New Culture

[SosieTerrehaute]

So, this morning while half asleep, I realized that the Corp universe has the tech to actually make Quiddich games. Matt responded with, "Well, Harry Potter is probably classic literature. That and Shakespeare. So it makes sense to actually start a league if you want."

Now, that doesn't appeal to Sosie, but it got me thinking, what other cultural items are around? What TV shows, what books are big, what music, what games, etc etc etc. (It also made Matt and I talk about how great a new cultural corp book would be.)

So I propose a thread to put new and hilarious potential Corp World cultural items. Matt or popular opinion can decide what's really canon.

[Darya Demeter]

No ideas as of yet, but given that my back up character is a former WF social assasin (I wanna be a geisha strain metahuman) who, when they were exposed to outside culture, gained a taste for it and is fed up with Tex, I probably should think of some.

[SosieTerrehaute]

What's In That Box?

A popular game show that takes place in a TV Studio on Miller-Urey, know for its iconic theme song* and prizes that seem to have no coherent pattern.

The player in a What's In That Box official red jumpsuit stands on a platform with the host, where they have a few minute interview. Players of the game can be anything from agents to high ranking UIG officials to depersonalized freestaters. The host, Clive Elna, is a charming and smooth talking EI TV personality who dotes on every player without getting too upset at the results of the game. After an discussion long enough to give the audience a feel for the player, the boxes are revealed.

A set of LARGE twelve boxes in various colors are suspended on plinths in a large see-through Game Box. The player then crosses inside. The rules are simple; the player opens a box, and gets to keep what is inside. Should the player survive, they have the choice of opening another box or leaving with their prizes. Only twice in the history of the show has someone opened all 12 boxes. Only one of those survived. This player is now a high ranking EI Agent/Executive. (Matt told me to add this, so it's canon as SHIT.)

The boxes contain a mix of "prizes". They can be as simple as a box of slip, a new KAC rifle, a real goldfish in a bowl, or even the ultimate prize of 30 UIG rank points. Boxes can also contain timed grenades that go off when exposed to studio lights, ravenous clouds of flesh devouring nanites, or poison that fills the Game Box at a furious rate. Sometimes the plinths the boxes are on are hollowed out to accommodate larger prizes. There can literally be almost anything in there. Everyone's favorite is when a box contains a BIO, and its popularity means almost all games contain one. Killing the BIO allows the player to choose another box, though this is a rare occurrence made even less pleasant when a player opens a box containing a Kittenalate, an impossibly cute fluff-BIO creature that exudes a pheromone that makes people want to pet and love it.

If a player has not dealt with their box within five minutes, due to screaming rune disease or inability to stomp on a kitty, they are shot till dead.

Depending on the length of game, each show has one to five players displayed. Players are chosen from a pool of applicants who fill out the form online. The desperate, crazy, or hardcore fans are the vast majority of candidates. The show has a dedicated following, and is an underground favorite with active WF agents.

There is an active betting community around the show, with people compiling probabilities on box color, type of player, placement of box, and basically every other traceable statistic. The boxes do seem to be completely random, though many gamblers feel differently. There are several conspiracies revolving around the show, such as that the EI uses it to publicly get rid of dissidents, or that the producers of the show plant certain things in boxes to drive ratings. No conspiracy has had any real proof.

Survivors of What's In That Box receive a free What's In That Box Survivor T-shirt. These are quite rare and there is some market for them from collectors.

(*The audience screams WHAT'S! IN! THAT! BOX! to a jaunty guitar riff.)

[Darya Demeter]

The Comoros Corporate Orchestra.

During Comoros' expansion, they brought several musical instrument building companies After the Corporate Wars, the scarcity of wood drove the prices of old instruments up, and, luckily for Comoros, they had by far the largest stock left.

Most of these, those that are not playable, currently reside in various Comoros run museums around the world. However, thanks to modern technology, some of the old instruments were preserved enough to be in a playable condition. These became the CCO (The only exception to this was a working banjo, which was sold to the Western Fed and is the basis of Tex's theme music, as well as other high profile agent shows).

The CCO is the only full orchestra left in the world using pre-Corporate instruments. They are therefore heavily in demand, both by culture lovers wanting concerts and people wanting to steal the valuable instruments. This risk means that most of the players in the CCO are actually highly trained telepaths, often agents, fully capable of defending themselves from attack.

