Gears
Harbinger of War, Chaos, and Poptarts
History:
The year was 3070 and war-ravaged the Earth. Corruption had spread like wildfire, conspiracies and monopolies rampant. The first to die was the poor as the poverty levels reached record highs. Governments began to feud over land as a famine spread across the entire earth. Food was regulated, and some countries tried many plans, euthanizing the old or useless- executing students who didn't reach high enough physical and mental scores, reinstating policies that didn't allow too many children to be born in a family. One by one, each country joined alliances and began a brutal war with one another in the Third World War. What little money was being saved for the food issue was moved to the war effort, enlisting and drafts grew as people joined for the slightly more consistent food shipments provided for the military. Brother fought brother and father fought son as civil wars broke out over this pointless war and the disorganization of food. A group of radical rebels broke into a nuclear missile silo and managed to send a thermonuclear bomb toward the enemy, who swiftly retaliated, leaving half of the world uninhabitable.The war stopped, as society broke down, settlements bartering for food and water across the world, some isolated by dangerous radiation levels. Deep in a UN bunker, some of the greatest minds scrambled to find a solution to the crisis. Few of the original world governments remained, they had no authority anymore. The rich who had been smart enough to hire mercenaries and build sprawling complexes full of supplies thrived, unaware as their security plotted their downfall, killing their masters only to realize the supplies were locked without any way to reach them, starving down there instead of venturing into the post-nuclear wasteland. The think-tank knew many had been infected with biological weapons or exposed to deadly radiation, so UN aircraft run by the last loyal soldiers began gathering the few in populations immune to these diseases and clear of radiation, careful to include the genetics of every race and country. Once the new people were gathered, a wall was built on one of the only fertile lands left in the world, and towering walls were built to prevent the outside world's raiders and anarchists from attacking their safe zones. Two gaurds were created from both volunteers and surviving UN soldiers: The Border Patrol and The Security Agency.
The Border Patrol was composed of volunteers, sending their families into the walled paradise while they would build a second city around the city christened Genisis, defending those within as they built a second world. The remaining fighting force was locked into the city with the rest of the population, maintaining martial law while both the Think Tank and representatives for the people developed a new law system. Due to the inclusion of survivors from every country and region, the debate took ten years while the Security Agency maintained the peace. Eventually, the Think Tank, respected as The Founders by the population drafted a new plan. Humans had failed to govern themselves- it didn't matter the Race, Gender, and Creed- all had corruption. The Founders proposed the introduction of a Governing Artificial Intelligence, to the representative's horror. There had been several AI insurgencies in the times of the war, most stopped but many lives were lost in the process. The idea of giving unlimited power to something inhumane was madness. The Founders negotiated this plan for months before a series of six rules were created:
1. Never Harm Genisis
2. Always Defend The Cities Citizens
3. Allow Humanity to discipline and Secure themselves
5. Always allow a board of representatives to co-create laws and regulations
6. The Board of Representatives will always have the power to eliminate the AI if all are willing.
With the board satisfied with the six restrictions, The Founders set to work on an unbiased, artificial ruler. An experiment was developed- the test of each iteration of morals and leadership. A digital copy of the City was created and each iteration was tasked with rebuilding humanity from the walled-off safety of a digital world, though the AI were unaware of the test as they began their efforts in simulation. The first Thirty-Seven failed, some corrupted and turned on their digital citizens, some self-deleting from either stress or their failure. All failed iterations were deleted, and time ran out as a civil war seemed imminent- before Prototype-38 finished her test. Prototype-38 or Evelynn as she was named was different than the rest, given the most human emotions and morals- after her success, The Founders temporarily implemented her as leader, and her actions were carefully watched for a six-month period. Evelynn's system was successfully implemented, with the majority loving both her kind and grounded behavior and the new system she had developed, allowing her plan and position as the supreme leader of the city to remain, though the threat of deletion was still present if the Board unanimously agreed. The Security Agency and several other groups were given complete independence from the AI's rule to keep the balance of power between machine and man equal. For years there was peace as Evelynn strived to preserve the human experience and order, still hindered by her many supplementary and primary restrictions. Corruption began to spread, as some had predicted, and because of Evelynn's restrictions, she couldn't do much, struggling to keep the city together before a civil war broke out.
In the Year 3570, Two factions had developed in the last bastion of humanity, the humble minors of an underground district of Genisis with the uncreative name of The Underground, and the surface world where the middle and upper class resided. Food shortages and disease were rampant as the war broke out, Evelynn powerless to stop the war as humans killed each other, barely able to allocate funds and resources to the civilian populations of both sides, to the resentment of many. Eventually, Topsiders won the war with their force of loyal Security Agents. The Underground was punished for their crimes and order was restored and the “Heroes” won.
The already fractured relationship between the two regions was now shattered, maybe even unrepairable. The Top-Siders now saw the Underground as a haven for recourse-stealing criminals whereas the subterranean citizens viewed the above ground as wasteful oppressors that couldn’t care less, but the new stigmas couldn’t matter as something worse came.
A disease commonly known as “The Reckoning” began to spread across the city. No one was safe as an estimated fifty percent of the entire population died, with Evelyn unable to save her people send she watched hopelessly, unsure of how to cure this. Security Agents began a brutal plan, eradicating the every carrier- killing thousands to save millions. When this was done, many mourned a single positive came from this: Super-Heroes.
It is unknown if The Reckoning was truly linked to the emergence of science defying abilities and feats, but soon after the outbreak, many began to show these abilities.
In the beginning, it was chaos. Many chose to use their newfound abilities to cause havoc, harming their enemies and robbing banks. Of course, some began to use their powers for good, but these vigilantes caused damage, costing thousands in damage and killing innocents. While the Security Agency struggled to maintain order, until a group of Vigilantes approached The Board of Representatives, intending to form a more organized group.
The Heroes where given one of the abandoned buildings in the far side of an area ravaged by The Reckoning, forming the “Heroes League”. The League formed an academy for the training of Heroes and where given their own branch of The Security Agency. After the creation of the league, all vigilantes where declared illegal as corruption spread through the ranks of the Heroes League, two groups forming: The Old Guard, those who still value heroism and selflessness, while The New Guard was those who saw their as a way power to break the law and claim the power they believed they deserve.
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