It's still a big planet, old Earth. Not as big as it used to be, what with Mars and the Moon being options now, but it'll do. It's ironic that at the same time information technology makes the virtual world so small, there are still many barriers between different cultures. Perhaps the threat of being sucked into one big, homogenous society triggers a defense mechanism somewhere in the part of our brains labeled “cultural identity”.

Some patterns remain the same across the planet. Unfortunately, they aren't the ones that do people much good: polarization between the have-lots and have-nots; rule by force, either military or economic; alienation verging on paranoia as carefully crafted social norms break down. People everywhere dance with these dangerous partners as they struggle to keep their balance on the Edge.

Let's face it. Most adventures are going to be taking place in the battered old U.S. of A. Even with all of its troubles, the U.S. is one of the happening places on planet Earth. There's money to be shifted to the right bank accounts, and the business is sharp - sharp enough to slice a street kid who doesn't keep his eyes open and his weapons loaded.

A step up from Homeland Security instituted in 2044, the NERCC supplements police departments in most major cities, or replaces them outright in smaller towns. The smallest towns pay taxes and do not receive NERCC support, which may be a blessing or a curse depending on who you ask. They are responsible for providing security and enforcement services outside of corporate enclaves, and sometimes inside if hired.

In a campaign context, the 'nerks' are bad guys in general - law enforcement doesn't trust them, criminals build their own kingdoms with NERCC approval, corporates don't appreciate having their authority undermined… they are the secret police, the faceless bureaucracy, and the power behind the throne all combined into one. In any campaign that tries to buck the two-and-twenty ruling cliques, the nerks will be the PCs' primary opponents.

The Commission is strictly hierarchical. Much like the military's Pentagon, its national headquarters in Washington is the nerve center of all operations.

The U.S. is divided into nine administrative regions: Northeastern, Middle Atlantic, Southeastern, Caribbean, South Central, North Central, Northwestern, Southwestern, and Pacific. Two additional 'Special Administrative Regions' exist, one for Alaska and one for the Mexican states.

Each region is divided into a number of districts. Each state is a district. In addition, every major urban area with a population of 500,000 or more is a district. Within each district, a number of local NERCC offices operate.

For example, New York State is part of the Northeastern Region. The New York District covers the entire state, except for the Greater New York Metroplex District, which controls New York City and its environs.

The NERCC is charged with ensuring the orderly flow of citizens seeking to move from the Reserved states to the rest of the U.S. This translates to making sure that when the Upper 48 needs bodies in the labor force, enough Mexican C-3s arrive to take the wages management wants to pay.

Labor pool management companies handle recruiting drives for U.S. employers in the Reserved states, under franchises awarded by the nerks. Organized crime reputedly runs most of these organizations.

The NERCC directly controls all security functions within the U.S., and its enforcement arm requires full cooperation from federal and local law enforcement agencies in any matter of national security. Theoretically, other law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, Secret Service, and the U.S. Marshal's office, continue to carry out their original functions, with the exception of matters involving national security. In practice, the NERCC can take over any investigation at any time, and may requisition agents who were previously working on the investigation to assist.

Students of 20th century history may recognize certain similarities between the operations of the NERCC and the KGB in the old Soviet Union. Of course, students of history would require Class 2 library system access to study such material in any detail.

After a corporate-presidential coup effectively abolished the two party system in 2024, control of the country has bounced wildly between multiple parties that often are at odds with each others' policies and goals; thus almost no actual progress gets done unless multiple parties can agree entirely on the details.

Committed to domestic economic growth by minimizing government interference in business policy, it advocates a strict law-and-order regime. It opposes policies which are meant to regulate the corporations, and favors most programs designed to keep the urban population docile.

Allied: Efficiency Party, God's Own Party, Meritocrats, True Americans.

Opposed: Centrist Democrats, Globalists, Technolibertarians.

A moderate coalition, the Centrist Democrats push for an increase in civil liberties and in federal programs to improve the lot of disadvantaged citizens. They are viewed as ineffective reformers by the powers-that-be.

Allied: Globalists, Light of Wisdom, Technolibertarians.

Opposed: Archconservatives, God's Own Party, True Americans.

Dedicated to running the government if it were a successful business, it is strongly supported by U.S. business for its protectionist stance. The Efficiency Party was one of the strongest proponents of the expansion of toxic industrial production in Mexico.

Allied: Archconservatives, Meritocrats, Technolibertarians.

Opposed: God's Own Party, Light of Wisdom.

A small minority, dedicated to a more cooperative role for the U.S. in international affairs. Free trade is a high priority.

Allied: Central Democrats, Light of Wisdom.

Opposed: Archconservatives, True Americans.

This party proposes that the U.S. adopt a blatantly theocratic stance, ruling the U.S. by the narrowest interpretation of conservative Christian doctrines.

Allied: Archconservatives, True Americans.

Opposed: Centrist Democrats, Efficiency Party, Light of Wisdom, Technolibertarians.

According to its critics, this is the “Granola” party - all the nuts and flakes are in it. Light of Wisdom supports the current administration as a 'karmic adjustment' for generations of U.S. 'gluttony'. They are aggressively 'Green', and reliably support any policy, no matter how repressive, which makes a case for preserving the environment.

Allied: Centrist Democrats, Globalists.

Opposed: Efficiency Party, God's Own Party, Technolibertarians.

The Meritocrats propose a social hierarchy based on their definition of 'merit'. This is a combination of updated social Darwinism, technocracy, and a caste system based on education and productivity.

Allied: Archconservatives, Efficiency Party.

Opposed: Centrist Democrats, Light of Wisdom.

They suggest that the U.S. will be best served by unhampered research into new technologies. The Technolibertarians are the most outspoken opponents of government control, and are viewed with the greatest suspicion by the administration.

Allied: Centrist Democrats, Efficiency Party.

Opposed: Archconservatives, God's Own Party, Light of Wisdom.

Somewhat to the right of the Archconservatives, they strongly support military intervention to protect American interests. Overtly racist, they propose relocation of minorities to the Low Six. The True American party is pushing hard for the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Cuba.

Allied: Archconservatives, God's Own Party.

Opposed: Centrist Democrats, Globalists.

In 2086, the Department of Information founded the Bureau of Citizen Evaluation to handle a new program known as the U.S. Citizenship Scale. The privileges and civil rights of citizens were adjusted according to '… the contribution of that individual towards the country's development.'

Citizenship is rated on a scale from One to Four.

A C-1 is a member of the U.S. ruling elite. Officially, his status reflects outstanding contributions to U.S. security, national development, or some similar accomplishment. In practice, C-1 status goes to the very rich, upper-level corporate managers, high government officials, leading scientists, sports figures, major media stars and the like. C-1s have a Status of 3 or higher. Three percent of the population are C-1s.

Scale One citizens pay lower taxes, enjoy finer luxuries without scrutiny, and have better access to technology, especially medical technology. Practically speaking, C-1s usually have enough influence to avoid prosecution for minor and sometimes major crimes. The bureaucracy defers to them, unless they are known to be out of favor, and lower-rated citizens who know the score are well advised not to cross them, since C-1s usually have contacts that can make a “low C” regret that he ever irritated his betters, or even that he was ever born.

C-1s enjoy most of the protections under law that one would expect in theory as modern citizens.

The upper middle class are C-2s. Professionals and skilled workers are usually C-2s, and have a Status of 0 to 4, though the majority will have a Status of 1 to 3. The population is about 33% C-2s.

