Mindwarp (book series)

"Mindwarp" is a series of first-person juvenile science fiction books written by Chris Archer. [ [http://www.amazon.com/ALIEN-TERROR-MIND-WARP-Mind/dp/067101482X/ref=pd_sim_b_4 Amazon listing] ] It consists of ten books that can be divided into two arcs; the first six introduce the major characters, and the last four occur after the characters discover their true origins.

The series centers around six children, known as the Alpha Children later in the series, all of whom discover on their thirteenth birthday that they have silver blood and superhuman powers, which vary from character to character. Each Alpha Child is attacked on their birthday by an alien who attempts to capture or kill them, after a public display of their powers alerts the Omegas to their presence.

Plot

Mindwarp takes place in the fictional town of Meteir, Wisconsin (properly pronounced in French "Mee-tee-ay"), called "The Roswell of the North" due to the high number of UFO sightings in the area, especially around the reservoir. Despite the proper pronunciation, the locals usually call the town Meteor as a joke. The first book, narrated by Ethan Rogers, mentions the mysterious disappearance of Todd Aldridge on his 13th birthday.

The series then follows five main characters (Ethan, Ashley, Jack, Elena, and Toni) through the development of their powers and attacks by a mysterious alien race. The aliens, later known as the Omegas, have super speed and strength. They also have the ability to shape shift into any person but are given away by their black eyes. Because of this, the Omegas often wear sunglasses or attack the Alpha Children at night in order to fool them with their human disguises.

Ethan, Ashley, and Jack manage to escape their pursuers; in Ethan's case by killing the Omega sent after him and in the case of Ashley and Jack, by making the aliens think they had been killed. Elena was captured by the aliens, joining Todd.

The Alpha Children realize that they have more in common than just their silver blood; they all had a parent (in Ethan's case, both parents) who disappeared on the same day or who apparently died.

At the end of the sixth book, narrated by Toni, the Alpha children are trapped in the mall while the Omegas search for them and with their escape routes cut off, they board the Omega's ship and Jack presses the Autopilot button, returning them to what they originally believe is the Omegas' home world.

The Alpha Children quickly realize that the spaceship is not actually a spaceship at all - rather, it's a time machine and they have been taken about two centuries into earth's future. The earth has been ravaged by nuclear war; some survivors who took shelter live underground, while the rest, called "Topsiders" are deformed and mad.

The Alpha Children discover that both their parents, known as the Alphas, and the Omegas were the results of genetic experiments done by the government. The Alphas were the first experiment and were created by combining human and animal DNA. However, they were not the soulless fighting machines the government wanted, causing them to try again with the Omegas.

The Omegas were soulless, but they could not be controlled either, and they took over, setting off the nuclear war that killed off most of humanity.

Meanwhile, the Alphas traveled back in time using the time traveling powers of one of their members, in an attempt to prevent the original experiments that created both the Alphas and Omegas. However, the "jumper" chickened out, since destroying the experiments would mean likely destroying the existence of the Alphas, and abandoned the others. Eventually the Alphas settled down and had families; Ethan's parents married and the other five Alphas married humans.

When the Omegas tracked them down, the Alphas abandoned their families, hoping that would keep them safe.

The Alpha Children decide to pick up where their parents left off. After following a trail left by their parents, they discover that the necessary item for creation of the Alphas and Omegas is the meteorite that created the town reservoir. Using Toni's jumping powers, they go back in time to when the meteorite landed and then transport it into the far distant future.

At the end of the series, the Alpha Children are still alive, but Archer leaves the question of whether they retain their powers up in the air.

Characters

Alpha Children

Ethan Rogers

Personality

Ethan is a small, relatively unathletic character at the beginning of the series. He loves comic books and is saving up his money for a first edition comic. Ethan is the adopted son of the local police chief, who expresses disappointment As the series goes on, he becomes the apparent leader of the Alpha Children, perhaps because he was the first to discover his powers and not be captured and because he was able to kill his Omega pursuer. It's implied that he has a mutual crush on Ashley.

Powers

Ethan's powers are designed for combat. He has super strength and speed and is programmed in martial arts. He has infrared vision and also has a poisonous bite.

Ashley Rose

Personality

Ashley is known for dressing in black and wearing combat boots. She is somewhat tomboyish and sarcastic and is known for arguing with Jack. Her best friend is Jenny Kim, but is fairly anti-social. Her peers start calling her "Splashley Rose" after she nearly drowns in the reservoir. It is implied that she has a mutual crush on Ethan.

