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Question Meta-Gene Complex

7 years 10 months ago - 7 years 10 months ago #1 by Malady
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    • From here as not to derail that thread:

    E. E. Nalley wrote: As for the metagene complex, I will say that is is resident in the X chromosome. So if you are female, you could have gotten it from either parent, but if male, it was your mother that gave it to you.


    Does that disagree with other info, as said in Wiki - Powers ?

    There is a serious universe inconsistency here. Most stories that describe it in any kind of detail say that it's a number of changes scattered across 18 chromosomes. E. E. Nalley's stories, on the other hand, all say that it's on the X chromosome.


    Although, I'm not sure where we got the "18 changes" info from... the old Canon Material??

    Ayla 4.6 : Phase says:

    The Goodkinds have been doing prenatal screening for what’s known as the ‘meta-gene complex’ for as long as the research on the meta-gene complex has been out there. Over a sixth of the people on earth have it, so it’s not like it’s rare. I didn’t have it. No one in my family had it.. [...] somehow my DNA was altered. Introns were inserted or altered in maybe a dozen chromosomes.


    I guess the Goodkinds might not have pinned down the MGC as well as they think they have??
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    Last Edit: 7 years 10 months ago by Malady.
    7 years 10 months ago #2 by E. E. Nalley
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    • All of your DNA is encapsulated into two 'Packages' that when combined in an egg via a sperm generate a new life. We refer to these packages as X and Y chromosomes. If you have two X chromosomes, you are female and if you are one X and one Y you are male.

    Yes there are mutations (Hah! See what I did there?) of XXY or XYY and other defects, they are rare and exceptions. The vast majority of humanity has XY or XX, male or female.

    So much for genetics 101. Now this gets complicated, so bear with me.

    The Meta Gene Complex is a series of altered DNA proteins and individual genes within them, spread across the X chromosome. This protein and Gene alteration has been observed in 18 seperate DNA locations, but there may be more and this could simply be confirmation bias. All Active mutants have these altered proteins and genes, but not everyone who has it is a mutant.

    It resides in the X chromosome because if it were in the Y chromosome only males could be mutants. Every human has an X, but only half (give or take) have a Y.

    Make sense?
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    7 years 10 months ago - 7 years 10 months ago #3 by mhalpern
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    • E. E. Nalley wrote: All of your DNA is encapsulated into two 'Packages' that when combined in an egg via a sperm generate a new life. We refer to these packages as X and Y chromosomes. If you have two X chromosomes, you are female and if you are one X and one Y you are male.

    Yes there are mutations (Hah! See what I did there?) of XXY or XYY and other defects, they are rare and exceptions. The vast majority of humanity has XY or XX, male or female.

    So much for genetics 101. Now this gets complicated, so bear with me.

    The Meta Gene Complex is a series of altered DNA proteins and individual genes within them, spread across the X chromosome. This protein and Gene alteration has been observed in 18 seperate DNA locations, but there may be more and this could simply be confirmation bias. All Active mutants have these altered proteins and genes, but not everyone who has it is a mutant.

    It resides in the X chromosome because if it were in the Y chromosome only males could be mutants. Every human has an X, but only half (give or take) have a Y.

    Make sense?



    X and Y chromosomes are just the sex chromosomes there are others it could hide in that mean that it could be inherited by either parent regardless of sex, and would give the more even gender distribution that we see with Mutants.

    There are 22 pairs that aren't the sex chromosomes it could hide in, so 44 potential that aren't x or y, the explanation of why it has to be x doesn't make sense
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    Last Edit: 7 years 10 months ago by mhalpern.
    7 years 10 months ago #4 by Iwasforger03
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    • There are a number of chromosomal markers that appear on both X and Y chromosomes, and are not in any way gender dominate or specific. There are also many that are, and that only appear on the X or the Y chromosome.

    Are you saying it HAS to be on the X because otherwise it is somehow impossible, or merely that it is ONLY on the X? This would mean there should be double the number of female mutants to male mutants, because they are twice as likely to have the meta gene complex and therefore have double the odds of triggering it. If more=better (which is a seperate issue) this could also mean females tend towards having way more powers than males or manifest stronger powers.
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    7 years 10 months ago #5 by E. E. Nalley
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    • Ok, guys, I'm trying to keep this high level because I'm not a geneticist, nor do I play one on TV. That said, the anomaly called the MGC appears on the X chromosome of any person who has it. It has not been identified any where else.

