Name: Charles Gaius Novak
Nickname: Charlie
Age: 23
Type: Human
Affiliation: Human Scientist, but with serious moral doubts
Appearance:
Charlie is 5'9, lean but not scrawny, and in good health. He dresses very casually and is usually wearing a beanie hat even at work although it's technically against the dress code. He wears glasses, can't see anything that's not right in front of his face without them, and hates contacts; the thought of anything touching his eye kind of freaks him out.
Personality: Charlie is a fairly sarcastic but good natured young scientist. He tends to be very naïve, trusts people easily, and takes what people tell him to be the truth. He’s a terrible liar and a very honest person so he just assumes others would, generally, be the same. He doesn’t really have a temper and while he’s not easily offended when people do upset him or get on his bad side he just tries to keep his distance from them. He doesn’t like conflict or talking about problems, Charlie prefers to ignore it and hope it goes away. He almost never talks about his problems to other people, he doesn’t want to bring people down and likes to figure things out on his own. He’s friendly, likes to talk to people, and can be a bit more talkative than most people want. Charlie tries to be a good person, he got into science because of his love of knowledge and his desire to help people. He isn’t usually brave, he doesn’t generally like to take risks or be involved in dangerous activities. He has a strong fondness for most things geeky especially the scifi and horror genres, classic arcade games and superhero comics.
History: Charlie had a fairly normal and happy upbringing, his father was a surgeon and his mother a very successful lawyer. He was always interested in science and his parents, being well off intellectuals, made sure he got into the right schools and had the right tutors and even skipped a year in middle school. He got into a good college and majored in Biology and after he finished his Bachelor’s he got a job at one of the top research facilities in country. He was ecstatic, this lab was putting out all the top new products and he was excited to be involved with this groundbreaking new science. The pay was descent, the hours allowed him to continue his education in a graduate program, and with just the right about of Red Bull, he was able to balance both of them pretty successfully, as long as he didn’t try to have a social life on top of it. An added bonus was Charlie really looked up to both Dr. Eric McConnel and Dr. Graham Silas, he’d read a lot of their published papers, admired their skill as scientists, and the amazing breakthroughs they had made.
Things were going well for about a two years, he had a low level clearance and didn’t really understand everything that went on in the lab. Shortly after he got his Master’s degree he got a promotion, he got his security clearance raised and was taken to observe some of the supernaturals that they got active ingredients from. He’d always thought the talk of supernaturals and the weird ingredients was a code to keep the real ingredients a secret from corporate espionage or something. Charlie was a man of science, so of course he didn’t think that fairy dust was a real thing. He was trained on proper extraction methods from various parts of the supernaturals all the while his co-workers and supervisor reassured him that these were not people, they were monsters that hurt people. He believed them at first, seeing a fully transformed werewolf in a rage or a unicorn trying to skewer a scientist you’d start to believe the stories the others told him as well as the stories from myths about these creatures.
The science itself was fascinating and groundbreaking, enough to keep Charlie from asking too many questions, at least for a while. This was a job that could lead him to a very bright future and he truly wanted to make his employer happy, but every day at work he heard the screams. Supernatural creatures crying out in fear, torment, and who knows what else and his mid-level clearance was surely only the tip of the iceberg of what was going on in the lab. What he saw and did every day began to eat at him and the first time he saw remains fed to the Wendigo he nearly fainted. During his work he got to know one of supernaturals, a young fairy child, from who they drew blood regularly, though he’d never admit it to the other scientists he had become almost friends with her. He would sneak her extra provisions, books to read in her cell, small children’s toys and do other low key kindnesses. Then one day she was gone; her wings had finally grown in, and the stress from the extraction along with the constant blood draws had been too much. Charlie couldn’t deny the cruelty of the labs any longer, she had been a child and he was complicit in her death. These weren’t beasts or monsters, they were basically people just a bit different. He still hasn’t decided what he’s going to do, this was his dream job with the country’s greatest scientists and throwing this opportunity away could destroy any chance of a career. On the other hand the things he’s seen have been horrible and he has found it difficult to sleep or concentrate on his studies, he has just begun working on getting his PhD, but all he can think about is his guilt.
Abilities: His main skill is his intelligence, he’s book smart, a fast learner and good with science. While he’s not a fighter or very physically strong he does work out, mostly cardio, so he’s fast and can run for a good while. He’s also good with people; empathetic, a good listener and someone who many people naturally trust.
Weakness/weaknesses: Well in his line of work his personal morality and belief in what is right is a serious weakness. He’s not particularly strong, he’s never used a gun or really any weapon and has never even been in a fight. Working full time, going to school full time and drinking a lot of caffeine have wreaked a bit of havoc on his common sense and he’s frequently scatterbrained. He’s also fairly claustrophobic, and terrified of the Wendigo. Sure the others at work say it won’t harm them as long as it’s well fed but its teeth are huge and there’s nothing but hunger in its eyes. His vision is also terrible without his glasses.
Other: Charlie has a
slight major caffeine addiction.
