Set in a future which is recovering from global nuclear war, continents in The Magic Circle are forbidden to have contact with each other in a vain attempt to keep the peace. What this has meant, though, is that different continents have had very different technology progressions compared to each other.
So, let's take a look at some of them.
EUROPE
There are only a handful of countries left in Europe. Greater Scotland and United Ireland form what was the UK, whilst France and Spain are the major powers in Europe. The Scandis are the only other surviving countries, though they are too isolated to contribute much.
The technology in Europe is heavily focused on two areas: renewable energy and bio-engineering. There is an historic belief that the nuclear disaster was caused through lies spread through computers, and as such, screens are banned and the Truth held aloft as the greatest of virtues.
Transport vehicles are all electric, as are the radiation fields that cover major cities and warn citizens of incoming radioactive fallout. Clearner bots travel the streets, who collect rubbish and recycle it using bio-engineered cockroaches. Such advances in bio-engineering has made anti-radiation treatments highly successful.
Even painting has been enhenced with technology, using manipulator fields as a controllable airbrush, and luminairs to coat paintings in a special gel that alters the image in different lighting conditions.
Military hardware relies heavily on standard ballistic rifles and grenades, whilst using reactive armour which is soft whilst worn, hardens when hit, and is mirrored to help deflect laser fire (they haven't got the means to make it, but are aware other continents have such technology)..
In short, Europeans are optimists who strive for a perfect truth and social harmony, whilst respecting the environment.
RUSSIA
When the bombs fell and destroyed much of the western side of Russia, the people and government fled to the East. They also took advantage of the situation and claimed large areas of Asia for themselves. The destruction, however, killed many of their scientists, and so now the technology held by Russia is mostly old equipment that has been renovated by unwilling prisoners.
Fossil fuels run the vehicles and factories, yet they still have one aspect of their old technology which puts them at an advantage to others: the ability to launch satellites into orbit. The rockets are old but servicable, and whist they've been slowly getting more holographic technology through illegal trade with the Federation of Africa, it is still in its infancy. Most weapons are simple ballistic weaponry, although there are pistols used for assassinations that are fired using electromagnetic proulsion for complete silence and have selectable rounds for different purposes. Radiation treatment simply doesn't exist, so they just live with the ocnsequences of it the best they can.
Russia is very much a mix of old technology and workable pragmatism.
FEDERATION OF AFRICA
The continent of Africa never had a nuclear arsenal and so, when the bombs fell, they were left unscathed. Centuries of debt to foreign powers were wiped clean overnight and, just like Russia, they took advantage of the chaos and conquered various countries such as Greece, Poland, and parts of India. Unlike Russia, they never claimed each country as a single entity, but formed a Federation of countries, all lead by the charismatic Engameli, the first Artifical Intelligence to become a leader.
The sudden freedom of debt, the gaining of extra countries, and the lack of struggle to survive, all meant that the Federation could develop technologies far beyond others. High-rise buildings with constant entertainment, drugs, and holographic screens help keep the population pacified. Computers called skerms can be used for communcation, projecting holograms, and even creating haptic shields to protect you against incoming laser or ballistic fire.
The skerms are controled using subdees: subderminal chips that read your thoughts and let you command the skerms just by thinking about it. The continent's vast supply of coltan helped to make this technology work. Laser rifles are common, and have small jets to help stabilise them when aiming. Tiny drones, also armed with lasers, can be deployed which use a simple AI to attack enemies.
All of this technology forms the backdrop of The Magic Circle. Against this backdrop, something new happens...
Magic returns to Earth.