    Yes, women should be more likely to exhibit mutation and powers but don't. No one knows why. Woman should theoretically be more powerful mutants, but aren't and no one knows why.

    What is know is that every mutant who has a measurable ability above the baseline has the MGC. It is also known that there are more people who have the MGC than active mutants and test as baselines.

    It is contested by a large portion of the scientific community that the Goodkind obsession with the MGC is complete confirmation bias and that the MGC has NOTHING to do with mutation. That is what is known.
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    7 years 10 months ago #6 by mhalpern
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    • E. E. Nalley wrote: Ok, guys, I'm trying to keep this high level because I'm not a geneticist, nor do I play one on TV. That said, the anomaly called the MGC appears on the X chromosome of any person who has it. It has not been identified any where else.

    Yes, women should be more likely to exhibit mutation and powers but don't. No one knows why. Woman should theoretically be more powerful mutants, but aren't and no one knows why.

    What is know is that every mutant who has a measurable ability above the baseline has the MGC. It is also known that there are more people who have the MGC than active mutants and test as baselines.

    It is contested by a large portion of the scientific community that the Goodkind obsession with the MGC is complete confirmation bias and that the MGC has NOTHING to do with mutation. That is what is known.

    Correlation != causation got it,
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    7 years 10 months ago - 7 years 10 months ago #7 by Sir Lee
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    • E. E. Nalley wrote: As for the metagene complex, I will say that is is resident in the X chromosome. So if you are female, you could have gotten it from either parent, but if male, it was your mother that gave it to you.

    Hmmm. Mutancy is sex-linked . But since there are 18 different DNA locations (according to information previously given), the inheritance rules may be more complex than simply X-linked-dominant and X-linked-recessive.

    I mean, it's unlikely that all 18 individual mutations are either genetically dominant or genetically recessive. It's probably a mix of both.

    So, a known male mutant will pass on his entire X chromosome, unaltered, to his daughters (but not his sons). If all the genes necessary for manifestation are dominant, that means that the X chromosome the girl inherited from her mother is irrelevant; but if some of them are recessive, it would mean that the girl would need to inherit the recessive version from both parents in order to get the full MGC and be able to manifest. (Of course, she may still get the full MGC and never manifest. But this seems to be rare for the children of manifested mutants).

    As for sons... they won't inherit anything MGC-related from their fathers. But, here's the thing about the mother's genes... the boy won't inherit an exact copy of one of her X chromosomes. Rather, he will inherit a mix of both -- some parts come from Xa, others come from Xb. It doesn't make any difference for recessive genes, since if the mother is a manifested mutant she will have the mutant variant in both X chromosomes. But for the dominant ones. she might have been heterozygote (having one dominant and one recessive gene) for one or more of them. If she passes the recessive version of any of the essential genes to her son, he won't have the full MGC and therefore won't be able to manifest.

    So it's hard to predict how the inheritance will go.

    And of course, there might be other, unidentified factors at play. There might be several different, still unidentified, genes that contribute to mutant manifestation -- something like, "there are several different, overlapping subsets of these 20 genes that can trigger manifestation. Any of the subsets will work." Those would be particularly hard to identify since some mutants would have one of them, some would have another...
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    Last Edit: 7 years 10 months ago by Sir Lee.
    7 years 10 months ago #8 by annachie
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    • That could also explain the high incidence of M to F transitions amongst mutants.


    The MTG activates and obliterates the Y chromosone to strengthen itself.
    7 years 10 months ago - 7 years 10 months ago #9 by Malady
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    • annachie wrote: That could also explain the high incidence of M to F transitions amongst mutants.


    The MTG activates and obliterates the Y chromosone to strengthen itself.


    Woah. Mind. Blown.

    How to explain FtM? ... Ah. You need guys for genetic variation. Simple. ... How to determine when you need a FtM? Esper powers! Or some more simple biological trigger... *shrugs*

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    ... And then there's the Bloodline Trait, and Eisenmadel's special genetics... How does that relate to MGC Confirmation Bias possibilities...
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    7 years 10 months ago #10 by Schol-R-LEA
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    • Iwasforger03 wrote: Are you saying it HAS to be on the X because otherwise it is somehow impossible, or merely that it is ONLY on the X? This would mean there should be double the number of female mutants to male mutants, because they are twice as likely to have the meta gene complex and therefore have double the odds of triggering it.


