The Magisterium Mutants & Masterminds: The Magisterium - [Magisterium] World History in Brief

[Dawn OOC]

History

Before 1931, there were only a few mutants. Those that existed were wiped out by the governments when found because there was no good way to control them. A few were captured and used for experimentation. Over time, these old ones would have to put down when they grew too strong.

That changed in 1901. Dr. Kevin Young of McGill University developed an incredibly powerful sedative, called Kytone. At first it was only used on animals because it was powerful enough to hurt humans. Then someone tried it on a mutant and found that it worked incredibly well. The Mutant Age dawned, though it was a secret age. All the countries of the world began mutant experimentations, including utilizing mutant abilities in a controlled fashion for the first time. The resulting technology boom created an advanced age for humankind. While their mutant cousins slaved and worked in prisons, humans increased their life span, developed computers and went to the moon and, just last year, to Mars.

The countries each dealt with their mutant problems in their own ways. As technology advanced, so did the number of mutants appearing. The world soon realized it had a problem, but one man seized advantage. Hitler, the Chancellor of Germany, was the first to openly use controlled mutants on the battlefield. His Axis allies soon followed, propelling the United States into the Second World War. Their mutants reached the battlefields as well, and human world leadership glimpsed the future of its race: cut down by powerful creatures they barely controlled with drugs. The resulting mess took years to clean up and required the deaths and memory wipe of innocent humans.

One of the first acts of the new United Nations was the Mutant Accords. All the countries of the world were required to sign the Accords. In them, several key pieces of legislation were formed. All nations were required to monitor, control and hide their mutants. Other nations agreed to police one another, and the Security Council created a division to monitor them: the Division of Extra-Human Affairs (DEHA).

The DEHA is responsible for monitoring individual nations’ efforts to contain the mutant threat: from the physical threat they represent to the social threat of their discovery. The DEHA is publically a small department that deals with extraterrestrial matters. Their agents are highly dedicated men and women who accept the Fox Mulder jokes with good grace, knowing that they are doing a greater good. In addition to watching countries like Iran to make sure they don’t develop mutant weapons, they also make sure that countries keep a lid on the existence of mutants. No one may publically parade their mutants around, though they abound in covert operations. Registration is required at the very least, and control of dangerous mutants is mandatory. The DEHA created the five power tiers (Icarus, Orpheus, Prometheus, Gorgon and Titan) and established what may and may not be done with each level. They also created the Code Omega designation, indicating that a mutant labeled Code Omega is a must-kill target. No country can attempt to claim a Code Omega; they have to destroy them if they catch them. The DEHA also monitors treaties based around mutants, such as agreements swapping mutants between nations.

Rumors around mutants are circulating. In the modern information age, there are just too many stories about them to dismiss. People are going to learn about them, and governments around the world fear the coming revelation.

[Dawn OOC]

OOC Notes

Technology

-All technology developed around ten years sooner beginning in 1915 or so. The advances from 1901 to 1915 were completed by 1905 or 1906.

-Wireless technology is widespread and widely used.

-Space travel has occurred; humans have walked on Mars though the Mars mission is still on its way home. It left home in 2008 and was on Mars for a month in 2011 before returning home. They are expected to return in 2014.

-There is a space station which hosts fifty international residents year-round.

-The US has plans for a Moon colony from which they plan to explore mining asteroids. Other countries are exploring the same.

-People have electronic ID (EID) cards which can be scanned from as far away as fifteen feet. All government buildings and public transportation agencies scan the EIDs that walk in, and people without EIDs are questioned by the guards. Currently, someone can check out library books and electronic usage of public wireless batteries is monitored through EIDs. Credit card companies are in the first stages of using the EIDs to place charges on their accounts. Hacking EIDs are possible, but they are highly encrypted.

Society

-There is not as much forward movement on the social front. Race relations are decent - the government knows what 'inhuman' really is - with the general populace being more or less alright with people of color, so long as they are people of color in their own neighborhoods.

-Being a homosexual is not alright. AIDS was never more than a regional African problem, cured by the 'Big Daddy' of the contenient, South Africa. There was no polarizing movement for the gay rights community; no Philadelpha.

