In the year 2300, alarms blare through the Human Health and Civilization Rescue Center. Chief game designer Ling Yao stares at a report on Earth's health data from the twenty-first century, his brow furrowed tight. His sharp-tongued complaint slips out: “These figures look worse than the medical waste dump we shut down.” At the same time, the gentle and refined sociologist Shen Che pushes up his glasses, smiling warmly but with a hint of slyness. “Looks like we need to give this ‘dark age’ a little ‘surprise from the future.’” Both of their mission panels light up at once: intervene in the twenty-first century and launch the “Civilization Upgrade Plan.” Failure will cost them their future citizens' life-span quota.
