[CHAR] APEX: The Peak of Humanity

[RedXCross]

Name: Karsan “Two-Four” Valoss (Two-Four Mostly)

Age: 35

Gender: Male
Race: Cyborg – Cybernetically enhanced by a hyper-intelligent rank of aliens known as the Vagott, his arms are machine as are his eyes.

Appearance:

His arms:


Karsan is a tall and broad man who borders on the line between fit and flat. Dark hair falls off the sides and back of his head in longer waves, and a heavy, thick beard hides the lower half of his face. His eyes are wide and bright violet after they replaced his older ones, with various neon lights that flicker through and spiral on occasion, sometimes giving those unused to the cybernetically enhanced a bit of a fright.

His arms look like those above, except for a neon green light that flashes through them, and several circles of light glow from various spots on the arms, connected by the glowing light. These are ports for various enhancements that could be used on his arms at various occasions. Usually these are unused, but some weapons could be attached to them in a pinch.

He dresses normally in sleeveless shirts and simple pants, and he may pull his hair back sometimes depending on the situation.

Personality: Two-Four is a tired man. His long past and history has left him with a bored disposition and little concern for his own place in life. Instead, he tends to meddle with others. He’s a matchmaker, and an impartial judge, but he really could care less for most people and things, outside a select few. His old, spunky self can sometimes shimmer through the cracks, either with a bad joke or a need to protect his personal property, but it’s still a waste of time to get him involved in the political situation around him or anything that doesn’t concern his bar.

He’s an indifferent party and a robot-sympathizer and it doesn’t matter if that makes you uncomfortable. He won’t do anything about it. Unless you cause a ruckus in his bar, of course. Then he’ll willingly shove a robot fist in your face.

Occupation: Two-Four runs and operates Debris – the first new bar on the surface of planet earth that’s built right into the backstage of an old Broadway Theatre. The seats are hidden behind the grand drapes, the other stuff has been gutted to leave room for the bar and seating, and the stage is set up to allow for a little bit of dancing when the bar calls for it. Aside from the occasional bartending, he also handles shipping through Instantaneous Matter Transfer from inter-galactic brewers (at least until he can start brewing himself), employment, and information trading with other people in New York 2.0. He also runs a job board and gets people to list needs for either odd jobs or long-term employment.

If anyone needs information from rumors to jobs to contests to dating, then Two-Four is probably the best guy to ask.

Talents/Abilities/Tech: Two-Four’s arms and eyes were personally crafted for him as a favour for the aid given to the Vagott. The Vagott, being people of unparalleled experience with technology, they crafted his arms so they could easily meld with his human form and still operate more-or-less like human hands. But that isn’t enough for them. The built the arms to be much stronger than others, to ignore pain, yet still feel surface temperature and texture. The arms repair themselves using nanotechnology, and the energy source makes it easy for the arms to meld themselves with his nervous system. Various neon circles allow for attachments of various makes and creation to forge themselves with his arm and allow him easy use of them or their benefit to his cybernetic self.

His eyes were made by the same creators, and they are vastly improved from the old eyes that used to occupy his sockets. Fixing his vision entirely from how crappy they used to be, the also added an auto-targetting system that interacts with his arm, thermal night-vision, a person-identifying feature that can interact with many interstellar social networks, and also implant strict images directly into his brain.

Two-Four also has a large arsenal of heavy guns (he sees no need in pistols) that are stored in the back of his bar. Each has various features and purposes, but those can be hidden until they are needed. He doesn’t like showing that stuff off.

Other: Two-Four has access to a large information network, but he only taps into it sparingly. With the situation on Earth being unpredictable and unstable, it isn’t a good time to make enemies.
- Two-Four will be a good in-character resource for answers or questions, as he tends to enjoy that part of his job.
- He always introduces himself as Two-Four.
- Think of him as a well-thought-out NPC for the most part, with a little more flexibility in how much he can be used.

[Renny]

ARIS THE OCULUS

* art belongs to Jameszpata

Name: Aris the Oculus

Age: 720 earth years.