-There is a strong divide between rich and poor that has been growing for years. The economic meltdowns in the housing markets in Europe and North America have spread around the world. The world-wide recession is still going strong.

-Conspiracy nuts are stronger and more widely heeded. The existance of DEHA - and the fact that the UN will not release the numbers on the funding of the department - have given them 'real proof' that the governments genuinely fear the revelation of aliens. Sadly for them, they are only half-right. There are also numerous stories of MiB, rumored (correctly) to be DEHA agents, spurring on the paranoia.

Culture

DEHA has taken steps to control the culture of the modern world. They have had a quiet and insidious impact on all of the entertainment forms, from Radio to comics. Their goal overall is to reinforce the humanistic viewpoint: that humans are inherently good and have five core principles:

1. Human beings, as human, supersede the sum of their parts. They cannot be reduced to components.
   
2. Human beings have their existence in a uniquely human context, as well as in a cosmic ecology.
   
3. Human beings are aware and aware of being aware—i.e., they are conscious. Human consciousness always includes an awareness of oneself in the context of other people.
   
4. Human beings have some choice and, with that, responsibility to care for and defend themselves.
   
5. Human beings are intentional, aim at goals, are aware that they cause future events, and seek meaning, value, and productivity.
   

These concepts shape the idea that humans are superior to other creatures and that they are responsible to care for themselves and other humans against other creatures. This message is pervasive throughout human culture. The following are some examples of this in entertainment:

The Shadow was a popular radio show that migrated over to TV in the 1960’s. Though it has recently fallen out of favor with younger people, older members of humanity love the show still, keeping it thriving on Nickelodeon at Night and other ‘vintage’ television stations. The Shadow’s real name is Kent Allard, a war hero during World War I (later updated to World War II). After the war is over, he decides to wage war on criminals and fakes his own death to become Lamont Cranston, among other identities. The Shadow has no super-human abilities beyond an ability to do hypnosis instantly. Rumors that his powers are psychic in nature are always crushed by the producers of the show.

Marvel Detective Comics (shortened, amusingly, to MDC sometimes) is the leading comic book producer. Their stable of heroes include Batman (a detective and crime-fighter), Hawkman (an archer), Green Lantern (an Earthling who protects the planet from alien invaders with the help of Mother Earth’s Lantern), Spider-Man (a high school genius who built a spider-suit to fight crime with), Captain America (a human with a super-serum), Iron Man (a billionaire playboy philanthropist with a suit), Wonder Woman (a Texas brunette with a mean lasso) and more. The protagonists are always human with machines or their own ingenuity to help them against the villains. Some of the villains are the Hulk (a massive green monster), Thor (a being who believes he’s a god – his primary adversary is the Paladin, a Christian warrior), Superman (a fascist alien with delusions of conquering earth) and so on.

The Twilight Book series follows the exploits of a teen girl who fights vampires and werewolves at night while trying to be a normal girl by day. She has to fit in her training and time with her family. Bella Swan also worries about her grades and which boy to like: the handsome Edward who’s the captain of the football team or Jacob, the boy next door who’s also her best friend.

[Dawn OOC]

Division of Extra-Human Affairs

The DEHA is a name heralded with dread and anger by all mutants. No mutant lives in society for any length of time without coming into contact with DEHA at least indirectly. The agency is responsible for the rules governing mutantkind across the world. Their policies shape the national policies - and many mutants argue, the perception that humans have of mutants. If there is a single villain that most mutants believe mostly responsible for mutant woes, it is the DEHA.

DEHA is an autonomous office within the UN, receiving a chunk of the UN’s funding. However, most of their funding comes from dummy accounts that hold the patents on hundreds of innovations and inventions created by mutants or from research on mutants. That income provides the bulk of DEHA’s massive budget.

Many people have run the numbers and suspected that DEHA has outside funding, but to date, no one’s survived putting the pieces together. More than one reporter sniffing around has woken up naked in a Bangkok whorehouse with a venereal disease, an envelope with blackmail-worthy material and a promise to use it, and no clue how they got there. As such, DEHA has a reputation for being far more than what it is. It has led to most people believing in aliens, which is fine with DEHA. Better the possibility of The Other than the realization that The Other is already living among them.

