Pertinent History

More than two hundred years ago, the United States was in its hay day.  We had more money and more power than a lot of other countries.  The country was flying high, until the country shut down.  No one in Washington could think of anyway to fix the problem and the infrastructure collapsed.  We went into default, looters ran the streets.

The country was locked down for years and martial law was declared to maintain a semblance of order in the quickly deteriorating country.  Within months of that declaration the military pretty well dissolved and law enforcement became a big farce.  It was no more effective than Barnie Fife running around with that one bullet in his six shooter.  Roving bands of militia took up the big cities, maintaining some semblance of order, but it was not enough.

The presidency had become more totalitarian as the years progressed with the man in charge not giving up the seat after four or even eight years.  That was when things got worse.  Worse than no electricity or running water.  Worse than mercenaries, crack pot judges, and bumbling sheriffs.  That was when the rest of the world knew we weren't getting back up, and they decided to make sure we didn't.

We made plenty of enemies and borrowed from too many people.  America made promises and broke them eloquently in the same breath.  It was not shocking when the piper came to collect.

No one knows which country struck first, that knowledge died a long time ago and not one person here is old enough to remember it.  What was written down in journals was turned into the history books we use in our schools now.

When the world decided to collect its payment from the great United States, rockets filled the skies, decimating cities, destroying everything.  It was a war zone for a year before the straggling American survivors wandered back into the cities and towns.

Chicago was one of the first to rise quickly.  The people rebuilt the city and suburbs into a self sustaining fortress under the guidance of a group called The Five.  Each of The Five took a sector and lead it into prosperity.  It wasn't long, however, before odd things began happening.  People would disappear or die mysteriously.  Others encountered odd, supernatural things that would quickly be discounted by both the Enforcers and the News Press alike.

The Five maintained control for years, and never ceased.  If one of The Five died or retired, we were simply notified of the appointment of a new member to the exclusive and reclusive group.  The Five brought order to the fortress-city, but The Five couldn't stop the strange things from happening.

The attacks became less frequent and the city seemed to become a normal city once more.  Buildings rose, vehicles were made, jobs were kept; the people lived, and we lived well for a while.  Then, twenty years ago, we saw Black Rock.  It rose up out of the lake, appearing randomly.  The towers were so high, that the tops were obscured by thick clouds of steam and smoke from steam and gas powered vehicles.  Then the disappearances started all over again.

This time it was only children or those that had witnessed something supernatural happen.  On the fringes, reports of unusual deaths came in along with reports of children being snatched from their parents arms.  Snatchers, the shadowy people were called.  We knew they were only a division of the National Guard, but snatching children just made us bitter toward them.

Any attempts to take the matter to The Five or to protest were silenced.  The leaders of such groups always disappeared.  After a time, rouge groups of children, abandoned by their parents lest they suffer from a more forceful parting, banded together into groups that were called The Lost.  The Lost settled into the the bowels of the city, the sewers, storm drains, and aqueducts that no one really wants to examine closely.  They steal from business, roam at night, defying the Snatchers.  

But it's not just The Lost that need to worry about the National Guardsmen catching them.  It's those that were hunted that became adults.  As soon as anything supernatural begins happening, and you're on the workforce, you disappear.  It doesn't even have to be coming from you.  You could be normal and mundane and wind up a prisoner.

We think they go to Black Rock.  When they show up again in town, they don't have any recollection of family or friends, and they're almost always in the National Guard.  The few that aren't end up in the workforce, perfect, compliant citizens loyal to The Five.  

Recently, a few of the younger adults have willingly joined the proud ranks of the National Guard.  But even more have joined the Enforcers, local law enforcement who's job it is to make sure we're all safe.  They're the only buffer between the National Guard and us.

We've lived in fear for twenty years, but lately there have been rumors, traded in dark corners for several months.  Some say that a group has escaped notice, that the adults of The Lost have formed The Found, mundane people and supernaturals in hiding who oppose The five and Black Rock.

Maybe, for the first time in years, we can have some resolution to the fear, the disappearances and the unusual deaths.  Maybe we can make a difference.

It's time for you to choose.