Giallo

Pᴀʀᴀɢᴏɴ Aᴄᴀᴅᴇᴍʏ

Working on my dude. Just have the personality and backstory left. Should be done sometime this week!

Academy of Heroic and Villainous Children

Thinking about making Moon Knight’s kid.

Bladerunner: Tears in The Rain - [CLOSED]

@DeadDrop
I'm still here. It's cool, take as much time as you need.

Academy of Heroic and Villainous Children

Maybe.

Bladerunner: Tears in The Rain - [CLOSED]

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𝙽𝙰𝙼𝙴: 𝙹𝙰𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚁 𝙲𝚉𝙴𝚁𝙽𝚈
𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴: 𝟷𝟷:𝟻𝟸 𝙿.𝙼.
𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽: 𝙻𝙾𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝙻𝙴𝚂 𝙿𝙾𝙻𝙸𝙲𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃, 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝙲𝙸𝙽𝙲𝚃 #𝟺

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As anyone who’s lived in LA would know, there’s a certain smell that pervades the city, a scent that’s unmistakable, yet nearly impossible to describe. It’s a miasmic cloud that hangs heavy in the air—damp, musty, a hint of ozone—sticking to one’s skin like a tattoo. Inhaling, Javier wrinkles his nose, and takes another drag of the cigarette pinched between his fingers: Kyriazi Freres. Genuine, tobacco-based cigarettes were a luxury these days, but Javier thought he deserved a treat after his latest case.

The memories come back to him in pieces, rendered nebulous by the lingering aftershocks of a concussion. Blood, sinew, the kick of a standard-issue blaster against his shoulder. That wasn’t the first time he’d nearly lost his life in the line of duty. Replicant bodies were built for strength, durability, far superior to a human in every way, but even with their implanted memories, they lacked the capacity to be anything more than what they were made for. That’s what Javier believed, anyway. He didn’t have much time to muse upon the true purpose of a Replicant before he had to put a bullet through his target’s skull.

Even after he’d been mortally wounded, the Replicant continued to twitch and shudder with life, almost as if he was too stubborn to die. Another shot in the temple put a stop to it. After that, it was just a matter of extraction. His fingers had slid easily into the gap between the eyeball and its socket, pulling it out just enough for him to sever the optic nerve with a jack-knife.

It never got any easier.

Javier was not a squeamish man—to be so in this occupation would be a death sentence—but skinner or not, there was something so revolting, so visceral about plucking an eyeball right out of the skull of a corpse. He remembers staring down at it, meeting its dull, lifeless gaze with one of his own.

A coughing fit breaks him out of his recollection, jarring in a way that makes him sneer and flick the ashy remains of his cigarette down onto the streets below. If it happened to land on someone, well, he’d be long gone by the time they knew what hit them. Right now, there was somewhere else he needed to be. He’s still on the clock, after all.

The walk to the precinct is a well-trod one. Javier had grown up on these streets, taking work wherever he could find it. All around him, swarms of people were doing the same. Food vendors, charlatans peddling knock-off Wallace tech, prostitutes; every last person had fought for their place here, carving out their very own niche in the labyrinth that was Los Angeles. It was the only way to survive in the post-Blackout world. You did what you could to make yourself useful, or else.

Pointedly ignoring the gargantuan, winking holo-vert of the newest generation of Joi™, he makes a sharp right to turn into an alleyway. There, a young woman with a head of bleached-blonde hair is knocked out cold, propped crookedly against the wall. One of her boots is missing, Javier blandly notes, though it’s far too common a sight for him to pay much mind. Pulling his coat closer around himself, he steps over the slumbering woman, and continues walking at a brisk pace towards his destination.

It doesn’t take him much longer to reach the street leading up to the precinct, and Mikhail’s Corner Store presents a familiar sight. In all his years working for the LAPD, Javier had passed by the store more times than he could count, but this time, something was amiss. He lets his steps slow to an amble, pretending to browse the row vending machines adjacent to the store. Javier doesn’t turn fully to face the bum outside, rather, he glances at him through his peripheral vision, sizing him up without making it apparent.

There’s something about the man Javier can’t quite put his finger on, something dangerous, though he’s reluctant to investigate any further. The most important lesson he has learnt over the years is that one should never volunteer to do more than necessary, and this seemed to him like more than necessary. Javier was already busy nursing a headache from his last mission; the last thing he wanted was to have another skinner bash his skull in before he had a chance to recover.

