Northstar

In the future 20 years from now, civilization is starting to crumble. Natural resources necessary to sustaining life are beginning to dwindle to a critical point causing governments to be toppled and society devolving. Mass migration, revolution, and financial collapse plague many countries, with others bearing the brunt of unchecked influxes of refugees. Oil, water, agriculture all suffer as countries try to stop their own from revolting while keeping out those who seek shelter. Behind the curtain, a powerful multinational corporation known as Atlas builds itself by offering infrastructure and stability to governments who can longer manage their country. They cede control to Atlas, who subvertly controls the population. Propaganda to the citizens of a failing state, false flag operations to turn the tide of the people against their own government, social engineering and resource deprivation, are all tactics used by Atlas to ensure they gain control of a failing state. For the citizens they promise security and normalcy. What Atlas gets is full control through puppet leaders. But there are those who wish to fight Atlas and its growing control. Underground collectives of hackers and soldiers join forces, working as independent cells and partnering with governments who refuse to let Atlas in. The world has reached a tipping point. Atlas has begun instituting a new program called Northstar in the hopes of finding society’s best and brightest and giving them the environment to flourish in. After their time in Northstar is complete, they are asked to go back to their native country and help implement the innovations and changes they developed in Northstar on a national level, with the full support of Atlas. However, unbeknownst to the participants of Northstar, they are not participants at all. Atlas instituted the Midnight Protocol - a system of algorithmically choosing the top individuals in their respective fields, abducting them in the middle of the night, and dropping them (literally) into a combat proving ground. The participants wake up as they are falling, and an automatic parachute opens, helping them land on the ground. They have nothing on them. Abandoned buildings and sheds on the grounds contain weapons and ammunition. A loudspeaker announces the rules of the game, and only the first 50 to make it to the green zone will live. The rest will be killed as their neural implant will explode. Each participant has 6 hours to make it to the greenzone at the center of the proving ground. The goal is to unlock the most carnal sense of survival out of each individual and push them to a breaking point where they will do anything to live. To those who pass the test, their memories are erased and new ones implanted. To those who don’t make it, they are left to die on the field of battle. To Atlas, it is ensuring only the strongest genetic lines prevail in the new society they are striving to create.