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Zeitgeist Blue

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  1. "Yes... Neither do I," added Nicole drily, imagining the bright orange vegetables framing the button. It was garish enough as it was and adding anymore was just overkill, so whoever shot down that graphic designer deserved a medal and the key to the city in her opinion.

     

    "But isn't that a little dehumanizing? Being treated as tourist attractions?" Nicole wheeled herself to the middle of the room as she talked, closer to the other guests. She waved a hand in annoyance as she imitated the too-cheery but somehow robotic voice of a public advertisement. Of course, the Borough-folk may have a completely different attitude from her, but it still reeked of exploitation. Tourist attraction? Merchandise? What was next, a meet and greet?

     

    "Look at me for only twenty dollars an hour! Just five hundred of me left!" She rolled her eyes at the absurdity.

  2. Nicole stared blankly at the pair of crutches then at the tiny lady hovering in front of her face.

     

    "And what am I supposed to do?" She said, blushing, and waved her branch to shoo the pixie away. Grimalkin was a superhero Nicole knew from her readings of news articles though mundane sources held little noteworthy information compared to the networks of the magical community. Probably a fae people whispered, but one who seemed to want to do good by this world. Just so, a soothing voice and a superhero name might have been enough for some to trust these strangers, but it wasn't remotely enough for her. She knew magic, knew intimately what it was capable of, and she'd be out of her mind to be caught in lies so easily. Just imagining the verbal-barbs her dad would throw if he found out steeled her resolve.

     

    She watched them warily even as she gripped her cloak and verified Demon-wannabe's words. Yellow and with the same symbols, similar to all of theirs, but then it had to mean something, things always did. She wracked her brains for an answer, but try as she might she found little.

     

    "Why am I wearing this?" she asked finally, slowly as if unsure she would receive a proper answer.

  3. "Nicole," she said, shaking the outstretched hand. "I don't watch TV so I can't say I've seen them there."

     

    She had registered his words. 'Drew me to their world' he the lab coat said, and she mulled this as she poured two cups of tea from a ready teapot. One of the teacups she offered Edward while she cupped her own between her hands, inhaling the fragrance that steamed up and that seemed to help clear her thoughts. She had read a city announcement on refugees from another world who looked oddly like rabbits. There were multiple explanations, the likeliest being that they came through interstellar or dimensional means. Neither were they mentioned in any article, forum, website, blog, or academic paper she had read before they appeared in Freedom City and so they must have been esoteric, enough that information on them was non-existent. That is, before their rescuer had...

     

    "But I do know of them and nothing else," she started, drawing the words out as if she was loathe to say them. She gave him an odd look as if to challenge him to divulge more information. "My cosmological studies have been really lacking lately."

  4. It was almost the break of dawn when Nicole decided to go forward with her request in Chrysopoeia Cosmetics' website. She would send a catalog of her orders, exhaustive and exacting, the quantities measuring in pints and sometimes quarts, customized to a sufficient degree. There would be no doing this by half and so she would be sending a video to go along with her list, expecting that the company would not shortchange her. Of course, she would know if they did that. Even if some of their products presented in their videos and stock baffled her as to their production, she was more than enough of a competent chemist and alchemist to identify when something was not what it was supposed to be.

     

    But those thoughts were for when her products would be delivered, and so she adjusted the lights in her workshop, from the harsh industrial lighting, dimming it into a cooler, mellow yellow. Faiza would never have let her work this late into the night, nevermind the bright lights when everyone was supposed to be sleeping, not without an earful of nagging but that was fine; Nicole worked better without eyes looking over her shoulder.

     

    She tied her hair into a simple ponytail and brushed the detritus from her desk. Paper full of rejected makeup concoctions and scrawled, crossed out notes on the margins went into the trash bin. Then finally she was ready.

     

    ...

     

    ...

     

    Recording.

     

    She coughed to clear her throat and produced a sheet of paper, several in fact, and began to recite from memory.

     

    "By now you would have the address I sent, so let's not waste time."

     

    "First order: Nine units of the psionically driven blush, specifically tuned to glow the breadth of the visible spectrum when it is respectively exposed to the radio frequencies ranging from 89.5 megahertz to 123.0 megahertz. Match the proportions. Second order: A box of 12 pieces of reactive lipstick, sensitive to changes in salt levels in the air and temperature as shown in Graph 1.1, attached with the order sent. The effects desired are seen in Graph 1.2, detailing the amount of perceived thickness and absolute sparkle..."

     

    She continued like this for several minutes, stopping only briefly to drink from a bottle of water.

     

    "Right, this would be the last order: Two units of foundation, resistant to changes of synthetic metalic-ness in the subject." There was a long pause as she looked straight at the camera, then she began to shuffle her papers awkwardly and it was broken.

     

    "I have an idea how much all that I ordered would cost and I'm ready to pay it. I assume bulk order pricing would be utilized? If some products are inadvisable or undoable then I am willing to talk with you to find a viable alternative. And have it sent to Claremont Academy, Freedom City, New York."

     

    Another uncomfortable pause. It was weird talking to an inanimate object for this long though she was no stranger with long conversations with herself. But the slight awkwardness was for a good cause; they were to be analyzed in her free time and hopefully she would find some insight into chemical reactions and solutions. And she knew her order was large, but it was so some portion could be presented as gifts. After all, she'd taken pains to make the products as aesthetically pleasing as they were complex. It wouldn't do to waste her effort.

     

    She nodded stiffly. "Thank you. And out."

     

     

  5. "Language," Nicole chided lightly before Jayaman leapt into the air, transformed into an eagle-man, and Qualia right behind him. She watched with a pout hidden behind a helmet as winds buffeted those on the ground. Leaping headfirst into the fray wouldn't be a bother, so long as they did it with everything they could know. But they left without even a word about her concern, and that was what irked her the most. She stamped her boot in frustration and sighed. "Fine. Let's just fight the thing."