The life of a C-2 citizen would be, in some respects, familiar to a middle-class resident of 20th century America: go to work, raise a family, pay taxes and go about your business. Of course, in these difficult times, there are a few additional concerns: urban terrorist strikes on C-2 neighborhoods (security there is much easier to penetrate than in C-1 enclaves), the interest of a NERCC review board, a corporate readjustment sideswipe, and so on.

Scale Two Citizens pay the highest taxes in the U.S. today. Still, most C-2s express satisfaction with their lot, and praise the efforts of the U.S. government and the nerks… excuse me, slip of the tongue… NERCC, to maintain order and put the country back on its feet.

C-3 is the classification of most U.S. citizens: whilte- and blue-collar workers, low-level labor and unemployed citizens who stay out of trouble and cooperate with work-subsistence programs. Retirees on fixed pension incomes, without disposable wealth from investments and the like, are often downgraded to C-3 after a working life spent at C-2. C-3s with a regular income pay taxes at the same rate as a C-2. C-3s can have a Status of -1 to 2. They make up 52% of the population.

The nature of the postmodern America is such that most immigrants are assigned to Scale Three. In areas of discrimination, a middle-class job that would earn a C-2 rating normally would earn a C-3 rank for someone so discriminated against.

Being a C-3 is a 5-point Social Stigma when dealing with anyone of a higher Citizenship Scale.

C-4s are convicted felons, welfare recipients, inhabitants of Secure Observation Facilities, those on probation or parole, and unemployed citizens who do not cooperate with NERCC-managed work-subsistence programs and similar uplifting agendas.

A citizen can be downgraded to C-4 for political reasons: dissidents, 'religious dissenters' such as Quakers and Wiccans, people assigned to live in a Secure Observation Facility, are all Scale 4 citizens, without regard to their economic standing in society. At least 12% of the U.S. population are C-4s.

All C-4s have an assigned subcode (see below), indicating the specific reason for their classification and the kind of official scrutiny they are likely to be under. C-4s also suffer a Social Stigma when dealing with higher Scale citizens.

C-4s have extremely limited civil rights under the Uniform Code of Law.

Only C-4s receive Citizen Scale subcodes to indicate why they have been relegated to the bottom rung of American society. Being a C-4 is a Social Stigma all by itself; the subcode determines just how badly their classification affects their social interactions. “Poor but honest” C-4s and, ironically, paroled felons are subjected to the lowest amount of social prejudice. Political dissidents, religious offenders, and other threats to national tranquility suffer a more severe loss of standing.

B: Bioroid. The C-4/B is a bioroid registered with the Bioroid Service Index, which gives pertinent information about the bioroid's design, owners, and other information as released. Social Stigma value: -20.

C: Convict. Ex-convict, actually. The C-4/C served time for a felony. Social Stigma value: -10.

D: Dissident. The United States is a free society, and as such citizens are free to espouse viewpoints that disagree with American policy. However, when such citizens, in exercising their rights, impede the mandate of the government recovery effort, society may properly impose sanctions on the individual for its own protection, such as a C-4/D classification. Effectively the C-4/D is an outsider in their own country. Social Stigma value: -15.

I: Inmate. The C-4/I is incarcerated in a prison, rehabilitation center, or similar penal program. A C-4/I may also be in a mobile penal surveillance program. Upon release, the C-4/I is usually reclassified C-4/C or C-4/P, unless his offense was political, in which case a C-4/D is usual. Social Stigma value: -15 when dealing with non-prisoners.

M: Medical. This usually implies a certified medical condition, but can also apply to registered drug addicts, or others whose condition causes them to be classified as Scale Four. Social Stigma value: -5.

P: Parole/Probation. The C-4/P is on parole, on probation, or under a suspended sentence. Social Stigma value: -5.

R: Religious dissenter. The C-4/R is a member of a religion deemed invalid by the United States; Wiccans, Quakers, Scientologists, Unitarians, etc. Social Stigma value: -10.

S: SOF Inmate. The C-4/S is assigned to a Secure Observation Facility, either remote or localized. Upon release from the SOF, a C-4/S is usually reclassified a C-4/D. Most other citizens, even other C-4s, are reluctant to be openly friendly to a C-4/S, since the NERCC is fond of the concept of guilt by association, and you never know when they are watching. Social Stigma value: -15.

W: Welfare Dependent. The C-4/W is assigned for long-term presence on the welfare rolls, to hardcore unemployables, unlike unemployed C-3s, who are considered at least a potential member of the labor force. Often, the difference between an unemployed C-3 and a C-4/W is the personal favor (or emnity) of the local NERCC or Bureau of Citizen Classification administrator. This is the largest category of Scale Four citizens. Social Stigma value: -5.

Officially, only social misfits, criminals by the virtue of their very existence, reject the Citizenship Scale and fail to register for their legal scale rating and the perquisites and duties that go with it. The government calls these people 'Unregistered Non-Citizens'. The common slang for such people is 'nullos', or 'C-Zeroes'. Unofficially, those who enter the country illegally, non-US citizens who have not yet been evaluated, and the like often find themselves classified as nullos.

A nullo has no rights under U.S. law. If apprehended in commission of a crime, the arresting authority can dispose of the case as it sees fit. Of course, nullos who are processed are assigned a C-4/C rating, and usually charged with Unlawful Immigration along with whatever other crimes they might be guilty of.

However, if law enforcement prefers to shoot first and ask questions later, they are not subject to federal penalties, though local regulations may apply. Moreover, barring extraordinary circumstances, no rated citizen of Scale Two or better is subject to penalties for assaulting or even killing a nullo. As such, thrill-seeking gangs of high Cs are often found in the null zones of the cities or countryside, hunting for nullos. C-3s and C-4s may be subject to investigation for unprovoked attacks on nullos, not out of concern for the rights of the victim, but because authorities tend to view any signs of violence among low Cs with suspicion. A C-3 or C-4 who kills a nullo in self defense, or when the nullo was committing a crime, will usually be cleared in an official inquiry (though the incident does become part of his permanent record).

In 2088, the United States introduced an extremely streamlined code of criminal and civil justice. It imposed a single legal code on the United States, accommodated NERCC controls, and worked in the new Citizenship Scale.

The Uniform Code has been modified many times since its introduction as various parties shift the rules. Why does a near-dictatorship like the United States bother with dotting the i's and crossing the t's of the legal code? Because, like many fascist governments, the United States worships loudly and publicly at the altar of legality. The government may be brutal, repressive, and violent at times, but it will play the game by the rules it has rigged, if at all possible. The American government relies on the acquiescence of the majority in rule to prevent further martial law incidents. The present rulers of the United States believe that as long as resistance can be blamed on a 'criminal minority', they can prosper. Also, even though it may seem omnipresent, the resources of the U.S. government and the nerks remain finite. Keeping the rules clear and explicit allows the government to automate the process a little bit, turning over bread-and-butter enforcement to other agencies, and leaving the NERCC in a supervisory capacity.

Control Ratings provide a quick method of measuring the overall level of legal control that a government exercises on its citizens. Different CRs apply to different situations - specifically Weapons, Cyberwear, and Tech.

As a general rule, Control Ratings applied to C-1s should be reduced by one point, as long as it is not in regards to subversion, treason, and the like. A C-1 teenager who empties a machine pistol into a low-C crowd may be displaying 'youthful high spirits'. That same teenager using a cyberdeck to broadcast anti-government messages on the Net is 'a degenerate punk, deserving the full weight of the law.'

