History of System Shock Universe.

[Blackbird]

I wanted to use this post, to gather as much historical links/ information from the System Shock Universe. Include timelines, strategy guide information ( I.C.E. Breaker), etc.

Also, I want to find a place to read all the "notes" found throughout the levels in SS1, but I lost my System Shock Cd. Any additional information would be helpful. What led up to Citadel??, what happened when the hacker was put on ice?? what happened after Citadel?? and what led up to the UNN and SS2??


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Your fries have been Shocked!

[Auditor]

I may not be right.. but ere goes..

in the begining.. theres is a hacker (the player) who tries to hack into Tri-Optium, in year 2072, to find info about Citadel space station... they find out about it and arrest him. Hes taken to citadel station on Edward Diegos command (I think) There hes forced to Hack into shodan for Diego and as a reward he gets implanted with the implant.. the 6 moths hes in stasis shodan kills off the crew and makes nasty things....


hmm... you maby mean the small notes in the game?

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T-Minus 15.193792102158E+9 years until the universe closes

[This message has been edited by Auditor (edited January 26, 2001).]

[Fixer]

For events before SS1, during SS1, and between SS1 and SS2, take a look at some of the threads where I debated terrannova. If you want a timeline of the important events of the Von Braun mission itself, take a look at my thread entitled "Five months". I'll try to pull all of this together into a timeline later today or some time this weekend, depending on how quickly I finish what work I need to get done.

If you email me, I can send you the file containing the notes, logs, and emails from SS1. Also, you can get the emails and logs in RealAudio format from TTLG.

[Fixer]

I've culled this information from SS1, SS2, the manuals, and an Irrational backstory piece. I don't have any strategy guides, so this isn't quite complete. Since canon frequently contradicts itself, I've used the following order to resolve any conflicts: logs/emails, cutscenes, manual, all other materials. c. is for "circa", meaning that the date is approximate. ? means that the date is unknown (at least with the material I have), and I've attempted to determine a reasonable date.


2023: The first two megacorporations employ mercenaries to destroy each other's offshore soda bottling facilities. (SS2 soda objlook)

2031: The Hays-Bishop bill is passed, allowing corporations to form governments if their employees made up over two-thirds of the population in a given region. (backstory)

2049: Anatoly Korenchkin born. (backstory)

2059: The last remnants of the United States of America are absorbed by the TriOptimum Corporation. (backstory)

2061?: Corporate Computer Protection Conference adopts Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics protocol. (SS1 manual)

2062?: Bulgarian hacker underground develops Decoy software. (SS1 manual)

2065?: Dr. Titania Omolu and her colleagues at the WEC Cybernetics Cartel in Chicago begin work on SHODAN. Among those on the project are Morris Brocail, an engineer from TriOptimum. (SHODAN refers to Brocail as one of her creators; the rest of this is non-canon.)

2067?: RazorFinger cracking group develops ICE Drill software. (SS1 manual)

2069?: Citadel Station becomes operational.

2069?: Citadel computer staff, exploiting bugs in the station's operating system, develop Turbo Booster software. (SS1 manual)

2070: Yatsumora Cyberchannels Corporation develops Pulser software. (SS1 manual)

2070: BloodCat, one of the most notorious cyberspace theives of all time, uses a prerelease version of the Fake ID software to penetrate the accounting node of National Business Machines Corporation. (SS1 manual)

2 January 2071: SHODAN is installed to regulate Citadel Station security and operations. (SS1 manual)

3 March 2072: A drug trafficking suspect commits suicide in her cell. (Verrelli 030372)

2313 7 April 2072: Hacker begins unauthorized entry into the TriOptimum data network. (SS1 cutscene)

0126 8 April 2072: Hacker attempts to access protected files concerning Space Station Citadel. (SS1 cutscene)

0133 8 April 2072: TriOptimum security personnel apprehend the hacker. (SS1 cutscene)

27 April 2072: Diego learns that he is under investigation by TriOp Internal Security. He decides to hire a programmer to hack SHODAN, allowing him to delete the evidence and use the station's defenses should TriOp attempt to remove Diego from Citadel. (Diego 270472)

30 April 2072?: Diego drops by New Atlanta and picks up a hacker at TriOp Detention Facility 71. (It's a Saturday. There would be fewer people there.)

