Cyberia

Cyberia (sī-bîr′ē-ə [Listen]), officially the Antarctic State of Cyberia is a country spanning the entirety of the continent of Antarctica. At 5.4mil square miles (14mil square kilometers), Cyberia is the second largest country by area, behind Russia. It is a state run almost exclusively by its military, which has been an integral component of Cyberia since its inception.

The country has a culture mixed majorly between 21st century American and Russian facets and features, owing to the US and RU militaries and civilian workers that formed its foundation more than one hundred and eighty years ago. Following the militant takeover of Antarctic mines, the Russian and American separatist brigades held their ground against counterattacks and through many years of steady fighting, and formed into a new resource-rich nation founded on militant defense.

Now in the 23rd century, the dissolution of the United States and the backing down of Russia, left Cyberia standing as a primarily defensive, technological superpower that is continuously improving itself whilst watching its territory vigilantly. Much of its military might is contained within its borders and in close contact with the civilian population. What limited physical outreach to other countries it holds is largely through trade, and less so through joint operation and training.

As it stands in its present state, Cyberia is a country of diverse tastes and personalities much like their 21st century origins. Its government can be regarded as authoritarian only when its rulings are challenged, much like the notion that a bees' nest will not attack unless provoked. Otherwise, it makes noticeable effort to form most of its rulings around the population's majority interests, usually through direct majority voting.

Etymology
The name Cyberia was created out of the combination of the two words 'technology' and 'Siberia'. Though it is not an official "translation" as the name Cyberia is not a word, it can be expanded to mean "Technological Siberia".

Early History
For many decades prior to the turn of the 21st century, Antarctica's volume of true land beneath a mile and a half of ice had its vast resources covertly exploited by the American and Soviet superpowers. Many mining stations were established in secret. These mines and other such important areas were heavily guarded, surveilled, and their civilian workers escorted by military units of mostly American and Russian origin. In order to facilitate the public overlooking of mining operations, the Antarctic Treaty System was established. Proposal to other countries was done whilst turning a blind eye to the resource operations happening over the continent. These two superpowers allied with one another for the sole purpose of keeping such resource operations hidden from the rest of the world. All the while, they slowly but steadily fueled their economies under the guise that these resources were coming from their own countries alone.

Internal Unrest
Through the decades-long duration of the operations, some of the high ranking commissioned officers that were stationed for the long-term in Antarctica began to think for themselves, rather than for the good of their home countries. These officers dreamed of a place where they could keep all the resources for themselves, and thus all the profits that come of these resources. Needless to say, this would be no easy dream to achieve, these officers were obviously in the minority when it came to plans for the future. Detailed war plans and contingency plans were passed around in secret to those that were surreptitiously proven to be feeling the same greed. Recruitment of more officers happened slowly but steadily, and secret meetings between these officers became a regular schedule.

Public Discovery
At the turn of the 21st century, a sudden and uncontrollable leak of information was launched by an unknown agent or agents. Nearly all classified documents, pictures and videos of the Antarctic mining operations was uploaded to to the public web, which soon gained traction in the world media, and thus the near-monopoly was heavily compromised. This came as a complete and total surprise to the planning military officers. However, to their advantage, since none of their own plans were ever officially known to anyone but them, their upcoming coup was still under wraps.

Militant Coup
Total lockdown of each and every mining station was ordered by the generals back home in Russia and the United States. The plotting officers complied. Under the veil of the sudden governmental alert, these undercover separatist officers feigning continued allegiance, requested extra supplies from their home countries. When supplies arrived, the same officers then ordered the planes to be captured and their pilots detained. Most of their troops complied, those that didn't, were quickly labeled as followers of the leakers by the officers, and also detained. These now detached battalions, under the impression that they were fighting against defecting sectors, used the captured planes to send soldiers to other mines that were in fact still loyal to US and RU. Battles between soldiers that were once one in the same ensued as a means to the end that was seize and control of each and every resource mine over the continent. Blood was shed and lives were lost as a result of fighting between loyalists and soldiers lead by separatist commanders, akin to civil war.

