Gourt Home::Gourt :: Mutant
Related Topics:Mutant_Academy :: Mutant_Academy_2 :: Mutants_and_Masterminds :: Mutant_X
In simple terms a mutant is a living thing that has different DNA than us. Mutation occurs in all living organisms and is the normal mechanism of evolution. A small number of mutations in nature help, giving the mutant an edge over the rest of the members of the species. Often this edgemeans the mutant will live well and pass their genes to their kids, after a while it helps the whole species' chances of living and development. Evolution is a result of these mutant traits, usually along thousands or tens of thousands of years, changing a species to another.
Overview
Sometime, most likely during the last millennium, a human mutant was born with an alteration in his or her DNA that had the potential to give them a significant advantage over the rest of humankind. This 'x-factor', the dominant genetic trait, was passed down to their offspring, from them to their children and slowly the x-factor became widespread. Yet for many centuries the full advantages this genetic quirk gave remained dormant.
It is somewhat of a misconception to call super-humans 'mutants' since this x-factor is inherited from their parents - yet it has become the popular term. The scientific term, however, is 'Homo Sapiens Superior', and they are not mutated humans since in almost all cases the x-factor is inherited from their parents. Ninety-five percentof the children of a pair of Homo Superior are also Homo Superior, nearly seventy-five percent of the children of a Homo Sapiens and a Homo Superior are also Homo Superior. The x-factor seems to defy the laws of genetics.
Although mutants are usually very similar to humans in appearance and psychology, recent studies seem to hint there are also some important differences. Currently technology allows for an electroencephalogram to detect enough of those differences to identify a mutant without the need to perform a lengthy (and incredibly expensive) genetic testing in an 80% cases. Many psychologists support the idea that there are also some important sociological and psychological differences between humans and mutants, although these theories are currently strongly disputed.
However, although mutants are slightly superior to humans along the board, the reason there seems to be such a large gap between both species of humankind is that the majority of mutants manifest extraordinary abilities that seem almost magical to normal humans: the mutant 'Gifts', or superpowers.
Rather suddenly in 1999, thousands of young mutants all over the world started to manifest talents that defied scientific explanation. Even now, after countless billions of dollars spent on research, it is still a mystery why mutants have 'superpowers' and why they manifest such a huge variety of abilities. Some theories have been proposed, and the most accepted one is that all mutant powers are just manifestations of the same power, just expressed differently, yet solid evidence to support any theory is scarce.
The 'First Wave' seven years ago is now blamed to the synergy effect mutants seem to have upon each other.
Currently is estimated that from one in 25,000 to one in 10,000 persons are mutants (numbers depend on the area, mutants tend to congregate in cities). An estimated 20,000 mutants live in the USA, and 250,000 to 500,000 worldwide (and some studies place the number at twice that). It is a small minority, but a dangerous and vocal one.
Classification
Early in 2003 several experts in mutation from all over the world (in as much people with a couple years of experience could be considered experts) gathered in London to exchange notes and discoveries. From the London meetings several important theories currently accepted by most experts were born, as well as the famous (or infamous) electroencephalogram test that serves to recognize most mutants from their brainwaves (currently positive identification in an 80% of cases, no false positives reported).
One of the most famous and controversial issues during the meetings was the Greek letter classification system for mutants, which attempted to classify all known Homo Superior in a complex scale of positive and negative traits. The complete classification system is rather complex, but the general categories have been popularized by the public, particularly the mutant public.
ALPHA: Alpha mutants have powerful, advantageous mutant traits and no disadvantageous flaws. Perhaps the most feared of mutants, alphas look completely human yet have some of the most powerful abilities recorded. Common belief is that Homo Superior will eventually be formed by all alphas, and therefore alphas are the epitome of mutantkind. Currently it is estimated less than 10% of all mutants are alphas, although given they look human the percentage might be somewhat greater.
BETA: Betas are not weaker than alphas in what power regards, but they are not perfect. Along their advantageous mutations they have minor flaws, sometimes merely cosmetic, but that hinders them in some significant way. It is believed about 10% of all mutants are betas.
