'Energy/Devices Blaster'
Physically, Alfred Bester is pretty much completely normal. He is not particularly strong, nor especially fit, nor resistant to damage. Whilst he shows a remarkable inability to become ill, this has not been medically, scientifically, or clinically confirmed. Therefore, he relies heavily upon his powers, technology, and gadgets for his survival in combat - though he can throw a reasonable punch, to be fair.
His mind, however, is a different matter, and displays extensive differences from the norm - although all of his abilities would be appear to be simply latent in many humans, and not yet activated. His abilities consist of the following:
[u]Telekinesis[u]
Represented in-game with energy blasts (for the knockbacks), his primary heroic ability comes from his telekinetic powers. It varies in precision and strength, from the tiny movements of sub-atomic particles to create a 'teleporting' effect (see below) to his flinging around of villains to flinging large groups of opponents around - and even, at one point, managing to lift a Kronos Titan, albeit with much help. When his abilities are used to such a raw level, 'psychic residue' is created, leaving blue-white trails which have no physical substance but are interpreted visually by the minds of observers. Therefore, what appears to be 'energy blasts', like the glow of his eyes and head, do not show up on camera or to robots.
His telekinetic abilities have other uses, too. He is able to levitate objects, including himself and others, enabling him to, for all intents and purposes, fly. He is able to create invisible, one-way telekinetic barriers and shields against matter, though spreading force out over even a marginally larger area weakens it exponentially compared to his attacks. In combat, this ability is used more like a directional shield than a bubble, though with effort 'bubbles' and other shapes can have barriers created in their image. This has the OOC purpose of partially explaining why he can survive being shot, stabbed, smashed, and zapped so much without dying.
Molecular Dissassemblement: Alfred is able to, by sub-atomic telekinetic manipulation, disassemble and re-assemble objects and people on the molecular level, holding them safe for re-assembly with mental willpower. The primary function of this is to effectively 'teleport' others, though he is also able to do it to himself - for example, to get through a normal locked door without damaging it. However, objects and people cannot be held indefinitely disassembled, and must be reassambled within a few seconds to avoid a dissipation.
[u]Telepathy[u]
Alfred is primary an involuntary receptive telepath. For the most part (of course with exceptions, as some have different circumstances which either conceal or remove their surface thoughts), he hears the surface thoughts of those around him. Whilst this is of theoretically infinite range, in reality, this ends up being about normal speech-audible radius to be able to hear anything 'loudly' enough to understand it.
This is due to what Alfred has dubbed as the 'spheres of concern', after investigating it with the help of the Psinet organisation. In short, this means that people closer to him - both physically and emotionally - are more of his concern, and that the mind naturally becomes more receptive to the thoughts of these people. This reduces the thoughts of the city at large to a distant chatter, and those of the planet as an almost inaudible murmur. In crowds, however, this can become a problem, as the 'sphere of concern' radius around him encompasses many more minds.
This also has the effect that those he particularly cares about - and is therefore more receptive to - can be heard (and located) from long distances away. In extreme cases, this has even been shown to still 'work' over different universes - although only with certain people. This receptiveness can fade if Alfred's 'concern' about the person fades. Alfred is of no use locating a specific person that he does not know or particularly care about, however - whilst he is able to sense minds in a general sense (and thus locate groups of criminals and such whilst on missions), he is useless for a 'kidnapped or missing person' search.
Whilst Alfred is able to 'listen to' or actively 'read' minds, he does not except with permission or in special circumstances (such as trying to find important information from a villain). Not only is it uncomfortable for him, as he has to 'share his head', but he considers it wrong.
Alfred is also able to project thoughts and mental images to the surface thoughts of others. Whilst this is mostly used for telepathic conversation (and mental hugs, cheek-kisses, and such), this can also be used for entertainment or defensive purposes - as any article regarding Samantha (Luminescence) can cover, the infamous 'Maggie' being the prime example.
Mental Manipulation: Alfred is theoretically able to manipulate minds in nearly any way he wishes - such as creating illusions or 'mind control' commands. However, he has not developed such powers, instead rarely using his alteration abilities for anything except 'mind surgery' and benevolent or harmless effects. The physical is perhaps the easiest to alter, and he is able to send people to sleep or trigger the pleasure (or pain) nodes at will. Unlike his deceased clone, however, he has severe reservations about using this aspect of his abilities in combat. He is also able to (with permission) alter emotions, creating comforting feelings or happiness in those who need them. It is presumably theoretically possible to do the reverse, but such a capability has not been tested.
Primarily, however, this ability will be used for 'mind surgery' - restoring lost memories, removing mental blocks, and repairing outside damage or influence. This is done co-operatively with the 'patient'. Often this will involve both 'surgeon' and 'patient' entering an internal dreamlike or hallucinatory state, with various mental aspects and features incarnated in myriad ways. During the restoration of Kata's memory, for example, her mind consisted of a long corridor with a series of locked doors - each with an important memory behind it.
Of course, such interaction is not always for healing purposes. Alfred is able to initiate 'mental duels', which are sheer, internal battles of willpower between two minds. This is rarely used, and primarily takes place only in battles with other psychics. His mental ability in this area is reasonably untested due to the rarity of these occasions, though he has known to have defeated at least one Nictus in the past.
Precognition: Alfred has shown to have some, very minor, precognitive abilities - though how much of this is from sensing thoughts and intents is debatable. This only seems to work for actions, not words, only seems effective for a period of about three seconds beforehand. Whilst this is enough to avoid attacks and other violent dangers, it does not always work - and as such it is unreliable at best.
[u]Technology[u]
Whilst not strictly his 'powers', Alfred has access (via the Cambridge University Technology Department) to many advanced technologies and gadgets. Whilst many are useless (such as the 'sticky grenades' debacle), the majority of these are useful, albeit limited. Such things include the cloaking device which comes in the form of a belt, and the 'auto-hacker' devices which can crack locks and computer passcodes. However, his technology is all experimental, and can do nothing like as good a job as someone with the requisite 'superpower' could do.
Perhaps the most visible of his technology is the bullet-proof fabric that makes up his suit. Nearly invulnerable, it does not burn and cannot be penetrated, except by very fine points such as hypodermic needles, which can go between the strands. However, the suit cannot prevent the kinetic impact of an attack, nor block heat - meaning that even if you can't riddle Alfred with bullets, shooting him will still give him bruises and broken bones. Again, this is to explain how he can get shot and stabbed so much without dying.
Those interested in technology would note the reticule he wears over his right eye - this holographic display provides him communications, targeting, and other functions, with similar ability to a desktop computer. This can be fed information by his targeting drone, which provides different modes of vision (such as ultraviolet) in order to help in combat. This drone is also able to fire tranquilliser darts - though as its magazine capacity is small, Alfred often carries a few around with him to reload it.
[u]Chocolate/Confectionery[u]
Nobody's quite sure, really. You'll have to ask Alfred for the story sometime. In short, the left jacket pocket on Alfred's clothing seems to semi-spontaneously generate confectionery upon request. Nobody has any idea where it comes from, or any explanation for the fact that it can generate things that don't exist. In general, if it's sweet, not a liquid, hot or chilled, and will fit in the pocket, it can be summoned upon request. Despite much research, nobody has any idea how this happens, but since it hasn't done anything harmful, it is advised not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
