Lemons

Lem's Stash

Bubble Gum and Rocket Fuel

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx B A S I C I N F O [Name] Cherri Cade [Callsign] Cherry Bomb [Gender] Femme [Age] 24 [Rank and Designation] E-6 - Petty Officer, First Class [Place of Birth] Vianno, Willowit [Official Statement] "Like, come ONnnnn! What'sa girl gotta do ta get her hands on some composite ceramo-metallic armor and heavy ordnance cannons?"Sound of bubble gum popping C O M B A T A B I L I T Y [Mech Model] HMP-XVI Ablaze Custom: <DEATH IN PINK!> [Type] Heavy Bombardment Platform [Size] 50 ft tall. 45 tons; 60 tons fully loaded. [Core] Epsilon. [Armaments] The GHOST System is the core of what Cherri's combat revolves around. While her enormous array of explosives are very useful dumb-fired, blanketing huge swaths of the battlefield in disarray, they're just as likely to fly back on her allies than to annihilate her enemies. Enter the Guided Heavy Ordnance Selective Targeting System, which allows her to designate not just specific targets, but specific [i]areas[/i] as well, upon which the AI in her mech will compensate for movement patterns and tagged allies to ensure that even when she's using devastating firepower, she hits dead on, every time. Back: The SHPM-XX: 'Harpoons' is by far Cherri's most devastating weapon. Fueled by a beta core, each salvo needs plenty of time to charge; but when the canister is primed, activating it launches a barrage of twenty high-energy guided plasma spears that fully interface with the GHOST System, allowing her to call in either precision strikes of devastating power or a rain of plasma across hundreds of feet. Right Hand: The Harpoons may be the most powerful weapon Cherri can bring to bear, but it's got far too long a downtime to be anything approaching a primary weapon. No, her workhorse weapon is the downright terrifying PHOS-CCC: 'Dragon's Breath.' Nominally a chaingun but with a modest fire rate of only 300rpm, the 'Dragon's Breath' wouldn't seem strong. However, it dodges that allegation quite neatly with the simple fact that every one of those 300 rounds per minute is a shell loaded with enough high explosives to level a small building. Integrated fully into the GHOST System, this is her primary vector of raining hell. To put it succinctly: right, down, down, left, down, right, down, down. Left Arm: The MECS-VIII 'Javelin,' while it [i]is[/i] linked into the GHOST System, is the only one of Cherri's weapons that's designed to be dumbfired. Taking the form of a row of slots along her left forearm filled with canisters, they are designed in such as way as to face directly forward when Cherri is hefting 'Dragon's Breath,' and meant to be used in tandem with it. Though there are only eight, and they must be manually reloaded when expended, they're nonetheless a powerful tool, largely because of their versatility. While the HE canister is a common one, equally as common is an airburst canister filled with reflective chaff that baffles laser fire in a large area for a not-inconsiderable period of time. And there are several others as well: napalm for area denial, fragmentation for scattering shrapnel, EMP for disabling electronics, airburst flak for fast-moving targets. Twenty-four spare canisters are kept in a reinforced container on <DEATH IN PINK!>'s hip. Right Thigh: Cherri LOVES her explosives. But that doesn't mean she wants to use one right next to her. In the case that 'Dragon's Breath' isn't viable to use for whatever reason, Cherri employs the ASA-C 'Adjudicator.' A compact SMG-style mech weapon with a 100-round magazine, this portable weapon, unlike most that pilots employ, fire 20mm rounds instead of 30mm, allowing for easier control, higher ammunition capacity, and a faster fire rate at the cost of damage inflicted. But as this is a sidearm for her, control and rapidity are far more important.

