DARK FUTURE COUNTDOWN
A Timeline for the Dark Future 1990 to 2045
1990 to 1993
• A secret ‘coup' launched by The Gang of Four,
a coalition of government agencies led by the
current Vice President, effectively ends federal
democracy in the U.S. Many states begin ignoring
federal authority, declaring themselves "Free
States."
• Start of First Central American Conflict.
American Imperial ambitions, justified as part of
the war on Communism, terrorism, and narcotics,
kill hundreds of thousands. American veterans
return home dismembered and maimed, driving
the demand for cyberware.
• Breakup of Soviet state. From this point, the
old USSR begins a new era of rapprochement
with Western Europe; by the 2000s, the "Neo-
Soviets" are the EuroTheatre's most powerful
allies.
• EuroSpace agency launches the Hermes
spaceplane.
• CHOOH2 developed by Biotechnica.
• First arcology built on ruins of Jersey City; 16
"arcos" begin construction over the next 5 years,
until the Collapse of 1996, leaving the huge
structures half-completed, filled with squatters
and homeless.
• The Treaty of 1992 establishes the European
Economic Community. A common currency unit
(the Eurodollar) is established.
• The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
develops and spreads several designer plagues
worldwide, targeting coca and opium plants.
Governments of Chile, Ecuador, and Afghanistan
collapse.
• A savage drug war breaks out between Eurocorpbacked
dealers and DEA all over the Americas.
• First use of high-energy laser-lift arrays. Simple
mass driver established in Canary Islands by
EuroSpace Agency.
• First TRC biologic interface chips developed in
Munich, United Germany.
• AV-4 aerodyne assault vehicle developed to deal
with increasing riots in U.S. urban zones.
• In retaliation for U.S. attacks on Bogota,
Colombian drug lords detonate small tactical
nuclear device in New York. 15,000 killed.
1994 to 1995
• World Stock Market Crash of '94. The U.S.
is caught manipulating European and American
stock markets; a worldwide financial meltdown
results from the news being made public.
• U.S., European Community, and the Neo-Soviets
start a new space race, seeking economic and
military advantages over each other.
• Kilimanjaro mass driver begins construction, under
joint agreement between Euro Space Agency
(ESA) and Pan-African Alliance.
1996
• The Collapse of the United States.
Weakened by losses in the World Stock Crash,
overwhelmed by unemployment, homelessness,
and corruption, many local governments collapse
or go bankrupt. The U.S. government, snarled in
a staggering deficit and the machinations of the
Gang of Four, is totally ineffective.
• Nomad Riots. By now, 1 in 4 Americans are
homeless. Hundreds of thousands riot for living
space throughout the U.S., Nomad packs spring
up on the west coast and spread rapidly through
the nation.
• First appearance of booster gangs.
• U.S. Constitution suspended. Martial law established
in U.S.
1997 to 1998
• Mideast Meltdown. A very limited thermonuclear
war destroys much of the Middle East,
radioactive fallout spreads around the world.
World oil supply drops by half.
• ‘Rockerboy' Manson killed in England. A
legendary force in the "populist rock" movement,
his stage name was adopted as the term for any
musician or other artist who took up the gauntlet
for political change.
• The Drought of '98 reduces most of the Midwest
to parched grasslands. Between agribusiness
Corps and drought, the family farm all but
disappears.
• 10.5 quake shatters Los Angeles; Pacific Ocean
inundates 35% of the city. An estimated 65,000
are killed.
1999
• Millennium cults begin to appear, predicting an
apocalypse on Jan. 1, 2000. Thousands migrate
to isolated communes and temples to "await the
end."
• Tycho Colony established. A mass driver is
constructed to provide raw materials for orbital
platforms.
2000
• Millennium cults run amok on January 1st in orgy
of suicide and violence; most destroy themselves.
• First "extended family" poser gangs established.
• Crystal Palace space station begun at L-1.
• Wasting Plague hits U.S., Europe, killing
millions.
2001
• The framework of the NET put firmly in place with
construction of the WorldSat network.
2002
• Food Crash. Mutated plant virus wipes out
Canadian, Neo-Soviet crops. U.S. agribusiness
crops survive due to new biological counter agent.
Neo-Soviets accuse U.S. of biological warfare.
2003
• Second Central American War. U.S. invades
Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela. The War is
a disaster that costs many American lives and
leaves thousands of troops to struggle home on
their own.
• WNS Media Tesla Johanneson exposes secret
NSA transcripts of the 1st Central American
conflict.
• The remainder of the Gang of Four is swept away
on a wave of reform. Elections resume, although
heavily influenced by the Megacorporations.
2004
• First cloned tissue growth in vitro. Micro-sutures,
sterilizer fields developed.
• Tesla Johanneson assassinated in Cairo.
