The world of tomorrow

Before we start, let's run the history session.

In 2035, More than 50 years ago, WWIII happened. Climate was already at the brink of collapsing beyond the level where it can support life on earth, and the war, which turned into a nuclear war, with all its radioactive after effects  deemed earth into a hell for all living creatures, including humans. Plant life went completely extinct, animal life was on it's way to and human life suffered deaths in unbelievable numbers, outnumbering deaths during the war, due to radiation, hunger, etc., bringing the world population down from 9-billion (before WWIII) to a devastating 1 Billion in just a year post war.

There were no governments and there was death and lawlessness, many even turned to cannibalism to survive. That's when all the remaining humanity gathered and under the leadership of John August, a very noble and influential man, you can call him the 'last ray of hope', proposed that all national boundaries will be removed, and humanity will exist as one, receiving worldwide agreement. His famous speech, where 'In the war no nations won, and humanity lost' that is still remembered is from, united all humanity and declared there will be no wars over beliefs again, and it was extremely effective as everyone had suffered unimaginable pain and the idea of war was way more repulsive than anything that could cause it. In other words humanity was tired of fighting over beliefs and united as one specie, deciding to exist peacefully together. The speech was given on 4th April 2036 which is till the present, even after 50 years, celebrated throughout earth as the World Unity day.

But humanity was dying, the planet was inhabitable. They understood with plant life and almost 90% non-plant life gone, land water bodies dried, coastal lands and whole islands flooded because of glacier melt, and atmosphere contaminated beyond repair, human life, or any life, was impossible. So on 21th May 2036 the historic 10 YEARS DEVELOPMENT plan was passed and agreed upon. It had made two major decisions.

1. Entire of the remaining humanity will be transferred to the moon where they will be in a cryogenic sleep for the next 10 years. In those 10 years humans will be biomechanically modified to the 'perfect beings', who could, along with all the new upgrades, also live without food or oxygen, only depending on electric energy (for, of course, energy) and water (for other body functions), thus turning the entire human race into cyborgs. 

2. 3 Million robots and machines along with 5 major AI heads to control all, governed by 137 humans (that's the highest amount of humans earth in the present state could sustain for 10 years) which included John August as he "wanted to be one among the working than being among the ones sleeping", and throughout the 10 years they were to turn earth habitable for the cyborgs that will come after 10 years. The atmosphere and food scarcity due to lack of any life form was irreparable, but humanity, or the cyborgs, didn't need them anymore. So they had to build infrastructures such that all live a satisfactory life, and heavy set up of power plants across the world as cyborgs, robots, machines, all now required the same kind of energy. These plants included highly sufficient nuclear plants, solar plants and fission/fusion reactors, and enough were set up to run the world.

After 10 years when humans, or cyborgs, returned the face of earth had changed, and had turned into what they have in the present, glowing streets and buildings to as far as eyes stretched, earth's lands looked silver in the morning and glowing neon bright in the night. There was an energy plant in every division of the 731 divisions the world was divided into (there were no boundaries or restrictions to divisions, they are not countries, they just exist to specify locations and for even distribution of energy plants, as the area covered by each plant is based on their maximum range. Anyone can forget them and move freely). Along with them, several sea stations were set on coastal areas to purify sea water for usage and were stored in huge tanks, almost 5 in every division. 

When they returned they found all the humans had died years ago, the 137 humans, but everything went as it should have under the watch of a new intelligent life, who went on to be identified as sentient beings beside humans and have rights and will. Who went on to be called ANIMOIDS.

Animoids were animals, the few that had survived the earth from 10 years before and had undergone biological modification, mentally and physically, and now stood on two legs, wore clothes and spoke language, having developed human level intelligence. They had grown in numbers in the last 10 years to around 20 million, involving many species, and helped coordinate the earth renewal operation. Cyborgs (I will mention them as cyborgs only) upon arrival were greeted with a warm welcome and an unimaginably advanced earth to live on, under their representative Grudor, a lion animoid (modified lion, you get it, standing on two legs with coat suit). A big statue of his can be found in the east part of Division 71 today.

