Kal can see the present capabilities of people. He’s able, with a glance and surprisingly accurate intuition, to figure out what a person might accomplish at that particular moment. It works on any sentient thing, really, but he mostly uses it on humans or mutants. As long as he can see the being he wants to know about, it doesn’t matter how far away or close they are, he can learn something about them. It works mainly via a simplified Q&A routine, wherein he looks at the person, asks what he wants to know, and comes up with the answer. It’s something of a sixth sense, and can be done entirely internally and takes less time than it would were he to ask the question out loud. He already knows his own mind.

He can find out quite a lot, from rudimentary survival skills to languages known to something like mutual acquaintances or what movies they’ve seen, provided he can come up with the right questions. There’s no list of facts readymade that jumps into his head as soon as he’s spotted someone, which is nice, because it doesn’t overload his brain. However, it does mean there’s a slight delay between seeing someone and knowing what they can do. As well, he receives no prompting other than through curiousity or circumstance as to what questions to ask and no more information back than a simple yes or no, and while he doesn’t necessarily need to know specifics to gain answers, he does need them if he wants to know the specifics. For instance, he can readily pick out the one person in a crowd who could accomplish whatever it is he wants of them. Say... Fixing his motorcycle. He doesn’t need to know what’s wrong with the bike or who they are, or how they’d do it. But if he wants to find someone who can get him a new Mikuni carburetor with a 28mm bore size and a 35mm spigot mount so he can fix the bike himself, he needs to know that’s what he’s looking for.

And if he wants to know that someone can speak Tshiluba, he’d have to know the language exists, unless all he’s looking for is someone who can translate for the lady he can’t understand. So, if he doesn’t know something’s possible, the likelihood of his realising that someone can manage it is much smaller than if it’s an obvious skill anyone might have.

Visibility is the main limit to his intuition, as if he can’t see you, there’s no one to ask about. He can’t direct his focus otherwise. The individual in question does not, however, have to be physically present. He could use a reflection of them, or a video, he can ask about people on TV. Visual clarity is not a concern, but still pictures don’t work. The thing he has to remember, though, is that while he might find out that a person is capable of doing something they didn’t even know about themselves, he cannot know what they might be able to do in the future, or what they could do but can’t anymore. People and their abilities change over time, and his intuition does not account for that, so his answers can and will change if the person learns something new or forgets what they used to know. And answering a question on the subject is different from being physically capable of an action. But if he doesn’t ask again, he won’t find out. And if he’s using a video of a person, then the abilities he knows about are from the time of filming, and might not be current. Or at all relevant, if the person in the film is dead...

Even more importantly, whether or not someone can do something has absolutely no bearing on whether or not they will. The nature of his intuition gives him both a better knowledge of what others are inherently capable of, no training necessary, and therefore what they don’t do that they could, which gives him a more cynical outlook on humanity as a whole, but it has also inspired him, and allowed him to inspire others by having faith where someone else might have doubted.

Beyond his intuition, Kal is a relatively average man who’s picked up a few extra tips and tricks from living life. He knows a few languages, though he’s only fluent in English, he has a working knowledge of French, Euskara and Spanish. He’s learned how to protect himself in a fight, though he’s by no means trained in any martial arts. He’s developed rather good interpersonal skills, learning how to read people and intentions and how defuse tense situations, or say just the right thing to catch attention or build up confidence. He’s not above mistakes, of course, but with plenty of practise under his belt, he’s become something of a fast talker, hard to pin down and easy to get along with.

Tell us about when your powers or abilities manifested. How did you accept them? And how did the public react to them?
Manifested, huh? Pulling out the fancy words there and all wasted on little old me. I don’t remember ever not knowing. ‘Course, a baby’s most like t’want someone t’feed it, right, so I don’t figure I had much reason to want to toss my head out and buy me a new one when I was that little. Though, might explain why I never cared for Dad all that much, ha! Nah, see, might give me the odd blazing headache, but it makes it up to me better’n I ever figured sometimes. So, I done myself a favour and didn’t never tell no one, and the times I’ve had folks accusing me’a cheatin’... Hell, I coulda paid my way through college fleecing them poor sheep.