    Actually, that would only be if it is dominant; if it is recessive, then it would be reversed, as all males with the trait would express it (they don't have non-mutant versions of the genes for the specific proteins and/or operons that are responsible for the trait), while females would only exhibit it if they had it on both X chromosomes.

    There is also partial dominance, but that would be meaningless; you either possess a trait, which since it is not heritable (being a mutant is, but specific powers aren't) must be dependent on something in addition to the genetics, or you don't, so the genetics themselves cannot be influencing the degree of powers.

    My own theory? The whole idea of 'mutant genetics' is a wash; the scientists came up with it in the 1960s, but despite the presentation of it being utterly preposterous in terms of genetic traits (there just is no way that the encoding of proteins and the determination of when and how they are generated - which is what genetics really is all about - can provide a model for it), they never found any other explanation, so they've been twisting and turning to make it fit because the alternative is to assume that some unobserved phenomenon is at work. 'Mutation' is nothing of the sort, and they know it, but either they can't find a model that doesn't present even worse problems, or else it was discarded by most actual, non-crackpot researchers but remained in the minds of the public as a compelling idea (and held on to by the likes of the MCO and Goodkinds through a sort of prejudice).
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    7 years 10 months ago - 7 years 10 months ago #11 by Schol-R-LEA
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    • Iwasforger03 wrote: Are you saying it HAS to be on the X because otherwise it is somehow impossible, or merely that it is ONLY on the X? This would mean there should be double the number of female mutants to male mutants, because they are twice as likely to have the meta gene complex and therefore have double the odds of triggering it.


    Actually, that would only be if it is dominant; if it is recessive, then it would be reversed, as all males with the trait would express it (they don't have non-mutant versions of the genes for the specific proteins and/or operons that are responsible for the trait), while females would only exhibit it if they had it on both X chromosomes.

    There is also partial dominance, but that would be meaningless; you either possess a trait, which since it is not heritable (being a mutant is, but specific powers aren't) must be dependent on something in addition to the genetics, or you don't, so the genetics themselves cannot be influencing the degree of powers.

    My own theory? The whole idea of 'mutant genetics' is a wash; the scientists came up with it in the 1960s, but despite the presentation of it being utterly preposterous in terms of genetic traits (there just is no way that the encoding of proteins and the determination of when and how they are generated - which is what genetics really is all about - can provide a model for it), they never found any other explanation, so they've been twisting and turning to make it fit because the alternative is to assume that some unobserved phenomenon is at work. 'Mutation' is nothing of the sort, and they know it, but either they can't find a model that doesn't present even worse problems, or else it was discarded by most actual, non-crackpot researchers but remained in the minds of the public as a compelling idea (and held on to by the likes of the MCO and Goodkinds through a sort of prejudice).

    The only model where it would make sense as genetics that I can think of is the Wild Cards approach - that all these powers and forms are expressions of a single underlying trait, presumably psychic (as in Wild Cards) or magical (more likely given the evidence) in nature, which varies due to psychological and environmental factors. Even that is a stretch, but at least it would allow for the mutant condition to be heritable without the expression also being heritable.

    Or we could just go with Willing Suspension of Disbelief and take what the CC (TINCC) say at face value. Not as satisfying, perhaps, but sort of necessary here.
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    Last Edit: 7 years 10 months ago by Schol-R-LEA.
    7 years 10 months ago #12 by E. E. Nalley
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    • Dr. Richard Hewley: Theories on Mutant Expression in Genetics wrote:
    Its almost like there's a piece missing, isn't there? For forty years since its discovery the Meta-Gene Complex has been labeled like a Judas Goat as the cause of mutation, yet this requires simple proteins to accomplish feats beyond them.

    What combination of proteins and amino acids grants the ability to defy gravity, a fundamental force of the Universe?

    While we were honored to have been a part of the team to vindicate the Late Dr Charles Atton and his too quickly dismissed seminal work Simple Genetics as the Cause of Human Mutation, (The Lancet, June 1977) we must realize that genetics alone cannot be the cause of the abilities paranormals display. And while a MGC is considered 'Active' if 90% of the genes are active, these genes can be different from mutant to mutant even mutants with identical active MGCs display wildly different abilities.

    There must be some other factor at work granting these powers, and we humbly submit, that the MGC, if it has anything to do with human paranormal mutation is merely a receptor, a signal of readiness if you will to receive whatever this missing component is.