The fighting and takeovers were relayed to the home countries by the defending fronts. With focus lost on suppressing information about Antarctican incidences, the general public was also informed of the violent outbreaks. The world stood and watched as internal conflict was breaking apart the chain of command; military officials questioning who they can and can't trust, sometimes even violently accusing each other of defection. With time, capture and control of the most crucial mining stations by the separatists was ultimately achieved, though many lives were lost and/or became prisoners of a new war.

Soldiers that had killed their fellow men under false pretenses had began to question their commanding officers as to why they needed to do what they did. These officers consulted one another, and eventually agreed to finally let their men know of the true nature of the situation. That is, that these soldiers had just started a whole new war with the two most powerful countries on Earth. A majority of these soldiers were rightfully distraught and angry at their superiors for making them commit such atrocities. The officers utilized their contingency plans and defused any mutinies by talking their men into the benefits of becoming an entirely new and sovereign nation with all the resources it could need at its disposal. The officers also sold their men on the fact that surrendering when the superpowers come to attempt to take back their land, would lead to court marshaling and life sentences if not capital punishments.

Formation of Cyberia
The mines were kept in operation under the guard of a now disavowed military. Captured military aircraft were used to transport raw materials and many other types of goods to and from outside countries. These countries bought the materials, and soon with these profits, the Antarctic bases acquired the means to process and utilize their own excavated resources. This lead to an expansion of what small military bases lie nearby the mining stations, as well as additions and manufacturing plants installed. It was not without further conflict stemming from American and Russian interference, but the new permanent residents of Antarctica would go on to experience an almost exponential growth, and became known for their heavy defense and thorough scavenging of those that fall before them. They later would come to be officially designated as, Cyberia.

Now in the 23rd century, Cyberia, named so for its technological nature and its frigid climate,is now best known as "The Brooding Dragon in the Impenetrable Castle". The dragon is in reference to Cyberia's state military, which is primarily and vehemently concerned with defending its icy soil, the castle it resides in.

Government
With the Constitution of Cyberia in place, the country is legally defined as a unitary stratocracy. That is, it is a military state (stratocracy) with a centralized power (unitary) that presides and governs over all territories of Cyberia. Much of its governmental offices require the office holder to be currently be enlisted in the military. Positions with more responsibilities and/or authority similarly require higher rank to occupy. Those who have been honorably discharged are allowed in some cases, however this discharge carries with it the ineligibility of promotion.

Officially, there is no executive, legislative nor judicial branch of the government. Though, parts of its commonly associated institutions can be seen in the infrastructure of the government, such as courts of law (civilian and military), and conferences of lawmaking.

Foreign Relations
The country, at the present time, considers itself neutral to all countries and factions that it does not have an alliance with, however it is officially "always watching", which not-so-subtly reinforces the image of iron defense the country is known for. Furthermore, after the dissolving of NATO and other such mass-treaties, Cyberia is one of many countries that no longer acknowledges the authority of old war treaties such as the Hague Conventions and Geneva Conventions, though some humanitarian practices are still in effect, for example the non-targeting of assisting Red Cross soldiers.

Military

 * Main article: Cyberian Military Forces

Unlike most militaries, the Cyberian military is not officially divided between an army, navy and air force. It is noted that the military stays as one unit as closely as it can, for the sake of whole organization communication and simplified logistics. The divides it does have however, are done between official military installations and offshoot branches that deal with civilian affairs.

The military is very deeply integrated into society. It can even be said that while most states have a military, the Cyberian military by contrast has a state.

Political Divisions
There is a necessary political divide between the military population and the civilian population. This division manifests in the form of the authorities that preside over them. For example, civilians who are detained by law enforcement or riot control after having broken a law, are taken to a civilian court of law. By contrast, personnel who are detained by military police are tried in military court.

This is because Cyberian military personnel are sworn to a stricter and more draconian set of laws than civilians are as soon as they join basic training.

Legislature
During its upbringing, the country mostly assimilated the constitutional rights of the once-great United States and much of its common law. However, due to the alienation of its mother countries, the law system was not solidified and so there were many inconsistencies and at times even preferential treatment by higher authority. An example was shown to be worse treatment of mine workers who committed crimes, whilst enlists and officers were given relatively softer punishments for the same actions. With time, soon a coherent set of rules were laid out and voted upon. These ended up being more authoritarian and a bit more draconian than previous iterations.

