In the year AD 2031 came the great Water Wars. The world's population had tripled during the previous thirty years. Worldwide
demand for fresh, unpolluted water grew so strong that countries fought for control of water supplies. The war was longer and
worse than any of the previous world wars. When it ended there was a new world government, called the World United. The
government was set up to distribute water among the world countries and to prevent any future wars. But it took its control
too far.
World United began to see itself as all important. After all, it had complete control of the world's limited water supplies.
It began to make choices about who was "worthy" to receive water.
Very few people dared to object when World United denied water to criminals, the poor, and others it saw as undesirable. People
were afraid of losing their own water if they spoke up.
One group, however, saw that tile government's actions were wrong. These people dared to speak--Christians. They knew that only
God should have control of their lives. They knew that they needed to stand up to the government for those who could not. Because
of this, the government began to persecute the Christians and outlawed the Christian church. Some people gave up their beliefs to
continue to receive an allotment of government water. Others refused and either joined underground churches or became hunted rebels,
getting their water on the black market.
In North America, only one place was safe for the rebel Christians. The island of Old Newyork. The bombings of the great Water
Wars had destroyed much of it, and the govemment used the entire island as a prison. The government did not care who else fled to
the slums of those ancient street canyons.
Old Newyork grew in population. While most newcomers were criminals, some were these rebel Christians. Desperate for freedom, they
entered this lion's den of lawlessness.
Limited water and supplies were sent from Mainside to Old Newyork, but some on Mainside said that any was too much to waste on the
slums. When the issue came up at a World Senate meeting in 2049, it was decided that Old Newyork must be treated like a small country.
It would have to provide something to the world in return for water and food.
When this new law went into effect, two things happened in the economy of this giant slum. First, work gangs began stripping steel
from the skyscrapers. Anti-pollution laws on Mainside made it expensive to manufacture new steel. Old steel, then, was traded for
food and water.
Second, when a certain Mainside business genius got caught evading taxes in 2053, he was sent to Old Newyork. There he guickly
saw a new business opportunity-slave labor.
Old Newyork was run by criminals and had no laws. Who was there to stop him from forcing people to work for him?
Within a couple of years, the giant slum was filled with bosses who made men, women, and children work at almost no pay. They
produced clothing on giant sewing machines and assembled cheap computerproducts. Even boys and girls as young as ten years old
worked up to twelve hours a day.
Christians in Old Newyork, of course, fought against this. But it was a battle the Christians lost over the years. Criminals and
factory bosses used ruthless violence to control the slums.
Christianity was forced to become an underground movement in the slums. Education, too, disappeared. As did any medical care.
Into this world, Mok was born.
