ReConstitution Hill v1

edited in Projects
Amaze 48h Game Jam

Word Theme: Johannesburg, The Chop Shop Manifesto, Duality
Art Theme: Lo-Fi, Google Maps
Team:
- Mike Geyser
- Alec Larsen
- Keiran Reid
- Dean!

gamejam.co.za/Games/ReConstitution_Hill

ReConstitution Hill
Joburg, City of Gold.

It was many years after the 2013 nationalisation of the mines and the collapse of the South African economy that Paridisium deposits were discovered in the Witwatersrand area. The mines reopened. The money poured back into the county as the international Cybernetic Implant market boomed. To avoid the distasteful strikes and greed of capitalist mining companies, AI Entities were implemented to run the country’s larger concerns. South Africa was important again. It was the only country that seemed to have an endless supply of the metal needed for complete cybernetic integration.

De Beers, once almost bankrupt, became a ‘world power’ and extend their operation to the manufacture and sales of Cybernetic Implants. Those who could afford the implants became more powerful, more intelligent, lived longer, looked beautiful and, of course, wealthier. Technology and science prevailed. Workers were given implants so they could lift and extract more from the deep tunnelling mines.

While De Beers continued its climb as a world player inequality and disparity grew drastically. The Cities started to separate, half slums and ghettos and the rest pristine technological wonders. The Rand became the most sought after currency in the world. The Government started to appoint De Beers board members into all the major positions and they grew fat.

For some time this turmoil reigned over the country. Protests, uprisings and strikes were quelled with hysterical violence. How can a mere man compete with the CRP (Cybernetic Regulation Police)? These ‘policemen’ were hardly men; their augmentation was almost complete. Their regulations were only there to protect those already in power.

The 11 Judges of the Constitutional Court led the only modicum of resistance in favour of the Old Democracy. The Court was allowed to exist only while the Government tried to maintain their international image as the “Rainbow Nation”. They had no real power; their decisions were never implemented; they served as a glorious illusion of the prosperity and sanctity of augmented life. They did however organise rallies, spend days in court holding the De Beers board members in contempt and generally being a nuance. They continued this meagre resistance for years, never quite achieving what they hoped to, never quite brave enough.

Over the years the city has been torn apart. The implants gave those who could afford them too much power, too much wealth and too much beauty. It drove all of them mad.

It was after the 2022 murder of the Chief Justice that action was taken. The ConCourt rallied the people and isolated the CBD from the rest of Joburg. They built massive walls, expelled most of those who had implants and declared themselves independent.

For 8 years following they were under besieged. The siege only ended after those on the other side of the wall lost their sanity. The implants drove them mad and they became violent scavenging animals. De Beers and South Africa collapsed. All that remained was the ConCourt and the 2 million in the CBD.

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