The following history is taken from the Talsorian Games official CyberPunk 2020 RolePlaying Guide and supplemented from ShadowRun and Peter F. Hamilton's Mindstar Rising as well as bits and pieces from other works of the CyberPunk genre. Note that since CyberPunk 2020 was originally created in the 80's, some of the early history must be assumed to be alternate to ours, which hasn't been quite so quick, or so dark....yet.
>>>>>[Or so stupid. This timeline was written by people whose comprehension of economics, geopolitics, technology, sociology and even basic geography is juvenile. Keep reading, the laughs are just beginning...]<<<<<
1990 Start of first Central American conflict. US engages in interventionist actions in Pananma, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Slavador. Military forces are sent to secure the canal zone from an ex-US puppet dictator.
>>>>>[Gee, I guess you can tell this was written in the 80s. Now why would the U.S. engage in a Central American war if the Soviet (and Russian) threat has disappeared, and all the local rebels have made peace? Who are the Americans supposed to be fighting? The Canal Zone has been in American hands (US Southern Command HQ) since it was built, so who the hell managed to steal it from them in the middle of the night? And Slavador. Probably part of those East European Brushfire Wars (tm).]<<<<<West, East Germany reunited. Warsaw Pact breaks up into seperate nations.
>>>>>[The Warsaw Pact was always composed of separate nation-states. It was a military alliance, not a union; bloc does not mean block, Blockhead.]<<<<<Break-up of Soviet mega-state. From this point, Russia begins a new era of reapproachment with Western Europe; by the 2000's, the Russians are the Eurotheatre's most powerful allies.
>>>>>[That's rapprochement. And I suppose no-one's been watching the news recently, and how angry and hostile the Russians have been to Europe and America over the last, oh, 7 years since the fall of commmunism. Whatever happened to NATO? Furthermore, as every student of Russian history knows, the Russians have an inborn fear/hostility towards Europe and Asia, and would never become the West's allies unless pressed to extinction, such as during World War II. Try to watch the news once in a while, Okay?]<<<<<Russian president Gorbachev appoints party successor, Andrei Gorborev.
>>>>>[I'll ignore this obvious mistake, and assume that in this alternate timeline the author has forgotten the name of the Russian president.]<<<<<Fall of South Africa. For the next 4 years, there is little or no communication, although terrible attrocities and genocidal wars are rumored.
>>>>>[On the contrary, genocide and atrocities tend to increase communications as hordes of brave journalists flood into the miserable area to cover 'breaking news'. See Bosnia, Ethnic Cleansing of; Rwandan Genocide.]<<<<<Wales seperates from England as the rise of The Awakening brings genetic alterations in the populace, the ancient strain of Elf and Dwarf mutation that has long been suppressed in the human race becoming physically manifested for the first time since the Dark Ages. The newly independant nation is named Tir Na Nog.
>>>>>[Oh Lord. That's Ireland folks, not Wales. And that's the United Kingdom, not England or Great Britain. Also, 'separates', 'independent'.]<<<<<Turkey gains nuclear weapons capability.
>>>>>[So what? You might as well add Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Israel, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Belgium, Norway, or any other economy which has managed to crawl out of the 19th century. Possession of a few nuclear warheads is actually more crippling in geostrategic terms than not having any, as all those countries I mentioned fully realize. And Turkey would never be able to use those few nukes against any country worth fighting over without getting annihilated.]<<<<<1991 Eurospace Agency launches Hermes Spaceplane.
Gorborev regime purges last of old hardliners.
>>>>>[That phrase, 'purging hard-liners', always struck me as somewhat ironic.]<<<<<CHOOH2, an alternative fuel source, is developed by Biotechnica.
>>>>>[We'll ignore this feeble attempt at chemistry too.]<<<<<First Arcology built on ruins of Jersey City. 16 "Arcos" begin construction over the next 5 years, until the Collapse of 1997, leaving the huge structures half completed, filled with squatters and homeless.
>>>>>[Why is Jersey City in ruins? Which brings me to the next point - why would anyone ever build or live inside an Arcology? Yet another of those cool-but-unrealistic-if-you-think-about-it-for-even-a-second ideas.]<<<<<Artificial muscle fibers developed at Stanford Research Center.
>>>>>[Done.]<<<<<Researchers in London scientifically document the existance of weak psychic phenomena and discover that those who demonstrate such powers have an enlargement of the hypothalamus and increased cortical activity centered around an area they name the region of Hamilton.
