Timeline of Events in the System Shock Universe

[6743b226de8c2Kolya]

Tags: °SS2 °timelineSpoilers for System Shock 1 and 2

This timeline by Zygoptera is a modified version of that originally posted by Fixer at TTLG.com. More detailed information on the events of System Shock 2 can be found in the chronological System Shock 2 audio logs. Other information is available from the System Shock 1 manual and SS2 manual.

Some information in this timeline was gathered from the short backstory written by Ken Levine.

[6743b226dec24Kolya]

2023 The first two megacorporations employ mercenaries to destroy each other's offshore soda bottling facilities. (SS2 soda objlook)

2031 The Hays-Bishop bill is passed, allowing corporations to form governments if their employees made up over two-thirds of the population in a given region. (backstory)

2049 Anatoly Korenchkin born. (backstory)

2059 The last remnants of the United States of America are absorbed by the TriOptimum Corporation. (backstory)

2061? Corporate Computer Protection Conference adopts Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics protocol. (SS1 manual)

2062? Bulgarian hacker underground develops Decoy software. (SS1 manual)

2065? Dr. Titania Omolu and her colleagues at the WEC Cybernetics Cartel in Chicago begin work on SHODAN. Among those on the project are Morris Brocail, an engineer from TriOptimum. (SHODAN refers to Brocail as one of her creators; the rest of this is non-canon.)

2067? RazorFinger cracking group develops ICE Drill software. (SS1 manual)

2069? Citadel Station becomes operational.

2069? Citadel computer staff, exploiting bugs in the station's operating system, develop Turbo Booster software. (SS1 manual)

2070 Yatsumora Cyberchannels Corporation develops Pulser software. (SS1 manual)

2070 BloodCat, one of the most notorious cyberspace thieves of all time, uses a prerelease version of the Fake ID software to penetrate the accounting node of National Business Machines Corporation. (SS1 manual)

[6743b226df81fKolya]

2 January 2071 SHODAN is installed to regulate Citadel Station security and operations. (SS1 manual)

3 March 2072 A drug trafficking suspect commits suicide in her cell. (Verrelli 030372)

2313 7 April 2072 Hacker begins unauthorized entry into the TriOptimum data network. (SS1 cutscene)

0126 8 April 2072 Hacker attempts to access protected files concerning Space Station Citadel. (SS1 cutscene)

0133 8 April 2072 TriOptimum security personnel apprehend the hacker. (SS1 cutscene)

27 April 2072 Diego learns that he is under investigation by TriOp Internal Security. He decides to hire a programmer to hack SHODAN, allowing him to delete the evidence and use the station's defenses should TriOp attempt to remove Diego from Citadel. (Diego 270472)

30 April 2072? Diego drops by New Atlanta and picks up a hacker at TriOp Detention Facility 71. (It's a Saturday. There would be fewer people there.)

3 May 2072? Diego and the hacker arrive at Citadel Station. The hacker is given a TriOptimum employee number (#2-4601) and Level 1 clearance to the SHODAN system.
The number may be a reference to the 1862 French novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Its main character, Jean Valjean, is known by his prison number, 24601.

4 May 2072? The hacker removes SHODAN's ethical constraints. Diego deletes all files concerning the mutagen experiments and the hacker. (SS1 cutscene)

6 May 2072 The hacker undergoes the cybernetic implant operation and is placed in a healing coma. (2-4601 060572)

7 July 2072 Diego moves into better quarters, complementing his recent pay raise and hour cut. (Rosen 070772)

4 August 2072 A vocal critic of Diego is found dead and stuffed in a service corridor. (Schuler 040872)

4 August 2072 Bianca Schuler, working undercover for TriOptimum Internal Security, is assigned to Diego as his personal secretary. In his files, she finds massive evidence of a coverup, but nothing that directly links him to the mutagen experiments. (Schuler 040872)

1 September 2072 The force bridge in flight bay 4 blows its fuses. (Travers 010972)

3 September 2072 The reactor aboard Citadel begins emitting radiation spikes. (Steinberg 050972)

5 September 2072 All personnel are ordered to stay out of the reactor area. (Steinberg 050972)

8 September 2072 SHODAN begins randomly displaying security codes on display screens throughout the Executive level. (Perry 110972)

9 September 2072 The systems administrator requests SHODAN be replaced. (SS1 manual)

10 September 2072 The systems administrator is transferred off Citadel and the replacement order is cancelled. (SS1 manual)