• First Corporate War (2004 to 2006).
Commando raids and cyberspace attacks
between EBM and Orbital Air introduce the world
to the age of direct Corporate warfare.
2005
• Cybermodem invented.
2006
• First Human clone grown in vitro. Mindless, it only
lives for 6 hours.
2007
• Braindance developed at UC Santa Cruz.
2008
• Second Corporate War (2008 to 2010).
SovOil and Petrochem fail to negotiate with each
other over newly discovered oil fields in the South
China Sea and begin blowing each other up
instead. Even cynical observers are shocked at
the level of violence.
• U.S. assault on Russian weapons platform MIR
XIII. EuroSpace agency intervenes, and the
Orbital War breaks out between the "euros" and
the "yanks" until Tycho Colony mass driver drops
a two-ton rock on Colorado Springs. An uneasy
peace is reached.
2009
• Corporations eradicate mob rule in Night City.
• Abortive takeover attempt by U.S. "terrorist group"
of Crystal Palace construction. ESA discovers the
Defense Intelligence Agency plot and drops a
five-ton rock off the coast of Washington D.C. as
a warning.
2010
• Network 54 now controls 62% of all media
broadcasting in the U.S.
• Human clones are now viable, but no technology
exists to implant personalities or intellect into them.
They are primarily used to provide body parts for
the super-rich.
2011
• Crystal Palace is completed. ESA now has a permanent
hold in High Orbit zone.
• ESA/Soviet mission reaches Mars. After a
landing, the mission returns, and Mars is abandoned
for a decade.
2013
• April 13, 2013. Johnny Silverhand concert
spirals into a riot in Night City. The rioters kill 18,
wound 51. Old Arasaka complex gutted.
• Soulkiller virus developed. It is originally
designed by programmer Altiera Cunningham of
ITS as a way to implant recorded personalities
into cloned bodies. The transfer technology is a
failure, but Arasaka spies learn of its existence
and kidnap Cunningham in order to have her
develop it into a weapon.
• Netwatch, previously a private organization,
is established worldwide by a joint U.S./
EuroTheatre treaty.
• First true Artificial Intelligence developed at
Microtech's Sunnyvale, CA facility.
2014
• Ihara-Grubb (I-G) transformations redesign the
NET. During this time, renegade Netrunner Rache
Bartmoss plants the DataKrash virus into the architecture
of the NET.
2016
• Third Corporate War (2016). Unknown
cyber terrorists at tack the networks of
Corporations worldwide, causing billions of eb
worth of losses.
2020
• Carbon Plague incident. A Corporate AV
crash releases a nanotech plague on the outskirts
of Night City. The plague ravages the city for two
weeks, then mysteriously stops.
• Chicago Rebuilding Project begins. Financed
by visionary Dr. Richard Storm of Storm
Technologies, the project joins Nomad groups
under the unifying banners of the Aldecaldo and
Jode Families.
2021
• Euro Aquacorp CINO attempts to acquire
bankrupt Aquacorp IHAG. Rival Aquacorp
OTEC attempts to act as "white knight" in the
hostile takeover. As both Corps line up allies,
a dangerous war both on and below the sea
begins.
2022
• Covert operations expand as Arasaka Security
and Militech spar to see who will control the
outcome of the CINO/OTEC War.
• Rache Bartmoss, Netrunner supreme, is killed in
a Corporate raid. Two weeks later, the dead man
switch for his DataKrash virus activates.
• 4th Corporate War. Covert operations
explode into a shooting war as Arasaka and
Militech move front line troops into battle. The
ensuing conflict involves operations all over
the globe, with heavy combat in major cities
worldwide.
• The Chicago Rebuilding Project collapses as
Arasaka Corporate factions detonate virus
bombs in an effort to deny the city to the
Militech side.
• DataKrash virus now infests 78.2% of the NET.
Aware of the virus' potential, Saburo Arasaka
sets out to create a secure database of uninfected
knowledge in the new Arasaka Towers facility in
Night City.
• Seven-Hour War. Fed up with the fighting,
Highriders at O'Neill Two declare independence,
using deltas and scavenged mass drivers to drop
dozens of lunar rocks and other "ortillery" at key
sites all over the planet, causing widespread
death and destruction. U.S. and Japan officially
recognize the new government.
2023
• Total breakdown of international trade. Container
ship and air travel have been totally disrupted.
Supplies and food sit on the docks worldwide,
unable to reach stores, factories, or suppliers.
Many Megacorps totally collapse.
• August 20th, 2023: Night City holocaust.