>>>>>[That's got to be the most vicious, unwarranted slur on a brain part ever.]<<<<<1992 The Treaty of 1992 establishes the European Economic Community. Zones of control and protective tariffs regulate the activities of member nations, France, Britain, United Germany, Italy. A common currency unit (the Eurodollar) is established, based on an average value in gold of all currencies combined. Trapped in paranoid isolationism, the US declines to enter.
>>>>>[The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1992. And it abolished zones of control and protective internal tariffs. The euro (formerly the ecu) will the monetary unit, and the gold standard was dropped in 1972, for Pete's sake. Furthermore, the US was not and will never be invited into the monetary union, because there is simply no reason for the US to do so, and zero political will even if the economics were sound. That's got nothing to do with isolationism. I defy anyone who plays Cyberpunk 2020 to actually name the constituent members of the European Union as of 1997. Also, the author obviously confused currency units (euros) with a financial term (eurodollars) which is completely unrelated.]<<<<<The US Drug Enforcement Agency develops and spreads several designer plagues worldwide, targeting coca and opium plants.
Governments of Chile, Ecuador collapse.
>>>>>[For God's Sake, WHY?!?]<<<<<A savage drug war breaks out between Eurocorp-backed dealers and DEA all over the Americas. Terrorist tactics by the Turks, hard hit by the DEAs plant plagues and the European Economic Community success, cause the most fear.
>>>>>[I suppose syntax and spelling are not the forte of a cyberpunk either. Why would Eurocorps back South American dealers? Why would anybody? And why does the "European Economic Community success" [sic] cause fear? What does Turkey have to with all this?]<<<<<First use of high energy laser lift arrays in Russia. Simple massdriver established in Canary Islands by eight member Eurospace Agency.
>>>>>['Simple' massdriver my ass! Has anyone actually looked at the cost of building such a device? Arianespace barely has enough money to launch one (1) spy satellite, let alone construct a massdriver which would take a budget the size of the combined military budgets of the entire EU. And someone please explain to me the physical operating principles behind a 'high-energy laser lift array', because you sure as hell won't find them in any current physics textbook.]<<<<<The University of California at San Diego begins the Noah's Ark Project, an attempt to capture and catalog a DNA bank of all known animal species, underwritten by the Sierra Environmental Protection Alliance. The project is headed by Dr. Hernando Juarez and his assistant, Dr. Torrey O'Neal.
>>>>>[Why the excruciating detail about something that has been going on for decades in dozens of locations around the world?]<<<<<1993 First TRC biologic interface chips developed in Munich, United Germany.
>>>>>[Munich is not known as a centre of high-tech biology or chip design. Another example of the "Pick any exotic-sounding foreign location" syndrome.]<<<<<AV-4 Aerodyne Assault Vehicle developed to deal with increasing riots in US urban zones.
Columbian druglords detonate small tactical nuclear device in New York. 15,000 killed.
>>>>>[Once more, the rationale for such an act is beyond anything I can think of, other than personal insanity. The alleged benefit to the druglords is astoundingly negative. And that's Colombian, with two 'O's!]<<<<<The European Economic Community denounces the terrorist activities of the Turkish government in the Americas, setting the stage for future conflicts in the Eurotheatre.
>>>>>[What a wonderful non-sequitur. The Turkish government has zero involvement in South America, zero influence, zero interests. Must be the result of zero brainpower.]<<<<<1994 World stock market crash of '94. US economy teeters, then collapses.
>>>>>[Plausible, but completely unexplained, especially since there's no such thing as a 'world stock market'. And that ever-so-titillating use of the word 'teeters' sends chills down my spine.]<<<<<Nuclear accident in Pittsburgh kills 257. Cancer deaths soar over the next ten years.
>>>>>[I suppose no-one's ever heard of Leukemia?]<<<<<Researchers at London University create the first artificial gland by mutating the hypothalamus of a psychic to increase the innate abilities of those who are psychic enabled. They name the gland the espergland. Parliament instantly bans further research in the area and all data is seized by the British Army.
1995 Kilamanjaro massdriver begins construction, under joint agreement between ESA and Pan African Alliance.
>>>>>[WHOAAA, nelly! Where the hell did this PAA come from again? If the author is referring to the Organization of African Unity (OAU), then alliance is to the OAU as marriage is to a suggestive wink. Try again.]<<<<<Tyrell Corporation, a genetic engineering laboratory, creates the first Replicant, a combined cybernetic and biologic mouse that cannot be distinguished from a fully biological mouse by external examination.
