FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

History

No setting is complete without a long, alternate-history document. This is the one for this setting! :D I will also provide another detailing the Superhero Bureau (SB) and Radicals (government licensed heroes and street-heroes respectively). For now this will form one file and the more 'social' setting document will be another.

Tesla and Tunguska

In 1907, Nicola Tesla was being ruined by his powerful opponents that thought his vision of free power to all would threaten their monopolies. Desperate, embittered and nearing the end of his resources he bent his intellect towards building something that the world would want. If the world would not allow him to give free power then he would give them something they would always crave; a weapon of terrible force.

Even in his darkest moment, Nikola could not bring himself to unleash this weapon in a populated area. Instead he calculated a precise means that he would destroy sheets of Arctic ice just in time for the Cook expedition to discover his handiwork. With such a public demonstration complete, the world powers would beat a path to his door. With governments begging for his new device, it would be a very small thing to make them promise to use his method of power distribution before he would give them the plans. More over, he would give ALL of them the machine, so no country would be able to hold it over another, while free electrical power would become a reality. With only one use he could bring free electrical power to the world. Surely, he argued to himself in the late hours of the night, the ends justified the means in this case.

In 1908 the machine was finished, the calculations made and double checked. In his laboratory Tesla took a deep breath and prepared to change history.

But something went wrong.

In the sky over Tunguska a strange, violet light began to gather. Tremors racked the earth, and sonic booms rent the air. With a furious discharge the energy was unleashed, burning brightly enough to be seen from London for several days. The forest was flattened and blasted for miles in every direction. Worse, the people fleeing the event were afflicted with strange burns and tumours that baffled doctors.

Realising what he had done, Tesla destroyed his machine and presented himself to the authorities. To his horror he found himself in greater demand than he had anticipated. Every government attempted to force him to recreate the death ray, wanting to claim that destructive potential for themselves. And to the public he had become a new Pandora; opening lines of scientific inquiry that threatened the population in general.

After a year of fleeing from various agencies and the public, Nikola managed to narrowly escape Tzarist agents in Australia before taking his own life. However by this point there was already a growing arms race to try and make 'Tesla Weapons' to tip the balance between nations.

Meanwhile, scientists were drawn to the ruins of Tunguska to try and fathom the reason for the strange energy that seemed to remain there. Some people exposed to the faintly luminous topsoil would be afflicted with deadly cancers, while others claimed to have developed strange powers. Most of this was laughed off as wishful thinking, and was brushed aside as Europe was drawn into a nightmarish war.

World War One

The outbreak of war caused a slight pause in the research into the strange Tunguska phenomenon. As lives were wasted casually in the trenches the only research that the warring nations wanted to indulge in would allow them to ramp up the tempo of the slaughter. While some new weapons were developed, such as the hellish 'White Winter' gas used by the Russians on the Eastern Front, it was the humble rifle and machine gun that saw the most use.

However, as the conflict dragged on strange reports began to filer into the reports of all of the governments involved.

On the home front spiritualism and mediumship suddenly enjoyed a massive resurgence. Occult groups began to form around charismatic individuals that claimed to possess unusual and arcane powers. While some of these individuals were plainly charlatans, there were reports of levitation, mind-reading and feats of incredible strength and endurance.

Many of these groups were benign, but some began to use what powers they had to rob people or set up petty criminal empires. A shadowy war began to brew in the back alleys and dark side streets. Vigilantes with crude masks swooped down from rooftops to deliver justice to brigands armed with advanced weapons or kingpins that controlled their minions like literal puppets.

The battlefront was not free from such incidents either. There was the undeniable proof that medieval archers stepped out of a portal to defend British soldiers in the trenches in the form of photographs and several arrows collected from the crash site of a German observation plane. Then there were the whispered mentions of the 'Trench Sweeper'; a German soldier that was immune to bullets and could project flame from his hands at will. While the allied commanders dismissed this as a shell-shocked memory of a flame-thrower armed soldier it soon became clear he was very real.

None of the sides were willing to allow these strange incidents to upset their plans, however. So the war ground on through several bloody years until the collapse of the Western Front and the surrender of Germany.

The Inter-War Years

With the dust settling, the weird and unusual things that had been happening were given a more detailed investigation. This was done with a healthy dose of scepticism. After all, who believed that a mere mortal man could punch through steel or fly through the sky like a bird?

Well, the experts did, once the so-called 'mystics' were brought to laboratories to demonstrate their abilities.

The papers were in uproar. It was proven, time and again, that certain individuals possessed strange and unusual powers. Scientists began desperately searching for an answer, and discovered it in the form of Theta radiation. This will be discussed in greater depth later. For now it should just be noted that the energy released from the Tunguska event was apparently capable of giving human being strange and unusual abilities, if it did not kill them.

The mystic factions actually scoffed at this idea. They claimed that the actual cause was the mass loss of life in the first world war. The spiritual suffering granted them the power of the gods or spirit world. Exactly which gods and what manner of spirits was hotly up for debate within the group, however.

