Overview

Beyond the visible universe and the four observable dimensions of space and time; beyond the laws of ordered physics, unstable magics, and frantic chaos; beyond the countless parallel worlds, the sprawling branches of the Sephirothic tree, the ethereal realms of pure thought and the twisted mirror of anti-life; beyond biological and cosmological evolution, absolute abstraction and firm ideology; beyond concepts of Good and Evil, Light and Dark, Mind and Matter; beyond All That Is Known ... there are those who believe there is More—an immeasurably vast five-dimensional Oververse, in which the myriad dimensional hierarchies and planar realities drift like fractured, infinitesimal sunspots between layers of a churning stellar furnace.

For most, this hypothetical Fifth Dimension has remained little more than a quantum curiosity, a mathematical abstract reserved for aimless scientific endeavors and the fevered dreams of theoretical physicists. But for a young, relatively insignificant human being once named Vincent Viridian, the fifth dimension become something far more substantial—and far more deadly—than theory. As an unwitting psychonaut under the influence of the reality-bending experimental hallucinogen Luminescium, Vincent spent the last months of his life charting the heretofore unknown Oververse. He was ultimately obliterated when he made psychic first contact with a mind-shatteringly gargantuan five-dimensional form of life.

Thirty years after Vincent Viridian's death, a baffling new entity emerged on earth: a superpowered hyperdimensional simulacrum constructed in the fragile human's image. This new being has been called many things: the Tesseractical Titan, the Psychedelic Savior, the Hypnagogic Hero, the Hyperdimensional Man. Mostly, though, he is called Mister Fifth.

History

HUMBLE ORIGINS

Vincent Viridian was born into the Atomic Age, an era fueled in America by idealism, discovery, and human triumph, though equally marred by cultural clashes, bitter tragedy, and mindless cruelty. He spent much of his monotonous youth gazing toward the blue heavens, lost in fantasies of joining the burgeoning race of supermen on their epic adventures of cosmic significance. Rune Rock, Texas, his hometown, was a small, close-knit community, about fifteen miles southeast of a prominent granite dome formation (and popular camping destination) from which the town (and the nearby state park) drew its name. Vincent was clever enough to feel like an outcast amongst his peers, but not so ambitious as to make something more of himself and leave the town behind. Reclusive but open-minded, amiable but awkward, scrawny and unathletic, Vincent was definitely far from "super," and remained entirely oblivious to his meager psionic potential.

Instead of gallivanting around the world in a pair of tights and a cape, poor Vincent was stuck working at a small restaurant/tourist trap: the Rock Ranch Cafe, which also happened to be owned and operated by his parents, Richard and Harriet. From the age of fifteen to the age of thirty, Vince bused tables, flipped burgers, and mopped floors. To satisfy his otherworldly obsessions, he wrote short science fiction stories and occasionally submitted them to trashy pulp magazines, but only managed to sell a handful of his many efforts for humble wages.

By 1982, Vincent Viridian was thirty years old and weary of waiting tables. Increasingly assured that his career as a science fiction author was going nowhere fast, he decided to poke around in the want ads for a much needed change of pace. It was there that he found a peculiar call for volunteers that would eventually prove his undoing:

Of the forty-two applicants in the first round of volunteers, Vincent Viridian was the only one to possess the latent telepathic ability that the researchers were looking for. After his initial physical, he was stealthily transported to a covert research facility located underneath the Rune Rock. The inhabitants called it Site V, and it was home to one of the government's most obscure scientific endeavors: Project Boron.

GATEWAY DRUGS

Directed by a brilliant civilian scientist named Dr. Priscilla Szibán, Project Boron was only the latest phase in her twenty year quest to penetrate the elusive veil of the fifth dimension. In the 1960s, the young student first encountered hallucinogenic chemicals through the Harvard Psilocybin Project. During her subsequent psychedelic experience, Szibán became convinced that her perceptual reality had expanded to include a fifth spatial dimension.

For the next two decades, Szibán probed the depths of psychoactive culture and entheogenic rituals, searching for a drug that could consistently recreate the reality-expanding effects of her first trip. In one of her many books on the subject, she dubbed this theoretical chemical the "Luminous Chemical," soon known as "Luminescium" amongst her small but dedicated fan base. She further suggested that Luminescium—coupled with psionically-gifted individuals—might someday be the key to making psychic first contact with the incomprehensible life-forms that she envisioned inhabiting a five-dimensional "Oververse." When Szibán became convinced that no existing chemical could meet the criteria she had established for Luminescium, she set out to create the hypothetical drug from scratch.

