Name:Alice O’Rinn
Appearance:Age: 35 ||
Height: 5 feet 11 ||
Noticeable features: Along for her flamboyant her, Alice is fit and tall, so she tends to stick out in a crowd. She has a birthmark the size of a ping-pong ball on her lower back.
Previous to the day of the Rapture, what was your character’s worst day?: One day when she went to her office, someone had left her a message on her voicemail. After a few attempts to understand the distressed voice, she knew at once who it was – a young man of 19, calling for help during the night, hoping someone would answer. Alice tried to contact him, without success. Given his files, she was allowed to go look for him at his address. But she got there too late – and to her, it felt like it was her fault. Alice felt responsible for this man’s sudden death; he cried for help but she wasn’t there to answer. He trusted her and she failed him. It shook her down to the core of her soul, and she vowed to herself never to let anything like this happen again.
What was their best day?: It isn’t exactly a day, more like a period. Alice’s whole college life was the best days of her life. She had little responsibilities except for school, and she made a lot of friends – more than she ever thought she could manage! Because of her father’s drinking problem, her mother had always been strict on her own use of it, so college was really the first of many, many things.
Who was their first love? What came of it?: Alice has always been too enthralled by her work, her patients and her studies to actually focus on love. She did go on dates through college and kissed and had some casual relationships, but she kept herself from being too committed. For her, it was all fun and parties. Contrary to her friends’ beliefs, she is not afraid to fall in love – au contraire; she yearns to be loved, but feels like the most important thing in her life is her job and helping total strangers go through the hardest moments of their life.
The only time she remembers being in love, is in high school. She was 16 and he was about to graduate. He had fire in his eyes and his laughter roared through the school corridors. She felt completely attracted to him, but she never dared speak to him.
What’s the one thing they would redo in their life if given the chance?: Alice deeply regrets not going to study abroad in Ireland, her homeland. Her parents were afraid of letting their only child go so far, and out of respect for them, she stayed in New York to finish her degree. She thinks about it all the time, and wonders if she would have decided to remain in Ireland instead of moving to the remote city of Buffalo.
What was their first job and how did they feel about it?: Her first “adult” job is the one she has. She works in a youth community centre and has for 10 years now. She worked in a hardware store when she was a teenager, so she could pay part of her education. Before her official job, she worked as a temp in a rehab centre in NYC, but she quickly realized it wasn’t exactly her place. However, it definitely gave her some real experience on how to deal with heavy drug consumers.
How about their family? Who’s still around, what’s the dynamic?: Her family is Irish. They moved to America when her older brother “accidently” got trampled to death in a riot when he was 5 years old. Her parents thought escaping the memories and constant physical reminders of Gerard would be the best way to cope. Alice only remembers the smell of the old house they lived in, and the constant fresh breeze outside. The creaking floors.
She doesn’t remember much of her brother, she was way too young. Her father is an alcoholic, but he refuses to go to rehab or get any kind of help. Her mother tries her best, and she seems to think the liquor he drinks is the best thing for him to do. Alice tries not to pry in their lives too much, because their old-fashioned ways don’t really go along well with her fresh-American views.
Favorite game? (Of any sort): As a kid, she used to love football (called soccer in America). She played with the neighborhood boys, until it got too apparent that she was a girl – and suddenly no boys wanted to play with her. They started to laugh at her accent and her red hair, so she never went back to their soccer spot.
Now she has a Wii Fit game and she tries her best to be healthy. Every morning she jogs a few kilometres and at night she does intensive workout. She’s quite fit for a woman her age!
What were they doing on the day of the Rapture?:It was on her day off, she was doing her groceries. Suddenly, people holding things in their hands hit the floor in a crash, and clothes drifted to the ground. For a few minutes there was no sound except for the refrigerators. Then children began crying and adults screaming. That grocery store hadn’t made much money, that day everyone ran out with their errands.
Ever have any legal problems?:Because of her job, Alice maintains a clean record. She goes to work on bike, so she’s never had a parking ticket or anything of the sort. Her father got in trouble for fighting in bars when they moved in America, but that was in New York City.
Do they believe in a god? A religion? A belief?:Ireland is known to be a country deeply rooted in religion. However, since her brother’s tragic death, her parents swore to never let their faith guide them again. Which God would let such a child die in a vicious way? They however still felt connected to nature and their pagan roots. They had a little garden in New York, where Mrs. O’Rinn grew flowers and different spices.
As an adult, Alice became a humanist and a feminist. She believes every human being deserves a chance to success, and will fight with her guts to prove it to everyone and anyone.
As a kid, what’d they want to be when they grew up?: In high school, Alice loved psychology. She didn’t know exactly why she wanted to do with her life – she never gave it much thought until it was time. She figured that she loved helping others and understanding them.
What was their occupation before the Rapture?: Alice is a social worker, her patients being mainly teenagers and young adults. She worked at a community centre. She knows a lot of "questionable" people, including many of the gang members who were sometimes forced into consulting her. Most of the time though, they ended up liking her; she was rather "cool" for an adult.