     

    Huang had cast a spell which looked for magical energies, far as her sensors could tell. Nicole on her part engaged her thrusters, accelerating to top speed in seconds before stopping high above the scene. She was provided with a bird's eye view from her vantage point and the octopus-squid-monster and Archetech plazas both could almost fit within her hands. Perfect.

     

    She activated her radar, various objects of interest lighting up in her HUD in bright purple silhouettes. At the same, she raised her arms and began to heat up her autocannons. Her face lit up with a rictus grin. Hands cupped her chin in concentration. Enemies. Simulations. A fight. An exercise. Wanton destruction and calculated moves. They were all this, and she-

     

    Father started coughing violently, loud and annoying enough to break her concentration.

     

    She did not give him the satisfaction.

  6. Nicole collapsed with a muffled yelp as she suddenly found herself in the middle of a forest. She sprawled face first on the ground, her shout terminating with a mouthful of grass, and for a moment there was the earthy dark as she tried to grasp her bearings. One moment, she was in Claremont, making tutting sounds at her painting, and the next she was outdoors and without her wheelchair in clothes that did not feel right. None of it felt right.

     

    With a heave of her arms, she flipped herself up, sputtering grass and dirt on the way. Her head bounced on the ground with a dull thud and took the wind out of her.

     

    ...

     

    "Ow."

     

    She was breathing heavily when she realized she was not alone but alone in the middle of an eclectic group of yellow... robed... She sneered as one of them came running up to her, his hand extended as if she'd fall for that. She diverted her eyes from the symbols on his robes. Maybe he wouldn't be so friendly if she spat on his hand or pushed it away but she smiled, calling for Bellios, her armor, as she tried to stall for time.

     

    She pushed herself to her elbows and when he smiled back, his fangs showing clearly in the eclipse, it only made her want to wretch in disgust. Instead, her stomach fell as her armor failed to respond. There should have been a feeling of battle just about now, of protection and foes to fight and bloody struggle, but there was nothing and that made her more scared than anything these two-bit practitioners could have done.

     

    "Cultist," she spat and backed away, crawling on her elbows, from the demon-looking man. Though he wasn't really from the Infernal Realms, a small part of her mind registered as her eyes took in the rest. "There's no need for games; I know who you are. And whatever crazy ritual you've cooked up, it won't work."

     

    One hand found a dead branch, sturdy but light enough to swing with one arm, and she pulled herself up against a tree, back leaning heavily against its trunk.

     

    "And don't think I'm so stupid that I'd give you my name."

  7. "A program is only logical, of course. I can't imagine what we'd be doing for an hour or two given that there isn't any..."

     

    Nicole adjusted her glasses as the candy menagerie formed on the table. They clearly weren't normal candy and had more in common with magical curios  than it did the grocery past the corner where she bought her candy. An expenditure of time and resources and most of all energy, but an expenditure there was not denying the quality of. How the practitioner in the lab coat practiced his magic was strange and curious, but not surprising given the breadth of magic's potential.

     

    She glanced at the candy maker, gesturing for permission, and picked up a chocolate frog, examining it thoroughly. It looked back at her and opened its mouth as if to croak though no sound came out.

     

    "Odd," Nicole murmured, loud enough for the lab coat man to hear. "What, why, and how?"

  8. "Nicole." She extended a hand in greeting, her manners kicking in almost immediately. "Pleased to meet you. And how may I call you, sir?"

     

    A quick peek around the room quickly put to rest her notion the gravitas occult meetings lent itself. There was no ominous Latin chanting, no hooded robes or pentagram written in goat's blood, but was it too much to ask for an animal sacrifice or two for the freshest ingredients? Even a frog dunked in liquid preservatives would have been nice, but judging by the mass produced food on the table there was an argument for the sacrifice of humanity through their labor.

     

    Now was not the time though, and she moved to get some tea, passing by two men. One could have stepped straight out of a low-budget sci-fi film, and the other had this punk rocker sorta vibe. They did not scream 'occult practitioner' but there wasn't exactly a single, dominating stereotype of one anyway.

     

    She turned to the older man. "Is there a program for tonight? The invitation did not mention anything and I don't want to assume."

  9. "Funny, that's what every mage wants you to think," Nicole pointed out. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at Huang's attempts to affect the wisdom and poise he did not possess. There was no accounting for how people carried themselves, but it was precious in the way he tried.

     

    She traced a single rune down its disparate components with an armored finger. Huang saw the armor light up where she pressed it, somehow expressing her pride in the way it glowed in different energies only visible with Huang's mage sight. It spoke of centuries and lost magic, of how it adapted to the times and grew stronger with each passing generation. It became one with its wearer and took up her proclivities and strengths and shortcomings, and there was pride there. So much that it lit up with the slightest provocation. "At least you have a good eye," she said, her words clipped.

     

    Then Huang left and even a blind woman could see the tension between him and Jayaman, but before Nicole could ask what was going on between them the simulation began with a familiar sight: the Pyramid Plaza. She had seen better renditions, but she could imagine the place where her department called its own. Deeper in the bowels of the stylized ego of a man, they would not be privy to the sight of an oversized Calamari-to-be climbing their towers.

     

    She blinked, processing the simulation with wide eyes. Then the monster shrieked and shook her from her reverie. She glanced at Citizen, at the fleeing civilians, and finally at her schoolmates. She points at the monster. "Biggest threat or much too obvious?"

  10. Nicole Whitfield-Hall

    Quote

    Computers

    DC 25 + Opposed Check: An area in Riverside, Freedom City is the source of certain electronic spying signatures that can be found around the United States, as far as The Emerald Cities and several other cities and states.

     

    Gather Information

    DC 15: Nicole is a graduate from Claremont Academy, a prestigious and exclusive high school located in the Bayview area of Freedom City.

    DC 20: Nicole is a member of the Whitfield clan, a wealthy but eccentric family who has investments in many businesses and fields, especially those in centered in washington and Oregon.

    DC 25: Her immediate family and many of her relatives died when her family's mansion burned down during a family gathering. This unfortunate tragedy has also been the cause of her paraplegia. Her foster family are now the Leons. The mother was Nicole's caretaker.