Control Ratings applied to C-4s should be increased by one point.

In a monolithic social order with a tight system of control, a country's CR would be constant everywhere. George Orwell's 1984 presents a picture of such a society. However, the U.S. is a highly fragmented, almost splintered society, and governmental control varies from place to place.

A high control zone is an area where CRs apply at their full value. These are usually areas where the government directly enforces the law. Less rigorously policed areas will have a rating, a Control Modifier of 1 to 4. GMs should reduce the Control Rating in such areas by the Control Modifier.

At the other extreme are the null zones, places where the rule of law does not extend under normal circumstances. Null zones are effectively anarchistic, with a zone CR of 0. This is not the theoretical ideal of an enlightened anarchist, but an area where the only thing that protects anyone from the depredations of others is their own ability to defend themselves.

Starting in 2090, the law requires all U.S. citizens to carry citcards. Citcards use 'smartcard' technology, with a powerful onboard computer chip. Most transactions use the card's built-in memory, which can be updated from the National Data Banks at any time, during an online 'card check'.

Physically, a citcard is the size of a 20th century credit card, 1/4 inch thick, and weighs about two ounces. It is somewhat flexible; a person can carry one in his hip pocket and sit on it without damaging the card. Immersion in water will destroy the card's circuitry. A citcard runs for approximately one year on a AA battery.

The front of the card carries a holopicture of the bearer, a small printout screen which displays various data when the card is accessed, a contact point for data wands used in local card checks, and a thumbprint pad for verifying the bearer's identity.

It also has three mini-LED readouts. The authenticity LED displays green or red, depending on whether internal identity checks verify the bearer's identity. For example, if a citizen presses the thumbprint pad of someone else's citcard, the authenticity LED will flash red. If he presses the pad of his own card, it will flash green.

The self-check LED detects failures in the card's circuits, either logical or physical. Under normal circumstances it burns green at all times. It turns red if the card's circuits fail a self-test. It goes out (as do all other powered elements) if the citcard's battery is removed or runs down. It is a class D misdemeanor to leave a citcard without power by deliberately removing the battery or failing to replace an exhausted battery. The self-check LED begins to blink green when the battery runs low, about 1d+1 days before the battery becomes completely exhausted.

The third LED is the tamper-alarm circuit. Green under normal circumstances, it burns red if the card's self-test detects deliberate tampering with the card's circuits, either physically or via illegal reprogramming. The owner of a citcard with a dark or red tamper alarm is subject to immediate arrest. If accidental damage activates the circuit, the citizen is required to present himself at the nearest NERCC, FBI, or Department of Information office immediately to get the error corrected and undergo a full, online card check. False tamper alarms become part of a citizen's permanent record.

Deliberately tampering with a citcard is a class C felony, apart from any other criminal charges that might result from that tampering. For example, someone who loads fake credit into his citcard would be charged with felony card tampering as well as credit fraud for using nonexistent funds.

There are four levels of card check.

A visual check is just that. The holopic of the card's owner is compared to his face, he may be asked to touch his thumb to the card's built-in print verifier, and the color of the built-in tamper-check LED is noted. When a faked citcard undergoes a visual check for the first time, roll vs Forgery. If the test fails, the forgery has been detected.

A local check interrogates the card's onboard memory, checks for tampering and verifies credit balances presently on the card. This is the most common type of card check. A faked citcard must pass a second roll when tested electronically. It will fail this check unless it has onboard validation or can do a “double-shuffle” (see below). If the forgery has these features, roll vs. the skill used to install the electronic forgery (usually either Electronics or Computer Programming.

Network checks compare the card to data in the National Data Banks (for U.S. ID checks) or the databanks of the issuing bank (for commercial cards). The card check calls up the citizen's file and checks the card's onboard data store against it. The only really safe way to fool a network check is with an Alternate Identity or Temporary Identity, which creates identity files in the National Data Banks that correspond to the forged citcard.

A low-level network check does a very cursory data comparison, to minimize demands on the government network. For this reason, it can be defeated by a 'double shuffle'. A faked citcard that cannot do a 'double shuffle' will automatically fail a low-level network check! If the card does have this feature, roll vs the Computer Programming skill used to install it, to see if it successfully passes the card check. If the citcard is backed up by a file (real or fake) in the National Data Banks, then it will automatically pass a low-level network check.

A high-level network check is a more lengthy, detailed comparison, and can only be defeated by a card that has a corresponding file in the National Data Banks. If the file is 'real', placed there by an official input source, then the card passes the check automatically. As far as the network is concerned, it is a perfectly valid citcard. If the file was placed by a hacker, roll vs his Computer Hacking skill when first tested, to see if the cross-references and other safeguards are fooled.

Government citcards verify the bearer's identity, and depending on the level of card check carried out, displays any licenses, endorsements, privileges, or restrictions that apply to the bearer. For example, a weapon license would be encoded on the citcard. Citcards are equipped with a touchpad, most often used for fingerprint scans but also usable to control the display screen. The legitimate bearer's thumb on the pad produces a verification signal, while anyone else's thumbprint causes a rejection signal. Thumbprint parameters, as well as additional ID parameters used in higher card checks, are stored in onboard memory.

A citcard also stores the bearer's medical history, allergies, and of course his insurance information (ie, what treatments he is entitled to) in onboard memory. All legal cyber modifications are registered in the medical record; possession of an unregistered modification is a Class C felony under the Uniform Code.

A citizen carries out his primary banking through a personal Treasury Account tied to their SIN (Single Identification Number). His citcard allows him to transfer funds, pay bills, accept payments, and download verified credit to the card's onboard memory, which he can then use to pay for things without going through a low-level card check every time he orders something.

A C-1's card can download pretty much any amount of onboard credit. A C-2 will be validated for an amount from $1,000 to $10,000, depending on his standing as a reliable citizen. C-3s and C-4s are limited to $100 in onboard credit. As a throwback to the Resource Wars of the 2030s, the citcard also stores the bearer's current ration standings for any rationed materiel. Thus it verifies not only whether one can afford something, but whether one is allowed to buy it in the first place.

Forging a citcard is difficult, since the card operates on two levels. It must be a decent physical copy of a legitimate card and it must fool various cybernetic tests as well.

Making a visually authentic citcard takes three days per attempt. The forger needs, at a minimum, portable Engineer and Electronics tool kits. A card which will pass visual inspection costs $2,000 at typical street prices.

A forged citcard can also have onboard validation. The card's internal circuitry will provide realistic data if subjected to a local card check. A citcard without onboard validation will automatically fail a local card check.

Adding onboard validation to a forged card takes two days and adds $5,000 to its street price. The forger needs a ROM burner, a 1TB chip, and access to a Complexity 4 computer, as well as the other resources listed above. A successful roll vs Electronics-3 or Computer Programming is needed to program the validation.

A forged card can also do a 'double shuffle'. This is a sophisticated form of onboard validation that will fool a low-level network check by altering its onboard validation to match the inquiries from the network. The electronics and programming for a 'double shuffle' citcard adds $10,000 to the cost of the forgery and takes three days to install. The forger require Computer Programming-2 to make a 'double shuffle'.

A forger can build a black box that will pass local and network card checks, depending on its programming, that does not actually look like a citcard. Thus, the gizmo will fool remote testing devices, but won't pass a visual inspection by a human being under any circumstances.

