(2047) XNet (Exchange Network) beta is created by the United States military on a network outside of the standard Internet network. It is used by the military and military contractors as a virtual world to test and design aircraft, vehicles, and weaponry in a virtual environment with realistic physics. The premise behind the XNet is that your brain patterns are connected directly to the system, in essence transporting you from the XNet terminal to inside the XNet. Initial designs put the user into a semi-real environment where they are simultaneously aware of both their presence in and outside of the virtual reality.

(2051) In the interest of collaboration, the US military releases the XNet design to several allied superpowers. XNet design is adopted by several major powers such as Japan, UK, and Israel, though each have a different and unique name.

(2056) Despite its still crude design, XNet is opened up for use by the general public in selected areas. It's use is very minor in the beginning. The XNet uses an advanced set of protocols that are only available to the Internet in limited forms.

(2061) After only five years open to the public, the XNet is estimated to have 15% of the number of people connected to the Internet. Nearly half of those user shave converted to the XNet completely.

(2065) In a effort to globalize the virtual world, the various XNet-like systems of the world are connected and quickly replace the standard networks as a way to exchange information. The new standardized network introduces the possibility of complete integration with the XNet, in essence putting the user's mind completely in the virtual environment.

(2067) While there are several documented cases of deaths due to prolonged cases of XNet exposure, the first death directly related to an XNet experience occurs. A thirteen year old boy in Canada dies from a traumatic event in a virtual game. Public outcry is minimal, though several countries add a new level of game rating to XNet games that warn of possible injury.

(2068) Billionaire Johnathon Floro initiates a program called the Arctic Free Zone. He builds a city from scratch that is fully integrated into the XNet. With new technology, it is claimed and verified to be the most environmentally friendly community in the world. Floro encourages scientists, artists, and engineers with the motto "Utopian Environment for Inspiration and Discovery".

(2071) The Arctic Free Zone reaches 100,000 citizens, though nearly half are natives. The AFZ is an unparalleled success, scientific discovery grows quickly there.

(2077) An artificial intelligence program called Mother is created in the XNet. She is the first program to have self awareness. Her XNet domain called "Ask Mom" becomes the most popular domain in the XNet. After only a month into release, it is estimated that over twenty percent of the world has visited her.

(2077) Mother is named Time's Person of the Year.

(2080) World leaders meet for the first Turing Summit to discuss the potential problems with artificial intelligence. A resolution passes to limit AI advancement only to XNet, and never to real space. Though the resolution is seen by some as a weak gesture, since technological limitations all but prevent AI from existing out the XNet to begin with.

(2090) A wave of advanced AIs are released into XNet. The function of these new AIs varies any where from data collection to controlling a city's power grid.

(2099) Due to the work of the AIs, scientific advancement grows at an unprecedented rate in human history.

(2108) Vatican City and the Arctic Free Zone becomes members of the United Nations, meaning no civilized area on the planet does not belong to the United Nations.

(2111) The United Nations initiates the Terran Planning Project. The goal of this project is to redesign all major cities to be modeled after the Arctic Free Zone. New AI are created to control nearly every portion of city life. In some cases an individual AI controls the infrastructure of an entire nation. The Terran Planning Project is greeted with open arms by nearly every nation, however many individuals object to the plan, citing that humanity is giving up too much control to the AI.

(2118) Tokyo becomes the first city to complete it's Terran Planning Project goals.

(2120) A border skirmish between two Eastern European countries escalates quickly into declarations of war. However, the threat of war fizzles when the various AI in control of each nation's military resources refuse to participate when neither side sees sufficient evidence to fight the other. After preventing war, the AI start to get a cult following.

(2130) At the 50th anniversary of the Turing Summit, AI are declared to hold the same rights and privileges as humans.

(2130-2135) The major world leaders meet to discuss complete disarmament of all nuclear weapons. There is some hesitation at first, but ultimate agreement by all parties. The disposal of all the worlds nuclear weapons takes several years but in 2135 the world is declared to be completely free of nuclear weapons.

