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෴Major Spoilers ahead for those who have not read book 1෴
෴Seriously, if you're somehow here without reading book 1, consider doing that first.෴
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Catalyst: The stuff that allows humans to become superhuman. Very little is known about how it works. Even companies that follow the publicly released isntructions to make and refine it, are unable to explain how it works. Nonetheless, it does work, and many known domains of superhuman abilities have been discovered. Some have hypothesized that humanity has barely scratched the surface of possible ability types. The current world understanding of how catalyst works, and what abilities are available, has been demonstrated to be severely lacking in accuracy.
Ability Psychosis. The exact details are poorly understood, but people with too many catalyst treatments tend to develop gold, and then red eyes. The problem is, this does not happen right away, so more people who are trying for additional abilities end up going red than gold. Ability Psychosis manifests as a dark triad magnification, with high levels of sociopathy and psychopathy being major symptoms. This does not turn people into monsters, but it makes it much easier to become one. The appearance of a “red” range from dull red, the lower end of the scale, to shiny bright red, which tends to indicate many catalyst treatments beyond the safe maximum for that user.
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Raz
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Raz Owens. Some say everyone is just one wrong turn from derailing their entire life. Raz made that turn when he got tested for his ability affinities and ‘slot count’. Since then, his life has been a nightmare ride of kidnapping, imprisonment, and fighting for his life in a world of super powered criminals and worse. Given a catalyst of the least threatening sort, he woke up with a Heads Up Display. He’s been working out ways to use it to his benefit ever since. Believes his father was killed by Doktor Midnight. Nursed that hatred for a long time. Recent events have put cracks in that narrative, but his dislike remains.
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Team Midnight
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Doktor Midnight. He didn’t choose the name, but since he doesn’t tell people what his real name is, it’s as good a name as any. Demonized by media and governments alike, those who meet him tell a very different story, although he’s quick to caution those he helps against defending him, for their own protection. He possesses truly massive power, being easily the most powerful human on the planet. His displayed abilities include physical durability, high speed flight, inertial dampening, metalopathy, disable ability, directed energy in the form of light beams. Very much prefers to recruit opponents rather than fight or kill them. He has his own agenda, and before his home base in Barcelona was destroyed, was busy pursuing it.
Adele Owens. Raz’s mother. Married to the late Burke Owens, who was presumed to have been killed by Doktor Midnight. Adele works with Doktor Midnight to advance his goals. She is considered nearly his equal within the organization. Displayed abilities: Portal creation.
Emily Strakowski works for Midnight. One of the Norns. Sister to Sasha. Worked directly with Midnight on a regular basis. Deceased.
Sasha Strakowski Works for Midnight. One of the Norns. Sister to Emily. Trained Paolo when he joined the Norns. In a relationship with Paolo. Displayed ability, Medium level Teleportation.
Paolo Garcia Works for Midnight. Worked in field operations, but his interest in technology (and possibly his interest in Sasha) led him to switch to the Norns, where he is a newcomer. Displayed ability, enhanced vision.
Marcus Suarez Works for Midnight. Former military, accompanied Adele on her mission to find Mercator.
Javier Valdemar Works for Midnight. Former military. Sometimes works as a driver, other times his role is more security oriented. Javier accompanied Adele on her mission to find Mercator.
Hugo Calpern Works for Midnight. Accompanied Adele on her mission to find Mercator.
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WD40 Mercenary Company
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Wilson Meyers, co-founder of, and the W of WD40. Does not particularly like Doktor Midnight, but sees him as a good and reliable client. He also enjoys the side perks of working with Doktor Midnight, despite not liking the man personally. Suffers from the red eyes that come with ability psychosis. Doktor Midnight cured the psychosis, but was unable to fix his red eyes. WD40 is a mercenary outfit, and aside from working for Doktor Midnight, has many other side concerns and ongoing contracts. Generally considered the brains of WD40. Displayed abilities. Various vision based abilities and enhancements. Ability “boost”. The mechanics of this ability are not known, but it is not without risk to the recipient. In a long term committed relationship with Darby O’Cellan.
Darby O’Cellan, the other co-founder of, and the D, of WD40. The lighter side of the founding duo. Darby is as quick with a joke as Wilson is quick to burn a bridge. The balancing and mediating force to Wilson’s intensity. Often considered the heart of WD40. Displayed abilities include enhanced reflexes, and an ability referred to as “Gild” which produces a powerful aura that renders him temporarily nearly irresistible to the opposite sex. Darby was in a long term committed relationship with Wilson Meyers. Deceased.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Hex. A quantum teleporter, with the ability to teleport without destroying the origin body. Employed by both WD40 and Doktor Midnight, she acts as a sort of mole, to provide a window into the workings of WD40. Her displayed abilities include body morphing, perfect coordination, quantum teleportation, body reconstitution, distributed quantum mind. She has been reluctant to work in the field for WD40 in the past, but recently changed her stance on this. This side of her life is unknown to her boyfriend prior to the end of book 1. Her boyfriend is Raz Owens. Also a member of Team Midnight, and if there were such a thing, Team Raz.
Chris ‘Chrome’ Johanssen. WD40 employee. Best friend of Tim ‘Triton’ Perez (Deceased). Displayed abilities, body morph, somatic transmutation. Chrome is able to transform his entire body into various metals. This makes him incredibly heavy, with only Rhino clocking in at a greater weight when fully powered up. Loses his best friend Tim to a Chimera acid attack. Chrome later uses a full power boost from Wilson to execute a large and hugely powerful chimera released by Braithwaite. Severely injured/disabled via ability dysfunction.
