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[COLOR=GRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]S E T T I N G:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT][sub][b][color=silver]   C R E S T W O O D   H O L L O W   ||    E S T .   1 6 8 4 :[/color][/b][/sub]
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[INDENT]Situated along the Eastern Coast of the United States between Hampton and Portsmouth, Crestwood Hollow is a small New Hampshire city originally founded in the 1684, shortly before the infamous Witch Trials. Settled in the fertile Orlaith Valley, the city is home to a large rural area, boasting a very fruitful agricultural industry. The largest export of the city is the Golden Delicious Apple. Beyond the valley lies densely populated forests of oak, maple and cherry trees. This contributes to several lumber mills in the area that provide a secondary industry to the city. 

To the North of the Orlaith Valley is the Great Bay Lake. From there, the River Shannon flows South from the lake then East through the center of the valley and right down the middle of the city. The downtown of Crestwood Hollow is split by the river with one street travelling East on the North side of the river, while on the South side the street only travels West. Located every few blocks is a draw bridge which both connects the city and separates it when the need arises for a ship travels upstream. Towering buildings look down on the river ranging from hotels to banks, to white collar firms and apartment complexes. The Northern side of the city is known for being rougher than its Southern Sister. The 'Beau' half of Crestwood Hollow is home to the Mather Park, in the middle of which is an ancient white oak known only as the Hanging Tree. The Southern half of the city, the 'Belle', is newer than the Beau and is home to several more residential areas than the North. The further South one travels in Crestwood Hollow, the more construction they seem to encounter as the city is constantly expanded to accommodate new subdivisions. 

Towards the Eastern edge of the city, the Shannon empties into the Atlantic Ocean, flowing through the Crestwood Port before it is swept away by the tides of the Atlantic. Due to its location within the Orlaith, Crestwood Hollow has very few visits via train and does most of its imports through truck and ship. As such, the Port is often a thriving hub of life with new ships visiting each day. Several fisheries dot the piers but have fallen upon hard times in latter years due to over-fishing in the Atlantic. Numerous recreational boats fill the docks and full warehouses litter the boardwalks.[/INDENT]
[sub][b][color=silver]   M A T H E R   M E M O R I A L   H I G H   S C H O O L   ||    E S T .   1 9 4 7 :[/color][/b][/sub]
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[INDENT]Mather Memorial High School is Crestwood Hollow's largest secondary school in the city which collects the graduates from several of the city's more populated elementary schools. One of the oldest buildings in all of Crestwood Hollow, Mather Memorial was originally the city's courthouse when it was built in 1654, before being transformed into a county jail for a period of nearly a decade spanning from 1802 until nearly 1869.

Unfortunately, a fire brought down part of the building, resulting in numerous convicts being unleashed on the unsuspecting city proper. Opting not to rebuild a jail in the middle of the city, the building sat empty for nearly thirty years until a young architect wanting to make a name for himself opted to propose the building be revitalized and renewed as a school. In 1902, the school opened its doors under the original name of Mather Memorial Highschool before being rechristened as Eastern Crestwood Secondary School in the late nineties only to have the name reverted in the early 2000s.

Due to the long-standing history of the school, it comes as no surprise that many of the locals consider the building to be haunted. One of the most prominent local urban legends says that the large oak standing in the school's front courtyard was the very tree used to hang the men and women found to be witches during the Witch Trials. As Mather Memorial sits on the edge of Mather Park, this tree is the same white oak refered to as the Hanging Tree.

Due to its history, the building does show it's age. This is especially prominent in its tall architecture with a looming main entrance that casts a shadow on the stairs before it. The inside of the school is often stuffy, the air carrying a heavy musty odor that perforates every hallway. The original gymnasium has been transformed into an auditorium while an addition in the nineties added a proper gymnasium onto the school's west side. Outside this expansion are several basketball courts leading to track surrounding a multi-use field. This field is used for a variety of sports and when an event is held temporary bleachers can be erected on either side of the field.

