The timeline diverges from the modern world in August, 2002.

[Mike requested more information regarding the possibilities of war with Iraq in the latter parts of 2002.]

On Tuesday, October 29, 2002, war was declared against Iraq, despite the lack of involvement from the UN. The war began, and continued until May 2003. There were several minor terrorist attacks on US soil. But the advent of Smallpox in the homeland, with responsibility claimed by the Al Qaida, popular opinion was that the army belonged at home, not in the Mideast. There was no way Dubya could win in this situation, and by the end of the summer, the formal military manuevers in the Mideast were over.

This pretty much ended Dubya's career, paving the way for Plain Jayne's election in 2004. Jayne Abrams has done much to restore some of the US's foreign standing, removing some of the stigma of "loose cannon" that was gained when the US disregarded foreign opinion and declared war. She has maintained watchfulness and a firm foreign policy while also keeping a careful eye on homeland security.

By the time the vaccine began to be administered in early 2005, the country was terrified of the epidemic. It never reached plague proportions, but it seemed to hit every area in some small way. The disease did not appear to be incredibly contagious, but the strain was virulent and difficult to get rid of. As well as deadly.

The vaccine, when administered, was quickly found to cause approximately 75% of the people receiving it to fall ill. A standard was created, and for every time the vaccine was given, the recipient was given 3 days of vacation or rest, in order to give that person time to heal, should they have a reaction. The vaccination process moved quickly, and was completed by the latter months of 2005, except for the very old. All newborns now receive the vaccination as a matter of course.

You haven't always been this way.

In fact, you can almost pinpoint the first time it happened. It was three or four years ago, in February, or maybe March. Maybe as late as May, of the year 2005. You remember spending some time being sick -- a bad reaction to the Smallpox vaccine. It wasn't all that uncommon, and most offices and schools had a policy to allow for three days off following the receipt of the vaccine, just in case. Every one took the time, even though only about 75% of the people actually felt poorly afterwards.

And then, something happened. You were different somehow. But no one else seemed to know anything had happened. To the rest of the world, you were still just your same old self that you had always been.

And that wasn't a bad thing. After all, there were people out there -- Big Brother type people -- watching everything that everyone did. Making the country safe to be in. But was it safe to be different? You weren't sure, so you made sure no one knew.

And you thought you had done a good job at that. You thought no one knew the truth about you. About the things that you could do. You were secure and safe.

Until now. Until the invitation arrived. And then you knew that you weren't alone. And that someone intended to use your secret.

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?