Post by Christopher Bertrand on Jul 4, 2007 23:54:04 GMT
((substitute for Damien Schwarz))
Name:
Christopher Bertrand
Codename:
Alpha et Oméga
Age:
21
Mutation:
Cyberpathy
Christopher is, in the simplest way put, partially a computer. He has the ability to remotely access any system that uses a processor, or works with the binary code in some other way, as well as mentally “interface” with the Internet. He is not just a person using tools to control computers; he is the tools as well. It is as simple as that- Christopher dominates over computers. He can search for data, alter it, add new data, send commands, delete and reroute others, and all that while at the same time sitting in a café and enjoying a cup of Turkish. His mind works in a way different than that of others, and could be best described as a fusion between the brain and the computer’s processor. He brakes information down to tiny pieces of data, processes them all at the same time, and instantly, and then spits out results with great speed. He retains, of course, the capability to learn, which is the main reason why computers themselves have not yet started ruling the world. He has the speed and effectiveness of a computer combined with the creative thinking processes of humans. This, however, cannot be known without actually researching Christopher’s genes, or him telling someone about it, since it all fits perfectly in the mask of a prodigal child, a boy genius.
Although he can do what he likes with computers, Ipods, cell phones, and other such devices, or at least try to- some antivirus programs and firewalls actually detect his presence as a kind of virus, and then he has to program, or hack his way around the protection, simple home appliances such as a blow drier or the light switch are a closed book, since they do not use anything other than actual physical control of power influx. He can, however, access the timer that sets off the city street lights and play with it, and if a certain circuit in a house is somehow connected to at least one binary device, he can redirect the electricity within the circuit so that the same house appliances will not work. Since his mind works differently than others, it gives Christopher a resistance to telepathy and other such powers. Although he is not immune to it, and is, in fact, easily manipulated once someone gets in, getting in is the very problem. The easiest way to explain it is to say that he has a natural “firewall” against telepathy. Whoever tries to read his thoughts or do something more must first realize that his is not an ordinary mind, and then has to figure out how to attempt manipulating it. At the same time as a telepath would be doing this, Christopher would feel a sort of tugging sensation in his head, and would immediately be alert to any mind-affecting mutation usage attempts. Every telepath might see this in a different way- an astral wall, a sequence of ones and zeros, or something else, depending on how they perceive minds when they use their powers.
A vulnerability of this power is that he is equally susceptible to computer viruses as well as natural ones, and therefore can be sick without actually acquiring a disease. If he should contract a computer virus, it will most likely manifest itself as an actual cold, or influenza, or something else, depending on how serious the virus is. He also becomes highly contagious to any other computers, and thus spreads the virus automatically onto any other computer he accesses. Sometimes, he may not even know that he has a virus, effectively spreading the same through the web without actually wanting to.
If he comes into physical contact with a computer or other binary code-using device, he can integrate with it immediately, adding his own mind as additional options, commands, and processing space to the machine. In this type of fusion, he also immediately receives all the data the computer has.
Saying that he has eidetic memory would be a lie, but it is the next best thing- he stores data in almost limitless amounts, without the human’s weakness to memory loss. He can “download” all types of files from the Internet, but they are just a memory of a binary sequence, and therefore he cannot do anything with them until he reaches a device that is capable of reading the format of the “downloaded” files. The one exception to this rule are pictures, which he actually remembers as such. The rest of the files are just patterns by which he can build them on a compatible machine. Any output device that has the ability to remotely access the Internet can be manipulated by Christopher to use the files encoded within his mind.
To put in simple words- Christopher has a limitless supply of memory, upon which he can store anything that can be found on the Internet, but this only turns into real memories if he has a computer or other such device to decode them. Naturally, he could right the binary sequences on paper, but that would not be of much use.
His mutation making him so closely connected to computers, Christopher has a deep and thorough, and even somewhat emotional, understanding of these machines.
His mutation also forces him to favor following cold, hard logic instead of emotions, and therefore makes him capable to retain critical, serious thinking under stress, but also makes him rather inept at normal communication.