Another reason for the high combat capabilities of the players is their infiltrating ability. Although the other corporations are loathe to allow them into their areas, particularly the Spire, UIG law forbids them from disallowing private citizens to hire the CCO. This gives them easy access to sensitive areas, and a ready made alibi for any incidents that happen when they are there (They simply have geneshifted duplicates of the infiltrating team take the stage for a while, then slip back when done) This ensures Comoros continues to fund the group, as well as the money it brings in. In true Comoros style, they also often do charity performances.

[Darya Demeter]

Dr J. Berryweather.

Dr Berryweather was a scientist working for EI on Urey-Miller who rose to fame after he filmed some of his private projects and sent them to Bright and Sunny Media in the style of an old nature documentary. EI promptly attempted to `discipline` him, only to find that he had made contacts with representatives of the other factions on the research base and had disappeared. So began his film career, which has two main parts. The first is his nature documentaries; being very well trained on the subject of BIOs, his shows are very commonly shown in the evenings as family viewing. This part is mostly supported by Comoros, who often use his material in science classrooms.

The second part is usually shown later on at night, and mostly consists of bloopers from the earlier show where the bios he has been examining turn nasty. Fortunately, Dr Berryweather is also a very competent cyberboxer, and backs this up with items such as knucklebombs and plasma claws, allowing him to tussle with BIOs and come out on top, particularly with his array of in built toxin filters.

So why can he do this? Well, mainly because the Corporations let him. Any top secret BIOs are kept far away from the filming area, and he is mostly only allowed near things that make the Corporation look good, such as new food crops or interesting new creatures. He therefore fulfils two roles on the planetoid, being excellent PR for whoever is hosting him, and also being an extremely competent cleaner for when BIOs go wrong. The only exception to this is EI, who would dearly love to kill him, but can't due to the protections he has.

Dr Berryweather is an extremely large man with a British accent, who generally wears an old fashioned explorers outfit, complete with hat. His camera crew are well trained agents, often from the WF marketing department but he is careful to ensure that he shows no obvious signs of Corporate loyalty or favouritism. Each Corp sends him a list of things they would like to examine at the beginning of filming each season, and he generally tries to accommodate them all.

[Enrique]

Just a Minute is still running, still chaired by an ancient Nicholas Parsons kept alive on experimental longevity drugs (and definitely not cloned, honest) and still recorded in the preserved BBC Broadcasting house in front of a live audience. They even transmit a radio version for authenticity.

[Darya Demeter]

Plodder and friends!

A thinly veiled, yet legally watertight, parody of UIG in the form of an incompetent police officer, Sgt. Plodder. Most of the episodes involve Plodder attempting to either mess up the other character's plans, which are all shown as perfectly reasonable, mainly because they are all stand ins for the Ai Jinn and the Ai Jinn makes the show, or else Plodder trying to help out and making things worse. Other stereotypes, including Rex, an extremely stupid gunslinger who has a running gag of hurting himself by running into things behind doors, and the Callison twins, two rich idiots who constantly lose money thanks to the Ai-Jinn characters outsmarting them also occasionally show up.

Obviously mainly shown in Ai Jinn terroratory, it has a surprising fanbase in both the UIG and EI, on the grounds that "We all know a Plodder/Callison in our department!"

[SosieTerrehaute]

Dreddoth Dredcore

The mines of Dreddoth are grim and dismal places, filled with a hopeless and damaged people. However, in these grim places, a new type of music has hit the scene hard, known as dredcore.

Dredcore is a subgenre of grindcore, chaotic and noisy, known for the distinctive drum and bass beats underlaying discordant high pitched instrumentals. For most, it is incredibly upsetting to listen to, both jarring and because the screaming lyrics seem to hit a low part of the brain that triggers flight or fight. However, the music is very popular with the miners themselves, since the sounds are said to mesh pleasantly with the rhythmic noises of the mining equipment and tinnitus. It's not easy to dance to, but miners who listen to it at work seem more balanced than their coworkers.

Most of the tracks are made by loners on computers on Earth and Dreddoth, with popular composers being DJ Drillbit, Cancerous Tumor, Bloodsplash, and Multymeathook. A few live bands have formed on Dreddoth and gained some following, such as the more mathcore of dredcore The Architecture of Haste and Desperation, Cliffs of Pain, and Clamp Ire.

[HanJi]

Kalari agents with a penchant for theatre uncovered a series of films known as "Fast and the Furious" Given their own enthusiasm for fast cars, it wasn't long until they took to reenacting and "improving" the scenes from the films.

Thus was born the Fast and Furious Flash LARP.

At a predesignated street, bridge or similar high traffic density region, the Kalari drivers will swerve into position, and begin reciting lines from the film over loudspeakers while recreating particularly daring stunts from the film. The more UIG cars they can get to chase them and subsequently lose is considered another major factor in the successfulness of a given LARP.