Is there anything, abilities aside, that you are particularly good at?
Talking. You grow up next a brother like mine and you’d be wasting words left, right and centre same’s me. Even know a few different languages, enough t’get by, anyhow. Got a good memory, too, I suppose, names and faces and the things you might get up to, good stuff to keep in mind, yeah.

What is your relationship with your family? Do you have brothers or sisters? Any other known relatives?
Dad’s gone, heart troubles, you know? Crashed the car. Bugger if he didn’t do it so’s to get the last laugh. Mum’s moved back home to the Pyrenees, we don’t keep up with her much. Check in some though, always good t’know she’s still alive, though she don’t want a thing to do with Prhy. Yeah, he’s my brother. Half-brother, if you want technicals, but I don’t much care for making the distinction. Live in the same trailer, it’s his, you don’t care, he does, had to be said with him glaring over there... We’re close enough had folks asking if we’re close, you get my meaning? Ha!

What are your vices or guilty pleasures?
I do like my card games, winning’s a guilty pleasure, and that sugar cereal, whatsit? Toast something... Cinnamon Toast Crunch, that’s it! And Prhy’s cooking, I tell you, if there’s ever you need a reason for me keeping him around, and I know it’s your trailer, quit looking so constipated, you just try one of his samosas, or a bowl a’his baked beans and chips. Good stuff. Speaking of, you staying for dinner? It’s getting on t’that time.

What are you afraid of? Why?
Heh, Prhy there’s a good man to fear in the early hours if you leave your alarm on with him around. I tell you, it’s a sight to wake to, it is. Nightmare worthy. But you want to know what’s real frightening then? Laugh and I swear, Prhy... I’ll give that kid my whistle, just you see I don’t. Alright, I’m not the sort likes thinking hisself a fearful man, y’know, but there’s bits of being lonely give me the willies. It’s a scary thing when you know isn’t no one got your back. My line of work, going it all alone isn’t smart. Never liked being centre stage neither. Somehow it’s a world of difference once the pressure’s on to perform. Stage fright, I guess. And I don’t trust a compliment neither. Dangerous things, go right to your head.

Is there anything you’re particularly proud of?
Anything I’m particularly proud of? Now what sort of a question is that t’ask a man just said what I said? Pride’s self complimenting, isn’t it just! Ain’t interested in tooting my own horn. Next question.

If the choice was presented to you between rescuing someone from a burning building or saving a big bag of money, which would you decide on?
Alright now, first off, I’d like to be knowing what I’m doing in a burning building with the time to be making any sort of choice like that. And ‘less that bag’s got itself one of those fancy money signs just t’be all transparent ‘bout its stuffing, don’t see why I’d be stuck with that sort of decision t’all.

If there was anything you could change about yourself, what would it be?
Well, it wouldn’t be my rugged good looks... What? You don’t think I’ve got a manly enough chin? Ahaha, shoulda seen your face there. Brilliant. ... Oh, alright, straight up, I dunno. Boring ass answer, isn’t it?

Last chance. Is there anything we missed that you would like to talk about?
Are you staying for dinner? Honest to goodness now, Prhy’s been glaring that question at your back this whole time. A simple yes or no afore he explodes’d be nice.

Tell us about when your powers or abilities manifested. How did you accept them? And how did the public react to them?
Manifest? .... Eh, no. Fool born, grow into idiot. First time little Kal cry, like... ice pick? in skull. Learn to live is learn to live with problem. No one care. Cares.

Is there anything, abilities aside, that you are particularly good at?
Cook, clean, fight in ring. Guard. Good guard. Kill loud things.

What is your relationship with your family? Do you have brothers or sisters? Any other known relatives?
Nothing to Mother. Father nothing to me. Enough that he is gone. I have Kal.

What are your vices or guilty pleasures?
Sleep.

What are you afraid of? Why?
Too many words, loudness, touching... Hurts.

Is there anything you’re particularly proud of?
Still alive. Is good.

If the choice was presented to you between rescuing someone from a burning building or saving a big bag of money, which would you decide on?
Throw bag out window, help person.

If there was anything you could change about yourself, what would it be?
Head trouble gone. Sense like yours, not mine.

