[b][u]Personal Information[/u][/b] [b]Name:[/b] Chunlan “Lan” Zhu [b]Age:[/b] 21 [b]Gender:[/b] Female [b]Occupation:[/b] [b]Neighborhood or Borough in Which You Reside[/b]: Chinatown [b][u]Questionnaire[/u][/b] [i]Note: These questions are for research purposes only. Please respond honestly, completely and without omissions.[/i] [b]Describe the nature of your Atypical abilities.[/b] I Don’t, or I guess can’t, sleep. Or get drunk. I’m either fully awake and alert or comatose, and that applies to sedatives too. They had to put me under for surgery when I was a kid and right around they were taking me off the table they started to wear off and I was fully awake again, didn’t have that slow waking-up still mostly unconscious phase normal people get. [b]Briefly describe the series of events that led to who, what and where you are today.[/b] I’m a third generation Chinese-American on my dad’s side and seventh or eight generation Scottish-American on my mom’s side. I guess we first noticed my powers when i was six. I kept leaving my room in the middle of the night looking for stuff to do because everyone else was asleep. My parents got worried after a couple of days and took me to the doctor, they did some tests- brain scans and stuff- but they couldn’t find anything wrong with me. I wasn’t suffering in any way, so they let it be. At first I started reading a lot to keep me busy, then I ran out of books so I wandered downstairs to my grandma’s book store. I got really good at reading really young, soon as I’d worked my way through all the shelves I could reach… I wanted to try going outside and exploring. Thing is, when my parents realized I didn’t sleep, they put a padlock inside the front door. So, I found a chair to stand on and moved up to the next shelf. Then, I found my first detective novel, can’t remember which one but it gave a pretty specific description on how to pick locks. So, I decided to try it. It took me a few days to work it out, but I taught myself how to do it. That’s the first time I ever slipped out at night. I got scared pretty quick when a stray cat tried to bite me, but I kept getting braver and seeing more. Didn’t run into any trouble for quite a few years, but when I was 11 I almost got stabbed by a hobo. I ran home scared again and told my parents, then dad forced me to take self defense lessons. He let me pick, so we went to a few demonstrations and I decided on Shaolin style kung fu. I didn’t tell my dad at the time, but it’s because I saw a picture of a monk’s spade in a book and wanted an excuse to try and use one. From then until I was about 17 I spent my free time practicing random stuff like sewing, cooking, schoolwork, and of course my kung fu. Got pretty good at it, even earned my black belt. You can probably guess what happened next. I started taking part time jobs to earn money so I could buy that monk’s spade I was talking about. Bunch of places only had late night shifts. So I took them. I was doing my homework in the evenings, school during the days, and working all night. By the time I graduated high school, since I wasn’t paying bills or spending much money, I had saved up enough to pay my way through a bachelors. I mean, I didn’t. But I could have! Once I was out of school I took a couple more jobs to keep me busy at night, work in the book store during the day. I don’t have many friends, I guess people think I’m weird. Which kinda sucks. Anyways, not a lot of friends so evenings I do like I used to and wander around. I met the hobo who tried to stab me again, he’s actually pretty nice. He’d been mugged a couple days before and was a bit jumpy. HE remembered and felt bad about it, so I asked him to tell me about what it’s like being homeless. One thing I learned is the phrase “If you want to know something, ask the rats.” People tend to overlook people like that, they blend into the background. When people don’t notice you, they talk about stuff you shouldn’t hear. And word travels fast. Once I made friends with him, he taught me all kinds of stuff. How to learn things by asking the rats, how to get in and out of places unnoticed, how to get around the city quickly and safely. Turns out, he’s different, like me. He can…. Sense, when people know something he needs to find out. He’s not actually poor, he found out about Obsidian so he went off the grid to protect his family, even moved across the country. I guess I reminded him of his daughter, he showed me where he hides his stuff so if anything happens to him I can send it back to his family. About a week ago, he went missing, so I went and got his stuff. His stuff was gone, but he left me a letter and an invitation to come here. Spending time with me made him miss his family, and he figured it was better for them to be together than have him be alone and hunted. So, I came, [b]How would you describe your appearance to someone who is blind?[/b] For the most part I’ve got typical chinese features. I’m taller than normal though, about 5’9”. I’ve got short red hair and blue eyes. Between the asian heritage and martial arts training, I don’t much going on in the chest or butt. My favorite outfit is white sneakers, tan capris, and this pretty crimson cheongsam that Nana got me when I was little. I grew up, but no out, so I like to wear it as a shirt. It’s silk with black orchids embroidered on it. She got it because my name is “Spring orchid” [b]How would you describe your personality? Likes and Dislikes?[/b] I’m naturally extremely curious. I have a habit of wandering into places i probably shouldn’t, but I’ve never been hurt or in any real danger. I used to have trouble making friends because people thought I was weird, but I’ve always been friendly to people. It’s better to be nice to people than angry at them, you know? I do get distracted easily and I go off on tangents a lot, so sorry about that. I sometimes forget that other people have to sleep and call them in the middle of the night to see if they wanna go do something, but that’s just because I get lonely sometimes. I like martial arts, books, gardening, and exploring new places. I’m a vegetarian. No particular reason, just seemed like the thing to do. [b]What is your current state of mind?[/b] Excited to meet new people, plus I read a book on how to train animals and I’m making great progress with the squirrel who lives in the tree next to Nana’s book store. [b]If your current place of residence was destroyed under mysterious circumstances, which of your belongings would you attempt to recover from the rubble?[/b] Well, most house fires happen in the middle of the night, so I’d probably make sure everybody gets out okay. Most of our money is in the bank so even if we lose some sentimental stuff we’ll survive. [b]What is making you happy right now?[/b] While I was on my way to the meeting, that squirrel let me pet it and didn’t try to bite me. [b]How did you hear about AA, and what made you want to attend?[/b] A psychic hobo gave me a flyer and told me I should give it a shot. [b]What is your greatest fear?[/b] Getting rabies. [b]If you could give up your atypical abilities, would you?[/b] Nah. [b]Please suggest any refreshments you'd like to see at the next AA meeting.[/b] Acorns, in case I manage to adopt the squirrel I’ve been training. Otherwise, apple juice and carrot sticks.