While traditionally performed by junior or lower ranked agents, there will generally be at least one senior agent driving nearby, holding a video camera.

Kalari LARP videos are particularly popular on the World Data Network, as well as an excellent source of crash scenes for explosion montages.

[Darya Demeter]

Ballard of Jericho.

Originally the brain child of Brother Gabriel and Sister Bethany of the One True Faith, Ballard of Jericho was, in the first few films, an over-enthusiastic mess of a film series that told the story of Brother Jericho of the Order as an attempt as an evangelising tool. Unfortunately, although Gabriel and Bethany were eager and had their hearts in the right place, they were not film makers, and the result was cheesy and over bearing. It gained its fans, but mostly it was regarded as an amusing division, not what they had originally planned.

This changed when celebrated film maker Ami Rao, as well as the screen writer Jason Black converted to the Faith. The film, and the idea of using it to spread the word of the Faith, intrigued these two brilliant minds, and they offered their expertise and guidance to the cause.

The result is known as the Walls of Jericho trilogy, a three part masterpiece that drew rave reviews from all corners, chronicling Jericho's struggle with the harshness of the reality of the Corporate world and his struggle at keeping his faith, leading up to a final climax with his rival the SY swordsman Sakaki Sato in the ruins of a Shinto temple. Over the course of the series, many different theological ideas were explored, but it is most famous for the `weathering the storm` speech, which is Jericho's response to Sato's attempts at breaking his faith. The film was applauded by the Western Fed for its depiction of the joy of hard work and achievement, the Shi Yukira for the depiction of Sato as an honourable opponent for Jericho, as well as several interesting insights into his character, and the UIG and Comoros noted that although it isn't afraid to look at the darkness of reality, it is ultimately positive and focuses on what people can do to make the world better.

EI being EI, it won the `best comedy` award, but that's rarely mentioned.

Most importantly to the makers, it served as both a good source of income for the Order and an excellent witnessing tool, with many members attributing the film as not the defining thing that converted them, but what interested them in investigating the Order.

[Darya Demeter]

Harriet Rainchild

Harriet Rainchild began as an e-book author from England. She wrote a wildly popular YA series know as `Bioline`, focusing on a group of kids who were kidnapped by a mad scientist and experimented on, giving them the power of BIOs. They use these to begin to police their city from an organisation working in the shadows known as ELDRITCH.

The series started off dark and got darker as it went on, ideas about transhumanism and replicant rights seeping into the prose.

Then, after volume 58 of the series, the finale, Rainchild went off the deep end. She stopped writing for a year, spending that time drinking and taking drugs, dancing in clubs that were considered sleazy by EI standards, and generally being a hedonist to challenge even EI agents. Her work at this time is filled with drugs and sex, focusing on the highs and lows of the nightlife, filled with ridiculously graphic descriptions of acts that she had probably tried out herself, and with a strange fixation on the existence of artificial life forms used in these pursuits, her most famous work being told all from the perspective of a sapient sex robot in an EI brothel.

Now, Rainchild appears to be calming down. Her more recent works are closer to her origins, stories analysing the difference between human minds and machine minds, old concepts that had taken new meaning in a world run by AIs. It is rumoured she is involved in the harbouring and trafficking of rogue replicants, but no one has yet found any direct evidence.

In truth, the original Harriet Rainchild never typed a single letter of her stories. They were all written by one of her Replicants, who went rogue around halfway through the Bioline series. Jealous of her mistress' pleasure filled life style coming from the funds that rightfully belonged to her, her chance came when she was contacted by a mysterious rich benefactor who provided her with the means to take over Rainchild's life, even including a jackal band which allowed transference of the ID chip. With her kill switch removed and wearing her former mistress' face, she threw herself into partying and pleasure until her money ran out, at which point she started writing again to pay the bills. Age has mellowed her, and she is now an underground campaigner for other rogue Replicants who want a new life.

None of the above paragraph is publicly known.

[SosieTerrehaute]

Wheefil!

About 70 years ago, an EI-based online skit show made a fake advertisement for Wheefil!, a new type of meat. The "ad" showed a pink and blue swirled cubed meat substance in a crunchy exoskeleton that the three "teenage" actors in the skit treated like a drug. Upon placing the chunk of meat in their mouths, the actors began to laugh and moan and writhe in pleasure, seeming to "trip balls". Their behaviour over the course of the skit grew increasingly erratic, featuring them mugging an old lady for money and cooking the meat over a flame on a spoon, and eventually overdosing in a scummy drug hangout warehouse.