The general public received this news with mixed emotions. On the one had there was a chance that, if exposed to Theta radiation, your next door neighbour could start shooting lighting from his eyes. But on the other hand there was a chance that YOU could begin shooting lightning out of your eyes!

The media of the day became saturated with tales of real and fictional heroes battling dastardly villains. As super crime began to rise, so did the organisation of various super groups to combat them. Many of these were based around the old mystic orders or on army units that recruited super heroes and trained them to fight the encroaching anarchy.

The problem was that as the talk of 'super men' began to gain complete acceptance within some circles, the message was corrupted in others. The spectre of Eugenics began to rise in many countries, trying to weed out either the 'mutants' or the 'inferiors'. Small battles were fought, either in the courts to protect innocents from the camps, or amongst those countries that held opposing views on how the super-powered should be treated.

Amidst this backdrop the world slowly tipped back into war. Germany, which had been recruiting any superhuman they could so long as they fit the Aryan ideal, proved to be the country that pushed the world over the edge. Hitler had been preaching that the German people represented a step above the mundane humans, and used the large collection of 'German' supermen to prove it. They pulled the trigger that started the second world war by invading Poland after annexing various European territories. Once more War stalked the continent and drew nation after nation into the conflict.

World War Two

The second world war saw the emergence of the pattern that would later form the blueprint of modern heroes. Brightly-costumed supermen and superwomen could be used as a morale booster on the home front as well as lend tactical strength to the front lines. All sides laid down different means of keeping the identity of their super-soldiers secret to keep them from being attacked or coerced by spies.

The war, however, proved that no matter how many superheroes a side posessed, it was always down to ordinary men with machine guns, tanks and bombs to carry the day. There were a few 'invincibles' that could wade through hails of bullets without taking a scratch, but they were too few to tactically hold the line or force a breach. Supers were generally tasked with keeping the war effort running at home, combined with commando raids and surgical strikes against enemy countries.

During this time the advances in technology also started to banish the mystical trappings of super powers. Technology and science began to expand in strange directions, prompting the discovery of affected individuals that displayed no outward powers but were capable of super-human leaps of intuition and logic. Such individuals were pushed into weapon-building, although the devices they created tended to be too temperamental to mass-produce.

The tipping point of the war came in Russia. Mauled by hellish winters, the German army began to get pushed back. Hitler ordered the entire Ubercorps into battle time and time again, reducing them to tatters. The general troops were also mown down by the advancing Russians. With the landings in Normandy and Italy, the axis began a slow collapse.

In the end it was Oppenheimer, an un-powered scientist that created the weapon that ended the war. The atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima to destroy the headquarters of the Japanese super-soldier program, and again in Nagasaki to further demonstrate Allied superiority. The bomb was chosen because it could be made without super-science and also left only 'mundane' fallout with no bursts of Theta radiation that could cause an outbreak of angry Japanese super-humans.

With the war over, East and west drew up further battle lines and eyes each other warily.

The Cold War

During the period that followed, super-humans became even more politicised than before. In addition, the term 'Theta-Positive' (Theta+) became commonly used to describe anyone displaying any of the bewildering array of super powers. Depending on political and religious leanings this became a term with meanings ranging from patronising sympathy to derision.

Both the East and West employed Theta-Positives as spies and scientists as much as possible. Both sides also began to experiment in breeding programs, trying to close a perceived 'Theta Gap'. Russia and Eastern Europe had begun the second world war with more due to the close proximity to Tunguska, but attrition had whittled them down considerably. Declassified documents showed that the CIA began a program of exposing the American public to covert Theta radiation bursts to try and build up Theta+ numbers. In the USSR any citizen showing special powers were taken to training camps to be indoctrinated.

In both cases the sides were relatively well balanced. Super spies, shape-changers and super-bugs were used with liberal abandon while both East and West stockpiled nuclear weapons with giddy abandon. The mood of the population turned bleak, with media on all sides depicting only futures where Theta+ ruled like kings over an atomic wasteland only they could survive.

The period ended, not in atomic fire as predicted, but in the collapse of the Soviet economy. With their infrastructure ruined, population disgusted with their excesses and unable to bring themselves to start Armageddon, the USSR climbed down from a war footing. The West celebrated until it became clear that both sides were as guilty as the other.

Documents surfaced showing that black Theta+'s had been imprisoned for joining the civil rights movement. As did proof that Theta+'s had been threatened with exposure of themselves of their family if they did not carry out assassination missions against enemies of the state. These 'enemies' included reporters, dissidents, and one mistress of a highly-placed colonel who was threatening to expose their affair to his wife. Meanwhile, in Russia, the existence of Gulag D was confirmed. Hundreds of prisoners, both Theta+ and mundane were found vivisected, tortured, executed and used in fiendish surgical experiments.

The population of both sides of the war became paranoid and mistrusting of the government that had claimed to be keeping the safe from the other. Apathy, ennui and disillusionment set in. Highly-political Theta+'s found it advisable to go underground or face public outrage over real or imagined crimes. Several Theta+'s with hard-line political views even banded together to form global conspiracies to try and push their agenda.

