Erika Ward. Age 21. Photographer.
Ability:

Has the power to assume a ghost-like body for upwards of 10 minutes. Her body can become almost completely transparent and able to pass through every material. In this form she has the ability to float as high as she wants. She is immune to forces such as wind, cold, etc. In this form she cannot interact with objects or possess people, like ghosts in popular culture.

Biography:

As a toddler, Erika and her parents never had a permanent home for more than three years. They constantly moved all over the world for her father’s work. He works for a multinational company that develops medicinal chemicals and materials, such as new anesthetics and better grade bandages, etc. They’d settle down in a new location, but would only stay for a handful of years at a time.

The first friend that Erika can remember lasted six months, until her father told them they had to move to another hemisphere. Although she cried for days when they left, but she soon got over it and forgot her friend a few months later. As she grew older though, she remembered the people she left behind, but cried less and less. Her childhood was this scenario more or less on repeat, until she was nine years old, at which point the friend making part was over. She lost about five friends during this part of her life.

Her schooling also suffered greatly. She was more often than not the bottom of her class wherever they stopped, and she was ridiculed for it. Everywhere they went, she was the idiot foreign girl. Sometimes the other students would leave her out of their groups, other times they would harass her and call her names. During her stay in an American school, she was subjected to the harshest bullying of her childhood. A group of girls cornered her one evening after school and amoungst other things, pulled on her hair so hard that her scalp bled. She kept her hair short after they moved a few weeks later.

This constant exclusion everywhere further prevented the creation of new relationships. Her parents debated leaving her with family; Erika had a number of Aunts and Uncles as well as grown up cousins, but her parents reasoned that she would grow apart from them, and they couldn’t bear to let her grow up without them being in her life.  She was too young to see how selfish this was, and when she did realise it, she didn’t care anymore. At this point she had cut herself off from everyone emotionally, most of all her parents.


At age fifteen, her apathy and depression finally got to her and she attempted suicide. She hung herself in her bedroom at three in the morning. As her mind became oxygen deprived, her internal instinct kicked in and her desperation to live fought back. She became transparent and fell through the rope. When she hit the ground, she fainted. After coming to, she figured she slipped out of the rope, and never tried again. Her father finally landed a stationary position in England, but that mattered little to Erika. In fact, she had grown to accept that she would always be an outcast, and to instead enjoy her new surroundings wherever they went. As a result, she became highly interested in culture and nature, taking the time out to explore the urban areas and natural topography of her new home after each move, but always doing so alone.

Her classmates in England were more open and friendly after a number of years, thus during her trips while walking by herself, she learned that being isolated was detrimental to your body and mind, so she made a conscious effort to brighten up her mood and be more open.


It was also on one of these excursions when she actually discovered her power. She was hiking through a forested area when she twisted her ankle. She was around four miles from home and hadn’t seen anyone else on the trail that day. As she was hobbling back in the fading light, desperately trying to ease the pressure off her aching ankle, her body grew lighter and she started to fade. Erika thought she was losing consciousness somehow and redoubled her efforts.

It was when she lifted off the ground and was nearly see-through that she realised what was happening. Unfortunately for some passing hikers, they didn’t realise this as well, and the trail is now considered haunted. For weeks afterward she would go out walking to practice and develop it. Only after she had more or less mastered it did she show anyone. Her parents were more than happy to see that she had something she was actually proud of that she would share with them.


Now, at age twenty-one, she has a keen interest in all manner of outdoor pursuits, specifically climbing and hiking. She eats a healthy diet and is keenly interested in physical fitness. She has a bright and cheery personality that is on display 24/7 for everyone, which she says comes from healthy living and her experiences all over the world. After traveling around a bit more on hiking trips, she finally settled down with her parents to get a degree in sports fitness. Shortly after, she heard about and joined the observation program through her father’s contacts, as a form of free living as she gets her life underway.



Lock Remover
Caleb Marlowe. Age 23. Charity work.

