Cyberpocalypse

The **Cyberpocalypse**, a *portmanteau* of the words "cybernetic" and "apocalypse," is a time period of critical importance to the history of the *Hoopz Barkley SaGa* world, preceding that of the **post-Cyberpocalypse** during which the vidcons take place.

## Defining the Cyberpocalypse

While there are various mentions of the Cyberpocalypse scattered throughout *Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden*, the most direct definition comes from the Cyberdwarf, in response to Hoopz Barkley's ignorance on the subject:

*"2000 years ago, a Jicklebergian freedom fighter was crucified by the British Empire in an event that is now know as the Boston Massacre. His name was… Clispaeth Ryuji Atuck. [...] It is shocking for many to give context to Clispaeth's historical relevance, but he was indeed real. He was the leader of an army that was fighting for the freedom of Jickleberg from the British Empire. The backlash of the Boston Massacre was tremendous; armies gathered underneath the banners of Clispaeth's remaining disciples to fight the British Empire. They fought. They fought for the duration of 666 years, until both sides were destroyed and the whole world obliterated. This was the Cyberpocalypse, and we are living in its consequences."*

Unfortunately, the party is badgered by the Ghost Dad before they can pursue the subject in further detail, and the Cyberdwarf's statements still leave room for interpretation. "**This** was the Cyberpocalypse," but just what event in his preceding sentences did "**This**" refer to? Here are some time periods which might be candidates.

1. The 666-year war between the followers of Clispaeth and the British Empire. If the Cyberdwarf's figure was exact, the Boston Empire occurred in the year 53, or possibly 52 if it was between 2,000 and 2,001 years, and if the war began within a year of the Boston Massacre, the war ended in the year 719 or 718. However, we can not be sure that the Cyberdwarf meant exactly 2,000 years before 2053, nor can we be sure that a number of years passed between the Boston Massacre and the start of the 666-year war.
2. The conclusion of the 666-year war, including the world's obliteration.
3. The aftermath of the 666-year war, in which humanity persisted in the obliterated world. This might include eras in which the world was recovering from obliteration, or even eras after the world fully recovered, but had still not yet entered the post-Cyberpocalypse.
4. Both (1) and (2).
5. Both (2) and (3).
6. (1), (2), and (3).

As alluded to in candidate (3), we do not know if the post-Cyberpocalypse immediately followed the end of the Cyberpocalypse, or if there was in fact a time period between the Cyberpocalypse and post-Cyberpocalypse. The post-Cyberpocalypse might begin after any of the above candidates, long before the year 2041, or during the year 2041. However, the last option strains credulity, since it is highly unlikely that a man as learned as Balthios James could be fooled into believing that slams and jams were only invented well into the post-Cyberpocalypse, given his knowledge of pre-Purge b-ball stars and the Space Jam, and being old enough to remember Lebron's death prior to the Purge. Further information can be found in the post-Cyberpocalypse's own article.

Another strong hint regarding the Cyberpocalypse is the fact that G. W. Carver was known have lived during it. Considering the presence of a legume-like heiroglyphic among the other inscriptions, this G. W. Carver may correspond to the out-of-universe George Washington Carver, an American botanist and inventor whose legacy is forever tied to the peanut.

If true, and if the dates of G. W. Carver's birth and death are meant to correspond to the out-of-universe's George Washington Carver, then the Cyberpocalypse could not have ended before 5 January, 1943. However, such logic is treacherous, since *Hoopz Barkley SaGa* chronology toys with our own historical dates and figures; for example, the British Empire existing around the time of the out-of-universe Roman Empire, and a Harriet Tubman living and working an Underground Railroad in the near-future.

## Events known to have occurred during the Cyberpocalypse

According to Balthios James, anywhere from hundreds to thousands of b-ballers lived during the Cyberpocalypse. According to a funeral urn inscriptions deciphered by Balthios, the one such baller, G. W. Carver, lived and "slammed for the cycle of 100 suns." Balthios hypothesizes that Carver may have been the first human to discover slams and jams.