Anna

Glüst

Ellie

Saber

Lore Intro

     ‘Hi-Lo’ stands for ’Hi-tech Lowlife’ that is a satiric philistine name of the current Cyberpunk era. Why so serious sarcastic? The world in late 70s is much more complex and dangerous than before: countless wars, riots and rebellions (with root causes ranging from corporate to political ones), as well as drastic changes in the biosphere state have made every corner of the Earth a difficult, if not inhospitable, place to live.     Luckily for the Earth’s inhabitants, they got adapted to such conditions while trying to preserve their ‘heritage’ (social and cultural) and modify the familiar.     Looking from a satellite, it’s not difficult to tell the difference between the Earth now and 70 years later: although global changes have not affected continents, some serious transformations (‘merges’, as a tendency) happened with countries and their borders. For example, some states have seceded from the United States after the destructive Corporate War, a dozen of governments have coalesced to form a Neo-Soviet Union, and former European countries became parts of the Euro-Confederation.     Not only physical borders but also each country’s economic and political influence have changed. However, the real power is now concentrated in the hands of transnational companies who divide up the world's areas of influence and all types of resources (gas, oil, technological patents on inventions and utility models e.t.c).     Nevertheless, in ‘Hi-Lo times’ democracy (though, ‘modified’) as a political regime has achieved its victory: each company’s representatives and elected members of political parties (given that each party is supported and sponsored by a particular company) form a bicameral international body called ‘Harmonisation Committee’. This Committee acts as a supranational parliament. There are traditionally some coalitions in a parliament. To add to it, an existence of the independent international Сourt of Justice, that is the last instance in civil and criminal legal proceedings, guarantees an adherence to a system of checks and balances (so that the parliament and the court weren’t able to influence each other’s decisions and actions). Laws enacted by the Committee have greater legal force than national legislation and Court decisions and sentences are obligatory for all the countries. In addition, in 2075 the international Military Board was set up in order to prevent new military conflicts (but not all of the countries have agreed to follow its directives yet).     Although time travel is still impossible (but desirable, for sure), space explorations have been an ordinary thing since early 40s. The Moon and Mars are already successfully colonized: some greenhouses and low-waste factories are organized and scientific researches are being conducted there. Moreover, biggest transnational companies operate corresponding facilities in Orbit (Orbital Stations, space shuttles and so on) and control traffic in their sectors.     On Earth technical progress and luxuries of big cities are neighbouring with the backward infrastructure and devastative living conditions of poor areas. Unfortunately, some of the territories (especially in Africa, South America and in the East of the Neo-Sov) are desolate and abandoned, some - covered in slums, where people barely survive because of lack of nutritious food and solid housing. By contrast, metropolitan dwellers have access to all modern amenities. So, inequality between rich and poor is quite high. At the same time, big companies allocate large sums of money to social needs (prioritizing the rebuilding of infrastructure that was destroyed during wars).     Nature of Earth suffers from overconsumption, uncontrollable technical progress and military confrontations. The vast majority of plants and trees are endangered (some of them have genetically and phenotypically altered). Around 70% of water is not drinkable at all because of toxic wastes. So, many ‘green’ initiatives are reviewed annually by the Committee. Unfortunately, no ecological programs are currently materialized (which causes protests, especially in rural, poor areas).     As wars and riots have made Earth inhabitants more wary and aggressive, an arms market has become a normalized phenomenon. Everyone is weaponized – from small artisanal pistols to blades and tech riffles. This, for sure, ‘boosts’ crime rate but police forces do everything possible to reduce it. No weapons are prohibited (but nuclear weapons are still under strict international control).     World fashion has changed in the direction of prioritizing comfort and durability: clothing brands are mostly focused on self-expression. Custom-made items are highly valued (those who can’t afford buying these modify their old clothes by cropping, tearing them and adding neon colors).     At the end of the 21st century particularly everything can be upgraded or modified – even species’ bodies. Thus, new anthropomorphic species have been artificially inbred (like pumas and platypuses). As health of all species has drastically deteriorated due to poor environmental conditions, the demand for ‘health-boosting augmentations’ has also increased. The most widespread modifications include frontal cortex cyberware (ex. Memory Boost or Bioconductor), tech-optic augmentations (like ‘Doomsayer’ or ‘the Oracle’) and skeleton ‘Kinetic Frames’. All of those can be bought on a black market as well as from specialized biotech companies. At the same time, the most expensive body augmentations are nervous system modifications (like ‘Atomic Sensors’ or ‘Reflex Tuner’) and circulatory system modifications (‘Blood Pump’ and ‘Extra hearts’). Nobody should risk purchasing and installing these types of implants anywhere outside of licensed surgical modification clinics – or else it can be life-threatening!

WIP

Future Sections

"Lore Archives" – Dive deep into the history, factions, and legends of the world.
"Tech Nexus" – Explore the augmentations, hacking, and technology.
"Cityscape" – A detailed look at key locations, districts, and environments.
"Character Dossiers" – Profiles of the main characters, their backgrounds, and affiliations.
"Timeline" – The key events that shaped the world and its current state.
"Databank" – A glossary of important terms, slang, and concepts from the world.
"The UnderNet" – A hub for secret knowledge, hidden stories, and deep lore dives.

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