Humanity

Government

Despite entering into the galaxy's affairs, humanity remains fragmented at best. Even Earth still remains under the rule of many different polities, and its colonies are likewise independently-ruled. However, they are at least able to present a somewhat united face to the galaxy-at-large. The Human Alliance, or simply the Alliance as it is generally referred to by humans, is a representative body comprised of most of the major human polities, and many of the minor polities as well. Additional members are recognized from time to time and invited to send a representative to their meetings. The democratic body votes on matters of galactic concern, representing human interests as best as it can.

Of course, given humanity's history with such bodies, such as the League of Nations and the United Nations, 'best as it can' is not always that great.

Attitudes

While humanity in all its teeming masses is nothing if not diverse, so there are certainly exceptions to the opinions below, these are the generally-held views and beliefs of humanity as a whole, insofar as it is possible to say such things.

History

The Akayama Equations

A major turning point in human history was the release of the Akayama Equations, sometimes referred to as the Akayama Event. Akayama Tomojiro was a Japanese teenager with a distinct flair for the sciences. His high school teachers remembered him as having an intuitive grasp of complex physics problems -- which in retrospect seems obvious, given that he is recognized as the first known human Technic Potential. However, rather than manifest his Potency by constructing a mecha, he delved deeply into the nature of gravity, refining an incredible grasp of its nature and the manipulation of it. The actual "Akayama Event" caused every single electronic device on Earth that possessed more than the most minute amount of storage to abruptly contain parts of what have become known as the Akayama Equations, a complex and extensive set of mathematical equations describing not only gravitation, but the means to manipulate it. As a common thread tying these fragments together is a single line -- "My Legacy to you is the Stars." -- used at the end of each stored fragment, in whatever local language the device was operating in. Collecting and reconstructing these equations was a major project involving many nations, and their work continues to this day, not only in collecting and indexing them, but in deciphering their meaning.

As a result of the Event, besides the incredible surge forward in human technology based around their mastery of gravity, two other facets were noted. Akayama Tomojiro, the Technic behind it, fell into a vegetative state. His body remains on Earth, still living in a hospital on life support. Notably, despite the amount of time that has elapsed since the Event, his body has not noticeably aged, nor his muscles been subject to the degree of atrophy that would normally be anticipated in such a patient. Secondly, when aliens were eventually encountered, they proved incapable of interpreting or utilizing the Akayama Equations -- yet educated humans have no more difficulty than would be expected with any complicated mathematical topic when dealing with them. Indeed, as the rise of Potentials has continued, even non-Technic Potentials have proven to have a flair for gravitic abilities, whatever their Motif may be.

The Legacy that Akayama Tomojiro left to all mankind would soon be realized in the construction of the first human starships, using gravitic drive technology to impel them to the stars at faster than light speeds. The sudden and abrupt jump in human technology led to an inevitable diaspora, the quickest initial spread of any species in known Galactic history.