Project Boron, a covert initiative to accomplish Szibán's goals, was launched in the late 1970s, and received illicit federal funding thanks to the efforts of Senator Scott Siemens. In 1980, Szibán and her team finally synthesized and tested a chemical that met her strict criteria, and Luminescium transcended from theory to reality. Senator Siemens, however, was determined to push the project further before going public with the results. Lieutenant Malcolm Mendel, a psychic operative from an unknown federal agency, was enlisted to identify psionically-sensitive volunteer test subjects. Having taken the first steps into the Oververse, Szibán and her team now intended to launch these unwitting psychonauts into the fifth dimension, there to make psychic first contact with its inhabitants.

Of course, Vincent Viridian had no idea what he was volunteering for, but Lt. Mendel easily identified his meager psionic potential and recommended him for the project. Two years after the birth of Luminescium, Vincent was consigned to Site V, where he was forced into service as a test subject, a prisoner, and the first 5-D psychedelic psychonaut.

DEATH BY APOTHEOSIS

The last surviving security footage from Site V on the day of the Rune Rock Incident, February 29, 1984. L to R: Dr. Priscilla Szibán, Vincent Viridian, Lt. Malcolm Mendel.

Vince was the first, but far from the last. Project Boron expanded its recruitment efforts across a wide area, and dozens of psionically-active humans were approved for the experiment. Once a week, Luminescium was introduced into their systems in ingestible, inhalant, or intravenous form, then the team would spend the rest of the week dissecting each test subject's experience. The volunteers were put through interrogations by Dr. Szibán, psychic probes by Lieutenant Mendel, and demonstrations for Senator Siemens. As time went on, and the data from Boron began to look increasingly like gibberish, Siemens put increased pressure on Priscilla to produce significant results.

Finally, on February 29, 1984, Vincent Viridian—under the influence of a hypothetically fatal dose of Luminescium—made first contact with a sapient fifth-dimensional life-form. Years later, this entity would come to be called "Prolegomenoid."

At the moment of contact, a quantum improbability rupture formed in Vince's brain. The resulting catastrophic hyperdimensional event obliterated his body and generated a psychic null-wave that massacred the inhabitants of Site V. The null-wave expanded over a twenty mile radius, killing every occupant of the nearby town, the state park, and the surrounding farmlands. Subsequent media coverage of the Rune Rock Incident catalyzed a very public crisis of faith in secret government super-science (many issues of which would be addressed in the foundation of the DOSPA and PRIMUS two years later), ultimately resulting in the expulsion of Scott Siemens from the senate.

Vincent Viridian, of course, was utterly annihilated, but the incomprehensible Prolegomenoid made an apparent attempt to "repair" the damage it had caused. Using the mental profile it had absorbed from the four-dimensional human during their fleeting contact, Prolegomenoid set about reconstructing the life-form it had inadvertantly destroyed. Because it did so from a five-dimensional perspective, however, the result was not entirely contained within its intended medium. Like an artist painting on canvas, Prolegomenoid generated the illusion of a lower dimensional image, but the layers of "paint" protruded—however imperceptibly—into a higher dimensional space.

BORN AGAIN

Three decades after the incident, a pair of hikers witnessed an idealized blue man—wearing nothing but a pair of glowing spectacles—appear from "every direction at once" on top of the Rune Rock in the aforementioned state park. Within the hour, a PRIMUS response team had secured the unidentified entity and contained him within the former Site V. The unidentified entity made no move to resist.

Over the course of more than a year, a PRIMUS specialist from an obscure division of his own—Captain Jeremiah Jacobs—scrutinized the baffling five-dimensional golem, desperately trying to discern its nature, limitations, and intentions. In time, the seemingly impossible creature's hyperdimensional nature became clear, and he earned the nickname "Mister Fifth." During his initial detainment, Mr. Fifth said nothing and, in fact, made no moves at all except to breathe, blink, and hover in place a few inches off of the ground. He could not even summon the strength of focus to wave hello.

Gradually, though, and under Jacobs's direction, Mr. Fifth learned to ignore the immense distractions of his five-dimensional senses and the odd nature of his own existence, and began to focus on his immediate surroundings. As he did, he evinced greater potential power, with limits that still remain unknown. He likely would have remained under the careful watch of PRIMUS and Captain Jacobs to this day were it not for the attention of an attorney named Linda Lenore.

Linda worked for the Advocates for Civil Rights Organization and National Indemnification Mission (ACRONIM), a non-profit corporation dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights of US citizens against government abuses. Having secured the release of the two witnesses to Mr. Fifth's initial manifestation, Linda became justifiably convinced that something else was going on in the indefinitely closed state park. Eventually, she became aware of the hyper-man's existence, and soon championed for his release under the argument that he was, at least legally, a "clone" of Vincent Viridian, and therefore entitled to protection under the 14th amendment.

The legal status of Mr. Fifth might have taken years to resolve were it not for an incident that occurred in the town of Rune Rock, TX on December 21, 2012, later referred to as the Entheogenic Eschaton Event. At first, the incident seemed to involve a planetary invasion by a higher dimensional life-form: Prolegomenoid, Mr. Fifth's creator. It was Mister Fifth who helped the citizens of the small town make it to safety, uncovered the true source of the manifestation, and brought the crisis to an end.

