[THE SUMMARY]
Tiny fragments of a interstellar meteor that land in central Siberia grow to become the greatest threat humanity has ever faced. The mass of alien nanomachines they consist of corrupts and assimilates all biomatter it comes into contact with, leaving plant life destroyed and animals rabid. Global societal collapse follows the corruption of most of the Eurasian continent, until its expansion is halted by the invention of electromagnetic shielding.
Humanity builds great walls with this shielding applied around the last untarnished areas- their Sanctuaries. Inside these sanctuaries great scientific progress is made by necessity; Gargantuan arcologies house the millions of refugees, vertical farms feed them, and all energy is sustainable. Nevertheless, in 2117, the lives of the inhabitants consists of hard work- lives like those of the members of ANIMA, scientists and engineers by day, but in their free time the finest Old World artifact hunters in the city-state of Freya.
It’s during one of their remote delves that a second alien faction visits Earth, crashing down in the direct vicinity of the members of ANIMA. The aliens, with morphing, glimmering white machines for bodies quickly make their intentions clear; To give humanity the means and the agency to defeat the threat of the Corruption. The heroes of our story take them up on the offer to fulfill this destiny and are each granted a companion- machines with sentient AI whose personalities are as unique as their skillset, and who transform from standalone machines to heavily weaponized exo-suits or hypersonic flight suits when necessary, but whose primary purpose is to offer insight into the Corruption’s weaknesses through intimate research.
With unique tools at their disposal but the fate of humanity’s future on their shoulders, how will our heroes fare?
~~~
[THE SETTING]
In the year 2117, 99 years after the arrival of the Corruption, the city-state of Freya houses roughly 35 million people inside a walled area covering much of what was once The Netherlands and Western Germany, constructed by a European effort to house all westbound refugees. Massive arcology complexes stretch miles into the ground and miles above it, connected by maglev trains. Desalination plants connected to the North Sea provide the necessary water for consumption and nourishing the genetically modified crops grown in the towering vertical farms that are surrounded by windmills generating power.
In a low-traffic area on the east side of the Randstad arcology tower stands a small domed building that functioned as a café once, before it was bought up and remodeled into a sanctuary for rare and endangered plant life to prosper in. It belongs to the entrepreneurial ecologist Hugo Sigmeijer, father of Anita Sigmijer- founder and captain of ANIMA.
Freya is one of the largest Sanctuaries on the European continent, second only to Wodan, the sanctuary shielded by the Alps on its southwest side and a wall on its northeast, covering much of Switzerland and all of Austria. Many more smaller sanctuaries are dotted around the continent- mostly on the west coasts and in Scandinavia.
Though the Corruption stretches from Europe all the way to the Pacific, and has also compromised the North American continent from Canada to the shielded Nicaraguan-Costa Rican border, certain areas of Earth are as of yet unaffected. They include the African continent, Saudi-Arabia and other arid areas with insufficient plant life, and everything south of the shielded Thai-Malaysian border- Including Australia. Most of the world’s surviving refugees now live in city-states in these areas.
The scientific progress wrought in the Sanctuaries was spread throughout the world, and a new globally united political-military body designated the Gaia Council used the technologies to create peace and order in the many dismantled nations that had fallen into war and destruction throughout the 21st century. In 2117, healthcare, education and equality are a fact of life for all of the world’s 2.5 billion inhabitants, though with the condition that every able body puts in hard work to ensure humanity’s continued survival.
~~~
Characters:
Tiny fragments of a interstellar meteor that land in central Siberia grow to become the greatest threat humanity has ever faced. The mass of alien nanomachines they consist of corrupts and assimilates all biomatter it comes into contact with, leaving plant life destroyed and animals rabid. Global societal collapse follows the corruption of most of the Eurasian continent, until its expansion is halted by the invention of electromagnetic shielding.
Humanity builds great walls with this shielding applied around the last untarnished areas- their Sanctuaries. Inside these sanctuaries great scientific progress is made by necessity; Gargantuan arcologies house the millions of refugees, vertical farms feed them, and all energy is sustainable. Nevertheless, in 2117, the lives of the inhabitants consists of hard work- lives like those of the members of ANIMA, scientists and engineers by day, but in their free time the finest Old World artifact hunters in the city-state of Freya.
It’s during one of their remote delves that a second alien faction visits Earth, crashing down in the direct vicinity of the members of ANIMA. The aliens, with morphing, glimmering white machines for bodies quickly make their intentions clear; To give humanity the means and the agency to defeat the threat of the Corruption. The heroes of our story take them up on the offer to fulfill this destiny and are each granted a companion- machines with sentient AI whose personalities are as unique as their skillset, and who transform from standalone machines to heavily weaponized exo-suits or hypersonic flight suits when necessary, but whose primary purpose is to offer insight into the Corruption’s weaknesses through intimate research.
