------------------------------------------------------------------------ S A I L O R M O O N 4 2 0 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ by Angus MacSpon macspon@tamaneko.org http://sm4200.tamaneko.org/index.html Based on "Sailor Moon" created by Naoko Takeuchi ------------------------------------------------------------------------ APPENDIX 2: The World of 4200 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contents -------- 1. History 2. Society 3. Technical Notes 3.1 Transport 3.2 Electronic Storage Devices 3.3 Opals Warning: All information drawn from public records. Contact 'I' Division for further details. [Archivist] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. History ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Crystal Tokyo was destroyed in the year 3478 during a cataclysm known as the Great Fall. For a brief time, the entire world apparently went mad. A monstrous transformation affected countless people all over the globe. [...] The city of Crystal Tokyo was the focus of the insanity; during the last weeks of the Fall, a devastating attack was launched at Crystal Tokyo. Queen Serenity [aka Neo-Queen Serenity, aka Serenity II, after the mythical Serenity of the Moon Kingdom], with King Endymion and the legendary Sailor Senshi, led the last defence but all were eventually defeated and killed. In the aftermath of the Fall, the world suffered a disaster unparalleled in human history. During the preceding centuries, crystal-based power and technology had become ubiquitous, replacing virtually all earlier forms (fossil fuel, hydroelectric, geothermal, nuclear &c). But with the death of Serenity and the fall of Crystal Tokyo, modern technology died too. Crystal power cells no longer functioned. Crystal storage devices discharged themselves. All over the world, every piece of machinery, every computer, every lamp and every library-reader went dead. Desperate attempts were made to restore antique, pre-Crystal generators to life -- the ill-fated Chicago Experiment is notable -- but all were ultimately failures: if not immediately, then later, when fossil fuels (petroleum and the like) were no longer available. With the fall of technology came the fall of society. The automated farms no longer worked, and without readers to display the library crystals, nobody knew how to run the farms themselves. Those who did not die during the first few days after the Fall mostly died of starvation during the following months. It is estimated that the global population fell from twelve billion to less than a hundred million within the first two years after the Fall. In space, the devastation was slower, if more certain. The orbital habitats had solar-power backups, and by means of internal gardens and rigorous recycling strategies some of them remained in operation for a considerable period. There is even evidence that one lander did make it back to the surface in 3482, carrying some twenty-five people to safety. The 'W' Division expedition to the habitats in 4193 found records indicating that Lagrange 307 survived for over one hundred and seventy years before the last inhabitants, the eleventh-generation descendants of those alive at the time of the Fall, died. Remarkably, Lagrange 307 was still in contact with the Vulcan 11 station, inside the orbit of Mercury, at this time. No physical expedition to Vulcan has been possible to date, so it is not known when this station ultimately failed. Suggestions that it may still be operation can be discounted, however. Some of the planetary colonies elsewhere in the Solar System survived for a time as well. The Mars Colony remained in sporadic contact with several of the habitats for ten years; the terraforming of Mars was 70% complete at the time of the Fall, and a primitive kind of life was possible on the surface. The last transmissions from Mars, received by Lagrange 307 and recovered in 4193, spoke of debilitating illness, possibly caused by vitamin and other deficiencies. On Earth, those who survived the first years after the Fall eventually began a recovery of sorts. Most survivors were clustered around the few communities, scattered across the globe, where rare troves of antique printed books remained. These final enclaves of civilisation formed the nucleus of whatever society survived during the following centuries. Many of them became wildly idiosyncratic (for example, the enclave that gave birth to the modern Duchy of Grande Brasile), in part due to the selection of books that survived. Life remained primitive, nevertheless. For a long time, few enclaves had resources to devote to anything except survival. Most of the world was locked in a new bronze age, or worse. Metallurgy had to be rediscovered almost from first principles ... [Details omitted] As the years passed, many of the enclaves failed, for one reason or another. (The last Japanese enclave, in Kyushu, was overrun by bandits in 3943.) Some, however, prospered. Trade between nearby enclaves forged the beginnings of the Virgin Nation in south-eastern Americay. Kilkenny came to dominate much of the British Isles. Cuddalore ruled the surrounding territories in India. In 4102, the Dark Ages came to an abrupt end when the Cuddalore enclave, during a rare period of expansionist fervour, outfitted a sailing ship and sent it to the ruins of Crystal Tokyo. The precise reasons for the expedition are unclear (there are indications that there may have been a religious motive), but it was generally hoped that enough booty would be found to make the trip worthwhile. In the event, the expedition never returned at all. Two weeks after they pitched camp and began searching the ruins, which were generally shunned by the native population, they discovered and unsealed the Royal Archives. It is difficult to overemphasise the importance of this discovery: a complete record of civilisation, art and technology up to the time of the Great Ice and the foundation of Crystal Tokyo; and a fairly detailed history of the times after that until shortly before the Fall. The expedition set up a base to discover what they had found. Two months later, they succeeded in building a small electrical generator, and lights began to burn amid the ruins. This attracted the attention of the Japanese natives, who had watched the exploration but for the most part stayed cautiously back. Several attempts were made to capture the base, but the expedition members had come well-armed, and in the end an uneasy peace was struck. By that time, a small town was already forming around the base. Within ten years, it was already coming to be called Third Tokyo. [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Society ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The world of the year 4200 was founded on a combination of 20th- and early 21st-century technology, and Crystal Tokyo ethics and mores. This is particularly true of Japan; elsewhere, local customs and institutions have survived to a greater or lesser extent, but the technological base remains the same. Inevitably, today's world is less perfect that before the Fall. The almost-instinctive spiritual and ethical enlightenment that seems to have characterised Queen Serenity's reign is gone, but the principles remain enshrined in modern custom and law. While, sadly, the people