Skip all Forgery tests when building a black box citcard. Reduce the price for such units by 20%, A black box citcard is usually housed in a casing the same size and basic configuration as a real citcard, but without any external markings. Clumsier units, weighing about 1/2 lb and trailing ribbon cables that hook up to the standard I/O strips and slots of a citcard, are also available, and reduce the price of the forgery by 50%.

The best forgery is a citcard that actually corresponds to a citizen file in the National Data Banks. The physical card in this case is simply a card with onboard validation. Since it will pass a high-level network test for real, the scores used to make it are almost irrelevant. However, getting the file into the data banks requires action by someone in the NERCC (a patron, or someone taking a bribe) or action by a hacker. Most spies and security agents working undercover will have this kind of identification provided. Street prices vary enormously, but the average is $100,000 divided by the Citizenship Scale of the faked ID. A false identity with a C-1 rating would cost the full $100,000. A faked C-4 identity can be had for a mere $25,000.

The 48 continental states and Hawaii are directly controlled (in theory) by the U.S. Government based in Washington, D.C. Puerto Rico was admitted to statehood in 2032. The U.S. Virgin Islands were made part of Puerto Rico in 2037, as part of a plan to regularize U.S. territorial administration in the Caribbean. Alaska Free State is nominally part of the U.S., but is virtually a separate nation (see below).

In addition, there are seven 'Reserved' states, created in 2103. Six of them (the 'Low Six') are in Mexico; the seventh is Cuba. Despite the savage guerilla war now being fought on that sad and battered island, the U.S. still counts the island as a state, and thus the American flag in 2105 shows 58 stars.

Alaska was the only state to wrench free of the United States' grasp. Discontent had been growing in the state ever since the creation of the NERCC; Alaska's tremendous wealth of natural resources drew NERCC bureaucrats in droves. The arrogant use of emergency powers to exploit the state, without any concern for the environment or individual rights, was guaranteed to enrage the traditionally independent Alaskans.

When federal units in Alaska first attempted to establish government control, National Guardsmen, along with disaffected regular troops and a large contingent of armed civilians, attacked and destroyed or captured virtually all federal forces. Rather to their own surprise, the Alaskans found themselves, for a time, the perpetrators of a successful counterrevolution.

Governor Adele Hawkins had run for office on a platform which opposed the most intrusive NERCC practices in the state. She remained at the head of the state government after the uprising. Hawkins quickly established trade relationships with other Pacific Rim governments, notably her nearest neighbors, the Federated Provinces of Columbia and Alberta and the flourishing Russo-Japanese trade community.

By the time the U.S. government got around to dealing with the Alaskan question, they were confronted with these international relationships. In addition, the Alaskan government informed Washington that many of the valuable resource areas, the wealth that the U.S. was so hungry for, were mined with low-yield nuclear devices. “If the regime now ruling the U.S. tries to take Alaska by force,” Governor Hawkins said in a widely televised address, “they will spend their soldiers and their wealth to win a burned-out corpse. Alaska will live in freedom, or die for it.”

A delicate dance of negotiation, threat and counter-threat now began. The Alaskans were not eager to commit suicide, after all. The U.S. was anxious both to legitimize its rule and to ensure continued access to Alaskan resources. Eventually an agreement was hammered out that, predictably, satisfied neither side.

Alaska has complete home rule, although it remains, nominally, one of the United States. Alaskan members of Congress have almost diplomatic status, including immunity from most U.S. prosecutions. Of course, they are also excluded from most of the insider wheeling and dealing in Washington.

A given amount of essential resources, notably oil, is delivered to the U.S., more or less for free, and in return Alaska can conduct trade with U.S.-based companies, access the National Data Banks, and enjoy other benefits of statehood.

Alaska completely rejects the Citizenship Scale. Ordinary Alaskan citizens are treated as Scale Two citizens when traveling elsewhere in the U.S. State officials are accorded C-1 status by federal authorities.

All of this has made Alaska a mecca for refugees from the American regime, as well as a hotbed of activity by would-be rebels. This puts Juneau in a delicate position. The state cannot absorb an unlimited number of refugees. Moreover, if Alaska is directly implicated in attempts to overthrow the United States, the U.S. administration might decide the free state is too dangerous to continue to exist and risk an invasion.

Accordingly, while the Alaskan administration's unofficial stance to anti-American organizations is one of 'benign neglect', anyone involving the state in anything outrageous may be arrested by Alaskan law enforcement and extradited to U.S. territory.

Shortly after the Collapse began, the 2nd Force Recon company, USMC, was moved into the Prudhoe Bay area, ostensibly for training in sub-arctic conditions. The local NERCC commander attempted to place the Marines under his command in order to secure the pumping station at the head of the Trans-Alaska pipeline.

The next communication from the administrative facility at Prudhoe Bay came from the Marine company commander, addressed to NERCC Northwest Regional HQ. “Pipeline secured for the people of the United States. Will defend from all enemies, foreign or domestic. Try us, nerk.”

No subsequent reports were received, then or ever, from the NERCC detachment at the installation.

Stricken from USMC records as mutineers, 2nd Force Recon formed the cadre around which the elite Alaskan Special Operations Force was built.

On August 17, 2091, explosions ripped through the NERCC headquarters in Havana, killing the district commissioner and most of his staff. Simultaneously, troops attacked key U.S. centers on the island, killing or capturing most of the administrative personnel.

Pirate broadcasts, injected into the networks from satellites and via hacked access to cable-feed systems, were seen throughout the United States. A man identifying himself as Major Rafel Echeveria, a NERCC officer of Cuban descent, proclaimed Cuban independence from the United States. Echeveria implored the people of the United States and the world to support Cuban independence, and a montage of footage featuring brutal atrocities committed by U.S. forces ran for several minutes before frantic technicians could get the pirate signals off the net.

The United States spent a week trying to sort through the conflicting reports from the disrupted U.S. forces still on the island. Elements of the 3rd Rapid Urban Response regiment, stationed at Guantanamo, were deployed to Havana on August 19, but their copters met ferocious SAM bombardment, and after suffering heavy casualties, retreated to their base. America mobilized for war.

Operation Cuba Libre began on September 3, with a series of bombing raids on Havana. The bombardment continued for almost four weeks. On September 29, an air-sea assault landed almost unopposed. Most of Havana lay in ruins, but Echeveria and his forces had withdrawn to the mountainous interior, where they continue to wage a lethal guerrilla war against the occupying U.S. troops.

Since its annexation, Mexico has been treated as a vassal state. The partitioning of the United Mexican States into six Reserved states, nominally members of the United States, was not accomplished without bloody military action. NERCC district commanders in each Mexican state are given a free hand in maintaining order.

U.S. and corporate enclaves function at high TL8, and some production facilities are actually TL9, although they often produce more pollution than one would expect from a TL9 factory.

Mexico's population is 102 million, and almost 21 million people live in the massive sprawl of Mexico City, still the most populous urban area in the world.

One percent of Mexico's native population is rated C-1 on the U.S. Citizenship Scale. These are mainly officials of the former Mexican government who cooperated in the annexation of their country, or top officials of the present administration of the region - senators and representatives of the Mexican states and the scions of 'old weath' who have always been an important factor in Mexican society.

Eighteen percent of the population - its top educators, technical specialists and other professionals who have not drawn unfavorable attention from the U.S. - are C-2s.

