It's now July 2nd, 2017. The anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is two days away, but more importantly, it's been nearly one year since The Great Change swept the globe. Perhaps even more importantly than that, it's been more than six months since the ring which powered the Great Change into existence was dissolved forever by the Sorceresses Supreme, permanently leaving the human race in a one gendered state. Lets check in on some of our protagonists:
Shortly after the ring's dissolution, Regina Chung and Aziza al-Rashid were released from Innanna's mercurial interest in humans. The goddess was pleased with the present state of the Earth, and she allowed the two comely magicians to return to their normal lives.
"But", the goddess added with one caveat, "If the world is ever in danger from mystical threats, the fate of the entire human race rests on the both of your dainty shoulders."
The sorceresses understood, and they each individually thanked the mysterious woman for the powers she had helped them acquire.
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Regina and Aziza returned to their homelands and promised to live their new double lives as best as they possibly could. On one hand, Regina wanted to tell the entire world about her adventure into the realm of the occult, but something told her that the consequences might be too severe if she unloaded all of this information at once. The entire planet changed overnight during The Great Change. Most of that change seemed to be for the best, but who is to say that the same powerful magic which caused the Great Change couldn't also be used to do something horrible? The world was still filled with extremism and violence despite Greta and Jean's wishes doing a superb job at alleviating most of basic concerns. Magic was worse than nukes, rationalized Regina. It's a powerful force that needs to be closely regulated- regulated by her, Aziza, and the handful of other magic users on the planet.
Still, the futurist in Regina really, REALLY wanted to help advance humanity forward. While in the Akashic Library, she had learned the secret behind faster than light propulsion- a way for humans to begin exploring the galaxy and beyond, and one day colonizing other planets. It was the only way for humans to finally embrace their destiny and our inner nature as explorers. Not to mention the selfish urge that Regina REALLY wanted to win the Nobel Prize for it and go down in the history books.
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