     

    Knowledge (Arcane Lore)

    DC 25: The magic Nicole is most familiar with is an joined communion of two specific branches of study, the Whitfields' and Halls'. The Whitfields, while still capable sorcerers, are best known for the quality and creativity of their magical artifacts and runes, and claim their influence to the first Anglo-Saxon clans. The Halls are a younger family, yet hold just as much pedigree in the art of energy manipulation as the Whitfields do in their own fields.

    DC 30: Her family, both the Whitfields and Halls, have been an invisible scourge upon the magical community in their spheres of influence, committing atrocities and violating basic human decency. To keep from the prying eyes of the Master Mage and The Order of Light, they conduct their operations subtly, worming their way to influence both mundane and magical in the Northwest United States and Quebec.

     

    Knowledge (Streetwise)

    DC 25: Nicole Whitfield is intimately connected to the bust of multiple criminal enterprises in The Emerald Cities. Through a series of anonymous tips she was able to provide information to the local authorities. The ensuing series of arrests were widely known and the various law enforcement agencies publicly lauded.

    DC 30: Wherever they are the Whitfields and the Halls have their handprint in organized crime, and Nicole Whitfield's immediate family had roots in Oregon for more than a hundred years. More than enough time to establish itself as a major, if subtle, investor of the Northwest's underworld.

     

     

    Salvo

    Quote

     

    Gather Information

    DC 15: Salvo is a hero active in Freedom City. Her flight allows her to patrol and respond in any district in the tri-state area, though she seems to favor certain areas.

     

    Knowledge (Technology) + Access to Bellios

    DC 30: Whatever Salvo is using to keep her armor running is nothing known to modern Earth science. While there are many backup reactors, ammunition stores, and comprehensive software to create a dizzying series of links and sources. But at the end of it all, it just doesn't make sense.

     

    Knowledge (Arcane Lore) + Access to Bellios

    DC 30: Unlike the Whitfield's claims to old and historied pedigree, Bellios is an undoubtedly ancient and magically puzzling artifact. The trace of Order is ever-present, needing to hold everything together, but there is also Chaos, the Infernal and Divine swap regularly with each other, and  a layer of Technomancy was added only recently.

     

     

  11. Nicole knocked on the door and waited.

     

    Or perhaps she should have just invited herself in instead of waiting with her hands awkwardly folded over her lap, two grocery bags sitting by her feet. One contained a shopping trip's worth of chocolate bars, candy, and chips; gifts of a polite house guest. However, she had filled the other grocery bag with a respectable amount of chalk, candle sticks, neon glowsticks, copper wires, incense, matches, spark plugs, and other esoteric catalysts useful for her particular style of magic. 

     

    Perhaps it was too much, but she would be the first to admit that she had little idea on how these gatherings, her only real experience with the wider magical community having been a disaster. It was another mistake laid on her parents' feet, one she felt the need to rectify, even if the past years have seen her too busy and focused on solitary projects to do so until now. She had received the invitation and was free tonight, having completed her schoolwork after classes, so there was no harm in trying.

     

    She fidgeted in the evening dress she was wearing. Sensible and proper; a dark purple that reached her knees with stockings that covered her legs. The door opened and she raised the two grocery bags. "Hello. I've brought... offerings."

  12. What did one care about an eclipse?

     

    That was the question hanging from Nicole's mind as she brushed a jagged line across the canvas. There were many things, least of which was the curiosity most of the mundane world afforded it. It was a pity of course, there was so much more beneath the surface. Magic was her primary concern in that matter; darkness such an apt term for the most primal of fears. Cold and unfeeling, or perhaps it felt, craved to eat and feast upon the blind in the night? That was what the darkness was since humanity huddled around their campfires, trying to ward of the predators that lurked at the edges of their camp.

     

    Tigers, wolves. Demons and devils. Bandits or invaders.

     

    It rarely mattered in the end. They were one and the same as far as those who preferred the light cared.

     

    No wonder then that soon eclipses became a portend of calamity, for the power to blot out the sun was great and terrible, and the mages of old used such fear to weave dark magics. Most people would look at her odd for thinking such things about a natural phenomena.

     

    She pursed her lips. Most people were outside, watching the moon as if it were something special. But she opted to stay indoors, in one of the art rooms that dotted the building. She had a tablet open, showing videos in many angles of the eclipse and the students watching it, TV monitor style. And she painted what she saw, put thoughts into color and figures, and perhaps people had a point.

     

    She backed away and looked at her still wet canvas with appraising eyes. Dark and foreboding, and terrible in all its vicious beauty. The students flitted to and fro an orb filled with the echoes of the dead and yet-to-die and their gazes fell upon and beside each other, knowing the secrets they held, and melting into something they should not be.

     

    Ugh. She was supposed to be past that teenage stage.

  13. "Well," Nicole drawled as she spun in place to face Selena. Her fingers hovered over her smartphone. There was an interactive map of the amusement park on the display and Nicole waved the phone at Selena. "It looks like the foodcourt and the roller coaster that turns-like-nothing are next to each other. The Arcade's off a little ways though. But you could come with us to the foodcourt if you don't mind walking a few minutes longer."

    "Coming Koa? Corinne? Jann?" She said as she began to steer away from the group, moving to the East pier among a few patrons who decided to enjoy the early beach-side morning, same as the Claremont students.

     

    "I love the smell of the ocean too, Selena. Makes me hungry for fish and chips, and there's a good place this way."

  14. Nicole's ears perked up as her auditory receptors detected an unknown subject that was not inside the waiting room moments before. Curious, and a little peeved at someone getting under her sensors, she collapsed the mess of data threads and initiated her radar, sending out a single pulse. She counted eight people when before there was seven, with the newcomer leaning against the back wall. He was... very pretty wouldn't be too inaccurate, maybe handsome even, never mind the two elongated canine teeth that reminded her of a vampire's. And he was staring straight at her.

     

    She straightened and turned, meeting his eyes. "Yes?"

     

    A quick cross-reference matched the face, and she moved to him. 

     

    "Did you get lost, Huang?"
     