C-1s can travel freely anywhere in the U.S., and C-2s can obtain travel permits with minimal difficulty. Thus, many high-C Mexicans use their status to escape from their ravaged birthplace. Indeed, the passport that admits many members of the professional class to Scale Two is an offer of employment at a corporate facility in the Upper 48.

Fifty-seven percent of the Mexican population is rated C-3, and the remaining 24% re rated C-4, almost double the average percentage of C-4s in the Upper 48. Many citizens in the Low Six live in terrible poverty, depending on state and federal relief programs for their subsistence. They are classified C-4/W. Moreover, virtual exile to the Mexican states is a common tactic when the U.S. wants to get rid of particularly irritating C-4/Ds whom it is not politic to simply eliminate.

Since C-3s and C-4s cannot legally travel from the Low Six to the rest of the United States without difficult-to-obtain permits, once a C-3 or C-4 passes south of the Line, he is stuck in the Low Six unless he cares to try his luck against the NERCC patrols who guard that border.

Mexican Regional Commissioner: Rowena Jenkins

Mexican Regional Commander: Hector Ortiz

Mexico City District Commissioner: Frederick W. Mathers

Mexico City District Commander: Martin Di Agostino

Mexico is a separate administrative region in the NERCC structure. Each of the six Reserved states is a District, as are the swarming urban centers of Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Ciudad Juarez, Puebla de Zaragoza, and Leon.

The NERCC in Mexico has concerns above and beyond its charter elsewhere in the United States. The nerks in the north oversee the flow of people from the Low Six to the rest of the country. The District authorities in Baja, Juarez, and New Tejas, working with their counterparts in the Southwestern Region, maintain heavy patrols along the border, much as the Immigration Service did when the United States and Mexico were separate nations.

The teeming border cities of Tijuana, Nogales, and the El Paso/Juarez sprawl are home to a thriving 'coyote' industry, smuggling Mexican C-3s into the Upper 48. Scenes at the border checkpoints in these areas bring back memories of Berlin before the Germans tore down the Wall.

Numerous industrial zones in the Low Six are almost uniformly devoted to essential manufacturing that is too toxic to be allowed in the north. The nerks keep these plants productive. Oh yeah, and minimize environmental impact, absolutely. Can't forget about the environment, no sir.

Social rehabilitatioin and industrial efficiency meet in the Federal Penal Enclave in the state of Guadalajara. About 200 miles north of the urban center of the arid state, the prison/factory complex produces essential components for use in power cells, microelectronics and other technologies that involve highly toxic processes. Its nickname is El Infierno, and the average lifespan of its prisoners is 5.3 years.

The southern region of Mexico was never completely pacified by U.S. troops. The thick jungles of the Yucatan peninsula are tailor-made for guerrilla warfare. The rebels included insurgent elements of the Mexican armed forces, vengeful refugees from the destruction in the northern part of the country and outright bandits and narcotraficantes who were displaced by the invasion of organized U.S. criminals in the wake of the troops.

When Congress passed the Mexican Statehood Act of 2087, simmering tensions boiled over into open rebellion amongst the five southernmost states of old Mexico. The rebels declared Oaxaca, Tabasco, Cameche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo to be an independent Mexican republic, Mexico Libre. U.S. troops were sent to Veracruz and Acapulco. An amphibious force landed in the resort city of Cancun, which was devastated in vicious house-to-house fighting.

The U.S. and Mexico Libre fought a sluggish and inconclusive campaign from 2087 to 2102. The numerically superior U.S. forces were unable to force a decisive confrontation with the elusive Mexican guerrillas. At the same time, an equally tantalizing diplomatic batte was going on in the U.N. and OAS. In February 2013, the OAS finally defied the U.S.'s saber-rattling and recognized Mexico Libre's governments. Troop buildups in the Central American nations were noted. Chilentina started stationing rapid deployment forces into Guatemala. World opinion was heavily in favor of Mexico Libre and pressure on the U.S. mounted.

The U.S. decided against pursuing a campaign that promised to be expensive, both militarily and politically. However, they refused to recognized the government of Mexico Libre directly. Since the insurgent government had petitioned for membership in the Union of Central American States, Washington's dealings with Mexico Libre were conducted through the UCAS.

Under the treaty of Oaxaca, signed in 2103, the U.S. recognized Mexico Libre as an autonomous region of the UCAS. Cancun was declared an open city, controlled by a commission whose members were appointed by the U.S., OAS, and UCAS.

The 'Quebec Community of the Atlantic' consists of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island. The Communaute controls access to the United Provinces by sea. Originally united in 2052 as the Atlantic Community, the smaller member states have fallen under the economic domination of Quebec.

Quebec is the most populous member of the Communaute, with more than 66% of the population. Quebec has significant economic ties with France, one of the Community's most important trading partners. Increasingly aggressive factions in the Quebecois government are taking more and more advantage of their position.

In 2056, Quebec rammed legislation through the Chamber of Deputies, formally renaming the Community and imposing deadlines over the next decade by which other members must phase in stringent bilingual regulations (similar to those in place before the dissolution of the Confederacy of Canada). In Quebec itself, almost all legal transactions must be in French. Display or use of English in most business is subject to a rigid code defining size of signs, validity of documents, and even accepted forms to use when answering business phone calls.

The Quebec-Montreal sprawl is the urban center of the country, with a population of over 5.5 million. No other city in the Communaute even comes close. Halifax, provincial capital of Nova Scotia and the second most populous city in the country, has a population of barely 300,000.

Upon the dissolution of Confederation, the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan almost immediately combined their resources into a confederation little different from the larger one that had just collapsed. The United Provinces, like the Federated Provinces of Columbia and Alberta, are an active member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Unlike their western neighbor, they still recognize the king of England as their sovereign, though this is a ceremonial title only.

The United Provinces are the most heavily industrialized of the Canadian nations. They also share the north-central plains of the continent with the Federated Provinces of Columbia and Alberta, producing surplus grain for export.

Alberta and British Columbia, having raised what they felt were significant issues during the dissolution of the new Confederation of Canada, did not accept Ottawa's invitation to join the new United Provinces. While 'Col-Bert' also accepted membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, they keep Britain at arm's length.

The Federated Provinces trade extensively with Japan and the U.S., exporting grain, meat, oil, and lumber products. Vancouver is the gateway to the western half of Canada. The Federated Provinces also enjoy a close alliance with Alaska.

A 'pipeline' for anti-American immigrants to Alaska runs through Columbia, and often feeds rebel infiltrators and equipment in the opposite direction, into the Seattle metroplex or across the border into the sparsely-populated northern states.

One agreement, ratified by all the provinces, that allowed the Confederation to dissolve with minimal bloodshed prescribed the administration of the sparsely populated Northwest Territory's massive resources.

The resolution created a Joint Commission, with one commissioner appointed by each of the former provinces. A simple majority makes decisions; annual resource exploitation and price-setting budgets are voted on annually.

As the provinces formed new associations, each local government retained its seat on the Joint Commission, which has led to an interesting balance of power. The Communaute d'Atlantique holds five seats, the United Provinces three, and the Federated Provinces two. As long as the western governments act in concert, the commission is deadlocked. But when they do not act in concert, Quebec's votes control Commission decisions.

While Quebecois appointees are under tight governmental control, members from the other governments are more independent. The politicking can get intense, since one non-Quebecois commissioner's vote can hand a decision to the Communaute. Alternately, when the Federated and United Provinces are at odds, both ardently pursue the Communaute's decisive block of votes.

