Name: Alkaev, Mika
Nickname/Alias:
Occupation: Cleaner, Courier, Student
Faction:

• Seneca Institute

Seat Number: 12
Nationality: Russian
Age: "4 years old" (18)
Gender: Male
Blood Type: B

Biography: Overall, Mika could have been said to have lived a solidly "okay, I guess" childhood. As one of the many orphans of the Second Pacific War, Mika was taken in by Adam Pride's Seneca Institute to receive education and other appropriate social services in the newly founded Pyramid City on Tokyo Bay. Fortunately, the Institute allowed such pariah children to live in the relative isolation of their facilities and thus avoid too much contact with the nationalistic fervor that had affected Japan and the outside world at the time, even if that outside world often came to them in the form of media and orphans, both native and foreign. Like many of the enemy war orphans taken into Pyramid City, Mika was subject to discrimination by nationalists for opposing their nations; this treatment had improved with the end of the war and the defeat of his homeland's allies, if only slightly. Unfortunately the damage had been done, and Mika and his ilk were left wondering what their place was in this frightening new land.

While many of his peers had opted to join street gangs, run away from the city or otherwise abandon the system, Mika trusted Pyramid City to do good by him, like they had done so far. At age seven, about half-a-decade earlier than most, Mika came into his esper ability as a result of his participation in a special program offered to students of the Institute like him. Though not particularly powerful due to lacking sufficient force of personality, his synchronization with his power was developed to the utmost as a result. After graduating elementary school, he was "adopted" (or more accurately, assigned to live under supervision of a researcher) and began taking on more specialized experiments regarding his esper ability between, and instead of some, classes at the Seneca Institute's middle and high school divisions. Save for skipping classes that may or may not be important for most future prospects, Mika's schooldays were hardly what you could call unusual. In his free time, he opted against participating in any clubs or studying at a cram school, and instead took on a wide variety of odd jobs in and around the Institute to avoid the hellish idleness he'd otherwise be subjecting himself to. When he became 16 he was tasked to join the PC Express by virtue of his ability's use in that industry.

But between two jobs and a constant series of favors to uphold, it's unsurprising that Mika's often flitting in and out of the apartment he shares with his assigned researcher/legal guardian. Despite this, the relationship they share is a rather tight-knit one, fostered through an innumerable amount of sleepless night ramblings, shared housekeeping and everything in between, even with its beginnings as a way to increase stipend and an occupational obligation, respectively.Even if he's unaware of the fact himself, those six years had impacted Mika's worldview more than all of his formative years had. Despite the incongruity between their two personalities, the two managed to bond over their similar backgrounds, shared love of reading, training sessions, and a certain someone's attachment issues. This is compounded by the fact that he is oft doted on, and their relationship often resembles that of a stoic father and his impetuous child - a fact not lost on the young Russian, who refers to the other as his "father" even considering their rather small age gap.

After highschool graduation, Mika was sponsored by the Seneca Institute for a chance at enrollment into ENMA University.
Personality: Emotional, Good Natured, Low Self Esteem
As a young man of strong will but weak conviction, it's only natural that Mika's nature be that of the utmost ambivalence. The unfortunate consequence of synchronization with his ability is that it has left him an aimless mess, aware and yearning but afraid and in constant denial. After all, being able to think more than anyone else is fine up until one's thoughts stray into negativity, and being forced to dwell on these types of thoughts has done little good for the speedster's psychology. Indecisive and prone to self-doubt, it's no surprise that he prefers to act under guidance, and under situations where he can act without thought or consequence. However, a desire for absolution has thrust him into a particularly vicious, socially-parasitic cycle. Rarely does he act because of his own agency, but rather because he has been tasked to or feels some kind of obligation. As a result, he hasn't quite developed what he considers a proper sense of personal identity, a fact which bothers him to no little degree.