  15. So that's where I heard of him!

     

    Nicole shot a questioning look at Citizen's outburst. What? she sent back, remembering that her facial cues where useless when wearing a helmet.

     

    They were in the simulation room now, and she stepped beside Citizen, glancing at the group as he began to recite the scenarios. She considered the options before her, crossing her arms as she thought, each scenario bringing up more conjectures and threads to clutter her interface. Medieval, Crisis, Outer Space, Invasion, Undersea, Cross-Dimensional... She ended up flipping a mental coin as her father watched, bored.

     

    "Just choose Medieval," He snapped on her fifteenth toss and seventh tails.

     

    "Crisis," she told Citizen.

  16. Upgraded by Absurdist

     

    • Changed picture.
    • Changed birthday.
    • At The Absurdist's suggestion added Online Research to Data Link. Removed Cyberspace and Precise.
    • Alphabetized Weapons Suite Array.
    • Changed Missile Batteries to Area Targeted. Removed Dazzle.

     

    Spoiler

     

    SalvoSuperhero.png.7ec21b89d5f64cadede52b24e5373ca9.png

     

    Player Name: Zeitgeist BlueSpiderman.jpg.26dc057ba6d18774e71a930db652473b.jpg


    Character Name: Salvo
    Power Level: 10 (150/150PP)
    Trade-Offs: -5 Attack / +5 Damage, -5 Defense / +5 Toughness
    Unspent Power Points: 0


    In Brief: Last member of a fallen house who refuses her family's legacy and seeks to make amends. 

     

    Residence: Apartment at Riverside, Downtown Freedom City/Dorm at Claremont Academy
    Base of Operations: Claremont Academy
    Catchphrase: "Locked on... And firing."

     

    Alternate Identity: Nicole Whitfield-Hall
    Identity: Secret
    Birthplace: CA, USA
    Occupation: Student
    Affiliations: Claremont Academy, Whitfields, Halls
    Family: Arthur Whitfield (Father), Amelie Hall (Mother), James Whitfield-Hall (Brother), Lauren Whitfield-Hall (Sister), Gregory Whitfield-Hall (Brother), Belle Whitfield-Hall (Sister)

     

    Description:
    Age: 17 (August 13, 2000)
    Gender: Female
    Ethnicity: Mixed (African-Canadian, Caucasian) 
    Height: 5'8" (without armor); 6'1" (with armor)
    Weight: 125 lbs
    Eyes: Brown
    Hair: Black

     

    Power Descriptions:

    While Nicole is innately attuned to magical energies, it is her battle armor, Bellios, which allows her to focus those energies into the powers she uses as a superhero. Once an old and storied magical heirloom, her work on the armor has made it something more, creating within its essence a platform that applies both centuries of tradition and cutting-edge methodologies integrated in a dialectic unity. Bellios usually manifests her powers in set systems with a technological bent, as befitting her leanings.

     

    Yet it is a thing as much of magic as the material world. Intersecting rune arrays tun electrical currents through chiseled patterns in the armor plates. Targeting spirits line up her Gatling guns and missile batteries as a handcrafted dimension, metaphysically tuned and coupled to Bellios, feeds alchemically-imbued ammunition to sate its voracious appetite for firepower.

     

    History:

    Seek Knowledge. Wield Power.

     

    Those were the words Nicole lived by most of her life. It was the words the Whitfield family has lived by and died for for hundreds of years, since the first Whitfields arrived in the Americas to gamble their fortune as plantation owners, since even before then as they lived like nobles in the Old World. These words were writ in gold-plated letters above every door and fireplace in the Whitfield grounds, so that each member of the family may remember the reason for their existence. The Whitfields were many and spread across the world, as befitting a venerable and wealthy family, but those Whitfields who called California their home were those who could trace their ancestry straight and true. The purest and oldest. The heirs of a legacy that was yet to come.

     

    It was this life and lineage, which Nicole was birthed to, third eldest among five siblings. As a younger sibling, she was not expected to inherit much and neither was much expected from her. She was left to her own devices, made busy with everything old money could buy. Servants in livery, the most expensive toys and gadgets, the richest food served in multiple course meals, yet she felt little, if any, parental love as a young child. She wandered the halls of the mansion alone, a small child who barely reached the waist of any adult, under the paintings of her ancestors, their eyes watchful and austere in the low light. Her parents were much too busy to take time off for her, always managing their holdings and grooming James, her eldest sibling when they were not travelling or locked inside their individual studies.

     

    Lauren, her older sister was sent to study in boarding school before Nicole could remember, and at the times the two met, they were even more distant to each other than she and James.  Perhaps then, this would have been a sad life, a childhood with little friends and love, but her personal caretaker took a liking for the young Whitfield, and it was from there that Nicole had experienced a semblance of warmth from another. Elizabeth Leon, her caretaker, took her under her wing, and began to go above and beyond the duties of a servant of Whitfield in attending to her charge’s needs. She was there whenever Nicole needed her - as her only playmate in games of tea or house, or as a shoulder to cry on when either Father or Mother scolded her childish antics.

     

    It was the first time someone truly saw Nicole as more than just a valuable asset to the family. Elizabeth listened to her, and she in turn listened. She learned of her caretaker's family, of Elizabeth's three daughters, the youngest who was her age, and of her husband who was struggling with depression. Elizabeth's bedtime stories were not fairy tales, or fanciful adventure stories. They were of the ordinary, the mundane somehow made wonderful, for it was another world for Nicole.

     

    Years passed and Nicole would grow to adolescence, soon sharing the mansion with two younger siblings, Gregory and Belle, yet like her older siblings spent less and less time with them as she grew older and was sent to an English boarding school. It was also during this time that she drew her parents’ interest. She was a genius among a family which prided itself on producing geniuses, and her intelligence was obvious for anyone with eyes to see. She soaked up information like a sponge and understood lectures meant for students a decade her senior, the many lonely hours she spent pouring over her family library now had paid off, and she had not stopped. Time and time again a servant or janitor would spy the library doors ajar, faint lights open in hours that ghosts roamed awake. They were how she spent her idle time when not with Elizabeth or playing with Gregory and Belle, and neither did she feel a recluse in boarding school, not as much as she did within the Whitfield grounds.

