PREMISE

[neosapienmods]

PREMISE

NEW GATE CITY

The year is 2120.

In the 22nd century, humanity has seemingly reached the limit of its time on Earth. The environment and climate has been bolstered and sustained by technological advances, but the clock can only be delayed for so long. Most of humanity now exist within massive megalopolis, culturally mixed and deeply cosmopolitan.

The game primarily takes place in the American East Coast megalopolis of New Gate City. While there is technically an existing city government, New Gate City is, like most cities, for the most part controlled by corporations and oligarchs. The most influential of these is the Douman Zaibatsu: a conglomerate with its hands in many industries, but primarily invested in applied technology (communications, aerospace, and pharmaceuticals). New Gate City's growth and population has largely been shaped by the influence of this group, whom even have their own private military in order to "help" city officials enforce the law.

Under the thumb of the Douman Zaibatsu, class struggles have become more disparate, with the wealthy and powerful being incredibly so and the underprivileged far more oppressed. The law only seems to operate in the advantage of those who are already powerful, and Meta-humans in particular seem to be targeted above all.

META-HUMANS

Reports of humans and human-like beings with strange mutations and special powers stretch back throughout human history. Most of these were dismissed as myths, legends, coincidences, conspiracies, and the like — until the turn of the 21st Century, when the first codified studies of what are now known as Meta-Humans began to truly take hold. This research has progressed over the course of the last century, but it has particularly accelerated in the last several decades and begun to classify all sorts of humans as being "Metas". Some theorize these now too-numerous-to-ignore mutations are a result of humanity's spike in technological achievements over the last several hundred years. Some even wilder ideas speculate that this is the beginning of the next stage of human evolution, preparing humanity for its new path as we ready ourselves to leave Earth and finally take our place in the among the stars.

Whatever the case, the situation has become dire, with meta-humans largely being treated as second class citizens by the still majority "normal" humans. Identified Meta-humans make up, at most, roughly 15% of the globe's population, spread out thinly across it. This minority status, combined with the general xenophobic ways most humans still exhibit, has made life as a Meta difficult, to say the least. Alongside both de jure and de facto forms of discrimination, there is even mob violence often enacted against Metas deemed too dangerous to exist in normal society...

THE NEO SAPIEN ORGANIZATION

Led by Dr. Ezekiel Annan, this organization sprung up through private means and is not controlled by any major government — or, for the moment, beholden to any major corporate interest, seemingly maintained by private investors. Dr. Annan was, himself, a man who earned his distinguished reputation through his research of Meta-humans, despite having been dismissed in his early days as chasing conspiracies and coincidences. When the phenomenon became too great to ignore, Dr. Annan was brought in to lead up the newly founded Neo Sapien Organization and use its resources to both research and care for Meta-humans in desperate need in a world that fears and resents them.

The NSO is a bastion, providing housing, education, and employment for Metas who seemingly have nowhere else to turn to. They also provide several other, uh, unofficial positions for those willing to use their powers to help make New Gate City a safer place to live, too. But that's, you know. Hush hush. Vigilante work is illegal, after all.

THE DOUMAN ZAIBATSU

While there is a controlling corporate body for the Doumon Zaibatsu, made up of largely shadowy and unknown figures, the public face is its Chairman & CEO, Richard Magnus. The height of class and wit, Magnus is part beloved oligarch, part celebrity — and, most importantly, the man most know is not only in charge of New Gate City, but most of the whole damn planet given the Douman Zaibatsu's influence.

While he puts on a charming air about it, his policies within the city tend to enforce class boundaries and very much support the wealthy elite, with the meta-humans getting the worst of it. Dr. Annan is a former employee of his, who left under moral objections to the applications of his research. This is a fact that has lead to a relationship between the two that is publicly friendly but deeply adversarial in private. Though the Doumon Zaibatsu's hands are, for the most part, tied, make no mistake: the wheels are turning and Richard Magnus' vision for mankind's future has no place for Dr. Annan, the NSO, or Meta-humans.

YAKASHBAH

Taken from the Navajo word "yákʼaashbąąh", meaning "horizon", the Yakashbah are Meta-nationalists. While there are several Meta-human advocacy groups and even those with less-than-legal practices, Yakashbah are thoroughly labeled terrorists, and even the NSO is hesitant to have any association with them (even if they will provide them temporary shelter under-the-table if asked).

Yakashbah are considered the foremost militant Meta-nationalist group, connected loosely through a series of cells in each megalopolis, but are based out of New Gate City. Their calling card, often spray painted where they have struck, is an eye shape run through with a horizontal line. Their goals are vague at best, but they want to create a "new world" for Meta-humans, apart from the oppressors of small-minded humanity and its oligarchy.

CYBERNETICS, AI, AND THE NEW MACHINE

Technology's growth has created another new frontier for humanity, and that is the world of robotics and cybernetics. Medical cybernetics have been in use for some time now, and are integrated into most layers of society in some way. The average person is more likely to know someone with some kind of medical cybernetic augment than they are to know a Meta-human, after all. AI has also made leaps in advancement, and existing alongside cyber-augmented humans are functional androids easily able to mimic human behavior and thought. Often, these are used as a form of hazard labor, capable of jobs too dangerous for normal humans.

The rise of these technologies have lead to a transhumanist movement among some spiritually-minded tech enthusiasts, thinking that humanity's transcendence can be found within cybernetics and AI. However, the increasing prevelence of Meta-humans has complicated this, and many are beginning to regard "the new machine" that merges humanity with its technologies with the same level of distrust. "What makes a human human?" is becoming a more and more prevalent question.

MARS

There are lunar colonies, controlled in collaboration by several corporations, but they're largely just scientific installations populated by researchers and their families. Mars is not yet occupied, but the colonization thereof is a very real reality and there is a tension in the air between the various mega-corporations as to who will get there first and stake claim on a literal new world. Money's on the Doumon Zaibatsu, but the rise of Meta-humans has thrown the whole thing into question. We've got an issue to solve here first, but the big red planet is definitely on a lot of people's minds...

➤NAVIGATION