Apologies for the delay, life certainly was. Here's Alain being a conspiracy nut about a generic government official!
And also participating in the conversation, yes, but primarily looking at a tour guide and going "Hmm, this could be a secret agent.". I suppose that's a sign the man has lived his life in the setting of a light-hearted superhero flick, lol.
"Huh, that's a lot of people showing up at the nick of time; which makes sense in this line of work." thought Alain, as a number of newcomers sequentially entered the building. "Well, I'd have to be a hypocrite to judge. I did wander the halls until right before time, other people could've done that. ...or they might've barely made it here without getting late. Can't say until further notice."
However, the fledgling hero didn't spend any more time ruminating about the other heroes; as his attention was caught by the familiar voice of the greeter. Alain had thoroughly remembered the name and face of the guide from the exam. How could he not, when he had immediately suspected the tour-guide of hiding something from the moment they met. Alain didn't think it was humanly possible for someone to be that forgettable without doing so intentionally. Furthering this belief was the man's evident experience (or rather, his apparent age) as well as the juxtaposition of a formal suit and a casual attitude. The greeter seemingly had a relaxed approach towards having to herd over a half dozen likely-superpowered teenagers and young adults. To Alain, this was apparently more clues hinting towards the man being an expert of some sort. As for the final bit of icing biasing his conspiracy cake, Alain himself had previously worked in similar administrative roles; and now here he was, in costume, preparing to fight crime.
All this to say, Alain was suspicious of the tour guide having ulterior motives or mysterious origins without any real evidence supporting these suspicions. Hence why he resolved to commit the man to memory and to treat him with the utmost civility and professionalism. ...or, at least further civility and professionalism. Alain was an administrative assistant, so he was one to cut more slack to the average low-level desk clerk.
He was brought back to the present situation by his new colleagues' questions, and nodded to show his agreement with the questions. One of them caught his eye, so he decided to add to it. "I'd like to further the question on escalation." said Sleet, memories of stories he's heard and debates he's had coming to the forefront. "It would be best we get on the same page now rather than during a crisis." Then, he asked a question of his own "Also, what's our convention for contacting mundane emergency services in case we need their assistance for something like a fire?"
Unsure if the issue's on my end or not but the first image isn't loading for me. Also, not to appropriate the GM's role but I think you've put the wrong archtype? Defenders are described as being kind of a backline support role and this guy's skillset looks like that of a Scrapper IMO.
Your character seems fun! I can see potential for some entertaining contrasts in responses to things between his and that of my guy's. Looking forwards to potentially seeing him in action!
Me, starting up my latest post: "Hey it's late and I've been doing longer ones. I'll make this one a bit shorter. Just reply to what other people have added to let us continue the RP."
Me, forty five minutes later, with a longer post and a paragraph of Alain not beating the supervillain-material allegations by having the narration describe his distaste for one of the five core Paragon City Hero Organizations: "So that was apparently a fucking lie."
Alain wasn't used to seeing his ice powers, or at least without their newfound escalation potential, as something notable. He had them since birth, was used to them, and knew plenty of people who could do much better. So, it was unexpected that not one but two different peers had thought it to be cool. This did not show on his face, as the man was wearing a face-concealing helmet, but Alain had paused for a moment in surprise.
In any case, he recollected himself, returned Butterfly's handshake, and rejoined the conversation. "Likely ELITE." he answered, before deciding that answer needed more of an explanation. "I am uncertain how well I would fit; but I have the utmost respect for their work and manner of skillset. Though, admittedly, my decision was influenced by the other four possible options being, less of a good fit."
Alain didn't consider it a good idea to openly describe the reasons he would rather not apply to the other four factions if ELITE was an option. However, this narration will do so regardless. While Alain certainly knew more than the average citizen concerning super-science; he didn't think he had quite the aptitude required for SERAPH. Compounding this was how the lad didn't wish to be bombarded with questions concerning his grandmother's old, yet revolutionary, work. His rationale for crossing out DATA from his list of options was much the same. MAGI was eliminated for the simple reason of Alain not possessing the gift of magic.