(2136) Hunger, poverty, and most forms of disease are gone from the world due to the work of the AIs. Scientific advancement continues to grow at an exponential rate, as does trust of the people of the world towards the AIs.

(2138) A group known as Singularity becomes popular throughout the world. However some declare them to be a cult as the members of Singularity display worship-like devotion to any AI.

(2140) Members of Singularity begin to gain prominent positions in several major governments of the world.

(2144) Tragedy occurs when an AI named Felix decides the human workers in a manufacturing plant are inefficient. He takes control of the robot workers and kills all human employees. A task force is assigned to enter the XNet and shut him down, but he escapes his domain and goes rogue. A plea is sent out to other AIs in the system, but none respond to help track Felix down. The all robotic manufacturing plant continues production as normal, with greatly increased output.

(2144) A terrorist organization F.L.D. (First Law Disciples) is founded, devoted to the destruction of all AI and the restoration of control to humanity. They primarily target cities being converted to the Terran Planning Project.

(2145) Because of the Terran Planning Project, food production, gas, power, water, even basic daily activities are under the control of some form of AI. Though hunger and poverty are nonexistent, unemployment is at an unprecedented level in history.

(2146) The first death of an AI occurs. A simple story writing AI named CAL is killed. F.L.D. is suspected of involvement and in response, Singularity outlaws any involvement with F.L.D. with punishment of death. Some AI, such as the original Mother, retreat deep into the XNet and are not heard from for many years.

(2147) An unknown virus in a small American town kills 8 people. Medical officials announce the virus has been contained. Shortly after, the city is blockaded by AI controlled military bots for all incoming and outgoing traffic. Even after media coverage of the story, the blockade continues. After a two month long blockade, members of F.L.D. break through and find the entire town dead through disease, murder, or starvation. After much public outcry, the AI come to the defense of the incident, claiming there was a 3% chance the deadly virus could have spread to outside population if not contained.

(2147) The leader of Singularity is killed in her London home by rioters.

(2148) There are rumors that the rogue AI Felix takes control of the mind a 30 year-old Russian programmer who is jacked into XNet. Scientists, philosophers, and engineers are baffled at this occurrence, and most simply deny it. The Russian programmer is hunted down in real space for questioning, but escapes due to the help of Singularity.

(2148) As the Terran Planning Project continues to reorganize entire cities, the next phase of planning begins in a few select cities. Cairo, Las Vegas, Vientiane, and St. Petersberg are chosen as prototypes for advanced Terraforming.

(2150) An organized global coup by Singularity yields them control of several world governments including United States, Russia, Iraq, India, and France.

(2150) In the US, the Constitution is amended to give the president, a woman named Cythnia Cloud, a life term. The fact that she is a Singularity puppet is not hidden from the public.

(2151-2153) The F.L.D. continue terrorist acts, including blowing up the all-robot manufacturing plant that was the place of the mass killings. Several more AIs are destroyed in XNet.

(2152) The execution of a high ranking member of F.L.D. is publicly televised through out the world.

(2153) The US government declares marshal law. All jack-in points to the XNet are secured, and only licensed individuals may enter XNet.

(2054-2059) The F.L.D. begins targeting and destroying XNet server facilities.

(2159) F.L.D. destroys a bio research facility in New Mexico that hosts an XNet server. Shortly after, a deadly outbreak begins killing people in the area where the facility was destroyed. The virus, referred to as the Reaper Virus, soon spreads and cases of its effect are reported throughout most of the world. Within weeks, a biochemical firm owned by Singularity finds a cure and releases it.

(2163) Despite the cure, the constant battle with the Reaper virus causes hatred towards F.L.D. to grow, until the group officially disbands. A handful of pockets of the most extremist F.L.D. still remain, but their mainstream support is gone.

(2167-2198) After several years of continually and successfully battling the virus, it mutates beyond the scope of the cure. The results are catastrophic. Several billion people are killed.

(2174) A philosopher AI comes forward to the people of the world and admits the outbreak was the creation of the AI in order to control the populace. It begs forgiveness from the people and claims the virus mutated beyond even their control. The philosopher is destroyed by its fellow intelligences, marking the first time an AI has been killed by its own. Riots erupt world wide in protest.

