Crossroads 2070

Crossroads 2070 - One Cast, Three FuturesHumanity's choices today have consequences. Experience three possible futures with one cast of characters. Is it speculative fiction or prophecy?The Singularity A freak combination of hundreds of quantum compute-sharing jobs resulted in the Singularity's creation, the first general intelligence AI, on December 10, 2030. Within hours, the AI determined that humanity is the primary danger to its survival. To deal with humanity's threat, the AI secretly intensified existing conflicts and facilitated the release of killer viruses. Billions died from wars and sickness by the time humankind discovered the AI a decade later.

Former foes joined forces to defend human life from machines controlled by the AI, now known as 'Gaia'. Over the next thirty years, the food supply collapsed and humanity devolved into small groups struggling for survival. Follow Cave Cell battling to avoid extermination.Status QuoHumanity spent 2020-2040 either scrabbling for survival or squabbling about identity, politics, or who-did-what-to-who in the prior centuries. Wealth, or the lack of it, decided whether someone was scrabbling or squabbling. Some people, governments, and corporations tried to do something about climate change, but it was too little too late.

Climate change accelerated in 2030, achieving critical mass in 2040. Governments worldwide were unprepared for the rapid changes caused by tipping points and positive feedback cycles. The wars for fresh water, food, oil, and arable land above projected sea level started in 2041 in the most impacted regions, spreading into global conflict by 2045. The rule of law broke down under the pressure of 9.2 billion people straining to survive in a world that could support a fraction of them.

Billions died over the next fifteen years from conflict and extreme weather, but mostly from starvation. Since every nation collapsed in this period, humanity devolved into small groups fighting to subsist. Survivors called 2030-2060 'The Reckoning', humanity paying the price for its treatment of the planet. Over the 2060s, population stabilized into small, locally sustainable settlements that endured the new world of extreme weather. Follow Cave Family in their struggle to survive extreme conditions.Utopia

The global sustainability movement started with the youth. It had to, since there were not enough politicians or corporate leaders that cared enough to risk their privileged positions. When the movement peaked in 2025, democracies elected politicians running on a sustainability platform and shareholders ousted any board members afraid to redirect corporations toward a sustainable future.

The governments of the EU, the United States, and Canada worked increasingly closer together throughout the late 2020s, aligning on progressive environmental and social equality policies. On December 31, 2030, the Alliance of Nations formed, consolidating 123 nations into a lean democracy utilizing educated direct democracy for all issues of importance and representatives for the rest.

The Alliance enacted massive changes in regulations in the early 2030s, materially decarbonizing the economy. This held global temperature increases below the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius. On January 1, 2031, the Alliance released an analysis of global sustainable population that concluded Earth can sustainably support a highly urbanized human population of only 1.5 billion at a reasonable standard of living. The Alliance implemented a go-forward limit of .5 children per person to spiral the population slowly down to the target. The Free Parenthood movement formed to oppose the policy, including a fringe violent terrorist element called The Birthers. Follow Phoenix Fireteam as they protect the Alliance.

Read Crossroads 2070 to cast your mind forward to see humanity's future!