The Net

Towards the end of the 20th Century, a world was created.

''No, the world that was created was not a planet, for that is only a item in Science Fiction and Fantasy. The world that was a virtual double of the world we have today, where individuals of this world can exist in a electronic virtual world.''

It was called The Internet.

''It first existed as a small electronic database of information for our Reality, but over time, it expanded till it because an entire virtual world itself. People from around the world with computers can access this world. They can exist as they would in Reality, or they could become a whole new being.''

This is The Net.

The Net, also known as The Internet, is a virtual world where information from Reality is stored. People from Reality travel to The Net for their daily necessities, and as the bond between The Net and Reality fades, The Net will fully become a part of Reality.

Any person who travels to The Net becomes an Avatar, which can have multiple personalities to suit their needs.

History
Before The Net, there was Reality, the universe that we currently are living in.

The Birth of The Net
During the 60's, a Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States has sparked massive fears of a potential Nuclear War. Several men from a university proposed the development of a network of computers from around the world that can be immune to Nuclear Attack. Their idea was noticed by the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA), a organization owned by the U.S. Military, who then proceed to connect several computers from lands apart.

In 1969, the first prototype network, ARPANET, was created. Soon after, people began to notice the true potential of such a network of computers, and their ability to store vast information, and more organizations took part to develop ARPANET. The program soon split into two seperate networks, called the InterNet.

Although it was a breakthrough, it was not available for commercial and public use, due to the cost of such a venture. In 1989, a man named Tim Berners Lee thought up the World Wide Web, a program which images, videos, and documents can be stored, and then viewed and extracted by different computers. In 1991, the U.S. Government developed the National Research and Education Network (NREN), allowing commercial presence on the Internet. Within 3 years, the internet can be accessed at any home with a computer, and sites were created for companies, schools, and shops. The internet, best known now as The Net, turned into a virtual world.

The Internal History of The Net
By the end of the 20th Century and the start of the 21st Century, The Net evolved enough to become a virtual world where anyone can access, and where anyone can store information of any kind. Different subcultures sprang up, either Advanced classes or mutated trends.

The masters who know the skills on how to develop The Net, the Nerds, are still greatly depended on by most of The Net to keep The Net running. In 2000, the Nerds cooperated with the Intels to develop Nupedia, a haven where information can be stored. However, it was abandoned when they began another similar project, Wikipedia, a place which would contain a large database of information, both electronic and physical. In time, it would become one of the largest Domains on The Net. At around the same time, The Net soon fell into peril by conflicts cause by the Noobs, who would attempt to ruin domains by producing disruptive elements.

In 2008, separate conflicts between the subcultures and the further attempts by the Corps to take control of The Net sparked the Great Flame War, which would consume entire domains in flames and peril.

Domains and Communities
In The Net, there are communities, known in the net as Domains (or Sites). Domains can consist of a single Page(A section of a community) or could consist of dozens and dozens of sites, which would turn it into a sort of large Town or City. Each Domain serves a purpose to Reality. Sites can promote media from Reality, host media, contain vast information, or in several unpleasant cases, produce large sexual content.

Transportation
Main article:Transportation on The Net

Each Site has a name and a special code, known as the Domain Name. For example, a large well known entertainment and media city Youtube has the Domain Name "Youtube.com". Avatars who come into the internet travel between Sites all by means of Teleportation: -In all Sites, there is a Teleportation Station, or otherwise, an Address Box. Address Boxes can be either small booths with teleportation pads, or a moderately sized building with several seperate Teleportation Pads. -In several Sites, there are Teleportation Stations that lead to only one sites, called Links.

Forum
A forum is a large plaza where people can discuss topics, usually accompanied with a large bulletin board. They appear in many domains. A constant problem is that they can often be invaded by Noobs, who will plague the air with disruptive noise and holographic text.

Message Board
Message boards are large boards or walls meant for people to place messages on. They are usually electronic, and messages are shown in holographic form.

The People
Anyone who comes to The Net become Avatars. They can have multiple personalities to suit their needs and to identify themselves in each different site. Avatars do not live in The Net, though several Avatars can make them more like home by creating their own site. They do not die, unless their counterpart in Reality dies. However, Avatars can be knocked out for quite awhile.

Subcultures
In The Net, there are many subcultures which Avatars fit into, and some of them often come in conflict with each other. Several observers noted that some subcultures have a Capital on The Net, as if they were Nations, where many of a subculture spawns.


