SAN FRANCISCO TIMELINE FOR THE DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? TRIBUTE
This timeline was created when Shadowrun gametime was 2056. Feel free to move the dates up as you wish. Up through 2057 the events are taken from the California Free State sourcebook.
2036
Proposition 129, calling for the secession of California from the UCAS, passes the popular vote and is ratified by the state legislature. UCAS President Andrew McAllister invokes a skewed interpretation of Article IV, Section 3 of the UCAS Constitution to expel California from the UCAS. Despite Governor Nelson Treacle's attempts at damage control, federal assets are withdrawn from California.
Tir Tairngire secedes from the NAN and occupies a portion of California north of Redding. Governor Treacle mobilizes the few National Guard assets available to him and sends them north to protect against further encroachment.
With California's meager defenses moving north, Aztlan forces seize and annex San Diego and the surrounding area, to the delight of the region's large Hispanic population.
Governor Treacle appeals unsuccessfully to the UCAS and CAS governments for assistance against his northern and southern neighbors, but is all but ignored. In frustration, he makes overtures to the Japanese government, claiming that Aztlan and Tir forces threaten the enormous Japanese interests in California. He hopes to use this move to force the hand of either the UCAS or CAS government.
2037
On January 1, Proposition 129 officially takes effect, and California Free State is formed.
On February 7, Japanese Imperial Marines arrive in San Francisco "to protect Japanese lives and property." San Francisco becomes a city under foreign occupation. All access points to the city are restricted, and the I-Marines take up headquarters at the abandoned Presidio.
Years Following
Resentment of the Japanese occupation grows, at least among certain segments of the population. Others applaud the low crime and clean streets. The SF Underground forms. Oppression of metahumans becomes official policy. A terrorist group called the Burakumin splits off from the mainstream Underground, under the leadership of a young ork named Kazayuki Geva.
2057
The Japanese Imperial Governor, General Shiro Kawanaga, is murdered by a terrorist suicide bomber. The Burakumin claim responsibility.
2058
Kawanaga is replaced by the even more draconian General Kenji Ishihara. Ishihara's crackdown on the Burakumin and the Underground over the next few years is so brutal that it finally begins to stir the general populace out of their complacence. Popular support for the Underground grows, though most sane citizens still don't support the blind terrorist rage of the Burakumin.
2059
Yamatetsu Corporation introduces its first synths to the market. Limited in capabilities and intelligence and astronomical in price, these models at first sell very poorly.
2061
The Moon colony Tranquility becomes operational. Emigration is slow, at first. By the end of the year, a clever and enterprising soul at Yamatetsu negotiates a deal with AresSpace (the owner of Tranquility) to use their newest generation synths for most of the manual labor on the off-world colonies. The deal extends to the planned Mars colony, scheduled for completion around 2080.
2063
Ares begins to entice emigrants to the orbital and off-world colonies by offering guaranteed housing and employment, and a free synth in the emigrant's choice of models. Yamatetsu makes deals with other corps to provide synths for their orbital colonies and mining operations. Saeder-Krupp enters the synth market, introducing the first pure combat models. Emigration picks up as additional Moon colonies begin operation.
2064
The NACLU brings suit against Fuchi Industrial Technology and Yamatetsu Corporation's North American Divisions on behalf of a synth called Michael Reese "employed" in a bauxite mine in Wyoming, UCAS. The suit claims that both corporations violated Reese's civil rights by treating him as chattel. The Wyoming Supreme Court rules that violation of Reese's civil rights is impossible since Reese is not, in fact, human. Therefore it may legally be bought, sold, and disposed in whatever manner the owners see fit. The UCAS Supreme Court refuses to hear the appeal. In the wake of this decision, several UCAS states pass civil laws classifying synths as officially non-human machines, or objects. Most of these laws outlaw synths altogether outside corporate enclaves (where the laws would have no force anyway).
2065
The first case of a synth mudering its human master and escaping to Earth is reported. It is eight months before shadowrunners hired by Yamatetsu track down and "retire" the synth, cutely named Andy Royd (unfortunately, emigrants get to name their own synths). Despite their efforts to hush the whole thing, word gets out. Public outcry reaches a fever pitch, and by the following year, on the strength of the Reese vs. Fuchi Industrial decision, every major nation on earth has outlawed synths altogether, and the Corporate Court has made it illegal to maintain synths on Earth. They are still perfectly legal on the off-world colonies, however, and despite the trouble, people still wish to emigrate so that they can have one of their own.
