Cascadia Metropolitan Alliance

Portland, Oregon

History of the CMA

The Cascadia Metropolitan Alliance is an urban area that stretches from Salem, Oregon, through Portland, Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, and ends in Vancouver, British Columbia. Although each city still maintains it's own political identity and control, a new council was formed by the three largest of these cities, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, to coordinate activities and resources among the Alliance. The Alliance itself follows Interstate 5 and rarely extends beyond 10 miles of it in either direction, the exeptions of course being Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver.

The Pacific Northwest was once home to highly developed tribes of Native Americans. These native inhabitants lived a mainly coastal lifestyle that depended on the sea for resources. In the 19th century, the area was occupied by the British who set up fur-trading forts throughout the region.

In the Mid-19th Century, many Americans migrated to the region, prompting it's transferral to U.S. control. The settlers extensively logged and fished the area and built the cities of Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver as ports to the Pacific.

This utilization of natural resources continued throughout the Twentieth Century until over-use threated to the eliminate them altogether. It was then that the prevailing economy shifted from a resource-based economy to a more skill-intensive high-tech base.

This shift effectively displaced a large part of the rural workforce. Changing climatological conditions in the early 21st century from a slowly warming ecosystem led to a further displacement of the rural population.

These displaced farmers, timber harvesters, fishers, and tertiary services then either sold their land to Genom and moved to the city or stayed behind, producing just enough to survive.

The cities quickly became overcrowded and unable to support the increased population who were, for the most part, ill-equipped to be productive in the urban economy. The majority of these urban refugees quickly became homeless, unable to maintain the rent on their Genom-built Conapts. Some turned to crime to survive. The crime rate in the early 21st century sky-rocketed, as munincipal police departments tried in vain to keep control. The homeless and jobless rate was further exasperated by the development of Boomer technology which provided reliable robotic slave labor, further displacing human workers.

Rise of the Cascadia Metropolitan Alliance

The Cascadia Metropolitan Alliance was founded in 2017 to help coordinate the development of areas for industry and housing in the now heavily urbanized I-5 corridor. The CMA filled the void of the increasingly less powerful and pervasive National Government. The CMA made every attempt to house, feed, and employ all of these new citizens. New hydroponic farms were built in huge geodesic domes. Also, food was imported from Canada and Asia to feed the hungry masses that huddled in the shadows of the towering Conapts. Massive construction was completed using cheap boomer labor and advanced materials and engineering developed on the Genareos Space habitat. A new high-speed mass-transit system was built to link Los Angeles to Vancouver B.C. This system is called the Cascadia Maglev and stops in L.A., San Francisco, Eugene, Salem, Portland, Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, and Vancouver. A new modernized airport was built south of Seattle with major funding from BMDL Aerospace that was capable of landing and launching LEO Spaceplanes and Shuttles.

The Influence of Japan

Also during the early 21st Century, Japan's influence as an economic power grew, increasing the already strong presence of Japanese-born citizens in the Pacific Northwest. Corporations like Genom grew tenfold in size. This strengthened Asia affected the urban society of Cascadia. Soon, the cities of Cascadia came to resemble Tokyo or Hong Kong more than their North American Neighbors.

This new influx of immigrants has led to a more diverse urban culture in the Pac NW. Major ethnic demographics changed in the course the second decade of the 21st century. Today, the major ethnic groups represented in the CMA are the Japanese, Chinese, Southeast Asian, Caucasian American, and Native American. There is still little African American or European American influence in the CMA, representing less than 10% of the population combined.

The Unified Police Police Force

To keep control of this new expanding population, the CMA formed a Unified Police Force to combat the skyrocketing crime rates of the 2010's. The UPF expanded the juristiction of municipal police forces to the entire Alliance. The UPF basically coordinates the opertions of local police forces throughout the region. The UPF is structured along the lines of the MegaTokyo Police Dept. with an N-Police branch and an AD-Police branch. The only difference between the American ADPolice and it's Japanese counterpart is it's greater utilization on Police Boomers to combat crime. The UPF makes great use of reliable Police Boomers for unusually high-risk operations. It's also rumored that the CMA maintains a black-operations squad for highly illegal work, and that this squad is comprised of several high-ranking boomers.(See or read "Ghost in the Shell" by Masamune Shirow for more on this type of government squad)

Catastrophe Containment and Control Department

To fight fires, explosions, and other catastrophic events, the Catastrophe Control and Containment Dept. (3CD) was formed. The 3CD coordinates the local fire, search and rescue, hazmat operations, and disaster relief departments into one organization. The 3CD operates closely with the Unified Police whose duties often overlap.

