Post by ππͺππ΅πͺ . β¦ on Jun 5, 2017 12:52:38 GMT -5
G R E E N LIKE AMERICAN MONEY
they're the ones you've always dreamed of being - the beautiful, filthy rich sons and daughters of the wealthiest families in the nation. they glide through life on gilded wings, riding currents of decadence and indulgence and irreverence. they have everything. they want for nothing.
no, wait. scratch that. they may have it all, but they always want more. that's the whole point, isn't it? no matter how much they have, they're never satisfied. they crave the highs, the thrills, the passion and danger and exhilaration - all the things that money can't buy.
so here's the catch: they only have one last summer together. senior year of high school has come to an end, finally, but that means there's a mere three months remaining before this close-knit, elite group of friends must part ways to start their lives anew at their respective (ivy league, of course) universities. one last summer to do it all. but like any such group of friends, they have their drama, too. anyone who's ever been to high school knows that friendships, crushes, relationships can be a bit... messy, sometimes. with winds of change in the air, who knows what these final three months will bring?
but there's one thing you can be sure of: they're going to go out with a bang.
no, wait. scratch that. they may have it all, but they always want more. that's the whole point, isn't it? no matter how much they have, they're never satisfied. they crave the highs, the thrills, the passion and danger and exhilaration - all the things that money can't buy.
so here's the catch: they only have one last summer together. senior year of high school has come to an end, finally, but that means there's a mere three months remaining before this close-knit, elite group of friends must part ways to start their lives anew at their respective (ivy league, of course) universities. one last summer to do it all. but like any such group of friends, they have their drama, too. anyone who's ever been to high school knows that friendships, crushes, relationships can be a bit... messy, sometimes. with winds of change in the air, who knows what these final three months will bring?
but there's one thing you can be sure of: they're going to go out with a bang.
a world turned upside down
when the day of december 22nd, 2012, rolled around peacefully, the entire world breathed a sigh of relief that the ominous mayan prophecy predicting the apocalypse proved to be nothing more than silly superstition. finally, people said, we can be done with these baseless, insane claims that the world is going to end. still, as much as everyone pretended like they never paid any attention to the doomsday criers in the first place, they all climbed into their beds that night feeling just a little bit safer than before.
the next day, all hell broke loose.
at 3:39 am eastern standard time, a meteor came out of nowhere and crashed into a small town in michigan, killing tens of thousands of unsuspecting civilians on impact. but that was only the beginning. mere hours after the crash, dozens of natural disasters of unprecedented severity triggered all over the globe - everything from tsunamis and hurricanes to earthquakes and volcanic explosions. the world could only watch helplessly as horror after horror unfolded around them.
the apocalypse is upon us, people began to whisper. families huddled together in their homes, sending up desperate prayers to whatever gods or heavens they believed in, pleading for an end to this seemingly divine punishment - or, at the very least, a quick and painless end for themselves.
then, precisely twenty-four hours after the meteor strike in michigan, everything stopped. perhaps the gods took pity on their creations after all, or perhaps it was mere luck, but the earth calmed once more. still, the damage had been done; the disasters had claimed the lives of millions, and hundreds of thousands more followed in the devastating aftermath. yet in this time of crisis, world leaders and organizations banded together to do whatever they could to help those in need. slowly but surely, people worked to rebuild what they had lost, to mend the scarred and torn earth.
for a little while, things seemed to be doing better. crime was at an all-time low; the mini-apocalypse had fostered a sense of unity and kinship amongst the world's citizens like nothing before ever had. though people mourned the terrible losses it suffered that fateful day, life continued on. the world rose from the ashes, determined to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity to honor the memory of the fallen.
unfortunately, this peace did not last long.
rumors began cropping up in the following months - sightings of inexplicable occurrences, of people with extraordinary powers. at first they were dismissed as little more than crazy ramblings, just like the 2012 doomsday predictions. but soon, the stories became increasingly frequent, and finally people were forced to accept the frightening truth - december 23rd, 2012, had turned the world upside down in more ways than they realized. these rumored superhumans were quite real, and they were here to stay.
