From the Introduction If you had an origin as a superhero, how would you know that you had gained a power? How would you know what that power was, or how far it could go? If superheroes really existed, what would the government do - and what would they do to each other? How would everyday people react? The World of the Taint The Taint seems to have always existed. It may be a natural part of the evolution of humanity. The Taint may be the result of an experiment, but the authors of the experiment are described variously as: 1) aliens, 2) devine beings meddling in human affairs, 3) mutated humans who have moved to the next step of natural with trans-human abilities, 4) the result of increasing contaminants in the environment, and/or 5) a genetic technology developed by a secret society hundreds of years ago and applied as a control device on the general population. Some of these may be true. The world of the Taint is very similar to ours, with a few chilling exceptions. In this world there are traditions, rumors, myths, legends, lies, cover stories and warnings about people who aren’t really human — they are more than they seem. Some say those with the Taint are children of Cain, marked and cursed by the Almighty. Some think they are mutations who have no control over their trans-human abilities. Some people believe the Taint is a great Gift, bestowed on selected individuals to save humanity. Some people think they are aliens and should be destroyed as soon as they are discovered.