Nineteen Eighty Four

No one is sure how we got here. The histories have been altered so much, even 'unaltered' histories reek of doctoring and bias. The only thing they all agree on is that the United States intervened heavily in Mexico's Revolution, Japan and Germany were destroyed during a war of attrition which they had instigated, and The Big Three all fought against them.


But what we know now is that The B3 dominate the world today, and though not everyone marches to their tunes, those who don't are crazy or poor. Each of the blocs has a different rhyme that they sing, a way of viewing the world which they lived in through tainted glass.


The Republic of China sees what once was. A Person's fate is decided by their blood, their family, their culture. The Republic is closer to an elected monarchy, with the Chairman reigning until he dies. Though term limits are established, the Chairman's vote counts as a unanimous decision of the people. The Elections after the Chairman has died have weighted votes, with the upper echelons of society receiving 13 votes for every person, while the lower classes get various fractions of a vote. Resource division, controlled by the state, also falls in this unequal ratio.


The sense of cultural superiority has grown unpleasantly large. Chinese culture (the first civilization on Earth, of course) is greatest, with all cultures descending down from there. The Lesser cultures are designated rights by law, and are educated to know a multitude of procedures in dealing with both their superiors and inferiors. Foreigners are only allowed certain places, and have schedules and restrictions on access to materials. Some cultures (European Anglophones and Russians) do not even have the right to speak unless spoken to under penalty of hard labor. The Chinese are untouchable even in foreign lands which pay it tribute.


Within the cultures, there is strict regard for social structure, engineered with Confucian principles in mind. The Educated, wealthy men hold close to a divine status, with members of the Cabinet and Royal family being basically above the law. Families are behest to the will of the father, and women are barred from a lot of rights. Many disenfranchised women are recruited to the Lui Hulan Society, which monitors the activities of the public for the state. The Majority of people live in mind numbing drudgery toiling for the miracle of Chinese Civilization. Slavery is back with vengeance, with the serious lawbreakers and would-be rebels being castrated and sent to rice fields for the rest of their existences. Eunuch slaves, often sold by their parents to bureaucrats, are very common servants.


The Soviet Union is what is present. All men were created equal, and the worth of a single man is decided by the worth of the people’s collective will. The Directorate of Vision boasts the glory of Equality, with all men living in the present giving for themselves and each other to make the most serene communist society. The Prime Directorate, however, knows the situation is anything but the Marxian dream.


The USSR is also a quasi-fascist, de-facto aristocracy; The Commissars and Directors, and other high-brass live in gated communities, with access to the cream of the crop. Families war with each other, with byzantine affairs and espionage making political aspirations a virtual death wish. A small middle class lives in fear of the government, and greater fear of class warfare. The vast majority of people live hand to mouth existences in government-made buildings, with some constituencies barely avoiding famine.


What prevents revolt is a doctrine the Directorate of Life terms ‘Internationalization’. At the age of 15, every citizen signs up to ‘build an international mind’: they choose an occupation, and are repatriated wherever an opening appears anywhere in the International Collective. In reality, the system is utilized to break up powerful minorities, and create xenophobic sentiments among the ‘natives’. Criminals in particular receive rather unpleasant positions; placed in the Congolese Jungle, sweatshop in Bangalore, Siberian mines, etcetera. Some of the wealthier may bribe their way out of the system, or get what amount to vacations from the Internationalization program. Quite often, the Directors simply draw names and countries from a hat, permanently deciding the fate of a peon. The propaganda encourages subtle racism, encouraging the races to show their superiority to the natives. Despite this, especially in more destitute zones, there is a lot of interracial mixing brought about by abuse of the Internationalization as sex trafficking.

The infrastructure of the country is declining rapidly outside of vital lines and major cities, and many places are only accessible by foot or helicopter. Bandits litter these roads, and horses have once again returned as the primary form of transportation. Stalinist Gothic citadels and monolithic structures sprout like trees, covered in sand, rust, and even vegetation. Meanwhile, jets armed with laser weapons roam the skies, and Soviets have walked upon intergalactic soil. The Union looks from the Sea of Tranquility, upon the Eternal Revolution.


The United States sees what could be. Theirs is the belief in a Democratic World, where everyman has the opportunity to succeed. Manifest Destiny has become a religious concept ingrained in American culture. Theirs is the newest, and highest pinnacle of World civilization, from Babylon, to Athens, to Rome, to London, and now to Washington. Religion is unified into ‘The Free Practice’, with Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad being servants of The Lord, and Heaven was to be brought about through the application of science. Though immoral and unethical experiments are done in all of the Big Three’s laboratories, Americans seemed to delight in trials which would make Mengele turn white with fear. The paradise of the future is worth the costs of today: Science absolves you of all your sins.


