Faraday City

"I grew up in Faraday City, so named for Dr. Reginald Faraday, who founded the metropolis as a shining example of his utopian vision of the future. Made manifest in New Jersey because it was more amenable to altering the tax codes to suit his liking."

— Prodigious Girl

Overview

Although somewhat derisively referred to as "The Jewel of New Jersey," Faraday City has become a vibrant metropolis in no small part due to having the highest concentration of superhumans and metahuman activity known to exist. Although this is a dangerous situation for the citizens who choose to make the city their home, they take great pride in being known as a city of superheroes.

Background

The city itself was established about 40 years ago, and at the time was considered to be a pointless exercise in ego for Dr. Reginald Faraday, the billionaire inventor. The "city" back then was modest, and far outshone by nearby New York City. This all might have gone down in history as a massively failed experiment, if not for a laboratory accident that took place in Faraday Labs a few years later. While exploring the potential to breach other dimensions, an unexpected rupture led to a massive energy discharge, the effects of which were felt for hundreds of miles: The Turning Point.

The Turning Point

As with many events in Faraday City, what some would later call a miracle began in catastrophe. Originally referred to as "Faraday's Folly" before a swift re-branding by Dr. Faraday, The Turning Point unlocked the metahuman potential for everyone affected by the massive energy discharge. Subsequently referred to as "the metagene," most people were unaffected. For others, however, the change was instantaneous and dramatic.

For these "ascended metahumans," their superpowers became immediately unlocked...without warning, and often extremely violently. Thousands of people died in the ensuing crisis that ensued, as these new metahumans struggled to control their new powers. Some used their new abilities to commit crimes and take advantage of the chaos. Others used their powers to protect and defend the citizenry. This would set the tone for the days to come.

Overnight, The Turning Point had ushered in a brave new world: the world of the superhero.

In the days that followed, Faraday City found its footing, and soon became a hub of technology and industry, much of it having to do with understanding and harnessing these new metahumans, to find ways to work with and support the law-abiding ones, and to defend against the "supervillains" who followed.

The Spire

Very significantly for the city, a monument was raised in the heart of downtown, one that would come to define Faraday City: The Spire. It was erected not just as a remembrance for those lives lost during The Turning Point, but also as an aspirational structure pointing to the future.

See: The Spire

The Future of the Metagene

See: Metagene Positive condition

Life in Faraday City Today

New Types of Threats

Over the last few decades, the city has achieved a balance point of sorts, which is impressive given the number of catastrophes that continue to plague the city. The energy of The Turning Point seems to have thinned the veil between worlds, so that dimensional incursions have become increasingly common. And some have noted that the energy of The Turning Point may have also served as a beacon, alerting other worlds to the existence of Earth. And many of them are not friendly.

Many people are dubious about superheroes and the potential threats they represent, but they're glad to have them to fight the various aliens, demons, supervillains, and assorted creeping horrors that are now regularly visited upon the city.

Rather unexpectedly, the rise of the metahuman has brought to light other heretofore unknown sources of power. Things like aliens, or magic, or other dimensions, once thought to be the stuff of fantasy or science fiction, have proved to be very real, and armed with powers and abilities that are very much a match for the metahumans. In response, humanity has been quick to adopt greater technology measures to protect itself as part of this unusual arms race.

Whether these disparate sources of power can be traced back to a single root source has been a source of ongoing scientific conjecture, but has yet to be proved.

New Generations of Superheroes

Only a fraction of those with the metagene become ascended metahumans. And many of them choose not to become superheroes (or, thankfully, supervillains), instead just leading normal lives where they may or may not make use of their special abilities. For some, this may simply be a function of their metahuman abilities or how strong those abilities are. A metahuman who only has the ability to make flowers bloom may find use for their abilities as a gardener or florist, but will not be taking over the world anytime soon.

Superhero Registration

For those metahumans with the power, daring, and selflessness, Faraday City has developed the Superhero Registration program, granting them limited de facto law enforcement powers. These heroes are then essentially deputized to help law enforcement combat the rising metahuman threats that face the city.