Tim ‘Triton’ Perez . WD40 employee. Best friend of Chris 'Chrome' Johanssen. Displayed abilities: superhuman toughness and durability. Able to withstand rifle fire without injury. Killed in action during WD40 operation 'Rampage'.
Richard ‘Rhino’ Sanderson. WD40 employee. Primary ability is the ability to increase the mass but not volume of his body to a weight nearly three times that of lead. His physical strength and durability rise as this happens. His effective strength is not as great as it might be, because he still has to move his incredibly heavy body. This ability has a fairly short duration with a cooldown period before he can use it again. His other ability is the ability to store up inertia, and release it into targets.
Reilly ‘Raven’ Haverson. WD40 employee and teamleader. Technopath.
Wesley 'Wraith' Tyrell. WD40 employee, works under Raven. Has some weeb tendencies. Technopath.
Roland ‘Rex’ Koenig WD40 employee. Sniper, sharp shooter. Field team leader.
Jim ‘Blink’ Thorpe WD40 employee. Teleporter. Field agent.
Phillipe ‘Fugue’ Dormire WD40 employee. Displayed ability: Wide area cognitive impairment. Fugue causes people to drift into apathy or daydreaming.
Cade ‘Barricade’ Williams WD40 employee. Lithopath, mainly uses his ability to form tactical cover for WD40 combat teams, or remove the same vs the enemy.
Frank ‘Ringo’ Star WD40 employee. Field team member. Displayed ability, reduce or increase friction in a localized area. Injured
Rachel ‘Razor’ Messerschmitt WD40 employee. Field team member. Known abilities: creation of short red energy blades from her hands. Short duration reaction speed boost. Injured in book one, not seen much after that. Injured
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Martine Faction
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Reginald Martine. Head of a multinational business syndicate, Martine considers Doktor Midnight, and to a lesser extent, ability users in general, mortal enemies to humanity as whole, and himself in particular. Simultaneously conflicted by using acts of violence to advance his agenda, and perfectly willing to do just that. His surveillance teams determined the location of Doktor Midnight’s main base. Hired a contractor that goes by “McAvoy” to deliver a volley of bunker buster bombs and annihilate the site.
Candace ‘Candy’ Remington. Martine’s personal assistant. She exhibits two dichotomous personalities. ‘Candy’ is light hearted, and appears to be the cliched bimbo. Candy would be right at home working as a receptionist. Candace is the polar opposite of this, a cold, domineering and all-business woman that would be most at home as a CEO or other C level role. Her displayed ability appears to be somewhere between local clairvoyance and a highly localized sort of telepathy or omniscience. This ability appears to extend to anyone she is communicating with.
Leon Braithwaite. Administrative head of the Martine facility closest to where Raz gets ability tested. Demonstrated a gleeful sadistic streak and a methodology of human testing to destruction. Unconcerned with kidnapping, murder, or torture, he will however, visit all three of these things on someone unwise enough to call him a 'Doctor' to his face. Displayed abilities include physical durability, enhanced strength, kinetic energy manipulation (absorption and directed strikes). Presumed Dead.
‘Hutch’ A powerful shapeshifter. Worked under Leon Braithwaite. A reasonably skilled interrogator, aided by his ability. He exhibits high level ability psychosis. Little else known about him or her. Killed Darby O’Cellan while disguised as Rhino.
Fidel Chavez. Of Russian descent. Slightly below average height, with a broad powerful build. A self styled revolutionary. Worked under, but neither liked nor got along with Leon Braithwaite. Displayed abilities, physical durability, enhanced strength, thermal energy abilities. Shows symptoms of ability psychosis. He maintains a rigid personal code of conduct which puts him ahead of most people with this affliction.
Lisa ‘Zoom’ Evans. Martine enterprises employee. Worked with Fidel under Braithwaite. Captured by WD40.
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Project Turnabout
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Alvin Kellogg Director of Project Turnabout. Imagine the worst incompetent boss you’ve ever had, now imagine that boss was a pompous blowhard and total poseur. You’re now thinking of Director Kellogg. Project Turnabout’s stated mission is to track, control, and eliminate the threat posed by enhanced humans. Murders one of the Project Turnabout subjects (David Mason) by negligent behavior with lethal implant technology.
Stratton Oswald Project Turnabout employee. Quickly distinguishes himself from the other lackeys Kellogg surrounds himself with. Has become Kellogg’s right hand man at Turnabout.
Chris and Bill Redding, Subjects of Project Turnabout, recruited by Midnight when it becomes clear how laughable it is to fight him. Both exhibit forms of ferrokinesis. Former activities include bank robbery and other criminal uses of their ferrokinetic powers.
Cindi and Mark Walcott. Subjects of Project Turnabout. Recruited by Midnight after he saves Mark’s life after his leg is severed by another Turnabout subject. The Walcotts display thermal control abilities. Cindi flash froze another Turnabout subject following the poorly aimed attack that cost Mark his leg.
David Mason. Subject of Project Turnabout. Killed by Kellogg because Kellogg is a dumbass, and didnt want to hear that David's ability to talk to animals (who are, spoiler, surprisingly dumb outside of their realm of expertise) was unsuited for taking on Doktor Midnight. Deceased
Jim Hunter. Subject of Project Turnabout. Recruited by Midnight. Displayed abilities: none. Stated abilities, enhanced strength and durability.
Anita Hillman Subject of Project Turnabout. Powerful but poorly controlled thermal energy beams. Killed by Cindi Walcott after taking her husband’s leg. Deceased
Gillian Yueng Subject of Project Turnabout. Serial killer, preferred victim: men. Preferred method of killing, using her ability to partially discorporate and leave foreign objects in their brains. Killed by a combination of her own actions and Midnight’s self defense. Deceased