     

    There she had other girls to gossip with, cute boys to sneak glances to, teachers to mock behind their backs. She just tended to develop a fixation for a problem she couldn't solve, or a theory that had caught her interest, and either would occupy the back of her mind, maddening and lingering, until she'd spend hours or days searching and solving, and trying and asking, until she could confidently say she knew all there was worth knowing about that topic. Only then could she dismiss those thoughts that gripped her. It was there that she came to love the wonders of the modern world, how intricate and detailed and interconnected everything was, if only people could see it. Physics led to engineering led to technology led to mathematics led to-- ad infinitum.

     

    She was fifteen when she was summoned to the Whitfield mansion. She remembers, like all things, it was the middle of autumn and school was in full swing, yet she received a phone call. She was to drop all that she was doing and arrive at a earliest date, and she acqueised. A private jet was already waiting for her the same day she had received the call and she flew half the world to California. She was not the only one to be called. Her older brother and sister had already arrived, as had a dozen of her blood relations. The next few days saw a few dozen more arrive - cousins, and Aunts and Uncles - if she was to be technical. Almost every Whitfield of any worth gathered for the first time within a 20-acre estate.

     

    It was unprecedented, and a little daunting for Nicole, even as Elizabeth and Belle greeted her home. Gregory had stayed in his boarding school in France. 

     

    All of the Whitfields gathered within a vast chamber buried in the underground vaults of the mansion, and all the servants and retinues barred from entry. They were in the center of the estate, ley lines tracing energies where beats its magical heart, and patterns upon patterns of arcane sigils and stones dotted the walls, lights tracing paths safe to tread, the family's scrolls and tomes arranged orderly rows. Clearly, this ritual had anticipated for some time, and prepared for with a meticulous patience Nicole knew her parents possessed in abundance.

     

    She read what she knew, for she was not yet a full-blooded mage, could make only guesswork as to the reasons for trappings older than her grandparents, but what she saw indicated a technique that would converge every type of magic and energy present into the one point of chamber. A melding of sorts made larger than life for all those attending now as while they were all of the name Whitfield, and all knew the alchemical arts that so defined the family, decades and centuries had diversified their skills to the point of a sensory jumble. Like crossing a street in Los Angeles and picking out people of different ethnicities. Too many that it gets confusing, yet still holding many underlying characteristics in common.

     

    They began. The lights were shut off, a candle in the center of the congregation. Nicole could just make out her father, mother, then James and Lauren standing at intervals apart. Young Belle then, was not to be a part of their destiny. First, there was chanting, occult languages in different tongues reverberating through the walls and melding into one sonorous note. She does not know how long they had stayed there. She does not remember, she would admit uneasily, what had transpired in the darkness, amid hooded figures, and whispering fell things. The candle had guttered into a cold flicker, and a cackling, wet and heavy and inside.

     

    Her arms burned, and her throat cracked with smoke. She hurt all over but her legs, and when she awoke, barely aware, the chamber was on fire and Elizabeth was carrying Nicole in her arms, a bag stuffed with scrolls strapped on her shoulders. They ran from the chamber, out the basement and the mansion as everything burned. Nicole watched the mansion crumble in flames. Her legs refuse and Elizabeth carried her to the waiting paramedics, and she decided she was dreaming.

     

    The authorities would say it was a stray spark that started the fire. An unfortunate series of events led to this tragedy, the official statement would read, leading to 43 deaths, mostly from suffocation and localized within the chamber, except for one teenager that was rescued by a heroic maid. They applauded Elizabeth and shifted through the rubble, looking for survivors. They did not find Belle.

     

    Gregory would go missing shortly thereafter.

     

    She worried about Gregory and went into mourning, for Belle most of all. She was released from the hospital, a certified paraplegic, to Elizabeth and her family in the meantime, who were her legal guardians now. She saved what she could from the remains of her family's capital. The vultures had picked at everything long before she left the hospital. Through means legal and not so legal,  her family's once vast fortune had dwindled, taken by rivals, and those seeking revenge or restitution. And perhaps it was for the best.

     

    She had canceled her boarding school. There was an itch her brain could not scratch, and a hunch told her she would find her answers by staying. She soon discovered a side of her family that sickened her. They were corrupt, and perhaps that was not a revelation with how rich they were, but in their dealings lives were lost and ruined with the act of a single handshake, and people killed from one spoken word of her parents. She dug into the books, into the diaries and records saved from the fire. She talked to the lawyers and phoned business partners overseas. The Californian Whitfields had its hand in every pie in the city, state, and a significant number in the country and beyond.

     

    Oil spill cover ups, land siezures from the poor, money laundering, arms trafficking, financing the local Mafia, and shaking hands with Mexican cartels. The Whitfields were far worse among the magical community, yet just as insidious, where an overarching authority non-existent. It was a headache to have it all revealed and heaped upon her in a short time, and she cut every connection she could and gave all she could to the authorities. As the only Whitfield left, she had that right, even if many of her family's erstwhile partners did not see it her way. She walked -- rolled rather -- the streets now, instead of the halls of a mansion or an elite boarding school in a far-off country. They were concrete and now, and she couldn't ignore what was in front of her, even as her magic began to die a slow death for no discernible reason.

     

    Seek Knowledge. Wield Power.

     

    Her family had its reasons for everything they've done, excuses more like. But it was something to say to let them sleep at night, and she couldn't say they were deluded. Not when those reasons almost felt right, like this was just the natural state of the world. The strong prey on the weak. Predators eat. Prey flee. Humans fought wars and died and gave birth. And Whitfields learned and gathered.

     

    She woke up one night as she felt eyes watching her. Bellios stood at the foot of her bed, unscathed. Her powers were all but dead by then, and when she had attempted to wear the armor, the recurring psychic backlash left her sick and vomiting food for a week.