GAMMA: Gammas are also powerful mutants, having some impressive gifts, but along with those powers they also have major flaws that make their lives hard, often miserable, and many times, shortened. Roughly 10% of all mutants are Gammas, and they are usually easy to recognize, as they are often saddled with important physical defects.
DELTA: Delta mutants lack the impressive powers of alphas, but share their lack of flaws. Deltas are mutants with small abilities of little use under most circumstances. The number of deltas in the world is unknown, but it is assumed they are at least 50% of all mutants, and the number could be far greater because a good number of deltas don't even know they are mutants.
EPSILON: Epsilons are the unfortunate ones among Homo Superiors. Epsilons often have minor superhuman traits, but those are overshadowed by crippling major flaws that makes a normal life for them almost completely impossible. It is believed about 20% of all mutants are epsilons, but often is very difficult to distinguish them from gammas.
OMEGA: Omega mutants are those with the ultimate power, the baddest of the bad, the supermen of urban myth. 'Omega' is not a scientific classification for Homo Superior, but a popular label that is usually applied to powerful alphas. 'She is an Omega' and 'I have the Omega power!' are mutant slang terms to talk about how 'cool' someone or his or her powers are. Omega, flatscan (derogative for human, does not 'spike' in the electroencephalogram to detect mutants), gene-joke (derogative for mutant), etc, are new terms one can hear in the streets of New York when mutants are talked about.
Synergy
Although mutants have always existed among humans (just like among any species), they were very, very rarely true Homo Superior, and therefore they didn't had superpowers. Homo Superior is not just a mutant, they are a new race of hominid, and they have special racial traits that are just now being discovered slowly. Among some subtle psychological and physiological differences with humans, mutants have several extraordinary, almost mystical qualities, besides their superpowers. For instance: is the proven fact mutanthood is 'contagious'.
Not really, but it seems the presence of 'active' mutants, tends to cause others who have the x-factor to manifest their own powers. This explains the sudden emergence of mutants just a few years ago, not by an insulated event here are there, but as a sudden wave of manifestations that shocked the world. At first there was just a handful of cases, young mutants with weak powers, but in less than a year major cities all over the world had small numbers of superpowered mutants. Then they began to appear in smaller cities, and finally even in rural communities. It took a while to find out why, but now it is know that there is some kind of synergic effect that triggers the manifestation of powers in people that probably would never have manifested otherwise. As mutants became more common and moved among human towns and villages, other mutants became aware of their true nature.
And there is more, of course, it seems mutants have a kind of social instinct that pushes them to gather together. For instance: Mutant couples are far more common that they should give the small numbers and dispersion of mutants, to the point that they are more common than human-mutant couplings. There is some kind of instinct that pushes the Homo Superior together that has nothing to do with pheromones or any other known form of communication and that probably is related to the same x-factor that gives the superhuman abilities. Some sociologists dismiss this later phenomenon as nothing more than the normal minority group social dynamics, but many now theorize there is some kind of psychic connection between mutants.
It is also theorized that mutant powers reinforce each other in some degree, allowing groups of mutant to master their powers more easily and to a greater degree they would when alone. This same synergic effect also seem to make mutants want to form their own communities, often leaving behind their human families, and foster human paranoia to a great degree. Knowing a neighbor has superpowers is one thing, but when said neighbor leaves all his family and friends to live with other 'freaks' to do god knows what... things get far more worrisome.
Timeline
1700-1850 AD - The first appearance of Home Sapien Superior with the x-factor mutation. Incredibly few in number, Homo Superior tend to arise in tiny groups within vast geographical areas. Perhaps one in ever 10,000,000 of the world's population carries the x-factor. However, mutations seem to be clustered together in close proximity, often 2 or 3 emerging within a small geographical area. Certain areas become 'hot-spots' for genetic mutation, but these first Homo Superior live and die without ever manifesting superpowers as we would think of them. However, the dormant x-factor gene is passed on to their children and down the generations. The numbers of those humans carrying the x-factor increase incrementally, but as the industrial revolution ensured that traveling great distances became a possibility, they spread further and wider across the planet.