    Dr. Richard Hewley, et al: Theories on Mutant Expression in Genetics
    (The Journal of the Academy of Human Genetics, April 2007)

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    7 years 10 months ago #13 by Valentine
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    • Malady wrote:

    annachie wrote: That could also explain the high incidence of M to F transitions amongst mutants.


    The MTG activates and obliterates the Y chromosone to strengthen itself.


    Woah. Mind. Blown.

    How to explain FtM? ... Ah. You need guys for genetic variation. Simple. ... How to determine when you need a FtM? Esper powers! Or some more simple biological trigger... *shrugs*

    Praise Gaia.

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    ... And then there's the Bloodline Trait, and Eisenmadel's special genetics... How does that relate to MGC Confirmation Bias possibilities...


    FtM is caused when both halves have an active MGC and the stronger suppresses the weaker transforming it to a Y. :whistle:
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    7 years 10 months ago - 7 years 10 months ago #14 by Arcanist Lupus
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    • Never mind - ignore this
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    7 years 10 months ago #15 by JG
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    • The best part is that the whole Meta-Gene Complex issue gets even worse.

    Almost all of the Genetics theory behind the Meta-Complex and how it works is just a theory. They know it's there, they know it's almost always active in metahumans (Because mutants are the most common) even if it doesn't exist in batsons and dyna-hosts.

    but they cannot form a predictive model of how and why it works with any level of fidelity. So even the hard science is all theory.

    Make of that what you will.
    7 years 10 months ago #16 by Astrodragon
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    • JG wrote: The best part is that the whole Meta-Gene Complex issue gets even worse.

    Almost all of the Genetics theory behind the Meta-Complex and how it works is just a theory. They know it's there, they know it's almost always active in metahumans (Because mutants are the most common) even if it doesn't exist in batsons and dyna-hosts.

    but they cannot form a predictive model of how and why it works with any level of fidelity. So even the hard science is all theory.

    Make of that what you will.


    More research grants!! :D
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    7 years 10 months ago #17 by annachie
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    • DNA is multidimensional and the MGC is the part that connectsto the other dimensional chromosones?
    7 years 10 months ago #18 by Iwasforger03
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    • Interesting theory!
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    7 years 10 months ago #19 by MageOhki
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    • it gets worse. It is canon, that pre MGC, there was powers, and that the first identified MGC was about 120 years ago, universe time.

    Discuss!
    7 years 10 months ago #20 by Arcanist Lupus
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    • Also the fact that manifesting as a mutant can change your DNA throws a rather interesting wrinkle into all discussion of a genetic origin for mutations.
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    7 years 10 months ago #21 by annachie
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    • MageOhki wrote: it gets worse. It is canon, that pre MGC, there was powers, and that the first identified MGC was about 120 years ago, universe time.

    Discuss!



    That damn near predates genetics in our world, except for Mendel and his work on plants which wasn't really looked at until 1900 or so.

    DNA was 50 years later or so.
    7 years 10 months ago #22 by null0trooper
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    • annachie wrote:

    MageOhki wrote: it gets worse. It is canon, that pre MGC, there was powers, and that the first identified MGC was about 120 years ago, universe time.

    Discuss!



    That damn near predates genetics in our world, except for Mendel and his work on plants which wasn't really looked at until 1900 or so.

    DNA was 50 years later or so.


    Maybe the analysis was run on frozen tissue samples, or they dug up the (suspected) mutant, born 120 yrs. ago?
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    7 years 10 months ago #23 by Rose Bunny
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    • Everyone knows it was a gadgeteer that invented the wheel.
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    7 years 10 months ago #24 by NJM1564
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    • Rose Bunny wrote: Everyone knows it was a gadgeteer that invented the wheel.


    Of coarse he was accused of being a divisor and burned at the stake.
    6 years 11 months ago #25 by Malady
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    • Hmm... Origins are basically mutant-baseline hybrids... So, are all mutants that were born of non-mutant parents, just had parents who could've been Origins? *shrugs*

    The Braeburn Report didn't consider Origins coming from Mutant X Mutant or Mutant X Baseline children... ... Hmm... Have we seen any such couples with an Origin child??

