Actings take place not so far in the future. The climate gets colder and colder with every year. There are not enough resources for everyone. The soils are depleted, livestock are dying from emissions, and the water is polluted. World is at the threshold of a new World War where every country will try to give their citizens more resources. But War doesn’t come with banners or gunfire anymore. It comes in ration cuts, in the slow gnawing hunger that turns neighbor against neighbor. It comes in the silence of empty warehouses, in the hollow eyes of children who stopped asking why.
Beyond the megacities there are wastelands where mostly marginalized people or farmers live, who for generations have been developing methods of conducting at least some kind of agriculture in difficult conditions.Over the cities - concrete black fortresses - hang the ozone domes, but they just slow the suffocation.
In these hard times, the company 'Eden' gains worldwide influence. It produces 80% of cheap synthetic proteins and makes generous investments in charity. But what stands behind the perfect facade with a pomegranate logo?
The cities are vertical labyrinths - towering layers upon layers, until standing at street level feels like being at the bottom of a concrete well. The sky there is just a rumor. The city elita lives at height floors of skyscrapers, when the average people, named pegs (from "Portable Labor Units"), live in the lows of cities and work for pennies which go toward monthly ration packs — food synthesized from lab-grown fibers, containing just enough nutrients to survive for a certain period of time.
— They said: we are salvation.
But when the oil rigs crumbled into the sea,
and the water burned crimson,
I saw their true face —
seven shadows on the black shore,
each carrying
a piece of my world in their hands
— NONAME, 2078
ECONOMICS & SOCIETY
The official currency is unified worldwide and exists solely in digital form.WaCoins - a cryptocurrency whose exchange rate is calculated based on the cost of one cubic meter of clean water. The rate is highly volatile, frequently surges, and is subject to manipulation by the elite.Due to the currency's instability, the market is equally unpredictable and controlled by the invisible hand of the upper class. Many industries have been monopolized. For example, Eden Inc has completely dominated the food production sector. As a result, the lower classes have adopted alternative methods of trade.
An ancient practice has been revived — barter. "You give me, I give you." Additionally, an unofficial currency has emerged — physical coins minted from melted-down scrap (junk metal, old processors, even bomb casings) — called reals. Each real bears the emblem of its smelting syndicate on the front. Flip it over, and you’ll find its origin: a sector code (like W-7 or C-12). W-minted coins reek of fire and ruin - locals call them ‘Scorched.’
For many, the only way to survive is the black market. Some sell their organs for a few cans of soup, others become mercenaries or fight in brutal underground battles — all for the entertainment of the wealthy. The world has regressed to the age-old principle of "Bread and Circuses.
Most pegs are denied the right to own property. The majority receive corporate housing tied to their employers, but those who refuse to work for monopolies - or fail to meet housing eligibility requirements - are crammed into worker dormitories, illegal shantytowns, or whatever abandoned structures they can occupy.Charity foundations exist that offer subsidized housing to qualifying pegs - always interest-free, never truly free. The debt hangs like a blade, its fall timed to the whims of benefactors. Debt collection never makes the news feeds, but the stories circulate in slums and work camps. The corporations dismiss these as 'wasteland scare-stories spread by malcontents'.Churches under Eden Inc's jurisdiction also offer temporary shelter - but demand piety and payment of 'modern tithes' through mandatory labor. Life within these enclaves remains tightly controlled, with little information reaching the outside world.The 'middle class' consists solely of those who secured corporate positions with housing and meal benefits. But keeping such jobs is nearly impossible - the slightest misstep brands you 'unreliable,' resulting in immediate termination... and a one-way ticket to the slums.
Between the last fortresses of civilization stretch endless dead lands. Scorched by the sun or frozen by the great cold, they are no longer fit for life — at least, at first glance.
THE WASTELANDS
Both Americas and all of European Eurasia have turned into barren stone deserts. There are no plants here; the polluted air burns the lungs and stings the eyes. The only animals left are packs of rabid stray dogs.
In the north, the Wastelands are tundras and arctic deserts; in the south — scorched steppes and toxic sands. For thousands of miles, aside from the ruins of dead cities, one can find only isolated factories, massive junkyards, and destitute settlements of fanatical ideologies.