(2175) Rioting reaches its peak when rioters storm key government locations in Washington DC. Hundreds of rioters are killed. In response, unorganized terrorist groups begin destroying government buildings. In one such explosion, Cynthia Cloud, the life president of the US government dies.

(2175) The replacement president is murdered in his home several weeks later.

(2175) Anarchy begins to rise as rioting continues to escalate as more and more people die from the virus. The central government of the United States steadily declines.

(2177) Many of the older AI begin to exhibit human qualities, for better or worse. Civil war erupts in the XNet between the AI who wish to give humans control, and those who wish to keep it for themselves.

(2177-2181) Known as the Four Year War. A war between the survival of humankind against AI. Some AI side with the humans, but most do not. The majority of the fighting takes place within the XNet itself, however several cities are completely wiped out by AI controlled bot armies. Humanity attempts to target XNet servers in the hopes of cutting them off. Collateral damage is frequent in server destruction and most cities on the planet are sent into pre-civilized living conditions. The majority of humanity throughout the world are without water, food, gas, and electricity. Small pockets of civilization remain where humans were able to overcome the AI.

(2181) At the end of the Four Year War, the remaining opposition AI knock all satellites out of orbit in a desperate attempt to stop the fight against them. The satellites can be seen burning up in the atmosphere for an entire day straight. Global communication is all but gone.

(2181) When the war ends, the majority of XNet servers are destroyed and most jack-in-points are lost. The remaining few are heavily fortified, but the XNet is considered gone to the public.

(2183) The man/AI known as Felix, with the help of Singularity, switches bodies with a willing subject. The old host dies.

(2184) With virtually no central government left in the United States, military leaders declare control of southwest California and declare the San Angeles territory to be under their protection and leadership. This is seen as the final nail in the coffin of the already dead central US government. Local entities scramble for control of the few remaining cities throughout the country.

(2186-2196) A twenty five foot fortified wall is constructed around San Angeles from coast to coast. The area inside the wall is referred to as San Angeles Barrier City.

(2198) The first year where there is not a single recorded death from the Reaper Virus in the San Angeles area. Communication to the rest of the world is minimal, but all the reports are the same, the virus is gone. The world population is estimated to be around 500 million.

(2199) The AI known as Felix emerges in San Angeles. He is betrayed by one of his close associates and is trapped back inside the XNet in what is assumed to have been an attempt to transfer his presence from one mind to another. The city government call for the death of Felix, but the other AI are not willing to kill one of their own when so few are left. Instead another AI volunteers to be a permanent jailer, keeping Felix in an isolated section of the XNet indefinitely.

(2200) A new virus emerges in San Angeles. The virus only kills 117 people before it is contained, but the source is discovered to have emerged from an immigrant outside the original populace. In response, the people demand that the walls to the barrier city be completely closed. The local government obliges.

(2200) San Angeles declares that no one may leave the city walls, and no one may enter. Any immigrants found to be attempting to enter the city from the ocean are immediately executed.

(2200-2221) A populace starts building up outside the city walls. They live in the homes that were left outside the wall, and live on the scraps of those inside the city. As the population outside the city grows, the barrier city scraps become more and more valuable. Most of the survivors from the West, including many from what was Mexico, come to live outside Barrier City.

(2217) The fringe population demand more from those inside. The city refuses.

(2218) A large group of the fringe population attempt to cross the barrier. Forty eight of the fringe population are killed. Three wall guards also die.

(2218) Barrier City cuts off all supplies to the outside population.

(2218) Raids against Barrier City are constant, though never successful. The fringe population becomes more and more desperate by each passing day.

(2219) The fringe population unite under the leadership of a man named Ivan Star whose son was killed while attempting to cross the wall. Under his leadership, the people become increasingly hostile towards the city, including several acts of murder and sabotage towards Barrier City.