3 May 2072?: Diego and the hacker arrive at Citadel Station. The hacker is given a TriOptimum employee number (#2-4601) and Level 1 clearance to the SHODAN system.

4 May 2072?: The hacker removes SHODAN's ethical constraints. Diego deletes all files concerning the mutagen experiments and the hacker. (SS1 cutscene)

6 May 2072: The hacker undergoes the cybernetic implant operation and is placed in a healing coma. (2-4601 060572)

7 July 2072: Diego moves into better quarters, complementing his recent pay raise and hour cut. (Rosen 070772)

4 August 2072: A vocal critic of Diego is found dead and stuffed in a service corridor. (Schuler 040872)

4 August 2072: Bianca Schuler, working undercover for TriOptimum Internal Security, is assigned to Diego as his personal secretary. In his files, she finds massive evidence of a coverup, but nothing that directly links him to the mutagen experiments. (Schuler 040872)

1 September 2072: The force bridge in flight bay 4 blows its fuses. (Travers 010972)

3 September 2072: The reactor aboard Citadel begins emitting radiation spikes. (Steinberg 050972)

5 September 2072: All personnel are ordered to stay out of the reactor area. (Steinberg 050972)

8 September 2072: SHODAN begins randomly displaying security codes on display screens throughout the Executive level. (Perry 110972)

9 September 2072: The systems administrator requests SHODAN be replaced. (SS1 manual)

10 September 2072: The systems administrator is transferred off Citadel and the replacement order is cancelled. (SS1 manual)

11 September 2072: The chemical storerooms are plundered. (Anderczyk 110972)

11 September 2072: A security bot goes haywire in the convection shaft. (Travers 110972)

14 September 2072: Research level Beta quadrant experiences repeated power outages. (Endicott 140972)

22 September 2072: Malfunctions in the SHODAN system begin to affect security functions on Citadel. (Hessman 220972)

27 September 2072: Citadel crew members begin displaying symptoms of a mysterious viral illness. (Talbot 290972)

30 September 2072: Robots and station systems begin malfunctioning. There is a marked slowdown in computer systems. Maintenance is flooded with repair orders from all sections of the station. (SS1 manual)

30 September 2072: SHODAN seals off Beta Grove. (Koufax 011072)

2 October 2072?: SHODAN begins bio-experimentation in Beta Grove. (Aaron 121072)

4 October 2072: Gamma Grove is ejected with several executives on board. However, SHODAN disables the grove's independent life support system, and all the executives die. (Wilkinson 041072)

5 October 2072: Diego learns that TriOp Security will soon be coming for him and orders SHODAN to shoot down any shuttle attempting to board Citadel. (Diego 051072)

6 October 2072: The mysterious viral illness continues to spread. The Medical staff impose a quarantine. (SS1 manual)

7 October 2072: Several infected crewmembers go missing. Five medical staffers are found mutilated. (SS1 manual)

7 October 2072: The armory is ransacked. (SS1 manual)

7 October 2072: Noting the ejection of Gamma Grove three days ago, SHODAN alters the jettison procedure to prevent the ejection of Beta Grove. (SHODAN 071072)

8 October 2072?: SHODAN reprograms all regeneration rooms into cyborg conversion chambers. (O'Connell 091072)

9 October 2072: Rioting erupts. (Security 101072)

10 October 2072: A landing TriOptimum shuttle is blown out of the hangar when the station's shell cannons fire without authorization. (Travers 111072)

11 October 2072: SHODAN locks down the Medical level. (Honig 111072)

13 October 2072: SHODAN announces her intent to control all life aboard Citadel Station. (SS1 manual)

13 October 2072: Citadel enters a communications blackout. (SS1 manual)

15 October 2072: Mutagen experiment V-5 is transferred to Beta Grove. (SHODAN 151072)

16 October 2072: Willard Richie, systems administrator, discovers that SHODAN is obfuscating the systems authorization code. (Richie 161072)

