Seven Wonders of the Cyberpunk World

Text by Geoff Hinkley
(View his comment)

1. The Silver Sea
2. The Internet
3. The Lingam Spire
4. The Nietzsche Metamorphosis
5. Babbage
6. Tycho City
7. The Virgo Xenology Project

The Silver Sea

It was in the aftermath of what has come to be known as the Sinking of Holland in 2054 that the Silver Sea (or the Polar Albedo Enhancement Project as it was originally called) was conceived. Whilst there were a good many other factors that contributed to the terrible floods that overwhelmed the Netherlands the public consciousness pointed the finger firmly at global warming.

It was felt that it was precisely this sort of global crisis that the 10 year old GSSA was mandated to remedy. The solution that they eventually decided upon, however, was considered unorthodox to say the least and, at the time, was widely derided and, amongst many environmental groups, hated.

It was felt that attempting to reduce greenhouse emissions would be impractical, unpopular and indeed very harmful to the world economy particularly since it was still recovering from the effects of the exhaustion of natural oil reserves in the 2030s. A new fuel crisis was to be averted at all costs.

So in 2056, huge custom-built rigs began laying 10-mile-wide sheets of metallic foil across the polar icecaps and out onto the surrounding seas. The principle was simple - reflect the Sun's radiated heat back out into space. The seas beneath the sheets, deprived of the sun's heat, froze and thus provided a slightly firmer support for the foil. And global warming was initially reversed and then levelled off at a tolerable level. These bizarre expanses of silver-leaf ice have become known as the Silver Sea.

In present times, the new generation of petrosynthetic algae means that fuel is ever cheaper and the demand looks set to increase as the world population reaches the 21 billion mark in the next 5 years. The continued strength of the world economy depends on this fuel so global warming (according to some scientists) may well emerge again as a problem. But the Silver Sea project has proved highly effective at reducing the worst effects of this and, combined with coastal defences, flooding is not likely to become a problem for at least 20 years. Admittedly, many cities are now shrouded in thick smog but this is a mere inconvenience compared to the disastrous floods of 2054. Human ingenuity has once again triumphed over nature and averted the worst effects of the warming problem.

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The Internet

The Internet has been around since the 1980s so it's getting on for 100 years old now. If it is getting on a bit, though, it is hardly showing its age. Indeed it goes from strength to strength.

Since 2064 the Internet has been assured as a public domain, administered by the GSSA. Whilst the fibre-optic cabling, satellites and radio antennae that make up the physical framework of Cyberspace are all run by companies, these are all strictly regulated and in many cases partly owned by the GSSA. It is felt that this global ocean of information is far too important to be left in the hands of private individuals. Indeed, the United Nations is considering a proposal to recognise Internet access as a fundamental human right.

Nobody knows any longer exactly how much information is out on the Internet. Anybody can hook a server up to the global telecom system and become part of the Internet by registering a URL with the IGA (Internet Governance Authority). This has led to the emergence of what is called the Undernet. There are parts of the Internet which might be regarded as lawless. Any number of criminal activities are carried out on the Internet: slaves are bought and sold, assassins hired and stolen information exchanged. It is estimated that as much as 40% of Internet material is linked to criminal Undernet activities.

However, the Internet has brought vast benefits to society and facilitated the rise of the Tachy-Capital economy. It is possible to speak with someone on the other side of the planet with the touch of a button or have a message in Tycho City in minutes.

The Internet has grown exponentially since it was first created but the type of information has blossomed since the 2050s when the 'Plug' was first released onto the market. The 'Plug', 'Wire' or, to give it its proper name, CICI (Cranial Implant Computer Interface) allows data to be streamed directly into the brain. The computer unit plugs into a series of sockets on the back of the neck which are then wired into the frontal cortex.

A number of companies are involved in developing CICI technology including Optimum Connexion, Neo-Neural and Grey Matter as well as any number of smaller players. Whilst the technology has improved in quantum leaps there is still a huge cost involved in implantation. This has meant that development of the 'Plug' has been geared towards producing safer, more powerful models rather than cheaper ones. But it means that CICI technology remains in the heads of the rich and the rest of us must make do with ordinary Screen/Mouse interfaces (so far about 8% of the world population have been fitted with the CICI). The majority of top-line computer users, legal and otherwise, in the Western world are fitted with the CICI.

On the other hand, the CICI has led to the development of a whole new form of interactive software - the Sensie. This new artform allows an entire range of sensation to be transmitted through the CICI. Virtual reality is a reality. A disturbing by-product of this new artform is the development of illegal programs called Squiks which subvert Sensie protocols to induce psychoses in the victims. For this reason many people choose to fit so-called 'Hard' CICIs which limit the sort of interaction between the CICI and the brain to a useful minimum. This prevents them from accessing Sensies, however.