1996 The collapse of the US. Weakened by losses in the world stock crash, overwhelmed by unemployment, homelessness, and corruption, many city governments collapse or go bankrupt. The US government, snarled in a staggering deficit and the machinations of the Gang of Four, is totally ineffective.
>>>>>[Gang of Four. How cute. Almost reminiscent of Chinese history. Almost. What exactly is the US government totally ineffective at? Keynesian economic stimulus?]<<<<<Nomad riots. By now, 1 in 4 Americans are now homeless. Hundreds of thousands riot for living space throughout the US. Nomad Packs spring up on the West Coast and spread rapidly through the nation.
>>>>>[Riots in the US for living space. That's hilarious, given that America has the greatest abundance of living space in the world, and the highest percentage of home ownership too. Why would these people all suddenly become homeless? Economic depressions do not make people homeless, unless you're thinking of the mass migrations of farmers during the Great Dustbowl, a completely different (and ancient history) phenomena. People would be miserable and poor, but not homeless. Even during the Great Depression, home occupancy rates only decreased slightly, and rose sharply in urban areas.]<<<<<First appearance of Boostergangs.
Lawyer purge. Irate citizens lynch hundreds of criminal defense attorneys.
>>>>>[So who's gonna defend the citizens when they're arrested for murder?]<<<<<Constitution suspended. Martial law established in US.
>>>>>[Again, WHY? No-one in the whole government has the power to suspend the Constitution, and doing so would lead to immediate insurrections and resistance from the other two branches of government. Furthermore, the US has no provisions for establishing martial law, and would simply have to 'beat up' anyone who got in the way. And who, pray tell, would enforce this martial law when the government is (allegedly) bankrupt and cannot pay its soldiers, and when State Guardsmen are not under (ineffective) Federal control? Highly unlikely that all the components of government (military, intelligence, executive, legislative, judicial, and state) would suddenly, unanimously declare martial law and impose it with such rigour that no mention is ever made of it again.]<<<<<Turkey declares war on the European Economic Community member nations.
>>>>>[HAHAHAHA! That's just too rich. Maybe Syria tries to invade 'amidst the confusion' too. The fact is, no Turkish government in their right mind, no matter how Jyhad-prone, would ever 'invade' the EU, nor would it even have the equipment necessary to do so. TRY AGAIN.]<<<<<1997 Mideast meltdown. Tensions in Middle East escalate to nuclear exchange. Iran, Iraq, Libya, Chad, and the Arab Emirates reduced to radioactive slag. World oil supply drops by half.
>>>>>[Umm, Chad? Way out there in the North of Africa? WHY? And I suppose no-one bothers nuking such unimportant places as Egypt, Israel, Syria and Jordan, the countries that would actually be the main combatants in any Mid-East conflict. Ugh. And don't even try to explain this by saying that only Israel has nuclear capability, because it just ain't so, Serpico. ]<<<<<Toxic spill kills off most of salmon population in Pacific Northwest. Seattle economy crippled.
>>>>>[Hah! We didn't need a toxic oil spill to do that, ya weenies! Plain old-fashioned overfishing and downstream pollution already did that just fine, thanks.]<<<<<'Rockerboy' Manson killed in England. Gary Numan releases 'Exile' which rockets him into centerstage in the music industry.
Great Britain denies rumors of continued experimentation with the espergland on British soldiers as recruits tell of having to undergo psychic ability screening during military training and sudden disappearances of fellow soldiers.
>>>>>[Any recruit that said so would go to prison for the rest of his life for having violated the Official Secrets Act, whether proven or not.]<<<<<1998 Neo-Luddites re-established in western Kentucky. Over the next ten years, the "Luds" are responsible for bombings of airports, factories, freeways, and mass transit terminals.
>>>>>[Gee, I didn't think Kentucky *had* any airports, factories, etc...]<<<<<The drought of '98 reduces most ot the Midwest to parched grasslands. Between agribusiness corps and drought, the family farm all but disappears.
>>>>>[Funny, but most of the Midwest is already parched grasslands. Between soaring subsidies and booming global markets, the family farmer makes a killing while promoting the urban myth that the 'family farm is dying'.]<<<<<10.5 quake shatters Los Angeles, ocean innundates 35% of the city. An estimated 65,000 are killed.
