Adam’s Atoms

You are no doubt familiar with the concept of shapeshifters, beings who can change their outward appearance at will. Stories about them abound in mythology as well as science fiction.

Well, they are not just stories. The shapeshifters, however, are just one type of shifters. At least three such types have existed here on the Earth—the mindshifters, the shapeshifters, and the geneshifters—but probably many more exist in other parts of the Universe. Let us briefly consider the three types:

Mindshifters

The most common type of shifters that exists on the Earth at this time. They do not actually change their shape. But they exert direct control over the minds of their audience (or their victims, occasionally) by inducing hallucinations.

Their shape does not change at all, but their audience thinks it has. To the audience they look changed. The illusion is completely realistic, so, even if you told the audience that what they see is not real, they would refuse to believe you.

The mindshifter can only control the minds of several people (or animals) at a time and only for a brief time. So, a mind shifter could not just walk casually through Time Square and have everyone around see him differently. However, when he produces the illusion for a group of people/animals, they all see the same illusion while it lasts.

It is not possible for a mindshifter to influence cameras. If recorded on film, video, bitmap, and such, he will always have his natural and real shape recorded.

Shapeshifters

The shapeshifters are for real. What you see is what you get. And what you get is what you see.

Shapeshifters literally change their outward appearance. When a shapeshifter changes into a horse, he has the shape of the horse, he has the hooves of the horse and can kick you, he has the tail of the horse and can wave it. He has his eyes on the sides of his head, so his angle of vision is that of the horse.

He, however, is not a real horse. He could not mate with a mare, for example, and produce a baby horse. Furthermore, he needs to maintain his shape actively. If he fell asleep—or if you knocked him down—he would return to his regular shape.

The shapeshifters commonly appear in mythology. This is because the people who saw the change and passed it on to others did not know whether the shifter was a mindshifter, a shapeshifter, or a geneshifter. So, in literature the term shapeshifter is generally used to describe any kind of shifter.

Geneshifters

Geneshifters are rare. A geneshifter changes from within. If he wants to become a horse, he changes his DNA to that of a horse, a specific horse. He does not need to understand the chemical details of the DNA of whatever it is he wants to change into, but he needs to know very specifically what he wants to become. Then his DNA changes, and subsequently he changes. If he has an actual DNA sample, he can then change to whoever or whatever the sample came from.

The change is fast but not instantaneous. Its speed depends on the level of the change. For example, if a human geneshifted into a different human, the change would take him 3-5 minutes. But if he wanted to change into a dolphin, it would take him longer.

Once the geneshifter has changed, he has truly become that to which he has changed. If he falls asleep, he will not change back. Assuming he is a true geneshifter, he can shift back to his original state. But he has to geneshift again to accomplish that. If he is just dabbling in geneshifting and somehow manages to shift without being a true geneshifter, he may actually get stuck in his new shape permanently. Even a genuine geneshifter would have trouble shifting back while drunk or on psychotropic drugs.

Generally geneshifters shift because of a specific need, fully intending to shift back. If they happen to die, their body will shift back on its own. This is because they have programmed themselves that way. If a geneshifter wants his shift to be permanent (that is until he decides to shift back), his body will remain shifted even after he dies.

Geneshifting is rare, and thank goodness for that! If an unscrupulous person could geneshift, he could commit perfect crimes. He could get a sample of someone else’s DNA, geneshift into that person, rob a bank, leaving the victim’s fingerprints and DNA on the crime scene, his image in the security cameras, and so on. Afterwards, he could shift back and no one would be any wiser.

A word of caution: Anyone who wants to try geneshifting should attempt very minor changes he could live with if he succeeds to shift but cannot shift back. Give yourself freckles or make them disappear, things like that. If you do not succeed, well, geneshifting is rare. If you do succeed but cannot shift back, congratulations, at least you did it once. And if you do succeed both ways, that still does not mean you are ready for major changes. Change your hair color next, make your hair grow faster, change your height a bit and things like that. Only after you have mastered geneshifting, you may want to try major changes. So, please, proceed with caution!

Kumáran shifters

All Kumárans are geneshifters. Geneshifting comes completely naturally to them. That is not something they do all the time, at least not for most of them.

Kumáran actors, however, geneshift on a regular basis. The Kumárans are well aware of other worlds. In their theatre, they often perform shows with aliens (including humans who, of course, would be considered aliens on Planet Kumára). Instead of using complicated makeup, the performers simply geneshift an hour before the performance, then geneshift back afterwards. If they are performing the same role several days in a row, they may stay geneshifted until after the last performance. That, of course, depends on what they do in-between.

By the way, the Kumárans are an advanced civilization. They do not geneshift to rob banks or commit any other crimes.

Additionally, all Kumárans can and often do shift to a feline form, essentially a red tiger. This is very similar to geneshifting in that they remain in their feline shape if they fall asleep. But it is not strict geneshifting because it does not require them to modify their DNA.