[ WP ] `` In the end , we left the Earth knowing nothing . ''

It was heralded as the second great technological revolution, after the production of the first quantum transistors. 
 Armed with what had been artfully dubbed *Zentech*, humanity began a transformation that had been dreamed of since the conception of cyberpunk and science fiction. Integrated circuits the size of human cells gave the potential for all sorts of medical and military applications - and within twenty years, disease had been completely eliminated from humanity. Armed with impregnable bodies filled with bundles of smart-cells integrated into our newly forged quantum control nodes, cancer was forgotten and the common cold died an ignominious death after thousands of years of dominance. 
 But it was just the beginning. 
 There was so much more for us to discover from there. 
 
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 Augments became the newest thrill for humanity; powered by Zentech people learned to tweak their own bodies, augmenting eyesight, strength, agility and speed. But these were simple applications - just low level'hacking' of the human body. As the Ecological Crisis loomed and the Govcorps feuded for dominance over world resources, Zentech became the bridge for truly augmented humans; with the power of control at the cellular level, implants could n't be rejected and pathogens could be eradicated before infections set in. 
 Militias funded by the Govcorps started an arms race the like of which the old novelists and sci-fans fans could never have predicted. Unfettered by the fractured UN and urged onward by the newly fragmented Republic States that had once been Old America, the war of cyborg terrorism rose to unprecedented levels; scorched earth tactics leaving other Govcorps scrambling to research new technologies faster and faster. 
 Espionage became the new warfront as defense systems grew increasingly powerful, but the race to create and arm better agents pushed onward, regardless. 
 
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 The Ecological crisis was'solved' with the massive city shields; webbed walls of burning blue energy that kept out the raging tornadoes and the harsh UV radiation. Paying a tithe to just live in the cities, every citizen was beholden to the Govcorp who ruled their dome, just to stay alive. Gangs of cyborg agents roamed the streets, searching for enemy insurgents and terrorist actions plagued the days of the citizens as the wars between factions ground ever onward. 
 Then the third great technological revolution happened: 
 Quantum Teleportation. 
 EuroShamataCorp came up with it first and immediately used it to dominate their rivals. Agents were teleported directly into the board rooms of enemy Govcorps, where the CEOs and partners were brutally assassinated in hails of gunfire or torn limb-from-limb by cyberjuggernauts armoured like old Earth crabs. 
 Scrambling, CEO clones were activated, while EuroShamataCorp began a totalitarian reign of supremacy as their beaten rivals retreated. 
 Satellites which had once been the protective domain of each Govcorp could now be plucked out of the sky with ESCorp's ultimate technology. 
 Secrets were mercilessly plundered and in their terror, the rival Govcorps banded together to fight the indomitable Goliath that was ESCorp. 
 
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 Resting on its laurels, ESCorp played the benevolent dictator, giving ordinary citizens access to their new technology in the form of transport stations. For the first time in a hundred years, people could visit other cities and long-lost relatives on the other side of the world. Pushing the limits of their power, ESCorp began to set up gateways to the Mars asteroid belt and mine for resources long ago depleted on Earth. 
 But in putting their technology at the disposal of the people, ESCorp has assured its own downfall. 
 Hidden - but still powerful - the conglomerate of beaten rivals began to unravel the secrets of quantum teleportation for themselves. Working stealthily, they wormed their way into ESCorp's structure and placed agents throughout the megalithic corporation. 
 When the coup finally began to unfold and the murder began afresh, ESCorp revealed their ultimate, hidden weapon - a shielding technology that could prevent inbound teleportation, which would leave only a smear of scattered particles on the surface of an invisible energy barrier. 
 But in their desperation, the Conglomerate set off quantum disruption nukes in all the major cities, blaming EuroShamataCorp for the destruction - claiming that the'shielding' technology was highly unstable and could rip apart the world. 
 From the ashes, the surviving citizens escaped through the Mars Belt Gateways, where they watched in terror as the Earth ripped itself apart in an unstoppable quantum war. 
 
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 In the end, we left Earth. 
 Knowing nothing. 
 