The "ad" immediately went viral. The bright colors and hammy acting were a hit with people who didn't catch on to the subtle satire poking fun at Multymeat's new Egg-U-Like rebranding. Wheefil! became synonymous with over the top marketing, addictive products, drug use and "kids these days". As time passed however, the word that entered the common parlance with such a negative image became a stand in for foods in movies and TV shows. Some of this was done to continue the joke, some because writers had no better wood for food, and others because it could be used to get a cheap laugh in comedy programming.

The most successful movie of 2495, "Nutrient Underground Infiltration 6: Meat For The Masses", featured a scene in which the villain (who is trying to poison people with tainted meat) hosts a feast, where the main course is roasted Wheefil!. It is portrayed as delicious, decadent, and is stolen by the forces of "good" after the ensuing battle. Lauded as the most well written and moving scene in the franchise, the "heroes" feast while the main character, Grim Shadedark, confesses that he longs for a better and more comforting time, when nutrient underground infiltration units will no longer be needed.

The popularity of the movie and the scene caused Multymeat and EI to join forces to create an actual, edible, pink and blue meat product in a crunchy carapace by the name of Wheefil!. Originally created to satirize the food monopoly, Wheefil! was used to reinforce the brand--and the Nutrient Underground Infiltration franchise--with cross marketing and the new logo, "Multymeat: Wheefil you up!"

The only problem with making this meat, of course, is that the iconic feast scene itself describes the meat as "not like chicken", "heavy in the belly", "like smoke in the mouth", "fragrant like a flower", "not salty", "not sweet", "not fruity", "not creamy", "nor bitter" and "truly satisfying to eat, which makes you go back for more". The eventual product appears to transcend taste, though through the use of mild brain altering drugs and not actual flavor. Still, it makes a fine accompaniment with rice or conana, and remains a popular flavor for Multymeat products.

GM EDIT: The product was banned after less than six months when reports of actual erratic behavior were occurring in the product's most heavy users. Use of the psychotropic drug built up in the system and caused permanent brain damage. The UIG was not pleased. It has since been removed from the market, and yet reminds culturally significant.

[Darya Demeter]

RoADe TRippeeee!

RT (The spelling is important) is the chronicles of a group of EI agents who decided to go on a roadtrip. EI style.

Renting three oil trucks and filling them with various kinds of alcohol, they set off on a six month bender across EI, Comoros and Ai Jinn territory, while sticking live feed AV bugs all over the trucks and themselves, and uploading the resulting footage to the World Data Net.

It slowly became a viral hit, combining the action of WF style agent shows and the human drama of relationships forming, breaking up, hiring prostitutes, getting back together (on one notable occasion, while both parties were still having sex with prostitutes.) and generally watching a bunch of super powered killing machines be idiots.

EI high command noticed this, and began to secretly send the team missions for when they were in Comoros and Ai Jinn territory, which, of course, they carried out while still pissed, uncovering illegal activities of both Corporations live for the world to see.

But the real finale was to come when they were finally caught by the UIG. EI, not wanting to miss a step, made the entire trial into a kind of clip show, where every crime and rank bonus received were displayed along side the footage from the show of the event in question. Finally, the verdict was handed down, and the formerly rank 5 or 6 team of agents lost a stupidly large amount of rank points. However, due to their work exposing illegal activities, they gained a lot of rank points as well, with the end result that they ended up with 1 rank point each, an absolutely bizaare state of affairs that left the court and the net in up roar.

When asked about it, the leader of the division said "I remember we went to Joe's for a few drinks...then I remember nearly driving off a cliff in Ukraine...then I was buying more booze in Cape Town...and we were very, very drunk." before stumbling off to the nearest bar.

[SosieTerrehaute]

HypnoMagnetic Patterns

When you can synthesize any fabric in any color in any weave for pretty much nothing, to do pretty much anything, it's hard to really cause a shock on the fashion scene. Up until five years ago, fashion was stagnating. Every style of dramatic or conservative cut had been done. Augments and lights had been used, flesh and metal, fluids and trapped gasses. There was nothing new.

However, a recent trend has developed that has the potential to amaze. By using a mix of light, weaves and subtle patterns in the material, the new EI company of Lefevre & Grosvenor has created a fabric that seems to move and shimmer even when still. They are utterly lovely to behold, but their appeal is much more than aesthetic. There are no cybernetic components, not chemicals in the weave, but different patterns evoke feelings in the looker. The first show caused the audience to openly weep without knowing why. There have been several more that have evoked peacefulness, joy, anger and even forgiveness and obedience.

