Internet
The Internet is a global system of networked computers.
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While the Internet is not a physical thing, it does require a substantial amount of functioning computer hardware at several different levels from the user to a series of local, regional, national, and global networks.
All Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that provided service to Rivertown went offline due to rolling power outages. Unknown to all but a few in Rivertown, a series of terrorist attacks targeted a strategic number of Tier 1 and Tier 2 ISPs worldwide, disrupting Internet service from the top down.
Internet access is still available via direct satellite connection.
For users familiar with the pre-superflu Internet, browsing pages is a maddeningly frustrating process with dead links, slow loading times, and frequent disconnects. The satellite connection is very touchy, disrupted by high wind, rain, snow, and dense cloud cover.
In order for pages to load the site's server must be operational, a rare occurrence in itself, and the browser page request must be successfully passed between functioning domain name servers. However, in appears to users in Rivertown that the federal government has begun to restore servers as evidenced by a welcome page asking for users to contact them with status updates, as well as a noticeable improvement in successful searches.
A working Internet connection is an extremely rare thing. The hardware is very hard to come by, and it takes a skilled technician to set up a functional, (semi) persistent connection.
The MPD has two satellite connections, one at Summerland and the other at Mansion Inn.
The Rivertown Compendium draws from the much larger Rivertown Chronicles, a wide assortment of personal narratives and catalog entries of people, places, and things.