Name: ARTEI-0014 'Artie'
Age: 10 Months
Gender: None, though is occasionally referred to as 'he' by its human operators. Artie's vocalizer uses a deep, male voice pattern.

Appearance:
As an AI, Artie has no specific body, outside of a cylindrical AI-core housed deep within one of the USF's most secure facilities, though he regularly transmits his 'consciousness' to an A-1 Tactical enforcer unit. A-1 tactical enforcer units are less common than the more ubiquitous X3 robotic infantry units. the A-1 Tac-Enforcer stands in at 7 feet in height, though their effective height while in a combat stance is closer is closer to 6'8" and weighs just under a ton when fully equipped. The A-1 Tac-Enforcer is a highly advanced droid, designed specifically for handling riots, as well as engaging tactical combat scenarios, and is surprisingly mobile and agile for its size. Using advanced cyberlimbic technologies to create a single body, The body itself is made up of advanced electronic circuitry housed within a EMP-cased shell of advanced artificial servomotors and processors. The artificial body is then clothed with diamond-carbon weave kevlar, and additional high strength alloy armor plates are equipped on the body making the A-1 highly resistant to small arms fire, natural hazards, and explosives.

Capabilities:
Built into Artie's specific A-1 shell, is a suite that allows Artie to control other A-1 and X3 units in the field. Artie's combat shell is EMP-shielded. The A-1 Tactical Enforcer is able to use almost all U.S.F. standard equipment, and comes with its own built in weaponry.

• STAKEN Medium Machinegun - A general-purpose machine gun typically used by the USF, the STAKEN fires full power 7.62mm rounds with considerable accuracy. It features a fire rate of 750 rpm, and is usually uses a 50 round box magazine. The A-1 units typically use the STAKEN linked to a large ammunition reserve on its back carrying 1000 rounds.
• R36 Shotgun - While often used as a full weapon by most troopers, the A-1 units utilize R36 shotguns as sidearms. These powerful shotguns are semiautomatic and and feature a 12 round magazine. The narrow spread of these shotguns allow them to be used even at range, and can load a variety of shells, from standard shot, to slugs, electrostun, rubber, and suppression foam. The R36 also has a front plate for door breaching.
• mini-launcher - Built into the wrist of the A-1's left hand is a 40mm munitions launchers. Capable of launching any USF standard 40mm grenade, the A-1 typically loads stun/flash grenades for riot situations. The mini-launcher has an internal magazine of three.
• Electrical Whipcord Built into the wrist of the A-1's right hand is an electrified whipcord launcher. The whipcord is often utilized to capture and incapacitate fleeing targets.
• Suppression Foam - Built into the under-wrist of the A-1 is a suppression foam system. Suppression foam is the USF's primary method of combating riots, spraying dissidents with rapidly congealing, electrified foam to immobilize and incapacitate unruly citizens. The suppression foam has only a mild effect on armored units, but can severely hinder the movements of vehicles as well.
• Punch-pads - A sheath of armor plating that can deploy around the 'fist' of the A-1, protecting the top and 'knuckles' of the manipulator, allowing it to engage in melee combat without damaging its less sturdy manipulators.

Personal Skills:
Highly mobile and capable in both long ranged warfare and CQC combat. His tough construction makes him extremely durable and difficult to overwhelm with sheer force alone. Artie capable of taking considerable punishment. He has the logic and computing skills of a supercomputer and has the ability to control multiple X3's at once.
Personal Weaknesses:
As one of the first attempts to mass produce AI's, Artie is prone to the occasional glitch. He also occasionally expresses conflicting opinions, and exhibits less compliance than many Corporates would like.

History: Advanced Reconnaissance and Tactical Electronic Interface, Serial number 0014, commonly referred to by his USF handlers as 'Artie', is a prototype Artificial Intelligence unit created by the Lorne Corporation for the USF, with the intention of mass producing capable and efficient, yet cheap AI. Highly classified and only created in limited numbers as of now, each ARTEI unit is typically bound to a human "Operator", either a USF Squad leader, or Hunter unit, to provide it with tactical as well as strategic advice. ARTEI is capable of re-tasking local robotic units in order to provide further aid.

ARTEI-0014, commonly known as Artie by development teams as well as the few ground teams its been in contact with was the first ARTEI unit to complete standard testing 5 months after its creation. 0014 then spent the next 4 months conducting classified raids against various pirate forces in order to continue gathering combat data and combat experience. ARTEI-0014 has spent the last month at a holding facility, where he maintains guard over a select group of unique humans.

Name: Orthan Ghosar

Alias: When involved in activities of questionable legality, Orthan goes by the alias, "Ophidian."