In its present state, there is a supreme Cyberian constitution, though it allows the higher echelons of government to revise it more readily than most countries' constitutions. Cyberian law is intended to be structured around logical and common sense rulings, and deliberately quashes the influence of emotion in these rulings. These laws and regulations heavily resemble the US's during the early quarter of the 21st century, with many revisions made in the pursuit of consistency, streamlining, and reasonable malleability for a constantly changing populous. A few examples of the vast amount of adjustments include: a time limit of two years imposed on court battles, speed limits raised in all types of areas, simplified gun ownership laws coupled with rigorous and recurring background checking, and sentencing made more punishing. It has been ruled that any new happenstance that is not unambiguously regulated by law is subject to special government scrutiny and evaluation.

Sanctions for criminal activity are harsh yet usually swift. Lesser crimes are often given one of three punishments; jail time, a fine or fines imposed, or wages cut and given to the government for a certain amount of time. The more severe the crime, the longer and/or more severe the sanctions. The prevailing method of capital punishment is standing before a firing squad, of which its five riflemen are chosen at random from the population of civilians who own a class II gun license, in the city or closest area the crime was committed in. Firing squad rifleman are compensated monetarily, however participation is not mandatory. RC Chief Warrant Officers are responsible for commanding firing squad executions.

For liability and insurance purposes, recording devices such as dashcams and input logging devices similar to airliner black boxes are required on all civilian vehicles, including freight trucks like semis. Car manufacturers often use the inclusion of built-in dashcam devices, recording capacity, resolution, and frame rate as marketing features.

The drinking age in Cyberia is eighteen years of age. Acceptance for enlistment in the Cyberian Military Forces is a lower limit of seventeen and a half years of age with no upper limit, provided that applicants are able to complete basic training. The age of consent in Cyberia is sixteen, and laws for sexual activity largely follow upon 21st century Russian laws, and have not changed much since.

Gun Ownership

 * Main article: Gun laws in Cyberia

Firearms are classified only by their average muzzle energy, measured officially in joules, as opposed to barrel length or select fire capability. Basic licenses are available as a base certification upon completion of an educational course and examination in firearms safety and operation. However this is only a certification of basic knowledge of firearms operation and safety, and is not sufficient for ownership of any kind. Ownership is dependent on license classes. A gun owner's license class is dependent on the owner's education and training. For example, Class I certification requires the owner to physically display a basic level of proficiency and safety with weapons of the caliber class, using government-issued testing firearms. Proficiencies such as reasonable accuracy and control with small arms of this general size are tested. Classes II and higher require not only the education and training of larger calibers, but the acquisition of all preceding classes as well.

Cyberia has a very high rate of gun ownership. It is estimated that 8 in 10 people own at least one firearm, and many of those that do, own several.

Geography

 * Main article: Geography of Antarctica

The general geography of Cyberia is very much unchanged from the point at which the continent it resides on was occupied. With the exception of the larger mining quarries dotted around the country, much of it has been left as it was found. Large swathes of land is actually more or less permanent ice more than 1.5km thick on average.

Topography
Cyberia's landscape can be described as coming in two flavors; high jagged mountains separated from each other by vast areas of relatively flat snow and ice.

The Transantarctic Mountains divide the continent, and thus the country, into two regions; East Antarctica and West Antarctica. The east has become the most populated region due to the higher ratio of proper land beneath permanent ice sheet. This land is home to the majority of the rich resources the continent holds, and so is the home of the majority of the major cities that are supplied by such resources.

Climate

 * Main article: Climate of Antarctica

Due to Cyberia's location on the extreme southern edge of Earth, it is the coldest country on the planet. In fact, the highest natural air temperature recorded was about 17°C (63°F), which is only a few degrees above the common room temperature.

On the coast, within most major city limits, the average high temperature is about -10°C (14°F). Areas deeper into the country such as Decatur and Articuno, city temperatures average around -55°C (-67°F).

Sunrise and Sunset
Night and day are very different terms in Cyberia. Due to the continent of Antarctica residing on all longitudes, it technically carries all time zones. Nearly all locations within Cyberia experience polar night and midnight sun at the June and December solstices, respectively. In short, the country has fluctuating spells of 24 hour nights and 24 hour days.

Man-Made Infrastructure
The major cities of Cyberia are essentially built surrounding very large and active military bases where constant training and deployments are held.