PRIMUS did their best to keep the incident quiet, but the grateful citizens of Rune Rock drew enough attention to expedite efforts to define Mr. Fifth's legal status. On January 1, 2013, a court finally decided that Mr. Fifth should be legally defined as a clone, and was therefore entitled to certain inalienable human rights. He was, however, asked to submit to a three month observational period, in which he would be largely confined to a nearby (but far more public) military base. Finally, on April 5, 2013, Mr. Fifth was cleared to leave the base and granted his provisional rights as a US citizen. He promptly disappeared. Over the following weeks, he was spotted around the world, manifesting like an angel of salvation in times of crisis and places of human suffering to lend whatever aid he could.

Though Mr. Fifth was nominally registered with the DOSPA, he acted for several months as a free agent, representing no nation but that of Tomorrow, working within the confines of the law when it did not inconvenience him, and adhering to no greater creed but his own. A number of government agencies set their sights on him, waiting with bated breath to see if he presented himself as a clear and present danger. In more unstable corners of the world, he made enemies of tyrants, despots, warlords and extremists.

In early August of 2013, after disappearing off the global radar for almost two months, Mr. Fifth appeared again in Millennium City. He applied to Eternals, Inc. and, following a thorough interview, was admitted to the super team. His exact motivations for this decision and its timing remain unknown. In the months since, Mr. Fifth's unsanctioned international interventions have decreased in frequency, but wary government agencies continue to maintain a watchful eye on him.

A little more than a month after joining the Eternals, Mr. Fifth accepted an offer to move in with a friend and fellow member of the group—a superheroine named Strobe. For the first time since manifesting on earth, Mr. Fifth has a place to call "home." Though the two roommates now share an apartment in Millennium City, he still spends a good portion of time meditating in the quiet solitude of earth's mesosphere.

Though he doesn't seek publicity, the Tesseractical Titan is gradually becoming a familiar face in the superhero community, and has offered a helping hand in a number of crises across the world and beyond. He may no longer be Vincent Viridian, but Mr. Fifth is finally fulfilling that man's dream of taking to the skies and becoming someone super, and he's loving every minute of it.

Comics

Two digital comic book-style series featuring Mr. Fifth's exploits are now available. Mr. 5th: Origins is a seven-issue "micro-series" exploring the Tesseractical Titan's first year on earth, before he became a superhero, and illuminates details from his past that are only hinted at in the section above. The Scylla Syban: Origins one-shot unravels the secrets surrounding the birth of Mr. Fifth's greatest foe.

All issues are now available for download in both CBR and PDF formats (to view CBR files, download CDisplay here ), and were mostly assembled from game images using a vector graphics editor.

MR. 5TH: ORIGINS

• COLLECTED EDITION

Summary: This collected edition includes all seven mini-issues of Mr. 5th: Origins with their original covers. It also features Scylla Syban: Origins and exclusive bonus content. Download this edition for the ultimate Mr. 5th: Origins reading experience.

Original Release Date: September 20, 2013

Download: CBR Version (recommended) — PDF Version

• #1 — SOMETHING BIG

Summary: Something big has just manifested in Rune Rock State Park, and PRIMUS has called in a handful of its most qualified agents to covertly deal with the incident. But just what is this baffling anomaly, and how does it relate to the psychedelic tests that took place thirty years ago within a facility hidden beneath the Rune Rock?

Original Release Date: August 9, 2013

Download: CBR Version (recommended) — PDF Version

• #2 — GIBBERISH

Summary: The unidentified entity has been secured in Site V by Major Garcia's team, but Captain Jacobs is still struggling to identify its nature, origins, and intentions—especially since the humanoid creature seems unable to produce coherent English. Meanwhile, an attorney named Linda Lenore is determined to get answers regarding the recent PRIMUS cover-up, even if it means risking her career, her freedom, and her very life.

Original Release Date: August 16, 2013

Download: CBR Version (recommended) — PDF Version

• #3 — ONE/FIFTH

Summary: Now that Linda Lenore has found what she was looking for—the mysterious "Blue Man"—what does she intend to do about this perplexing prisoner of PRIMUS? Whatever her answer, time is of the essence. Major Garcia isn't going to let the escaped captive roam free for long, and when she finds him, there will surely be consequences.

Original Release Date: August 23, 2013

Download: CBR Version (recommended) — PDF Version

• #4 — TIME OF THE MOTH

Summary: It's been months since Mister Fifth escaped from captivity and met with Linda Lenore, and with each passing day he seems less like a prisoner and more like a test subject ... or even a student. When a hyperdimensional anomaly threatens to tear Site V apart, though, it's up to the burgeoning superhuman to unravel the mystery behind it and save his everyone within from utter temporal annihilation.

