POWERNAUT 2005!

All the links here can be found under http://www.eilertech.com/stories/ .

The previous Powernaut 2005 strips mentioned a severe and ongoing reality shift. (ref: "Humans of the Earth", 2005/humans.htm) People wished their dead relatives back to existence during that shift. Wyatt Ferguson had disappeared (ref: "Over the Mountain", 2005/after.htm#mountain), so his brother and sister wished him back. But the original Wyatt was still around - shape-changed into Karl Scribner!

Karl is bigger than Wyatt, and has a beard. Karl gained the weight through bodybuilding. (ref: "The Boys of Passover", 2004/passover.htm) He must have always wanted the beard. He was indifferent about his relatives; I never heard him admit he *had* any. But Karl's relatives must not have felt the same way, because they wished back a Wyatt who loved his family!

I saw all the clues about Karl: He's the same age as Wyatt. He has fighting skills like Wyatt. He likes voice commands at his computer, just like Wyatt did. He usually dressed differently, but his only dress shirt and tie were the same style Wyatt preferred. And someone claiming to be Wyatt had also claimed he secretly changed shape to become a FERG employee. (ref: "FERG Letter", 2005/me2005.htm#april) But Karl renounced all the stuff Wyatt had done. I didn't think Wyatt Ferguson would change himself so thoroughly to hide among us.

All the links here can be found under http://www.eilertech.com/stories/ .

I've always admired Wyatt Ferguson. He does not appear to be powerful, yet he is one of the elder and respected members of the superhuman community. Even Ellipsis regards Wyatt as his *primary* rival. (ref: "Picture the Future", 2004/politics2.htm)

Wyatt's real skill is humility. So his power escapes the notice of cosmic powers. But Wyatt's real power is connection. He's connected to reality in a way that even the world's most skilled mages can only dream about. He draws upon superhuman powers at need, but shows restraint. He's known to have done these things:

• Wyatt's lived in different universes. Many of his adventures happened among superhumans we only recognize from comic books. (ref: "Me in the Marvel Universe" me.htm) He still walks the universes at will. He sometimes uses that like a teleportation power to move quickly within our own universe.
• Wyatt's family has superhuman powers in its blood. The blood is sentient. So it has its own idea of how much to cooperate with him. When it cooperates fully, Wyatt becomes one of the world's most powerful superhumans. (ref: "With Great Power Comes Great Irrelevance", power.htm) Even otherwise, Wyatt often gets random superpowers to survive the things that happen to him. For instance, in 2002 he time-traveled to 2022 and then survived the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. (ref: "Make It Never Was", neverwas.htm)
• Wyatt can store some of his powers in objects. His trenchcoat and his favorite walking sticks all help him fly, and his car can track people. (ref: "As Above, So Below", asabove.htm)
• Wyatt has been connected with cosmic powers. For instance, in the 1990s he was a Champion of Death. (ref: "Deputy Champion of Death", wave3.htm#death) He's not exactly a mage, but the greatest mages of Earth still consult with him. So do governments. (ref: "DuoPolarity III", duopol3.htm)
• Wyatt used to *exploit* the things that happen to him. He's been quiet recently. But in 2003 he *became a galactic power*. (ref: "With Great Wealth Comes Great Power", wealth.htm) He then *built an interdimensional alliance*. The multiverse still shudders at the mention of LXMF. (ref: "League of Extradimensional MightyFriends", lxmf.htm)
• During Wyatt's omniversal adventures, he met *and merged with* several of his alternate selves. He has learned something called the Hyper-Body Hyper-Transfer Protocol to do this. (ref: "Pentahedron", 2005/pentahedron.htm#hbhtp) This explains how he can merge with Karl. He has also *un-merged* on occasion. This explains how he lost his motivation to build trans-universal alliances.

In short: Wyatt is mild-mannered. But if he really wants to do something, the superhuman community pays attention.

All the links here can be found under http://www.eilertech.com/stories/ .

Before the latest reality shifts, our Earth had a full spectrum of superheroes and other superhumans. Now, the Earth is apparently what it would have been without them. The U.S. President is the son of our President Bush, because his father didn't resign after invading the Bahamas in 1996 to root out superhumans. The technology is less-developed here; the superhumans in some of the island nations drove some advances.

• The most powerful superhuman was Ellipsis. He disappeared in January 2005 - the same time Wyatt Ferguson did. (ref: "Over the Mountain", 2005/after.htm#mountain) He was in a universe which claimed to govern other universes - and he was *governing* there. So he could be anywhere now - and most other heroes would oppose him if he reappears here. Except...
• The other heroes disappeared *just before* the most recent reality shift - the shift which changed the U.S. President from Rodham to Bush. (ref: "Humans of the Earth", 2005/humans.htm) We still don't know where they are.

All the links here can be found under http://www.eilertech.com/stories/ .

Our history is full of attempts to mystically change it. But 2005 is special because the Space Jellyfish really did. And then they announced it. (ref: "Humans of the Earth!", 2005/humans.htm)

After that, trying to wish reality changes became fashionable. The most nearly successful attempt by mankind in 2005 was the "Party 'til the World Obeys". (ref: Powernaut 2005 Episode 2) But there were many copycat attempts. The Powernaut himself investigated one of those.