborhood they live in. Students riot in the streets, and nobody knows about why they’re protesting, or what for.
Nanotechnology is everywhere, from computer chips to buildings, to circuitry in cybernetics. The tiny machines do their work, unbeknownst to most citizens, cleaning the water, breaking down the carcasses of stray dogs and cats, repairing cracks in the streets.
Biotechnology is the new wave, and trend in Megatokyo society. Fabricated limbs and internal organs line the windows of shops and clinics in some neighborhoods, and illegal sales are booming.
Artificial Intelligence is all over the place, from watches that keep track of appointments, to dishwashers that listen to how you need your dishes done, to the Boomers which are ever present.
By controlling all aspects of today’s technology, the megaconglomerates hope to control society.
In 2033, everything has a computer. Watches, cars, mugs that determine if its safe to drink your coffee yet, virtual pet keychains, pens that alert you before they run out of ink, cybernetics, and Boomers.
For the most people carry with them, on average, three things at all times. Keys, Cel Phone, and Computer. The latter have become less from-specific, and output is produced through eyephones, input produced through either a glove, or finger-inputs.
Modern eyephones were introduced in 2008, ushering in a new type of immersion unheard of before. Combined with FingerTIPS, the immersion is total. All one needs now is their computer, a pair of eyephones, and a manipulator of some type.
Eyephones were first introduced in the 1990s as heavy, bulky headsets which allowed for stereo vision, stereo sound, and logic-based motion defined by head movement. In 2008, 2nd generation eyephones are little more than swimming goggles which allow for the same benefits as older models, as well as faster video, clearer picture, more advanced sound, and better motion detection.
FingerTIPS and similar manipulators were first introduced in 2011, based on older technology which allowed for input into VR-based systems, little more than a three dimensional mouse. FingerTIPS and GLOVES are the two most common of these modern devices. FingerTIPS resemble thimbles which one fits over their fingers, and are connected to a bracelet on the wrist, allowing for meta-typing(so no keyboard is necessary) and for other third dimension manipulations. GLOVES are similar, but fit over the entire hand, like the namesake.
Computers them selves are usually just a plain synth-poly case with CD-ROM slot, A/V jacks, MP port, and keyboard/manipulator port. Small, lightweight and powerful, these machines are capable of accessing and manipulating large amounts of data from any location, thanks to cellular modems. Which brings us to...
The air is filled with silent noises.
Computers worldwide are connected to the Internet (or as it is more commonly known, the ‘Net) twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Thanks to this sharing of information, data can be exchanged near-instantaneously worldwide. Worldwide cellular networks allow for remote access of information, on the beach, in the jungle, Antarctica, anywhere. News, sports, tech advances, pirated software and contraband information is exchanged countless times each day.
With this ability to exchange information so rapidly and easily, comes a new breed of junkie. There are those who get off on distributing black market info, hacking information systems, corps, financial institutions, and selling it to the highest bidder. Data Cowboys, Hackers, and DigiBoys are some of the most hated and, strangely, romanticized people in today’s society.
‘Snail Mail’ dubbed in the 90s, is near-nonexistent in these times. Email is the primary form of correspondence, followed next by Fax. The mail service is now expensive, slow, and very painfully dying.
Mail may be dead, but couriers are booming. Downtown Megatokyo is filled with the latest technology in bicycles, being ridden everywhere, bringing hard copies of important information everywhere. Each messenger is entrusted with a physical manifestation of data, and is responsible for it, and takes this responsibility very seriously.
Telephones are present, important, and widely used. Most phones however are cellular, and the remaining systems and companies who support land-lines are few and far between, as well as expensive.
Cellular Networks circle the globe, encompassing all areas of the planet, and there is nowhere except deep underground, where the signals cannot go. Even then, in many underground apartments and malls, there are cellular relay cables which span kilometers of length, relaying any signals to an above ground transmitter.
To stay competitive with the ‘Net and TV, newspapers have developed online/fax technology. The information is compiled, edited, and assembled in print form, then digitized and sent to subscribers every morning via a NewsFax dispenser. The dispensers are cheap to make, but are expensive to purchase, to offset the few subscribers.
Their cameras are everywhere. Expect at least two cameras for each show at any major event, whether it be the scene of an accident, a political rally, or an assassination. As well, expect cameras anywhere. Cameras have advanced to the point where they may be hidden on anything, in anything. Reporters now have perfected the ‘ambush’.
Television is a powerful force in 2033. All kinds of different shows(news, reality-based, documentary, infotainment) pervade the wireless system, influencing and informing the viewers as to what they feel is important to their lives.
Many successful shows become their own corporations, and it is not common to find COP REPORT buildings world wide, in most major cities, and broadcasting globally. Many of these same shows have their own almost cult following.
