Hydrophobia

Meet Kate Wilson, systems engineer. Kate is a reluctant hero who finds herself caught behind enemy lines when terrorists seize the Queen of the World, a new city-sized super ship.

Hydrophobia is set onboard the Queen of the World; which is the largest ship ever built. It is comprised of two massive hulls each several times longer than the biggest contemporary cruise ships. The area between the hulls resembles a city - it has schools, universities, even a football stadium.

The ship is in truth the reclusive preserve of the super rich. Here the most modest condo starts at $250m and the most expensive in the billions. It is a mini state. A state with no taxes (the ship never ventures into territorial waters) and no legislative controls. As such it has attracted businesses that want to keep their activities away from prying eyes.

One such business is a company called NanoCell - a nano robotics engineering company. In most countries nano technology is closely regulated, but on the 'Queen' no one asks any questions. On the face of it NanoCell is looking at purifying water at the molecular level. Their press release promises that they will make the deserts of the world bloom.

One of the tenants of Hydrophobia's design is that it is 'credible'. This means that the bad guys; the terrorists must be credible too. So we have terrorists that have a real world ideology.

Enter the Neo-Malthusians. They base their ideology on the writings of one Thomas Malthus, a 19th century political economist. Malthus believed that the population of the world would grow faster than its ability to feed itself, and the Neo-Malthusians have embellished this simple belief and are of the opinion that all attempts to artificially increase food production merely forestalls the big population crash.

In short they are advocates of a smaller global population. Much smaller. They believe that around half a billion is a sustainable figure rather than the 12 billion that exists at the time the game is set (about 16 years in the future). Radical stuff. As such they see the Queen of the World as an affront to their sensitivities and NanoCell an abomination that must be destroyed at all costs.

The organisation is headed by one Alex Morales, who has used the internet as a recruiting tool. The Malthusians have set about infiltrating the Queen since its inception. In truth not all their recruits are avid idealists - many see the capture of the Queen as their fast track to self engrandisment.

So back to our lead character. Kate is very much a multidimensional character. By trade she is an engineer - a systems engineer and on the Queen she is part of the security detail. Kate is a deep and intelligent character, but she has a problem.

Kate is hydrophobic, she has been since she was 13 years old. She doesn't like to talk about it, but her friends assume something terrible must have happened to her. However, Kate is a fighter and has joined the Queen of the World to confront her fears. Not knowing how apocryphal that sentiment would turn out to be.

The terrorist attack takes place on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Queen of the World. It has been a great year. The ship is a huge commercial success, most condos are sold and the venture is above target. The ship is in the Indian Ocean and a huge party has been organised in the main football stadium to commemorate the event.

The formal section of the party is in full swing and the speeches are about to take place. First up is Jake Gartland. Jake is head of security for the Queen and is about to take the podium when a message is given to him. There is a vessel on collision course and it's not responding to hails.

Last updated on 02 June 2010