In the late 2170s, the first generation of Durune born post-Deathspring was
coming of age. Many of these adults-in-training were paramounts, with some
of them even having no lineage that could be traced back to the mages. It
would seem that time powers were becoming less hereditary than they once
were, and a lot of people attributed this shift to the Deathspring, or
rather to the fact that Durus was no longer on a collision course towards
Earth. They were finally becoming their own civilization, free from many of
the horrors and burdens of the time before. A sort of religious movement was
forming, founded upon the idea that the paramounts were part of some grand
design. They didn’t claim to know what this presumably conscious entity
would be, or where it was, but they could see patterns. There were
paramounts who were helping build the outposts, and ones who were securing
society through law enforcement. Some were making transportation faster and
more convenient, while others were designing therapeutic pocket dimensions,
or treating patients using psychic connections. The seers were protecting
the future, while the retrocognitives were teaching students about their
past. Some were born with the rare ability to alter the aging process, which
would ultimately create a population boom, because death was no longer such
an inescapable certainty. Everyone had a place, and it sometimes felt like
they were placed there on purpose. They weren’t religious zealots yet, but
they did have their spiritual beliefs, and for some, it kept them going.
There were those who were concerned that this could lead to class warfare.
They wanted to make sure that the paramounts weren’t treated as gods, and
that they weren’t raised to believe they were superior. In order for this to
go smoothly, they had to work together, and everyone had to believe that
everyone else mattered, because they did.
In the early 2180s, this generation was starting to take ownership over the
future of Durus. They were born without their ancestors’ prejudices, and bad
blood. They could see that they had to become a single population, with the
goal of doing what was best for the world, even if they disagreed about what
that meant. Being a paramount became a huge responsibility, and while it
opened up certain career opportunities, it also closed some off. It might
seem like this would discourage feelings of equality, but there were other
issues to consider. Sometimes a paramount’s powers gave them an unfair
advantage in the workplace. If one could read minds, for instance, they
would always be one step ahead of the competition, or they could otherwise
violate people’s privacy. Their potential for job promotion was hazy and
difficult, but if no one kept them in check, then their influence over
others could grow out of control. If a mindreader were to be a therapist, it
would make it harder for a patient to reveal their secrets on their own
time, and could make them feel uncomfortable, or prejudged. On the other
side, some of the more dangerous jobs were being left to the paramounts, who
were often better equipped to protect themselves. When one could teleport
off of a cliff at a moment’s notice, it seemed a little irrational to make
anyone else go up there. This would stop being a problem in the future, with
developing technologies, but for now, this was the way things were. And it
was pretty good, considering how problematic things had been before. They
called it the social harmony, and even though the Durune had more
tribulations ahead of them, they would at least be mostly taking them on
together. Not everyone wanted that, but their time would come later, and
they would get what they deserved.
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