Some more about Al's World

I know that this is long overdue and, for that, I apologize. Work, as usual, has been sucking my life like crazy. Thought I would give you all a little something, however, to look at until I post again. I have been working diligently on my many writing projects every night so there will be something for you all to read very soon. I just have to transcribe it into a post. For now, however, I thought I would give you all a little more in depth look at the world in which most of my stories take place and a bit more information on one of the many races that coexist there along with us humans.

I'll start out with a bit of historical background. Some of this you may already know but I hope that by doing it all more in depth, you will all understand a bit more of the world where Alex and her friends come from.

First of all, there are many things out of the ordinary that exist in this version of Earth. You can call it paranormal, supernatural, or preternatural but that's all just basically fancy words for saying "other" or "outside of mundane human experience." Many creatures and races of myth and legend do exist and have as long as our world has existed. However, most of the paranormal creatures and races have always been so much smaller in population and influence than the humans that they have never really had the chance to expand the way humans have. Even when they were numerous, they were skittish, isolated, and very wary of outsiders so the stories about them tend to survive mostly as myths and legends. However, the humans have always suspected and, at some points in history, known they were not alone. The newest period of this enlightenment began around the turn of the century and the Industrial Revolution.

The first of the major paranormal groups finally allowed themselves to be studied for science and in the interest of creating a peaceful coexistence. Up to this point, these people had been hiding themselves as best they could among normal humans. After this, however, it would be impossible for them to go back. The scientists were astounded at the samples they were given and the observations that were made because the conclusion of the research was one that rocked the foundations of Earth forever. Humans were not the only species of sentient, intelligent life to exist on the planet. While these people that they studied had the same base genetic code as humans and could even be born to humans, they were not the same. These people were given the name homo mutatis and the following are facts that the world as we know it now knows about the people who would come to be called mutants or, more commonly, paranormals, the very first to earn the name that would later be applied to a much larger group.

First of all, no one is exactly certain who actually is a mutant at birth. They have the same DNA and basic genetic structure as a human, at least when speaking about blood. Physically, some can have a slightly different structure but that will be explained later. Most mutants, however, display no actually outward, physical signs of being a mutant and their "powers" or "abilities" if you will don't normally kick in until at least puberty. That being said, these powers manifest themselves usually between the ages of 11 and 21 but have been, in rare cases, known to manifest as early as birth and as late as 30. A mutant who has not yet shown any type of power or ability is said to be in the "latent" stage.
Knowing who will be a mutant is further complicated by the fact that no two people manifest the same way and no two mutants are exactly alike, not to mention the fact that their powers are usually different. Inherited powers are common but the powers themselves vary radically. Some are psychic abilities, such as telepathy, telekinesis, or the various forms of elemental kinesis. Others are physical manifestations, such as odd hair and skin tone, gills, tails, etc. Even those are not necessarily the same, though most do tend to be at least biologically useful, not just decorative, i.e. if someone has gills, they are usually functional and that person can breathe water as well as air. To put it shortly, a mutant can be born to two humans, two mutants, or a mixed couple or each of those couples can give birth to a perfectly mundane human baby. It's just a matter of random genetics.

We don't know every detail about how mutant genetics works but here's the gist of it: When the mutant's powers manifest, it is because of the mutation of a certain gene, sometimes more than one, within their genetic structure. Science knows that this occurs but they have failed, as of right now, to nail down specifically which gene it is because each mutant is so unique but they have pinpointed at least one gene that always changes when a mutant begins to manifest. They have jokingly called this "Gene X" as a gag reference to the X-Men comic books but are working on a more scientific term for it. Also, for some reason, a fluke of genetics makes one small prediction about mutants possible. If a child of two mutants manifests, they will be much stronger in the magnitude of their power than a child of a mixed couple or humans. These dual mutant children also tend to have much flashier and destructive powers, though it's not always the case. Children of mixed heritage tend to be stronger and with much flashier powers than those of a human but have a stronger chance to have a more normal human physiology than dual mutant children. Children of normal humans who become mutants tend to have powers that are either very subtle, very weak, or both. Children of humans tend to have less of a chance of actually being a mutant in the first place, as well, and also almost never manifest any kind of physical mutation. What physical manifestations that do rarely occur among these mutants is never anything flashy or readily apparent and can easily be mistaken for a simple birth defect (extra thumb nail, missing piece of an earlobe, etc.).

Another quirk of mutant genetics grants them increased endurance, strength, and stamina. The strength is rare and almost always still within normal human parameters and usually only manifests in a few dual mutant children. Most mutants however have great immune systems and above average endurance and stamina. They heal slightly better, can take more physical punishment, and almost never get sick, at least not with small, little things like a cold or flu. They are not, sadly, immune to any of the nastier diseases that affect mankind. They can get STD's, cancer, and can contract lycanthropy. They can also become vampires but the effect the vampirism has on their abilities is as random as the chances of being a mutant in the first place. It can increase, dampen, and even permanently remove their powers. Also, mutants who are children of two humans do not get the benefit of the added endurance and health. They tend to get sick, etc, just as often as a normal human.

It should also be noted that the number of mutants overall has been rising slowly since WWII. In the 1960's, mutants went through a small Civil Rights movement of their own and finally were recognized by Congress. The world was made aware of their existence in an official capacity, though it had been an all but open secret since around 1900. They were added to the Constitution and granted the same rights as any normal American, though some people do still discriminate against them. That being said, don't call them "muties." They hate that. Also, it should be noted that mutants with psychic powers are called, as a whole psionicists, psi, mindbenders, or psychs. Truthfully, though, mindbender is a misnomer because it's actually a very mean term for a telepath, someone who can read minds and project their thoughts, etc., into someone else's head. Each type of psionicists also has their own terminology and terms. For instance, someone who can lift and affect objects with their mind is called a telekinetic and the power is called telekinesis. Each one is unique and varied and, while psychic powers are the most numerous and widely varied of all mutant powers, they also tend to have the most complications.