Physical Description:
With blue eyes and medium blond hair, Christopher stands 1.86 cm tall, or 6’1”, and is quite the French charmer. He is slender, lithe, and has a piercing gaze to match the general air of confidence he exudes most of the time. Long, muscular legs and a light tan are his next best features, right after his perfectly smooth, high-cheekbone face and sapphire eyes. He is always seen in stylish clothes, and not once does he have any part of his body, including hair or just general appearance, stand out as messy, or at least as sloppily messy- deliberately messy if fine. He has two different looks, depending on the mood he is in: The serious, and the “for friends” look. When sporting the serious look, his hair is combed neatly back, and he is usually in a suit or pants, a T-shirt, and an open shirt, and his posture is such that he shows that there will be no fooling around. His other look, the “for friends” one, consists out of just a T-shirt, or a shirt that is buttoned up except for the top three or four buttons, and a pair of jeans. His hair is messier like this, but it is obviously deliberately made so. He actually smiles sometimes when it comes to being around his friends. Usually, one will find a cigarette in his mouth or hand, and if he’s in a café, there will also be a glass of whiskey or wine either in his other hand, or on the table. Naturally, he also wears other clothes, among everything else especially so turtlenecks, that hug his graceful frame just perfectly.
He does not wear any jewelry, or have any tattoos.
Personality:
Christopher is a person very hard to define, and in order to do this, one needs use three different phrases: Indifferent Machine, Child Prodigy, and Passionate Boy.
Upon first glance, and probably many others, and a lot of the time even for those who are considered close friends, Christopher seems cold, distant, and almost emotionless. This is mainly because of his mutation- he tends to take logic above most other thought processes as the valid one, and usually acts accordingly, neglecting completely what his heart desires. The more he uses his power, the more like this he gets. It is, naturally, not permanent, but it is a measure of how frequently he uses his power. Even when he does not use it for a long time, this coldness, the icy exterior, the perfect posture and emotionless expression of some mannequin, seems to linger with him for a while. It is unconscious, and Christopher often times ends up being surprised at the reactions of others almost as much as they are surprised at the lack of the same from him. This is both a blessing and a curse, because it allows him to keep his emotions under control, or, rather, keep his actions out of the control of his emotions. No matter how angry, happy, sad, or excited he might get, Christopher does not lose his cool, and instead of listening to the instincts and urges to hit or cry or laugh, reacts in the ways that are dictated by pure, simple, cold logic.
He is extremely ambitious, and, even though not ashamed of it in the least, tends not to reveal his mutation until he absolutely trusts that the person he would be revealing it to will not react in “undesirable” ways, and even then will he not just out and say it. He does not aspire towards greatness as much as to stability. He hides his mutation behind the curtain of a computer science degree and the mask of the prodigal child, a boy genius who is purely gifted for work on computers. Those who see him in business situations tend to think of him as an extremely ambitious, if not obsessively so, and driven individual.
Finally, only those who are true friends and stay in touch with Christopher for a long time do know the passionate Frenchman within the cyborg’s body. The two friends he insofar has managed to make see him laugh loudly, almost weep when sad, and almost explode when mad. They see that Christopher’s emotions are probably stronger than those of most other people, and that he will rather die than see something happen to them. He loves all humans indiscriminately, and this is true not only in friendship, but also beyond it. For him, love is not the end, but rather a certain form of devotion, an absolute trance within which he will let himself be consumed completely. He needs yet find someone so special. Christopher’s habits include smoking, staring, and remaining silent for long periods of time. The cigarettes really serve just as a vent for his emotions when he holds them bottled up for too long, and therefore one can see him smoke up to not having one leave his mouth all day. When he stares, his piercing sapphire eyes seem so emotionless, so cold, so violently hostile that most people can not take more than thirty seconds of it. In truth, he is wondering about the likes and dislikes of the person, what they themselves are all about, and is considering trying to make friends. And then comes the silence. Frequently, a conversation will tend to simply dwindle and die under the intent silence he produces when in thought. Christopher seems to think of time differently, and has the impression that it is there in limitless amounts, so he never rushes an answer.
Thanks to a prolonged period of time in which he was around machines only, Christopher is now learning the arts of socializing all over again. He tries to be friendly, but this seems to always come short of all-out hatred by the people. He most definitely needs patient and well-meaning instructors in this, for him, long-forgotten art.
