The National Office for Variant Affairs, more commonly referred to as N.O.V.A., is a government agency that deals with Variants involving everything from public relations to legal issues to scientific research. The agency for the most part is quite professional, though, over the years, corruption has started to make its way through the system at various levels.

Variant Types and Danger Levels
N.O.V.A. uses a system to classify Variants based on their specific abilities and also by the potential threat to society that those abilities pose. This does not necessarily take into account the notoriety of a Variant, but an especially aggressive or abusive Variant may have a higher danger level than normal (if he/she has been identified).

Danger Levels
Class 1 - Low _{(oh please...are you even a Variant?)}
Variant poses no threat to others; usually possesses low level enhancement or alteration abilities; abilities may even be inherently beneficial

Class 2 - Mild _{(yeah, that guy kinda bothers me a bit...)}
Variant may be a minimal threat to persons in close proximity if abilities are abused

Class 3 - Moderate _{(hey now...you be careful with that, ok? we don't want any trouble)}
Though they may not be an immediate danger, Variant has a high potential to cause damage or harm to others

Class 4 - High _{(wait...she can do what?!...yeah, we're screwed...)}
Variant is an immediate communal threat and individuals within his/her proximity should be on high alert

Class 5 - Extreme _{(that's ok...we don't need the Earth anyway, right?)}
Variant poses a national (or potentially global) danger and should be avoided at all costs; immediate action should be taken to neutralize this threat

Variant Types
Brute - Variant with increased levels of strength and/or durability; he/she may be more difficult to harm or take down

Metamorphic - Variant can change anatomy and/or physiology, either partially or fully; can take human or non-human forms including animal, mineral, energy, or alien

Volatile - Variant has abilities dealing with fire, electricity, plasma, and any other explosive energy/force; includes corrosives

Mentalist - Variant possesses psychic abilities; can control and/or manipulate objects, people, or energy using his/her thoughts

Agile - Variant is prone to quick movements and/or fast/instant travel; he/she may possess increased levels of dexterity

Inhibitor - Variant wields abilities that can weaken and/or hinder others

Augmentor - Variant has the ability to improve the condition of themselves and/or others

Distortionist - Variant is able to alter space-time, intangible concepts, or reality as a whole

Natural - Variant has abilities that utilize and/or affect the natural world and/or animals

Architect - Variant who is able to manipulate, modify, and/or replicate matter and/or energy; some are able to construct tangible objects from energy

Notoriety
One of the primary goals of N.O.V.A. is to identify and register all Variants living within the nation's borders. Variants have no legal obligation to register with N.O.V.A., so, as one would expect, not all Variants are willing to comply with the agency's agenda, whether out of privacy or sheer rebellion. For these reasons, every Variant has a certain level of notoriety with N.O.V.A., whether officially or unofficially.

Unknown - individuals who have been recognized as Variants but have yet to be identified by N.O.V.A.

Watched - Variants who have been identified but have not registered

Wanted - Variants who are known to misuse their abilities and pose a threat to the well-being and quality of life of others; vigilantes operating outside of the law are also considered Wanted as oftentimes their actions can cause collateral damage to people or property

Noble - Variants who have willingly given N.O.V.A. information on their identity and abilities and are licensed to use their abilities for 'altruistic and benevolent practices'

M.A.D.
N.O.V.A. employs a task force that is specially trained and equipped to handle Variant criminal activity. M.A.D., which stands for Monitoring, Apprehension, and Detainment, is a fairly recent institution that is being implemented in several major cities. Its members, which included Variants until a rather serious incident caused a policy change, are commonly referred to as MADmen. M.A.D. uses both street cameras and surveillance drones to track suspicious Variant activity. The main facility contains their central command center as well as an armory, garage, and training camp. There are also several smaller satellite 'posts' that are dispersed throughout the city to ensure a wider coverage and quicker response times.

Pariah Underground
The Pariah Underground is a loose network of wayward Variants who have distanced themselves from society. Most Variants in the Underground have abilities that are dangerous, grotesque, or just plain odd. Members usually occupy areas that have little to no human population and some have even gone so far as to actually construct subterranean hideouts. Though some prefer to have little to no contact with the outside world, others take to the streets as vigilantes or even criminals (known as the Scourge). In any case, Variants in the Underground take extensive measures to avoid N.O.V.A. and M.A.D. as much as possible.

Chimera
Chimera is an underground tech guild that frequently engages in acts of cyber-terrorism. One of the primary goals of Chimera is to infiltrate government systems and the systems of large corporations. Though governments and corporations are their main targets, they will make attacks on citizens quite often. Chimera employs a variety of militant techies including hackers, coders, computer engineers, and even hardcore gamers. For reasons yet to be discerned, Chimera has grown increasingly antagonistic towards Variants in recent times.

The Glorious Alliance
The Glorious Alliance is an assembly of Nobles who work together for the general benefit of society. Members of the Alliance see themselves as altruists trying to better the image of Variant-kind while most other Variants view them as egotistical sellouts and showoffs. Though the Alliance claims to work for free, they have been known to accept 'gifts' and 'donations' from 'supportive citizens'.