Gender: Male

Race: Omino – A deep-space race that can gain supernatural abilities from joining with interstellar creatures called “Starborne” or “Children of the Cosmos”

Appearance: The Omino is a rare, deep-space, humanoid race. They appear very similar to their earth-born kin, though they have elongated ears—pointed and narrow. Aris in particular has a very peculiar appearance, his eyes are gleaming orange, and his hair long, bluish. Two long strands fall along his shoulders while sideward bangs covers the ancient marking of his people. A stylized Z-like script. Aris has polished black skin, like obsidian. He adorns a golden armor that covers him from head to toe, veiling his natural appearance from outsiders while inspiring awe in the same instance.

Personality: Aris the Oculus, despite his renown titular and reputation, is somewhat unaware and withdrawn. He disregards any that he deems unimportant with as much standing as a sentient would an insect. Though that has many times been his downfall during his younger days, not that he is mature. The Omino, those that are bound, are ageless. But even without that they have natural long lives. In earth standards, mentally, Aris is best compared to a young adult. Arrogance, pride, and intrigue are key traits of his race, however his need for absolute control and a throne is solely his own. Between his lack of appreciation for order and his outright disregard for others, he is a rather frustrating being to be around.

Occupation: Mercenary / Conqueror.

Talents/Abilities/Tech:
Absolute Mental Wall / The “Starborne” sharing his body provides a mental and telepathic protection. When faced with adverse or foreign entities, the creature blocks out all attempts to invade.

Self-Sustenance / Naturally, Omino does not have to sleep for several days, making them very protective of their sleep-cycle. Aris can go five days without sleep before having to rest for 10 – 12 hours. Since he is bound with “Starborne” he is also capable of going without oxygen or food to maintain his energy. He need only to absorb cosmic radiation.

Supernatural Conditioning / Omino are, by birth, an immensely fragile race. But once bound to a “Child of the Cosmos” they undergo a radical, painful transformation. By shattering all they were, they are quickly reconstructed to ensure the “Child’s” survival. They are even more rare than the Omino and must be conserved If they are captured. Aris has untested leagues of strengths, speed, durability, and endurance thanks to the “Child”. To find the exact limits of his strength is a goal of his.

Starborne Sync / Aris can materialize small parts of the “Starborne” into existence. His title “The Oculus” comes from a unique technique that he uses often. To produce several ethereal, invisible, eyes from the “Starborne” and see what it sees. Others who are capable of seeing the entirety of the EM spectrum may witness the manifestation of the massive dark eyes or even see the “Starborne” inside of Aris.

Other:

• Aris and the “Starborne” are incapable of communicating through speech but he does share its emotions from time to time.
• Omino are thought to be extinct, though rumors surface occasionally. (Think of mythical creatures on earth and you’ll get the gist of their place in the Cosmos.) The “Starborne” however are naturally avoided due to their reclusive and unknown nature. Legends and terrors are what most see the horrific creatures as.
• The “Starborne” are creatures that travel the universe, never stopping to rest on planets or stars. Their habits and role are unknown to most scholars. (I’m thinking of some ideas.)
• Aris the Oculus has been known to utilize his strength to conqueror planets. No one knows his species or reasons.
• His voice is a tad young, adolescent perhaps.
• The process of bounding a Omino and "Starborne" together is a secret to even Aris.

[Cuddle Pot]

Name:
Crocuta

Age:42

Gender:male

Race: Huxen, a hyena like creature with a strong pack mentality, clever thinking, and savage strength

Appearance:
(disregard metal armor, imagine more scrappy gear)

Personality: Suspicious of outsiders and protective of his pack, clever and calculating thinker

Occupation: Huxen clan leader

Talents/Abilities/Tech: Impressive Huxon speed and strength. Clan contains 5 members of fighting age but are inexperienced and young. Relies on ambush tactics and overwhelming a single foe yet is an accomplished knife fighter.

Other:
Having been hunted by the Human union, who view his people as scavengers and vermin, he struck a deal with a colony planner sneaking his pack onboard, so that his clan could try and have a new life on a new world

[Write]

Name: Eleanor “Teddy” Roosevelt

Age: 29

Gender: Female

Race: Human

Appearance:

Personality: Eleanor likes a couple of things, beer, quiet and staying out of trouble. She tends to not be able to find beer, nor quiet but trouble is available by the boat load. Thusly she is oft frustrated about her position as an occupant of troubling times. She has few skills past being personable, however she is often praised at being able to get a person’s life story out of them with a single question, should they not be prepared. She is charming to a fault however she is often missing a joke or refuses to partake in jokes in the first place.

