The Wonders

Description

The Wonders are a small subset of Exploiters with particularly potent abilities. While the average Exploiter is capable of, for example, manipulating a single individual's thoughts so that they align with the manipulator, a Wonder with the same Exploit would be able to manipulate multiple individuals at once. That said, most Wonders have Exploits that make them difficult to contain and are often too temperamental to be of significant use to the Organization or other super hero teams. As such, most Wonders prefer to work in solitude although occasional co-operation with other organizations is not unprecedented for them.

To date, there are a total of thirteen Wonders across the United States of America, with their hypothetical global population being approximately two hundred. As the Organization primarily operates out of North America, this document will solely focus on the Wonders that inhabit that particular country.

History

The first individual to be classified as a Wonder was Milly Brown, superhero alias "Mrs. Universe". Brown's first documented utilization of her Exploit was on 14 February 2004, wherein she inadvertently eviscerated her then partner during coitus. It is hypothesized that the intense emotions Brown felt during the interaction is what led to the inadvertent activation of her Exploit, although it is unknown whether or not Brown had utilized her Exploit prior to this.

Brown's overwhelmingly poor control of an otherwise incredibly powerful Exploit during her initial utilization of it has led to her false classification as an Anomaly. With time, however, Brown exhibited far greater control over her Exploit. She was, by her late twenty's, able to manifest the Cosmic Background Radiation through nigh-infinitely condensed particles and waves, allowing her to accomplish such feats as; flight, teleportation, invulnerability, and functional immortality.

While Brown's origins as a Wonder are filled with misfortune, the same cannot be applied universally.

In the years following Brown's classification as a Wonder, the Organization was successfully able to identify twenty-six other individuals that were an adequate fit for Wonder designation. These individuals have uniquely powerful Exploits that they utilize either passively or actively in their daily activities. While many of these Wonders have taken to fighting crime and working in conjunction with other superhero teams, the majority of them operate in isolation. To date, six of the thirteen Wonders are considered superheroes by the United States government, three are considered supervillains, and the remaining four are totally independent operators not fit for either superhero or supervillain classification.

Milly Brown was first contacted by the Organization after a reported incident of her using her Exploit to interfere with a bank robbery. After Brown captured and obliterated one of the three armed robbers in a brief altercation, Organization officers embedded in the police force confronted her about the utilization of her Exploit. Although she initially refused to co-operate with the Organization, she would eventually work for the Organization for approximately six months before defecting and joining The Aegis, where she would remain in operation to this day.

In the decades following Brown's initial manifestation of her Exploit, twelve other individuals would manifest a powerful Exploit of their own, almost in-turn. It is unknown whether or not Brown's initial manifestation of her Exploit led to the manifestation of the other twelve, or if every Wonder acquired their ability independently around the same time through shear coincidence. To date there is no evidence to link Brown to the other Wonders other than their Wonder classification.

General Capabilities

While every Wonder has a unique Exploit, they all seem to posses the same secondary and tertiary Exploits that they are able to use subconsciously. While not nearly as potent as their native Exploit, each Wonder is capable of utilizing a currently unknown and impossible to re-create set of additional Exploits. All Wonders posses extreme degrees of regeneration, proving nigh impossible to terminate with conventional or unconventional means, as well as functional immortality.

Additionally, as seen in Brown, whose Exploit manifested forty years prior to the writing of this document, Wonders do not age and are biologically immortal. That is to say, a Wonder cannot die from old age. With the added benefit of superior regeneration, termination of a Wonder is nigh-impossible with currently available technology, weaponry, or Exploits.

Wonders that have worked with the Organization are equipped with basic knowledge of hand-to-hand combat, basic arms training, and CPR. While the Organization has only worked with six of the thirteen Wonders, it is safe to assume that, based on gathered combat data, the other Wonders are capable in melee and armed combat as well.

Categorization

On the Richter's Power Scale, all Wonders score a fifteen for their native attribute of their individual classifications. Their latent affinity scores are range between ten and fifteen on the RPS as well. Unlike conventional Exploiters, a Wonder's RPS score will not change, as their natural affinity with their powers make them unable to. As fifteen is the highest one can score on the RPS, Wonders cannot improve their scoring either, regardless of experience or training with their Exploits.

While it is possible for a non-Wonder to manually enhance their capabilities to the Wonder level, it is not possible for a non-Wonder to become one due to their latent affinity score. There are many pseudo-Wonders in America, and possibly more across the globe.

The following is a comprehensive list of all thirteen Wonders, their classification, their alias, as well as a brief description of their Exploits.

Superhero Wonders

Milly Brown (Mrs. Universe) [Emitter] - Cosmic Energy Projection

Michael Birchby (Adamantine) [Brute] - Invulnerability and Enhanced Strength

Nicholas Costa (Guardian) [Mover] - Flight and Enhanced Durability

Edward Warner (The Based God) [Constructor] - Highly Durable Construct Creation

Christine Seoung (Tacheon) [Manipulator] - Matter manipulation

Sarah Gein (Titan) [Thinker] - Psionic Capabilities

Supervillain Wonders

Miguel Black II (Black Star) [Emitter] - Solar Energy Manipulation

Chris Anacleto (Plague) [Puppeteer] - Control over pests

Elisabet Nowinski (Ghost) [Changer] - Intangibility

Independent Agents

Hyun-Ju Cho (Mind Breaker) [Master] - Passive Mental Influence

Katherine Solanova (Cognitohazard) [Master] - Amygdala Manipulation

James Garner (Screamer) [Enhancer] - Auditory Manipulation

Clara Eubanks (Oracle) [Thinker] - Precognition

Known Conflicts

Wonders are humanoid, and thus prone to human emotions, conflicts, and relationships. As the number of hero aligned Wonders is double the number of Villain aligned Wonders, only three arch-rivalries are recognized by the Global Security Aliance.

Christine Seoung and Chris Anacleto Their rivaly started in 2023, four years prior to the writing of this document, over the utilization of Exploits on living organisms. While Anacleto had no issue utilizing his Exploit on living organisms, Seoung took particular exception to this. Seoung vs Anacleto, a civil court case held in the summer of 2024, the court ruled in favor of Seoung, citing. After the ruling, Anacleto would attempt to bring Seoung back to court on numerous occasions prior to his classification as a supervillain, but after a final legal dispute in 2025, Anacleto would cease all further communication with Seoung outside of their interactions in the field.

Milly Brown and Miguel Black II Their rivalry started circa 1980 due to an alleged disagreement about the utilization of their Exploits. While Brown believed that using Exploits to facilitate the lives of others was just and fair, Black opposed, claiming that their Exploits set them apart from ordinary individuals and should be used for the Exploiter's personal benefit. Their years of conflict and legal battle would eventually lead to the creation of the Global Security Alliance and the establishment of Tartarus, a super-prison built to contain even the likes of Miguel Black II. While Black never saw the inside of Tartarus, the Global Security Alliance would legally declare him a supervillain in 2005 and attempt to confine him there as soon as construction was completed.

Sarah Gein and Hyun-ju Cho Their reivalry started in 2020, after a heated debate on the utilization of their Exploits on people. While Gein believed that only criminals and villains deserved to be manipulated psionically, Cho, who had very little control over her Exploit at this point, saw no difference between using her Exploit against civilians, villains, and heroes alike. The debate escalated to the point where a city block was on the brink of civil war due to the usage of their exploits. For unknown reasons, the Global Security Alliance would side with Gein, branding her as a superhero while Cho was labeled as a supervillain. The labels only escalated their rivalry further. To avoid another conflict, Gein would avoid Cho as often as she was able in the years to come.