Major city limits peak around the size of 21st century Maryland, an area of roughly 12,400 sq mi (32,100 sq km). The smaller minor cities hover around the size of 21st century Las Vegas; 136 sq mi (353 sq km). Both major and minor cities are often built quite dense at their busier spots, as a result of minimizing exposure to the frigid elements. Along with areas of less business such as certain non-apartmental residences and underdeveloped areas, there are also areas of less density built on purpose such as recreational parks and mall plazas, where citizens often visit for relaxation and as a getaway from potentially claustrophobic conditions. Expansion is generally made vertically rather than outwardly. It is not uncommon for a tall building to house more than one business separated by stairflight and/or elevator floors. In the case of completely new buildings being added, they are usually placed on the outskirts of the city, close in to existing buildings. Buildings and floors that are no longer in use are quickly sold off to expanding or starting businesses. As space is at a premium, large signs advertising the location of multiple businesses in either Russian or English or both are a common sight.

It is found that due to the closeness of buildings and density across city blocks, the ambient temperature of inner city areas is significantly higher than areas closer to city limits. Building code regulations require the thorough integration, maintenance and redundancy of temperature control systems, or more specifically, heating systems for the health and safety of occupants, protected from the ever-frigid atmosphere outside. City roadways also benefit from government-required heating infrastructure to keep them freed from ice and snow. Cyberian government rules that residents of apartments and other residential areas are not to be charged for heater use. Room temperature is commonly regulated to 60°F (16°C). Building code regulations also expect residential complexes to have a certain level of soundproofing preventing the passage of nuisance noise between apartments. This soundproofing must block any noises below at least sixty decibels.

LEDs and very high color temperatures such as daylight/overcast (6000K-9500K) and CRIs of 70-98 are quite popular in Cyberia. Just as sodium lamp color temperatures (2700K) are very common in other countries' street lamps and residences, daylight temperatures are ubiquitous in Cyberia, seen in every installation from vehicle headlights to store lamps to home sockets.

Economy
The Cyberian economy is largely formed around the mining, and selling of its raw resources to other countries. It gathers these resources from its own mines all over the continent, which often reach more than a mile below the surface through ice sheets. A significant secondary form of income for the country is the sale of export variants of military hardware and similar technology to outside countries.

Much of Cyberia's resources are used for itself as well, in the manufacture of almost all of its hardware across the whole continent. This has made it relatively easy for the country to survive on its own without outside assistance, and is a point of leverage for Cyberia in negotiation for it need not rely heavily on other countries for prosperity.

Taxation
The Cyberian government collects taxes from an nearly all transactions made in the country through ruling that any monetary transaction, down to even bank interest calculations, is to have its thousandths place and lower collected as tax. This is in contrast to rounding, where the final amounts are rounded to the nearest hundredths and left at that. Truncation tax collects that minuscule amount rather than getting rid of it. Sales tax, such as tax collected on consumer goods, in Cyberia is calculated first by percentage, and then a simple formula known as the "Ceiling Tax" formula is applied. Cyberia does not circulate nor mint coins or fractional denominations such as quarters or pennies, and the "Ceiling Tax" is the reason behind this, as physical money-exchanging transactions are assured to be whole numbers.

Agriculture
Agriculture in the country is nearly exclusively done within extremely vast and multi-level indoor facilities similar in size and shape to the Boeing Everett Factory. These facilities are equipped with very powerful climate control systems that simulate ideal conditions for healthy crop growth. Stepping into these facilities is often compared to stepping into an entirely different country. All crops have been engineered genetically in the previous decades for increased growth rate and yield. While there is no shortage of open space to plot and plant, there is next to no fertile soil across the continent, as most of it is covered in kilometers of ice sheet. This has led to the development, success, and steady improvement of synthetic products that rely on crop yield, such as food-grade oils and foods themselves. A large swathe of synthetic food products in many sizes and shapes have been and are being sold on store shelves, with many claiming to be indistinguishable from the texture, taste, calorie count, etc. of the genuine ones they exist to replace. Cheaper products tend to take the form of rectangular "food bars" lacking in color and bearing the consistency of protein bars, while more expensive ones are made to look just like the foods they intend to supplant. The synthetic engineering boom has resulted in counter-marketing against synthetic production. Terms such as "fake food" and advertisements on non-synthetic products pointing out the fact that they are indeed "genuine" are common strategies employed in anti-synthetic marketing.