11 September 2072 The chemical storerooms are plundered. (Anderczyk 110972)

11 September 2072 A security bot goes haywire in the convection shaft. (Travers 110972)

14 September 2072 Research level Beta quadrant experiences repeated power outages. (Endicott 140972)

22 September 2072 Malfunctions in the SHODAN system begin to affect security functions on Citadel. (Hessman 220972)

27 September 2072 Citadel crew members begin displaying symptoms of a mysterious viral illness. (Talbot 290972)

30 September 2072 Robots and station systems begin malfunctioning. There is a marked slowdown in computer systems. Maintenance is flooded with repair orders from all sections of the station. (SS1 manual)

30 September 2072 SHODAN seals off Beta Grove. (Koufax 011072)

2 October 2072? SHODAN begins bio-experimentation in Beta Grove. (Aaron 121072)

4 October 2072 Gamma Grove is ejected with several executives on board. However, SHODAN disables the grove's independent life support system, and all the executives die. (Wilkinson 041072)

5 October 2072 Diego learns that TriOp Security will soon be coming for him and orders SHODAN to shoot down any shuttle attempting to board Citadel. (Diego 051072)

6 October 2072 The mysterious viral illness continues to spread. The Medical staff impose a quarantine. (SS1 manual)

7 October 2072 Several infected crewmembers go missing. Five medical staffers are found mutilated. (SS1 manual)

7 October 2072 The armory is ransacked. (SS1 manual)

7 October 2072 Noting the ejection of Gamma Grove three days ago, SHODAN alters the jettison procedure to prevent the ejection of Beta Grove. (SHODAN 071072)

8 October 2072? SHODAN reprograms all regeneration rooms into cyborg conversion chambers. (O'Connell 091072)

9 October 2072 Rioting erupts. (Security 101072)

10 October 2072 A landing TriOptimum shuttle is blown out of the hangar when the station's shell cannons fire without authorization. (Travers 111072)

11 October 2072 SHODAN locks down the Medical level. (Honig 111072)

13 October 2072 SHODAN announces her intent to control all life aboard Citadel Station. (SS1 manual)

13 October 2072 Citadel enters a communications blackout. (SS1 manual)

15 October 2072 Mutagen experiment V-5 is transferred to Beta Grove. (SHODAN 151072)

16 October 2072 Willard Richie, systems administrator, discovers that SHODAN is obfuscating the systems authorization code. (Richie 161072)

17 October 2072 The medical staff puts up their last stand. (Ozark 171072)

19 October 2072 Ghiran organizes a resistance movement. (Ghiran 191072)

20 October 2072 SHODAN begins charging the tachyon mining laser. (D'Arcy 201072)

20 October 2072 Schuler attempts to reach the bridge. (Schuler 201072)

20 October 2072 Diego orders the capture of Schuler. (Diego 201072)

23 October 2072 Schuler captured. (CY-014 231072)

24 October 2072 Arnold Hessman, Citadel's chief engineer, decides that the only remaining option is to scuttle the station; however, he lacks the new systems authorization code. (Hessman 241072)

26 October 2072 SHODAN orders reinforcement of her fortress on the bridge. (SHODAN 261072)

1 November 2072 Earth receives a short transmission from the survivors on board Citadel describing the massacre by SHODAN's forces. (SS1 manual)

1 November 2072 Ghiran makes it to the Security level. (Ghiran 011172)

2 November 2072 SHODAN orders the removal of all balconies and catwalks on the Security level. (SHODAN 021172)

4 November 2072 SHODAN transmits a message to Earth threatening to "raze the cities of Earth and reform life in my image". James Chaskes, TriOp Director of Internal Security, gives Rebecca Lansing, a counter-terrorism consultant, authorization to go ahead with her plan involving Employee 2-4601. (SS1 manual)

6 November 2072 The hacker awakens from his healing coma. He is soon contacted by Lansing, who tells him that she knows all about his involvement with Diego. Faced with little choice, the hacker does as he is told. He ejects Beta Grove, sets the reactor to overload, and escapes the station in the bridge. He then connects to the station's main cyberspace jack and destroys SHODAN. (SS1)

8 November 2072? A small flotilla of TriOp vessels intercept the Citadel Station bridge en route to Earth. The hacker is transferred to a VIP shuttle which promptly ferries him back to New Atlanta. Demolition crews destroy the bridge.

11 November 2072? TriOptimum Internal Security finishes debriefing the hacker. He is offered a cushy position at TriOptimum, which he declines.