disaster of an entirely different kind now struck the earth. every day, a dozen new stories surfaced of these superhumans using their powers to terrorize the newly-rebuilt world. fear, as it so often does, turned to hate. the world was thrown into chaos, teetering on a edge that left them dangerously close to being thrust back into the dark ages.
an emergency conference of the united nations was held to decide how to move forward in this troubling time. a few extremists called for the imprisonment of all metahumans - a name that had stuck after they were referred to as such by one news article, taken from fictional comic books that no longer felt very fictional. fortunately, there were enough reasonable delegates who argued vehemently against this, reminding everyone that such harsh action would echo the horrific genocides of the 20th century. these metas were still human, and they deserved to be treated as such. still, something had to be done. finally, after a week of tireless, vicious debate, a resolution managed to just barely pass.
the next day, all hell broke loose.
at 3:39 am eastern standard time, a meteor came out of nowhere and crashed into a small town in michigan, killing tens of thousands of unsuspecting civilians on impact. but that was only the beginning. mere hours after the crash, dozens of natural disasters of unprecedented severity triggered all over the globe - everything from tsunamis and hurricanes to earthquakes and volcanic explosions. the world could only watch helplessly as horror after horror unfolded around them.
the apocalypse is upon us, people began to whisper. families huddled together in their homes, sending up desperate prayers to whatever gods or heavens they believed in, pleading for an end to this seemingly divine punishment - or, at the very least, a quick and painless end for themselves.
then, precisely twenty-four hours after the meteor strike in michigan, everything stopped. perhaps the gods took pity on their creations after all, or perhaps it was mere luck, but the earth calmed once more. still, the damage had been done; the disasters had claimed the lives of millions, and hundreds of thousands more followed in the devastating aftermath. yet in this time of crisis, world leaders and organizations banded together to do whatever they could to help those in need. slowly but surely, people worked to rebuild what they had lost, to mend the scarred and torn earth.
for a little while, things seemed to be doing better. crime was at an all-time low; the mini-apocalypse had fostered a sense of unity and kinship amongst the world's citizens like nothing before ever had. though people mourned the terrible losses it suffered that fateful day, life continued on. the world rose from the ashes, determined to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity to honor the memory of the fallen.
unfortunately, this peace did not last long.
rumors began cropping up in the following months - sightings of inexplicable occurrences, of people with extraordinary powers. at first they were dismissed as little more than crazy ramblings, just like the 2012 doomsday predictions. but soon, the stories became increasingly frequent, and finally people were forced to accept the frightening truth - december 23rd, 2012, had turned the world upside down in more ways than they realized. these rumored superhumans were quite real, and they were here to stay.
disaster of an entirely different kind now struck the earth. every day, a dozen new stories surfaced of these superhumans using their powers to terrorize the newly-rebuilt world. fear, as it so often does, turned to hate. the world was thrown into chaos, teetering on a edge that left them dangerously close to being thrust back into the dark ages.
an emergency conference of the united nations was held to decide how to move forward in this troubling time. a few extremists called for the imprisonment of all metahumans - a name that had stuck after they were referred to as such by one news article, taken from fictional comic books that no longer felt very fictional. fortunately, there were enough reasonable delegates who argued vehemently against this, reminding everyone that such harsh action would echo the horrific genocides of the 20th century. these metas were still human, and they deserved to be treated as such. still, something had to be done. finally, after a week of tireless, vicious debate, a resolution managed to just barely pass.