Christopher is also, for an invisible reason, horribly afraid of fish.
Background:
Born on January 2nd, Christopher entered the Bertrand family as the second baby, only two years behind Jacques. The very first years of his life were nothing but pure childish merriment, as they so often are, but then Jean entered the family when Christopher was 5. The memory of the youngest boy’s birth was made permanent within Christopher’s mind because, all the way in the waiting room, he could hear his mother scream the words, “Next time, buy a fucking condom!”, uttering them in a fit of pain-inspired anger, presumably to the freshly stunned father. The truth of the matter is, both parents loved all of their children endlessly. By the time Christopher started with first grade, it was obvious that he had talent. He was gifted in the areas of mathematics, chemistry, physics, and foreign languages, and therefore anything that was like these subjects, he had a perfect score in. His social studies classes, however, suffered, and he barely was able of passing these. This, naturally, was not obvious until the fifth, and harder grades. Still, Christopher’s father, who himself inclined towards the natural sciences, was busting with joy and pride for his middle son, making sure, subconsciously, that the older one was jealous. Christopher himself never really cared much for who was praised the most in their family- he always merely wanted to be in good relations with everyone, and actually managed it.
And then his mutation went active, during the summer that was to be the prelude to his high school life. His parents had found a private school in the United States which seemed to perfectly suit all of the needs of all three boys- it encompassed not only high school, but a whole education, if sufficient money was paid. Wanting their boys to see the world, the parents paid in advance for six years of school for each of them, bringing them to a situation in which they had to save up money immensely, and forget about more than a few commodities.
A few months before the flight to the US, Christopher felt quite odd- he seemed to be hearing tons of little buzzing noises, but nothing was making them, and he suddenly could somehow see lots and lots of ones and zeros within his own mind. And then a horrid headache happened, when it all went fully active, causing the computers in the house to shut down, turn back on, and then produce a cacophony of loud noises. He fell down, unconscious. When he woke up in the hospital, he could hear many machines, and he could actually feel their presence. Opening his eyes produced a picture of a mother smiling, yet tired from lack of sleep, a younger brother looking at him ecstatically, a father talking with a doctor about “being able to remove It”, and an older brother sitting in the far corner of the room, looking at him angrily. It was only later, when only the three brothers were on the plane headed for the US, that he found out that It was a mutation that Christopher appeared to have, that his father was not pleased with it and was treating it like a horrid tumor, and that his older brother was hating him for it, while the younger seemed to somewhat worship him.
The situation had not changed over the years much- Jacques had stopped talking to him, or having any contact whatsoever, Jean was busy with his own stuff, but always sent letters, as did his mother, who reassured him that father sent his love as well.
The time at the private school was much shorter for Christopher than expected- his newfound abilities allowed him to cruise through the mostly computerized curriculum of both high school and college (major in computer sciences) in a total of four years. He did cheat on quite a few tests, but not because he did not know how to complete the problems. He cheated because he did not know how to complete the problems the way humans did, and he wanted to test his prowess with using the mutation. Later on, he made sure he knew what he would do in the scenarios of the problems he cheated on. Having used only two thirds of the money paid in for his mutation, Christopher asked, and was approved, for a transfer of that money over to Jacque’s account, hoping to manage to have the older brother forgive him for his non-existent “sin”, but no such thing happened, although he did not accept the return of the money.
Setting out on his own exactly on his nineteenth birthday, Christopher at first had quite the trouble getting by, since he had no work experience to think of, not much money in his pockets, and was blocked from most jobs merely on account of being too young. All this time, he used his mutation almost twelve hours daily, and at one point realized that he had absolutely, and completely, lost the ability to socialize. He never thought that this was possible, but he now no longer knew how to convey his emotions, and almost 96.34% (to his dread, this result came almost the instant he thought of calculating it) of the time tended to follow cold, hard logic rather than his own emotions. After a week of very unpleasant, and very awkward situations on the streets of New York, Christopher decided to seek out some help. Deciding a therapist might be the best answer, as well as not using his powers so much, he searched the Internet, to find, in the end, a certain Dr. Sean Garrison showed up as the best. So, the boy scheduled a meeting, and then after that one quite a number of other ones, before he finally got back in shape when it came to talking with people. He kept the cold, emotionless exterior as a mask, a tool, however, and now still tends to hide behind it whenever possible. Showing that he really cares about someone, or the display of any other strong emotion comes hard for him, and is a process, not just a reflex like with all others. He has limited himself to only a few hours of power-usage per day, and it seems to be helping. At the same time, he started smoking, seeing this as a perfect vent for the emotions he was incapable of displaying. Often, one can see him smoking a cigarette that might just be the tenth or twentieth for the day. And now that he turned 21 and is officially absolutely legal, he often is seen drinking something as well, although never drunk. In his talks with Garrison, he mentioned quite a few things that he would otherwise never, or hardly, reveal, such as his experiences with the friends he had at that private school, as well as the fact that he was a mutant. For some reason, the man was trustworthy.