Original Release Date: August 30, 2013

Download: CBR Version (recommended) — PDF Version

• #5 — SPLIT DECISION

Summary: In the wake of the "Hyper-Moth Event," Major Garcia is under intensifying pressure to figure out just how big of a threat Mr. Fifth might actually be. When Captain Jacobs gives the meta-man a small dose of a supposedly innocuous psychoactive chemical, no one at Site V is prepared for the explosive existential crisis that ensues—especially not Mr. Fifth, who must confront a side of himself he'd almost forgotten.

Original Release Date: September 6, 2013

Download: CBR Version (recommended) — PDF Version

• #6 — PROLEGOMENON

Summary: In this ominous preface to the series's finale, everyone seems concerned with Mr. Fifth's future destiny. Major Garcia and Captain Jacobs debate the ethics of treating him as PRIMUS property, while Linda Lenore frets over the ultimate fate of her baffling blue boyfriend. All the while, a monstrous shadow looms ... is Mr. Fifth's incomprehensible creator preparing to descend to our plane of reality?

Original Release Date: September 13, 2013

Download: CBR Version (recommended) — PDF Version

• #7 — WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS

Summary: Mr. 5th: Origins comes to a cataclysmic conclusion when the inhabitants of Rune Rock face a mind-bending invasion on a five-dimensional scale. What chance does Mr. Fifth have as the first and last line of defense against the very hyperdimensional entity that created him? Can he discover his ultimate destiny and rise to meet this insurmountable threat? What sacrifices will he be forced to make in the face of Armageddon?

Original Release Date: September 20, 2013

Download: CBR Version (recommended) — PDF Version

SCYLLA SYBAN: ORIGINS

• #1 of 1 — HAVE A NICE TRIP

Summary: For almost three decades, Dr. Priscilla Szibán was obsessed with bridging the gap between our plane of reality and a theoretical five-dimensional Oververse. In the end, her relentless quest proved her undoing, but—much like Vincent Viridian—something new was born out of her death. Step into the mind of Dr. Szibán and discover insights into her history and motivations in this one-shot comic, which introduces Mr. Fifth's twisted counterpart and natural nemesis.

Original Release Date: September 7, 2013

Download: CBR Version (recommended) — PDF Version

Physiology

Because he was created in the Oververse from five-dimensional protomatter, Mr. Fifth is an image projected into our reality like a hyper-hologram, an animated anthropomorphic construct that extends beyond observable space into a higher dimension. It is thus that, despite being a near perfect duplicate of a traditional Homo sapien, from his gross anatomy to the microscopic, Mr. Fifth is something more than human. The architecture of his body, mind, and soul (if he still possesses the latter), sprawl beyond the visible boundaries of existence and reach out into spaces beyond, creating something that seems wholly unique to this reality.

His outward observable appearance is a direct projection of a largely immutable inner self-image. While his cobalt-hued epidermis looks and feels metallic, his blond hair is much more recognizably human, and grows at a rate that Mr. Fifth can control. Perhaps most amazingly, his signature pair of glowing golden spectacles are actually a component of his physiology, even though they may be removed and separated from the rest of him. These glasses—far more so than his eyes, ears, nose, or skin—represent a kind of epicenter or focal-point for Mr. Fifth's five-dimensional senses. They also appear to be utterly indestructible.

He does not need to eat or breathe, though may do so out of habit or as a social gesture. His body can easily survive extended periods in a vacuum. Nutrients, oxygen, and even most poisons are ignored by his system. As an alternative fuel for his metabolic process, Mr. Fifth's heart is "tethered" across five-dimensional space to an unidentified energy source. He does not (and apparently cannot) sleep, but can be physically exhausted by particularly strenuous superhuman exertion. Instead of sleep, he accomplishes physical and mental recovery by engaging in long bouts of routine meditation. Mr. Fifth's baffling body still requires hydration, though much less so than the average human, and he could theoretically die of thirst.

SUPERHUMAN ABILITIES

Even at his most unfocused, Mr. Fifth can lift impressive masses and soar effortlessly through the air.

It should be noted that the difference between Mr. Fifth's potential power level and his practical power level is vast. Even regular human activities like speaking a language, walking on solid ground, or shaking a friendly hand require deep concentration and unwavering focus on the part of the five-dimensional man. Due to his unique perspective and the constant assaults on his attention, he is still learning how to maintain that focus, a long and arduous process, so the true extent of Mr. Fifth's potential abilities is largely speculative.

• EXTENDED HYPERSPATIAL MASS

Mr. Fifth is bigger—much bigger—than he looks. The only part of him visible to the human eye is just the tiniest tip of his five-dimensional iceberg. When he is focused, he can "compress" more of his extended form into his four-dimensional aspect, increasing his mass and (because his apparent size remains immutable) density proportionally.

