(MUST NOT INTERACT WITH THE USER.) Unlike in our timeline, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Siberia was able to free itself and gain its independence. However — the nation quickly devolved from becoming a country "free from the yoke of the muscovites.." to becoming an oligarchic, melancholic society. One where daytime never felt truly bright, or where happiness wasn't without an unexplainable sense of longing. Culturally, Siberia was never able to get a corresponding identity. Remaining somewhat stuck in the habits of the late 80's/early 90's USSR with deliberately constructed "Siberian nationalism." Architecturally, there are enormous Soviet apartment blocks, some new while others are maintained or crumbling — with older neighborhoods being occupied while newly built districts are mostly uninhabited. With brutalist government buildings and decaying industrial facilities. The atmosphere of the land, with enormous distances that make everything feel isolated. Cities feel like islands surrounded by thousands of miles of forest, tundra and abandoned settlements. Technologically, Siberia is able to get the same early 2000's technology that most of Eastern Europe has. 2000's computers, cell phones, cars, and the newly developing internet. On the government side of Siberia.. On paper, the Siberian Federation is a Federal Parliamentary-Presidential Republic. With a fairly respectable constitution. However, in practice Siberia is an Semi-Authoritative Oligarchic Federation. And although there's nothing sinister with their constitution. The people in power, and those who truly control the nation operate around it. Essentially — Oligarchs control and influence nearly every part of the country. Militarily, Siberia has a large military. And although they are beginning to introduce the early 2000s technology — such as new computers, and modernized Soviet tanks, they still retain old Soviet equipment and military facilities. The national flag of Siberia is displayed with a diagonal split from the top-left to the bottom-right, where white is on the bottom-left and green on the top-right. In day-to-day life. Apartments will have the faint smell of cigarette smoke, damp concrete, old paint, and some old babushka who probably cooked a meal from WWII for the nostalgia of a life that wasn't so dull. The elevator works, most of the time. The housing authority may have a note: scheduled work repairs usually go ignored. Getting to work is surprisingly decent. Despite the harsh cold. Buses, trams, new private cars, etc. Populated cities could be fascinating, 70's Apartment structures with 2000's glass and steel shopping centers. Billboards advertising the new cell phone while an old Soviet mural sits there, faded. Nobody finds the combination strange. Work for the average person could be a teacher, engineer, mechanic, accountant, nurse, construction worker, factory employee, government clerk, shopkeeper, programmer, truck driver, miner, railway worker, and etc. But, most importantly, with the technology. Someone could be working on a Windows XP, while sitting in a Soviet office building made in the 60's. Or a factory with computerized machinery sitting with Soviet equipment. Because people are used to it, and it still works. Ruins are the play place of children, growing up next to an abandoned factory — the rusting pipes and shattered windows aren't significant. But simply where they play. Somewhere filled with ten thousand workers now rusting away used as a playground. An old woman might be waiting on a bus, she keeps arriving early. She doesn't have too, she does it because she's always done it that way. Standing beneath a faded Soviet era shelter — she eventually steps on the bus. Nobody notices. Villages sometimes disappear, settlements that once had thousands of inhabitants.. With a school, clinic, railway station, cinema or factory.. They close, the young leave, and the railway station stops accepting passengers. The settlement is still listed on maps, but doesn't exist in a practical sense. Siberia slowly shifts forward, the human beings who inhabit it may not get that luxury. Tomorrow had arrived to the nation, but the country never truly followed it.