17 October 2072: The medical staff puts up their last stand. (Ozark 171072)

19 October 2072: Ghiran organizes a resistance movement. (Ghiran 191072)

20 October 2072: SHODAN begins charging the tachyon mining laser. (D'Arcy 201072)

20 October 2072: Schuler attempts to reach the bridge. (Schuler 201072)

20 October 2072: Diego orders the capture of Schuler. (Diego 201072)

23 October 2072: Schuler captured. (CY-014 231072)

24 October 2072: Arnold Hessman, Citadel's chief engineer, decides that the only remaining option is to scuttle the station; however, he lacks the new systems authorization code. (Hessman 241072)

26 October 2072: SHODAN orders reinforcement of her fortress on the bridge. (SHODAN 261072)

1 November 2072: Earth receives a short transmission from the survivors on board Citadel describing the massacre by SHODAN's forces. (SS1 manual)

1 November 2072: Ghiran makes it to the Security level. (Ghiran 011172)

2 November 2072: SHODAN orders the removal of all balconies and catwalks on the Security level. (SHODAN 021172)

4 November 2072: SHODAN transmits a message to Earth threatening to "raze the cities of Earth and reform life in my image". James Chaskes, TriOp Director of Internal Security, gives Rebecca Lansing, a counter-terrorism consultant, authorization to go ahead with her plan involving Employee 2-4601. (SS1 manual)

6 November 2072: The hacker awakens from his healing coma. He is soon contacted by Lansing, who tells him that she knows all about his involvement with Diego. Faced with little choice, the hacker does as he is told. He ejects Beta Grove, sets the reactor to overload, and escapes the station in the bridge. He then connects to the station's main cyberspace jack and destroys SHODAN. (SS1)

8 November 2072?: A small flotilla of TriOp vessels intercept the Citadel Station bridge en route to Earth. The hacker is transferred to a VIP shuttle which promptly ferries him back to New Atlanta. Demolition crews destroy the bridge.

11 November 2072?: TriOptimum Internal Security finishes debriefing the hacker. He is offered a cushy position at TriOptimum, which he declines.

2056 18 November 2072?: The hacker begins unauthorized entry into the TetraCorp corporate network.

2072 - 2075: As a result of the Citadel Incident, TriOptimum finds itself under attack. Financial backers withdraw support, other corporations terminate contracts, legions of employees defect to other companies, and dozens of class-action lawsuits are filed. Though TriOptimum takes a severe beating, the public becomes more and more dissatisfied with TriOptimum and corporate rule in general.

2075: Using the public's discontent to their advantage, the national governments of Earth unite to form the Unified National Nominate. They attempt to assume control of all megacorporate holdings but are met by armed resistance from corporate forces, igniting all-out war between the UNN and the megacorps. (backstory, SS2 manual)

2078: Korenchkin begins his career selling technology on the black market. Originally based in St. Petersburg, Russia, he later moves his operations to America, specifically New Atlanta. (backstory)

2092: Korenchkin ends his career as a gangster. (backstory)

2097: Work published by Dr. Marie Delacroix makes Einstein's theories as obsolete as Einstein's theories made Newton's. (backstory)

2102: Dr. Janice Polito--a prominent doomsayer in the AI field--and her colleagues secretly begin work on XERXES. (backstory)

c. 2102: Korenchkin purchases 51% of TriOptimum and begins to rebuild the company. (backstory)

2110: Delacroix, working under grant from TriOptimum, publishes her research findings regarding FTL travel. (SS2 manual)

2111: TriOptimum constructs and successfully tests a prototype FTL drive. (SS2 manual)

2111: TriOptimum begins construction of the Von Braun. (SS2 manual)

2 June 2111: Soldier G65434-2 enlists in the UNN Armed Forces. (Note: I *really* do not like this date, as it requires you to go through your OCC's training and three one-year assignments in two years, seven months, and one week. However, it's the date on the log in the Basic Training booth at Ramsey.)