Fossil fuels are virtually non-existent. In 2033, most of the traditional energy sources have been replaced by more modern solutions.
Hydroelectric dams often power smaller cities, converting power from rivers and waterfalls as well as the tides, into electricity. To supplement this power, microwaves are beamed to giant relay stations on the ground from the orbiting Ra-Atum solar satellite network. As well, regular photvoltaic panels form rings around most suburbs, providing constant, uninterrupted power.
Large scale engines, such as buses and airplanes have converted to hydrogen burning engines, while gasoline engines have changed over to a new mixture of ethanol and gasoline developed by the Gulf & Bradley corporation, Gasohol. This fuel burns cleaner, hotter, and more efficiently.
Electric cars are relatively uncommon, as their engines don’t handle acceleration well, and don’t have enough pick-me-up for most drivers. They do, however, hold quite a charge. The average electric automobile can go for about 14 hours straight, accelerating and decelerating, at speeds of up to 100 km/h. Electric motorcycles are a different story. They are very popular, and, even with hard use, can last all day and most of the night with only one eight hour nightly charge.
Old-style rail cars are gone. The lowest tech trains are hydrogen engine-based, hydrogen engines first being tested on trains, due to their stability and low instance of crash vs. passenger capacity. Even in very remote locations in Africa and Asia, hydrogen trains are used. Any trains traveling long distance, or carrying cargo between cities, etc. Will be H-trains.
In more modern areas, MagLev trains are used as a common form of mass-transit. With the development of incredibly powerful superconductors and their association with nonaotechnology in the early 2000s, the electromagnetics industry delved full-force into the Magnetic Levitation field. Trains were the way to go again. They followed a precise path, and tracks could be easily maintained.
Japan has High speed MagLev passenger trains crisscrossing the country, the most advanced systems in the world. In major cities the world over, MagLev trains play an important part in mass-transit systems, often coordinating the trains, which run around city limits and through it in a figure eight, and buses, which provide a more precise method of delivery.
Aircraft are still pretty much the same as they’ve always been, although some new developments in the field have produced large-scale changes in the industry. Hydrogen engines in large-scale aircraft, and aircraft Gasohol have produced some cleaner, more efficient and less costly aircraft.
Rotary wing aircraft have gone in two directions. A reduction in the amount of space have made regular rotary wing aircraft are widely used in urban centers and for transportation of large scale goods offshore and to locations which have no space for a runway.
More advanced Rotorwing aircraft are becoming more and more popular, as corporations realize they use even less fuel then conventional rotary wings, and are more durable, faster, and quieter. Rotorwings have single or double(even triple, sometimes) aerodyne arrays, multiple (sometimes upward of 80) blades housed in a fixed ring-like fuselage, positioned in the middle of the plane, or in the middle of each wing.
Most weapons are still as they’ve always been for the last half century. Guns are popular in South America, the US, Asia, Russia, Africa, and of course, Antarctica.
Gunpowder weapons have changed little, with the exceptions of more powerful forms of gunpowder, which will fire the projectiles with more speed, and force. The projectiles have changed drastically, from the latest in flechette technology, to sliverslugs and needlepoints.
Railguns are common on the battlefield, being too heavy to be carried by a single man. Railgun technology is where a solid slug is held in a powerful electromagnetic field, and suddenly released (at speeds in excess of mach 1 or 2) along the barrel of the weapon. This creates a sonic boom, and users must be protected against this. The guns themselves are large, heavy, and noisy, and the generators needed for them are too bulky and noisy as well, even to be worn as a backpack. The electromagnetic field generated by the weapon and the power source disrupt many forma of communications.
Lasers also are used only on the battlefield, because most non-military vehicles cannot support the weight of a laser array. These weapons are, however, very devastating, often cutting through large scale buildings and vehicles easily, obliterating things absolutely.
Particle beam weapons are advanced technology pioneered in Japan, first used as mining tools. A beam emitted by the device aggravates the electrons in a small radius, and causing the molecules to rip apart, and fly away from their object of origin. These weapons are fairly small, and can be carried by a man, although the generator is fairly large and heavy, but can be worn as a back pack.
In the field of hand to hand weapons, synth-poly blades make easy to conceal deadly weapons, in the hand of the right individual. Ceramic knives are the hot commodity right now, especially those with a fractal blade. With a fractal blade, the cutting edge of the knife is longer than the blade itself. Blade weapons are extremely illegal, especially since most metal detectors won’t pick them up anymore.
Self defense items, including mace and pepper spray, are common, and widely used for both crime and crime prevention.
Experimental weapons currently in development include many types of beam weapons, monomolecular blade and cable weapons, and sonic weapons.
New Technology for the 21st Century
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