Synthetic Engineering
This synthetic engineering market has also reached into non-food markets as well, the most important of which being motor oils and fuels of all kinds. Crude oil has indeed been found and tapped under the surface of Antarctica, however there has been a significant shift in the manner in which it is utilized. Nearly all lubricant oils and fuels in Cyberia are synthesized through proprietary processes. The fuels are known to be available in many levels of energy density.

Energy
The bulk of the uranium mined in Cyberia was and is still used in the fueling of many fast breeder reactors in the country's military centers. Most if not all city reactors employ cogeneration strategies to provide easily accessible district heating for its citizens. This is why none of these powerplants have conspicuous cooling towers. Uranium is the most common resource used for power generation, as other options such as coal and oil which are also mined within the country, are generally either traded as goods with other countries or used in various other manufacturing processes in-country. While fusion energy is indeed a proven reality at this point in time, it has been deemed too costly and inefficient to replace the already tried and true fission reactors in-place and very well-researched. Being one of the driest and windiest countries in the world, Cyberia takes advantage of these locational phenomena with the utilization of solar power towers due to the absence of clouds (with the exclusion of the city of Overcast), and wind turbines both inside and outside city limits.

Mains electricity is supplied to the public in the form of 347/600VAC, four-wire, three-phase at 60hz.

Transport
Underneath the cities' surface and heat pipelines, there is a vast tunnel system of high-speed subway rails built as one of very few methods of public transportation in Cyberia. The other most common modes of public transportation is by high speed train between cities and by jet airliner. High speed rail lines are relatively straight shots between cities by two tracks to and from destinations. Due to their straight nature, they can easily exceed 200mph (322km/h) even with a full load of passengers and freight. Airliners are only used for long distance travelling, such as between cities or to and from the country. Airports are usually located just outside the cities they service, and are constructed with very long runways in comparison to most airports.

Due to temperature concerns, personal transportation is nearly entirely dominated by automobiles. It is quite rare to see someone riding any kind of bicycle, and motorcycles are not much more common. The notion that "everyone has one" has lead to a large modification community surrounding cars to personalize their cars and/or outperform other cars.

Major roadways such as freeways and highways are built very wide due to large lanes made with the use of military vehicles in mind. Minor roadway lanes in contrast to major ones are made a comfortable width for civilian cars and freight trucks. Speed limits are high compared to other countries. The most common speed limit in residential areas is 45mph (72km/h), up to 100mph (160km/h) on freeways, and 120mph (193km/h) on highways. On average, motorists are able to exceed the limit by about 10 or fall behind it by 5 before they are pulled over by policemen.

Science and Technology
The public enjoys access to technologies largely researched and developed by the country's military, whose designs are first evaluated and tested for use by the military, then they are either sold off to the highest bidding company, or kept and manufactured for an extended period of internal usage. Smartphone use is ubiquitous amongst the population, as is the structural integration of flat and thin screen displays that usually respond to touch input. This is often seen in mid-range restaurants where table systems display and relay information on their hydrophobic surfaces, as well as act as flowing decorations when not in direct use.

Computational power once deemed much too expensive to be practical has significantly dropped in price over the centuries gone by. However, to this day they are still considered quite pricey to manufacture, thus pricey to own. Optical fiber interconnects between computers and/or input sources have become the norm, with older standards such as copper cabling largely having been replaced. Nearly all data transfer infrastructures is connected via optical fiber, which is especially true in connections between cities. This has led to an extremely high data rate cap amongst all populations in-country, allowing even public library computers to download and upload at common speeds of 10GB/s (gigabytes per second as opposed to gigabits).

Miniaturization of bulky hardware has been achieved in many places, notably in virtual/augmented reality devices that resemble pairs of sunglasses, though these kinds of devices are known to be prohibitively expensive. Miniaturization is also seen in heads-up displays that are usually only seen on military vehicle drivers' and military aircraft pilots' helmets, or on the helmets of more experimental yet expensive units of  the CMF, or even on the footsoldiers of the more advanced PMCs. Indeed, the majority of Cyberian military vehicles employ a somewhat heavy worn headset display that connects to various inconspicuous camera systems dotted around the armor. For example, this gives tank commanders a 360° hemisphere around their vehicles. Pilots have an even better view, and aircraft equipped with this AR technology are usually recognized by their opaque metal canopies.