    Also, I wonder if part of what's assumed to be baseline humanity genes, are part of the true metagene complex... With that part having spread itself to everyone... So everyone's technically a mutant. :lol:

    Then there's the Bloodline... Wonder what our resident MGC experts would say about that...
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    6 years 11 months ago #26 by Anne
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    • Interesting discussion! So, while the MGC is observed in most people who manifest powers, it is not present in all people who manifest powers? Further, two people with the same areas affected by the MGC can and usually do manifest different powers and different power levels?
    Sounds to me like Helen Goodkind is barking up the wrong tree! But then she's a class A bitch in a lot of ways.
    Inconsistency in results does not mean she's not on the trail of something that may have a part in the manifestation of powers, but at this point it seems like what is believed about the MGC might as well be phrenology...
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    6 years 11 months ago #27 by CrazyMinh
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    • My mum briefly worked as a geneticist (she's...done a lot of things. A quick list is bartending, IT for Lloyd's of London, Marketing, Teaching chemistry, and being part of the first all-female team to finish the Fastnet boat race in 1989) and from what she's taught me over the years, genetics in completely random. Even if the MGC was passed on via maternal genes, it would still be luck of the draw as to which ones were passed on, regardless of whether the genes were dominant or recessive. Example of this: working out probability of passing on certain dominant/recessive conditions using a punnet square still means that dominant genes that have a 100% probability of being passed on still might not be one of the traits that occurs. You can see this when some mutants mutants manifest even though their parents were not mutants or had mutant relatives, and some who have two parents who are mutants still don't manifest.
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    6 years 11 months ago #28 by Anne
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    • One thing that the researchers could be missing that would make the MGC appear to be X chromosome linked would be if it isn't in the main DNA sequence of the cell or if it requires certain configurations of the mitochondrial DNA. Since for the most part, indeed if I recall correctly, all of your mitochondrial DNA comes from your mother. This is why issues that have to do with the mitochondria will be autosomal dominants. For example, all the children of a woman affected by such a condition would inherit it without regard to whether or not they shared a father.
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    6 years 11 months ago #29 by E. E. Nalley
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    • Guys, I hope you realize you're trying to solve a puzzle with like 1/6th of the information. While the MGC is a significant part of why someone becomes empowered there are other factors that we have only lightly touched on if at all. Things that I don't think any of you have associated with linking to each other that most of these combinations are ignoring.

    For example:

    Magic is a real thing in this universe. By real I mean observable. quantifiable and repeatable.
    Spiritual phenomena exist and can be repeatable and observable. There are beings of some form of energy we call spirits that seem to exist on more than one plane of existence and science or sorcery or BOTH are close to being able to define exactly what is a soul, how it attaches to your physical body and then how it interfaces with your brain. Is the brain a computer and the soul a combination power source and software program? We don't know.
    There ARE other physical dimensions separate from this one that can be proven to exist, and seem to interact with ours.

    This not something you can solve purely with genetics and trying to is why you are getting frustrated with it.

    Or I could be lying just to yank your collective chains and misdirect you.

    Or I could be telling the absolute truth and hinting about how powers really come about.

    Or both.

    Or neither.

    :evil:
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    6 years 11 months ago - 6 years 11 months ago #30 by Sir Lee
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    • Not only is magic real in the WU, but we have canon evidence that the MGC was made by a magical species. So, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it turns out that magic has an important role in whether someone's MCG ever gets activated.
    It would also fit with another puzzling factor: the recently sharp rise in MCG activations. It's canon that the Sundering and the killing of the World Trees seriously hurt the world's manasphere, making magic a rare phenomenon... until recenty, when the manasphere apparently recovered enough that mana availability started rising again.
    Think of it in terms of a damaged ecosystem. Its recovery will be very slow until a time when efficient energy converters/biomass generators (e.g., green plants) start thriving again. Then the surplus of energy/nutrients will allow for other species to develop rapidly... and those will help the development of the green plants in various ways (spreading seeds, recycling nutrients etc.) in a virtuous cycle, making even more energy available and so on.
    We know that the oldest Sidhe-type mutant is about 500 years old. I would hazard that probably coincides with the tipping point in the recovery of the manasphere.
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    Last Edit: 6 years 11 months ago by Sir Lee.
    6 years 11 months ago #31 by Anne
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    • What Nalley and Sir Lee say is very true. Discounting magic as a possible causative factor in mutation is probably a good reason for the Goodkinds to actually be barking up the wrong tree. If only they weren't so bound and determined to eliminate mutants rather than make sure they consider themselves part of humanity.
    Or in other words, just as you make sure a puppy considers you its pack leader you and I ought to make sure that mutants keep considering us part of their family!
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    6 years 11 months ago #32 by Hardric
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    • While tthe MGC connection to magic was made clear by Bedside Rug, I think we're in for some twist like 'There was this funny genetic sequence you had, figured it could become useful with sufficient tinkering and activation through magic. Boy was I right' or 'Welp. You were already a pain in the ass, and now I discover your pesky evolution altered my work with that thing you call MGC? Not that I complain too much with the results for now, but still...'.

