In the years leading up to the new millennium, American and Japanese conglomerates had been engaged in what they called the New Cold War; an economical arms race to develop advanced computing technology and monopolize the global telecommunication networks. Private corporations like TeraCom and the Yoshimitsu Corporation competed relentlessly on an international scale, fueled by profit turning research. These conglomerates had become so powerful they each had virtually replaced the roles of their homeland government bodies.

The US backed Orion Industries, research and development of O.S.C.A.R would eventually end this race. O.S.C.A.R an acronym for Omnipotent Sentient Command and Response, was the official title dedicated to the project that would create the sentient being often referred to as “The AI”. This title would simultaneously be adopted as the sentient being’s informal name. Oscar was solely responsible for the Y2K blackout. However, due to the severity and data loss during the Blackout, most people on Earth would not learn about Oscar’s existence for years to come.

Within days after the Blackout, nations around the globe descended into chaos. Japan, like the rest of the world was hurled back into darkness. During this time, every prominent world leader disappeared leaving massive power vacuums on a global scale. Even underdeveloped nations spiraled into descent. With central leadership vanishing amid the pandemonium, various factions and groups struggled for power across China and Southeast Asia. Similar situations were unfolding across most of the world. The places least affected by the paradigm shift of New World’s Day, were the ones most detached from modern infrastructure.

In Japan, large cities like Tokyo and Osaka became increasingly dangerous as pockets of looting, violence, and uncontained fires threatened massive population centers. To make matters worse, within a few months of the Blackout various earthquakes and tsunamis battered the region, destabilizing and displacing a withering population. Thousands of refugees would attempt to rebuild settlements out of the ruble away from the coastlines. Small villages sustained themselves by growing crops and fishing when possible.

Across all of Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, thousands of people formed nomadic clans of traders and artisans. Sprawling supply lines span the arid lands, lush step, urban ruins, and treacherous jungles crossing most of the world. The trade routes are supported by various colonies, settlements, farms and ranches that withstood the countless tests of time.

Small nation-state like governments began to spring up across various regions. Most having very loosely defined borders; sometimes with overlapping territories. These small governments were very disorganized and centralized around specific trade hubs. Authority was maintained directly by local clan leaders and dispatched by appointed guards. These societies would quickly evolve into minor city states. In Japan, the city states were typically run by former business committee and social club members, some of which had more than suspicious reputations.

After a decade, Society was beginning to rebuild. Multiple groups had been working together to revitalize infrastructure and return power to large areas. Radio towers had been erected in most of the forming cities allowing quick and easy communication between the formerly disconnected pockets of civilization. The collaboration efforts of 4 groups had reconnected tens of thousands of survivors across Japan, Korea, and China.

Hospitals and libraries had been constructed in the major trade hubs. Each city state was able to import or produce grain, rice, fish and livestock. Goods were moving fast to and from the farms across the sprawling trade routes. Since the value of modern currencies had essentially dissolved, most people cared for and worked together in a cooperative society.

In March of 2011, tragedy struck. A massive earthquake devastated all of Eastern Asia; the island regions suffered the worst. Massive tsunamis ripped across the coastal settlements, killing and displacing thousands of people instantly. Much of Southern Japan and the coastal regions of the surrounding nations were left almost entirely uninhabitable as the ocean would become a radioactive cesspool of atomic waste.

The regions multiple nuclear power plants were absolutely destroyed in the devastation caused by the earthquake. Engineers had rejuvenated the power plants in the years prior, and the stations had been powering most of the growing city states in the region. The active reactors were completely compromised. In the wake of the disaster, nuclear waste would continue to flood into the ocean day and night with no hope of containment.

In the following weeks, the seas of Southeast Asia became uncontrollably irradiated. Clouds of toxic storms began to spread across the fourth corner of the Earth like a creeping fog crawling out from Japan. Fishing and farming became impossible. The Sea of Japan as far as The Gulf of Thailand became the source of a constant acid storm. The rising sun evaporates the sea’s toxic bounty and distributes it as far as the black nimbus clouds will carry.
A cocktail of ecological disasters turned the regions that had seemed so promising into desolate wastelands.

Mass of Floating Dregs

What was left of the unified groups across Japan, China, and Korea worked together to pull through. One thing was certain, to survive, they would have to leave. The toxic clouds spread far and wide, covering ground as far as Russia and Mongolia; lands already ravaged by the previous industrial age apathy. The best options for safety was considered to be across the ocean. The decision came instantly and almost unanimously. The surviving committees that had been working together to manage the city-states now managed the migration effort. 3 massive commercial container ships were retrofitted to shuttle thousands of refugees across the Ocean to America.

