E2150 - United Civilized States - UCS: Difference between revisions

=== History<ref name="EFTBPman">[[File:Earth2150 Escape from The Blue Planet manual.pdf|Earth2150 Escape from The Blue Planet manual]]</ref> ===

As the 21st century began, who could have predicated that things would turn out as they did? With millennium parties in full swing, people around the globe celebrated wildly. As the world's most prosperous land, the United States had the most to cheer about - and the most to look forward to. Globalization had won the day and there was little doubt who the big winner would be.

Despite some opposition from conservatives, this strange form of government was installed and given the name "Stochocracy." At first it was difficult getting newly chosen politicians trained in their new positions. But after a few years government ran smoothly. Occasionally a new lottery "winner" was reluctant to take up a position, but these were rare cases. Most citizens saw it as their patriotic duty to carry out the tasks of government - at least for a short time. Fortunately the greenhorn politicians could rely on highly specialized computer systems to assist them in day-to-day matters of state. In fact, they began depending so much on these so-called "advisors" that, after a while, it became clear that the systems were fully capable of running the government without their human overseers.

In 2074, the physicist Mark Springer became head of state. During his short one-year reign he was able to secure financing for a large scientific research program. Back then there were quite a few research institutes, Stanford Laboratory being the best known. Springer also led expeditions into some of the regions destroyed by the war. One of these was known as Area 51, formerly a secret military base. While digging nearby, Springer's crew unearthed a mysterious wreck, which turned out to be the remains of an alien space ship. Scientists began thorough investigations into the strange find to see tp what use it could be put.