Alchemy. It was created long ago in China only shortly after the supposed Christ was dead. The beginning of this invention began a never-ending chain of science versus religion. It pitted the experimentations and theories of science against the irrational traditions and mysteries of religion. Due to the nature of the ideologies, religion always created a concept first. It was unnecessary for religion to prove anything. Religion just required a strong belief in an idea and it was considered true. Science on the other hand preferred physical proof that something was true. If it was irrational, it was wrong. So it took much longer for an idea to be presented in science. Religion and science, although completely opposite in practice, always came up with the same concepts. Science always was last, due to the years of experimentation required, and so religion got first dibs on followers.
Long after the beginning of the rigorous cycle, religion realized science was a threat to their beliefs. They began persecuting those who followed sciences that disproved the ideologies presented in religion. If you believed something different than what religion stated was true, you were killed. This method worked for a very long time until scientists, as they soon became called, worked together in secrecy. They disproved religious beliefs slowly, and caught up after years of persecution with the ideas of religion. Technology overcame religion, and religion began its decline. Religious persecutions occurred instead of scientific executions. If you believed in God, you could be killed. If you believed in Allah, you could be killed. If you didn't believe in a God, you could even be killed. Science had turned the tables, going from what was once considered evil, dark magic to a revolutionary way to improve the lifestyles of each person.
Science was still magic though. It never ceased being magic. New sciences were being founded every day. Sciences of the earth, sciences of the mind, sciences of the body, and even sciences of space became common. Religion continued slipping away into darkness. Sciences just held a stronger hold on the people, amazing people day-by-day with their cures and remedies to every day problems. Science could extend a person's life significantly by putting them on machines after a life-threatening situation occurred. It was helping disprove religion's concept of God. With the coming of the "Baby Boomers" Generation, religion became nearly non-existent, with only those who had been brainwashed into believing in a god were religious. They either were brainwashed, or idealistic. Both became sins to a common man, but were not punished by death. Then came the separation of government and religion. Nobody wanted anything to do with religion any longer, and it went extinct.
People began looking into the history of science, and seeing what wrongs religion had done to what was making all of their lives more and more marvelous each day. They soon began remembering religion as an evil thing. The people then researched even further back, until they came across it: The belief that sparked the chain of science versus religion. The science that had become impossible to pursue due to insufficient technology and understanding of the universe around them, which was due to the dictatorship religion held on a persons comprehension of the place in which they lived. Alchemy allowed a person to become the religion's God. They could create things and destroy things. They could kill, or they could perhaps even resurrect. They realized why religion was so threatened by science. It disproved everything they ever stood for and told was true. They had stated that no human could be God, and they were wrong. They had once stated that science was an evil magic. They were wrong. Alchemy was a magic, yes, but it was justified. Everything about it followed the laws that had been already discovered about life. The main law that dictated alchemy was The Law of the Conservation of Matter. The belief that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction, but can be conserved. This meant it could be changed into a different form of matter. This is what alchemy was. It was turning matter of one thing into the same exact amount of matter of a different thing, or sometimes different things. It was renamed The Law of Equivalent Exchange. Nothing can be made without giving up something of equal cost. It soon caught on to people in general not only as a law of science, but as a law of life. People took it as a philosophy on how to live. It was plausible, and already exited, but alchemy made it common knowledge. Along with the belief, alchemy soon became common knowledge. Every person simply had to learn to perform alchemy. It became the new fad of the world. Just like every fad, it grew and grew, infecting people everywhere. It became a profession, and it also became a game. It also became a way to murder cleanly. Soon, the government had to put regulations on it. They had to control it in some ways. The nature of alchemy was a dangerous one, and they knew it. They limited alchemy except for certified people. You had to register for a license and pay an annual fee to use alchemy. It became a privilege rather than a right. Also, the government recruited the exceptional alchemists into their ranks. They became known as State Alchemists, and did the government's dirty work. They fought in wars. They became known as "Dogs of the Military". It was the way of disgracing the work of an alchemist. Alchemy had lost its glory and fame. Along with the limitation of alchemy, science became limited. Alchemy had been fueling all the research science had been doing. And without alchemy, science had nowhere left to go. Government had conquered science and ignored religion. They had performed a hostile take-over, controlling every aspect of a person's beliefs.
Rebels emerged, fighting against government with alchemy. State Alchemists always managed to eliminate these threats with ease. Religion, too afraid to even make an attempt to revitalize itself, was still only a distant memory in the minds of people worldwide. Although alchemy was banned, science still held onto what it already had. It held tightly onto its marvels in the earth, mind, and body. It continued living in harmony with the government, afraid and unable to do anything new. They continued upholding a person's life on machines, carefully researching chemical reactions while being sure that they weren't performing alchemy. The government would call upon science when it needed new weapons of war, threatening to ban science just like it had banned alchemy if they refused. Science was in a head-lock, and had not the courage to attempt to break free. With the extension of life-spans of a human, overpopulation soon occurred. Shortages in food emerged, and the divisions in the economy that had once been solved by alchemy re-emerged. Third-world countries suffered with poverty, while countries like America and Japan thrived. People held protests to try and bring back the third-world countries, but the government simply threw out their teams of alchemists to break up the riots. Government had their trump card, and was using it effectively. The world was under the control of alchemists and government working hand-in-hand and government wasn't about to give up their power. The world seemed doomed in the eyes of the public.