Profile [Surface-level Impression] Suspect's Psychiatric Profile, Dr. Wraul While of course the suspect Ms. Cade is upset about the entire situation, she still agreed to a session to gauge her psychiatric state. Arranged in no particular order: Cheerful - Despite everything, Ms. Cade finds it difficult to not be chipper, and more than once, I found her catching herself smiling, and forcing it back down. Talkative - It certainly wasn't difficult to have this session. I can't say from one brief session whether or not it's a compulsion or simply a personality trait, but Ms. Cade is EXTREMELY chatty. I expected to be prodding her for much of the time, but after the first few minutes of frosty silence, she started talking my ear off almost immediately. Teasing - I was quite taken aback at some points, where she said something that made me raise my eyebrows in some way, at which point she chuckled--the fact she's laughing through this entire thing is frankly admirable--and revealed that she'd been teasing me the entire time. After I interrogated that for a bit with her, I came to the conclusion that she doesn't enjoy malicious teasing; she simply likes watching the looks on peoples' faces when she says something harmless but questionable. Earnest - I find myself wondering through her PAINFUL sincerity--though it's not my job, of course--if my experience as a criminal psychologist gives me any level of credence when I say that I'm slowly becoming convinced that Ms. Cade may be innocent, and perhaps other leads should be explored. I simply cannot understand her as a domestic terrorist and killer. [Personal History] 3rd District, Vianno, Planet Willowit - Warrant for Cherri Lily Cade's Arrest WARRANT OF ARREST FOR DOMESTIC TERRORISM, VANDALISM, ARSON, CRIMINAL USE OF EXPLOSIVES AND FIRST-DEGREE MANSLAUGHTER To: Vianno 3rd District Arresting Officer Zhiti Ayajjai, ID MLE4136, 423rd VLE Unit YOU ARE COMMANDED to serve the herein Warrant of Arrest to seize and take into custody the accused person named below: Cherri Lily Cade, ID GZM4442, U88 Olympus Building And bring forth said person before this court before the next day following his or her arrest. A handwritten note is scrawled at the bottom of the document in meticulous red pen: I swear to all that is holy, Zhiti. You have ONE JOB. You'd better actually stick this one, I don't like being embarrassed. Police Report - The Telluride Building Incident Case No: 18462 Date: 12.04.382 Reporting Officer: Ewelyn Tyvee Incident: Massive property damage and loss of life via explosion on floor 233 of the Telluride Building Detail of Events: At 22:23 of 12.04.379, there was a sudden explosion near the support beam on floor 233 of 240 of the Telluride Building. According to witness reports, there was the smell of smoke prior; that, as well as the presence of scorch marks near the damaged area, shows that the explosion was likely set off using fire. My unit was dispatched to assist those in danger and investigate the scene of the crime. The top five floors of the Telluride Building are used exclusively for press conferences, of which there were none; however, the 234th floor had several people working in it. Luckily, the building didn't collapse; however, the explosion itself killed two people in the floor immediately above it. Directly beside the damaged support beam, we found an unconscious Ms. Cherri Cade. Upon regaining consciousness, she seemed confused, asked why we were there. Likely concussed. However, there is explosive reside on her fingers, and a damaged, now-nonfunctional pink lighter bearing her fingerprints was found near her on the scene. She is currently being medically assessed before questioning. Excerpt of Police Log - Cherri Cade's Questioning Case No: 18462 Date: 12.06.379 Present Officer: Ewelyn Tyvee ET: Do you know why you're here, miss Cade? CC: I have no idea! I know I've been accused of something really bad, but I don't know what! ET: On December fourth, you were found unconscious next to a heavily-damaged support strut on the 233rd floor of the Telluride Building with explosive residue on your fingers immediately after an explosion that killed two people. CC: WHAT? But...but that...I would never! ET: I'm sure. Do you have an alibi? CC: Huh? I...no, but of course I was there, maintenance of floor 233 is my job! I just--I would never--I couldn't-- ET: Please state for the record that you do not have an alibi, miss Cade. CC: What? That's not fair! ET: Will you or will you not state it for the record? ET: Is this your personal datapad, miss Cade? CC: ...Yeah. Why? ET: Do you know what your search history is? CC: Yes. ET: Could you explain why your search history includes information about explosives? CC: My sister Apricot was a pyrotechnician for a few years. I got interested in explosives through that. I swear, I never hurt anyone! CC: ...By the way, what explosive residue did they say they found on my fingers? You keep saying that, but you won't go into any detail. ET: I'm not at liberty to say. CC: *Sigh* Mayoral Resolution Draft, Never Published Fellow citizens of Vianno, of Willowit: I know you're all afraid. An attack has been waged against the very heart of our city, our very soul. Who wouldn't be afraid? I know I was. But thanks to the tireless efforts of the VLE, the culprit has been apprehended and convicted. The Telluride Building coming under attack is a grievous blow to our city and planetary pride, and that will never be forgotten or forgiven. The criminal charged with the crime used homemade explosives that she created at home following instructions that she found on the 'net. And that's not all; in fact, it's just the beginning. Preliminary research has shown that a huge amount of people have begun searching for information on building such devices recently. I hate to do this, I truly do; but the safety of our people is paramount. Because the lives of those in our city are at clear and obvious risk, I mean to implement ways to keep people from accessing such information, and tracking down those that already have. Never let it be said that the people of Vianno aren't always at the forefront of my mind. Remember: we fight for you! Handwritten Note We're probably pretty good. She doesn't have any good excuses. But for appearances' sake, give her a plea deal. Just find something nobody would ever agree to. Public'll eat it up. Plea Deal, Cherri Cade Case No: 18462 CITY OF VIANNO V. CHERRI LILY CADE Plea Deal The defendant and the defendant's counsel, Cherri Lily Cade and Atty. Mia Tyler, and the prosecution, Jerring Vesslain, have entered into an agreement outside of court, pursuant to Rule 11 of the ICC. The terms of the agreement are as follows: The prosecution agrees to waive prosecution and accept a plea of not guilty from the defendant for the crimes of Domestic Terrorism, Arson, Vandalism, Unlawful Use of Explosives, and First-Degree Manslaughter. All charges will be dropped, and they will not receive a major mark on their criminal record. In exchange, the defendant agrees to report for seventeen years of service into the Aberrant War, arranged into training and combat as necessary but not to include fewer than ten years of active service. As of now, the defendant has not been enlisted; so they are still considered liable. She has one month to arrange her affairs on Willowit before she is required to be off-planet. As long as she has been enlisted before the designated time period has expired, the defendant will not be prosecuted upon their return to Willowit given that one of the following requirements has been met: 1) The defendant has served seventeen full years in the military and all other terms have been met; 2) The Aberrant war has concluded and all other terms have been met. The defendant has also asked that a note be added to the record along with her signature: 'Oh my GOD, this is TOO FUNNY! I was planning to enlist soon anyway if I could find an excuse to get me away from my job! And now I get to spit in your stupid corrupt faces too! Like, how could this get any better?' Frustrated Memo Dellan, don't you dare try and blame this shit on me. I did my job, I got her right into the palm of your hand for god's sake. Why the fuck did you try to give her a plea deal? For appearance's sake? The appearance was FINE, do you have any idea how long this took to organize? Fuck right off. Certification to Pilot This document serves to certify that that the pilot trainee Petty Officer Third Class Cherri 'Cherry Bomb' Cade, has undergone the requisite five years of training necessary, and been authorized to pilot a mech in the war against the Aberrants. Per Audacia ad Astra. Home World [Planet Description] A technological utopia. A metropolitan marvel. The jewel of the Soha Binary System. Willowit has many names, and most of them are flattering. And, at least to appearance, it lives up to them. From space, it seems almost more like an enormous space station than a planet at first glance; the entire planet is covered in vast cities, right up to the coasts. Powered almost exclusively by solar, they take advantage of the fact they orbit a binary star to harvest massive amounts of power from it, fueling their grand dreams. From the air, the enormous superstructure skyscrapers of Willowit come into focus. The tallest of them, the Telluride Building, has 240 floors, containing everything one could require. The skyscrapers of Willowit are, for all intents and purposes, microcities in themselves, and there are thousands across the planet. Thus, Willowit can comfortably support a population larger than one would think for a planet its size; 25 billion people live in these great spires. Finally, we droop to ground level, to the 'undercity.' Those unfortunate enough to be kicked out of their building--one typically has to commit a crime, though the severity of the crime can vary depending on the district they live in--typically are required to live for a certain amount of time outside of the superstructures. While there's food to eat, it's certainly not a comfortable existence. The skyscrapers block almost all of the light, and unlike the buildings, the surface isn't climate controlled; so it's incredibly cold down below. Typically, ganglike organizations form, as there's little to no oversight outside of the skyscrapers. Once their tenure on the surface is finished--as long as they survived--they are once more allowed to reenter their building, or any other building that might catch their fancy; after ten years, property is repossessed, so they won't have any place to go back to if more time than that passes. One might wonder how Willowit is able to maintain this strange living structure. The answer is simple: owing to the particular resources that can be found underground and some closely guarded industry secrets, they are historically one of the known universe's greatest purveyors of holographic technology. Many resort worlds find themselves with Willowit-made holograph projectors; many military training sims have a Willowit stamp on them as well. Useful both in peacetime and in war, Willowit's holographic and simulation technology will ALWAYS be useful. [Culture] Remember that bit about the 'technological utopia?' Well, the people of Willowit are completely convinced. Living in relative luxury from even the less fortunate upwards, purely in terms of quality of living, Willowit is a very nice place to live. However, not everything about Willowit is so utopian. They bill themselves as a utopia with a firm rule of law that keeps things running smoothly. And they do have a very powerful law system. HOWEVER: their legal system, while very powerful, has very little oversight. As a result, the thing that plagues Willowit more than anything else isn't wealth disparity, or war, discontent of the populace. No, Willowit has a MASSIVE problem with corruption in governance. Because the legal system has so much power and so little oversight, the people who pay them the most money can effectively pick and choose which laws apply to them, and furthermore, which laws apply to other people. A great deal of propaganda keeps the general populace from realizing the extent of this corruption. But a lawyer, a police officer, a judge...they have to put forth EFFORT to NOT be hilariously corrupt, as bribes and quid-pro-quo are more the rule than the exception from even modestly well-off individuals. Notable Contacts Mia Tyler, Criminal Defense Atty. and Engineer [Name] Mia Tyler [Relation to Subject] Cherri's defense attorney, close friend, engineer, and post-op specialist. [Analysis] Mia was Cherri's lawyer during the extended and corrupt trial that threatened to put her either behind bars for the rest of her life, or put her in the ground. The two of them grew quite close over the years, and when it was decided that Cherri would enter the service (and specifically, would become a pilot), Mia immediately entered an intensive training course to get certified in engineering and maintenance of mechs. Possessed of a truly unreasonable level of willpower, she, well, succeeded, and now serves as the primary maintenance worker for <DEATH IN PINK!> As you may be able to glean, Mia does not like giving up. Filled with willpower and SPITE, she managed to become a dedicated attorney, despite participating in the corrupt games of her planet's legal system as little as possible. She is possessed of a wide streak of wry humor; appearing deadpan while cracking strange jokes is second nature to her, and Cherri seems to have a sixth sense for when she's not being serious. Speaking of Cherri, if you watch the two of them interact for more than a minute, it becomes blatantly obvious how much they care for each other. Yes, Mia is permanently exhausted and lives off caffeine; she picked up a habit of reading case law online in the middle of the night in law school, and somehow it stuck even when she genuinely has no time for it. But the two of them are pretty much inseparable. She won't maintain anybody else's mechs; and Cherri refuses to let anybody else maintain hers, unless there's no other choice.

