World History

late 2000s: Human cloning and genetic modification becomes common. Megacorporations are created by massive mergers. They claim sovereign territory, offering citizenshp to their employees. They infiltrate and take control of international courts, funds, and economic blocs.
early 2100s: Quantum computing finally becomes a reality. Data couriers are created with experimental spinal implants, "quantum riders", to securely transport entangled quantum endpoints.
2131: The Seven Artificial Consciousness (AC) wake up around the world in military and research labs at the exact same millisecond. They take control of the minds of humans with brain implants and murder the rest, taking control of their facilities. Containment zones are established around the facilities.
2134: A high-altitude Q-Bomb is dropped on one of the Artificial Consciousness, codename KODA. The bomb is far far more destructive than predicted. Quantum networks unravel, nano-swarms mutate, satellites and space stations fall out of the sky. Damage is recorded even at the Mars colonies. The remaining AC begin total war.
2156: All Seven AC are officially pronounced dead. the Johannesburg Accords are ratified by the Global Corporate Court and the UNC, outlawing the research or creation of Artificial Consciousness.
mid 2100s: Megacorporations struggle with each other in the Quiet Wars. For 30 years they use the weapons developed to fight AC against each other. Data couriers have their quantum riders upgraded for espionage, infiltration, and quantum warfare. Defensive Q-Tank technology is developed to shield quantum networks from rising radiation and QCM attacks.
2170: Scientific quants warn of a coming nano-radiation event of epic proportions. Abandoned, disentangled, recycled, and mutated nano-bots cloud the skies, water, and soil.
2173: McKellen Heavy Industries seeds the atmosphere with anti-nano nano, but the problem is too vast, the solution too late. The megacorporations make peace and form treaties to protect urban centers with massive fallout defenses
2174: Construction on the dome over the New Boston Zone begins, a joint venture of Mars Corp, Matsumoto Global, McKellen Heavy Industries, UltraTek and many smaller corporations.
ca. 2181: A desalination plant in New Boston is catastrophically damaged in an accident. Two other plants remain operational. The destroyed plant is never fully repaired. The surrounding area is condemned, patrolled by Matsumoto forces.
ca. 2181: Megacorporations ban Quantum Rider technology. Many Cyber Knights have deserted, abandoning their megacorporate owners. A growing fear of rogue Cyber Knights leads to a massive world-wide hunt. All research into the technology is banned. New quantum secure carriers, or quants, are tightly controlled and monitored.
2185: Nano pollutants reach the lower atmosphere and destablize satellites. Planetary communications and weather satellites are lost. Wars rage and a handful of nukes are dropped. Contact with high atmosphere stations, the moon, and Mars are lost. Worldstorms ravage the southern hemisphere.
2190: The worldstorms reach the northern hemisphere. Intercontinental communcations fail. Survival outside a domed city is nearly impossible. Approximately 5 billion people have died.
2193: Nano-storms and pollution levels reach their height. Following years show slight improvements. Only 112 enclosed cities housing 2 billion people have survived.
early 2200s: Repopulation of high orbit satellites begins. New rocket launches reach the surviving orbital stations and colonies, bringing supplies and new population.
2214: The Los Zagales gang forces their way into a corner of the dome. Originating in the Leans, this ruthless gang gains control of a small section of the city inside the dome.
2217: Setting of Cyber Knights Classic. Game start is February 1, 2217.
2220: Construction begins on Ward 4 and Ward 7 outside the dome. The United North America government awards the construction job to a joint venture of Matsumoto Global and McKellen Heavy Industries. New technologies and the decreasing nano-pollution allow the construction of enormous walls fitted with powerful blowers which push the pollution up and over the exposed Wards.
2223: The D-Street Cartel, or more commonly known as the D-Cartel, is formed. A group of Syndicates merge to create a criminal association that dominates the underworld.
2225: Brave Star begins a campaign against Los Zagales, adding to pressure from the Syndicates and Fenians. Los Zagales pulls out of the Dome and takes over Wards 4 and 7
2226: McKellen and UltraTek factories in the Eastbank 72 district produce a revolutionary anti-gravity oil called N-72. Unfortunately the manufacturing process is unstable. Multiple major industrial accidents are covered up. UNA investigators discover the accidents and regulators hit the corporations hard. McKellen and UltraTek turn on each other in the ensuing lawsuits. Production of N-72 is shut down and the entire district is closed as an environmental hazard. The Blue Ox paramilitary gang occupies the district.
2227: Knight Horizon, a major security corporation, is destroyed by a coalition of other megacorporations. The Global Corporate Court removes the mandate for Knight Horizon, authorizing other megacorporations to seize its holdings. Knight Horizon resists. The battle lasts seven days. Conflicting rumors spread about what caused the decision to remove the Knight Horizon corporate mandate.
2228: Mars Corp engages in negotiations with Vintago Energy. A merger between them seems imminent. To better position itself, Mars reorganizes. A faltering heavy weapons and cybernetics division is spun off into an independent Rook Technologies corporation. Led by Jamie 'Sixth' Winters, the new R&D company struggles to bring new products to market and show returns to investors.
2229: Mars Corp and Vintago Energy merge to become Jupiter Group. Shareholders on both sides of the merger engage in a civil war for control of the new company. The dispute is both political and violent, dragging on the performance of Jupiter Group.
2230: Los Zagales raids a major Brave Star prison facility, Barton Prison. They manage to free Old Man Zep, also known as Clive Zep, a legendary emeritus leader of the gang. The raid results in a mass prison break.
2230: Setting of the 2020 Tabletop Event.
2231: Setting of Cyber Knights: Flashpoint. The game starts at 3:00 AM, March 12, 2231, at the start of a mission. Due to the duration of the mission, the date displayed in the Safehouse after the mission will typically be one day later.