One of my readers wisely suggested I put together some notes on the characters as a 'refresher.'  So here is a list of the names of the Team, who they were before the Program and who they are in the story now, as well as the abilities they have gained at least up until Chapter 12.  I hope this will help clear up any confusion between the characters and serve as a quick reference guide.

Chapter 12 is finished and will be out a day or two after this is posted and I'm well under way with Chapter 13.  Sorry again for the long pause between the last few chapters.

The Order

Character Notes

I.       THE TEAM

The Team is made up of five couples:

Body (Current /Original Name)                               Mind(Current /Original Name)

Kenneth (Ken) Habersham/Capt. Bruce Dutcher       Bradford (Brad) Wilson/Lt. Alan Wetherson

Bryan Gunter/Lt. Don Elenburg                               Lane Weaver/Lt. Jim Barton

Patrick (Pat) Manning/Lt. James Schrader                Darren Wilcox/Lt. Dan Shogren

Kevin Ayers/Lt. Keith Abrams                               William (Bill) Brennan/Lt. Fred Brennan

Richard (Rick) Crawford/Lt. Paul Tibedeaux            Loy Barton/Lt. Gary Bolin

Notes about the five Physical men (Ken, Bryan, Pat, Kevin and Rick): The doctor made them ‘genetically perfect’ which in essence means they are ‘flawless.’ They are immune to viruses and diseases and their bodies and skin are smooth and blemish free. They are the pinnacle of human physical potential. Their muscle and bone density is nearly four times that of a normal human (hence they weight a LOT). They are roughly four times stronger than a normal human male in good shape. They can bench press nearly 1000 lbs. if pushing themselves. They have a much higher level of oxygen in their bodies to help counteract the muscle and bone density, so they don’t sink when swimming. They are heavy but they have enough natural buoyancy to allow them to tread water without too much effort. Their body fat percentage stays naturally low and they tend to look lean and vascular naturally, similar to a competitive body builder just before a competition. They are large and muscular but not grotesquely so and certainly not super human looking. Their body temperature is about 5 degrees higher than a normal human. They are stunning to look at and always get stares.  They all have a natural charisma and charm about them.

Notes about the five Mentalists (Brad, Lane, Darren, Bill, and Loy): These five have the benefits of physical enhancements, but not to the extent of their partners.  Their minds were altered as well as their bodies. They are immune to viruses and diseases and their bodies and skin are smooth and blemish free. They don’t have increased muscle and bone density or strength, but they all have nearly perfect and photographic memories. Their intelligence is extremely high, with all of their IQs spanning between 160-180. They all keep in excellent physical shape (which was originally necessary before their last transformation due to the physical exams they needed to give to their partners on a daily basis). After their last transformation their bodies are now naturally muscular and they have increased metabolisms, with the same low body fat ratio their physical partners have.  The energy their minds generate needs fuel and they eat as much as their physical counterparts do. Their body temperatures are about 5 degrees higher than a normal human.

Ken and Brad:

Kenneth Habersham:

·        Ken’s statistics: 5’11”, 420lbs. Light brown hair, green eyes, 8 inches cut. Ken has very little body hair – a light dusting on his chest, arms, legs, and under his arms. Ken is a versatile top in the partnership.

·        Ken’s Avatar represents the aspects of Strength, Courage, Leadership, Bravery, Confidence and Inspiration.

·        As with all of the men who represent the Body, Ken is extremely muscular but not grotesquely so. Ken is the strongest of the five ‘Bodies’. After his last Awakening he is nearly twice as strong physically as any of the other four and can lift nearly 2500 lbs. He is also physically tougher (e.g., more resistant to being cut or shot with low caliber weapons).

Bradford Wilson:

·        Brad’s statistics: 6’2”, 245lbs. Light blonde hair, blue eyes, 6 inches cut. Brad is very furry on his chest, arms, and legs, but has no hair on his back or shoulders. He does occasionally trim his body hair but he never shaves smooth. Brad is a versatile bottom in the partnership.

·        Brad’s Avatar represents Wisdom, Intellect, Compassion and Intuition.

·        Brad is the strongest of the Mentalists. He is a master at creating constructs and is the most powerful telepath. He is the only member of the team with the ability to cross The Veil, the curtain that separates the Physical and Spiritual Realms of existence.

Bryan and Lane:

Bryan Gunter:

·        Bryan’s statistics: 6’0”, 425lbs. Light brown hair, green eyes, 8 inches cut. Bryan has minimal body hair and doesn’t trim. Bryan is a top.

·        Bryan’s Avatar represents Life, Healing and Growth.

·        Bryan is tied to the Tree of Life and is now its Protector. He is also the Protector of the creature under the Tree, which is sleeping. If the creature ever fully awakes, it could destroy the world.

Lane Weaver:

·        Lane’s statistics: 5’11”, 235 lbs. Dark brown hair, brown eyes, 6 inches cut. Lane has minimal body hair and doesn’t trim. Lane is a bottom.

