Its the End of the World as We Know it (and I Feel Fine.) A Timeline for Shadowrun. Compiled by John Maniha Late 1990s: -Civil unrest intensifies worldwide. In response to the seemingly indifferent or incompetent governments, corporations begin to take matters into their own hands. Beginning with third world holdings, corporations arm their security personnel with the finest military equipment available. Professional mercenaries are hired on both short and long-term contracts. These new paramilitary assets are transferred to anywhere that civil violence threatens corporate holdings. 1992: -Jeffery Lynch is elected President of the United States. In his inaugural address, he refers to his landslide victory "as a mandate to cure the ills of the nation and bring a new vitality to America." Seeing how easily the voters accept Lynch, Congress quickly falls into step behind his programs. -In Great Britain, A major riot breaks out in South London. 1993: -The first of the Supreme Court justices appointed during the Burger court leaves office. -The Handicappers of America (HA) begins its campaign to protest the abundance of handicapped parking spaces in the U.S. 1994: -Chief Justice Burger of the U.S. Supreme Court retires for health reasons. He is succeeded by Terence Ordell, an outspoken conservative law professor from the East Coast. 1996: -The Summer Olympics are showcased in Atlanta, Georgia. -In Quebec, separatist advocates are finally elected into government positions. -The Mohawk indian tribe begins to kill off the criminal element in its tribal government in order to properly pursue their land claims. -U.S. President Lynch begins a massive program of deregulation. Beginning with the sale of the U.S. Postal service to various private messenger services, Lynch approves the sales of the U.S. Weather Service, Forest Service, Amtrak, and a half- dozen other public services. 1997: -The Shiawase corporation opens a new metallurgical engineering plant. The plant draws huge amounts of power from the regional utility grid. The government-run grid raises its rates for high-load commercial customers, increasing Shiawase's energy costs by more than 550 percent. in less than six months. 1998: -By this year the United States defense establishment has been cut by almost 40%, with even bigger cuts in procurement and R&D for new weapons systems. -The Shiawase corporation approaches the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and demands the right to set up a nuclear plant. This would make the Shiawase corporation independent of the regional utility grid, saving it untold millions. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission refuses Shiawase's request. As a result, Shiawase takes the case to the Supreme Court. -The Perfluoro-4-methyl-octahydroquinalidine (P4MO) artificial blood replacement is created. -By this year three members of the U.S. Supreme Court appointed during the Burger court have either died or retired. -In Great Britain, riots break out in South London. -The Teamsters' New York Local initiates strikes that last into the next year. The Teamsters fail to realize that the state of New York do not have the money to meet their salary demands. -The import of all firearms is banned in the United States. -In the U.S., police stop writing speeding citations except during "reckless conditions." -A group calling itself the Turnflashers begins a campaign to advocate the use of turn signals on cars by shooting vehicles that don't use them with paint pellets. 1999: The Teamsters' leadership, realizing that the city of New York cannot meet their demands, urges the rank-and file members to accept the state's final contract offer. The truckers reject the contract and the strikes continue. -In response to the strike, which halts the flow of fresh foods, A massive riot erupts in New York City. Hundreds are killed and thousands are wounded in the ensuing violence hundreds are killed and thousands are wounded. -During the New York Riot, a Seretech Medical Research truck hauling medical wastes, some of which is infectious, is attacked by a mob. The mob believes that, since the truck is refrigerated, it must be a food transport. The mob tries to overturn the truck and get its contents. In what becomes a running gunfight, Seretech security comes to the aid of the corporate truckers, withdrawing them to one of the firm's medical research facilities. The enraged crowd storms the building and Seretech security fights back. By dawn, 20 Seretech employees and 200 rioters are dead. -In an attempt to end the assembling of corporate armies, the city of New York, followed by the state and federal governments sues Seretech Medical Research for criminal negligence. Seretech maintains that in defending their truck, they prevented its potentially lethal cargo from infecting the population at large. -In a landmark 193-page decision (The United States vs. Seretech Corporation (1999)), the Supreme Court upholds Seretech's right to maintain an armed force to protect its own personnel and property. Furthermore, the Supreme Court commends the corporation for protecting innocent citizens and honoring its duty to dispose of the infectious materials safely. -The Mohawk Indian Tribe in Canada declare land in dispute between them and the Canadian government to be Mohawk territory. They support this claim by blockading roads into their reservation around Oka, Kahnawake, and Kanesatake in Quebec. They declare themselves the Sovereign Mohawk Nation. -After a four-week standoff with the Mohawks, the Canadian infantry attacks the reservation. Canadian casualties are very high. Although the Mohawk position is weakened after two assaults, they still hold one well-fortified position in Kahnawake. -The Canadian forces offer safe-conduct to all non-combatant Mohawks. The offer is ignored. -On October 3, at local dawn, a perfect time-on-target salvo of Cataphract wire-guided missiles hit the Kahnawake fortification. Mechanized army, an armored platoon, and several air cav units move in. The fighting is over by noon and the Sovereign Mohawk Nation is wiped out. -The Dene indian tribe of Canada is violently forced off its tribal land to make room for natural gas pipelines. 2000: -On January 1, Quebec declares itself independent from the rest of Canada. -On January 2, a referendum is held in Australia concerning turning the country into a republic and changing the flag. Both movements fail. -The United States Supreme Court upholds several important government challenges to corporate autonomy. -Renovation begins on the Foran Bridge in San Francisco, California. -The United States Supreme Court rules the case of The Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Shiawase Corporation in favor of Shiawase and allows them to build their own nuclear power plant. -The Shiawase corporation builds its reactor and brings it on line. They immediately declare themselves independent of the regional utility grid. -Within weeks of its opening, the Shiawase reactor is attacked by a special assault team sent by the radical eco- terrorist group TerraFirst!. Armed with military weapons, the group penetrates the plant's security perimeter and clashes with Shiawase security forces. The Shiawase security team kills every member of the TerraFirst! team. They discover that the terrorists carry enough explosives to crack open the containment building and reactor vessel spreading nuclear material throughout the surrounding area. -The Nuclear Regulatory Commission sues Shiawase for criminal negligence and reckless endangerment, charging that Shiawase's inadequate security had failed to prevent the terrorists from penetrating the plant's outer perimeter. Shiawase counters with evidence that not only could plant security have taken a force three times the size of the terrorist group, but that the only reason that they got as far as they did was due to security force restrictions enforced by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. -The Texas Rangers begin to evolve from a law enforcement group into a more military organization. -Acura Motors releases the Acura Demon. This car is the fastest production car built in the year 2000. 2001: -Due to the precedent set by The United States vs. Seretech Corporation (1999), the second Shiawase Decision (The Nuclear Regulatory Commission vs. The Shiawase Corporation) rules in favor of the Shiawase corporation. It also firmly establishes the extraterritoriality of multinational corporations in international law by giving them the same rights and privileges as foreign governments. -Martin Hunt is inaugurated as President of the United States. -The U.S. government starts a movement to confiscate all handguns currently owned by any citizens not employed as police or security agents. Resistance against this movement is high. -P4MO is deemed safe for use by the FDA. -The Athabascan Tar Sands oil extraction project is abandoned as no longer economically feasible. -Due to the enormous amount of trash in Saint Louis, Missouri, the Saint Louis police enact the Citizen Trash Patrol (CTP). Members of the patrol can phone in reports of littering, and the police will issue the offender a ticket without question. The Turnflashers upgrade their campaign by using live ammunition to shoot out the signals of cars that don't use them. 2002: -New technology makes it possible to construct the first optical chip that is proof against electromagnetic pulse effects. -The beginning of what the media dubs "the Resource Rush." corporate coalitions demand and are granted access to oil, mineral, and land resources on U.S. federal lands. The U.S. government invokes eminent domain again and again to claim property, only to license its exploitation to a corporate sponsor. The majority of lands taken in this fashion are Indian reservations and federal parklands. Conservationists and Indian-rights groups express their shock and disgust, though corporate influence and paramilitary power make it dangerous to object. -Angry and frustrated over the seizure of their land, more radical members of the Native American population found the Sovereign American Indian Movement(SAIM) whose roots trace back to the Indian-rights struggles of the twentieth century. -Mitsuhama Computer Technologies opens its office in St. Paul Minnesota. -Governor Rudd of Minnesota opens discussion with Native American tribal leaders of major reservations to prevent exploitation of the resources of Minnesota. -Japanese corporations begin pulling out of the Australian tourism industry, increasing animosity of Australians against Asians. 2003: -The United States Congress ousts the city government of Washington D.C. amid charges of widespread corruption and incompetence. -The Anglo-Japanese suborbital Ghost is unveiled. This new plane is capable of flying from London Heathrow International Airport to Boston in 76 minutes, and London to Tokyo in a few hours. -The North American panther is declared extinct. 2004: -Libya unleashes a chemical-weapons attack against Israel. Israel responds with a nuclear attack that destroys half of Libya's cities. -In south London, major riots break out. -In Great Britain, the first nuclear meltdown at Dungeness in Kent creates a local irradiated zone. The meltdown kills over 6,000 people including a third of a group of 800 attending a gaming convention. -In Tasmania, the Conservationist party is elected into power. This party's main platform is the protection of the environment, regardless of the consequences. Their main targets are corporations who respond by withdrawing from Tasmania. -In Saint Louis, Missouri, the CTP is repealed. Despite this act the CTP continue their own method of enforcement: Namely pouring trash on the lawns or in the cars of known infractors. 2005: -At 7:20 A.M. on August 12, New York City is struck with a major earthquake that goes 5.8 on the Richter Scale. This results in over 200,000 deaths and 20 million dollars worth of damage. The only Manhattan building of any size that does not collapse is the Empire State Building. -The East Coast Stock Exchange is moved to Boston and the United Nations is moved to Geneva. -Philip Bester is inaugurated as President of the United States. -The Public Broadcasting System is disbanded and privatized. -The Treaty of Bemdji is signed. This treaty between the state of Minnesota and leading Ojibwa tribal leaders prevents the exploitation of resources on Ojibwa land. -In Great Britain, the Conservative Government establishes regional parliaments in Scotland and Wales. -In south London, new riots flare up. -In Tasmania, BHP opens a new Uranium mine in the Kakadu National Park after convincing the government that there are large profits to be made from the mine and, therefore, larger taxes. -By this year, Japan's largest coffin hotel boasts 350 cubicles. -In Great Britain, the rebuilding of Corfe Castle begins. -Sakehisa Tajika of Genentech gains a reputation for bringing massive success to his company. 2006: -Japan asserts its position as a world power by announcing the creation of the new Japanese Imperial State and deploying the first of a fleet of solar-powered collection satellites to beam microwave energy to receptors on the Earth's surface. With this relatively cheap method of distributing power to isolated regions, Japan begins to make strong inroads into the Third World. -The U.S. government, realizing that high-tech weapons production and exportation is one major portion of the U.S. economy that the country cannot do without any more, loosens the import/export restrictions on firearms. -The first High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT), a plane design based on the Concord, is flown. -Texas Instruments successfully sues Miroyama Electric for gross violation of patents. Although TI has to take the lawsuit through all levels of the Japanese legal system before finally forcing the appeal to its highest levels. In a surprise decision, it is ruled that Miroyama is guilty of the charges. The management of the company is ordered to turn over its assets to TI. This they do, then commit seppuku. 2007: -The U.S. Supreme Court declines to review the decision of Congress to remove the Washington D.C. city government. 2008: -Texas passes a law creating urban militia units, which allow residents of an area to sign up for limited combat training and obtain military weaponry with minor restrictions. New laws also define the right of residents to contract private security firms to provide armed protection for their communities and homes. -Four months after Texas authorizes urban militia units, Minnesota follows their example and passes the "Firearm Education Law." -Proto-Feudalism is first recognized in the United States. -The implementation of an ultra-fast digital packing algorithm allows high definition television to finally work on existing U.S. channel bandwidths. -The Nestle corporation falls apart. -A meteor impacts with the Mir space platform (recently sold by the Russians to the Harris-3M corporation) killing two of the crew outright. The rest die later when Harris-3M fails to launch a rescue mission. The orbit of the station begins to decay. -On November 25 Harris-3M, determining that the Mir platform cannot be saved, place a Fuel-Air Explosive (FAE) on board and destroys it. 2009: -Jesse Garrety is inaugurated as President of the United States. -Charles III is crowned King of Great Britain in Westminster Abbey. -Don Victor Marconi of the Washington D.C. Mafia marries the Daughter of the late Don Howard Torricelli of San Diego, California. He initiates a campaign to destroy all local Mafia competition. -On May 5, United Oil Industries announces that it has acquired the right to exploit the petrochemical resources in one- quarter of the remaining federal parks and one-tenth of the remaining Indian reservations, which the government has just confiscated. -In immediate response to the United Oil Industries announcement a small band of SAIM members enters the U.S. Air Force's Shiloh Launch Facility in northwest Montana. It is unknown how the group bypasses the security systems in the facility. Once inside the silo, the group meets up with USAF Major John Redbourne, a full-blood Dakota Sioux. Redbourne knocks his partner unconscious and uses the man's keys and codes to unlock the missile launch fail-safes. The Shiloh raiders threaten to launch the facility's missiles unless all Indian land is returned. -After ten days of negotiations a Delta Team anti-terrorist group invades the silo. During the struggle, which results in the death of all the occupying SAIM members, a single Lone Eagle ICBM carrying four MIRVed five-megaton warheads is launched. The missile, which is targeted for the Russian Republic, ignores all auto-destruct signals. The military has no interceptors in position that can shoot the missile down either. -Although denying responsibility for the launch, U.S. President Jesse Garrety informs Russian President Nikolai Chelenko of the targets of the multiple warheads. Garrety hopes to prevent a full scale retaliation by giving the Russians enough time to use semi-secret ballistic defenses to stop the missile. -Moscow, skeptical of Washington's claims that the launch was accidental and not an attempt of a surgical strike on Russian cities, puts their forces on full alert and orders all citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States into shelters. The U.S. public is kept unaware of the situation. President Garrety waits anxiously and as later revealed in the celebrated "back-room tapes," alternately weeps, rants, and prays. -Shortly after being informed of the missile, President Chelenko tersely informs Garrety that the warheads have been stopped. A privately conducted stress analysis of Chelenko's voice later indicated only a 79% probability that he speaks the truth, but neither seismic nor space-based sensors record any nuclear explosions. -When the Lone Eagle incident is revealed to the American public, the outcry against all Native Americans skyrockets. Corporate propaganda makes all indians scapegoats for the actions of SAIM. Anti-indian riots break out nationwide. -The Re-education and Relocation act is introduced in response to the growing outcry against Native Americans. This act calls for confinement of anyone connected in any way with SAIM. -The U.S. government quietly repeals the laws forbidding private ownership of firearms to non-security employed citizens. -The "Battle" of Bagley is fought in Minneapolis, Minnesota between security and gang forces. -NASA and United Oil Industries complete a high-speed rail link between Houston, Oklahoma City, and Dallas/Forth Worth. This above-ground train, built as a prototype for use in a proposed lunar colony, is propelled by a frictionless cushion of magnetic repulsion. It travels great distances at high speed. -United Oil Industries announces plans to build a multimillion-dollar convention complex at Eagle Mountain Lake, west of Fort Worth, Texas. -Enraged unemployed and homeless workers storm United Oil Industries' Dallas, Texas headquarters and take control of the tower. The leaders of the revolt demand that "fascist corporations" be held accountable for the city of Dallas' financial and criminal plight, that their assets be liquidated and used to revitalize the Dallas side of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. -Governor Hunter Carstairs of Texas calls in Texas Ranger Assault Teams to quell the Dallas riot. After the smoke clears, six mercenaries are dead, five United Oil Industries employees are seriously injured, and 167 rioters are killed. -In response to the Dallas riots, the Texas state legislature passes laws giving corporate security forces carte blanche in dealing with armed intruders. -The last California condor dies in captivity. _The North American gray wolf is declared extinct. 2010: -The Re-education and Relocation act is passed. All Native Americans believed to have connection with SAIM are sent to detention camps referred to as "re-education centers." Due to the general feelings of hatred against Native Americans, abuse of the law is rampant and many innocent people are incarcerated. -In Canada the Nepean Act, legitimizing internment camps for Native Americans in Canada, is passed the same day as the Re- Education and Relocation act in the U.S. -Daniel Coleman is sent to the Abilene Re-education center. -To conserve funds, the U.S. Congress contracts out management of the re-education centers to corporations. Once out of the media spotlight, the corporate managers allow overcrowding, poor sanitation, and insufficient medical care to plague the inmates. -In Australia, the Monash Industries corporation becomes Australia & New Zealand Amalgamated Corporations (ANZAC) with Alex Monash as CEO. -Australian Aborigines and New Zealand Maoris riot in sympathy for the Native Americans in North America. The response is at first to stop the rioting, but due to corporate influence, the governments later decide to drive all Aborigines and Maoris from the major cities after they refuse to stop the rioting. These natives are accepted into the outback communities and country towns where they have numerical advantage. -By this year massive phase-outs of U.S. military bases in both Japan and Okinawa leads to a complete lack of significant American military presence west of the Philippines. -The Latin Quarter of Quebec City is destroyed in a fire. -Casino gambling is legalized in Louisiana. -Macdonnel Douglas, already having purchased several smaller companies in order to diversify production capabilities and broaden their technology pool, changes their name to Advanced Weapons and Systems (AWS). -The first cases of a new disease, Virally Induced Toxic Allergy Syndrome (VITAS),are discovered in New Delhi, India. -Within weeks of its first appearance, VITAS cases are being reported around the planet. Most fatalities occur in outlying areas of the planet where medical care is scarce and in high- population centers where supplies of medicines and vaccines are insufficient. China, India, many African nations, and densely populated Third World cities suffer disproportionately due to their insufficient medical delivery systems. By the end of the year approximately 25% of the world's people are dead or dying. Ironically, the re-education centers are spared the worst of the plague due to their isolation. -In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the New Metropolitan Council (NMC), a group formed to handle the riots and chaos of the VITAS outbreaks, is formed. The group's members have their identities concealed to all but themselves and Governor Haroldson (Governor Rudd's successor) in order to protect them. -Ares Industries absorbs the EoTech corporation. -Michel Beloit, a young senior executive with BMW, expands the corporation and makes it Europe's premier industrial power. -A number of primates escape from Exeter Zoo in Great Britain. -Japanese-style coffin hotels open in North America. -In the U.S.A., a major urban reconstruction project occurs in Seattle, Washington in the Pine and Broadway region. -In New Orleans, U.S.A., River Walk Mall closes down. It soon becomes a haven for drug addicts known as Nitemare Alley. 2011: -"The Year of Chaos." The government of Mexico is violently disbanded. This event marks the beginning of an unprecedented number of governments being overthrown in the following five years. More governments are overthrown in this span of time than in any other comparable span in history. -In Great Britain, the Conservative Party is voted out of Parliament in favor of the new Socialist Labour Party. -On January 13, a powerful earthquake rocks the Olympic Peninsula of the United States. The destruction of buildings in the re-education camps results in mass breakouts. Among the thousands of escapees is Thunder Tyee, a Salish warrior chief and friend of Daniel Coleman. -Thousands of refugees from the Mexican dissolution cross the border into Texas. Some head for southern California, but most end up in San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas/Fort Worth. This influx of people overtaxes the already strained welfare and housing system, leaving most of the refugees in the street. Shantytowns spring up in vacant lots and under highway bridges. The crime rate in Texas soars, leading to increased incidents of racial violence. -The police departments in Texas, severely outnumbered in the face of the violence, vote to strike. -Declaring a state emergency, re-elected governor Carstairs calls in the national guard to deal with the crime. Dallas residents live in a state of siege, unsure which to fear more, the governor or the refugees. Before negotiators can strike a bargain with the police department, 27 National Guardsmen are killed. Six shantytowns are razed in the struggle, but more quickly replace them. -The first of a series of Magical attacks are made on military targets in Ulster, Northern Ireland by the IRA. 75 members of the Parachute Regiment are killed. 