Notes from the POZ

Notes from the P.O.Z. - Articles regarding the World of the Zone

Prelude

Welcome to a series of chapters regarding the world I am crafting for my POZ tales. Each entry will focus on major characters or artifacts, knowledge and general stuff I like to keep a record of.

I hope the articles will be interesting and informative to the readers of my Tales from the POZ series of novels. Each chapter should help explain the world of my stories and what motivates certain characters in their actions.

Chapter 1

A Condensed History of the POZ World.

The history of the POZ world is substantially similar to our own, with events mostly following the same course up until the early 21st Century.

There were some significant changes, such as the breaking apart of the United Kingdom in the mid-1600’s before it was re-unified around 1670 CE. Thus the combined nation is commonly referred to as the Re-United Kingdom or RUK in modern times.

That era was also the cause of an event few people in the current day know about, called the Great Forgetting. England had been invaded in 1666 by a powerful French army, led by the Sorceror Queen of France. At the head of a vast army, reinforced with Warlocks and their Mares, the English crown came close to losing the throne, despite a valiant defence of London by the Trained Bands and the fearsome Marked Men.

London was burned in the course of that battle and thousands of lives were lost. In the aftermath, once the Sorceror Queen had been driven from their shores and the invaders defeated, the great Wizards and Sorcerors agreed that such terrible magics should never be unleashed again upon the mortal populace.

As a result, all Adepts (wielders of magic) were to be held accountable by the Covenant. If any Adept were found to have used magic to adversely affect or harm a mortal they would be subject to the ultimate punishment under the terms of the new agreement. They would face Judgement and would pay for their crime with their lives.

In addition, it was decided that the very existence of the Adept and their powers should be henceforth hidden from humanity. The tales of Wizards and Warlocks, of Dragons and Fairies, would become merely old myths and stories, fables to amuse children and not something that was ever real.

It took a concerted effort by every nation, bowing to the pressure of the Adepts, to rewrite the records of their past, to make history into fable and create the world anew. It took only a few generations before those lies became the new facts and the old world faded into legend.

This was the Great Forgetting and by the start of the 18th Century only the Adept and a select few ever knew of the existence of magic.

The Modern Era

The world endured the great conflicts of World Wars One and Two and people prayed that humanity would never again face such calamities. Of course, people being people there was always a new calamity or war waiting to be unleashed.

The First Global War in 2017 CE saw millions die, some in the fires of nuclear bombardment, others as biological agents were spread through entire cities. Most of the casualties came from traditional warfare as huge armies, navies, airforces and even spaceships battled for supremacy.

It was generally accepted that around ten percent of the entire human population died by one means or another in the two years of First Global, leaving entire cities in ruins and filled only with the dead. In the midst of the devastation, the world had its first true Artificial Intelligence born when Jericho Rackman created his Quantum processors.

By the end of First Global, the old governments and national borders dissolved in the chaos. People banded together in new alignments known as Blocks, combining the territories of continents such as North America into the huge Northern Block. The ancient nations of Europe became the Euro Bloc and so on, these now forming the basis of government for their regions.

The world had barely settled into this new order when the V-Bomb was detonated by unknown terrorists in California in 2020 CE. From that initial location, now infamous as the V-Point, the Virus was unleashed. It was unlike any disease that humanity had encountered before, a deliberate product of biological weapons research that literally rewrote the DNA of every human being on the planet.

Millions were transformed overnight into violent monsters known as the Changed, ravening beasts whose only thought was to attack and spread the infection. Most of the Changed died soon after, the infection altering their bodies into wild grotesqueries that could not survive for long.

Of those who survived the Virus, a small number found they had acquired strange and powerful new abilities. The genetic re-write had gifted about ten percent of humanity with these new powers, some appearing spontaneously and others needing to be awakened in special training centres.

These abilities were diverse, some simple and inoffensive and others capable of causing tremendous damage. They became known as the Awakened and their Abilities were classified into many different categories. By 2023 CE the World Parapsychic Development agency began opening training centres to identify the potential Awakened and to bring out their unique Abilities.

Many people believe that the Second Global War in 2022 CE was a direct result of the appearance of the Awakened. Humans who were unable to develop an Ability found themselves being treated as second class citizens and hated the ‘Mutants’ with their powerful talents.

