LogFAQs > #913143783

Entity13 posted...

InhumaneRaider posted...

So, if Superhumans existed? How would the government be able to identify and register them? Do you believe advancement in technology would grow?

I believe the technology to catalog or make conflict would grow with more certainty or haste than technology to conceivably help us all, superpowered or no. Politics would be much the same. Acts out of fear, anger, or damaged egos and pride tend to rush forward.

To go the route Marvel went with the "Days of Future Past" storyline where all mutants are hunted, rounded up, and forced into internment camps, one of the first things they did was find a couple of mutants with telepathy or mutant-detecting powers, collar and condition them, and then force them to hunt down their own kind. If superpowers exist across a wide enough spectrum, it's almost a given that eventually someone will develop the power to detect others who also have powers. And at least a few of them will almost certainly sell out their own kind for favors, or simply out of a sense of personal preservation.

On top of which, "mutant-detecting" technology already existed in-universe (a la Professor Xavier using Cerebro to locate mutants to recruit into the X-Men), and there's no reason why the government couldn't replicate that sort of technology for themselves. Issue special ops police with handheld scanners and use stronger, omni-directional scanners mounted in roving surveillance vans and you can cover most populated areas and detect potential superpowered beings no matter how well they keep under cover.

Of course, there's also the fact that, in any universe where people start manifesting unnatural super powers, scientific studies will begin almost immediately to analyze the nature of the empowered and determine the origin of the mutation (with the dual goals in mind of neutralizing powers in those who aren't authorized but also to help jumpstart powers in those you deem worthy - ie, controllable). And once you isolate the X-gene/metagene/Wild Card virus/etc in someone's biology, it would be incredibly easy to develop biochemical tests that can detect it - and from there it's a short hop to "Spit in this cup, we'll send it off for testing, and if you're cleared we'll issue you government-approved ID that says you're allowed to actually buy things and hold a job and otherwise live your life". That's something else that happened in the Marvel setting - everyone was forced into getting tested, and then sorted into "normal baseline human", "mutant", or "anomalous human" (ie, humans who weren't mutants and lacked powers, but had the potential to give birth to mutant children). And then mutants were forced to wear identifying marks at all times so everyone would know they were a mutant at a glance, and anomalous humans had most of the rights of normal humans, but weren't legally allowed to breed.

And that was in a setting before cell phones were ubiquitous and pretty much everyone leaves a digital trail a mile wide (even people who are "off the grid" but still get mentioned in other people's Facebook or Twitter posts, or go places with camera surveillance, are still more "on the grid" than they realize). It's pathetically easy to track people these days, cross-reference who has been "tested" and who hasn't, and track down violators who display any signs of possessing powers.

(Hell, the entire idea of the Batcave has been ridiculous since 2000 or so, as we now live in a world where satellites can read a license plate from space, and flying drones with cameras are a thing. The first time the Batmobile drives into a cave near Wayne Manor, his secret identity is pretty much fucked.)


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