Script of "The Aftermath Episode 3: Code Duello"
NARRATOR: Intellectual property had nearly been turned on its head in the wake of the Great Journey. Some properties were suddenly without owners, while others saw regional heads become CEOs.
NARRATOR: Fa Zhi had been the head of Microsoft Taiwan for over a year at the time of the Great Journey. As the most-senior member of the company, she was quickly promoted to Acting CEO in late January of 1911.
FA: It was chaotic at first. We were cut off from basically everyone, with little more than a few offices to manage the corporate empire we inherited.
INTERVIEWER: And what were the first things you did in the aftermath?
FA: We had to stake our claims on all of our assets. Everything from Microsoft Office to Windows to XBOX. All of that needed to be filed ASAP if we didn't want it to fall into the public domain, so we had people working around the clock.
FA: My background is in computer science, but our legal team was so overstretched that we were practically pulling anyone who wasn't trying to keep everything running to file all of our paperwork with the Executive Yuan.
INTERVIEWER: Of course. Now how did your company react to the passage of the emergency anti-subscription legislation?
NARRATOR: The Anti-Rent-Seeking Act of 1911 was one of many emergency pieces of legislation passed and signed into law. Broadly speaking, it prevents companies such as Microsoft from charging subscription fees for software.
NARRATOR: Microsoft was one of the most-impacted companies, as the post-Journey government largely-operated on Windows operating systems and used Microsoft Office in their daily operations.
FA: That was possibly the closest I was to being ousted. While "Software as a Service" was still a new concept at the time, our legal team's focus on securing our IPs and patents meant we could not effectively fight the legislation in court.
FA: This angered some in the company, but the Board of Directors understood that it would be better to lose the subscription revenue and keep our IPs than it would be to lose our IPs and keep the subscription revenue.
INTERVIEWER: Did the legislation affect any of the company's decision-making in the post-Journey era?
FA: Yes. With subscription being a non-viable source of revenue, we had to reallocate resources to Software Assurance and other products to make up for losses. It was possibly the closest the company had gotten to outright collapse.
INTERVIEWER: Yet Microsoft has been profitable for over two decades, and it continues to have a near-monopoly on Operating Systems.
Delhi, Republic of India, 20 September 1935
"It looks smaller than I would have thought," Mohan Singh said to his father. "But it is a big deal for us?"
"It's the principle of it," Vikram Singh told him. "The Koh-I-Noor was taken from us by a war of colonialism, so it is only fitting that we took it back during our war of independence."
"So it was to make a point then," the younger Singh observed, before looking at them gem a second time. "That the government has righted a decades-old wrong done to the Indian people?"
"Yes."
There wasn't really any way around it. The average Indian who knew about the diamond thought the British stole it in a war, so it was no surprise that the Indian delegation to the peace treaties had demanded it be returned along with any other artifacts in the British museum.
And if anyone is stupid enough to claim that they won it fairly in a war, then we can say the same thing to them.
"So," his son asked him, "What happens with it now?"
"The same thing as Maharaja Ranjit Singh's throne or the Sword of Tipu Sultan. They will stay here in India, where they rightly belong. Here, they can be studied and appreciated by our people as artifacts of our storied past, rather than spoils of war and conquest."
"Of course," said Mohan, seemingly content with the answer. "But what happens now?"
"Come again? The artifacts have been returned to India, and they will stay in India, if I have anything to say with it."
Not that it matters much when I'm a Minister Without Portfolio, these days.
"No, not that," his son insisted. "What happens with the British Museum?"
"Them? Well, they're not getting them back. I can tell you that much."
"So what do they put in there, then? If they give back all the artifacts they stole, do the British have anything else they can display?"
"Ah." That, Vikram realized, was a harder question. He was an economist and a business owner, not a historian. "I'm sure the British have plenty of artifacts of their own that they can put in their museums. That, or they could do exchanges with other museums to share artifacts."
"I doubt they'd agree. The last time they did that, they didn't give them back. Why would anyone in their right mind lend them artifacts just because they asked nicely this time?"
"It's not as if they have any other options."
Besides, there's a first time for everything.
Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, 30 October 1935
"Now that you two are getting older," Michael Chen told his children, "You need to have a plan for when you turn eighteen for your Mandatory Public Service. Now, seeing that we have, like, six hundred million people in China, things are different from when I was your age, so you don't have to join the-"
"Military service," Lin answered.
"Yeah, military service," Morgan agreed.
"…Goddammit. You know, there's other things you can do for Mandatory Service, right? Park rangers, construction, educational assistance, social work. You know… stuff that won't have you two getting shot at?"
"There are more than just combat roles, Baba," his daughter pointed out. "Logistics, maintenance, engineering. All of those are typically in the rear, right?"
"Plus, it's not like we're in any wars," Lin chimed in. "And it's not like there's anybody who could fight us besides those weirdo racists over in Africa, and they're gone."
"Yeah, well, that's what I thought before I got deployed into a war. Twice."
"Wait, what was the first time?" Asked Morgan. "The revolution?"