44 in Coalisland in February and 31 more in Derry a month later. -On April 14, the IRA attacks and destroys the SAS base in Belfast. Thirteen members of the SAS are killed along with eleven Protestant paramilitary groups used as informal death squads by British intelligence and the military. British Press covers up the assault but the truth is revealed several years later. -On April 23, in Australia, the first reported sighting, and subsequent attack, of the Carnivorous Koala, or Drop Bear, occurs when one attacks Wildlife Ranger Patrick Stone of Sydney. -The Athabascan Tar Sands oil reclamation project is reopened when Biogene Laboratories Inc. markets the first efficient oil- leeching bacteria. -Massive civilian protests in Europe lead to raids on nuclear power plants. Three plants suffer meltdowns and cause massive radiation damage. -Sizewell B nuclear power plant in Great Britain suffers critical meltdown, resulting in 7,800 deaths. -Dounreay nuclear power plant in Scotland suffers critical meltdown, creating the Scottish Irradiated Zone. -Floods hit central and southern England, destroying much property. -In Ireland, dramatic storms, flooding, and seismic shocks occur along the eastern coastline due to radiation leaks from British nuclear power stations. -In Wales and along the length of the Pennines in central England, a series of serious landslides occur. -An earthquake erupts in central Scotland -Toxic waste leaks from landfill sites in England result in an epidemic of pollution for that country. -Trojan-Satsop, a nuclear power plant in the Redmond district of Seattle, suffers partial meltdown, contaminating Beaver Lake and the surrounding land for kilometers around. -Worldwide, mutant children begin being born to "normal" parents. This event is labeled Unexplained Genetic Expression, or UGE. Newsweek magazine label these children as "elves and dwarves." -On December 24, hundreds of Japanese witness the first appearance of the great dragon Ryumyo as they pass Mount Fuji on a bullet train. -At the same moment as the Ryumyo sighting, Daniel Coleman and his followers escape from the Abiline re-education center in plain view of all guards and inmates during a storm. Guards later claim that Coleman is "glowing" and that he and his followers ignore bullets fired at them. This event, as well as the appearance of Ryumyo is considered the sign that magic has returned to the world. -In Australia, the first mana storm strikes the Campbell sheep station, 102 kilometers northwest of Hay, New South Wales. Only three people out of the 31 inhabitants survive. These storms quickly increase in frequency. In Ireland, western forests begin a rapid and unexplainable period of growth. -On December 26, the Great Welsh Dragon Celedyr is first sighted in the fortress town of Caerleon in England. -In England, no less than 14 mediums and clairvoyants report astral sensings of the energizing of the Stalker ley line. -In Ireland, the Giant's Causeway begins to grow larger. -In Greece, the ruined temple at Larisa in Thessalay is magically replaced by a fully rebuilt classical temple. -In various sites across Great Britain, most especially in the center of the Welsh town of Brecon (where the town center is flattened) stone circles and standing stones erupt through the earth, forming patterns of sacred sites extending along known ley lines. -Tibet regains independence from China as magical defenses seal it off from invasion and render the region incommunicado. -In Ireland, the ancient Slighe roads, peat bogs, and cairne lines begin to re-emerge from the land. -Pope John Paul IV denounces metahumans as abominations in the eyes of God. -The Minneapolis NMC is granted further governing powers. The Metropolitan Security Directorate (MSD) and Metropolitan Police Corps (MPC) are established to exercise these new powers and to keep the state from falling into anarchy. -The Plains Federation, a Native American group autonomous from SAIM, disbands. -The CTP changes its name to Litterbugs International. 2012: -On January 1, King Charles III of Great Britain announces his intention to join an unspecified esoteric order. He then abdicates in favor of his third son George VIII, his first two sons having been killed in a plane crash. Charles III then withdraws from society completely. -On January 27, the great dragon Dunklezahn makes his first appearance. Arriving in Denver he is notable because unlike other great dragons, Dunklezahn shows an exuberant fascination with high technology. He later takes up a lair in the area around Cherry Creek Lake. -As the military tries to seal off Cherry Creek Lake, reporters from all over fight for an interview with Dunklezahn. The winner is Holly Brighton, an early-evening weekend anchorwoman. The resulting 12 hour and 16 minute interview gives humanity its first real clues into the breadth and depth of the Awakening. Dunklezahn earns $13 million dollars tax-free for participating. Holly Brighton maintains an informal business relationship with Dunklezahn. -Dunklezahn, in order to bypass the problem of recording his words (due to the fact that dragons communicate through a "thought- voice"), hires John Timmons, a young black divinity student from Denver, to be his interpreter. As a result, Timmons becomes a major voice in Post-Awakened North American Protestantism, where he preaches tolerance and clear-mindedness against a tide of religious reactionism. -Texas corporations offer funds to shore up Dallas, Texas' failing welfare system. Corporate lawyers draw up terms, which include corporate approval of welfare distribution. Governor Carstairs has no choice but to agree. The rules tend to favor Fort Worth and Tarrant County. The poorhouse system of relief is reinstated and work farms are established to contain the growing masses of homeless and to supply labor to the new construction projects in the area. -After a series of hostilities between corporations resulting in massive profit loss, the Keruba Corporation (later absorbed by Renraku Computer Systems), BMW, Ares Industries, The Shiawase Corporation, Mitsuhama Computer Technologies, ORO (later to become Aztechnology) and JRJ (later absorbed by Fuchi Industrial Electronics) band together to form the Inter-Corporate Council (ICC) to represent the interests of all megacorporations. -Chief Harold Jim, the influential and well loved leader of the Nootka tribe of Native Americans, is killed when a truck's brakes fail and he is hit. -The Plains Revival Movement, an offshoot of the Plains Federation, officially joins SAIM. -The first HSCT production models enter regular service. -In Great Britain, a new stone circle erupts at the foot of Bon Nevis. -National Airport in Washington D.C. restricts traffic to flights with federal clearance only. -ANZAC buys the contract of Derrick Rommanche, a noted expert on computers, from the Renraku corporation. -In the U.S. the "smooth flow of traffic" concept replaces speed limits. This new law states that anyone disrupting the smooth flow of traffic is to be cited and that actual speeds are irrelevant. 2013: -The awakened animal known as the Gabriel hound is first sighted. -Vernon Prudhomme, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, hires a group of motorcycle daredevils and stages a game involving motorcycles, stunt riding, padded clubs, and "paintball" guns as a publicity gimmick for his speedway business. The game is broadcast over radio and T.V. and becomes quite popular. Prudhomme jokes about starting a "Combat Cyclists League." -Soon after Prudhomme's exhibition, a go-gang called the Maulers show up. Calling themselves a Combat Biker team, they violently defeat Prudhomme's stunt riders. The Mauler's leader, Charles "Mangler" Patterson tells Prudhomme that for a modest payment they will stay away. -Prudhomme hires a rival go-gang, gives them uniforms unpadded weapons, and riot weapons firing plastic ammo, and names them the Red Devils. When the Maulers show up again the Red Devils soundly defeat them. Strangely enough, for the first hour the game stays within the rules (for the most part). The story makes huge ratings on the national news. -The Keruba Corporation and ORO go to limited corporate war for reasons unexplained. The ICC meet to mediate the dispute but are unable to do anything substantial due to their lack of power. -In Great Britain, the British Imperial Chemical Industries corporation is revealed to have been improperly dumping chemical waste in North Cambridge. -In Ireland, IRA attacks, which have been escalating in Ulster and the British mainland since the destruction of the SAS base, culminate in an attack in Aldershot using elementals. -In Great Britain, the IRA attack in Aldershot leads the government to consider a referendum to determine the fate of Ireland. 2014: -Daniel Coleman, now calling himself Daniel Howling Coyote, reappears. He has spent the past three years proselytizing to both free and imprisoned Native Americans and convincing them to wage a guerrilla war against the white man. Backed by an elite core of fanatics, including Thunder Tyee and his multi-tribal warrior team, he announces the formation of the Native American Nations (NAN), a coalition of tribes with the Sovereign Tribal Council at its head. They lay claim all to all of North America and demand all persons of European, African, and Asian ancestry to withdraw from the continent. They threaten dire magical retribution if their demand is not met. -The government ignores Howling Coyote. The media tries to make a laughing stock of him and his followers. Despite the fact that magical phenomena has become increasingly commonplace, no one believes that any one group has that much power. -Redondo peak erupts, burying Los Alamos, New Mexico under a cloud of volcanic ash. Howling Coyote appears soon after in a vid- cast from a nearby Zuni reservation. He claims credit for invoking "our Mother Earth to punish the children who forsook Her." -Within an hour of the broadcast, a federal reaction force, composed of the Sixth Air Cavalry Battalion from Fort Hood, Texas is on the way to capture Howling Coyote and destroy his movement. The entire group is destroyed before it even reaches the reservation by the sudden appearance of several violent tornadoes. By the time a second force arrives, Howling Coyote is long gone. -The story of Howling Coyote's successful guerilla war is leaked to the public by unknown sources. President Jesse Garrety is forced to take all the public outcry. -The referendum on Northern Ireland is held. By a majority of 78%, the People vote to exclude the province from the United Kingdom. As a result, the House of Commons passes the Act of Dissolution on June 16. -Pope John Paul IV dies in his sleep. He is replaced by Pope John XXV. Despite this change in power, several Irish Catholic bishops who had refused to accept John Paul IV's denouncement of metahumans, break from the Catholic church and instead go to the Church of Ireland, a small splinter church. -A week after the Act of Dissolution is passed, the governments of the United kingdom and Ireland sign the Treaty of Galway and the United Free Republic of Ireland is formed. -The white controlled government of South Africa finally dissolves completely. -In Australia, most of the desert regions of the outback are lost to mana storms. Some people however, having learned how to predict one, stay in the outback. -Six teams begin playing the Combat Biker games professionally. The competition receives national T.V. coverage. -The ban on steroids in amateur sports is ended due to new physical enhancement drugs on the market that make testing too difficult to be practical. -The state capital of Louisiana moves from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. -Don Victor Marconi's war of elimination of Mafia competition ends. -A board of regents composed mostly of corporate executives and token government representatives now runs the Dallas/Fort Worth municipal welfare and education system. Despite widespread dissatisfaction, the situation works out quite well. Education programs are established to teach the Mexican refugees English and a trade. Graduates from the program are guaranteed jobs with the corporations as long as they obey the law. The crime rate drops significantly and economic stability begins as the per-capita income rises. -The international signal format agreements for computer datalines are signed. -A group of Salish warriors led by Thunder Tyee captures the Trident Submarine base at Bangor. -Two months after the Trident base, Tyee's group captures the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremington. One Nereid class submarine, the Wichita, almost escapes capture, but Tyee's warriors sink her with cannons and a missile. -Now armed better than the U.S. Army forces in the area, Tyee's forces prepare for a final showdown and surround McChord Air Force Base and Fort Lewis. 2015: -On January 26, Australia and New Zealand merge into one nation, formally named Australasia, though still called Australia. -In Australasia, Viking Enterprises, a maritime food production corporation, purchases the Woolworth chain. -A riot breaks out in Quebec City, Republic of Quebec. The Hotel du Gouvernment, the meeting house for the Republic of Quebec National Assembly, is destroyed. -In response to the recent riot, the Republic of Quebec National Assembly makes civil insurrection a capital offense. -Hong Kong secedes from mainland China and declares independence. -Great Britain is duped into using its influence to protect and give aid to Hong Kong but find that corporate interests have wholly taken over. -The orbit of the U.S. space station Freedom begins to decay for unknown reasons. It is predicted that it will burn up in Earth's atmosphere in 2017. -In Ireland, the IRA reopens negotiations with the Dublin government. Although Ireland is now unified, the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein still wants to further certain policies. This movement is led by Liam O'Connor, commander of the Derry IRA. During these negotiations, O'Connor and a handful of his key advisors and allies who until now has concealed their true identities with magic, are revealed to be a "spike baby" elves. This leads to rumors of an elven conspiracy among the non-elven members of the IRA. As a result a schism occurs and the IRA splits into two factions: The human led Official IRA, and Liam O'Connor's primarily elven Provisional IRA. The Official IRA breaks off negotiations with the Irish government. The Provisional IRA strikes a deal with the Dublin government that incorporates the IRA into the security apparatus of the state. In return for IRA help the Fianna Fail government agrees to initiate strict environmental protection laws, metahuman equality legislation, and government subsidized hermetic study programs. -A shuttle is sent to retrieve the crew from the Freedom space station. The mission is almost a failure when a member of the TerraFirst! eco-terrorist group launches a man-pack SAM at the rescue shuttle. The ceramic tiles of the shuttle prevent serious damage. -In Hungary, the Green Party wins control of the government. They try to cut back all polluting industries but only manage to destroy Hungary's already weak economy. -In Ireland, the Catholic church begins to lose power when people abandon it for the more moderate Church of Ireland. -The SportsBlast cable channel broadcasts the first "official" freestyle fighting match. This new sport allows any attack that a fighter can make unarmed to any point in the body including eyes, joints, groin, or throat. The fight goes on until there is a knockout, disable or surrender. -In Ireland, a census is taken revealing that only the province of Ulster has a recognizable population of non-Catholics. Each of the other great provinces of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught have Catholic populations as high as 90%. -The Magic Hat, a professional organization for practice of real magic opens in Minneapolis, Minnesota. -In Ireland, the Lough Key forest shows an unnatural growth rate of 40%. This growth lasts for another four years. 2016: -Russian President Nikolai Chelenko, Prime Minister Lena Rodale of Great Britain, and Minister Chaim Schon of Israel are all assassinated. The people responsible are all killed in violent confrontations. -Soon after Chelenko, Rodale and Schon's deaths, U.S. President Jesse Garrety is assassinated by William Springer. Springer is never captured for the crime. -Jesse Garrety is succeeded by his Vice President William Jarman. His first act immediately upon taking office is the issuing of Executive Order 17-321. With this order Jarman plans to solve "the Indian question" by authorizing the total extermination of all Native American tribes. -One month after Jarman issues Executive Order 17-321, it is ratified in Congress with the Resolution Act of 2016. Ares Industries purchases the failing NASA from the united states government including the shuttle and cargo fleet,Cape Kennedy launch facilities, installations in Florida and Texas, tracking stations, and so on. According to the agreement, key elements of the facilities will be returned to the United States in 2055. -Immediately after the NASA purchase, Ares Industries re- stabilizes the orbit of the space station Freedom, beginning a program of expanding its facilities. They also team up with Lloyds of London and begin a salvaging operation of non-functioning satellites in Earth orbit. -Renovation on the Foran Bridge in San Francisco, California is finally completed. -BMW president Michel Beloit dies, leaving his wife Mina the primary-stock holder of the company. -A terrorist-caused major oil spill in the North Sea penetrates more than 20 miles inland, creating the Scottish Fringe Toxic Zone. -On December 12, a U.S. Army Ranger battalion receives intelligence on a large concentration of Native American warriors and materials located near the battalion's base. The Rangers fire artillery and stand-off weaponry to "soften them up." When the Rangers run an assault on the position they discover that it is in fact a refugee settlement housing several thousand non-combatants of the Kiowa tribe, mainly women and children. For all intents and purposes, the Kiowa tribe ceases to exist. -Investigation into the Kiowa massacre proves that the Intelligence report leading to the attack was provided by a group of radical Cheyenne nationalists. 2017: -In Nevada, a major cholera epidemic sweeps through the Pyramid Lake Re-Education Center. Many fatalities result. -Daniel Howling Coyote and his followers initiate the Great Ghost Dance. With this potent magic ritual, the NAN continuously delays Jarman's plans to exterminate the Indians by causing freak weather patterns to disrupt the organization of the necessary troops and equipment. -On August 17 at 10:32 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, soon after the government has managed to assemble its troops to carry out the extermination, Mount Hood, Mount Ranier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams all erupt simultaneously. -Native American tribesmen and non-indian sympathizers, now occupying military bases in all three North American countries, demand a multinational conference. -President Celinne DeGaulle of the Republic of Quebec begins peace talks with the NAN. -In Minnesota the Awakened Forest, an area teeming with awakened lifeforms, begins to grow. -A new riot breaks out in south London in Great Britain. -In Ireland, documents are discovered revealing that visions of holy figures in the village of Knock were a hoax. -The U.S. government and a consortium of corporations creates the Public Broadcasting Network (PBN) to replace PBS. -On December 11, the Republic of Quebec sends official invitations to the United States (particularly the northeastern section) and the Maritime provinces to join the Republic. All but Labrador, the mainland portion of Newfoundland, refuse. -Four separate British high-tech companies complete the merging of their facilities to create the Transys Neuronet corporation. -British Imperial Chemical Industries merges with two Swiss owned pharmaceutical firms creating the Zeta-Impchem corporation. -In Tampa, Florida, a group calling itself the Leftlaners (composed mostly of retirees) begin a campaign of slowing down traffic in the U.S. to safe speeds by driving slowly in groups. 2018: -The federal governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico all send representatives to Denver, Colorado to negotiate with the NAN. -Three months after the meeting of the North American powers the Treaty of Denver is signed by all parties. Quebec abstains from signing, citing their historically close ties with the Native Americans and its recent rapprochement with others who felt disaffected. In the treaty, all three governments acknowledge the sovereignty of the NAN over most of western North America. The document outlines a ten-year population adjustment plan that would relocate all non-Indians off NAN lands. Provisions include the establishment of reservations for non-tribal peoples and corporations, the maintenance of certain cities (such as Seattle) as extraterritorial extensions of the governments that formerly owned the land they are on. and the retention of most of the state of California by the United States. Denver itself is set aside as a "treaty city," under joint administration by The Sioux Nation, Ute Nation, Pueblo Corporate Council, United States, and Aztlan (formerly part of Mexico). -Daniel Howling Coyote is named as head of the Sovereign Tribal Council. -The Ute Nation grants the Mormon Church the rights to govern Salt Lake City, Utah as a society only nominally part of the nation, analogous to Vatican City in 20th-century Italy. -In Australasia, after five months of protest from the Aboriginal Tribal Council (ATC) regarding land rights, the Australasian government rounds up all Aboriginal people and sends them to live in the mana-storm-affected lands of the outback, whether they want to go or not. -In Australasia the spaceplane America, with its secret military payload, disintegrates in orbit. The wreckage lands in the town of Longreach, Queensland. 300 Longreach citizens are killed. One of the major pieces of debris strikes the Stockman's Hall of Fame, killing 57 tourists and staff. -The first-generation of Artificial Sensory Induction System (ASIST) is created by Dr. Hosato Hikita of ESP Systems Inc. in Chicago. This technology is later called "simsense." -Immediately after announcing the creation of ASIST technology, ESP Systems Inc. is bought out by maverick financier Dan Truman. Truman goes on to make Chicago the capital of ASIST and simsense research. -ESP becomes a subsidiary of Truman Technologies, but is absorbed into the parent company after Truman Technologies loses a lawsuit it brought against the Fuchi Corporation on ESP's behalf, claiming that Fuchi had stolen ESP's ASIST technology. -A Boeing 787 heavylifter delivering military supplies to Dallas/Forth Worth Airport crashes with its full load of ammunition and bombs on the downtown area of Irving, Texas. The shockwave from the blast shatters thousands of panes of glass throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, adding to the already large list of casualties. The accident is never successfully explained. _In Ireland, government prosecutors convict Health Minister Seamus Molyneaux and fourteen of his departmental officials of skimming funds from contracts awarded to medical equipment supply companies. -Fuchi Electronics completes its new Seattle Industrial Compound. -Ares Industries completes its expansion program of the space station Freedom, using its primary storage area for orbital salvage. 2019: -More than 200,000 non-indian refugees from lands now belonging to the NAN enter the city of Seattle. This causes massive food and supply shortages. -The premier of Newfoundland, acting as spokeswoman for the Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the island of Newfoundland, approaches the state of Maine and asks to be annexed. Maine agrees. -The Red Lake "Invasion" occurs when street gangs invade the Red Lake district of Minneapolis, Minnesota. -The 1st Minnesota Regulars are formed to battle the increasing gang violence. -The Washington districts of Bellevue, Renton, and Kent vote overwhelmingly to become part of greater Seattle. -By summer's end, Seattle has also absorbed all of King County, Washington and most of neighboring Pierce and Snohomish Counties as well. -On September 6, the citizens of Everett and Tacoma, Washington vote in favor of joining with Seattle. 