The Sim

The Corporate Age
1946
Mega-Corporations NorTek and TechCom are awarded massive contracts to rebuild post-WWII devastated areas in Europe and Asia.
Corporate profits surge into the hundreds of billions as governments rely entirely on private contractors for infrastructure, housing, and medical aid.
Corruption and exploitation are widespread; reconstruction is uneven, leaving many displaced populations in squalor.
Corporate executives begin to wield more power than elected officials, quietly shaping policy and local economies.

1948
German physician and engineer Hannah Schreiber develops the first cybernetic limb.
Military and medical applications explode overnight; amputees gain advanced prosthetics, while research for augmentation begins.
Sparks a global cybernetics boom. Societies debate ethics, but profit-driven corporations push forward regardless of moral objections.

1950
The rise of cybernetics fuels an even greater surge in robotics.
Factories automate at unprecedented rates; early AI systems assist in medical care, construction, and logistics.
Workers face unemployment and wage suppression; labor unrest begins to simmer in industrial zones.

1952
TechCom releases Cookie, the first purchasable domestic robot chef.
Expensive luxury item for wealthy households; domestic labor is commoditized.
Early public reactions are mixed: fascination and fear coexist as human roles diminish in private homes.

1953
NorTek releases Maidomatic, a robot housekeeper, globally.
Middle-class homes gain automation access, further displacing domestic workers.
Corporate marketing emphasizes efficiency and status, while societal inequality widens.

1954
TechCom CEO Warren Braxton announces the Serenity Project, a private island designed to be immune to nuclear attack.
Purpose: high-security R&D for cybernetics, robotics, and AI experimentation.
Ethical concerns rise, but oversight is minimal; secrecy and corporate sovereignty dominate.

1956
Construction begins on Serenity Island, featuring laboratories, residential blocks, and testing grounds.
Hurricane damage and supply chain failures disrupt progress; laborers face harsh conditions, high turnover, and accidents.

1958
TechCom executives grow concerned as delays mount. Equipment losses from storms and mismanagement threaten billions in investments.
Tensions between the board and Braxton escalate, foreshadowing internal fractures.

1960
Continued delays on Serenity further strain executive relations with Braxton.
Some executives begin plotting exits or alternative ventures; corporate infighting becomes public knowledge in financial circles.

1961
Former TechCom COO Logan Mercer and other defecting executives establish OCP, focused on efficiency, government influence, and corporate militarization.
OCP begins aggressively pursuing public contracts, signaling a shift toward corporate control over governmental functions.

1963
TechCom declares bankruptcy; billions lost to Serenity mismanagement.
Braxton disappears from public view.
R&D staff, including genius engineer Andrew Gilchrist, are stranded, fueling radicalization and future global destabilization.

1965
TechCom fully ceases operations; workers on Serenity left abandoned.
Gilchrist, disillusioned by corporate betrayal, begins planning acts of sabotage against global infrastructure.

1967
At a Russian missile base, ten SS-18 Satan ICBM warheads are transported to dismantling facilities.
Soviet General Aleksandr Kodoroff and a rogue Spetsnaz unit hijack the transport, killing the soldiers onboard.
Nine warheads diverted; one detonated via timer on a collision course with a passenger train, killing thousands.
International investigations are delayed; trust in nuclear security systems erodes worldwide.

1969
Gilchrist and Kodoroff detonate three stolen warheads in oil fields in Alaska, the Middle East, and China.
Nearly 50% of the world’s oil supply is irradiated, triggering a global energy crisis.
Nomad gangs and insurgent groups exploit the chaos; governments scramble to maintain order.

1970
The U.S. and USSR announce a truce to pool CIA and KGB resources in hunting Gilchrist and Kodoroff.
Joint operations begin but both targets evade capture, demonstrating the limits of state power in the age of corporate and rogue actors.

1971
Global auto manufacturers scramble to develop smaller engines and electric vehicles due to oil shortages.
Output is unreliable; vehicles are slow and prone to failure, further destabilizing global trade and logistics.

1973
Biker gangs consolidate into nomad clans, raiding freight convoys and rural towns.
Small law enforcement agencies are overwhelmed; local governments collapse in rural areas.
The last Soviet warhead is recovered in India and returned to the USSR, but Gilchrist and Kodoroff remain at large.

1974
U.S. President forms Federal Highway Police to combat nomad gangs.
Food riots erupt worldwide; martial law declared in many regions.
One in four Americans are homeless; agriculture suffers from raids and invasive species.
Corporate takeovers of bankrupt auto companies accelerate, deepening mega-corporate influence.

1975
Civil wars break out globally; the U.S. and USSR rely on mega-corporations for funding.
OCP places sympathetic politicians in government; corporate influence grows unchecked.
Construction begins on the Star Wars Orbiting Peace Platform, intended as a symbol of corporate-backed global stability.

1976
Hawaii secedes; Cuban forces invade Houston, initiating the Cuban-American War.
NorTek acquires Datsun Motors, one of the last three surviving auto manufacturers.

1978
OCP acquires majority ownership of Ford Motor Company. Disillusioned executives depart.
The Cold War officially ends as U.S. and USSR focus on domestic corporate and economic concerns.
Cuban-American War ends following Fidel Castro’s death during the Battle of Havana.

1979
Phoenix Corporation and ArmaDyne Technologies are founded by disillusioned OCP executives.
The Corporate Military Act passes, allowing corporations to maintain private militaries.
Corporations acquire global firearm manufacturers, monopolizing arms production.