Age: 46

Gender: Male

Appearance: Orthan is a Caucasian male, standing six feet tall, with an athletic build weighing 190 lbs. Square-jawed with robust features, Orthan has never been a particularly handsome man, though the lines starting to settle in his face lend some dignity to his appearance. His blue-grey eyes are narrow and deep-set, carrying a way, distrustful look. He stays clean-shaven and keeps his dark hair neatly trimmed, though silver is beginning to creep into its edges. Orthan dresses smartly, with a preference for tailored suits in a sleek, modern style, typically in such colors as dark grey and navy blue.

Abilities: Orthan has been granted the ability of electrokinesis, allowing him to control electricity and electromagnetism. However, he has scarcely used this ability since gaining it, and so can only manipulate electricity on a small scale. Minor electric shocks, lesser feats of magnetism and the disruption of unshielded electronics are the best he can currently manage with his abilities.

Skills: Above all else, Orthan is a cunning businessman and a shrewd manipulator. The combination of his sharp intellect, skill in finance and business management, his deep insight into the motivations of both demographics and individuals, and his remarkable charisma make him a powerful and influential man. More subtly, Orthan has knowledge and contacts that put him in a position of control and influence in the Martian criminal underground, and he is well-versed in putting these deniable assets to his best use. On a minor note, Orthan is a decent shot with a pistol, and still has some muscle memory left from his time spent as a boxing in college.

Flaws: While he tries his best to stay connected to his working-class roots, Orthan has had it easy for the last couple of decades, and so his ability to empathize with the common man on an individual scale has slipped. As well, he has the undesirable combination of being an ambitious leader in a ruthless business, as well as a sympathizer to the plight of the common worker. Orthan's goals and empathy often clash, which can make him at times indecisive, other times guilt-ridden. In addition, he is getting on in his years; while he is in good health for his age, he is far from the athletic prime of his youth.

Background: Orthan was born in New London, a native Martian, the only son of a simple miner. The same year that Orthan entered secondary school, a mining accident killed his father. He and his mother were shaken terribly by the loss, which was compounded when they were denied restitution from his father's employer, the Lorne Corporation, on the basis that the accident was the result of human error. Embittered from a young age by the callous nature of corporations, Orthan aspired to change Mars to become a better place for common folk like his family. While his mother worked three jobs to keep a roof over their head, Orthan worked diligently in school, eventually graduating as valedictorian of his class and earning a scholarship to New London University. Though at first he desired a career in politics and law, he saw that it was corporations that controlled the fate of Mars, and so pursued an education in business and finance. Orthan graduated with honors, and quickly found work as middle-management official in the Lorne Corporation.

Orthan's rise to success and power was a long and difficult one. Countless hours of tedious labor and networking, risky decisions and his unique cunning were instrumental to his rise. As time passed, he found that his goals and morals shifted and changed. Orthan grew less idealistic quite quickly, becoming cynical and ruthless not long after that. Betrayal and manipulation became second-nature to him as he clawed his way up through the cutthroat environment of high business. To gain a better edge against his compeitors, he even delved into the realm of organized crime and corporate warfare, carving a place for himself among the mobs and shadow-runners in the the seedy underbelly of New London. Orthan eventually established his own company, Ars Mechanica Industries, a manufacturer of mining equipment and other such heavy machinery. Now the foremost fabricator and supplier of industrial equipment on Mars, Orthan is force to be reckoned with in the arena of the Martian business.

However, the growing unrest on Mars has been hard on even the affluent such as Orthan. Rioting and protests have decreased his productivity considerably, and the overall slowing trend of the Martian economy has hurt the growth of his business. Lesser companies have been swallowed up by the Lorne Corporation, which has been growing into an unstoppable monopolizer of every business on Mars. As well, the increased scrutiny of the UN has edged uncomfortably close to Orthan's less than legal contacts. He feels as though ground is shrinking under his feet, and that he may not hold his position of power for much longer. The rise of strange abilities in the populace following the aberrant seismic activity has compounded Orthan's problems further, as he too has begun to exhibit unusual powers. His lower-class roots give Orthan a great deal of pity toward the oppressed masses of Mars, and as he is now a member of a persecuted population, he is even more empathetic to those afflicted similarly. The tensions on Mars are reaching a boiling point, and Orthan is preparing himself to take advantage of the chaos to come. He has been sheltering those that have developed abilities, helping them and their families move far from population centers. As well, he has been in talks with various other corporations that have their business similarly threatened by Lorne. Strangest of all, he has been scouting various paramilitary organizations on both Mars and Earth, and has dramatically increased production in his factories of such items as mining lasers, plasma generators and environmental hazard suits.

Sample Post: I'll get to it.

