Vivi

I

Since the Shift a lot of things had changed. For example, electricity was suddenly trivial to generate and soon became essentially free. New animals and plants started evolving at a shocking pace. And, pertinent to our story, there is the fact that a lot of people acquired special abilities.

It was only natural, in its own strange way, that people took reference from the popular media of the past. A few people with special abilities chose to wear colourful costumes. That at least was uncommon, but those who were in the public eye for any amount of time would inevitably receive a dramatic-sounding nickname – if they didn't choose one for themselves first.

John Haraway, who could generate electricity with his own body, became, of course, known as The Shocker. He was more a media personality than a "superhero", but he got into fights sometimes, and responded to the draft when the war came.

Sarah O'Connell was telepathic, precognisant and telekinetic. She resisted all attempts to give her a nickname for many years but finally accepted the name Oracle, as it seemed better than the embarrassing alternatives.

O'Connell offered her accurate predictions to whoever would pay her prices – in the end that meant billionaires, corporations and government agencies – but after the war, PTSD made her powers erratic and destructive. After O'Connell accidentally hurt several people, killing one, a police "superhero", Steven Freewell, known by his nickname The Handyman, confronted her and killed her. There were protests, but nothing came of them. Now, as always, police could do more or less whatever they wanted.

What comic books hadn't predicted was that "superheroes" rarely fought alone. Almost anyone with abilities came under relentless pressure to join the police or armed forces of the countries they lived in – or of other countries who could pay better. Some joined gangs or cartels. The stick and carrot were both applied and generally got the job done.

"Vigilantes" were relatively rare in comparison to the number of supers out there. They wore masks not just to protect their families and friends, but to protect themselves from the police, because vigilantism was, of course, illegal. The media loved them and vilified them in equal measure.

The trouble was that it was pretty hard to tell the heroes from the villains, and different sources would tell it in different ways.

There were a handful of independent supers motivated by fundamentalist Christian or Muslim beliefs. They would, for example, attack and intimidate people involved with abortion clinics and LGBT rights. Then there were supers who fought against those, some of whom wore their progressive beliefs on their sleeves. It became a good old fashioned internet free-for-all, but in the real world, and with flaming fists, lightning bolts, and hurt bystanders.