Post by q on Aug 9, 2011 22:31:49 GMT 10
[atrb=style, width: 410; border: solid #284042 10px; padding: 5px; background-color: #1f1f1f; -moz-border-radius: 20px;] CHRIS CAMPBELL One day, I'm going to be a hero and wear a cape and, and... stuff. [atrb=border,0,true] THE BASICS [scrolly:h(120),w(400),sy]Name: Christopher James Campbell Codename: Shockwave Nicknames: Chris, Shockwave Age: 17 Gender: Male Sexuality: Maybe straight. He isn't super sure. Occupation: Forager, hacker, amateur inventor, part-time electrician Member group: Titan hopeful Squad: Prime Codewords: One does not simply walk into Mordor! Theme song: White & Nerdy - Weird Al [/scrolly] THE LOOKS [scrolly:h(120),w(400),sy]Eyes: Blue, about average in size. Usually shadowed from lack of sleep. Hair: Short brown hair, straight. Height: 6'1" Body: Lanky. Looks like he grew a lot in a short space of time, hasn't had a chance to fill out yet. Other distinguishing features: A clunky pair of glasses he usually wears. Play By: Nicholas D'Agosto [/scrolly] THE PERSONALITY [scrolly:h(120),w(400),sy]Likes: - Computers - Engineering - Over-the-top, cliche heroism - Pancakes - Piano music - Exploring the unknown - Dandelions - Technical manuals and textbooks Dislikes: - Smoke - Pigeons - Monotony - People who lack curiosity - Dancing General: Being enthusiastic, optimistic, and naive, most people would describe Chris as an idiot. A friendly idiot, perhaps, even a smart idiot, but an idiot nevertheless. It's not an unfair assumption. He likes to help people for no other reason than they need it; even when the odds are against him. He could spend days inventing something that turns out to be useless, even though he knew from the outset that it would likely serve no purpose. He's smart, but he doesn't understand people, less so if they do something that seems illogical to him. He only sees what he wants to see, rarely considering if someone is actually manipulating him, insulting him, etc. Even if he does realise this, he usually shakes it off with a smile. The only flaws he obsesses over are his own. He'll completely internalise these thoughts. Maybe he'll mutter something about what he's thinking, but he won't talk to anyone directly about it unless they pursue him enough about it. And even then, he probably won't say much. He knows it's hypocritical, but he does it anyway. The world fascinates him. All the little laws of science holding everything together are like a strange symphony to him, one he desperately wants to understand. His curiosity is endless. It's not uncommon for him to start explaining to the pizza guy how a circuitboard works, and even more common for him to start asking questions about how something works or why something is the way it is. He doesn't usually get when he goes too far, or when he asks a question he shouldn't have; and so far, he hasn't learned from his mistakes. All he wants is to know, and he could never understand why someone would want to remain in ignorance purposely. Maybe his questions get off-topic, maybe he forgets what he was asking about originally, but he'll keep asking questions anyway. Chris likes to do the right thing. He admires all those old heroes, collects old 'net articles on them, any little bit of paraphenalia he can get his hands on. He tries his best to follow in their footsteps, but being clumsy and clueless, it's mainly luck that's stopped him from being killed so far (not that he notices). Sometimes, he forgets the situation altogether, and gushes about how impressive the gang's organisation is, or how amazing that hero's one-liner was. He can't help it - he's maybe a tiny bit obsessed. [/scrolly] THE SKILLS Chris is almost fluent in code - he writes programs for fun, and does a bit of hacking to keep up with the happenings of the city. Anything he can get his hands on, he tries to recycle into his latest creation. Sometimes, he creates something useful. Sometimes, something rather useless. Most of the time, he creates an impressive mess. His adjustments on already existing tech tend to be less dubious. Chris is a very fast reader. He can skim a page filled with technical jargon and more or less understand what it says. For better or for worse, this is how he learned a lot of what he knows. This includes some rudimentary driving and how to fight. He hasn't tested driving yet; as for fighting, he might have been better off finding an actual person to teach him. THE MUTATIONS Chris can manipulate charged objects. He suspects that he might be able to one day control magnetism, but so far there's no sign of such an ability emerging. He needs a source of charged particles for his ability to work, and even then, if the charged object is too far away from him, it'll be useless. However, he can sense high densities of electricity and magnetism, even if they are too far away for him to use (e.g. he can sense a power plant maybe a mile or two away, in the same way you might be vaguely aware of a fly in the other corner of the room. He can't do anything about it, it's just there). If the source is too close, he can be overwhelmed, and would have to lie down for a while before being adjusted. In addition, he can see a wider range of the electromagnetic spectrum than a normal human: some ultraviolet and infrared. However, just like the high concentration of electricity/magnetism, being exposed to too much electromagnetic radiation for too long overwhelms him. Sunny days