Properly focused, he could theoretically punch with the kinetic energy of a runaway neutron star and resist the forces of a nuclear blast at ground zero. Unfortunately, since such concentration is extraordinarily difficult for him to maintain, his sub-atomic structure tends to "unravel" into the fifth dimension in direct correlation to his level of distraction. Still, even at a resting state, a bullet to the head might not break his hardened skin ... though it could easily knock him for a loop and even incur a minor concussion.

• LOCALIZED ANTI-GRAVITATIONAL FIELD

It has been suggested by some physicists that the graviton—a hypothetical particle responsible for the force of gravity—may "leak" into the fifth dimension. Mr. Fifth may be proof of this theory, as he evinces a certain mastery over the effect of gravitational fields on his four-dimensional form, allowing him to negate the earth's pull and soar effortlessly through the skies.

In fact, Mr. Fifth has indicated that hovering weightlessly is a much easier resting state for him to maintain than standing on solid ground, which apparently requires far greater concentration. In the absence of his ongoing efforts to remain focused on the world around him, Mr. Fifth might drift away and lose himself among the clouds, the stars, and the things beyond.

Mr. Fifth is capable of incredible velocities—especially in a vacuum—but because his body isn't exactly aerodynamic, it can take him a long time to build up to greater speeds within earth's atmosphere. For longer international journeys, he frequently ascends to sub-orbital altitudes to cut down on wind resistance.

• FIVE-DIMENSIONAL SENSORY PERCEPTION

Mr. Fifth sees (and hears and smells) everything. He sees the sum of the earth, every individual human, every drop of rain, every quivering molecule and humming atom. He hears the thunderous sun and the yawning planets and the churning stars beyond, sees the whole of the Assiah, every parallel world and alternate reality, every fate and destiny divided into their constituent paths. Everything, and all at once.

It might seem the world's greatest gift, but it acts as a great detriment to Mr. Fifth's operating potential, and is one of the central causes for his lack of focus. His senses are assaulted in every moment by cosmic distractions beyond comprehension—enough to drive any traditional human mad. It takes immense concentration even to focus on his immediate surroundings and accomplish anything. Using this ability to track individuals and objects at long range seems almost entirely out of the question; the haystack is infinite and the needle is infinitesimal. Occasionally, he is able to use it to identify something nearby that falls outside of the perception of normal humans, perhaps on the microscopic scale or cloaked by technology, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Violent events near his "experiential epicenter" are more likely to catch his attention, and he is frequently unable to ignore the cries for help from humans who are within this range. Perhaps one day he will refine his focusing techniques and be able to put his super-senses to truly incredible use, but that day seems a long way off.

VULNERABILITIES AND LIMITATIONS

On one memorable occasion, a relatively innocuous psychoactive chemical split Mr. Fifth into two diametrically opposed individuals: Mr. Nirvana (left) and Mr. Saṃsāra (right).

Mr. Fifth is certainly heartier than the average human, but he is far from immortal, and nowhere near invincible. Though he can exert tremendous force and shrug off incredible physical assaults, his superhuman strength and resilience are entirely dependent on maintaining focus on the immediate situation—an extraordinarily difficult task for a mind spread across five dimensions. When his concentration wavers (as it so often does), Mr. Fifth can be injured, exhausted, and ultimately killed like any normal human. Beyond that, he is subject to several particular vulnerabilities regardless of his mental state, and perhaps more which have yet to be discovered.

• PSYCHOACTIVES

Despite ignoring most consumables, Mr. Fifth's nervous system is inexplicably susceptible to all forms of human-effective psychoactive chemicals: from tobacco to tryptamines, caffeine to cocaine, alcohol to aspirin, nootropics to nerve gas, and everything in between. Because Mr. Fifth's observable physical form is dependent on his own self-image, such mental realignments can have severe, improbable, and often absurd effects on his physiology as well.

No direct correlation has been found between Mr. Fifth's reality-twisting transformations and the type of psychoactive he has been exposed to. Experiments have indicated that the same chemical, administered at the same dosage, can produce wildly different and unpredictable results from one experience to the next. Five grams of cocoa might alter Mr. Fifth's perception of time and cause him to move in slow motion on one day, then turn him into a self-proclaimed avatar of the Hindu god Ganesh on the next. It's important to note that the effects of his transformations can be as dangerous to bystanders (or, as the case may be, an assailant) as they are to Mr. Fifth himself.

• MAGIC

Both magics and Mr. Fifth defy the natural laws of four-dimensional physics, and as a result, their interaction is a dangerous one. The very proximity of magical energies overwhelms Mr. Fifth's five-dimensional senses and makes it much more difficult for him to concentrate. Eldritch, infernal, shadow, and other such energies can wreak havoc on his extended physiology. Like psychoactives, though, such arcane interactions can be dangerously unpredictable. A spell might have little to no effect on him, work exactly as intended, have a completely unforeseen consequence, or even backfire disastrously.

