Longevity Law Enforcement Timeline
The stories in the Longevity Law
Enforcement trilogy (set in 2107) are, in order: Longevity, The Burning Rivers,
The Dog on the Moon. The Third Curse is a prequel set in 2052.
1966 Phillipe Guerout is born (Canadian shipping magnate, The Burning
Rivers)
1967 The
Outer Space Treaty The Treaty
affirms that the Moon and other celestial bodies are the common heritage of mankind, and states that they are “not
subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or
occupation, or by any other means.” The treaty also states
that the exploration of outer space shall be done to benefit all countries and
shall be free for exploration and use by all nations. More specifically, it
bars the nations that are Parties to the Treaty from using the Moon, other
celestial bodies, and outer space for platforms for weapons of mass
destruction, including nuclear weapons.
As of 2012, the Treaty is still the basis for international space law.
2004 John Bedford is born. (wealthy businessman, Longevity)
2006 Chris McGregor is born.
2008 Karen DeVoe is born. (Chris’ wife)
2010 Senator Logan Albright is
born. (The Dog on the Moon)
2013 Bruno Morelli is born. (D.C. Special Tactical Commander and Chris
McGregor’s friend)
2026 The Chief is born. (D.C. LLE office commander)
2028 Meg Dalton is born. (D.C. LLE detective)
2030 Chris McGregor starts work in D.C.
Enforcement.
2030s Molecular biologists begin to make Enhancement
protocols available. People can choose
to change their appearance or their brain chemistry. Enhancements prove to be
quite profitable and popular. Within a
short period of time, “hotlabs” in which people with variable degrees of
competence start offering discount procedures, appear in many cities. Sometimes the procedures offered in these illegal
labs have horrendous results.
2034 The Longevity process makes
biological immortality and eternal youth available to the very rich.
2034-2046
During these years the Longevity process gradually becomes more
affordable and widely available to the upper middle class, so that eventually
almost 30% of the U.S. population has access.
It is also offered in government clinics as a job benefit for federal
employees. Enhancement protocols
proliferate and become more widely available although they are still expensive.
Longevity and enhancement protocols remain
unregulated other than the legal requirement that physicians supervise
procedures, which are performed by molebiol practitioners, assisted by nurses,
in doctor’s offices. The AAMB (American
Association of Molecular Biologists) and the AAMP (American Association of
Medical Practitioners) are formed and are frequently antagonistic.
Within a few years of its development, the
Longevity process is capable of duplication by people with a minimum of skills
and the right combination of supplies, although not without hazards. Facilities that aren’t licensed to perform
Longevity are, like their enhancement equivalents, known as “hotlabs.”
Widespread
and unrelenting protests arise as people who can’t afford Longevity and
enhancements realize that they will soon be governed exclusively by people
using the new technologies. Few
“naturals” have the resources to run for office, and those who are elected
cannot resist taking advantage of their new opportunities. One ‘natural’ who runs on a platform
advocating banning Longevity is assassinated.
Far from calming down with curfews and other government crackdowns, the
unrest escalates with time.
These years also
see the rise of two loosely organized groups: the Children of Christ’s
Sacrifice (CCS) and the Naturals Only, who are fanatically opposed to Longevity
for religious and philosophical grounds, respectively. The more energetic of these protesters favor
domestic terrorism. They also engage in
outspoken recruitment. The groups are
widespread and appear to be growing as it becomes more and more obvious that
biological immortality and enhancements are creating impenetrable class
barriers.
The decade sees
the downfall of some of the more precarious democracies of the world. Anarchy is common. Some nations survive as military dictatorships or
oligarchies. The United Nations ceases
to exist.
2035 Richard Williams is born
(LLE detective and Michael Agnew’s first partner in Longevity).
2045-2046
The Allotment Riots – Despite the imposition of martial law in every
U.S. city, protests and demonstrations escalate into cycles of uncontrolled
rioting. Hate crimes are common. Over a hundred thousand people die in two
years.
2046 Time of Prologue to The
Dog on the Moon (Longevity Law Enforcement Book 3) Domestic terrorists blow up the Capitol
and Washington Monument.
2046 The Longevity Laws are passed. The surviving members of Congress realize
that the U.S. cannot survive as a democracy, or possibly as a nation, unless
they accept laws that limit the use of the new technologies. Karen DeVoe, a bioethicist, previously
suggested a framework of laws that rationally establishes limits.
