Club Inferno take place in a world both similar and alien to our own. The biggest difference is that at one point, history took a different turn. Instead of a rapidly expanding digital innovation in the years before 2000, a single discovery changed humanity’s focus to biotechnical research rather than electronic. The current year is not relevant, but it is in a vaguely defined future.
Androids
Some twenty-thirty years ago, scientist and visionary called Dana unlocked the secrets of human DNA, understanding it and mapping our genes in a way that no one else understood or fully comprehended. They created the first Androids, the N1 generation. They were genetically designed to lack negative emotional reactions as well as other parts that would be detrimental to performing simple work. Dana also discovered how to pre-program memories into the Android brain designs, albeit in simple fashions. This allowed them to grow Androids with simple skills already taught, straight into their instinctive reactions.
Androids became the perfect workers. They did not suffer, they did not complain, they could work from the moment they were taken out of the vat and they could take care of themselves by satisfying their basic needs without direction.
Actions were taken to make them look less like humans in order to prevent people from being uncomfortable around them. Paintjobs turned out cheaper than modifying their DNA, so a simple pattern was established that could categorize them into different models and could be changed if they were told to perform a new function – a painted line across their eyes.
Androids were also given a genetic lifespan of four years and inability to reproduce, along with a genetically inherited block against any kind of violence or harm against humans. This block is not like a command in their head, but in the form of crippling anxiety and paralysing fear should they ever learn that what they’re doing might harm someone known to be human. All this was explained as necessary in order to keep them ethical – were they to live longer, they started showcasing faulty behaviour and emotional instability, so it was deemed necessary.
The Company
The Company spans across the entire world and is more powerful than any state that still remains. Owning the intellectual rights to the creation of Androids gave them a monopoly unlike any the world had ever seen. They are a state above all states, and even the police and other authorities often require the approval of the Company before doing anything drastic. They have their own security offices that are far more powerful than any local police force.
Culture and Society
The world of Club Inferno is different from our own in another significant way. Gender, sexuality and the notion of race has all ceased to matter in the present. There are still those who remember how important these things were in the past, but here and now, society is decidedly queer when seen from a participant perspective
Fame Economy
Androids quickly took over all sorts of menial jobs and labor markets and made it possible to produce things at very cheap prices, but the world is still divided among the haves and have-nots. Society has also gravitated towards a place where fame and ”being someone” is intimately tied to access to luxury and material things, and influencers and videobloggers are part of the elite.
The world is divided according to your centrally monitored Fame. Likes and recommendations are the currencies of the future, and money has ceased to matter. Labor and resources are free on the most basic level, and everyone has an apartment, some food on the table and a decent enough healthcare. At least everyone who is registered in the system – some people fall through the cracks.
Androids, of course, do not have Fame, and cannot pay for anything. They belong to an owner, and might sometimes be bestowed with their chip to pay for things.
Everyone else – everyone who is someone – has a fame rating. This rating goes from A to H:
A – World famous. Billions of people know about this person.
B – World famous. Known all across the world in a field that reaches millions.
C – Locally famous, or world famous in a narrow field.
D – Locally influential. Never recognized on the street, but often known to those in the same field or area.
E – Moderately influential. Few negatives, few upsides. Successful in their work, but not famous.
F – Lacking any influence. The standard citizen level. Has only basic rights, but is allowed in most private establishments etc.
G – Negative influence rating. Bad recommendations. Barred from many private institutions and places.
H – Redlisted. Banned from everything per default, except basic rights.
At the larp, the highest level of Fame will be C, and the lowest of those with any fame at all will probably be G.
Recent Developments
In recent years, Androids have become more than just workers and replacements for machines. With the advent of the N6 models, the Androids were no longer easily distinguishable from humans except in the ways humanity looked at them and treated them. Their memories were still rudimentary and simple compared to the complex life of a human, their lifespan is only four years, they are still treated as objects, but the ever-expanding desire for Androids to fulfill more and more tasks and functions for humanity led the Company to approve of this latest model.
Now, Androids are best friends, lovers, nurses, companions, even police or security guards (Although still prevented from harming humans). The N6 revolution is upon us.
But, with the latest models of N6 Androids breaking all previous limitations, there are an increasing avalanche of rumors that some limitations that were not meant to be broken, have been weakened. Rumors of Androids harming humans, malfunctioning in violent ways, desiring ‘freedom’ and more, are rife in society. Hatred against Androids among those who have lost their meaning and work to their cheap labor is on the rise, Android-rights movements as well, and a societal clash is coming closer and closer. Meanwhile, the Company is imposing more and more restrictions on sales and the genetic programming, while working hard on developing an even newer model that will be without all these problems. All attempts at preventing the backlash from society.
Everyone with a finger to the pulse of the world has a feeling of impending doom. Sometime soon, something great and terrible will be unleashed. Others happily ignore it for another day in paradise.
The latest rumor from a few months back has it that the Company board has disappeared, and a new Board has been put in its place. What happened to the old ones – including the Android creator, Dana, is unknown to most.
Aesthetics
We want a faded color palette, with lots of browns, greens, blues greys and dark colors in general. Things that would not stand out too much in muted lighting and against the color of clouded skies. We want to see mixed gender expressions, with skirts and formal shirts, snug waists and cargo pants and other ways to change up the silhouette. This is 80s future noir so go introvert and low key and not shiny techy space opera. If you are richer you can go slightly more fashion show style with asymmetrical and a bit impractical creations.
Avoid traditional uniforms and go for shirts, boleros, ties, matte leather, ponchos, plastic, geometrical shapes or classic suits with modified lapels(or other details).
Here is a costume guide, taken from Where Androids Die, since the larp is set in the same era: Costume Guide
YES/NO LIST:
Yes:
- Dystopian sci-fi
- Mixed gender expressions
- Everyday practical
- Odd but discreet cuts of normal pieces of clothing.
No:
- Militaristic(Camouflage, tactical gear, uniforms etc.)
- Flashy gadgets that don’t have a function or purpose
- Bright colors
- Rave-aesthetics
- Weapons
For Androids:
Known Androids dress appropriately for their occupation but also emphasize a synthetic aesthetic to minimize compassion and sympathy as humans tend to get annoyed and distracted if the laborers could be confused for a human. This is done by applying a makeup mask that joins the eyes over the bridge of the nose. Smooth foundation with a plastic feeling or slightly odd lenses are nice add-ons too. As Androids are almost indistinguishable from humans on a biological level, this is an ingame alteration of looks that all Androids carry out.