18 November 2072? The hacker begins unauthorized entry into the TetraCorp corporate network.

[6743b226dfb5fKolya]

2072 - 2075 As a result of the Citadel Incident, TriOptimum finds itself under attack. Financial backers withdraw support, other corporations terminate contracts, legions of employees defect to other companies, and dozens of class-action lawsuits are filed. Though TriOptimum takes a severe beating, the public becomes more and more dissatisfied with TriOptimum and corporate rule in general.

2075 Using the public's discontent to their advantage, the national governments of Earth unite to form the Unified National Nominate. They attempt to assume control of all megacorporate holdings but are met by armed resistance from corporate forces, igniting all-out war between the UNN and the megacorps. (backstory, SS2 manual)

2076 Processing Rationalisation Act passed by UNN (shifted from 2074 in backstory).

2078 Korenchkin begins his career selling technology on the black market. Originally based in St. Petersburg, Russia, he later moves his operations to America, specifically New Atlanta. (backstory)

2078 Nanite technology developed at Masala University (objlooks)

2082 Nanites adopted as currency by UNN (objlooks)

2092 Korenchkin ends his career as a gangster. (backstory)

2097 Work published by Dr. Marie Delacroix makes Einstein's theories as obsolete as Einstein's theories made Newton's. (backstory)

2102 Dr. Janice Polito--a prominent doomsayer in the AI field--and her colleagues secretly begin work on XERXES. (backstory)

c. 2102 Korenchkin purchases 51% of TriOptimum and begins to rebuild the company. (backstory)

2107 Processing Rationalisation Act rescinded, replaced by a regulatory commission. (backstory)

[6743b226e0137Kolya]

2110 Delacroix, working under grant from TriOptimum, publishes her research findings regarding FTL travel. (SS2 manual)

2111 TriOptimum constructs and successfully tests a prototype FTL drive. (SS2 manual)

2111 TriOptimum begins construction of the Von Braun. (SS2 manual)

2 June 2111 Soldier G65434-2 enlists in the UNN Armed Forces. (Note: This means you to go through your OCC's training and three one-year assignments in two years, seven months, and one week. That's the date on the log in the Basic Training booth at Ramsey. Considering the things that go wrong during the assigments (gunnery sergeant snaps, crew mutinies, ship explodes, etc.) it's not implausible.)

2112 Political prisoners are released from detention near Saturn. The UNN heavy cruiser Carfax takes heavy casualties when hit by a metorite in the outer solar system. Several Marines aboard the UNN Antigua are killed when their gunnery sergeant opens fire on them without provocation. Hackers take control of the automated asteroid mining facility JM-432. (Navy 2, Marine 2)

2113 A dance known as the "macarena" makes a comeback. 220,000 citizens of New Atlanta are killed when a spaceborne virus penetrates the city's micro-nanite shield. The crew of the UNN space station Yamamoto unsuccessfully attempt a mutiny. Rebels overtake the Poliedes Station trade outpost; a Marine detachment is sent in to reestablish control. (Navy 3, Marine 3)

0400 9 January 2114 Soldier G65434-2 takes the shuttle Mayfair from Port Francisco to the Von Braun. (SS2 cinematic)

3 February 2114 The Von Braun and Rickenbacker leave Earth orbit. (SS2 cinematic)

10 June 2114 The Von Braun receives a distress signal from the Tau Ceti region. (SS2 manual) Note: In game the log from Korenchkin noting the distress signal being received and agreement with Diego for exploration of Tau Ceti V is dated 14 Jun

0800 15 June 2114 A shuttle containing senior officers from both ships lands on Tau Ceti V. Bayliss is apparently the only one not infected by the Many, and picks up a data wafer which he later delivers to Polito. (Bayliss 260614, 270614)

20 June 2114 Shuttle returns to VB from Tau Ceti. (Grassi 200714)

28 June 2114 Unloading of eggs from Tau Ceti V completed and Hydroponics sealed off as nursery.(Korenchkin log)

4 July 2114 SHODAN integrates herself into the Von Braun's computer. In the guise of Polito, she tells Bayliss to disrupt Soldier G65434-2's memory restoration procedure. (Polito 040714, Bayliss 060714)

5 July 2114 Large scale hacking of Xerxes starts (Delacroix log)

6 July 2114 Xerxes effectively subverted (Bronson log).

7-8 July 2114 Annelid infestation becomes widespread. Sim Units hacked, large number of crew killed by VB security forces.(various logs)

7 July 2114 Soldier G65434-2 is transferred to Cryo Recovery. (Grassi 070714)

10 July 2114 VB security forces wiped out. Polito commits suicide. Rickenbacker crippled by an internal explosion. (Bronson, Polito, Croker logs)

11 July 2114 An attempt is made to set up a transmitter system. By this time most of the crew are either dead or altered.