Last chance. Is there anything we missed that you would like to talk about?
*grunts*

The obvious aspect of Lee’s mutation is the physical differences between his body and most other humans. These differences are his tail, which he can use to swat flies or express his mood or distract little children (painfully…), his ears (also a painful distraction for children), and his horns, which might have grown more had his parents let them and which denote a slight thickening of the frontal bone in Lee’s skull, although his mother would likely say that he’d have a thick head without the horns anyway. Usually, he keeps these physical differences hidden, either through the outright means of covering them, like keeping his tail in his pants, which is pretty uncomfortable, or wearing a long jacket, or keeping the tips of his ears under his hair and growing his hair long so it covers his horns if he leaves it loose.

Or he makes use of a mental power that camouflages him from other peoples’ eyes. In most cases, if the eye does not know what it is looking at, the brain will either ignore the information it’s given or translate it into something it can understand. Lee’s camouflage technique works by encouraging this to an unnatural degree. He has no real control over what another person’s mind will be able to accept, and no way to know for sure what they’re seeing unless they tell him, and he generally prefers not to ask as that defeats the purpose by making them look closer. But usually, the mind opts for something normal, and maybe a little shorter. Something that isn’t different, they can pretend the horns are just an awkward shadow they didn’t quite see properly, that the ears are just a funnily placed bit of hair and the tail might have been a strap from someone’s backpack, a trick of the light or even just that the weird guy’s wearing a cow tail…

Whatever the case, he doesn’t actually make anything invisible, he just makes it seem less interesting, more ordinary, not worth noticing. In most instances, anyone he spends a lot of time with will become gradual aware of the fact that he has horns and pointy ears, but they won’t be surprised by it (unless they are very good at denying things) because they’ve been seeing them all along (although they could be surprised by the fact that they aren’t surprised). And anyone who isn’t bothered by the differences or isn’t looking for a human might see them normally, though they’d likely still be affected by the encouragement to consider it uninteresting whether or not that would be their initial reaction.

The effort of keeping this instinctive camouflage going for days on end is minimal enough that simply remaining healthy, rested and properly fed will negate the effects as they come. Should he get sick or exhausted or in any way lose his health, the effort will become greater the less healthy he is. The first sign would be getting a little shaky, the second would be headaches and fatigue and then it’ll just stop working. As these are general symptoms of most sicknesses he has a hard time noticing them until that point, and the continual use of his power, even after the sickness has passed, can leave him at the same level of health until he actually takes a rest and turns his power off long enough to get all the way better. Luckily, when he takes a sick day he usually doesn’t need to use his power since he’ll be at home, y’know, sleeping.

He can cue the minds around him to an even greater degree if he wants to, and rather than make himself seem unremarkable, he can make himself seem like part of the background. So unimportant that he is beneath notice, and any gaze will simply skip over him. He’ll register on a subconscious level, so that casual movement is possible without drawing any more attention his way, even if he was originally standing still. The mind simply continues to see a shape that was always there, and it wasn’t worth paying attention to before, so it isn’t then either. Of course, the more distracted the mind, the better this works. This greater camouflage is also more wearing on his own mind, and he’ll lose his focus after fifteen minutes and find it harder and harder to concentrate. If he tries to keep it up, the same symptoms as before will show up after about half an hour, but to a greater extent and with less time between. Too long and the headache gets pretty crippling.

It is not an infallible power, as the lower setting does wear off once someone gets used to his differences, and he cannot disappear on anyone who knows he is there, nor will it save him if he makes himself too conspicuous. Also, the more alert or perceptive a mind is, the harder it is to fool. But if a mind does not know what it is supposed to be perceiving it can still miss the obvious. However, neither have any limits as to how many people they can affect when he is making use of them; it merely depends on how many people are looking at him at any given time. Nor does the effect wear off after the person leaves his presence, because he’s not actively fooling them, he’s simply passively letting them come up with their own conclusions which they will not lose just because he’s left the room.