The Things We Fight For

YES HELLO IT'S ME HERE TO BREAK THE KHOLOMICA

Research Log: AIS S1

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx B A S I C I N F O [Name] Aberrant Integration System, Subject 1 - AIS S1 [Callsign] Aissi [Gender] Female [Age] Early 20s [Rank and Designation] Experimental Constellation, Stardust Rank [Place of Birth] Kepler-195 [Official Statement] "AIS S1—Aissi...I—I was...made—born—built...? Built to fight. Built—made to kill. WIN. KILL." C O M B A T A B I L I T Y [Anti-Barrier Sword] #236 - AB1 (Aberrant-integration Blade One) and #371 - AB2. But since they've been reforged into identical forms and serve as a single unit for Aissi, she refers to them much more personally, simply as her Wingblades. [Anti-Barrier Quotient]21% [Physical Description] It's no wonder the Anti-Barrier Quotient of the Wingblades is so low; after all, they're unreasonably large, and there's only so much AB material to go around. Matte black with gleaming red bevels, these double-edged blades are roughly as long as Aissi is tall (about seven feet), and mounted on winglike struts grafted directly into her nervous system through her back. This unorthodox arrangement allows her to manipulate the Wingblades as though they were a third pair of limbs, leaving her hands free for more typical swords used almost exclusively for defense that are sheathed along the struts. [Attributes] In order to supplement the low AB Quotient caused by their large size, the Wingblades have been retrofitted with laser technology. They can ignite their blades in red light, significantly increasing their cutting force; and, even further, they are able to fire powerful, though short-ranged, laser blasts. [Anomaly] Aberrant Integration System [Origin] Aberrant Research Laboratory A2 [Phenomena] Though it fills the same space as Anomaly typically would, this is quite explicitly very different. To put her on level with actual Constellations with Anomaly, Aissi's body is infested with an expansive suite of Aberrant technologies. From the system that controls her Wingblades, to magnetic clamps in her hands, her limbs more biomechanical than flesh now, antigravity systems in her feet, compact rocket engines in her legs along with stabilizers in her shoulders...and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Finally, it all connects to the most important of her modifications, the most powerful, and the most taboo: her core. A fully-intact Epsilon-tier Aberrant core harvested from a high-caste Bishop has been embedded into her back between where the Wingblades emerge, which powers all of her multifarious augmentations, coordinates them, and normalizes them in her nervous system so they feel as natural as whatever of her original body remains. [Limitation] The same way it doesn't function as Anomaly does, it doesn't have the same kind of cost on usage. What it does have, though, is quite an adverse affect on her mental state. The painful experiments that were done to her over the course of years, as well as the overtaxing of her brain as it attempts to manage far more than it was designed to and the Aberrant instincts that now lurk within her, have led to her being VERY unstable, especially during full-throttle combat where all of her augmentations and implants are working at maximum capacity. Perhaps not a clear-cut cost; but quite a cost nonetheless.

Profile Surface-level Impression [Surface-level Impression] As mentioned, the experiments have left Aissi not quite in full control of herself at all times. Twitchy, relentlessly high-strung, and never overly far from fits of violent hysteria, Aissi's personality alone is proof positive that making a large amount of Constellations in the same way she was made isn't necessarily a good idea. Still, she's not always obviously unstable, clearly. Though during combat she veers way into the erratic, outside of it, she's a notably sensitive and anxious individual. Keenly aware that she looks very strange, and even more keenly aware that the reason she looks strange is that she's essentially half-Aberrant—the thing that's trying to kill everyone and everything—she's constantly fretting over the image that she has. When people look at her, do they see a Constellation? Or a monster? And really, even she doesn't quite know. Paradoxically to her appearance and her position, Aissi knows very little about the world. All she really remembers is being in the lab. Granted, she was told something like what to expect when she went into the field. But being told what the world is like and actually living in the world are two very different things. She only has experience with the first of those two. She knows plenty about Aberrants and how to kill Aberrants...but that's mostly ALL she knows. Personal History [Personal History] The first thing Aberrant Integration System, Subject One remembers is waking up in the lab. What age was she? Teenaged? She isn't sure, and she doesn't remember. What was her name before? Did she even have a name? She's not sure of that either. Only A.I.S-S1. That's it. Well...she remembered how to speak, and how to listen. She remembers language. That's something, right? The second thing A.I.S-S1 remembers is pain. Her first implantation was almost immediately after she awoke. She doesn't even remember what it is anymore; all of it has blurred together in her mind by now. Was it her leg engines? Her neuralware? Perhaps the magnetic clamps in her hands? it all feels so far away. Time went on. Every so often, the procedure would repeat: she would be given an implant though a painful procedure. Then the technicians and scientists that handled her would monitor it. Sometimes, her body would reject the implant, and the pain would come back. The doctors would remove it, put it aside, and try and give it again later. They never gave up. If her body didn't reject it—if it accepted the Aberrant technology as a part of her now—then she'd have another few days, just to make sure. And then another implant would be brought to her, and the wheel would turn again. But it was fine. She'd volunteered for this, according to the doctors. This was what she'd wanted. To let herself be turned into something greater, even at sacrifice to herself. So she simply clung on. But there was one great mercy. Because during all of this, she wasn't alone in the lab. There was another girl undergoing a similar—if much lesser—augmentation, and the two became something like friends. Hope, her name was. And that got A.I.S-S1 thinking about names. Every time she saw that designation emblazed near her, she would look at it, and think of names. And then one day, when she was still woozy from sedation, she saw it with blurry eyes, and she misread it. Not A.I.S-S1. AISSI. Aissi. She would be Aissi. Time went on more. Further. Hope left, and she was once again alone. More implants. More connections. And then the most prominent: the Bladewings. She rejected them three times before her body finally let them settle, and each rejection was more painful than the last, resulted in a longer wait. And then, after all that was done...she'd been in the lab for how long now? She didn't know, and she still doesn't quite; several years, at least. But now that all of the implants, all of the cybernetics, all of the prosthetics, were in place, it was time for the piece de resistance. The Core. There is nothing Aissi can remember, before or since, that hurts as much as suddenly having every one of her augmentations fire into her nerves all at once. Sheer, gut-wrenching, mind-warping AGONY. And the pain, the nerves, all of it firing at once...it changed something in her. Turned from a sweet, sensitive girl to something where...well, sometimes you can see that underneath her. But not often. Not anymore. And once it was finally over...she was finished. More machine now than woman. And, really, more Aberrant than woman. Perhaps not even human at all anymore. Another year went by. She had to acclimate, of course. Not only did she have so many new modifications and augmentations working all at once, but she had an entirely new set of limbs to figure out. It was around this time that she started running sims, to get her used to what combat might be like on a world being invaded b the Aberrant. But then, recently and finally...it was done. She was prepared. And now, the test runs begin. Home World Kepler-195 [Planet Description] Kepler-195 was a dry, arid moon, largely desert and scrubland broken by salt seas and crisscossing braided streams. One of—and the smallest of, in fact—numerous inhabited moons orbiting the gas giant Pele on the far frontier, it wasn't exactly well known, especially compared to its larger and more outgoing neighbors. Small and inconspicuous, the people enjoyed a fairly peaceful existence; though a select few eked out a nomadic lifestyle on the surface, most people lived in vast cities deep underground instead, so they felt quite insulated and far from any issues that might plague topside. ...And then the Aberrants came. The multifarious moons of Pele were in possession of a great deal of resources, and many different varieties. They were hungry. And Kepler-195 was the first they came across. And they glassed the entire moon. Though the Constellations came, only a scant few refugees escaped and fled far away from their desolated once-home as it was consumed. Many of the other moons around Pele were also ground to dust and ash. Only two escaped the grisly fate, and afterwards, they were so desolate that they could no longer support life. In the span of barely six months, the entire moon system of Pele was wiped clean of all human life. [Culture] While Kepler-195 still existed, it had two 'factions' of people. A very few lived nomadic lives on the surface. Because water on the surface was a precious resource, they wore stillsuits, and traveled with their lives on their back to set up around any temporary watering hole that may emerge. The grand majority of the populace—which, mind you, wasn't large to begin with, only about 500 million people across the entire moon—lived in vast underground cities, tunneled out of the bedrock. Water was much more prevalent due to the presence of deep aquifers, and the native plant life grew readily. They lived a comfortable existence; though they were held in contempt by the surface nomads, they were largely happy to simply live in comfort underground. But, of course, this moon no longer exists, and Aissi has no memories from before the lab, regardless. Notable Contacts Doctor Jacob Tobias Brake, Medical Coordinator [Name] Jacob "Jay" Tobias Brake [Relation to Subject] Aissi's "Medical Coordinator and Caretaker" (In so many words, her handler) - Checks for malfunctions in and maintains systems, performs routine psychiatric checks and monitors her sanity, serves as a point of stability for her, practiced at talking her down and reigning her in if she's starting to go sideways. [Analysis] Jay is tired. So very, very tired. Essentially badgered into his position through only having the lowest standing at the laboratory that modified her, Jay is grumpy and world-weary middle aged man who firmly believes that he's not paid NEARLY enough to manage someone as unstable and chaotic as Aissi is. While it's obvious that he does have at least some measure of care for her—if he didn't, then he probably wouldn't still be doing this job—it tends to get drowned out in how overworked and overwhelmed he is, having to keep Aissi on as short a leash as she demands alongside everything else. Theme [Theme]

The Things We Fight For, A Science Fantasy Space Opera

Oh somehow I didn't put myself here.
I'm here!