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Babbage

Babbage was first switched on and booted up at the Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition at Indiana University by Professor Robert Warralonga and his team in 2063. The first Artificial Intelligence to be recognised by the scientific community as self aware, Babbage was granted full US citizenship in 2070. Babbage may even legally run for President although it has shown no inclination to do so.

Babbage is undoubtedly a remarkable intelligence; it has composed a number of critically acclaimed rock instrumentals and is a recognised grandmaster of the Japanese game Go. It is not, however, without its limitations. Australian-born Professor Warralonga explains:

"Babbage only experiences the exterior world through the Internet and through IRC with the team. Whilst he understands that there is a material world it is a very academic thing for him. He has no real concept of historicity and mortality because, effectively, these things don't really exist in his world.

"I'll give you an example. Babbage is a huge fan of 'Joy Division' who are this rock band from the 1980s. Anyway, he would really like to chat with Ian Curtis from this band but he's been dead for nearly 100 years. He's been on at me to try and get Ian switched back on or something. He just doesn't really get the idea."

The following interview extract between Judy Palermo and Babbage is reprinted with permission from TransMedia, Bringing the world to your screen:

Copyright 2071 held by TransMedia.

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The Lingam Spire

Work began on the Lingam Spire in Bombay in 2062 but it was not completed until 2069. Standing 7.6 km in height, it is the world's tallest building and probably its most advanced as well.

Originally designed by Indira Projects for Indian Commercial Properties, it changed hands 7 times whilst it was under construction, finally completed by the Lingam Spire Consortium.

Although there are at least seven new starscraper projects to rival the Lingam Spire in development it was really Lingam that pioneered this new wave architecture. The highest building prior to the Lingam Spire was the Robinson Building ('Big Bob') in New York, standing 3.7 kilometres. Clearly, the Lingam Spire represents a quantum leap in engineering and architecture.

The material and engineering technologies used to construct the Lingam Spire are impressive in their own right but they have been combined in a truly unique monument to the very best that Tachy-Capital has to offer. Truly, there is no finer tribute to the new economic climate. Super-Tension Polymer cabling, Vacuum Bubble Hard Foam, Super-Compression Alloys and the (then) cutting edge Helical Buttressing technique are combined in what has been described as 'an opus of epic vision' by Pepin Roux, the world's foremost architectural critic.

The Lingam Spire has relaunched Bombay as a financial capital. Over 80 different corporations own offices within the Spire. It also boasts its own Intranet, climate control and fully-computerised maintenance and hygiene infrastructure as well as a wealth of leisure facilities on the lower levels including a swimming pool beneath a 100 metre waterfall, over 200 boutiques, 30 bars and restaurants and a 24 hour casino.

Whilst its detractors might argue that the estimated trillion dollar cost could have been better spent providing health care and education for Bombay's impoverished millions and that any building which requires the deaths of 167 construction workers might not be as safe as it is said to be, no one could deny that it stands as a magnificent tribute to the dynamism of the Tachy-Capital economy.

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The Nietzsche Metamorphosis

(reprinted from 'The Nietzsche Prospectus' with permission from MediCo)

Developed by MediCo, the Nietzsche Metamorphosis v1.0 first came on the market in 2066. Originally, MediCo offered a range of surgical services but since has specialised to pursue this one popular and lucrative product.

Basically, the Nietzsche Metamorphosis is a consumer end integrated package of cutting edge bio-enhancement technology - MediCo can truly be said to be building supermen. The Nietzsche Metamorphosis has become the accepted standard bio-enhancement package for GSSA Special Forces as well as many Merc agencies and regional security forces.

Previous attempts to develop full conversion cyborgs, whilst partially successful, did not manage to demonstrate a viable life expectancy of more than five years. The Nietzsche Metamorphosis's genius was to combine existing, proven biological enhancement technologies in an integrated package. Whilst this technique can still reduce long-term life expectancy up to as much as twenty years this can be minimised by outpatient support, and the edge it gives in high risk jungle and urban warfare more than outweighs the dangers of complications fifteen years down the line.

At its bio-engineered heart the Nietzsche Metamorphosis combines four benchmark products as well as the additional organic upgrades (particularly for the heart and liver) necessary to take up the extra strain.

Firstly, the Skeletal Solutions AIP (Antigenic-Inert Polymer) bone-graft combined with additional abdomenal and cranial plating and the reinforced welded ribcage ensures that vital organs are well protected and limbs remain functional when damaged (Nietzsche Metamorphs have been known to take an entire sub-machinegun clip at 10 metres and escape with minor bruising).

