Beginning in the late 2020s with the astrology's acceptance as genuine, the rule of Antikythera culminated in the year 2200 with the completion of its megachurch complex on the Moon.
2020 - 2025: Katina's Predictions
In 2020, a NASA press release suggested that due to the drift of the Earth's orbit, the astrological system should be updated to include a thirteenth zodiac: Ophiuchus. Both deniers and believers in astrology rejected the release as little more than light-hearted entertainment. But Katina Christodouloti, owner of small astrology business Antikythera, did not reject it. Deciding to experiment with the new system, Katina quickly came to realize that it was capable of doing what normal astrology was not: Accurately predicting the future. Over the next half-decade, Katina failed to convince more than a handful of people of her beliefs. The events she used the new zodiac system to predict were natural disasters, detected long in advance by scientific methods anyway, and people ignored Katina as either insane or a con.
That changed in 2025. A deadly chemical explosion happened in the heart of Tokyo, and quickly became world news. As a tragic accident, there was no way to have predicted the disaster. Except, of course, that Katina had done exactly that. Her accurate prediction of the disaster, down to the time and location, propelled Katina, her small business, and the 13-zodiac system into the spotlight. While major organisations like NASA began the slow task of rigorously testing the system in the hopes of disproving it, Katina became an overnight celebrity, and her business gained enough financial support to enable her to establish the Antikythera Group, complete with a headquarters in New York City.
2027 - 2033: The Birthday Crisis
In 2027, a conference led by NASA confirmed the authenticity of the 13-zodiac astrological system. Many major social media titans were annihilated in the waves of lawsuits and mass account deletions that followed as everyone sought to remove their dates of birth from the Internet, information that could now be used to discriminate against them based on their star sign. Pressure mounted on politicians to pass "zodiacal legislation", as more and more companies began to advertise positions for specific star signs only. The first countries to set legal precendent did so by legalising discrimination based on star sign, a move that most of the world condemned but, perhaps unsurprisingly, did nothing about.
The legal and social chaos was dubbed "the Birthday Crisis". The crisis was brought to an end in 2033 when the US passed official, permanent legislation on the issue. The Zodiac Bill made it illegal for non-government entities to force anyone to disclose their star sign - but did nothing to prevent a company from firing or hiring someone whose star sign they already knew. Quickly, the rest of the world followed America's lead. This legislation remains the standard for the majority of countries around the world, including for every complex present on the Moon by the year 2200.
2035: The Assassination of Katina Christodouloti
In 2035, Katina was killed in Greece under mysterious circumstances. The death was an assassination, organised by Katina's brother Antony, who was head of Antikythera's legal team. Antikythera held incalculable influence, but Katina had refused to wield it, insisting that the company's allegiance was "to the planets above, not the Earth below". Motivated by frustation at her convictions and jealousy at her new-found wealth, Antony conspired with the board of directors to take control of Antikythera. The plan was a success, and once he was president, Antony repaid the directors by restructuring the company to give full control to the Board - though Antony made sure to make himself Chair in the process.
Like most celebrity and political deaths (Katina's fitting both descriptors), conspiracy theories quickly flourished. But with no evidence, nothing ever happened. Katina's death was ruled an accident, and the world moved on, with the "Katina truthers" becoming a fringe group that few listened to. But Katina's daughter, Kriti, believed in the conspiracy. Knowing this, Antony was quick to blacklist her from Antikythera. When Katina's will went "missing" a few weeks later, it ensured that the descendents of Katina would forever despise Antikythera and the political machine it had become.
2040 - Present: The Afatic Movement
In the years and decades that followed the passing of the Zodiac Bill, resentment towards the new astrological culture began to take root. But rather than fight for better treatment or improved laws, a different kind of resistance was established: The growing insistence that the entire thing was fake. Dubbed the “anti-fatalists”, or afatics, a strange societal inversion took place. Now, those who didn’t believe that the planets could predict personalities and events became a fringe minority, often mocked in satirical magazines and comedy sketches.
Not helping the situation was Antikythera. Astrology had increasingly begun to shape itself into a new kind of religion, with people not just looking towards the planets for guidance, but praying towards them instead. The names of constellations and planets were invoked both sincerely and casually to ask for good fortune. Antikythera, still officially entitled The Antikythera Group plc, is now more often referred to as the Church of Antikythera - something no-one at the company has done anything to counteract.
As of 2200, around 1/30 people are afatics - a statistically significant number - and their greatest enemy is the “Church” of Antikythera. Protests and vandalism from organised afatic groups has been a recurring thorn in Antikythera’s side. Relocating to the Moon was part of an attempt to lessen the impact of afaticism on the company’s profit margins. For now, it’s working, but there are enough wealthy patrons of the afatic movement that even that may, eventually, not be enough.
