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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. It spans an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border with another sovereign state, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom has in many ways remained the same as it always has in the turbulent years since the nuclear explosion in 2006 nearly brought on what would have been World War III. But to say that the UK hasn't changed would be irresponsible to the steady forward progress along familiar, old lines that the country has made in the years since the world was turned on its ear.
Following the revelation of the Evolved in 2007, the United Kingdom was swift to join the United States in the formation of a comprehensive Registration system designed to allow for public safety and consider the privacy of its citizens that it is affecting. Developed on wholly different paths and instated in December of 2007, the UK's "Database of Evolved-Humans" began as an opt-in system with large success. The nation has, per-capita, less native Evolved than the United States, largely due to its smaller land mass. Foreign Evolved traveling into the UK were not eligible to Register under UK laws.
Turmoil across the ocean and in Europe over the presence of the Evolved, along with hard-line support in Parliament regarding the Evolved as potential "personal weaponry" and a public safety hazard found a reform of the Registry through 2008, with political battles fought against what may saw as a slip towards 'totalitarian' methodology. The level of danger represented by the Evolved was made stark to UK citizens in the fall of 2008 when British Labor Party member Johann Newton manifested violently on the floor of Parliament during a heated debate over the issue of Registration. Newton's manifestation left seven members of Parliament hospitalized from Co2 inhalation due to what was believed to be some sort of molecular transmutation that turned the air around Newton into carbon dioxide, effectively suffocating his peers.
Newton's accidental harm to members of Parliament was seen as final justification to fence-sitters, and an amendment to the Database was finalized in March of 2009. By the writing of the Database's amendment, any Evolved who presents an ability that could by defined as a lethal weapon by British law is eligible for "Sectioning" in secluded remote communes in remote reaches of the country. This effectively added a parallel to the American "Tier" system, with "Registered" and "Sectioned" Evolved being the UK's classifications.
Public and visible, the UK's Sectional Relocation Centers are small communities where Sectioned Evolved may live without fear of causing undue harm to ordinary humans. Four Sectional Relocation Centers exist today, the first being "Cedar Hollow" located north of the village of Muir in the Cairgorms National Park with a population of 37 Sectioned Evolved. "Fitchburg Mill" is located outside of the town of Exford near the Exmoor National Park, and boasts a population of 22 Sectioned Evolved. The settlement of "Whitehearth" is located 2 kilometers south of Kirkwall past Borrowstone hill. While the most recent Sectional Relocation Center is located just outside of the Otterburn Camp in the Northumberland National Park.
Each Sectional Relocation Center is staffed by close to 100 government employees and a private security detail designed to protect the Sectioned from both themselves should their abilities go out of control, and the rising tide of anti-Evolved sentiment growing in the UK despite strict anti-hate laws.
Public reaction to the SRC's have been mixed with praise gone to the level of attention to families and Evolved-Education on-site at these facilities, but public protest and decrying of the isolation of the Sectioned from ordinary civilization. By UK law, Sectioned Evolved are not allowed to leave their "habitats" save for on special dispensation from the government. Attendance at an SRC is mandatory for any Evolved who evaluates at a "Sectioned" level of ability.
Controversy arose in early 2010 when a Non-Sectioned Evolved who lost control of an ability to project his voice into the minds of others caused a traffic collision in downtown London, killing 2 and injuring 16. Following a public trial that became media circus, Worth was punished to Sectioning in Whitehearth until such a time as he could gain control of his ability reliably. On seeing Sectioning being used as a punishment in legal proceedings, public opinion towards these facilities began to decline, and continues to. Illegal protests and rallies against the SRC's are held with growing regularity.
The UK's already pervasive surveillance systems have taken a next-generation turn since 2006 as well, with the United Kingdom now boasting double the recorded number of closed-circuit cameras in metropolitan areas than was recorded in 2006. These increased security measures come in the face of heightened global terrorism and a rapidly declining sense of public safety and fear that what is happening in America and across Europe in relation to non-evolved sympathies could ignite at home.
Not helping matters is an organization that became infamous in the August of 2010, calling themselves the Children of Humanity. A hate-group with violent anti-evolved sentiments, the Children of Humanity staged an attack on a transport taking three Sectioned Evolved to the Whitehearth center on August 22nd, killing all four of the Evolved (which included two minors) and critically injuring two security personnel on the escort.