Every person who can afford Longevity and chooses
to use it is allotted resets until their 200th birthday. If they also choose to have children, for
every child born they lose 50 years of their Longevity Allotment. Regardless of what they can afford, if they
choose to have 3 or more children they are obligated to start aging naturally from
their 50th birthday on.
2046 Dustin Meacher, Naturals Only
candidate, wins election to the House of Representatives.
2047 Enhancement laws are passed, prohibiting
enhancements that fail the Herrnstein
Criterion: if an enhancement gives an individual an unfair advantage, it is
prohibited. The exception is
enhancements for beauty, which no one wants to outlaw. As one senator famously says, “I say when
the government sets itself to regulate beauty, then what will it turn to
next? Truth? Are we then to turn away from what we cherish most because it is
not always attainable by everyone equally?
Are we to say that art violates the right to freedom of
expression because not everyone can produce it or afford it?”
2046-
Commercial flights to the Moon become common and some U.S. companies begin
exploiting lunar resources.
2047
Paula Bedford, John Bedford’s estranged daughter, is born (Longevity).
2047-2050
Despite the general acceptance of the Longevity Laws, protests and rioting
remain omnipresent at a low level.
However, every major case of abuse of the Laws leads to anti-Longevity
and enhancement propaganda campaigns by the more mainstream Naturals Only and
CCS members, which leads to an escalation in the violence with concomitant
deaths and property damage. Penalties
for Longevity Law violations tend to be relatively minor compared to the
potential rewards, and traditional Enforcement offices are overwhelmed by the
magnitude of the task.
2050
Longevity Law Enforcement is created as a special independent national
entity with offices in all major cities.
Chris McGregor is the first officer assigned to D. C. LLE after having
worked in D.C. Major Crimes for a decade.
Detectives are generally drawn from existing
Homicide or Major Crimes units, although they may be recruited straight from
police academies.
2050 The first tourist shell is built on the
Moon.
2051 Time of Prologue for Longevity (Longevity
Law Enforcement, Book 1) Karen DeVoe, Chris McGregor’s wife, dies in a car
accident.
2052 Dr. Milo Josephson conspires with
Sara Torkelson’s parents to use biotech techniques to prolong her childhood.
2052 Right of Maturity Law is passed,
prohibiting the administration of resets to anyone below the age of 21. (Longevity)
2052 Time of The Third Curse, in which Chris McGregor and Meg Dalton pioneer the way that LLE solves cases.
2053 Pheromone Fiasco – Pheromone
enhancements prove to have unsuspected and often undesirable effects. (Longevity)
2056 Joshua Bedford, John Bedford’s son,
is born. (Longevity)
2060 Livvy (Olivia
Hutchins) is born to wealthy parents in San Francisco. (D.C. LLE detective)
2068 The Chief
takes his role as head of D.C. LLE after Chris McGregor declines the
appointment.
2074 After almost 25 years during which LLE
struggles to keep up with an ever-growing variety of Longevity and enhancement
related crimes, LLE is granted additional unusual powers. Paramount is its unofficial mandate to keep
major crimes out of the public eye. LLE
detectives have learned that they will be granted considerable latitude in how
to accomplish this, although it is always recognized that their activities will
be kept covert and officially unacknowledged.
2080 Michael Agnew is born. (D.C. LLE detective)
2087 Jesse Bedford, John Bedford’s
grandson, born. (Longevity)
2100 Senator Joyce Bettleman, a senior
Senator on the Moon Committee, dies in a car accident. (The Dog on the Moon)
2102 Time of Pretty Woman, Floating (Livvy's prequel to the Longevity Law Enforcement trilogy)
2102 Time of Prologue for The Burning
Rivers (Longevity Law Enforcement
Book 2)
2103 John Bedford’s last legal reset (Longevity)
2104 Joshua Bedford, John Bedford’s son,
die in a fire at age 48. (Longevity)
2105 Louie, Chris McGregor’s and Livvy
Hutchin’s canine partner, born?
2106 Bombing at the Potomac Falls Reset Institute
destroys all of the local records of John Bedford’s resets. (Longevity)
2107
March Livvy Hutchins transfers to D.C.
LLE from SF Homicide.
2107 March Time of Longevity
(Longevity Law
Enforcement Book 1)
2107 April Time of The Burning Rivers
(Longevity Law
Enforcement Book 2)
2107 June Time of The Dog on the Moon
(Longevity Law
Enforcement Book 3)
