Conceptual Science Fiction: Science-Fiction that contains elements not needing immediate justifcation; Elements used and themes contained therein exist simply because they should. This particular series of stories will be broken down into several volumes, ultimately comprising the anthology known as Our Amplified Earth. All events occur in the same universe, albeit in different time periods and locations. Each story can shed light on another, with all stories finally combining to serve as a spyglass into a universe of both my design and manufacturing. Amplify: am-pluh-fahy] (v) 1. To make larger, greater, or stronger. In 2015 The UN takes notice of the inability of its member states to properly govern their people. Riots, protests, and political assassinations have led up to a catastrophic event in the 53rd state, the San Francisco Bay Area, which forced the UN to step in. Now the war is over and countries loyal to their UN membership have recovered and are on the rise. This anthology tours the globe, giving readers insight into the bizarre goings-on now that 70% of the planet lives under one government. Plant hybrids, masked gangsters, time travel, super science. All stories in this series connect and shed light on each other. Episode 1: Hijo De Xavier (Javier) Manolo is a young man living in the post-war paradise of Mexico City, the captial of the Mexican Empire. Xavier El Burro is the imposing titan who brought lucha libre back to a war-weary Mexico and won the hearts and minds of the entire population. It's through this lucha libre, however, that Xavier is using his money from hybridized narcotics to pull the marionette strings necessary to search for a rumored progeny. Manolo and his friends see the elevated quality of life maintained by Xavier's men and actively strive to enter his ranks. After several high-profile gangster/luchadores wind up dead though, Manolo begins to have second thoughts about joining the largest cartel and lucha libre consortium in the Mexican Empire. Will Manolo choose to serve Xavier? Who is murdering Xavier's men? Will Xavier find his son? Episode 2: The Horvitz Hour Dan "The Host Man" Carpentier is the host and MC of the most popular game show in the American Territories. The Horvitz Hour, which lasts about three hours, presents contestants with random scenarios and situations intermingled with voted-on crowd favorites, such as The Orb of Contusions... One day, Dan vanishes while filiming an episode. Seven years later, Dan reappears with a beard, a DVD, and a story. On a Dixieland river boat chugging along the hot Mekong river in Scotch-Vietnam, a young man approaches Dan, having recognised him from several years back. Dan begrudgingly regales him and a growing audience with the story of his whereabouts. Does anybody believe his fantastic tale? Do you? Episode 3: The Triple Zed Project (ZZZ) Lloyd Gypsum is tired. Having served in the UN Wold Military in a little-known theater dubbed the Third Opium War --fought exclusively in the South China Sea-- Lloyd now finds himself in a retirement community built specifically for those in that theater of war. Lloyd is friends with his gunner, Samson Hillis, and has a crush on another senior veteran, Liz Camden from Britannia. Life is good in Everdale. The UN World Government takes care of their former soldiers. One morning, Lloyd wakes with a few cuts and bruises. Unable to explain their origin, Lloyd chalks it up his recent spate of insomnia and subsequent sleepwalking. But when Samson Hillis informs Lloyd that he watched him injure himself from within Lloyd's dream, he and Lloyd begin re-examining the world around them, revealing the true nature of their "retirement."