Daily Life in the Arcologies

By 2033, the people of the Alliance live in huge Arcologies in relative comfort. Homelessness is still widespread but has been reduced by the economic boom and the gradual shift to a service-based economy. Crime is down thanks to the Unified Police. The Corporates (employees of Genom, BMDL Aerospace, Artemis, and Megasoft), conversely, live in luxurious apartments in the gleaming high-rises of the economic centers downtown. Food for the masses usually comes in the form of pre-packed krill-cakes while the Corporate Rich usually dine on fresh food imported from China or Canada.

Power is supplied by giant solar collectors built into the south-facing sides of the mountainous Arcologies. These solar collectors are comprised of thousands of smaller mirrors that individually rotate to follow the sun's arc across the sky. There are also several Hydroelectric dams still in operation despite their purchase and dismantling by Genom. In the 20th Century, the Dams provided most of the power for the region, but the damage done to the fish runs prompted Genom V.P. Toy Tanaka to dismantle most of them. Those that remain are either independently operated or used for flood control on the Columbia River.(See or read "Appleseed" by Masamune Shirow for more on the Arcologies mentioned above)

Boomer Rights

One other major difference between the CMA and Mega-Tokyo is the recognition of certain Boomer rights. It's always been the American tradition to respect the rights of the individual, and the introduction of Artificial Intelligences and Boomers offered new challenges to this tradition. On the one hand, AI's and Boomers are artificially created beings and are endowed with as many rights as a toaster or a computer or a car. However, AI's and Boomers are intelligent, often as or more than intelligent as their human creators. How could a nation that upheld the tenants of freedom and democracy support a system that relied on the enslavement of intelligent beings, human or likewise?

This ethical dilemma was resolved (or at least postponed) by a Supreme Court decision in 2020 which allowed for boomers, upon demonstration of an ability and desire to do so, to sue for their independence. Otherwise, boomers are created and sold into slavery. This political compromise weakened GENOM's power base in America to an extent, and bolstered Boomer and AI rights, without erasing the institution of Boomer indenturship altogether. Today, there are so-called "Free Boomers." Boomers and AI's who have demonstrated a desire for independence and successfully sued in court. They are treated like any other sentient with full rights and priveledges. They can vote, be drafted, obtain driver's liscenses, and own property and businesses. Their new rights, however, have not erased the feelings most "Natural" humans have towards what they perceive as at worst "inferior beings" and at best "rivals." Many free boomers face daunting descrimination and often find free life difficult. Often boomers respond with protests or violence. The ADPolice generally respond with undue force to Boomer protests, often instigating unneccesary riots.

Boomeroids

One other major technology pioneered by Pacific Northwest Corporations is the development of advanced Boomeroid bodies. These Cyber-droid bodies house living human brains, similar to Boomers which utilize dead human brains that have been severely altered to interfact with computers. The brain is encased in an apparatus that sustains oxygen and blood flow within the artificial body. The result is the ability to switch bodies by swapping out the brain cases. Boomeroids, as they are called, are highly sophisticated and are as yet very expensive, much more expensive than comparable high-class boomer bodies. The procedure of transplanting the human brain into the artificial brain case is also very dangerous and expensive. As such, only the most wealthy or important people can afford a Boomeroid body. Also, many military, corporate, government, or police agents will have Boomeroid bodies made. Boomeroids are considered human and are granted full human rights under the previously mentioned Supreme Court decision.(See or read "Ghost in the Shell" by Masamune Shirow for more on Boomeroid bodies)

Some see this as the first stepping stone to a revolution of Boomers. Others see it as having already happened.