Hi Veronica! Thanks for your questions. We'll answer them in the two sections as you've split them.
1. The most general answer for this would be "the internet"! Characters will be able to access digital versions of books through their neural implants (more on this in our answer to Eppy here), and will be able to do general research using websites equivalent to today's blogs and wikipedias. If they want to pursue specific fields of information more formally, education is handled virtually, and most higher education is open-source.
2. Social media options are equivalent to today's, with blogging, micro-blogging and video blogging options, as well as the more futuristic option of VR blogging. Accounts are available to anyone with access to the internet, so yes, characters will be able to sign up using their neural implants! The one thing to note is that usernames and generalized anonymity are no longer a thing - as an individual's neural implant is, essentially, their ID, any activity (including activity on the internet) is linked to it. As such, social media accounts are more like (the earlier days of) Facebook, in that they have to be tied to your real name and identity.
3. The countries as we know them don't really exist any more politically, but the land of Norway still exists, and survived the world's rising oceans better than its neighbor, Sweden. The effects of climate change have made it colder, but not entirely uninhabitable. There is one mega city there, New Oslo.
For your second set of questions:
1. Yes, all of those jobs still exist, and more which are the equivalent of entry-level, minimum wage jobs in modern times. Some jobs will be contract and some permanent, some will be salaried and some will be paid by the hour. The minimum wage is high enough for people to live comfortably enough, though not necessarily well.
2. And again, equivalent of today! Corporations are big money and big power, so the atmosphere is very wealth and work oriented, becoming more so the higher up you climb.
3. The government – or most specifically, in this case, the police. As not all videos are being censored, if Loki were to ask Gaby or El, they would theorize that the NAPD are having videos of the player characters defeating the monster removed as they don't want to endorse or encourage vigilante action, as well as that they are likely wanting to look into the individuals who were involved.
4. Half brothers is unlikely, as a parent approved for one child is not likely to be approved for another, especially if they have split from the previous relationship. Step-brothers would be fine, though!
no subject
1. The most general answer for this would be "the internet"! Characters will be able to access digital versions of books through their neural implants (more on this in our answer to Eppy here), and will be able to do general research using websites equivalent to today's blogs and wikipedias. If they want to pursue specific fields of information more formally, education is handled virtually, and most higher education is open-source.
2. Social media options are equivalent to today's, with blogging, micro-blogging and video blogging options, as well as the more futuristic option of VR blogging. Accounts are available to anyone with access to the internet, so yes, characters will be able to sign up using their neural implants! The one thing to note is that usernames and generalized anonymity are no longer a thing - as an individual's neural implant is, essentially, their ID, any activity (including activity on the internet) is linked to it. As such, social media accounts are more like (the earlier days of) Facebook, in that they have to be tied to your real name and identity.
3. The countries as we know them don't really exist any more politically, but the land of Norway still exists, and survived the world's rising oceans better than its neighbor, Sweden. The effects of climate change have made it colder, but not entirely uninhabitable. There is one mega city there, New Oslo.
For your second set of questions:
1. Yes, all of those jobs still exist, and more which are the equivalent of entry-level, minimum wage jobs in modern times. Some jobs will be contract and some permanent, some will be salaried and some will be paid by the hour. The minimum wage is high enough for people to live comfortably enough, though not necessarily well.
2. And again, equivalent of today! Corporations are big money and big power, so the atmosphere is very wealth and work oriented, becoming more so the higher up you climb.
3. The government – or most specifically, in this case, the police. As not all videos are being censored, if Loki were to ask Gaby or El, they would theorize that the NAPD are having videos of the player characters defeating the monster removed as they don't want to endorse or encourage vigilante action, as well as that they are likely wanting to look into the individuals who were involved.
4. Half brothers is unlikely, as a parent approved for one child is not likely to be approved for another, especially if they have split from the previous relationship. Step-brothers would be fine, though!