The Alpha Superior designation is given to people who were once Alpha Inferiors and transition to the other state and in doing so gain super human abilities. Though typically people often to refer to Alpha Superiors as simply “Alphas” this is really an over simplification since Alpha Inferiors are also “Alphas” but have no special abilities other than the fact they are immune to most diseases and ailments.
Alpha Superiors who work for CLEA are referred to as White Guardians.
Origin
All Alpha superiors are born as Alpha Inferiors and their linage can be traced back to their ancestors who were exposed to Bacteria Z, deposited after the meteor strike which devastated four areas of the planet. This is however by no means straight forwards since the first Alpha Inferiors did not appear for a few generations after the disaster and the fact the biological specifics that produce an Alpha Inferior can also skip generations. Confusing the issue further is the fact that neither parent has to be an Alpha Inferior to produce a child that is one but for a child to be an Alpha Inferior there has to be a direct linage back to their ancestors who were close to the impact zones.
Identifying Features
All Alpha humans can be identified by diamond shaped blotchy markings on their backs located between the shoulder blades often assumed to be “ordinary” birthmarks. Significantly all Alphas are immune to the disease and ailments that trouble ordinary humans.
Changing from an Alpha Inferior to an Alpha Superior
As stated earlier, all Alpha Superiors are born as Alpha Inferiors, and apart from the immunity to disease they lack any other special properties. They are considered “normal” to those around them and some Alpha Inferiors can go through their entire lives unaware that they are in fact different to other people.
In rare circumstances (greater than 1 in 1000) an Alpha Inferior may go through a genetic metamorphosis after which they gain abilities or properties that makes them super human. What triggers this change has baffled scientist since they first Alpha Superiors appeared and since no direct cause is known it is considered to be purely random.
The process though of the metamorphosis is well known and referred to as the “Alpha Transition” . Theoretically any Alpha Inferior can go through the transition at any age although the youngest known Alpha recorded to go through the process was sixteen. Whether that is the minimum has yet to be discovered.
What is known of the actual transition process is that the Alpha Inferior will inexplicably develop a skin irritation all over their body. Sometimes this is accompanied by a tell tale rash but not always, and since such people rarely experience illness this is often an unwelcome surprise. Whilst this is occurring the Alpha Inferior will also develop a sensitivity to bright light.
The itchiness and light sensitivity will then remain for a few weeks before dissipating at which point the individual may assume they have returned to normal (especially if that person was unaware that they were an Alpha Inferior in the first place). However the person will now in fact be an Alpha Superior but their “special” gifts will not be active until they are triggered for the first time by an outside stimulus.
Triggering the Alpha Abilities
To complete the final stage of the transition a new Alpha Superior has to be “triggered” by some sort of shock which will “activate” their special abilities for the first time. Correlated data from studies of Alpha Superiors has revealed a common pattern, which is usually and intense negative emotional response coupled with a sudden adrenalin rush. The best example of this is a “near death experience” which combines fear/panic with the adrenalin rush but other combinations are known such as completely losing ones temper or stress/anxiety.
Once the trigger is initiated the Alpha Superior will often inadvertently use their Alpha ability for the first time. Since each person is different and the Alpha ability is not known (except in rare cases) the unexpected result of doing this can be highly dangerous for the individual and/or bystanders depending on the nature of the Alpha ability. In some cases it has been noted that some people that do not realised they have made the transition and experience the trigger much later.
After this trigger event is over the Alpha Superior will then be able to access their Alpha ability simply by thinking about using their newly acquired “ability” and no emotional response component is required other than the need to concentrate.
Alpha Abilities
This blanket term used to describe an Alpha (Superior)’s super human properties/capabilities. Normally the Alpha ability a person acquires is completely random even if other generations of Alpha Superiors have been known in the family. The only exception to the rule is same generation Alphas who are siblings and they will often inherit similar abilities whilst twins often acquire the same ability.
In most cases an Alpha ability is used via conscious thought which is used to “turn it on and off”. Some Alphas can do this as an almost instinctive response. The one major problem all Alpha Superior’s face is the fact they cannot use their “gifts” permanently because when they are active they cause a drain on the human body’s energy resources. Essentially this means once they get tired they can no longer use their Alpha ability and if they do try to fight their body’s natural response to “turning off” their Alpha ability they will collapse. In some situations Alphas who have done this have encountered “burnout” whereby they collapse and even after recovery they can no longer “access” their ability for days or even weeks. It is also not unheard of for a “burnout” victim to collapse into a coma.
Interestingly the type of ability and how it is used is often the limiter in how long a person can use their gift. An Alpha with a far less powerful ability can use their gift for very much longer, hours or even days at a time than a more powerful Alpha who at maximum “output” might only manage a couple of minutes before experiencing fatigue.
Note: Some Alphas do not have the means to shut off their Alpha ability and it is permanently active. Though they do not experience “burnout” their bodies are placed under permanent strain and they very often have to take great care to manage their condition because if they do not they will die by the simple fact the human body cannot cope and will literally tear itself apart from the inside.
Alpha Effect
The Alpha Effect is the name given to the theoretical scientific term used to describe the as yet undiscovered difference between ordinary people and Alphas. Whilst the original cause of the “creation” of Alphas Inferiors in known since it originated from extraterrestrial bacteria, scientists have long sort the means to recreate the process via experimenting with gene manipulation. Such experiments have often involved implanting biological samples from an Alpha Inferior into an “ordinary” human. Further investigations have involved fully understanding the differences between normal people, Inferiors and Superiors. A commonly held idea was if an Alpha Superior could be reverted to an Alpha Inferior or artificially triggered then answers would be gained all leading to solving the Alpha Effect problem. The eventual goal of all the experiments would be to give normal people the same immunity to diseases and ailments that all Alphas possess.