Generally speaking, though, most magical spells do the bulk of their harm to Mr. Fifth. Even spells intended to bolster, protect, or otherwise aid Mr. Fifth can have dire consequences for him. The forced interaction of "impossible" physics seems to damage his higher dimensional aspect, sapping his strength and leaving him vulnerable to further attack. Such results are considerably more reliable than the effect of psychoactives on his system, but still come with a degree of risk to both his assailant and innocent bystanders.

• PSIONICS

Mr. Fifth has no psychic shields or screens of defense against psionic attack. His mind is as vulnerable to telepathic assault as any average person's. Worse yet, because Mr. Fifth's physical form is a projection of his mental state, such mental invasions can actually cause him physical harm. The only true protection he has against psychics is their own sense of self-preservation. Gaining passage into Mr. Fifth's mind would be relatively easy for even a low-level active psionic, but something terrifyingly complex awaits such intrepid explorers.

Like a spelunker peering down into a bottomless void, any competent psychic would almost instantly recognize the labyrinthine configuration of his neural network. A bold psychonaut determined to probe and exploit the reaches of Mr. Fifth's mind would likely find an incomprehensible maze of impossible directions that expands beyond the limits of human comprehension. There have been a few recorded instances of psychics who attempted to do so, and were subsequently driven completely insane. Suffice to say: Mr. Fifth is definitely susceptible to telepathic attack, but any psychic enters his mind at their own risk.

• TELEPORTATION TECHNOLOGY

Modern teleporter systems connect two or more far-flung areas of three-dimensional space, but do not account for the fourth spatial dimension, across which Mr. Fifth is extended. Although teleporters may be used to transport him, they tend to "stretch" his hyperdimensional form across space-time. As a result, Mr. Fifth arrives at his intended destination in a strange, dimensionally-disassociated state, his focus shaken and his superhuman abilities dramatically weakened. The longer the teleportation range, the more severe this effect, and the longer it takes his five-dimensional form to "retract" back into its natural state. He thus tends to eschew teleporters in favor of flying under his own power or more traditional means of transport whenever possible.

Teleportation beams have proven effective at containing Mr. Fifth; they isolate him from his higher dimensional aspect and reduce his abilities to a fraction of their regular potential. Weaponized teleporter technology, though relatively rare, could be used to scramble his connection to his extended physiology, and would likely prove a very effective weapon against him.

Psychology

Calling Mr. Fifth's mental process "complicated" would be a gross oversimplification. His neural architecture is spread out across five dimensions. He senses each individual aspect of the sum of creation in every moment. He is not Vincent Viridian, and seems to understand this intrinsically, and yet possesses all of this dead man's memories, his secrets and desires, his dreams and motivations.

Stranger still, Prolegomenoid did not understand that the Luminescium found in Vincent's bloodstream at the time of his death was not a naturally occurring component of his biology. The chemical is now secreted by Mr. Fifth's pineal gland, so he is arguably under the constant and perennial influence of a potent mind-altering chemical.

Above all else, these factors make Mr. Fifth extraordinarily unpredictable. He is prone to incredible distraction, and—because his every human and superhuman action is dependent entirely upon his level of focus—must constantly struggle to maintain mental discipline. He devotes long hours of the day to meditation. Because he operates variably from different corners of his five-dimensional mind, he may seem like an entirely different person in any given moment. That said, he possesses some fundamental character traits at the core of his identity.

His manner of speech is largely inherited from Jeremiah Jacobs, who helped the hyperdimensional man learn how to communicate in English once more. Much of his personality, sense of humor, and mannerisms are born out of his memories of Vincent Viridian's life, while other aspects are apparently derived from Mr. Fifth's unique hyper-perspective. As time goes on and his mental discipline improves, such traits have become more prominent, though his quest for a more stabilized personal identity continues.

MORALITY

Mr. Fifth's attitude toward the world is largely one of optimism and idealism. Though he has constant sensory access to every corner of the universe and every universe beyond it, he has occasionally expressed a belief that he stands at the center of a momentous event: the luminescent, planetary, apocalyptic apotheosis of humanity, which he believes will be spearheaded by the supermen, larval-form disciples of the Transcendental Tomorrowverse.

He believes firmly in the absolute sanctity of life in all its forms, and has sworn to protect it to his dying breath, but recognizes the importance of death in the grand cycles of cosmic and biological evolution. Mr. Fifth similarly acknowledges the eternal battle between what mankind calls "good and evil" as a key facet in an ongoing struggle to free life from its self-imposed limitations. Still, he stands firm in his personal mission to act on behalf of justice, liberty, and compassion.