2020: -In response to a jihad declared against the new races by Iran's ruling Ayatollah, the city of Tehran is demolished by Aden, a sirrush Great Dragon. -On February 28, the state of Sydney is formed in Australasia. The Sydney Metroplex is formed along the same lines as the Seattle Metroplex, except for the lack of international boundaries. The state capital is moved to Canberra. -Despite a disastrous first term for U.S. President Jarman, the 29th Amendment to the Constitution is approved. This allows a president to serve an unlimited number of terms in office. -The new Ares Industries space platform Apollo becomes their primary space facility. -The EuroFighter Aircraft (EFA) becomes the European Economic Community's standard STOL tactical fighter. -In Ireland, elvish children are reportedly being born of 41% of all registered births. -On November 16, President Jarman signs a resolution dissolving Washington State and officially recognizing the creation of a city-state to be known as the Seattle Metroplex, with Seattle Mayor Charles C. Lindstrom to be named as governor. -In Great Britain, Paul Bernal, Jr., Ceo of the Hildebrandt- Kleinfort-Bernal (HKB) corporation initiates a takeover of Lloyds of London, making HKB the leading provider of London-based financial services. -The space station Freedom becomes the Zurich-Orbital Habitat. -By this year, all American telebroadcasting is controlled by twenty-three corporations. -The World Bank is replaced by Global Financial Services, a Zurich-based financial corporation. 2021: -On April 30, one out of every ten men, women, and children suddenly metamorphosize into hideous humanoid shapes. Soon after, children begin being born this way or change soon after puberty. This change, termed by the media as "goblinization", marks the first occurrence of "trolls" and "orks". Variant expressions of goblinization occur in different geographical regions, such as the minotaur troll in the Mediterranean basin, and the ogre ork in continental Europe. -The Republic of Quebec immediately extends full rights to all French-speaking victims of UGE. -King George VII of Great Britain is announced dead. Rumors state that he goblinized and was ordered killed by senior members of the British aristocracy and military. -Rival bloodlines begin to compete for the throne of Great Britain. -Another serious riot breaks out in south London. -In the Seattle Metroplex Governor Lindstrom, acting on fears that goblinization is contagious, orders the Metroplex Guard to round up all metahumans and their families. He then has them detained at camps once used to contain Native Americans. -Governor Melissa Santiago-Ortega of Texas establishes metahuman detention centers. She strong-arms the Welfare Board into allocating the funds to provide adequate shelter and sanitary facilities for the newly transformed population. Psychologists are brought in to find out if orks and trolls can be safely reintegrated into society. Specially trained units of Texas Rangers ensure that the new metahumans do not fall victim to attack. -Walter Bright Water is named as representative of the Cascade Crow tribe to the Salish-Shidhe Council. -Rocknet's "New Notes" segment plays the trideo Sons of Thunder by Concrete Dreams. This is the band's first public vid- cast. -The Atlantean Foundation is founded by Sheila Blatavska. Its goal is a return to the "enlightened days of Atlantis." -Fires break out in much of Portland, destroying many old- growth forests. 2022: -The tension and prejudice against the new races erupts in race riots around the globe. -In August, Governor Lindstrom orders all Seattle metahumans released from quarantine. He speaks of a united people living together in peace as he did before goblinization. -Governor Santiago-Ortega refuses to release the Texas metahumans without legal provisions for their safety. She rocks the Texas legislature by personally escorting ork and troll representatives into senate hearings. In a moving speech, she stresses that the metahumans had been taxpayers before goblinization and, like victims of any other disease, still deserve the protection and support of the government they have trusted. -In June, tensions rising for two years between Papua-New Guinea (PNG) and Indonesia reach flashpoint. Armed tribesmen (mostly trolls and orks) supplied by the Indonesians attack and destroy an army camp near the border. The Indonesians use this as an excuse to annex prime mineral sites in PNG territory. The PNG armed forces respond, causing the Indonesians to temporarily retreat. -A few months after the Indonesian attack, the PNG army returns in force. -During the lull in fighting between Indonesia and PNG, Australasia tries to help with peace negotiations, but their ambassador is killed by Indonesian troops for reasons yet to be fully explained. -The Australasian Armed Forces activate and move to protect interests in the Indonesian and PNG areas, closely followed and supported by corporate security forces. -The islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Grenada, Bermuda, and the Virgin Islands as well as the Southern tip of Florida join together to form the Caribbean League. -The United States government disbands the FCC and ceases to have any control over broadcasting. The Internetwork Transmission Control Council (ITCC) takes over as a "self-regulating oversight body for the responsible management of the communications industry." In Ireland, seventeen business and political figures are implicated in the "Kavanaghgate" affair. They are convicted of misappropriating EEC agrosubsidies. -John Timmons is killed by an assassin with connections to the growing anti-metahuman movement. Dunklezahn, who is present at the assassination, kills the assassin. Witnesses report that he reduced the gunman "to his component atoms" with a glance. -The MegaMedia corporation buys the SportsBlast channel. -In an attempt to re-establish order the U.S. Government institutes martial law -Reports trickle out of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States of death on a massive scale brought on by social disorder. -A new wave of the VITAS plague kills a further 10% of the world population. In fear of the disease, most people forget about the racial tensions and the violence dies down. -Data, an electronic news magazine, first coins the term, "Awakened" to refer to the new metahumans and other lifeforms influenced by magic. -In Minneapolis, Minnesota, federal troops attempting to control a food riot in a northern suburb accidentally drop several high explosive bombs. 20,000 people are killed and an estimated 45,000+ are crippled or injured. Fires rage out of control for ten days. -In France, street gangs begin playing a special game to settle problems. Two armed teams establish a playing field and the team that scores the most goals with a ball wins the argument. -Javert et Cie, a French megacorporation begins sponsoring the gang games in order to control them when they fight on Javert et Cie territory. They play for cash purses, assignments in corporate security, and other prizes. -The French gang game (now called Jeu de Guerre de Ville) becomes popular worldwide through satellite coverage. -The Zeta-Impchem corporation takes over the German Hoechst becoming the biggest pharmaceutical corporation in Europe. -In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the political parties are realigned. A coalition is now needed to pass any legislation. -In Seattle, UCAS, the Mizu-Kagayaite subclan of the Sendosha New Century Yakuza makes its first appearance in the Seattle crime scene. -On December 3, the HMAS Darwin is struck by Indonesian aircraft-launched missiles. This causes the Australasian troops to engage in full scale warfare. -In Scotland, 14 members of the Campbell Clan are massacred by a group led by William MacDonald of the rival MacDonald Clan. -To counter the Leftlaners, a new group is organized called the Speed Demons. 2023: -The Seattle Police Department, tired of taking the brunt of the anger expressed in the racial riots between human and metahuman, goes on strike. -An incensed Governor Lindstrom declares the Seattle Police strike illegal and fires all members of the SPD. -Governor Lindstrom hires Lone Star Security to take over all law enforcement and security measures for the Seattle Metroplex. -George Edward Richard Windsor-Hanover, the candidate of corporate interests, wins out over Edward Arthur Charles Gordon- Windsor, the candidate supported by the growing druidic movement for the throne of Great Britain. He is crowned Edward VIII. -The Supreme Court amends the corporate extraterritoriality provisions. The amendments define the limits of "territory" for the purposes of determining extraterritoriality. According to the new amendments, territory owned by a corporation extends down into the earth in a cone traced out by connecting each point on the territory's boundary with the center of the earth. It also extends upward from the earth's surface along these lines to an altitude of 1,200 meters. -Texas senator Franklin Moss becomes so incensed during a debate over metahuman rights that he challenges his opponent, Senator Victor Sanchez, to a duel. Senator Moss' death the following morning is widely televised. -Sakehisa Tajika becomes CEO of Ares Macrotechnology. -The Texas state legislature passes the Metahuman Bill of Rights, guaranteeing voting privileges and equality in housing, medical care, education and employment for all metahumans. -The International Trade Zone of Saint Paul, Minnesota is moved south of the Mississippi River to occupy that section of Saint Paul. -The Corporate Court (formerly the ICC) establishes the Zurich-Orbital Habitat as its base of operations. -In response to the federal bombings of Minneapolis, Federal troops are restricted to federal land in Minnesota. 2024: -Using ASIST technology, the first simsense entertainment unit (a kind of sensory VCR) becomes available on the open market. -The new experimental "remote-vote" system is authorized for use in the presidential election. -President Jarman is reelected by landslide victories in urban centers. He becomes the first three-term president since Franklin D. Rosevelt. The opposition claims fraud. -In response to the dominance of Government and its attendant private industry over the economy in the Delmarva area (the intersection of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia) the Federal Capital District Act of 2024 is passed. This extends the boundaries of Washington D.C. to include Montgomery, Prince Georges, and Howard counties in Maryland, and Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax counties in Virginia. Lorton prison in Fairfax becomes a Federal Prison. Tax revenue lost by the two states are to be made up by increased allocation of federal tax monies to their budgets. This new jurisdiction is chartered as the Federal District of Columbia, colloquially known as DeeCee. -Pope John XXV, the Roman Catholic pontiff, issues his historic encyclical, In Imago Dei ("In the Image of God"). In this document, the Pope sets forth the following as official church doctrine: 1) Metahumans are possessed of souls and capable of salvation. Discrimination against Metahumans is not Christian. 2) Magical abilities are not, by nature, evil. Rather, like any other human ability, they may be used for good or evil ends. 3) Spirits are living manifestations of nature. Thus, conjuring is not in itself evil. This encyclical however, is unable to prevent the virtual disappearance of Catholic influence in Ireland. -Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California is razed and completely rebuilt. -The Renraku Corporation releases the Digital-XScan holo protocol which is adopted by all major broadcasting networks. -Governor Santiago-Ortega of Texas presides at the opening of a multimillion-dollar Metahuman Resource Center in eastern Dallas. -Georgia Tech turns the now unused Fulton County Stadium into a research project. The coliseum is covered with an experimental biotech membrane that is supposed to photosynthesize to produce food, turn solar radiation into usable energy, and purify the air it releases into the domed interior of the coliseum. Before the project can yield results however conflicting business interests and corporate sabotage result in a cut-off of funding which eventually shuts down the project. -Jeu de Guerre de Ville organizes into official non-gang teams in Germany. -Govinda Enterprises in Chicago adopts Jeu de Guerre de Ville to co-opt the gangs plaguing its operations in depressed neighborhoods. They rename the game Urban Brawl. -The metropolitan area inside the `94 Loop' in Minnesota is designated as the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Metroplex (MSP) under the rule of the NMC. -Grain wars between corporations in MSP result in a trucking war. It is short lived as the NMC intervenes. -The University of Minnesota develops a Multi-User/Multi- Input (MUMI) program using a Cray donated mainframe computer. 2025: -UCLA becomes the first university to recognize magic by offering an undergraduate program in occult studies. Within the next two years, technical magic programs and magical research facilities are established at Texas A & M and MIT, with the latter adding "& M" to its name(for "and Magic"). -In Great Britain, the Conservative Party renamed the Conservationist Party, wins the general election under new Prime Minister Kenneth Redmond. -The United Kingdom Constitution Act is passed. This formalizes roles of Parliament and Royalty. It also creates the Office of the Lord Protector, a post with many powers relating to administration of internal and national security. -Lord Marchment, a leading figure in the British Druidic movement, is appointed as Lord Protector of Great Britain. -The first cyber-modified players enter the NFL. These players are restricted to those who needed reconstruction due to injury. -Tim Washington of the New York Jets wins the Super Bowl with a 99-yard pass. -In New Orleans, Louisiana, the dragon Falthur makes his first appearance. -In Ireland the "Walsh's hookers" scandal brings down three government ministers, two industrial leaders, and a Bishop Palatine in Limerick. -In England, the U.K. police force changes its policy of restricting firearms and now routinely arms its officers. -The Skytrack Company in Chicago, Illinois begins development of a monorail system for Chicago's Southside. -The Optical Music Networking Interface (OMNI) is invented. This method of music-data interface revolutionizes the music industry. -Truman Technologies has become rich enough from simsense entertainment profits to begin a major revitalization project in Chicago's South Side district. -Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M) changes its name to 4M by adding magic to its industries. 2026: -The U.S. Constitution is amended to give full legal rights to all metahuman races. -The first cyberterminal is created. It is a room-sized isolation chamber with multi-contact point jacks and multiple hook- ups for the operator. It is designed by various military- intelligence agencies to make it possible for strike teams of "cyber-commandoes" to raid data systems. The first volunteers go mad. -The guerilla war between Indonesia and PNG ends with the tide turned against Indonesia. -In Great Britain, Oxford and Edinburgh universities establish Bachelor of Science degrees in occult studies. -The World Combat Cyclists League is established. Combat Biking now has full league organization, established rules, and major media coverage. -The Skytrack Company expands its Chicago monorail plans to encompass more areas. -The Souix Nation Bureau of High Technology rules that only Souix-based corporations are eligible to license technology from the University of Cheyene. -On September 26, in Australasia, the home of Thomas Grayson, a dwarven mining engineer is demolished by a bomb set by Alamos 20,000, killing him, his wife and three children, two neighbors and injuring twelve others, all metahumans. -Three days after the Grayson killing, outside the Wynnum Police Station in Brisbane, seven bodies are found by Constable Susan Smith as she arrives for her shift. Six of them are identified as UCAS members of Humanis Policlub, the seventh a local fixer of some note. With the bodies is a note: "For the Grayson Family." 2027: -On March 13, due to a combined venture with New South Wales University of Technology, Maquarie University, Queensland University of Technology, and Gaetronics Corporation the first commercial fusion reactor power plant goes on-line. It lasts for 22 minutes before running away and detonating. With the data collected, functional reactors are built worldwide by years end. Although not the tiny generator hoped for by scientists, the large plant proves highly efficient. -The UCAS government passes the Telecommunications Act of 2027. This act states that if the content of a program is legal in its country of origin then it is legal to receive it in UCAS territory. -The NFL allows all players to receive cyber modification. -Cybernetically enhanced fighters are introduced in professional boxing. -In Manhattan Inc. vs. The State of New York, New York City forces the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Statan Island, and the Bronx to separate from it. -Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx attempt to become one entity called Quad Counties. -In Great Britain, the Lord Protector's office drafts the Magical Practitioners Registration Bill, which Parliament passes into law. This act severely restricts the use of magic in Great Britain. -Rebuilding of Corfe Castle in Great Britain is completed. -Cyberterminals become more refined and less dangerous to use. -Parabiologicals appear in Northern Minnesota carrying new and dangerous virus strains. -A mass exodus of dwarves (who appear immune to the new viruses) begin to migrate north from Minneapolis-Saint Paul, to Duluth in particular. -The new Federal District of Columbia jail complex opens. 2028: -Governor Lindstrom of the Seattle Metroplex retires. -The Conservationist Party government withdraws Great Britain from the European Economic Community. -Caimbridge University in Great Britain establishes a Bachelor of Science degree in occult studies. -The NFL football season is delayed two months to make alterations for the new cybered players. The new regulation NFL field becomes 160 yards long by 65 yards wide. The end zones remain 10 yards long, but the distance from end zone to end zone becomes 140 yards. Completing a first down on the ground means moving the ball 20 yards instead of 10. The ball is also armored and has extra weight added to it. -Walter Bright Water gains a reputation for strong support of segregation of humans and metahumans in the Salish-Shidhe Council. At the same time he becomes a strong advocate of welcoming metahumans into Salish-Shidhe Council territory. -Shiawase Atomics builds a new nuclear power plant next to the deserted Trojan-Satsop plant in the Redmond district of Seattle. -Sakehisa Tajika steps down as CEO of Ares Macrotechnolgy. -A massive blight breaks out in the remaining forests of Oregon, destroying most of them. -Dunklezahn appoints Terri Ann Riberio, a neophyte reporter, to be his new interpreter. 2029: -Andrew MacAlister is inaugurated as President of the United States. -In New York state Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx after failing to stick together as Quad Counties, become counties of New York State, municipal entities unto themselves again. -Charles S. Kross replaces Lindstrom as Governor of the Seattle Metroplex. -Sony Cybersystems, Fuchi Industrial Electronics, and RCA- Unisys develop prototype cyberterminals to allow a user to interface with the world data network via his or her central nervous system. These cyberterminals are still massive and require the user to be placed in a sensory deprivation tank. -In the United States, the CIA, NSA, and IRS pool their resources and create the Echo Mirage project. Headed by Air Force Major David Gavilan, a liaison to the National Security Agency, this organization recruits and trains a team of cyber-commandoes to function in the world data network despite the balky equipment and psychoses induced by overwhelming sensory signals generated by the primitive cyberterminals. -On February 8, computer systems worldwide are attacked, apparently at random, by a virus program of unprecedented power. The program crashes systems, wipes software, and even burns out hardware. The chaos caused by the virus topples governments and brings the world economy to the brink of collapse. -On April 19, the computer virus infects the national air traffic-control network. As a result of inaccurate signals and scrambled communications, 27 air accidents occur within two hours, with a death toll in the thousands. Non-essential air traffic remains grounded for almost a week following the disaster, until a new control network can be put together. -The Federal District of Columbia breaks out in riots due to the fall of civilian government initiated by the computer virus. -Australasia contains the virus by taking their communications network connections to the world off-line. Special receiving stations are created to handle normal communications traffic. All communications received are extensively checked for contamination. -The Echo Mirage team is activated under presidential order to combat the computer virus. The "straight arrow" agents however, are unable to withstand the psychological demands of psycho- physiological combat in cyberspace. -The directors of Echo Mirage recruit the most brilliant, if erratic, data-processing mavericks from industry and the universities. These men and women are drafted under a presidential emergency order and put through a brutal training program. 32 men and women graduate with their sanity intact. -In August, the new members of Echo Mirage, armed with improved cybertechnology, begin their attack against the virus program. Eighteen minutes after engaging the virus, four members of Echo Mirage are dead. When their data logs are analyzed, two things are discovered. First, the virus program can induce lethal biofeedback in humans accessing cyberspace. Second, no existing computer security can even slow down someone using a cyberterminal. -In the course of fighting the virus and attempting to rebuild the world data system, the computer network called the Matrix is born. -Horrified by the ease at which the Echo Mirage members penetrate their most secure systems, the corporations involved begin secret research to develop new security software that can repel intruders using a matrix interface device. This includes research to duplicate the lethal effects generated by the virus program. The resulting software is the first generation of intrusion countermeasures, or IC, now known worldwide as "ice." -Echo Mirage learns techniques to isolate and contain the virus. Equipped with new combat programs and beefed-up cyberterminals, they begin to purge the grid of the virus. -The Salish-Shidhe Council, soon followed by the entire NAN, declares the emerging metahuman races to be welcome in tribal lands. -Satisfaction Safaris, a company that gives tours of the Awakened Forest in Northern Minnesota, is founded. -Many of the first generation UGE elves in the Salish-Shidhe Council, move to the Mount Rainier area and form a separate tribe called the Sinsearach. Dwarves, orks, and trolls also move to the area, but in smaller numbers. -A major gang crisis in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota forces the MPC to get active assistance from the MSD crisis response teams. -Walter Bright Water announces his retirement from the Salish-Shidhe Council, citing a recent diagnosis of terminal cancer as the reason. After making a final public appeal for segregation of humans and metahumans, he drops from sight. -Sakehisa Tajika becomes a member of the board of directors of Ares Macrotechnology. -GMC Motors completes its first 4201 jeep. -The Sikorsky-Kamov corporation collapses. -Walter Bright Water is announced dead. The city of Portland mounts a lavish funeral and memorial service. 