Finally being capable of at least a moderately un-awkward conversation, Christopher stopped seeing the therapist, and set off on his own, deciding to pick up on the rest of the social dance moves along the way. He found a place as a chief of Internet security at a bank, a job that is well-paid, and does not require much appearance in the bank itself- although they don’t know he is a mutant, he convinced them that he can remotely handle everything, and has proven so time and again. Actually, once he was over the “society crisis”, he discovered that he had quite an array of jobs open- a young man with a degree in computer sciences was able to go far, and he was willing to do exactly that. At this point he has a small apartment rented near the center, a cozy little place fully furnished according to his own taste, the owner of the building being French as well.
Current Affiliation
Out for grabs kinda- I’ll start a thread in which he would get recruited, and would prefer it to be in the Institute's Staff, but the B-hood’s welcome to try, of course.
Sample:
As if trying to defeat the day’s promise of providing a dull afternoon, Christopher sits at his computer (which has been modified, reprogrammed, and completely altered otherwise from its initial form, so that it is probably the only such machine in all of New York), connected onto the Internet, his hands idly resting on the edges of the keyboard, and playing a massive game of Counter Strike. It is extremely boring, seeing as how he can make his own character do so much more than the others. And so, he decides to add spice to the whole game. He leaves his character just sitting there, a clear and easy target for any opportunist, as he closes his eyes and reaches deep into the veils of numbers that make up the Internet, and finds this particular game. He finds what he needs almost immediately, and gets to work. A little shine here, a little shine there, and a cheap death and a half minute later, the new round starts and the terrorists spawn. And among them spawns a knight. Yes, there is definitely a knight in shining armor on the terrorist team. Christopher buys his weapons- exchanging the dollars for gold, and then using it to buy a crossbow, a sword, and lots of crossbow bolts.
Numerous chat messages pop up all over the screen, each one using various forms of the vulgar swearing abbreviations that now plague the Internet, but he simply says that the game should go on. As the first showdown happens, his knight gets shot multiple times, but to no real use- after all, the armor is made of mithril. And so he charges at his first target, flashing sword and all, and absolutely slaughters him. To add a special effect of the body being cut in half, he reaches to the program again and alters it like before. Getting quickly bored and rather annoyed by the constant three capital letters on the chat side of the screen, Christopher gets out of there with a sigh. Such a boring afternoon.
And then suddenly the phone rings, and as he picks up his face lights up with glee. From the other side, he hears an ever-familiar voice, ”Hey, It’s Wolfie. I’m in town for a few days, and I’ve got today free. Do you want to get together?” it asks, identifying its owner as one of the two best friends Christopher has ever had.
”Sure thing. I’ll meet you at the usual corner. Since you’ve last been here, they have changed the theatre into a bakery, so don’t be confused.” he replies, and then swears at himself inwardly for sounding so cold, so distant. Placing emotions within his voice has not yet become a skill of his.
From the other side, the voice waits a few moments, then laughs. ”Don’t beat yourself up about it, Chris, you know I understand you perfectly!”, and Christopher immediately seems relieved. Wolfie is the only person in the whole world allowed to call him by a nickname, and he is also the one person who really senses all the emotions the other is feeling. And yet, all these years, he has remained a friend. No, only someone far more special could possibly be a lover, at lest, that is, one whom Christopher would adore so much as to actually say it out loud- he would give his life for any one of his friends.