An incursion team led by Solo Morgan Blackhand
and Rockerboy Johnny Silverhand attempt to
steal/destroy the Arasaka Secure Database in
the Arasaka Towers facility. During the assault,
an area denial nuclear device is detonated, which
destroys most of central Night City. Over half a
million people are killed, and another quarter
million die in the resulting aftermath. Militech is
nationalized by U.S. President Elizabeth Kress by
the expedient of reactivating Militech CEO Gen.
Donald Lundee's reserve commission.
• Beginning of the Time of the Red.
Atmospheric particles from the nuclear blast in
Night City, as well as debris from orbital rock
strikes, conventional explosives, and the wartime
burning and annihilation of cities and agricultural
areas creates an eerie red pall over skies worldwide.
For nearly two years, skies are tinged with
a bloody red color, which eventually dies down
to brilliant red sunrises and sunsets throughout the
next decade.
2025
• End of the 4th Corp War. This includes a
three-year wrap-up as pockets of fighting are
quelled by Militech and national armies. While
there is only one nuke dropped during the war,
the world's infrastructure is severely impacted,
although not destroyed.
• NET is officially down. Alt Cunningham establishes
the Ghost World in the ruins of a bio-destroyed
city.
• Japanese government almost breaks down. By
repudiating Arasaka, national face is saved.
Arasaka is reduced to a Japan-only Corporation
for the next decade. The European Union is mostly
restored.
2026 to 2030
• The Diaspora begins. Groups displaced from
wrecked cities now set out to Reclaim nearby cities
abandoned since the Collapse of the 1990s. They
are supported by Nomads who set up convoys
between cities.
• There is massive looting of old tech and abandoned
storehouses. Only scattered Corps are still
functioning and only on a very reduced basis,
Local businesses are left to take up the slack,
often with resources plundered from abandoned
Megacorp facilities.
• Very limited VPNs within Corporate parks. AIs
occasionally creep into the wrecked cities' old
NETs to seek out other AIs to join the Ghost
World.
• Arasaka breaks into three warring factions: the
Kiji 雉 (Green Pheasant) Faction, headed by
Hanako Arasaka; The Hato 鳩 (Dove) Faction,
helmed by supporters of Michiko Arasaka, Kei's
youngest daughter, who as a U.S. citizen, instead
allies with the new U.S. government; and the Taka
鷹 (Hawk) Faction, led by Saburo's rebel son
Yorinobu.
• The remaining United States is now a functional
dictatorship under President Elizabeth Kress' State
of Emergency.
2030 to 2035
• Resettlement of Suburban Night City. In time,
Night City Central will be rebuilt, but for now, the
foothills and the small cities around Night City are
overpacked with refugees fleeing the radioactive
ruins of the Corporate Zone.
• Reestablishing of Nomad High Roads.
Nomads now operate ports, container ships.
Corporations are now mostly local, but as
Nomads establish trade routes, Corps branch
out regionally.
• Start of CitiNets, local VPNs established in
some of the Reclaimed Cities. These networks
are usually "air gapped" with only limited (and
strongly controlled) access between them.
Netwatch oversees the development of this new
series of networks, with Corporate backing.
• Like Elvis sightings, rumors arise that Rockerboy
Johnny Silverhand's body has been kept in cold
storage in a body bank in the wreckage of Old
Night City. Although this is never substantiated,
the claim is that it has been stored there by a fullbody
conversion (FBC) fan of his who recovered
it from the Arasaka blast site.
• Start of Night City Reconstruction. Gigatons
of fill are shifted from the radioactive ruins of the
central City. Much of the old Bay is filled in.
2035 to 2045
• First Wave Cities start Reclamation under
support from local governments and remaining
Megacorps. These First Wave Cities are ones
that require only a limited amount of resources
to rebuild.
• "We have no United States until we have a
country again." – Pres. Elizabeth Kress. While
local Elections resume, there will be no national
elections until a treaty exists between Free States
and remaining United States.
• Rebuilding of old factories by Corporations and
other individuals begins to replace lost tech. New
Corps start to rise from the wreckage of the 4th
Corp War.
Rumors spread that legendary Solo Morgan
Blackhand has been spotted in various First Wave
cities.
• Netwatch attempts to clear out the R.A.B.I.D.S.
and reestablish the Old NET. After a losing threeyear
battle, they give up and shut down all the
major Nodes into the Old NET (although some
Netrunners still try to go there to loot the abandoned
systems).
• Establishment of first Data Pools, information
servers and exchange systems designed for open
use within the limits of a city. Data Pools produce
free, open content created through the collaborative
efforts of a community of users. In design,
they're similar to the hyper-stack "page" system
attempted and then abandoned for the NET in
the early 90s.
• Rise of the first Mega Buildings to handle homeless
population. These are "all-in-one" arcologies
designed to rapidly create safe, habitable zones.
• Beginning of first new factories replacing, upgrading,
or repairing old and scattered tech.
2045
• The Present.