Earth 01-002-1891 (Infinite Possibilities)

Earth 01-02-1891 (also known as The Technocracy) is a founding member Earth of the Interdimensional Energy and Technology Community and one of the few timelines to develop brane breaking technology independently. They are represented in the IETC by the Technates of North America, Britain, Western Europe, India and East Asia.

History
Earth 01--02-1891 history is unique for the alternate career of scientist Nikola Tesla. He was considered the father of the modern era on that timeline. Thanks to his inventions the world moved at a faster and a more divergent technological pace than other timelines in the Anglo-American branch. Advancements include jet-packs, safer airships, robot cars, holograms, cybernetic pets, mind-reading, anti-sleep medicine, invisible camouflage, artificial gills, universal translators, food pills, ray guns, among other things, all thanks to his genius and financial assistance he received from such powerful industrialists as J. P. Morgan.

Following the Great War, the geo-political situation on Earth had changed dramatically. Europe was devestated and the Empire of Germany was replaced by a shaky Republic of Germany that managed to negotiate a white peace to end the war. Meanwhile, Russia fell to Communism, while Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire collapse. The United States stayed out of the war, but made billions selling weapons made by Tesla to both sides. New “datamen”, this timeline’s name for computers, predicted a massive economic collapse that was avoided thanks to the precautions of the United States and the other capitalist nations.

Thus began the Pax Americana, a long period of economic stability and growth began, interrupted only by the Soviet War. General Secretary Trotsky’s attempt to spread communism across the world eventually annoyed the rest of the world enough that a coalition of the United States, Japan and the Europe nations was formed to bring down the communist nation. The Soviet Union was split between Muscovy and Siberia, with several smaller states with large non-Russian ethnicities gained independence.

By the 1960s, however, the world began experiencing massive social unrest along with increased tensions between the United States, Japan and the newly formed Congress of Europe. To prevent societal collapse, a group of scientists hijacked the network of datamen that regulated the economy and turned them off. Known as the Technocratic Revolution, the network was turned on again only after the world nations agreed to adopt the technocracy as their form of government. Engineers, scientists, health professionals, and those with the necessary knowledge, expertise or skills composed the new governing body. Technical and leadership skills would be selected through bureaucratic processes on the basis of specialized knowledge and performance, rather than democratic election by those without such knowledge or skill deemed necessary. Almost all nations agreed to adopt this form of government, except for a few states in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia who stubbornly hold out under the control of harsh dictatorships that have isolated their people from the outside world. While the Technocratic nations easily have the ability to overthrow them, they see little reason why they should waste their resources converting these last holdouts.

While the different nations continued to exist to preserve the culture of their inhabitants, in reality the world is under a global Technocracy ruled by an intellectual elite that focused on advancing humanity through research and development of new technology and science. The technocracy frowns on upsetting the status quo and thus represses any attempts on social reform. Segregation of the races is still common, but the Technocracy does not buy into the old race theories and a man can rise through the ranks of the Technocracy regardless of their color. Women remain confined to certain roles, but the Technocracy does make exceptions on those individuals with the intelligence and skills that the Technocracy finds necessary for society. Clothes and other goods are all standard, while many working adults wear uniforms to repress individualism.

Further attempts to crush social reform is carried out by the Psych Corp, an international organization which ruthlessly keeps an eye on society thanks to a massive network of cameras, truth drugs, brain scans and moles who keep an ear open for any dissent. The Corp controls all the content that goes over television or the datamen network, ensuring that only good and wholesome materials reaches the audience. The Corp also targets homosexuals and overly-assertive women for "reeducation for anti-social behavior."

There is still is a counter-culture, but it is located in the inner Solar System. Nuclear-propelled spacecraft have explored and settled the farthest reaches of the Solar System, but the cost of space travel along with the discovery of the multiverse in the 1970s have discouraged further development of the Solar System. The Technocracy, however, realized that having a safety valve for anti-socials was needed to maintain peace and stability on Earth. The utopian communes of Luna and the autonomous mining stations of the Belt are just two examples of human colonies that are allowed to exist without Psych Corp supervision. This policy of “benign indifference” has kept things stable in the Technocracy.

Nevertheless, a group of anti-technocrats, known as the "Nemesis Project", are prepared for the eventuality that the Technocracy might one day wish to have greater control over the Solar System as a whole. Exactly what the Project is planning is unknown. Some speculate that it is a Doomsday weapon, while others believe it is an interstellar spaceship. Other believe that the multiverse is somehow involved. Regardless, the Technocracy official policy is to deny that the Project even exists.

Behind the Scenes
Earth 01-02-1891 was inspired by the GURPS RPG "Gernsback" setting, the 1950s World of Bruce Monroe and the.