Editing The Number Man (section)

==Abilities and Powers==
Number Man's ability makes him "good with numbers" to a ridiculous degree with numerous applications.  He perceives his power as elaborate mathematical notations that exist in the air and objects around himself, as if being written in thread-thin lines. He is able to mentally digest the numbers so quickly to the point where his own perceptions and self seem to go in slow-motion.<ref>As though it were penciled in the air, in thread-thin, elaborate notation, he could see the geometry and the numbers unfolding across the world around him, through the air.<br/><br/>He withdrew a pen from his pocket, spun it around one finger.  The notation billowed around it, and through it, he could see the movement of the pen, the plotted trajectory, the velocity and rotation of it.  The numbers clicked into place with a speed that made the rest of him, his very ''perceptions'', seem like slow motion. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/27 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 21.x]]</ref>

This power allows him to understand and manipulate the world economy in immense detail.<ref name=":2"/> He can also use it to predict the likely casualties of various [[End of the World|end of the world]] scenarios<ref name=":1"> - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/interlude-14-5-bonus-interlude/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 14.y]]</ref><ref name=":7">[[Extinction 27.2]]
</ref> and potentially identify abstract targets, cultural and economic, to push the world toward collapse.<ref>Our Harbinger has been giving us some very good advice.  Talking about the critical places to strike.  What happens if we attack certain targets?  The world teeters on the brink of falling to the Endbringers.  Divide my remaining soldiers and attack key points in the infrastructure, and maybe that's game over for humanity. - [[Sting 26.6]]</ref>

He can intuitively analyze architecture, letting him design buildings, predict collapses,<ref name=":10"/> and conduct controlled demolitions.<ref name=":11">[[Venom 29.8]]</ref> [[Doctor Mother]] claimed that he was able to calculate the odds of success for a given [[Cauldron vial]], but this was a lie.<ref name=":12">''"We have no need for human experimentation.  The Number Man can calculate the odds of success for a given formula."''<br/><br/>LIE.  - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/10/13 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 14.y]]</ref> [[Tattletale]] believed that he would be able to break [[Dragon]]'s time-lock encryption.<ref>[[Cockroaches 28.2]]</ref>

He can accurately perceive things not easily seen by the normal eye, such as the [[Custodian]]'s presence and the edges of [[Doormaker]] portals.<ref>His power alerted him about the Custodian’s presence as he entered the hallway.  The sum of a million infinitesimal details.<br/><br/>It also informed him of the seam in the hallway, marking the nearly invisible Doormaker portal. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/interlude-21-donation-bonus-1/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 21.x]]</ref> He was able to target [[Night Hag]] and [[Nyx]] despite their visual distorting powers,<ref name=":6"/> fight with his sight blocked by bugs,<ref name=":10" /> and was able to detect [[Taylor]]'s bugs and identify people hiding among her swarm-clones.<ref name=":16">[[Drone 23.2]]</ref>

His calculations help him to survive dangerous falls,<ref name=":8"/> though he is still somewhat worried by them.<ref>[[Venom 29.9]]</ref>

He can climb building-faces as fast as running on horizontal terrain, using his power to find handholds and footholds.<ref name=":8"/> He climbed down a ladder so fast he almost seemed to be falling.<ref name=":16"/>

His power is also formidable in combat, using his own body very efficiently. He can analyze and predict an opponent during combat, allowing him to dodge their attacks by extremely narrow margins<ref name=":8"/><ref name=":13">[https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/interlude-26/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 26]]</ref> once he understands their power.<ref name=":2"/> He claimed that he could see the stress points of his opponent and strike vulnerable areas to shatter bones.<ref name=":14">“You’ll miss,” the Number Man said.  “And I’ll close in and strike you, using my pen and my hand.  I can see the stress points of your body, clear as day.  I can shatter your skull like a glass, and it would be an exceptionally painful way to die.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/27 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 21.x]]</ref> He was able to lock [[Lung]] and [[Bitch's Dogs]] in holds that didn't allow their muscles any leverage and<ref>hey moved fluidly as the animals lunged, snapping and biting.  Confident movements.  Two caught Huntress' head, wrenched it to the side, while the others avoided snapping jaws to catch Bastard's forelimbs, bodily hauling him up and then throwing him to the ground.<br/><br/>The two animals were brought down in as many seconds.  Pinned, as inexplicably as Lung was pinned.  Except this wasn't sheer strength.  They were strategic, targeting body parts, one of the young men leveraging his whole body between Bastard's forelimbs, forcing them apart in a way that the dog's musculature couldn't combat.<br/><br/>It was like holding a crocodile's mouth shut.  Jaw strength aside, the crocodile wasn't built to force it's mouth ''open''.  The wolf wasn't built to draw its legs together against its chest, but couldn't get feet under it to stand without dislodging the offending attacker.  The other had his head caught and twisted to one side. - [[Venom 29.7]]</ref> judo-throw [[Dragon's Teeth]] officers in full power-armor.<ref name=":8"/> However, he isn't quite as good in a brawl as [[Contessa]].<ref>This kid with the dress clothes was slippery, efficient, but the way his movements played out… maybe not quite on Contessa's level.  Contessa would have found a way to attack and defend at the same time, instead of being stuck evading Golem's power. - [[Venom 29.7]]</ref>