     

    By the coaxing of Elizabeth, she decided to fly to Freedom City and resume her schooling. She was frustrated and without hope, disgusted by her family's activities - a useless feeling, lugging an armor that did nothing but make her ill. Still, perhaps she could find a solution in the city of heroes and start anew, far away from the death of her family and the toxic they left. So she transferred half the money she had inherited with Elizabeth and her family, as much as it was a pittance compared to what her family once held, it was a large sum for them and it felt like the right thing to do to thank them for everything.

     

    She flew out the next day.

     

    She was eligible for Claremont, if just barely, and wasn't that cute.

     

    For two years she was the most useless student to grace its halls. Stuck in a wheelchair and magic that fizzled pathetically, if she could even get it to work, she would have been kicked out if it weren't for her intelligence and ability to create tech and mystical devices. She brought with her the family scrolls, even if she could recall their contents easily enough, and could call on mystical energies that did not originate from within. Magic rituals and petty concoctions, she knew how to make them. Electronic riff-raff that would not have been out of place in a gadgeteer's arsenal.

     

    All the while the familiar presence lay heavy upon her mind. It was the strongest pull she had ever, and it was directed in its entriety to Bellios. She let herself fall into that obsession, working for a year upon that construct of ancient arcana. She learned so much more than she would within the confines of a classroom, or the laughable practicums the teachers would give to her. She dreamed of bolts and runes, and incantations and coding. And when she was not buried within Bellios, within the confines of her work, she was formulating ways to improve it, to create more energy, more power, because it hungered.

     

    For two years, barely anyone outside her scheduled classes saw her. During class, her presence was almost non-existent, her output just enough to pass.

     

    But just before the end of the school year she rose from her fugue, as if she had fallen asleep or into a coma and had only woke up, though she remembered everything as clear as day. Groggy, head aching, her insides feeling like jelly, she looked up to take in her work.

     

    And it was beautiful.

     

    Personality & Motivations

    Nicole is, if anything, inclined to extremes. When something deemed important should done, then it should be done to the fullest of one's abilities or not at all. She is analytical, perhaps a bit too cerebral at times, but mostly means well, especially regarding the well-being of those she meets. She tries to be friendly, taking the time to engage in small talk and get to know people before making judgments about them. In a similar manner, she prefers to have all the facts before committing on a plan of action. This does mean she is prone to taking too much time when presented with an abundance of information, perhaps even contradictory reports, until someone pushes her to act.

     

    Perhaps as a way to atone for her family's wrongdoing, she has chosen to bear the mantle of a superhero, opposing those her parents would have gladly drink wine with. They were failures, she'd be quick to admit, but she won't be like them. And like everything worth doing, she has taken no half-measures.

     

    Powers & Tactics:

    Though not trained or experienced in fighting, Nicole's common sense lets her understand to fight where she is strong and her foes are not. She prefers to keep her distance, flying and invisible as she overwhelms her opponents through judicious use of firepower. When hemmed in or grounded, she will attempt to cut her way free from the fighting, blasting her way out.  Her arsenal also heightens her senses, encompassing machines and magic, which she can use to observe her opponents and perform reconnaissance undetected until she wishes to reveal her presence, usually through an opening salvo.

     

    Complications:
    A Parallel Path: Aside from her studies in Claremont Academy, the looming graduation and all that entails, and her nighttime superheroing as Salvo, Nicole still needs to find time as an intern in Archetech, providing quality yet affordable technology and energy to the less affluent locals of Freedom City. It's given her another purpose to work towards, and she takes this as a personal task, small a help as it is. She's met several people because of this, both from Archetech and Freedom City, but it does mean she's starting to see that part of the city as her turf, in addition to the magical hotspots. Sense of responsibility included. She will go out of her way for these people and places, more so than usual, even if she will not admit so. (Responsibility)

     

    Collateral Damage: Like it says on the tin: collateral damage. Turns out, holding the trigger of two fusion autocannons spinning at 3,000 rounds per minute each and firing super-heated metals in the city, or anywhere with infrastructure, isn't the smartest idea. Who knew? Nicole does, intellectually, but in the heat of battle there isn't time to think; only the surge of adrenaline and energy blasts flying. It's unfortunate, but damage does happen, especially when she pushes the suit to its full potential. Needless to say, there are consequences when this happens, even if she wins the fight. (Accident).

     

    Father Dearest: Her father isn't the nicest of people and just when Nicole had thought she had gotten rid of him, his ghost, or at least a very convincing simulacrum of it, has inhabited Bellios as its machine spirit. She has tried to get rid of it, but he unfortunately seems to be staying as an unwanted but essential component. Thankfully, he does seem more agreeable, seeing as she is his only heir. And while he wishes to see her alive and well, he cares not one whit for anyone not a Whitfield. This has sometimes resulted in a struggle between parent and child when their objectives conflict with each other, usually pitting risk anfthe acquisition of artifacts against her responsibility as a superhero (one other thing he cares little about). But his long term goals, if he even has one, are still a mystery.

     

    Of course, in a contest between man and spirit, more often than not, it is not often clear who will win.

     

    It Hungers for War: Bellios is first and foremost a machine of war. Its pistons hum in anticipation of battle, and the monistic links blur the line between wearer and suit. When Nicole rages, it responds with greater power. When Bellios rages, she responds by pushing it to its limits. Additionally, it is very susceptible to the appearance of the Fae. A whiff of emission from those foul beings causes in it a single-minded bloodlust. Luckily, these episodes have been rare, but less extreme emotions do sometimes bleed off, turning the well-thought out into just plain compulsive.

     

    Man and Machine: When Nicole enters Bellios she becomes more than human, and more than just an amalgam of steel and flesh. They become one, in all definitions of the word. The world outside sees one being and acts accordingly; any power that would have effected either her, as a mere human sorcerer, or the techno-magics enmeshed into Bellios would affect the whole that Salvo has become. To be able to process this, Nicole's mind translates the changes into a reality she could comprehend, creating a HUD and "eyes" to see from her helmet. Anything that would blind her, or interfer with the magic and electronics in the armor, would scramble that visual interface and all essential information arrayed within it .

