Changes

Although you expected the Great Reveal to happen sometime soon, it still comes as a surprise. Every Immortal you know has been bracing for it for years, knowing that it was inevitable, but there is a difference between being prepared for it in theory and being prepared for it in practice. This isn't just a minor, easily predictable change, but one which changes everything. You don't know the forms that change will take, much like Immortals couldn't have predicted the Game when the Bronze Age began, simply that they will be profound.

Oh, you can predict some of the immediate consequences of the Great Reveal: a good deal of talk and debate about Immortality by people who know very little about it, followed by responses by the various governments in the form of laws and legislation. Some responses will be reasonable, but others will be intolerable. The most you can do is hope that your family and friends will be able to withstand the initial storm; eventually you will all become accustomed to the new world, but that will take a while, and the beginning is usually the most dangerous.

Immortals tend to follow the laws in the same way that a man with a body in his trunk will drive under the speed limit: not for any inherent respect for the law, but because being suspected of anything could easily lead to worse crimes being discovered. On the whole, Immortals are law-abiding, but few- if any- of them believe that any government should have anything to do with the Game, whereas governments will no doubt feel it is their duty to end the Game- or at least regulate it.

Thanks to a large number of Immortal politicians and journalists in America, it's one of the first to give an official response to the Great Reveal, behind only a few dictatorships which don't have to wait for their response to pass through the slow workings of Democracy, and is the first to respond in a way that Immortals like.

Oh, there aren't enough Immortals in Congress to make Immortals entirely happy; they have to compromise on some things. But a policy of non-discrimination towards Immortals and not interfering with the Game so long as the rules are adhered to are more than most Immortals had dared to hope for, especially since the United States wields so much influence on other countries. The only thing any of them have to complain about is the Visible Weaponry Law- the law which will come into effect on the New Year mandating that Immortals must not conceal their primary weapon whenever they're carrying one. After lifetimes of hiding what they are, showing the world what they are feels like walking around naked and vulnerable, but it's a small price to pay. Anybody who doesn't like it can leave; the world is a big place, and Immortals are skilled at finding places to hide- there are always places with no real government in which to hide, deserted islands and deep in the wilderness. And from the beginning America institutes a policy of offering asylum to Immortals from countries with less enlightened policies.

Canada is, unfortunately, one of those countries, much as you'd predicted. A string of beheadings twenty years ago- ironically, by a mortal serial killer who had been stopped using his own methods by an Immortal headhunter- is the first thing to spring to the minds of the politicians, and unfortunately sets the tone of Canada's new Immortal laws- they don't want any Immortals in the country, and are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that the country is comprised of only mortals, short of execution.

The day the announcement is made, you turn in your resignation before Inspector Thatcher can begin the official tests for Immortality, dressed in civilian clothes with your sword at your hip. The VWL hasn't taken effect yet, but already it's become the style for Immortals to wear their swords visibly in America. You're soon to be American; you might as well adapt now. And it helps prevent questions; Inspector Thatcher looks shocked and upset, but she doesn't ask any questions or try to talk you out of leaving. How could she? This time you've been declared persona non grata not just by the RCMP, but by Canada herself.