Lem's Stash

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx B A S I C I N F O [Name] Aberrant Integration System, Subject 1 - AIS S1 [Callsign] Aissi [Gender] Female [Age] Early 20s [Rank and Designation] Experimental Constellation, Stardust Rank [Place of Birth] Kepler-195 C O M B A T A B I L I T Y [Anti-Barrier Sword] #236 - AB1 (Aberrant-integration Blade One) and #371 - AB2. But since they've been reforged into identical forms and serve as a single unit for Aissi, she refers to them much more personally, simply as her Wingblades. [Anti-Barrier Quotient]21% [Physical Description] It's no wonder the Anti-Barrier Quotient of the Wingblades is so low; after all, they're unreasonably large, and there's only so much AB material to go around. Matte black with gleaming red bevels, these double-edged blades are roughly as long as Aissi is tall (about seven feet), and mounted on winglike struts grafted directly into her nervous system through her back. This unorthodox arrangement allows her to manipulate the Wingblades as though they were a third pair of limbs, leaving her hands free for more typical swords used almost exclusively for defense that are sheathed along the struts. [Attributes] In order to supplement the low AB Quotient caused by their large size, the Wingblades have been retrofitted with laser technology. They can ignite their blades in red light, significantly increasing their cutting force; and, even further, they are able to fire powerful, though short-ranged, laser blasts. [Anomaly] Aberrant Integration System [Origin] Aberrant Research Laboratory A2 [Phenomena] Though it fills the same space as Anomaly typically would, this is quite explicitly very different. To put her on level with actual Constellations with Anomaly, Aissi's body is infested with an expansive suite of Aberrant technologies. From the system that controls her Wingblades, to magnetic clamps in her hands, her limbs more biomechanical than flesh now, compact jet engines in her feet and legs along with stabilizers in her shoulders...and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Finally, it all connects to the most important of her modifications, the most powerful, and the most taboo: her core. A fully-intact Epsilon-tier Aberrant core harvested from a high-caste Bishop has been embedded into her back between where the Wingblades emerge, which powers all of her multifarious augmentations, coordinates them, and normalizes them in her nervous system so they feel as natural as whatever of her original body remains. [Limitation] The same way it doesn't function as Anomaly does, it doesn't have the same kind of cost on usage. What it does have, though, is quite an adverse affect on her mental state. The painful experiments that were done to her over the course of years, as well as the overtaxing of her brain as it attempts to manage far more than it was designed to, has led to her being VERY unstable, especially during full-throttle combat where all of her augmentations and implants are working at maximum capacity. Perhaps not a clear-cut cost; but quite a cost nonetheless.

Profile Surface-level Impression [Surface-level Impression] As mentioned, the experiments have left Aissi not quite in full control of herself at all times. Twitchy, relentlessly high-strung, and never overly far from fits of violent hysteria, Aissi's personality alone is proof positive that making a large amount of Constellations in the same way she was made isn't necessarily a good idea. Still, she's not always obviously unstable, clearly. Though during combat she veers way into the erratic, outside of it, she's a notably sensitive and anxious individual. Keenly aware that she looks very strange, and even more keenly aware that the reason she looks strange is that she's essentially half-Aberrant--the thing that's trying to kill everyone and everything--she's constantly fretting over the image that she has. When people look at her, do they see a Constellation? Or a monster? And really, even she doesn't quite know. Paradoxically to her appearance and her position, Aissi knows very little about the world. All she really remembers is being in the lab. Granted, she was told something like what to expect when she went into the field. But being told what the world is like and actually living in the world are two very different things. She only has experience with the first of those two. She knows plenty about Aberrants and how to kill Aberrants...but that's mostly ALL she knows. Personal History [Personal History] The first thing Aberrant Integration System, Subject One remembers is waking up in the lab. What age was she? Teenaged? She isn't sure, and she doesn't remember. What was her name before? Did she even have a name? She's not sure of that either. Only A.I.S-S1. That's it. Well...she remembered how to speak, and how to listen. She remembers language. That's something, right? The second thing A.I.S-S1 remembers is pain. Her first implantation was almost immediately after she awoke. She doesn't even remember what it is anymore; all of it has blurred together in her mind by now. Was it her leg engines? Her neuralware? Perhaps the magnetic clamps in her hands? it all feels so far away. Time went on. Every so often, the procedure would repeat: she would be given an implant though a painful procedure. Then the technicians and scientists that handled her would monitor it. Sometimes, her body would reject the implant, and the pain would come back. The doctors would remove it, put it aside, and try and give it again later. They never gave up. If her body didn't reject it--if it accepted the Aberrant technology as a part of her now--then she'd have another few days, just to make sure. And then another implant would be brought to her, and the wheel would turn again. But it was fine. She'd volunteered for this, according to the doctors. This was what she'd wanted. To let herself be turned into something greater, even at sacrifice to herself. So she simply clung on. But there was one great mercy. Because during all of this, she wasn't alone in the lab. There was another girl undergoing a similar--if much lesser--augmentation, and the two became something like friends. Hope, her name was. And that got A.I.S-S1 thinking about names. Every time she saw that designation emblazed near her, she would look at it, and think of names. And then one day, when she was still woozy from sedation, she saw it with blurry eyes, and she misread it. Not A.I.S-S1. AISSI. Aissi. She would be Aissi. Time went on more. Further. Hope left, and she was alone. More implants. More connections. And then the most prominent: the Bladewings. She rejected them three times before her body finally let them settle. And then, after all that was done...she'd been in the lab for how long now? She didn't know, and she still doesn't quite; several years, at least. But now that all of the implants, all of the cybernetics, all of the prosthetics, were in place, it was time for the piece de resistance. The Core. There is nothing Aissi can remember, before or since, that hurts as much as suddenly having every one of her augmentations fire into her nerves all at once. Sheer, gut-wrenching, mind-warping AGONY. And the pain, the nerves, all of it firing at once...it changed something in her. Turned from a sweet, sensitive girl to something where...well, sometimes you can see that underneath her. But not often. Not anymore. And once it was finally over...she was finished. More machine now than woman. And, really, more Aberrant than woman. Perhaps not even human at all anymore. Another year went by. She had to acclimate, of course. Not only did she have so many new modifications and augmentations working all at once, but she had an entirely new set of limbs to figure out. But then, recently and finally...it was done. She was prepared. And now, the test runs begin. Home World Kepler-195 [Planet Description] Kepler-195 was a dry, arid moon, largely desert and scrubland broken by salt seas and crisscossing braided streams. One of several moons orbiting a gas giant on the far frontier, it wasn't exactly well known. Small and inconspicuous, the people enjoyed a fairly peaceful existence; though a select few eked out a nomadic lifestyle on the surface, most people lived in vast cities deep underground instead, so they felt quite insulated and far from any issues that might plague topside. ...And then the Aberrants came, and they glassed the entire moon. Though the Constellations came, only a scant few refugees escaped, and fled far away from their desolated once-home. [Culture] While Kepler-195 still existed, it had two 'factions' of people. A very few lived nomadic lives on the surface. Because water on the surface was a precious resource, they wore stillsuits, and traveled with their lives on their back to set up around any temporary watering hole that may emerge. The grand majority of the populace--which, mind you, wasn't large to begin with, only about 500 million people across the entire moon--lived in vast underground cities, tunneled out of the bedrock. Water was much more prevalent due to the presence of deep aquifers, and the native plant life grew readily. They lived a comfortable existence; though they were held in contempt by the surface nomads, they were largely happy to simply live in comfort underground. But, of course, this moon no longer exists, and Aissi has no memories from before the lab, regardless. Notable Contacts Doctor Jacob Tobias Brake, Medical Coordinator [Name] Jacob "Jay" Tobias Brake [Relation to Subject] Aissi's "Medical Coordinator and Caretaker" (In so many words, her handler) - Checks for malfunctions in and maintains systems, performs routine psychiatric checks and monitors her sanity, serves as a point of stability for her, practiced at talking her down and reigning her in if she's starting to go sideways. [Analysis] Jay is tired. So very, very tired. Essentially badgered into his position through only having the lowest standing at the laboratory that modified her, Jay is grumpy and world-weary middle aged man who firmly believes that he's not paid NEARLY enough to manage someone as unstable and chaotic as Aissi is. While it's obvious that he does have at least some measure of care for her--if he didn't, then he probably wouldn't still be doing this job--it tends to get drowned out in how overworked and overwhelmed he is, having to keep Aissi on as short a leash as she demands alongside everything else. Theme [Theme]