1980
Phoenix acquires Chevrolet to compete with OCP’s automotive dominance.
Science student Axel Richards invents BIOH2, a cleaner alternative fuel. Rapid adoption makes him a billionaire.
The Star Wars Orbiting Peace Platform fails during a presidential press conference due to a power outage, stranding officials weightless.

1981
Mega-Corporation dominance consolidates; elected governments exist only in appearance.
Radical nomads and crime syndicates escalate chaos; civilian militias emerge.

1982
Al Bundy elected U.S. President; NFA repealed, citizens can purchase military-grade firearms.
The Directorate and The Prosperity Movement dominate politics.
Pretoria’s government under siege; a 3-megaton neutron bomb is considered as last resort.

1983
Synthetic fuel CYN Fuel created by Yuri Rashkova; powerful but environmentally destructive.
Andrew Gilchrist captured in Haiti; brought to UN trial in NYC.
Warren Braxton returns publicly but is assassinated alongside Gilchrist by armed gunmen.

1985
Orbital City Elysium begins construction for wealthy elites.
Laser cannon misfire from Star Wars Platform destroys part of Maui, killing two former U.S. Presidents.

1986
Al Bundy reelected; societal morality collapses.
Sex clubs proliferate; prostitution legalized nationwide.
Radical cults and insurgent cells form; Chernobyl Reactor 4 meltdown attempted by terrorists.

1987
French submarine resurfaces in the Baltic; crew kills 25 on Lapland reserve.
ICS, a mega-corporation media empire, controls half of U.S. media output.
Global society increasingly dystopian.

1989
Human cloning becomes commercially viable; clones lack souls, used for spare organs.
Next-gen robots Maidomatic 5000 and Cookie Mark VI introduced.
Global mega-corporations sign the Global Military Agreement, formalizing corporate territories.
Aleksandr Kodoroff executed publicly by mob in Bolivia.

1990
Phoenix Corporation launches first production robots; stock peaks.
Anti-corporate Rebel Media emerges, taking the other half of U.S. media.

1991
First Corporation War begins: Federalists (corporate federalism) vs Liberationists (free-market independence).
Both sides claim to fight for “freedom” while corporations exploit chaos.

1992
OCP launches production robots; early models prone to malfunctions.
Cuba becomes the 50th U.S. state.
Slight global economic recovery begins.

1994
First Corporation War ends with Treaty of New Zurich; corporate borders recognized.
Citizen Cards issued, detailing job, income, address, criminal history, and private information.

1996
Ronald Reagan Peace Platform construction begins to replace the old orbital platform.
Civil war erupts between cartel-backed rebels and corporate-backed governments in Central-South America.

1998
GRI launches first overseas robot line in the U.S.
Mega-corporations increasingly exert brutal military power over each other and governments.

2000
Charles Warden gains recognition for genetically engineered crops that grow in infertile soil; reduces world hunger by 45%.

2002
Second Corporation War begins after Industrial Dominion attacks Consortium holdings in Jakarta.
Consortium retaliates, destroying Dominion facilities.

2004
Warden graduates Harvard at age 14; earns first PhD.
Second Corporation War degenerates into trench warfare; major U.S. highways under siege from nomad factions: The Road Hogs, Incas, Hellhounds, 66ers, Sirens.

2006
Second Corporation War ends with Amsterdam Accords; stalemate.
Profits split, Corporate Compliance Corps established to regulate corporate militaries.

2008
Corporate Liberation Party forms to oppose corporate control of U.S. government.
Pan-Asia launches L.E.V.I. robots, replacing human labor and sparking riots worldwide.

2010
Warden develops algae-based biofuel VERD-X at Westland Corporation.
Corporate resistance prevents global rollout; he leaves to form BioDyne Energy in 2012.

2014
Oil discovered in South America; Axxon and Octan dispute rights.
Detroit faces near-bankruptcy.

2015
OCP builds OmniTower HQ; Phoenix builds Las Vegas HQ.
Petrol Wars begin after Octan attacks Axxon assets in Honduras.

2016
U.S. and Soviet special forces conduct covert operations in South America.
Axxon bombs Octan refineries in Iran.
Detroit chosen for The Promenade, a mega-corporate entertainment district.

2019
Trinity Corporation, led by the mysterious Mr. Vale, launches Wyvern aerial combat robot to aid Highway Police.
BioDyne Energy becomes a Trinity subdivision.

2020
VERD-X partially allowed in global markets to curb fuel crisis.
U.S.-Canada tensions rise over trade agreement.

2021
Petrol Wars end; Greenland oil discovered.
Axxon grants Octan South American rights; BioDyne limited to 10% global share.
Canadian forces occupy The Promenade, halting construction.

2022
Federal Government declares Highland Park a Military Federal Zone; access restricted.

2023
Canadian forces withdraw; Colonel Strannix declares The Promenade independent, renaming it The Wolf’s Lair.
Criminals and black markets thrive under Strannix’s rule.

2025
OCP becomes the world’s top mega-corporation.
Trinity secures international permits for automated freighters.

2027
OCP purchases Detroit Police Department; reduces active precincts to 13.
Overcrowding and dilapidated buildings worsen law enforcement efficiency.

2029
Phoenix Corporation rises as OCP’s rival; crime in Phoenix Territory drops by 17%.

2030
Drug Cloud 9 spreads through Detroit’s criminal underworld.
Agreement with Strannix ensures no law enforcement enters The Wolf’s Lair.

2032
Metro Patrol Unit formed to assist Detroit Police amid rampant crime.
City teeters under corporate, criminal, and nomad influence.