By the early twenty-first century, most hackers had melded into one of two groups. Some worked for governments or corporations, while others did it for fun or other reasons. Many cut their teeth in the various cultural movements of the time and created the idea of hacktivism. Some did good. Some did bad. We only survived in the end because of those that did good.
All I cared about was girls and parties when I was young. Family too. We used to have the best get togethers. Then the Shang blew Yosemite Yards out of the sky and dropped its remains all over western America. Killed most of my family and friends. I volunteered so I could kill as many Shang as I could find. It was all revenge. I never thought I’d find something worth living for along the way.
The Chinese offensive pushed the American and South Korean forces into a long retreat down the Korean peninsula. They killed hundreds of thousands of South Koreans and only American naval superiority allowed the UN to evacuate two hundred thousand soldiers and civilians back to the south. The armies were far too depleted to keep the combined forces of North Korea and China from once again conquering Seoul, the once proud capital of Korea.
There aren’t a lot of bands with flutes and trumpets. Guitars though? Those are big in bands. So I taught Julie and Alex to play guitar. Don’t get me wrong. They knew how to strum a guitar before we got together, but there’s a difference between that and really jamming out a song on stage. And if I learned anything in marching band it was how to play to the crowd. That proved invaluable when it came time to start a band.
Fringe elements of society will always be with us. There are some people who will always see, act, and be different. Some will never be able to conform. Some of them will always be able to interact with society, deal with people even as they keep their distance. Others will not. Some never want to. The rise of interconnected technologies in the early twenty-first century gave these fringe elements greater access to society than ever before. That is one reason it all went so bad.
Forge of War on Amazon
Angel Flight on Amazon
Angel Strike on Amazon
Angel War on Amazon
Wolfenheim Rising on Amazon
Wolfenheim Emergent on Amazon