2009 CE

First Blacklight virus outbreak

Alex Mercer releases Blacklight in Penn Station and is gunned down

Alex Mercer wakes up in a morgue with amnesia and what can only be described as super-powers. Naturally, after finding and ensuring the protection of his sister, he embarks on a gory rampage, earning himself the designation "ZEUS"

Alex Mercer prevents the detonation of a nuclear device in Manhattan, survives, and leaves New York to go on homicidal walkabout

2012 CE

Second Outbreak

Alex Mercer returns and releases an improved strain of Blacklight in Penn Station

Alex Mercer visits his sister and tells her that he plans to replace humanity with Blacklight. When she expresses horror and disbelief, he infects her and leaves, claiming that she would soon understand

Dana Mercer, under the alias "Athena," works with the recently infected Sergeant James Heller against her apparently insane brother, Alex Mercer

James Heller consumes Mercer and burns off all but a shred of his available biomass in ending the infection. He and Dana, who he refers to as Athena, agree to keep in contact in order to "make sure neither one of us go bugfuck crazy and start eating people who don't fucking deserve it."

2013 CE

James Heller transfers the bank account contents of all the Blacklight personnel he has consumed into a new account and moves to Seattle with his daughter, Amaya Heller

Dana Mercer does the same and, using the identity of one of the infected she has consumed, begins to study medicine, trauma surgery with a minor in virology

2023 CE

Dana Mercer joins MSF (Doctors Without Borders) as an epidemiologist, volunteering for zones of heavy conflict

2062 CE

Amaya Heller is diagnosed with rare blood disease, Cardiac Amyloidosis, and given five years to live

2069 CE

Armstrong Outpost at Shackleton Crater is formally founded on the hundredth anniversary of the first lunar landing

2070 CE

· Amaya Heller dies

· James Heller uses a well-established identity, Billionaire Victor Manswell, to begin funding his own private spaceflight expedition, publicly citing frustration with the slow pace of official progress

2073 CE

James Heller contacts Dana Mercer, now operating a clinic at Armstrong Outpost as "Dr. Athena," and asks her to help him die. She refuses, offering to talk and try to help him work through his grief, and Heller ends the call

2075 CE

The Manswell Expedition, with 300 colonists aboard in cryo-stasis, launches successfully. James Heller sends Athena a message before using an escape pod to launch himself into the sun

Athena begins the work of finding a manager to run her clinic

2076 CE

Athena begins taking net-based college courses in assorted scientific fields, including everything from marine biology to theoretical physics

2096 CE

· The Second American Civil War Breaks out

· Athena returns to earth to work with the red cross

2103 CE

The European Space Agency establishes Lowell City, the first permanent human settlement on Mars, in Eos Chasma

2104 CE

· The Second American Civil War ends

· Athena stays behind and helps with reconstruction in Manhattan

2107 CE

Athena moves to Lowell City and establishes a new clinic there, funded by the interest of her rather impressive savings. She continues her studies

2137 CE

The Eldfell-Ashland Energy Company begins helium-3 fuel extraction from the atmosphere of Saturn

2143 CE

Construction of Gagarin Station begins in orbit of Pluto

2147 CE

Element Zero is discovered on Mars

2148 CE

Advanced Prothean technology is discovered on the southern polar region of Promethei Planum

2149 CE

The Charon Relay is discovered and activated, allowing a team of explorers, led by Jon Grissom and including doctor-of-most-anything-worth-being-a-doctor-of Athena, to reach and explore the Arcturus system, 36 light-years away

The systems alliance charter is signed by the eighteen largest nations of earth, and soon becomes the military and exploratory spearhead of humanity

2150 CE

The Systems Alliance begins surveying for colonization prospects outside the solar system

2151 CE

The Systems Alliance begins building an immense fleet and space station at the Arcturus relay hub, despite having not yet met another intelligent or spacefaring species

2152 CE

The first extrasolar human colonies are established

Athena organizes the construction of one of her clinics, which have become reasonably common and well-known, on all newly colonized worlds

2155 CE

The Systems Alliance occupies finished sections of Arcturus station, intending it to become their headquarters

Athena moves to Shanxi to manage and work in one of her clinics there

2156 CE

Arcturus Station is formally completed

Some children exposed to element zero exhibit minor telekinetic abilities

2157 CE

First Contact War