Questions about Doug's World

[Bob Schroeck]

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So basically Doug's world is like our world, only different dude.

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In precisely the same way that 2003 is just like 1973, only different, dude.

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Other than armoured walking tanks and antigravity, it hasn't had the sort of science fiction "The entire world changed because of one new thing" thing going on.

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Actually, there are a lot of differences. I haven't said anything about politics here, for example. Japan is far more nationalistic/racist than in our world, for example, but that's something that I've mentioned a few times in the story proper. The sequence of American presidents is quite different, the European Common Market nations unified a bit earlier, the whole space program is different (and in fact there are several, including a UN program). The differences in computing technology are signficiant; ubiquitous computing and wireless network connections are to Warriors' World what electrical outlets are to us -- you just don't go somewhere without expecting them. There's a reason the WW version of the Internet is called the Tapestry -- it's a much denser and more richly-woven structure. Economically the planet is better off, because it's no longer a closed system and the extraterrestrial balance of trade is firmly in Earth's favor.
No, the world hasn't changed because of one big new thing. It's changed because of a million small new things.

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Um, oh, right; are there any actual vigilantes in Doug's world or are they all incorporated into officially recognized teams like Warriors?

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Oh, yeah, there are vigilantes. They're almost institutionalized in some places like the USA (where they have a 50+ year history of operations).

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Oh, and with Doug's references of "crunchies" in the early chapters, and his early career as a villain to get into Warriors, was he ever part of a pro metahuman, brotherhood of evil mutants type of group or movement?

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Nah, Doug's just a relatively low-key bigot. And not a terribly consistent one. He looks down on normals in general, but he's constantly making "exceptions" for the ones he spends any amount of time with. Lisa isn't a crunchy, for example -- at least not since the end of chapter 1 -- and he'd get upset if someone else were to refer to her in that way. But if he'd never met her before, he'd dismiss her out of hand without a second thought. It's not one of his more admirable traits, but the fact that he's willing to ignore his prejudices so easily is a bit of a counterbalance to it.

-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.