Earth 174

In Earth 174, the alphabet made by Benjamin Franklin in Revolutionary America is adopted by the new nation, creating an immense rift in British and American language.

   In 1779, when Franklin had type blocks made for Noah Webster to use in some of his writings, Webster found the idea genius and began an effort, through vast networking of the patriotic elite, to fundraise for the creation of nearly 100 sets of the new letters over the course of 3 years. The new letters were disseminated to the largest printing presses in the new nation. Newspapers, many skeptical about an overhaul of the written language, printed articles to explain Franklin’s vision. Intrigued readers pushed for single columns in newspapers to be printed in the new spelling, with an accompanying translation. These columns became whole pages, which became newspapers completely written in two columns, one in what was being dubbed ‘Liberty Script’, and the other in standard English. In homes, these two-column newspapers would be used to introduce the script to families and children. Noah Webster and Benjamin Franklin became famous for their pioneering of spelling and writing, and later as the Fathers of Liberty Script.

Despite it’s popularity in America as a symbol of independence to the common people, Academic circles largely maintained the use of standard english. While Franklin himself was considered an intellectual, his creation of Liberty Script was largely seen as the poor man's written language. It was scoffed at for oversimplifying the intricacies of English spelling convention. It was picked up in the military for intelligence uses in the war of 1812. It’s formal academic uses were limited until the development of the Normal School by Horace Mann in the 1830s. His beliefs about making education accessible to the common populace gave Liberty Script the advocacy push needed to be officially taught in schools alongside the standard spelling. Gradually more Americans became and prided themselves on being bilinguagraphic. Some newspapers and printed books started only printing in the new script.

Alongside the resentful distaste for the British, Standard English and it’s irregular spelling patterns and countless exceptions to phonetic rules became synonymous with the uptight, useless extravagance the UK were stereotyped into.

By the year 2050, about half the American population is considered bilinguagraphic, and another 20% or so have the deciphering skills to read basic Standard English texts. This amount varies depending on the region and proximity to port cities. British Commonwealth countries, by contrast, have a harder time deciphering Liberty Script without explicit study. Only about 1/3 of the Standard English reading population can make out the occasional few words. The rare exception is a handful of suburban Australian towns who have started picking up the script in a pseudo-comradery as a fellow former British colony.

Carl Woden 174 is a computer engineer who had been generating a specific coding sequence to translate the two writing systems automatically. As part of his research, he creates a foundation to continue funding a series of archives and collections, including the Liberty Script Museum in Philadelphia. This museum is run by Cecilia Hiberniae 174. When Carl Woden Prime recruits Carl Woden 174 for his growing Hegemony, he abandons his research. Due to neglect of the project, the foundation dissolves, leading the Museum to bankruptcy. An angered Cecelia begins a Liberty Script graffiti art campaign across the world. Her graffiti art speaks out against the hegemony, leading Earth 174 as a whole to be hesitantly cooperative at best, and uncooperative at worst with Carl Woden's alliance against the Unnamed Ones.

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