With unique tools at their disposal but the fate of humanity’s future on their shoulders, how will our heroes fare?
~~~
[THE SETTING]
In the year 2117, 99 years after the arrival of the Corruption, the city-state of Freya houses roughly 35 million people inside a walled area covering much of what was once The Netherlands and Western Germany, constructed by a European effort to house all westbound refugees. Massive arcology complexes stretch miles into the ground and miles above it, connected by maglev trains. Desalination plants connected to the North Sea provide the necessary water for consumption and nourishing the genetically modified crops grown in the towering vertical farms that are surrounded by windmills generating power.
In a low-traffic area on the east side of the Randstad arcology tower stands a small domed building that functioned as a café once, before it was bought up and remodeled into a sanctuary for rare and endangered plant life to prosper in. It belongs to the entrepreneurial ecologist Hugo Sigmeijer, father of Anita Sigmijer- founder and captain of ANIMA.
Freya is one of the largest Sanctuaries on the European continent, second only to Wodan, the sanctuary shielded by the Alps on its southwest side and a wall on its northeast, covering much of Switzerland and all of Austria. Many more smaller sanctuaries are dotted around the continent- mostly on the west coasts and in Scandinavia.
Though the Corruption stretches from Europe all the way to the Pacific, and has also compromised the North American continent from Canada to the shielded Nicaraguan-Costa Rican border, certain areas of Earth are as of yet unaffected. They include the African continent, Saudi-Arabia and other arid areas with insufficient plant life, and everything south of the shielded Thai-Malaysian border- Including Australia. Most of the world’s surviving refugees now live in city-states in these areas.
The scientific progress wrought in the Sanctuaries was spread throughout the world, and a new globally united political-military body designated the Gaia Council used the technologies to create peace and order in the many dismantled nations that had fallen into war and destruction throughout the 21st century. In 2117, healthcare, education and equality are a fact of life for all of the world’s 2.5 billion inhabitants, though with the condition that every able body puts in hard work to ensure humanity’s continued survival.
~~~
Characters:
Name / Designation: Anita Sigmeijer / LAW
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Place of Birth: Randstad, Freya
Build / Complexion: Petite but rather athletic, dark-skinned and freckled.
Height / Weight: 159 CM / 61 KG
Hair: Dark brown with lighter accents, large untamable curls, often kept in a large bun.
Eyes: Amber.
Distinguishing Marks: Though it’s not normally visible under her clothes, both of her legs are skin tone robotic prosthetics down from just above the knees.
Attire: On work days, Anita’s always seen in her one-piece Engineering uniform of sturdy grey fabric accented geometric patches of black and orange. It features a belt with straps for tools, protective knee boots and arm guards with a built-in screen for machine analysis. During work hours a robotic module is strapped to the back, arms and legs via a harness, for access to power tools and increased lifting power.
In her free time Anita is often seen in darker outfits. She wears black boots, black or blue jeans, a variety of monochrome tops or sweaters and either her red faux-leather coat or her long black coat over that.
The ANIMA field mission outfit consists of hiking boots, cargo pants, weather- and wear-resistant tops, a dark waist-length hooded mantle, a small modern gas mask with dark-tinted eye protection and air filters and a large duffle bag, along with a variety of exploration tools like rope, climbing gear, picks, medical kit, provisions and cameras.
Carried Gear: Journals, writing tools, a camera, a military surplus stun baton and an engagement ring on her ring finger.
Personality: Confident, daring and quick-witted, Anita has all the qualities one might expect from a leader of an extralegal artifact hunting crew. It’s this confidence that can make her come across as abrasive or arrogant at times, but close friends know her as an endlessly enthusiastic person, whose contemplative side only comes out where the problems in her friends’ and family’s lives are concerned.
Values: Anita believes in facing challenges head-on and working hard to achieve your ambitions.
Aversions: Anita hates bullies and anyone who impedes the freedom of others- even if they’re figures of authority. Demeaning others is the quickest way to get Anita’s temper to flare up.
Hobbies: Anita is quite obsessed with the Old World, which is why she hunts for memorabilia in the ruins- and documents the ancient architecture on photo and video in the meanwhile. She also loves to tinker with technology, both Old World and modern, especially when it comes to vehicles and weaponry.
Skillset: From an early age Anita showed both athletic prowess and an aptitude for complex mathematics. Her interest in technology led her to follow a career path that would teach her the ins and out of practical engineering, which she now brings to practice as one of the Randstad’s infrastructural engineers, maintaining and constructing the arcology’s vital systems. Years spent exploring both the wilds and the arcologies’ innards has left her a skilled navigator by means of parkour and climbing.