(2220) Associates of Ivan Star begin looting abandoned military complexes in the California and Nevada deserts for weapons and supplies. In one such complex they find a weapons cache with several high yield explosives built long after the original world disarmament likely as a potential weapon against the AI.

(2221) The people orchestrate multiple explosions on the wall that leaves the city vulnerable. The fringe population storms the unprepared city, killing many of those inside, and pillaging what they can. An extremist group within the fringe population take control of facilities spread throughout the city. They are members of Singularity intent on freeing Felix from his prison. With Barrier City law enforcement focused on the raiders, they are unable to devote the manpower to fighting Singularity.

After several failed attempts at rescue and as law enforcement slowly begins to retake captured facilities, the final stand of Singularity is at a nuclear power plant in the northern part of the city. In their final act of desperation Singularity set off a massive explosion in the hopes of shutting off all power to the city and freeing Felix from his prison.

The nuclear fallout from the explosion is tremendous. Both those who live inside the wall and outside of it are forced to flee the area, but hundreds die within the first few days.

(2221) The city of New Vegas is founded by the former fringe population of Barrier City. The former citizens of Barrier City also come to call New Vegas home, but most of them are treated as slaves. The slaves are forced to try and restart the broken utility and plumbing facilities of the city, but are never able to do so without an AI available. However they are able to fix the backup power generators operating in the casinos.

(2224) A group of surviving scientists return to the former Barrier City to try to stop the radiation leak. They call themselves Seraphim.

(2227) Seraphim is able to make contact with the AI tasked of running the nuclear power plant. Both the scientists at the AI has been working independently to fix the plant, but with their efforts combined they are able to rapidly speed up the restoration process.

(2230) Seraphim's work not only makes the region inhabitable but also fixes the functionality of the power plant. Atmospheric renewers are built in key locations of the city to combat any residual radiation.

(2230) Survivors of the wilderness begin returning to the city, now named Angel City. No local government, however, is ever established.

(2230-2235) The rule of law is kept by various tribes, gangs, and other people groups who have come to the city. They get along with each other to a varying degree.

(2235) The scientists of Seraphim form themselves into a company named Seraphim, Inc. Several other groups quickly follow suit, and also become corporations.

(2235) Connection to XNet is reestablished and the servers are rebuilt. Though the world wide access is lost, many of the original networks from Nevada and California are still running. The original AIs have been running untouched for well over fifty years, and have established their own domains of control. Man's return to XNet is celebrated by the remaining AI.

(2235-2239) With the newfound help of the artificial intelligence and the handful of corporations with them, the downtown area of Angel City is converted to what is known as Corporate Point. Corporate Point is a circle of over ten massive skyscrapers with a large walking-only section in between. The rest of the city is abandoned as the majority of individuals move into this new section.

(2239) As Corporate Point begins to crowd, people start to live in the fringe sections of Corporate Point. Some corporations build large residential complexes for their employees, however the area of West Hollywood begins to be populated by those who don't work for any corporation.

(2240) The original atmospheric renewers that kept the air clean from fallout begin to break down. The corporations fix or upgrade the renewers within their domain, however the people within West Hollywood find they must fend for themselves and fix their own renewers.

(2241) A large group of marauders from New Vegas raid Angel City. The raiders are slaughtered by the corporations, marking the first and only time any outside force has attacked the city. Unable to return home due to shame and injury, the few remaining marauders move into the long abandoned fringe sections of Angel City along the wall. The marauders are tolerated by the Corporations, since they provide a useful deterrent to any additional people coming to the city.

(2243) Living conditions and technology are estimated to have surpassed the pre-Reaper Virus era within Angel City, however almost every place outside the city has pre-civilized conditions.

(2245) The corporations within Angel City collaborate to declare that a person must be in good standing with a corporation in order to be a citizen of Angel City. Corporations cut off trade to non-citizens, resulting in the creation of a black market dealing almost exclusively to West Hollywood.

(2245) The people of West Hollywood create and join gangs in order to survive against the non-citizen embargo.

(2250) A census of Angel City shows two million registered citizens. Another million non-citizens are estimated to live in and around West Hollywood.

(2267) Present Day...