Eleanor has a couple of mannerisms, primarily they include rubbing her hands together and touching her nose when she is stressed and drinking excessively. Though she has been told by those who were once close to her that drinking excessively makes her an alcoholic not quirky. She also gave herself the nickname Teddy when she discovered they would be returning to what used to be the United States of America as he was a leader of theirs from many years ago. She will one day rule the world. Or just keep getting drunk.

Occupation: Bartender at Debris. Shortly after hopping off the old boat Eleanor discovered maybe days later that a male cyborg opened up a bar. Not one to miss out on employee discounts and good times, she immediately applied to be Karsan’s head bartender. She typically makes drinks when there are special requests or pours from the house favourites. If she’s off work she can typically be found at the exact same spot, some people are under the impression she has been sleeping in the tech booth at the theatre, none can say for certain – however.

Talents/Abilities/Tech: Teddy’s mother and father were not well off. As such they were open to privatized medical ‘experiments’. This was a test that was attempting to produce children with psychic potential whether that be in a form of kinesis, telepathy or what have you. Though Teddy was originally written off as being a failed experiment upon her birth and the overall test was written as a failure – that was not the case. She ended up inheriting telekinetic abilities, while very weak at first have grown quite powerful. The extent of her abilities would be with enough time and focus she could easily hurl a car.

The way in which Teddy’s telekinesis functions is somewhat odd. She first has to envision herself grasping the object, the weight of this object does not matter, rather; it is the size of the object that is important. It would be more difficult for Teddy to move a large piece of paper than a two ton bowling ball sized object. Thusly her telekinetic abilities have grown to be quite strong, she is now able to lift objects that are car-sized. However, to do this in something like a battle would be nearly impossible as car-sized objects take time and focus to lift. In battle this size would be reduced to a human-sized object.

Other: Teddy can be found in the bar at almost every time of the day. While she doesn’t use her abilities for fighting very often, don’t trash the bar.

- If you’re looking for a place to go, figure things out talk to someone who knows the lay of the land Debris is a good start.

- Teddy has mounted a rifle on the top of the bar. She says it’s loaded.

- Teddy is not the main character of this story, but if you need her help let her know.

[Oni_]

"Someone once asked me how a being of pure energy goes about playing a saxophone. Truth of the matter is I don't know, it makes one heck of a light-show though doesn't it?"

---

Name:
Sera Mabel Kennithson - Although most only call her Sera.
Age:
The Kanari aren't ones for holding onto their age since they live so long, but Sera reckons she must be at least 25,000 Earth years by now - practically a child for her people.
Gender:
Female

---

Race:
Kanari
The Kanari are people of pure, flowing energy. Believed to have been initially created nearly in the same way that stars may have been. While not as common as you're typical Terran they aren't exactly verging on extinct, they have their own colonies far out from central civilisation.

Extended

-A study of the Kanari, by Dr Paul Ramsden-
The Kanari are an intriguing race of people, made from what seems to be pure energy and all bound together by a single core inside the subjects head. Said core seems to be crystalline and formed in an imperfect prism, almost certainly explaining why the Kanari are often found in a multitude of colours - a product of the imperfect splitting of white light. If you were to speak to some of the eldest Kanari they could tell you of things that even the history books sometimes miss out, provided they settled near enough to our own civilisations. Their lifespans rival that of some stars, millions or perhaps thousands of millions of years. They stop counting after a while, the ones I spoke to considered themselves to be three million years of age.

But how can such a species exist? To be made of pure energy, contained by a prism and to have a lifespan that outlives the vast, immortal suns that dot the universe? The only current explanation we can extrapolate is from their own folklores. Apparently, according to one such tale, Kanari were created in a similar way that stars were, gasses compiled into a super dense core - allegedly found inside of their prism - which turns rapidly, almost like the core of a planet. This allows for an energy field to manifest itself around them. It explains their base make up at the very least. They're a magnificent sight, walking, talking and extremely volatile balls of energy flowing around an inconceivably fast rates. It's as if someone had trapped a tempest of solar winds within a snowglobe.

