A Short History of the NSTA

The comic is set in the near(ish) future, starting in about 2035. This timeline should give you an idea of the events that shaped that world and led up the creation of the NSTA.

2007 - The Sears Tower in Chicago is bombed in the second terrorist attack on US soil. Initially, this was believed to be caused by the same group that engineered the World Trade Center attack, but was later revealed to be a group of disgruntled American citizens. Legislation was passed in the wake of these findings to establish a centralized NID (National Identification Database) to facilitate investigations into terrorist activities.

2008 - The first cybernetic system is implanted into a human subject.

2009 - A working prototype laser satellite is launched. Originally intended as a missile shield, this will eventually develop into the KALI (Krypton-Argon Laser Impulse) system. China closes its borders to most trade and all emigration.

2010 - Between 2010 - 2012, 8 government-sponsored ACTS satellites are launched to handle the NID traffic and improve the security of the network.

2011 - The first successful use of cybernetic augmentation on a human subject. The military begins extensive use of reflex and eye augmentations, and experiments with cybernetic communication systems.

2012 - A newly-launched communication satellite is destroyed when the automated targeting and firing systems of the laser defense satellite are compromised. The military promises that elaborate security measures, including removal of automatic firing systems, will be included on the next-generation system.

2013 - The first successful prototype of a cybernetic communication system is tested and implanted in a human subject.

2014 - The Golden Gate Bridge is destroyed by a terrorist attack. Immediately following this, the US Government condenses the NSA, FBI and DHS into one agency to prevent any more mishandling of information. This new agency, named the National Investigation and Tracking Agency (NITA), is given control of the NID network.

2015 - NITA successfully experiments with a constant cybernetic NID uplink system for its agents. The network is renamed RISAnet(Reciprocal Integrated Satellite Array NETwork), and gradually integrates complete internet access as well as access to governmental databases. The RISAnet system also incorporates a groundbreaking reciprocal technology, utilizing the inactive areas of linked agents' brains to process difficult or large amounts of data.

2016 - Improvements are made to the laser defense system, including a new targeting system that incorporates the GPS, more powerful lasers, and new firing system based on NITA's reciprocal uplink technology. Between 2016 - 2020, 16 of the new KALI satellites are launched.

2018 - NITA takes over the use and maintenance of the KALI system at the military's request. The agency integrates RISAnet, GPS, and the KALI system into one network.

2019 - NITA begins to implant field agents with additional cybernetic augmentations, including reflex and optical enhancements.

2020 - NITA is reincorporated as the NSTA (National Satellite Tracking Agency).