Whatever the real cause was, the Second Global lasted a bare ninety days. It was a fast and brutal war, with no use of nuclear weapons but many confirmed cases of biological agents and AI-driven war machines being documented. By the time it ended the already depleted population of humanity had decreased to its lowest numbers since the mid 1940’s.

Civilisation retreated into its cities, leaving vast tracts of land empty bar the ruins of the old world. Farming, industry and mining became heavily automated, with mechanicals employed to do the work in the regions where people no longer wished to live.

The next great leap forward came in 2025 CE, when the married scientists Alex and Camelia Hargreaves perfected cloning techniques. Their process allowed the creation of clones with perfect genetics, far superior to ordinary humans. It was highly controversial and met with outrage across the world, ultimately leading to their deaths by terrorist attack in 2030 CE.

Space settlement proceeded at an exponential pace, with the old Lunar bases becoming fully fledged colonies with populations in the thousands by the end of 2021 CE. In 2024 there followed the settlement of Mars at Olympus Base, a combined effort by the Blocks and touted as the first truly international city outside of Earth.

By 2035 CE, humans had established a mining base on Ganymede, marking the furthest permanent human settlement in the solar system. However, there was a fragment of human life already travelling deeper into space than anyone else.

This was Project Longreach, a combined effort by the Pan Oceanic Special Zone, the Free Island States and the Southern Block to send a human crew to Proxima Centauri. The onboard crew consists of thirty human scientists, all stored in cryo-sleep, watched over by the Artificial Intelligence known as Amelia. The AI chose her own name based on Amelia Earhart whom she counted as an inspiration.

Longreach is a one way mission that will take years to complete, yet the onboard AI is able to communicate in real time with Earth thanks to its quantum-linked communications array. The ship carries tons of raw materials in its cargo hold, allowing its 3D printers to manufacture spare parts or new equipment as required.

The expectation is that as human space travel technology improves, the designs can be transmitted to Longreach instantly. Amelia can then upgrade the ship with these improvements while enroute to the final destination, possibly shaving months or years from the journey.

Timeline of the POZ World.

Many people started counting 2020 (the Viral Outbreak) as V-0 and each following year as V-01 etc. Thus the current year 2047 is also referred to as V-27.

2017 Start of First Global War. End of national governments in face of limited nuclear and biological warfare.

2018 Development of Quantum Processors by Jericho Rackman. Creation of Archimedes, world’s first true Artificial Intelligence.

2019 End of First Global War. Founding of the Pan Oceanic Special Zone. Beginning of continental power blocks, each managing large regions of the world.

2020 Detonation of V-Bomb in California. Start of the Viral Outbreak as the Changed rampage across nations, spreading the infection. Over half of the world population perishes.

2021 Construction is begun of Pan City. Last vestiges of the Virus as the Changed die out. ‘A’ Series AI’s installed by each major power block around the world. First Lunar colonies founded.

2022 Expansion of Archimedes into the Quantum Network. Official recognition and classifying of the Awakened, people with parapsychic abilities such as Telekinesis, Teleportation etc.

Second Global War (90 Day War). Suppression of Vegas Collective using the Reclaimed.

2023 Opening of the World Parapsychic Development Centre in Pan City. Other WPD centres follow around the world.

2024 Majority of Pan City Infrastructure completed. First complete Board of Governors appointed to oversee the technically advanced city. Olympus Colony begins settlement of Mars.

2025 Cloning techniques perfected by the Hargreaves couple. Creation of Jericho Clones as Avatars of Archimedes.

2027 First Guard Clones are deployed in POZ. Mining bases established in the Asteroid Belt and Ceres City is opened.

2029 Project Longreach is launched, sending a crew in cryosleep to explore the outer edges of the Solar System. Beginning of mining work around Jupiter using AI driven ships & mechanical crews.

2030 Death of Alexander & Camelia Hargreaves, creators of the Cloning technology, in a terrorist attack.

2035 Ganymede Station is completed in Jupiter Orbit, marking the furthest human settlement in space.

2046 Sentinels go rogue in Pan City. Orbital strike ordered to eliminate the terrorist cell that was involved.

2047 Current year.