Life is one filled with technologies: robots and automated systems control virtually every facet of life, from transportation to medicine. This complete mechanization of the economy led to millions becoming unemployed, who were perfect for sending abroad to Americanize locals and enlighten the ‘savages’ as to the imperial glory of America. Others are sent to the Orbital platforms, Lunar cities, and Martian colonies, hoping to fill them with independent minded individuals just ecstatic to fulfill their duty to God and country. Every American citizen is monitored, barcodes imprinted upon their wrist soon after birth, monitoring their movements and physiology. America’s obsession with sexuality has entered the modern age, with young women and men monitored closely, and segregated from 12 - 20 years of age. At times, they can be used to ‘treat’ illegal actions like ingesting addictive substances or intimate contact without authorization from local health officials with 10 mAs of ‘electrical behavior manipulation’. Cameras and microphones are ubiquitous, if discreet, and telescreens broadcast entertainment 24/7 while spying on their audience. Wonderboxes, a small government controlled booths which give intensely euphoric experiences, are used as incentive to work hard and be ‘good citizens’.


Resource management is handled by the Cabinet, who does a top notch job. However, because there’s a future to account for, the bare minimum is allotted by the government. If a person desires more, they may make more, and request the government for resources (there are still luxury items), but often if the SecTrade even files the request, low grade materials are often parceled out. The Richer can often bribe officials for more productive materials, and an Aristocracy has formed. The middle class, small as it is, thrives where it can, and many enterprising people can rise up from rags to riches, once in a blue moon. However, the Central Intelligence Agency, often manipulates circumstances to get rid of would be reformers.


Every facet of civilization is being ‘Americanized’. Language is being experimented with: ‘American’, the new language of the elite, is replacing a lot of foreign loan words with ‘American’ versions, though there is an undeniable Spanish influence. ‘Newspeak’ is used in subjugated lands as the language of the underclass. As more minorities begin filling the upper echelons of society, the ‘face’ of America has begun morphing into a tanned, black haired variety.


The Regional Powers, the Beta-9, are nearly as bad or worse than their superpower overlords.


In the Chinese Tributary System, The Kingdom of Thailand and Republic of Argentina head the foreign cultures, and are honorary Chinese citizens. Thailand is a brutal military regime, which has taken to using subversive methods to weaken resistance such as spreading waterbourne diseases, and running false terrorist operations to scare the populace. Argentina in theory is a syndicalist paradise, but in reality, is a neo-feudal collection of unruly union heads paying homage to the military. Troublemakers, liberal thinkers, women who don’t wish to be trophies, traitors all meet on la parilla in a basement under a military base.


The Republic of Nipon and Republic of Indonesia are Chinese in all but name. Due to the brutality of the Japanese War of Attrition, and the parallel Indonesian War of Independence, both countries lost a lot of lives and infrastructure, two things China was happy to give. Japan is nearly 46% Ethnic Chinese and make up 31% of the populace in Indonesia. Most government positions are held by Ethnic Chinese, as is most of the upper class. Revolts are cured with either mustard gas or a holiday in the rice paddies.


The US props up the Kingdom of Australia, Republic of Brazil, and European Federation. Australia has filled the Outback with closed cities, where thousands of refugees toil to fuel the Australo-American war machines. Many Second generation Australians never see the light of day for they toil in their factories from childhood to death. Their society is rather fascist, with a state-run economy, a serious eugenics program which controls the reproductive rights of almost all Australians (more so than America even: gametes are harvested, then the youngsters are sterilized), and a militant hatred for East Asians of all sorts. Fascinated to no end by bionics and animal-uplifting, with some head-swapping and bestial acts being practiced in the cities below the desert.


Brazil tried to follow America’s lead of uncontrolled science, and has had success converting people to Humanistic Catholicism (watered down Roman Catholicism with Islamic and West African touches), though many of the lower class still cling to their beliefs. Their government is the laughing stock of Oceania; the bureaucracy is so bloated, there are incidents of innocent men being accused of terrorism because a fly fell on the document; an air-conditioning commands more authority over the people in some areas; entire towns have been completely forgotten due to filing errors. The military is impressive, though it is an independent body from the government. The Universities are militarized left-wing groups, with a load of seriously dangerous weapons which they use to hold the country hostage, and keep the state upholding their agendas.


The European Federation is a Boschian horrorland wrapped in bright colours and quaint phrasing. The streets of every major city are painted lavishly, and everything is built with aesthetics in mind. Each sector has it’s own government, but is subject to federal laws, and the systems run the gauntlet from the syndicalists of Catalonia to the monarchies in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy. Each government however, answers to the European Council, who have military backing should any federation member step out of line. Europe loves vivisection, and criminals and opposition leaders will wake up one morning missing limbs or having the wrong ones. Immigrants to the EF are forced into state-built slums which often serve as a stock of guinea pigs for some Frankensteinian ventures and one trip adventures to the Galilean Moons.