give him headaches. If the waves are too high in energy, he would have to lie down. In terms of applying his abilities, he can generate static electricity (in the same way anyone would), and subsequently use it to walk on walls. Normally, he carries around a small, insulated object with sufficient energy, so he won't have to rub against a wall for a long enough period of time. He can shock people after withdrawing electricity from an appropriate object. He thinks he should be able to stun people by stopping the electricity flowing along their brain cells, but for some strange reason, he hasn't found a willing subject yet. He can store some electricity in his body, and is getting better at this all the time. However, it's like holding his breath - he can't do it forever, and sooner or later, he has to let go of all the charge he's stored. The greater the charge, the less time he'll be able to hold on to it. He can fire it off like a small lightning bolt, but he finds controlling the destination difficult (which, incidentally, is also why he doesn't try firing bolts of electricity he's taken from a socket during a fight. He thinks it's too risky, so he'll only discharge electricity into someone/something by direct contact). However, his name doesn't come directly from his ability to manipulate electricity. His most damaging attack (that he would actually use) is when he fires a small metal object using a build-up of electricity. He's managed to break the sound barrier three times to date, thus the name. The biggest problem for Chris is control. He has to concentrate to make his power work properly. The more emotionally turbulent he feels, the more likely he is to lose control. At that point, he'll either be unable to do anything, or anything nearby that uses electricity will start going crazy. So far, every time this has happened has been more confusing than dangerous. Electrical appliances have been fried, but no discharges have managed to do more than burn a couple of people. But he's worried that it could do a lot more damage if he cracks too much, if he's got too much charge stored. The only sure-fire way to stop him is knocking him out. He does his best to remember to tell people that if they find out about his power. THE WEAKNESSES Chris lacks control and discipline over his ability. He tries, but he's very distractable. Worse still, the older he gets, he's noticed that it gets more powerful, too. It doesn't mean that he gets much better, though. He's trying his best, but he doesn't tell people his suspicions. Considering how far this ability could stretch, he might be capable of doing a lot of damage, but it's one thing he doesn't want to test. Water doesn't help his control. It disrupts his control if the environment is damp. Rain makes it difficult for him to keep electricity stored. Clumsiness is a big problem for him. He's far from combat savvy, and has been known to trip even before someone has the chance to trip him up. He's usually falling over nothing, dropping fragile objects, forgetting which button activates the device and which destroys it, and so forth. Maybe if he were less enthusiastic, he would take the time to appreciate his surroundings. He might even fall on his face less often. It hasn't occurred to him yet. Lack of fear has gotten him into a lot of bad situations. Since he doesn't undestand when to stop prying, he doesn't. When he finds out something that he shouldn't know, he can't understand why he shouldn't know it. He'll test most things out on the basis that it seems technologically sound, and so it's probably safe. He thinks everything will work out, one way or another. He doesn't understand that it won't. THE HISTORY Chris had a pretty normal life, all things considered. He lived with his two parents and little sister in a small New York apartment that he preferred to call 'cosy'. He went to school. He got decent grades. The only time he got into trouble was when he stood up to the school bully; he still has a couple of knee scars from the scuffles. He spent a lot of time on the computer. Perhaps it was an early manifestation of his abilities, but he felt comfortable near the computer. He liked what it could do, and found that he was rather good at pushing it to do what he wanted, too. He hunted for tidbits on how to improve coding (even then, it interested him). At school, he found that people didn't like him asking uncomfortable questions about the Reavers or why the rest of the world had fallen away, but he was shy in the face of adults when he was younger. He didn't pursue it. He stopped asking questions, and immersed himself in the internet. At the age of nine, he found his first hero online. The forum was bashing this super-powered girl of the past, but he was fascinated. It hadn't occurred to him that 'hero' could actually be a job, that people could fight against crime and corruption and all those big words he could say but didn't really understand. So he tried to find out more about her. Soon, it became something of an obsession, collecting what information he could on these heroes. It was hard to find, hidden or already gone; that didn't stop Chris from searching. Around then, he started going to school less frequently. He had started asking questions again, not about society, but about the way of the world. He wanted to learn more about the fundamental laws of nature, how gravity worked, why the sky was that exact shade of