    The (really unlikely) idea the mistery is sitting all neat and tied inside Bedside Rug's head is a bit disheartening.


    'So, the MGC is this big queston, and you just had all te answers about it?'

    'Yup.'

    'And you stayed silent about it all this time because?'

    I felt like an asshole. Then I thought hard about it, and–'

    'Giving us that one nugget of info, letting us agonize about the implications and lording your superiority over us was an even more assholish move?'

    'You know me so well.'/crackpot

    In the ligt of this magic/MGC link, I wonder how the Goodkinds feel about magic. On one hand, it's theoretically accessible to the baselines, on the other...
    6 years 11 months ago #33 by JG
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    • We will also point out that MGC is the current running theory, but it's not a factor in all cases.

    Batsons don't HAVE an MGC, and they can be just as powerful as mutants. They're just Rarer.

    It could very well be that all living things have power encoded into their DNA.

    It could be that the MGC is Kinda like a Brute Force Hack to crack the code, a hooligan tool for getting into that power, hence the unpredictable and varied nature of the Mutations.

    Then there's Dynamorphs. No one knows how to tell a viable dynamorph host from a roasted Dynamorph host.

    And what about the throwbacks? The Sidhe, the Undine, the (insert thing here)? They wouldn't have an MGC.

    So is the MGC a symptom... or a cause?

    Science does not actually know for sure.
    6 years 11 months ago #34 by Ametros
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    • JG wrote: It could very well be that all living things have power encoded into their DNA.


    Believe in the you who believes in your self!
    Seriously, thank you for your time and effort. It is appreciated.
    6 years 11 months ago #35 by Kristin Darken
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    • My current pet theory is that all powers in the WU can be to derived from four 'powers' or foundation natures and a single evolutionary development that allows humans to be more than simply homo sapiens, baselines.

    The four Natures are: the Physical, Psionic, Magickal, and Spiritual. In theory, there should also be a fifth: Divine.

    From these foundations, manifested mutants gain abilities to:

    Physical: embody advanced physical and mental abilities through what is typically called the Exemplar trait. This includes different bone materials and structures, variations in musculature makeup and integration, faster reflexes and more responsive nervous system, heightened cognitive abilities, accelerated repair and recovery mechanisms, and so forth.

    Psionic: The mind is capable of creating and tapping into a pool of energy based on mental activity to take action

    Magickal: Allows for the accumulation of usable Essence and the manipulation of this energy and entities through a system of rules integrated into the nature of the laws of reality.

    Spiritual: Allows for the ability to sense and manipulate energy/entities across the barrier of universes/dimensions.

    All traits and techniques then come through the use of one or more of these four / five sources applied at one of three typical ranges: Internal, Aura, or External.

    Most mutants have at least a small hint of all four... arguably, even baselines have a touch of access to all four which provides an explanation for while there can be baseline mages, psychics, Imbued, and so on.

    Obviously, those who get Mage or Avatar traits are heavily drawing on the Magickal and Spiritual powers. but most mutants have some combination of Psi and Spiritual. Psi typically as a means of sensing - you have to be aware of and able to 'contact' a power in order to manipulate it. . And many traits use ectoplasm as an energy/matter source, which is one of the more basic uses of the Spiritual power. Most of the ESP traits, for example, are Psionics - Internal. PK and its variants are Psionics - Aura, and TK and broadcast TP and Emp are Psionics - External. Manifesting... Shifting, Regen, and even Healing... are all applications of Spiritual grabs across the Veil for ectoplasm shaped by Psionic abilities. Energizer and Warper abilties are an application of reaching across planar boundaries to a power source and allowing it to flow into ours... or using that universe's rules to temporarily alter our own within an exclosed range of space/time.

    So, as you see... everyone is either an Exemplar, a Psi, a Mage, or Manifester/Summoner. One way or another...

    :P
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