The Syndicate
The Syndicate is an extremely well-hidden, power-hungry Variant gang that happens to be infused with a substantial amount of money. As such, they are overly discriminatory about both their member selection and their mode of operation, sticking to high-level crimes involving major organizations and institutions. They usually only work to promote their own agendas but will occasionally collaborate with others if the dealings are beneficial enough -- which is rare, to say the least. Though their funding is near untraceable by conventional means, rumors have arisen that the organization is involved in smuggling and trafficking.

Most, if not all, computers in the world can access the Grand Global Nexus (G.G.N. or The Nexus). The Nexus is simply a vast computer network that connects several other smaller networks (what would be the ‘Internet’). The most predominant branch of the Nexus is the Transnational Databank (TDB). The TDB is a universally linked system of hypertext documents (what would be the ‘World Wide Web’) that is organized into 'datasites’ which each have a 'datacode’. The TDB is divided into five main sectors: government (001), business (002), education (003), media (004), and general/personal (005). A datacode will look like this:

::TDB.001.NOVA::
::TDB.005.Privy::
::TDB.005.blabbr::

People can also receive digital mail (d-mail) through the Nexus. A mail command will look like this:

::MAIL.Wolfman187@005.ChainMail::

Popular Datasites
Blabbr - a social networking site where users post photos, short video and audio clips, and small blurbs of text
Visage - a social networking site where users create extensive personal profiles to share with others
FriendBridge - a popular communication site used to send text messages and make voice and video calls
Vivify - the top blogging site on the Nexus
Optica - the world's largest video sharing and streaming site
ChainMail - a popular d-mail provider with lots of personalization
Privy - the world's most popular and trusted news site
Reson8 - the top nexus radio site on the planet
MetaSphere - a wildly popular gamer hub
WildFyre - an underground site hidden deep in the Nexus

Top Nexus Providers
Compass - comes standard with the Solaris operating system
Vortex - has numerous customization options
Nexpress - extremely fast and reliable

Sunrise Corporation - develops and manufactures computer software, consumer electronics, and personal computers; creator of the Solaris operating system
Panorama Industries - a major robotics and cybernetics manufacturer headquartered in New Haven
Rhoella Technologies - the world's largest manufacturer of several smart technologies including mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, and televisions; helped develop the Interactive Immersive Interface (i³)

Intelligent Command and Operation Network (ICON) - an AI guidance system that controls the movements of vehicles and civil robots throughout the country. Construction bots, delivery drones, and public transport vehicles are all linked to ICON.
Interactive Immersive Interface (i³) - virtual reality (i³Total) and mixed reality (i³Spatial)
Omni-Lens - eyewear that uses i³Spatial technology
Drones - any unmanned aircraft or airborne device; delivery, security, personal
E-Vap - electronic vapor cylinders used for smoking; sometimes called 'cyls’
Stingers - used to shoot intravenous drugs
Dissemblers - a small, concealable device used to make oneself ‘invisible’ to surveillance cameras; extremely rare and highly illegal

Character Sheet

Name |
Alias |
Age |
Gender |
Appearance | (height, weight, body type/build, identifying marks/tattoos)
Notoriety | (Unknown, Watched, Wanted)
Danger Level/Variant Type |
Abilities |

[Gear]
Attire |
Armament/Equipment |

[Temperament & Lifestyle]
Affiliation | (Pariah Underground or independent)
Personality/Habits |
Occupation/Trade |
Skills/Talents |
Family |
Background |

Name | Jason Zhao
Alias | Recall
Age | 28
Gender | M
Appearance | Average height and build- about 5'9, typical weight. No identifying marks or tattoos.
Notoriety | Unknown
Danger Level/Variant Type | Class 2 Mentalist

Abilities | Memory Control:
Jason can erase memories. With some effort, he can also alter existing memories, bring forgotten memories to the surface, or even implant false ones. To stay anonymous, and away from NOVA, Zhao has developed a habit of making sure that nobody he meets can ever completely remember what he looked like. At this point, he does it almost without thinking.



Attire | Making people forget you is easier if you are, in fact, forgettable. Jason dresses to match his environment: suits in the business districts, t-shirts for the middle class. He doesn't bother with masks, uniforms or other cliche "superhero" wear.

Armament/Equipment | None.



Affiliation | Pariah Underground

Personality/Habits | Friendly, in a quiet way. Jason tends to get along with others, but he's out of the habit of making friends. He tends to look just a little unfocused in conversations.

Occupation/Trade |
Former criminal. Currently an underground, unlicensed "hypnotherapist." That's what he calls it, anyway.

Really, Jason is hired to work on his client's mind telepathically. He once helped the victim of an assault to remember what the perpetrator looked like. Another time, he ended the vivid flashbacks of a veteran with PTSD. But most of his patients come from the Pariah Underground. A lot of folks in that circle have things in their past they would rather forget. Very odd jobs, but Jason Zhao is the only person who can do them. His clients, of course, can never remember exactly what he looks like.

Skills/Talents |
In a world of computers and cameras, staying anonymous takes more than just a convenient power set. A retired vigilante in the Pariah Underground taught Jason to hack into security systems, plus the basics of martial self-defense. Jason always had the feeling his mentor was trying to groom him to follow in his footsteps as a vigilante. The poor old man must have been disappointed.

Family |
Too many. A grandmother, a father, a mother and 3 sisters- all crammed into one little apartment.