The International Collective hosts some of the more bitter regimes in this world, with Awene Nzere and the Revolutionary Arab State. The AN was originally part of Oceanian alliance, under Belgian colonial elite. When the USSR supported a rebellion to topple this regime in 1960, warlord states formed out of the mess, pulling the USSR into a bitter guerrilla conflict. Hearing of the oppression in the Congo, some African-American veterans, disgusted by the United States, went on an expedition to the Congo. Through luck, and funding from China and the EF, the Little Brigade had conquered most of the Congo by 1966, directly confronting the Soviets that December. The Littles and the Soviets reached an agreement, and though Awene Nzere as it was now called, would be a neutral country which allows Soviet companies to explore Katanga. When the Americans began engineering a right-wing coup to restart the conflict, Malak Little, ardent communist supporter, led a successful coup, rounding up all those disloyal to the state (or just unlucky enough to be associated with the conspirators) and executing 3,000 including 25 Americans. As the US threatened invasion, the AN announced its official alliance to the Soviet Union, warding off the spectre of war for the time being.


The Awene Nzere is a horrifically brutal state, with slave labour imported from Russia doing most of the hard labor. Locals favored by the government are pacified with modern amenities and bribes, even as the forests disappear and the rain becomes more acidic. Rebellious and seditious groups receive a one way ticket to Siberia or Rub’ Al Khali. Massive Hydro-electric works power cities of millions, rich off of the backs of these ‘international volunteers’. Soviet aide has helped modernize a lot of Nzere, and with a constant supply of ‘volunteers’, the asphalt rivers and concrete jungles consume their natural counterparts.


The Revolutionary Arab State is a slavocracy, with the Grand Army as a de-facto aristocracy. To encourage enlistment during Middle Eastern Liberation, the Revolutionaries offered every soldier freedom from labor for the rest of their lives. After independence from Colonial powers, there were populations of unhappy bourgeoisie, dissatisfied soldiers, and farms abandoned in the chaos. The RAS developed a catch-all solution to these problems; force the intelligentsia and the bourgeoise ilk into servitude of the soldiers, who will receive land which the newly minted servants can cultivate. Massive feudal estates cover the arable land, and places with petroleum are under direct control of the President (for-Life). To emphasize their secular nature, the elite prefer to speak Russian, like their Soviet Allies, while their peons retain Arabic as their main form of language. These serfs are traded as a commodity, and lucky ones hope to be ‘Internationalized’ and sent to Russia proper.


Hiding in the shadows of these giants are the N3, the neutrals. Chile is a closed society, very wary after Argentina’s last invasion attempt. Radiation spikes have recently been detected in the South Pacific. No one is sure what exactly goes on back there. No one who thinks of entering Chile ever returns. The Marattha Republic is the world’s number one supplier of paramilitaries, gathering many disenfranchised youth from the villages and contracting them to serve with various groups. All three powers use Maratthi mercenaries, as it absolves them of their fingerprint should the operation go wrong. Mumbai is the Las Vegas of the World, with relaxed laws on drug use, prostitution, gambling, and a variety of other sinful pleasures. The Elites of the Big Three implicitly hold the city as a sacred neutral ground for those reasons.The Judaic Republic of Malagasy was formed by an Anglo-French Commission after the Great War, but before the German expansion. The Malagasians trust none of the powers, who express quite a bit of anti-semitism behind closed doors. The JRM is equally as dangerous as any one of the Beta-9, and just as psychotic. The Regime is very pro-natal, to the point where cloning has become a trend to boost their population. The Judaic Republic has no official diplomatic ties, and the only major interaction the JRM has wth the outside world are the cabal of pirates/terrorists headed by Emmanuel Goldstein, who operate worldwide, and steal cargo, demand tribute, and hold crews ransom. They have the largest standing Army behind the USSR, and the Big Three collectively worry about it’s plans globally, though none of them want the other two to invade, out of fear they’d gain an edge over the others.


This World stands at the edge of destruction. None of the Powers is confronting another directly, but brush wars between proxies are used to strike fear into the hearts of the other blocs, and inspire nationalism and jubilation on the home front. All three countries utilize the same methods of exploitation, repression, and population control, though none of them will admit to their similarity. Smaller members of the bloc wait by their master's side, waiting to destroy themselves for the sake of Civilization itself. Neutral powers hide in the shadows and try not to make big splashes. In 2034, the world stands at the intersection of three empires of terror, as they bring suppression and violence to the heavens, to the streets, to every corner of the globe.

The future is a boot stamping down on the face of humanity eternally