1850-1935 AD - The first manifestations of Homo Superior proper, the x-factor slowly starts to affect certain people who carry the X-gene. Usually full mutations occur when those with the x-factor are in proximity to others with the same genetic makeup. Because of the rarity of this the numbers are miniscule planetwide. Out of all of those who carry the x-factor, fewer than one in 500 ever have the advantage of the 'synergy effect' and even those are relatively weak. Their powers go mostly unnoticed among the mainstream humankind. Occasionally a mutant would be talked about, usually considered a sideshow freak, or psychic, or saint, or even a god, depending on the place and the time. Numbers of Homo Superior manifesting mutant powers are roughly 1 in 250,000. Out of those fewer than 1 in a 1000 manifest powers to a level comparable with today's levels. Across the entire population of the world there are probably fewer than two dozen mutants with 'super-powers'.
1935-1945 AD - For the first time in human history intelligence gathering is approached systematically and by professionals (spies before WWII were, basically, untrained amateurs). Among many other things the federal and military agencies of the US (and other countries) come up with a fair number reports on superhumans by reliable witnesses. Most in high command ignore the reports, assuming they are either hoaxes or hallucinations reported by overstressed soldiers. A small number of people, however, take them seriously enough to push for investigations.
1945-1955 AD -The rebuilding effort after the war, as well as the race for nuclear domination, leaves few resources for the 'wild goose chase' that would be looking for the elusive supermen, but the original group of intelligence officers that believed in them does not forget, and as they rise in ranks in the army, they continue keeping tabs of strange events, and eventually gather enough evidence to start a serious research on the subject.
1955-1965 AD - Weapon-X is formed as a small secret division of the NATO, to search for humans with extraordinary abilities and study their uses in warfare.
1965-1975 AD - Bothered by the lack of progress and the rumors of gross misconduct by the Weapon-X staff, the project is shut down and the staff and guards sworn to secrecy and reassigned.
1975-1999 AD - The number of mutants born remained miniscule, and alpha to gamma level mutants even fewer. America is believed to have had less than 1500 manifestations of Homo Superior and less than 150 of those super-powered beings. However, those born with the dormant x-factor are steadily increasing. It can be estimated that one in every 20,000 humans born in the 1980s may carry the x-factor. As numbers increase contact between those with the X-gene becomes closer. The 'critical mass' of those carrying the x-factor apparently occurs in 1999. Due to the synergy effect mass manifestations start.
By the end of 1999 there are many, many reports of superhuman abilities. Hundreds of them, way too many to be just a series of hoaxes. Moreover many of the reports come from physicians, college researchers, policemen and other trustworthy sources.
It appears that out of the numbers of those born with the x-factor during the 1980s, around half of those actually manifest some sort of superhuman ability at puberty. Around one in every 10,000 people is a mutant proper and this 'new generation' of Homo Superior tends to be much more powerful than their predecessors. Many of them have access to powers and abilities that would have previously been regarded as 'alpha' level.
Against such incredible evidence, there can be no doubt: superpowers are real. Massive research on the nature, causes and consequences of the superhumans starts immediately, both private and governmental. Soon enough mutants are all over the TV, magazines and newspapers.
2000 AD onward - Before the initial shock has time to fade, early in the year 2000, an investigation on reports of monsters living among the 'mole people' of Manhattan leads to the Morlock Massacre. The incident, where a score of 'ugly' superhumans are killed, is highly publicized, and in time will become a symbol for the discrimination many mutant face.
The following year also saw numerous cases of mutants abusing their powers to commit crime, or just losing control and causing destruction and death. Although the first Homo Superior had not been very powerful and tended to have purely physical abilities or deformities, it quickly became apparent the power of the superhumans is growing, as well as their numbers. The government took as many measures as possible and specific legislation for superhuman crimes that had been impossible before (e.g. psionic mind control) has been passed or is being developed currently.
Soon, theories about the causes of superhuman abilities began to appear, and the idea of mutation was just one among many at the start. But over the past two years it has become the most popular theory. Most serious scientists by the year 2004, consider the idea that superhumans are Homo Superior, mutant humans, the most likely hypothesis, and there is now considerable evidence sustaining the theory.
Along with this theory, public opinion is divided as to whether mutants will be humanity's next step or their replacement. The suggestion that Homo Superior will eventually replace them as the species in the top of the food chain scares many normal humans.
