Chronology of the Year Zero alternate reality game

The following is a fictional account of the Year Zero scenario, as described by Year Zero websites, the album, and other sources. Presented are dates in both AD and BA ("Born again," a fictional, in-game epoch, with year 0 occurring in 2022 AD). Many of the dates and specifics are incomplete or vague, given the nature of their fictional documentation.

Historical in-game events

Although the "fictional" timeline of "Year Zero" begins in 2007 (−15 BA), a number of actual historical events are also considered continuous with the storyline, according to in-game timelines such as the one on [http://anotherversionofthetruth.com/revisionism.htm "Another Version of the Truth"] :

*November 1986 (−36 BA) – The International Court of Justice rules in the case of The Republic of Nicaragua v. The United States of America that the United States had violated international law by supporting Contra guerrillas in their war against the Nicaraguan government. The Court ruled in Nicaragua's favor, but the United States refused to abide by the Court's decision and refuses to pay the fine imposed by the decision.

*November 1989 (−33 BA) – East and West Germany are reunited with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Lack of a communist "enemy" results in a "decade of panic for the military-industrial complex," a vacuum which is eventually filled in 2001 (-21 BA) with the War on Terrorism.

*August 1990 (−32 BA) – March 1991 (-31 BA) - In response to the invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces, the United States and its allies attack Iraq in the first Gulf War. Afterwards, many combatants report illness, supposedly as a result of their service (commonly referred to as the Gulf War syndrome).

*April - July 1994 (−28 BA) – Approximately 1 million Africans die in the Rwandan Genocide. The genocide is largely ignored by the international community, while the Yugoslav wars garnered considerable international attention, including NATO intervention.

*September 11, 2001 (−21 BA) – Terrorism strikes the United States in the September 11, 2001 attacks. The attacks are largely politicized by American politicians.

*October 2001 (−21 BA) – The United States and its allies invade Afghanistan in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11.

*March 2003 (−19 BA) – The United States and its allies invade Iraq, as a part of its continuing War on Terrorism. The war is largely criticized for its lack of pretense or direct connection to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

*January 2005 (−17 BA) – Oil company profits continue to increase, despite economic decline in the United States. ExxonMobil becomes the first company in history to break the $10 billion mark in quarterly earnings. Meanwhile, the political administrations of the time refuse to sign the Kyoto Protocol and seems to ignore evidence of global warming.

*August 2005 (−17 BA) – Hurricane Katrina destroys New Orleans, Louisiana. After the destruction, "federal support is both late and insufficient."

Pre-"Year 0" events

*October 17, 2007 (−15 BA) – "Military Commissions Act" is passed, effectively suspending Habeas corpus. [The Military Commissions Act was actually passed on October 17, "2006", not 2007. Given that critics of the act have given similar arguments of it suspending Habeas corpus, as well as the similarities in dates, it may be reasonable to assume that the real and fictional acts are one in the same, and that stating that the act was passed in 2007 (-15 BA) and not 2006 (-16 BA) is merely a factual error by those creating the websites which reported this event (either in-game or out of game).]

*January, 2008 (−14 BA) – President George W. Bush leaves office. [Unless Bush were to leave office prematurely for some reason, this is technically incorrect since American Presidents do not officially leave office until January 20 of the year following an election, which in this case would be January, 2009 (-13 BA).]

*February 22, 2009 (−13 BA) – The 81st Academy Awards are attacked with a dirty bomb utilizing ricin; more bombs follow. Anaheim, California is attacked with biological weapons.

*February 25, 2009 (−13 BA) – Following the attacks in Anaheim, Los Angeles, California is evacuated 3 days later.

*March 2009 (−13 BA) – The United States initiates nuclear strikes on Iran and North Korea in retaliation for the ricin attack on Anaheim. It is publicly contested whether there was evidence as to who was actually behind the attacks.

*August 2009 (−13 BA) – Angered by continuing aggression, many Muslim countries and terrorist groups unite and declare Jihad on the United States.
"Parepin" is first introduced to public water in Orlando, Washington, D.C., New York City, Atlanta, Boston, and subsequently the rest of the United States. The "Emergency Measures Act" is passed which effectively restricts freedom of speech, and the resulting protesters are imprisoned and/or executed.
105th Airborne Crusaders are commissioned.