Ability:
Has the power to bypass different kinds of locks and safety mechanisms. This includes locked doors, vehicles, combination safes, key-card scanners, code-entry panels, seals and any kind of barrier that requires some kind of key to unlock. By simply being in close proximity to the lock, Caleb can release the lock with a mere thought. If he gets a little careless however, other locks nearby might release without his intention, such as a row of lockers opening when only one was desired.

Biography:
Born into a family of considerable wealth, Caleb grew up spoiled as a child. His parents made their fortune as investors, traders and entrepreneurs, starting from the bottom and working their way up through diligence and hard work. They all eventually climbed high enough to live in a nice house in a desirable area, with all the other earthly pleasures that would entail. Caleb had everything he needed and was rarely denied anything he wanted.
The definition of a rotten brat, he looked down his little kid nose at practically everyone. The only person he was ever nice to, other than his parents and some friends, was his sister Alice. He would play with her all the time outside when they were both very young. Towards other kids he was quite impertinent and would see them as below him and thus not worth his time.


As he matured, he learned the true meaning of christm- modesty in regards to his wealth. One event in particular made him learn this. He was out partying and had his wallet stolen. It was very late at night and he had no way of getting home, not having a car or money to get a taxi. He was forced to walk through some of the sketchier parts of town and was very frightened by what he saw. He realised that not everyone had what he had.


Late in his teen years he changed himself to be more open and generally less of a dick. He stayed with his family and doesn’t blame them for what he was at all. He cut back the unnecessary spending and flaunting of his wealth. His friends left him when they learned they wouldn’t get any easy hand-outs and treats, and he gained new friends who were better suited. He took up hockey briefly before realising his heart wasn’t in it, and tried his hand at music. Several instruments later, he found that he was reasonably adept at the drums. He considered starting up a band, but his light-hearted and flighty nature meant that he never really committed.


Sometime around the age of 17, he discovered that he was able to make different kinds of locks open. After only a few weeks of practice, Caleb had mastered opening all kinds of locks. Due to his new-found charitable and modest nature though, he never used this ability for anything unlawful or invasive, instead he told all his friends and his parents about it. After some time, his family was contacted by ESPRA, and he willingly opted to join the research program.




Dream Walker
Myra Alden. Age 20. Florist.

Ability:
Has the power to enter the dreams of others while they sleep. She doesn’t need to be asleep to utilise this ability. She can communicate with the dreamer, influence their dream and discover secrets they might have. She can also subtly plant thoughts and ideas into the dream, and operate without their knowledge. Her effective range is quite large, but the actual distance is still unknown.

Biography:
Her mother died when she was very young due to kidney failure. Her father, Carter, pulled himself together fairly quickly in order to support his two young children. Growing up with her father and brother, Francis, Myra changed due to their influences. Her father helped her become quaint and cheery while her brother’s behavior encouraged her temperamental and short fused attitude to grow. It got so bad that she went to a therapist for anger management for a few years, which is how she got into botany. It was a peaceful recommendation to be used as a way to calm herself and maintain that feeling. When Francis left to join the air force, she figured her bad relationship with him was over, but she kept a grudge for some unknown reason ever since.


Her anger issues stem from her abusive relationship with her brother. He was always playing the dominant role and would forever put her down for every little thing she did. When they’d play together, he’d always have some sort of role where he got to attack her or break whatever she had. As they grew older and starting doing their own thing, he’d continue to be an emotional hazard, constantly getting in her way and preventing her from being happy in some way or another. This behavior was encouraged in his friends who joined in, and soon most of everyone she knew was bullying her.

Examples of how her brother abused and tortured her are breaking all of her toys (not a single toy of hers escaped being broken at some point or another), deliberately hitting her “by accident”, stealing food off her plate, throwing away things she owned like toothbrushes and soap while on holiday and being intentionally too rough when pretending to be a friendly brother in public. This behavior continued for her entire childhood, up until he left for college.