 * The Nerds, a.k.a. the Geeks or the Techmen, are a advanced subculture. While less useful in Reality, many domains on The Net depend on the Nerds to keep things running. They are in charge of repairing the reaches of The Net and have the ability to create mass arrays of domains. Their "Capital" is the large Domain city of Google.
 * The Noobs are not exactly a subculture, but are more of a classification for avatars in the internet who use hologram technology to communicate by holographic text instead of real voices, and randomly abuse other players and clogging the air with text. This is a certain mutated trend in The Net and often come in conflict with other races. Their current "Capital" is disputed among observers and researchers, though a majority of Noobs exist in Online Gaming Domains.
 * The Norms basically do not fit into any subculture. They are regular Net goers who travel to The Net for their basic needs. Most of them spawn from the city of Google.
 * The Intels add masses of information into the Sites and Domains of The Net. They usually work with the Nerds to create large storages of information. Their biggest partnership resulted in the creation of Wikipedia, a ultimate storage of information of both Reality and The Net. Their "Capital" is the giant information community of Wikipedia.
 * The Gamers typically are testing out new forums and websites. They visit many, many websites in one day, often commenting and registering on forums though very rarely actually posting.  They enjoy playing website specific games, flash games, and previewing many movies and other shows.  This race does not like Corps or Noobs, but is always ready to try out new files from Hackers and Pirates.  Their current "Capital" is probably a war between "New grounds" and "Facebook."
 * The Pervs are considered one of the most threatening subcultures in The Net, having the ablility to suddenly fill the air with holographic pornographic images, and produce a substance that stimulate sexuality on The Net. Currently, the Pervs are at war against the rest of The Net. Their Capital actually consists of two different Domains: Endra and Fochan.
 * [[The Renegs (The Net)|The Renegs, short for Renegades, are people combating The Corps from ruining The Net. They are often criticized for intimidation and activity similar to the activities of Noobs, and they place hideouts in domains run by the Pervs and Noobs for self protection. Their activities are scattered around The Net.
 * The Corps are elements from Reality who try to control and ruin The Net by forcibly removing content and trying to control The Net. They include large companies and so-called Religious cults. Their targets are avatars who their real life counterparts do not reside in the United States, and people who put up videos made by large corporations but the corporations greedily and selfishly grab hold to them. They have taken control over large parts of Youtube and Google, and are going after more domains, attempting to dominate the Net.
 * The Fems are completely made up of females, unless in unusual and unpleasant cases. the Fems speak in a form of slang incomprehensable to several subcultures, usually abbreviations of popular phrases like "Oh My God" (OMG, now used quite commonly)
 * The Hackers are experts at infiltrating sites and stealing information from private domains. Many reside in the infamous Pirate Bay.
 * The Pirates are similar to Hackers, but are more into giving out free online goods sold by Corps and are highly illegal due to the strict 'Law of Copyright'. Most of them lurk in the infamous Pirate Bay.

Most domains are patrolled by Moderators, or Mods, who are in charge of protecting a domain from troublemakers.

Memes and the Creation of Minor Elements of The Net
Technology creates The Net, but certain elements are created by the avatars themselves. It starts with a meme, a concept or an idea intended for The Net. When a large number of avatars boost the popularity of a meme, it takes its place in The Net as a virtual object, usually a piece of wildlife, a book or a place in a Domain. For example, a popular meme involved the image of an owl accompanied with the words, "O RLY". Once it gains popularity, it transforms from a simple humorous image into a part of The Net. In this case, the O RLY owl exist on The Net as one of the few wildlife species in The Net, the O Reilly Owl.

Other memes that has become a part of The Net include the "Shoop Da Whoop" meme, which gave the special ability for Noobs and several others to emit large bright blue lasers from their mouths, and inspired the creation of laser weapons on The Net.

April Fools Day
On April Fools Day, domains and avatars play tricks on each other, putting up hoaxes and pranks around The Net. An unofficial but widely used song, "Never Gonna Give You Up," by Rick Astley, is used as an anthem for this day.

Christmas
Christmas is a time for giving and gathering in Reality, and is also a festival on The Net. Simulated snow is generated in some domains to celebrate this time.

New Years
Though many avatars are acting in their reality form at the New Years day, some people choose to be in their virtual form. Many electronic billboards and televisions are often switched off to view a full coverage of the New Years party. At the YouTube center, many films have been changed to the New Years coverage.

Technology
Technology in The Net is fairly much more advanced than Reality. Most Technology began as is when the internet evolved into The Net. Hologram technology emerged during the start of the 21st Century, and has been used for commercial and special purposed. Plus, Electronics make up 98.5% of The Net, for The Net depends on technology to exist.

Weapons
In The Net, weapons greatly differ to ones in reality.
 * Flame Weapons are one of the most popular weapons, since they can be used by a majority of people. This coined the term Flame War, a conflict between two subcultures on The Net.
 * Banhammers (or Hammers of Banishment) are large hammers carried by Moderators of The Net. They have the ability to knock people out for 30 minutes, allowing to disable troublemakers.
 * The development of Laser Weapons were greatly inspired by several Science Fiction films, and the special laser abilities of the Noobs and several other types of avatars. They usually emit a large blue beam that can reach 18 meters away before fading.
 * Viruses have been exploited by several subcultures including the Corps to be used as weapons.