Students entering higher education in Cyberia are very often encouraged to pursue a degree that would benefit the research and development of new technologies for the military. There has been rumors that the CMF is steadily making progress with cybernetic modifications to otherwise completely biological beings, and even AIs replacing or augmenting the bodies of people and the drivers of vehicles. However, none of these rumors have been backed with believable evidence.

General Public
The general population of citizens in Cyberia mostly but don't exclusively consist of species with winterized adaptations, such as snow leopards and huskies. Even so, people can still be seen wearing thick and insulating clothing when outside due to the frigid climate. That being said, people are not usually outside for very long, as they are more likely to be seen inside of a car or building.

Much of the population is employed in some way by the Cyberian military. As such, the public is never far from the presence of their military. This has led to splits in public opinions regarding such a presence. Most feel comforted and protected by a common military presence, others feel watched, and some feel herded and/or controlled to an extent.

The majority of citizens are able to read, write and speak both English and Russian, though casual conversation is commonly spoken in English. Contrary to common beliefs about LGBT rights in Russian states, members of the LGBT community in Cyberia are rarely seen as questionable, nor are they seen as extraordinary. Similarly, it is not uncommon for citizens to identify with some form of bisexuality and/or gender fluidity.

Children are generally raised in what could be considered traditionally masculine approaches. Young women are raised in an equal manner to young men, rather than being taught that they are weaker than men nor are in need of the protection of men. As a result, it is unusual for a women to be seen acting strictly feminine. Rather, they are usually seen as more masculine than is expected in other countries. Cyberian women tend to buy into clothing and accessories made for men and/or unisex purposes more often than feminine items.

The Cyberian state is known to be wary of immigrants and tourists, as an extension of their objective to protect their land and citizens. Visitors are scrutinized heavily and at times are almost treated as lesser than a documented citizen by the state. However the citizen population is known to treat outsiders better than government authorities.

The majority of Cyberians trust in their government and see it as their primary defensive shield against outside nuisance and enemy activity.

Religion
Religion is not a common influence in the population, civilian or military. For the good of the country, the Cyberian government makes an effort to stay out of religious affairs. This means keeping theist influence out of decisionmaking.

Health
All Cyberian citizens possess the right to universal health care, especially if injured by the state (law enforcement, riot control, etc.), if the citizen does not opt to pay for a privatized insurance and/or medical company to provide them with the service. This universal health care is widely considered to be the baseline; the bare minimum a person gets should they not pay a private insurance company. Those who rely only on state-provided health care are generally regarded as penniless and/or exceptionally sure of their own safety.

As of 2200, the life expectancy of non-military males was 96, for females it was 98.

Education
Primary (K-12) education in Cyberia is largely formed around practicality, critical thinking, and the solving of real-world problems students may face in life outside the classroom. Children and adolescents are deliberately taught the same subjects in same manner, regardless of differences in sex, species and/or gender identity. They are taught not to fear the world around them, but to make the most of it. Mandatory language classes teach bilingualism through both English and Russian. Students are required to wear schoolboard-appointed uniforms that can be described as plain and undecorated enlisted uniforms. Enlistment in the military is continuously encouraged throughout children's childhoods, but never mandatory.

Universities and colleges are required by government regulation not to necessitate unspecialized or elective classes in the evaluation of students for degrees. Classes must have explicit and significant relation to their corresponding major in order to be required for the acquisition of the degree itself.

Government monitoring and indirect management is in effect, which ensures the generally homogenized teachings of students in specific important subjects such as math and history, regardless of school location. Driving education is mandatory around the age of fifteen, and gives emphasis on how and why traffic problems are created, and how to avoid them as well as minimize their effects. A popular driving technique taught is names "tailing", in which motorists at a stop match the acceleration of the car in front of them when allowed to proceed, and while velocity increases, the motorist widens the gap between them and the other to allow for sufficient braking distance if needed.

Optional electives in Cyberian high schools are known for the inclusion of firearms safety education and training.