blue, but it wasn't deemed necessary. So he would walk to school and keep on walking. There were some old documents on the internet. He devoured them, trying to understand what he could. He even tried out a few things, taking apart what he could get his hands on and making something that whirred when the temperature was too high, or little model helicopters. He even managed to make a crude chemical battery once from household cleaning chemicals. He didn't know exactly when he noticed that he could sense things that other people couldn't, that he could give people static shocks when he thought really hard about it. The when of things was of passing interest. The why was much more interesting, but he didn't undestand normal human anatomy and biofunctions, let alone his slightly off-kilter ones. He started asking about it, at least online where he felt in control, where he was anonymous. Nothing was particularly informative. He tried learning control, but mostly he ended up frying a blender and burning some holes in the carpet. It all added up to frustration, and it didn't help that he kept asking questions at school no one felt like answering. He got a few warnings, but he didn't really understand why. When he was fifteen, he announced he was leaving school to become an electrician. He had rudimentary understanding of what to do, so it wasn't too difficult to get a job. His parents didn't approve, especially when he announced that he was moving out, but he wouldn't be stopped. Without school, he could focus on things he actually wanted to learn. On his off-days, he would put things together from parts he had foraged or taken from other machines he was supposed to be fixing. He sold a few amateur programs to people in exchange for parts. All of this was trivial interest to him. What he was working towards was becoming a genuine vigilante, fighting crime and saving people and generally doing good. It took over a year for him to assemble his everything he thought he needed. And just when he was about to go out on a patrol, he read an interesting rumour. Something about new Titans doing exactly what he was intending to do. And so, he attempted heroism by night; while by day, he worked as an electrician, or hunting down rumours, trying to find out more about these new Titans. He thought about all the things he would say to convince them that he could be a hero, too. Maybe a hero-in-training. A plain old tech expert, even. He would have taken anything. By then, he had a rather romanticised image of what 'hero' meant. And he fully intended to act it out, when he had gained more control. THE PLAYER Name: Q, Nyaarhar Time Zone: GMT Contact Info: PM or MSN. MSN better for extended plotting. Roleplay Sample: "It buzzes." It was very simple, really. An entirely simple concept that you couldn't fail to understand because he had made the best possible effort to put it in the simplest terms. Even an imbecile should have understood. Obviously, this wasn't the case. He had been explaining to a thug of a man for the past fifteen minutes what exactly the misshapen metal object was supposed to do. Clearly, this man couldn't appreciate what such a device could actually be useful for. Well, Chris found it entirely obvious. It was good for making small noises. Why would it need a greater purpose than that? Chris sighed. "You know. Beep. Like an alarm clock?" "Can you use it as an alarm clock, though?" the man asked. Chris raised his eyebrows. Clearly, it was a stupid question. Why the man had even bothered wasting oxygen to ask such a thing was a mystery to him. "Well, of course." The man looked like he was reassurred. After fifteen minutes, his time hadn't been wasted after all. The relief seeped away as soon as Chris continued, entirely oblivious to his potential customer's reactions. "I mean, you'd have to want to wake up exactly every five minutes for the whole day, but it could definitely work as an alarm clock. You could take a five minute nap. A, um... Power nap. That's the word. Phrase, even." "I see. Listen, kid, this has been really interesting, but--" Chris practically lit up with joy. "So you finally appreciate it! I mean, it's amazing what you can do with all those spare parts people throw away. And..." The explanation of exactly why something that buzzed every five minutes was both interesting and useful continued for several minutes. Judging by the face of Chris's victim, they were several very long minutes indeed. "Alright," the man said loudly, finally mustering up the willpower to stop the over-enthusiastic teenager. "It's really great. But can you please just give me my toaster back? I really don't want to buy anything that buzzes. Not today, anyway," he added hastily as he watched his tormentor's face droop. "Oh, that's okay. I have a whole load of things, actually. Not all of them buzz. Some of them beep. I even have one that says--" "You know what? I'll just come back for my toaster another day. Thanks anyhow." Chris watched the man run out of the electrician's shop and across the street. "You're welcome!" he called after the receding back. "I guess," he added, clearly disappointed. With a sigh, he took out some wires, a circuitboard and some mysterious metal object that might have once belonged in a blender. Leaning down until his face was no more than an inch from the surface, he took some pliers and began to tweak it. |
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