The Sandbox

A realm somewhat similar to our own in ways, though a good few decades ahead and humans haven't completely destroyed the planet yet.

Generic corrupt capitalistic government in a cyberpunk semi-dystopia, but there's a lot of aliens just trying to find a home on a planet filled to the brim with humans.

Political conspiracies, onset of xeno rights, underground rebellions, and possible signs of an interstellar war.

Sci-Fi / Sci-Fi Fantasy / Speculative Fiction / Raypunk / Cyberpunk

• Earth is a planet that's unknown on a galactic scale. The "backwoods" of planets, it's often seen as a resting spot if not a very isolated oasis in a sea of dark space that very few beings are aware of. Which has been both a hindrance and an advantage. Nevertheless, it has become a hot spot for refugee aliens that are escaping intergalactic wars, their home being destroyed, or fleeing enslavement from stronger forces.

• On a global scale, humans are aware that aliens are real and have actively seen UFO's in the sky. Humans are still unaware of xenos living among them. On average, less than 30% of the worldwide population is known of this information.

• The global elite are 100% aware of aliens inhabiting Earth and have been exploiting, enslaving, and controlling these foreign beings from the stars for their own personal gain.

• A resistance has been around for decades, though it didn't gain traction until the mid 1960s. Humans that know of xenos, wish to help these entities gain both awareness as well as civil rights to live among humans as well as establishing a strong alliance in hopes to progress humanity on a global scale.

• Just like humans; not all xenos are kind or friendly. Some actively do work with the shady, global elite and willingly allow themselves to take the roles as servitors to ensure the survival of self or kin by handing over tech to further progress their own gains.

• Earth itself is still in a state of environmental conflict, yet after the united agreement of The Humanity Pact in 2033, many nations were hellbent to push for their planet's recovery as well as for their own survival. From 2033 to 2050, the major nations around the world did whatever they could to restore the balance of nature, with America lagging/struggling greatly behind in the process.

• Around 2048, a second civil war erupted in America. This time it was the people vs their own government after the population as a whole grew tired of the corrupt powerhouse and lack of motivation to contribute to The Humanity Pact. This led to years of confrontation and eventually as subtle invasion from Russia which then became a powder keg of a distraction. The American government "thwarted" the invasive threat of a foriegn country, but in turn not much had changed via civil/domestic unrest that triggered the second civil war.

• On July 23, 2052, sightings of UFOs were seen all around the world both filmed and to the naked eye for three full hours. Eyewitness and live coverage reports stated that the world leaders had in fact attempted to make contact with said extraterrestrials, but no reply was given. The UFOs left 48hrs later. No communication was had. For years, all attention was on the United Nations for answers. Only one response was given; "They know we're here and we know they're out there. This was simply a call for us as humanity to be prepared." To this day, it's still unknown who (or what) the aliens were.

• From 2052-2060 humans as a whole flourished and failed under the reins of new technology. More diseases were cured, the occasional war was had between a country or two, but as a whole; things were as usual, but both a little easier or harder depending on one's perspective.

• By 2065, humans successfully colonized the Moon and Mars. Intentions of colonizing Titan are underway, but complicated due to humans struggling with deep space travel.

• 20 years have passed and to this day, only 5% of Earth's population are aware that aliens have colonized and inhabited their planet for centuries. Of that 5% are the governments that are hellbent to maintain power over these refugees from other planets in hopes of controlling these alien life forms.

The laws of physics are much like the ones in reality, although given that humans have perceptions limited on face value. Logic and facts can't be broken, but they can be bent or changed if new discoveries are made.

Often to those that struggle to comprehend certain aspects of technology, biology, and physics may witness particular things or be involved within a situation where they perceive a performance magic-like, but genuine magic is hard to come by. Then again; just because you can't explain it, doesn't mean it's no less real.

On a Kardashev Scale, humans on Earth have almost reached a Type 1 scale of harnessing their own energy via the planet, but the regrowth of greed and various governments have wrought past conflicts that have led to them taking multiple steps back. Various xenos that once I inhabited their own planets have made implications that their own people have achieved Type 1 and even Type 2 on the scale.

Imagine if Neill Bloomkamp had directed MiB combined with Judge Dredd aesthetics. Harsh reality with high tech/low community of neo-cyberpunk vibes. Humans have advanced tremendously as far as tech levels thanks to their governments stealing most of it from xenos. Deep space travel is still an issue, there's still the conflicts of health concerns, corrupt governments, and shitty people. But at least there's a broader variety and now you've got aliens in the mix that make things way more complicated.