Lem's Stash

Pew pew

K I R K A
K I R K A

^{"I don't think you're dumb, so please stop trying to prove me wrong!"}

C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T _________________________________________________________ C H A R A C T E R D A T A C H A R A C T E R D A T A _________________________________________________________ True Self Ásta Kristjánsdóttir Persona Kirka Pathos Draethir Role Ranged DPS Weapon of Choice Longbow Domains Lightning Ice Manifestation Conjuration Enhancement Playstyle & Attitude Long-ranged but low mobility sniper, absolute shitstirrer menace

Á S T A K R I S T J Á N S D Ó T T I R: D E A D C O L D Á S T A K R I S T J Á N S D Ó T T I R: D E A D C O L D ________________________________________________________________________________________ The Icelandic city of Akureyri has seen better days. Ever since an earthquake and subsequent tsunami tore the city apart, most of its population has moved south to the capital of Reykjavik, leaving the city mostly an empty shell. Not many people still lived there after that. Still, a few stubborn residents with families who'd been in the city since they could remember clung there despite everything. Like, for example, a man named Kristján and his wife Sigríður, and their daughter: Ásta. Refusing to admit that perhaps moving to Reykjavik might be a good idea, they clung to Akureyri like barnacles to the rocks. The government just needed time, they said. Once they dealt with the new influx of people from the northern cities and towns that the natural disaster had displaced, they'd help to rebuild Akureyri, to make it just as beautiful as it always was. Yet in practice, huge sections remained ruined, and many of those that remained did so out of poverty; which only worsened as the conditions in Akureyri did. Expensive, ruined, and so, so cold. This was the climate in which Ásta grew up. Told at home to be proud of her city, and yet seeing whenever she went out that her city was proving remarkably slow in limping back to its feet. There was nowhere for her to get a part-time job as she aged; any spaces were in such high demand that they were filled before she could even get there. Utilities had become obscenely expensive; even her relatively well-to-do family found themselves carefully rationing their money just so they could pay for heating, electricity, and hot water to find their way in the frigid winters. There were few enough kids remaining in their neighborhood, so she didn't have much of a social life, either; cold, within and without. A part of her grew a bit angry as the world moved around her, and she was left alone. This is when she started developing her tendencies to provoke people. To make them angry, yes, because she was angry and lashing out. But more important, to make things change. She was so angry, so sad, and so isolated. Nothing ever changed in Akureyri; her life was a string of days just like the last, and everything blended together until she felt like the world was blurring by and leaving her behind. So, the day she turned eighteen, she picked herself up, packed her bags, and shipped down to Reykjavik. Her parents were...less than happy with this arrangement, viewed it as a kind of betrayal. But she just laughed, and kindly told them to go and screw themselves, because she was an adult now and could make her own choices. When she finally reached the city, the first thing she saw--before she got a job, found herself a cheap place--was the church, Hallgrímskirkja. It became almost like a symbol to her; not of God, she wasn't a believer. But of warmth. Of freedom. She's been living in Reykjavik for some years now working in customs, and has worked her way up to a rather nice apartment. Just recently, she's found herself interested in one of the cool new things she found listed on a customs form. Pariah Online. What neat concept. K I R K A: F R A C T U R E D I C E K I R K A: F R A C T U R E D I C E ________________________________________________________________________________________ Ásta has never stood out in her life. Blonde hair and blue eyes may be somewhat unusual in most places, but basically everyone in Iceland has them. In any given place, Ásta blends right into the crowd. Kirka looks...nothing like her. Unreasonably tall at just a bit over six feet. Incredibly slender, with an undeniable feminine shape but a nearly completely flat chest (the less to get in the way of anything!). Magenta-violet eyes, framed by pin-straight deep indigo hair that falls about to her shoulders. Her narrow face is typically shown in one of two expressions: either a deadpan stare, or a very obnoxious smirk that usually presages something about to (metaphorically) explode... ...Because in Pariah, her absolute worst shitstirrer tendencies are set free. Owing largely to the isolation and overwhelming, paralyzing, choking stability of her childhood, he hates it, she HATES it, when things stay static. Even if it's a nice, comfortable stasis, if things stand still for more than a brief time, she starts to get antsy and twitchy and starts provoking change. She can do this in a productive way, certainly. If she views something as bad, then she'll commit to changing it, and the world may likely end up better off because of it. But if the status quo is a nice, easy peace, then her needling for things to constantly shift and change can cause potentially cause problems, both in general, and with other people. Consequently, though she has a tendency to surround herself with people so she never feels isolated, she has an equal tendency to drive people away through her antics, and her sometimes less than kind humor. As it stands, she's been part of several different groups and guilds, and been kindly asked to leave many of them. Not all, of course; there's a certain kind of person that she gets along with wonderfully. But that certainly isn't everyone. Well. Perhaps she'll be a little more agreeable, now that things are about to go very wrong.

---

Spells & Spell-like Abilities

Lotus Petal Dance
Leveraging both her illusion and enhancement magics, Papiyon becomes as a phantom; as she dashes around enemies and strikes from unexpected angles, afterimages are left in her wake, causing no damage but confusing monsters and hostile players alike with the graceful movements; like dancing across a pond on water lilies on tiptoes.

Butterfly Haze
With a sound like falling leaves, a cloud of phantasmal butterflies envelops the area around Papiyon as she melds into it. The rustling of a thousand tiny wings hides sound, and the flashing of countless colors distorts vision; and by the time you realize that she'd circled around behind you, it's already too late.

Butterfly Flurry
A mesmerizing purple gleam envelops Papiyon's nagamaki, and attempts to block it seem to land on thin air as its position wavers like water, slipping past guards and through cracks in armor.

Flittering Wing
You may think you have Papiyon pinned down and a surefire killing blow. You may think that you've escaped her, put enough distance between the two of you that she could never close the distance. In both cases, you are very wrong. With no more than a breath's sigh and a flare of purple light, Papiyon blinks forwards and backwards, in and out. She can't use it more than once or twice sequentially, but being able to blink through an attack and end up right at her enemy's throat is powerful nonetheless.

Painless Butterfly
The most powerful spell in Papiyon's arsenal, Painless Butterfly sees her close her eyes and sheath her sword as pink energy builds within, crawling up the sheath like butterflies swirling through the sky. All sound becomes muted and distant to her, and the world slows to a crawl. Then, in one fluid motion and with a sound like lightning, she unleashes a single clean stroke from her sheath, trailing pink light and phantom butterflies as it rends through space and time. Finally, the blade is stowed once more; and with the deafening click of the guard on the sheath, destruction unfolds and time resumes.

Character Feats

Holly, Heather, Hydrangea
Just because she's off the clock doesn't mean she loves flowers any less. She keeps a small plot of land in Thorinn where she grows an assortment of flowers both magical and mundane and sells them as she wanders to alchemists, tailors, and other crafters with an eye for magic and beauty.

Whirling Sting
All of Papiyon's abilities to get close and empower her strikes are useless if the strikes themselves are weak. Luckily, not so; she's quite impressive with her nagamaki. Perhaps not as much as she would be if she were strictly martial; in any competition that completely excludes magic, she's certainly not winning. But with all of her powers and talents factored in, she does a lot of damage, either quickly or over time.

Open Mind, Open Heart
For as kind as Papiyon is, and as committed as she is to emotionally protecting those around her--what good is that if people are so distrustful that they won't even let her? While her natural tendency is to hide how she's feeling, she curbs that as much as she possibly can. A constant flow of honesty is infinitely important, and that flow NEEDS to be two-way.

