#study/cooldown between my other wips

[evenlyevi]

blues

[pigstepping]

I've decided that I want to start posting about my WIPS on my blog more, so it's SBI Vigilante AU worldbuilding hours! Time to bust out that biology degree \o/

So the system I developed has powers that stem from genetic predisposition + environmental factors. Kids who are predisposed to developing powers have a critical period around age 8 during which, if they have a significant-enough need, they can create a pocket of influenceable physical reality around themselves which allows them to develop superpowers.

Dense worldbuilding notes under the cut for those interested:

Genetic explanation

The gene that causes kids to be predisposed to developing powers is what's called a "repeat expansion mutuation." (This is a real thing, which causes a number of real neurological diseases!) Basically what that means is that this gene has a bunch of different versions (alleles) that are differentiated by how many copies of a particular sequence of DNA are present in the allele. The more copies, the stronger the expression of the trait along a spectrum of intensity.

In this particular case, the repeating sequence was introduced to the human genome around 40 years ago via an engineered retrovirus (famous example: HIV) that was designed and accidentally released by the government. The retrovirus was spread via contact transmission between adult hosts, who had no way of knowing they were carrying the virus as it only has affects on children. The retrovirus inserted varying numbers of copies of itself into the genome of infected individuals, and those individuals passed the mutation to their kids. Children who inherit the mutation cannot spread it to others, as they are born with the DNA sequence integrated into their genome rather than existing in transmissible viral form. In the current day AU, around 20% of the population in the country where containment was breached has at least 1 copy of the retrovirus in their genome, and the virus is slowly spreading via reproduction and residual viral transmission to other parts of the world as well.

The presence of even a single copy of the retrovirus in someone's genome is enough to give them a window of opportunity during childhood in which they have the ability to create a localized pocket of spacetime that allows them to alter reality. If this pocket manifests, both its duration and the degree of influence the child has over reality within the pocket are determined by the number of retrovirus copies in the host's genome. However, environmental factors determine whether the pocket manifests in the first place, as well as determining the nature of any resulting power.

Environmental explanation

If a child has 1 or more copies of the retrovirus, they enter a developmental critical period around the age of 7-8 years old. During this period of time, the kid will manifest the reality-altering pocket if they ever feel a sufficiently strong unmet need or desire. They will subconsciously use the pocket to alter reality in a way that they believe will improve the odds of their needs being met.

In practice, this means that healthy, happy children with capable guardians are less likely to manifest pockets, because they usually don't have strong unmet needs or desires. There are exceptions, such as kids who are extremely passionate about an interest or hobby, kids with particularly vivid imaginations who desperately wish they could live out their fantasies, etc. But a moderate majority of kids who manifest pockets do so because of trauma.

Generally, the nature of the need determines the nature of the power, although not necessarily in predictable ways. A kid who lacks food security might develop photosynthesis so they can "eat" without needing food at all, or they might develop the ability to digest things that don't normally give any nutritional value, or they might develop mind control that can be used to convince strangers to give them food. In addition, not all kids who manifest pockets will develop powers based on their needs during that time. If the need that triggered the pocket gets addressed before powers develop, the kid might develop powers that are completely unrelated, or they might not develop anything at all.

Mechanics of power development

The powers developed within the pocket are determined by three factors: the intensity of the trait's expression per the child's genome, the subjective manageability of the unmet need according to the child, and the way the child views the world around them.

As previously mentioned, the more copies of the retrovirus you have, the stronger your influence over reality, which means that kids with several copies will generally have the capacity to develop more outlandish powers than kids with only one or two copies. An example might be the ability to turn invisible vs the ability to blend into crowds. Both result in the child being less noticeable to the people around them, but one is clearly further outside the bounds of normal reality.

However, more outlandish powers don't always equate to more "powerful" powers. If a child believes, correctly or incorrectly, that they can handle their problem on their own, they will usually develop a "weaker" power regardless of how closely that power adheres to the normal contraints of reality. A weaker power might have a smaller area of effect, a longer cooldown between uses, a more significant physical or mental cost to use, or some other limitation.

