The following is a simplified exerpt of a college text about the nature of Drive in the world of Tyro & his friends. Any resemblances to other properties is purely coincidental.
Drive is a force found in all of nature; people, plants, machines, the air, even rocks and sand. It acts as a source of life & energy, permeating through a living creature through their blood & bones, and emanating from inanimate objects like benign radiation. Discovered long before civilizations were a concept, Drive in its purest state is a glue-like substance, emitting a soft, white glow that neither burns nor freezes, having no weight nor smell; this state is typically seen in mining or construction. When Drive is mixed into a living thing’s systems, or applied to an inanimate thing, it reacts & evolves into something else entirely. The origins of Drive are nebulous, and no two scholars can definitively agree on what is correct. Scientists from the Terrian city of Komomura, for example, believe that Drive is a simple evolutionary product, while Vosgonian natives & many citizens of Unity believe in the ‘AllDrive,’ a spiritual afterlife where all Drive comes and goes.
About 80% of the world’s population has the ability to use their innate Drive reserves with intent & focus. With the help of a small gland in the brain – or codebase in a robot’s neural system – a person’s Drive co-mingles with their body, activating their personal & unique Drive abilities. About 17% of the world is considered Inert; they have no physical or mental way to call upon their Drive reserves, rendering them powerless beyond their species’ inherent skills. Animals are almost always capable of using Drive, Robots are almost always Inert, and Humans fall somewhere in between. It has also been noted that both Undead & Demons never end up Inert, but why this is the case is as unclear as an Undead’s source of resurrection.
Drive has also found use in other ways. It can be applied to metal while shaping it, giving girders & beams even more durability than before. It can improve the responsiveness of technology, allowing it to interface with the brain directly through the NELI system, giving people everywhere the power of a computer in their wrist. Drive has caused the prosthetic and body modding markets to explode in popularity, and is has been noted that firearms & melee weapons can be enhanced by charging them with Drive.
Also known as Drive Powers, these are the unique physical responses a person’s body has when channeling their inner Drive reserves. A person typically discovers their powers when they are young & in school, thought it is not uncommon to find adults learning about their innate powers. No two people share powers, even among family or twins; there is always some permutation that renders a set of powers completely unique. Many people only have one set of Drive Powers they can use, but some have two, and fewer still can use three – no matter what, these powers are superhuman, allowing the user to perform feats they cannot do alone. Those who are Inert cannot use Drive Powers at all, but in exchange, they live longer, healthier lives since they can retain Drive reserves & stamina much better than the majority of people.
Fun Fact: People with Drive Powers have abnormal blood colors. If a human has some sort of Wind Drive, their blood would be wispy & almost clear when it leaves the body.
As of this writing, there does not seem to be a limit. As long as people are born & die, there is always a new Drive Power waiting to be discovered in the world. However, distinct patterns have emerged in regards to how a power takes shape, or “style” as some have taking to calling them. Though a Drive Power will fall into one of these categories, that does not mean they follow it strictly. Many powers will overlap in function – calling something a ‘style’ means they most closely follow that pattern.
Alongside a person’s unique Drive Powers, some people can use ‘spells,’ or powers that are independent of a user’s abilities. Spells are rare, typically the tools of a martial artist or spiritual guide, but they can offer much-needed utility that a Drive Power may lack. Some variations of spells include those that can unlock doors, heal minor wounds, emit a repelling force, levitate small objects, and even project words or images like a hologram. You will learn more about spells & the many variations the cultures of our world have created in a later chapter.
In the countless years of experimenting with Drive, a few key rules have taken shape.
The text proceeds onwards to chapter 2, and where Drive was first researched...