NAFTA
North American Federation of Transhuman Autonomies
Disclaimer
The following is a work of satire and fiction. It is not intended to represent actual events and/or promote any cause, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the author.
Introduction
While in Boston I ran a superheroes campaign, set in the 1950s, based on an alternate history where the Nazis won World War II in Europe. The basic premise was taken from David Brin's short story, "Thor vs. Captain America." In a nutshell: the Nazi death camps were organized to sacrifice large number of people to call into existence the ancient Teutonic gods, who would then fight on the side of the Aryans. Of course, gods don't like being told what to do...as Brin notes, if the Nazis really believed something like that was possible, then a lot of Nazi nonsense fits together (Hitler's fascination with the occult, for example).
In any case, it seems to me that in any world where superhuman powers exist, the superhumans (or “metahumans”) would inevitably rule that world. In a nutshell: suppose Superman decided he really didn't like the way the world was run. Who would be able to stop him? Sure, there's kryptonite...but the argument applies to every metahuman, and it is impossible to have prepared specific defenses against each and every one who might want to rule the world.
The basic problem is this: It is axiomatic that no security force in the world can stop an assassin who is willing to give up his own life (we'll call them suicide assassins). If metahuman assassins existed, then they can take risks even greater than the suicide assassins (see, for example, the opening sequence of the second X-men movie); I had already written in these type of assassinations into the game universe (in fact, they were one of the reasons the Nazis won in Europe). So assassinations are inevitable, and the only leaders who will remain are the ones who can protect themselves, with their own abilities: in short, metahumans. Yes, you could use metahuman bodyguards, but in every society where the bodyguards are more powerful than the leaders they protect, they inevitably supplant the leaders: it happened in the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and so on.
I should point out that it's not even a question of good vs. evil. The good metahumans (for whatever definition of the word good you want to use) would be forced to act and take over in response to the bad metahumans. So rule by metahumans is neither automatically good, nor automatically bad...just automatically non-democratic, non-egalitarian.
So here's the description of the basic universe. Be warned: satire and puns ahead.
Background
In the years preceding World War II, Adolf Hitler, through careful reading of the Necrocomicon of the mad Arab Abdul al-Jolson, discovered that under the right conditions human sacrifice could bestow great powers upon a person, effectively making them a superhuman. These superhumans helped the Nazis win World War II in Europe, leading to a Cold War between Nazi Germany, the United States, and the Japanese Empire. Unfortunately these Nazi-type supers (also known as Dark Supers) suffered from two crucial defects: they required regular human sacrifices to maintain their power, and they were mentally unstable.
In the 1950s, the Bronx Project (one of five Boroughs Projects begun during World War II) produced supermen using a different process that enhanced latent human abilities and did not require sacrifices or create sociopaths. A lot of stuff happened...but the really important effect was that the superhuman abilities were determined to be inheritable. In addition the Rainbow Clans made their first appearance. In the time since, several thousand supers have come into existence, either through the Bronx or similar projects (including a few illicit projects by private industry and mad scientists), or by inheriting superabilities from one or both parents.
Adolf Hitler died in 1990 at the age of 101 (some say he learned the secret of long life through his study of the Necrocomicon, while others attribute his longevity to his militant vegetarianism). He somehow managed to keep the Nazi supers under control, but almost immediately after his death the Nazi supers killed off every member of the German government who would not submit to their authority. The only thing that prevented an immediate invasion of the United States was that the Nazi supers began fighting amongst themselves over ultimate control. Foreseeing the inevitable, a group of supers, led by Dr. “Neo” Anderson, one of the original Bronx Project supers, seized control of the US government to take the actions necessary to prepare the country for an invasion of the Nazi supers.
Anderson had good reason to be concerned: part of the reason for the fall of the Soviet Union and the subsequent domination of Europe by the Nazis was the assassination of Stalin and other key figures in the government and army in the midst of the Nazi invasion. Ordinary bodyguards could not stop a Dark Super, nor could ordinary men survive an attack from one. Only by making sure that supers held all key positions in the government could there be any hope of surviving the expected Nazi onslaught.
Unfortunately, others came to the same conclusion. In every part of the country supers seized control. The United States fragmented into a number of autonomous states. Most were on amicable terms (the supers who seized control generally rationalized they were doing so for the good of their fellow citizens), but denied the authority of any government but their own. Anderson disappeared a few years later and has not been seen since; if still alive, he would be nearly ninety. Other countries followed a similar route; within a few years, the great nations ceased to exist; in their places were thousands of small states, each ruled by a super or a group of supers. This period of time is known as “The Breakup.”