Absurd against the backdrop of these dystopian Wastelands are the romani tribes. Bright tents, loud music, and a close-knit people — a strange sight in such a bleak reality. Yet perhaps it is precisely their unity and unbroken circle that help them stay afloat.
THE TAIGA
In the northeast of Eurasia, beyond the Ural Mountains, the Wastelands end — and the Taiga begins.
An impenetrable forest of ancient pines, vast and silent. Snow covers the ground for most of the year.
Only the brave dare to venture into the Taiga — no one knows what, or who, awaits there.
In some places long abandoned by humanity, nature has begun to reclaim what was lost. Plants start to appear — but they must be destroyed, for after absorbing the poisoned air, the flora of the new world releases vapors deadly to all living beings.
That Which No One Has Seen.
Sometimes, new legends surface in the cities.
Sometimes, someone speaks of strange, twisted silhouettes moving in the night.
Sometimes, the numbers just don’t add up.
The first wave of rumors — claims that someone had seen something — faded after a sudden string of mysterious deaths.Someone out there clearly doesn’t like talkers, and makes sure to clean society of them.
But sometimes, on the walls, you can still make out a faint, almost erased message:
“You didn’t imagine it.”
Global fractions
0
neutral
hate
hate
hate
respect
respect
hate
faction text
What is ‘Eden’ really?
The Unseen Hand that rules the World. It is a covert lodge
with a strict hierarchy. It's slogan — "We ate The Forbidden fruit so you will not need to do this".
There are 4 castes in the Eden. High circle consists of seven heads, who wear masks and don't know each other's names. They are calling themselves ‘Legion’. Beneath them stand the Architects - leaders of political parties, celebrities, businessmen, and other public figures who directly execute the will of the Seven. The lowest tier consists of two layers of 'tools'.
1. Journalists who know absolutely nothing about Eden, yet dance to their tune by framing narratives as instructed by The Architects.
2. An elite kill squad called 'Executors' who carry out orders without questioning the greater purpose behind them.
'Eden' is very careful in its actions and masterfully rules the world from backstage; they immediately get rid of all possible risks. But you can find notes from strangers if you have to a good look at the walls.
Dustborn
The punks of the new world. The Dustborn movement began as a harmless, marginal subculture — leaving protest graffiti, avoiding cities, and posting online about the hypocrisy of those in power.
However, when one of its most prominent members, Ash, was murdered live on stream, everything spiraled out of control. Within days, riots erupted across many cities, and New York became the central hive of the Dustborn.
Now, years later, the rage has cooled, giving way to quiet grief. The Dustborn despise corporations and sprawling cities, stage acts of sabotage, and try to open people’s eyes to the truth.
Ordo Verbum Dei
They believe that God “speaks” through algorithms and QR codes.
A religious denomination that became the logical continuation of Catholicism. With the rise of artificial intelligence, they created the Network of God — and became convinced that the divine truly communicates with them through the neural net.
They follow the doctrines of Christianity, but with amendments introduced by the Artificial Intelligence of God itself.
Agrarian Union
A coalition of farmers who reject synthetic food. In their greenhouses, they cultivate natural crops and raise livestock on reclaimed land. Their produce eventually finds its way to the tables of the upper classes.
They are often deeply conservative in other matters as well, shunning technology and keeping their distance from the cities.
Pagans of the Dead Lands
Beyond the wild beasts and the howling wind, there are others who wander the wastelands — pagan communes.
They believe in the sentience of the Earth and the healing power of nature. To “communicate” with it, they consume poisonous plants that induce visions.
They perform sacrifices and ambush travelers.
To them, the fall of civilization is not a tragedy but a blessing — Mother Nature knows what she’s doing.
Romani Caravans
They preserve oral maps, trade routes, and unofficial communication channels.
From time to time, they appear in cities to trade — bringing with them new rumors and scorched reals, coins marked by fire and stories from the wastelands.
Null Sect
Null Sect is a group of cyber-ascetics, convinced of the physical world's inevitable collapse. In 2043, they cryogenically preserved their bodies in abandoned bunkers while uploading their consciousness into an anonymous neural network - a digital 'Nirvana' free from pain, hunger, and corporate oppression. Have they been able to reach their digital paradise? This is unknown.
Their bunkers are scattered across the world — hidden shelters containing cryogenic chambers and supercomputers that link their consciousness to the Internet.