The first 5 years

[tinman]

Okay, this is kind of an offshoot of my Wwyddiyryc thread.

 

What do you imagine the reactions of major world governments and religious groups would be within the first 5 years of the sudden emergence of a few thousand people (worldwide) with significant metahuman powers?

 

I don't mean reactions to heroes and villains, or vigilantes. I mean just the response to the emergence of these highly gifted people scattered randomly around the world.

 

Specifics:

It has only been five years since the first public case, but some governments (like the US) knew about a few secretive early bloomers as far back as 20 years ago.

All metas share a common origin for their abilities, which is that they are the fourth and fifth generation descendents of people exposed to an experimental substance prior to WWII.

Metahumans seem to be appearing in proportions representative of population numbers (so China has about a fifth of all metahumans).

There is no super tech. None.

 

Would there be a scramble to try to control these "national assets"? Would the major religions persecute them, revere them, or treat them like any other souls in need of salvation? Would corporations start throwing buckets of money at them to employ them in R&D? Would they become automatic celebrities? How much resentment would everyday people have for these superhumans?

[Big Willy]

Re: The first 5 years

 

Who carried out the experiment? If it was a relatively small-scale study (thousands of people or less) carried out in one or two countries, then your idea of population-proportionate numbers probably won't fly. To get that kind of global coverage, you'd need something on the scale of a WHO vaccine rollout, which simply wouldn't be practical for the 1930s - and would also give you many more superhumans nowadays than you say you want.

 

Possible exceptions might be something analogous to the Thalidomide scandal of a quarter-century later (if the side-effects typically aren't obvious till 3 generations later, the drug wouldn't be withdrawn so quickly, and would gradually be adopted by more and more countries after the war - setting up a demographic timebomb, X-Men style); or if the people originally exposed were a corps of WWII US super-soldiers (serving in separate units) who got frisky with the natives while serving overseas, leaving traces of their altered DNA in the genepool worldwide.

 

... Just a thought. On to the main point:

 

It has only been five years since the first public case, but some governments (like the US) knew about a few secretive early bloomers as far back as 20 years ago.

 

Depending how secretive these early (50 years on!) bloomers were, the government may have paid more or less attention than the tabloid press. They may have been discounted as urban legends; but the occasional crank would have taken them seriously. Five years ago, all that changed - suddenly there's a crisis, and the cranks are the only people with expert knowledge (When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!). A major investigation has since been launched, but the supers' common origin may not yet be known - the announcement (or suppression) of the inquiry's results could be a great campaign opener.

 

Alternatively, maybe there was a government investigation back in the day, and fifteen years ago they caught one (or ran tests on a cooperative subject) - in which case the link is known by Those Who Need To Know, and by the time of the first public case, a secret taskforce was already waiting in the wings in case of trouble...

 

Either way, over the past five years it's become obvious to all that there are getting to be more and more of these people. Normals are going to react in all sorts of different ways, all valid from one point of view or another - how the proportions pan out depends largely on the actions of the supers themselves.

 

Would there be a scramble to try to control these "national assets"?

Yes.

Would the major religions persecute them, revere them, or treat them like any other souls in need of salvation?

All of the above, depending on the attitude of individual clerics.

Would corporations start throwing buckets of money at them to employ them in R&D?

Yes. And in advertising.

Would they become automatic celebrities?

Not all, but some certainly would.

How much resentment would everyday people have for these superhumans?

A lot. Even the most benignly disposed would be a little jealous.

[tinman]

Re: The first 5 years

 

Who carried out the experiment? If it was a relatively small-scale study (thousands of people or less) carried out in one or two countries' date=' then your idea of population-proportionate numbers probably won't fly. To get that kind of global coverage, you'd need something on the scale of a WHO vaccine rollout, which simply wouldn't be practical for the 1930s - and would also give you many more superhumans nowadays than you say you want.[/quote']

 

The discrepancy in the numbers is one of the background mysteries of the setting. I'd say more about it but my players sometimes lurk.

[Jack O' Knives]

One Possibility

 

Well, as far as five years of superhumanity goes, I can imagine the changes actually being pretty severe. I imagine that in the begginning most Supers were considered mere oddities by the general public, something people keep tabs on, but don't really feel impact thier lives directly in any fashion. Ya know, kinda like politics. Of course, eventually you're going to have the Super Brawl between two Supers which takes out a city block, then the populace is gonna have thier Knee Jerk Reaction (which, in America, seems to tend towards bloody retribution).

 

The resentful super humanity does it's best to distance itself from government organizations...and then election year comes around. One politician is going to try and play the "friendlier relations with metahumanity" card, and the Supers back that person. Not simply with thier votes either, I'd wager. Criminally inclined supers can foot a good amount of cash towards campaign contributions...as well as sabotage the efforts of the other major candidate.

 

Assuming the Super Friendly candidate wins the presidency, you could well expect to see a super human running for office in three more years...probably governor, but hey, it's enough to warrant the attention of someone to try and assassinate him "Before he goes any further"...of course that's going a bit beyond the half-a-decade mark.

[Iuz the Evil]

Re: The first 5 years

 

If the campaign power level is sufficiently high, expect one or more third world nations to have control seized by one or more superhumans. If you picked the country intelligently, the major players on the world stage wouldn't bother you either. (Rwanda, I'm looking in your direction... just put a stop to human rights violation by bringing down your iron fist and lamenting the need for such 'draconian measures').