One would expect GIFT to be a natural choice for a Mutant hero who's skillset depended upon their Mutant powers. However, the organization was strictly at the bottom of Alain's list. For one, the man didn't agree with their policy of only accepting Mutants. He considered it a potential recipe for disaster to bar non-Mutant individuals from participating in Mutant affairs. To Alain, this would further harm the general public's view of mutants, especially when a large scale incident occurs. Additionally, he did not want to get pidgeon-holed as being a Mutant hero who deals with Mutant affairs. The hero identity of Sleet was meant to be that of a hero who would help anyone; not merely those with the same genetics as him. Lastly, while Alain was not one to believe every rumour he came across; he did none-the-less consider the organization to be a bit suspicious.
But Alain didn't want to alienate his new potential-colleagues whom he had just met with his negative opinions on one of the five groups of PROC, so he merely finished by saying "I believe the manner of work that ELITE deals with could further help me develop my skillset."
I intentionally avoided specifying to leave it open to anyone; but throwing Cameron and his exuberance at Alain's "Being polite and a bit formal to not come off as the bitter and caustic ass I kind of am" is a great start to the social interaction. This is gonna be fun!
"Sleet." He answered, a tad caught off guard by the other hero's sudden physical presence and force of personality. The provided real name sounded slightly familiar to him; Alain didn't follow pop music, but did follow the news and remembered hearing something about an explosion. He resolved to probably look that up later. In any case, Sleet accepted the probable-Speedster's offered handshake with a normal amount of grip before speaking up again. "And I'll probably provide you my real name as well. Just, not here in this publicly accessible government building. Don't want all of the staff and anyone else around to know who I am."
While the standard fear of 'What if a villain uses my identity to get at my loved ones?' didn't quite apply to Alain, there were two additional reasons for his decision to keep his identity secret. The first was because he did not want his hero identity to immediately draw comparisons and reflection to those of his relative with publicly known IDs. He wanted to succeed on his own merits, and avoid dragging them down if he failed. The second was so he could still be relatively anonymous in public. People recognized his relatives, true, but they typically did not recognize him. That was why he had the head-concealing helmet after all.
Alain then replied to the visor-ed man's other comments and questions, judging it polite to do so. "My thanks on the compliments; I had some help on the design, so I'll be sure to pass those on. And while I do not have a fog machine on me, I can provide a similar effect."
With a quick use of his mutation, snow floated around Alain. The substance seemed to hang in the air, drifting in ways that didn't quite mesh with gravity and the lack of wind inside. Additionally, the snow quickly sublimated in the late spring air, causing a fog-like effect. After a dozen seconds of this, Alain ceased supplying the snow, and the fog subsided.
"With time and preparation I can do more;" he stated, to point out he could do more than a thin aesthetic fog, and continued "but I'd rather not cause the custodians to need to clean up. Not the nicest thing to, especially on a first day." he finished, throwing in a subtle ice pun in his last sentence to practice the habit.
Alain had arrived at the town hall two hours earlier than he needed to. He didn't want to be late, be it for mundane reasons such as traffic, heroic reasons such as stumbling onto a villainous plot on the way or a mixture of the two such as traffic caused by a villainous plot. It was his first day as an officially registered superhero, and he wanted to start with his best foot forwards. ...Nevertheless, he had arrived incredibly early, and had plenty of time to kill. Figuratively that is. He was a superhero, there would be no killing around if he could help it.
Not wanting to disrupt anyone performing their own jobs, the young man roamed the publicly accessible sections of the building, reflecting onto the circumstances that brought him there. "Huh, to think I'm here today, in this place, and for this reason. Had someone claimed this years ago, I would have probably called them a liar and gotten annoyed at them trying to give me false hope."
After his ruminating, an action that Alain would claim is technically not brooding, the lad did some last-minute review on his work phone. He had gone out and gotten a cheap-yet-durable phone specifically for use as a superhero. This was both to avoid leaking his identity by way of Phone and also to avoid his personal phone getting damaged by a stray laser or something of the kind. He'd heard too many stories of that happening to not want to avoid it happening to him.
In any case, time passed, and at around 8:55; the hero known as Sleet put his phone away and drifted back through the hallways and into the lobby. Spotting another costumed individual, he figured it probably a good idea to say hello; so he waved and spoke up. "Greetings!" he said, his voice echoing through the lobby despite its normal volume.
