ASKLEPIAN !
| Name |Barre Weir
| Code Name |Asklepian
| Age |29
| Gender |Nonbinary; they/them
| Sexuality |Bisexual
| Race |Gifted
| Gifted Class |Delta
| Allegiance |Republic; The Hunters
| In-Depth Appearance |Barre stands at roughly 5’9” (~175cm) and has a gaunt, unimpressive physique. With a tendency to slouch, a permanently somber look, and a soft, cautious gait, they give the impression of somebody who’d like very much to disappear from view. A dense spray of freckles brings a vaguely endearing quality to their otherwise sullen face and they appear to be incapable of speaking without gesturing along erratically with a pair of thin, spidery hands.
Barre is missing their left (non-dominant) index finger and bears plenty of scars, significant and otherwise, across their body; as is to be expected, really.
| Personality |♦ Considerate ♦ Neurotic ♦ Measured ♦ Fearful ♦
At a glance, Barre is so unobtrusive and soft-spoken that they’re easy to overlook altogether. This is entirely the point. Barre recognizes that they are a small cog in a very large machine, and they have years of conditioning to thank for a deep and fundamental fear of falling out, being replaced, or being deemed unsuitable. In Barre’s eyes, the only thing worse than being a Hunter is no longer being a Hunter; no longer having the guarantee of security that their position grants, though tenuous. No matter how bad things may be and no matter what they've endured to become a Hunter, it will always, always be preferable to becoming hunted.
So, Barre wears the face of Asklepian with care. Asklepian is warm and well-behaved. Asklepian is punctual. Asklepian is patient, professional, and understanding of their superiors. Asklepian knows their place. Asklepian does not have disruptive opinions. Asklepian is reliable; a good sport. Asklepian can manage whatever work is set out for them, please, don’t even worry about it. Asklepian believes in Operation Tartarus, and they are an indispensable component in the continued capture and control of other Gifted.
This is the face that they lead with. It has always been the safest option, and Barre has clung to this demeanor for so long that it can't rightfully be called an act (well--an act of self-preservation, maybe). While Barre may not necessarily be a 'true believer', they're in so deep that it hardly matters either way. They're self-aware enough to know that, and even self-aware enough to be occasionally mortified by their own kiss-assery. Luckily for Barre, after years spent perfecting the art of checking out entirely--and with the help of numerous chemical numbing factors--they now navigate their day-to-day through a thick, insulating mental haze that has made it oh so easy to compartmentalize, to never have to reconcile their horror at the treatment of other Gifted with the fact that they actively contribute to it, and to barely have to feel that horror at all anymore.
| Likes & Dislikes |✔Music, dancing (poorly & in private), napping, routine, alone time, all things sour or spicy
✘Combat, nitrile gloves, social events, self-analysis, heat-related injuries, indirect communication
| Abilities and Skills |THE HEALER — Barre's ability allows them to heal a myriad of physical ailments so long as they can establish skin-to-skin contact with the wounded. Ruptured organs, broken bones, flesh wounds, even severed limbs (provided the detached bit is still on hand and reasonably fresh; Barre can't regenerate parts of themself or others, but they can help stick pieces back on with enough effort), all of it can be cured, and all that pain can be taken away by the careful touch of Asklepian.
The significant drawback to Barre's Gift, though, is that the pain has to be felt by
somebody. Upon healing an injury, Barre then experiences the pain of it in their own body and, if they're worn too thin and taking on more than they ought to without pause—overwhelming their ‘capacity’, so to speak-–, these phantom wounds can begin to manifest physically. The pain doesn't tend to linger in Barre for as long as it might have on the original victim had they been allowed to heal naturally, and Barre
does heal faster than the average person, but both of these points can quickly become moot if and when Barre is tasked with handling a high quantity of injuries. Their threshold is high, but it is not limitless.
THE ENHANCEMENTS — In an effort to counteract the side effects of their power, Barre has undergone various procedures to acquire implants intended to mitigate their body's pain response, including nerve stimulators and a device for intrathecal drug delivery. They're routinely supplied with a litany of oral medications to bolster the work of the implants, as well.
There has been some discussion around replacing parts of Barre’s body with prosthetics or otherwise synthetic material. Hypothetically, this may prevent them from ever manifesting the injuries that they take from others no matter how much strain they’re put under. This plan has yet to be put into action.
THE IMPOSSIBLE — Barre can do a lot, but there
are instances in which the best they can do is cross their fingers and hope for the best.
- As mentioned previously, Barre cannot regrow lost limbs for themself or others. They can always attempt to reattach limbs, but success is largely determined by the state of the detached part. A mangled, rotting arm probably isn't going to make it back onto the body—and if it miraculously does, it certainly won't work as well as it once had.
- Their attempts at treating illnesses have been met with little success. Barre's Gift allows them to repair what is damaged, to stitch muscle and skin back together, to force breaks to seal and contusions to dissipate. In all their efforts, they have yet to successfully expel viruses or bacteria from a body. As a matter of fact, the consequences of Barre attempting to heal an injury that's become infected could be rather severe.
- Barre cannot raise the dead.
THE REST — Barre has the same degree of first-aid training and knowledge that your standard combat medic might have. They don’t
just stick their hands up peoples’ shirts and hope for the best.
| History |Oh, it was over from the start.