Background |
Unlike the brochures would tell you, New Haven isn't a perfect place. Zhao was born into the dark underbelly of this city. The Shanty district looks bad even to visitors, but it's worse for the folks that live there. A visitor can't see the mold in the apartments. Or the sick homeless men sleeping in the dumpsters. Zhao was there his whole childhood, and he saw it all.

That's why his powers meant so much to him. Some people would have been disappointed. When his power came in at 15, he didn't get super-speed, or flight, or laser vision. All Zhao could do is make people forget him. But if you're clever, and you're desperate, that's enough.

He got involved in a local gang. Not one of the fancy new powered groups, like the Syndicate, but just an old-fashioned guns-and-knives gang. They loved Jason's powers as much as he did, because he could make their victims forget who mugged them. Once, he even made a whole convenience store full of witnesses forget a robbery. That one really impressed the guys at the top, and then Zhao was making enough money to take care of his whole family. He learned to choke down the lingering guilt. If it weren't for him, he would tell himself, his grandma would have lost the apartment.

Things went on that way for years. It wasn't until he was about 18 that life started to shift. With Jason's help, the gang had gotten big enough to catch the attention of NOVA. The MADmen aren't stupid, and they had figured out that a "mentalist" Variant must be behind the convenient amnesia of every possible witness.

A MADman joined the gang undercover, and when he had learned that Jason was the Variant at work, he attempted an arrest. Maybe he figured that Jason's powers weren't a threat. Maybe he just thought he was too young to try anything. But either way, the MADman wasn't ready for what happened.

He had never needed to push his powers very far. But when the agent tried for an arrest, Jason panicked, and lashed out telepathically with all his strength. He only meant to make the man forget who the Variant was, but instead, he made the man forget... well, everything. It was like a wildfire. After Jason started it, he couldn't stop it anymore than the MAD agent could. He could feel every thought, feeling and experience fading away. And then the MADman collapsed, and Jason ran.

After that, he separated himself from his old gang. They're probably the only people around, besides his family, who still know his real face and name. Since then, Jason got involved with Pariah Underground. He learned from them how to stay anonymous. The event with the agent had shaken him, and he was afraid of being caught again. He doesn't think the MAD agent ever had a chance to report him officially, so he shouldn't be listed as Wanted yet. And if things go well, he never will be.

He visits his family just enough to keep them from worrying about him. Outside of them, almost all of his contact with people is limited to the Pariahs and his "hypnotherapy" clients.

Name | Felix Edward Pernass
Alias | Nightingale
Age | 27
Gender | Male
Appearance |
Notoriety |Nightingale watched by N.O.V.A. but yet to uncover his real identity. Pariah Underground completely aware of identity.
Danger Level/Variant Type | Level 1 Augmentor

Abilities |

• Biological Manipulation - Felix can restore biotic organisms to their optimal health, curing damaged or withered organisms, wounds, broken bones, low vitality, and diseases/poisoning. Currently, Felix can only do anything that normal healing and modern medical knowledge could achieve. His powers have no effect on dead tissues or mental states. He can only heal himself if he can concentrate well enough, which he finds difficult when experiencing the pain he's trying to stop. His hand glow a blindingly-bright golden light when he uses is power.
  
  • Can heal external wounds, including fractured bones and deeper burns, disregarding of severity.
  • Severed limbs can be reattached (just regrowing tissue connections)
  • Minor damaged internal organs may be healed, but more severity may be beyond repair and may take more time to heal.
  • Nerves may remain damaged.
• Possible future developments
  
  • Lost limbs and internal organs are completely healed.
  • Damaged nerves can be healed to a certain extent.
  • Semi-Immortality by rejuvenating cells to keep them at their optimal prime.
  • Youth Inducement by reversing the effects of aging.
  • Genetic alterations and physical distortion and/or augmentations of biological functions.
  • Manipulating in a negative fashion e.g. causing cells to augment to induce advanced or declined biological healing, induce diseases like cancer, induce appearance alteration, manipulate pheromones, or even increase physiological maturity.

[Gear]
Attire | Normally found in smart casual attire. As Nightingale, a wholly black outfit consisting of jeans, boots, t-shirt, hoody, jacket and baseball cap.
Armament/Equipment | Medical supplies, either bought himself or purloined from… somewhere.

[Temperament & Lifestyle]
Affiliation | None - current an occasional vigilante

Personality/Habits | Initially bookish and quiet growing up, Felix really game out of his shell at college and found his true character hard to conceal once more when he returned home. Now, whilst taking care not to draw attention to himself, he is mostly a normal outgoing guy in his twenties. A respected teacher, a trusted friend and dance floor loving gay.
However, loneliness is a dark shadow he can never truly shed. Sure he is loved by his students, colleagues, friends and lovers, but his past actions mean that he can never open himself up to fully love others, as he has not yet truly accepted himself. He daren’t even dream of finding anyone, let alone a group of people that he could be his true self with.

Occupation/Trade | High School Teacher

Skills/Talents | First Aid, Swimming, Baking, Research, Crosswords, Science

Family | Parents, Martyn and Claudia, and younger sister Holly, all living in his hometown of Gadsden, AL.

