The Twenty-First Century brought a revolution in computing technology. Primitive pointing devices morphed into touch displays, and voice recognition replaced keyboards for the average user. Fully functional portable computers became smaller tablets and then wearable technology similar to modern personal computers. For the first time, communications between two people walking down streets on opposite ends of the Earth occurred in real time. It was a true revolution.
I’ve always been a fan of the classics. Cars, ships, bikes; everything we’ve ever built has a style we don’t make anymore that somebody loves. For me, that’s the stuff we built when I was young. True, first generation gravtech beauties with big fins, flashy chrome grills, and roomy bubble cockpits. Add a nice flame paintjob and I’m in classic car-nut heaven. That’s one reason I picked the equipment I did when I went shopping for the Wolfenheim Project.
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With the British blockade starving Germany, the German government held that up as a justification for their submarine campaign against merchant ships supplying Great Britain. President Wilson declared the British blockade to be entirely acceptable and once again demanded that Germany cease their actions. With each merchant vessel sunk, public opinion continued to shift in favor of War, and Wilson finally managed to push Congress into voting for it.
By the Twenty-First Century, we were finally starting to use basic genetic sciences. Nothing compared to what the Peloran brought of course, but those could afford it finally began to fill their organ banks with stuff grown from their own cells. Only the rich could afford that though. Everyone else had to deal with scraps. Still it was a pretty big boost to the lifespan for the rich and famous. It’s easy to live a long time with young and healthy organs.
The early Terran AIs understood humanity enough to know that you feared the unknown. Sometimes they found people who would welcome them as friends. They drove some fast cars, amazing trucks and flew spiffy aircraft. Of course they were never the official people in control. Usually they just lived under the radar and tried not to be noticed. The electronic webs that encircled Earth allowed them to go anywhere, see anything. It was a good life for most of them.