This camouflage also only effects another person’s sight, so touch, sound and scent are still reliable ways of finding out his differences or realising he’s there. And it only works on a sentient mind, so cameras and video recorders and even reflections will all show what he is trying to hide. And it doesn’t work if he is sleeping or tired enough that he ought to be sleeping. It might continue for a little while if he has it active when he starts dozing, but as soon as he falls completely asleep, it will stop.

Appearance:
Standing straight, Lee is 7’1”, though he does tend to slouch a little. His height and its relative proportions are what most people notice right off. Particularly in close quarters and when his power isn’t active. He is not, otherwise, an exceptional sight. He is tall and lanky, with long arms and long legs and the muscle of a man more used to labour than athletics.

The next thing one might notice about Lee is the greater than average amount of hair on his head. It is straight and a light, reddish brown just beginning to grey, and reaches to the middle of his back. He often pulls it back in a braid or low ponytail and does wash and brush it regularly for all it has a tendency to bush out a bit. Two small, pointed, horn nubs, one above each temple, give him a fairly pronounced widow’s peak. He also has a full beard, with more grey in it than his hair, which he trims after it’s reached his collarbone. So it fluctuates between relatively short and long-ish. He will rarely, if ever, shave.

His face, hidden under all this hair, is a friendly one. He has thick, expressive eyebrows over distant green-hazel eyes and a nose prominent enough to poke in other peoples’ business, were he the sort. It’s been broken at least once and mended crooked. When he looks at a person, it is quite clear that he is looking at them. When he gives someone his attention it appears to be, and is, wholehearted and undivided. Lee has a few wrinkles, deep lines around his nose and crows feet about the corners of his eyes. Both his ears are longer and pointier than the average human being. The upper ridge is sturdy enough to support the extra length(about 3”) and the lower edge is thick with short hair from halfway along its length up to a tuft at the tip.

Lee’s frame is slender, and thanks to his height can seem a little stretched, but his shoulders are wide enough to carry a heavy load and he does a horrible impression of a beanpole. The muscle he’s gained from his previous jobs is beginning to fade into fat, particularly about the middle, but he’s remained active enough to retain his endurance, at least, and is certainly no frail, old man. There are callouses on his hands and feet too rough for time to wear away quickly, and he moves with the steady, unhurried gait of a man who knows his strengths and isn’t afraid of his weaknesses. For comfort, as well as to save on tailoring, he quite often wears a wrap in place of pants if he’s at home, but he’s got well-worn jeans and sweats and even one suit stashed away in his closet, with tops to match, and hiking boots that have been all over with him. But he doesn’t like anything too tight to the skin, particularly on his back end as his tail doesn’t appreciate being cramped.

It is a fairly slender appendage, roughly the same circumference as a dollar the whole way down, although the base is noticeably thicker than the tip. The end drags on the ground if he leaves it hanging loose, though he usually has it wrapped around a leg inside his pants or curved up off the ground. It is covered in fine, light hairs that get longer at the end and form a tuft the same colour as his head hair, much like a cow’s. The tail itself is quite flexible, though it certainly can’t tie itself into a knot, and has a mind of its own. Good for sharing his mood, not so great for keeping it hidden.

Lee has no tattoos or piercings and wears accessories only rarely. He doesn’t wear glasses; he doesn’t need them. And his voice is a low bass.

Appearance:
Quite tall in an unfortunately slender way, Matthias is about 6’6”. His proportions seem stretched, his hands too big for his arms and his limbs too thin to offer proper support. He rarely wears short sleeved shirts, or at least keeps a jacket handy, both as cover and to keep more of him warm. The same goes for his pants, no shorts or ¾ lengths, and definitely no sandals. He is almost never too hot, but is probably one of the first to grab his winter layers and the last to put them away. His clothing preferences are a plain, professional look, solid colours and often enough a suit. His one accessory is a wedding band on a chain around his neck. Underneath the clothes, he is exceptionally skinny, to the point of looking starved. It certainly doesn’t help that his ribcage juts and that he has no excess fat or muscle.