     

    Something in the Dark: Many small things go Nicole's way at just the right time, and just the right way, to make her life easier. In much the same way, she finds herself in situations that would seem contrived in any book or movie, yet leading to additional difficulties she must overcome. While these minor coincidences are merely irritating or helpful during her everyday, they are more disastrous during a serious superhero mission. There is a crawling, nagging feeling of being watched whenever they happen, though even her armor's sensors can find no trace, magical or otherwise, to confirm her suspicions.

     

    The Gift of Blood: Family legend traces their line stretches back to the age of Christian Rome, during the first centuries of the first millennium. During that time, the pope decreed the library destroyed. Unable to bear such wanton waste of knowledge, her ancestor had made a pact with an agent of a powerful being from another world. He would be given the ability to save the contents of the library, but he and his offspring must bear a price (or a blessing as the official version states), and a destiny to be fulfilled long after his death. Whatever the truth is, Nicole and those of her blood possess, without fail, a compulsion.

     

    Knowledge, especially forbidden knowledge, is the sweetest water, and she occasionally finds herself using her powers to fulfill her family's quest. While non of her episodes have reached the two years working on Bellios, many smaller episodes are still smaller occurences, particularly during her heightened magical state while using her armor. Nicole's obsession has her pursue information above all else, usually by absent-mindedly hacking into databases when she is in the suit, though there are many other ways she may go about this. These seem like good ideas at the time, but done at the wrong time, and with the wrong systems, and a slip-up may land her in serious trouble. (Obsession)

     

    The Sins of Family: Ever since finding out about her family's unsavory secrets, Nicole has endeavored to do good where they would do wrong. Still, there are those who see her as nothing more than the last Whitfield or a foolish girl. Most see her as no better than those bearing the same name. Yet some would go out of their way to rid her for revenge or opportunity. While there are enough in the mundane world, it is the magical community who has suffered the most from her family's excesses. As few and isolated as they are, they have long memories. And many ways to trace magic signatures.

     

    Whitfields and Halls, they say, are particularly distinct. (Enemy and Reputation)

     

    This Magic of Mine: Her magic isn't so hot when outside Bellios, understatement of the year, but her armor does act as a focus for her magic, heightening it into a weapon of mass destruction. While most of her inner energy transfers seamlessly into its various systems, a leak is unavoidable sometimes, and a once controllable yet feeble magic turns uncontrollable and potent; a combination that's often bad news. Though she may choose to hold it inside for a time, risking her magic's side-effects, she must eventually discharge the surge of power. A badly-timed spike, or an unwanted manifestation of that magic, could turn the tables very quickly. Not always for the better.

     

    Abilities: 0 - 2 + 0 + 14 + 0 + 0 = 12PP

    Strength: 18/10 (+4/0)
    Dexterity: 8 (-1)
    Constitution: 20/10 (+5/0)
    Intelligence: 24 (+7)
    Wisdom: 10 (+0)
    Charisma: 10 (+0)

    Combat: 6 + 5 = 11PP
    Initiative: -1
    Attack: +3 Base, +3 Melee, +3 Ranged, +5 Weapons Suite Array [+9 Containment Foam, +10 Missile Batteries]

    Grapple: +18/4/0
    Defense: +5/3 (+3/2 Base, +2/1 Dodge Focus), +1 Flat-Footed
    Knockback: -7/0

    Saving Throws: 0 + 0 + 0 = 0PP
    Toughness: +15/0 (+5/0 Con, +10 Protection)
    Fortitude: +5/0 (+5/0 Con, +0)
    Reflex: +5/-1 (-1 Dex, +6)
    Will: +5/0 (+0 Wis, +5/0)

    Skills: 60R = 15PP
    Computers 10 (+17)

    Craft (Artistic) 5 (+12)

    Craft (Chemical) 5 (+12)
    Craft (Electronic) 8 (+15)
    Craft (Mechanical) 5 (+12)
    Disable Device 6 (+13)
    Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 7 (+14)
    Knowledge (Physical Science) 5 (+12)
    Knowledge (Technology) 7 (+14)

    Language 2 (English, French, Spanish)


    Feats: 5PP
    Artificer

    Benefit (Wealth)
    Eidetic Memory
    Inventor

    Ritualist

     

    Powers: 113 + 1 = 114PP

     

    Device 28 (Battlesuit, Magical, Tech; 140DP; Extra Effort [Device]; Feats: Restricted [Beings with Magic]) [113PP]

    Descriptors: All (Hermetic) Magic and Technology combined. Magitech.

     

               Protocol Sy 6.6 (35PP Container) [33DP]

                           Enhanced Strength 8 [8DP]

                           Enhanced Constitution 10 [10DP]

                           Enhanced Combat 1 (Defence 1) [2DP]

                           Enhanced Saves 11 (Reflex 6, Will 5) [11DP]

                           Enhanced Feats 2 (Attack Specialization (Weapons Suite), Dodge Focus) [2DP]

     

               Communications 4 (Radio, 1 mile; Extras: Area; Flaws: Action [Move]; Feats: Selective, Subtle) [6DP]

     

               Hexagrammic Paneling 4.8 (24PP Container) [24DP]

                           Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9DP]

                           Protection 10 [10DP]

                           Living Metal 5 (Regeneration; Recovery Rate [Bruised (1 Round), Injured 4 (1 Round)]) [5DP]

     

               Sensory Suite Array 5.5 (13PP Array; Feats: Alternate Powers 2) [15PP]

                          BESuper-Senses 13 (Direction Sense [+1], Distance Sense [+1], Radio [+1], Radar [+3]; Radar [Enhancements:

                          Accurate (+0), Acute (+0), Analytical (+1), Counters Concealment (+2), Counters Obscure (+2), Extended 2 [1,000 ft] (+2),

                          Radius (+0), Ranged (+0)]) {13/13}

                          APSuper-Senses 13 (Mental [Magic] Awareness [+3]; Awareness [Enhancement: Accurate (+2), Acute (+1), Analytical (+1),