Always There
Still, even if she does alienate someone, she'll try her best to un-alienate them, regardless if there was any major fault to be had there. Running alongside the sweetness and kindness, Papiyon is nothing if not incredibly forgiving. Not infinitely so, of course, she has her limits just like everyone else does. But unless either you or her does something truly heinous, she'll find a way to make amends.

---

A Stellar Tomb

Annalisa Diamond (Jav)

A n n a l i s a

“What do you mean, sir? I've been here the whole time!”

image

Name
Alias: Annalisa Diamond
Real Name: Javelina Coswell

Age
28

Gender
Female

Company
Vira-Legat Bioengineering

Personality
Miss Annalisa Diamond is at once the most useful and useless kind of employee. Sweet and kind but unambitious and somewhat vapid, she's the 'gofer;' the woman you send to do meaningless busywork; getting cups of coffee, organizing cabinets, that kind of thing. That's not to say she's unintelligent; she just...has a ceiling, and she's not likely to get any higher.

Javelina 'Jav' Coswell is...very different.

Whipcrack smart and highly driven, with a bloodhound's nose for information, a mind like a steel trap, and a real knack for thinking on her feet, Jav is everything Annalisa isn't. Though not exactly unkind, she has very little reason to be so most of the time. She's self-interested, yet she fully believes herself to be an altruist: to her, self-interest is altruism, and once she gets clamps her teeth down into a story, she has no intention of ever letting go; she'll hold on like a pit bull until either it comes apart or she does.

And all of this, the altruism, the stubbornness; all that she says or does is organized around a single, critical facet of her character. There are many values in the worlds. Peace, order, prosperity, conformity, hope. But to Jav, all of those pretty words are meaningless before the altar of 'truth.' Truth, at any price.

Truth, no matter the cost.

History
Annalisa Diamond was born in the high-rises of Mars' Valles Marineris to a family of obscene wealth. Raised with more money than she could even understand, her father eventually bought her a place (that she was rather unqualified for) in Vira-Legat, hoping to use her as a bargaining chip to get into the doors of the company. There's not a good reason for her to be on Kepler; just money and politics.

Annalisa Diamond also doesn't exist.

Oh, the Diamond family does, assuredly; and the identification she has checks out in every way. But she certainly wasn't born in Valles Marineris. Javelina Coswell was born in the slums of the Martian north, and spent her childhood in abject poverty. And disgust. Utter disgust, at the corruption she saw around her. At the money and food and power flowing between the already wealthy and powerful. So as she aged into a teenager, she decided to do something about it. Showing the first of her investigative chops, she managed to sneak into the Governer's residence, find all of the money on his system, every record of every transaction. So she downloaded them, and uploaded them into the network for all to see. Before the month was out, the governor had been shot.

The heady kick of truth had infiltrated Javelina and locked itself inside her, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. So she got a job as an investigative journalist (with what little journalism meant on Mars), and set herself to finding out the truth. Nothing major; bits here and there, frauds exposed, corruption shined a light upon, all on a local scale regardless where she moved on Mars, but anything was something, right?

And now, things have gotten bigger.

Recently, she found an interesting tip from a source she trusted: on the vaunted Kepler, Vira-Legat was up to something, and it was up to her to find out what. Her curiosity was fatally piqued, the opportunity to investigate one of the big megacorps in an official capacity too much for her to pass up. So she took the cover--lucky it didn't require her to be qualified!--and shipped out.

The truth was waiting.

A Stellar Tomb

It's app time! Let's see how this goes!

A. Diamond

A n n a l i s a

“What do you mean, sir? I've been here the whole time!”

image

Name
Alias: Annalisa Diamond
Real Name: Javelina Coswell

Age
28

Gender
Female

Company
Vira-Legat Bioengineering

Personality
Miss Annalisa Diamond is at once the most useful and useless kind of employee. Sweet and kind but unambitious and somewhat vapid, she's the 'gofer;' the woman you send to do meaningless busywork; getting cups of coffee, organizing cabinets, that kind of thing. That's not to say she's unintelligent; she just...has a ceiling, and she's not likely to get any higher.

Javelina 'Jav' Coswell is...very different.

Whipcrack smart and highly driven, with a bloodhound's nose for information, a mind like a steel trap, and a real knack for thinking on her feet, Jav is everything Annalisa isn't. Though not exactly unkind, she has very little reason to be so most of the time. She's self-interested, yet she fully believes herself to be an altruist: to her, self-interest is altruism, and once she gets clamps her teeth down into a story, she has no intention of ever letting go; she'll hold on like a pit bull until either it comes apart or she does.

And all of this, the altruism, the stubbornness; all that she says or does is organized around a single, critical facet of her character. There are many values in the worlds. Peace, order, prosperity, conformity, hope. But to Jav, all of those pretty words are meaningless before the altar of 'truth.' Truth, at any price.

Truth, no matter the cost.

History
Annalisa Diamond was born in the high-rises of Mars' Valles Marineris to a family of obscene wealth. Raised with more money than she could even understand, her father eventually bought her a place (that she was rather unqualified for) in Vira-Legat, hoping to use her as a bargaining chip to get into the doors of the company. There's not a good reason for her to be on Kepler; just money and politics.

Annalisa Diamond also doesn't exist.

Oh, the Diamond family does, assuredly; and the identification she has checks out in every way. But she certainly wasn't born in Valles Marineris. Javelina Coswell was born in the slums of the Martian north, and spent her childhood in abject poverty. And disgust. Utter disgust, at the corruption she saw around her. At the money and food and power flowing between the already wealthy and powerful. So as she aged into a teenager, she decided to do something about it. Showing the first of her investigative chops, she managed to sneak into the Governer's residence, find all of the money on his system, every record of every transaction. So she downloaded them, and uploaded them into the network for all to see. Before the month was out, the governor had been shot.

The heady kick of truth had infiltrated Javelina and locked itself inside her, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. So she got a job as an investigative journalist (with what little journalism meant on Mars), and set herself to finding out the truth. Nothing major; bits here and there, frauds exposed, corruption shined a light upon, all on a local scale regardless where she moved on Mars, but anything was something, right?

And now, things have gotten bigger.

Recently, she found an interesting tip from a source she trusted: on the vaunted Kepler, Vira-Legat was up to something, and it was up to her to find out what. Her curiosity was fatally piqued, the opportunity to investigate one of the big megacorps in an official capacity too much for her to pass up. So she took the cover--lucky it didn't require her to be qualified!--and shipped out.

The truth was waiting.

Lem's Stash

A. Diamond

A n n a l i s a

“What do you mean, sir? I've been here the whole time!”

image

Name
Alias: Annalisa Diamond
Real Name: Javelina Coswell

Age
28

Gender
Female

Company
Vira-Legat Bioengineering

Personality
Miss Annalisa Diamond is at once the most useful and useless kind of employee. Sweet and kind but unambitious and somewhat vapid, she's the 'gofer;' the woman you send to do meaningless busywork; getting cups of coffee, organizing cabinets, that kind of thing. That's not to say she's unintelligent; she just...has a ceiling, and she's not likely to get any higher.

Javelina 'Jav' Coswell is...very different.

Whipcrack smart and highly driven, with a bloodhound's nose for information, a mind like a steel trap, and a real knack for thinking on her feet, Jav is everything Annalisa isn't. Though not exactly unkind, she has very little reason to be so most of the time. She's self-interested, yet she fully believes herself to be an altruist: to her, self-interest is altruism, and once she gets clamps her teeth down into a story, she has no intention of ever letting go; she'll hold on like a pit bull until either it comes apart or she does.

And all of this, the altruism, the stubbornness; all that she says or does is organized around a single, critical facet of her character. There are many values in the worlds. Peace, order, prosperity, conformity, hope. But to Jav, all of those pretty words are meaningless before the altar of 'truth.' Truth, at any price.

Truth, no matter the cost.

History
Annalisa Diamond was born in the high-rises of Mars' Valles Marineris to a family of obscene wealth. Raised with more money than she could even understand, her father eventually bought her a place (that she was rather unqualified for) in Vira-Legat, hoping to use her as a bargaining chip to get into the doors of the company. There's not a good reason for her to be on Kepler; just money and politics.

Annalisa Diamond also doesn't exist.