Barre was born to a scientist that had sunk years of research and dedication into supporting Operation Tartarus and The Hunters, a woman who sought (like many others) to establish a clear advantage over the Gifted, particularly those troubling pockets of insurgency. Frustrated that Hunter technology was constantly needing to be overhauled or scrapped in order to keep up with the varied and powerful Gifted that would often rear their head in defiance of the world order, this woman came to the conclusion that there would be no winning this fight without incorporating more Gifted into the ranks of The Hunters.
So she set out to make her crowning contribution to the effort.
Through deeply unethical means, Barre’s mother brought three children into the world with the hopes of them carrying Gifts similar to those of their fathers, who all resided in prison camps at the time and since been promptly disposed of. She succeeded with two of these children and sent the giftless third someplace where she wouldn’t have to waste her time on it.
Barre’s power became evident just before puberty, and it developed slowly but surely. There was a time in their life when they could hardly heal a skinned knee without having to sport the wound themself, but practice and maturation helped grow Barre’s ‘capacity’, so to speak; each year they were able to do more and more good for others before their body began to break. Once they were older (old
enough, anyway), Barre was routinely brought by their mother to assist with research efforts with the unspoken agreement made by all that this child was simply another tool of the trade. Their first task in the name of Operation Tartarus was to provide round-the-clock healing to Gifted being held for testing and examination. Data collection gets to soar to an all time high when you don’t need to put your tests on hold while a subject recovers from their injuries. In this way, their work allowed for breakthroughs in Hunter weaponry at the low, low price of carrying the pain of each of those Gifted prisoners, and knowing that there would be more to come.
Eventually, Barre was pulled from their unofficial gig with research & development and properly integrated into The Hunters. Around this time, too, they underwent several operations intended to improve their pain threshold via medications and implants, and many in-depth examinations designed to fully explore the extent of their power (whether they can treat illnesses, whether they can heal body parts that they don’t personally possess, and so on). Training went abysmally, but through it Barre was able to hone the art of quietly, seamlessly slipping into autopilot. With the help of everything the doctors had provided to help them carry the weight of their healing a little easier, it became as effortless as breathing to simply
go away for a while and let all their fear and discomfort fade to static.
In recent times, Barre’s role has shifted more to looking after others on the force and providing near-immediate emergency care for other Hunters (they’re not great when it comes to the ‘kicking down doors’ bit, but there is always a benefit to dragging around a tactically-trained supermedic in this day and age), though they
are still regularly called upon to assist with testing and examination in the same capacity as before.
| Family |Barre knows for sure that their mother is out there, working to further the goals of Operation Tartarus elsewhere; always at some other facility, always miles away. The whereabouts and status of their father (who is super dead) and siblings stopped meaning anything to them ages ago.
| Strengths |- PAIN TOLERANCE — It’s what they’re built for. Barre can endure an obscene amount of damage before falling out.
- SURVIVOR — It’s an uphill battle, but it’s the only one Barre’s good at. No matter how undignified it may be, Barre will consistently do what needs to be done to assure their own safety and survival; even if that means flouting previously-sworn-by convictions. Hypocrisy is a small price to pay for a pulse.
- SUPPORT MAIN — Barre knows how to play to their strengths, and their crowning forte is not leading the charge. This is your first-aid kit, your Nurse Nightingale. This is the person you want tending to the wounded, managing inventory, and passing out juice boxes. All that unglamorous housekeeping shit is their bread and butter.
- MEDIOCRE COMBATANT — You can cover Barre in whatever kind of armor you like, stick the fanciest weapons in their hands, and they’ll try their best...but their best is nothing special. They aren’t so bad as to be an active hindrance, but they’re damned lucky that they aren’t being kept around for their combat proficiency.
- SQUISHY — Exacerbated by the above point. Barre isn’t impervious to damage (no bullet-proof skin, no innate shielding quality, nothing), just preternaturally good at handling it once it’s happened. If an Alpha-class Gifted really wanted to squish them like a bug, it could all be over in seconds.
- BRAIN FOG — To put it mildly. Barre has coped with their circumstances by being out of touch for so long that it’s difficult for them to know how to react when something outside of the usual occurs. They’re extremely good at their routine and can be relied upon to perform their li’l duties so long as it’s all the same stuff they’ve been doing for years, but if you knock them off script or pull them out of their element, expect a lot of vacant staring and hand-wringing.
- PAIN TOLERANCE — One of the most impressive things that Barre has going for them is also one of the most risky. Just because you no longer process the pain of an injury doesn’t mean that you’re not injured, and Barre has reached a point where they can no longer accurately gauge what their own breaking point is until it’s happened. While they’re lucky enough to be innately built to cope with a high degree of damage, they aren’t invulnerable, and it is getting harder and harder for them to remember that.
| Theme Song |BODYSNATCHERS – RADIOHEAD”HAS THE LIGHT GONE OUT FOR YOU?
BECAUSE THE LIGHT'S GONE OUT FOR ME
IT IS THE "21ST" CENTURY
IT IS THE "21ST" CENTURY
IT CAN FOLLOW YOU LIKE A DOG
IT BROUGHT ME TO MY KNEES
THEY GOT A SKIN AND THEY PUT ME IN
THEY GOT A SKIN AND THEY PUT ME IN--” | Extra Information |
hoohoohoo