·        Lane’s Avatar represents Music, Art, Creativity, Healing and Dreaming.

·        Lane is the Dreamer of the Order and has dreams that either predict the future or show him significant events that relate to himself, the Team, The Order, or The Enemy.

Pat and Darren:

Patrick Manning:

·        Pat’s statistics: 6’0”, 430 lbs. Light Brown hair, brown eyes, 8.5 inches cut.  Very furry on chest stomach arms and legs but not on shoulders or back. He occasionally will trim but not usually. Pat is a versatile top.

·        Pat’s Avatar allows him to see and understand the connection between people and/or objects. 

·        Pat’s mind fills with the understanding of how things work and he can fix or repair almost anything.

Darren Wilcox:

·        Darren’s statistics: 5’10”, 235 lbs. Dark brown hair, green eyes, 6.5 inches cut. Minimal body hair that he doesn’t trim. Darren is a versatile bottom.

·        Darren’s Avatar is unique among all the Team in that he can affect the Physical Realm.

·        Darren can teleport himself or others as well as objects. The limitations are related to his own physical strength as far as objects or people and only in extreme circumstances can he teleport Pat or Ken or one of the other Physical partners; without assistance from Lane or Loy to boost his energy level, he will pass out from the strain. Darren can also heat or cool substances with enough time, and most importantly, although it is a strain, he can rearrange atoms and transmute elements.  This last ability is very dependent on Pat’s Avatar to give him an understanding of the atomic structure of the object he is changing and the atomic structure of what he wants to change it into.

Kevin and Bill:

Kevin Ayers:

·        Kevin’s statistics: 6’1”, 450 lbs. Black hair, dark brown eyes, 8 inches cut.  Very hairy but he keeps himself trimmed. Kevin is a versatile top.

·        Kevin’s Avatar allows him to be a ‘sink’ for mental powers, setting up a small area around himself where psychic powers don’t work.

·        He can narrow the focus to just an individual as well, and in the case of someone extremely powerful he may not be able to completely block their abilities but he can severely weaken them. He can also ‘cleanse’ an object or an area (or a person) of psychic impressions. He ‘resets’ things and makes them new again rather than just erasing or overwriting what was originally there. Lastly, he can make himself or his Teammates invisible or undetectable to psychic perceptions.

William Brennan:

·        Bill’s Statistics: 6’4”, 265 lbs. Brown hair, blue eyes, 7 inches cut. Naturally smooth. Bill is a versatile bottom.

·        Bill’s Avatar allows him to read the psychic impressions/memories of a person, object, or place.

·        If he touches a person he will know everything about that person, and that person’s past up until the time he touches him.  With objects he will know who created it and who has touched it. The more significant the events around an object the clearer the information will be.

Rick and Loy:

Richard Crawford:

·        Rick’s statistics: 5’10”, 425 lbs. Brown hair, blue eyes, 8 inches cut. Moderate amount of body hair. Rick is a top.

·        Rick’s Avatar represents Truth and Freedom.

·        Lies and deceptions tend to unravel around Rick and people have a hard time lying to him or around him. He is an emotional anchor and people tend to trust him. He can make people see and believe the truth about themselves. He can open doors inside people that they have shut or that are normally closed from an emotional perspective, and he can break down barriers that people have put up inside themselves.

Loy Brennan:

·        Loy’s statistics: 6’2”, 245 lbs. Dark brown hair, brown eyes, 7 inches cut. Very hairy but trimmed. Loy is a bottom.

·        Loy’s Avatar deals with Animals and Nature.

·        He can control animals and read their thoughts or emotions, and also Heal them. He can call on Animal Spirits that are waiting to be reborn into the cycle of life.  He can tap into their spiritual energy to gain power and strength for himself and the Team, similar to what Lane does with his music or Bryan does through his Avatar. Whereas Bryan pulls strength from the Life energy of plants and living organisms and creatures, Loy pulls his energy from their spirits (alive or waiting to be reborn).

II.      OTHER CHARACTERS

 
Dr. Aaron Thomas (no known original name) - surrogate father and the scientist who created the process that genetically altered the men into the Nephelem/Human Hybrids. No one is sure how old Dr. Thomas is, but he has said several times that he is at least hundreds of years old.

Albrecht (no other known name) – Dr. Thomas’s lover. Albrecht is older than the doctor but again it has never been revealed just how old he is.

Taliesin – tied to The Order as their Seer and Oracle. The Order bestowed powers (‘Gifts’) on him centuries ago. He can only die once he has passed these Gifts on to his successor, who he believes to be Lane. Although he is forced to serve the purposes of The Order, outside of specific tasks he is free to do what he wants. With The Order hard-pressed for survival, Taliesin has not been contacted for nearly a century and has been hiding from the Enemy in South America. He is random and chaotic and is willing to do anything to force Lane to willingly accept the Gifts he holds so he can pass them on and finally die. He is convinced that death is the only thing that can bring him peace.