Michael Duke Travers Nickname: N/A. No Mike.
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Appearance:
Michael is very standard fare for his age and his ‘type.’ He wears hipster glasses, he dresses in fandom t-shirts, and wears jeans. He’s plain. So plain, in fact, that the most remarkable thing about his appearance is that there’s nothing remarkable about his appearance, though that’s nothing but a positive now. He’s physically average, standing at 5’9”.
If his physical appearance is less than imposing, his physical demeanor is that of a cuddly puppy. He seems meek, just by looking at him. Michael walks with his head down, and almost shuffles rather than walking. He rarely smiles, and instead most often has a look on his face like he’s scared. And maybe he is.
The poor guy has a wee bit of social anxiety.
Likes, Dislikes, and Fears:
- ✓ Comic books. His favorite hero is Nova.
- ✓ Science fiction movies.
- ✓ Reading, writing. He’s a hobbyist.
- ✓ Being left alone.
- ✓ Working with computer hardware, or software.
- ✓ Writing programs.
- ✓ Lo-fi music
- ☠ Public speaking
- ☠ Large crowds
- ☠ Parties
- ☠ Being surprised
- ☠ Socialites
Fear:
Having to give a speech and then defend it against a panel of people.Intelligent | Trustworthy | Consistent
Overconfident | Softspoken | Not a leader
Michael is a standard fare smart boy. He prefers the company of books to that of people, and he keeps to himself whenever possible. He’s not much for friends, and isn’t much for talking with other people, with a slight exception being when he can hide behind a computer screen. Chatting with his guild in a Discord server before raid night is a lot easier than talking to his group partners during a school project. He’s just socially awkward and perhaps a little anxious.
Even so, he’s confident in his own ability. Why shouldn’t he? He’s proven himself to be inventive and smart at every opportunity presented before him. He’s programmed apps, built robots, and set up automation around his house. He knows how smart he is, and his social anxiety isn’t enough to stop him from acknowledging that.
After a while, Michael can somewhat open up with people, and blossoms into a different person. When he’s around people he’s comfortable with (there aren’t many), he’s boisterous and loud. He rarely speaks before he thinks, and has accidentally said one or two things that can be considered ‘offensive’ to say the least. Getting to this level with him is such a struggle, that few people have bothered trying, and fewer still have tried.
Michael is the weird nerd kid who builds stupid robots in his spare time. Who would want to be friends with that?
T H E P OW E R
Following his ‘change,’ Michael has two ‘abilities.’ Firstly, he is even smarter than before, and is capable of consuming knowledge faster. This is the minor of his abilities, and is only listed because of the speed at which he gathers and retains new knowledge.
His primary, and major new power, is that of technomancy. Michael’s power manifests itself in the way he interacts with technology. He can see transmissions on the airwaves or over wi-fi in the air; that is to say, he can, for example, see a text message arrive at someone’s phone, and the notification appears as plain as day to him.
Technology bends to his will. He can unlock almost any computer, break into any phone. Once in, he can download the data to his own brain, or he can get it do whatever he wants. There are no electronic locks when he’s involved. Unlocking a car and starting it up? Doable. Driving it with his mind? ...questionable, depends on the model.
Beyond that, his upper limitations are currently unknown. He intends to ‘practice.’ The power is nothing more than a muscle, and he can strengthen that muscle like any other.
T H E S T R U G G L E
Michael’s powers sometimes overload him with information. It can cause intense headaches, and in the absolute worst cases? Immediate blackouts. He also has trouble based on the security and encryption of computers. While your basic home computer would only take a half a second to get in, a more machine can take him up to an hour or more to get into, depending on the levels of encryption.
He also hasn’t gained much in the way of defense. He’s essentially just a very smart young man who can utilize computers and electronic information at an alarming rate. While he isn’t going to be the killing machine the government may have wished he was, Michael can still be a valuable addition to any team.
Michael never knew his birth parents. From what he understands, they were, at one time, good people. His mother died, in childbirth, and his father killed himself shortly after that. Michael was placed in the care of his godparents; his mother and father’s best friends. They were rich, and young business owners, and they truly did their best. They gave him everything he could have ever hoped for, but they weren’t the best at ‘being there.’ Michael was subject to bullying and isolation throughout school. As children learned what happened to his birth parents, they opted to tease him for it. As a result, Michael has been indoctrinated to believe that he caused his parents’s death; his mom and dad alike. He found escape from a disappointing reality in the pages of comic books, which he read from a young age. He loved the idea of superheroes, and has wished for all his life that he could be one.
As he grew up, he realized that he was smarter than his peers, and in a lot of cases than the adults in his life. He started the sameway a lot of people like him did: taking things apart and putting them back together. This lead to taking things apart and putting them back together with modifications. Modifications led to building his own devices. Building his own devices led to programming them. And programming his own devices led to things such as the robot that will peel and slice an apple for him via voice commands.
He’s not sure why he was chosen for the program, but he can only assume it’s because his godparents are afraid he’s going to kill them to. Then, he was subjected to the gas. When he woke up, he was overwhelmed by the amount of information he saw in the facility.
At first, seeing all of that information was overwhelming, but he’s slowly been acclimating to it. The scientists aren’t fully sure what his abilities are, and he’s been sure not to tell them everything. Instead, he quietly spent his time obtaining what information he could from the servers he could gain access to.
When the group wanted to break out, Michael was happy to join in. With his abilities, breaking out was relatively painless, and once he hit the open air, Michael felt like he was even stronger. Whatever happened next, he was ready for it.
Miscellaneous: N/A
I read the rules.