2002 (TU)

Events

 * January-?: Most of the world's copper and fiber-optic cables are replaced with advanced optic cable derived from studies of Buendia's eufiber. The new hardware and data transfer protocols are dubbed the OpNet. The OpNet replaces the Internet, standard phone systems and cellular transmissions, allowing for wireless communications from virtually anywhere in the world. It initially boatas a 700% increase in data speed over conventional systems. (AB: Aberrant Core Rules (hardcover), p 11)


 * March
 * March 30: CNN breaks a sex scandal involving President Robert Schroer. The scandal involves a six-year homosexual affair. Schroer admits to the affair in a televised address that night. His approval ratings plummet. (AB: Aberrant Core Rules (hardcover), p 11)


 * August
 * August 12: Project Utopia gives its final report on the state of the environment to the UN General Assembly. Team Tomorrow combines cleanup efforts with the introduction of the Zushima macrobe, a genetically engineered organism that will regulate further pollution. With the environment in better shape than at any time in the last hundred years, Utopian scientists estimate a sustainable level of pre-Industrial Revoltion air and water quality by 2005. (AB: Aberrant Core Rules (hardcover), p 11)


 * September
 * September 15: India, China and Pakistan face off over ownership of the Kashmir region. Quick intervention by [{Team Tomorrow]] prevents an all-out war, but conflicts with government-sponsored novas and elites occur. Kashmir becomes a demilitarized zone under UN and Project Utopia surveillance. (AB: Aberrant Core Rules (hardcover), p 11)


 * November
 * November 21: Corporations Viacom and Microsoft announce their merger into an enormous corporate entity to be called ViaSoft. (AB: Aberrant Core Rules (hardcover), p 11)