The Modern Era

With the cold war no longer holding an atomic sword of Damocles over the head of the population, things progressed pretty much as they had in our world. The West fell into cycles of boom-and-bust, coupled with a growing sense of entitlement and fascination with shiny technology. The former USSR fell into corruption and vice, with soldiers becoming gangsters with little overall transition.

The main difference is the third world. Many of the more hard-line political Theta+'s moved into mercenary work or used their powers to take over small parcels of the developing world. While many of these groups were crushed or overthrown, there are large parts of Africa, South Asia and South America ruled by warlords and splinter groups. Some are as small as independent city-states, while others are as large as North Korea - which is still ruled today by Mauist Theta+'s and is a center of human rights abuse.

Theta+ during this time faded out of view. While a few new individuals came out as heroes or villains, in most of the world they were seen as an anachronism; something that reminded all sides of the bad-old-days of the war. It was reasoned that without further breeding or exposure programs that the Theta+ would slowly die out. And a lot of the public considered this to be a good thing.

While having someone that can shoot freeze-rays during wartime was a good idea, having them as a neighbor or work colleague was not as desirable. Theta positivity during this time, whether it had been activated by Theta radiation or not, was seen in the same light as having AIDS. Rumours of Theta Positivity could end careers and relationships. After all, how could people prove they were not Theta+? NOT fly?

This attitude saw a slow scaling back of the scope and powers of the SB (see below). Most people simply wanted to forget that superhumans had ever existed.

The War on Terror

(Let me preface this chapter with message. The part below was included in the game history that I sent to a bunch of workmates for the background for the game I was going to run. I am going to include it here, although even as I got to it I realised that it might cause someone reading it to become upset. I am, after all, holding this work up to allow anyone to read, instead of a few people who know me well enough to know this is not a piss-take.

The September the 11thattacks are as much a part of recent history as the second world war, the cold war, or any other loss of life and tragedy. It shaped the political and economic landscape of the world since it happened. It has lead to wars, religious tension, and will continue to echo in the public consciousness for years to come.

Including it in a fictional narrative like this is not meant to belittle it or any of the effects it had. I am including it here purely because not including it would be like having a game set in the 20's that ignored that the first world war happened, or a game set during the second world war that ignored the actual fighting.

With that kept in mind, please do not start flaming me. >_< )

However, all this changed on September 11th. A cadre of Islamic terrorists, including a trio of Theta+ agents, attacked New York. The Theta+ attacked the city directly, causing chaos which ultimately caused the authorities to put a report that several planes had been hijacked to one side to deal with the 'immediate' threat. This was shown to be a mistake as two of the planes crashed into the World Trade Centre's twin towers, while another tried to attack the Pentagon. The latter plane was intercepted by a rapidly scrambled SB force which boarded the plane and managed to divert it. The final flight exploded in mid-air, with investigators unable to find a cause.

The aftermath of the effect on the public was immediate and consisted of fear and horror. Not just of the casualties, but of the reminder that Theta+'s were still around and able to produce frightening effects at will. Terrorist groups backed by Theta+ strike-teams had not been seen since Sons of Erin had officially disbanded as part of the peace process in Northern Ireland. Even then the casualties had been deliberately limited to avoid the total loss of life seen in the September 11th attack. More over, the terrorists had been engaged on the ground by members of the public that had been hiding Theta+ powers for fear of public censure or ridicule. People became more worried that there was a Theta+ time-bomb waiting to blow and upset the balance of power. Suspected Theta+ became even more persecuted, especially if they were members of ethnic or religious minorities.

Afghanistan was rapidly invaded and the Taliban's power on the region was broken. This mired the region in constant sectarian and tribal violence that caused mounting casualties amongst peacekeeping forces. This was then rapidly followed by a widely-criticised invasion of Iraq on the pretence that Saddam Hussein was irradiating pregnant Iraqi women with Theta radiation to build his own Theta+ army. No evidence of this was found, and when this region too collapsed into violence and the oil-wells seized, the public became even more embittered and sceptical.

The result of all of this was that terrorist groups the world over were shown directly that a single Theta+ agent can tip the balance in their favour. Attacks by various small cells and pressure groups have risen massively since September the 11th. By extension the public has once again turned towards those Theta+ who (publicly) oppose these threats. However, at the same time, nationalistic fervour, economic posturing and religious persecution is growing across the world. People who MAY be Theta+ are treated like lepers even as the public heroes are praised. At the same time minorities are being blamed for every failing of the economy, even as said economies break under the strain of internal corruption. The governments try and keep the lid on the pressure cooker with one hand, and continue raking in money with the other.

Where will the next attack come from? Nationalist terrorists attacking perceived undesirables? Religious extremists armed with stolen nukes? Oppressed citizens overthrowing tyrannical, rich governments? Said governments purging the population in order to diffuse such an attack? And when the attack comes who will stand up for the little man, the innocent caught up in the middle?

Will it be you?