resolution GA/3/1.1
The General Assembly,
Reminding all nations of the urgent need to end the chaos and hysteria following the reveal of the global phenomenon known as metahumans,
Reaffirming the principles of freedom, justice, and peace as written in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed 10 December 1948,
Stressing the fact that decisive yet just action must be taken to address this complex issue,
1. Requests all members of the UN to pass laws requiring all metahumans in their country to be registered in a database through whatever means deemed appropriate;
2. Urges countries to impose stricter punishments on metahumans who commit crimes so as to deter the increasing acts of violence;
3. Calls for the development of a multinational research coalition to obtain more information about metahumans;
4. Encourages donations from member states to the facilitation of this research project that will benefit all global citizens;
5. Stresses the preservation of the inherent human rights of all metahumans;
6. Requests the voluntary participation of metahumans in conducting research in exchange for a sum of money.
Reminding all nations of the urgent need to end the chaos and hysteria following the reveal of the global phenomenon known as metahumans,
Reaffirming the principles of freedom, justice, and peace as written in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed 10 December 1948,
Stressing the fact that decisive yet just action must be taken to address this complex issue,
1. Requests all members of the UN to pass laws requiring all metahumans in their country to be registered in a database through whatever means deemed appropriate;
2. Urges countries to impose stricter punishments on metahumans who commit crimes so as to deter the increasing acts of violence;
3. Calls for the development of a multinational research coalition to obtain more information about metahumans;
4. Encourages donations from member states to the facilitation of this research project that will benefit all global citizens;
5. Stresses the preservation of the inherent human rights of all metahumans;
6. Requests the voluntary participation of metahumans in conducting research in exchange for a sum of money.
the icarus initiative
the resolution called for the creation of an international research agency, in which nations would work together in order to solve the mystery behind the metahumans. this was a lovely and idealistic notion; but although the UN did create such an organization, the metahuman reveal had also brought an end to the era of nations working together for the common interests of all the world's citizens. the united states voted to leave the organization a couple months after its creation in order to conduct their own private research. and once the united states left, the entire thing fell apart soon after.
and thus we now turn our attention away from the world stage to focus particularly on the united states, where metahumans seemed to be popping up in the most abundant numbers. it was speculated that the reason for this was the proximity to the meteor crash, but it was unknown yet if this truly was the source of their powers. the government created a new branch known as the icarus initiative to facilitate all matters relating to metahumans. following the disasters of 2012, states' rights had already been largely diminished, so it wasn't difficult for this new, stronger national government to pass laws. indeed, they heeded the advice of the un resolution that called for stricter punishments for metahumans who committed crimes - robberies and other things were now punishable by death for metas over the age of eighteen. though many protested the constitutionality of this new law, it was undeniably effective in stemming the tide of supernatural crime that had arisen.
but the united states was still a nation of relative freedom and social justice. and so it was decided that metas with no criminal history could not be forced into a research lab against their will, nor could minors be experimented on under any circumstances. however, the icarus initiative promised a sizable sum of money to any metas who volunteered to participate in their research. over the years, many chose to take this exchange, as they simply had no other option. the national government did not pass any anti-discrimination laws for metas, so it became rather difficult for the more "dangerous" ones to find work. the wave of anti-meta protests had died down to an extent, and many chose to embrace their new meta-neighbors. unfortunately, however, just as many remained ignorant, frightened, and hateful.
and thus we now turn our attention away from the world stage to focus particularly on the united states, where metahumans seemed to be popping up in the most abundant numbers. it was speculated that the reason for this was the proximity to the meteor crash, but it was unknown yet if this truly was the source of their powers. the government created a new branch known as the icarus initiative to facilitate all matters relating to metahumans. following the disasters of 2012, states' rights had already been largely diminished, so it wasn't difficult for this new, stronger national government to pass laws. indeed, they heeded the advice of the un resolution that called for stricter punishments for metahumans who committed crimes - robberies and other things were now punishable by death for metas over the age of eighteen. though many protested the constitutionality of this new law, it was undeniably effective in stemming the tide of supernatural crime that had arisen.
but the united states was still a nation of relative freedom and social justice. and so it was decided that metas with no criminal history could not be forced into a research lab against their will, nor could minors be experimented on under any circumstances. however, the icarus initiative promised a sizable sum of money to any metas who volunteered to participate in their research. over the years, many chose to take this exchange, as they simply had no other option. the national government did not pass any anti-discrimination laws for metas, so it became rather difficult for the more "dangerous" ones to find work. the wave of anti-meta protests had died down to an extent, and many chose to embrace their new meta-neighbors. unfortunately, however, just as many remained ignorant, frightened, and hateful.