First human clone grown in vitro. Mindless, it only lives 6 hours.
>>>>>[That's a pretty nifty leap from mouse to human clone in only 2 years.]<<<<<1999 Federal weapons statute established.
>>>>>[Doh! Too late. And how does the establishment of a Federal Weapons Statute somehow foreshadow the coming of the Apocalypse? I swear, Americans are the dumbest-assed gun-wielding maniacs ever. In the opinion of the rest of the civilized world, such a statute would no doubt impose shocking levels of decent behaviour and drastically reduce the ability of honest law-abiding citizens to slaughter each other. But what do I know, I'm just a commie foreigner, right?]<<<<<Millenium cults begin to appear, predicting an apocalypse on Jan 1, 2000. Thousands migrate to isolated communes and temples to "await the end".
>>>>>[Not Jan 1, 2001? I guess cultists are about as good at math as cyberpunks...]<<<<<Tycho Colony established. A massdriver is constructed to provide raw materials for orbital platforms.
>>>>>[Query: How do you establish a lunar colony without spaceships, trillions of dollars in money, a purpose, or a scientific base large enough to design said colony?]<<<<<Tyrell Corp offers $10 million to anyone who can tell from external examination which of 5,000 cattle is the single Replicant. The prize goes unclaimed.
First complete body transplant using a clone.
>>>>>[Ooooh, brain-transfers! I want a body with pumped-up pectorals and genitals out to here...oh, sorry.]<<<<<2000 Millenium cults run amok on Jan1st in an orgy of suicide and violence. Most destroy themselves.
>>>>>[Sort of like bad writers.]<<<<<First "extended family" Posergangs established.
>>>>>[Extended family. There's a radical mind-shattering new concept that has to be put in parenthesis to emphasis its revolutionary importance. ]<<<<<Massive firestorms rage over northwestern US, destroying millions of acres of farm and grassland.
Crystal Palace Space Station begun at L-S.
Wasting Plague hits US, Europe, killing hundreds of thousands.
First DeathGames competition held on Catalina Island off the California coast.
>>>>>[How fitting. As if Los Angeles residents didn't see enough deathgames on their daily ride to work.]<<<<<2001 The framework of the net is now firmly in place with construction of the WorldSat Network.
>>>>>[Hmmm. That would be the 1980s actually. ]<<<<<Turkey bombs Downing Street, destroying Parliament. 2,567 killed.
>>>>>[BWAHAHA! Perhaps if they inherited the entire Russian Air Force, they might have a chance of doing that...]<<<<<Christian Marxist movement begins with kibbutzes popping up all over Europe.
>>>>>[I almost peed my pants laughing at this. What next, Atheist Islamic McDonalds'-operated Mujaheedin in Alaska? Quiz time: anyone know which religion sets up Kibbutzes? And why they don't do it in Europe?]<<<<<The Noah's Ark Project becomes Sierra Survival as sevurity is tightened after other animal DNA repositories around the world are raided by military and genetic research organizations.
>>>>>[Since the military-industrial complex already has access to all the animal DNA they'll ever need (in the form of actual animals and their own DNAbanks), why would they ever attack a pathetic charity organization with funds several magnitudes smaller than their own?]<<<<<2002 Food Crash; mutated plant virus wipes out Canadian, Russian crops. US agribusiness corps survive due to new biological counterpart. Russia accuses US of biological warfare.
>>>>>[Plausible, but there would undoubtedly be more profit (and sense) in selling the 'counteragent' to Russia and Canada. And I suppose third-world Canada doesn't have any agricorps...]<<<<<EuroTurk War. Turkey, backed by China, Yugoslavia, and Korea, invades Italy and France. Casualties in the Turk/Chinese Army are given first true cybernetic replacement limbs and sent back into fight with devestating effect.
>>>>>[Yet again, pick random countries and mash them together into an incomprehesible alliance and pretend that's the future. I'd hate to go into a 10-page diatribe to explain why this would never happen, but suffice to say that the Turks would be among the last to arm their soldiers with cybernetic limbs (prosthetic limbs after the war, maybe). Let me also remind our gentle readers that the peoples of Yugoslavia fought for centuries against the Ottoman Turks and would never ally themselves with their ancient foes, and that Korea has a potent interest in maintaining friendly relations with the EU. This is just sheer ignorance at work.]<<<<<2003 Second Central American War. US invades Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela. The war is a disaster that costs thousands of American lives. Eventually, the remainder of the Gang of Four is swept away on the wave of reform.