                          Counters Concealment (+2), Counters Obscure (+2), Extended [1,000 ft] (+2), Radius (+0), Ranged (+0)]) {13/13}

                          AP: Data Link 5 (Radio, 5 miles; Extras: Area, Linked [Enhanced Feats]; Flaws: Check Required [Computers]; Feats: Machine Control,

                          Online Research, Rapid 4 [x10,000], Selective, Subtle) {13/13}

     

               Servo-Dynamos 6.5 (13DP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 2, Dynamic 3) [18DP]

                          DBE: Flight 0-6 (500 mph / 5,000 per Move Action; Feats: Subtle) {0-13}

                          DAPSuper-Strength 0-6 (Effective Strength 16-46, Heavy Load ~200 lbs-~6 tons) {0-12}

                          DAP: Invisibility Matrix 0-1 (Invisibility; All Visual Senses; Feats: Close Range) {0-9}

     

               Weapons Suite Array 19.5 (39PP Array; Feats: Alternate Powers 5) [44DP]

                          BEKinetic Beam 10 (Blast; Extras: Linked [Dazzle], Range [Perception]; Flaws: Action [Full]; Feats: Knockback 8 [18 Total],

                          Variable [Energy/Tungsten]) {29} + Dazzle 10 (Visual; Extras: Linked [Blast], Range [Perception]; Flaws: Action [Full]) {10}

                          = {39/39}

                         AP: Containment Foam 11 (Snare; Extras: Regenerating; Feats: Accurate 2, Affects Insubstantial 2,

                         Improved Critical 2 [18-20]) {39/39}

                         AP: Flamethrowers 10 (Hellfire; Extras: Area [General, Cone], Vampiric; Flaws: Range [Touch]; Feats:

                         Affects Insubstantial 2, Dimensional 2 [Magical], Incurable, Split Attack 2, Variable Descriptor 2 [Electricity/Fire/Water]) {39/39}

                         AP: Fusion Autocannons 15 (Blast; Extras: Autofire; Flaws: Distracting; Feats: All-out Attack, Improved Critical 2 [18-20],

                         Precise Shot 2, Power Attack, Split Attack, Variable Descriptor 2 [Any Metal]) {39/39}

                         AP: Matter Manipulation 12 (Transmutation; Flaws: Duration [Concentration], Range [Touch];

                         Feats: Extended Range, Precise, Progression) {39/39}

                         AP: Missile Batteries 10 (Blast; Extras: Area [Targeted, Burst]Feats: Accurate 2, All-out Attack,

                         Attack Focus [Ranged], Homing, Improved Critical 2 [18-20], Indirect, Power Attack) {39/39}                    

                

    Magic 1 (2PP Array; Flaws: Unreliable) [1PP]

               Dazzle 1 (Visual + Auditory) [2PP]

     

    Drawbacks: -2 + -1 + -4  = -7PP

    Disability (Paraplegic) -2PP (Frequency: Uncommon; Intensity: Moderate)

    Nearsighted -1PP (Frequency: Uncommon; Intensity: Minor)

    Normal Identity -4PP (Frequency: Very Common; Intensity: Moderate)

     

    DC Block

    ATTACK                         RANGE         SAVE                                                 EFFECT
    Unarmed                       Touch            DC 19/15 Toughness                     Damage (Physical, Bludgeoning)
    Kinetic Beam                Perception   DC 25 Toughness (Penetrating)   Damage (Energy/Bludgeoning)

    Dazzle                            Perception   DC 20 Reflex/Fortitude                  Dazzle (Staged)

    Containment Foam      Ranged        DC 21 Reflex                                    Snare (Staged)

    Flamethrowers             Ranged         DC 25 Toughness                           Damage (Electricity/Fire/Water)

    Fusion Autocannons   Ranged         DC 30 Toughness (Autofire)         Damage (Physical)

    Matter Manipulation   Touch            DC 23 Fortitude                              Transmutation

    Missile Batteries          Ranged         DC 25 Toughness                           Damage (Missiles)

    Dazzle                            Perception   DC 11 Reflex/Fortitude                  Dazzle (Staged)

     

    Totals: Abilities (12) + Combat (11) + Saving Throws (0) + Skills (15) + Feats (5) + Powers (114) - Drawbacks (7) = 150/150 Power Points

     

    Totals: 140/140 Device Points

     

     

     

  17. "Yeah. You too," Nicole said, taken aback by the outburst that greeted her as soon as she stepped into her new room. Then she found arms wrapping around her armor in a hug, and Nicole squeezed back awkwardly, feeling the other girl's warmth as if there wasn't an inch of malleable metal between the two of them. In the span of the hug, the school's file on Faiza Saeed sped by her helmet interface, and then more articles and videos posted on the Internet. She was just about done reading when Faiza released her.

     

    She was wearing a dark blue hijab that fit well with her blouse and jeans and warm smile on her face as she considered Nicole. "We'll make a great tram this year, eh? Lot of trouble a girl on her own can get into on this campus, but I'm sure we'll make it work."

     

    "Yeah." Nicole trailed off and nodded, agreeing with her sentiment but not sure what else to add. Then Qualia had entered the room and began to make small chat with Faiza. Nicole tuned their conversation out, focusing on her new room instead. It was empty and bare but for Faiza's belongings still packed in boxes stacked neatly one on top of the other. She measured the dimensions of the room and scanned Faiza's belongings, then picturing how the room would look like with all of their stuff in it. Her canvas and tools by the window, Faiza's picture frames on the overhang, her desktop taking the corner space...

     

    *****

    They had gathered together outside the dorms in a few minutes, and at Citizen's question Nicole had to stamp down the first answer that popped into her head. She ran over the specs of Claremont again, their functions and how they interacted with one and the other to form from disparate parts into a campus whole. She glanced over to the others, waiting for someone else to speak. Jayaman and Qualia were watching Corinne and Koa as well as each other.

     

    What do you think so far? asked Citizen through their private channel.

     

    Nicole looked at him and shrugged, cliche as it was. Nothing new. I know all of this.

     

    "The Doom Room."

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