The patterns look like crushed shapes, a slight shifting geometric shadow on any color and an ever expanding range of material. The effect is anything but subtle, and their first appearance caused such a stir most people can recognize it when being shown. When threads are dissected to find out WHY it has such compelling properties, none can be found. They do not contain subliminal suggestions, pheromones, robotics, hidden messages, and ESPECIALLY nothing hypnotic or magnetic. Attempts to recreate the fabric always fail. Since no working knock offs have been created, L&G are very rich and are obviously very protective of the secret. Items of any emotion of fabric are very, very expensive. Very expensive.

[Darya Demeter]

Resticen concerts.

Resticen Industries is a small independant company that primarily focuses on relaxation and sleep, producing products such as electric blankets, electric beds and mild sleeping pills.

This may not sound like a particularly obvious company to produce a series of concerts, but Resticen concerts are rather unusual. Often prescribed to insomia sufferers, each concert go-er is placed into a special pod, large enough to hold even heavily augmented humans, while a band plays a series of specially made lullabies. On the roof of the pod, above the comfy bed (softness of mattress, volume of music and temperature are fully in the customer's control), a series of relaxing patterns with some hypnotic qualities are played. Some have suggested that this is actually a series of Resticen adverts, worming their way into the subconcious. The company was cleared of this in the UIG hearing of 2498, but suspicions still abound in some areas of the populace. Despite this, the concerts are still very popular, so much so that in some spires, the company has rented permantent space to perform them.

[SosieTerrehaute]

Eastern Bank Body Banks

For a modest reward and no questions asked, local Eastern Bank hospitals low on supplies will take your corpses off your hands. More if they are fresh, more for guaranteed brain death and a heart beat, good prices for limbs or organs treated with Compound H. Better looking and treated bodies get even more. Premium for legally obtained agent corpses. The uprise in violence brings a need for new replacement parts.

There is a WDN webpage in place to alert the harvesters where organs are needed. During times of terrorism, the need goes up. others might flee cities but the harvesters are there. Obviously, Comoros hate the harvesters, since the most profitable and easy way to maintain a string of bodies on hand is to murder, or cause brain death in, depersonalized people. There are even less savory ways of getting bodies, too.

Banks are run, wholly unofficially, by local Ai-Jinn hospitals, with other medical complexes, like Two Snakes, purchasing from banks as needed.

Matt says these are super canon.

[SosieTerrehaute]

Fluxium

The literal shining gem of the Corporate world, fluxium decorates the wealthy of the world. This gemstone is bright and sparkling, and comes in a variety of transparent tints in its base state. What makes this stone so precious though, is the fact is shifts and shimmers when exposed to even the slightest change in the EM spectrum. Dragging this stone across a computer, for example, makes the gem shimmer with liquid shades of pink, dark blue, gold, and teal. The range of shades depends upon the base color the gem is created in, though their seems to be no rhyme or reason for the colors they present. In a world where so much is electronic, this gem meshes ancient elegance with trendy applicability to the current world.

The first time this stone was displayed was in the Cities of Gold 189th Annual Early Springtime High Fashion Ultra Spire Class fashion show, in a lovely shade of topaz. The initial run of topaz was so popular it remains the most popular base color to this day, know best for the opulent peacock shades it turns when near cybernetics.

Fluxium, or fluxium crystals, are in fact despite their name not an element. Fluxium is an synthetic material made of processed nanofilaments, used most often as a ornamental jewel. It is a 9.5 on the Moh's Hardness scale, and has an extremely high melting point. It is very long lasting and makes excellent jewellery. If a gift really means something, say it in fluxium. Engagement, promise, and wedding rings, if they are used, tend to be made out of this new stone.

Unlike the diamond of the 20 and 21st century, fluxium's value is not inflated. Each gem is made to order, registered and certified with the company, and very, very expensive. Sellers hoping to get a big crystal and cut it down find the gem turns gray and lifeless when broken. Rumors that the stones are made from xenotech have yet to be confirmed, but the actual process for making them is closely guarded by the independent company, Lewheins.

The stones are being studied for their more practical benefits. For example, the stones shift much more over augmented individuals, with some predictably in the color for different specific augments. And EMPS of 30 or above "breaks" the color changing element of the stone, leaving it a pure transparent and shiny black that moves like smoke, which some find a desirable quality. More practical uses are being investigated.. With express permission and tight control from Lewheins.