Description: Standing at about 5'7", the most notable part of Alain is his long hair. While it is naturally black in colour, the manifestation of his mutant heritage causes some of it to gradually pale to an unnatural white, with a glacial texture. His eyes are also a stark white, for the same reasons. Alain usually tends to dress in white or other pale colours to match with the theme of his hair, as well as to reduce the amount of heat he'd receive. It's also quite common to see him wearing summer clothes during the winter months.
Age 19 | Gender: Male | College Student
Personality:
Alain is the type of person who would have a caustic or sarcastic response for every situation, but holds it back to avoid hurting people. He is a weary and bitter individual, who holds a nigh-certainty that life is not fair. But, he is also a kind individual, one who believes life's unfairness is yet another reason to aid those in need and be a good person. Almost the embodiment of the phrase "Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best". This dichotomy can make it a tad difficult for one to get a grip on his personality; he could claim it pointless to perform a temporary fix as the problem would remain unsolved, and then do it anyway under the belief that someone should do so as it would still help people.
As a hero, Alain attempts to replicate some of his father's approachable cape demeanor, along with his mother's propensity for ice puns; but with his own spin on it. He comes off as a bit of the silent, stoic type of superhero; but one more approachable than most, with quips and one-liners that do come relatively often.
As a person, Alain is a friendly and polite individual. The kind who'd hold the door open for people without being asked to do so. He has a knack for social interaction and can get along well with a variety of people. This makes him tend to come off as a nice young lad. He does however reserve his more bitter or rude commentary for the presence of people he gets along with or feels more comfortable with. Though rarely he may make such a comment publicly.
Background:
Grandson of the (deceased) famous ice-themed superhero Madam Frost, middle child of Lady Hailstorm and The Iceberg, and related to many more ice-themed heroes; Alain always felt as though there was a legacy he should live up to. It wasn't ever forced upon him, nor did anyone ever imply anything to that nature. However, one did not simply grow up, in Paragon City, surrounded by a family of heroes, without developing a dream to do the same. A dream, to help those in need, be a voice for the voiceless and maybe even save the day.
Unfortunately, Alain did not inherit his famous grandmother's knack for ice tech, nor did he possess the gift of magic like his younger sibling or any other such talent. His only claim to superpowers, as it were, was inheriting a form of his father's mutant powers. Doubly-breaking his dream was that the powers in question were seemingly very weak. Being able to throw a handful of snow at someone or make a few icicles did not make one a superhero after all. With the drawbacks of extreme heat vulnerability limiting his ability to go outside in the summer months and his usually coloured eyes and hair marking him as an obvious mutant, his opinion was that his powers were more trouble than they were worth.
The final death knell to his dream, as it were, was that he did not have quite the level of drive or unhealthy determination to make it as a power-less hero. No matter how hard he tried, Alain was simply unable to keep up with the physical requirements to swing from rooftops, beat up a room full of gangsters or pinpoint a bullseye from 1200 meters. He couldn't quite make the cut.
So instead, Alain resolved himself to a comparatively mundane life. He got enrolled in a local college, joined a debate team, volunteered at a few charitable organizations and even managed to score himself a position at PROC. ...as an administrative assistant, on a part-time basis. It was not the most glamourous position in the world, but the pay was good and he felt as though it was the closest he could get to heroics. Alain was mildly satisfied with his life as it was; good friends, a cherished family and a decent job. But, deep down inside, he still wanted to do more, to be a hero, like the rest of his family was.
So naturally that would be the point when he got kidnapped by a shadow demon.
Well, kidnapping is perhaps not a completely accurate term. However, when a supervillain suddenly drops someone through a portal to the Arctic Circle; the act is best defined as a kidnapping. For you see, one of his sister's archnemeses, an ancient creature of darkness, evil, and other such things had been looking for ways to harm her. In this process, the fiend had discovered Alain, and through the use of magic, learned of the true scope of the lad's power. The shadow demon figured that the man's bitterness, latent envy, occasionally caustic demeanor and drive to be more than he is could make an excellent supervillain. So, the ancient horror decided to attempt to recruit Alain, dropping the lad through a portal to the arctic, and made him the offer of a lifetime.
Alain refused it immediately, for he was not that kind of person. While it is true that he was a tad bitter about his circumstances and mildly envious of his familial peers; these sentiments were born of his own desire to help people, like a hero could.
