So it started simply enough. It’s not as if there was some incredibly creepy organisation trying to crush us into a system that defined and quantified our lives. Like most things, we fell into it. Slowly at first but with increasing speed as it went along gathering speed. With the rise of the internet so many new ideas were captured. As it expanded though, it was only natural that we would try to monetise it. And we did. Incredibly. Overnight we organically created new jobs. Bloggers, social commentators, video feeds and gaming feeds, people commentating these things. We birthed celebrities out of social networking like expelling vomit. Suddenly there were scantily clad people making money from taking photos of themselves. Ad revenue fuelled it as we click baited each other into a maddening ‘entertainment’ world of superficial information. And we watched. Oh did we watch! Our new heroes were vapid, idiodic young people with trim physiques in rich locations with rich clothing and rich luxury. Substance gave way as our attention spans became shorter. Reality tv gave rise to even more vapid and ridiculous troupes. Then in 2024, one company decided to try and truly quantify this new idolatry into a reward based system. The ultimate monetisation of temporary fame. StarPower was born.

StarPower took all those likes and shares and followers and built a rating system with rewards to those who garnered public interest. It paid the ridiculous and clueless celebrities directly who signed up with the initial website. Mobile app was introduced that served as the platform for fame. It linked into the general small offering of ultra-popular social networks and tracked their results to assign a wage. Soon, normal individuals were signing up to StarPower to create their own profiles for a trickle of the wealth being offered. Advertisers flocked to the company, paying ever increasing ridiculous amounts not only for ad-space but to have these celebrities passively endorse their products via placement or garish and obvious recommendations. The revenue generated far outweighed the payouts to their clients and the company expanded with capital. StarPower used that capital to acquire rich companies then advertised them to the general populace with thinly veiled smirk. Yet with more and more people signing up, the outcry was largely hushed. Why would you complain about a company that was supplementing your income? The average user spamming selfies and videos, mostly about the top one percent of users, received very little income but eventually it became easier for a commanding percentage of the population to use the company for their main wage. Slowly but surely, your StarPower became your defining trait. Technology and automation made it possible for factory workers and cleaners and cab drivers to leave their general occupations and involve themselves fully in StarPower. Augmented reality sunglasses allowed users to continue their usage when driving, walking down the street and shopping. You could see the people around you via their SP (StarPower) rating and associated stats. Here we were, getting coffee so as to be seen, taking selfies and uploading outrageously scripted monologues about our lives.

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Soon the user base became so prevalent that it was easier to count the percentage of the population who were not on StarPower. The elderly for the most part and the objectors. Their voices were drowned out as newsmedia became intrenched in the system of likes and followers and SP ratings. The company bought out franchises and department stores. It layered the new system for its users, creating a caste system excluding those from certain products unless they had the required SP. Those products in turn were endorsed and advertised by the higher tiered SP users and the watchers watched that and coveted the position. Within 20 years of it’s inception, SP accounted for the single largest economy in the world. Its income outstripped all other private enterprises and the top four GDP’s of the richest countries. It became a power unto its own. Early adopters in politics found themselves able to easily become elected as they were able to use the platform to communicate their message to the populace using StarPower. They were beholden to the system for re-election and as a result, defended the company from all efforts made to curtail it’s influence. Attempt to legislate against it’s influence were blunted. Even anti-trust attempts were beaten down. StarPower closed it’s iron fist and monopolised entertainment.

With the stars of the day being paid to exhibit whatever talents they had through StarPower, films, books and television were produced, paid for and revenue received by the company. They were generous to their top clients. Showering gifts and money and giving top tier billing to these stars. Which of course, everyone watched and idolised. Rather than being sickened by their excesses, the new generations aging into adulthood clawed for more from StarPower. Government became the utility, making sure the lights were on and drones destroyed threats against them. It is now the thirtieth year of StarPower’s reign and this is where we begin this story.