Name: Luther Ulfsson
Alias: N/A
Age: 17
Gender: Male

Appearance:


Abilities:

An increase in the connections between neurons and the promotion of hippocampal neurogenesis in Luther's brain has caused Luther to develop hypercognition and enhanced intelligence. A heightened level of brain functioning has allowed him to accelerate cognitive processes like learning and understanding; thus, with effort, information, and motivation, Luther could effectively learn a new language or a new field in science over the period of a few days rather than over the course of a few years. On the other hand, Luther has become more susceptible to the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and headaches.

In addition to his hypercognition and enhanced intelligence, Luther now possesses localized control over water, including its solid and gaseous forms and phase changes to either state. He is limited solely to bodies of water which are within view and within 50 meters, approximately the length of an Olympic pool. This ability requires more focus as the distance increases to the furthest limit, and overexertion may affect areas outside of 50 meters with the immediate effect of losing consciousness for anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour. Luther can manipulate the closest and smallest bodies of water with little to no effort, but higher volumes of water in excess of 1 cubic meter become increasingly difficult to manage and also require higher levels of focus. The maximum volume of water which Luther may manipulate is 10 cubic meters. When Luther relinquishes control of a body of water, the water is no longer an isolated system. Bigger bodies of water take longer to change states, so it is more efficient to focus on a small surface area than it is to affect a large expanse.

Skills:

• Natural (but below genius) intellect
• Energetic, friendly personality
• Decent singer, high vocal range
• Skilled speaker and writer and adequate artist
• English and German speaker
• Highly emotional
• Witty, comedic

Flaws:

• Bad (but improving) temper
• Nearsighted
• Not very creative
• Not incredibly strong
• Low self-esteem
• Highly emotional
• Snarky, sarcastic

Background:

2182: Luther Ulfsson is born in New London on July 7 to working-class parents, William Ulfsson and Sonica Ulfsson (née Thomson).

2190: Luther is accepted into a program for gifted students.

2196: Luther starts secondary education with the goal of eventually doing scientific research and mathematics.

2197: Luther's mother starts work as a junior staffer for the Lunar Colony. That same year, Luther's father is diagnosed with cancer.

2198: Luther writes two opinion articles for the school newspaper on the unrest in New London.

2199: William Ulfsson's cancer goes into remission. A final operation removes the cancer entirely.

2200: Sonica Ulfsson returns to Mars from the Lunar Colony. The Quake occurs, and Luther begins exhibiting higher performance in school.

Sample Post:

February 14th, 2200.
The holotablet on the desk displayed integral calculus, complete with a graph, some variables, and an equation. A gentle, deft touch dragged information across the surface of the device, and an index finger wrote the calculations in a bright sky blue as an occupied mind worked further and further ahead. The graph slanted on the screen as Luther penned more work on the problem, and the graph eventually morphed to show a three-dimensional representation of his work so far. Variables changed at Luther's command, and terms of equations shifted past each other like tectonic plates. The tall, youthful brunet, who stooped over the desk, mumbled his computations, and wrote his answers with elegance and speed, swiped his finger in a circle around the last number and tapped into the next page of work. In a few more months, his time in secondary education would terminate, and Luther could proceed to university.

Hallowed halls, packed seminars, scientific license, and individual freedom awaited Luther Ulfsson, and he held the duty of carrying the family into the future. Perhaps he was beyond the transient period of gradeschool education, where everyone was forgettable including oneself and where social needs were not so easily met as they were deprived by both strict codes of conduct and illusory climates of condescension. Luther could feel his hand forced at any given moment, either by the prevailing authorities or by any imagined worry. But not so, at the university. Luther bided his time until then.

Luther took a peek at the new problem before him, and he wrinkled his nose. "Disgusting."

Grabbing his glass of water, possibly Mars' scarcest commodity, Luther stepped towards his room's window which faced north, and in the sky, he could discern the star Deneb and the moon Phobos. It was very obviously night out, but New London kept moving and shining. That fact reminded Luther of something he had read online once, a 200-year-old quote, but maybe it was irrelevant.

The people were not content with the way things were, and USF presence on Mars only increased in the past few months. Just that day, 4 people went missing without explanation, but time and time again, the people in charge maintained their story that they would 'look into it.' Luther swirled the water around in his glass, and shooting an armed glare at the liquid, it tensed into ice as if he had threatened to murder it. He let it change into a liquid again and repeated his little parlor trick. The first time he had done this, Luther was crying in his room just a week before, and his tears evaporated harmlessly the moment they dripped from his face. Neurotically, Luther continued the cycle over and over again as with every habit and trial in his life, but somehow, he felt something larger ahead.