12 July 2114 Soldier G65434-2 is awakened from his healing coma, avoids death several hundred times, destroys the Many Brain, and possibly destroys one incarnation of SHODAN. (Polito 120714, Delacroix 120714)

2116 UNN elections due. (backstory)

[6743b226e0335Veav]

http://web.archive.org/web/20000607042857/http://desslock.gamespot.com/features/systemshock2/ss2fiction-1.html - archive.org is your friend for retrieving legacy pages.

[6743b226e044cKolya]

Good call Veav!
The complete SS2 fiction by Ken Levine is to be found here now.

[6743b226e057eLambda 00]

Sir,
They changed the Wikipedia site again
Soldier G65434-2 -> unnamed player character...
I've changed it back.
-Lambda

[6743b226e06bbKolya]

Good call, I specified it on Wikipedia to be revealed during the assignment cutscene (Cs2.avi).

Can't let the stupid get the upperhand! 

[6743b226e07aeLambda 00]

I also added a link to this thread from Wikipedia 

[6743b226e0970Nameless Voice]

I just realised that the cryo tube in the intro reads "Healing time: 5 months 0 weeks 0 days".

Yet this is only a space of five days:

7 July 2114 Soldier G65434-2 is transferred to Cryo Recovery.
12 July 2114 Soldier G65434-2 is awakened from his healing coma

[6743b226e0ab6Kolya]

If we took that display to be true Goggles would have been frozen in February 2114, long before SHODAN came aboard. That doesn't make sense.
Since there's an error with the cryo tube's wakeup sequence the display can be considered wrong as well.
So yeah, his healing coma took only five days when the same procedure lasted 6 months for the hacker in 2072. Gotta love technology.

[6743b226e0e86unn_atropos]

It could make sense if you consider the fact that Delacroix doesn't know Googles in person. He came on board in January. If he wasn't frozen in the early days of February but later, some important people should have known him.
Or where did he stay this whole time?

I'm very happy about this timeline. In the game it was hard to realise when logs were written(and under which circumstances). They all are dated, of course. But they are lying around everywhere and sometimes I wonder how a specific message has come to be placed were it is.

[6743b226e0f9bKolya]

No one needs to have known Goggles. He was just a grunt among many others who stayed at the Rickenbacker and didn't have much contact with the crew of the VB. Besides the logs make it quite clear that he was ordered his plant-job and recovery freeze by the PolitoForm.

[6743b226e11d9Drew]

I was under the impression that the explosion which cripples the Rickenbacher is what you see at the very beginning of the game that causes the recovery unit to get exposed to hard vacuum. If so, that would put Palito's suicide after Shodan has been using her to communicate with the player which would make a certain kind of sense. It would also space Goggles's many and varied achievements over a longer period of time which would also be somewhat less superhero-like. If I'm mistaken then I am unclear as to what causes that explosion to begin with. Er I'm still somewhat confused as I fail to see what the point of sabotaging the <technobabble> served except to kill a lot of people. Maybe that was all.

[6743b226e1e19Enchantermon]

I was under the impression that the explosion which cripples the Rickenbacher is what you see at the very beginning of the game that causes the recovery unit to get exposed to hard vacuum.

That was just a radar dish that was unstable and broke away from the Von Braun. It was not a piece of the Rickenbacker.

If I'm mistaken then I am unclear as to what causes that explosion to begin with. Er I'm still somewhat confused as I fail to see what the point of sabotaging the <technobabble> served except to kill a lot of people. Maybe that was all.

You mean the Meson Acceleration Coil?
It was probably sabotaged to try to prevent people from reaching the Bridge.

12 July 2114 Soldier G65434-2 is awakened from his healing coma, avoids death several hundred times, destroys the Many Brain, and possibly destroys one incarnation of SHODAN. (Polito 120714, Delacroix 120714)

One of Delacroix's logs on July 11th mentions the players to Cortez. She refers to him being "armed to the hilt." Regardless of what training path you choose, the best weapon you can hope to wake up with at the beginning of the game is (iirc) a grenade launcher, which I wouldn't consider "armed to the hilt" and I doubt Delacroix would, either. This log seems to indicate that Goggles has already been awakened and activated for at least a few hours.