Background | Born into a middle-class family, to a technical engineer father and cardiac-physiology technician mother, Felix had a very standard ‘All American’ upbringing. He was brought up in a very conservative religious community and found himself starting to question certain beliefs and ethics as he got older but was never courageous to speak up against his entire family and peer group. However, in his teens, he discovered three things that made him not… fit in. Firstly, he worked very hard at school, losing himself in books. His growing knowledge of evolution, genetics and natural history led to increased conflict with his beliefs. Secondly, he discovered that he was far more interested in the guys on his swim team than the cheerleaders that his peers dated. Finally, after finding an injured bird on his way home from school one day, he manifested his ability to heal.

Teenage years can be tricky for anyone, but Felix became very withdrawn and introverted as a liberal, gay, atheist variant in a conservative, homophobic, religious and anti-variant community. His parents were accepting of his interest in science (as they were themselves given their professions) College would prove to be Felix’s release and he relished his newfound freedom, however, it would also prove to be his downfall. It only took one stray punch to catch him as he struggled to avoid the drunken fight in a crowded house party to reveal his powers. At his swim meet early the next morning his team-mates were amazed to see him with not only a lack of any black eye but also void of any bruise or cut from the glass side table that broke under him as he fell - healing all your small abrasions and bruises is not such an unnoticeable concept as his inebriated brain had concluded. Unfortunately for Felix, his family had come to support him at the meet and his sister had heard all the gossip.

Despite his pleading, he told his parents and at the end of the semester he was quickly whisked back to his hometown where he was surprised to find his community now accepting of variants when they found one amongst their own. However, Felix quickly found himself a catalyst for increased religious fervour - his healing abilities a sign of God’s blessing upon their way of life. Soon believers were travelling from great distances to be healed by Felix’s touch, but he never strayed further from correcting minor ailments, removing blemishes or easing chronic pain (even though from his experimentation on roadkill and his own self-harm that he was capable of much much more). Thus, he avoided detection from NOVA as he was reported as just another con artist, a puppet used to make money for a struggling church. But his begrudging existence as both a high school teacher and local celebrity could never have lasted.

He still remembers the night he left his family home for good in stark clinical black and white imagery. He’d arranged to meet his ‘friend’ Matt in their usual spot. The jasmine in full bloom and a bright full moon were set to make it romantic. The trampled undergrowth. Pained gasps for breath. The metallic taste of blood. The horrific feeling of soft broken flesh that should be taught muscle and strong bone. The upwelling of power building inside him as he braced himself to rebuild his lover’s broken body. The pleading look from Matt’s swollen, bloodshot eyes as they opened to warn him. The blinding pain from the back of his head as he collapsed into the long grass.

Their relationship had been found out by his sister and her friend, who’s brother, a local brute and good-for-nothing hacker, led a small band of the congregation to kidnap Matt and set the trap. Threatened into secrecy and forbidden from contacting his friend, Felix could only watch through a pane of glass as Matt’s parents held their dying son as the ECG flat-lined for the final time. The horrific irony of him feeling powerless was not lost upon him, however.

That night he left, vowed never to use his powers again and fled to New Haven, renting a small apartment in te the Warehouse District. It took only a year for Felix to break his vow when nursing a stray cat back to health and he soon found himself wrestling with his conscience once again. He has taught in The Shanty and is all too aware of the troubles his students and their families face with the healthcare system, poor lifestyles, addiction and crime. It was the death of a member of his form that birthed Nightingale. He got a new job more local to him and (always one for history and birds), Felix adopted the monicker as his vigilante persona and visits different areas of New Haven sporadically to heal those in need. After two years of this, he has learned to master his powers even further but despite his services remaining a well-kept secret by the desperate communities he helps, they have not gone unnoticed by either NOVA or the Pariah Underground (of which he has no knowledge).

Name | Nikolas(Nick) Frost
Alias | Hybrid
Age | 27
Gender | Male
Appearance | Nick has a broad and muscular frame. Standing at around 6'3" he's a fairly imposing figure regardless of his abilities. His hair is black and his eyes are a bluish-gray. He prefers to wear comfortable clothing: T-shirts, running shoes, and jeans are the usual, occasionally topped with a leather jacket.
Notoriety | Wanted(only as Hybrid)
Danger Level/Variant Type | Class 3/Metamorphic
Abilities |
Animal Morphing

• Can alter his physicality into that of beasts, living or extinct, that he has seen before. His favored forms are those of a massive black tiger and a giant hawk. Big or small; if he’s seen it then he can be it.
• He retains his intelligence and mind, for the most part, while in these forms while gaining the other strengths the beast he turns into has: claws, wings, heightened senses etc.
• His beast forms tend to be larger and more resilient than their natural counterparts. Where a bullet or two may take down a regular animal, his can take a fair beating before he has to give up the form.

Limitations

• Spending too long in a form makes it harder to turn back and can have damaging mental effects.
• Vulnerable to abilities that involve taming beasts
• He has to have at least seen the creature he is trying to transform into, even if it is just diagrams/photos

[Gear]
Attire | His regular clothes are loose and comfortable for the most part, but he doesn't explicitly keep a low profile. Easy to keep your identity a secret when no one ever sees what you look like as a human. He does have a suit of highly flexible, aramid fiber that can stretch or shrink to fit his beast shapes, giving him a bit of extra armor beyond just skin or fur.
Armament/Equipment | His abilities give him all the weapons he needs.