2050 - 2130: The Second Space Race
With astrology now very much in the mainstream, there was an extreme resurgence of public interest in space exploration. Combined with global economic tensions and rising nationalism, the end result was inevitable: a Second Space Race. The main contenders this time around were America and China, and the feud focused on being the first nation to establish a permanent lunar base. Both countries had already been taking slow steps towards this achievement, but now progress accelerated dramatically.
The two countries traded the lead back and forth. Ultimately, however, America was the victor. A small unit of Space Force soldiers officially established Fort Apollo in the Sea of Tranquillity on the lunar surface on 12 September 2082. China’s lunar base, Chang’e, was officially established just six months later. But the Second Space Race was far from over. Now the goal was to use those lunar bases to launch a manned mission to Mars.
It was close. Due to the orbit of the Moon, both countries timed their missions while the distance between the Moon and Mars was at its smallest, launching within 2 months of each other in 2130. America was first, and seemed to be the clear winners. But they had overreached. A critical engine malfunction cost the lives of the entire Space Force unit aboard the Ares 15, and China’s own team became the first astronauts on Mars a few months later. Subsequent investigations would show that NASA had skipped vital safety inspections in order to be first. All further Space Force missions were delayed and scaled back. It was a solemn, quiet end to the Second Space Race.
2150: The Repeal of the Outer Space Treaty
The end of the Second Space Race also marked the end of political interest in the Moon - and therefore the end of political protection. It was a known fact that there was a great deal of industry to be found on the Moon, either fracking it for its rare metal resources or hosting any number of major projects that were unsuitable for the now heavily-populated Earth.
The Outer Space Treaty, established in ancient year of 1967, legally prevented any government or business from claiming ownership of any part of the Moon. In the previous century, it had been essential for keeping every player in the Second Space Race on equal footing. Now, it was an economic liability. Lobbying to repeal the treaty began in the US and quickly spread to every one of the 133 countries that had bound themselves to it. Publically, Antikythera was neutral on the subject. The Moon was extremely significant astrologically, and that made it sacred ground to astrologers. But many of the Board's members had business ties that would benefit greatly from lunar industry. So in public, the Directors stayed silent, and in private, the Directors used their influence and wealth to support the push to repeal the treaty.
There was a lot of opposition, but money, as usual, made things happen. On 14 April 2150, the Outer Space Treaty was officially repealed by the US government. Within a month, the US had launched a program of civilian expansion to Fort Apollo. After less than a year, several major corporations were competing to buy land that their hastily constructed probes had indicated contained the largest abundance of the rare earth metals that would fetch huge sums back on Earth. By 2200, thanks to positive public perception (and occasional backroom dealings) the Daintree Commerce Company had become the largest fracking complex on the Moon's suddenly crowded surface.
2168 - Present: The Syracuse Institute
Following the repeal of the Outer Space Treaty, a number of organisations were founded in the interest of preserving space and the Moon. One of these was the Syracuse Institute, an astrological think tank dedicated to environmental conservation, both on the Earth and the Moon. It stood out from the other organisation for a significant reason - its founder was Nómos Christodouloti, descendant of Katina Christodouloti, the founder of Antikythera. A fierce opponent of Antikythera, Nómos and the Syracuse Institute quickly gained a significant following, providing the Institute with much more influence than anticipated. In particular, a large conspiracist movement formed behind the Institute, fueled by the belief that Antikythera itself had been behind the assassination of its founder, Katina, in 2035, and that the Church had been manipulating major world events ever since - conspiracies that, for the most part, are accurate.
in the 2190s, The Syracuse Institue sued Antikythera in an attempt to prevent them from establishing a large complex on the Moon. When this failed, the Institute switched tracks, and as of 2200 the headquarters for the Syracuse Institute now resides in the civilian complex of Fort Apollo. Publically, the Institute is there to promote lunar conservation. Privately, Nómos is using their resources to keep an eye on Antikythera, hoping for an opportunity, legal or otherwise, to destroy the Church of Antikythera once and for all.
2200: The 50th Anniversary Conference
A conference was proposed by NASA to mark the 50th anniversary of the repeal of the Outer Space Treaty. Originally slated to be held on Earth, a surprise offer was made by Antikythera to host the conference in their newly completed lunar megacomplex. That wasn't the end of the surprises, as Antikythera also offered a spot in the conference to the Syracuse Institute, ostensibly to honour the conservational work they had done for the lunar landscape. Given the venom and legal history between the two organisations, no-one is buying that reasoning, but everyone is eager to see what, if anything, will go down during the conference itself. The event is due to begin at midday UTC on the 14th of April, 2200.
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