Notable Domains

 * Google (Google.com) is one of the largest communities in The Net. Created by the Google Company, Google contains a advanced transportion system, many electronic Google products, and the largest Search Engine ( a machine that searches the domain someone's looking for.)


 * Wikipedia (Wikipedia.org) is the largest keeper of information from both Reality and The Net. Created with the help of a brotherhood of both Nerds and Intels, the information is kept in both electronic and physical form. Wikipedia contains the largest Museum and Library on The Net, and its Electronic information can be edited by anyone who knows about something. Security is tight in the community to prevent any vandalism that can hinder the credibility of Wikipedia.


 * Youtube (Youtube.com) is one of the largest entertainment and media centers of The Net. Dedicated mostly to videos and films, it is home to nearly a hundred theaters, and thousands of video viewing booths.


 * Wikia (Wikia.com) is a website which keeps information on special topics, like specific games, worldwide news, creativity, entertainment, life tips and much more. Wikia allows users to create wikis about topics with the permission of a staff member, so that it creates a Wikipedia-like community for one or a few topics, unlike Wikipedia.  Each Wiki has its own library, while the Wikia archives have all of the existing articles.  Security is also tight to block vandalism from Pervs and Hackers.  Mostly Intels run the site, and it is allied Wikipedia.  Gamers tend to actually edit on Wikia.


 * Nohoma (Nohomers.net) is one of the largest communities run by fans of a TV show. Nohoma is dedicated to the show from Reality, "The Simpsons", and contains dozens of forums and a large museum.


 * New Groundland (Newgrounds.com) is a popular area for Flash Gaming (Loose Electronic Gaming) and Flash Films (Animation shorts).


 * Endra (Domain name unavailable) is the subcapital of the Pervs and considered a extremely dark place on The Net. Currently facing constant raids from other subcultures due to the ongoing Great Flame War, the entire city/domain is covered with Substance 30 (commonly known as XXX) and is a common hideout for Renegs, including the infamous group Anon.


 * Facebook (Facebook.com) is a large Domain used for storage of personal info of people in Reality. Profiles are created by avatars themselves.


 * MySpace (Myspace.com) is another Domain similar to Facebook's, and they often clash with each other over competition.


 * Pirate Bay (Piratebay.com) is infamous for its presence of Hackers and pirated online goods like Movies and Games. The Corps clash with the Hackers over the control of this area due to 'copyright'


 * Ebaum (ebaumsworld.com) is a sort of 'sister' domain of New Groundland, also being a domain famous for flash cartoons and videos.


 * Digg (digg.com) is a domain similar to Ebaum and New Groundland.


 * Uncyclopedia (Uncyclopedia.org), sometimes referred to as "Wikipedia's Twisted Reflection", it is a humor domain meant to parody Wikipedia.

Flame Wars
In many times of conflict between subcultures, Flame Weapons are used, which resulted in their popular name Flame Wars. Flame Wars can exist as small skirmishes or massive cross site battles. They are sometimes called Cyber Wars, though this is referred to conflicts caused by Hackers.

The Great Flame Wars
The Great Flame War is the largest ongoing cross-domain Flame War, with combatants of all subcultures taking part. The War started as seperate conflicts that merged together till the entire Net was at a state of war, including several raids, the Chanology war, and the Copyright war. Several people theorized that the Great Flame War officially started in the year 2008 due to the following reasons: These conflicts eventually merged together to form a single gigantic conflict with multiple purposes and devastated thousands of sites. Entire domains went in flames, and several parts of larger domains became battlegrounds, including Google, Youtube and Wikipedia (currently one of the most successful in controlling them).
 * It was the year when the conflict between Anonymous and Scientology began
 * The 2008 American elections intensified racial tension and conflict in both Reality and The Net
 * Raids by opposing subcultures increased during that year
 * The Copyright Conflict exploded on The Net.

The Feline Wars
The Feline Wars, otherwise known as the Meow Wars, was the largest cross-forum flame war on The Net. Involving lots of spamming and endless fighting in many public or electronic forums. It resulted in the collapse of many forums and the casualties of several hundred Avatars.

The Chanology War
The Chanology War was a conflict that experts believe was a part of the Great Flame War, though the idea remains in conflict. It is a conflict between the Organized Cult Scientology and the Reneg organization Anon (short for Anonymous). Scientology, known in Reality for its scamming, criminal activity, and money laundering, was retaliated by the new organization Anon after constant attempts to erase entire domains that were against the actions of Scientology.