Echo

The story takes place primarily in **Meridian City**, a vast near-future metropolis where extraordinary technology has begun changing society faster than governments can control it. For decades, superheroes existed only in comics and movies. Then came an event now known as **the Meridian Pulse**. A mysterious burst of energy swept through Meridian City after an experiment conducted beneath the city went catastrophically wrong. Most citizens experienced nothing unusual, but a tiny number began developing impossible abilities. They became known as **the Altered**. Some gained enhanced strength, speed, regeneration, telepathy, energy manipulation, or stranger abilities that scientists still cannot explain. The arrival of the Altered transformed society. Some became heroes. Some became criminals. Others simply tried to hide. Corporations began secretly researching Altered biology. Governments created special tactical units to contain superhuman threats. Criminal organizations began recruiting powered individuals as weapons. Meanwhile, social media turned superheroes into celebrities whose battles are streamed live across the world. At the center of it all stands Meridian City—the birthplace of the new superhuman age. Bishop is one of its newest heroes. And unlike most of the Altered, his abilities may not have occurred naturally.

For most of modern history, superhuman abilities belonged entirely to fiction. That changed twelve years ago when physicist Dr. Adrian Voss discovered an unusual energy phenomenon during experiments at Helix Dynamics. Voss believed the energy could fundamentally alter human biology. Helix secretly funded Project Momentum, allowing Voss to experiment on volunteers, prisoners, mercenaries, and eventually unwilling subjects. The project produced dozens of failures. Then one young man survived. His name would eventually become "Bishop". Before Voss could complete his research, Project Momentum suffered a catastrophic containment failure. The resulting "Meridian Pulse" spread across the city. Within months, scattered reports of impossible abilities began appearing. The first generation of the Altered had arrived. Some used their abilities for crime. Others emerged to stop them. The first major superhero team, "the Sentinels", was eventually formed to defend Meridian against threats conventional authorities could not handle. Helix publicly denied responsibility for the Pulse and buried all records of Project Momentum. Voss disappeared. Years passed. Bishop remembered almost nothing about what had happened to him inside the laboratory. He tried to live an ordinary life until a violent accident revealed his ability to absorb kinetic energy. He began secretly testing his powers. Running became superhuman speed. Falls became impossible leaps. Punches became explosions of stored momentum. Marcus Kane built equipment capable of surviving alongside him, and Bishop eventually began patrolling the streets of Old Meridian. For a while, his enemies were ordinary criminals. Then powered criminals began appearing. Each carried strange technology. Each seemed connected to Helix. And after defeating one of them, Bishop discovered something hidden inside the villain's equipment: Project Momentum: Subject B-01 His own designation. Someone had restarted the project. And Subject B-02 had just survived. Bishop's adventure begins as he sets out to find the new subject before Vector does.