2030: -The beginning of series of conflicts in Europe and Asia known as the Euro-wars. With the Russian communication and surveillance systems disrupted by the virus, the Commonwealth of Independent States make a bid for true independence. The conflict is long and drawn out as Eastern European powers like Germany and Poland are drawn into the war. Switzerland remains, as always neutral. -In Great Britain, the government begins funding the building of a vast series of domes, stretching six miles north and south of the Thames river. These "breathing" domes will be designed from a biofabric that block and absorb pollutants but pass air. -The Awakened come to dominate the Western Siberian Lowland, Yukat ASSR, and all other lands to the west of the lowlands. -On February 13, in Australia, Viking Enterprises initiates unrevealed hostilities against ANZAC causing a conflict known as the Corp War. -ANZAC responds to the Viking Enterprises attack by giving Chief of Security Susan Patrick, an elven physical adept and former member of the Australasian Special Air Service Regiment, free hand in stopping Viking Enterprises. She immediately and almost publicly calls on every available shadowrunner in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth for work. Viking also beefs up their security and conducts covert activities against ANZAC. The fighting goes on for five months, mostly in Brisbane. -On July 29, an ANZAC shadowrunner team known as the Maroons is caught in an ambush set after a traitor tips Viking Enterprises off about the raid. The Maroons not only destroy the ambushers but also the facility they are supposed to penetrate, which hosts several senior board members of Viking Enterprises. Within three hours, Southern Cross Security, an ANZAC security organization, conducts a series of precision strikes against Viking facilities that devastates the corporation, killing the rest of the high level management and rendering the overall corporation a non-viable entity. -Concrete Dreams plays its first show at Club Penumbra in Seattle. -In California during local elections almost every ballot calls for a referendum for secession from the United States. -On October 15, U.S. President MacAlister and Canadian Prime Minister Harold Frazier sign a treaty to merge the remains of the United States of America with what is left of Canada, including her major industrial center and important natural resource areas. The new government is called the United Canadian and American States (UCAS). The merging goes through smoothly despite protests on both sides of the border. -Francis Daniels, an engineering Ph.D., fourth dan ki-akido black belt, and the first publicly documented physical adept, is killed during the D.C. riots. -Tong & Anvil Mining Company (an exclusive dwarvish corporation) is founded in Duluth, Minnesota. -The suburb in Minneapolis-Saint Paul Minnesota that was bombed during the food riot is walled off and made into "Crystal City"-Minnesota Maximum Security Facility. Every inmate of this new penitentiary is fitted with a security collar which has a timer, a transceiver, and a plastic explosive charge. Any attempt to tamper with the collar or to leave the area of the prison and the transmitters on the prison walls, results in detonation of the collar. When the inmate's sentence is over, the explosive dissolves, destroys the transceiver, and the collar falls off. Each inmate is left to his own devices as to how to survive the length of his sentence. -In Australasia, the Humanis Policlub tries to open a chapterhouse in Sydney. The first turnout is composed entirely of metahumans. This causes a small riot in which the Humanis members are arrested with disturbing the peace. -The Super Bowl is canceled. -Brian O'Malley, head of the Chicago and Seattle Mafia, is shot and killed in his home. -The oyabun of Seattle is assassinated. -The deaths of the bosses of the Mafia and Yakuza results in a truce between the previously warring groups. -O'Malley's brother James takes control of his Mafia organization. -Frederick Davitt begins work as a reporter for Newsnet (formerly Turner News Service). -Prostitution is legalized within New Orleans city limits. -The 4F corporation is discovered by other corporate powers to be performing research on a method of tapping into fiber-optic communication lines that was previously lost in the computer crash of 2029. The corporate powers immediately go to the Corporate Court on the Zurich-Orbital Station and demand that they put a stop to 4F's research. -Under the direction of the Corporate Court, all of the major corporations sign the Concord of Zurich-Orbital. This document states that no corporation will attempt to reconstruct the technology to tap into fiber-optic lines. Furthermore, if any corporation attempts to violate this agreement, the other corporations will band together to eliminate them. -In The Salish-Shidhe Council the Shoshone and Modoc tribes integrate into the Salish and Makah tribes, ceasing to exist as individual tribes. 2031: -The Echo Mirage team wipes out the last known concentration of the virus code. Of the original 32 members, only seven are still alive. Four of these survivors decamp into the private sector, taking with them the secrets of cyberterminal technology. -Echo Mirage head Major David Gavilan disappears without a trace. -Australasia reconnects their communication network to the Matrix, but keeps the equipment to disconnect it again in case of an emergency. -The Violence in the Federal District of Columbia dies down. -The governing council of Denver begin to establish security zones. -A Constitution for the UCAS, is submitted to the Provisional Congress. Within six months, two-thirds of the new country's states have ratified the UCAS Constitution. U.S. President MacAlister becomes the provisional president and Canadian Prime Minister Frazier becomes the provisional vice president. -In response to the inability of the civilian police to control the violence in the Federal District of Columbia, the UCAS Congress set up the Federal Capital Police or FedPols to deal with law and order in DeeCee. -The Russian Republic steamrolls across Byelorussia and launches an invasion of Europe to secure vital industrial and agricultural resources. Germany, Poland, and the other members of NATO, fight back tenaciously. In a fit of isolationism, the UCAS Congress recalls all American troops from Europe. -Aithne Oakforest, Sean Laverty, Lugh Surehand, and Ehran the Scribe, four previously unknown elves in the Salish-Shidhe Nation, become major figures in the southern region of that country. Oakforest and Laverty become strong advocates of reoccupying and revitalizing the southern cities. Surehand and Ehran become more social figures, bringing the elves together into a new society. 2032: -UCAS President MacAlister is re-elected, becoming the first elected president of the UCAS. -The European conflict slows to a deadlock due to attrition. Despite heavy loss of both men and materials on both sides, little territory has changed hands. -Russia, with a precarious hold on much of Poland, renews the war with a surprise attack on Berlin. The allies are thrown into confusion but still manage to slow the offensive. -Britain, previously uncommitted to the struggle, steps in by sending troops to the low countries "to protect British interests." -Led by senators from Alabama and Georgia, a major walkout of legislators from the southern bloc threatens to derail the merging of the United States and Canada. As the rest of the U.S. Senate argues over new tax structures and fund allocation, the delegates from ten southern states meet to discuss secession. -In UCAS, the city of Boston, Massachusetts celebrates its 300th birthday. -Official Olympic events fall apart due to worldwide chaos. -The AAA baseball league relaxes its rule and allows a limited amount of cyberware for players. -Harlan Carson, one of the original members of Echo Mirage, founds Robot Technologies Inc. -The oyabun of the Yakuza in Chiba, Japan sends new Korean bosses to run the Seattle organizations. -The Elected Council of the Ute Nation approves a proposal from Maritech Enterprises of Vancouver in the Salish-Shidhe Council to convert the Sevier Bridge Reservoir into the world's largest fresh-water fish farm. -The members of the Corporate Court band together to take over Global Financial Services. -Frederick Davitt uncovers a scam operation in ConEd. His story is hailed by journalists around the country. -The Genesis Foundation, a corporation specializing in genetic and biological research, is founded in Minnesota/Saint Paul Minnesota. -The dwarvish majority is recognized in Duluth, Minnesota when a dwarvish mayor is elected. -Wilhelmina Graf-Beloit becomes chairman of the board of BMW. 2033: -On January 1, the Brisbane Metroplex becomes the 12 state of Australasia. The Metroplex covers the old shires and cities of Beaudesert, Caboolture, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Maroochy, Moreton, Landsborough, Pine Rivers, Redcliffe, and Redland. Sharon MacKenzie, a former member of the Queensland National Party, is elected first Metroplex Premier. -On January 23 Swedish airspace monitors detect several flights of what appear to be British Aerospace FA-38 Nightwraith fighter-bombers flying across northern Europe. In short order, the aircraft obliterate key communications and command centers belonging to both sides. With their offensive plans crippled beyond recovery, the two sides announce a cease-fire the following day. Although Swedish records indicate the planes origin to be in the area of Great Britain, no nation ever takes credit for the Nightwraith strike. -The Nightwraith strike ends the major fighting of the Euro- wars, although lesser battles still continue on. -Aztlan begins to take over portions of Mexico. -Damien Knight, a previously unknown financier, initiates his now-famous Nanosecond Buyout of Ares Industries. Using a series of expertly programmed computers in Stockholm, Sweden, Knight executes a series of transactions so complicated that they can only be read by another computer. By the end of the minute that the transactions took, three corporations have ceased to exist, two multi-millionaires have lost their fortunes, three people have become multi-millionaires, and Damien Knight has acquired 22 percent of Ares Industries. -Global Financial Services is moved to the Zurich-Orbital Habitat and renamed the Zurich-Orbital Gemeinschaft Bank. -On March 14 Andrew Cole, an employee of the accounting and disbursement division of the Kensington corporation suspected of embezzling 500,000 nuyen, dies. -Homeless people begin to move into the abandoned Fulton County Stadium and using it for shelter. The increasing numbers of people build their own microsociety based on such primitive principles as "might makes right." 2034: -In May, Matrix Systems of Boston comes out with the first "gray-market" cyberterminal. -Six weeks after the cyberterminal release, Matrix systems' main computer crashes and two of its founders are killed in apparently unrelated accidents. -The British government gives Primrose Hill and the surrounding buildings to the New Druidic Movement as its headquarters. -Lugh Surehand and his associates have by now forged the southern area of the Salish-Shidhe Nation into an independent state in all but name. Through reestablishing infrastructure, social and governmental programs and the establishment of a police force named the Portland Axis Peace Force. -In June, Irish State President Charles McGoldrick is impeached for vidphone-tapping, illegal surveillance of political opponents, and corruption on a grand scale. Power is passed to acting State President Eamonn McCarthy. -In London, U.K., Armor Industries scientists Anatole Torkin and William Kingston III along with 10 other specialists make a breakthrough in body armor technology that will lead to the creation of Kevlite. -Many displaced Irish humans migrate to the Boston sprawl, Massachusetts and organize the Knights of the Red Branch terrorist group. -Armor Industries executives discovers that Security Concepts, a company that has been buying up their stock, has broken into their computers and stolen the files on their Kevlite discoveries. Security Concepts denies this accusation. Lacking proof, Armor Industries is forced to recreate their discovery. -Armor Industries director of Research and Development Anatole Torkin suffers a freak auto accident and is killed. -Despite their setbacks Armor Industries successfully recreates their Kevlite armor. It attracts the attention of many German and Soviet buyers. -The government of Brazil signs a contract with Armor Industries reaching into the several billions range. -A force of Awakened beings and metahumans led by three great dragons descends on the Amazon basin. In a short but extremely bloody conflict, Brazilian forces cede most of the Amazon basin to the invaders. -The Brazilian government falls and two days later, most of their territory is claimed by the Awakened army. They name their new nation Amazonia. They claim that they will be the savior of the eco-sphere. -Armor Industries demands that the new government of Amazonia makes good on the amounts still owed by the former Brazilian government. Amazonia refuses, stating that any bills owed by the Brazilian government are null and void. -Aztlan secedes from the NAN. -Lugh Surehand fires the chief of the Peace Force John Big Smoke, and replaces him with Rainer Grundman, a German elf from Berlin. Grundman reorganizes the Peace Force in a more military fashion. -In Seattle, in order to deal with an interim undercapacity in shipping warehouses on Marginal Way, new interim warehouses are constructed. -Displeased with what they perceive as President MacAlister's preferential treatment of the midwestern and northeastern sprawl zones, the southern states of the UCAS threaten to withdraw from the union. MacAlister, in his oft-quoted "Eat My Shorts" speech responds that if the southern states walk, there will be hell to pay. -A few days after MacAlister's speech, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and the southern portion of Virginia secede from the UCAS to form the Confederated American States (CAS). The CAS is instantly recognized by Aztlan. Sentiments run high, and fears of a second civil war are rampant. Nevertheless, the transition is relatively orderly. President MacAlister signs the Treaty of Richmond with the rebel states establishing peaceful boundaries and a working political and economic relationship between the two countries. The Northern part of Virginia remains as a state in the UCAS. The CAS is also written into the governing council of the city of Denver. Military units, divided in loyalties, split up and move to their preferred countries with few incidents of violence. The former governor of Alabama is voted pro tem president of the CAS until regular elections can be held. -Aztlan becomes the first nation to recognize the CAS. -Unofficial Olympic Games are held in Beijing, Buenos Aires, and Johannesburg. -A major gang war breaks out inside MSP and destroys most of South Saint Paul. The area is rebuilt and redesignated as Corps Saint Paul. -The Zurich-Orbital Gemeinschaft Bank establishes its primary headquarters in the Zurich-Orbital Habitat. -A coalition of laboratories, doing research on the lifespan of metahumans, declares that the elven metatype has a potential lifespan of several centuries. -Dunklezahn begins his purchase of Lake Louise in the Athabaskan Council to serve as his lair. -On December 11, Irish President McCarthy turns to Liam O'Connor and asks him to impose a state of emergency while the legislature and other influential governmental officials initiate future constitutional changes. Within weeks O'Connor has passed through massive changes, including cutting the power of the Dail and increasing that of the largely elvish Senate. Local governmental powers are also cut. -On Christmas, Irish politician Seamus O'Kennedy, an associate of Liam O'Connor, makes a nationwide broadcast announcing further governmental changes and the birth of a new nation: Tir na nOg. -Anton D'Venescu, a prominent mage with Aztechnology announces a significant breakthrough in summoning spirits and claims to be close to rediscovering the magical rituals of the pre- Columbian Aztecs. 2035: -By this year, the UCAS has no military presence anywhere outside North America. -The Athabascan Council orders all the UCAS to remove all DEW sensor stations from their territory. -Tir na nOg State President Eamonn McCarthy resigns on the grounds of poor health. He is replaced by Liam O'Connor. Seamus O'Kennedy is appointed Minister of the Interior, and Thomas O'Brien is appointed Minister of State for Industry and Commerce. -The Zurich-Orbital Corporate Court rules that, since Amazonia is recognized by neither London nor the Corporate Court, they are not responsible for the monies owed the Armor Industries corporation. -The coalition of laboratories that determined the elven lifespan strangely retracts their findings, saying that elves live 100-125 years. -In Tir na nOg, acts of Constitution vest large amounts of power into the Senate. -A series of bombings strikes Union Station in the Federal District of Columbia. -Armor Industries manages to take over its former adversary Security Concepts after a 2 year stock battle. -A major schism opens between the Tsimshian nation and the other members of the NAN. -The NAN sector in Denver fragments into three separate sectors. ruled by the Pueblo Corporate Council, Sioux Nation, and Ute Nation. -Armor Industries president Franklin Tulley dies of a heart attack. He is replaced by William Kingston. -In Tir na nOg, the Danaan family creates the province of Meath in order to define on paper the heart of the nation. -The CAS votes to make Atlanta the permanent capital. -Aztlan begins a military takeover of southern Texas. Despite the efforts of the Lone Star Militia and the Texas Rangers, Austin is lost before the invaders can be stopped. The Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex becomes the new Texas capital. -The Texas State Legislature petitions for a military venture to reclaim the southwest of Texas. -The CAS government, fearing that the NAN will come to the defense of Aztlan, refuses Texas' petition. -Texas angrily declares its independence from the CAS, again becoming a Republic. They immediately launch an invasion against Aztlan. -Four months after their failed invasion of Aztlan, Texas applies for re-admittance to the CAS. -The Aztlan Freedom League (a non-profit organization dedicated to sending medical supplies and food to the impoverished areas of Aztlan) begins an underground railroad to allow a steady stream of refugees into Texas. -The Insurance War. Cord Mutual Insurance and North American Eagle Life Insurance wage a semi-covert war over the insurance contract for all employees of the CAS government. On June 8, six Geas jets explode simultaneously in flight from their Atlanta departure point. Geas Airline is insured by North American Eagle Life Insurance which pays out huge sums both for the jets and the relatives of slain passengers. No connection is made with Cord Mutual. A sweep of assassinations of vidstars and entertainment personalities across the continent, especially in Atlanta, follows. Eventually North American Eagle's corporate investigators make a connection between one of the assassinations and Cord Mutual. North American Eagle begins funding a terrorist organization known as the Medusa Sisterhood to retaliate against Cord Mutual. The Medusa Sisterhood makes a series of vandalous attacks on Cord Mutual-Insured corporations and individuals. Cord Mutual responds with attacks against the Medusa Sisterhood as well as North American Eagle. What began as a clandestine corporate power struggle becomes a bloody war, claiming the lives of hundreds of insured. -The media breaks the story on the Insurance War, acting on rumors of the two corporations' involvement in the rash of violence in the sprawl. The CAS government and the City of Atlanta government comes down hard on both corporations, ending the war. -Cord Mutual is able to provide evidence of North American Eagle's funding of the Medusa Sisterhood, while no official connection is made between Cord Mutual and the independent operatives they used as soldiers in the Insurance War. North American Eagle is assessed fines and several top officials are arrested. Cord Mutual wins the CAS insurance contract despite a storm of controversy. -Cord Mutual goes through a power struggle and several changes in upper management. There is also a supposedly unrelated accident in the company's skyraker, which leads to the closing of the buiding's top 25 floors. Cord Mutual officials say only that it is declared structurally unsound. -In an unprecedented interruption of worldwide broadcasting by mimicking the Civil Emergency Network priority code, the Ceneste or "forsaken" tribe of elves of the Northwest territories of the NAN (formerly Oregon) declare their independence and announce the birth of Tir Tairngire (the land of promise). Lugh Surehand, now mayor of Portland, declares himself to be the High Prince of Tir Tairngire. Aithine Oakforest, Sean Laverty, and the relatively unknown Jenna Ni'Fairra become the first members of the Tir Tairngire Council of Princes. Ehran the Scribe also becomes a member, but secretly. -The Salish-Shidhe Nation sends troops into the Tir Tairngire area, confident that the elves are poorly armed and constitute no real threat. The elves strike back using heavy military weaponry, driving the Salish-Shidhe troops back. The Salish-Shidhe attack six more times from different directions and are driven back each time with heavy losses. -After seeing the strength of Tir Tairngire, every other member of the NAN recognize Tir Tairngire as a sovereign state. The Caribbean League, UCAS, CAS and Aztlan refuse to recognize Tir Tairngire. -The Yarrow nuclear reactor complex in central England suffers a meltdown, resulting in the Northern Toxic Zone. -The last major gangs inside the MSP metroplex are forcibly disbanded. Gangs inside MSP are outlawed and wearing gang colors becomes a crime punishable by internment in "Crystal City." -In Tir Tairngire, three more members are added to the Council of Princes. These are Jonathon Reed, Maria Cinebal, and Dar Varian. -Coffin hotels begin to replace front-desk employees with automated computers. -In Tir Tairngire, High Prince Lugh Surehand makes a motion to make the great western dragon Lofwyr a member of the Council of Princes. Although this is adamantly opposed by Jenna Ni'Fairra, Aithne Oakforest and Ehran the Scribe, the other members support the High Prince. Ehran bluffs and decrees that if Lofwyr becomes a member of the Council he will resign. The High Prince calls his bluff and Lofwyr becomes a Prince. 