Although cases of anti-superhuman discrimination has existed from the beginning, only now, when they are starting to be considered a different race than mainstream humanity, it has become a real problem. Anti-mutant groups and lobbies have formed, some extremist politicians claim for legislation, registration and even genocide. Among the mutants there are no few that have raised their voices against humankind, claiming to be the superior species and demanding respect and privileges beyond those granted by human laws.
However, along with conflict there is also a meeting of minds. Civil rights' organizations have taken up the mutant cause despite terrible publicity and some mutants themselves seek to do good despite the intolerance they face. Some folks have even turned into mutant groupies, and the internet is host to many who would meet or who wish to become mutants.
Weapon-X
In 1965 Weapon-X was formed as a small secret division of the NATO, to search for humans with extraordinary abilities and study their uses in warfare and international security. The number of people starting to exhibit abilities outside of the human norm were few; even fewer caught big brother's eye, but Weapon-X was the brainchild of a few forward thinking officials in various governments and military, all of whom shared the suspicion that should these newly discovered beings be allowed to live freely, they would be a danger to society.
The majority of those who first come into contact with Weapon-x, either as captives or willing subjects are fakes, but a few apparently aren't, and a handful of them are convinced to work as an undercover group answering to Weapon-X. They are unofficially labeled 'Team-X'.
Study of Team-X provided some useful data, but the scientists of Weapon-X pressed for a more direct approach. Ruthlessly, the Weapon-X high command betrayed Team-X and handed most of the agents to the science department, and along with other superhumans that were captured, they were used as test subjects or simply murdered and dissected. Despite best efforts Weapon-X was unable to pinpoint the cause of these superhuman abilities.
Disaster struck when several of the test subjects escaped, destroying a good deal of the main Weapon-X complex in northern Canada, causing massive loss of data and human lives, including several key researchers. Bothered by the lack of progress and the rumors of gross misconduct by the Weapon-X staff, the project is shut down and the staff and guards sworn to secrecy and reassigned.
A small division of the NSA is given most of the surviving non-top secret files of the Weapon-X project. For 25 years they limit themselves to gather information on the rare events where superhumans could have been involved until the synergy effect and the subsequent public knowledge of superhumans makes Division Six suddenly the focus of much attention.
Division Six
After the Weapon-X project was shut down a small division of the NSA was given most of the surviving non-top secret files of the Weapon-X project. For 25 years they limited themselves to gathering information on the rare events where superhumans could have been involved. The information was, for the most part, filed away and ignored and Division Six was considered a rather dead end assignment by most NSA agents, although it is possible some high ranked officers with access to the files employed superhuman agents as spies and mercenaries on occasions.
However, since the X-factor first became national news seven years ago, it has become very clear that the Division's remit has suddenly become an important part of national security. In the seven years since the synergy took place Division Six has expanded greatly and has outgrown its parent organization. The military and the federal government become heavily involved with Division Six's remit and eventually Div6 is separated from the NSA entirely and established as a new department to deal with the problem of mutant criminals and terrorists, as well as study the possibility of using superhumans as weapons of war again. This new agency is eventually established as a federal agency of similar standing and operating mechanisms than the FBI or the DEA.
The Division Six initiative publicly takes a significantly different form from its organizational ancestor Weapon X, effectively becoming a mutant police force, keeping the public safe from those superhuman beings who would use their powers to the detriment of society. The division employs both humans and mutants towards this aim - the government has had time to realize that there are some who carry the X-factor that are as patriotic as any other American. As time goes on, more and more Division Six units have sprung up across the nation's cities, usually associated with the local police force and staffed by lawfully minded mutants and humans who believe their actions moral and right.
Under the public facade, however, and unknown even to the vast majority of those working for Division Six, lurks Weapon Plus, the reborn Weapon-X. Formed mere weeks after the Morlock Massacre, and eventual destination of most of the captured Morlocks, Weapon Plus is dedicated to the study and exploitation of mutants and is as ruthless as its predecessor was 32 years before. Weapon Plus uses kidnapped mutants and captured mutant criminals as guinea pigs for experiments, and as a consequence their knowledge on mutant physiology is years ahead of the rest of humankind.
