Christopher Drake Francis

18

5'11

180 lbs

At first glance, Chris is a quiet individual with seldom any desire to speak unless be it absolutely necessary. Often having a cynical view and serious tone. He is very cautious of getting close to people, keeping this persona of uninterested and rude demeanor to turn people away from him. He doesn't like to talk about himself in the slightest, and he has learned to be complacent with loneliness due to him adapting to keeping distance.

Even to those he warms up to, Chris's cynical nature doesn't change much. He will start making sarcastic or passive-aggressive comments of the like, he has no interest in lying about his opinion and will tell people directly on most subjects without caring if he offends them initially. A sort of, brutal-to-be-honest mentality, but even so he will refuse to talk about himself.

He's easily annoyed by people, especially overly positive and active attitudes or aggressive tones, whether someone insult him or compliment him, he's probably going to dislike them either way. Though he can be complacent to those that aren't to far in one side or the other, especially if he does warm up to their company.

He is afraid of loss, afraid of hurting others due to what he calls a 'curse'. His own powers make him afraid that he will turn into a monster. Not to mention that his transformations can be painful.

He was founded in the ruins of a city devastated by a monster later killed by the military, the only survivor, and surrounded in flames that he surprisingly surprised, and left there as a child surrounded by corpses that he once knew. Since then, while he has been serving without question, he has been very reclusive on a social level.

Silence, tranquility. It was a bright sunny day, and he could feel the warmth of the sun grazing him. Before him stood the burning, mangled corpses of various obscene monstrosities, deceased at his wake, leading up to a dirt road that lead to a vast city. He saw kids playing in the streets ahead, their parents watching over them, people chatting, talking, living normal lives as if they were blissfully unaware of now deceased monsters, and Chris himself. He watched, as they continued to be happy with their lives, and he walked down, passing over or walking onto the dead creatures. As he came closer to the village, he saw a marble statue of an unknown creature, reptilian and winged, spewing flames on what appeared to be demonic apparitions, and a few people themselves looked to the statue in awe, some children were even hugging or pretending to be either the dragon itself or the demons falling before it.
He couldn't help but smile, and just before he woke up, he felt something, or someone, hold his right hand. Before he could look, for a second he saw the statue come to life, animate itself with gleaming orbs for its eyes.

Flames were all around him, fires towering this way and that. What was once a forest was now a wasteland of heat and ash. The sky was dark with clouds, yet he wasn't harmed. He saw though corpses, corpses of burning people, he couldn't reckognize them, but he knew they were all human, some were mangled, others eaten. Then the earth started to shake in rhythm, several stomps preceding behind him, and when he turned, he saw the gleaming red orbs of a dragon's eyes, staring at him. Slowly the light from its eyes faded as its reptilian eyes showed Chris his reflection, uninjured though stained with blood, and in utter shock.

Arbiter

xxx

You have none, yet. You will get some as the story progresses. Keep track of them here. Some of them might be really important or something, I don't know.

17

5'4"

140

Emma has the nigh constant image of a prim and proper young lady. Her look is well composed, she is typically smartly dressed, putting great care into her appearance, and it shows. On the surface she holds an air of jovial composure, a small smile can be found on her face in most situations, and it's quick to grow into a larger one. Those who are around her often will notice her occasionally nervous disposition. She has a tendency to fidget, often finding her leg bumping up and down of its own volition or playing with her hair absentmindedly.

Despite how she may feel she is good at faking happiness. At worst she has been unable to speak for fear of no longer being able to hold in her emotions, but more often she can maintain her smile even when under the duress that she often is. Not even her closest friends see through this guise. Sure, she's had some weird moments, but how could the possibly assume there's anything more to them than a brief discomfort? It's not hard for others to assume it's merely her stigma acting up, and she would never confide the truth of herself to anyone else, or so she thinks.

When in her lonesome the smile that can often be found on her face melts away into overwhelming apathy. Her stigma sets in without distraction and she often lets it get to her. When she thinks no one else is looking her mouth draws into a drooping line and sadness can be seen within her eyes.