Besides, he wasn’t the only Runner in LA. Surely one of the other officers could get him on their own time.

Thus, with his decision made, he retrieves a five dollar bill from his wallet, slides it into the machine, then scoops up the pack of seaweed chips that pops out the bottom. Not exactly what you’d call haute cuisine, but he hadn’t been planning on eating it anyway.

Javier climbs up the few steps it takes to get to the central lift lobby, stepping deftly around an officer who was far too busy fiddling with his wristwatch to see where he was going. The precinct seemed a lot quieter than usual. Save for the janitor hosing down a half-dried splatter of blood near the far wall, there weren’t many people around at all. Javier soon finds himself in an elevator all on his own, and he only has to hold his identification card up to a scanner before the doors slide shut, the elevator beginning its rapid descent to the designated floor.

In quieter moments, one could almost forget the blackout even happened, but it was indisputable fact that now, more than two decades later, they were still dealing with the consequences. Javier thinks back to the time before it happened. He’d still been a boy, then—scrappy and desperate for a better life. Of course, no one could have guessed that he would eventually end up working for the LAPD. The younger Javier swore up and down that he’d make a name for himself, build an empire rivalling the Yamabishi-kai of Little Tokyo. Things change, he supposed. The flippant arrogance of a child had its limits, and he knew now that it wasn’t always so easy to get what you wanted.

The elevator doesn’t make any noise when it stops, no ‘ding!’ of affirmation, but Javier had been watching the numbers on the LED display. Once the doors open, he steps out into the adjoining corridor, making a beeline towards the boardroom he’d been told to head to. Was he late? Javier didn’t think so, though he hoped that whatever this was, they’d be able to finish up quickly.

Once, twice, he raps his knuckles on the door, though he doesn’t wait for an invitation before pushing it open and stepping inside. Javier isn’t surprised to see Delfrezy there. After all, he’d been the one to call this meeting in the first place. They’ve crossed paths once or twice, and he has heard his fair share of stories regarding the other man’s exploits, but he wouldn’t go so far as to say they were friends; acquaintances, more like. They have something of a working relationship, and truth be told, Javier had little interest in getting to know him better. Still, he knew when to play nice. It was always better to make friends instead of enemies, right?

“Hope you’re hungry. I brought a snack.” He slides the pack of seaweed chips across the table towards Anthony before reaching out for a handshake, teeth bared in a winsome smile. “I’m Javier. Javier Czerny. I’ve heard a lot about you, detective. You’re quite the star around here.”

Bladerunner: Tears in The Rain - [CLOSED]

@DeadDrop Currently at work, but I'll see if I can whip something up when I get back home tonight. :)

Bladerunner: Tears in The Rain - [CLOSED]

I’m fine either way.

The Consuming Fire

Interested. I'll see where this goes.

Bladerunner: Tears in The Rain - [CLOSED]

Read it, it was sexy and cool. approved move that shit over. The cast is already looking DiVeRsE

@DeadDrop

Done. Thanks, boss. 😎

@Giallo Nice character.

@krismer22

Glad you like him! But I have a feeling him and Amon won't get along great lmao.

Bladerunner: Tears in The Rain - [CLOSED]

// 𝙹𝙰𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚁 𝙲𝚉𝙴𝚁𝙽𝚈

_{J A V I E R C Z E R N Y}

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// 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙵𝙸𝙻𝙴
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Javier Czerny grew up one of the countless orphans in the sprawling megacity of Los Angeles. He knows nothing of his parents, not even their faces, though he’s never felt the need to uncover their whereabouts. After all, they’ve never once shown any interest in him, so why should he care about them?

Much of his early years were spent in a tiny, government-funded orphanage tucked away in a forgotten corner of K-Town. He learned quickly that the best way to survive was to make himself useful, prove that he wasn’t just another liability. But even back then, Javier knew the importance of working smart, not hard.

Most of what they did at the orphanage was menial, assembly-line work, putting together circuit boards and the like. Children’s hands were smaller, more delicate, and thus, better suited for the task. Javier, however, was always more of a people-person. With an unusual knack for persuasion—though some would call it manipulation—he would talk the other kids into covering for him when he fell short of his quotas, or when he stole away in the middle of the night to see the city.

It wasn’t difficult to see why so many of his peers put up with Javier and his indiscretions. He had a way with words, and a warm, faultless smile that seemed to promise that as long as you did everything he said, it would all be fine.

