The Talents are something like superheroes, or at least humans with superhuman abilities. Most of them are element related-but not limited to that. The main Talents I've been exploring are Heat/Fire, Electricity/Lightning, Liquid/Water, Telekinesis, and Pain Repression/Healing.

When I began this story, I didn't ever set out an exact reason for why these people are how they are. *trying to make this post in a way of not giving spoilers but doubts that will work out in the end* Long and short of it is that they can 'see' (sense) the related elements around them and physically affect them with the movements of their own minds.

A} Part of the idea arose from the studies which perceive we only use a tiny fraction of our brain space and scientists wonder what the other parts of our brain are for. I hypothesized that in this storyworld, maybe humans are able to use that part of their mind to actually influence the world around them, outside of them.
Edited I guess I should point out that I understand we really do use all of our brains for everyday activities, but that science hasn't really confirmed what all we use when and for what. This is particularly why I would like some other ideas associated with this.

B} A second idea, as far as how the talent abilities are able to manifest in the first place, may end up coming from a completely separate, but I guess related, hypothesis of the space between the atoms and what it's for, why it's there, if it's empty or not.

Unfortunately, I have a very limited scientific skill set so if anyone else has any bright ideas, or has some knowledge of either those two studies I mentioned, I'd greatly appreciate the assist. I would love this sci-fi to be a "true sci-fi" where the science actually does come to play in it, not just your average superhero space opera.

You could have your scientific connections/explanations linked to nature: fire to dragons or the bombardier beetle, electricity to eels, and such. I'm not so sure about water, although I would link telekinesis to manipulating the electron repulsion of atoms, which I guess could work for water. By linked I mean the method of control/generation.

Thanks for the Re, Doodler! It's a good idea, but I'm not certain how it affects the fact that the people themselves are able to use/control those things..? I guess I don't know how it would link them. I mean, obviously those animals have the ability to, for example, create electric currents in their own body, but to be able to manipulate electricity they don't create?

A fusion of genetics between species, specifically those pertaining to the abilities gained, could hypothetically work - and has story potential, as the two species would be rather incompatible in many ways, leading to trouble for your protagonists and antagonists alike.

Or not. There hasn't really been any substantial research in that area of course, most likely because of its' probable illegality.

This now leads me to a junction in my train of thought. Are your Talents born with their powers active, or dormant, or do they acquire them by unnatural means (genetic re-engineering, crazy fire ants, or cosmic rays, etc.)?

("Crazy fire ants" *dying* )

Okay, so I'll answer the second part and it will help relate to the first..?
No one is born "Talented" or "untalented." The very reason they are called Talents is because the abilities are achieved, they are learned. It's the specific ability by some people to learn something so well and completely, that they pretty much gain a tiny secondary dimension associated with it....like, um, like the difference between watching a movie and watching it in 3D. Sorta. More like "4D" where the theater acts and reacts to the elements on-screen. (that's a terrible analogy, but maybe it helps.) In any case, this is the theory the characters themselves are working off of, basing their studies around, because it has been the assumed truth.

In the story, it is widely thought that Talents are somehow able to open a sort of "back door" to their mind, a thing that maybe everybody should be able to do but most can't. This "door" of extra-knowldege is accessed by one of two ways, and usually a combination of both: scientific/practical knowledge, and physical/psychological trauma.

So, for example, a scientist working on a lifelong project of oceanology may suddenly be able to create waterfalls out of thin air. But it may only happen after he almost drowns in his bathtub. XD

However, most Talents manifest in younger people, rather than older; often teens and young adults, for a couple reasons: one, because just like with many other things, the younger brain is simply more absorbant to new information and can learn things more quickly and adeptly than someone in their forties. And, two, because...well because hormones. XD Younger people not only have more energy at work in their brains already, but their whole physiology is hard at work growing and maturing and making changes.

This isn't to say that no one has achieved a Talent at old age, but it is far more common for younger people to do so.

On the trauma side of it all, we've all heard of the stories of inhumane strength and abilities in the face of impossible danger. Parents moving vehicles to save children, people surviving falling from extreme heights or beig hit by a bus, the way simple adrenaline can keep a mortally wounded human moving, etc. These types of traumas can be what causes a perosn to snap into having superhuman capabilities.

So, basically, a new talent is "triggered" by one or both of those things.

For the main story, I don't need to have all the answers. As I mentioned, the characters at this point don't even fully understand what's going on with them. That's part of the journey they're on, albiet a somewhat small one. However...um...well not only do /I personally/ want to be able to have an answer for it, but there are sequel ideas, and building on the info of what makes a Talent would be a very great part of those new stories.