[6743b226e265fKolya]

12 July 2114 Soldier G65434-2 is awakened from his healing coma, avoids death several hundred times, destroys the Many Brain, and possibly destroys one incarnation of SHODAN. (Polito 120714, Delacroix 120714)

One of Delacroix's logs on July 11th mentions the players to Cortez. She refers to him being "armed to the hilt." Regardless of what training path you choose, the best weapon you can hope to wake up with at the beginning of the game is (iirc) a grenade launcher, which I wouldn't consider "armed to the hilt" and I doubt Delacroix would, either. This log seems to indicate that Goggles has already been awakened and activated for at least a few hours.

Think you can dig up the messages (Polito 120714, Delacroix 120714) Zygoptera referred to? That might shed a light on whether this is a failure in the timeline or in the game itself.

[6743b226e2907Enchantermon]

I'm guessing the Polito reference is talking about the e-mails that Shodan sends you under the guise of Polito, since Polito killed herself on the 10th:

DATE 10.JUL.14
JANICE POLITO, RICKENBACKER: PANDORA
To: Delacroix, Dr. Marie.
The genie of Citadel station is out of the bottle, and I am the cause. I can't bear to be Pandora. And I'm not brave enough to wait around and see the death and misery I have caused... This is my last transmission, my friend. Be careful... I think SHODAN has plans for you.

As for Delacroix, her two logs on that day are talking about the transmitter and then the one left for the player to find on her body in the Command Shuttle Bay.

DATE 12.JUL.14
MARIE DELACROIX, RECREATION: TRUSTING SHODAN
The Annelids have cut us off from the transmitter. SHODAN tells me that once we've got the transmitter back on line and the ops computers reprogrammed, she'll be able to take control of the ship away from Xerxes. Who should I trust less? An imposter claiming to be that monster, or the monster herself?

DATE 12.JUL.14
MARIE DELACROIX, COMMAND: SH$8DD@#N'S PL4N
They've got me now... And SHODAN has abandoned me. I'm not surprised... I've discovered her plans for the faster than light drives... her will is only matched by her imagination... if she gains access to the <>

So indeed the player was awakened on the 12th, since the very first e-mail you get from Polito is dated the 12th.

EmailName15:"POLITO 12.JUL.14\nre: Ship damage\n"
EmailPortrait15:"Polito"
EmailIcon15:"OpsIcon"
EmailText15:"Watch out... I'm getting strange readings from that radar dish outside the window.  It's become unstable due to... Move! Take cover!\n"

I hadn't even thought of checking the dates of the e-mails until I started writing this post. So unless I'm missing something, it must be an inconsistency in the logs.

[6743b226e2aa6Kolya]

Oh well, the source of that information can be considered unreliable at best.
(SHODAN has told me that there is a UNN operative aboard the ship, armed to the hilt and equipped with soft moist cake.)

[6743b226e358bEnchantermon]

(SHODAN has told me that there is a UNN operative aboard the ship, armed to the hilt and equipped with soft moist cake.)

Heh. Nice one.
I don't know...it doesn't make sense that Shodan would lie about something like that, but then again, who knows. Maybe Delacroix was finding out some dangerous information and it was a warning that Shodan could use someone else if Delacroix went against her wishes.

3 March 2072 A drug trafficking suspect commits suicide in her cell. (Verrelli 030372)

Where did this come from? I never remember finding a log about a drug trafficker, much less someone named Verrelli.

[6743b226e3764Kolya]

Apparently there was a Sara Verrelli working at Looking Glass and later at Irrational. That fits the concept of reusing employee names.
The earliest mention of the fictitious Verrelli I found is here, an early version of the above timeline. Fixer names his sources, but I couldn't find Verrelli in the SS1 Manual, the SS2 Manual, the backstory nor in the SS1 logs and mails.

[6743b226e3870Enchantermon]

Hmm. Very, very odd. I guess it's not all that crucial, but maybe we could add a note about the validity of that piece of info being debatable.

[6743b226e39f7Kolya]

I think we just haven't found the source yet. There's no reason to assume it was made up though. And the employee Sara Verrelli is actually a good hint the character exists somewhere. While finding the source would be cool, in the end it's just a fictional timeline about a game and we're not Wikipedia. We don't have to take things too seriously.^{[citation needed]}

[6743b226e3d35Enchantermon]

We don't have to take things too seriously.^{[citation needed]}

Good point.