>>>>>[Y? Y!? Columbia [sic] is already a part of the US!]<<<<<WNS media star Tesla Johnanneson exposes secret NSA transcripts of the first Central American conflict.
>>>>>[I'd like to see a TV journalist try to crack a 4096-bit NSA encryption code in time for the 6 O'Clock news...]<<<<<Research and development of mutated animals are reported to be taking place at several different military facilities.
>>>>>[This is the 1950s, right? Hello, am I in the right century?]<<<<<2004 Microsutures, sterilizer fields developed.
>>>>>[Microsutures! I've got to patent such a brilliant idea!]<<<<<Tesla Johnanneson assassinated in Cairo.
First Corp War. 12 Multinats, (including EBM and OA) battle for control of Trans-World Air.
>>>>>[I guess good old-fashioned share-swaps went out of style, eh? And what exactly would a computer company want with an airline anyway?]<<<<<Turk/Chinese Army occupation of Italy and France. Invasion of Great Britain begins with first high cybernetic conversion troops. British Army calms populace with promise of a "secret weapon" that will stop the TC cybertroops.
>>>>>[This thread is so ridiculous that I think I'll occupy it with Chinese-backed Tanzanian troops and pacify it into submission.]<<<<<2005 Cybermodem invented.
>>>>>[Immediately followed by the cyber-computer, the cyber-program, cyber-drives, cyber-speakers, cyber-mouse, cyber-keyboard and cyber-LAN.]<<<<<EBM solos attack Tokyo office of Kenjuri Technologies, killing 18.
>>>>>["Mission Accomplished, sir! We killed 18 enemy personnel, slowing down their productivity by 0.000000078% points, until they hire new people anyhow..."]<<<<<End of 1st Corp War.
British Army deploys the Mindstar Battalion, who are mysteriously able to predict TC cyborg attacks and render the cybertroops useless. Rumors of telekinetic and telepathic abilities of the mindstars reinforce the belief that the espergland is involved.
2006 Turk/Chinese Army driven out of Italy and France. Downing Street rebuilt and Parliament moved back in.
>>>>>[You sure that's not Baker Street, Sherlock?]<<<<<Tyrell Corp and Biotechnica both announce the first human Replicants. Fierce competition sparks a minor Corp war.
Introduction of mutant animals in European militaries, most prevalent being large cats and canines with highly aggressive behavior and superior strength.
>>>>>[I think the average Marine already qualifies as a mutant animal, no need to overdo it.]<<<<<2007 Second Corporate War: involving a number of firms including Petrochem, the dispure is over oilfields in the South China Sea.
Braindance developed at UC Santa Cruz.
El Fiero Incident. American forces lay seige to the small fishing village of El Fiero, Panama, a reputed headquarters for Panamanian guerillas. Of the 12,000 inhabitants, only 562 survive the starvation, fighting, and disease. The survivors are rounded up and used to clear minefields by the US troops. 520 El Fierans die in the minefields.
2008 US assault on Russian weapons platform MIR XIII. Eurospace Agency intervenes, and orbital war breaks out between the "Euros" and the "Yanks", until Tycho Colony massdriver drops a rock on Colorado Springs. An uneasy peace is reached.
>>>>>[That's downright amusing. Even given that somehow Eurospace manages to leap-frog American space technology by about 50 years, and somehow manages to build both a moon colony and a mass-driver while the Americans twiddle their thumbs (no doubt because of a horrible economic depression which affects only America, duh!), then the Americans would still be able to nuke all of Europe twice over with bombs to spare. And even if Europe was at nuclear parity, the Americans would still declare war at such an outrageous act, and smash European shipping....oh, never mind, it's pointless.]<<<<<With England on the verge of social collapse and crime and unemployment at an all time high, British elections see Parliament shift to control of the British People's Socialist Party. The PSP suspends future elections and creates a police state, almost immediately giving the order to destroy the Mindstar Battalion, claiming that they are a danger to the safety of the general populace and spreading propoganda that causes British citizens to panic. The Mindstars join the Free Britain Underground.
>>>>>[I wonder if that part about a police state would be in their election platform? Given that the UK is nearly a police state *today*, it would be plausible to say that the Tories could have just as easily instituted such a repressive policy - but to what end? Why would the government destroy it's best weapon?]<<<<<2009 Joint Euro-Russian mission to Mars departs.
Corporations eradicate mob rule in Night City.