Shortcomings: Anita judges others harshly and at times too quickly; She has a polarizing personality and a black-and-white worldview, making her seem stubborn and unempathetic at times.
Relatives: Hugo Sigmeijer (Father, renowned ecologist); Amari Adebowale (Mother, Gaia Council ambassador)
Relations: Lowanna Darlington - A Maori girl, marine biologist and Anita’s live-in fiancée.
History: Anita spent her childhood mostly in the care of her father, who often spent weeks at a time travelling the wilds within the walls of various Sanctuaries, documenting their state, and usually brought Anita along. She grew up clambering in trees and playing hide-and-seek with her father in old ruins. The many remnants of antiquated technology sparked a passion within her for dismantling and rebuilding machinery from a young age.
When the time came for a proper education, Anita choose Engineering and trained extensively over the years to become a respected engineer with in-depth knowledge of a variety of systems. At the same time, the itch to explore more Old World ruins became stronger, and despite the illegality of leaving the borders of the arcology, she founded ANIMA with a small crew of likeminded and skilled individuals she met via concealed webforums.
During her college years, she met with the marine biologist Lowanna Darlington and was instantly attracted to her. It only took one date to established a loving relationship, and soon after her 24th birthday Anita asked Lowanna for her hand in marriage.
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Place of Birth: Randstad, Freya
Build / Complexion: Petite but rather athletic, dark-skinned and freckled.
Height / Weight: 159 CM / 61 KG
Hair: Dark brown with lighter accents, large untamable curls, often kept in a large bun.
Eyes: Amber.
Distinguishing Marks: Though it’s not normally visible under her clothes, both of her legs are skin tone robotic prosthetics down from just above the knees.
Attire: On work days, Anita’s always seen in her one-piece Engineering uniform of sturdy grey fabric accented geometric patches of black and orange. It features a belt with straps for tools, protective knee boots and arm guards with a built-in screen for machine analysis. During work hours a robotic module is strapped to the back, arms and legs via a harness, for access to power tools and increased lifting power.
In her free time Anita is often seen in darker outfits. She wears black boots, black or blue jeans, a variety of monochrome tops or sweaters and either her red faux-leather coat or her long black coat over that.
The ANIMA field mission outfit consists of hiking boots, cargo pants, weather- and wear-resistant tops, a dark waist-length hooded mantle, a small modern gas mask with dark-tinted eye protection and air filters and a large duffle bag, along with a variety of exploration tools like rope, climbing gear, picks, medical kit, provisions and cameras.
Carried Gear: Journals, writing tools, a camera, a military surplus stun baton and an engagement ring on her ring finger.
Personality: Confident, daring and quick-witted, Anita has all the qualities one might expect from a leader of an extralegal artifact hunting crew. It’s this confidence that can make her come across as abrasive or arrogant at times, but close friends know her as an endlessly enthusiastic person, whose contemplative side only comes out where the problems in her friends’ and family’s lives are concerned.
Values: Anita believes in facing challenges head-on and working hard to achieve your ambitions.
Aversions: Anita hates bullies and anyone who impedes the freedom of others- even if they’re figures of authority. Demeaning others is the quickest way to get Anita’s temper to flare up.
Hobbies: Anita is quite obsessed with the Old World, which is why she hunts for memorabilia in the ruins- and documents the ancient architecture on photo and video in the meanwhile. She also loves to tinker with technology, both Old World and modern, especially when it comes to vehicles and weaponry.
Skillset: From an early age Anita showed both athletic prowess and an aptitude for complex mathematics. Her interest in technology led her to follow a career path that would teach her the ins and out of practical engineering, which she now brings to practice as one of the Randstad’s infrastructural engineers, maintaining and constructing the arcology’s vital systems. Years spent exploring both the wilds and the arcologies’ innards has left her a skilled navigator by means of parkour and climbing.
Shortcomings: Anita judges others harshly and at times too quickly; She has a polarizing personality and a black-and-white worldview, making her seem stubborn and unempathetic at times.
Relatives: Hugo Sigmeijer (Father, renowned ecologist); Amari Adebowale (Mother, Gaia Council ambassador)
Relations: Lowanna Darlington - A Maori girl, marine biologist and Anita’s live-in fiancée.
History: Anita spent her childhood mostly in the care of her father, who often spent weeks at a time travelling the wilds within the walls of various Sanctuaries, documenting their state, and usually brought Anita along. She grew up clambering in trees and playing hide-and-seek with her father in old ruins. The many remnants of antiquated technology sparked a passion within her for dismantling and rebuilding machinery from a young age.