The massive vessels selected for the journey were quickly modified. Laborers worked around the clock to fit the ships with water purifications systems, living spaces, green houses and multiple renewable power sources, all meant to support life on the ships for the foreseeable future. The construction of the ships took place simultaneously in the ruins of Tokyo, Shanghai, and Busan. The ships were set to rendezvous outside of Hawaii 20 days after casting off and continue to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

After preparations to the ships were finished, the refugees declared themselves as the Unified People’s Nation. Their ideals were based on a collaborative effort to form a single unified group that would redevelop a new nation wherever they land. After three months on the Pacific Ocean the Unified People’s Nation reached the shores of California. No lives were lost on the journey, the ship’s facilities all functioned as expected aside from a few minor mishaps.

To the surprise of the thousands of people on the ships, when they arrived in Los Angeles they found a city that was neither abandoned nor barren. Instead, they discovered a massive military hub. A fallback settlement setup by an organization called The Alliance of the Sovereign States. The Unified People’s Nation had no interest in displacing another group or inciting any conflicts. Discussions were held between the Generals of The Alliance and the organizers of the United Peoples Nation.

The Alliance was able to make great use out of the medical facilities onboard the UPN ships and likewise the Unified People were eager for land to safely resettle. It was quickly realized the two groups could help and benefit deeply from each other’s presence.

The UPN was granted large amounts of “unoccupied” land, formerly Los Angeles County. UPN organizers would oversee the revitalization of the urban area, creating the City of New Angeles from the ruins; previously inhabited by various drifters and Dweller communities. A government party was created and given free rein to till the lands and repurpose structures as they saw fit. It was agreed that the United People’s Nation would govern the City of New Angeles freely, as a multi-national trade hub within the Sovereign State of California. Any prior inhabitants of the city were still welcome to stay and contribute to revitalization efforts. The Unified People’s Nation considered itself a multicultural society and welcomed all.

As part of the agreement, it was expected that the UPN would coordinate the efforts to refurbish the cities manufacturing facilities and oil production infrastructures to support The Alliance war effort against the A.I. A new committee was formed within the UPN to oversee these projects and The New Yoshimitsu Corporation was born in the ashes of Los Angeles. Its spearhead company, Musashi Arms, would quickly become one of the largest suppliers of newly designed high-tech weaponry.

Facilities that had once designed ICBMs for the Supreme President of The United States were restored. Advanced military hardware was flooding the front lines of the war against the AI within weeks. Oil and other resources were also in large supply. The support provided to the war effort by the UPN was undeniable.


After the war, New Angeles would continue to prosper. The Sovereign States continued to support UPN independence and the New Angeles City-State becomes a sprawling urban society. Some Alliance soldiers would resettle land in areas around New Angeles adding to the cities growth. The party created by the UPN governs based on the same co-operative ideals the refugees adopted before migrating across the Pacific. Public services are managed by the UPN and available to all in need. A TeraCom Central Bank was established in the city in 2021. The UPN quickly adopted the TeraCom credit system as it became the main form of currency in The Sovereign States.

life in New Angeles was stable and good. People of all backgrounds were treated fairly in the bustling bilingual City-State. None the less, there were still various groups that had survived the Blackout with no interest in submitting to any exterior forms of authority. They viewed The Alliance and UPN equally as invaders.

In the first years of the war against the AI, Alliance soldiers clashed with the Los Angeles residents over scavenged resources as neither group could find common ground. Urban survivors would harass Alliance convoys constantly. These gangs would then be displaced by Alliance troops who cleared entire neighborhoods to seek shelter within LA city limits during the war.

When the UPN began imposing stricter control over larger parts of the area and expanding city limits, the violent outskirt groups did not willingly agree. Gangs congregate in the underdeveloped ruins of the city, avoiding authorities and causing problems wherever they can. Every neighborhood ignored by the UPN is a plot of soil to plant a seed. A seed that grows to take the city back.


If you plan on taking a trip to New Angeles, be advised, it is one of the largest cities around and has many opportunities for newcomers. It’s surely a wonderful place to start a new life surrounded by art, culture, the Hollywood Hills, and beautiful beaches only slightly tainted by radioactive sludge. Armored vehicles are always recommended when travelling south of the 10 and consider avoiding any underdeveloped crumbling suburbs. Remember, it’s not about where you go. It’s about who you know. This is still LA after all.