[Admin]

(( Just watched Demolition Man. It really is everything a 1990's action film could ever aim to be ))

In the Western Federation there are certain zones were swearing, bad language and unpatriotic messages are prohibited. These include shopping malls, police stations and hospitals. In the event of unauthorized bad language being used in these zones, the handy wall-mounted Swear Detectors will alert you and bill you a small number of credits.
The devices also print a receipt for your use in appealing the fine or having the fine paid as part of your Corporate expenses. Have a nice day citizen.

[TheLordHighKAJR]

The Beatles

The intervening centuries have not been kind to the scouse. Their accent's still grate on the nerve ends. Whereever they meet in number is still considered a larger hive of scum and villany than Mos Eisley, or Romany. And the 52nd clone incarnation of Cilla Black is still polluting the networks with Blind Date in the Dark.

No Scouse names are more revilled than those of the Beatles however. Following a highly successful career for roughly 90 years, their success did not last despite a reasonable fanbase. This was due in part to the realisation that, like Nirvanna, most of the songs were not very good. The Fans were able to overlook this, especially when the surviving members of the band joined with several PR gurus and industry captains in the 2030's to form Everyone Included Corp, a music company which attempted to buy the rights to most music available, including that produced by minor artists in their own domiciles. Despite originally claiming that by buying the rights, they would make the songs free for everyone to listen to all the time, the company soon changed, and began to focus more on making profits from the music and expanding their already vast bank accounts. They also made a move into politics, with the head of the board taking over the European Empire.

When people began to speak out the company dealt with them ruthlessly, able to act without restraint due to their vast wealth and political connections. Their favoured method of execution was to use hitmen dressed in brightly coloured military outfits, known as Pepper squads, and formed entirely of ex-spec-ops NCOs. Many died.

The company was eventually forced to downsize slightly following the assasination of Emperor Macca at the hands of his own body guards, who were unable to reconcile their role of protecting him with his evergrowing contempt of the people he had once sworn to entertain.

The Beatles music was struck a further blow in the 2060s during the opening stages of The Second Cola War when news footage was broadcast showing Pepsi Air Cav units using Beatles music as part of a psych-ops plan prior to and during the Savannah Offensive and following massacres. CC Corp was quick to respond in kind and used songs such as "Hey Jude" and "Lucy in the Sky" to sap the will of defenders before sending in their commando units. In scenes reminiscent of Waco, CC Corp utilised these and other songs throughout their seige of Purchase. Noone will ever forget the images of the remains of the Pepsi defenders being flown from the rooftop of their own HQ to the sounds of "With a Little Help from my Friends", a definite reference to the betrayal and defection of the Joe Cola armoured units from Pepsi to CC Corp.
At the Cola Convention on ending the war in the interests of increasing revenues, RC cola utilised the song "We can work it out" as an anthem of brotherhood and peace, before poisoning over a thousand peace delegates from the other cola manufacturers, and launching a coup de grace against their leaderless legions using biological and nuclear agents, proving that their perseverance paid off.
These scenes were echoed in the less famous, but more devestating nuclear Wars of the Burger Barons, finally won by Taco Bell.
Due to these connections, The Beatles music has strong connotations with betrayal and widespread bloodshed and is mainly listened to by neo-anarchists and bloodcults. There are annual protests to try and force universities to drop lectures on The Beatles and their Cultural Impact from Classical Music courses due to the stress it and the associated imagery places on the minds of students.

Blind Date in the Dark

In this hit remake of an ancient classic, hosted by the 52nd clone of Cilla Black, contestants are invited into the studio, where they give a summation of their qualities/likes/dislikes etc, before choosing a numbered door based off several cryptic comments about what waits behind the doors. Beyond the door is a darkened room, filled with nightvision cameras, and the object of their date. This can range from a human of the same sex, opposite sex, bacteria, radioactive waste, BIOs and many more. The audiences most enjoy when the contestants choose a room holding a sleeping BIO, and attempt to whisper sweet nothings to it and find out more about its' personality before finally waking it. If the contestant survives and their date agrees to their advances, they can then go on an all expenses paid date, which is then filmed and dissected by a pannel of experts, former Weltball players/commentators, on next weeks episode.

[Darya Demeter]

Knock Out Sumo

Originating as a minor, underground fighting tournament, Knock Out Sumo is the only sport known which bans ICE technology users from entering on an official level. Based on the Japanese sport, Knock Out Sumo consists of a similar set up, with two fighters attempting to either push each other out of the ring or cause the other to touch the floor with anything but the bottom of their feet.

The difference is that each wrestler has a high voltage pad on each of their hands that acts as a galvanic weapon when it is brought into contact with another person's skin. The fights are therefore a mix of endurance and dodging, with the highest ranked wrestlers being covered in burn marks and capable of shrugging off electrical currents that would kill lesser humans.