The Children of Humanity have been gaining additional support outside of the UK, with a strong following across much of central Europe. A rally held by the organization in Berlin, Germany in November 2010 led to a forcible dispersal of the crowd by riot police, followed by brief rioting in Liverpool and Manchester in England.
Tensions are extremely high with the possibility of the UK joining a proposed united Registration system for all member-states of the European Union currently being discussed by national representatives. If the plan goes through, an overhaul of the UK Database of the Evolved is expected to occur, and mandatory registration for Non-Evolved is expected to be part-and-parcel with the deal.
Evolved Registration Process in the UK
Currently, Registering as an Evolved in the UK is a voluntary process, provided that unregistered Evolved are able to go without "incident" with their abilities. There is a one-strike rule with currently ambiguous wording involving crimes committed via the use of Evolved ability, including unintentional harm or property damage. Immediate registration and potential Sectioning is the fate of Evolved that are the source of such an incident. But interpretation of the incident laws varies from county to county.
Registration takes place at publicly available "SLC Registration Centers" across the country where a blood test is performed for proof of the Suresh-Linkage Complex, followed by a two-hour long screening process where the registering Evolved demonstrate and explain their ability to the best of their knowledge, under sworn oath.
In some centers, where available, Evolved with Power Detection, Lie Detection and Telepathy are employed to test the veracity of claims made during demonstrations. Lying during the Registration process leads to immediate classification as a "Sectioned" Evolved.
If an Evolved demonstrates an ability that the overseeing governmental body does not classify as a weapon or weapon-like threat (and there is rife corruption and double-standards in this process) the Evolved is classified as "Registered" and are logged in a private government database. No public record of Registration is made available and a unique Database of the Evolved identification card is issued on date of Registration. DNA records of the Registered are kept on file indefinitely.
Registered Evolved have no restrictions or special rules levied against them. They are required to present their Registration card to law-enforcement officials if requested.
If an Evolved classifies with a "weapon" or "weapon-like" ability, they are categorized as "Sectioned" Evolved and are given 5 days in which to set their affairs in order before being transported to one of the UK's Sectional Relocation Centers across the country (described above). Minors in the care of the Sectioned Evolved are allowed to be resident at the SRC provided that no other immediate family members are available to care for the child.
Spouses are also given special dispensation to travel with the Sectioned Evolved if desired, which could lead to their children also being brought along.
Anyone found violating the Database of the Evolved by means of circumventing the Registration process or attempting to evade 'Sectioning' face stiff penalties and probable jail time.
Big Brother is Watching You
Below the surface of what appears to be a very visible and accountable system, the United Kingdom keeps strict watch over all Registered Evolved. Up until August of 2010, a branch of The Company coordinated with the government in order to perform surveillance on all Registered Evolved and foreign evolved traveling in the UK.
Following the public revelation of the Company the British government quickly severed all ties with the organization and disavowed any knowledge of collusion with the group. Many key members of the Company were silenced by elements of the British intelligence agency MI5 in order to keep knowledge of this coordination under wraps.
In response to the Company's fall, top British Company liaison to MI5, Terrence Renford, was painted as a scapegoat and the Company facility under his command was spun as a secret and illegal project spearheaded by Renford (see below). The UK's alternative to the Company (which co-opted much of the research made public by the Company during their cooperation) became known as the Torchlight Initiative, which investigate Evolved-related incidents across the UK, while the European Union will consider turning Torchlight into an international peacekeeping force for all EU member states should the unified Registry system come to pass in the EU.
Further shadows at play in the UK come from Torchlight carrying the proverbial "torch" of the Company on into a new generation. Domestic spying on all Registered Evolved is now carried out by Torchlight operatives, which includes wiretapping and other surveillance measures designed to keep tabs on the UK's small Registered Evolved population.
Registered Evolved from other countries passing into the UK are also monitored by Torchlight, and their activities closely scrutinized.
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain
Starting at the end of 2007, while the UK was promoting the open "Sectioning" system for Evolved, a project spearheaded by the Company codenamed "Searchlight" was intended to expand the UK's knowledge of the Evolved as well as detain individuals believed to be too dangerous even for the Sectioning process.