2036: -Martin Vincenzo, a charismatic businessman from Massachusetts defeats President MacAlister in his bid for re- election. Vincenzo, a member of the newly organized Technocratic Party, introduces a new level of coalition politics into UCAS elections by naming Republican Vernon Washington as his running mate. -The 14th Amendment to the UCAS constitution is ratified. This amendment establishes the System Identification Number(SIN), requiring the registration of every UCAS citizen. Individuals without SIN's are defined as "probationary citizens," and have sharply limited rights. Probationary citizens are not allowed to vote in federal elections. Species other than Homo Sapiens are eligible for probationary citizenship in the UCAS, but full citizenship to a non-human/metahuman may be granted only by act of Congress. -In Scotland, druidic magic transforms acres of economically unsuitable pine forests into deciduous forests, marking the creation of the Scottish Wild Lands. -The Cascade Ork tribe of the Salish-Shidhe Nation in the NAN uncovers a major uranium concentration in their lands near Peshastin. -In Tir Tairngire, the number of official members allowed on the Council of Princes is set at eleven when its first non-elven (other than Lofwyr) members are elected. Blake Ladner and Garth Stone, both dwarves; Larry Zincan, an ork; and "Rex", a sasquatch are elected to the Council. -Ambrosius Publications of New York releases the first issue of the Manual of Practical Thaumaturgy. -Governor Kross of the Seattle Metroplex Retires. -Governor Kross is succeeded by Victor "Vic the Quick" Allenson, a former combat biker for the Tacoma Timberwolves. Allenson is known to have a low opinion of metahumans as shown during a trideo interview when he is quoted as saying, "Orks and Trolls make great offensive combat bikers, but I'm afraid they haven't the brains for much else." -A church in the town of Liberty Village, Ohio is fire-bombed with napalm. Twenty people, most of them metahumans, are killed. An anti-metahuman terrorist group calling itself Alamos 20,000 claims responsibility for the incident. -Dr Caitlin O'Connal, a sociologist, psychologist, futurist, and writer as well as a lecturer in sociology and statistics at U.C.L.A., begins her research under corporate grant to develop a numerical value system that can be used to measure and ultimately predict social interaction in various situations, particularly mob dynamics. Dr. O'Connal's husband Paul Grigg, a shaman and fellow instructor at U.C.L.A., assists her in her work. -Tir Tairngire holds its first Rite of Progression. This series of mental and physical tests determines ones rank in Tir Tairngire. High scores allow for upgrades in rank, average scores keep their original rank, and low scores suffer demotions. -The CAS government legislates a new tax structure that meets with wide-spread disapproval. -CAS elections are scheduled for the fall and campaigning focuses heavily on taxation. -Large portions of New Mexico and Oklahoma join the CAS, though the government excludes them from the upcoming elections until a distinct border can be determined. -CAS elections are sporadic and ill-run. Most pro tem officials are elected by default. -Doctors Akiko Kano and Arthur White Eagle win the Nobel Prize for their work on the Kano-White Eagle Theory of Metaphysical Phenomena. -Tir Tairngire mounts a surprise attack on Northern California using an entire armed division supported by infantry and limited air cover. The attack catches the California National Guard completely by surprise. Within the first six hours of the assault the California units are pushed south of Yreka. By adding paranimals, combat mages, and allegedly at least two dragons to their regular army, the Tir Tairngire forces roll south of Redding, where the CNG digs in to make a final stand. The battle lasts for two days and although the CNG fights valiantly, the defending soldiers of Redding are completely destroyed by the Tir Tairngire forces with no survivors. The survivors of the CNG army retreat from Redding. The Tir Tairngire army demands that all non-elves leave the area taken from California within 30 days. -Resistance armies spring up in the new Tir Tairngire territory of Redding. The Tir Tairngire army, feeling they have bitten off more than they can chew, pull back to Yreka, leaving the land between Yreka and Redding as a buffer zone between California and Tir Tairngire. -After witnessing the Tir Tairngire proficiency at combat, all North American nations except Aztlan recognize Tir Tairngire as a sovereign state. -A group of 500 elves from the MSP Metroplex gather to enter the Awakened Forest and start an independent colony. -Three weeks after entering the Awakened Forest, 75 of the 500 elves return as broken men. They tell of the forest itself rising up and killing the other members of the colony. -Within three weeks of their return, all of the 75 survivors of the Awakened Forest colony are dead. The senior elves of the Great Northern Council have ideas as to the reason, but make no public comment. -In Tir Tairngire, Portland is officially recognized as the hub of trade between Tir Tairngire and the rest of the world. Construction of a massive wall surrounding Portland to protect it is begun. -A period of expansion allows McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas, Ute Nation domestic, international, trans, and sub- orbital capacity. -Urlan Manes and Thomas Martelli establish Global Technologies Inc. -In Tir na nOg, an Establishment Act is passed placing the Church of Ireland higher in importance than the Catholic church. 2037: -California representatives in Washington recognize their secession Proposition 129 and begin to push for heavy economic and political concessions. President MacAlister calls California Governor Nelson Treacle and tells him that if his state votes to seceded he will hang them out to dry. -California lawmakers approve legislation dissolving California's political bond to the UCAS. Secession from the Union lacks only Governor Treacle's signature, but he is in Africa at the time. -Upon hearing about California's bid for secession, President MacAlister goes before Congress and declares, under Article IV, Section 3 of the UCAS Constitution, California no longer qualifies as a member of the UCAS. -Lieutenant Governor Marshall of California calls an immediate press conference to announce that Proposition 129 will not be signed into law, and that the Governor Treacle is returning to California early to deal with the crisis. President MacAlister states however that secession, based on the vote for Proposition 129, is the popular choice and that such a mandate cannot be ignored. -All federal resources are immediately withdrawn from the newly independent state of California. All California citizens no longer qualify for Social Security. The only UCAS services maintained in California are veteran's benefits. -An Aztlan light armor division invades San Diego, annexing it and the surrounding area. -Governor Treacle, failing to receive help from the UCAS, makes semi-covert overtures to the Japanese Imperial State. Stating that further takeover from Aztlan or Tir Tairngire would jeopardize Japanese interests. -The Japanese Imperial State immediately recognizes the newly declared California Free State as a sovereign nation. -On February 7, two Japanese Imperial Marine light divisions arrive by air at San Francisco's International Airport and the Alameda Naval Air Station. -Tir Tairngire is admitted into the U.N. -Emboldened by the Tir Tairngire secession, the Tsimshian nation also declares independence from the NAN. -In the wake of the Tir Tairngire and Tsimshian secessions as well as massive internal dissent, Daniel Howling Coyote resigns as head of the Sovereign Tribal Council of the NAN. He then withdraws into isolation. -The British government orders the Yorkshire Fringe Zone evacuated due to pollution and radiation hazards. -The great dragon Lofwyr makes his first appearance. Announcing that he owns 63% of Saeder-Krupp stock (the backbone of the BMW corporate empire), he votes himself into the chairmanship of the board ousting Wilhelmina Graf-Beloit. She flees to the Zurich-Orbital Habitat. Lofwyr then names himself to be president and CEO of BMW, changing the name to the Saeder-Krupp Corporation. -Timber wolves and bears, long extinct in the Scottish Wild Lands, are spotted once again. -In Tir Tairngire, construction of the wall surrounding the city of Portland is completed. -Dunklezahn purchases VisionQuest from the Ares Macrotechnology Virtual Reality labs. -Agatamori Kihara, chairman of the board of Mitsuhama Computer Technologies, is shot in the chest during random gang violence. As a result of the resulting health problems, he resigns from the board. -Simsense gear is now improved so that it can broadcast emotive signals. -Tir Tairngire extends an offer of peace to the California Free State to reconcile their differences in the form of expanded trade relations between the two nations. -The first North American Urban Brawl championship, "The Super Brawl," is held. -The DocWagon organization is founded in Atlanta, Georgia. It promises to provide better emergency on-site medical care by responding to calls much faster than any other private paramedical service. -CYCO Circuits is founded. -In France, The hemophiliac population is struck by a strange virus with a long latency period. -Rainier Grundman retires as chief of the Tir Tairngire Peace Force, citing ill health as the reason. He dies soon after. Rumors state that he actually suffered a broken spine during an attempt to depose Lugh Surehand and the Council of Princes. -A group of nonsmokers in Minneapolis, UCAS organizes themselves into a paramilitary organization called the Nonsmokers' Supremacy League (NSL) to combat public smoking. Armed with small arms, they begin a campaign of raiding restaurants and other public places which no longer have separate seating for smokers and nonsmokers. -In the North Sea between Scotland and Norway, a UCAS maritime research expedition discovers the Abrams lobster. This creature is identified as Europe's largest crustacean. -Lugh Surehand replaces Rainer Grundman with another European, Elya Therese. Therese names General Martha Gardener as commander of the constabulary, and General Rory Harty as commander of the military. -The Truman Reality 500 simsense gear is released. To this day it goes without major upgrades or changes. -The Armor International corporation releases a revolutionary type of highly durable body armor known as kevlite. 2038: -The state of Hawaii secedes from the UCAS and establishes a constitutional monarchy. They receive backing from the Imperial Japanese state but Malama, the queen of Hawaii manages to keep them from taking control. -The Super Bowl, canceled since 2030, is reestablished. -In Great Britain, on Channel 7's show "Medicine Bag", ork reporters expose the Adams-Hoffmann "Project 42-20". The show reveals that for 15 years the Adams-Hoffman corporation have been performing a wide-ranging experiment in forced gene-pool manipulation on the inhabitants of south London housing estates in order to discover how to control goblinization. The corporation has been systematically crippling, mutilating, and generally decimating south London's population by exposing them to a huge number of experimental mutagens. One particularly shocking incident involves Generation Epsilon/Alpha 16 mutagen put in free milk distributed to school children. Investigation reveals the project responsible for 720 deaths, with a further 9,500 unprovable. -In response to the Adams-Hoffman revelation, the inhabitants of Brixton, Camberwell, and New Cross in south London initiate a major riot that ends up on Tower Bridge. The police block the way leading to the Adams-Hoffman corporate headquarters in the city. During this riot, the first 19 of a group calling itself the Lambeth Martyrs are killed. The Tower Bridge and the nearby Thames Wharf shopping mall are seriously damaged. -Several more riots break out in London after the Tower Bridge riot. These are controlled however by the army and the police. -The Lambeth Martyrs, who have moved underground, initiate terrorist strikes with automatic weapons and rockets. The first units strike at Waterloo and Victoria Stations and in the Bond Street Station Mall. Almost one hundred innocent people are killed. -The Lambeth Martyrs initiate more attacks on government sites. Their most infamous one is at Dulwich Village, where 74 people are killed, including a retired ex-prime minister. -In order to control the violence in south London initiated by the Lambeth Martyrs, the government declares a medical emergency and creates the Lambeth Containment Zone. -Great Chief Deborah Jim is named head of the Tsimshian Nation. -A group of workers within an Ares Macrotechnology subsidiary attempts to form a union. Ares management responds by terminating everyone involved. When the fired workers appeal, the courts recognize Ares' rights to fire the employees because their action violates the megacorporation's law prohibiting unionization. The attempts at organization took place within Ares facilities, and so fell under corporate jurisdiction. -Judy Hofsted becomes the first woman to win a professional baseball contract when she joins the Detroit Tigers. -The only successful escape from Crystal City occurs. Criminal mastermind Wentworth Childe, known as "Brain Childe" is able to escape by stealing his collar-link transmitter, thereby keeping his collar from exploding. -Aztechnology initiates an "information coup" against Robot Technologies Inc., forcing the company to improve employee screening and benefits. -The NBS network creates the game show "Do You Feel Lucky?" which randomly calls people at their homes to play. This gimmick soon becomes popular on other game shows as well. -Dosan Aburakoji rises through the ranks of Mitsuhama Computer Technologies by selling deutschemarks short. 2039: -The Night of Rage. On February 7, the Seattle Metroplex Guard, under order of Governor Allenson, systematically rounds up all metahumans and transports them under armed guard to a series of warehouses on the Seattle waterfront. They are told that they ar being deported to camps near San Francisco. In one of the warehouses a series of screams prompts gunfire from the guards. Panic and hysteria takes over. One of the warehouses catches fire due to explosions. Soon all warehouses are burning. Some witnesses claim to see Hand of Five terrorists in the area. The Metroplex Guard does nothing to stop the blaze. As news of the incident reaches the public, citizens protest the barbaric treatment of the metahumans. The United Corporate Council threatens Governor Allenson with lock-outs and boycotts to force him to act against the terrorism. By the time Governor Allenson acts, the fire has already ended and many of the metahumans are dead. This incident sparks violence around the city. Similar events occur worldwide. Thousands are killed. These are mostly metahumans, their supporters, and those cosmetically altered to look like metahumans. In New York alone, 836 deaths occur. -Three days after the Night of Rage in Chicago, Illinois, members of Alamos 20,000 use a combination of explosives and magic against the supports of the nine units making up the Sears Tower, sending the building crashing down to the street. The falling debris destroys blocks worth of buildings, streets and sidewalks. Thousands are crushed to death. Gas lines rupture and the whole area goes up in flames. A second Chicago Fire is narrowly averted by mages who contain the blaze in less than an hour. The final death toll is nearly 26,000. The Sears Tower and surrounding areas are never rebuilt and the area becomes known as the Shattergraves. -Alamos 20,000 makes the destruction of the Sears Tower look like the work of metahumans in retaliation for the Night of Rage. The corporations of Chicago respond by sealing the metahumans and poor out of their neighborhoods. The city government and the corporations build projects on Chicago's North Side district to house the metahumans and keep them separated from the rest of the city. -In Australasia, Asians commit the greatest number of attacks on metahumans. The Australians respond by attacking the Asians with the same anger that metahumans experience worldwide. -The Georges Seurat painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is stolen from the Art Institute of Chicago. -The Art Institute of Chicago is closed down. -Three days after the Night of Rage in Seattle, public, civil, and media anger focuses on Governor Allenson. Rumors spread that he is a member of the Hand of Five. Local politicians, with heavy prodding from the UCC, demand that Governor Allenson step down. Allenson denies any wrongdoing and refuses to resign. -The day after he is called on to resign, Governor Allenson is found murdered in his office. -A special election is held in the Seattle Metroplex to choose a new governor. Marilyn Schultz, mayor of Belvue and a relative unknown, wins by a surprisingly large margin. Reports that she was one of the first city officials to appeal to the UCC for help during the Night of Rage apparently clinches he nomination. -Governor Schultz delivers an ultimatum to Lone Star Security: Arrest the leaders of the Hand of Five or else face a breach of contract lawsuit for their criminal refusal to stop a crime in progress during the Night of Rage. -The Week of Sirens. Lone Star Security forces go on a massive manhunt for the terrorists in Seattle. Within a few days, most Hand of Five leaders are either dead or behind bars. -Alamos 20,000 attempts a mass murder spree in Duluth, Minnesota. Eleven members of the terrorist group are captured but escape the day before being turned over to state authorities. -In June Dr. Caitlin O'Connal discovers the equations that she has been searching for that fit into the equations of all races and cultures. Dr. O'Connal calls these equations of group consciousness the, "universal brotherhood." No reputable journal will publish O'Connal's report because her conclusions are considered unacceptable. -In Boston, UCAS, on St. Patrick's Day, the Irish terrorist organization known as the Knights of the Red Branch "strike a blow for Eire." A bomb is planted in a popular elven restaurant along Boston Commons. 24 people are killed and dozens injured in the resulting explosion. The St. Patrick's Day parade rapidly degenerates into a massive race riot. By the time authorities impose martial law and reestablish order, hundreds are dead and hundreds more are injured. The day becomes known as "Bloody Tuesday." -Mullins Chadwick, a sociologist and leading authority on the Awakening and its effects on modern culture, receives the Campbell Fellowship to the Mythological Institute for his book Monkeytribe: Survival Manual for Erect Bibeds. -In New Orleans, Louisiana, a majority of the city's African- American population demand that a portion of the city be set aside for them to set up their own community. Despite protests from both corporate and civic leaders, the city gives in to the group's demands. The area set aside for the black group becomes known as the Zulu Nation. -The Trans-Polar Aleut Nation announces plans to build a fusion power plant on Cape Dalhousie to supply energy to their districts of Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk, and Alavik. The idea is quickly scrapped in response to violent objections from the populace. -In Great Britain, a massive chemical spill on the Teeside district of London results in more than 70,000 deaths from nerve- gas poisoning. -Outcry against the chemical spill leads to a schism in the British Conservationist government. -The Pan-Europa terrorist group releases a paraviral agent on the city of London in retaliation for their involvement in the dissolution of the European Community. The virus has immensely destructive effects on all wood and biofabrics, including the biofabric covering the London weather control dome. -A superheavyweight class (95 kilograms and up) is introduced into the World Boxing Association in Atlanta and the International Boxing Commission in Bonn, Germany to accommodate superboosted human and metahuman fighters. -Seattle megacorporations begin buying up land in the Tacoma district at an unprecedented rate. -Fuchi Incorporated sponsors the Universal Matrix Specifications Conference in Tokyo. More than 7000 humans and metahumans meet for three months to determine the details of matrix programming. -The Mafia of Redmond, Seattle is thrown into turmoil when Carl Dacavitt and a group of followers declare independence from the Seattle Mafia. Dacavitt is summarily executed but his followers manage to begin a serious challenge for control of the district. -Senate hearings begin in the CAS to investigate charges of racial prejudice against metahumans. The committee's shocking report verifies that conditions amount to slavery in most states. The Native American Nations impose heavy trade sanctions on CAS to speed up metahuman equality laws. -In Charleston, South Carolina, a serial killer is captured after the detective-mage handling the case studies the ghost of one of the killer's victims. The ghost's actions reveal sources of evidence that lead to the murderer's arrest and conviction. -In New Orleans, Louisiana, a group of four fire elementals that have been ravaging that city's barrens are banished. -In Latvia, a farm settlement is attacked by a group of bulldog stoats. eleven people are allegedly killed. -Aztlan introduces death matches fought with real weapons and minimal armor as a form of execution of condemned criminals. -A fringe group of the NSL based in Chicago bomb a United Airlines 797-jetliner, killing 161 people. The act is followed by a declaration of de facto war by the NSL against smokers everywhere. -In Boston, UCAS, a hermetic magic group called the Scions of the Rose are implicated in a rash of disappearing orphans and juveniles. Most of the members are found guilty and given sentences of up to 25 years. -Despite attempts from the Minneapolis home branch to segregate itself from the Chicago group, the NSL becomes the focus of nationwide law enforcement attention. -Terri Ann Riberio resigns as Dunklezahn's interpreter in order to begin what will become a somewhat successful, if not noteworthy, acting career. She is replaced by Nadja Daviar, an Eastern European elf with no personal history on file. -The GM-Nissan Spotter recon drone becomes the standard for long-range remote spotter drones. 2040: -Campaigning for CAS presidential elections heats up, with the Metahuman Protection Act as the most publicized issue. Coalitions of orks, trolls, and elves lobby for equality. The elections run more smoothly this time and the competition for all offices is fierce. -In the CAS South Carolina Senator Joseph Alexander is elected President, with Florida's governor Jeanette Malory as Vice President. -Several Metahumans are named to key CAS cabinet posts, which persuades the NAN to lift some of its sanctions. In New Orleans, Louisiana, that city's trolls and orks demand their own community similar to the Zulu Nation. The city responds (although slowly). The area set aside for the trolls and orks becomes known as Orktown. -In Philadelphia, police headquarters burns to the ground in a massive fire. The cause is unknown. -In Great Britain, new evidence is discovered revealing government approval of the Adams-Hoffman experiments. -Thomas Jefferson International Airport opens just south of the Federal District of Columbia boundaries in North Virginia. -A.I. Proncs is hired as head of ANZAC's Discoveries Unlimited. -In Philadelphia,Minuteman Security takes over the city's police contract. Their headquarters are built on the remains of the old police headquarters. -Kate Mustaffah, a dwarf from Europe, emigrates to Tir Tairngire. She quickly becomes leader of the business community of Portland. -The UCAS begins a training program for the Trans-Polar Aleut Peace Force (That nation's police). -Hammer & Shield Security, an all dwarvish corporation in the MSP Metroplex, is founded. -In Australasia, a law is passed stating that any reflex enhancing modifications must be registered with the government. -In Great Britain, Daffyd Rhys Williams, one of the first noble-born elves, becomes Earl of Pembroke. -Lochlann Investments is established by Geyswain, a low- profile western dragon. -the Biogene Technologies Inc. corporation is created from three similar companies experiencing financial difficulties. -The Association Para-Nobilis (APN), a radical pro-elf organization with an all-cosmetically altered human membership, is founded by Leo Ridgeworth. -Anton D'Venescu's wife Diana is found murdered in ritual style. D'Venescu himself has disappeared. His daughter Fayette disappears as well. -The Film Noir style enjoys a minor revival. 