The Universe

2050-2054.

The Singularity War, caused by the emergence of privately-owned Artificial Superior Intelligence, has altered humanity’s history for the worse. Since then, the use of powerful Artificial Intelligence has been outlawed. It is the one law that is – almost – never broken.

But this has not stopped technology from progressing at an exponential pace.

2086.

Today, populations live in an ultra-capitalistic world where Megacorporations like Empyrean Incorporated, EuroCore, Terra Genesis Industries or BrainWare LTD rule above governments. The new American currency is now the EC: Empyrean Coin, a cryptocurrency based on proprietary blockchain owned by the Empyrean megacorporation.

Along the years, progress has led to the rise of human augmentation and cybernetics. Physical implants are called MeatWare, neural implants BrainWare. They are, of course, produced by the Megacorporations. Implants have become the norm and an absolute must-have for most professions, be it white or blue collar. Extremely expensive, they keep the population in a state of perpetual debt and dependency, and in fear of repossession in the case of missed payments. The use of too many implants has led to a new range of mental illnesses, the most severe being Dissociation Delirium – or DD – where the human brain can no longer deal with the overload of digital inputs and loss of humanity. Increasingly worrying psychotic behaviors have been documented along the years, some leading to extreme violence. In today’s society, the subject is taboo.

Getting cybernetic augmentations implanted is called: “to wire up.”

Along the years, the internet was upgraded to a metaverse, whose backbone got destroyed during the Singularity War. Twenty-two years later, in 2076, the Ether was born: a full-sensorium haptic metaverse that humans can access via a BrainWare implant called Neural Link, an immersion pod and a haptic suit. The Ether is built on an upgrade of the old OSI network model with the addition of a new network layer – the Dream Layer – which makes the full sensorium experience possible. Accessing the Ether only via Neural Link means a degraded experience with almost no sensation. It is usually done by Ether technicians, hackers called Wraiths, and all those who cannot afford a full Ether setup. The Ether has become the drug, environment and refuge where people meet, do business and dream their lives away.

In these dark, hyper technological times, the poor and weak struggle to survive in a system hellbent on crushing them.

But there are those who refuse to go quietly into the night. They are the rebels, the mercenaries, the Wired Up.

But, somewhere forgotten, something no one could imagine is growing. And its emergence will change the world forever.

Welcome to Digital Gods and Fallen Angels, a story of Love, Rebellion, and Sacrifice.