Prologue
The name’s Maverick.
The earth as you and I know it, it’s still here.
But the world that inhabits it now, well, it’s not exactly the same as before. 40 years ago, a new drug was invented called the Genesis drug. Its creator: Professor Maxime Reicher, a German-French bio-geneticist. The news is broadcast around the world. Hundreds of scientists gather to see its birth; or rather, the ‘birth’ of the birth. The drug was artificially inseminated into the womb of Ellis Prime, the wife of the famed geneticist Arlex Prime. The pregnancy is observed carefully, and the baby is carried to full term, much to the happiness of the parents as well as the scientists. She gives birth to a healthy baby boy, who seems normal enough. It seemed fitting to name the baby Genesis, after the miracle drug. Doctors were unsure of what to expect when the baby was born. They didn’t know if or when he was going to show any signs that he was, ‘special’. But they didn’t have to wait long, since a nurse accidentally dropped him. On his head.
You can pretty much picture the ugly sight that ensued. Baby’s head was cracked open, blood was pouring out, and it was screaming its head off. But what happened next was proof that the drug definitely worked. The baby’s skull fused back together within seconds and there was no more blood spewing out of him. It was like someone had sewed the scalp back together. Oh, and the baby stopped crying. The room was in absolute silence. You could almost hear a pin drop. Professor Reicher moved towards the baby, picked him up and marveled at what he and everyone else in the room had just seen. He simply says, ″Wonderful!″ and hands the baby back to the Primes. They, of course, gush over the fact that their baby has made history, and that he is virtually indestructible as well. And then 5 years after this event, the drug is made public.
Pharmaceutical companies around the world reproduce the drug by the tonne. It sells out within weeks of being issued to those who are rich enough to afford it. But there’s a setback. No one shows signs of having the abilities that Genesis displayed when he was born. There isn’t even a change in the DNA of these people. They are all normal. This puzzles scientists the world over, who wonder whether or not the drug was temporary. However, further research conducted by Professor Reicher showed that it was only the embryo that could accept the drug, not adults or those already born. So it was announced that the drug did work, but only for the embryonic stage, since the fetus of Genesis Prime was injected into with the drug whilst in the womb of Ellis Prime. While many were of course disappointed by the news, since they had already used it, others still looked forward to a future where they would have beautiful, healthy, ‘special’ children. And that’s when the trouble started.
Humans have a bad tendency to get jealous, and so many people who couldn’t afford the drug or who couldn’t even have children began stealing babies with the Genesis drug, looting labs that contained inseminated frozen eggs, and were generally causing mayhem for the authorities. The government gained control for a while, but then the ‘special’ kids grew up, and some with not-so-nice abilities began to terrorize people. Then came the divide between humans and the ‘Genesis’ children. The whole debacle became known as the Genesis Crisis.
Years later, the now retired Professor Reicher began creating different divisions of the adult Genesis recipients, making an academy in which to harbour these divisions, so that those with powers could use them in a more useful way. The divisions are based on the different powers that were born from the Genesis gene, such as elemental abilities, mental abilities and physical abilities. These divisions also have leaders who would have the duties of taking care of their own divisions and also teaching other people with powers, especially children, since they wouldn’t fit in with normal children in society.
There was also another branch added to the police force, and those with powers have come under the name of the International Superhuman Police Association, or the ISPA for short. My captain is Jago Merrit, who has the ability to sense others who have abilities, and we deal with crimes related to superhuman activity and I am his lieutenant. Within our squad at the ISPA, we also have a branch for Internal Affairs. That is led by Captain Gideon Vega, and his lieutenant is Dorian Midas. It’s suitably annoying that Vega is the captain of that branch, since he has the ability to tell if your lying or not. Midas has X-ray vision, which is just as unhelpful.
The other divisions are set up at Prime Academy, which is based not too far from the ISPA headquarters. My father, Jet Sampson, is leader of the Air Division, and his second-in-command is my sister Persephone. They were both born with the same ability, which you can probably tell is manipulation of the air. My father teaches aeronautics as well as history, and my sister helps teach the same subjects. The Water Division’s captain is Dr. Aqua Lazarus, an English doctor and bio-chemist with the ability to control water. Her name is Aqua because of the colour of her hair, which she was born with, and she teaches Biology and Chemistry. Her lieutenant is Dantes Kane, a teacher who teaches Physics and Chemistry as well at the academy.
The Earth Division’s leader is Claus Bishop, a German-Englishman who teaches Geography and Geology. His earth manipulation is pretty decent; I have seen him create a small earthquake, and then reform the earth again all with his mind. And he can literally move mountains with his mind too. His right-hand man is Franz Cannon, a German-American with the same power, and he helps to teach the same subjects as Bishop, as well as Climatology and German. The last of the elemental Divisions is the Fire Division, and the fortunate captain of that group is the mysterious Aries Gillagun. He is a very shady character (added to the fact that he actually wears shades all the time) and he hardly comes to the academy, only when he needs to teach. He teaches English and Maths, and so does his lieutenant Zel Mortis. Her body composition is made up of magma in its original state, but when she does come out of her ‘volcano office’ (her office IS actually in a volcano), she takes on an appearance of molten rock.
There are also sub-divisions in the academy as well. Ivy Gorro (short for Gorrowitz) is the leader of the Animal Morphing and Mimicry Division, and she teaches Russian, which is her native tongue, and also teaches Zoology. The sub-divisions don’t really have lieutenants since they are not as big as the elemental divisions. There is the Superhuman Division, which is headed by Auriel King. This division deals with individuals born with abilities such as super speed, super strength and enhanced senses. Auriel herself has super strength, but she doesn’t look like she has that power if you saw her. The Alchemy Division is graced by the likes of Eris Piper, who takes on a golden form in appearance. The newest division that was just recently established is the Mind Introspection Division, which is led by Professor Siegfried Abacus. He teaches the students Psychology, and I believe he teaches Mathematics. He possesses the ability of telepathy.
I haven’t told you about my ability have I?
Now, you might think that since my father and my sister have the same ability, it should be normal for me to be able to possess air manipulation too. But I don’t. I possess the power of teleportation, a power which is very handy for a police officer. Helps with catching criminals faster. My father and sister say it’s because I’m ‘special’ that I have different powers to them. My mother also had an ability, I think it was to heal others, but unfortunately, she died when I was small. I don’t remember much of what happened, but I knew that ever since my mother died, I wanted to live my life trying to help others, just like she did, so I became the one thing that I knew could make a difference; a police officer.