2041: -The British Conservationist government is voted out of office. -The Green party, a pro-environment political group, takes over Parliament in Great Britain from the now disgraced Conservationist party. -EuroAir Flight 329, enroute from London to Atlanta, is destroyed over the Atlantic with no survivors. Though garbled, the flight recorder indicates the plane is attacked by a dragon (later identified tentatively as Sirrug, a well known Western Great Dragon). The recorder also states that one passenger holds the dragon off with magic for several minutes before the plane is destroyed. Many believe the plane is destroyed in retaliation for the Night of Rage. -Policlubs, youth-oriented associations devoted to spreading various political or social philosophies, appear in Europe. Each club hopes to recruit the masses to its own viewpoint and thus play a leading role in the European Restoration. -The Antibac genetic treatment for bacterial infections becomes available. -Tir na nOg President Liam O'Connor marries Lady Brane Deigh. He then secures her position as Prionsa within the Court of Stewards. -Global Oil merges with UCAS Steel. Both facets of the conglomerate continue to do business under the Global Oil label. -A unilateral ban on all genetic warfare experimentation is enacted. -In Germany, Doktor Gansz, an employee of the Waldheim Klinik is discovered to be a nosferatu vampire. He is revealed to have a whole private ward of people on life support to allow him to feed on them. It is discovered that over the past ten years he has killed fifty people. -UCAS athletics are officially opened to all metahumans. -Knight-Errant Security presents evidence that Warren Security in New York City has been systematically butchering squatter-residents of various buildings owned by Warren habitats, their parent company. -By this year DocWagon has become Atlanta, Georgia's de facto official on-site health-care provider. -DocWagon further consolidates its hold on the health care market by purchasing a small for-profit hospital about to go out of business. Using its excellent management skills, DocWagon turns the hospital around, and the first of several DocWagon Acute Care Clinics in the Atlanta area becomes one of the corporation's largest profit centers. -Sakehisa Tajika becomes chairman of the board of Ares Macrotechnolgy. -Rumors abound in the corporate world that Lofwyr has given or sold some of his shares of the Saeder-Krupp Corporation to other individuals. -Casinos and nightclubs are opened by the Mafia on White Bear Lake in the MSP Metroplex. -Mullins Chadwick wins the Pulitzer Prize for Monkeytribe: Survival Manual for Erect Bibeds. -The Leather Devils go-gang in Seattle force their way onto Council Island (the NAN embassy in Seattle). Before Island Police and Lone Star Security's Rapid Deployment teams can chase them off, 50 people are killed. -In the Tsimshian Nation, a total of seven planes crash due to heavy storm activity. -The Yamatetsu corporation manages to make headway into obtaining a seat on the Corporate Court and the Zurich-Orbital Gemeinschaft Bank. Ares Macrotechnology, Fuchi Industrial Electronics, and Mitsuhama Computer Technologies all resist Yamatetsu and skirmishes erupt between corporate forces around the world. -In Tir Tairngire, the Art Education Act is passed. This law states that all students in the Tir Tairngire elementary, secondary and high school levels must take art technique classes until each student finds one or more art forms in which he or she can adequately express himself. The definition of art extends beyond traditional schools and includes embroidery, bonsai-like tree cultivation, manuscript illumination, and other forms. -John George, a half-blood Haida indian in the Tsimshian Nation, establishes the radical group known as the Haida National Front. This group agitates for equal rights for their tribe. As a result, George and many of his followers are put in jail. -Vladimir Zorgon, CEO of Zorgon Cybersystems, sends his brother Vasilev to the MSP Metroplex to open a new facility there. -Ignaz Yablonski, Seattle's chief Medical Examiner since 2032, is elected to that city's newly created post of Director of Forensic Magic. -In the CAS, the Atlanta based Lanrie Corporation infects a Miami-based competitor's computer system with a tailored computer virus. The other major corporations discover this action and, under the terms of the Concord of Zurich-Orbital and with the sanction of the Corporate Court, destroy the Lanrie corporation. Lanrie's infrastructure is shattered, its facilities and assets are destroyed, and its board of directors are executed. This is the last known incident of viral warfare. 2042: -The Euro-wars officially come to an end. -The Fuchi Electronics Industrial Compound is rebuilt after being destroyed during the Night of Rage. -The Oyabun of the Yakuza, seeing that the new Korean bosses are now putting Korean interests over Japanese interests, sends an ultimatum to them: Pledge their loyalty to the Oyabun or face the consequences. The Koreans ignore this threat. -The Yamatetsu corporation is finally recognized as a member of the Corporate Court and the Zurich-Orbital Gemeinschaft bank. Skirmishes between the disputing factions die off. -The United Nations recognizes the Sasquatch species as a sentient race. -The Tsimshian Nation police discover the headquarters of the Haida National Front. They attack with Japanese-built one-man gunships and decimate the HNF headquarters. No HNF members survive. -In March, Tir na nOg State President Liam O'Connor stages his own election as High Steward. -Arthur Garrett, the most influential academician in the field of magical studies, takes over as Chairman of the Department of Occult Studies at UCLA. -Harry "Ironjaw" Bartlett, pitcher for the L.A. Yankees, goblinizes after five years on the mound. -Holly Brighton retires from the media industry. -The various pro-sports commissioners charter a joint committee to make a decision as to whether physical adepts should be allowed to compete in professional sports. -The Zeta-Impchem corporation is exposed in the Polydopa scandal of dumping neurotoxins for the past four years in central Africa. This results in 4,000 premature deaths and 35,000 cases of irreversible brain damage. -Several streets in downtown MSP Metroplex collapse. Rather then rebuild the streets on badly saturated foundations, the sunken areas are smoothed out and turned into the MSP Canals, allowing boat travel in the city itself. The area becomes known as "Little Venice." -DocWagon begins to expand beyond the Atlanta, Georgia area. In an unprecedented marketing campaign, DocWagon begins franchising its operation throughout the UCAS, excepting Seattle. By the end of the year, DocWagon has sold at least three franchises in each major UCAS city-again excluding Seattle-and have many more scattered through the country's smaller communities. -In London, several floors of the Angel Towers Arcology are damaged when a missile from the Lambert Containment Zone is misfired. -The Underplex Corporation is established to oversee the final stages of development for the West End Underplex mall in London. -In Seattle, UCAS, an Aztechnology long-haul dirigible crashes into Puget Sound when it is fired upon by Metroplex Guard fighters for not following travel orders. Tensions build up between Aztechnology and the Seattle government over this incident. -In the Mediterranean, the villa of a collector of rare animals is destroyed by a rocket and missile attack on his island. The explosion releases his collection of greater armadillos, allowing them to breed and establish for the first time in Europe. -The policy of automating coffin hotels becomes much more widespread. 2043: The Universal Brotherhood, a humanitarian organization that preaches a philosophy based on the group consciousness equations of Dr. Caitlin O'Connal, opens its first chapters in California: Two in San Francisco, one in Ukiah, and one in Gilroy. -During the World All-Star baseball exhibition between the Yomiuri Giants, Japan's most revered team, and the L.A. Dodgers, the Yomiuri corporation newsnets create a major uproar at the fact that they are playing a team with Harry "Ironjaw" Bartlett due to the fact that he is kawaruhito (changed person, goblinized). The L.A. Dodgers win the game. -In Great Britain, Rhiannon Glendower, an elf mage, becomes Countess of Snowdonia in Wales. -In Tir Tairngire, the Council and the High Prince respond to the population's growing demands for equal representation in the government by creating the Star Chamber. This organization divides the country into 128 districts and each district elects a representative to serve in the Star Chamber. The Chamber has advisory powers over the Council and the High Prince, but cannot force them to do anything. -Elves in the Welsh regional Parliament begin to make major advances. -The Knights of Rage, a group claiming to be descendants of Nubians who predict that the world will be eaten by dragons, begin support of the dragon Celedyr in Caerlon, Great Britain. -Ehran the Scribe publishes his first book Mankind Ascendent. -The Trans-Polar Aleut Nation announces plans to dam a tributary of the Mackenzie river to build a hydro-electric power plant. The idea is quickly canceled by environmental interests in the government. -In May, Tir na nOg State President Liam O'Connor disappears. -In Bonn Germany, the EBMM scandal occurs. It is the only reported verified event of magical cheating in Urban Brawl. -In Tir na nOg, Lady Brane Deigh proclaims herself Rian, or "Queen" of the Seelie Court, a non-legislative body independent of the Court of Stewards. -Governor Schultz of the Seattle Metroplex is reelected. -The construction of Freepark in Atlanta, Georgia in the CAS is completed and the turbulent government transition comes to an end. -The Willamette Compustat Corporation is founded in Tir Tairngire by Darcy Dybhavn. -Professional gladiator sports, with fighters under contract, have their first official matches. -Dunklezahn begins a semi-annual vid program called Wyrm Talk. Topics range from celebrity interviews to insightful commentaries on culture and society. -DocWagon goes international, as well as finally opening a chapter in Seattle. -Two weeks before it is to go on-line, a Seattle prototype wash-phase-array radar near the Sioux Nation border explodes. -The Tir Tairngire Rite of Progression is held. -Don Franco Mueller, leader of a second Mafia group in the Federal District of Columbia, becomes member of the Mafia Commissione. -The Yakuza send Japanese Assassins to Seattle to purge all Koreans from their organization. Most are killed but some escape to later form the Seoulpa Rings. -Due to increased senility, Sakehisa Tajika is removed as chairman of the board of Ares Macrotechnology. -Leo Ridgeworth of the APN dies. He is replaced by APN secretary Aaron Mitchell. -Aaron Mitchell, convinced that Leo Ridgeworth was murdered, trains 27 APN members as soldiers and launches a covert war against the APN's enemies. Many of the APN's opponents are killed but only six APN soldiers survive the assault. -Several months after the beginning of the APN assaults, Aaron Mitchell (now calling himself Xeric) calls a halt to the violence and begins a recruitment drive to rebuild the APN. -After a failed attempt at a hostile stock take-over of Tong & Anvil Mining, 4-M launches a prolonged corp war against the dwarven corporation. -Waren Tyler, president and primary stockholder of Western Biosystems, dies. -In London, U.K., Protestant terrorists launch attacks using incendiary bombs. 31 people are killed and 102 people are maimed. 2044: -On February 23, three humans and an elf attack and nearly destroy a Downtown Metro Security precinct in New Orleans, Louisiana. Two humans and the elf are killed, but the remaining human is captured and revealed to be a vampire. Before her execution the vampire reveals that a small group of her kind, led by an ancient vampire/mage named Bartholomew, is plotting to conquer New Orleans. "This is our age, not the age of man," she is quoted as saying. "We will rain hell on this city until the blood runs in the streets and we turn it into our hunting ground." -Within days of the precinct attack, ghouls, hellhounds, and elementals, all lead by one or more of the vampires, direct more deadly attacks on New Orleans corporate and city property. -In response to the vampire attacks and the inability of Metro Security to do any thing about them, the city government of New Orleans organizes a specially trained and equipped group of Metro Security Officers to battle the vampires and their troops. Combined with mages to fight the elementals and other awakened creatures, the elite force is named the "Night Stalkers." They are sent out in two to four-man patrols to deal with the vampire threat. -Within six months of their founding, the Night Stalkers have scored twenty vampire kills. Every suspected member of the New Orleans vampire group except Bartholemew is dead. The closest they come to capturing Bartholemew is finding a massive library of grimoires and tomes belonging to him. Magical experts who examine the books call them black magic, dealing with beings of alien dimensions and how to summon them. The books are put under lock, key, and spell at Tulane University. -Aztlan nationalizes all foreign-owned businesses, under heavy pressure from the Aztechnology Corporation. -Tir na nOg suffers from a massive heatwave induced by chemical pollution in the air from Great Britain. -In response to the business nationalization, Semi-open warfare breaks out in Aztlan as some corporations attempt to hold on to their properties. -In Tir na nOg, further acts of Constitution concentrates even more power into the Senate. It also states that every Tir citizen has a right to gainful employment. -Using the corporate war as a screen, Aztlan annexes most of what is left of Mexico. The exception is the Yucatan, where Awakened forces foil all takeover attempts. -Texas initiates trade sanctions against Aztlan to protest the annexation of Mexico. -The rebuilding of New York City is completed. -The International Olympic Committee is officially revived. The results of the unofficial games of the past 12 years are stricken from Olympic record. The games are also opened to multinational corporate teams. -The Research Division of the New Age Labs corporation in the MSP Metroplex discovers a room temperature super conducting plasma. Following this discovery, the New Age Arms corporation is formed and initially placed under a large contract by the MSD to develop a Plasma Shock anti-vehicular weapon. -Construction is completed on the Tir Tairngire Civic Building in Portland. -A.I. Proncs is named as the new head of ANZAC's Special Services division. -San Francisco, California is now almost totally controlled by Japanese corporations. -Hanzo Shotozumi is appointed as head of the Seattle Yakuza. His strongarm tactics once again start hostilities between the Mafia and the Yakuza. -James O'Malley comes out of retirement to deal with the new Yakuza threat. -In Tir na nOg, Ulster Museum is half destroyed in a terrorist attack by the URF. -In Great Britain, United Meat Products is revealed to have hazardous levels of photochemical carcinogen in their products. -The CAS is accepted into the United Nations. -CAS President Alexander is reelected. Mississippi Senator Timothy Newstrom is the new Vice President. -Texas leads a CAS embargo on all Aztlan goods after the Aztlan annexation of Mexico. -At the Club Penumbra in Seattle, Concrete Dreams plays their last concert appearance. -Due to many members leaving because of discrimination the Metahuman Research Assembly, an organization dedicated to discussion and research of new technology for metahumans, now has less than one dozen non-dwarves in the organization. -At Lakeshore Laboratories in Minnesota, a synthetic "Generic Gene" is discovered. This allows for growth of "generic" limbs which can be coded with recipient's DNA prior to the graft. This cuts down clone time by 75% but increases rejection rate by 45%. -In Scotland, a boat containing men of the MacGregor clan is sunk in Loch Arkaig. It is suspected that a British army submarine is responsible. -One week after the MacGregor incident, the military base that housed the submarine is attacked by a bean sidhe of the Macgregor clan. It kills one man a week for nearly a year. -On November 6, the mayor of New Orleans declares the vampire war finished, even though Bartholemew is never found. -In Seattle, UCAS, a serial killer begins a spree of murders. The media nicknames the killer the Full Moon Slasher due to the pattern of only killing on the full moon. Due to the severity of the crimes, The High Prince of Tir Tairngire sends a group of Paladins to deal with the Slasher. -Dr. Richard Raven, an Amerindian elf, and his assistant Wolfgang Kies, formerly a suspect due to his unique shamanic ability to shape change into his totem wolf, track down the Full Moon Slasher. This is the first known appearance of Dr. Raven who, along with his operatives, will go on to become high-profile shadowrunners in Seattle. -After six disputed decisions over whether the carrier was still alive when he entered the goal circle, the Internationaler Stadtskrieg Sport Verein (ISSV) modifies the rules of professional urban brawl that as long as the ball is in the brawler's hands or somehow attached to his body when he gets into the goal, it doesn't matter whether he is alive or dead. -In Great Britain, a group of radical feminist trolls manage to gain an elected majority on the Croydon council. Although they are only in office for a year, they manage to create all sorts of chaos on the other branches of Croydon government. 2045: -CAS President Alexander dies in office. Though some believe he is assassinated, no conclusive proof emerges. -CAS Vice President Newstrom assumes the presidency, becoming little more than a puppet for cabinet members. -Secretary of State Gabriel McCoy fills the CAS Vice Presidency by popular vote despite fierce mudslinging. Vice President McCoy becomes the only force keeping the CAS cabinet in check. -In Chicago, UCAS, a previously unknown strain of meningitis strikes the city. 12 schoolchildren die from the disease. -In New Zealand, Australasia, the Maoris begin taking control of the island, claiming it as a sovereign nation. Government response is swift but futile, as the Maoris use magic and guerilla warfare techniques learned during the PNG Emergency. -The Aboriginal Tribal Council overthrow the Tasmanian government by blocking the entrances to the Tasmanian cities (which have been moved underground to allow natural flora and fauna to return) and using chemical weaponry to neutralize the local security forces. The take-over is achieved without excessive fatalities. -A major junk bond crash occurs in the stock market causing disastrous economic damage. -The commission on physical adepts in pro-sports rules that physical adepts can compete in professional sports as long as they have absolutely no cybernetic modifications. -Tir Tairngire raises its age of majority to 17 -In the downtown Seattle Council Chamber, a disgruntled councilman shoots a fellow councilman for authorizing a gun-control bill. -The U.N. passes a decision making the construction and production of robots for use in military combat a violation of international law. -In Great Britain, the Democratic party officially announces support for the Green party. -Aztechnology attempts a corp-war to take-over Control Data in the MSP Metroplex. The attempt fails and the NMC censures Aztechnology for the deaths of innocents and demands reparations and weregild for their actions. Aztechnology refuses and is placed under interdict by the NMC. They receive no power, no water, and no services. -After two months and two failed firefights with the NMC enforcers, Aztechnology breaks down and pays the entire sum, which includes a substantial penalty fee. Funds are used to rebuild the skyways damaged by Aztechnology. -Mitsuhama Corporation extracts Keith "the Suit" Hannigan, a noted interface technician and programmer, from Fuchi Incorporated. Hannigan's wife and daughter are killed in the extraction. -The Universal Brotherhood opens its Seattle headquarters. -The Tir Tairngire Museum of Science and Technology opens a "simsense theme park" using state of the art simsense technology. -Paul Grigg, his mental health already deteriorated, commits suicide. -The first known appearance of the Seattle wiz-kid go-gang called the Merlyns. Two gangmembers wearing their symbol (an elaborate bird-of-prey) are killed at the Dante Corporate Complex during the kidnapping of their top paranormal researcher, Dr. Marcus Loman. -The Loman Kidnapping case is closed due to lack of evidence. -On September 8, the inhabitants of the Fulton County Stadium pour out in a mass exodus, taking refuge around the coliseum and building crude shelters in the parking lots. Media teams who investigate the scene report that the membrane has gradually deteriorated to where it no longer allows enough food to be produced for the masses living inside the dome. The former leaders have remained inside with their families, taking what food the dome membrane produces. A ritual is created where an outside "domer" can earn a position inside the dome by dethroning an inside "domer" in a gladiatorial battle. 2046: -The first simsense megahit, "Free Fall" ,starring Honey Brighton, is released. -The rock group Shield Wall releases their first album. -The policlub idea migrates to North America. The movement spreads quickly, but with violence in its wake. The Humanis Policlub, in particular, attracts a major following that cuts across economic, social and political divisions. In a series of paid advertisements, Mothers of Metahumans (MOM) denounces Humanis as an arm of the Alamos 20,000 terrorist group. -In the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Europe, a massive volcanic storm erupts. -Researchers discover a freshwater serpent living in Scotland's Loch Ness. -Three megacorporations, Aztechnology, Shiawase, and Universal Omnitech, announce publicly that they have fully decoded the mundane segments of the human/metahuman genome. -Researchers Bruckner and Langer discover a new strain of HMHVV virus that is lethal to nonhumans. The result of this disease on humans is transformation into nosferatu. -The Adventures in Time corporation announces the invention of SensorTech body armor and VibraTech weapons. These devices act much like virtual reality by simulating the actual effect of the weapon or armor they are modeled after. -The Hemlad Cartel in Tir Tairngire wins a bid for a new club in baseball's North American League and establishes the Portland Lords baseball team. -In their first game, the Portland Lords beat the L.A. Dodgers 5-0. -The first international Urban Brawl World Cup is held. -The StyleNet channel in London goes on the air. -The rock musician ME-109 makes his first appearance. -Plasma shock weapons are demonstrated in theory following the formation of New Age Arms Company. -Zurich-Orbital Gemeinschaft Bank executive Sol Weinstein is killed when his personal shuttle burns up during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. This leaves a hole in the bank's board of directors. -The Souix Nation strikes a deal with the Trans-Polar Aleut Nation for military training and high-technology weapons. -Wolfgar Marrson, president of the Metahuman Research Assembly passes an official resolution forbidding non-dwarves from joining. -The effects of HMHVV virus on dwarves is first documented. The effect of the disease on dwarves is transformation into goblins. -In Japan, Noguri Owaru, an executive with Mitsuhama Computer Technologies, is kidnapped from his high-security apartment complex. His body is later found in Chiba, Japan, apparently the victim of a professional execution. Rumors of Noguri's Yakuza connections are denied by MCT. -Dr. Marcus Loman is declared legally dead. 2047: -Governor Schultz of the Seattle Metroplex reelected for a second time. -In Tir Tairngire, an assassination attempt is directed at High Prince Lugh Surehand as he tours a municipal building in the city of Eugene. The attempt fails due to magical intervention. -Cougar Mountain Resort in the Renton district of Seattle is completed. -In Great Britain, a para-VITAS outbreak kills 120,000 people in Newcastle, Tynesprawl. The outbreak is believed to be the work of an unknown eco-terrorist group. -Soy Joy products in London are exposed as having high levels of neuromodulator-inhibiting algal residues in their pastas and pizzas. -Steven Monash, a dwarf, takes over as CEO of ANZAC. -In Greece, the fishing village of Agnondas on the isle of Skopelos is destroyed by a gorgon. Eleven people are discovered petrified, fourteen ripped apart, and another ten are found dead of no visible causes. -Celinne Barbeau, a Quebecoise elf, is booted from the National Assembly of Quebec for her membership of the Alliance Metahumaine. She emigrates to Tir Tairngire. -In Tir na nOg, The Tir government takes over possession of Lismore Castle and begins renovations. -Professor Matthew Hawkins puts forward his Intelligence- Generated Reality Inversion Field theory (IGRIF) at the Chicago Thaumaturgical Research institute. This theory states that the fact that magic and certain metahuman races feature so prominently and so frequently in folklore shows that these legends are undoubtedly based on a previous Awakening, or possibly Awakenings. Given that these legends are true, how could stories have come about of, for example, humans destroying dragons, when anybody attacking a dragon with a sword would be fried by a spell before he could do any damage? Based on this theory Hawkins concludes that there must be people immune to magic. And if they existed then, they must exist now. Hawkins embarks on a worldwide search for magically immune people. -In June, London Bridge station is bombed by an unknown terrorist group. The station is declared irreparable and closed down. -The North American Basketball Association (NABA) finally allows cybertech on players after lengthy, bitter arguments. -The Tsawassen band, an anglo tribe of the Salish-Shidhe Council in the NAN, try to block the development of Vancouver International Airport as a protest against "intrusive technology." -The Salish-Shidhe Council Rangers and the Sioux Nation Special Forces "Wildcats" stage a war game. The Sioux "Wildcats" barely win with a winning point total of just 5% higher than the Salish-Shidhe Rangers. -The Policlub Blut und Ehre initiates a string of chopper raids in the Government Zone of airspace in the Federal District of Columbia. -In response to the Blut und Ehre chopper attacks the FedPols develop major enforcement over the Government Zone of airspace in the Federal District of Columbia. -Mullins Chadwick releases his new book Wake Up Call: Living in the Awakened World. -The Metahuman Research Assembly changes its name to the Dwarven Technical Guild and elects Wolfgar Marrson as Guildmaster for life. -In Tir Tairngire, the Portland Civic Stadium is rebuilt to accommodate 25,000 people. -The Great Dragon Morgor'ash, CEO of Vibra Technologies, becomes CEO of Fantasy Kingdom Adventureland Theme Park in the MSP Metroplex. -Chrome Centurions becomes the latest rage for security and bodyguards in the MSP Metroplex. They come in four models: Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. -In New Orleans, CAS, a series of brutal murders and disappearances begin in Nitemare Alley. These events remain unsolved. -Due to a rumor that he is alive, the kidnapping case of Dr. Marcus Loman is temporarily reopened. -Richard Villiers, one of the three owners of Fuchi Industrial Electronics, divorces his wife Samantha, the head of the Fuchi Systems Design group. -In Scotland, a series of killings at the Inverness naval base is identified to be the work of a Each-Uisge. The animal escapes one attempt from the military to kill it before it is destroyed by a local shadowrunner. 