Vengeance

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In 1980, Dr. Edmund Silvera, a head researcher at NASA, proposed a theory as to how to identify and harvest dark matter. At the time his theory was considered outlandish by many. It was quickly picked up by the media and the global scientific community. Dr. Edmund Silvera's theorized that a combination of unique electromagnetic waves and select radio frequencies could reveal the "blind spot" which dark matter exists in.

An alliance was brokered between the United States, several European countries - including the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, and the emerging scientific power of China. It was hoped that this alliance - titled Project Ascension - would usher in an age of shared progress and understanding.

Dr. Edmund Silvera was appointed the head of Project Ascension and with some of the greatest scientific minds of the era, devised a device that would realize Dr. Silvera's ambitions. The device - named Pandora's Box, by its creators - was initially compared to an antenna though its function was more akin to a magnet and radio. The frequencies it would emit were intended to draw in dark matter and channel it into a sealed chamber for study.

The first several attempts were failures, but over time the device was perfected.

On February 18, 1982 (see Catalyst) at 2:48 p.m. Pandora's Box was activated. Much of what occurred next is solely conjecture as any evidence was destroyed. Pandora's Box succeeded in revealing and harnessing dark matter, but the initial shock shorted several of the facility's systems including those responsible for limiting the amount of dark matter that could be gathered. Without the system to limit what was harvested, copious amounts of dark matter accumulated. The facility exploded killing everyone in a two-mile radius and rendering the land toxic. The dark matter washed over Earth, causing a nearly world-wide blackout.

The dark matter resonated with certain humans and animals, mutating them and granting them extraordinary "abilities".

The burst of energy also reawakened magic that had long been condemned as myth. (See Reawakening)

The initial reaction of the United States and European counties was to cover up the incident, but that quickly proved an impossibility. These humans that emerged with abilities were dubbed the "Changed". Many called for them to be rounded up and the issue soon became a political divide and human rights issue, worldwide.

China forced all Changed to register and work as operatives of the government. Those that refused were executed.

Russia followed a similar path as China, forcing all Changed to register and join the government's military or scientific divisions.

The United Kingdom, in 1986, was the first country to pass a comprehensive law granting Changed equal rights and protections under the law. 

Many progressive US states passed bills granting Changed full or partial rights under the law. Other attempted to force incarceration or make detaining them without rights easier.

In 1992, the Supreme Court case Ford vs. Mallory cemented the "Changed" Act into law which granted Changed full rights and protections.

Since the mid-1990s several public figures have come out as Changed, most notably actress Katrina Van White and actor and talk show host Alexander Gillian, both of whom are vocal champions of Changed rights.

-From the Wikipedia page of Changed

The burst of dark matter that washed over Earth also resurrected magic that had been dormant for ages. Magic bloodlines, locations, objects, etc. were stirred or entirely awakened.

While often grouped in with the Changed the abilities of magic wielders are different in nature and are sourced from the universe at large rather than a singular mutation.

Much of the nature and capabilities of magic are still unknown.

-From the Wikipedia page Reawakening