By the eighth decade of the twenty-first century, technology had advanced worldwide. Democracy, freedom and equality were firmly established, and people had grown compassionate, cultured and wealthy. The world was a place of boundless opportunity. According to the government of the United States of America, which enjoyed a preeminent position in global politics, finance, science, culture and education, the world had entered an era of peace and was on the way to achieving total nuclear disarmament. However, in order to safeguard that peace, it was unsatisfactory to rely on political processes. Peace protocols were no substitute for a technologically advanced defensive system. A motion was passed by both houses of the American Congress, committing billions of dollars toward the establishment of an advanced-technology Peacekeeping Research Centre (the PRC). The PRC was directed to undertake research and development into a highly intelligent bio-organism with powers of flight and other supernatural functions while remaining under the sole command of the White House. This bio-organism would be required, on the one hand, to perform missions in peacekeeping and planetary safety, including warding off international terrorists and deterring major criminal activities, and on the other, to undertake the rescue of persons involved in natural disasters. This project, which had the highest classification, was codenamed Peace Talisman.