His face is angular, with sharp cheekbones and deep set, hazel eyes and sunken cheeks. His hair is black and wavy, curling when it’s short, wavy when it’s past his ears. He doesn’t let it get too long, and fluctuates between preferring it shaved close or at about three inches, or anywhere in between, he really isn’t picky. His eyebrows are relatively thick and flat, which, when combined with an overhanging brow, gives him a pretty good glare. He does need glasses, and has a pair of thick rimmed, black, rectangular frames, but wears contacts almost as often, because he can’t help playing with the glasses when they’re on his face, which is sometimes a bad idea in his line of work. While he does plan on shaving every day, it is not uncommon for circumstances to ruin those plans and leave him with a bit of stubble on his chin and cheeks until he can find enough time to shave uninterrupted, or work up the energy to bother.

His face is relatively expressive, though he’s more often smirking than smiling, and is as likely to use his words as rearrange his facial features to get his point across. He has a tendency to work his jaw when he’s thinking or restraining certain urges to be impolite. Sometimes, this gives him a look of jaw jutting determination or a bit of uncertainty. Other times he rubs the muscles there with a hand. It gives him a thoughtful air, but is more usually the consequence of irritation than contemplation.

Despite, or perhaps because of his height, Matthias rarely stands straight when others are in the room with him. He can, in fact, quite easily be observed shrinking into a slouch when someone comes across him. He certainly doesn’t make himself uncomfortable, nor makes it so blatant that it’s an insult, but he prefers being closer to the height of those he’s interacting with. Unless they annoy him or he should be presenting a more confident demeanour, then he straightens up. Or when his grandfather tells him to. He does usually stand straighter when alone or not conversing. For the most part, Matthias moves and acts as though he’s never in a rush; he doesn’t lag, he just tries not to get hectic even when others are. Unless well worked up, most gestures he makes are more idle than emphatic. And once he’s sat, one can be sure he’ll be staying sat for as long as he can manage. His voice is a low tenor with a slight rasp.

Personality:
To do his job well and keep his clients happy with his service, Matthias needs to be patient, forgiving and calm, willing to make compromises or concessions that always put the client first while standing firm on those points that would get the business on the wrong side of regulations. Thankfully, he’s capable of it, or his grandfather would have been sorely disappointed. But while mild mannered might be a good description of his general attitude, it’s not his default state. For the most part, it is true that Matthias is not very excitable. Really, he seems fairly mellow. Some of this is due to a lack of excess energy, when being loud and aggressively extroverted with his emotions would waste precious resources. Some of it is learned from the habit developed at work. But for the most part, Matthias merely prefers to have good reason to let the lid off his emotions. Otherwise, he can express himself just fine through his voice and choice of words. This does mean that his words often do not seem to match his mood, but he’s not fussed about it. He can get downright vitriolic while looking merely bored. Or be extremely enthusiastic and hardly move.

While he is not afraid to speak his mind, Matthias is also not one to share everything on his mind, and he is an accomplished liar to cover up his secrets. As such, he’s pretty good at shaping his words to suit the situation without completely compromising his freedom of speech in favour of circumspection. He does have a fairly abrasive manner once you get to know him, having a biting inner voice that sometimes gets let out and other times emerges only as a rueful observation. He can be sharp and sarcastic in most of his dealings with people and, outside of speaking with clients – whom he treats with a genuine, though sometimes hard to find, patience and understanding – mixes acerbic observations with straightforward talk. He’s also not afraid to use a bit of derision or pointed commentary to turn the conversation away from any subject he doesn’t want to talk about. It gives the, not entirely mistaken, impression of a defensive man.

This isn’t to say he’s not friendly, but spending any amount of time with him can be a bit of a roller coaster ride if you’re not used to his mannerisms. He doesn’t put his problems on anyone, though he can share them freely if they come up and it doesn’t seem ill-advised, he just doesn’t expect any help with them that hasn’t already been offered. He can and will, however, make himself a problem for anyone else when he’s frustrated enough by what he has to deal with to let it out. A really bad day or something that becomes the last straw in a string of annoyances, irritations or bad luck can see him getting positively explosive, for a short time. In the same vein, while he genuinely likes helping others, and has been known to do so without even being asked every once in a blue moon, he doesn’t like to accept altruistic reasons alone, and usually finds it fairly easy to come up with alternative reasons, or ulterior motives, for doing something nice. It’s not so much embarrassment at the possibility of being caught doing good as it is merely not a notion that suits him. He has a rough sense of humour, and a bit of a different take on things.

