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The birth of technological society is considered to be sometime in the late 20th century, with the advent of electronic computers, science based medicine, and the spread of worldwide communication networks and shared culture. Many of the advances made during the late 20th and early 21st century were almost wiped out during the unrest which followed, and accurate information pertaining to any period before the 22nd century is difficult for modern histories to obtain.
The fourth millennium brought with it sufficient stability to enable a study of early technological society, but the limited access to Earth, and hence original source material, for ur-humans still makes things different. Much of the digital information of the 20th and 21st century was lost - either degraded beyond use, or encrypted and unreadable.
What follows is what has been pieced together from what records are available.
Much of the 21st century seems to have been spent in conflict between superstition and rationality. After the 20th century, a fear and distrust of science was on the increase, and religion began to dominate world affairs. The Little Death - a viral outbreak which directly killed a billion people, and indirectly a billion more - in the 2030s led to the collapse of world society, and it took until the 22nd century before nations had reshaped themselves into a new image.
Formed from the remains of the French and German military forces, it was almost destroyed at the end of the 21st century in a disastrous war with the Arabian Empire over oil. It reshaped itself into a corporate oligarchy, and became well placed to ride the second scientific revolution of the New Enlightenment which follows.
Centred in Saudi Arabia, and controlling the Middle East and North Africa, it suffered the least out of the various powers prevalent in the 21st century. With no income from world trade in oil, its reserves could be deployed locally, and it was forced to build up a scientific education system in order to survive once it was no longer able to buy in solutions from elsewhere.
China suffered greatly during the Little Death, but survived and grew strong, once again closing its borders to foreign influence. A limited nuclear war with the fragmentary remains of eastern Russia, led to it conquering pretty much everything east of the Volga, including much of India. Arguably, it was China's invention of the Jump Drive which heralded the dawn of the New Enlightenment.
After the collapse of the US into civil war in the 2070s, a number of powers arose from the ashes. The CDA was the largest of these by land area and population, and is really little more than a theocratic dictatorship.
Built out of the military-industrial complex of America's largest companies, Black Sky Industries has a strong technological edge but lacks a broad base of resources and population to draw upon. It is the only one of the powers to have any orbital presence at the end of the Dark Ages, and is experimenting with gravitic repulsor technology which promises to increase its dominance of space even further.
As Black Sky Industries begins its domination of Earth orbit, so the China-Soviet Union side steps them completely in order to dominate the stars. They begin to build up a space presence starting in 2110, and in 2124 BSI are surprised when what they assume is some attempt at a inter-planetary craft vanishes. Several weeks later, it is detected returning to Earth.
Word leaks out that China have built some form of Jump Drive, capable of spanning interstellar distances in a matter of weeks. BSI's capture of one such ship which returns with a dead crew in 2031 almost results in full scale war, but soon both nations have access to Jump technology, and the exploration of other worlds begins.
This demonstration of the marvels of science spurs all the major powers to begin channeling resources into catching up with both the CSU and BSI, either by science or by espionage. A race for the colonisation of the stars begins.
During the middle half of the 22nd century, the normal conspiracy theories about a single group controlling everyone from behind the scenes starts to gain momentum. By 2150, fingers are pointing at one of the lesser powers to carve a niche for itself in the US during the Dark Ages - the Oregon Corporation.
Small but more than capable of defending itself with a small private army, it made money during the late 21st century by selling advanced medicine to the elite of the world. With world communication networks starting to function again, it was noticed that the company founders were still in charge. What was more, the rulers of the CDA and CSU had lived well beyond their expected years. What the Oregon Corporation had been selling was a new wonder treatment, and what it gave the world was a new class of dictator - the Immortals.
As the various powers expanded their reach to the new colonies that were being founded in distant solar systems, so a consolidation of sorts was happening back on Earth. The True Humans had gained considerable influence by the 23rd century, and had effective control over infrastructure and supply lines. Though made up of independent individuals, the majority listened to the Gestalt and did what it suggested.
Meanwhile, the Immortals had wealth and influence of their own, and had a strong desire for the status quo to continue, with an unwritten agreement to work together on Earth, but compete out in the colonies where war would not affect them.
What formed by the mid-23rd was a United Nations run by the Immortals, with the upper echelons of the True Humans as their civil service. The latter had little interest in immortality, since they could upload themselves to the Network, and download into new bodies. In their turn, those who took the route offered by the Oregon Corporation did not trust a digital existence.
By the late 24th century, the conflict between the various powers had escalated into full scale war amongst the colonies. For a long while, Earth itself saw peace, with the UN leaders keeping to their agreement to work together on Earth for their common comfort. Many years later, it is difficult to determine how much of their self-enforced peace was due to the actions of True Humanity who had their own agenda in mind.