Powers are also limited by the child's imagination and base of knowledge. Power development is subconscious and can't be consciously controlled or guided by the child, so powers will be shaped by the subconscious assumptions a kid makes about the world, as well as the ideas and concepts they've been exposed to. A kid who spends a lot of time thinking about animals might develop an animal trait as their power, while a kid who spends a lot of time thinking about cars might develop a knack for hotwiring. Likewise, a child will develop powers based on what they subconsciously believe will help them, even if this turns out to be inaccurate. For example, a child who is insecure due to irrationally critical parents might develop a skill they believe will make their parents proud of them, despite their skill level playing little true role in the criticism they receive.

Additionally, because kids at age 7-8 don't generally have a solid grasp of science or the limits of physical reality, it is very rare for their powers to develop with clear biological/physical mechanisms. This can make it difficult to study how powers operate, because powers usually have no associated concrete phenomenon with a function or structure that can be examined.

Because of this lack of any biomarker, it's often impossible to determine whether someone has a power unless it includes an obvious body modification or the person uses the power in front of others. The closest approximation is genetic testing which can tell whether a person is predisposed to developing powers in the first place. However, as only about 50% of people with the necessary genetic makeup go on to develop powers, this method is imperfect.

In fact, many people with only one or two retrovirus copies will develop subtle powers without initially realizing. There is no clear indication that a child has manifested a reality-altering pocket, so if they develop a non-obvious power during this time, they may go their whole lives without realizing they have a power at all.

Sociopolitical implications

Because the retrovirus responsible for superpowers only breached containment ~40 years ago, society is still trying to grapple with the ramifications.

The immediate response of the government to the breach was to try to suppress information, limit the viral spread, and limit the development of powers. One of their earliest steps was implementing a secretive parallel foster care system for genetically predisposed children, designed to minimize stressors during their critical periods to prevent power manifestation. Foster parents were sourced from the ranks of the economically and politically powerful, both because this was the population the government trusted most with information about the outbreak, and because this was judged to be the population with the best resources for minimizing stressors. However, this plan backfired badly due to poor vetting of prospective foster parents, leading to an influx of powerful adults intent on deliberately depriving their foster children of basic necessities with the goal of manifesting powers the foster parents could use to their own benefit.

This miscalculation, in addition to the rampant spread of the virus to unaware carriers who then went on to have children, led the government to decide to give up on limiting the outbreak. Instead, they covered up the unchecked abuses of the parallel foster system and turned their attention to recruiting powered people into voluntary government service where possible, and capturing and experimenting on the rest.

The recruiting process was initially slow-going, and both powered crime and powered vigilantism were rampant. A breakthrough was made with the launch of the hero guild, a powers-centric branch of the police force which was designed with a built-in PR apparatus to entice powered people into working for the government, as well as turn public opinion against powered people who choose to use their powers without government oversight. Powered heroes are highly praised, while powered civilians are often regarded with suspicion and powered criminals are particularly reviled. Powered vigilantes were relegated to the outskirts of society, trusted only by the small areas they serve, and they have become increasingly criminalized over time with the aid of anti-vigilante government propaganda.

The hero guild also instituted a separate "penal" system for powered individuals, particularly for powered "villains" and vigilantes. To the public's knowledge, the guild conducts trials behind closed doors to protect the identities of the defendants. The public also believes that powered criminals are kept in a separate set of prisons with special security measures to counteract power use. However, this serves as a smoke screen to conceal the fact that most powered criminals don't receive a trial at all, instead becoming unwilling subjects in a system of laboratories where the biology and mechanisms of powers are studied using experimental methods ranging from benign to horrifically inhumane. This reality is an open secret in the vigilante community, but pervasive anti-vigilante propaganda makes it difficult for vigilantes to blow the whistle. The guild carefully keeps the lab system hidden from their powered heroes to avoid widescale rebellion.

On the international stage, the containment breach country is serving as a case study in managing powers. Other countries, aware that their own population of powered individuals will only continue to grow, are watching carefully in order to learn from the original country's mistakes.

SO, that's the bulk of my general worldbuilding for this AU so far! I'm still fitting the backstories for SBI and Beeduo into this setting, as well as various background characters, but this will serve as a good scaffold for further world development.