WESTCHESTER
((I hope it is alright that I mentioned Primer in the application? If any problems with it, do tell.
))
Name:
Christopher Bertrand
Codename:
Alpha et Oméga
Age:
21
Mutation:
Cyberpathy
Christopher is, in the simplest way put, partially a computer. He has the ability to remotely access any system that uses a processor, or works with the binary code in some other way, as well as mentally “interface” with the Internet. He is not just a person using tools to control computers; he is the tools as well. It is as simple as that- Christopher dominates over computers. He can search for data, alter it, add new data, send commands, delete and reroute others, and all that while at the same time sitting in a café and enjoying a cup of Turkish. His mind works in a way different than that of others, and could be best described as a fusion between the brain and the computer’s processor. He brakes information down to tiny pieces of data, processes them all at the same time, and instantly, and then spits out results with great speed. He retains, of course, the capability to learn, which is the main reason why computers themselves have not yet started ruling the world. He has the speed and effectiveness of a computer combined with the creative thinking processes of humans. This, however, cannot be known without actually researching Christopher’s genes, or him telling someone about it, since it all fits perfectly in the mask of a prodigal child, a boy genius.
Although he can do what he likes with computers, Ipods, cell phones, and other such devices, or at least try to- some antivirus programs and firewalls actually detect his presence as a kind of virus, and then he has to program, or hack his way around the protection, simple home appliances such as a blow drier or the light switch are a closed book, since they do not use anything other than actual physical control of power influx. He can, however, access the timer that sets off the city street lights and play with it, and if a certain circuit in a house is somehow connected to at least one binary device, he can redirect the electricity within the circuit so that the same house appliances will not work. Since his mind works differently than others, it gives Christopher a resistance to telepathy and other such powers. Although he is not immune to it, and is, in fact, easily manipulated once someone gets in, getting in is the very problem. The easiest way to explain it is to say that he has a natural “firewall” against telepathy. Whoever tries to read his thoughts or do something more must first realize that his is not an ordinary mind, and then has to figure out how to attempt manipulating it. At the same time as a telepath would be doing this, Christopher would feel a sort of tugging sensation in his head, and would immediately be alert to any mind-affecting mutation usage attempts. Every telepath might see this in a different way- an astral wall, a sequence of ones and zeros, or something else, depending on how they perceive minds when they use their powers.
A vulnerability of this power is that he is equally susceptible to computer viruses as well as natural ones, and therefore can be sick without actually acquiring a disease. If he should contract a computer virus, it will most likely manifest itself as an actual cold, or influenza, or something else, depending on how serious the virus is. He also becomes highly contagious to any other computers, and thus spreads the virus automatically onto any other computer he accesses. Sometimes, he may not even know that he has a virus, effectively spreading the same through the web without actually wanting to.
If he comes into physical contact with a computer or other binary code-using device, he can integrate with it immediately, adding his own mind as additional options, commands, and processing space to the machine. In this type of fusion, he also immediately receives all the data the computer has.
Saying that he has eidetic memory would be a lie, but it is the next best thing- he stores data in almost limitless amounts, without the human’s weakness to memory loss. He can “download” all types of files from the Internet, but they are just a memory of a binary sequence, and therefore he cannot do anything with them until he reaches a device that is capable of reading the format of the “downloaded” files. The one exception to this rule are pictures, which he actually remembers as such. The rest of the files are just patterns by which he can build them on a compatible machine. Any output device that has the ability to remotely access the Internet can be manipulated by Christopher to use the files encoded within his mind.
To put in simple words- Christopher has a limitless supply of memory, upon which he can store anything that can be found on the Internet, but this only turns into real memories if he has a computer or other such device to decode them. Naturally, he could right the binary sequences on paper, but that would not be of much use.
His mutation making him so closely connected to computers, Christopher has a deep and thorough, and even somewhat emotional, understanding of these machines.
His mutation also forces him to favor following cold, hard logic instead of emotions, and therefore makes him capable to retain critical, serious thinking under stress, but also makes him rather inept at normal communication.