2066
Synths continue to try to escape to Earth and pose as humans. There is no way to determine how many of them succeed. Yamatetsu disavows any responsibility for the renegade synths, using the very language of the Reese decision. It claims that since the synths were sold to other corporations, who then turned them over to private citizens, the renegade synths are no longer Yamatetsu's property and therefore not their problem. They belong to private citizens, and therefore the ones who escape to Earth are the responsibility of the civil authorities. Meanwhile they continue to improve upon the synths, making them increasingly indistinguishable from authentic humans. Despite the protests from the civil authorities expected to tell a runaway synth from a real human, Yamatetsu and the other corps manufacturing synths claim to be providing what their customers demand. Indeed, the emigrants do want increasingly "human" synths, and that is exactly what the manufacturers provide. Police still rely on intelligence tests, but these are proving less effective.
2067
Yamatetsu moves its primary synth manufacturing facility to its Shinri orbital station, in one stroke pacifying the public by removing any synths from their midst (the public is generally kept in the dark about how widespread the problem of renegade synths has become) and removing their manufacturing facility from the jurisdiction of any law but their own and that of the Corporate Court. Saeder-Krupp and Shiawase follow suit shortly thereafter.
For the first time the limited lifespan of synths becomes public knowledge. Seven years after entering service, the first-generation synths begin to experience massive biosystem failure and various fast-growing cancers. Yamatetsu and the other manufacturers admit that while they are "working on the problem," it appears to be an unavoidable consequence of the massive growth compression required to produce adult synths within a year. For the moment, they claim, the only alternative is to implant the synth genetic material into a human embryo and then wait nine months plus eighteen years for a fully-developed synth. Obviously, that won't happen, so synths will continue to "wear out" at seven years.
2068
A group of early colonists brings a class-action suit against AresSpace and Yamatetsu Corporation over the issue of synth lifespan. They claim they were promised the free services of a synth for life. The Corporate Court, however, dismisses the suit, claiming that the contract language actually provided the colonists with a synth for the life of the synth. Ares attempts to placate the colonists by offering to provide new synths to any colonists whose originals have worn out--but this time they will of course be expected to pay full market price.
A group of German medical doctors claims finally to have discovered clear differences between human and synth physiology. Apparently these differences are present no matter who manufactured the synth--raising questions over whether Saeder-Krupp and Shiawase obtained Yamatetsu's research illegally or whether there is only one way to make the things work. Surprisingly, Yamatetsu does not pursue the matter before the Corporate Court. Perhaps they know something others do not about how the other corps came to produce products with identical physiology to theirs. Out of the Germans' research come the first reliable tests for discerning between a human and a synth, and police departments the world over breathe a sigh of relief.
2069
Shiawase, for the first time leading the industry, releases its new TL-18 series synths, which render all of the physiological tests developed by the Germans obsolete. Intelligence tests are useless on these models, because they are often more intelligent than a good number of humans. There are still some differences, but they can only be determined by a battery of time-consuming medical tests. There is no longer any way for a police officer to quickly and reliably tell a synth from a human. Before the year is out, the other manufacturers are incorporating the new tech. Protests flare up on all sides, but they fall on deaf ears.
2070
Japan's new feudalism erupts into civil war. As the power of the Imperial government wanes, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain the occupation forces in San Francisco, when those resources could help the Emperor's flagging military fortunes at home. With the increase in popular support for the Underground, and even the corps beginning to chafe under occupation rule, for the first time in 32 years the occupation appears to be in jeopardy.
As the number of escaped synths continues to grow, police departments (including the SFPD) begin to form specialized units to deal with the problem of identifying and retiring escaped synths. These are regular police employees, but they are not peace officers. They are bounty hunters, pure and simple.
2071
Construction begins on AresSpace's Mars colony, to be called New Detroit.
Michael Reese, the synth involved in the famous Reese vs. Fuchi Industrial case, smuggles a weapon aboard the orbital factory to which it had been transferred and kills 20 employees, mostly humans, before turning the gun on itself. A survivor is quoted as saying, "I just don't understand why it did that. It would've worn out in another year or two anyway."
A psychiatrist in the UK, Jarman Voigt, develops a new test to distinguish synths from humans. The test is based on emotional response, sort of an empathetic polygraph. According to Voigt, because synths do not have the benefit of years of experience and human emotional contact, they all experience a condition similar to the human dysfunction known as "flattening of effect." In effect, they are all deeply schizophrenic and emotionally immature. He admits that some of the cleverer ones can fake proper emotional responses, but his test measures the physiological factors associated with these responses, and these can not be controlled in the way that heart rate, respiration, or skin conductivity can. The Voigt test is proven effective against the Shiawase TL-18s. Testing kits become standard issue at police departments around the world, and Voigt becomes exceedingly wealthy from selling the tech to Renraku.