Oh, the Diamond family does, assuredly; and the identification she has checks out in every way. But she certainly wasn't born in Valles Marineris. Javelina Coswell was born in the slums of the Martian north, and spent her childhood in abject poverty. And disgust. Utter disgust, at the corruption she saw around her. At the money and food and power flowing between the already wealthy and powerful. So as she aged into a teenager, she decided to do something about it. Showing the first of her investigative chops, she managed to sneak into the Governer's residence, find all of the money on his system, every record of every transaction. So she downloaded them, and uploaded them into the network for all to see. Before the month was out, the governor had been shot.

The heady kick of truth had infiltrated Javelina and locked itself inside her, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. So she got a job as an investigative journalist (with what little journalism meant on Mars), and set herself to finding out the truth. Nothing major; bits here and there, frauds exposed, corruption shined a light upon, all on a local scale regardless where she moved on Mars, but anything was something, right?

And now, things have gotten bigger.

Recently, she found an interesting tip from a source she trusted: on the vaunted Kepler, Vira-Legat was up to something, and it was up to her to find out what. Her curiosity was fatally piqued, the opportunity to investigate one of the big megacorps in an official capacity too much for her to pass up. So she took the cover--lucky it didn't require her to be qualified!--and shipped out.

The truth was waiting.

Pariah Online

Floats Like A Butterfly

P A P I Y O N
P A P I Y O N

^{"The world is always better off with a little more kindness in it."}

C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T _________________________________________________________ C H A R A C T E R D A T A C H A R A C T E R D A T A _________________________________________________________ True Self Moriyama Chou - 森山蝶 Persona Papiyon - パピ四 Pathos Drox Role DPS Weapon of Choice Nagamaki Domains Darkness Illusion Enhancement Playstyle & Attitude Hypermobile evasive DPS, Mom Friend™ ♫

M O R I Y A M A C H O U: W H E R E F L O W E R S F L O U R I S H M O R I Y A M A C H O U: W H E R E F L O W E R S F L O U R I S H ________________________________________________________________________________________ Rikako, empress of the Moriyama business empire, loved flowers and butterflies. So it came as no surprise that her two twin daughters were named as such: the elder, Hanako; and the younger, Chou. The two were borderline inseparable through their younger years, all the way up through private high school, when Chou's life path was forever changed. With her parents as they were, a calm and mild temperament, and a manner of speech and bearing so polite as to be strange at times, it was taken for granted that she would attend university as well. Even if she was only in her first year of high school, she certainly had the grades for it, she loved learning. Though she never really had a subject in mind--business? That was most likely, but what about literature? Philosophy? Studying abroad, even? She never could quite think of one--it felt like the world was opening itself up before her, full of wonder and promise. And then Examination Hell began, and any desire Chou had of attaining higher education withered on the vine, burned to the roots. With how much she'd been sheltered growing up, she had no idea what she was walking into. It was a nightmare. A pure nightmare. Her and her sister both barely functioning and yet required to, bags under their eyes, after coming back from yet more rounds of practice exams. Grades slipping from exhaustion. Locking themselves in night and day to keep cranking at exam booklets and textbooks ad nauseum. To Chou, it was like both enduring torture and watching a victim thereof, and in between rounds of bringing snacks up for herself and Hanako during long study nights (every night) and getting her own schoolwork done, she began to look further afield for a possible future. She wanted no part in this whatsoever. And during one of her brief searches, she came across a florist's shop nearby, owned by the elderly woman Satou-sama, who was in need of help to keep things running smoothly, and started working part time. And she fell in love. Her parents were...frosty a year or so later, when she told them she didn't want to go to university, and she would be continuing her apprenticeship as a florist. Very frosty. But after some cajoling (not quite enough, for what she was doing), they gave her the go-ahead, in a way that disturbed her just a little bit for how easy it was. Still. Here was her chance to make her own life, and she took it. And so the years passed, and Chou found herself in a comfortable apprenticeship, as Satou-sama was aging more, and so more of the responsibility passed on to her young protégé. She has a comfortable, if quite small, apartment above that same florist's shop in familiar Kōriyama now, and a touch of disposable income that didn't come from her obscenely wealthy parents. And so just after dyeing a wisteria-purple streak into her hair, she started looking into something Hanako mentioned on one of their occasional chats: this crazy cool new VR game that she'd started playing called Pariah. Well, hey, couldn't hurt, right? P A P I Y O N: D E A T H I N P I N K P A P I Y O N: D E A T H I N P I N K ________________________________________________________________________________________ That wisteria streak, now spread across her whole head, and a pair of kind, warm magenta-purple eyes. Papiyon isn't far from Chou at just a touch under 165 centimeters, and could fairly accurately be described in appearance as the "typical" Japanese young lady thrown into a blender set to 'pink,' then dressed in a white and gold leather longcoat and gifted a very sharp weapon. But more important is what it does to her personality. Which is to say, it unleashes her most powerful nurturing urges. With her most prominent character trait being how kind and sweet she is as a matter of course, she's here to give her all in making people smile as much as she possibly can. And in protecting those smiles, as well. Of course, not so much literally, as she's quite far from a support, but more in the emotional sense. She seems to have a hurt-person-radar, and those that ping it best be prepared for the Mom Friend to descend. Both a newcomer to MMOs (and video games in general) and never one for super organized groups in any situation, Papiyon's never touched a guild, at least not up to now, and nor does she truly see the point. She prefers to meander around, either looking for and then sticking with pick up groups, or simply roaming and marveling at the incredibly rendered Pariah world. As of now, she's not managed to link up with Hanako at all, but that's all the better. University was stressful, she knew. Well. Small world.

---

Spells & Spell-like Abilities

Lotus Petal Dance - Rengemai (蓮花舞)
Leveraging both her illusion and enhancement magics, Papiyon becomes as a phantom; as she dashes around enemies and strikes from unexpected angles, afterimages are left in her wake, causing no damage but confusing monsters and hostile players alike with the graceful movements; like dancing across a pond on water lilies on tiptoes.

Butterfly Haze - Chou-Moya (蝶靄)
With a sound like falling leaves, a cloud of phantasmal butterflies envelops the area around Papiyon as she melds into it. The rustling of a thousand tiny wings hides sound, and the flashing of countless colors distorts vision; and by the time you realize that she'd circled around behind you, it's already too late.

Butterfly Flurry - Chou-Sakkaku (蝶錯覚)
A mesmerizing purple gleam envelops Papiyon's nagamaki, and attempts to block it seem to land on thin air as its position wavers like water, slipping past guards and through cracks in armor. Using illusion magic, she is able to conceal the position of her sword, distracting the eye with an illusory feint.

Flittering Wing - Hirahira Tsubasa (ひらひら翼)
You may think you have Papiyon pinned down and a surefire killing blow. You may think that you've escaped her, put enough distance between the two of you that she could never close the distance. In both cases, you are very wrong. With no more than a breath's sigh and a flare of purple light, Papiyon can blink up to twenty or so feet in whatever direction she chooses She can't use it more than once or twice sequentially, but being able to blink through an attack and end up right at her enemy's throat is powerful nonetheless.

Painless Butterfly - Mutsuu-Chou (無痛蝶)
The most powerful spell in Papiyon's arsenal, Painless Butterfly sees her close her eyes and sheath her sword as pink energy builds within, crawling up the sheath like butterflies swirling through the sky. All sound becomes muted and distant to her, and the world slows to a crawl. Then, in one fluid motion and with a sound like lightning, she unleashes a single clean stroke from her sheath, trailing pink light and phantom butterflies as it rends through space and time. Finally, the blade is stowed once more; and with the deafening click of the guard on the sheath, destruction unfolds and time resumes.

Character Feats

Holly, Heather, Hydrangea
Just because she's off the clock doesn't mean she loves flowers any less. She keeps a small plot of land in Thorinn where she grows an assortment of flowers both magical and mundane and sells them as she wanders to alchemists, tailors, and other crafters with an eye for magic and beauty.

Whirling Sting
All of Papiyon's abilities to get close and empower her strikes are useless if the strikes themselves are weak. Luckily, not so; she's quite impressive with her nagamaki. Perhaps not as much as she would be if she were strictly martial; in any competition that completely excludes magic, she's certainly not winning. But with all of her powers and talents factored in, she does a lot of damage, either quickly or over time.

