Prologue: The Lead War
Iustitia Headquarters,
San Diego, 2180.
Thank you all for coming to Summit 2180. My name is Thalia Coleman, Chief Executive Officer of Iustitia's artillery division. We have gathered you here to help us resolve a...situation.
Let me tell you about our history first, as that is vital to understand the consequences of what is currently happening.
Shortly after everHope fell, a war started. Today, we know it as 'The Lead War'. Why, you may ask? Because for the first time in ages, it was a war fought by men.
You see, after everHope, humanity lost faith in technology. At least, highly advanced technology. They no longer trusted AI's, bots, droids and drones. They no longer wanted to fire intelligent missiles who could possibly change their course.
No, all that was used were guns and bullets. Lots of them.
And so, a war started. A war in which the lives of innocents were spent. A war in which the streets were coloured red. But, most of all, a war for power.
Fighting for Iustitia meant fighting for freedom, for vengeance and for peace. Simotech, on the other hand, fought for rules. They fought for safety, and for honour.
Not fighting? Not an option. You were an ally, or an enemy. Nothing else. Many corporations were forced to choose sides. Many didn't, and instead fled the continent, in search for a safer home.
Three years.
That's how long it took.
One hundred and seventy three million casualties. Burial sites became mass graves, no longer able to keep up with the amount of corpses. "In honour of the anonymous soldier", they all said - but there was no time to honour the fallen, nor time to wash the blood off their no longer breathing mouth. They were abandoned there, every single one of them, forgotten sooner rather than later. The world wasn't ready for this.
Would any world be?
Three years.
Nobody could have ever imagined the damage of such a cruel war. Not a single building had remained intact. Not a single family without a loss. With all the water purification systems no longer manned, most food and water became toxic. Diseases started to spread, with no one left alive to cure them.
A wasteland littered with bodies was all that remained, where not even the grass would grow.
But just when the worst was to come, just when the hope was completely, entirely lost, it ended. Like a hurricane dissapearing in thin air, only leaving destruction as a proof of its prior existence.
Simotech was declared bankrupt. One day, their soldiers emptied their rifles on us. The next, there was not a trace to be found of Simotech. Of anything they were, or anything they did.
Simotech, the billion dollar company, had disappeared into nothingness.
Confusion spread throughout the land, shortly followed by hope. Hope for a future. Hope for a day without the gruesome sound of rattling guns next to the playground. Hope, for the possibility of really living once again.
Iustitia was installed as the new, leading corporation. They built courts, schools and hospitals. They trained an army, abolished martial law and hired security advisors.
EverHope was but a vain memory, a thing of the past described in history books. It was all over, at last.
Or so, we thought.
A year after bankruptcy of Simotech, certain small enterprises suddenly became market leaders. Their shares skyrocketed, but nobody knew why.
Only weeks later, the dead count started rising again. The cause? A newly developed, deadly drug, known as 'black wings' on the streets. Users have claimed it to enhance strength, speed and dexterity, as well as resistance to pain. It is highly addictive. Abstention is equally dangerous as continued usage. Once used, it will most certainly result in death.
Suspicious?
There's more.
You know, we stole data from Simotech. To use against them, like we did with everHope. In that data, we found a heavily encrypted file.
Until today, we have only been able to decrypt the title of the document, but we are fairly sure that it is related to the new drug. Rumors have only made our suspicions stronger. We believe that Simotech is behind all this, and we will make it stop.
This time, we won't fail. Not again.
We've gathered all of you here, not only to define the future of our country like we claimed, but to finally destroy Simotech as well.
Most of you represent those small corporations or are possible witnesses, and we believe some of you may know what is actually happening.
If you do, let me make this very clear.
We will find you.
We will abuse the very drug you made against you, until you wish you had never thought of creating anything like it.
We will find a way to abuse your little toy, and there's nothing you can do to stop us.
We will destroy you and whatever you are hiding in "Project ARCH".
We will declare war, just once more.
And this time, you won't be able to walk away.
We'll begin tomorrow.