[Temperament & Lifestyle]
Affiliation | Pariah Underground(minor)
Personality/Habits | Nick is a naturally friendly person and is loyal to a fault when it comes to people he cares about. He would drop everything to help a friend. He is confident in his abilities and who he is as a person. He finds it easy to make friends and loves the work he does with his students. He does have a bit of a hot temper that can flare at the worst of times and make him say things he later regrets.
Occupation/Trade | Martial arts instructor, part time environmental researcher
Skills/Talents | Besides his extensive knowledge of nature and science, he is also skilled at martial arts which his mother taught him before she died. He also enjoys playing guitar and rock climbing.
Family | He has a father, Alex, and a younger sister, Ashley. His mother died when he was 19.
Background | He was born in Denver, Colorado and had a fairly normal upbringing. His mother worked as a stunt/fight coordinator for TV and movies, so she spent much of her time gone on sets. She came home enough to be present in his life and as he got older started to teach him martial arts and some of her tricks of the trade as a way to connect with her son. His father worked as an environmental researcher in the various forest reserves and national parks in the area. He spent a lot of his free time with his father where he eventually discovered his variant abilities when he changed in order to defend himself from a mountain lion.

He kept his abilities a secret except from his younger sister, Ash, who is one of his best friends and is incredible at keeping secrets. His childhood best friend, Jamie, also found out by accident but promised not to say anything if he could help him practice. They would go out into the preserves and he would practice with his abilities until he could change into larger and larger beasts. He didn’t have any idea what he would do with his variant abilities, and at the time he just found them cool.

In high school he had an easy time making friends. He excelled in science and athletics, but still had no idea what he wanted to do when he got older. Eventually he graduated and got accepted into college for environmental science like his father. He made friends and loved the freedom that college life gave him, but still made sure to go home as often as he could to visit his family.

When he was 19, just before he went back to college, his mother got killed in a drive by shooting on her way back home. His family was devastated and it drove his father into a deep depression. After some time they decided to move to New Haven for a new start and to get away from the memories. At first the city seemed like a dream, with a nice house in Brigitte. However, the longer he stayed the more he saw the corruption and crime running rampant. It took him some time but he eventually started doing vigilante work under the moniker of Hybrid. He finished college and worked with his father for a short time before he started up his martial arts studio. He caters to all kinds of people from the lowest income families to the high class, and even does stunt coordination on the side.

He finds himself very busy, but he loves what he does, both job wise and the vigilante work, and still occasionally goes to work in the lab with his father. He’s doing good work, but that doesn’t stop N.O.V.A from trying to discover who he is.

Name | Christine Kang (Kang Ye-rim)
Alias | Blink
Age | 24
Gender | Female
Appearance | 5’5” - 105 lbs - slim
Notoriety |Unknown
Danger Level/Variant Type | Class 2 Agile
Abilities |

Blink. Christine can instantly teleport approximately 20 meters within her field of vision with a snap of her fingers. Christine will teleport with all equipped clothing and accessories, as well as any object she is holding or lifting. She can teleport with as much people as long as they are physically linked with one another., for every person she teleports with, her teleporting distance is halved. Teleporting in quick succession will fatigue Christine.

Mark. Christine can mark any object with a trace of her fingers. Marked objects have a faint purple glow. The mark can be dismissed by Christine or if the marked object is destroyed (shattered, burned, etc.). If Christine marks a new object while a marked object already exists, the new object will gain the mark and the old object will lose its mark.

Teleport. Christine can teleport to her marked object. If within her blink distance, Christine can simply blink to her marked object even without having the object in her field of vision. If the marked object is beyond Christine’s blink distance, she must mentally travel to the marked object in order to teleport. If the marked object is not found during her “mental travel”, the teleportation will be of no use.

[Gear]
Attire |
Christine often wears casual, streetwear clothes. Most often than not, Christine wears something comfortable such as an oversized hoodie, short shorts with leggings underneath, and a pair of walking shoes. She often dresses in neutral tones (peach, green, brown, beige) and almost always has her hair in a high ponytail.
Armament/Equipment |
Christine carries a small key pendant that she considers her lucky charm. She often marks this during her commute stealthily in case something bad happens to her.

[Temperament & Lifestyle]
Affiliation | Independent
Personality/Habits |
Christine is thoughtful and caring to people she can trust. She doesn’t show affection or appreciation out right but would always remember the people she cares about by repaying their kindness in some sort of fashion (cooking them food, helping them out in errands, etc.). She isn’t one to start conversations but would be glad to keep conversations going. She is, however, reserved and cold to people she doesn’t know nor trust. In social gatherings, she’d rather spend the whole time outside the venue alone than having to talk to people left and right.
Occupation/Trade | Unemployed (former branch manager)
Skills/Talents | Christine is physically fit, though on the slimmer side, as she regularly does yoga classes. Thus, she is very flexible
Family |Adoptive father (Grant Neeman), adoptive mother (Ma. Lilia Neeman), and two adoptive brothers (Maxwell Neeman, Daniel James).
Background |
Kang Ye-rim was born to a Korean single mother working as an entertainer in HELP. Ye-rim’s mother was set on not keeping the child, but also did not want to undergo abortion. Thus, Ye-rim was left at the front door of an adoption center in New Haven. Adopted at a very young age, Kang Ye-rim grew up under the influential and wealthy Neeman household in the Uptown. Ye-rim, which was given the English name Christine, only spent a few months in the adoption center and was adopted with Daniel James, his now adoptive brother.