The seizure of power by the supers may have saved the world from the onslaught of the Dark Supers; certainly no invasion of what used to be the United States has occurred...yet.
Major States and Organizations
One thing to remember is that the Breakup occurred less than twenty years ago. While most people recognize that the United States no longer exists as a nation, they still refer to the geographic regions by their old names. Thus a resident of Dallas might say they are from the Lone Star Republic, or Texas, or the south. Most likely they'd simply say they're from Dallas, and let the listener figure out where that is. We will follow that practice, so when we describe the Gates-Starbucks Republic as consisting of “the states of Washington, Oregon, and parts of Idaho...”, we mean the geographic area that corresponds to those states; the states themselves (as political entities) no longer exist.
Also: though the political organization of North America (and the world) is medieval, the technological level is modern. In North America, the Breakup involved no major fighting, so the disruption to the manufacturing, research, and education sectors was minimal. Thus you may assume the existence of the internet, cell phones, and telemarketers.
NAFTA: After it became clear that the United States no longer existed in any real form, the five most organized and powerful autonomous regions (the Gates-Starbucks Republic in the Pacific northwest; the Free City of Manhattan; the People's Republic of Cambridge near Boston; the Glodstein Autonomous Region near Camp Jejune; and the Khanate of the Platinum Horde, which includes most of northern California) met to organize the North American Federation of Transhuman Autonomies. NAFTA claims no authority to govern any of the autonomous regions; its mandate is to serve as a way to coordinate local responses to national crises. For example, following the hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast in 2004, NAFTA sent a response team to the area to do what it could. Unfortunately the response team was unable to prevent massive casualties and widespread destruction of the city of New Orleans, so NAFTA's credibility took a serious blow that it has been trying to recover from.
The Gates-Starbucks Republic: Consisting of the states of Washington, Oregon, and parts of Idaho and British Columbia, the Republic (as it is commonly known) can best be described as a techno-utopia. Highly advanced technologically, its residents lack for nothing material. On the other hand, they must agree to a very restrictive set of regulations and tight social control; for example, they are forbidden to use non-Republic technology, and any transgressions are punished by the most horrific punishment imaginable: permanent exile from the Republic. While Republic technology is available for an appropriate price, its inner workings are also safeguarded by devices that cause the device to self-destruct if tampered with. Periodically there are rumors that the other main export of the Republic, caffeinated beverages, is laced with a mind-controlling substance, but the Republic denies this.
The Free City of Manhattan: Consisting of Manhattan island, the Free City maintains its pre-Breakup position as a financial center. Its independence is helped by the fact that, prior to the Breakup, Manhattan seemed to be home to more supers and alleged supers than any other place on Earth. It is rumored that the Free City owns the Gates-Starbucks Republic, but everyone denies this.
The People's Republic of Cambridge: Geographically the smallest of the Big Five, the PRC is second only to the Gates-Starbucks Republic in terms of wealth and technological advancement; it is the epitome of “my brains and your money will go a long way.” Both Harvard and MIT are still going concerns. Technically the PRC consists of a triangle of land between MIT, Harvard, and the Charles River, though it exerts influence over most of eastern Massachusetts.
Glodstein Autonomous Region: The original Bronx Project was based out of Camp Jejune, in Maryland. During the Breakup, Adam Glodstein (the son of the infamous David Glodstein, one of the original Bronx supers) took control of the laboratories at Camp Jejune, and soon thereafter incorporated the surrounding area. A number of Bronx-type supers were then produced: the GAR has the distinction of having an "open creation" policy on supers, and allows any of its citizens (provided they meet certain requirements) to attempt to become a super. GAR records show that of those who survive treatment (approximately 10% of those treated die), about 1% manifest superabilities, though these may be useless (the case of "Gray Roger" whose ability was that he could turn objects gray, is often mentioned).