2072
The Japanese occupation of San Francisco collapses. Loyalist forces in the Japanese Civil War are faring very poorly, and Emperor Yamato recalls Ishihara and the I-Marines under his command to the homeland. The mounting pressure placed on the Japanese government by the zaibatsus represented in SF contribute to the Emperor's decision. For the first time in 35 years, the San Francisco government has real power again, and it will require years of adjustment for them to figure out what to do with it.
Trying to get one last shot in at the departing I-Marines, terrorists of the Burakumin sneak aboard and attempt to sabotage the Ryumyo, a missile cruiser associated with the Hiryu carrier group. The terrorists, unfortunately, know only enough to arm the cruiser's missiles and detonate them in their launchers. They mistakenly assume the missiles are carrying conventional warheads. They are, in fact, carrying tactical and sub-tactical nuclear warheads. So, in the dark early morning hours of May 3, 2072, fully 20 small nuclear devices detonate in the Pacific Ocean 10 kilometers off the coast of San Francisco.
Actual damage is mitigated by the fact that structures in San Francisco have long been built to withstand powerful shock waves, but it is still extensive to the Pacific Coast of the city. The Golden Gate Bridge is heavily damaged, but it stands. The narrow strip of land along the Pacific Coast bears by far the brunt of the damage, and the resources simply do not exist to adequately repair it all. The area falls into disrepair, and is taken over by the more squalid elements of society. It comes to be known colloquially as Night City--a glaring, neon-lit, noisy, polluted contrast to the beauty of most of the rest of San Francisco. Radioactive dust will filter out of the sky and wash up on the beaches for decades. Citizens of San Francisco will often have to wear breathers and lead codpieces. Emigration to the off-worlds from San Francisco rises dramatically, but none of the corps will allow anyone whose genetic material is affected by the radiation to emigrate.
2073
With the Hiryu carrier group and its attendant two divisions of Imperial Marines vaporized in the Pacific, Emperor Yamato loses the civil war. Centralized government in Japan disappears, and the nation returns to its medieval state of feudal warlords. The zaibatsus now have more power than ever, since they are the only thing approaching centralized stability in Japan. Infighting among the warlords will continue for decades, each claiming the right to the imperial throne.
Synth manufacturers begin to imprint some of the synths with false memories, in an effort to make them more passive. The procedure meets with some limited success, and it does not significantly interfere with the Voigt test.
2074
A project begins to cover large sections of San Francisco under geodesics to protect against the radiation flowing in from the sea (it's ironic that the very sea breezes that once protected San Francisco from pollution now bring the filth into the city). Typical for the level of confusion prevalent in Post-Occupation San Francisco politics, construction begins before all of the funding is secured. When the CFS government fails to come through with any money for the project, construction is halted. What the residents are left with is an enormous metallic spiderweb separating parts of Night City from the Pacific, making the region even more of an eyesore than it was before. A few panels remain in the wall, but the residents of Night City regularly destroy them, and they are not replaced.
A CAS psychiatrist, Lurie Kampff, modifies the Voigt scale and obtains greater reliability against the new generation synths, especially those with implanted memories. The Voigt-Kampff test comes out just in time to deal with the newest type of synth, the Shiawase TL-20 series. The original Voigt test does not catch the TL-20 synth, but the Kampff-modified test does.
2075
Yamatetsu reestablishes itself at the top of the industry with the release of the Nexus-6 synths. According to Yamatetsu, the Voigt-Kampff test is still valid on these synths, but there is only their word for this. Strangely, the other manufacturers are unable to duplicate the technical advances of the Nexus-6--Saeder-Krupp and Shiawase continue producing TL-20 level synths. The Nexus-6 synths are much more advanced than the TL-20s. The Nexus-6s are considerably smarter than the vast majority of the human population, and they are near-perfect physical specimens, equipped with a variety of highly advanced custom bionetics. False memories, of a much higher quality than was previously possible, are standard on the Nexus-6.
2076
The Nexus-6 dominates the synth market, with a 78% share of all new synth sales. Yamatetsu discontinues all previous models and converts all of its production into the Nexus-6. They proclaim with pride that not a single Nexus-6 has ever gone renegade. Shiawase and Saeder-Krupp continue to try to duplicate the new tech, but to no avail.
It took a few years, but someone finally decided to protest the fact that all synths are manufactured as humans, and that none of them are metatypes. The Ork Rights Coalition logged a formal protest (as if orks weren't treated badly enough--now they want ork synths?) a few years ago, which the manufacturers ignored as long as they could. The voices of protest grew loud early this year, though, so finally Saru Iwano, President and CEO of Yamatetsu Corporation, reveals that due to the specialized genetics and magically-active genes involved, it has to date proven quite impossible to produce a metahuman or magically-active synth (thank god, say most police bounty hunters).