The surviving governments of Central America formed the UCAS in 2057. Their economies were in complete collapse, they could see the writing on the wall between the U.S. and Mexico, corporate suits were buying up countries piecemeal… sacrificing some autonomy seemed a small price to pay for resisting further erosion.

The states that make up the UCAS include Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico Libre, Nicaragua, and Panama. Each remains an independent nation, with its own laws and government. However, the individual states have handed over to the UCAS the power to make treaties, to regulate imports and exports, and to maintain a combined military force.

There's still more than enough poverty and oppression to go around in Central America - it will take decades more before the region is fully recovered from the aftereffects of the Grand Slam - but in general, the UCAS has been good for the region. Central America has been growing steadily more prosperous and less corrupt since 2057.

The UCAS walks a fine line with its big neighbor to the north. On the one hand, it's completely essential to the UCAS economy that trading channels to the U.S. remain open. On the other hand, the UCAS knows that the U.S. has its eye on extending its power at least as far down as the Isthmus of Panama. In order to keep the U.S. at arm's length, the UCAS has cultivated strong economic and political alliances with Chilentina and the Russo-Japanese alliance, both of whom have a vested interest in keeping the U.S. from spreading - the Russo-Japanese because they don't want the U.S. to have control of the Panama Canal, and the Chilentinans because they just don't want them any closer to South America.

South America suffered chaos in the Collapse. In several northern countries, the vast resources of the narcotraficantes (traffs) make the criminal cartels the effective government. In others, power is the prize for which half a dozen viciously contending political factions squabble, usually violently.

U.S. intervention in South American politics continues, although overt military interventions are much rarer. Chilentina is actively trying to restore order in the more vexed nations.

In the 2100s, Chilentina has become the principal source of technology in the New World. Although it can't approach the Russo-Japanese korps in terms of quantity, in most fields the quality of its products equals Eurasian standards. Chilentina is also becoming more and more a source of new ideas and innovations, beating the Japanese to the punch on several key developments of the last decade, sometimse by as much as two years. It's no wonder that Chilentina has become known as “the Japan of the West.”

In 2055, when the rest of South America was at an all-time low ebb, Chile and Argentina quietly merged into a single nation, and re-formed their government into an efficient parliamentary democracy set up along Japanese lines. The architect of this change was Emilio Arellano, a Chilean businessman, who has been hailed as the most effective political reformer since Mahatma Gandhi. Arellano never held political office, but campaigned tirelessly for unification from 2048 on. He died late in 2053, of an undetectable brain hemorrhage, only 16 months before his dream became a reality. There are those who say that Arellano's death was a remarkably efficient high-tech assassination perpetrated by agents of the U.S., Japan, or even a faction of the Chilean or Argentine government. These claims are generally dismissed as mere conspiracy theory.

The Chiletinan government makes no bones about the fact that its primary function is to foster big business. Productive members of society are offered useful work, a comfortable lifestyle, and guaranteed healthcare for life. However, dissidents, troublemakers, and ne'er-do-wells are not tolerated. The Chilentinan justice system is harsh, particularly against violent crime. Convicted criminals are usually conscripted into work gangs that handle much of the manual labor throughout the country. The government will not hesitate to pacify difficult prisoners through narcotics or cybernetic implants - and if the treatment happens to fry some or all of their brains in the process, no great loss - better to be a drone for society than a parasite against it.

Criminal penalties for 'white collar' crime, on the other hand, are almost ridiculously light - critics of the Chilentinan legal system like to point out that the criminal penalty for loitering (one to three years hard labor) is more severe than the penalty for embezzlement (up to one year house arrest, repayment of embezzked funds, plus penalties of up to 200% of the amount stolen.) However, the government also gives the corporations a great deal of latitude in disciplining their own employees, and corporate 'justice' often makes those sentenced to labor gangs look like the lucky ones.

Political dissidence is tolerated - to a point. Chilentina maintains a free press, and citizens are allowed to voice opposition to the government, either vocally or in print. Known malcontents are placed under almost constant observation by the government, and will be slapped down hard if they step the least bit out of line (and there are those who say that if a dissident goes long enough without stepping out of line, the government's not above giving him a little push).

The United States is quite vocal on the subject of the 'chilis' and the threat they pose to their proper position as arbiter of the Western Hemisphere. The main reason for U.S. opposition to Chilentina - other than a simple desire to be the biggest goldfish in the bowl - is an ongoing 'brain drain', in which politically liberal or moderate U.S. citizens who can get out of the country seek political asylum in Chilentina (which may not be a freethinker's paradise, but is still infinitely better than the U.S.)

The Chilentinan government is traditionally eager to honor such petitions for asylum, if the refugee is educated - particularly in technology or finance. In the last few years U.S. pressure has forced Chilentina to back off sharply on its immigration policies, but there are still more top-rank professionals leaving the U.S. for Chilentina than the U.S. likes.

The rain forests of the Amazon Basin produce more oxygen than any other land area on the earth, but throughout the 20th century they were being clear-cut and burned out at a rate of up to 50 million acres a year.

In this century, with global warming going from a theory to an imminent threat and eco-catastrophe looming on the horizon, this had to stop.

Brazil was hit hard in the pandemic that led to the Great Collapse. This slowed the deforestation somewhat simply because there were no longer enough people to cut the trees and man the ranches and plantations. But by 2030, the progress of deforestation was accelerating again, and the earth was in no shape to tolerate further depletion of her oxygen reserves.

The solution was the International Rain Forest Protection Pact of 2031. This international treaty was pushed upon the international community by the Russo-Japanese, using tactics that ranged from friendly lobbying to outright economic blackmail. Even the United States went along, after being brutally threatened with a 100% import/export embargo from both the Russo-Japanese and Chilentina. No firstworld country could ignore the pact.

The pact created an ecological reservation throughout the Amazon Bsin. Millions of square miles - including the most productive and profitable farm and ranch land in Brazil - were set aside for rain forest. All economic and agricultural exploitation of these reserved lands is strictly forbidden. (A few small indigenous tribes have the only exceptions to this, and their population and rights to exploit the land are rigidly regulated.)

The pact is enforced by the International Ecological Protective Agency, an independent organization staffed by personnel from all the pact's signatory countries. The Agency breaks down into two bureaus. Bureau A is made up of about 700 scientists - ecologists, botanists, zoologists - dedicated to expanding the rain forest and maximizing its global ecological impact. Bureau B consists of about 3,000 crack ranger troops that serve as game wardens, patrolling the Basin and enforcing the pact.

In return for outlawing exploitation of the rain forests, Brazil receives an annual stipend from each of the pact countries. Any country that doesn't pay is subjected to crippling economic sanctions from the other signatory nations, including Chilentina, the Russo-Japanese, and (reluctantly) the U.S.

Still underpopulated from the Collapse, this stipend is enough to provide a slender but adequate income for every Brazilian citizen. The pact rigorously limits Brazilian industry and agriculture, the former mainstays of the Brazilian economy. Now the major part of Brazil's economy comes from the pact stipend, with tourism the major local industry. Brazil is working to rebuild its economy along environmentally sound lines (so as to preserve its pact stipend). Plans include promoting an international entertainment industry, and encouraging high-tech light industry after the Chilentinan model.