There are a number of units that operate within DEHA, each specialized for various needs. They have innocuous names designed to hide their true purposes from the public.

Administration and Records Unit (ARU) – This is the branch of DEHA that keeps the records of mutants. On the surface, they seem relatively benign, but they are the agents watching the records of mutants. They track and monitor possible sightings of loose mutants, update the database of mutants and make sure that countries are reporting their mutant monitoring and control to DEHA correctly.

Security Investigations Unit (SIU) – They pretend to follow up on UFO sightings, but the SIU actually does the footwork tracking down loose mutants. They take the reports from the ARU, analyze them, do investigations and report their findings to the RAU as appropriate. They also follow up on mutant-caused crimes by investigating possible mutant activity and finding appropriate explanations to the public, along with any patsies needed to complete the coveriup.

Retention and Acquisition Unit (RAU) – This is the prison branch of the DEHA. They are directly responsible for the oversight of the ‘zoos’; they provide training to individual countries as well as aiding with the development of new incarceration techniques and policies. They even maintain a few of their own prisons, including the notorious Lán Niǎo Jījīn (Blue Bird Facility), the zoo built under the Tibetan Plateau. Lán Niǎo is where the Gorgon Class mutants are traditionally incarcerated, when they are kept at all. RAU only accepts the most dangerous yet most useful mutants for their facilities with good reason. If anyone were successfully harboring a Titan Class, it would be RAU.

--Rapid Response (RR) – As part of their efforts to acquire mutants, the RAU has a specialized army that handles the physical interactions and capture of mutants. These men are recruited from every elite fighting troop on earth, and only the hardiest or most insane last long. The RR is known for grinding men and women up; the levels of stress, both physical and emotional, kill faster than mutants. Sometimes called the Train as a joke on their acronym, RR is the most highly respected group in the DEHA.

Research and Science Unit (RSU) – RSU provides most of the funding for the DEHA, and so is given a lot of latitude within the organization. They lack the rigid discipline of the other departments and have a feel closer to the Microsoft campus. It is up to the squints to determine what can be done with a bit of information or new invention.

Materials Distribution Unit (MDU) – The MDU is the division of the DEHA responsible for the acquisition and distribution of the chemicals and equipment necessary for operations. They are also the budgeting office and monitor the various dummy companies that funnel the money into the DEHA.

Government Agencies

DEHA operates through funding from the UN, and in reality, they control the mutants completely. However, within DEHA, there are National Agencies which are staffed by members of the country. These were created in 1960 in an attempt to give nations more control over their mutants. While DEHA retains much of the control and can override these National Agencies, they allow them leeway to operate mutants within DEHA guidelines and according to their national interests. The nations are keenly aware that these agencies only exist deep within DEHA files and are funded solely by DEHA.

The following is a list of mutant-responsible government agencies by country (done in the order needed ICly).

Australia – Australian Mutant Control Division (AMCD), a branch of the Ministry of Defense

Canada – Commission on Mutant Defense (CMD), a branch of the Minister of National Defense

China - Fēi Rénlèi Shìwù Bù (Department of Non-Human Affairs, FRSB), a branch of the Ministry of State Security

France – Nationale Française Mutant Défense (NFMD), a branch of the Ministry of the Interior

Germany - Vereinter Mutanten Dienst (VMD), a branch of the Federal Ministry of Defense

Italy - Autorità Di Controllo Dei Mutanti (ACM), a branch of the Minister of the Interior

South Africa – Division of Resident Mutants (DRM), a branch of the Department of Home Affairs

United Kingdom – MI7-Office of Mutant Control

United States – Mutant Defense Center (MDC), a branch of the Department of Defense

United Russian States - Ekstra-Cheloveka Direktsiya (ECD), a branch of the Ministry of Defense

[Dawn OOC]

<p>Oh, and here's a map:

<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&amp;msid=218276024915979446240.0004ba1780e0600f0a3ee&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=48.554881,-102.787228&amp;spn=0,0&amp;t=m&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&amp;msid=218276024915979446240.0004ba1780e0600f0a3ee&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=48.554881,-102.787228&amp;spn=0,0&amp;t=m&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">Mutants Map</a> in a larger map</small></p>