They operate in complete secrecy, and while rumors about its existence have filtered to the public, they are considered little more than a modern myth, like the Men in Black or UFOs. Not even the agents of Division Six know about them, although they are sometimes manipulated to act as agents of Weapon Plus, the vast majority are entirely ignorant of this fact. No field agent has ever become privy to what the ultimate fate of their captives is. Most are told that prison or rehabilitation is on the cards for mutant criminals.
Ryker's Island was constructed two years ago, built as a state of the art facility for the detention of superhuman criminal offenders. Though the population of the prison is currently blessedly few, it is well equipped to deal with mutants of nearly any conceivable variety.
Morlock Massacre
In 1993 a book by Jennifer Toth caught the world by storm; Called 'The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City' the book described a real life experience with actual people living in the tunnels of New York City. There was an estimated five thousand people living there. Particularly large populations inhabited the multilevel labyrinths beneath Grand Central Station and Penn Station. Some people were said to live solitarily but others actually developed communities with some housing 200 people or more. These communities formed some sort of society with elected mayors, elaborate social structures, and even mooched electricity from the city. One community had hot showers, cooking facilities, laundry rooms, exercise rooms, even nurses, teachers and runners who frequently visits the surface to scavenge for food. It is quite common for the usual mole to go for weeks without sunlight.
Due to this discovery, people had been visiting the moles underground -adventurers and the like were fascinated, but they were just a few people who actually believed Toth enough to check it out.
In 2000, one man with a team of film crew decided that he would ignore the warnings given to him by the Mole People about going deeper into the labyrinth of tunnels. The moles claimed that there were oddities there, creatures strange and unnatural that they were unable to describe in detail. Neal Conan was far too curious and intent on filming the dark horrors of New York City's underbelly to give much heed to it. So with his film crew he did travel deeper into the labyrinth. There, with his cameras ready, he has managed to video one of the most controversial documentaries ever. What was filmed was a horde of monstrous humanoids that resemble old carnival freaks. A boy with lizard skin and features, a girl apparently had tentacles in place of arms, a five-mouthed woman - the list went on.
The crew shot their film while hidden away, but one of the freaks found him and the rest of the mutants were alerted. They chased the crewmen but one of them fell and knocked his head against the labyrinth wall, which killed him instantly. The rest of the crewmembers survived with footage.
Due to the confusion of the escape, the crewmember's death was blamed on the freaks that were now dubbed as Morlocks, after underground dwellers featured in H.G. Wells' 'The Time Machine.' In the hands of the television studios the coverage of the footages was given a sinister slant, portraying the Morlocks as not just physically distorted but also dangerous. The world was shocked. There was uproar - immediately the media demanded more investigation and a huge number of people wanted to check it out for themselves. The government took hold of the situation immediately. All entrances to the labyrinth that could be found were blocked and scientists as well as military men were sent underground in contamination suits.
It was hard, trying to find the alley in which these Morlocks resided. When the policemen and the scientists found it, they found the place to be rather lacking in population, perhaps a few dozen less than estimated by the filmmakers. The Morlocks that were there though, immediately took on a defensive stance. The police approached them in order to apprehend them peacefully. Nobody was sure who shot the first shot, but soon chaos erupted in the tunnels as humans fought the mutants for the first time. 18 police and an estimated 70 Morlocks were killed in the conflict.
In the end, the majority of the Morlocks were utterly unprepared to handle the bullets and artillery that were brought in to subdue them. They were slaughtered and those who surrendered were taken by the police in order to supposedly escort them to a private facility to study them and ensure that they would not harm the public. Some people were outraged by the police brutality while others encouraged it. Mixed public opinion erupted about what was dubbed as the 'Morlock Massacre'. Of course, the police claimed it was forced upon them and that the mutants were the ones who attacked them. Yet, as these Morlocks were brought into the public eye and as media attentions focused on those that were captured, more mutants were slowly being exposed in other areas of society.
In has been claimed by some that numbers of the Morlocks escaped the massacre, but up until now no evidence has been discovered of their still being active in the tunnels below New York.
Mutant | Mutante | Mutant | Mutant | Mutant | มนุษย์กลายพันธุ์
"Mutant"