After two versions of Rage and Rage 2, the post-apocalyptic world created by software has a fascinating context, and the story is long enough for me to explore.
Meteorite 99942 Apophis
In Egyptian mythology, Apophis was the god of chaos, the enemy of order and light. In real life, 99942 Apophis is a genuine meteorite, discovered by scientists in 2004, with a diameter of about 270m – relatively small compared to the size needed to cause a global disaster. Initially, this meteorite was expected to fly across the earth around 2029; before the calculations are changed, the new meeting time will be 2036. If it falls to Earth, we will see an explosion destroying everything within thousands of square meters and many other damages, but there will be no global disaster.
Apophis “rubbed” with the moon before turning towards Earth.
In Rage, Software has “strongly” buffed this meteorite, shown by the image it touched our moon before changing direction to Earth and colliding somewhere in the Middle East. Fortunately, upon hitting the moon, Aphophis broke into three large pieces, and many small pieces flew in different directions, so humanity still has a chance to survive.
Feltrite
The mineral called Feltrite, which Apophis gives humankind, has strange properties. It reacts hugely strongly to gravity and is why it deviates from the original safe trajectory when it enters the area of gravity’s influence. Another unique thing is that Apophis contains a vast amount of Feltrite, so much so that scientists believe that it has the highest amount of Feltrite in the universe. This mineral is very light but very durable, making it an ideal building material. You can also use them to create more vital ammunition and armor.
Feltrite crystals on a fragment of Apophis.
Upon impacting the Earth, Apophis’s fragments leave huge pits called Feltrite Crater, filled with pure Feltrite ore. We visited one of these collision locations in Rage 1, but it’s a bit confusing that you can’t pick up any Feltrite crystals here.
Although it may be the culprit that created the doomsday of the Earth, there is one thing that Feltrite is unjustly accused of: the Authority says they cause mutations in the gene and create mutant mutants. But this is entirely incorrect because Feltrite is not radioactive.
Project Eden
This is one of humanity’s efforts to conserve the race from the genocidal disaster that Apophis will bring. All of the world’s superpowers are involved in this project and create lots of Arks – hibernating shelters for a small number of people to survive. The project is carried out in secret so that even selected into Ark will not know about its existence until the end.
The Ark is usually relatively small in size, designed only for 12-24 people. The Ark control software is programmed to consider the safe time to “wake” up and release the survivors inside.
When the public learned of the impending disaster, chaos and violence erupted around the world. The existence of several Ark was also discovered, causing both the elect and the soldiers to protect the crowd massacred it. Even so, the vast majority of Ark is buried safely to wait for an uncertain future.
However, there is some Ark created for other purposes. There is a “Super Ark” created with the capacity to hold hundreds of people, but no one knows what the purpose is, including the people who made it and the people who will live in it. On the same night that Apophis will crash into Earth, the military force that protected the Super Ark led by General Martin Cross rebelled to take this shelter. When Super Ark came to the surface after 76 years of hibernation, Martin Cross and his subordinates called themselves Authority, with the ambition to create a new world according to one’s wishes.
Soldiers Authority.
Ark
Ark is a small shelter, only used to protect a group of human elites, hoping that they will be the core to rebuild civilization after the disaster has passed. Unlike the Vault in Fallout, these bunkers are entirely built to protect people inside. They exist in the US and many countries worldwide, but in limited quantities and ultimately kept secret. According to information from the Rage novel, at least three countries, the United States, France, and China, have built these bunkers.
Ark emerges from the ground.
Each Ark is built-in fully protected factories – guards on each corridor, and tanks cover the area’s outer perimeter to prevent attacks from those in power who know they cannot choose to be an inner survivor.
Armed with advanced AI simulation software, Arks can be operated completely automatically. They give survivors the ability to “communicate” with Ark and store any information about science and technology. The AI’s voice was chosen as the female voice because it is believed that it will bring more comfort and friendliness to the survivors when they wake up from hibernation.
How the Ark is buried differs depending on location, but we have been told a description of Ark 437a, the hiding place of protagonist Raine in the Rage novel. This Ark has at least two floors, containing many necessities from tools, weapons, seeds, food, drinking water. After finishing the construction, this giant metal block is raised and dropped to the ground with two super-heavy military transport helicopters.
A corridor in the Capital Prime maze.
The enormous Ark that human-made to deal with the disasters that will occur after the Apophis collision is Super Ark, now known as Capital Prime. This is the headquarters of the Authority, the opponent of the player in both games. Still, it is a giant Ark. A lot of other Arks have been destroyed for various reasons. The existing ones always do their job well: crystallization of civilization before the end of the world, and provide gamers with many useful tools.
After much fighting and fighting, the Resistance forces hacked into the Ark’s system still underground and forced them to emerge with a satellite of the Authority. From this point on, it seems that no more Ark is hidden underground.
