In a smallish Western Australian seaside town, everybody falls asleep, as does everybody who enters during the period of unconsciousness; which lasts about forty two hours. When all the people awaken they discover that they are pregnant. When the children are born it turns out that not only are they not related to any known men, and in fact are all half siblings... at age eight they all manifest superpowers. First of, how might the American's react?
Your dreaming too small. You don’t think the Chinese or Russians would not be interested in this? Think independent arms companies would not want some tissue sample or blood? Hell if the Australians are taking bids Goldman sac’s would field one. basically everyone and their grandmother will want a piece of the action. might be a bid war, might be actual attempts at sezing a specimen
James has a point and USA might well be one of the first ones in line to do reseach, but since USA and Australia are suposedly allies (this how I'v understood),I doubt they would see the situation as a threat. It might be more interesting if thhis happened in North-Korea or Russia, but it's your decision. The actual amount of interes from different nations, companies, etc. would depend on the level of the superpowers. There might also be issues conserning the rights of these children when everyone would either want to reseach them, turn them into soldiers etc. Segregation towards these children wouldn't be impossibility either.
Think of how worldwide religions would react. To the religious, the sudden development of powers might signify a person as an angel or demon, or be taken as a sign of the "end times."
This question seems kind of silly. Something this massive happens in the world everyone will be up in arms about it. The media will be reporting about the phenomenon every night, governments will be making decisions about how to deal with the possibilities, reporters and internet bloggers will be trying to get as much information on it, and people in generally will be intrigued, frightened, and cautious. Australia would immediately become the spotlight of the world and the UN would most likely intervene to take some kind of control of the situation and investigate what's happening. Also something to point out, this is a gradual event. The first report would be the strangeness of the blackout. And then months later it would be realized that all the women are pregnant at the same time. Further investigation reveals that they are all related, and then when the powers are discovered the world would be on high alert. This is huge. It'd be a very long process for the world to digest and it'd be one shock at a time. I also disagree with the idea of having them all fly. That makes them uncontrollable, and I feel like this story would be more interesting if they were controlled. Think about it: The world has had their eyes on these children since before they were born. They'll be raised by the government, so they'll be on a tight leash. If you really want absolutely all of them to have the power of flight, think about how the military/researchers can keep them from escaping. (They'll of course eventually escape I hope, for the sake of the story. But you don't want it to be easy.) The Americans in particular would do everything in their power to gain influence over these children, possibly trying to gain possession over them. History has shown that American is not shy of going to war to get the resources they want.
Easy to handle flight - chain them to something, put them in a building with a roof, or chase them down with helicopters. Besides, the most effective way to gain control over someone is psychologically. If they take the children and raise them from infancy, then they will be the children's parents, and it's pretty hard for a parent to not instill some degree of affection and loyalty in a child, even if they're a bad parent. Particularly if the kid has no one else to place their trust in. Probably they'd only rebel if they either were taken when they were old enough to remember their birth family, or they formed a bond with someone who either rebelled or got killed/taken away. At least until they reach their late teens or early adulthood, at which point they don't have as strong of a need to trust their caregivers, and therefore they could potentially let themselves start questioning the line they've been fed.
I think you have to acknowledge the confusion of the situation. In some sense, there would obviously be doubters and people slowly adjusting to accept it as truth. For those who adjust fast, such as ever-decisive political leaders, I think it would be best to show the reasoning behind their reactions and how they would be cross-pressured to act in different ways. For example, if you decided that America would ultimately try to gain possession of the children, you'd have to show that this wasn't just some automatic response. After all, many voters would object, there would be political debates, and more than one side to the issue. Overall, if you want my realistic opinion, America would not go to war with Australia or try to violate her sovereignty by covertly attempting to possess the powered children. Instead, I would foresee them increasing the intimacy of their relationship with Australia and try at least to get very involved. Uncle Sam is going to do what he thinks a true world leader would do. By the way, do they have any other powers beyond flight? Monosmith
Do the other powers develop after the flight powers, and if so, how long after? I suppose that the flight alone would have already attracted attention, but the time span between further revelations would determine how measured the reactions of various forces in society would be. How their reactions would change with further time for preparation is something I cannot tell you. You as the author have to figure this much out for yourself. Monosmith
Depends on the administration in the US at the time. (or any other country and their economic or military clout) Bush, for example, thought nothing of strong-arming Ireland into accepting a compromise of their sovereignty over re-fuelling flights in Shannon,many of which were special rendition flights. No overt threats were made, but under pressure the Irish Taoiseach (PM) admitted that it was due to implied economic threats that the flights were allowed to continue. They spend billions on war just to ensure they get a few drops of oil in their cars, what do you think they would do for this capability f they thought someone else would get it and not them? If Oz stuck its heels in they would be rapidly demonized (an axis of marsupials) and whatever means necessary to stop this horrible global threat would soon follow. Maybe they could get Mel Gibson to turn-coat and lead the campaign. God knows he's not busy these days.
Okay child with telekinetic control over water tries super heroism, causes collateral damage, likely responses?
Australia’s geopolitical position also makes this interesting. Its proximity to China and Chinas navel programs make this a different ball game now then if this was 10 years ago. If the kids where born now, china should have a formed carrier doctrine by the point it gets interesting. Also depending on Russia’s state they could either be out of the picture, or able to project power. In the end its all real politics.
If you are looking for the way a conflict might begin you need look no further than a history book. Just have a look at how resources or territories become the focus for conflict and then ape one or more of those scenarios in your story. The way the stage was set for WW1 is a good one, but they are all pretty much the same. here's a place to start,http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2002/How-To-Start-A-WarMay02.htm but you could also look at Wikipedia for countless examples. Research and a "real ring" to a situation can go a long way towards maintaining verisimilitude in your book. Tolkien's world is entirely fanciful, but paralells to current events as well as myths and legends made the book more than the sum of its parts.
