The first wave of computerization and networking swept the Earth in the late 21st century. Eventually the technology evolved from a luxury into an indispensable part of daily life. It deeply affected the medical world as well, promoting the development of digital devices that allowed human minds to interface directly with computer networks.
Following the computerization of the planet Earth, a military-industrial mega conglomerate waged a top secret war against extraterrestrial life forms on a distant planet. The mega conglomerate developed the combat simulation program "A.I.D.A." for military training. In spite of high hopes and a massive amount of resources being dedicated to the project, a fatal flaw in the system led to it being officially abandoned during the beta testing stage.
But A.I.D.A. did not disappear...
In fact, it continued to evolve, absorbing and incorporating information from Earth's networks. By the time it was accidentally discovered by a hacker, the program had grown into the form of a massive and complicated labyrinth. Word of the discovery spread through the online community like wildfire. Die-hards bored with the current crop of games and hackers obsessed with uncovering rare data files descended upon the program in droves. They treated the ultra-realistic simulation of the war against the aliens as the ultimate video game experience.
However, the explosive popularity of the game resulted in an increasing number of digital casualties, otherwise known as "sleepers." A.I.D.A.'s twisted architecture required users to take the extremely dangerous step of completely digitizing their personalities without back-ups in order to jack in. This exposed them to the system's flaw: any user who died in the labyrinth would permanently lose their personality.
Complicating the situation, the number of unpredictably aggressive programs called "bugs" and security programs called "bots" rapidly increased within the out-of-control system, reducing the chances of a player surviving a run with their personality intact to less than 40%.
When authorities realized the gravity of the situation, they immediately tried to destroy A.I.D.A. Unfortunately, the program had already spread into every conceivable part of Earth's networks, making it impossible to erase. Lacking any other choice, the authorities announced that the system posed no harm so long as it wasn't accessed--and that doing so was now punishable as a criminal offense.
However, the authorities totally underestimated users' hunger for rare data files. Before long an underground economy had emerged, based on trading web money for rare data salvaged from the labyrinth. Enterprising individuals began outfitting themselves with powerful weapon programs and setting off into A.I.D.A., wagering their personalities and lives for the promise of untold riches.
Alternately reviled and respected, these outlaws were not called hackers. They were called the "Coded Ones."
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