People, to him, are merely a mixture of good, bad, and idiotic, himself included, and it’s extremely rare that any one individual will strike him as only one of the three. He doesn’t really bother judging them, just noting what he should expect from them and to what standards he should hold them. If they surprise him, then they surprise him, whether pleasantly or not, and if they never move away from what he’s come to expect, that’s fine too. Matthias, in general, doesn’t react to surprise with the typical start and momentary taken aback freeze, or violent overreaction. Instead, he tends to break into a rough, genial rudeness that he may or may not apologise for later, depending on the nature of the surprise and what he thinks of it. Sometimes it’s almost immediately, and other times he simply backs off and moves the conversation on, he’s not afraid of admitting he was in the wrong or telling someone to bugger off if they think he was and he doesn’t. And he can be extremely stubborn about whatever he feels like being stubborn about, whether it’s not apologising or continuing an old argument for years if it’s not going anywhere to wear the other down or just having a different opinion. If he feels strongly enough about something to take action or resist the tide, it will take an exponential effort to change his mind. Thankfully, for his own efforts, he usually reserves this for things he thinks matter. Others having to deal with him might not be so grateful.

Of course, a certain lack of energy can see his mood shifting more unpredictably than is generally healthy, and though he tries to be aware of those moments and rein himself in, or leave the premises if he can (if his attitude is causing problems people shouldn’t have to deal with), it doesn’t always work out. Sometimes, he’s just fed up enough that he feels if he has to deal with it, others can deal with him and tough luck if they don’t like it. Other times, even aware and trying not to be rude, his words just run away on him. And apologising is harder when he’s cranky. Usually, he just takes his annoyance out in little ways and has, quite often, done something similar in nature to, for example, draining more heavily from a stranger jogging by if they look too energetic.

While Matthias is a generally irritable man, he does have his moments of changing pace. He’s learned how to separate himself from society’s norms by seeing things his way rather than by seeing himself their way, but it’s not foolproof. So, it’s become something of a lifelong challenge for him to fit into society from the outskirts without falling into the trap of conformity. Occasionally, he loses, and ends up feeling unsurprisingly guilty and often despondent over his actions, sometimes even remorseful. When this happens, his defensive wall crumbles more into desperation and justification where usually he’d merely accept what happened as the way of things. Just another part of his life that he has to deal with. His calm breaks far more easily during these moments. When he manages to meet the challenge, Matthias is mannerly, sociable and mostly pleasant to be around. He can never really blend in, being built rather like a scarecrow, but he can slip into being a nice enough man that people don’t pay him any more mind once they’ve gotten over that part. He’ll hold doors open, be a good host, give someone a hand (provided they seem to need it), say please and thank you and excuse me, smile and nod if someone does the same and be overall agreeable, by rote. None of these actions are forced, but they aren’t thought about either. They’re merely habits that may or may not cover up his less friendly demeanour for the short term.

Less habit and more obviously sincere respect is only really found in his dealings with his grandfather or people he has known and liked for a fair amount of time. Even then, it can be hard to tell that he cares except to note that he’s more biddable and easily rattled out of his level mien when they frustrate or worry him. They don’t always get away with more though, since he cares enough to make sure they’re looking after themselves and not getting into trouble. They’re also the people he’s more likely to snap at when he’s reached his limits. His grandfather remains Matthias’ largest source of consternation. They’ve quite a close relationship, but he’s just as stubborn as Matthias, so they butt heads a lot. Around other, traditional, though not familial, authority figures, Matthias varies between ignoring them until they address him to being carefully familiar and always professional. In their case, he doesn’t talk back so much as picks which opinions to voice or agree with. He’s not much of a pushover though, as he’s difficult to intimidate. The harder they push, the less he feels like cooperating, but at least he’s generally smart enough not to push back.

To many, he might seem a little reckless in the company he keeps, but strangers rarely strike him as excessively dangerous, and while he can be cautious, he’s not really concerned for his own safety. Certainly, he doesn’t want to be injured, or killed really, but if it happens, it happens.