2048: -The Aztlan government negotiates the Veracruz Settlement with several megacorps, in the wake of a corporate military strike on Ensenada. -Alan Adams, former CEO of the Colbert Group, an Illinois- based multi-national corporation, is elected president of the UCAS. -Edna Wallace, former governor of Louisiana, is elected president of the CAS. Jeanette Malory returns to the Vice Presidency. -Former president Newstrom retreats to self-imposed exile to the Louisiana swamps. -Anonymous death threats against Newstrom force Louisiana Governor Ivory McCabe to declare martial law in the southern portion of the state. -CAS Secretary of State Douglas Bennett is discovered dead with his elven mistress. Innuendos of policlub involvement fill the press. -CAS President Wallace approves a gag order on police and federal investigators assigned to the Bennett murder. The press accuses Wallace of initiating a government cover-up. National Guard units are called to escort the suspect from the courthouse following the arraignment. -Aztechnology unsuccessfully tries to take control of the Federated-Boeing Corporation. -Zorgon Cybersystems becomes a world leader in the manufacturing of skillwires and the coding of skillsofts. -Maria Mercurial makes her first hit single, "Who Weeps for the Children?" -Queen Euphoria makes her first simsense production, "Shotgun Blues." -Legendary rock-star Jetblack disappears on his way home from a concert. He is later presumed dead due to street violence. -Harry "Ironjaw" Bartlett retires from the L.A. Dodgers with a lifetime record of 5,301 thrown strikeouts, beating Nolan Ryan's final total of 5,299. -Councilman Bob Perkins of the First Hill area in Seattle is filmed taking money from Lone Star and FBI agents disguised as soldiers of Mafia Don James O'Malley. Perkins receives only a two- year suspended sentence. -Thomas Martelli of Global Technologies Inc. dies, naming Urlan Manes as the new CEO. -Ivar J. Lindstrom, Mayor of downtown Seattle, is reelected for his third term in office. -Samantha Tilliam, Mayor of Everett, Seattle is reelected for her second term in office. -Carl B. Vanderslam, Mayor of Renton, Seattle is elected for his third term. -Zax Pound-Down is elected as Mayor of Auburn, Seattle. -Drew Anderson is elected as Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia in the CAS. -The Puyallup district of Seattle offers grants to any business or corporation that will implement specified anti- pollution controls in their production systems. -Doctors Eileen Van Buren and Peter Carmine publish their highly controversial book, Studies in Awakened Biology. -In Nottingham, Great Britain, Chinese Tong crime groups kill 32 members of a rival Indian crime family in what becomes known as the Hirwani massacre. -The British government announces that, although the conflict with the Lambeth Martyrs has not been resolved, they will begin redevelopment grants to bring employment back into the district. -A 500 foot plume of flaming toxic gasses erupts from the ground north of Merseysprawl in Great Britain. The plume of mildly neurotoxic materials continues for a week before going out. -A subsidiary of the Yokogawa corporation is fined over three million nuyen by the Ute Nation for Effluent release into the Escalante River. -With the help of Sandra Willowfall, the elven mage bass player for the group Til Es Hault, the rock band Eight Immortals is caught using magic to hype up audiences. The lead singer Tony Li and his magician hirelings are all convicted of magical assault. -In France, the Bordeaux grape vineries are struck by a phylloxera plague which all but destroys them. -The Children of Uranus, an obscure religious sect in Finland, is revealed to have been manipulated by a blackberry cat. -The International Mercenaries Guild votes the M22A2 assault rifle as the Best New Weapon of the year. -Honda Motors wins the NorAm Sports Car Circuit Gold Cup for the second year in a row with the Honda-GM 3220 ZX Turbo. -Bikes 'R' Us names the Harley-Davidson Scorpion the "Best Highway Bike" of the year for the fifth year in a row. -Fuchi Incorporated hires Professor Susan Athenson, a noted psychologist and matrix programmer right after she turns in her doctoral thesis. -Sim-K-Tel starts distribution of old movies in simsense. -Mitsuhama Computer Technologies is found guilty of sponsoring Yakuza activities in the MSP Metroplex. The senior executives are sentenced to fifteen years in Crystal City and the corporation is banned from MSP Metroplex offices for three years. The senior officers all die within six months of entering Crystal City. -Designer Zoe of New York enters the world of high fashion by designing custom-fitted, one-of-a-kind outfits for an exclusive client list. -In Sweden, a herd of Dakkarynes breaches the Storsjon dam complex in Ostersund. Using their corrosive secretions they burn away the plascrete side-locks releasing millions of gallons of various toxic wastes into the water supplies of the city and surrounding military bases. -In Great Britain, the London Police lose the controversial McFadden case, prompting them to make a policy to respond to calls within five minutes. -Gunther Steadman, the leader of the Der Nachtmachen policlub, is assassinated in Hamburg, Germany. -Shavan, the shadow-liege of the Revenants policlub is murdered in Seattle, UCAS. A connection is suspected between her death and that of Gunther Steadman. 2049: -Governor Schultz of Seattle signs an exclusive trade deal with representatives of Tir Tairngire. Seattle, already a major cultural and economic center for the UCAS, NAN and large segments of the Awakened population, now takes on new importance as the only access to Elven goods and services. -A major oil spill breaks out on the Louisiana Coast. -In Great Britain, 31 members of the British nobility are killed in Dartmoor forest by the group Deep Green while on a hunt. -In Minnesota, UCAS, a flock of over 300 Carrion Crows attacks a small town on the shores of Lower Red Lake. No less than 35 people are killed and over 110 are injured. -The "Racial Revenge" trial of Douglas Bennett's accused murderer begins. Despite President Wallace's gag order, several facts important to the defense are aired on Atlanta's evening news. Hostile witnesses from both sides confuse the issue with dogma and political slogans. A mistrial is declared near years end. The suspect is moved to Texas' new maximum-security facility to await a change of venue. Texas Ranger Units replace the National Guardsmen outside the prison. -Lopez, captain of the Aztlan Court Ball Union champion Ensenada Eagles, dies in a plane crash. -Celinne Barbeau becomes mayor of Salem, Tir Tairngire. -Professor Matthew Hawkins reappears from his search with Miles Freeman, the worlds first reported nega-magician (magically immune person). -"Lock-on" Lorenzo Hayes, left fielder for the Manhattan Yankees, tops the records of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Sauharu Oh with 847 career home-runs and 4,195 hits. -Texas, seeing that the former Mexico territories are prospering under Aztlan rule, lifts the trade sanctions against Aztlan. -Portland begins planning for a cutting-edge subway system connecting the downtown core with the outlying regions of the city. -An official proposal comes before the Ute Nation Elected Council to create a tribe to be known as the Wasatch Awakened. It is tabled for further consideration. -A wire-addicted secretary in the downtown Seattle Council Chamber goes berserk and opens fire on the councilmen. One is killed and three are wounded. -Warren Cartwright, guitarist for Concrete Dreams, hosts an impromptu acoustic jam session at Club Penumbra in Seattle. Over a dozen musicians, including Maria Mercurial, sit in. -On September 10, Mayor Michael Alvarado of Tacoma in the Seattle Metroplex is murdered in front of the Tacoma Sheraton. While leaving his limousine he is accosted by a woman who claims he is the father of her child. She then pulls out a knife and stabs Alvarado twice in the chest. After whispering something in his ear the woman runs off. She is never caught for the killing. -The UCC names the Everett district of Seattle the best area to start a new business. -New Age Arms successfully completes its contract with the MSD and develops a functioning Plasma Shock weapon. -The Chrome Centurions security corporation discovers a light-weight, high-strength crystal-metal alloy. This enables them to develop a highly superior armor protection for its security personnel at a fraction of the weight of conventional armor. -Tensions between the Yakuza and the Mafia in Auburn, Seattle explode when The Yakuza attempt to assassinate several Mafia leaders at Eric's Italian Restaurant in Enumclaw. The gunfire of "Eric's Ten-Minute War" leaves 20 people dead, 14 of which are innocent bystanders. -Mayor Pound-Down of Auburn, Seattle is forced to fire his personal assistant Kevin Delancy for his ties to the Yakuza. -A student of paranaturalism discovers that a creature once believed to be a cat shapeshifter is actually a new awakened animal. The creature is named the Talis Cat. -The Delancy Scandal is exposed in the MSP Metroplex. The Director General of the MSD is discovered to be involved in the black market and smuggling operations. -In New Orleans, Louisiana, CAS, Kyle Dremen, a notorious boko, is found innocent of practicing ju-ju (a form of magic illegal in Louisiana due to its use of (meta)human blood sacrifice). The ruling is given despite the five zombies raised by Dremen produced as witnesses. -Leonard Aurelius, through a cunning proxy campaign, ousts Damien Knight as chairman of the board of Ares Macrotechnology. -Saab Motors brings home its fifth consecutive win at the Euro-Rally with the Dynamit 776TI. -A total of four non-hostile planes are shot down over the Government airspace zone in DeeCee due to mistakes in security. -The kidnapping case of Dr. Marcus Loman is again reopened due to a reported sighting. -The Zeta-Impchem corporation develops a chemical that when used against a Bayard horse, it inflicts excruciating pain on them when they try to use their powers of mist form, thus making them easier to capture. -Ryoi Shawase, a major shareholder of the Shiawase Corporation is killed. According to rumor, Shiawase is killed when an assassination attempt upon Sadato Shiawase from Soko Shiawase goes bad. -A single mated pair of normally solitary cerberus hounds is photographed for the first time. -Leaders in the fashion world begin to market designer clothes in the "street mercenary" style. -Tina Cole, wife of suspected embezzler Andrew Cole, dies of natural causes. -In Tir na nOg, another Establishment act is passed placing the Church of Ireland as the official church of the nation as well as implicitly excluding the Catholic church. 2050: -The seventh generation cyberdeck is introduced, now down to keyboard size. -Scott Mislan, image coordinator for the MegaMedia corporation, announces the sale of the-50 millionth copy of Honey Brighton's simsense megahit "Free Fall." Mislan also announces that the next Honey Brighton simsense, "Rock Solid" is currently in post production at MegaMedia's Seattle studios, under the hand of Free Fall's famed director, Wilt Lipton. -In Seattle, UCAS, at the estate of William Howell, a massive firefight breaks out between Lone Star forces, the Redwing gang of Kid Stealth (a street samurai operative of Dr. Richard Raven), and forces of the Mizu-Kagayaite Yakuza over Nadia Mirin, Vice President of the Natural Vat corporation. Also involved in the battle Are the great western dragon Haesslich and Mizu-Kagayaite oyabun Hidiki Yamamoto. The battle is so violent that it is later referred to as the Night of Fire. -The Algonkian-Manitoo Council suffers food shortages when an attempt to genetically engineer improved nitrogen fixing for their genetically altered grains results in a microorganism that decreases the root viability in the crops. -On March 19, Randall Grant, one of the first theoretical thaumaturges, is killed in a freak accident. Rumors spread that he was actually murdered by Alamos 20,000 to keep him from revealing their connection to Dr. Armand Duplessis, a leading member of the materialists. -An elvish colony is established in the Arrowhead region of Northern Minnesota. The Great Northern Elvish Council establishes its headquarters there. -In Australasia, Steven Monash announces a surprise holiday. As a result ANZAC stock drops three points and corporate employees experience extreme panic. -On October 31 in Tir na nOg, four unknown elven mages gather at the Knockeen dolmen site and raze it to the ground in a ceremony lasting hours. -The Tir Tairngire Rite of Progression is held. -Harold Jonathan Mason, one of the Founders of the Metahuman Order of Occultists, Sorcerers, and Enchanters (MOOSE) dies. -Before MegaMedia's new Honey Brighton simsense "Rock Solid" can be released, both Honey Brighton and "Rock Solid's" director Wilt Lipton defect to MegaMedia's closest competitor Brilliant Genesis, taking with them all known copies of "Rock Solid." -In Seattle, UCAS, Dr. Richard Raven and his operatives rescue Moira Alianha, an elven princess, from Seattle crime lord Etienne La Plante. -Oklahoma City is named as the new trial site for the Bennett murder trial. Each side prepares new expert witnesses, cautioned that inflammatory remarks will be punished by stiff jail sentences. Evidence linking the defendant to a brutal policlub surfaces, further injuring the defense case. -In Atlanta, thousands of orks, trolls, elves, and dwarves converge on the capital, calling for increased awareness of the metahumans's plight. Members of the militant Metahuman Organized Rebellion (MOR) accuse the CAS of encouraging genocide by their inaction. -Aztlan introduces lethal game shows for high-cash prizes like "Suerte y Muerte" (a gladiatorial amateur contest where citizens, condemned criminals, and other such people fight contract fighters for a 100,000 nuyen purse.) -The Universal Brotherhood enjoys international growth. Consul Gail Walker is elected president of the organization. -In the Tsimshian Nation, a ferry is dragged underwater by a creature believed to be a kraken. There are no survivors. -De Brize, captain of the Aztlan Court Ball Union champion Zempoala Cats, is killed during a war between two Veracruz go- gangs. -Major advancements in Cyber- and Biotechnology occur. -Axe Slayer, an up and coming neo-metal revivalist rock star, is killed during a performance when his exploding codpiece detonates prematurely. Sales of the video of this performance make millions. -The Suzuki Aurora Racing Bike wins the top three places in the Pan-Pacific Motorcycle Circuit. -In Great Britain, Duke Charles Hamilton of Caimbridge dies. -The British government establishes a Royal Commission to investigate an outbreak of cholera and typhoid fever in Merseysprawl caused by the terminal collapse of the sewer system. -Mayor Michelle Herbert of New Orleans, Louisiana is elected to her second term. -Malcolm Jenice-Goodine is elected mayor of Eugene, Tir Tairngire. -Chrome Centurions security corporation introduces a security service with personnel wearing their revolutionary new body armor. This armor has the same amount of protection as medium security body armor but, in addition, has built-in sensors and increased battlefield management capabilities. -GMC Motors completes its twenty-millionth 4201 jeep at its DeeCee plant. -In Seattle, Aaron Rand, a local Seattle playboy dies of simsense overload at Pulse, an exclusive simsense club. Rumors abound that he was slipped a snuff-BTL chip. -Armored clothing is now considered high fashion. -Governor Schultz of Seattle initiates a program of urban renewal in the Redmond Barrens by installing new street lighting. The lamps are promptly shot out by the residents. -In Minnesota, UCAS, a simsense film crew is attacked by a pack of Fenris Wolves near the Boundary Waters. Fifteen crew members are killed. The only survivors are six crew members on an elevated platform. -In the MSP Metroplex the MSD shifts the MPC to exclusive use of Plasma Shock weaponry. -Construction begins on the Portland subway system. -In Seattle, UCAS, Reverend Dr. Lawrence Roberts, a Seattle- based televangelist, is killed by the ghost of his former partner Thomas Harrison, a small-time con man whom Roberts had murdered earlier for possession of the 500,000 nuyen worth of bearer credsticks embezzled by Andrew Cole. 2051: -Construction is completed on the first line of the Tir Tairngire subway system, connecting Lloyd Center, the Convention Center, the Memorial Coliseum, the Port of Portland Terminal 1, Northwest Lovejoy Street and Northwest 19th Avenue, West Burnside Street and Broadway, and the civic building on Northwest Gilsan. -In March, the Lovecraft Institute in the MSP Metroplex hosts the International Association of Arcane Academia (IAAA). -On April 7, inhabitants of the California Free State towns of Gilroy and San Martin seemingly go mad and start a war between each other. By the time the police step in and control the situation both are almost empty of people. 10% of both town's populations are dead. The rest have fled to safer areas. -In Great Britain, the Bodmin Hunt group is killed by a pack of hell hounds. -In Australasia, the Queensland University of Technology Magical Studies Department suffers a total of seven fatalities. -Haesslich, a great Western Dragon and chief of security of United Oil's Seattle branch, is killed in a fight with well-armed shadowrunners. -In Tir Tairngire, Concrete Dreams performs one of their famous improvisational drop-ins at the Chrome Rat in Salem. -Princess Caroline of Great Britain marries Swiss banking magnate Jurgen Meier, further strengthening links between their two nations. -An Airlink Transit plane in the Pueblo Corporate Council collides with a dragon. Two passengers on the plane are killed. -In the Algonkian-Manitoo Council, an anti-industrial terrorist group called the Manitoo Brotherhood bombs a GMC plant. fifteen workers are killed. -Maranouchi Entertainment merges with Hatari Computers. The new conglomerate is named Nihon Enterprises. -In Tir na nOg, a terrorist bomb explodes killing over one hundred innocent people. -Chamac, captain of the Aztlan Court Ball Union champion Tenochtitlan Tigers, is found washed up on a beach in Cancun, apparently drowned. -In U.K., the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment is assassinated by a radical environmental group. -Elven rock star Darkvine makes his first appearance out of Tir Tairngire. -During a debate between corporate security officers and shadowrunners on the show Heavy Hitters, the host Jermaine Jerard is injured when a street shaman's conjured spirit shoves Jerard's head into a holocam. -Simsense star Euphoria releases her new production "Final Fling". -The Revenants policlub explode a bomb onboard the Werner- Voss corporate shuttle on its run from Berlin to London. All 175 people on board are killed. -In Seattle Metroplex, three berserk fire elementals set large numbers of fires at the Renraku Arcology. Dozens of people are injured. -Former Vice President of Global Technologies Edgar Kepple is found dead in his downtown Seattle apartment five days after his resignation from Global Technologies. The cause of death is apparently strangulation. -In Atlanta, massive rioting breaks out at the Fulton County Stadium. -In Seattle Metroplex, the Seattle Kingdome is attacked by a street gang known as the Red Death. Considerable damage is done to the stadium. -Dr. Richard Raven reveals that Global Technologies is producing a number of illegal BTL chips with a full range of emotions and the skills of a complete persona. -In Seattle Metroplex, riots break out at the Seattle City Hall between the Humanis Policlub and various metahuman rights groups after the city government announce plans to declare the second Monday in December official Awakening Day. -Governor Ivory McCabe of Louisiana disappears mysteriously. -Governor McCabe is replaced by Edwin W. Edwards III. -Marta Morgenstern, Sam Virtue, David Buckley, Bob Sinclair, Rino Elverhoy, Albion Foss, and Lija Tatras are elected Reves of Salem, Tir Tairngire. -Stefanie Orlowski, Jan Houde, Carole Hegedos, Ken Janske, Betty Scott, Chuck Pogue, and Der-Hoy Yi are elected Reves of Eugene, Tir Tairngire. -On April 19, A hitchhiker, identified as Gareth Hill, is found dead in the Imnaha River near the Hell's Canyon area of the Salish-Shidhe Council. The body is terribly mutilated. Hill was famous for being saved from a murder conviction in Salish-Shidhe by reporter Frederick Davitt. -Dr. Caitlin O'Connal is killed when a minigun being cleaned by a bodyguard accidently goes off. -Reporter Frederick Davitt is found bludgeoned to death in a dumpster behind his DeeCee apartment building. -Reporter Zebediah Wanderly, a known associate of Frederick Davitt, is killed when Grodin's Tavern in Seattle explodes. Juli Parkhurst, a decker who goes by the name Icepick, is also killed in the explosion. Evidence suggests that Wanderly was trying to cause the explosion himself when Parkhurst discovered him and tried to interfere. -On June 3, Gloria Yu, a Seattle grocery store owner, is assaulted by an Ork street gang. Baily Security Control Systems uses the incident as an extremely successful marketing gimmick for their products. -The Yamatetsu Corporation purchases of Biogene Technologies of San Diego. -A raid on Saxkatcher Industries in Seattle reveals evidence that the Merlyns go-gang is involved in BTL running. -Professor Edmund Pipen of the Lovecraft Institute of arcane studies in the MSP Metroplex is found insane and raving following an experiment with astral travel to a "theorized" dimension of the netherworld. -In Spain, a massive riot breaks out in Barcelona. Witnesses claim to see wraiths, which may be responsible for the riot due to their emotion control powers. -The style of armored clothing becomes much more exaggerated and starts to copy the lines and textures of heavier armor. -In the U.K., 37 people are arrested at the equinox celebrations at Stonehenge amidst reports of widespread rioting and major supernatural happenings. -In the California Free State, San Francisco Bay area is rocked by an earthquake 5.5 on the Richter scale. -In Seattle Metroplex, nine Laubenstein paintings are stolen from the Laubenstiein Plaza Hotel lobby gallery. -In Seattle Metroplex, an unidentified gunman opens fire with an assault rifle in the Seattle Downtown Lone Star precinct, killing two officers and injuring another. -Independent reporter Reid exposes a takeover attempt by the Graz-Burya Corporation of the MosTrans manufacturing division. Graz-Burya denies any hostile takeover attempt and MosTrans manufacturing division is instead taken over by Ares Macrotechnology. -In Seattle Metroplex, Five people are killed when a bomb goes off at the Universal Brotherhood Chapterhouse in Tacoma, Seattle. -In October, New Age Arms begins an 18-month testing period of Plasma Shock weaponry with Knight Errant Security in Seattle, New York, and Chicago metroplexes. -In the MSP Metroplex, six animal trainers at a 4-M facility are killed trying to train Fenris Wolves as guard animals. A heavy response team from the MSD are required to put the wolves down. -In Spain, a pro-animal rights group liberates six terminally ill crested barbarians from Cordoba labs. The labs hire street samurai and call in military choppers to recover the animals before they start an epidemic. Five of the crested barbarians are recovered. One is never accounted for. -In the Souix Nation, Shiela Wolffriend becomes the new director of the Office of Military Intelligence. -The Zurich-Orbital Habitat initiate a policy of only hiring staff that have family members. -Ambri Costellor replaces Henry Carmichael of director of Research and Development for Armor International. -Akae Ono of Ares Macrotechnology is elected to the Corporate Court. -In Tir na nOg, Flaithri O'Connor, a skillwire designer for Eireann-Tir Publishers, has a "cerebral accident". He is sequestered in their forest hideout in Killarney. -Noted journalist Domingo Higuera releases his award-winning simsense documentary, Born Lucky: The "Teela Brown" Factor in Shadowrunning. The story details the life of a shadowrunner with an unusual luck factor. 