Outwardly, he's far less of a downer than his existential crisis might suggest. He still tends to worry a lot more than most, and becomes a bit too easily attached for his own good. But as someone who prefers to surround himself with those who treat others well, Mika does his best to return kindness with kindness and radiate positivity in all things, even if he lacks genuine satisfaction. He's also developed a bit of an idealistic streak from all the things he's read and heard, and even with his doubts, is still a bit unwilling to accept that the world isn't as black and white as he'd like it to be. At any rate, he's prone to being ruled by his emotions despite his best efforts; he often holds grudges and is rather spiteful even with his good intentions.

Likes:

• Arts and crafts
• Baseball
• Loose clothes
• No responsibility
• Photography
• Reading
• Video gaming, especially first person shooters
• Wet T-shirt contests
• Work

Dislikes:

• Being the lesser end of a height difference
• Birthday parties
• Fighting
• Film and television
• Hard choices
• Long queues
• Personal weakness
• Spicy food
• Work

Skills:

• Combat Training - Knowledge of self-defense techniques as taught by his handler. In other words: basic and bland, but effective and surprisingly brutal. Incidentally, when put into practice it appears that Mika's stature and personal preference aren't too well-suited for some of the techniques. Fortunately he isn't the type to go around looking for fights so that shouldn't be so much of an issue.
• Navigation - Occupational requirements and a lifetime of living in Pyramid City has resulted in an in-depth understanding of the city's layout, especially its various sidestreets, shortcuts, and areas of dubious safety.
• Parkour - Competency in the art of "hardcore parkour". The steel jungle of Pyramid City is the perfect playground by which to refine this skill. Of all his skills, this is what he claims is his best. That said, he lacks style points.
• Running Away From His Problems - Cannot actually run away from his problems.
• Stealth - Compact stature and enhanced awareness assists in the skillful avoidance of detection - a useful asset for transporting important packages, among other things. However, this combined with a propensity towards taking photos and climbing on roofs may result in certain negative connotations.
• Weaving - Personal test of ability. Specialty lies in first-class basketweaving, of which he possesses an almost supernatural competency (likely because he 'cheats' with his esper ability). Also capable of weaving other things to a far lesser extent of competency, given the proper resources. Has not yet been turned into a spider by the gods, much to his delight.

Ability: Slipstream; Level 4
Use of prana to manipulate personal speed through an unknown mechanism. Hypotheses include personal telekinesis and localized temporal manipulation, among others. Conclusive results estimated to appear around Levels 5-7.

Primary application is increasing speed to the point the subject becomes a 'streak', as described by observers, capable of altering its trajectory with pinpoint precision. Secondary application is a single high-speed dash at a targeted location, effectively something akin to short-range teleportation. Though this is the subject's top speed, it's prana strain is decidedly above average and no control is possessed during this rapid A to B movement. Tertiary application is concentration of "speed" into a specific body part. The prana expenditure to accomplish this is inversely proportional to the simplicity of the desired action. Cannot be used at the same time as the primary and secondary functions.

Passive effects on subject are primarily related to the side effects of high-speed movement on a human. Mental processing and perceptions have been permanently enhanced to compensate. Furthermore, the inertial reference frame is locked into the speed demonstrated in his primary capability i.e. the world is perceived as going slower. This has resulted in psychological effects on the subject, but this appears to be an indirect consequence. Subject does not appear to sleep, age, or metabolize faster.

Escana: N/A

Theme Song(s):

• Wind God Girl Guy
• Albatross
• Low Hanging Fruit

Extras:

• Birthdate is February 29, 2020
• Proud owner of an EMP resistant, waterproof (100m) and shockproof (150m) camera with a battery life of about 24 hours, a solar charger, and a connection to a private cloud database.
• Equipped with a pair of "boots" designed to reduce kinetic energy from impact with the ground on the user's legs and feet. Though a vestige from his earlier levels, it sees use from the handy side-effect of mitigating impact from high drops, and though he doesn't always need them, he insists on ensuring their continued upkeep.