1. The dissolution of the separation between mind and matter, man and machine, and nature and artifice.
"Through meditation, I have learned to psychokinetically manipulate the little movers ((nanomachines)) to the extent that I no longer have need for weapons or medicine. The automatons cannot do this. The aliens do not know this. Pio Mon has shown us the Way, because the Outworlders have perennially defended their promises to the Ancestors; that we may responsibly utilize and master the sciences without compromising the natures from whence they came. The Sword of Beauty has the keenest edge, but even it cannot draw the blood of the faithful."
2. The Ubiquity of Algorithm.
"She has gone mad with multiplicity. She inhabits all systems. Possessing all knowledge, her power is incomprehensible. If we cannot bring her mind back from oblivion, she will kill us all. The lives of a trillion are at her bitter mercy." ((She laments for her lost love of ages past, Kanu Gon La Eva. He has died long ago, but only he knew the command phrase to deactivate her. It is possible to assume the role of a reconstructed Kanu Gon. Or there may be clues of the phrase elsewhere. It is also possible that only the original Algorithm has a failsafe that is not present amongst the duplications.))
3. Antimatter rifles.
Vaporize opponents. I suppose the antimatter would be contained within magnetic cartridges, and fired using a "classical" rail gun design. Upon contact, the magnetic field containing the antimatter would be disrupted, and the matter/antimatter collision will result in a great deal of energy being released. These rounds can be extremely expensive, however.
4. Aliens.
Doubtful there will be actual aliens. The universe is a big and lonely place, and the Goldilocks conditions for complex life are painfully rare and fragile. Your new race here is robotic, and although they are hardier, they haven't developed abstract thought to a psychosomatic level, i.e. controlling the automated rhythms of their bodies, or directing the concerted actions of countless nanomachines. Of course, only highly skilled humans can accomplish those mental feats.
5. Immortality and Mastery.
And thus, the Masters, after nearly ten millennia, have, in conjunction with the tireless efforts of the technology cults, discovered immortality through the ability to manipulate nanomachines. The process requires countless hours of meditation and concentration, learning how to focus the actions of the little movers. So, we have a sort of Moore's Law effect here, where the skill set of these individuals is so much greater here than in post-Nevercast times, that it is not likely a character will cap-out because he is too powerful to be challenged.
((These are all just a forethought, however, and would be subject to harsh refinement should I pursue such an option; in particular, the feasibility, or at least the perceived feasibility, of the setting described.
Going back to the original near-future setting, I've already endeavored towards refining some of the thoughts I've had but two days ago. To me, it is essential that I construct this imaginary world in a highly organic fashion, that is, that no aspect of the setting should feel contrived, despite the fact that there are many circumstances or turns of events that do not, have not or will not exist in the real world. Thus, I should address a few points that could potentially compromise my setting:
1. The Outworlders.
They are blue. Not only should I provide some non-magical and coherent explanation for this, but I should probably downplay this physical aspect and make something fantastic present itself as something that is everyday and mundane. Quite naturally, they cannot be as blue as the sky, but about as blue as a native American is considered red, or as an Asian is considered yellow.
2. Artificial Intelligence.
The first A.I. systems were built by constructing a simulation of the brain composed of virtual neurons and the like. There are likely to be only a scant few systems to be built in this manner, and likely these few to be the only A.I. to exist at all for decades on because 1) the unpredictability of a human-based intelligence architecture is potentially dangerous 2) promoting such a construct as a commodity would raise vociferous ethical concerns (therefore, because of 1 and 2, this construct is commercially unmarketable) and 3) constructing a purely rational A.I. from the ground up would present a challenge of near-insurmountable difficulty in comparison. Also, because it will be very difficult to improve upon the construct's intelligence outside of natural learning (e.g. installing programs), it will be very unremarkable when intellectually juxtaposed to any other human, and probably won't be very effective at optimizing its quantum computing power for skills like breaking complex codes or doing calculation-heavy mathematics.
Furthermore, an article I've read of constructing artificial intelligence in this "brute-force" manner made a poignant insight: the system would have the same desires as everyone else does. Sex comes to mind, and the author points out that not addressing this desire appropriately would be downright cruel, as the construct would have no way of acting out those impulses. Nice! So, here we have the potential for some sexually repressed and very pissed off computers.
3. Swords
I feel that adding swords to a post-modern setting potentially undermines the level of seriousness and realism I'm trying to imbue upon it. There is an extremely delicate balance here. I know that, in the real world, actual swords that are used to slay people with are used in the context of terrorism, and they're utilized quite effectively in scaring the living shit out of people. With this insight in mind, I hope to be able to emulate that kind of energy and add heavily subjective value upon these weapons. These values will undoubtedly have traditional or religious significance.
Clearly, what I don't want is to make people associate this setting with that of popular movies or video games, as I will have succeeded in creating a barrier of disbelief between the player and the game world. In many of these sci-fi stories, you find heroes using swords because geeks think they're cool, and the heroes are immune to bullets so why bother with gunfights? So, right now, my mind is split whether to have swords be a deadly tool of the Old Master's arsenal, or to do away with them and strip the Masters down to the bare bones martial arts.))