Khanate of the Platinum Horde: During World War II the Japanese Empire also had a supers project. Little is known about the Japanese project, though is rumored that it relied on ancient Chinese mystical practices to produce superhumans. Of course western scientists scoff at this notion. What is indisputable is that the known Imperial supers seem to be much more subtle than Dark Supers or Bronx supers. The original experiments were done on "volunteers," who were then dissected, though a few escaped and made their way to the United States in the years following World War II. During the Breakup, their descendants seized power in San Francisco Chinatown and established the Khanate. The Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, sent in the California National Guard to regain control of the city. Three days later, the governor resigned "to revitalize my acting career" and the Guard was recalled; Schwarzeneggar went on to star in the critically acclaimed "Terminator" series, starring Jet Li. An analysis of the security tapes revealed that an ancient Chinese man walked right past a group of security guards into the governor's office; the two conversed for a short while, and then the man walked out of the office. Though he passed within two feet of a group of security guards, none of them noticed him...
The Free United States: In 1993, shortly after the disappearance of President Anderson, a group of supermen in Billings, Montana declared that they represented the actual government of the United States, and that all the splinter states must acknowledge their authority. They have retained a democratic form of government, though by law members of Congress and the President must be superhuman. They officially deny the authority of NAFTA, and periodically threaten to reclaim their territories, though their actual actions to date have been limited to refusing to sign trade agreements and harassing NAFTA personnel inside their borders.
The Minuteman Republic: By far the most dangerous of the Autonomies is the Minuteman Republic, consisting of most of what used to be North Dakota under the leadership of a rogue North Korean female super named Lil Kim (apparently the daughter of an American POW captured during the Korean War). They are dangerous because they control a number of ICBM fields, and have on occasion threatened to use them if their demands are not met. It is believed that the missiles are too old to function properly...but no one wants to find out.
The Destroyed Regions: These are places that have, for whatever reason, reverted to more or less complete anarchy, usually following a great disaster. The causes vary: New Orleans was devastated by flooding following the hurricanes of 2004, while much of Los Angeles was destroyed during the 1994 earthquake. People still live (or try to live) in the destroyed regions; however, conditions there can best be described as "abysmal."
The Nazi States: Until the death of Adolf Hitler in 1990, continental Europe (with the exception of Spain, under Franco, and Britain, under a series of prime ministers acceptable to the Nazis) was ruled by Germany. Upon Hitler's death, the supers that had formed the bulwark of the Nazi regime wiped out the human government and set up their own states. The Nazi supers gain and maintain their powers through some combination of human torture and sacrifice; for obvious reasons, none of the Nazi states is a particularly pleasant place to live. The Nazis have made attempts to infiltrate North America as a prelude to invasion (see The Seven Nations).
The Seven Nations: During the 1950s the Nazis supported Native American groups around the country, promising them aid and a return of their land if they should raise a rebellion against the federal government. In addition to supplying money and arms, they also orchestrated attempts to produce Dark supers. Most of these successes were put down by the original Bronx Project team members, but at least one escaped; moreover, the technical know-how was passed on to certain groups, who began experimenting in an attempt to produce their own supers. Through means unknown, a generation of "stable" Nazi-type supers emerged. Though they still require human sacrifices on a regular basis, they do not have the mental instabilities and psychotic episodes of the Dark supers. In 1981 an uprising in Oklahoma City turned into a war of secession. In 1989 the newly elected President Eastwood agreed to the formation of the Seven Nations, a large enclave consisting of the states of Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Colorado that was effectively a separate country within US borders; some historians point to the Seven Nations as the first of the NAFTA states.
The Rainbow Clans: Several powerful families of telepaths exist. Because they often take their family names from colors (Black, White, Green, etc.), they are collectively known as the Rainbow Clans. All telepaths are female (it's a genetic thing). The Clans claim to have no interest in mundane political affairs...which seems to be their way of saying that it makes no difference who is in charge, since they will be in charge of them. There are rumors of struggles within the clans, but no one really knows very much about that.
ESPN, MTV etc.: The Entertainment and SuPers Network, Metahuman Television, and other media outlets follow the exploits of supers around the world (imagine the knights of the round table...with television reporters). One consequence is that, while it is very easy for a super to kill a normal or seriously injure another super, many avoid doing so because it would tarnish their reputation. Since most NAFTA territories pay at least a nominal lip service to public opinion and democratic ideals, image is important. One of their mostly highly rated shows on ESPN (filmed, until the hurricane of 2004, at the Superdome in New Orleans) was Champions!, where disputes would be settled by individual combat between super champions. Since the combatants were professional athletes, the combats usually continued only until one admitted defeat, and very rarely resulted in serious injury or death.