As might be expected, the pact is not universally popular. However, it's virtually the only policy (along with the UCAS) that the Chilentinans and Russo-Japanese completely support. Consequently, these two powers have been able to strong-arm international enforcement of the pact. Most international analysts predict that if there's any political or economic weakening whatsoever of either Russo-Japan or Chilentina, the International Rain Forest Protection Pact will be the the first thing to crumble. Even in Brazil, there are nationalist groups who charge that the pact is an affront to national honor and traditional masculine values, and these groups have been known to make their points violently.

The Maastricht accords of 2031 laid the foundation for United Europe (originally the European Union.) Economic union in 1993 was followed by a united military establishment and a supranational security/police structure in 1995, ratification of supranational powers to the European Assembly (formerly the European Congress) in Brussels in 1997, and the formal act of union in 2040.

National governments retain significant power, but foreign policy, certain areas of trade and military concerns are largely the domain of the Assembly.

Currently there are two main power groups in the U.E. The most powerful is the militant nationalist faction led by Germany and Italy, but a moderate faction dominated by the Iberian Federation, the Scandinavian states, and England, has so far managed to restrain it. The Benelux retains its traditional neutrality in political struggles.

Andorra (a tiny state between France and the Iberian Federation) has become a haven for data of questionable origins and dubious legality. Backed by unidentified (but major) concerns, a large hole was blasted in the Pyrenees and loaded with computers to store all manner of material, no questions asked. Andorra is not the only tiny state to establish a national data haven - others include Monte Carlo, Gibraltar, and several Pacific islands - but Andorra has the best reputation of any of the 'second tier' data havens. It's regarded as having security and confidentiality that approach Swiss standards, at less than half the price of the Swiss haven.

The Prince-Bishop of Seo de Urgel, in the Iberian Federation, is nominal ruler of the principality, but actual authority rests in the Council of Syndics, a self-perpetuating oligarchy committed to maintenance of the data haven. France relinquished all claim to Andorra during the displacements of the 21st century.

United Europe centers its government in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, with the European Assembly in Brussels, the Supreme Tribunal in the Hague, the Bourse Centrale in Luxembourg, and many other U.E. departments and functions in the region.

As a result, the Benelux is also a hotbed of international espionage, intrigue, corporate activities, etc.

Britain withdrew from Northern Ireland in the face of increasing agitation to eliminate 'foreign entanglements' during the economic depression of the mid-90s. An Act of Union between Ulster and Eire was engineered as part of this withdrawal, but the terms (limited autonomy for the North, guarantees of representation for Protestants in the Seanad - the Senate) displeased IRA extremists, just as the union itself infuriated hard-line Ulster factions. Terrorism and internecine strife are still frequent occurrences in the Republic. Perhaps the strangest twist in the conflict is the Ulster Liberation League, whose bomb raids on U.K. sites have the avowed purpose of forcing Britain to 'recognize its historical debt to Ulster and restore our rights as British citizens.'

France's central government was formally divested of power in the Tax Revolutions of 2038; the Multipratite Republic was established in 2052. Paris is home to a debating-society legislature and a figurehead premiere, while real power tests in the autonomous departmental governments.

Germany is presently the leading power in the European Union. It's second only to the Russo-Japanese alliance in cutting-edge tech.

Germany, under increasing competitive pressure from Chilentina and others and hungry for resources, has become more overtly nationalistic in recent years. This is making its U.E. neighbors nervous. While the European Defense Force is theoretically commanded by the Union, rather than any member nation, the German contingent of the EDF constitutes just over 50% of its total strength. The Germans' most committed political ally in the U.E. is Italy.

Increased activity by neofascist factions is another destabilizing element in German politics.

Spain and Portugal united in 2030, in conjunction with the U.E. Act of Union. Portugal and the former Spanish province of Catalunya maintain a constitutionally mandated degree of political and cultural autonomy, but for all practical purposes the three are one country. Iberia is the leader of the moderate coalition within the U.E. that opposes Germany's more militant proposals.

With a stable, growing economy and a peaceful, educated population, many analysts are predicting that Iberia will supplant Germany as the dominant power in the U.E. within 10 years.

Established by the declarations in Minsk and Alma-ata in 2031, the Commonwealth replaced the old Russia, which was formally dissolved at midnight, Jan. 1, 2032. The Commonwealth is presently composed of the Federated Russian Republic, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Latvia, Georgia, Moldavia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. The centra Asian republics seceded from the Commonwealth following violent ethnic confrontations in the mid-30s.

Together with the Japanese, their firm economic allies, the Commonweath reigns unchallenged as the dominant world power of the 21st century. The combination of CIS resources with Japanese efficiency and expertise is unstoppable. Nobody surpasses Russo-Japanese tech in terms of quality or quantity.

Money talks, and the Russo-Japanese alliance's status as the richest entity on the earth also makes it the most politically powerful entity on the earth. Its most audacious political move so far has been to force international compliance with the International Rain Forest Protection Pact to halt the destruction of the Brazilian rain forest. The Russo-Japanese are not normally known for being environmentally enlightened, but they do listen to their scientists, and when the best projections available said that continued destruction of the rain forests would make Earth uninhabitable within three centuries, they took action.

Minsk, the capital of the Commonwealth, is in most respects a fairly unremarkable city (unless you happen to be a diplomat, spy, or international lobbyist). The real action is in the great sprawls of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Neon on the Moskva is the theme there, and the wheelers and dealers of this world on the Edge migrate there like hajji to Mecca.

In general, the mines, factories, and refineries of the Russo-Japanese alliance are in the CIS, while the corporate headquarters, top universities, and R&D labs are in Japan. There are already several small nationalist groups within the CIS who want to break away from Japanese influence. These movements are strictly on the lunatic fringe s far - both Japan and the CIS are still getting too much out of their alliance for a split to seem attractice to anybody but the most dedicated bigot. But as the CIS becomes more and more prosperous and educated, resentment against the Japanese monopoly on management and research is sure to grow.

The member nations of the CAF - former Russian republics of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tadzhikstan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgystan - originally united with other former Russian countries in the Commonwealth. However, following a nationalistic surge in the Slavic states, which met terrible riots in the central Asian states, the governments of the CAF seceded from the CIS. A cache of nukes held by extreme elements in Kazakhtan persuaded the Commonwealth to accept the central Asian resolution peacefully.

If there is a 'bad guy' in the world, in the old Cold War sense, it is the CAF. The CAF is constantly stirring up the Islamic League, extending puppet strings into eastern Asia, competing with Chinese industry, etc.

The government of the CAF is nominally a socialist republic, but actually a byzantine, self-perpetuating oligarchy, much like the central committee of the the old USSR.

The racist and fascistic elements in Russian culture, disgusted with the globalism of the CIS, have settled in the CAF. Consequently, there are constant armed struggles between various ethnic and political factions. This internal struggle tends to limit the CAF's effectiveness as a global player. Islamic fundamentalists also form a potent power bloc.

Although the socialist government of the CAF is technically diametrically opposed to the U.S., the two regimes have a great deal in common politically, and often form an unofficial alliance against the Russo-Japanese.

A bizarre combination of factors led to Israel controlling or occupying virtually all of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and western portions of Iraq. At the moment, Israel is badly in need of friends. For several years Israel has been making blatant overtures to the Russo-Japanese alliance, hoping to become a junior partner in the alliance. The Russo-Japanese response has been generally positive, but they've always stopped short of fully enfranchising Israel as part of their hegemony. In the meantime, the U.S., traditionally Israel's strongest political ally, is becoming increasingly alienated by Israel's growing relationship with the CIS.

