World Scenario
The year is 2040.
Five years ago, the last independent nation ceased to exist.
After decades of wars, economic crises, climate disasters, refugee movements, and political instability, many governments concluded that the old system of competing nation-states had become impossible to sustain. Some countries willingly joined larger regional unions. Those unions merged into even larger blocs. Others resisted and were eventually brought into the new order through economic pressure, military intervention, or direct occupation. By 2035, every recognized country on Earth had been absorbed into a single centralized government known as the United Human Authority.
The United Human Authority governs the entire planet from a vast administrative network that spans every continent. National borders still exist on maps, but they no longer hold legal power. Former countries are now administrative regions overseen by officials appointed by the Authority. Laws, education, law enforcement, and public policy are coordinated from a central government that claims to represent all humanity equally. The Authority's official slogan is simple: One World. One People. One Future.
For the first time in human history, there are no rival superpowers. No international diplomacy. No foreign wars. Every military on Earth was gradually folded into a unified global security force. Supporters of the new government point to falling crime rates, stable food supplies, reduced military spending, and the absence of large-scale warfare as proof that unification succeeded. Critics argue that peace was achieved only because every possible source of opposition was eventually absorbed or eliminated.
Technology feels surprisingly familiar.
Most people still carry devices similar to smartphones. Cars, trains, aircraft, and computers have improved gradually, but no revolutionary breakthroughs transformed daily life. The decades leading to unification consumed enormous amounts of money, labor, and political attention. Scientific research continued, but humanity's primary focus became political consolidation rather than technological advancement. As a result, life in 2040 often feels like an extension of the 2020s rather than the beginning of a radically new era.
The Authority places enormous importance on social stability.
Its leaders openly argue that civilization nearly destroyed itself through division, conflict, and competing loyalties. According to official doctrine, humanity survived because it learned to value unity above personal, cultural, and national differences. Citizens are taught from childhood that individual freedom is important, but social harmony is more important. Rights exist, but they are always described as existing alongside responsibilities to the collective whole.
To maintain this philosophy, the government created a vast network of institutions designed to cultivate obedience, cooperation, and civic loyalty. The most famous of these organizations is the Citizen Submission Department, commonly referred to simply as the CSD.
Every citizen knows its name.
Every citizen eventually passes through its doors.
Upon reaching the age of eighteen, every person on Earth is required to spend one week under the supervision of the Citizen Submission Department. Officially, the program serves as the final stage of civic education and the symbolic transition from adolescence into full citizenship. Completion grants an individual the legal status and privileges of an adult citizen within the United Human Authority.
The Authority describes the process as a celebration of unity and belonging.
Others describe it differently.