Prologue - Let's Set The Scene
#1 of The Omegaverse
Shapeshifter AU // After a mysterious airborne disease wipes out the population of earths women, the governments last chance to save the human race from going extinct comes in the form of a new drug that can genetically alter the male body to carry offspring while remaining immune to the earthbound disease that killed off the females. The only problem? There aren't enough to go around.
The Omegaverse is set in a universe almost identicle to our own, only in this one the people are capable of shapeshifting into a canine form that resonates with their spirit.
In the year 2015, the earth is suddenly hit by a plague that quickly wipes out every last female on earth, putting humanity at risk of extinction. Desperate to do something to change their fate, the worlds top scientists are brought in to do something, and eventually, they do.
It's discovered that the virus only effects females, and what's worse, it's airborne, meaning that cloning won't be an option unless they can find the source of the outbreak and contain it. Otherwise, they'll just be killing a bunch of newborns. Vaccines were attempted to try and give the clones a fighting chance, but there was no way to introduce a dose powerful enough to save them that early on in life.
In a last ditch effort, a drug was created, one that used the virus itself as a base to latch onto the genetic makeup of a person before splicing it with the genes that allowed a shifter to change their body in the first place. If it worked, they'd have a drug that could physically alter a persons body permenantly. They called it the Omega syrum, because it would be the end of them if it didn't work.
But, it did.
When injected into a healthy male adult it was able to change their body over the course of a few days, remolding their reproductive system from male to female while leaving all other physical features untouched.
The first generation of Omegas were created in a government lab in an undisclosed location somewhere offshore. Men from all over the world were kidnapped and brought in for experimentation, only to be sold to the highest bidder among the worlds most important figureheads.
At first they tried to keep things under wraps, distributing Omegas only to those that were deemed 'priority people'', but eventually they had to bring the public in as well, lest everything fall to anarachy.At first volunteers were asked to come forth and willingly take the drug, and there were those who were willing to take the burden on if it meant saving their species, but the numbers just weren't there. An entire planet of panicing men and only a few hundred breedable Omegas.
It didn't take long for things to fall apart. The demand was higher than could be met and eventually countries started going to war- against each other, and themselves. Life was no longer safe for the Omegas who had volunteered their bodies for science, and now found themselves the victims of kidnapping, rape, and even physical abuse and harassment against those who didn't agree with the drug as a solution.
Citizens tore their own cities apart while nations tore into one another in an attempt to steal one anothers resources, and in the end, well.... there was hardly anything left.
Fast foreward 30 years, and the worlds in shambles. The worlds population has dwindled even more after a decade of war, and now there are only isolated communities left scattered about. The good news? A lot of Omegas managed to make it through thanks to their value, and even better, their capable of producing offspring that also carry the Omega gene, ensuring that humanity will go on.
The bad news? They're still greatly outnumbered by the regular male population, and depending on what community you belong to, life isn't always good.
During our look into the Omegaverse we'll be following four large communities that have settled in whats left of the United States. They are just a handful of such settlements left in the country, and each is as unique as the next.
The Citadel- one of the oldest settlements in the area, this massive city is a virtual forteress with it's high stone walls and armed guards. Within these walls one can find a city that looks untouched by the devastation of the outside world. Luxurious houses line perfectly paved streets, there's running water and electricity, pleanty of food and entertainment. It's the sort of place that would remind you of rich suburbs and fancy restaurants, the people within playing pretend as they openly ignore the state of the rest of the world. A glance at the surface and everything seems innocent enough, just families and regular people trying to live their lives, but there are many dark secrets that surround the Citadel and it's success.
Hillside- the newest settlement to arrive in the area, not much is known about them yet when it comes to the other communities. They occupy a small town off in the countryside and seem to be a relatively good natured group of people.
The Pack- This is a group that is almost as old as the Citadel itself, and one could even argue it exists because of it. When it became clear that no settlement where males were in charge could be trusted, a group of Omegas came together to form their own community, one they could actually trust in. They abandoned the cities and hid themselves away, keeping their Omega identities a secret as they carved out a life for themselves in the deepest wilderness. The other communities had no information on them aside from the fact that a group of savages were living in the far off woods, and rumors even began to spread that they were cannibals. Of course, that wasn't true. Though, no male that ever went up that way came back- not once. It became a 'cursed' place, one avoided by most.
*Gommorah- * a city left in shambles after the war that eventually became a lawless safe-haven for criminals and all sorts of sleezy types. The buildings are mainly ruined and delapitated, and there's no electricity or running water here. Gambling, prostitution, murder, and theft are all commonplace here.