The athletics facility is not the only recent addition to the school. Several portable units line the back of the school, added during the late nineties in order to increase teachable areas however most of these are used as storage currently. A technology wing was added to the east side of the school in the early 2000's. This wing includes state of the art computer labs along with wood working, welding facilities and even an auto shop. These facilities line the bottom of the wing, however the upper floor of the wing adds several new science classrooms and lecture rooms rendering the aforementioned portables null and void. At the rear of the main building is the cafeteria which looks down onto the park which shares the school's namesake. In order to encourage students to get outside on their lunch breaks, a balcony including an outside seating area was added to the cafeteria in 2013.

Like most secondary schools across North America, Mather Memorial offers a wide variety of teachables to its students outside of the mandatory core subjects. Additionally education is supplied in three levels of learning in order to ensure no student is left behind. This includes an essentials level for students who intend to go directly into the workplace after high school, an applied level for students who wish to attend community college and an academic level for students aiming to attend university. Some courses have no specified level and are open to all students but others require the student have certain prerequisites before they can enroll. Courses such as these often lead to graduates return to Mather Memorial for a fifth year, or as it commonly referred to as, a 'Victory Lap'.[/INDENT][/INDENT][/INDENT]
[COLOR=GRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]H I S T O R Y:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT][sub][b][color=silver]   C A T A L Y S T   ||    1 9 6 7   -   1 9 8 4 :[/color][/b][/sub]
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[INDENT]On October 18, 1967, Earth was hit with an immense Coronal Mass Ejection. During a total Lunar Eclipse, the sun emitted a massive interplanetary CME which doused the entire globe with high energy particles causing the largest and brightest occurrence of the aurorae ever recorded. Unfortunately, this also brought a geomagnetic storm which ravaged Earth’s electrical transmission lines, causing power outages on a global scale. It was on this day that the Earth nearly stood still, sitting in total darkness for nearly ten minutes before back up systems began to re-activate. Numerous regions around the globe were left in the dark well beyond that. Cities were powerless for nearly a week while some rural areas were forced to survive for nearly a month without power. This event left a death toll numbering in the tens of thousands becoming known as the Dark Eclipse. 

However, the aftermath of the Dark Eclipse reached far further than anyone could have ever anticipated. The resulting effect of the high energy particles is a mutation appearing in one of every hundred thousand people. While public knowledge of the mutation remains vague, selected sects in the scientific community are aware of it and have dubbed the emergence of the mutation ‘Viriumosis’. In the more common jargon, the possession of a mutation is referred to as the ‘Hype-Factor’ or ‘Hype-Gene’. Collectively, these mutants are referred to as ‘Hyperhumans’.[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]As the Cold War came to a close, humanity’s attention was turned to a new threat. One that was already in their homes, teaching their children and running their governments. As word of Hyperhumans became public knowledge a perpetual state of fear and paranoia took hold of the world. Neighbor was turned against neighbor and mother against her child as humanity’s pattern of fearing that which they didn’t understand continued. 

Propaganda against Hyperhumans was widespread, especially in North America. Laws were passed that prohibited Hyperhumans from positions of authority on suspicion of using their abilities to gain an advantage. Athletes and other competition driven professions were heavily screened. Although there were those who chose to use Hyperhumans to their own advantage and more than one man or woman desperate to make a living allowed themselves to be drawn into the shadier side of things. 

Activism and social conscious was pushed to an all-time high during this period as people fought to be treated as equals no matter their colour, sexuality, and abilities. Technology took leaps and bounds during this period as Hyperhumans with more subtle abilities were able to integrate into society and excel through their education and in their careers.[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]Due to the emergence of Hyperhumans during the late 80’s, technology advanced at a rapid rate. The majority of Earth’s power is based upon nuclear fusion with coal-based energy completely phased out greatly reducing the amount of pollution present in Earth’s atmosphere. Roughly sixty-five percent of power is supplied by nuclear fusion while other clean energies make up the remaining thirty-five percent. Solar power makes up the majority of the secondary energy sources clocking in at twenty-five percent while wind makes up only five percent. The last five percent of energy sources is mixed between nuclear fission, hydroelectric and geothermal power.

