The Metafield

All superpowers, though coming from diverse origins, stem from a related nature. The hominid brain has a special formation which, when it interacts with others of a compatible make, generates a sort of field, similar to the fundamental fields of physics. This field, henceforth referred to as the metafield, manifests in the material world in a variety of ways based on the hopes, fears, beliefs, dreams, and ideas shared by the human minds which generate it. To the best we can discern, the first hominids with this capacity were homo-erectus, and the ability to generate the meta field increased exponentially with the leap in brain sizes in modern humans.

This field has a tendency to self propagate and a certain ability to coordinate its effects. The earliest manifestations were the gods and spirits of cultures all around the world, which embodied aspects of their respective cultures. These gods could reinforce and reaffirm the belief and hope of their peoples. As major population centers developed, the powers of these gods began to manifest in humans, who became mythic heroes, known throughout their cultures. As human populations exploded and technology advanced, more individual humans attained a greater ability to influence the hearts and minds of many others, and super powers became further decentralized, invested in a range of superheroes rather than a handful of mythic heroes. This transition arguably began in the 1500’s, but its full effects really became noticeable in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, leading to the world wars in Europe, where the concentration of super powers was so great that they determined to subjugate regular humans. When this failed, the golden age of super-heroes began, as supers were seen as paragons and figures of hope. The Irontide, however, changed the course of history, and the public was reminded of the devastation that super-powered individuals could inflict on society. Consequently, more dangerous and ambiguous powers began to arise. The tide was turned once again by the Praesian invasion, when Team Citadel saved the entire planet from potential extinction.

The metafield can manifest in a nearly infinite number of ways. The spirit realms of the various regions are one particularly obvious way, but it also causes shockingly improbable mutations to arise, like the ability to breath fire and super strength. It even creates mutations that aren’t possible under the laws of genetics and biology by constructing paraphysical mechanisms that biology can tap into and draw upon. This is how superintelligent masterminds, psionicists, and those with biologically impossible super strength get their powers.

The metafield generated by humans is like any other field in that it extends out indefinitely, but decreases in influence according to the inverse-square law. As such, it is strong enough that superheroes can use their powers without a noticeable detriment at a distance of 0.767 parsecs (2.502 light-years) and powers will likely remain usable to a distance of 5 parsecs (16.3 light-years). Anywhere humans go there will be some amount of its influence, and depending on the specific powers, the human’s mind might generate more of the field than it needs to run its powers, meaning they will be able to operate anywhere in the universe, though nowhere more effectively than on earth. Geniuses are particularly notable in this respect.

The creations of humanity can also be imbued with potential by this field, allowing for technology which would be impossible or unfeasible to a species beyond the influence of the human metafield. Artificial intelligences are notable in this respect because they can resemble a human mind so precisely as to generate their own hope and belief, making them effectively human in terms of their ability to interact with the metafield. Arsenal and Clarence are notable examples of these. The EUAI are counterexamples. Originally the creation of super-geniuses, the early versions were imbued with potential as an extension of those original supers’ powers, but in each successive generation this effect became less pronounced. The current EUAI would likely be equally functional in any part of the universe, with any species or with none, even should all intelligent life in the universe go extinct. Though they could not have come into existence without humanity, they have surpassed humanity in the most important respect. They even have technology which suppresses the metafields ability to manifest in new ways. Though humans who already have powers will not notice any difference when they try to use their powers in Europe, humans born in EUAI territory are several orders of magnitude less likely to manifest superpowers. Mutation based and spirit-realm based powers have been most prominently impacted, but powers of any type and origin are affected to some degree.