The pair was adopted by the influential and rich couple Grant and Lilia Neeman, now-owners of one of the biggest supermarket chains in America, Good Day Shopping. The couple were married for a little more than two years when they adopted Christine and Daniel. Less than a year after adopting the two, the couple welcomed their only biological child, Maxwell Neeman. The three children were all around the same age, with Daniel and Christine being a slightly less than a year apart and Christine and Maxwell also being a year apart.

The Neeman couple was in the public spotlight, with Grant overtaking his father’s company and Lilia being involved with her and her whole bloodline’s ties to national politics. The two were a power couple; money, fame, and well, power. Because of all of the happenings going around the couple’s lives; they barely had time for their three children growing up. The three children are admittedly fonder of their caretakers than their parents as they were always absent.

Daniel and Christine knew they were adopted the moment they learned about the concept of adoption. Daniel was black, Christine was yellow. Only Maxwell’s skin color matched. Not that it was the sole basis, but it was never kept a secret from them either. They were thankful to be adopted into a lavish lifestyle; one can only wish to live without worries about finance. Despite this, the three were as close as they can get. Maxwell, despite being the only biological son, received no special treatment and knew that he was even more loved by his adoptive siblings more than his own parents. The three would go on trips together, watch movies together, sneak out together. They knew that they only had each other for everything. Once in a while, a paparazzi would catch the trio and spread rumors about one of them being a Variant, but any article tarnishing the Neeman name would be gone within minutes.

It became very apparent early on that Grant had plans to run for a seat in politics. Lilia would always be away from their home. She never had a real job, she would only spend days and days with her friends somewhere around the world. It was clear to the three that this marriage was purely for power and greed. It became very apparent to the three that Maxwell was being groomed to become the successor of the company as his father attempts for a seat in politics. It also became very apparent that Daniel and Christine were only accessories or statements to get the “I support everyone” message across. Married to a Latina, adopted a black and an Asian child, you’ve got a lot of bases covered.

Grant Neeman was anti-Variant, that was his platform. Variants are the minority and they pose a threat to humankind, he says. Give them a seat and they’ll over run us with brute force, he says. The two knew Christine was a Variant. Heck, they’d use Christine’s ability for a clean get away. But Lilia did not know, and neither did Grant. Having to live in a household where the head would preach the erasure of your kind was more than taxing to Christine. She knew she wanted to leave once she was set, and her two brothers supported her more than anything. With the current administrations’ term getting shorter, the political tension grew stronger, and Christine knew that it was finally time for her to set off, hopefully to somewhere where she isn't wished to death. She starts her life anew in Brigitte, renting a small house all to her self. She knew she couldn't leave New Haven as it is her home and it's where her most treasured brothers are, but she knew she had to be as farthest as she can.

Talia Castle

The Dreaming Sage

32

Female

Weighing 195lb and standing at 5 feet and 10 inches tall, Talia looks somewhat intimidating at first. Her hair is dyed an unnatural white to throw off people that might be tracking her. Talia never wears makeup, and her skin and face show that. She walks with an unannounced atmosphere, like she’s not at all worried about someone noticing her in a crowd, she has a habit of wearing a lot of soft clothes that cover a lot of her body. Pants, no skirts. Sweaters and coats. No tank tops. Her pale blue eyes look tired, with dark circles that almost imply Talia is an insomniac. Talia’s general appearance gives off a peaceful atmosphere. Like a shoreline that’s been ravaged by a storm. Or rocks that stood the test of time. She has an air of peace that invites the people of this world that need a home. Gods know she never had one growing up. Talia never shows her face wherever she goes. She never goes into public anymore. She only occasionally shows her face among Pariah Underground, and when she does, she is in her gear. No one knows her true identity, or any of her physical characteristics. It’s better that way.


Wanted - N.O.V.A. Only had a vague concept of who she is. They only know her alias, and her actions. They believe she is a Variant, considering the ease of the way she perpetrates murder, but they only know she is a mentalist because of a few loose whispers heard around Pariah Underground.


Class 4 Mentalist


Dreamcrafter - Talia’s abilities revolve around the five senses of the human body. In simple terms, it allows for very elaborate and believable illusions. In more complicated term, Talia can distort environmental stimuli to trick one’s brain into thinking that things are not as they are, ranging from loss of feeling in the limbs, or temporary blindness, to more intense experience such as feelings similar to drug trips, or Variant-induced anxiety attacks. It is a delicate process to put someone under any kind of delusions, but the upper limits of Talia’s abilities include things like rendering one unconscious by telling the brain to release an abnormal amount of sleep signals, or causing a sensory overload with...varying results.

The benefits to Talia’s powers are that with a little creativity, it would be very hard to break the illusion, or give it away, so as long as she’s got the upper hand at the start of a fight, or isn’t in a head on confrontation, it’d be tough to deal with. She can essentially create any kind of false image or false sensation she could come up with. The problem is she can’t just throw an illusion in front of someone and expect it to work. She could theoretically blanket a city block in a psychedelic drug trip, but the trick is making it work. It takes actual effort to make someone fall for the illusions. Another big thing is environmental factors. If someone swears it was a perfect day outside two seconds ago, a tornado isn’t believable, alternatively, someone who has a very high tolerance for medicine that numbs the body may not be as affected by numbing sensations from Talia’s powers as much as someone who has never taken such medicine. Unknown aspects of a person’s identity are very much the biggest drawback for Talia’s illusions, but she works around it.