Other advances in technology are rather notable among society. As of 2010, three-dimensional screens or holographic displays have become commonplace among consumer homes while the self-driving car has been made available to the public market as of 2015. Despite the original fear of Hyperhumans, advances in both law and peacekeeping technology have thus far kept any major superpowered crime at bay. Robotic K9 units along with autonomous patrol cars and synthetic officers have become the standard, especially among large cities.

Leniency towards Hyperhumans taking positions of authority has come a long way however still requires a lot of sacrifice on the part of the Hyperhuman. Hyperhumans who advance to such positions, be it a teacher or a manager are required to register themselves as a Hyperhuman and wear an ability suppression device while working. Additionally, they will be assigned a handler to monitor and report on their activities. 

Special allowances are made when abilities enhance an individual's ability to perform their job to the betterment of their fellow man. This is with the reservation that the ability does not exert an unnatural influence over other people or harm them in any way. For example, advances in technology have been made possible due to Hyperhumans possessing enhanced intelligence and technopathy. Those with these abilities have often been both allowed and encouraged to use them in order to better perform their jobs.[/INDENT][/INDENT][/INDENT]
[COLOR=GRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]B A C K G R O U N D:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][indent][sub][b][color=silver]   H Y P E R H U M A N S   ||    H O M O - V I R I U M :[/color][/b][/sub]
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[INDENT]Hyperhumans are humans who have undergone a mutation process known as Viriumosis which leads to the creation of a ‘Hype-Gene’ and development of extranormal abilities. Viriumosis occurs when the high energy particles create an insertion and add one or more extra nucleotides into the host DNA. As insertions in the coding region of a gene may alter splicing of the mRNA, or cause a shift in the reading frame, this almost always leads to a significant alteration in the gene product. These alterations lead to a wide variety of effects which are often looked upon as super-human abilities. 

While Viriumosis was only able to occur in the individuals who were alive during the Dark Eclipse, the Hype-Gene is able to be passed along through reproduction. This is a cumulative result of high energy particles stored within the donating parent's chromosomes. A portion of these particles is replicated and passed along to through genetic material resulting in the offspring going through Viriumosis in utero. Naturally, this leads to the creation of the 'Hype-Gene' in the offspring allowing them to display abilities akin to those of their parent(s).

A human born without a 'Hype-Gene' will not display, nor gain Hyperhuman abilities unless subjected to Viriumosis. Due to the technological constraints and the rarity of high energy particles, there is currently no way to artificially replicate the process which created the ‘Hype-Gene’ during the Dark Eclipse. 

The 'Hype-Gene' isn't exclusively carried within either sex but is a dominant gene within both exponentially increasing the chances that the child of a Hyperhuman will be one themselves. However, due to a lack of willing subjects, there are no studies as to whether powers levels are greater or equal within children who have two Hyperhuman parents compared to those who only have one. 

Hyperhuman abilities are incredibly diverse and more often than not allow the host to accomplish superhuman abilities. When a Hyperhuman is born, they have an unlimited potential as to what abilities they will develop. Hyperhuman abilities are not predetermined by parents but instead are developed during puberty in the majority of hosts. It is possible for those subjected to extreme trauma at a younger age to prematurely develop their abilities. Environment and circumstance surrounding the time of ability development will contribute to determining the host’s abilities. Due to the nature of Viriumosis, Hyperhuman abilities are closely linked to Earth’s Electromagnetic Spheres and could be considered to be strengthened through them. The more of these 'Hyperhumans' that are in close proximity, the weaker they become as they fight to draw from the same EM spheres. 

Hyperhumans are discernable from regular humans through the presence of HZE ions in their body. These HZEs or 'hazies' fluctuate with the usage of the Hype-Gene meaning that the usage of Hyperhuman Abilities can be detected and residual HZEs can be tested to determine how recently abilities have been used. As Hyperhuman Abilities require HZEs, abilities can also be suppressed through electron overloading or irradiation. Enforcement agencies implore weapons and restraints which bombard the body with electrons in order to keep Hyperhumans suppressed and under control.

Many of these 'Hyperhumans' live their lives without knowing about their abilities, a few odd occurrences happening in times of heightened adrenaline. But there are the few who learn to embrace their nature and use their abilities to accomplish extraordinary feats.[/indent][/INDENT][/INDENT][hr]
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