It is not known when the first metahumans came to be. Throughout humanity’s history, stories have been told of people performing superhuman feats, tales of dashing heroics and daring escapes.
Perhaps these were ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Or perhaps they were the records of humans with abilities beyond what was thought possible.
Metahumans first became widely known back in the early 90’s. Along with the denim and the animal print and the frosted tips came a surge of incidents around the world. Reports of people flying in Japan. Stories of underground vigilantes in the streets of America. Feats of strength in war-torn zones and rumours of fast-moving people in rural areas.
With the rise of technology and the World Wide Web, it became ever more clear that the world we lived in was not as simple as it had once been. Articles, videos, information spreading across the globe like never before. And so came the age of the heroes. Of course, you cannot have heroes without villains. The early 2000’s were littered with just as many accounts of wrongdoers coming out of the woodwork to cause chaos as there were do-gooders rising to meet them.
New Zealand has a tangled history with the people that are widely recognised as metahumans. Initially we stood with the rest of the international community, taking a back-seat approach as the bigger powers ran damage control. But when the tide began turning towards stricter controls – harsher registration laws, military detainment, surveillance – we took a stand.
The people of New Zealand made it clear, to their government and the world, that this was not something they endorsed. And they listened. They stood up to the bigger players to advocate for the metahumans against such overreach. They stood for those that needed anonymity. For those that wanted normal lives. For those whose powers may not have been a gift.
It put New Zealand on the map, for better or worse. It strengthened our alliances with the UN, bolstered our already strong relationship with Australia, gave us surprising new friendships with Japan and other island nations. All built on a foundation of mutual agreement over one main principle: compulsory metahuman recording and registration would never be a reality.
But it also pitted us against some of the bigger nations of the world. The retaliation from countries like the USA and Russia were subtle at first. Rising costs and tariffs, limitations on imports and exports, threats of war and terror. The mid-2000s were rough for a lot of people. But in standing strong our united front put us ahead of the curve, put us at the forefront of not just metahuman relations, but also technology and communications, trade and negotiations.
And when Aotearoa’s first ‘superhero’ came to the public’s attention in late 2014, we were proud to stand behind her. When she revealed her identity, she cited that she was doing this “not because I have to, but because I can, and because I know that my people are behind me”.
And they were. People rallied behind Astro, New Zealand’s premier hero and darling of society. They supported her when she saved the day, cheered her on when she defended her country to the world, and vehemently booed anyone who dared malign her character.
Of course, New Zealand was not without her faults. Following the events of the 2015 Beehive Incident, after numerous protests and outrage at the lack of accountability, the UN Regional Oversight Committee authorised the creation of a formal registry for Oceania’s metahuman events. The United Registry for the Bureau of Unnatural New Zealand (URBUNZ) was officially established in 2016 under Section 9 of the AUSNZ Meta-Incident Preparedness & Containment Accord.
Despite the opinions of many, we are not here to restrict or control. Our agency’s mission is to monitor, catalogue, and respond to threats or anomalies involving New Zealanders with unclassified abilities, unidentified origins, or otherwise. We are simply the watchers, the witnesses, the record by which our society can continue to stand united within this ever-changing world.
United Registry for the Bureau of Unnatural New Zealand 