Abortive takeover attempt by US "terrorist group" of Crystal Palace construction. ESA discovers Defense Intelligence Agency plot and drops 12 ton rock off Washington as a warning.
Britain announces the eradication of the Mindstar Battalion, claiming to have successfully hunted down and destroyed all 280 of the mindstars. Rumors continue of mindstar encounters but are discredited by the PSP.
2010 End of Second Central American War.
Network 54 now cntrols 62% os al media broadcasting in US.
British PSP Prime Minister Leopold Armstrong dies of a mysterious cybernetic failure in his artificial heart. Assassination rumors involve the Mindstars.
First DeathGames Ultimate Battle held. Television/Internet audience is estimated at 4 billion as business grinds to a halt for the coverage.
2011 Crystal Palace is completed. ESA now has a permanent hold in High Orbit zone.
ESA/Russian mission reaches Mars.
World governments, concerned over the potentials of the Replicants produced by Tyrell Corp and Biotechnica, ban them from use on the planet surface and the WorldSat Network. Replicants are restricted to orbital and lunar colony work and isolated networks and are programmed with a lethal cybervirus to prevent total shutdown should they violate the restrictions in cyberspace.
>>>>>[Cybervirus. Imaginative lot, aren't they.]<<<<<2012 Bioplague kills 1,700 in Chicago.
Concert riot in Night City kills 18, wounds 51. Old Arasaka complex gutted.
Use of mutated animals in European military is abandoned after years of fatal incidents involving out of control animals and terrorist attacks of facilities used to store the DNA for the animals from those opposed to their use. Sierra Survival becomes the only known animal DNA repository in the world.
>>>>>[That last bit is completely unlikely.]<<<<<2013 Netwatch established by joint US/Eurotheatre treaty.
>>>>>[BTW, who came up with this lame 'Eurotheatre' nonsense? Some unemployed SHAPE operations planner?]<<<<<First true artificial intelligence developed ar Microtech's Sunnyvale, California facility.
>>>>>[Please, please tell me the criteria for a 'true artificial intelligence'... and why Microtech (nom-de-plume of Microsoft) would not be the one to do it.]<<<<<2014 I-G transformations redesign the Net.
"Metal Wars" begins in Night City as gangs battle for turf.
Disaster and riot ravaged Los Angeles is turned into a maximum security prison facility.
>>>>>[This idea taken from a high-calibre movie filled with superb acting and a dense, sophisticated plot.]<<<<<DeathGames Ultimates draw record breaking audience. During the competition, the top three seeded teams are drawn into a firefight where five of the Gamers are killed, the only survivor Delorean Davis requiring extreme lifesaving measures. As the sole survivor, he is named the Ultimates Champion.
>>>>>[This is news? I thought the whole point of an Ultimate Deathmatch would be to have one survivor. He makes it sound like something went horribly wrong and [gasp] there was only one survivor!]<<<<<2015 Rise of the Cyber-Mercenaries; Lithuania hires cyber-soldiers to repel invasion by Latvian nationals.
>>>>>[Cyber-soldiers in cyber-tanks carrying cyber-rifles, I hope.]<<<<<Sierra Survival director Dr. Hernando Juarez assassinated by terrorists who wish to destroy any future possibility of mutant animals being created. Two weeks later, the Sierra Survival facility and its animal DNA repository are completely destroyed in a fire. The dissappearance of Dr. Torrey O'Neal two days before the fire leads many to suspect that he made off with the DNA and is in hiding.
>>>>>[Oooh, now the whole intricate plot is revealed; not only is Dr. O'Neal implicated in genetic sabotage, but he's having a secret affair with Dr. Juarez's daughter, who's actually a corporate sympathiser working for...]<<<<<2016 Third Corporate War is fought in the Net as rival corps attack each others data fortresses.
2017 First self-aware fully biological human clones created.
2018 Brushfire Wars erupt in Eastern Europe.
>>>>>[There's a definitive statement you're not likely to see in the real world. Brushfire Wars. Yup, that covers everything quite nicely, thank you. Eastern Europe is historically prone to such wars, you understand.]<<<<<ESA mission launched to Jupiter.
2019 Orbital Colony revolt at L-3.
Blade Runner police units are created to deal with the increasing problem of rogue Replicants on Earth.
2020 The present...it's up to you now.
>>>>>[If it were up to me, I'd scrap the whole bloody timeline and begin over... starting from the Greeks.]<<<<<