October 2142

1 October 2142
ANCHOR: The latest FTL Flash-Poll shows 63% of NAU citizens support the new Universal Identification Law. 28% said they were concerned about potential invasion of privacy. 9% were plugged into the Virtual Reality Net, and could not be reached for comment.

2 October 2142
ANCHOR: During last night's performance of The Fantasticks at New York's Neil Simon Theater, Sally Heater's holo-dress malfunctioned, changing size and style at random – then disappeared altogether! Sally says she plans to sue the manufacturer, Holo-Wear Industries.

5 October 2142
ANCHOR: With the election six months away, the campaign is heating up. Privacy Party Candidate Julian Matthews said today that Habitat Mars – the government's five-year, 100-trillion-credit plan to terraform Mars for human habitation – is a scientific boondoggle which would bankrupt the NAU.

6 October 2142
ANCHOR: Responding to criticism from her chief rival, Privacy Party candidate Julian Matthews, President Clarke today called Matthews' position on Habitat Mars: "out of sync with the future". Scientists have been on Mars for nearly a year, but so far the government's costly terraforming project has made little progress.

7 October 2142
ANCHOR: Privacy Party candidate Julian Matthews today again blasted the NAU's unilateral effort to terraform Mars. Matthews called Habitat Mars "a waste of resources better spent restoring our ecology here on Earth". Barton Poole, chairman of CenBank – which is heavily invested in the project – calls the charge "environmental hysteria".

8 October 2142
ANCHOR: Six-year-old Kiri Allen had the ride of her life today when her floater bus ejection seat misfired over downtown Detroit. Luckily, the automatic parachute brought Kiri safely back to Earth, frightened but unharmed. This is the third floater bus misfire in less than a month. The Detroit Transport Authority is investigating.

9 October 2142
ANCHOR: The Identity Chip was once just a way to make shopping and banking fingertip-easy. Now, chip implants are the law – and today, the Privacy Party vowed to take its protest to the streets during President Clarke's Unified Party convention in the NAU Capitol, Chicago, next month.

12 October 2142
ANCHOR: Virtual Reality – it's legal, it's popular, but is it safe? Realist Party Presidential Candidate, Perry Epp, claims that VR addiction, which has risen to an estimated 9% of the population, is a worldwide problem contributing to low worker productivity and the disintegration of family values.

13 October 2142
ANCHOR: An FTL Flash-Poll shows 22% of NAU citizens agree with the Realist Party's position that Virtual Reality addiction is a growing social problem. But 22% still believe that Virtual Reality is safe. 10% were plugged into the Virtual Reality Net, and couldn't be reached for comment.

14 October 2142
ANCHOR: DNA Wonders today introduced its latest designer pet – the Astro-49. It is a dog which stands upright, has hands instead of paws and can mimic simple phrases. Not only can the Astro-49 answer your vidphone – it doesn't shed, and only has to be walked once a week!

15 October 2142
ANCHOR: President Clarke today revealed a breakthrough at the Mars terraforming colony, which could allow atmosphere processing to begin within one year. Clarke's chief political rival, Privacy Party candidate Julian Matthews, called the surprise announcement "a sham perpetrated by the government and CenBank".

16 October 2142
ANCHOR: Dr. Kristeen Ballard, Chief Scientist at Habitat Mars, confirmed today that there has been a breakthrough in the costly attempt to terraform the red planet. Volcanic activity has been induced near the polar icecaps. Ballard says this is the first step toward creating an atmosphere which can support human life.

19 October 2142
ANCHOR: Privacy Party candidate Julian Matthews today again dismissed the government's claim of a breakthrough at the Mars terraforming colony. Matthews insisted that "even if some success has been achieved, the NAU is already so deep in debt that CenBank literally hold the mortgage on Mars".

20 October 2142
ANCHOR: CenBank Chairman, Barton Poole, today disputed claims that the loans outstanding on Habitat Mars will bankrupt the NAU even if commercial colonisation is successful. Poole insists that CenBank's contract with President Clarke shares both the present burdens – and the potential rewards – equitably.

21 October 2142
ANCHOR: The results are in from the latest FTL Election Poll. Analysts suggest that the sudden surge of support for the Unified Party is due to President Clarke's surprise announcement of a breakthrough at the Mars terraforming colony. Clarke claims that commercial mining on Mars is "just around the corner".

22 October 2142
ANCHOR: News of possible commercial mining on Mars has given Kai Densmore of Toronto new hope. Like many in the NAU, the former moonbase engineer is out of work because the budget deficit has stalled economic growth. But Densmore is optimistic. "If Mars happens," he says, "I'll be there!"

23 October 2142
ANCHOR: The fifteen Elvis Presleys which escaped last month from the Hollywood Island House of Clones have been rounded up in Las Vegas and returned to their manufacturer, CloneStyles Unlimited. Clonestyles announced that it is also recalling all series "J" Mother Teresas, which have taken to spitting and swearing at strangers.

26 October 2142
ANCHOR: Virtual Reality addiction is on the rise. But addicts, known as "Goggleheads", may soon have a new toy to play with – one which could make goggles obsolete. It's called BioMerge – a disc which is inserted directly into the skull. Public hearings on the new product begin next week in Chicago.

27 October 2142
ANCHOR: Realist Party candidate Perry Epp urged world leaders not to license the new virtual reality product BioMerge – a disc which fits directly into the skull. Pointing out that VR addiction has jumped 12% in just the past month, Epp fears a worldwide crisis if BioMerge is approved.

28 October 2142
ANCHOR: What is life like for a Virtual Reality addict? For 16-year-old Wendy Corsair, it means waking up, putting on her goggles and blowing off reality for the rest of the day. We asked Wendy if she'd like to have the new BioMerge disc inserted in her brain. She just smiled and drifted off into the VR Net...

29 October 2142
ANCHOR: There has been an explosion at the Hispanic Commonwealth's Noriega moonbase. This according to eyewitness accounts from the NAU's Wilson base about ten kilometres away. There is no word yet on casualties or what might have caused the explosions. Emergency rescue teams are enroute to the scene.

30 October 2142
ANCHOR: The Noriega moonbase is a mining colony housing 1,200 humans and 1,800 clone workers. It is powered by an old-styled fusion reactor and authorities say this could have been the source of yesterday's explosion. Investigators from the InterCombine Space Agency have already arrived at the base.