Ultimately, Mr. Fifth is quick to action but slow to judgment. He will never ignore a cry for help. Owing in no small part to Linda Lenore, he treasures personal freedom and the right of the individual to shape their own destiny, so long as they do not infringe upon the freedom of others in the process. He does not abide cruelty, unprovoked acts of violence, or oppression. Much of his personal morality is inherited from Vincent Viridian's love of a long-forgotten Silver Age comic book series, which detailed the fictional adventures of a superhero named Mister Action.

INTELLIGENCE

There are a number of factors one must consider when contemplating Mr. Fifth's relative intelligence. To begin with, he inherited all the knowledge of Vincent Viridian, who—while fairly clever and perennially curious—was relatively unremarkable in strict cognitive ability. As such, Mr. Fifth's practical knowledge base could be classified as slightly above average. To complicate matters, though, Vincent died in 1984, and was effectively cut off from society by 1982. He never owned a personal computer, never met anyone with a cell phone, and died years before the World Wide Web went mainstream. The technology of the modern world certainly dazzles him, though he is a quick learner with an adaptable mind, and has adjusted relatively well to the new cyber-society he was born into.

That said, Mr. Fifth's titanic mind is capable of thinking so laterally that it defies human description. This, combined with his "hyperdimensional ADD," can produce odd results. At times, he seems to possess an almost child-like obliviousness to the world, fundamental logic, and basic human interactions. At others, he has proven capable of devising fantastic innovations based on hyperdimensional architecture, demolishing entire philosophies with a single errant observation, or recognizing patterns well beyond the limits of normal perception.

PERSONALITY

Like Vincent Viridian, Mr. Fifth is a warm, amiable sort, but also shares Vincent's propensity toward reclusiveness, which is only amplified by his need for isolated meditation to help bolster his general ability to focus. Though he can at times seem an introverted personality, he enjoys observing the interactions between normal humans in social settings, which aids in the gradual redevelopment of his distorted social skills.

He enjoys deep discussion and philosophical debate as much as idle small talk and aimless joking, and loves playing both chess and poker—activities that Captain Jacobs used to help hone Mr. Fifth's focus and social skills—though is still terrible at both. While he is a man of deep convictions and utterly dedicated to his solemn mission, Mr. Fifth seems to revel in the life of the costumed crusader, and often exhibits a degree of exuberance even while locked in battle with malevolent forces.

For the most part, Mr. Fifth's attitude is light, cheerful, and optimistic. He is also prone to his own bizarre brand of facetious humor. At times, however, he can evince darker moods, especially when his thoughts drift closer to the insanity-inducing tortures Vincent Viridian endured in Project Boron, the friends and loved ones he has lost across two lifetimes, or the incessant scream of multiversal suffering that his hyper-senses constantly bombard him with. Exposure to psychoactives, in addition to causing unpredictable mental and physical transformations, also tends to provoke wild mood swings.

Otherwise, he is best described as an overwhelming force of positivity, always eager to meet someone new, lend a hand to those in need, or offer a sympathetic ear to friend and stranger alike.

Rogues

SCYLLA SYBAN

So many of my contemporaries seem obsessed with using this new breed of mind-altering chemicals to seek transcendental enlightenment. So few of them see the true path. They are apes poking at reality with crude hunting sticks. The method is sound, but the tools are lacking. I have searched for the perfect hunting stick, but that was a fool's endeavor. My solution? It's time to build a spear.

—Excerpt from Luminosynthesis, Scylla Syban (Dr. Priscilla Szibán), 1971

Unbeknownst to him, Mr. Fifth is not the only entity in this plane of existence to have been born out of the Rune Rock Incident. For twenty years, Dr. Priscilla Szibán chased after the elusive psychedelic chemical that could unlock the doorway to the five-dimensional Oververse. By the time she finally created it, she was so lost in fever dreams of making contact with the other side that she didn't care how many lives she destroyed on the path to ultimate discovery.

When Vincent Viridian died, Dr. Szibán and the rest of Site V died with him. But the hyper-event had a strange effect on the facility's entire supply of Luminescium, altering it at a molecular level. Priscilla was splashed with this altered chemical during her final moments, and it crept into her central nervous system, catalyzing a biological transformation that defied every contemporary human understanding of the nature of life. Like Vincent, Priscilla was resurrected. Also like the hapless test subject, she was reborn as something very different. This new creature began to think of itself as Scylla Syban, a pen name her former identity had utilized for several of her books.

Syban exudes an aura of psychedelic horror. Her very presence induces hallucinogenic effects within the minds of her victims. She is the walking personification of a bad trip. Her state of undeath is maintained only by constant exposure to Aphoticium—the twisted derivative of Luminescium that gave birth to her. With Site V's chemical supply irrevocably mutated, and her mind cracked by insanity, the original Luminescium formula is all but lost. For the past thirty years, Syban has struggled to reverse engineer it from the second generation derivative, but has been met by failure after failure. Many of these "failures" have earned varying levels of popularity in the illicit drug market, and all are now listed as Schedule I Controlled Substances.