Currently, the mutant population is broken done roughly like this number wise: The actual mutant population is something like one fourth of the world's actual population. Of these, one in every hundred thousand is a psychic. Of those one hundred thousand, about one in every thousand is a telekinetic (telepathy, of course, being the most numerous of the psychic abilities). For every ten of these telekinetics born, four die young and five go hopelessly insane. It should also be noted that 80% of telepaths either go insane or are mistaken for being insane because they can "hear voices" in their head. On top of that, there is a risk with all psychic gifts of what is called "Burn out." This means, essentially, that the mutant in question puts too much of a strain on their mind and body, thus rendering their gifts, useless. Without someone to guide and help them, many telepaths can't handle the strain and are either admitted to treatment centers or commit suicide. This, according to many experts, may be one of the actual underlying reasons why the rate of teen suicide is so high and continuing to rise, especially with the charts showing progression of mutant population and rise of teen deaths being almost exactly equal.

One in every 2,000 psychics has some form of elemental kinesis. These are cryo- (ice), hydro - (water), electro - (lightning/electricity), aero - (wind/air flow), pyro - (fire), terra - (earth), and atmo - (weather). An elemental kinetic, in short, is someone who can affect one of the mentioned elements with their mind. Someone who has hydrokinesis, for instance, can manipulate water particles and water itself, sometimes to the point of being able to actually generate the element out of thin air. Atmokinesis, terrakinesis, and pyrokinesis are the rarest among these talents, not to mention the most potentially destructive. Nature's way of keeping things in balance, I suppose. Overall, there are only about 5 people worldwide that have actually been documented as being capable of actual, full weather manipulation (and no more than one or two more at most not documented). All but one of those five cases are either hopelessly insane or being monitored/used or both by their respective governments or on a government's most wanted list. In the case of the last one not insane or monitored, he prefers to keep low key and just wants to be left alone. No one has approached him for any reason in a long time and he likes it that way.

There are maybe 30 terrakinetics worldwide but, luckily, all of them are stable. The only one with real power is a woman named Linnelle Cassidy and she presents no threat to the world at large and so has been left alone. An ability that is an offshoot of terrakinesis and a bit more common, though nowhere near as powerful, is chlorokinesis, the ability to manipulate plants. It simulates many Druidic talents and is often mistaken for that kind of power.

Finally, we come to pyrokinesis. It's one of the rarest of all psychic talents. Only about 20 people worldwide have this one. Over half of these people are sliding into hopeless insanity and fast approaching Burn out. The term was originally coined for when a pyrokinetic (also called a pyro or firebug) loses control of their abilities and consumes themselves with it. Unfortunately, every single person born with pyrokinesis tends to be very powerful and those who cannot be helped must be stopped eventually. Alexandra Lee (the main character in the story I posted) is the world's most powerful pyrokinetic and, lucky for us all, very, very stable. Firemen have theorized and are on the verge of proving that nearly all unexplained arson can be laid at the feet of a burgeoning pyrokinetic or one who has started to go insane and lose control of their powers.

Empathy, the ability to feel, sense, and alter the human emotional state, is actually one of the most common mutant psychic abilities and one third of all psychics are at least somewhat empathic. Clairaudience (being able to hear spirits or things distant), Clairvoyance (being able to see spirits or things distant), Mediumship (being able to actually interact with spirits), Object reading (being able to sense events and people by contact with an object), and any form of precognition (fortelling the future, usually through dreams or visions), or postcognition (seeing past events, usually through dreams or visions) all tend to be fairly common. However, those who possess such abilities tend not to have very powerful manifestations of them. Teleportation and any other kind of movement based (psychoportive) psychic gifts are very, very rare. Only about 5-15 people worldwide have these.

There are also a few other minor elemental kinetic abilities but they tend to be rare and usually not manifested with any kind of power. Among these are ferro-, magneto-, lumo-, thermo-, and noxikinesis. Ferrokinetics can bend or manipulate metal. This would be scary if more people had it and could use it to its full potential but most people cannot. Magnetokinesis is just what it sounds like. Like the legendary Marvel comics villain Magneto, these people can generate and manipulate magnetic fields. It is exceedingly rare and only one person worldwide has any kind of strength with it. His name is Adam Westenra and he's definitely one of the good guys. Lumokinesis is the ability to manipulate light. Not many people have it and it tends to be very weak in manifestation. Thermokinetics manipulate temperature and, aside from having their own personal climate control, tend not to be able to affect a very big area. Noxikenetics can manipulate shadows. In theory, they could use this to make them invisible but, again, not many people have this one and none have been recorded who can use it very strongly.

The most common mutations are little things. Unusual hair, skin, or eye color that cannot be explained by natural phenomena, extra limbs that actually work, unusual dexterity or strength, or having fur or scales instead of skin. Another example would be having the ability to shapeshift and take on another form besides that of your own. True shapeshifters who can take on any form they like are very rare but most can alter their appearance in small ways. Those who can take only animal forms can sometimes be confused for lycanthropes but DNA test can show the difference immediately. Some mutants can even heal a great amount of damage rapidly, though none have shown quite the resilience that lycans and vamps have. In short, it just varies.

Well, now that I've explained the world of the psychics, it should also be noted that it's illegal to use any kind of psychic ability, particularly mind controlling type abilities, on anyone without their permission, however, I'll get into the laws another time.

I hope you've all enjoyed this further detailed look at Al's world and I hope to have more for you to read (storywise) pretty soon. If not, I'll at least post another one of these little informative numbers. I hope you enjoy them and hope to hear from everyone soon.