March 2, 2016

World

The Meld
The Resistance (Outcasts)
The Meld Authority, a transnational government, was formed following a series of bloodless and bloody coups around the world by an uneasy alliance of corporate, environmental and military organizations both to fight imminent climate disaster by tearing down and remaking global industry, and to cement future power in the hands of the top 1%.

The social structure of the Meld is radically different from the capitalist and social-democratic societies that came before. It is a full welfare state with technocratically centralized, AI-augmented social hierarchy and public stake in all means of production based on productivity leaderboard rankings. Social control is maintained through the ubiquitous presence of the Meld drug.

The Meld exists worldwide in pockets around major cultural and population centers, with the ultimate goal of global stewardship through territory expansion.

The Outcasts, called thus by Meld officials, consist of everyone who is not part of the Meld. Anyone can join the Meld if they wish for a benevolent State to take care of every aspect of their survival. “Outcasts” are those who opted out by choice.

Proud, determined, skeptical and anti-authoritarian, Outcasts have a wide range of communities and factions. These include the Resistance, but factions may also be organized along racial, religious, and political/philosophical lines. Communities are largely local in scope, and though they may share affinities with groups on the outskirts of Meld pockets around the world, communication is not as easy as it once was.

The main feature of Outcast life is the loss of the centralized utilities and international supply chains that once supported the basics of survival. Communities must fend for themselves by salvaging raw materials and repurposing land.