Outliers

*They aren't humans. They're freaks, aberrations...Outliers*
—**Colonel Steele**
An **Outlier** is a human being with special traits or abilities dubbed *Variants*, commonly known as "super powers" by the media and general public.

## History

### Origin

Nearly sixty years ago a new star was discovered. This star's appearance was unexpected, and in an effort to better understand it the various countries scrambled to send their own respective rockets and satellites to analyze and study the star. These efforts were made to rocket their nations to further heights of fame, each one vying to take credit for any discovery, and each nation was met with disaster. The star seemed to emit a strange energy that made studying it remotely virtually impossible. Those in power believed that with the proper tools this energy could be harnessed and utilized as a new source of power. As remote studying was proving inadequate they began dispatching astronauts specialized equipment, they learned the energy was destroying whatever drew near, taking the lives of the many astronauts sent to their untimely demise. As the nations scrambled to try to find a way to study the star their efforts were eventually rewarded with the realization that the star was emitting energy not dissimilar to that of a dying star; this new star was preparing to go super nova.

Given the star's proximity to the Earth the results of the explosion were estimated to be apocalyptic. For the first time in years, the world was united as nations banded together, panic swept over the planet. The people took to calling the star Panacea, the solution to all things, a bleak and morbid outlook on the impending end of the world. This crisis propelled technology forward by several decades from the efforts put forth to try and save the world from destruction. No invention, no plan, no level of technology was ever enough. The many simulations ran all still ended the same; with Earth's demise.

The reading of the energy became stronger with each month, each year until reaching critical levels, seen almost like a second sun from the Earth. A doom's clock was made counting down to the estimated time of their destruction. When the clock reached 0 and the star exploded in a blinding flash of light, yet surprisingly nothing else transpired. There was no destruction, no deaths. While no one understood why they had survived they were all thankful that they were alive. A year later on the eve of the star's destruction, around the world something strange happened as people began sporadically transforming and displaying special abilities. There seemed to be no pattern to who developed these strange abilities. The various nations and governments took to calling these powers *Variants* and those who wielded them **Outliers**.

#### Cure

Currently, there is no known cure to permanently remove an Outlier's ability and return them to being a normal human. The government has developed various equipment and containment cells that block and suppress abilities temporarily however.

## Overview

When studying those revealed to be Outliers they learned that when comparing their medical files prior to their transformation and after, they were changed on a fundamental and cellular level. The brain activity of an Outlier also appeared to be far greater than an average person. This output doesn't make an average Outlier any smarter than their normal counterparts. There is much debate and controversy revolving around them, spoken about in great lengths through the media. There are some who believe that Outliers abilities come from the untapped latent ability in every human, as humans are believed to only have access to a small fraction of their brain's capabilities. There are some fanatics who believe them to be divine beings, where the debate in religious circles are divided between those perceiving them as demons, others see them as angels sent by God.

### Terminology

The term Outlier refers to a person or thing that is atypical within a particular group, class, or category. In this case, it refers to special humans different from the standard human being.

## See Also

* Appearances of Outliers
* Race Gallery: Outliers