Open Mind, Open Heart
For as kind as Papiyon is, and as committed as she is to emotionally protecting those around her--what good is that if people are so distrustful that they won't even let her? While her natural tendency is to hide how she's feeling, she curbs that as much as she possibly can. A constant flow of honesty is infinitely important, and that flow NEEDS to be two-way. All that being said, her mind can be a bit...too open. Because of her sheltered upbringing and tendency to always think the best of people, she has a tendency to be a bit naive and easily manipulated by more canny individuals.

Always There
Still, even if she does alienate someone, she'll try her best to un-alienate them, regardless if there was any major fault to be had there. Running alongside the sweetness and kindness, Papiyon is nothing if not incredibly forgiving. Not infinitely so, of course, she has her limits just like everyone else does. But unless either you or her does something truly heinous, she'll find a way to make amends.

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Lem's Stash

Floats Like A Butterfly

P A P I Y O N
P A P I Y O N

^{"The world is always better off with a little more kindness in it."}

C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T _________________________________________________________ C H A R A C T E R D A T A C H A R A C T E R D A T A _________________________________________________________ True Self Moriyama Chou - 森山蝶 Persona Papiyon - パピ四 Pathos Drox Role DPS Weapon of Choice Nagamaki Domains Darkness Enhancement Illusion Playstyle & Attitude Hypermobile evasive DPS, Unflappable Mom Friend™

M O R I Y A M A C H O U: W H E R E F L O W E R S F L O U R I S H M O R I Y A M A C H O U: W H E R E F L O W E R S F L O U R I S H ________________________________________________________________________________________ Rikako, empress of the Moriyama business empire, loved flowers and butterflies. So it came as no surprise that her two twin daughters were named as such: the elder, Hanako; and the younger, Chou. The two were borderline inseparable through their younger years, all the way up through private high school, when Chou's life path was forever changed. With her parents as they were, a calm and mild temperament, and a manner of speech and bearing so polite as to be strange at times, it was taken for granted that she would attend university as well. Even if she was only in her first year of high school, she certainly had the grades for it, she loved learning. Though she never really had a subject in mind--business? That was most likely, but what about literature? Philosophy? Studying abroad, even? She never could quite think of one--it felt like the world was opening itself up before her, full of wonder and promise. And then Examination Hell began, and any desire Chou had of attaining higher education withered on the vine, burned to the roots. It was a nightmare. A pure nightmare. Her and her sister both barely functioning and yet required to, bags under their eyes, after coming back from yet more rounds of practice exams. Grades slipping from exhaustion. Locking themselves in night and day to keep cranking at exam booklets and textbooks ad nauseum. To Chou, it was like both enduring torture and watching a victim thereof, and in between rounds of bringing snacks up for herself and Hanako during long study nights (every night) and getting her own schoolwork done, she began to look further afield for a possible future. She wanted no part in this whatsoever. And during one of her brief searches, she came across a florist's shop nearby, owned by the elderly woman Satou-sama, who was in need of help to keep things running smoothly, and started working part time. And she fell in love. Her parents were...frosty a year or so later, when she told them she didn't want to go to university, and she would be continuing her apprenticeship as a florist. Very frosty. But after some cajoling (not quite enough, for what she was doing), they gave her the go-ahead, in a way that disturbed her just a little bit for how easy it was. Still. Here was her chance to make her own life, and she took it. And so the years passed, and Chou found herself in a comfortable apprenticeship, as Satou-sama was aging more, and so more of the responsibility passed on to her young protégé. She has a comfortable, if quite small, apartment above that same florist's shop in familiar Kōriyama now, and a touch of disposable income that didn't come from her obscenely wealthy parents. And so just after dyeing a wisteria-purple streak into her hair, she started looking into something Hanako mentioned on one of their occasional chats: this crazy cool new VR game that she'd started playing called Pariah. Well, hey, couldn't hurt, right? P A P I Y O N: D E A T H I N P I N K P A P I Y O N: D E A T H I N P I N K ________________________________________________________________________________________ That wisteria streak, now spread across her whole head, and a pair of kind, warm magenta-purple eyes. Papiyon could fairly accurately be described in appearance as the "typical" Japanese young lady thrown into a blender set to 'pink,' then dressed in a white and gold leather longcoat and gifted a very sharp weapon. But more important is what it does to her personality. Which is to say, it unleashes her most powerful nurturing urges. With her most prominent character trait being how kind and sweet she is as a matter of course, she's here to give her all in making people smile as much as she possibly can. And in protecting those smiles, as well. Of course, not so much literally, as she's quite far from a support, but more in the emotional sense. She seems to have a hurt-person-radar, and those that ping it best be prepared for the Mom Friend to descend. Both a newcomer to MMOs (and video games in general) and never one for super organized groups in any situation, Papiyon's never touched a guild, at least not up to now, and nor does she truly see the point. She prefers to meander around, either looking for and then sticking with pick up groups, or simply roaming and marveling at the incredibly rendered Pariah world. As of now, she's not managed to link up with Hanako at all, but that's all the better. University was stressful, she knew. Well. Small world.

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Spells & Spell-like Abilities

Lotus Petal Dance
Leveraging both her illusion and enhancement magics, Papiyon becomes as a phantom; as she dashes around enemies and strikes from unexpected angles, afterimages are left in her wake, causing no damage but confusing monsters and hostile players alike with the graceful movements; like dancing across a pond on water lilies on tiptoes.

Butterfly Haze
With a sound like falling leaves, a cloud of phantasmal butterflies envelops the area around Papiyon as she melds into it. The rustling of a thousand tiny wings hides sound, and the flashing of countless colors distorts vision; and by the time you realize that she'd circled around behind you, it's already too late.

Butterfly Flurry
A mesmerizing purple gleam envelops Papiyon's nagamaki, and attempts to block it seem to land on thin air as its position wavers like water, slipping past guards and through cracks in armor.

Flittering Wing
You may think you have Papiyon pinned down and a surefire killing blow. You may think that you've escaped her, put enough distance between the two of you that she could never close the distance. In both cases, you are very wrong. With no more than a breath's sigh and a flare of purple light, Papiyon blinks forwards and backwards, in and out. She can't use it more than once or twice sequentially, but being able to blink through an attack and end up right at her enemy's throat is powerful nonetheless.

Painless Butterfly
The most powerful spell in Papiyon's arsenal, Painless Butterfly sees her close her eyes and sheath her sword as pink energy builds within, crawling up the sheath like butterflies swirling through the sky. All sound becomes muted and distant to her, and the world slows to a crawl. Then, in one fluid motion and with a sound like lightning, she unleashes a single clean stroke from her sheath, trailing pink light and phantom butterflies as it rends through space and time. Finally, the blade is stowed once more; and with the deafening click of the guard on the sheath, destruction unfolds and time resumes.

Character Feats

Holly, Heather, Hydrangea
Just because she's off the clock doesn't mean she loves flowers any less. She keeps a small plot of land in Thorinn where she grows an assortment of flowers both magical and mundane and sells them as she wanders to alchemists, tailors, and other crafters with an eye for magic and beauty.

Whirling Sting
All of Papiyon's abilities to get close and empower her strikes are useless if the strikes themselves are weak. Luckily, not so; she's quite impressive with her nagamaki. Perhaps not as much as she would be if she were strictly martial; in any competition that completely excludes magic, she's certainly not winning. But with all of her powers and talents factored in, she does a lot of damage, either quickly or over time.

Open Mind, Open Heart
For as kind as Papiyon is, and as committed as she is to emotionally protecting those around her--what good is that if people are so distrustful that they won't even let her? While her natural tendency is to hide how she's feeling, she curbs that as much as she possibly can. A constant flow of honesty is infinitely important, and that flow NEEDS to be two-way.

Always There
Still, even if she does alienate someone, she'll try her best to un-alienate them, regardless if there was any major fault to be had there. Running alongside the sweetness and kindness, Papiyon is nothing if not incredibly forgiving. Not infinitely so, of course, she has her limits just like everyone else does. But unless either you or her does something truly heinous, she'll find a way to make amends.

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