"Yup. I signed on to fix tanks, then it turned out that I was the only one who wasn't trying to get reassigned, so I also had to handle training, supply, and paperwork, too. And that was before I got sent back in time and had to fight the Qing."
"Hey, you turned out alright, Baba," Lin pointed out. "Plus, you were in a tank, and they couldn't even scratch those, right?"
"Yeah, well the the Qing didn't have RPGs, AT mines, and assault rifles. The Europeans and their colonial troops in Africa did."
"You're worried," Morgan said flatly, "You're coming up with all the hypotheticals again."
"Yeah, well, I don't like the idea of you two getting shot at when there's alternatives, alright? Look, I'm really proud of you for being engaged, active members of society." Especially when the alternative is being the most annoying people on the planet who made me wish I could punch people through the internet. "But at the same time, I'm your father. I don't like the idea of you two being in harm's way at all."
"Yeah, I know, Baba," Morgan relented, before pulling out two sets of papers. "For what it's worth, I've gone out of my way to research the best service for myself."
"You always do your research, don't you?" Michael asked, to which she happily nodded. "Interning at the MIB? You know your aunt won't pull any strings for you, right?"
"Don't need them with my grades, Baba. And because I know you forgot to do yours, I also made one for you, Lin."
"Thanks," her brother said, before looking at the single sheet of paper. "This just says, 'PLAY BASEBALL FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM.'"
"They could use a good two-way player," his sister pointed out. "Besides, that's Plan A. Plan B is on the other side."
"Oh, right. Let's see... 'Join the Marines as a tanker because they don't get deployed anywhere, so you're less likely to get shot at.'"
"Transmigrators of Time Releases Riftworld TTRPG," ign.com, 5 November 1935
We're no strangers to reviewing cheap cash-ins. It seems like every day, there's a new game or book or movie that's chasing trends for a quick buck, and they usually aren't that very good.
Thankfully, Riftworld, a Tabletop Role-Playing Game by Alice Ross and Tom Fitzroy, is neither of those things. Not only do Ross and Fitzroy bring the same care and attention to detail that they did for the tabletop tie-in for Shannon Wu's Twenty Years' Difference, but the game is just fun to play.
Riftworld takes place in the present, in the wake of humanity developing the technology to open portals, known as a "Rifts," to other timeline's Earths. Players, known as "Journeyers," can enter these Rifts and go on adventures in this alternate world.
The worldbuilding is where the game shines, as both Ross and Fitzroy have created an alternate earth so different from our own that one could practically spend hours at a time exploring. And I say this because that is exactly what happened when we tried it out here in the studio.
The starter world with the base game, known as "Angloterra," is a world that examines just what would happen if the British Empire was even stronger than it was at its peak. It doesn't matter if you're playing in the British Dominion of North America, the byzantine British Raj, or the territories of the British East China Company, because the lore is deep and lovingly-crafted.
While the mechanics definitely take cues from Dungeons and Dragons, the game uses the innovative "CODECS" system of skills with a D20 system that seeks to balance skill checks with competencies.
Moreover, the game's focus on a non-magical and technologically-grounded setting creates a distinguishable difference between itself and other TTPRPGs like Cyberpunk 1977 and Dungeons and Dragons.
The combat system does seem a bit unbalanced though. Rather than the balance between ranged attacks and melee found in D&D and Pathfinder, Riftworld's combat is largely-focused around firearms.
Which may seem unfair at first for a melee build, but it's your own fault if you die from trying to stab a guy with an assault rifle. It takes some getting used to, but cover is your friend, and it's a feature for a reason.
Now enough about combat. Let's talk player-generated content.
Players are more than welcome to create their own riftworlds to explore and discover in the setting. As the Rifts are canonically developed to open up to different worlds, players' adventures are limited only by their own imaginations.
No, seriously, this is something they've been actively encouraging.
Both Fitzroy and Ross coincided the launch with the announcement of the "Riftworld Player Partnership Program," where players are encouraged to submit their own riftworlds for review. Should they pass the process and agree to the Partnership, their content will be published in a Community Expansion that'll generate royalties for them.
And that is before we get to official expansions that have already been announced. Details are still few and far between, but the first two expansions will be "Pax Romana," set in a riftworld dominated by a Rome that never fell, and "Khaganate," which explores a world where steppe nomads continued to reign supreme into the modern day.
But that's all in the future.
Right now, Riftworld is a promising TTRPG that evokes a sense of curiosity and wonder that more than makes up for the overpowered firearms that let you shoot first and ask questions later.
"What Is The American Power Initiative?" energy.gov.us
Clean, cheap power has been the goal of every American over the last hundred years. From coal to oil to natural gas, our energy sector has progressed to cleaner fossil fuels that provide energy for everything from manufacturing to transportation.
However, many have asked if it was possible to have a cheap energy source that is clean. While natural gas is certainly cheap, it is a pollutant. And although solar energy is clean, it is neither cheap nor space-efficient.
The Small Modular Reactor (SMR) provides the best of both worlds. This Thorium-based nuclear reactor is both cost-efficient, and its power is cheaper and cleaner than its fossil fuel counterparts.
