[b][color=#b9dde9]Name:[/color][/b] Laurey Karlin [b][color=#b9dde9]Age:[/color][/b] 27 [b][color=#b9dde9]Physical Description:[/color][/b] Perhaps the most striking thing about Laurey are her eyes, neon diamonds with their own inner light; the same inner light that leaks through slender screens of her cyberware in pulses. Whilst not unattractive, she cultures a neo-punk look, complete with shaggy mohawk, piercings, and tattoos in some questionable places. What comes with this is a lack of hygiene; her clothes are old and worn and reek of the same blend of ripe sweat and soy-curry mix. [hider Art][img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e4/4d/6c/e44d6ce38697625eb519309f1d2befa7.jpg[/img] [img]https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/8a/71/8a71434f-f06b-48df-951b-e2d1f50b2fb8/adn01_art_cyberfeeder.png[/img][/hider] [b][color=#b9dde9]Important items:[/color][/b] Crystal Necklace: A shard of translucent crystal, about as long as her thumb, set into a silver cord. It catches the light in its many faces and throws out rainbows. The crystal never seems to warm, yet the feel of it against her skin is comfort enough to sleep. Sometimes. One day it just started; a pure chime inside her head whenever magic was used in her vicinity. Of course, at first Laurey just assumed this was another artefact of whatever they did to her head. She figured it out fast: it was her necklace reacting to magic nearby. Flimsy ID of someone who doesn’t exist: The picture isn’t even of Laurey. Why she keeps it isn’t immediately obvious, but if a lab was to analyse it, they may find traces of Bliss residue along one edge. It helps keep the lights in check. [b][color=#b9dde9]Short Bio:[/color][/b] [hider Bio]L: “Why did I ask to be taken prisoner? Gee, I don’t know, you must be a smart guy, why do you think?” ~: “I can speculate, but I want to hear it from you, Laurey.” L: “Maybe it starts with saving my skin. Maybe it goes I don’t want to go back. Maybe I don’t like it there. In fact, maybe I hate it.” ~: “And if you hate it so much, why only leave now?” She snorts at this, her face twisting in derision before she seems to grow bored suddenly and leans back into her chair. L: “Ain’t got much choice. This might have been the only chance I’d ever get to get out. It’s worth risking pirates for that.” ~: “What makes it so bad?” She shrugs at this. I wait, but she isn’t forthcoming. ~: “Why didn’t you have the chance to escape before? I was told you were crew, not a prisoner of the vessel?” L: “I was both, in some ways, innit. Crew and captive of the Ascendancy. Not normal military, no no. They keep a close leash on us, give us the illusion of freedom but really we’re whipped dogs. All hush hush. Whoever had those goons attack can’t much like the Ascendancy; there were some good minds there with me. I watched them die.” She sniffs. L: “Pretty gross really.” ~: “It was an intellectual transport?” L: “I guess you could call it that. We were being moved to another station. To work on the Shadow Weave project. But I’m not supposed to tell anyone that. Classified.” She winks. ~: “Right, and you’ve worked on other projects before?” L: “No! That’s how they move all newbies about. What do you think? Yeah, cybersecurity, robotics, engineering, anything with numbers and puzzles, ever since they minced me through that special division of their Grand Military Academy. Gave me my own little disco.” She taps the chrome and neon on the side of her head. L: “It’s nothing compared to the light show in my head.” She lowers her hand and fixes me with a stare that I can’t quite explain. It gave me shivers. L: “Look, can I go now? I need… I need some alone time.” She begins to scratch her arms as she says this, and then catches herself. I press forward. ~: “And that’s why you wanted to escape? Because you never chose to be there? To be what you are?” At this her eyes seemed to glaze over, bright though they were, and I could tell she was a million miles away, back into her memories. I gave her time but nothing. ~: “Is that why you kept asking after Moonstrike?” When she speaks next, her tone is flat and she never meets my eye. L: “I’ve always loved shiny things, my mum called me ‘her little magpie’. Even since I was a mite. Then I found a shiny thing better than all the rest. It loved me, you know?” ~: “Okay -” Before I can say another word, her eyes snap up to meet mine. L: “I’ve always found intelligence attractive.” I decided to abandon that line with her. Clearly there’s something there. Perhaps you can hash it out with her? If she lives long enough. ~: “Okay, okay. Laurey, I’m going to be frank with you now. I need to know if you hate the Ascendancy.” L: “Yes.” ~: “Enough to risk your life, or some worse fate, to strike out against them.” L: “Yes.” ~: “Then I’m going to send you on your way to someone who can help you with that. Does that sound good?” L: “Yes.” So there you have her, a little broken, but aren’t we all? That was my latest conversation with her. I have sent the files of our other conversations, and the reports of those who took her captive. Natasha, she’s bright, really bright, and her gear… it’s not like anything I’ve seen, and I’m no expert, but that stuff would be expensive. To put it in a keep so much of her cognitive functioning intact? I could retire on whatever they’d paid a surgeon that could do that. She’s too hot for our team Natasha, we can’t risk somebody coming to reclaim her, so I’m sending her to you. Consider my debt repaid in full.[/hider] [b][color=#b9dde9]Exceptional Skill List:[/color][/b] [color=#b9dde9]Cybernetics, Neural Augmentation (Exceptional Reactions, Exceptional Learning):[/color] Installed by the military after a period of mental and chemical conditioning so that Laurey might better serve the Talos division. The bulk is localised in her grey matter and skull but stretches throughout her nervous system and to key glands. Via electrical, physical, and biological means, it endows enhanced neuroplasticity and neuronal transmission speed, allowing her to learn, process information and react faster. However, these alterations make Laurey more vulnerable to sensory overload and increase her basal metabolic rate, not to mention there have been reports of certain psychological effects from such alterations. The studies in this area are yet inconclusive. [color=#b9dde9]Cybernetics, System Interfacing and Data Plane Projection (Exceptional Systems Engineering, Exceptional Robotics, Exceptional Hacking): [/color]Another hypocritical atrocity conducted in secret under certain factions of the Ascendancy. Cerebral connection ports in her skull allow Laurey to connect to Ascendancy technology directly. Paired with the Neural Augmentations, this allows Laurey to process the information rapidly and form visualisations and abstractions of computer systems, allowing intuitive manipulation. In addition, the index finger on her right hand is bionic and can open up to form a port that can interact with a wider array of technology, but is slower due to the distance from the brain. [color=#b9dde9]Naturally Gifted, Unnaturally Trained (Exceptional Intelligence, Exceptional Robotics, Exceptional Engineering):[/color] Selected for her intellect and creative flare in engineering, the training Laurey received made her an expert in robotics at the bleeding edge and gave her a compliment of skills that any contemporary engineer would need, ship, base or planet-bound. She has the most experience with starships and infantry weapons. [color=#b9dde9][b]Bonus Skills[/b][/color] [color=#b9dde9]Creative and Curious (Exceptional Tinkerer x2, Exceptional Engineering, Exceptional Robotics):[/color] A habit that developed from the need to sate an overactive mind with focussed curiosity. Taking things apart and putting them back together… just not necessarily how they were originally, it’s what brings Laurey joy. Her scientific method and drive for answers means she yields reproducible results, even if it’s only how she broke it. [color=#b9dde9]Total:[/color] Exceptional Reactions Exceptional Learning Exceptional Robotics x3 Exceptional Hacking Exceptional Systems Engineering Exceptional Intelligence Exceptional Engineering x2 Exceptional Tinkerer x2