PilotName: Gene Cyrus
Age: 14
Gender: Male
Appearance: A smallish boy, Gene is short for his age, with a somewhat scrawny build. His albinism, the cause of his milky skin and white hair, only adds to his somewhat fragile appearance; he almost gives off the impression of a porcelain doll that might break at a touch. The alien energy that has manifested within his body has changed the structure of his irises and given them an ethereal, green glow, which intensifies as he channels his power. He dresses drably, his usual attire consisting of a short-sleeved undershirt, an oversized hoodie, comfortable shorts and well-worn skateboarding sneakers.
Personality: Gene is a boy who feels and acts as though he has much to prove. He speaks and acts boldly, seemingly well-assured in his power and skills. Some call this overconfidence (bordering on arrogance) childish, while others call it impetuous. Precocious as a rule, he tends to inject himself into conversations and events, eager to demonstrate his intelligence or abilities. Gene has very little patience, and is very easy to rile up, which often results in him forsaking his oft-touted intellect for more instinctual tactics, which works almost entirely to his detriment. Even though he often claims superiority over others, Gene is somewhat emotionally needy and dependant, with a tendency to cling to people. Despite all of his shortcomings, however, Gene genuinely wishes to help people, and once his loyalty has been won, he will be at a person's side for as long as he lives.
Brief Backstory: The genius offspring of two well-known scientists, Gene had a lonely childhood. Practically ignored by his parents in favor of their careers, and an outcast among children his age due to his intelligence, Gene spent his developing years alone with books and puzzles. He read day and night, solving complex equations and riddles of physics to amuse himself. Gene soaked up information like a sponge, and so the curriculum of the prestigious private school he attended was a trifling matter to him. His isolation eventually resulted in Gene developing a superiority complex as a way to cope with his loneliness; he wasn't alone because they disliked him, it was because they were below him. The only company he kept were the small, exotic pets that his parents continually sent to him as "souvenirs" of their travels, which he dutifully and lovingly cared for.
In his last year of middle school, Gene was abroad in America with his parents for a keynote speech on genetic engineering (unbeknownst to him related to the Custodian project) for a weekend. However, disaster struck as the city hosting the conference was subjected to an extraterrestrial attack. The attack was devastating, with one of the greatest casualty counts in recent history, Gene's parents among them. Gene himself, however, managed to survive by pure random chance; a support pillar and rubble protecting him from the invasion for the six hours until it subsided.
Venturing out into the ruins for any sign of life, Gene stumbled upon a piece of alien technology that was struck into the ground like a meteor. The curious artifact, resembling a human face, radiated a strange energy that drew Gene to it like a moth to flame. Though as soon as his hands laid on it, that same energy raged through him, and was infused into him. Gene's body was stricken of pigment, the energy (now known as PSI) permanently branding him as its wielder. Gene found that with this power came the instinctive ability to activate and control the artifact, which was actually a mecha the size of a small car.
Eventually recovered and returned home, Gene had the miniature mecha smuggled back to his personal laboratory in his parents' home, where he experimented both on it and himself. Slowly he began to learn to wield the PSI energy in its raw form, and how the small mecha powered by it functioned. As he explored the relationship between energy and machine, he began to glimpse the near-limitless applications of this otherworldly power, and its potential. Upgrading the mecha according to his own specifications, Gene struck out on his own for a month to test his skills against unsavory elements in his home country, before eventually being a part of the Custodian program.
Skills: Gene is without a doubt a genius. His memory and calculative abilities both border on the superhuman, and even at his young age he has doctorate-level knowledge in such fields as aerospace engineering, quantum physics and neurobiology, among several others. He is not merely an empty-headed academic, however, as he is capable of combining and applying this knowledge in such fields as xenobiology and theoretical weapons development.
Abilities: Gene's body and mind are both infused with a strange energy that Gene has dubbed PSI (an acronym for an absurd scientific designation of his own creation that could fill half a page). While the potential applications of PSI are staggering, given that the energy openly defies such theories as thermodynamics and relativity, Gene can only wield the power in its purest form in a few specific ways. The raw energy can be harnessed in a volatile form resembling fire or lightning, and used for basic offensive techniques. If channeled through his body, PSI can be used to temporarily grant Gene superhuman strength or durability. PSI can also be projected into a solidified form, creating simple geometric constructs that can be maintained through concentration. Gene's control over this power is far from perfect, and seems to be strongly tied to his (irrational teenage) emotions.
MechaName: Tyrant
Type: Super Robot
Appearance: Sleek, dark and menacing, the Tyrant stands roughly fifteen meters tall, but is surprisingly lightweight, even for a mecha of its relatively small size. Supporting this, its frame is quite slim, with a thin torso and limbs, and very little bulky armor. The eyes and various PSI energy ports of the Tyrant glow with the energy's distinctive green hue, contrasting with the black, red and dark grey color scheme of the mecha.
Specifications: As agile as its appearance would suggest, the Tyrant is shockingly fast and agile, making it an ideal striker-type mecha. The Tyrant can close in on its enemies with lightning speed and tear them apart with its ruthless close-combat abilities.
Equipment System: The Tyrant is powered by a
core of alien design, upgraded and integrated with a larger body by Gene. This power core is fueled entirely by the PSI energy of its pilot, meaning that only Gene can pilot the Tyrant, but the mecha is also subject to fluctuate in performance given Gene's control over his power. While not terribly durable, the Tyrant's armor is comprised of a reverse-engineered alien alloy, which repels small arms fire well enough, though not anything much larger, with the exception of energy-based attacks, which it seems to completely deflect. The armaments of the Tyrant are largely melee-based, given its sharp claws and whiplike tail, though its primary weapons are more complex.
The Tyrant essentially possesses the same abilities as Gene, though with greater control over them, and at a larger scale. The various PSI energy ports on its body can be used to fire energy bolts of varying power and accuracy, though the mecha generally trades range for power regarding its shots; more powerful blasts are shotgun-like and far less effective at longer ranges. The Tyrant can create PSI energy constructs for itself to use as weapons, ranging from such implements as shields, swords and spears, though whips are Gene's weapon of choice. At the moment, Gene cannot maintain more than two constructs at once with the Tyrant, but he can infuse his constructs with more volatile PSI energy, giving them the power of "typical" energy weapons. The alien alloys the Tyrant is constructed from gives it immunity to this destructive PSI energy, and the mecha can repair itself in a surprisingly organic manner when given direct infusions of energy to its damaged systems.
Curiously, the Tyrant sometimes displays what can only be described as autonomous behavior. Reacting to attacks Gene himself was not aware of, responding to commands even without power, or even behaving contrary to its controls, such occurrences are frequent enough to not be overlooked by Gene as flukes. Whether this is the result of unknown systems within the reverse-engineered alien core, a remnant of some manner of AI, or some additional facet of the mysterious PSI energy, none are yet sure.