Matthias’ one power, out of the few genetic differences he possesses, is that of energy absorption (chemical only). He can draw the energy from living things: plants and animals. He has to, because his body cannot produce it on its own and, without it, nothing would function as it should. His digestive tract is extremely faulty and too slow to absorb even a twentieth of what his body needs on a daily basis. In fact, it will react poorly if he tries to put more than two cups of liquid through it at a time. He can eat solid food, but even just a few mouthfuls will leave him feeling nauseous, anything more will be rejected within the hour; the faster he ate it, the faster it comes back up. Even rich liquids, like milk or pop or heavy soups, don’t stay down easily and often unsettle him, and he’s developed a tendency to feel a little sick just from seeing food, even if he doesn’t have to eat it.

To remain at his peak condition, which is, admittedly, less than average anyway, he should draw steadily throughout the day from whatever sources he can, but as it is a draining experience, especially on the elderly, he ordinarily tries to limit the amount he draws from any individual and is one of those rare few to come out of a crowded event with more energy than when it started, literally, in his case. He can start the process of draining something from almost 5’ away, and can continue the process, though the efficiency diminishes rapidly after 12’, up to 25’ away through the siphon effect. If a person or thing is that far away to begin, he might reach them by working through the closer energy sources towards them via an energy chain. He also cannot begin to drain anything if there is a solid and thick, physical barrier between him and it, something like metal or wood, even thick plastic, but not thin film or cloth. If he’s already started draining, these barriers will diminish the speed and efficiency of the drain, but won’t stop it.

The effects of a drain can range from simple fatigue to chronic poor health to fatality, depending on how much he takes and how long or how often from the same thing. At his worst (skin contact, at his limit of going without), he can kill a healthy adult human within two minutes. Ordinarily, it would take him six. He does have a fairly precise control, even better when he’s touching the thing, but the longer he goes without, the harder it is to moderate once he starts up again. He also has a tendency to slowly start draining from anything nearby if he gets relaxed enough because this power is always active, and is merely held back rather than turned off by his efforts to control it. He can go for up to six hours, or as little as ten minutes, without energy before he starts to feel any terrible consequences. It just depends on how much he started with and how active he is during and before the time when he refrains. The symptoms start with tiredness and shortness of breath a relatively long time before things will get serious as an early warning. Then they move into general muscle fatigue, abdominal pain and numbness or tingling in his extremities. The latter three worsen pretty quickly once they begin, the stomach pain in particular.

If he doesn’t get more energy soon after they start (roughly within the hour), his body will react of its own accord and start absorbing energy from whatever he can reach, whether or not it is something he wants. He won’t be able to stop, though he can slow it a little, until he’s regained the equilibrium every body needs. Unfortunately, this means anyone nearby who attempts to help him would not be safe, nor would anyone who isn’t trying to help. Needless to say, he tries pretty hard to avoid reaching this point. He can absorb some energy from dead things, but only if they are freshly dead, before their cells have a chance to breakdown. Recovery from going too long without energy is a relatively simple process if enough energy is available. The symptoms fade and he’s left to deal with the aftermath. It’s never pretty. If he doesn’t get enough energy, he will die, and that is that.

Apart from the physical reactions, there’s nothing actively visible or sense-able to the casual observer when he’s draining someone. To him, it just feels vaguely, or extremely, invigorating, or as though there’s an empty suction making him listless if he can’t reach anything and is still trying to draw. For whoever he’s draining from, the experience varies, but it would always start with fatigue and then most likely affect the nerves. If the drainee is suffering from health problems, those will probably also be exacerbated.

One added benefit to this power, depending on how you look at it, is that when he drains enough energy at any given time, generally a fatal amount if there’s only one thing available, it boosts his digestive system enough to have it functioning normally for up to half an hour afterwards. The reason this is a questionable benefit is that while his digestion is ornery, he can feel hunger, but not as strongly as were it functioning normally. He would, technically, have died of starvation years ago were it not for his ability to drain energy from others, so when his digestive tract begins working, it is extremely empty and he is extremely hungry. If there’s nothing nearby to eat, he is stuck literally starving. If there is food nearby, he’s stuck having to hold himself back from stuffing his face so he won’t throw it all up anyway.