He is more effective based on how much of his surroundings he can take in before engaging, making the power even better at range than in a melee fight.<ref>My power is better at range.  Better still as I get further away, attack from other angles, in more subtle ways. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/27 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 21.x]]</ref> He once ricocheted bullets to knock the knife out of [[Imp]]'s hand when she held it to [[Doctor Mother]]'s throat,<ref name=":10"/> and could target [[Rime]] regardless of cover and her attempts to dodge.<ref name=":16"/> A clone of him was able to disable one of [[Bitch]]'s dogs by throwing something at it.<ref>Golem tore his eyes away from the scene.  He glanced down at the street, where Bitch, Parian and Foil were reinforcing Tecton and Hoyden, backing them up as the Harbingers approached.  One Harbinger threw something, and a dog dropped like its heart had stopped. - [[Sting 26.5]]</ref> He was able to track [[Scion]]'s location for [[String Theory]].<ref>[[Extinction 27.4]]</ref> His power enabled a clone of him to dodge [[Foil]]'s attacks, despite her superhuman sense of trajectories and timing. He could also anticipate and avoid [[Golem]]'s smallest, fastest hands, as well as [[Revel]]'s programmed orbs.<ref name=":8"/>

===Vulnerabilities===
Although Kurt, a non-frontline fighter, could manage quite well in close combat, he preferred to operate from a distance during a warzone. [[Victoria]] speculates that being in the thick of a chaotic warzone would provide his power too many inputs and possibly give him a [[Thinker]] headache.<ref>“You know that she sent one of the boys to us.  We were preparing.  We are not- we ''were'' not frontline fighters.  Kurt could manage quite well, but in a warzone?  We preferred to wait, strike surgically and with great precision, to optimal effect.”<br><br>“I imagine if he had a thinker power, it would be too many inputs.  Thinker headache?”<br><br>Citrine pressed her lips together again.  Displeased.  She almost seemed more bothered by the fact I’d mentioned any kind of weakness than the fact I’d brought up her husband’s de-facto killer.<br>[...]<br>Easier to believe she wanted to protect the Harbinger boys who had the same power and weakness.<br><br>“Sorry,” I said.<br><br>“Because of her message, we rushed where we normally wouldn’t, we trusted her, Kurt went to open the door for me and his body shielded me from the worst of the blast.  The boys came and administered medical care.  She killed him. Is that what you want to hear?” - [[Sundown 17.10]]</ref>

Low visibility can reduce the effectiveness of his power. The [[Harbinger clones]] would not charge into a hail of gunfire if it was late evening.<ref>Swansong gave the answer. "They'd go out the front door, into the hail of gunfire. They'd kill or maim every threat and every potential threat and then torture answers out of the survivors."<br><br>"You oversell us," Harbinger One said. "Not into the hail of gunfire. Not in the late evening when visibility is low."<br><br>"I stand corrected," Swansong said. - [[Heavens 12.2]]</ref> [[Harbinger One]] believed he could not guarantee a hit on [[Cradle]]'s mech with a ranged attack because of too many obstacles and it being too dark (i.e., target moving in a thick forest).<ref>Cradle was moving through the trees with his mech, shaking them.  Slivers of the mech were visible where the trees weren't as thick or where some had been felled a certain distance into the woods.  Couldn't be easy terrain, especially with something as large and weird in shape as the mech.<br><br>"Because he knows we'd shoot him if he led from the front," Foil answered.  "I might be able to hit him.  Shoot through the repulsion field.  But I might miss."<br><br>"I could help," Harbinger One said, sidling in close enough that he was in Foil's personal space.  Damsel stuck out a claw, touching his shoulder and prodding him back.<br><br>"Can you guarantee a hit?" Foil asked.<br><br>"No.  Can't see enough of him, and it's too dark."<br><br> "I have the same problem, so it's not much help." - [[Heavens 12.8]]</ref> 

Space warping can interfere with Kurt's power. For example, [[Cradle]]'s [[Mover]] power messed with the [[Harbinger clones]]' calculations, hindering their combat effectiveness.<ref>A sweep of a fan burned one soldier my mom was fighting, making him drop his assault rifle.  She kicked it backward, in the direction of the Harbingers.<br><br>Cradle's glowing line appeared in the path.  The weapon slid right into it, and was cut in two.<br><br>Whatever calculations the Harbingers were using, Cradle wasn't sitting still long enough for them to apply.  He moved here and there, at one moment approaching Rain with arm held high, chain circling overhead, ready to strike down, the other hand pointed at Rain-<br>[...]<br>Cradle disappeared, appearing behind Rain.  Rain spun around, swinging with a blade of silver, as the chain whipped toward his head.  A dodge.  A Harbinger changed course, to lunge right for Cradle, only to stop when an 'x' of glowing lines appeared between them.  No more slingshot bullets, possibly.  It wasn't the only fence, either.  There were enough that one good stomp from Thud, were he still standing, would bowl people over and make them fall into the lines.  Not all were easy to see.<br>[...]<br>"I can see you, Rain," Cradle intoned.  He moved twice in quick succession, and a gunshot from one of the Harbingers echoed through the area, the bullet ricocheting and hitting a wall.<br><br>Maybe a spot he'd figured Cradle would appear at.<br><br>The Harbinger moved to reload, and a line appeared as he moved the weapon.  He only grazed it, checked the weapon, then threw it aside, like it was no use. - [[Heavens 12.8]]</ref>

===Equipment===
His power grants him facility with using common objects as weapons; he's seen using his pens in combat,<ref name=":9"/><ref name=":14"/> as well as firearms. Using a small pistol he would fire from the hip,<ref name=":10"/> and on at least one occasion he made use of a sniper rifle.<ref name=":16"/>

He was often seen with a laptop.<ref name=":12"/><ref name=":2"/> His office contained a number of touchscreen computers hooked up to a [[Doormaker]] portal, providing him with info from around the world.<ref name=":2"/>