CAPE
One in ten million Human babies is born with special abilities that manifest by age 5. It's completely random who acquires them. (AD Day 27, strip 133)
- The majority have a single ability they excel at. Very few are truly standouts. By themselves, none pose a threat to Lexx. They tend to be concentrated in large cities, and keeping them employed, keeps them out of trouble.
- Since no one knows the source, the Architects are probably the reason. (AD Day 27, strip 134)
ERA and CAPE are at odds with each other. CAPE gets in ERA'S way, and think they can and should be involved in their work. (Which is why it was so serious when Primrose asked for their help.) (AD Day 27, strip 132)
- ERA don't regard them with as much distrust as aliens because regular humans with superpowers are still human. Aliens are always alien and viewed with more suspicion.
They tend to be just like real people and like getting paid... and selling advertisements on their uniforms. Those advertisements, they pay their salary and go into a fund to repair any property they might damage. So they have an incentive NOT TO DESTROY ENTIRE CITY BLOCKS.
- They're greedy and stick to cities and only do things they get paid for.
- They work for the cities they live in, and have no incentive to do things unless there's money in it for them. (AD Day 27, strip 139)
Registered CAPES act as an aid to police, kind of like super-cops. Most, while being superhuman, beyond what normal humans can do, are not to any degree near what Lexx can do. Oh, and they like money. A lot. They're like sports stars. Many won't lift a finger without being paid/ only help as part of their job, some will do what they want, some are criminals, a few reject the system and float around. Their pay comes from their cities, donors, etc, anonymously. Their pay also covers any damages they might cause, so many won't risk their pay on something that might cause serious damages to property, leaving a few who do the real nasty work, despite pay. Justice and Castle are the top for that kind of work. Very few can just walk away from the system, and the others LOVE it when one tries, since they get a challenge in hunting down one of their own. There's only 300 of them in the US.
- They are all registered, if they aren't smart enough to avoid using their abilities in a way where they are easy to detect/parents intervene and see that the system is really restrictive.
- When they are active, it's difficult to leave, because they likely make a LOT of enemies who can cause them a lot of trouble, even if they are disguised, because, truthfully, unless you're wearing a metal suit, someone is going to figure out WHO you are and no amount of glasses is going to throw someone off the scent in this world. There's safety in the system for their families, so leaving that system is almost impossible because you open yourself up to massive liabilities. The hunting down part isn't to death, it's more of bringing someone back who 'owes' the system funding. They're tied up by money and contracts.
- ERA brings up money, because they do feel at least a little entitled to help when people's lives are endangered. And yes, they don't have the funding to pay the high prices that the cities demand to lend out their CAPES. The CAPES do dictate those prices, btw, the city just gets a cut and if they don't want to do anything, they quote really insanely high prices. It's kind of a difficult position all the way around and the CAPES want to be paid extra if they are involved in anything that ERA is doing in their cities. That's the biggest sore spot with ERA. The CAPES are already being paid by their city to cover their city. ERA doesn't see why they should have to pay extra for what CAPES are already being paid to do.
- There isn’t any witness protection type care, because it'd be impossible, thus chaining them into the system. Of course, if you’re never IN the system, nor 'popular', you stand a better chance of being able to do as you wish and fade into the background.
- People like Chill can come and go as they please, because Chill does not look the same when she's not iced over. One of the prominent things I wanted to explore was losing yourself to your persona or being able to separate yourself from your persona. Chill IS her persona, as are most of the ones who are easy to identify, like Justice. Castle just doesn’t really care.
- Like sports stars, you have some who are good with their money and some who give it all away without a thought to what the future might hold if they are killed or severely injured in action. Families ARE actually taken care of to a point, but they are responsible for their own security, often choosing to pool their resources.
One of the more serious things I always think they might consider at some point is who they are outside their abilities. They see the flash and glamour of being a CAPE, but most are only seen by what they can do, not who they are. They might love doing some thing other than their gifted abilities, like Castle. His parents are a doctor and a teacher. He would have liked to have changed lives as a doctor or a teacher, but he's too popular to ever be a teacher and his abilities make him unsuited to being a doctor. They have severe drawbacks equal to every ability. The more I talk about Castle, the more I like him, even though he did not exist prior to this scripting. Justice and Chill did. He didn’t. Castle is powerful, but the cost is that he's not precise, has tremors in his hands, and uncontrollable minor physical ticks when not moving.
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