of today are more fallible than previously, it can nevertheless be said that no nation was ever founded upon a more perfect example. In terms of temporal power, Japan remains well-placed. The monopoly that she holds over the Royal Archives ensured Japan's pre-eminence in the new world order for many years. Access to the Archives began to be restricted as early as 4108, ostensibly to protect them; scientific and technical information was promulgated only gradually, with Japan retaining the lion's share. Today, when little or no technical information remains unreleased to the world at large, the monopoly remains on artistic works -- by no means an insignificant economic factor, as the public appetite for pre-Fall and pre-Ice works, music and video especially, seems insatiable. Works are released from the Archives on a regular schedule and are invariably popular, though some modern (post-Fall) creations are beginning to rival them. The early technological monopoly gave Japan enormous influence over other countries. By the time pre-Ice technology became widespread, Japan had parlayed that influence into something at once wider and more subtle. Today, while Japan has no formal control over any other country, in practice its influence remains enormous. It is said that a polite suggestion from 'D' Division can topple governments. This is certainly an exaggeration, but there are few who would not agree, however grudgingly, that Japan is the leader of the modern world. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. Technical Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3.1 Transport During the period leading up to the Great Ice, before the establishment of Crystal Tokyo, most easily-accessible reservoirs of fossil fuels were found and at least partially exhausted. During the time of the Reconstruction after the discovery of the Royal Archives, other fuel supplies had to be found. A large number of alternatives were tried, before the final adoption of a dual solution. Most modern vehicles in Japan are short-range electric units. A full charge will drive a typical vehicle for two hundred kilometres. (This is a limit set by law.) Vehicle batteries can be charged to 80% capacity in less than two minutes, and to 100% capacity in just over three minutes. Charging stations are located throughout cities. Such vehicles are of less practical use outside a city. Longer-range vehicles, fuelled by ethyl alcohol, are available; however their use is regulated, and licenses are cannot be obtained without showing sufficient cause. Inter-city travel is usually via rail. A basic network of primary roads between cities and towns is maintained; but there are few secondary roads, and most of these -- and indeed some main roads -- are very rough. As a consequence of this system, the population of Japan tends to concentrate in the cities to a greater degree than in the past. There are few small townships, and independent farms or homesteads are almost non-existent. Modern farms are typically run by major corporations; the smallest cover thousands of hectares. [...] Outside Japan, travel is far less restricted, and alcohol vehicles are readily available. Nevertheless, most other countries still encourage electric motors for use within cities. [...] Air travel was uncommon until recently. Experiments with dirigibles and other airships were made; however, until the development in the 4180s of new synthetic fuels such as Aracel, heavier-than-air travel was a rarity. Air travel and shipping is now expanding rapidly. [...] 3.2 Electronic Storage Devices The standard device for all electronic storage is the mass storage unit (also known as a 'data wand'). A unit is a small cylindrical device, roughly the size of an adult's thumb, with a set of protected terminals at one end. Most units are very durable, able to be carried in a pocket, and to take a fair amount of rough handling, without damage. Mass storage units are physically standardised, so that any unit can usually be used in any compatible device. There are many different types of units, used for different purposes. For example, a basic data wand can store and retrieve data -- the equivalent of a 20th-century hard disk. More sophisticated units add extra functionality; thus, a credit chit (for storing currency and financial records in electronic form) has additional security and cryptographic capabilities. All mass storage units recognise a standard set of communications protocols, allowing them to be accessed by any device with a reader attached. Special-purpose units recognise additional protocols. This means that any mass storage-capable device is able to perform a minimum set of functions on any unit, whatever the unit's intended purpose. For a basic storage wand, the standard protocol set -- allowing simple data retrieval and storage -- is all that is needed. Other devices recognise additional commands, as required. A credit chit, for example, also recognises funds-transfer commands, on top of the standard command set. This hierarchy means that if, for example, a credit chit is loaded into an ordinary computer's reader, the minimum protocols will allow the computer to read such details as the available balance. Attempts to store new data will simply give an error code in return. 3.3 Opals An Opal (Omni-Purpose Aerial Link) is a heavier-than-air flying vehicle. It is not dependent on wings, jets, propellors or any other conventional mechanisms; instead it uses a complex web of interlaced field effects that operate on the vehicle's framework, making it subject to a local reference set that is not strictly related to the general space-time continuum. The framework can then be subjected to any required translational effects -- ie, allowing the vehicle to be moved in any required way. The Opal is remarkable in that it is an entirely new development, not based in any way on information from the Royal Archives. Opals were developed by a thinktank in 'M' Division, and were first introduced into use by 'P' and 'W' Divisions in the year 4193. Ambulance Opals were put into service by 'O' Division in 4196. Little technical information on how an Opal functions has ever been released by 'M' Division. Two papers published during the late 4180s outline a system of field-shifting techniques that is generally held to be the basis of an Opal's function, but nobody outside 'M' Division has yet succeeded in applying these techniques in practice. Several attempts have been made to steal Opals, or otherwise probe into their internal mechanisms, but all have been swiftly defeated by 'S' Division. The secrets within an Opal remain intact. [...] Physically, an Opal is a rounded hull: oval in horizontal cross-section, and a rough trapezoid in both vertical cross-sections. Standard patrol Opals are 4.5m long, and carry up to eight occupants. Larger models also exist; but beyond a certain size physical limitations begin to apply, and it is believed -- though 'M' Division have never confirmed this -- that field effects would be incapable of moving an Opal with a displacement of more than 58.473 cubic metres. This precludes the proposed use of Opals as space vehicles for anything more than short "hops". ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sailor Moon 4200 web-page: http://sm4200.tamaneko.org/index.html