Halo City. The city-state created by President Doom to give the mutant race of the future a home beyond that of the uncaring corporate world. Today, on Futureshock, you get the lowdown on this nation-state, straight from the mouth of the man who conceived it.

Read on, and discover the complexities of the city the X-Men call home.

Jason McDonald, Assistant Editor

[intercepted from privatekernel datatransmit stream/ re: Vic Von Doom Myridia database/ hacker heavy-datasnatch circa 20:28:57 hours, 09.01.2100, quick-upload from backdoor feed]

Private journal of Victor Von Doom. Entry 1333:

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Subject: Halo City.

Purpose: Upon the surface, it functions as a haven for America’s dwindling mutant population. However, the underground tunnels beneath Halo City have been specially constructed to my specifications, allowing them to double as a secret retreat in the event of a presidential catastrophe.

Origin of the Concept: In the twentieth century, still in many ways my home time, the mutant population was booming. Many of these genetic upstarts had been a thorn in my side, time and again. Still, in dire times, they had served as advantageous allies as well. Some among them, such as the late Charles Xavier, had earned both my respect and gratitude, two traits not elicited with ease. As such, I realized their vast potential, both as genetically-advanced specimens and as powerful meta-human agents.

Which is why I was disheartened to recall the Great Purge, in which a vast percentage of the mutant population was wiped out by the Sentinels. [monolith robotic killing machines designed to hunt down and exterminate the mutant population. see related files: Sentinels, original model/ Sentinels, modified version/ Master Mold/ Nimrod/ Trask Range Warrior] Such potential for growth, wasted.

Since then, the corporate society emerging from that near-apocalypse has firmly established registered mutants as the permanent minority; second-class citizens in an incorrect dictatorship. Rapid post-war technological progress, along with the devastated ranks of the mutant populace, made it possible for humanity to downturn any revolutionary efforts.

As of November 2099, before my election as President of the United States, mutants had three choices: Work in bondage for the corporations and enjoy the privileges of high-society life. Suffer and die as corporate specimens and laboratory animals. Live with the dregs of humanity as nothing.

Many chose the lattermost option and headed toward the west, across the continental United States, where corporate influence and law was least prevalent.

After my election, their choices increased by one: Seek refuge in the first ever mutant city-state: Halo City.

Functionality: Halo City is an executive undertaking, built by a fine team of architects, engineers and mutant workers to my specific blueprints. It lies close to the Southern Coast, protected by a large security wall barring entry to hostile mutants, corporate spies, and saboteurs via a phalanx of mutant security guards placed at the front entrance; the only entrance. Only those who are deemed non-hostile are allowed admittance, and are cleared of any particularly nasty diseases, weapons or any other threats to the society. Security, in this technological diamond in the rough, must remain tight to keep out the riff-raff.

As always, there is a long line of hopeful entrants to the city-state jutting out from the entrance gates, and most of those hopefuls have one thing in common: They wish to be free of corporate tyranny and persecution. Whether as mutants threatened with passive extinction, or as humans threatened with unending oppression. They seek here, a better life.

Halo City is a fully-autonomous, fully-functioning city-state. It‘s population is comprised of refugee humans and mutants alike, and governed by an elected council. Even though the council is in its infancy, it functions adequately enough to manage the day-to-day operations of the city; be it allowing construction crew schedules to mesh smoothly with traffic flows, or passing new legislation to further define the role of government in Halo.

Chief among the Council’s duties has been the election of a Protectorate; Halo’s recognized police force. Due to the population boom in such short order, I am displeased to say that crime rates soar; making the existence of a city-wide police an absolute necessity.

Interestingly enough, the very same mutant group that has slingshot the plight of mutantkind to the political forefront has been tapped to fill this role. The latest incarnation of the X-Men, now led by upstart electro-kinetic Timothy Fitzgerald, [Also known as Skullfire, founding member of the X-Men/Protectorate. See related file: Fitzgerald, Timothy for full biography.] have become the city’s elite Protectorate force, assigned to maintain law and order in a still-developing nation-state.

Time will tell how they fare against the tide of such responsibility. But if they resemble their twentieth century progenitors in any way, I trust they will endure.

Distressingly, there are contingents of the populace itself that live in the bowels of the city. There are sections of the cityscape that resemble the offensive squalor of Downtown New York City. Over-populated, crime-infested ghettos; oft-overlooked by the already-stretched-thin Protectorate and local police forces. Areas with little political representation in the burgeoning government. It is for these reasons that these areas are no doubt the most dangerous, for citizens and government alike. Unfortunately, I still maintain reservations about the Council’s ability to resolve these tensions before the situation becomes unmanageable.

Distressing still, the so-called “Mutant Messiah” may already be in the city. This fabled “Chosen One” among mutantkind is prophesized to become the “Savior of Mutantkind”, leading them to a new “Golden Era” of peace and prosperity for “Homo Superior”, or so the stories go. All this means is that there may come a mutant of considerable power and influence; a mutant whose antagonism would be quite inconvenient.

To this end, I have entrusted X-Men founder Shakti Haddad to seek mutants with great power and potential, and train them to use their abilities for the greater good. [see related files: Project X-Nation] The last thing I need is another unstable element in this city.

The mutants get their savior; I maintain control. As it should be.

Update: 9 January, 2100. After Herod.

Halo City still stands. Even if that worm Morphine Somers is to blame.

After my…ordeal with John Anthony Herod, Morphine struck a deal with the new shadow-president of the United States [see related files: Graverobber Incident] that kept the city safe from Herod’s murder spree. However, unbeknownst to Morphine, a man such as Herod would never honor such an agreement for too long, especially if it coincided with his insane and wasteful orchestrations. His kill-order for any mutants found in major cities should be proof of that. Still, I shouldn’t be surprised; Morphine never could read too well between the lines. Fortunately, I was able to eliminate Herod as a threat before his economic vampirism claimed the city.

Currently, the world corporations have called for a detante of sorts; an end to the cutthroat competition. A “Gentlemen’s Agreement” from the Corporate Alliance drawn up and signed so the conglomerates can prioritize their affairs and clean up the mess Herod has made of the government. That, and effectively reverse all of my forward-thinking policies while in office, returning the business of America to status quo. While this infuriates me to no end, I have…other methods, to keep the states from killing themselves.

Halo City, as of this writing, remains low on their priorities. But this honeymoon will not last.

Until then, Doom will be watching…

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[txt mssge/ hacker sourcecode sig]: How? Who’s doing this…what….?

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[txt mssge/ signature untraceable]: Doom sees all.

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