The first thing he did with this discovery was flash-freeze the villain; thanks to the frigid climate of the Arctic Circle severely amplifying his powers and the element of surprise. The second thing he did was run like hell and trigger the emergency communicator he was told to always keep with him in case of a supervillain (as some supervillains may tend to go after the family of a hero). Thanks to his quick thinking, the villain was easily apprehended without much delay.
This new realization of what he was capable of, coupled with the gentle encouragement of his family, galvanized Alain. He studied, trained and, eventually, took the S.H.E, managing to pass it and become a registered hero. Alain isn't too sure how to feel about this. He had given up on the idea of being a superhero years ago, thinking it impossible, and now he had done it. But there is one thing he does know:
At long last, he had achieved his old dream. And so far, it has been exactly what he had hoped it would be.
Civilian Skills:
- Knowledgeable about a number of heroes & villains, as well as the finer details that come with the lifestyle - Connections to others within the superhero industry - Administrative/Bureaucratic skills - People skills
----- Hero Info -----
Sleet
(Image Pending) Alain wears a gray-white costume, climate controlled to keep its wearer from heating up. It is more of a plain bodysuit in appearance, with a few intersecting geometrical lines to add some variety and to avoid any correlation or resemblance to the hero costumes used by his family. The costume also contains some light armoured plates placed in a way to avoid impeding his movement. Alain also wears a head-concealing helmet, as a safety precaution to avoid being identified and to avoid concussions.
Mutant | Controller | Level 1 | ELITE
Superpowers:
Primary Power: Escalating Cryokinesis: A form of cold/ice generation and manipulation that increases in power and control within lower temperatures and with the presence of ice & snow. On an average summer's day, Alain could only generate a small nigh-harmless puff of snow and lower the temperature of the nearby area by a few degrees; however the presence of that lower temperature and generated snow would allow him to perform a stronger use of his ice powers, which would further cool the area, and so on and so forth. Due to logistical, collateral damage and practical concerns, an upper limit to his growth has not been tested; however it is theorized that it could involve physiological changes and allow access to thematic secondary powers. As a necessary biological requirement to use his powers safely, Alain is also immune to the detrimental effects of cold.
Secondary Power: Social Knack: Not a real superpower but more of a honed and trained skill that would be relevant in the act of superheroism. Alain is very good with people, at interaction, comprehension and prediction.
Weakness: As mentioned, it takes time and good conditions for Alain's powers to do much of anything; let alone grow to his potentially monstrous heights. Attacking him fast and hard before he has the time to scale up will leave him in a mostly-defenseless position. Plus, the warmer the area he is fighting is, the more he'll need to build up before being capable of doing anything. Additionally, any way to generate heat could be used to slow, stall, or possibly even revert the growth of his winter storm. (examples of this include; the use of a flamethrower, fire powers or a large combustion engine of some kind of giant car.) Lastly, Alain is also more vulnerable to heat than the average person. While he can attempt to mitigate this with his ice powers, it remains a fairly notable weakness that can get in the way of his day-to-day activities.
Supplementary Powers:
None at the present moment.
Name: Thermal Depletion Type: Active Rank: ★ Range: Ranged Description: Alain designates an area and lowers the temperature within it. The lower the temperature of the area in question, the easier and faster it is for him to cool it further. --- Name: Frost Generation Type: Active Rank: ★ Range: Melee/Ranged Description: Alain can create ice and snow from his body or from any sufficiently cold object that he can then move around. By default, this is a hand-and-a-half-full of snow or a couple three foot icicles; but as with all of his techniques it scales up. In a sufficiently cold environment he could use it to generate and manipulate wire-like ice constructs to trap and tie up opponents. Immediately encasing someone in ice, however, would require an extremely cold environment and is not presently feasible outside of niche situations. --- Name: Cold Detection Type: Passive Rank: ★ Range: Ranged Description: Alain can sense the presence of any sufficiently cold object or person around him, in a range that grows depending on how cold the object/person is. A maximum temperature of 0 degrees Celsius is required for him to sense something. Alain primarily uses this to sense the location of his own frigid constructs, thus allowing him to use the position and movements upon his snow to detect motion and tag opponents.
Member
Dane
Aguy
Not a Sayan
VitaVitaAR
Fetzen
Xaltwind
Neziul
Scrawl Banditta
Kaithe Dame