2052: -The Manitoo Brotherhood terrorist group bombs a plant owned by Litton Industries in the Algonkian-Manitoo Council on the false rumor that they are building guidance modules for long-range tactical nuclear weapons. -Tir na nOg announces tighter traveling restrictions for non- elves seeking entrance. -Tir Tairngire diverts its trade flow from Portland and begins negotiations with the Seattle Metroplex to shift a large percentage of its international trade from Portland to the Seattle ports. -In the MSP Metroplex's Como Zoo the first litter of Saber- Tooth cat kittens born in captivity are announced. -President Adams of the UCAS is re-elected. -President Wallace of the CAS is re-elected. -Xochitalco, captain of the Aztlan Court Ball Union champion Tenochtitlan Jaguars, kills himself during the award ceremony when he dedicates his win and his death to Tezcatlipoca and jams a snap blade into his own chest. -The East Coast of North America suffers a record breaking heat wave. -Tokyo, Japan wins the bid for the Olympics of 2056. -Japan announces that, in keeping with the Yamato ideal, metahumans will not be permitted to compete with humans in the 2056 Olympics in Tokyo, but will be scheduled in special "exhibition" contests. Tir Tairngire and Tir na nOg respond furiously with U.N. resolutions. -In Greece, the Athens Intelligencer documents the first footage of the petrification powers of gorgons. -In Aztlan, Aztechnology begins a slash-and-burn program in an area of the Yucatan. A radical environmental group responds by attacking the Aztechnology facility in the area. Public opinion turns against the environmental group and Aztechnology effectively destroys it. It is later rumored that the environmental group, which until the attack was using legal means to block Aztechnology, was not involved in the attack at all. The rumors say that Aztechnology staged the attack to sway public opinion. -A fire at the Bannockburn Bakery in Seattle offers evidence of a protection operation run by the Merlyns go-gang. -The street mercenary style of clothing begins to lose favor in the fashion world. -Chrome Centurions security corporation introduces a new combat armor, which provides the same amount of protection as heavy security armor but, like their body armor, is equipped with a full range of sensors and a battle management system. -In Tir na nOg, Prisona-presumptive Tuam O'Connor and Raine O'Reilly are married. -A new type of BTL chip called 2XS enters the black market. This chip is more potent and addictive than regular BTL chips and it works on the physiological system of the human body. -Crashcart, a new company offering emergency extraction and medical service, enters the market in competition with DocWagon. They claim that they will make extractions where DocWagon won't and at better rates. -Mariane Corbeau, Lone Star Security's Vice President of Enforcement in Seattle, is almost killed in a car crash. -Crashcart makes big news when they extract Daniel Waters, a news anchorman with KOMA, from a gang attack after a DocWagon team fails to break through the gunfire. -Daniel Walters dies on the air five days after his injury of some form of seizure. -Buddy, one of the original deckers of Echo Mirage, dies of neural damage sustained in the Matrix. -Crashcart is acquired by the Seattle branch of the Yamatetsu corporation. Yamatetsu fires most of the upper echelon, some of which later disappear. -London experiences a wave of serial murders dubbed the Bone Boy Killings. The murders are performed in a daily pattern of one killing the first night, then two, and so on up to seven when the pattern goes back to one. The bodies are found mutilated as if skinned and chewed on. The hearts are removed. These killings last less than a month when they abruptly cease. No official explanation is given by the police. -Miles Otaka, one time senior manager for Lochlann products, is found dead in his Matthews Beach condominium. Originally thought to be the victim of an apparent suicide, the death is later attributed to natural causes. -Pier 69, a popular club in the Seattle Metroplex, is temporarily closed following an accident involving a hovercraft crashing into the building's structural supports. -In the Seattle Metroplex, a wave of killings strikes the Redmond Barrens. Bodies are found mutilated for many weeks. -In England a fire breaks out in the Devonshire area. Thousands of residents are forced to flee their homes. -In Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, rival gangs start an especially vicious gang war. For four days the gangs fight over what appears to be local turf. -Tir Tairngire raises its age of majority to 18. -Leo, a popular rock star, knocks loose the lighting supports at his show at the Skeleton Club in the Seattle Metroplex, sending the entire rack of lights crashing to the stage. Despite the fires and small explosions, Leo continues his show and it is a huge success. -Gerard and Alain of the French retro-acoustic rock band L'Infame, try to kill each other. Although neither is successful, Gerard's legs are severely damaged. It is later revealed that both men are BTL users. -The Eastern Tiger Corporation of Korea attempts a takeover of the Mitsuhama controlled Highstar Corporation. In a surprise move the Renraku Corporation prevents the takeover by buying a major portion of Highstar stock. This is under secret agreement with Mitsuhama and that Renraku has agreed to sell the stock back to Mitsuhama once the Eastern Tiger threat is gone. When Eastern Tiger loses interest in Highstar, Renraku refuses to sell its Highstar stock to Mitsuhama. Mitsuhama Seattle's president, Toshikazu Nakamura, appeals to the Corporate Court, but to no avail. -Mitsuhama Seattle's president, Toshikazu Nakamura, is sent back to Japan in disgrace. He is later found dead of multiple beating wounds and two gunshot wounds in the back of the head. The police rule Nakamura's death as a suicide. -Martha S. Grimes is elected chairman of the Highstar Corporation's board of directors. Grimes is well known as VP Marketing for Renraku Seattle. -In Seattle, UCAS, a major storm breaks out along the coastline of the city. It is rumored to have been magically conjured using a focus called the Hurricane Rattle by an unknown shaman. -In the CAS, a major price-fixing scandal is uncovered by regulatory agents. A large consortium of pharmaceutical firms is discovered to be artificially jacking up the prices of immunosuppressants used in implant surgery. The agency charges all of the corporations involved, then without explanation, withdraws the charges. -The Microengineering Division of Fuchi Industrial Electronics announces a major breakthrough in "growing" specialized crystals in the microgravity of their orbital lab. They also announce that the first shipment of these crystals will reach Earth for release on the market very soon. Almost overnight Fuchi stock jumps 450 percent. -Rumors hit the market that the Fuchi organic crystals are flawed and Fuchi Microengineering will not be able to fill the orders on time. Fuchi stock prices begin to drastically fall. The Yamana family (one of the three controlling families of Fuchi) begin to buy up stocks at an astounding rate. -In Chiba, Japan, the Chiba Virtual Stock Exchange crashes in the middle of trading. This prevents the Yamana takeover attempt from succeeding. -Mariene Carstairs of Saeder-Krupp is elected to the Corporate Court. 2053: -Hohiro Sato, Vice President of Operations of the Renraku Corporation and executive assistant of Renraku President Inazo Aneki, disappears. -Tir Tairngire announces further restrictions for visitors and persons wishing citizenship. In addition, it announces increased border patrols and a large upgrade of equipment for defense of its lands. -In U.K., fourteen members of the British Army are killed in their barracks by a radical environmental group. -In Japan, a group of unarmed metahumans are fired upon by soldiers, killing seven. -The Japanese government announces that two soldiers under investigation for firing upon the metahuman crowd will not be prosecuted. A riot breaks out in response and troops are sent to disperse the rioters. 38 people are reported injured, though none are killed. -New magical theorems are published detailing a new skill; anchoring. This ability allows one to cast a spell but not have it go off until a specific circumstance triggers it. -A Spirit Air jumbo jet crashes in the Andes Mountains with 254 passengers aboard. -A Seattle University research expedition returns from Southeast Asia with only four of its twelve person crew alive. Unconfirmed reports state that the expedition ran afoul of a Vietnamese bandit king. -The Seattle branch of the Yamatetsu corporation goes through corporate reorganization. The shock waves caused in the corporate community causes many smaller corporate corporations, mainly subsidiaries of Yamatetsu, out of business. -In Seattle Metroplex, a giant Geoduck the size of a motorbike is found by boaters in Puget Sound. -Hurricane Ethelbert strikes the east coast of the UCAS. Extensive damage is caused to the DeeCee-New York Corridor. Many areas are put under martial law. -In St. Louis, UCAS, the landmark Moolah Temple is burned to the ground. The cause of the fire remains unknown. -Jonathan Highstar, former executive president of Highstar Incorporated, a prominent Seattle-based entertainment company, commits suicide. -In Scotland, fourteen members of the MacDonald clan and their servants, including Alexander and Rory MacDonald, twin nephews of clan leader Sir Iain Macdonald and Sir Iain's daughter Morag, are killed in what appears to be a massacre initiated by the rival Campbell clan. -In Lisbon, Portugal, Johnny Spinrad announces the planned acquisition of the Principality of Monaco. -Robert Gray Bear, 14 year old son of Gaetronics Corporation President David Gray Bear, disappears. -In Chicago, UCAS, the offices of Crusader Security are attacked, apparently in retaliation for Crusader attacks against the Byrne metahuman housing projects. -An Eco-terrorist group calling themselves North Americans for North America (NANA) shoots down a Boeing C7-10 Cargo carrier over the Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff. The crew of three are killed and the cargo of expensive electronics is lost. -The new techno-thrash group calling themselves Epinephrine Max releases their album "Basilar Membrane." -Robert Coventry, husband of CAS Environmental Director Catherine Coventry, disappears after last being seen at his residence. -Talks between the CAS and Aztlan concerning acid rain caused by Aztlan factories break down after four seemingly productive days when Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Juan Cuatal suddenly announces that Aztlan was no longer interested in talks and the CAS could ". . . rot in their own bile." The announcement comes mere hours after it was disclosed that the husband of CAS Environmental Director, Catherine Coventry, is missing. As a result, both nations go on peak military alert. -The Salish Shidhe council suspends coastal fishing rights for two weeks due to attacks by the terrorist group The Seven Riders. -In the Seattle Metroplex, a plastic container filled with the ash remains of Traxx, a suspected shadowrunner, is left on the front doorstep of Governor Shultz. No reason for this is given. -Aztechnology begins negotiations with the Dwarven Technical Guild for what many believe to be the largest outside contract Aztechnology has ever offered. Details on the project cannot be obtained but it is believed to involve orbital weaponry. -In Seattle, an explosion goes off during an Urban Brawl game between the Berlin Backbreakers and the Renraku Invincibles. Six players are killed. No one claims responsibility for the explosion. -The cities of Seattle, UCAS and Brisbane, Australasia begin negotiations for a mutual trade agreement to speed customs clearing of shipments between the two cities. -ANZAC, a major producer of food products in Australasia, suffers a major strike, slowing production to almost a standstill. -In Boston, a major chemical spill strikes Boston Harbor. Environmental damage is kept to a minimum but a large number of fish die due to contamination. -The group Epinephirine Max breaks up after a fight on stage between members Dirk Blitzmeister and Dashing Death. -During a Boston-Seattle game, a player carrying the ball is blown in half by his opponent's blaster. The body flies ten meters and the half with the ball lands in the opposing goal zone. The ISSV rules the goal legal due to the rule that goals are counted as valid whether the scoring player reaches the goal under his own power or not. -In the Seattle Metroplex, three bodies are found floating in Seattle harbor. At first believed to be squatters, they are later identified as undercover MSD officers from the MSP Metroplex. The men were apparently investigating organized crime when their covers were blown. -The CAS Destroyer Garfish disappears on a routine mission. Communication with the ship was lost seven days previous but trouble was not suspected due to the communication interference caused by a storm front that hovered over the coastal area for the previous week. -In the Seattle Metroplex, many violent confrontations inexplicably break out between corporate forces and just as suddenly stop soon after. Corporate leaders have no comment on the incident. -In Philadelphia, a fire breaks out at the Germantown research center of the Special Projects Unit of the Kono-Furata-Ko International corporation (KFK). The fire is reportedly due to an accident in magical research. Of the seven researchers present, only Robert Neiman, Steven Jorge, Thomas Harris, and Adam Malik escape alive. -In the Sioux Nation, the Office of Military Intelligence undergoes major reconstruction. Many members are relocated and some, including director Shiela Wolffriend, vanish. -Rebel forces initiate a civil war in Aztlan. -In Tir Tairngire, the elven rock group Til Es Hault, known for playing at sold-out stadiums, plays three nights to a standing- room-only crowd at the Chrome Rat in Salem. -Ares Macrotechnology takes over the Atlanta-based Syntronic Biotech corporation, recently divested from Saeder-Krupp. -A UCAStrak maglev-bullet train going from Seattle to San Francisco derails. 157 passengers are killed. Within an hour UCAStrak's stock plummets 32 percent. UCAStrak blames the accident on Tir Tairngire-based ecoterrorists. -Independent reporter Maria Thorpe, reveals proof that the UCAStrak crash was caused by substandard maintenance on the train. Thorpe accuses UCAStrak of criminal negligence. This causes UCAStrak stock to fall even further. -The Shiawase corporation buys out UCAStrak through its subsidiary, the Ressha Corporation. This prevents UCAStrak from going bankrupt. -In Japan, an Aztechnology-controlled gengineering lab explodes. Rumors persist that Aztechnology blew up its own lab to keep it from being taken over by Mitsuhama Computer Technologies. -Jacques Barnard, executive vice president of Yamatetsu North America, relocates from Seattle to Kyoto, Japan. -In Tir na nOg, two famous test cases make membership in the Unseelie Court difficult to bring to trial due to the fact that no one has established that the organization actually exists. 2054: -In London, a rash of murders break out. The victims are all women with names identical to the victims of the 1888 "Jack the Ripper" slayings. All are prostitutes and all are found horribly mutilated. The media all but ignores these killings. -After the fourth London Ripper murder, the killer is revealed by Lord Geraint of Wales to be a clone of Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward Windsor, Duke of Clarence and one of the suspects of the original Ripper killings of 1888. The clone, created by the Transys Neuronet corporation and later killed by Lord Geraint, is the first recorded fully cloned human being. -In Tir na nOg, Sean O'Brien and Patrick Robinson of the New Ulster Revolutionary Movement are arrested and convicted of 12 counts of murder. -The CAS destroyer Garfish is found at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. No bodies are found onboard. -The NANA terrorist group shoots down three Lone Star helicopters. Lone Star responds by initiating a joint raid against NANA with the Salish Shidhe security forces. Eight terrorists are killed and four wounded. The NANA leader escapes. -In the California Free State, a military observation post just south of redding explodes. Tir Tairngire involvement is suspected. -The ANZAC strike ends. -The Seattle-Brisbane Trade Agreement is signed. -A chartered plane carrying 13 members of the Tacoma Wings urban brawl team crashes over Sioux territory. -In Tir Tairngire, Count Gerard McCoy, a civilian member of the Board of Military Advisors with which the Council of Princes consults on Military matters and frequent companion of Prince Jenna Ni'Fairra, disappears from public view. -In Philadelphia, there is a rash of serial murders characterized by the extreme mutilation of the bodies to the extent that gender cannot immediately be identified. The media dubs them the cannibal killings. -In Philadelphia, Robert Neiman, Steven Jorge, and Thomas Harris, three of the survivors of the KFK Special Projects research lab fire of the previous year, as well as Bernard Ohara, head of KFK, are killed execution style. Robert Malik, the last survivor is suspected but never found by Minuteman Security. Another suspect, a female assassin known worldwide as Striper, escapes Philadelphia in the company of a local street mercenary known as Ripsaw. Both disappear. -Lacrima, a self-styled "mage-historian" in Tir Tairngire, declares that the exact date of the volcanic eruption that formed Crater Lake in Tir Tairngire is 3454 B.C., July 22, 09:35 hours. The scientific community, known for denouncing Lacrima's theories, responds with total silence. -In Tir Tairngire, the military seals off Crater Lake for unrevealed reasons. Access is completely restricted and secured by land vehicles, combat drones, jet patrols, and magical security. -In Denver, a Tir Tairngire commando team initiates a raid against Data Haven, the home base of the Shadowland computer network, in order to prevent information on Tir Tairngire from being released. The team accidentally strays into Sioux territory and is attacked by a group of the Sioux Special Forces Wildcats. The event causes a large, yet short lived, diplomatic incident and is unsuccessful at preventing the Tir Tairngire files from being broadcasted. -In Tir Tairngire, a terrorist smuggles a bomb into the Telestrian Habitat in Portland. The bomb detonates killing both the terrorist and twelve inhabitants. Hard Green, Alamos 20,000, the Muslim Ork Army, TerraFirst!, the Nuevo Kachinas, and half a dozen other terrorist groups claim responsibility. -Aiden FitzGerald, President/CEO of Matsushima Computer Technologies (Tir Tairngire) is arrested for espionage against NeuroTech and Willamette Compustat. The Matsushima's Tir Tairngire assets are all confiscated by the Tir Tairngire government. -A Sioux-registered airbus suffers engine and servo systems failure and crashes into the Crater Lake area of Tir Tairngire. There are no survivors. -The luxury vessel Gilded Hope is lost while trying to cross through the security veil of Tir Na nOg. All 8 crew and passengers are lost. -In Seattle, UCAS, radical ork activist Preacher holds a rally attended by seven thousand orks and trolls. Preacher encourages all listeners to "take up the torch" and fight back against metahuman racism "at all times, and with due force." Soon after the rally, supporters of Preacher begin a policy of active resistance against Lone Star Security. -In Boston, UCAS, a team of scholars and archaeologists report a major archaeological find 130 miles off the coast of Crete. The expedition, funded by the Atlantean Foundation, discovers a major treasure trove of artifacts in an area reported by historical records to be the former location of an island called Thera. Thera is known as a possible location of the legendary lost city of Atlantis. -In Seattle, UCAS, Janie Lamet, a young human child, is rescued by Solista, a sasquatch, from a cave-in after two days of being trapped. The media immediately cashes in on the event with made-for-trideo features. -The Banco Euro Internationale is discovered to be forging accounts. Bank President Fellipe Tolonka and fourteen bank officers are arrested after a week-long undercover investigation. The initial tip given from a clerk who noticed a discrepancy in one of the accounts of which the only possible cause could be a bank officer. The financial damage to the European Economic Community is estimated to be in the billions, possibly trillions. Over one hundred corporations face financial collapse due to the scheme. -In the Salish Shidhe Council, a Sea Drake that has been attacking shipping lanes resulting in destroyed property and many deaths, is caught. The creature is discovered to have been cybernetically altered by unknown parties. -In Seattle, UCAS, Flex Lenard, a popular trideo interviewer known for extreme ultra-conservative views, is abducted after a gunfight leaving his four bodyguards dead. -A semibalistic flight to Tokyo crashes just short of Narita Airport. All 109 passengers plus a flight and cabin crew of ten are killed. Among the passengers are Martha S. Grimes, chairman of the Board of the Highstar Corporation, and 17 members of her personal security party. -In Gilroy, CalFree, Valerie Stupnikov, a known shadowrunner, is found murdered execution-style. -Fuchi Industrial Electronics initiates a hostile takeover of FTL Technologies Inc.. A Sioux-based software developer and inventor of the popular "Warpdrive" language, as well as holder of many breakthroughs in cyberdeck technology. -In the former Yugoslavia, Serbian and Croatian hostilities flare up again. -In Seattle, a minor breakout of a new retrovirus, inaccurately labeled VITAS 4, strikes in contained areas. For some unknown reason it seems to primarily strike members of the street gang subculture. -In Seattle, Lone Star corporation executives Sarah Layton, Vince McMartin, and Marcus Drummond are killed in an automobile accident. -In Seattle, UCAS, Dr. Theodore Drumming Bear, a beloved magical physician known for his low cost treatment of street people, is found murdered. -In Tir na nOg, government officials announce a relaxation of their strict policy of isolation and separatism. -In Seattle, UCAS, trideo personality Flex Lenard is rescued from his kidnappers after over 150 days in captivity. He is slightly injured during the rescue attempt in which 3 members of the Knight Errant strike team leading the rescue are injured. All 7 of the kidnappers are killed. -In Seattle, UCAS, 2 inmates, Ironhead Tiamartz and Wilson Gressman, escape from the Hollywood Correctional Facility. After an intense 3 week manhunt, they are recaptured and sent back to prison. -A computer virus infects the stock market computer causing a massive economic crash. The event is later called Black Friday and results in the market being closed until the virus can be purged from the system. -In Yokohama, Japan, several unexplained fires break out at 9 industrial sites. 6 of the destroyed complexes are owned by Ares Macrotechnology. Witnesses near the scene of the fires report seeing a dragon flying in the area several minutes prior to the fire. -In Seattle, UCAS, grunge rock star Fetid Nikky is found dead in a dumpster behind the Viper Club by Rikki Ratman, a bartender at the club. Reports indicate that the body is drained of all fluids and severely beaten.