Marks

Marks are genetic effects that manifest as a “tattoo” or birthmark on the affected individual’s skin and allow the individual access to certain superhuman powers that affect approximately 3 to 5% of the population. Marks are a direct result of The Flare, a solar flare that occurred in 1980 that caused solar radiation to enter our atmosphere, and were subsequently discovered and named by Dr. Adam Solomon. Marks affect not only humans, but plants, animals, and even insects. A Mark appears on an individual since birth, is a solid color in design, and can appear anywhere on the body. No one is born with an innate mastery over the ability granted through a Mark, though Marked individuals are usually born with an understanding of how their power works. Marks are known to be genetic, but the uncommon occurrence of a Marked being born from normal parents and a Marked couple having a normal kid is not unheard of.

Origin

Marks occurred as an effect of the Solar Flare of 1980, known colloquially as the Flare. The Flare was a particularly intense emission of radiation from the Sun's atmosphere that then affected our atmosphere and irradiated certain people's DNA, causing tattoo-like marks on people's bodies to appear as well as superhuman abilities. Dr. Adam Solomon was the first person to ever use the word 'mark' to refer to this phenomena, albeit not as a proper noun at the time, in a published report a week after the incident as he observed it from a coronagraph, as well as reporting the ability granted to him in the event: technopathy. The instability of the emergence of Marks that the solar flare caused was felt throughout the Land, and it's only after this period of chaos that further studies into understanding the nature of Marks were able to completely hold ground.

Behavior

There are certain rules to how Marks work and function that have been theorized and discovered by various scientists over the years.

Genetics of Marks

The first and most important fact of Marks is how they work. They are genetic, but there is no 'Mark' gene. Rather, what is passed down from Marked parents to their Marked children is the specific way their genes are irradiated, slight 'errors' and mutations within the way their chromosomes are built are then passed down to children. Remnant traces of the original radiation from the solar flare exists in our atmosphere still, which can cause random mutations of Marks to happen to a child of unmarked parents. The irradiated genes can also 'skip' a generation, in the sense that they may not express in an unmarked parent, but in the specific transfer of genetics that happens within the next generation could cause those irradiated genes to express a Mark on the child. It is believed that most people in the Land, even unmarked, have trace amounts of the radiation within their own genes, which can also caused unmarked people to have Marked children. The specific way that Marks effect genetics was discovered by Dr. Solomon in 1985, and had been honed and further specified over the years.

Visual Style

Another behavioral point is the rules of how Marks actually look. Marks are made up of abnormal blood vessels and skin pigment cells caused by the irradiated DNA, nearly identical to how birthmarks are formed under normal conditions. Marks will appear at birth, and will always be one solid color, though do not have to be one solid shape. They have also been reported to appear anywhere on the body. These theories of the visual distinction of Marks and the importance of their designs were first put forward by Dr. Nanami Nakai in 1986, a pediatrician and obstetrician who put forward a study after the examination of many Marked newborns.

Beyond Humans

Building off of what Dr. Solomon found about the radiations effect on human genetics, biologist Dr. Avelina Hirschel found that the radiation affects more than just human genetics in a very similar way. She was one of the first to publish a study about Marked plants, animals, and bugs in 1987.

Innate Understanding Principle

A huge breakthrough in how Marks work was made by Dr. Solomon working in concert with various psychologists and neurologists in 1988 when a study group found that Marked individuals had an innate understanding of how their Mark works from birth, developed alongside other basic motor and survival skills like walking and pattern recognition. Although, this does not extend to knowing how to use your Mark perfectly, just that you understand what your power can do on a basic and instinctual level.

Mark Adaptation

Another one of Dr. Solomon's hypotheses when it came to Marks was made in concert with his frequent academic partner Dr. Raphael Payne: given that marks are influenced by their environment, including the body that the irradiated genes inhabit, changes within the environment and body can effect and change the Mark. On the simple, most basic level, this means that Marks can be trained to be better, as with more use will change the body and the Mark's power itself. But both Solomon and Payne thought that this principle could go beyond that-- that Marks themselves could change and almost evolve through different means and changes within a body. This was a controversial theory to have at the time, but time has proved it true: Marks have been seen to change. One example being Boss's Mark used to appear as an olive branch, and now with the change in use case of the Mark, has become more of a spiked branch. Another being Flipswitch's Mark having been changed by Mark enhancement experimentation.

Mark Devolution

Dr. Solomon also had several theories pertaining to how Marks could change in the future around when he died. The first more established one being that Marks are going to devolve over time-- the further from the initial event of the solar flare, the less concentrated the pure radiation is going to be in the genes, meaning less powerful Marks or shifts in how Marks work altogether. This has been proven true, to a degree, as Marks of high power have become less and less common over the years, and Marks themselves have gone to being more complicated and complex and less straightforward than the Marks of the 80s and 90s.

Marked Circuits

His other theory that he never quite got to finish before death was on something he called 'Marked Circuits'. This was the idea that Marks were a technology that could be applied and connected to achieve something that one marked individual couldn't on their own. The theory was rudimentary and with little thought behind it, as he didn't get to complete it before he died, but there has been some examples of simple circuits seen with superhero teams throughout the years.

The Tenet Level System

Created and named by Dr. Adam R.A. Solomon in the year 1989, the Tenet Level system categorizes marks into one of 5 categories: Tenet, Opera, Rotas, Arepo, and Sator. Named after the Sator square, the 5 categories reflect different levels of power that a Mark can have, and how easily a Mark could be countered or controlled. This classification system is still used today by Cytopia in Mark registration processes.

The highest level of power is the Tenet level. Tenet level Marks are categorized by the ability to reach an undefinable upper limit of power in that Mark’s specific power. These Marked individuals could perhaps still be stopped, sure, but there is no way to effectively combat their Mark ability as it is currently known. Interestingly enough, Tenet level Marks seem to have become rarer and rarer as time has passed.

The second highest level of power is Opera level. Opera level Marks allow a Marked individual a fairly high level of power with near complete control and little drawbacks, but still including some fundamental fatal flaw in its power that can be exploited in countering it.

The third highest level of power, directly in the middle of the scale, is Rotas level. Rotas levels are strong Marks that have a bigger drawback to being used or more easily exploitable weakness.

The fourth highest level of power is Arepo level. These are marks that can be used combatively, and have the ability to do damage on some level, but are relatively weak and not extremely useful.

The lowest level of power is the Sator level. These marks are generally completely non combative and useless and have no potential to cause harm or damage in any sense of the word. The Marks are either just cosmetic or without any practical use.