He welcomed cyborgs, presented them the new earth, and put forward the condition of sharing it with them as another sentient being with rights and will, which was immediately agreed upon, why not, and now both species live together. 

So now the world contains of 

1. Cyborgs

2. Robots and AI: they serve as assistants and practical guide, almost every person has a personal robot or neurochip*, all of them run on OS controlled by 5 major AI heads.

[*neurochip: almost every being in the present have a neurochip attached to them, a button like AI powered machine attached to their napes, connected to their brain neurons. They were like mobile phones in the 2020s, everyone had them, just more efficient with more applications, and you can do everything in your head.
You can surf internet and download any information and save it in your memory (yes, LITERALLY your memory), you can do any functions that require brain instantly, like calculations and everything, and you can enjoy virtual reality, not just see it but feel it as it controls your senses, for example, you can sit and close your eyes and transfer to any world like roam around in a cornfield and feel the corns, smell them, touch them, you can create characters, animals or humans, known or autogenerated, this is called DREAMING. Or you can enjoy a VR pizza in the real world, eat it and taste it, as real food doesn't exist. Though they cost a energy points*, they are a common practice]

3. Animoids

[Animoids grow similar to humans in age and walk, talk and live like humans, with prominent animal features. Like a female cat animoid would be a twice the size of a normal cat and standing on two legs and will have human female features like the shape and reproductive organs, but with fur and whiskers and claws, and they can change it as they want with enough energy points*. Reproduction between two different specie of animoids and animoid and human is also possible (since the reproductive organs of all males are same, cyborg or animoid, and of all females too) and the parents can customize the child as well.] 

4. Zombots: Sometimes some people, mostly ones dying of age, transfer their consciousness into a robot, becoming immortal, theoretically. But it's extremely rare as you have too many restrictions in a robot body, like you can't feel touch, smell, taste, just physically function faster, and most people prefer death after living a fulfilling life, immortality is too boring, everything you value will lose it's value or itself with time and it all becomes repetitive and empty. That's why most zombots shut down themselves after few hundred years, they get tired.

Now getting to story, it follows a 17 year old lion animoid Jay, who is a hunter.

In a world where all 4 major beings run on codes and wires and electricity, sometimes there's malfunction, naturally. If the malfunction is in a part of the body they can repair or replace it, but sometimes it gets to the brain (in cyborgs and animoids) or control point (in robots and zombots) they behave abnormally, often violently, and if it's beyond repair a red alarm goes off and they are unlisted from 'list of beings' (where every being of the world from all 4 types are listed, in the 7 AI heads where every being is registered mandatorily to look over their conduct and that they don't get harmed by or themselves harm any other listed being, but once unlisted you can do whatever you want with them) and are termed as ROGUE.

And that's when hunters come in, fighters professional at handling rogues. They eliminate the rogue and earn energy points, the currency of the present world. They are exactly what they sound, energies in packets.

Every being will get a minimum energy points to sustain, move around at a minimum speed, but that's it, you need to work, provide advantage to the society to earn more energy as energy points to do more than just be alive. People different kind of jobs to earn energy points, and everything other than just existing requires energy points, to move around at full efficiency, to buy transportation or any goods, for repairs or any service, even dreaming and VR use of 30 mins consumes more energy points than the compulsory minimum energy. You'll need to earn, or be with someone who earns (like children of earning parents, or non earning wife of an earning husband) to enjoy them. You'll understand better as the story goes but for instance it's like "You won't die of starvation but you won't get a 5-star food, you'll have to work and earn it" metaphorically.

[Water more than 2Ls of water per day, which is minimum body requirement, costs energy points]

Hunters earn their share of energy points by eliminating Rogues, and Jay is one such hunter. But his reasons are much more different, much more moral, much more.... personal.

Follow his journey through the world of future against a monstrous enemy  in the unheard tale of GHOST OF METAL.