The first SMR was built in America and deployed in San Francisco, where it provides the entire Bay Area with a new, cleaner, source of energy. To this day, over a hundred SMRs have been deployed across the United States, and they are projected to generate about one-fifth of the nation's energy this year and rapidly-growing.
This success, as well as our cooperation with our partners in China and Latin America, has led to many people to think bigger and beyond the borders of the United States.
Thus the American Power Initiative (API) was founded. Signed by the United States, Mexico, Central America, Panama, Gran Colombia, Peru-Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Guyana, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean Confederation, this pan-American project will see SMRs built and then deployed all over the Americas to provide cheap, clean energy for all.
The plan involves the mass production of Small Modular reactors, which will be assembled the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina using parts assembled in the United States.
At the same time, local professionals will be trained at the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the installation, maintenance, and operation of the SMRs.
Fuel will be sourced from Thorium deposits in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho, then refined in the United States.
These new programs are expected to create approximately twenty thousand good-paying new jobs, of which nineteen thousand will not require more than a college degree.
In doing so, the Americas will fully-achieve energy independence with clean, nearly-limitless, cheap energy that that will give the American taxpayer a lower energy bill.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can SMRs be used to manufacture nuclear weapons?
The manufacture and proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials is of the utmost concern when it comes to the manufacture and use of MSRs.
However, it is difficult, if not impossible, to reliably manufacture nuclear weapons from Thorium due to its non-fissile nature, which means it will not explode when packed together.
Furthermore, the Uranium and Plutonium isotopes present create a mixture of isotopes that renders them unsuitable for weapon manufacturing.
Coalition of Nations inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will provide oversight to ensure the safe operation of the SMRs and the safe disposal of any and all waste materials.
Where does the waste go?
Any nuclear waste is transferred to a tamper-proof receptacle where it will remain until proper disposal can occur.
During the disposal process, the nuclear waste is bombarded with lasers to render it inert after half an hour, after which it can be handled safely and sent for further treatment.
Are SMRs and Thorium safe?
All Small Modular Reactors are designed with a fusible plug that will melt if power is cut or the reactor exceeds a set temperature.
If this occurs, the plug will melt and the fuel will drain into a tamper-proof receptacle, which will prevent a meltdown and prepare the SMR for decommissioning and replacement.
Thorium mining is done in an open pit, which limits the miners' exposure to radioactive materials to safe levels.
Moreover, the high natural concentrations of thorium will mitigate the environmental damage from open-pit mining by requiring fewer mines to be dug.
Transmigrators of Time Game Shop, City of Hong Kong, Republic of China, 24 December 1935
"Riftworld's sold out here, too," James Fitzroy happily announced to his husband and friend. "I'd say that's a job well done!"
"Wait, exactly how many copies did we sell?" his husband Tom asked him. "Thousands?"
"Tens of thousands," Alice Ross chimed in. "Once you factor in all the digital copies sold on Steam. They're about the same price, but the lack of overhead and logistics makes it worth the hassle."
"Tell me about it," James breathed. He'd been working at TOT's publishing house for over a decade at this point, and logistics were always a hassle. "Who would have thought that the hardest part of creating a tabletop RPG where you travel between worlds through Rifts would be the easy part?"
"Every single independent game developer who has ever existed," Tom dryly pointed out. "It's one thing to make a game. It's another thing to actually get people to buy it."
"And a whole other thing where we have to actively avoid a Satanic Panic," Alice chimed in. "Even if we don't have any magic or fantasy races. Just alternate realities and technology that definitely isn't magic."
"Right," James agreed. "As we all know, religious fanatics are fine with science and do not in any way act like weirdos about it."
"Leaked Script For Socialist Anti-Capitalist Film Is Just Footage of Uptime Tech Bros Talking" The Onion, January 1936
PARIS, FRANCE
Moviegoers and socialalists alike have been buzzing about the newest arthouse film from the heart of the Internationale, but recently-leaked scripts from the Parisian Film Collective have left many confused about some of their proposed scripts. While there is Chaplin's much-anticipated The Love of Humanity that is set to be released next month, a submitted script has caught the attention of many involved.
The script, titled, Diabolus Ex Homine, is a cautionary tale of the excesses of capitalism. While the Parisian Film Collective is no stranger to anti-capitalism themes, cinephiles were taken aback when the script solely consisted of things like uptimer CEO Elon Musk inexplicably callinge a diving expert a pedophile and a two hour supercut of the All In Podcast, which was hosted by uptimer venture capitalists.
While the concept was criticized as outlandish, writer Gerard Laurent defended his work, saying, "The intent of the film is to demonstrate the sheer intolerable nature of capitalism, with how it seems to elevate some of the most vapid, insufferable people in the world who believe that their financial acumen makes them an expert on everything."
In response to his statement, critics have given it a second chance, with much more-favorable responses.
"While it is unorthodox," said one anonymous critic, "It does find a new way to argue against the flaws and excesses of capitalism... by painting its self-purported champions as the most annoying people on the planet. I mean, have you listened to these people? Just five minutes of listening to these people makes me want to abolish money and bring forth Fully-Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism so that my grandchildren and I will never hear another word from them."
