Chapter 1: Chapter 1
The year is 1986, you're driving over Miami's Oceanic Highway, a large road built across the sea, on your trusty Ford Mustang, looking at the city on the horizon: its massive skyscrapers almost touching the pink sky above, the beaches full of young people enjoying their life, the palms, symbol of the city and of the relaxed lifestyle of its inhabitants, and the chrome sun setting in the distance, like a crown for the sprawling township.
You're listening at the radio, listening on the newest developements in cyberware technology: the principles of quantum physics combined with modern computing allowed humanity to iterate on cybernetic systems, making them quicker, smarter, and more compact, allowing the implementation of microcomputers in almost every field: From cars, to watches, to wearable holo-bracers and cyber-glasses; everything has a small chip inside of it. These are times of progress, where new ways of changing mankind's life appear almost on the daily.
Suddenly, the familiar jingle of Miami News Radio interrupts the usual program, bringing a terrible announcement: An unknown hacker had managed to breach the Pentagon's cybernetic security, stealing important military secrets and threatening the security of the United States. The news were very worrisome:
"In what appears to be an unprecedented attack, an unknown hacker breached the Pentagon's cybernetics system, stealing several classified files related to the United States' latest cyberwarfare project, codenamed 'Blackbird'. When asked in a press conference about the attack, the president Ronald Reagan dismissed the reporters' question, saying that the attack was quickly detected and the most important files were kept safe. However, when questioned by reporters about whether or not the US would retaliate against the hacker, he simply said that they will respond as soon as the situation is under control."
You're shocked by these news: As a high-rank engineer at Prometheus Technologies, one of the largest tech firms in the world, you know how devastating a cyberterrorist attack would be: Cybernetic weapons have become so advanced that even the US military can't keep up with them.
However, you also know that there's no way a lone hacker could breach the Pentagon's cybernetic defenses, which are considered impregnable by any other than a nation-state. How could a single hacker take control of such advanced technologies? And if they can steal from the US military, what could they be capable of using a secret cyberwarfare prototype?
Your mind starts racing, trying to figure out who this hacker might be: A foreign agent? Some kind of rogue government? Or maybe someone with a grudge against the US military?
Whatever the case may be, you receive a call directly from Wayne Richards, the CEO of Prometheus. You press a button on your glasses, and the face of Wayne is directly streamed in a translucent image in front of you, while you keep your focus on the road.
"Hey, Chief," says Richards, "we need you to come to the office ASAP."
"What's going on?" you ask.
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you over the phone. It regards the recent news about Blackbird."