And So it Came to Pass,,,

IN the last half of 2024, many countries were seized by the nationalism movement of closing their borders to outsiders, halting aid to other countries, and concentrating on improving their own countries, particularly in the military aspect.

Several countries were experimenting with nuclear weapons, though often with shoddy or non-existent safety protocols. North Korea was one of these countries, encouraged by Russia and China to pursue nuclear military advancement. North Korea was already beating their own chest and making threats to the rest of the world, particularly the United States. Having a nuclear arsenal would give them more credibility at the world table.

And so it was that a nuclear device was accidentally detonated on North Korean soil during a test. Millions of unsuspecting people lost their lives in the initial detonation, and millions more suffered from radiation burns and poisoning. The North Korean infrastructure was decimated, land previously used for growing crops was polluted and poisoned by radiation.

Also in the explosion, the entire North Korean government was wiped out nearly to a man. Victims began migrating south as best as they could, swarming the South Korean border with refugees, as was the Chinese border to the north. There was an immediate worldwide call for humanitarian aid for the survivors. The United Nations sent billions of dollars to the North Korean government, which did not exist anymore. The US sent hundreds of millions of dollars as well, but none of it went to helping survivors. There were a few international charities set up that actually managed to do some good, but there were more that were just cons.

South Korea and China began building high walls to try to keep the radiation clouds from spreading into their countries and to limit the number of refugees allowed across the border. It was amazing how quickly these walls were constructed; virtually overnight.

In the United States, President Trump, in his second term as president, managed to pass legislation declaring all multinational corporate holdings to be sovereign territory, meaning that US law did not apply to them. Corporate holdings were like foreign embassies. The corporations were responsible for domestic services such as police and fire fighters. This was quickly copied in many other countries, beginning with the UK and Russia. This meant that these corporations were beholden to no laws except for their own.

A new VR computer interface was developed and released that translates network information into visual imagery. This interface requires surgical implantation of an interface device so that it can communicate directly with the brain. It is considered dangerous and unproven by many, but was extremely popular among the programming community, especially black hat hackers.

Virtually everything is connected to the internet for monitoring or functional purposes; cars can be unlocked, remote started, and monitored for fluid levels and such via a smartphone app. Refrigerators keep track of their contents in order to develop a shopping list automatically. Houses can be controlled by lights, air conditioning, and connected appliances such as remote start fireplaces and garage doors. Keys and cards are a thing of the past. Everything is run by apps.

Corporate espionage is big business. Anything that can give one company an edge over the others is highly sought after. A new generation of Intrusion Countermeasures Effects (ICE) are AI controlled security measures both virtually and IRL.

Teh flying cars that have been promised since the beginning of the 20th century are finally a reality. Most are a chassis with four enclosed rotors equally positioned around it, although some make do with two, or even one rotor. Autopilots are used extensively to get where you want to go, though some people still prefer the old fashioned steering wheels to drive manually.

Roads are digitally controlled now as well. That makes autopilot that much easier, but also provides protection against people driving out of their lanes, reducing accidents. They also monitor traffic in order to create demographics and traffic flow patterns.

In a massive move to improve efficiency, man corporations built huge office buildings that included housing for their workers. If the workers lived in the same building in which they worked, that would eliminate commuting to work. These buildings built shopping centers into the buildings so that their employees wouldn't have to commute for shopping either. Schools and social centers were the next things to be incorporated into these arcologies. They were truly cities encapsulated into a single giant structure.