On the Arabian peninsula, the oil sheikdoms have largely returned to pre-WWII conditions (in some cases, pre-WWI conditions.) While oil is still a useful resource, it's no longer the lifeblood of technical civilization (the importance of oil in the 22nd century can be compared to that of coal in the late 20th.) This loss of economic clout among the Arabs is one of the main reasons Israel is able to continue to survive.

After the Israeli war, Iran absorbed eastern Iraq, but immediately became enmeshed in bickering with the Saudis for top slot in the Islamic League. It still finds time to fight covert actions with Israel and back Islamic terrorist organizations, etc. It is known to be receiving funds from the CAF.

Africa has deteriorated in the 21st century. In most regions, the population lives no better than it did 200 years ago.

Africa's troubles started in the mid-2030s, when a breakdown in South African racial reforms led to a bloody race war. By 2038, the white minority in outh America was either fled (mostly to South America) or dead. With the whites all gone, the black coalition that had purged the country immediately broke up into warring factions, and South Africa rapidly disintegrated into a mire of tiny, squabbling tribal states.

When the Collapse came through, Africa was hit harder than any other part of the world, with fatality rates exceeding 75% in most areas. Over most of the continent civilization was effectively abandoned, as people reverted to tribal society. Technically, national governments still exist, but in most places they're little more than a political fiction. A few metropolitan areas remain, but they are filthy, dangerous places ruled by whatever local tyrant can grab the reins of power.

The only exceptions to the rule of non-civilization are Egypt, which goes along as it has for 6,000 years, and Madagascar, which has managed to maintain a poor but functional government. When France crumbled, Madagascar seized control of the islands of Mauritius and Reunion, and has recently established a successful data haven on Mauritius. Of all the other putative nations of Africa, those nations in the northwest seem to be making the most tangible progress towards reorganization.

At the moment, the only foreign aid to the African mainland comes from the Russo-Japanese Alliance, which has its eye on eventual control and exploitation of the natural resources of the African continent. The Russo-Japanese plan is to give the Africans just enough aid to make them grateful, without giving them enough to make them independent. The CAF has made overtures, particularly in Northwest Africa, but so far hasn't offered more than token help.

India has changed little in the last 100 years. Theoretically, the Collapse should have offered at least temporary relief from the Indian subcontinent's chronic problem of overpopulation. The combined effects of the pandemic of 2019 and the Collapse so devastated India's industrial base that even with far fewer people, the general population remained as hungry as ever. What wealth exists there is controlled by a small rich elite.

For the last 25 years, India and Pakistan have been actively negotiating with an eye towards eventual reunification, but little real progress has been made. The Arabs and the CAF want to control Pakistan themselves; China is worried that if Pakistan returns to India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan will follow, depriving China of three valuable buffer states. So far, all this foreign pressure has been enough to forestall reunification.

China has returned to its status as the Forbidden Kingdom. Its border states and clients are largely independent, acting as buffers against intrusions.

China is the leading power in genetic research. However, the tightening of the Bamboo Curtain cut off the exchange of scientific information between Chinese researchers and the rest of the world in 2032.

The Australian Collapse of 2036 is generally assumed to have been caused by a Chinese military virus that was released (accidentally or deliberately) by a rogue Chinese intelligence agent. However, while an outraged world imposed economic sanctions on China as a result, fear of devastating biological retaliation has, so far, forestalled any active military response.

Shanghai and Hong Kong have been completely under the control of the Chinese government since the turn of the century, and were closed off along with the rest of the country in 2032.

The countries on the Asian Pacific Rim are the up-and-coming players on the global stage. They're democratic, progressive, and fiercely capitalistic. The tech and other goods produced by these countries is frankly second rate, but it's cheap and easily available all over the world. And it's getting better. Economic prophets like to speculate about which of the Pacific Rim countries is poised to become the next Japan. Korea and the Philippines are the front runners, but Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan are seen as having strong dark-horse potential. And the race is on…

Of all the tragedies and catastrophes that marred the 21st century, the most frightening was the Australian plague of 2037. Something completely depopulated an entire continent in less than six months, and nobody's sure what it was. Most nations blame the Chinese, but the Chinese aren't talking.

There are just too many unanswered questions about the Australian plague - mainly centering on how on earth the thing is vectored. It obviously can't be spread by birds or insects, or it would certainly have spread to Indonesia or New Zealand by now. Likewise satellite photography shows the Australian ecology apparently flourishing. Herds of wild cattle and packs of wild dogs have been spotted, and the kangaroos are doing just fine, thank you. On the other hand, if the plague was only spread by humans or primates, surely the quarantine measures imposed in the summer of '37 would have saved somebody. Based on the little evidence available, virologists speculate that the plague was a viral infection, fatal only to primates but carried by an indeterminate number of other land mammal species, almost certainly including rodents. It's virtually certain that such a specific and devastating infection would have to be custom-designed. Most scientists think that once all the humans were dead the plague would rapidly become extinct… probably. A couple of firstworld countries have airdropped teams of expendables (convicts and political prisoners), but they never survive long - just long enough to report a complete lack of human life and lots of decayed bodies everywhere. Then, after about a week, communications cease.

Right now, Australia is like a high-stakes game of Russian roulette. The first one to pick up the gun and pull the trigger gets the prize, if they survive - only nobody knows how many of the chambers are loaded.

An international scientific conference on the Australian mystery convened in 2038. The conference agreed to wait at least fifty years before attempting any sort of expedition to the Australian mainland, and then to make the effort a joint international venture. But with nothing new coming out of Australia, some countries might be getting itchy fingers. The CIS is believed to have dropped robotic probes, similar to those used to explore the surface of Venus, into the ruins of Australian cities. The most paranoid scenario suggests that the Chinese (or whoever designed the plague) might know exactly how long it will remain active, and will mount a massive invasion of the continent as soon as it's safe to do so, while the rest of the world stands around with their tongues hanging out. Of course, all countries with an observation satellite in the air (which is almost all of them) have been paying special attention to their pictures of Australia. Some analysts claim to have found visual evidence of low-tech human activity in the deep outback, but this conclusion is hotly disputed. If somebody is alive out there, they must be deliberately trying not to be seen.

There is a nominal Australian government still active, headquartered out of Hobart, Tasmania, but it's in no position to make a serious claim for control of the mainland if one of the big boys decides to make a grab.

After the plague struck, New Guinea (currently under the control of Indonesia), New Zealand, and Tasmania were placed under strict quarantine restrictions, out of fear that the Australian infection would somehow jump to those island. These restrictions were lifted in 2042, but the economic damage this caused the affected countries will take decades to correct. Consequently, these states lag far behind other countries of the Asian Pacific Rim in terms of tech and commerce.

Tech Level (TL): Indicates the average Tech Level for the country. This does not mean the technology available to every inhabitant, but rather the median point. Wealthy and powerful members of society may have access to more advanced technology; poor members of society will be limited to significantly lower technology.

Control Ratings: Ratings are assigned for three areas. The General CR (Gen.) measures the presence of law enforcement, strictness of laws, and the overall level of government regulation. The Weapons CR (Wpns.) specifically governs the Legality of weapons. The Technology (Tech.) CR measures the Legality of cyberwear and cyberdecks, as well as government regulation of industry, medical resources, power sources, and other high-tech features of life.

Wealth Level (W): A citizen of average Status (Level 0) will live at the Wealth Level indicated.

D: Dead Broke

P: Poor

S: Struggling

A: Average

C: Comfortable