Mainline

What is often referred to as the mainline is from a subjective perspective the center of the multiverse, at least for its inhabitants. While not the first civilization to discover temporal or dimensional travel, due to its Cosmic Potential it has acted as a lightning rod for conflict across the cosmos.

The term "mainline" came into mainstream use after the Incursion, when it was necessary for people to understand what had occurred so as to better prevent it in the future. In the aftermath, SOURCE actively disseminated information as to the nature of dimensional mechanics. The term is not in widespread usage outside of this universe, but only because it's subjective in definition.

On a purely theoretical level, the term "mainline" refers to the subjective reality and timeline into which one is born or reaches cognizance. It refers both to a place in the multiverse and a place in time, and this can be a cause of some confusion. Because of the nature of alternate timelines and their creation of infinite universes through quantum probability, the mainline's definition has to remain loose.

Cosmic Potential
What defines the uniqueness of the mainline (and technically the near-infinite alternate timelines that branch off of it) is the near-infinite Potential it possesses. A poorly understood theoretical concept, it is what makes the existence of such powers as the Cosminesis and Atrophus possible. It is a power that even the Infinite Empire envies.

There are two theories as to why the Potential is only extant in the mainline and its diverging timelines, and they are not mutually exclusive.

The first is that the mainline is a sort of junction between the timelines of the rest of the multiverse, and is the only dimension that is accessible by all of them, and the only dimension that can access the rest of the infinite layers that make up reality. This was pioneered by Blue Shift, a famed interdimensional hero, who realized that travel was not always possible to other dimensions while outside the mainline. He theorized that it was thus possible that the power of the Potential came from the quantum probability of any other universe overlapping this one, making anything possible outside the relatively strict natural laws of other universes.

The second is that the mainline is not necessarily the origin of the multiverse, but that it is its end. The cosmic being Atrophus is recognized as the most potent force in all of existence, one that even threatens the otherwise omnipotent Infinite Empire, and is only kept in check by the nearly equal Cosminesis. This theory, championed by the increasingly fatalistic Professor Paradox, states that when the mainline ends, so will the rest of the universe, and that because all lines connect at that end point, all cosmic energy must also flow to said terminus point, thus enabling the Cosmic Potential (which by its nature transcends linear time).

Geopolitics of Earth
Post-Incursion, nation-states have grown less and less sovereign for the most part, instead relinquishing authority to larger regional organizations and broadening their mandate. Economic communities with standardized currency, as well as overarching military hierarchies are common among these alliances. While no one nation can claim global power status, as many of the larger nations were crippled by the Infinite Empire, through the regional organizations they tend to have hegemony over their geopolitical sphere.

Most of North and South America, with the exception of Brazil, Venezuela, and Cuba, is part of the Organization of American States, which is dominated by the original three NAFTA nations of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The OAS is mainly concerned with the Western Hemisphere and Pacific interests, as well as interventionist policy in the developing world.

The European continent is controlled by the European Union, which also includes the British Isles and Turkey. With the highest density of population in its ecumenopolis, it is the cultural and scientific center of the world. However, its policies on metahuman and inhuman populations are still conservative, and Control remains a powerful force in politics.

Most post-Soviet states later reformed into the Commonwealth of Independent States, which increasingly became more and more powerful, with the regional powers of China and Iran joining the fold. While the CIS has the largest military (though it is not as advanced as the EU's), its hard power is mostly spent containing Xanadu, which it surrounds on all sides.

Underneath the unlikely partnership of Singapore, Japan, and Australia, most of Southeast Asia and the Pacific has been co-opted under the Oceanic Co-Prosperity Sphere. Mostly concerned with economics and development, the OCPS is loosely organized and does not have a unified military like the other three powers.

The Treaty of Non-Aligned Nations is the loosest confederation of nation-states mainly formed around staying neutral in the regional politic. Most of Africa and the Middle East, as well as India and Pakistan in Asia, and Brazil, Cuba, and Venezuela in South America, are signed to the Treaty.

The developing world was mainly undamaged by the Infinite Empire who did not regard them as a major threat, and because of this their modernization has advanced quickly, but their position leaves them unwilling to play the same game as the more interventionist powers. While most are part of TNAN, organizations such as the Pan-Arab League and the Bolivarian Triangle exist as more regional variants.

Two other organizations of a more sinister nature hold power on a global scale. The first of which is Xanadu, the metahuman fascist state centered in Central Asia. Originally a resettlement movement to creation a nation for metahumans, it was taken over by Tsar Bomba and turned into a militaristic, expansionist empire that took over most of western China as well as some of the surrounding post-Soviet states. Contained currently by the CIS, occasional border skirmishes assert their independence and permanency on the world stage.