*September 2009 (−13 BA) – Congress passes laws further limiting freedom of speech and making U.S. Military personnel governmental property.

*December 25, 2009 (−13 BA) – 105th's first engagement in Syria.

*May - September 2013 (−9 BA) – Many African governments fall apart. Calls for help from the African Union go unanswered.

*July - October 2015 (−7 BA) – Indo-Pakistani War (4th of its kind, the most recent of which occurred in 1999), concluding with the mutual nuclear destruction of both countries.

*2018 (−4 BA) – The "Chelsea Incident" at 21st FIFA World Cup in England, in which football hooligans brutally assault and kill an Argentine family. Two of the attackers had prior convictions, leading to increased public support for prisoner tracking devices called "nerochips."

*November 2018 (−4 BA) – The first female President of the United States is impeached and convicted of treason. As a result, legislation is passed that ends free elections and allows the President to be chosen by a congressional panel.

*April 2019 (−3 BA) – Bioterrorism "attack" on Seattle. The government states that the populace was saved by Parepin in the water, while others contend that the attack was staged by the government.

*2020 (−2 BA) – Belize completely recovers from Hurricane Imagard, and later solicits "citizenship bonds" in spam e-mail to Americans wanting to escape the United States.

*February 2020 (−2 BA) – An American diplomat by the name of Jed Mather is kidnapped by Algerian terrorists. He is exposed to and subsequently dies from the Red Horse virus, and his death is recorded on videotape. The resulting "Mather Law" further strips Americans of their civil rights, particularly Muslim-Americans.

*July 2021 (−1 BA) – International corporations and world governments form the "Coalition for Peace."

Year 0 and beyond (Born again)

*January 2, 2022 (0 BA) – The United States (with the aid of the Coalition for Peace), establishes a new international calendar, dubbed "Born Again" (BA for short), and declare 2022 as "Year Zero."

*January 6, 2022 (0 BA) – Andy Ciarlarielli and Cecelia Buckley, most likely agents from The State Bureau of Investigation or the Bureau of Morality, invoke a plan to use Andy's cousin, Margaret Pontiroli, to spy on a resistance group operating out of the Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry.

*January 16 – January 18, 2022 (0 BA) – A two day riot is instigated by police in Brixton, England when they sweep the area for so-called "chip pullers," or people who have attempted to remove their nerochips.

*February 4, 2022 (0 BA) – 105th Airborne Crusaders spot "The Presence" from a rooftop. This is the first reported appearance of The Presence.
Neil Czerno executed.

*February 5, 2022 (0 BA) – Raid on the Quaker Outreach Center at the University of South Florida.

*February 7, 2022 (0 BA) – An underground nightclub dubbed the "Star Chamber" is barricaded by federal law enforcement after being infected with the Red Horse virus. Approximately 112 people are killed in the incident.

*February 9, 2022 (0 BA) – "Angry Sniper" shoots people at a baseball game in Wrigley Field, Chicago in an act of "resistance." [Under the current Major League Baseball schedule, there are no major baseball games played in February. This anomaly may be an error by those creating the websites which reported this event (either in-game or out of game), or may signify a shift in baseball schedules in the world of Year Zero, possibly due to global warming.]
Cedocore extends its partnership with the Bureau of Homeland Security Health Management to continue work on "immunological protections."

*February 10, 2022 (0 BA) – The Solutions Backwards Initiative crew run their "test". It appears to be an experiment with quantum computing, involving "subversives" from around the world, to send banned information back through time. The test seems to work, before the operation gets ambushed.

Notes

References

*cite web
url = http://www.42entertainment.com/yearzero/
publisher = 42 Entertainment
title = Year Zero Cast Study
accessdate = 2008-04-09
* cite news
url = http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_args
title = Secret Websites, Coded Messages: The New World of Immersive Games
author = Frank Rose
work = Wired
date = 2007-12-20
accessdate = 2008-01-08

External links

* [http://yearzero.nin.com Official "Year Zero" page] at NIN.com
* [http://www.ninwiki.com/Year_Zero_Research "Year Zero" Research] at the unofficial NIN Wiki
* [http://www.echoingthesound.org/phpbbx/viewforum.php?f=23 echoingthesound] – discussion forum regarding the ARG