Powers

Ashley's powers are largely aquatic in nature. She can breathe underwater and is a very good swimmer. She can withstand extreme conditions. Finally, she has the ability of a starfish or planarian to regenerate limbs, or to be cut in half. Each half will survive and grow into a full Ashley. At one point, Ashley's arm becomes trapped and she detaches it in order to continue; not only does Ashley grow a new arm but the arm grows an entirely new Ashley. However, the downside is that Ashley suffers some memory loss when she does this, especially when she grows from a section of the body that does not include the head.

Ashley "dies" three times; once in book two and twice in book eight. However, due to her regenerative ability, in each case there is one Ashley who survives.

Jack Raynes

Personality

Jack is a bit of a loudmouth and showoff. He's known as the class clown. Todd especially distrusts him because of past pranks Jack played on him. He argues with Ashley a lot and also argues with Toni; in the latter case, Toni says it reminds her of the way Han Solo spoke to Princess Leia. Jack is afraid of bugs.

Powers

Jack can speak any language in the world, including some that aren't human. He speaks both insect and fax at one point in the books.

Elena Vargas

PersonalityElena is interested in the paranormal and likes to daydream. Her mother disapproves, but Elena continues believing in psychics and other paranormal phenomena.

PowersElena's powers are psychic in nature. She has visions and sometimes does things without explanation and without realizing it, later to realize why she did it. In book #4, she picked up an umbrella; when asked about it she didn't remember bringing it with her to school. The other students teased her because it wasn't expected to rain, but Elena had the last laugh when it began hailing after school and she used the umbrella for protection.

Later she learns to astrally project and speak telepathically.

Todd Aldridge

Personality

Todd is the least developed of any of the Alpha Children. He was captured before the beginning of the first book and is the only Alpha child not to officially narrate a full book. He is interested in law enforcement; his hero is Ethan's father, Chief Rogers of the Meteir Police Department. He feels frustrated because his mother and stepfather are often busy, and buy him things instead of paying attention to him. His mother also insists that he dress fairly formally.

Powers

Todd is described as a human VCR. He can record information and play it back. Because of this ability, he can also make himself look like anyone he's seen in the past.

Because Todd is rescued late in the books, he only uses his powers a few times.

Antonia "Toni" Douglas

Personality

Toni is the only character to narrate two full books: #6 and #10. She has one of the best-developed personalities among the characters, partly because of this. Her narration of book 10 was perhaps done because she is the final catalyst for destroying the Omegas.

Toni is peppy and outgoing; she's the most popular of the Alpha Children. She has an extensive vocabulary because she wants to impress her attractive English teacher; her catchphrase is "It's a vocabulary word. Look it up" and she tends to have a smart mouth, often speaking before she thinks, especially in the heat of battle. She's a member of the cheerleading team, and is grateful for the training when being an Alpha Child requires her athleticism. She's probably also the most innovative with her powers.

Powers

Toni is a "jumper" which means that her main ability is to time travel. Because this requires a great deal of energy, she can suck electricity out of electronics. She can also discharge it, which she uses in combat to stun the Omegas.

Alphas

There are eight Alphas. Danny Koto and Henley feature most prominently in the books, though Toni's mother appears when Toni travels back in time. The Alphas are: Ethan's biological parents, Toni's mother, Todd's father, Elena's father, Ashley's mother, and Jack's father.

HenleyHenley is Ethan's father; he and Ethan meet when they are pitted against each other in a Topsider fighting pit. Henley sacrifices himself to save Ethan and the other Alpha Children.

Mr. KotoDanny Koto was a karate instructor in Meteir and was the "jumper" of the Alphas. He abandoned the Alphas because he was frightened about the implications of changing the past to destroy the Omegas. He later felt guilt over what he'd done and tried to help Ethan and the other Alpha Children.

He had one son who was adopted and thus did not share the powers of the Alpha children.

Other characters

CynorCynor was an Omega sent to impersonate Todd Aldridge and gain the trust of Ethan, Ashley, and Jack. In order to effectively pretend to be Todd, Cynor was implanted with Todd's memories. However, this had an unforseen side effect: Cynor developed human feelings and emotions and helped the Alpha Children escape, allowing himself to be captured while pretending to be Ethan. "Todd" and "Cynor" are at constant war for control within him.

Powers

The Alpha Children's powers are evidently not specifically inherited or are only partially inherited. While all of the children of the Alphas have powers, they don't always match their parents' powers. Ethan and his father have the same powers, but Toni's mother was evidently not a jumper since it was mentioned that they were stranded when Mr. Koto abandoned them.

In one of the later books, each character laments their own powers and argues that each of the other Alpha Children have better powers. Toni feels useless because she's always drained after using her powers; Jack's powers make him feel largely useless; Ashley is disturbed by her ability to split like a planarian and especially by seeing herself die; Ethan is frustrated because his powers are only useful when there's a fight.

References