Scylla Syban will not rest until she has rediscovered her precious Luminescium, and there is only one remaining source of it in the known world. Beyond that, her objectives remain a mystery.

MAJOR MENTAL

Everyone seems to think that they're special, but I've got news for you. You aren't. No one is. I've been inside a hundred heads, and at the end of the day? They all basically look alike. Human beings are no more than animals pretending that they're not. There are thus only two types of minds in this world: predators and prey. So tell me, Vincent, which one are you?

—Lieutenant Malcolm Mendel, 1983

As his name suggests, Major Mental is probably the former Lieutenant Malcolm Mendel, psychic adjutant to Dr. Priscilla Szibán and the man responsible for identifying latent psionics within Project Boron's pool of volunteers. None can be absolutely certain, however, as to Major Mental's original identity, nor is it known—if he truly is Mendel—how the lieutenant survived the Rune Rock Incident.

Details about Lt. Mendel himself are almost as hard to come by. The majority of his service record was mysteriously destroyed years ago, and most of that which survived remains classified. His father was an agent in the CIA's Scientific Intelligence Division, and is believed to have been involved in Project MKUltra in the 1950s. Although Mendel similarly began as a CIA agent in the early 1970s, he was transferred to an unidentified agency after his psychic abilities were discovered. From there, details are almost nonexistent. An apparent loose connection to Senator Scott Siemens led to Mendel's assignment to Project Boron, but the origin and nature of that connection remain unknown.

Major Mental is an equally mysterious figure. Equipped with a stolen psionic enhancement cap, which amplifies his already potent abilities, the monstrous metahuman is believed to be in the employ of Scylla Syban. Like his employer, he seems completely insane, and perhaps even beyond Syban's limits. It has been speculated that the self-proclaimed "major" assists his crazed master in brainwashing the hapless ex-convicts and degenerates she uses to fill out the ranks of her Psychedelic Army. His greater purpose in her organization, if any, is as inscrutable as the rest of his identity.

SENATOR SIMIAN

You don't need the people's trust. You just need to tell them what they want to hear. I'll tell you what they really want: someone to hold their leashes. Thanks to Doc D's little stunt back in '84, no one even remembers the Rune Rock Incident. It was barely a blip on the public radar. I'll be back. Hell ... gimme ten years, and I'll be sitting in the highest office of the land. Just you wait and see.

—Scott Siemens, 1990

Scott Siemens was always destined for politics. He grew up going to all the right schools, learning all the right axioms, and repeating all the right platitudes. Like most politicians, Siemens's (ghostwritten) memoirs insisted that he grew up in relative poverty, that everything he earned was gained through struggle and hardship, and—also like most politicians—this was a baldfaced lie. Throughout his life, Scott Siemens was spoiled rotten, and the towering, beastly man was little more than a bully in a fancy suit.

After becoming a senator, Siemens's lust for power was far from sated. While searching for literature to help fuel the War on Drugs (of which he was a great proponent), he stumbled upon Dr. Szibán's work, and instead became intrigued by her theory of making contact with a five-dimensional life-form. Visions of announcing such a discovery to the world lit a fire in Siemens's imagination. If the US could get to the fifth dimension before the Soviets, it might even guarantee his shot at a bid for the presidency. It was thus that Siemens contacted Priscilla Szibán and began surreptitiously funding Project Boron on the taxpayer's dime.

In the wake of the Rune Rock Incident, Siemens's connection to Project Boron was made public, and he was expelled from the senate for his misappropriation of federal funds. In a just world, the senator's political career would have ended there, but he knew that the public had a short attention span. When the world's greatest supervillain highjacked the minds of the entire planet later that year, the Rune Rock Incident was all but forgotten. By 1992, he had become a key aid in Clinton's presidential campaign, and had his greedy eyes on a cushy position in the president-elect's cabinet.

But Scylla Syban wasn't going to let Siemens get away with it. She blamed him for all that had gone wrong at Project Boron, and dispatched Major Mental to abduct the former senator. For the next few months, Syban kept Siemens locked in a sensory deprivation chamber and fed him copious doses of psychedelic drugs. When he finally emerged, the politician had been physically transformed by an inexplicable process of biological devolution. Syban dubbed the mutated creature "Senator Simian."

Today, Senator Simian ape-like visage is the most prominent face of Scylla Syban's illicit operations. Whether making deals with black market proprietors, seeking assistance from fellow supervillains, or giving speeches to bring in new recruits to the Psychedelic Army, the smooth-talking beast is Syban's primary ambassador, emissary, and representative. Syban has promised Senator Simian that she will revert him to his human form if he serves her faithfully. It's hard to say which of the two is the more foolish: Siemens, for believing that his master has the power to do so, or Syban, for putting her trust in a politician.