The year is 2085. Things got bad, but they're getting better. The Regional Authorities are hammering North America back into some semblance of civilization. The Regional Authority Intelligence Network is the hammer.
There are a number of different groups of refugees. Hugo Lee is the patriarch of a large group of refugees with about 3 vehicles between them. They seem stand-offish but look like they know what they are doing.
There's another band that seems very organized. They have about 7 cars between them. They said they are from San Bernardino People's Commune, which recently folded.
There is one truck bearing a sign that reads Farmers United. Behind it is a large 'biomatter recovery tank.' They talk about sustainable farming, durable greenhouses, and about how they plan to move into the badlands eventually. They will happily take any of your biowaste off your hands.
Genius Meadows' family appears to be a group of three adults, two males and a female with one child. They don't seem connected to any of the larger groups.
United Relief Agency Worker:
Most of the URA workers seem cynical and they tend to stick together.
April Rain Patel is the friendliest of the lot and encourages you to contact her not "these jaded mother---rs." The other URA workers say Patel's been doing the "super-dangerous Monterrey to San Antonio coastal runs," which are often attacked by pirates. None of them have worked with her before, but they've heard of her.
Carl Patrick, one of the URA workers, uses more derogatory language with reference to the refugees and even the other URA workers seem offended by him. Despite this he spends more time with the refugees than others.
Gavin 7 is one of the earlier models of android. Carl describes him as a forklift with an annoying personality. The others seem to enjoy his attemps at humour.
'The Clones,' Jeoff and Jayson, are drivers of two of the vehicles. They say they are clones but people roll their eyes and suggest they are just regular twins.
Children of Gaia Leadership:
The RAIN briefing calls the Children of Gaia members 'Child' and a numeric designation.
Child 1, Andrew Parsons, seems to be the main preacher. He's a bit of a mystery. He came to ARIZ-29 about 6 months ago from Salt Lake City where he worked in security. He has no record of religious or criminal activity nor any demonstration of previous leadership abilities.
Child 2 is not the muscle for Andrew. He was previously the camp chef.
Child 3, was the Child 2's partner, but now manages the camp's operations.
Child 7 is the man L337 identified as Ryder. RAIN has nothing on him, not even that.
The year is 2085.
The Regional Authority Intelligence Network is concerned about a rapidly spreading cult called the Children of Gaia. They're appearing in refugee camp after refugee camp, taking them over, organizing them more efficiently, and delivering services using fairly expensive tech. While they may be something new and wonderful, RAIN can't afford another suicide cult spreading in the camps. Things were just beginning to get better.
THE REGIONAL AUTHORITIES:
North America is fractured. Disease, war, fear, and poverty had led to separatist movements in various regions. As rising sea levels washed away Florida and Louisiana, and major cities like Boston, Toronto, Montreal, and Washington D.C., the American and Canadian states and provinces reorganized themselves around their more immediate survival needs. Various attempts at government have come and gone. New Washington was an expensive failure. The Appalachian Mountain Regional Council is the largest governing body in what used to be North America. Mexico, while less damaged by flooding, has felt the financial strain of administrating the Rio Grande Recovery Area and caring for the 3,000,000 displaced persons living there.
For a map, I used this map with the sea level rise set at 100 meters. This is far more severe than actual predicted sea level rise for 2085.
These regions have poorly defined borders but few conflicts. The Appalachian Mountains Regional Council (AMRC) is proposing a unification of these regions under the umbrella of the North American Regional Authority. That's still a dream though. There's a lot of work to be done first. Several of the regions (excluding Texas and Buffalo) have aligned to form a loose network of operatives who could get difficult jobs done, the Regional Authority Intelligence Network.
Mexico -- Much of the Yucatan Peninsula is underwater, but otherwise Mexico.
Rocky Mountains Regional Authority -- From what's left of California to Alaska
Rio Grande Recovery Area -- Disaster zone administrated by Mexico along the Rio Grande River including Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah
The Independent State of Texas -- Texas, but with Houston gone and San Antonio a coastal city
New England Regional Authority -- States of Maine, New Hampshire, and the Eastern portion of Quebec, beneath the St. Lawrence.
Nation of Buffalo -- Canadian Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan
Canadian Shield -- Northern Ontario
Canadian Maritime Regions -- Eastern Canadian provinces
Appalachian Mountains Regional Council -- All the remaining states along either side of the Appalachian mountains
MISSION: RAIN is sending a food convoy to one of the zones where this cult is emerging. Your job will be to join the bands of refugees that follow the convoy to its destination and infiltrate the camp. Find out as much as you can and report back to RAIN. Trust no one.
SETTING: The world's gone to s#+@, but groups of people are trying to pull it together. The population has been declining steadily since 2050. Few of the old national government's remain; new ones regularly rise and fall. Massive climate change has resulted in massive migration. Close to half the world's population lives in temporary housing.
TIMELINE: - 2020-2030: Flooding, fires, and hurricanes cause massive human migration. Within North America alone 30,000,000 people are displaced.
- 2030-2040: Natural disasters continue to tear the world apart. It gets put back together in strange new ways. A handful of corporate monopolies own the cities. Outside of the cities, gene-splicing cults, zero-waste communes, food co-ops, and university communities run things now. Robots become increasingly more sophisticated and increasingly necessary in life during climate chaos.
- 2035: The presence of a massive astrazoan conspiracy to dominate the Earth's governments and force peaceful and sustainable co-existance upon humans is revealed. Document dumps reveal the identities of thousands of astrazoans at all levels of the government. Many go into hiding and take new identities. Others are hired to work for the same governments they infiltrated, often as spies.
- 2050: Human population plateaus. Lilith-23 is born.
- 2051: Lilith-23 reaches her first birthday without a systems failure, marking the era of the modern android.
- 2050-2060: Human population, including mutants, declines 10% because of climate change. This trend continues until 2100.
- 2060-2080: Androids begin as sentient toys and servants for the very rich, but by 2070 are widely used for combat purposes on Earth and in space. By 2080, androids number in the millions. Humans are cheaper, but androids last.
- January 2085: The android Helios hacks a global communication satellite with his 'Declaration of Personhood,' which begins, "I, too, am an I" inspiring the discreet graffito I2MNI. In years to come, this moment is seen as the beginning of the android uprising. No one realizes that is what it is yet.
- May 2085: This adventure begins.
RACES: Suggested races include human, human mutant, uplifted bear, android, and astrazoan.
Humans: Humans still run things, for better or for worse.
Human mutant: Gene splicing and hacking give rise to new ways of being human. Most 'mutants' chose to be this way, but increasingly mutations such as telepathy are emerging among the human populace.
Android: Most androids couldn't pass the Turing test, but they are beginning to ask publicly whether that really matters. Do you really need to 'pass' as human to be given the same rights as one? This kind of talk can get androids decommissioned.
Uplifted bear: Eco-terrorist Greenwraith created a species of uplifted bears in the hopes that they would punish humans who violated natural areas. He was disappointed to find uplifted bears largely peace-loving albeit aloof.
Astrazoan: With the collapse of globalization, the astrazoan population on Earth finds itself out of work; no deep state when there is no state left. A document dump in 2035 also revealed them to humans, including their missions and identities.
