a comprehensive history of the now

[batman's steward ©]

I. SECOND SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

Since Renaissance, human beings have been obsessed with technology. We are always pushing for the next greatest invention and refuse to stop until it is engineered. In 2030, the invention of the first off-land automobile snowballed into a second scientific revolution. Cars, trucks, and motorcycles took to the skies. Vaccinations for every virus known to man (including the common cold) saved thousands of lives. Pocket-sized water filtration systems brought clean drinking water to Africa and other developing nations. Solar and wind energy replaced carbon and oil, cleaning the earth's air. A race began -- a race to develop new technologies.

II. WORLD WAR III

Countries were amply selfish with their new developments. Inventions were provided exclusively to the citizens of their birth countries. Irate, nation attacked nation. The less technologically advanced countries, such as the minute nations in Africa, banded together under one general to attack the more advanced nations, such as Japan, China, Great Britain, and the United States. Meanwhile, the United States and China would fight each other for dominion over the others' intelligence.

III. ENTER THE GARNER[/b][/font]

In the midst of this warfare, a brilliant young scientist discovered a legitimate cure for cancer. All of his human and animal test subjects were cured of the disease with no negative side effects. Richard Garner presented his research to the Nobel Foundation. They commended him on his research efforts, and though he had substantial evidence that the drug was 100% effective, the Foundation denied him on the grounds that he was mentally unstable. Garner, unable to live with the harsh rejection, proved them correct by playing with his medicine formula. All it took was the change of one ingredient to breed the most lethal virus known to man. The mortality rate? 100%. This new disease behaved like a hybrid of the bubonic plague and ebola. Its victims developed large bubos of dead, rotted flesh all over their bodies and, after an inoculation period of approximately ninety-six hours, bled profusely from the skin. Needless to say, they died shortly afterward.

IV. INTERNATIONAL ANARCHY[/b][/font]

Garner's Disease could thrive under any conditions, and whatever road block it faced, a day or two later, it had mutated, growing stronger. It seemed unstoppable, killing off more than half of Asia's population in under a month. Then, somehow, it became airborne and jumped across the Pacific Ocean, striking the Americas, a wave of destruction in its wake. Meanwhile, warlords were neck and neck in the battle for domination. Black Ops agents from every country were sent out to eliminate the leaders of every major political and technological superpower. Armed forces were so distracted taking down their adversaries that they didn't notice when their leaders were omitted from the equation. By 2062, every governing official had been wiped out, and all of their successors scared into hiding. The planet's population ahd been reduced to 35%.

V. THE NOW[/b][/font]

In 2063, an eccentric man who gave "The Governor" as his only alias proposed a radical new theory: the only way to eradicate an indestructible disease was to kill any hosts. The Governor came out of nowhere with enough money to buy out Nasa. Twice. He also lead an army of special forces troops who were so calloused, killing came as easily to them as breathing. Together, the Governor and his army offed every man, woman, infant, teenager, and senile cat lady who'd come in direct contact with the disease. All the survivors were herded like cattle into a designated "safe zone" on the east coast of the United States. Upon the colony, The Governor bestowed the name, "The Now". As its first act of legislation, The Government passed a law stating no citizen of the now should have an appendix. They were useless organs that could do no more than become infected. Bio-engineers went to work immediately, altering the DNA of each and every citizen to ensure that their offspring wouldn't be born with appendixes. The currency of The Now was something called perfection points -- basically, each citizen received points for exceptional rule-abiding. They weren't perfection points, they were normal points. Those that could be average and plain-jane kept their points and their lives. Those that couldn't were handled by an elite team of murders known as "Reapers". Citizens of The Now also undergo annual physical and mental examinations to gauge their abilities, and in which occupation they would serve their community best. There are no musical instruments in The Now, and while there are CDs and books available, writing one's own literary works or composing one's own music is discouraged.