[Gear]





The only real weapons Talia carries. Talia uses two fighter knives to carry out her “goals” as well as fend off somebody who her illusions ultimately fail to bring down.

[Temperament & Lifestyle]


Independent Vigilante.


Talia is a survivor more than anything. Despite her bloody calling, she cares deeply for other survivors like her. Above all else, she has a deep seated hatred for corrupt authority and a deep, sympathetic love for people who grew up like her. She’ll give up her mysterious streak of killings to save one last child from a broken home. She’d walk out of that last house with a wounded child in her arms and right up to a Noble if that child got saved. The problem is she doubts that would ever happen. Her heart bleeds for the victims of those who were supposed to protect and nurture the young. She knows that what she does is grisly, and sometimes wonders if what she does even helps. But either way, she feels like the absolutely has to keep going. She owes to New Haven. She had a once in a lifetime opportunity to break free back then which some kids never get. She considers it her responsibility, her obligation to take out abusers, politicians, and corrupt officials of any kind. She would go to any length to save the victims. Even if it means she has to bleed dry every last black hearted person on this earth. She kills out of love. Talia dreams of a world where abusers never get away with hurting their loved ones. She dreams of a world where people like her don’t exist - where victims all over the world can find peace, one way or another. She’ll do what she can until she’s in the ground to make that dream a reality. Talia is kind, and vindictive. She tries her hardest to respect the nobles, and the cops, as individuals, until she knows they’re just as rotten as their friends. Aside from that, Talia looks at the world around her in a way some might consider philosophical. She questions the way things are. She questions why people say “that’s just how it is.” Why don’t they change that? Hasn’t the system failed you? She tries to talk to people who listen, in the underworld, in her “missions,” or anyone who asks what she has against the system.

The system failed her. She won’t fail.


Anti-government assassin. Talia gets rid of the people in power that are considered a threat to the good of everyone. She doesn’t go after the ones who are just plain lazy and neglect their responsibilities as politicians or mayors, but anyone at all that tries to step on others while using their political power as a way to avoid being held accountable is fair game. Talia also goes after less important people, such as the police system, but the only real trend in her victims is found in their personal backgrounds, indicating she favors killing people guilty of high profile crimes such as domestic abuse, rape, or other unspeakable acts.


Knife Fighting - This is how she kills the rich and powerful. A good, well placed stab to the chest or throat. Talia’s pretty good with a knife, and will leave you with lacerations before you can draw your gun. She can also throw one of her two knives and almost always hit someone that’s at most 10 feet in front of her.

Infiltration and Stealth - Talia uses these two skills in tandem to sneak around and find her targets. She is skilled at slinking through security, be it human or mechanical, but she has a slightly harder time getting around cameras, which often cause her to take another route.

Well-Spoken - Once or twice, Talia has been caught by the police in her early days. She has learned since then to convince people of why she does the things she does. She has convinced police officers to cast their corrupt system aside, and rethink their actions. This very rarely works, but she does this to give the corrupt one more chance before death.


Talia’s familial connections are unknown, since nobody important knows her real identity. Anyone who has met her is either a dead politician or somebody sent to arrest her but was convinced of the nobility of her cause. In either case, the most information anyone has on her is her alias, and her crimes. That includes N.O.V.A. but while they are certain that elusive anarchist is a Variant, they don’t know her power’s specific details.





Talia has a rough life growing up. She lived in the middle of Brigette as an only child with her parents, Nathan and Jean Castle. Talia’s relationship with each of them wasn’t what most people would call “normal” compared to most kids. Her relationship with Jean was like they weren’t related. Jean never treated Talia as her daughter, just a kid that lived in her house. That didn’t stop her from trying to raise her, but she sometimes failed to properly love Talia, being emotionally distant throughout her daughter’s life. Nathan was a different story, while Jean never took her responsibilities as a parent any more seriously than an average day, Nathan never regarded Talia as her own person. Nathan saw Talia as nothing more than a child. Her autonomy was irrelevant to her father, Nathan treated Talia like an object, when Talia tried to stand up for herself at home, he shouted over her, demeaning her based on one thing or another. Her age, her grades at school, her intently. It didn’t matter to him, he’d find a way to shoot her down. When Talia lashed out, or “talked back” to Nathan, he’d go as far as to hit her. Violently smacking her across the face just to prove a point. I am the parent. You are the child. You are inferior. Having to deal with this kind of “love” during childhood helped Talia realize rather quickly that it wasn’t love at all.

To make matters worse, Nathan was a cop.

Nathan drove Talia to school ever day, it was on the way to where he worked, and every day of elementary school, all through high school, students and teacher saw Talia step out of a police cruiser. Students said things like “Your dad’s a cop? I bet he’s cool” or “I’d love to meet your dad, being a cop sounds fun!” Fun? Every day, she was reduced to property at home and there was no amount of CPS calls or counselor conversations that could get rid of someone with the support of the precinct. They didn’t know how it felt to be raised by someone with that power. It confused Talia. It made her resent a lot of people at school, and made her distant. Talia felt that she couldn’t do anything to help herself, if she spoke out at home, she would risk being beaten. If she spoke out at school, the school would call her house and she’d be beaten for slandering her father’s name. Jean wouldn’t ever help either. All she ever said was “Don’t make him mad.” She tried avoiding him as much as she could. She did everything in the world to limit her interactions with either of them at home, they didn’t love her. They didn’t care about her. She couldn’t even escape her father at school. Her only escape was N.O.V.A. and the Nobles. She wanted to be like them.