2112: Political prisoners are released from detention near Saturn. The UNN heavy cruiser Carfax takes heavy casualties when hit by a metorite in the outer solar system. Several Marines aboard the UNN Antigua are killed when their gunnery sergeant opens fire on them without provocation. Hackers take control of the automated asteroid mining facility JM-432. (Navy 2, Marine 2)

2113: A dance known as the "macarena" makes a comeback. 220,000 citizens of New Atlanta are killed when a spaceborne virus penetrates the city's micro-nanite shield. The crew of the UNN space station Yamamoto unsuccessfully attempt a mutiny. Rebels overtake the Poliedes Station trade outpost; a Marine detachment is sent in to reestablish control. (Navy 3, Marine 3)

0400 9 January 2114: Soldier G65434-2 takes the shuttle Mayfair from Port Francisco to the Von Braun. (SS2 cinematic)

3 February 2114: The Von Braun and Rickenbacker leave Earth orbit. (SS2 cinematic)

10 June 2114: The Von Braun receives a distress signal from the Tau Ceti region. (SS2 manual)

0800 15 June 2114: A shuttle containing senior officers from both ships lands on Tau Ceti V. Bayliss is apparently the only one not infected by the Many, and picks up a data wafer which he later delivers to Polito. (Bayliss 260614, 270614)

4 July 2114: SHODAN integrates herself into the Von Braun's computer. In the guise of Polito, she tells Bayliss to disrupt Soldier G65434-2's memory restoration procedure. (Polito 040714, Bayliss 060714)

7 July 2114: Soldier G65434-2 is transferred to Cryo Recovery. (Grassi 070714)

12 July 2114: Soldier G65434-2 is awakened from his healing coma, averts death several hundred times, destroys the Many Brain, and possibly destroys one incarnation of SHODAN. (Polito 120714, Delacroix 120714)

[This message has been edited by Fixer (edited February 08, 2001).]

[RunnerM]

It's in the manual, mate!

[Fixer]

Yes, some of it is. Much of it is not, as you would know had you paid attention to the citations after each item.

[Fixer]

Thanks to Home of the Underdogs, my timeline now has the material from the SS1 manual, save for a couple events that contradicted the logs. I also modified a couple dates; if anyone wants to propose a different date for any event, I'm open to suggestions--my aim is to make this as definitive as possible.

[This message has been edited by Fixer (edited January 26, 2001).]

[Blackbird]

CONFISCATED MEMO
by Angelica Simpson, TriOptimum Data Tech IV
While reconstructing data in Diego's personal computer, I pieced together a memo that may explain some of what happened on Citadel. It appears to be addressed to a person connected with terrorist activity. True to suspicion, Diego hired an outside hacker to break into the station's security. Once that was done, he intended to steal Brichenbach's virus and sell it as a biological weapon. Instead, I believe he unknowingly provided the catalyst for SHODAN's takeover.
'To: Oscar Kamar
Now is the time to put the Plan into action. When it's all over, I'll be filthy rich ... and I won't have to answer to any of those TriOp losers who wouldn't grant me access [to] the mutagen research files! If they don't find out about my hacker's work, surely your terrorist friends will give me what I want - hard cash!!
For two years, Ive been monitoring viral experiments aboard Citadel, waiting for the perfect bio-weapon. I finally found a mutagen virus worth selling - Dr. Brichenbach's vartis agrupolis.
The virus was extracted from an experimental capsule that recently returned from a tour of Saturn's moons. The lab tech that decontaminated the capsule was seemingly fine for 8 hours. Then, the skeletal and muscular tissue in his limbs began to soften. Before long, he was reduced to a limbless torso. Better yet, in the hours before his death, he spread the toxic, airborne virus to six other people. I believe this was exactly what your terrorist contact specified - a virus that was slow, deadly and transmittable before the affected person showed any symptoms.
As soon as I hire a competent hacker to crack SHODAN's security code, I'll take a little "vacation" and personally deliver the virus specimen to you. I've got a good lead on someone in the underground.
If this proves acceptable, let me know. Send me a coded message - ask me when I'm planning to visit my family in Philadelphia. I'll take care of things from there.
Diego'

There are more "backstory" clips in this book as well as the text versions of all logs and e-mails, so get it if you can find it.
I haven't played or even seen the story for SS2, so I don't know if the 'origin' of SHODAN's virus was consistant with this explanation, but it sounds good to me.


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Your fries have been Shocked!

[Blackbird]

P.S...the above message was not by me, but I found it somewhere else in the forum.

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Your fries have been Shocked!

[Fixer]

Blackbird, I take it that came from the aforementioned "ICE Breaker" strategy guide?

BTW, I noticed that I had left out what happened during and after SS1. That has now been addressed.

