Not my usual writing, but I've been thinking about a more 'supernatural*' AU of House of Ashes (*NOT the TV show)
Quick rundown: there are more supernatural elements in this world, and some people are affected by it in lots of different ways. The origins of these 'powers' are unknown, and the passing down of these traits is not well understood as they are extremely uncommon and not known to the public beyond 'yeah he's a bit weird. Just ignore it'.
These 'powers' are usually small or easily hidden. In rare cases, they present themselves physically and/or they can be controlled.
Rachel King. She has plenty of experience with 'powered' or otherwise called 'affected' people, despite having none herself. In charge of the team because of her experience and meant to report any affected issues to higher authority. Doesn't unless it jeopardizes the team.
Nick Kay. Not affected. Didn't know anything about it until he was in the military, and sometimes forgets about them. Generally chill with seeing/hearing about peoples affects. First spoke to Rachel because he wanted to know more about them and they grew closer over time.
Nathan Merwin. Not affected. His sister had a minor affection, and later passed away due to health complications. Used to the usual oddness of affected people, despite his abrasive attitude.
Joey/JosΓ© Gomez. Minorly affected. Has a mild danger sense which is inconsistent but never wrong when it goes off. It feels like somebody has attached a rope to the vertebra in his neck and pulls on it when he is about to be in danger. Extra superstitious because of it, and generally follows superstitions. Despite Merwins attitude, they became good friends and Merwin (usually)knew when to take it seriously. Your Mom jokes were another superstition between them. When Merwin looked back at the helicopter the sense went crazy, and he almost knew that he was going to die.
Clarice Stokes. Not affected. Still getting used to affected people as she has not worked with many, and did not know about them until she was in the military. She is very used to Eric's mannerism of using cardinal directions over any others like 'behind you' or 'on your left'.
Eric King. Averagely affected. Part of his brain is attuned to the Earth's magnetic field, so he has his own internal compass, and can always tell cardinal directions. He can also feel altitude differences. Averages within 5 ft of altitude guesses. (ex. he guesses/can feel that he's around 50 ft below sea level, although he could be a few feet higher or lower than his guesstimation.) While inside of the ark and as they approached it his internal compass went crazy, and almost lost its pull all together. This freaked him out quite a bit.
Jason Kolchek. Highly affected. Capable of teleportation through means of disassembling his atoms and reassembling them elsewhere. It is extremely difficult to do and requires focus. It is also extremely dangerous due to the fact that he can accidentally pick up other atoms along the way, or lose his own(Will not teleport once he knows that he could pick up alien/vampire atoms/cells/DNA). He must consciously put each atom back where it belongs. After practicing, he learned how to keep his cells together to make reassembly easier. He cannot spend longer than 30 seconds without becoming solid again due to the memory issues. His memory slowly fades away the longer he is apart, and he will forget how to reconstruct himself after too long(60+ seconds). At thirty seconds he may forget where he was going, or what he was doing. Memory is restored once he re forms. If his memory was not affected, he could remain apart indefinitely. He can take items with him, but prefers not to unless it is something he is familiar with, such as clothing. Radios and other technology are significantly harder to put back together. Will only use in case of emergency, because he may leave anything extra, like his kit, behind. Will not teleport other people, non-negotiable. Must know where he's going, because he cant risk taking too long to search for his destination.
(TL;DR: Jason can teleport but it isn't safe or reliable, and requires him to know where he's going+rebuild himself and anything brought with him from an atomic level, therefore not useful in escaping the temple.)
Salim Othman. Lightly affected. Unaware. Is normally good with directions, but he can also 'feel' where 'home' is. Knows where Zain and his house are, despite being far away or lost. He chalks it up to military training due to the faintness of it. It is nothing more than a brush, unlike Eric's constant pull or Joey's tug. Otherwise not aware of affects.
Dar Basri. Not affected. Doesn't believe in the affects, or powers, similar to how he doesn't believe in the vampires.
Not sure of the plot yet, but I can't imagine much would change too much in the base game. Maybe they theorize that the vampires came from an ancient affect that mutated? Possibly an argument between Eric and Jason, because Jason refuses to teleport out (For many legitimate reasons). Eric becomes more irritated after loosing his compass because he feels like he's loosing control.
Explanation of affection levels:
Not affected: 0 Affects. affects cannot be developed later in life, but may be dormant until certain criteria are met. (ex. Joey couldn't feel danger until he understood what danger was. Started feeling it around 5-6 years old)
Lightly affected: Very few indicators of affects, easily brushed off or hidden even from the affected. Not likely to be recognized unless the affected knows that it is there.
Minorly affected: Small affects that are usually inconsistent or not very strong. (ex. sometimes Joey knows when he's about to stub his toe, but not when he's about to get shot. He can also miss the sense if he's distracted). Also possible to brush off, but is more prominent to the affected.
Averagely affected: More present in the affecteds life, noticeable difference if it disappears or changes. (ex. the ark disabling Erics internal compass) Usually not shared by the affected once they learn that it is not normal to have. The affected cannot control the affect.
Highly affected: Any affect that physically affects the person beyond disorientation if an affect is interfered with. Physical traits are most commonly high affections like sharp teeth, webbed fingers, or other physical distortions. Includes affects that can be controlled by the affected, such as retracting claws, night vision, or physical distortions(ex. Jason deconstructing and reconstructing, or a person being able to create more joints in a limb)