Physical Description:
With blue eyes and medium blond hair, Christopher stands 1.86 cm tall, or 6’1”, and is quite the French charmer. He is slender, lithe, and has a piercing gaze to match the general air of confidence he exudes most of the time. Long, muscular legs and a light tan are his next best features, right after his perfectly smooth, high-cheekbone face and sapphire eyes. He is always seen in stylish clothes, and not once does he have any part of his body, including hair or just general appearance, stand out as messy, or at least as sloppily messy- deliberately messy if fine. He has two different looks, depending on the mood he is in: The serious, and the “for friends” look. When sporting the serious look, his hair is combed neatly back, and he is usually in a suit or pants, a T-shirt, and an open shirt, and his posture is such that he shows that there will be no fooling around. His other look, the “for friends” one, consists out of just a T-shirt, or a shirt that is buttoned up except for the top three or four buttons, and a pair of jeans. His hair is messier like this, but it is obviously deliberately made so. He actually smiles sometimes when it comes to being around his friends. Usually, one will find a cigarette in his mouth or hand, and if he’s in a café, there will also be a glass of whiskey or wine either in his other hand, or on the table. Naturally, he also wears other clothes, among everything else especially so turtlenecks, that hug his graceful frame just perfectly.
He does not wear any jewelry, or have any tattoos.
Personality:
Christopher is a person very hard to define, and in order to do this, one needs use three different phrases: Indifferent Machine, Child Prodigy, and Passionate Boy.
Upon first glance, and probably many others, and a lot of the time even for those who are considered close friends, Christopher seems cold, distant, and almost emotionless. This is mainly because of his mutation- he tends to take logic above most other thought processes as the valid one, and usually acts accordingly, neglecting completely what his heart desires. The more he uses his power, the more like this he gets. It is, naturally, not permanent, but it is a measure of how frequently he uses his power. Even when he does not use it for a long time, this coldness, the icy exterior, the perfect posture and emotionless expression of some mannequin, seems to linger with him for a while. It is unconscious, and Christopher often times ends up being surprised at the reactions of others almost as much as they are surprised at the lack of the same from him. This is both a blessing and a curse, because it allows him to keep his emotions under control, or, rather, keep his actions out of the control of his emotions. No matter how angry, happy, sad, or excited he might get, Christopher does not lose his cool, and instead of listening to the instincts and urges to hit or cry or laugh, reacts in the ways that are dictated by pure, simple, cold logic.
He is extremely ambitious, and, even though not ashamed of it in the least, tends not to reveal his mutation until he absolutely trusts that the person he would be revealing it to will not react in “undesirable” ways, and even then will he not just out and say it. He does not aspire towards greatness as much as to stability. He hides his mutation behind the curtain of a computer science degree and the mask of the prodigal child, a boy genius who is purely gifted for work on computers. Those who see him in business situations tend to think of him as an extremely ambitious, if not obsessively so, and driven individual.
Finally, only those who are true friends and stay in touch with Christopher for a long time do know the passionate Frenchman within the cyborg’s body. The two friends he insofar has managed to make see him laugh loudly, almost weep when sad, and almost explode when mad. They see that Christopher’s emotions are probably stronger than those of most other people, and that he will rather die than see something happen to them. He loves all humans indiscriminately, and this is true not only in friendship, but also beyond it. For him, love is not the end, but rather a certain form of devotion, an absolute trance within which he will let himself be consumed completely. He needs yet find someone so special. Christopher’s habits include smoking, staring, and remaining silent for long periods of time. The cigarettes really serve just as a vent for his emotions when he holds them bottled up for too long, and therefore one can see him smoke up to not having one leave his mouth all day. When he stares, his piercing sapphire eyes seem so emotionless, so cold, so violently hostile that most people can not take more than thirty seconds of it. In truth, he is wondering about the likes and dislikes of the person, what they themselves are all about, and is considering trying to make friends. And then comes the silence. Frequently, a conversation will tend to simply dwindle and die under the intent silence he produces when in thought. Christopher seems to think of time differently, and has the impression that it is there in limitless amounts, so he never rushes an answer.
Thanks to a prolonged period of time in which he was around machines only, Christopher is now learning the arts of socializing all over again. He tries to be friendly, but this seems to always come short of all-out hatred by the people. He most definitely needs patient and well-meaning instructors in this, for him, long-forgotten art.
Christopher is also, for an invisible reason, horribly afraid of fish.
