The old man reflected upon the time before The Golden Age. Before the comet, before the Awakening, before the Super Heroes. When men were just men . . . waking . . . working . . . loving . . . living . . .
He was a young man, seventeen, when the Midas Comet came so close to Earth and the entire world held it's collective breath -- not knowing if it would hit or not. When it didn't, they all celebrated. From Beijing to Kazakhstan, from New York to LA., from South Africa to Australia, they partied like there almost hadn't been a tomorrow. Sometimes he thinks it would have been better if there hadn't been.
A month after the Midas Comet had passed people began experiencing the Awakening. Out of the blue, men and women began performing super-human feats of strength; lifting entire automobiles; inadvertently tearing doors from their hinges;throwing footballs into orbit; flying, unfettered, like a bird.
But people experienced the Awakening to different degrees and on different biological or genetic schedules. So for the briefest of times, perhaps several months, there was an actual Golden Age of Super Heroes. When a blessed percentage of the Earth's population had "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men." Men could fly. FLY! Robberies were foiled, wars were stopped in their tracks and legends were born. Over three hundred men claimed the title of Superman and there was almost a small war over that. Then Ultra-man came on the scene - upstaging the best of the Supermen with his enhanced powers.
People had super-speed, super-strength, super-hearing, invulnerability. But then the strangest thing happened. The Unaffected began developing powers as well. Within months everyone on the entire planet was as strong and as fast and as smart and all-powerful as Ultra-man. Everyone was super. No one had the advantage. Nobody was special.
Nobody could die . . .
Naturally, civilization almost collapsed. Not all of the new supermen were pure of heart. Honor and integrity were not affected during the Awakening. Men and women were still men and women. What is the downside for a petty thief who can suddenly take anything he wants, who cannot be stopped, cannot be jailed and cannot be harmed or punished in any way? The formerly mild-mannered became assertive, realizing they no longer feared as they once did. People quit their jobs by the millions. Free of the need to serve and service others.
But then what? There is only so much to steal. How many super-powered-fights-to-a-draw can there be before a certain sense of futility settles in? How much loot was destroyed in the chaos. Who would make more? How could all mankind be truly equal? No one to serve, no one to perform menial tasks, no one to live a life of privilege? Who would till the soil, entertain, prepare the food, clean up after us? How could anyone ever have the upper hand again?
Somehow super-mankind survived and the Earth abides. Men became loners or lived in small communities. They sought out fellowships of like interests and . . . continued. The world is a smaller place now and all Men are equal but it is not a paradise. Just as the Midas Comet affected everything it touched so, too, were we reminded that the Midas Touch of mythology was also the Midas Curse.
For of what value is gold when everything is gold?
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