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Ever since the dawn of time, humans have constantly adapted to any situation. To live and thrive to the best of their skills and abilities. However, what if I told you that creative thinking and our own enduring spirits weren't the only thing that influenced our lives? What if those stories about mythical creatures and supernatural happenings were real? And aliens? Psh, what is this, some sci-fi story? Eehh, somewhat... but, uh, yeah, there are aliens.

Ever since the dawn of time, humans have always had abilities that far extended the reach of regular beings. Some people call it magic. Others of a religious standing denounce it as mere workings of the devil. However, I prefer to call these special quirks some of us have superpowers.

Tell me, have any of you heard of Superman and his abilities to fly, or heard of Wolverine and how he can regenerate at a swift rate? There is a small amount of humans with these sorts of abilities, at least around one to three percent of the human population. I'm sure all of you are wondering how you might obtain these powers, whether it be through radioactive goop you can swim through, or finding a strange artifact of power.

And let me tell you that the first one will kill you... unless you were born with the genetics to consume or resist the properties that would kill a "normal" human-being. Yes, that's right, genetics! Our scientists at [color=ed1c24][REDACTED][/color] have discovered that, in layman's terms, every human has an off or on switch as to whether or not their powers activate. This means you can have increased speed to the point where you can run across water, or you could easily commune with those who have passed on.

Those people are usually the ones who have influenced the world in some shape or form. Take Alexander the Great as an example. The man was a tactical genius, but what if I told you that was because he had the ability to see into the future, which allowed him to rely on that sight? And the werewolf myth? A bunch of people with the ability to morph into a wolf-like creature got really drunk.

However, that isn't important.

Going back on the topic, the superpowered population is much smaller than the non-powered population. Many people today look on with shock and awe over how a superpowered person would rampage through a city while another would work to stop them. Mayhaps some would swoon upon knowing they were being saved by one of them.

Let me tell you that this world isn't ready to know about the identities of these people.

There is a mixture of amazement and fear that is perpetuated through the system, with myriads of more emotions being commonplace for people who are pro and anti-super. And I'm going to tell you all straight out that I am pro-super. Many government officials and big-wig people are as well. We believe that superpowered humans are the future for us, create a world where someone who can bench-press 20-tons or breathe fire as normal.

Hm? Why don't we just let them know about their identities? Again, pro and anti-super. Some examples would be witch-hunts would take place to try and destroy these people; other times, people would try to bask in their glory and generally interrupt their daily lives. It's a lose-lose situation for both normal people and supers.

There are people out there every day who abuse their powers and end up getting hurt or hurting others. There are people out there every day who don't understand how to use their powers and end up getting hurt or hurting others. We seek to gather up these youths and educate them on how to responsibly use their powers, whilst giving them a chance to live a normal life.

Hm? Why would they want to live a normal life? Do you think fighting "villains" will pay the bills? Well... somewhat, but that isn't the point...

Moving on... hm, what about genetics? Is it possible for superpowered parents to have a non-powered child? Yes, but the chance of that happening is so slim that for every one non-powered child born from superpowered parents there are one-thousand superpowered children born from non-powered parents. You would have to be extremely unlucky under those circumstances.

Hm? Powers manifesting late? Yes, that is definitely common. Usually around the ages of one to four, children will not have access to these abilities. Around the age of five is when these powers start to become evident. The latest age they can manifest is at the age of ten. Once they're eleven, the chance of them not having powers rises up exponentially.

What are the chances? Oh, give or take one-hundred percent.

Hm? Problems about some non-powered people not knowing what to do in this situation when they give birth to a superpowered child? We have trained agents, as well as other supers who work in finding these individuals and talking them through it, as well as talking to the child about their gift.

Huh, what's this about artifacts? Ah yes, I did mention them earlier. Artifacts, an electrically powered heart, tomes, items of power, et cetera can give a regular person superpowers without the need to flip the on switch for genetics. We call these things "Conduits."

... and if you're thinking what I think you are thinking, then yes, they do lose their powers if they do not have access to a Conduit.

Anyways, before I go on to talk about our organization, does anyone have any more remaining questions? No? Alright then.

We are ATLAS, a huge, multi-trillion dollar company dedicated to educating that the youths of today and tomorrow over how to properly handle their abilities and live proper lives as human-beings. While our major function is to prepare superpowered children for the real world, we have other tasks as well, such as regulating and stopping those who might abuse their powers, seeking new candidates to attend one of our prestigious academies, etc.

Now, before I end this announcement to all the new staff members here at Palladium Academy, do you all have any questions remaining questions?