A facility owned by the Company in the city of Durrington was established to house High-Sectioned Evolved with abilities that could cause wide-spread destruction or harm if left to their own devices. Inhumane experiments were carried out in Durrington under the watchful eye of Director Terrence Renford, a British liaison to the Company. The Company itself had minimal oversight into the goings-on in Durrington and Renford kept quiet much of the controversial work done there.
In August of 2010 as word of the Company became public in the United States, the UK sought to sever all ties with the Company. Renford was painted as a Company operative and subversive element within the government. Durrington's supporters and staff were painted in the media to be inhumane monsters that secretly carried out experiments at the Company's request. Research obtained at Durrington was retained by the British government, while Renford was quietly silenced. Public reports account for Renford's suicide during an attempt to capture him, only the operatives of MI5 know the truth.
Durrington became a convenient excuse, blamed on the globally reviled Company and Renford's true allegiances never saw the light of day. The four prisoners held at Durrington were released to their families, though with the caveat that they be placed in Sectioned care. None of them ever knew the wiser about the true goings-on at Durrington or who was pulling the strings.
Their eventual suicides were a national tragedy, blamed on the psychological distress they suffered during their time at the Durrington facility…
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The UK in the News
December 2010
UNITED KINGDOM — British Prime Minister Augustine Sinclair has announced today that a decision by parliament regarding the controversial Torchlight initiative has been made. Effective January 1, 2011 the UK Torchlight society will begin operations within the boundaries of the United Kingdom, serving as a dedicated investigations and policing force for instances of SLC-Expressive crime.
Prime Minister Sinclair spoke to the Telegraph earlier this morning about the decision. "With the arrest of SO12 Special Branch executive Terrence Renford last year we have given serious considerations to how the people of Britain and beyond handle crimes of such a supernatural nature. We must show diligence and understanding to our SLC-Expressive brethren. What Renford did was inexcusable, and the citizens who were wrongfully imprisoned at Durrington will be released to their families."
"The unacceptable human rights violations put into effect under the noses of our citizenry during Brown's administration will not be tolerated and Torchlight is the first example of a progressive move forward for the people of England and the people of the UK."
If the Torchlight program takes off with the success of the American FRONTLINE program, the EU has expressed interest in allowing Torchlight investigative agencies to expand to member nations of the EU for purposes of policing and investigating the often confusing and difficult to understand SLC-related crimes.
January 2011
Reuters
January 24, 2011
WORLD NEWS
The European Union's Comittee for Evolved Affairs met today to discuss plans for the projected change over of all twenty-seven member states to a conformed SLC Registry system. Only half of the countries in the EU currently have comprehensive SLC Registries, and of those only two nations (The United Kingdom and Ireland) have private Registries.
The Comittee for Evolved Affairs is looking to aggressively push broad legislative changes through all EU member states before year's end to bring each nation in line with the Registry model currently utilized by the United States, Madagascar and Iraq.
While not identical to the American Registry System, the EU's proposed European Union SLC Registry (EUSR; pronounced 'User') will consist of a strict classification system of Civilian and Restricted SLC-Expressive abilities. This stark differential considers all potentially hazardous and lethal abilities as "Restricted," which could carry so far unspecified restrictions on personal freedom and privacy.
It is speculated that the inception of the EUSR could effect international relations with non-EUSR compliant countries, but the Secretary of the EU's Comittee for Evolved Affairs denies that claim, and insists that a formation of the EUSR will expedite currently difficult international travel by streamlining entry and exit from EUSR-Compliant nations.
Representative to the United Nations William Mathers from the Department of Evolved Affairs in America has spoken with praise about the EUSR and applauds the European Union's forward-thinking and progressive understanding of the complicated nature of handling SLC-Expressive individuals carefully and with respect to their personal freedoms, while balancing that concern against public safety.
While the EU has not suffered a Midtown-Level event, situations like what happened in Madagascar and the United States have given all EU nations reason to strongly consider this push for unification of Registry systems for the safety of their countries. Debate on the specifications of the EUSR are still ongoing, but CFEA representatives think that the snagging points could be resolved as soon as fall.