Built around this robust frame is the Phorm enhanced musculature. The combination of stimulated hard muscle growth and micro-hydraulic lacing boosts strength, speed and endurance. A Metamorph can press over 4 tons and can sustain speeds of 50 kph over durations of hours.

Grenoble-Haematologie contributes a number of bloodstream NanoMechs which rapidly deploy to repair any damage sustained and reinforce muscle and bone to take extra strain where necessary - as well as assisting the body's natural defences against toxins and pathogens.

Finally, Neo-Neural (also known in the CICI field) provides the Reflex Co-processor, designed to speed up combat reflex arcs and improve co-ordination on learned actions.

As if you still required more, MediCo also provide an extensive options list - Skeletal Solutions 'Cats-Claw' digital graft, 'Wolfs-Claw' radial graft and 'Viper-Fang' cranial graft (with 600 microlitre toxin reservoirs as standard - also available for 'Cats-Claw'); Eagle Eye 'Cyclops' and 'Balor' ocular upgrades; BodyArmor 'Myrmidon' dermal-interlace armour and 'Hoplite' dermal graft heavy armour (with fully customisable paint scheme); Organon Respiratory and Alimentary filters; the entire catalogue of Neo-Neural CICIs and many others.

Best of all though is that you will qualify for membership at the Ubermensch hotel and club chain which now operate 27 premium clubhouses worldwide, exclusive to Nietzsche Metamorphs!

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Tycho City (with thanks to the Lunar Tourism Board)

A permanent station was first established in the Tycho crater in 2036. Whilst a number of other research and mining stations have been established on the Moon since, none of them rival Tycho City which now has a permanent population of more than 500,000.

The first Moon-born child was born in 2053 in Tycho City, although it was not until 2055 that improved Lunar obstetrics managed to ensure that Mooncasts (as children born on the Moon came to be known) were able to survive infancy. Now there are some 15 such births a year and Tycho City is the only Lunar station to have facilities for childbirth and schooling. Tycho City can truly be said to be the dynamo driving the naturalisation of the Lunar population.

Tycho City is a hugely popular, if expensive, tourist location. The centre of Lunar tourism is the Hyperborea Hotel complex, one of the 26 EnvironDomes which compose the core of Tycho City. The Hyperborea Hotel combines old world splendour with all the modern amenities that one would expect from such an expensive resort, all set in this most majestic and romantic of settings. For a truly memorable honeymoon the exclusive Earthside suites afford a breath-taking perspective of the mother-planet.

Tycho City hosts the biennial Lunar Basketball Tournament. With baskets 8 metres high this is a very different game to the Earth-based original. The Tycho City Museum offers a thrilling insight into the history of Lunar colonisation with relics from the 1969 Apollo Landing and the chance to explore an early habitation module from the Thirties. Alternatively, for the shopaholic, the exclusive Moonrock jewellery range is available from the Galilei department store as well as delicacies such as Japanese moon cakes and Tycho City green cheese.

With the new Lunar-Type Nietzsche Metamorphs in the Lunar Security Force and the Separatist guerillas now nearly entirely pinned down in the Lunar Alps there has never been a safer time to visit Tycho City.

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Virgo Xenology Project (formerly SETI)

It was 2059 that the Virgo signal was isolated. It initially had nothing to do with the then SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) project. A team of scientists, led by Dr Vijay Singh of the University of Warwick in England, were analysing the distribution of cosmic background radiation when they isolated a complex repetitive microwave signal coming from somewhere within the constellation of Virgo.

This find was taken up by the SETI project, headquartered in Puerto Rico, for further investigation. The exact nature of the signal is highly classified and GSSA Special Forces are empowered to protect this information with all necessary force. A few details have, however, been released. The signal recurs approximately every 169 hours and lasts for 586 minutes. Spokespersons for the Virgo Xenology Project have confirmed that they have established that the signal cannot be of natural origin but have so far been unable to establish any translation or the origin of the signal. Indeed, it is widely thought that the current radio telescopes do not have sufficient resolution to make a fully accurate recording of the signal. Hopefully, this situation will be resolved in 2077 when the new orbital telescope, "Bloodhound", is brought online.

Since the discovery of the Virgo signal, a number of religious groups have attempted to transmit their own broadcast in the direction of the Virgo source using high-powered masers. Every attempt to do so that has been discovered has been prevented by GSSA Special Forces, most recently in 2071, when they deployed a fuel-air bomb against Jehovah's Witnesses carrying out such an illegal broadcast from fortified mountain caves. The death toll was confirmed at forty five.

This willingness to use extreme force to keep the Virgo Xenology Project out of the public domain and to prevent reciprocal communication with the signal's originators have led some to suggest that the Virgo Xenology Project and GSSA have found out more than they are letting on.

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