Era I

The world changed — not all at once, but in layers. Some built the future. Others braced for it.

Overview

Era I marks the final age in which Earth remained the uncontested center of human activity. Spanning the early 21st century into the 2040s, this period is defined by escalating technological capability, geopolitical fragmentation, and cultural uncertainty. While the stars had long been within view, they remained distant — symbolic rather than strategic.

It is during this era that the groundwork for humanity’s expansion into the solar system was laid. Orbital infrastructure proliferated, commercial actors eclipsed national space agencies, and planetary neighbors became accessible — if not yet livable. But this was not a time of triumph. The decades were marked by climate volatility, social unrest, ideological polarization, and the slow erosion of public institutions.

Artificial Intelligence flared and collapsed as a cultural force. New powers rose from previously peripheral regions. Traditional alliances strained and reconfigured under the weight of global instability. Space, once a shared dream, became a contested domain of Influence, extraction, and ambition.

Major Themes

• Instability and fragmentation among Earth’s major powers
• Decentralization of space efforts, with private firms overtaking national agencies
• The AI backlash and the bifurcation into Programmed and Virtual Intelligences
• Foundations of permanent orbital and lunar infrastructure
• Cultural drift between Earth-bound populations and early orbital workers
• The first whispers of post-national identity and interplanetary lawlessness

Turning Points

• The Leavitt AI Scandal, and subsequent collapse of public AI trust
• The Ares Program: humanity’s first sustained crewed missions to Mars
• The Luna City founding, symbolizing the feasibility of long-duration off-world habitation
• The Summer Rebellion of 2035, marking a global inflection point in resistance to Earth-based power structures
• The rise of Helios Extraction Systems and other corporate actors, signaling a permanent shift in who defines humanity’s frontier