Item from Worm by Wildbow
Power-granting formulas derived from the dead Entity Eden's flesh. Cauldron sells them to create loyal parahumans — but roughly one in four recipients becomes a monstrous Case 53 instead.
The vials are Cauldron's primary product and humanity's desperate shortcut. Natural trigger events require trauma and are unpredictable. Cauldron's vials offer a controlled alternative — drink and gain powers. But the process is imperfect. About twenty-five percent of recipients become Case 53s — monstrous, amnesiac parahumans dumped into the world with no memory of who they were. Cauldron sells vials to the wealthy, trades them for favors, and uses them to seed parahumans in strategic locations worldwide. The ethical implications are staggering and deliberately buried. Each vial represents a piece of a dead alien god, repackaged as salvation.
Small glass vials containing luminous fluid in various colors — each color corresponds to a different power profile. The liquid seems to shift and move on its own, as though alive. Labels use coded designations rather than descriptions. They're stored in climate-controlled cases within Cauldron's compound.
Also known as: Cauldron formulas, the vials, power vials