Background:
Born on January 2nd, Christopher entered the Bertrand family as the second baby, only two years behind Jacques. The very first years of his life were nothing but pure childish merriment, as they so often are, but then Jean entered the family when Christopher was 5. The memory of the youngest boy’s birth was made permanent within Christopher’s mind because, all the way in the waiting room, he could hear his mother scream the words, “Next time, buy a fucking condom!”, uttering them in a fit of pain-inspired anger, presumably to the freshly stunned father. The truth of the matter is, both parents loved all of their children endlessly. By the time Christopher started with first grade, it was obvious that he had talent. He was gifted in the areas of mathematics, chemistry, physics, and foreign languages, and therefore anything that was like these subjects, he had a perfect score in. His social studies classes, however, suffered, and he barely was able of passing these. This, naturally, was not obvious until the fifth, and harder grades. Still, Christopher’s father, who himself inclined towards the natural sciences, was busting with joy and pride for his middle son, making sure, subconsciously, that the older one was jealous. Christopher himself never really cared much for who was praised the most in their family- he always merely wanted to be in good relations with everyone, and actually managed it.
And then his mutation went active, during the summer that was to be the prelude to his high school life. His parents had found a private school in the United States which seemed to perfectly suit all of the needs of all three boys- it encompassed not only high school, but a whole education, if sufficient money was paid. Wanting their boys to see the world, the parents paid in advance for six years of school for each of them, bringing them to a situation in which they had to save up money immensely, and forget about more than a few commodities.
A few months before the flight to the US, Christopher felt quite odd- he seemed to be hearing tons of little buzzing noises, but nothing was making them, and he suddenly could somehow see lots and lots of ones and zeros within his own mind. And then a horrid headache happened, when it all went fully active, causing the computers in the house to shut down, turn back on, and then produce a cacophony of loud noises. He fell down, unconscious. When he woke up in the hospital, he could hear many machines, and he could actually feel their presence. Opening his eyes produced a picture of a mother smiling, yet tired from lack of sleep, a younger brother looking at him ecstatically, a father talking with a doctor about “being able to remove It”, and an older brother sitting in the far corner of the room, looking at him angrily. It was only later, when only the three brothers were on the plane headed for the US, that he found out that It was a mutation that Christopher appeared to have, that his father was not pleased with it and was treating it like a horrid tumor, and that his older brother was hating him for it, while the younger seemed to somewhat worship him.
The situation had not changed over the years much- Jacques had stopped talking to him, or having any contact whatsoever, Jean was busy with his own stuff, but always sent letters, as did his mother, who reassured him that father sent his love as well.
The time at the private school was much shorter for Christopher than expected- his newfound abilities allowed him to cruise through the mostly computerized curriculum of both high school and college (major in computer sciences) in a total of four years. He did cheat on quite a few tests, but not because he did not know how to complete the problems. He cheated because he did not know how to complete the problems the way humans did, and he wanted to test his prowess with using the mutation. Later on, he made sure he knew what he would do in the scenarios of the problems he cheated on. Having used only two thirds of the money paid in for his mutation, Christopher asked, and was approved, for a transfer of that money over to Jacque’s account, hoping to manage to have the older brother forgive him for his non-existent “sin”, but no such thing happened, although he did not accept the return of the money.
Setting out on his own exactly on his nineteenth birthday, Christopher at first had quite the trouble getting by, since he had no work experience to think of, not much money in his pockets, and was blocked from most jobs merely on account of being too young. All this time, he used his mutation almost twelve hours daily, and at one point realized that he had absolutely, and completely, lost the ability to socialize. He never thought that this was possible, but he now no longer knew how to convey his emotions, and almost 96.34% (to his dread, this result came almost the instant he thought of calculating it) of the time tended to follow cold, hard logic rather than his own emotions. After a week of very unpleasant, and very awkward situations on the streets of New York, Christopher decided to seek out some help. Deciding a therapist might be the best answer, as well as not using his powers so much, he searched the Internet, to find, in the end, a certain Dr. Sean Garrison showed up as the best. So, the boy scheduled a meeting, and then after that one quite a number of other ones, before he finally got back in shape when it came to talking with people. He kept the cold, emotionless exterior as a mask, a tool, however, and now still tends to hide behind it whenever possible. Showing that he really cares about someone, or the display of any other strong emotion comes hard for him, and is a process, not just a reflex like with all others. He has limited himself to only a few hours of power-usage per day, and it seems to be helping. At the same time, he started smoking, seeing this as a perfect vent for the emotions he was incapable of displaying. Often, one can see him smoking a cigarette that might just be the tenth or twentieth for the day. And now that he turned 21 and is officially absolutely legal, he often is seen drinking something as well, although never drunk. In his talks with Garrison, he mentioned quite a few things that he would otherwise never, or hardly, reveal, such as his experiences with the friends he had at that private school, as well as the fact that he was a mutant. For some reason, the man was trustworthy.
