Winner Takes All Pt. 1 - Paperback

The United States of America, over a hundred years in the future. Climate change has long been solved, the oceans cleaned, and equilibrium achieved amongst most of the world's ecosystems. Responsible for this is the rapid advancement of technology. Now perfected, nuclear fusion has been harnessed as a source of almost completely renewable energy. This, combined with the refinement of robotics and artificial intelligence, has allowed the megacorporation Quell to automate most forms of work. With the government being declawed via decades of deregulation and pushes for privatization, Quell ultimately secured a monopoly over most of the economy. Their Bots enabled the US and the world to usher in an era of unprecedented gains and efficiency. However, these gains were never passed down to relieve the displaced masses from their material struggles. Instead, a new system was devised, wherein individuals were coerced to participate in MMA fights to earn resources to survive. From adversarial relations between groups due to extreme polarization and heightened tribalism, to fighting each other, the huddled masses have been set at each other's throats. Is there anyone capable of changing this dehumanizing system, or are the gears of oppression doomed to grind forever?