As soon as he was able, Javier left the orphanage, eventually falling in with a gang based in K-Town, known simply as the Munshin (문신). They were known as a group of thieves and racketeers, with a fearsome reputation of cutting the ears off of rival gang members. Javier himself started out as a simple courier, charged with ferrying black market goods from one end of the city to another.

His knowledge of the city served him well, and Javier proved to be a capable negotiator as time went by. He knew exactly what to say in order to get under someone’s skin, convincing them that what he wanted was what they really want, too. When words failed, however, Javier wasn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty either.

He was eager to make a name for himself, crawl from the squalid underbelly of LA to a colony off-world; though he knew as well as anyone that it was nothing but a pipe dream. Thanks to the Wallace Corporation’s monopoly over the Replicant and farming industries, the price of a ticket had skyrocketed, with only the fabulously wealthy being able to afford them.

Nevertheless, Javier had never been one for self-pity. He did his best with what he was given, and rose through the ranks to become a trusted lieutenant in the Munshin. His work largely consisted of handling the gang’s logistics and day-to-day operations. When he spoke, people listened, and that made him the perfect man for the job. Still, things were bound to come to a head, though it was unfortunate that it would happen sooner rather than later.

Javier heard about an impending sting operation by the authorities through his network of contacts, and began to worry about his future in the gang. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before the Munshin crumbled, he turned himself in to the LAPD as an informant. His insider knowledge about the gang proved a valuable resource to the police, and the Munshin were promptly dealt with.

In exchange for his cooperation, Javier’s sentence was greatly reduced, and he ended up serving only a year out of the proposed eight. After his release, he would continue working with the LAPD, providing further insight into other gangs he had come into contact with over the years.

Thanks to his knowledge of the city, and proficiency in multiple languages, they saw fit to keep him on permanent retainer. Eventually, his criminal record would be expunged entirely—at least to low-level personnel—and he would become a full-fledged officer of the LAPD.

It wasn’t until two years back, however, that he finally assumed the mantle of Blade Runner. While Javier doesn’t exactly relish the idea of hunting down rogue Replicants, a job’s a job, not to mention how it paid better than anything he could ever hope to find on his own. Of course, even after everything, his higher-ups never let him forget what he owed them.

Remember, Czerny. We’ve given you everything you have, and we have the power to take it away, too.

// 𝙳𝙰𝚁𝙺 𝚂𝙴𝙲𝚁𝙴𝚃
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Everyone has heard rumors of corruption in the LAPD, an insidious poison slowly seeping its way through the precinct. Javier Czerny is one of those crooked cops; as long as he’s sufficiently compensated, he’s more than happy to look the other way. Once, he allowed a Replicant to escape retirement in exchange for a cache of money they had stashed away.

As of yet, no one knows of Javier’s deceit, not even his superiors. He’s very good at covering his tracks, though he always makes sure to keep his ear to the ground, just in case.

// 𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙰𝙳𝚅𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰𝙶𝙴𝚂
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• 𝚂𝙼𝙾𝙺𝙴𝚁 - He smokes to keep his hands and mind occupied. Too long without a cigarette and he starts jonesing.
• 𝙼𝙴𝚁𝙲𝙴𝙽𝙰𝚁𝚈 - To Javier, there’s no one more important than himself, though he sees his self-serving nature as inevitable, given the world they live in—if he doesn’t look after himself, who will?
• 𝙷𝙴𝙳𝙾𝙽𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙲 - Whenever he’s off the clock, Javier seeks distraction. It doesn’t matter if it’s a drink at a roadside izakaya, or a chance meeting with an attractive stranger; he isn’t picky with his vices.
• 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚁𝙱𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙳 - Javier is red-green colorblind.

// 𝙰𝙳𝚅𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰𝙶𝙴𝚂
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• 𝙼𝚄𝙻𝚃𝙸𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚄𝙰𝙻 - Exactly what it says on the tin. Apart from English, he’s also fluent in Mandarin, Korean, and LA’s very own patchwork Cityspeak.
• 𝚂𝙸𝙻𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙾𝙽𝙶𝚄𝙴 - Javier is an expert at finding out what makes a person tick, and is used to putting on a variety of faces to achieve the means to an end.

// 𝙰𝚃𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙱𝚄𝚃𝙴𝚂
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• Fortitude: 2
• Willpower: 4
• Passion: 7
• Perception: 6
• Violence: 5
• Humanity: 1