Finally being capable of at least a moderately un-awkward conversation, Christopher stopped seeing the therapist, and set off on his own, deciding to pick up on the rest of the social dance moves along the way. He found a place as a chief of Internet security at a bank, a job that is well-paid, and does not require much appearance in the bank itself- although they don’t know he is a mutant, he convinced them that he can remotely handle everything, and has proven so time and again. Actually, once he was over the “society crisis”, he discovered that he had quite an array of jobs open- a young man with a degree in computer sciences was able to go far, and he was willing to do exactly that. At this point he has a small apartment rented near the center, a cozy little place fully furnished according to his own taste, the owner of the building being French as well.
Current Affiliation
Out for grabs kinda- I’ll start a thread in which he would get recruited, and would prefer it to be in the Institute's Staff, but the B-hood’s welcome to try, of course.
Sample:
As if trying to defeat the day’s promise of providing a dull afternoon, Christopher sits at his computer (which has been modified, reprogrammed, and completely altered otherwise from its initial form, so that it is probably the only such machine in all of New York), connected onto the Internet, his hands idly resting on the edges of the keyboard, and playing a massive game of Counter Strike. It is extremely boring, seeing as how he can make his own character do so much more than the others. And so, he decides to add spice to the whole game. He leaves his character just sitting there, a clear and easy target for any opportunist, as he closes his eyes and reaches deep into the veils of numbers that make up the Internet, and finds this particular game. He finds what he needs almost immediately, and gets to work. A little shine here, a little shine there, and a cheap death and a half minute later, the new round starts and the terrorists spawn. And among them spawns a knight. Yes, there is definitely a knight in shining armor on the terrorist team. Christopher buys his weapons- exchanging the dollars for gold, and then using it to buy a crossbow, a sword, and lots of crossbow bolts.
Numerous chat messages pop up all over the screen, each one using various forms of the vulgar swearing abbreviations that now plague the Internet, but he simply says that the game should go on. As the first showdown happens, his knight gets shot multiple times, but to no real use- after all, the armor is made of mithril. And so he charges at his first target, flashing sword and all, and absolutely slaughters him. To add a special effect of the body being cut in half, he reaches to the program again and alters it like before. Getting quickly bored and rather annoyed by the constant three capital letters on the chat side of the screen, Christopher gets out of there with a sigh. Such a boring afternoon.
And then suddenly the phone rings, and as he picks up his face lights up with glee. From the other side, he hears an ever-familiar voice, ”Hey, It’s Wolfie. I’m in town for a few days, and I’ve got today free. Do you want to get together?” it asks, identifying its owner as one of the two best friends Christopher has ever had.
”Sure thing. I’ll meet you at the usual corner. Since you’ve last been here, they have changed the theatre into a bakery, so don’t be confused.” he replies, and then swears at himself inwardly for sounding so cold, so distant. Placing emotions within his voice has not yet become a skill of his.
From the other side, the voice waits a few moments, then laughs. ”Don’t beat yourself up about it, Chris, you know I understand you perfectly!”, and Christopher immediately seems relieved. Wolfie is the only person in the whole world allowed to call him by a nickname, and he is also the one person who really senses all the emotions the other is feeling. And yet, all these years, he has remained a friend. No, only someone far more special could possibly be a lover, at lest, that is, one whom Christopher would adore so much as to actually say it out loud- he would give his life for any one of his friends.
WESTCHESTER
((I hope it is alright that I mentioned Primer in the application? If any problems with it, do tell.
))
