Verdict - A Sci-Fi Story (Overall Background)

         Verdict is a sci-fi story set in a futuristic dystopian future going from 2102 to 2170. It's gone through several different versions over the course of 5-6 years. The concept is that "What if our genes dictated human nature?" This is a "in a nutshell" (not really, its still insanely long) to it's overall background currently. If enough people find this interesting, I'll put in the main cast of protagonists. If they find that interesting as well, I'll put in the antagonists, and so on and so forth.
        
    After a long series of resource wars between various countries spanning back to the mid 2030s, mankind had hit a standstill. The amount of conflict had sent technology backwards, for several decades technological advancement was put on practical halt. It would take until the 2090s for humans to get back on track. It is now 2102, and mankind has reached a new golden age. Solar energy has been perfected, the global warming and resource crisis have finally been averted, the world has reached a sort of peace... almost. As it was a collaboration between the U.S. and Russia that ultimately perfected solar energy and solved various global conflicts. They had helped and supported regions closest to them and primarily those in alliance with their beliefs. During the various global conflicts, it was the U.S.A. that always strived for peace to further its own ends, and Russia that took advantage of the war for the betterment of itself and its allies. Their co-operation became a friendly rivalry, which, ultimately, started a 2nd Cold War between the two superpowers.
        
    Three years later, it is 2105, a new and strange disease has just hit Florida, a disease that has no cure, and 100% mortality rate. Those who are caught in its large, black mist convulse, then fall down, dead. The disease had only been around for around 2 weeks, and it had already swept across lower Florida, killing thousands, with no end in sight. Naturally, the race for a cure between Russia and the U.S began. If Russia found a cure first, they would get an upper hand in their little rivalry by a substantial margin, but scientists in the U.S already discovered far more about the disease. They used certain, unethical experiments to come to the theory that the disease only killed humans. They first noted how the disease left animals and the like frolicking in its wake. They then theorized how it killed. It went inside the body, like a virus, and spread until it reached the brain. It then identified its in a human via genetic data, then flipped the kill switch in the brain, instantly killing the host. It's unknown why it only kills humans, or where it came from, but getting rid of it took top priority for the scientists at the time.
        
    They've theorized by its molecular structure that it would dissipate and decay within a year, however, whenever it kills a human, more of the mist appears out of the body of the deceased. The only possible cure they came up with was to trick it into thinking it wasn't infecting a human. This meant they had to change the structure of the human genome itself. By this point in time, they had a full working understanding of human genetics. Genetics can control how we look, act, some aspects of our build, and if we change the right genes, we can remove certain mental disorders or even change our appearance over time. However, there was one gene they simply could not find a purpose for. They even experimented on live people, and found changing the gene changed nothing, at least nothing noticeable. The person seemed normal, no real changes. So it was settled, they created a sort of serum that behaved by being injected into the body, being absorbed into every possible cell, and modifying that one specific gene.
       
    The first man to be tested with this serum was a man by the first name of Johnathan. He was told how risky the experiment was, but he didn't care, and took the injection. He was then put in a room full of the black mist, and after 10 minutes of suspense, they opened up to see the result, and, to their euphoric surprise, Johnathan was fine, the disease had been tricked. After 4 months of experimenting and over 9 million deaths, it was a success. After a few more tests, the conclusion was that they had developed a cure.
       
    So, the injection had been mass produced and given to everyone in the United States and surrounding countries, including all of South America, Mexico, and Canada. The fear of the disease was so real, and the people of the U.S and surrounding countries had much better relations, each place having better education and the like. Ultimately, 99.76 percent of the population in this region of the world had taken the injection. Eventually, the fear of the disease spread to other countries. Western Europe, Greenland, Southern Africa and some small parts of Northern Africa requested and were sent the injection. These regions had more than 99 percent of their population take the injection. The U.S sent some to it's still good friend Japan, however, only southern Japan "needed" the injection, as Russia already supplied most of Northern Japan with their OWN serum.
        
    The Russians eventually discovered their own cure, though they did not say how. They had already sent the injection to the countries currently under their influence at this time. this includes Asia, eastern Europe, and most of Northern Africa. After 8 months of tension, the disease finally began to dissipate, one more month later, in January of 2106, and the disease was no more. A memorial was placed in Florida for the more than 9 million who died of the "New Black Plague." However, a new problem emerged.
        
    It turns out the gene that was modified was, theoretically, the one that controlled human nature itself. Another theory is that it controls our conscience. After 2 months of heavy spying by both sides, it was discovered they both modified the same gene, just in a different way. Doing this caused people's instincts to warp and change over time to something else. The reason the scientists who originally experimented with this gene never saw any changes was due to how gradual the change was. It becomes a million times more potent when changed en masse. The changes were subtle, at first, however, another year passed, and in 2107, the gene the two sides had changed finally began to show its true effects.
        
    Regions near or allied with U.S were known as the United Nations, since as of 2103, Russia and its allies had left the U.N. to form the Eastern Nations Association (E.N.A).  The U.N controlled regions had massive economic booms, crime was nonexistent, education was high, the new debt the U.S had attained back in 2086 was cleared in less than a year. Meanwhile, regions near Russia, had no clear alliance. The E.N.A broke apart disturbingly fast. These areas became totalitarian regimes, crime was also nonexistent, but for other reasons. Poverty was a constant problem in these regions, these areas were no longer allied with anyone, and began heavy infighting and territorial war over greed and national pride.
   
    It was theorized that the U.N ended up modifying the gene so that our instincts would focus more on the needs of society as a whole. However, the Russians modified the gene so that our instincts would focus far more on the needs of the individual, much like modern humans, but to a much more extreme degree.  U.N controlled areas were noted on how nice and helpful everyone was towards one another, doing what they factored out to be best for their communities, it was eerie and strange, almost inhuman, but also pleasant in a way. Those who went to areas near Russia noted how fierce each man and woman was, fighting for what they thought was right, and standing by what they believed, violent, yet strangely human. Although war was very prevalent in these times, all the nations in the middle of infighting knew better than to use nuclear weapons, besides, all nations had impassible countermeasures by this point, with the Anti-Nuclear Weapon act of 2100. Not to mention the countless nuclear warheads that were destroyed during the various global conflicts.
        
    After 10 years of heavy infighting, in 2117, the areas around Russia ultimately reached a standstill, and found a common enemy to attack. They looked at the peoples of the U.N, how "inhuman" they were, they called them monsters, and decided to put aside their own differences and put this new "menace" down. They formed the People's Coalition of Nations (People's Coalition or P.C for short), and declared war on the United Nations. They started with taking the rest of Japan, which took around 2 months of brutal fighting. Multiple fronts of war eventually popped up all across the world. On one side, the United Nations, and on the other, the People's Coalition. World War III had begun.