A lesser known threat is that of Unity, a crypto-terrorist organization that seeks to unite nations and people under a single hierarchy. Their nature is not well known, but they actively control several Balkan nations as well as parts of western Africa. They offer their support to many developing nations first as a benefactor, but slowly subsume control for an unknown purpose. Mostly kept in check by CRISIS, over the past few years there's been a surge in activity.

History
See Mainline/Chronology for a detailed timeline.

The mainline of Crisis! is not very different from our own. It has diverged only in key historical events, starting at the beginning of the 20th Century and onwards. These events tend to correspond with the aeons that precede an upswing in superbeings and other manifestations of the Potential.

There are few notable differences between our history and the mainlines: During the buildup of imperial powers towards the Great War, the Martian Invasion of 1914 halted the encroaching conflict and united the world against an external threat. The appearance of the Martians signals an aeon that brings in a generation of superbeings, and through re-engineered Martian science the first hypertech is pioneered by Nikola Tesla, who perfects the wireless transmission of energy. The 'Golden Age of metahumanity begins.

Without the Great War to shake the social and class divides in society, tensions continue to rise and the rising hypertech is put towards a burgeoning military-industrial complex. The Steel Hand plunges the globe into a World War, taking control of a technologically supreme Eisenreich, and ravages the European continent. With the aid of the Modern Marvels, the Allies suppress the threat and the Steel Hand disappears from history.

In the wake of the Great War, hypertech is viewed with distrust, and SOURCE is founded to manage it. Metahumans, on the other hand, are viewed as heroes and celebrities, and form official organizations and maintain public personas. While yellow journalism is attributed the rise of the hero in the Golden Age, this Silver Age sees the superhero idolized on the cinema and television screen both.

Rising nationalism and ideological clashes between the rising powers of the United States and the Soviet Union soon leads to "patriot" heroes becoming the norm in a superpowered arms race. Super-soldiers beyond the technological are explored and many "artificial" metahumans are created. This causes mutation to spread through the populace.

During the politically bleak and dangerous height of the Cold War in the eighties, tensions between naturally born metahumans ("mutants") and baseline humans rises with public paranoia and a generally cynical zeitgeist. This boils over as powerful mutant separatists in Central Asia secede from the USSR and establish a state known as Xanadu.

After Xanadu defeats Sino-Soviet forces in a series of short wars, their independence is recognized, as the US hopes to cripple the Soviet Union. This short-sightedness backfires as mutant rights groups are encouraged by Xanadu's success, resulting in backlash and crackdowns in every sphere of society on metahumans and inhumans alike. During this Iron Age, organizations such as Control are devised as a means to control the metahuman "threat."

At the dawn of the 21st Century, the threat of Atrophus becomes known to the Modern Marvels through the malfeasance of Prince Sin. Though they attempt to gain the support of governments across the world in preparation, they are turned away by all except the World Authority. At the end of the year, most of metahumanity's heroes are assembled with the assistance of CRISIS and under the direction of the Marvels, and manage to delay Atrophus for another millenium.

After Atrophus has been sent back into torpor, the Incursion strikes Earth while it is weak, and it is only through the combined efforts of Queen Atlanta and the World Authority that Earth is not completely lost during the first week. The devastation across the world is unparalleled, Earth's population nearly halved, and Washington DC is completely erased from the mainline's history, replaced by Philadelphia through temporal probability. Only those protected by Professor Paradox even remember the city's existence.

In the wake of the Incursion, for twenty years Earth rebuilds, with the covert assistance of the World Authority to guide them. The governments on Earth turn to entities larger than nation-states to help manage them, with OAS, the CIS and the European Union gaining more power, and other organizations such as the Oceanic Co-Prosperity Sphere and UNI were formed to shore up against this powers.

With the assistance of SOURCE, hypertech has allowed humanity to flourish and rebuild, with Europe slowly forming into a unified ecumenopolis while major metropolitan areas elsewhere form citadel-like defenses against future invasions. The United Nations remains a political battleground between these factions, especially now as the Moon is being colonized and divided amongst them.

As for metahumanity, this is their 'Platinum Age, as they are once again thrust into the limelight. No longer however are they treated as mythic untouchables, as the public is wary and weary of the troubles they bring, but also understands they are Earth's best bet against the travails of the multiverse.