A persistent rumor holds that Prevailer is not the actual head of the Regime.  The theoretical man behind the curtain is generally presumed to be a Processed Dr. Chen, or Transcender.

Arguments In Favor Of:

Prevailer is either smarter than she seems or has an ingenious adviser.  The amount of times that she has escaped disaster by what appears to be simple fortune is too great to be believed.

The fact that the man who invented the Process knew personally the person who gained the greatest power from it, by an enormous margin, strains credibility.  If it was not coincidence, and he therefore was able to tune the Process to give more or less power, it seems likely that he gave himself the greatest powers of all.

There is a list of powers for the Troubleshooters to take special precautions with.  This list includes powers which might give Prevailer trouble, but it also several other specifications which point towards a fugitive or person of interest.  That is to say, Prevailer may well be cautious about electric or teleporting powers, but the focused interest in shapeshifters (despite her public defeating of several such), might indicate that there is one shapeshifter in particular she’s looking for.

Dr. Chen’s son lived a long and healthy life, despite publicly disparaging Prevailer on numerous occasions prior to the creation of the Regime.  Others who had offended her earlier in life met the fate of her parole officer.  Perhaps she feared to accost Elliot Chen because of his father?

Arguments Against:

Prevailer killed Dr. Chen publicly in the first few hours of establishing the Regime.  It was televised, and the body was DNA tested.

Prevailer has shown no evidence of having any ability to tolerate a figure which is more powerful than she.  If she has a hidden master, then she is a superb actress who has maintained a ruse convincingly for decades.

Dr. Chen maintained that he himself would never undergo the Process, in several interviews both private and public.  He stated that the risks women would undergo in it were bad enough, and was of the opinion that there was no need for men to subject themselves to his creation.

Dr. Chen consistently registered objections to any and all warlike activities.  He was not a declared pacifist, but there exists no record of him approving the use of force.  The idea that he could approve of the Regime beggars the imagination.

Conclusion:

[Redacted]