When Talia was 16, she started dreaming of being a hero who helped tear down the corrupt people in New Haven. Her abilities hadn’t manifested yet, and she didn’t even know if she’d ever get them. She didn’t care. She just wanted to help people. She wanted to save people. She wanted to pull people out of broken homes and pull apart broken systems of justice. Of course, she couldn’t tell anybody, because Nathan Castle despised N.O.V.A. and the Nobles. Nathan called them “pretenders” and “job stealing freaks.” Talia made it a point to never reveal her abilities, should they ever come around. That would be a very bad idea with Nathan around. Whenever someone asked her what she wanted to do with her life, she simply said she didn’t know. She couldn’t afford to tell anyone she wanted to be a Noble, that was her reality all throughout childhood. The reality that no one in her life would have cared that her father beat her once or twice within a week out of anger. The reality that anyone could get a hold of her notebook at any second and see the unskilled hero costume drawings she made out of boredom. If the nobles only knew what she dealt with, they’d help her out, right?

Wrong.

One day, Talia was scrolling through her phone while Nathan was out on the job, and found a statement made by one of the top Nobles at the time, a guy calling himself Sunbird. He could light his body on fire and fly, it was really neat. What she watched online that day broke her heart. Sunbird was asked by someone about the little-talked-about police corruption in New Haven, and what he’d do about it if he knew more. She was eager to hear him. She thought that, being a noble, he would never fall to the level of the fucked up cop system. She was terribly, terribly wrong about him. About everything.

“I don’t think the system is corrupt. My dad was a cop! Sure, a few of them need to get a slap on the wrist, but I’m sure they’re all trying their best! The police are some of the best people I’ve ever met! Anyway, next question.”

Talia’s heart hit the floor. Nathan didn’t need a slap on the wrist. Nathan didn’t try to be a good father. Nathan didn’t care about people. Nathan wasn’t good. Nathan was a bad person. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream. She never heard another noble say anything else about it, they just agreed. Why? If the nobles were so good, why would they say that!? Talia was hurt by what Sunbird said. He was wrong. He was so wrong. Talia couldn’t stop herself from tearing up. After that, she spent days contemplating what she heard. “The cops are awesome people!” Where were the cops when she was being beaten for speaking her mind? In her house. Where were the cops when Talia had a bad day? In her family. Where were the nobles when Nathan abused his daughter for defying him?

Nowhere.

It burned her up inside. No one in the world cared for the people like Talia. She had nothing left to lose but her life. Surely Nathan would keep her alive? She didn’t care anymore. Her idols looked hideous to her now. That’s why she stopped caring when Nathan started his shit again. One day, Nathan came home and asked about Talia’s grades at school. She was 18. A senior. Her grades slipped a little bit and Nathan botched about it. “You’re never gonna have a future if you don’t take school seriously. Get your shit together.”

“I wasn’t asking for your opinion, get out of my face.”

Talia didn’t even flinch when Nathan jumped up and got in her face. She also didn’t bother paying attention to hit very loud words of anger when he screamed. She only told him to shut up. Of course, she got knocked to the ground in an instant, and Nathan was whacking her over the face again and again. Jean wasn’t around, and Nathan was just wailing on her. Enough was enough. Enough was enough. Enough. Enough.



That was the moment her illusion powers manifested. She grabbed Nathan’s hand before it struck her one more time, and in an instant his mind was flooded with all the pain she felt, physically and mentally. All of it came crashing down on Nathan’s mind and body in a single moment and Nathan couldn’t handle it. He scream in agony, and Talia watched. His brain was overloaded, his senses were under too much stress, his nose started pouring blood. Talia didn’t care, she didn’t know how she was doing it, but she continued to make him struggle until he died on the floor. Perhaps his brain was overwhelmed too much, or perhaps he had an aneurism. It didn’t matter. Talia just murdered her father. She sat on the floor, letting the realization set in that he just died. She no longer had to deal with him. She was an adult now, she could go where she wanted...Talia ran away before anyone could figure out what happened. They couldn’t trace the crime to her.

She spent over a decade in the underground world of New Haven, learning about her abilities, and coming to a revelation: No one cared about the people in this town. Nobody with power did anything good. N.O.V.A. did nothing. The police did nothing. The only ones who could change this world were the powerless. The ones who were stepped on. Talia chose to stand up for people who couldn’t stand up for themselves. If she couldn’t become a noble, she’d become her own kind of hero. She devoted herself to getting rid of the corrupt people in New Haven. She considered it her responsibility to the people like her. She dreamt of a world full of peace. She held a complicated morale. Kill the ones who are supposed to stop suffering, in order to stop suffering yourself. It made sense to Talia.

Talia killed people for years, rapists, abusers, evil politicians. She’d never rest until the world was peaceful. She would never harm an innocent child, but instead the fool who dared harm them. It was her responsibility.

“No one will ever get away with harming another innocent child for as long as I live.”