A girl sits in the front of the class. A smile graces her face- it is a shy smile, seeming as if it wants to hide itself, and yet it is a beautiful smile all the same. She is surrounded by what can only be described as an entourage: A gaggle of friends, girls gossiping among themselves, joking, laughing, centered around the girl's desk- she is Emma Halwell. Beyond her friends she can feel the gaze of her male classmates- some stare at her, enthralled, and some secretly treasure her as nervous boys that can't talk to girls tend to do. She makes eye contact with one of them for but the briefest moment, but quickly looks away- a blush appears on her face as she nervously stokes her hair. Her friends look at the place where she had looked and turn back, giggling, whispering, insisting. She tells them to stop, but they do not and she does not protest further. She is not angry even though she thinks she should be. They're trying to push her onto the boy- she would mad but has long since stopped caring enough to argue. The bell rings and they all go quiet for a moment, and just then the thoughts that plague her return.

Emma, to the outside worlds, appears the very image of a popular high school girl- she is personable, well liked, and positively cheery. Her peers would say she has a knack for making others feel comfortable in situations they are otherwise uncomfortable in. She's bubbly and sweet, quick to joke and even quicker to laugh. She has a strong moral compass and a good head, staying well clear of trouble but always willing to help her friends out of their own. She can appear shy, and at some times is, but has learned how to overcome it- even though her tendencies may betray her she has learned at the very least how to talk like she is comfortable. Despite many stereotyping her as a bit of an airhead, as people do when it comes to the popular girl, she is surprisingly intelligent, well able to handle and even excel with USARILN's advanced curriculum. This is all to say that you'd be hard pressed to find someone with something bad to say about Emma. All of this makes the fact that she is an Aberration all the more strange. Some have asked her why, as she appears to be the very image of an Arbiter. "Of course I would have liked to be an Arbiter, but I guess that just wasn't the way things shook out. I can't really claim to know Dreamcather's will, eh?" She'll say with a shrug and a mournful smile. But that isn't really much of an answer, is it? Everyone knows that it's a Mage's own doing if they become Aberration. But people are usually polite enough to take that answer, either that or they simply do not want to pry further, or perhaps are just too beguiled by Emma's charms to challenge her. After all, it's rude to assume, is it not? No one can truly claim to know her dream, right? Maybe she was meant to become an Arbiter but merely took a wrong step on the road of life- we've all made bad decisions, haven't we? Perhaps it was just an unfortunate accident.

They'd be wrong if they thought that. The truth, the real truth that Emma would rather people didn't know, is that she is a bad person. She's gotten good at hiding how she feels about herself- in fact, she always has been, but there are thoughts that always flit around in the back of her mind that since become a mage have been amplified further by her stigma. She knows who she really is. she doesn't want to, but she does and her Stigma makes it all the worse. She knows that no matter how many friends she has, no matter how many people accept her, she'll never be able to accept herself. She has always felt worthless and lonely in spite of everything in her life telling her otherwise. "How pathetic is that? I can be surrounded by all these people that like me and still feel this way. Isn't that just sad? I'm so useless- I can have everything and still be so unbearably melodramatic. Why can't I just be happy? She hates herself most of all because she hates herself. The mere act of self hatred is the ultimate sin in her eyes, because she knows that she should be happy. She should be normal, she has every right to be, but she is not.

And that is what makes Emma so different from most Aberrations; she did not follow her path out of greed for riches or lust for power. She merely wished for happiness.

ℂ𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝔽𝕚𝕝𝕖: 𝔼𝕞𝕞𝕒 ℍ𝕒𝕝𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝
I'd like to keep everyone posted on our new USARILN students. I've gone ahead and sent staff the relevant files, at least what I could, but I wanted to flag this one for you guys. Emma Halwell. Information is scarce to be frank (She's a new student after all, so we don't have much besides what was relevant to the capture mission) but from what I'm seeing we should keep on eye on her. She's a possible psych risk, so let's keep on top of this one- if there is a problem we need to take care of it.