Appearance:
See above
Personality:
Sera is charismatic, like any aspiring musician - or at least she tries to be, the wonders of settling a new world can sometimes amount to too much resulting in her hiding in a corner on her lonesome. Folks often hold dispositions that confuse her to an extent, you may call this narrow-minded but Sera likes to think that it's because compared to most she can call herself old and wise, although she is barely entering adulthood among her own people. Sera's biggest downfall however, is understanding most human concepts, she's just about got the idea of eating under her belt, but there are many she has yet to understand. Like breathing, or bowel movements. All in all however, she is happy go lucky and eager to make friends in this city and possibly to find adventure, whether these goals come to fruition, only time will tell.

---

Occupation:
Sera is a musician most of the time - a saxophonist to be precise. However due to the Kanari's natural affinity for electronics and the such she does some odd-jobs as an electrician if times are hard.
Talents/Abilities/Tech:

Affinity for electronics The Kanari, being made of energy themselves are fairly nifty when it comes to fixing the electronics of other species, they can simply fire themselves through the wiring to find the fault if need be. They can also provide a nifty boost to generators and the such too with a small dose of their own energy which will eventually recharge.

Lightshow Saxophonist Probably less of a talent or ability, but rather a side effect. Since the Kanari have no lungs when Sera plays her instrument, coloured light blasts its way out of the other end. Many people have tried to explain this and the best they've got so far is "Energy Transfer".

Self Sustainability/Super Long Lifespan Being made of energy Sera doesn't technically need to eat, breathe or any of that other human stuff. She self regulates her needs by drawing it all in from other energies - like a plug socket. It's kind of like a fancy photosynthesis but cooler. They also have their incredibly long lifespans, due to the immense amount of time it takes for their core to lose the ability to contain their energy around itself.

Other:

As big and cool as New York is, it turns out not everyone really cares about hearing a saxophone while they're busy toiling away at their own hard work. hence the oddjobs as an electrician, got to use that gift for something right?

Although she likes to claim it, Sera isn't really all that wise due to the Kanari's tendencies to avoid mainstream civilisation. Slavers have been known to try and sell them as big batteries so most are sceptical.

[ShiningSector]

Age: 33

Gender: Male

Race: Cyborg, Machine

Appearance:

Personality: Nov has always been an optimist, or at least tries to maintain being one anyway. Becoming more machine than man as time goes by has not been easy on him as he usually resorts to bars usually after shift to ease his mood on the subject. However it’s his job that mostly keeps him focused off the ever growing realization.

While New York 2.0 isn’t such a rowdy enough place to demand a huge security force, it nonetheless does require order and justice to govern over such a diverse society. Being born off-world and growing up among those not of his kind, Nov is obviously used to interacting with other alien or in-organic (especially when he is becoming one too) species and understanding their cultures. But as a police officer, he of course takes his job seriously and won’t hesitate to get into a confrontation if the situation demands such.

Occupation: Security / Police Officer

Talents/Abilities/Tech: After a horrific and rather explosive accident while in the line duty, Nov sustained devastating injuries with much of his body burned nearly beyond recognition. When he was recovered, much of the medical staff that had attended to him; even own squad were both amazed and horrified that he was still alive and conscious throughout the entire ordeal.

After months of surgical work, Nov was eventually back on his feet but not exactly the kind he remembered them being. In order to treat him, Nov had to be “re-built” utilizing many implants and prosthetics to replace the limbs and organs that were not recoverable. As a result to Nov’s injuries, almost his entire lower body and several sections upwards had been cyberized.

While Nov’s new cybernetic frame work is not exactly combat oriented, it is however enough to get him by daily. However, when he’s on the job patrolling the streets, his prosthetics are interchangeable with more rough and durable cybernetics, allowing him to outperform an average human being in terms of strength and reflexes.

Though he is able to lead a normal enough life, Nov is facing an inevitability where his organic portions of his body, eternally scared by his previous incident, slowly begin to fail and thus requiring further cyberization.

Other:

• Got the nickname Cyan has he painted his personal prosthetics by the same color.
• Often patrolling throughout New York 2.0’s streets and assisting with the processing of new arrivals and shipments.
• Has a tendency to use his cybernetics to scale buildings, usually to get better vantage points.