The sport, although basic, has a large following and is popular in many areas, due to the ease of construction of the pads and the fact that while by 21st century standards it is incredibly stupid and risky, it is still safer to play than Weltball and less likely to get you a murder charge when played amateurishly.

[Darya Demeter]

Hydroxicol Brewery.

Hydroxyicol is a small company owned by EI, which has one specialty: getting people drunk. And by people, it means `pretty much anyone with a digestive system other than a Malenbrach`.

They are based on Vaastag, as most of their products are illegal on Earth due to biotoxin laws, and make a series of alcohol created for different customers need. Want to get drunk, but are worried about getting assassinated and don't want to turn off your level 10 toxin filter? Try Nondie, a drink designed to by-pass pesky toxin filters and hit your blood stream straight on. (Nondie is extremely expensive, and requires the by products of a nuclear reactor to produce. By buying Nondie, you are agreeing not to hold Hydroxicol responsible for any ill effects that may result. Side effects may include hair loss, sudden hormonal imbalances, the dissolving of the stomach lining, blood poisoning and liver poisoning. It used to carry a warning of sudden sex changes, but this stopped after the bar moved away from the nearby hospital who offered them for only 5,000 credits.)

On Earth they're most famous for Thixotropic, a range of drinks based off of paint stripper that is popular among Agents, UiG Officers with the ICE system and the really stupid.

[Darya Demeter]

The JDD Files.

Around ten years ago, a rumor started floating around the WDN. Chat threads told tales of a dark, unsavory beast, stalking throughout Japan and China. An intelligent monster, standing twice the height of a man, thin with arms even longer than its body should be. Some said it could crush even tank armor with its bare hands. Some said it had lived for centuries, and that it was only now carrying out its dastardly plan. Still more claimed that it, by itself, is not the end of the conspiracy, but rather merely a puppet, a slave of something thought long ago obliterated in the Corporate Wars.

This rumor was actually the work of an EI hacker named Jon Diggila. Unfortunately, he wasn't as good at hiding his identity as he thought, and he was found out. The internet laughed at him and moved on.

Two weeks after this, Jon Diggila was found dead in his hotel room. The sercurity camera footage showed a thin being, around twelve feet tall enter his room just before the time of death.

The internet went wild, and an entire subculture grew up over trying to work out what killed Jon Diggila, and why. Stories were written. Sightings were reported. Photgraphs were taken. One woman even got the thing on film, slinking down an alleyway at night. They became known, overall, as the Jon Diggila Death files, or JDD.

The JDD remains a major thing on the internet, but as new people come in, it has moved away from attempting to discover the truth to fake stories and videoblogs created to scare people.
The killer of Jon Diggila is still unknown.

[SosieTerrehaute]

BIOMASTER

This flexible video game is made in the spirit of monster creators through the ages, made by Gemini. You can create BIOs, let them lose in recreations of spire and open cities, try to conquer Miller-Urrey, raise them up from bacteria on new planets, fight them in the WDN arena against other players, or just mess around in the creature creator.

The purpose of this game is many-fold. It was originally created to model what would happen if BIOs somehow got loose in say, Eden Spire. These totally hypothetical scenarios where actually pretty fun to mess around with, and after the CSO caught his daughter playing with it, realized the market potential. In addition to their new revenue stream, this also allowed Gemini to increase brand recognition, familiarity, and change their poor image. In addition, it granted Gemini a platform to brag about the monstrosities they could create... And those that they would. With new and exciting features added to the BIOs that they were not yet capable of making in real life it allowed even talented BIO-engineers to gain nothing new from playing the game... Except for finding out a good way to waste an afternoon.

[Pinkie]

The Gemini National Threatre.

Originally a clerical error, Gemini purchased the Royal threatre in London for its central location and proximity to lots of high living agents and civilains who they felt could benefit from their bioware range. Once the mix up was realised Replicant 11 ordered the nearby buildings to be bought and to link the place into one large facility. This was done primarily so that Gemini could provide the services they were known for whilst also renting out the world famous stage, taking a cut of the profits of each production as well. So far the Comoros Corporate Orchestra has graced the stage twice, bringing in large profits for both corporations the first time and a charity performace the second, to which Gemini graciously offered up the stage free of charge as well as a suitably large donation.

