The world begins as it is now, in the late summer of 2002. Terrorism struck in September, and the country was confused and changed by it. Yet slowly things went back to normal. The new president was elected. The war on terrorism left the States and went back overseas, where some citizens might say it belonged.

Yet there was a new fear... new worries that it might happen again. There were rumors of planned bio-terrorism.

And then it struck. On May 15, 2003, the first recorded case of Smallpox occurred in Littleton, California. Over the next week, 34 more cases were recorded, and the country was in an uproar. How could this happen? How could the American government allow this to happen on American soil?

Tha Al Quaida claimed responsibility for the "attack", claiming that by bringing Smallpox back to the United States they intended to cause an epidemic and destroy the American way of life.

Americans believed them. George W. Bush lost political ground daily as he failed each step of the war against terrorism. The American public was afraid.

In 2004, as Dubya campaigned for re-election, the Democratic National Convention confirmed Jayne Abrams as their presidential candidate, with Eric Edelman as her running mate.

Jayne was a vibrant 61 year old woman, well-known for politics in New York, where she had been active since her early 30s. Her husband was Brian Abrams, CEO of Fibrodyne Industries. It was said that he financed her campaign... that the moneys were perhaps not quite proper.

When it came down to it, the American public did not care. Jayne promised to take care of them. With dark brown eyes of honeyed warmth she seemed like a mother to tuck them in at night with a safe bedtime story, and at the same time had enough backbone to be the hard-nosed business woman who would get the job done. On the day she learned that she had, indeed, been elected, she announced that Tanner Industries, Medical Division, had submitted a plan to provide the necessary immuzinations against this strain of Smallpox, and that it would proceed as soon as funding was approved.

Of course, funding was approved immediately following her inauguration, and innoculations began in February of 2004.

Over the past four years, President Abram's primary thrust has been hometown security, combined with a strong effort overseas to stamp out terrorism. In the wartime economy, people are employed, and technology firms are experiencing a ressurgance as new technological advances are produced to oversee the American public.

Abrams' methods are subtle and unintrusive. She has stated many times that she does not want to curtail the American way of life. She does not wish to have a member of the military on every corner, the way it seems in some countries. She wishes for her people to remain free. Instead she has funded and encourage regulations for required security training for all law enforcement officials, and all private security officers. The days of the rent-a-cop are over -- that security guard not only knows how to use his gun, but is likely a good shot.

Still, there are rumors, as there always are.

Fibrodyne Industries, known for its advances in the technology arena, is suspected of providing nanite technology. Rumors abound that the Smallpox vaccines were simply an excuse to innoculate all Americans with a tracking and recording device, to allow Big Brother into action.

Then there are the online discussions concerning the secret police. While there are no overt military maneuvers on the homefront, it is said that a new division has been created -- on a par with the FBI or CIA -- and that they are everywhere, watching and waiting.