Her father was quite supportive and performed the role of both parents to the best of his ability. He struggled with work and their education, but managed to help them grow into good children. He was well loved for this by Myra. Whenever she was feeling sad or angry because of her brother, her father would always take her somewhere to help cheer her up, just the two of them. He was always around for their birthdays and other special events.


Her ability awoke over a period of several weeks while she slept. She began having much more vivid dreams and woke up feeling more refreshed than usual. Eventually her dreams became so detailed and focused on people she knew, Myra started to think that she was able to do something special. After a while, she started trying to control her actions in her dreams, and found that she was able to do this extremely easily. She began to search for people she knew and was able to see into their dreams and minds on some nights. After a few years of trying at age 16, she was almost completely capable of entering the dreams of anyone she wanted.


Currently, she has a great interest in everything dreams and sleep related. She tends to stay away from the typical hippie crystals and astral side of things, and stick with what she knows. Incredibly curious, she is highly interested in experimenting with everything, regardless of what it is. This interest comes from her will to explore in dreams, so she tries everything she can in reality to match it. When she dreams she becomes a whole new person, completely in her element.





Detector
Riley Bridge. Age 18. Student.

Ability:
Has the power to pick up the thoughts of others when they are strong, clear and heartfelt. Powerful emotions and transparent intentions are picked up automatically by Riley. The thoughts are heard in his head in real time and in the user’s own voice and with their current state of emotion. This ability is passive and continually working, being able to distract him for his own thoughts, wake him up as well as snap him out of daydreams. Over time he has learned to ignore them whenever he wants.


Biography:
Riley was delivered to ESPRA by his mother and essentially abandoned for research as a child. Apparently she had split from her husband due to the confusion and stress Riley was causing, leaving her with no way to care for her child. She didn’t trust any orphanages to take him, so she turned to ESPRA. ESPRA naturally took Riley in and arranged for him to live with foster parents in a special home, and set it up for monitoring. Being a child, Riley had yet to gain full control of his ability to pick up on the thoughts of the people around him.


Years went by, and Riley grew up healthy and happy. Riley was raised in a caring home and was home tutored. His foster parents were the picture of perfect parents, and they cared for Riley honestly and with much love. Although he was discouraged from going outside and meeting people while his abilities were still mostly uncontrolled, Riley did not seem to mind it as much. As a result, Riley never made a single friend before the age of ten. Riley’s foster parents were secretly against the idea of isolating him, but they had no say in the matter.


In the following years as he grew older, Riley attended school and still made no friends and contacts. This had nothing to do with his ability, but instead Riley’s naturally strange air. Riley knew practically nothing about his real parents. The fact that his foster parents weren’t real and his home was for research purposes did not affect Riley as much as it would have any normal child. Riley came off as distant and blank to other people. Never having even known what his/her parents were like or where they were seemed to not matter to Riley. For Riley’s whole life, he has been living a normal life, with normal parents in a normal home.


Numerous classmates and peers had attempted to befriend Riley, but a lack of empathy, effort and warmth on his part made everyone eventually leave. He preferred his own company and did not at all seem saddened by his lack of company. He never attended any non-mandatory outings or trips, parties or gatherings. He never asked for any birthday parties or celebrations, being content with ignoring the occasion. His foster parents still gave him gifts and presents where appropriate, and he was grateful, but Riley was for the most part indifferent.


His schoolwork was top tier god-level, being at the top of his class or near enough almost constantly. Many of his classmates believe his academic success was due to his lack of friendships and other distractions. His exceptional grades and test results weren’t a point of pride for Riley however. They were things he had to do and he could do the well, and that was that. He spends the rest of his time on his computer, browsing everything and surfing everywhere. He’d absorb information from as many different sources as he could, even if he had no intention of remembering any of it. His thirst for knowledge was second only to his strangely large appetite and fast metabolism. Research concluded that this had nothing to do with his ability, and instead he’s just a really big eater. His foster parents made sure he never became overweight.