On many occasions those who have recieved upgrades from this facility attempted to, during performances, find their way to the operating theatres and steal vital research or cybernetics from Gemini. However despite following the same stair cases up, down and running parralel to the satge that they were led down to be operated on, no one has ever found anything other than props, scenery, make up and other backstage work spaces. Usually buzzing with nervous performers waiting to get back on stage. Needless to say this has been the cause of endless speculation about memory alterations (in many colourful flavours), kiddnapping and on one notable blog a UFO sighting. All of which Gemini has denied publicly.

The true purpose of the facility, beside enhancing Gemini's cultural credibility and making them lots of money, remains obscured, if there is one. Several set pieces have been about the consequences of accepting BIO's on Earth, symbiotes and Bio-technology in general, but these came about because directors and producers were intrigued/inspired by the link between Gemini and the theatre. As many of these have been anti-Gemini's agenda as they were pro. Gemini has never acted to stop any of these productions, in one notable instance even providing the organs for a particulalry horrific scene, stating that the production was a masterpiece of horror and should be treated as such, not a realistic depiction of future events.

[Darya Demeter]

Modern Bands.

In the future, as now, there are many, many, many groups of musicians out there. The following is a list of a few of the bands around in the Corporate era.

Behind The Shade.

Behind The Shade started as a small time American Underground band who always performed in darkness behind a large screen. After a while, an EI contact discovered them, and smuggled them out of the country. Their faces are still unknown, but they are now a very popular rock group everywhere but the WF. There are rumours (that are of course completely true, just not provable in a court of law) that much of their vast record sales go to support the AU, but no evidence has been found. The WF would love to get rid of them, but frankly, at this point it would be too damn obvious that it was them.

Nervous Zombies.

Originally simply known as "The Fetching Three", this girl band started off as a group of rich girls appearing on All Natural Singing, a talent show that forbids the use of cybernetics in its performers. Unfortunately, they were promptly killed when a group of Ai Jinn agents who were infiltrating the building began a fire fight with the guards perusing them. Luckily, they were rich enough for their families to have backed them up with Itoma, and the bits of singing they did get out before bullets smashed their skulls were very good, enough that the WDN was asking if they had any songs recorded before they died.

Unfortunately, again, their clones went badly wrong, giving them a zombie like appearance. Almost the moment they woke up, their families were pushing them into performing, and they did their first livestreamed concert only two weeks after waking up. While surprised at their appearance and nervousness, the internet still enjoyed them, and began nicknaming them the Nervous Zombies, a name picked up by their manager.

The fact that they have been killed and brought back to life 4 times now helped as well. They are getting fed up of it, and it is likely that the band will not last more than a year more. Their publicity manager denies charges of murder.

Foxes and Candles.

Based on Vastaag, this band of beautiful Japanese women's main theme is the Kitsune, a japanese mythological fox that can transform into humans, often beautiful women. They play classical instruments with a modern musical theme, and are very popular at high class resorts for their music and looks. Their biggest gimmick is when they arrive on stage as fox like animals, before transforming and singing.

Many people have offered them to come to Earth for concerts, but they have declined them all, saying they are happy on Vastaag. The main reason for this is that they are actually class 2 infiltration bios, made to be able to look human but then transform and rip apart their foes. They don't give a shit about what their original purpose was, since they've already killed the scientists involved, and are quite happy to live lives of luxury, away from the UIG.

Simplified Genocide.

A bizarre sounding band, with a style that can best be called `minimalist metal`. They use all the instruments you'd expect, but their songs are quiet, using one or two notes, and have an unearthly feel to them. This extends to their appearance and sets as well, bald heads, empty white stages and instruments that are functional only.

Despite this, they have a severe presence in the metal scene and a large number of imitators around. Their most famous track is `12 minutes of silence`, a ballard of lose and love, draped over a single set of chords.

Ideal Scream
An entirely vocal band, IS use just their voices to create songs of pretty much any genre. They were exteremely popular for a number of years until one of their number was found to have installed a Krieg voice sythn inside himself. Although none of the others had done this, the damage to their reputation was done, and they tumbled from the charts at ludicrous speeds. The next few years were spent etching out a living doing commercials for low budget companies, until a chance video of theirs went viral.

Unfortunately, that video was a sex tape of some of the band members, who, as might be expected, made some strange noises during the act. This got the band, bizarrely, into fetish pornography, providing voice overs for otherwise vanilla sex scenes that made them sound, at least, like the most exotic things you can do without being drunk/high on Vastaag. Needless to say, their work is banned in the Western Federation (Ironically enough, this was going to be the title of their first album, until they realised that they were a. not completely banned, their country style work was allowed, and b. so much is banned there it was a bit like saying `This song was recorded in a gaseous environment`.)

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