UMA (United Metahuman Agency)

UMA is a global organization that has been active in Halcyon City since its inception, as a great many super-powered threats have appeared in the city over the years. The agency represents all metahumans and mystics (better known as "Supers") across the globe, working closely with the government, various agencies, megacorporations, and the media.

Background
In the 1960’s, the United States government began taking notice that the villains and vigilantes present in the country were evolving from technologically enhanced, skilled normal humans to super-powered humans. Domestic law enforcement agencies were becomming increasingly unsuited for the enforcement of the law in the face of super-opposition. In 1962, The United States government found a solution to this problem by establishing United Metahuman Agency, or UMA and A.E.G.I.S. (Advanced Expert Group for Intervention and Security). Although both organizations serve different purposes, both answer directly to the government.

While UMA was responsible for the registration, training, and regular evaluation of super-humans for the purpose of honing their abilities to become capable defenders of the Earth, A.E.G.I.S. was given legal jurisdiction to act as enforcers of the law towards metahumans who posed a threat to national security, making tracking, capture, and incarceration of rogue and dangerous metahumans necessary. When the two organizations were launched, the whole process went public and for the first time focused not just on tracking or recruiting metahumans, but integrating them into society in Halcyon City. In addition to its evaluation arm that trains and coordinates metahumans, UMA began looking into building a clinic that provided medical and psychological care for metahumans who could not resort to mundane medicine and medical procedures.

Following the establishment of the UMA Clinic (currently led by Nightingale), UMA spearheaded efforts in various jurisdictions to allow metahumans to operate with law enforcement while protecting their anonymity as well as maintaining an updated and secured database of registered metahumans. This database is populated with information either gained from publicly available sources, or information provided by the metahuman themselves. It is not made public but any registered metahuman has the ability (and right) to view their own information and have anything they consider too personal removed. Board members of the UMA consist of several members from the Untouchable 5 and Exalted, an active Bronze and Silver generation team of metahumans.

Headquarters
UMA Headquarters or Tower, once known as Halcyon Watchtower, can be found on Liberty Hill. A prominent landmark on Liberty Hill is the statue of the first Super of Halcyon City, Flying Freedom (Maggie McIntyre). The tower hosts most of the active superhero teams such as the Victory Vanguard and the Untouchable 5 and many more.

UMA Branches
Modern UMA branches are divided into five major divisions: Adminstration, Evaluation, Training, Research, and Public Relations. Administration manages resources, deals with other agencies, handles registration of new metahumans, maintains the UMA files and database, and performs other similar duties. Evaluation performs threat assessment investigations, and works with law-enforcement agencies as well as A.E.G.I.S. to identify and track dangerous metahumans. Training is a compulsory training programme of physical and mental preparation for all registered metahumans to help hone their abilities and powers in and out of combat. As part of this department, UMA practices the Legacy system, a voluntary mentor-mentee programme for experienced Supers to guide and teach young Supers. Mentors can either take a single student (protege) or a group and form a team. The mentor will guide their mentees to control, understand, and improve their abilities and powers (if any).

Research performs numerous studies of superhuman abilities and their origins, develops new technologies for local law-enforcement agencies, and maintains a collection of genetic material and other substances relating to metahumans. Research also makes up most of the staff of the UMA clinics, though Administration and Evaluation provide security and support for those facilities. Public Relations is a group of agents, lawyers, and public relation officers that maintain and promote positive metahuman-mundane relations, typically stepping in as proxy during press conferences as well as managing their public reputation in the media.

Metahuman Charter Legislation
In 1990, the federal government enacted the Metahuman Charter legislation – formalizing the requirements for metahumans to act within the law as well as the legal protections that masked heroes to this point had been lacking. UMA was given the responsibility of overseeing the Sanctioned hero groups formed by the MC Legislation. This responsibility includes organizing and managing metahuman organizations and teams as well as ensuring all Supers register themselves in accordance to Registration Act 1993.

Heroing Today
Being a superhero means many different things in many different ways throughout Halcyon City. Some heroes put on the mask, the costume, and soar through the skies in the middle of the day. Some heroes go out at night, wearing dark, practical clothes to beat criminals with their fists. Some heroes work directly for the city or for law enforcement or for corporations.

Teams
Superhero teams have been an important part of the city’s metahuman social scene since the Silver Generation, and even before. They’re viewed with the same combination of celebrity awe and interest as a combination of Hollywood celebrities and up-and-coming tech companies. Some long-standing teams like the Exemplars have become part of the fabric of the city, while new ones are viewed as spunky newcomers trying to find their own niche.

A team is far better equipped to actually deal with threats than individuals are, and forming a team is a great way for up and coming superheroes to get attention and a level of authority that individual members might not have on their own. But there’s no tried and true method here. Some teams are corporate sponsored, some are brought together by random happenstance, some are successors to existing teams. Halcyon City now has a large enough superhuman population that the turnover of teams is pretty high, and for every team you’ve heard of, there are probably five or more that you haven’t.