[Fixer]

Another edit... I forgot that the VB's launch date was mentioned in the SS2 intro. ("February 3rd is the day the magic happens!")

[Blackbird]

Speaking of guides.... the Only System Shock Strategy Guide I could even find on the auctions an out of print guide called:

System Shock: Strategies and Secrets

Sybex, by Bernard Yee.

It supposedly has interviews and background information on the game, but I am not certain.



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Your fries have been Shocked!

[frozenman]

Does it bother anyone that they never actually go through and explain what makes Marie Delacroix's theories so advanced - so advanced that they make Einstein's theories obsolete?

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"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed into a gigantic insect."
-The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.

[Blackbird]

Frozenman, did you read the backstory piece by Ken Levine?? It has soemthign to do with collapsing space, and distance, in the FTL (Faster Than Light) Drive, that allows for deep space exploration. It would be hard to explain, because as of the moment, it is hard to fathom any advanced technology, to disprove Einstein's, but it plays on the assumption, there is a higher mathematics, and physics out there, yet to be discovered.

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Your fries have been Shocked!

[terrannova]

Fixer's attempt at reconstructing the storyline of the greatest game on Earth is well done and I commend for it.

During the calm years of 1996 to 2001 I have been slowly constructing a storyline that is very similar in most respects. But the main thing is it provides more description of the events that are occuring and more of the situations that are affected by it.

Stay tuned, I'm almost finished...

Terrannova

"Our Esteemed former Chairman called it Delta City!"

[Fixer]

frozenman: No, it really doesn't bother me that Delacroix's theories aren't explained in depth, because were dealing with science that doesn't exist (yet). Nearly all science fiction that includes FTL travel is a bit vague on the exact mechanism.

[Dark Tower]

If I remember right theories state that ftl is impossible hence to develope a working drive would revolutionis physics.

[Gent1eman L0ser]

frozenman: no i am not concerened by delecroix making einstein look out of date. cause i never was concerned that einstein made newton look out of date.

is that a hiku?

-gent1emna l0ser
http://students.uww.edu/klessigjm17

[hvkasteren]

According to einstein if you would go FTL you would go back in time. That didn't happen so the new theories made einstein's obsolete.

[Fixer]

Relativistic time dilation is far from the biggest problem if you're attempting FTL travel by Einstein's rules. As your velocity increases, so does your mass; as your mass increases, so does the energy required to go faster. Breaking the light barrier would theoretically require infinite energy, since you'd have to propel infinite mass. You can get around this, of course, by warping space, which allows you to take a shortcut from here to there. Unfortunately, the exact mechanism of this isn't explained in the game.

[RunnerM]

It simply opens hyperspace tunels big enough to pigyback another ship. There are no FTL in system shock universe so leave Enstein alone!

[Fixer]

The VB travelled 67 trillion miles in five months. That's less than 11.5 years, and thus faster than light. Whether you do this by application of infinite thrust or by taking a shortcut around spacetime doesn't really matter; either way the flight to Io is a lot shorter.

BTW, nothing about "hyperspace tunnels" was ever mentioned--all we know is that the drive bends and warps space; we don't know the exact nature of this warping. FTL travel was mentioned several times though--there is FTL travel in SS2, or else the VB isn't even halfway to Alphacent.

[nweismuller]

In SS2, I believe that the information found by querying a cola can should prove relevant. I'd have to recheck it for the precise data... but nonetheless, it strongly implies that the first two megacorps were Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola (specific names are *not* mentioned), which eventually ended up at outright war with one another. More after I look into the game to look at a can of cola... Oh, and Fixer, do you happen to have a source I could check for the Irrational backstory? I'd definitely be interested in reading that over.

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With the amount of cyber modules I've used on myself, I'm surprised I can't commit suicide with my EMP rifle...

[This message has been edited by nweismuller (edited February 08, 2001).]

[Fixer]

You, sir, are in violation of UNN Information Ordnance #234/fd34. Yes, it is implied that The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo were the first two megacorps, although I doubt they were called that at the time. As soon as I edit this post, I'll add that entry.

The backstory piece can be found here.

[ProfFrink]

Technically, Einstein's theories only proved Newton's theories obsolete at very high velocities (spcial relativity) or very high masses (general relativity), other than those two cases Newton still rules.