"I can feel... sunlight... it's so warm... it's so pleasant, like it's washing over me, making me clean, burning away my pain... but..." She looked around. She was alone. She knew now: All of her friends had left, had fled her. Had they discovered what a terrible person she was, and decided to leave? Had the finally wised up? She was truly alone. But not alone, in fact, she thought she was but now she could feel a presence. She could feel a gaze upon her where there was none. But it was not a friend. She knew now that it was what drove her friends away. It had hurt them, killed them, butchered them, and left her alone. There was an emptiness inside her, but at the same time a sense of higher purpose. She felt power swelling inside her, a power so great and vast that it destroyed the presence and herself. The dream ended.

She looked to her left, then her right. She was surrounded by friends. She felt fulfilled. She felt... happy? She wasn't really sure. It had been a long time since she really felt happy. She paused, contemplating. She was sure now, this must be what true happiness is. A man approached her... so handsome, so strong, he gave her the most reassuring smile. He sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. He smelt good. He leaned close and whispered in her ear, "Tell me, was it worth it?" She glanced back. "I... don't know..." He shook his head. Hatred filled his eyes. "After everything you don't know? You disgust me." He was gone. But she was still happy, at least. She was still alive. She felt like the emptiness inside her was full, finally, after all this time.

Aberration

N/A

Grant Rotem

17

5'10"

156 lbs.

If it weren't obvious before, Grant is a messy and unorganized person, not having the mindset to be clean in any way, and his power only added to that laziness. He also constantly comes off as a very tired person, slouching and having his hands stuffed in his pockets most of the time. In that sense, he's a slacker. Lazy and reluctant to do anything that he warrants "unnecessary" in his perspective. Emphasis on 'reluctant'. If he's pestered or convinced, he's likely to do that "unnecessary" activity anyways, no matter how grumpy or annoyed that makes him. He is prone to being not so proficient in making conversation, but that doesn't mean he's anti-social. Just that generally, he's a bad talker. Although he is tired and neutral with most people, while he's with any type of parental figure, he has come to lash out at them, usually becoming angry or irritated, and in some cases, just outright yelling at them with irrational outbursts of distrust and betrayal. No matter how nice, bad, or friendly they are, Grant will have nothing to do with them if possible.

When they, the government, found Grant, all they saw was a teen with his hands wrapped around his arms in an alleyway, his back against the building's wall, quiet sobs coming from him. It was the dead of night, and he was obviously cold. Lights flashed on him, and in an instant, his pained face turned into one of panic. His mind told him, 'evil, run, don't let them, distrust, betrayal', and he tried to run, he tried to struggle, even using his power against them. Garbage bags one after the other, even trash can lids were thrown at the men. He'd yell at them, cursing, saying their horrible, saying he didn't want to go. Eventually, they finally managed to catch him. Struggling, and hateful thoughts flowing out of his mouth, he was taken... and transferred to USARILN East.

Feigned Dominance
Through the visual telegraph that of a chain, Grant can use the said chain in order to manipulate and alter the inanimate and nonliving targets. When the chain makes contact with a valid target, thus meaning only physical things, he can control the target as long as it is within his power's range. The range of his power is a 5m radius, and once something is out of that range, it stops Grant's control over it. He also has the use of one chain.

Grant walked down a path. Just a simple sidewalk, and all was white around him. No people. No noise. Just pure silence. He only continued to take each step with stride in the peaceful white void, until the world around him began to shift. Move. The sidewalk under him turned to dirt, then grass, and even the ground moved, creating lumps of ground. He was amazed, staring down at the sight... Then he looked up. The sky had appeared, blue as can be, full of clouds. The path ahead curved up as he followed it. He climbed the rising path and when he reached the top, he saw the tranquil world he was in, the sun rising from the horizon... and then it ended.

Grant found himself in an empty space. Just like before. Yet, everything was black around him. He looked around, confused, panicked. In the distance, he could see his parents, waving. As if they were saying goodbye. He didn't want that. "No!" He shouted. "Don't leave!" He pleaded, running toward them, but he was stopped. Right in front of him, his parents rose from below, but they didn't wave. They just stood there, staring down at him. "D..Don't go... please!" He'd beg. Without hesitation, his parents kneeled down and hugged him. He felt satisfied like this... but when he looked at them, their faces began to crumble, like stone or sand. Deforming. Melting. Right in front of him, and his face was frozen with horror. His parents crumbled into his arms, and slid away. Then it ended.

Arbiter

None.

N/A