superpowers The story of ultimate (prologue)(re-uploaded)

[demkussachle]

The prologue is just the basic world building, comment if you would want to read the actual story (if you wouldn't, please let me know why!).

(I accidentally uploaded it first on the story archive, won't happen again!)

Prologue: The world.

 

 

Before I tell you my story, let me tell you a bit about the world where it takes place.

The earth I know and the earth you know are not quite the same. The event which made my world so different has occurred almost fifty years ago, many say it was not the only event that changed our world so significantly this way, but it is definitely the biggest one. Around the year 1975, an alien species has invaded our planet. Their technologies were beyond anything we have ever seen before, and their biology was completely stranger to us. The invasion forced all the human nations to work together. While the aliens had the lead in technological advance, the humans had far greater numbers, and centuries of fighting each other made us far better strategists than the aliens. The battle lasted about half a year but in the end we emerged victorious, though it did not come without a price. The casualties of the invasion were estimated to be around 25 million, both soldiers and civilians. The aliens were gone (we call them "the aliens" because we never found out if their species had an actual name) but their ships and their bodies were left for us to study.

The human governments salvaged every last bit of their technologies, as well as every alien body that was left somewhat intact. The UN declared that it was a tragedy, so many lives lost in vain. They said we must make the best out of the worst, study the technologies and the biology of the aliens and use it to improve the lives of the survivors as much as possible.

Over the next years human governments worked together to study the aliens and made some great discoveries.

We never saw them communicating during the invasion, a study of their corpses confirmed the hypothesis which suggested they were connected by a hivemind, we also discovered several genetic modification that their soldiers were put through, our scientists were able to recreate and adjust quite a few of these alterations to the human physiology.

Their technologies were complicated, but with time we figured them all out, some of them we understand well enough to mass produce (about fifteen years ago, we gained the ability to mass produce holographic touch screens. Cellphones and computers are now using holograms, and the paper industry is pretty much gone. Books, letters, written tests, everything that required paper is done through 2D holograms nowadays).

The biggest change though, was Superheroes. Vigilantes too.

 

I'll simplify it. With the new technology that allows us to modify humans, the UN has opened a superhero academy. Everyone is allowed to sign up at eighteen after finishing highschool, but their screening process is very selective. They don't require athletic abilities or good grades. They want applicants with strategic, rational, and moral thinking. If your highschool bully will sign up, they'll kick him right out. The most important quality they demand from applicants is the ability to control their powers, without abusing them. They say only one of every twenty applicants who get accepted ends up becoming a superhero, the rest mess up or breach the rules and get expelled.

After completing three years of superhero academy, the now licensed superheroes will go through a surgery that will increase their physical capabilities and resilience, and receive superhero gear. The superhero gear is a personal armour built with the best technologies we were able to copy from the aliens. It contains a personal jetpack, extendable metal cables, a mask for breathing underwater and in outer space, and about a dozen other gadgets that are all linked directly to the mind of the user through the alien technology the suit contains.

The suits can't be mass produced yet, they are being personally made for each graduate of the academy. People who haven't undergone the process can't use them anyway, part of the modification surgery alters the graduate's brain to be able to comprehend the technology of the suits, other people would suffer great brain damage if they tried to use them.

The superheroes in my world are not like the ones you read about in comics, they don't have superhero names, they have personal codes. I once encountered a superhero who was referred to as TGS-35, nothing exciting about that name. The superheros all look very similar due to their special suits.

The deal superheros get is decent, after finishing the academy they are obligated to thirty years of community services, if they keep a clean record, by the time they retire (with enough money to last their families eighty years) they are not obligated to go through the process of undoing their modifications. Due to their enhanced resilience, superheros almost never get ill, and they age a bit slower. Superheros retire around the age of fifty, though most of them don't even look forty by then, and their average lifespan is about 110 years. It takes long before their bodies weaken enough for decease to finally take over.

After retirement, superheroes can still be called back into action if needed for another twenty years, kind of like the army reserve. Superheros mostly focus on saving lives, it's always their top priority, even if it means letting a criminal get away. Their main duties are to handle supervillains without causing damage to the surroundings, saving people from accidents and disasters, and generally keeping the order of this world.

 

Vigilantes are a bit different than heros.

Vigilantes don't go through any screening process, nor do they get their powers from the government. Vigilantes are the closest thing to the superheroes we see in comics. They wear costumes and use special names to hide their identity, their powers come from varying sources, which they only rarely share. They are not as common as superheroes, but they are not really rare, I'd say there is one vigilante for every twenty superheros.

The governments don't really like the vigilantes, they are unauthorized and self guided, they are not obligated to any supervisor or the likes.

Despite not liking them, the governments will never act against the vigilantes for three reasons:

 1. The vigilantes are far more popular with the people than superheros.

 2. There are far more superheros, and most vigilantes couldn't even take on a single superhero, so they're not a great threat.

 3. All the vigilantes so far proved to be nice people, they don't cause harm, so what will you even arrest them for?

 

Of course people appreciate vigilantes more, they are more independent and unique, not to mention that superheros all act kinda monotone. No one knows what they go through upon finishing that academy, but it seems that whenever they put those suits on, they lose a bit of their personality.

Naturally, there are many people with powers who don't become vigilantes, but instead try to use those powers to get away with breaking the law. Those people are labelled as supervillains, and the public does not come to their defence. There's surprisingly little grey area in the topic.

 

What am I? I am a vigilante of course, the strongest vigilante there is in fact. Let me tell you about it.

[Nightbringer246]

Interesting premise, eager for more!

[cregssatx]

Intriguing!  Please continue!

[elton]

Please continue.

[demkussachle]

Chapter 1 has been uploaded!

[HawkShark]

9 hours ago, demkussachle said:

Chapter 1 has been uploaded!

Link doesnt seem to work

[demkussachle]

17 hours ago, HawkShark said:

Link doesnt seem to work

Fixed it.

[aitchbee]

No, you have NOT fixed it.

[demkussachle]

13 minutes ago, aitchbee said:

No, you have NOT fixed it.

I am sorry, I did and the admins took it down again and gave me a warning letting me know the content of the chapter was against the website rules. Once I get all the information I need from them I'll adjust the chapter and upload it again, might take a couple of days.

[CardiMuscleman]

16 minutes ago, demkussachle said:

I am sorry, I did and the admins took it down again and gave me a warning letting me know the content of the chapter was against the website rules. Once I get all the information I need from them I'll adjust the chapter and upload it again, might take a couple of days.

The postings were removed because all references to the lead character indicated they were under the age of 18. This is NOT allowed.

I'm a member of the moderation team