Name: Iskander "Sulk" Mandragora
Title: Experiment XX: Aeon
Height: 163 cm
Weight: 45 kg
Age: 15
Race: Genetic Hybrid
Tier/Influence: 3 (Regional); while Sulk's abilities are potent, his control and range under which they are reliable are limited.
Group(s): None
Appearance: Iskander, better known as his pseudonym "Sulk," is a boy in his early teens. Small for his age, he stands slightly shorter than girls of his own age. His body is thin, though not skinny, with a wiry, only lightly-muscled build. Sulk's unique biology has given him something of a pigment disorder, and as such his skin is a milky, pale color. His longish, unkempt hair is a fair, fine white, seeming almost blue in direct sunlight. Shai's large, childlike eyes are the are an electric green-blue that blaze with unnatural power. His features are soft and delicate, giving him an innocent, childish, almost androgynous appearance. Even so, his face is usually firm and stoic, like a porcelain doll, with only his bright, focused eyes lending any life to his expression. Caring little for his outward appearance, Sulk typically dresses in loose-fitting and casual garments that are comfortable and practical to his day-to-day tasks.
Personality: Denied a normal life from the moment he was born, isolation and alienation are all that he has ever known. His powers, which set him apart from everyone he ever knew, have made him into a cynical, distrustful loner even at his young age. Combined with his intelligence, this makes him rather poor at socializing, which he considers to be an "inefficient" means of communication. He is utterly pragmatic, bordering on ruthless, and cares little for such things as pleasantries, formalities, and other abstract concepts. That said, though, he is still essentially a child, and his innocence, naivety and sense of wonder have not yet been worn away by the life he has lived thus far.
Abilities, Talents, Traits, Powers: The product of advanced genetic engineering, Sulk can be loosely described as a "designer superhuman," deliberately imbued with abilities that set him apart from the masses. Essentially, Sulk is a powerful psychic, by the merit of his meticulously bio-engineered nervous system. His brain is equal parts an organic quantum supercomputer, and electromagnetic superconductor, and his nerves turn his body into a living electromagnet. Sulk can both sense and manipulate bio-electricity in himself and others, as well as various other concentrations of electrons and free ions. The computational power of his brain allows him to interpret the electrical firings of neurons and circuitry, and influence them with atomic precision, which from a macro-perspective achieves such effects as telepathy and technokinesis. Like a living computer, Sulk can "download" information such as knowledge and memories from people and machines alike, and has a flawless memory from which this information can be tapped at will. As easily as he would flex one of his own muscles, Sulk can attract, repel, and otherwise manipulate electrons and free ions in his environment, and can also accumulate them within his body to be projected later. By creating electric channels for these particles to flow through, or directing them to form powerful magnetic fields, he can achieve abilities commonly referred to as psychokinesis and fulgurkinesis. His powers are still developing, however, and almost all of them require his complete focus to remain under his control. Outside influences, such as magnetic fields or disturbances, electrical surges, or EMPs can interfere with his abilities, and potentially cause him great pain or induce unconsciousness, as while his brain and nerves are powerful, they are also highly sensitive.
Items: Sulk operates out of a seedy apartment complex in one of Frixion Prime's many underhive slums. He managed to acquire an apartment with rooftop access, allowing him to post his many transmitters and EMP encryption devices on the rooftop. As well, that is where he stores Black Dwarf, his custom star-speeder. Sulk's apartment is a barely-navigable mess of servers, chords, access panels, and miscellaneous computer parts, the floors literally flooded with coolant. From here he conducts his typical day-to-day operations, and ekes outs a meager existence.
History: With a population as massive and as dense as that on Frixion Prime, and with its active scientific community, any number of groundbreaking scientific projects could be taking place at any given time. All with a varying degree of legality and ethical standing. And just as these experiments are conducted, there are those who stand to oppose them, either for their own gain or guided by their sense of righteousness. And so when a particular weapons-development program, code-named "Project: THELEMA," was raided by an unknown shadow entity, their employees liquidated and their assets seized, Frixion Prime did not turn an inch.
The so-called "product" of these illicit experiments, a male infant with naught but a tag around his ankle for his identity, was supposed to be "disposed of" quietly, and without fuss. As is also the case with the many goings-on of the Tech Planet, there are often glitches in the system, when things do not go according to plan. Rather, the baby was deposited in an underhive orphanage on the planet's far side, away from anyone who could have ever known that he was alive. The infant became a child, and was eventually given the name Iskander Mandragora, a randomly-generated designation produced by the orphanage's overseer AI. Due to his dour nature, the boy was nicknamed "Sulk," by the other children.
Sulk always knew he was different. He had strange thoughts and stranger ideas, and was ridiculed for trying to express any of them. Even when they said nothing, he could hear the children's ridicule in their small minds. He learned to read code before he could read words, and had a more intimate relationship with the oversee AI than any other orphan, by merit of being able to interface with the AI's matrix directly. Sulk practiced his gifts quietly as he grew up, mostly learning to read the other orphans. He quickly found that he preferred his gift for technology more, as they were simpler to understand. Machines followed logic and protocols, and the pathways of their mind were so clean and clear. Never the case with organics it seemed.
Eventually Sulk unlocked the key to his independence; by directly simulating the electrical pathways of brains and solid state drives, he could "download" information directly to himself. By tracking down anyone knowledgeable enough, he could essentially pirate their skills and knowledge. With a world as dense and ripe with technological skill as Frixion Prime, he did not want for potential targets. Within months of mastering this ability, he had accumulated enough knowledge some of the most masterful hackers the planet had ever produced. And none of them had his direct power over electronics.
Sulk escaped the orphanage and set up his own base of operations not far, but still closer to the world's surface. Through some currency manipulation and hacking of financial institutions, he was able to source the raw materials he needed. He built a nest of encrypted network taps and other relevant equipment, and even went as far as to rig together a custom star-speeder if his position was ever compromised. Sulk has spent the last year living comfortably, providing various electronic services, illicit and otherwise, to those willing to pay and keep their mouths shut. As many teenagers struggle with their sense of identity, Sulk has begun to ponder his origins and the source of his powers, and has begun to delve into the net to discover his own past. Be it his criminality or this new, dangerous obsession, Sulk's days of peaceful isolation are surely soon to come to an end.