When the time came for a proper education, Anita choose Engineering and trained extensively over the years to become a respected engineer with in-depth knowledge of a variety of systems. At the same time, the itch to explore more Old World ruins became stronger, and despite the illegality of leaving the borders of the arcology, she founded ANIMA with a small crew of likeminded and skilled individuals she met via concealed webforums.
During her college years, she met with the marine biologist Lowanna Darlington and was instantly attracted to her. It only took one date to established a loving relationship, and soon after her 24th birthday Anita asked Lowanna for her hand in marriage.
Name: Silver
Personality: Silver is insecure at times and prone to underestimating her own abilities, but simultaneously strongly emotional. Despite this, she gives it her all when faced with danger and will pursue a goal to the bitter end, especially when properly motivated.
Skillset: Silver was built with a Tech specialty; She knows the construction and applications of the technology she is built out of with great precision, and can use her nanomass with great efficiency for combat situations. She can also make use of a codex of military tactics and has an advanced weapon proficiency, along with the special ability to maintain and repair other units of her species.
Shortcomings: She has trouble defeating her insecurity to make bold choices, and her research facilities are limited compared to most other units’.
Companion Modus Construction: In Companion Modus, Silver resembles a wolf-like animal with white plating over chrome machinery, though notably larger than any real-life wolf. Her back is covered with a ridge of sharp, triangular, backwards-pointing spikes. The head has a rectangular build and an array of lenses for eyes, capable of seeing in different spectra.
Sentinel Modus Construction: Sentinel Modus entails transforming into an anthropomorphic shape around Anita’s body. The legs have a set of extra side-limbs for added stability and recoil control, and the whole body is heavily armoured, but extra robotic support is situated on the legs, back and shoulder to handle the massive weight of the suit’s weapons platform, which extends on four robotic arms from the back and can fire in multiple directions. Firearms are also attached to both of Anita’s arms.
Sentinel Modus Armament: The firearms on Anita’s arms are rapid-fire energy weapons with a high firing rate but less than stellar accuracy. The weapons on the other robotic limbs differ based on necessity, and vary from rapid-fire firearms to plasmatic grenade launchers. The limbs can even combine their mass into larger weapons, like a sniping platform or minigun.
Flight Modus Construction: The Flight Modus consists of an exosuit-like atmosphere suit enveloping Anita, with similar armor quality as the Sentinel Modus, but with spikey/aerodynamically shaped torso and legs, two jet engines situated on the back, and extending from the upper arms two vertical wings easily twice the size of the main body that allows for quick in-air maneuvers.
Flight Modus Armament: The Flight Modus makes use of the enormous wings, which double as plasmatic blades on the forward edge. A six-barrel rotary machine gun is situated between the back engines that has a small degree of maneuverability, but is mostly useful when the body is flying horizontally so that it is forwards-pointing.
Personality: Silver is insecure at times and prone to underestimating her own abilities, but simultaneously strongly emotional. Despite this, she gives it her all when faced with danger and will pursue a goal to the bitter end, especially when properly motivated.
Skillset: Silver was built with a Tech specialty; She knows the construction and applications of the technology she is built out of with great precision, and can use her nanomass with great efficiency for combat situations. She can also make use of a codex of military tactics and has an advanced weapon proficiency, along with the special ability to maintain and repair other units of her species.
Shortcomings: She has trouble defeating her insecurity to make bold choices, and her research facilities are limited compared to most other units’.
Companion Modus Construction: In Companion Modus, Silver resembles a wolf-like animal with white plating over chrome machinery, though notably larger than any real-life wolf. Her back is covered with a ridge of sharp, triangular, backwards-pointing spikes. The head has a rectangular build and an array of lenses for eyes, capable of seeing in different spectra.
Sentinel Modus Construction: Sentinel Modus entails transforming into an anthropomorphic shape around Anita’s body. The legs have a set of extra side-limbs for added stability and recoil control, and the whole body is heavily armoured, but extra robotic support is situated on the legs, back and shoulder to handle the massive weight of the suit’s weapons platform, which extends on four robotic arms from the back and can fire in multiple directions. Firearms are also attached to both of Anita’s arms.
Sentinel Modus Armament: The firearms on Anita’s arms are rapid-fire energy weapons with a high firing rate but less than stellar accuracy. The weapons on the other robotic limbs differ based on necessity, and vary from rapid-fire firearms to plasmatic grenade launchers. The limbs can even combine their mass into larger weapons, like a sniping platform or minigun.
Flight Modus Construction: The Flight Modus consists of an exosuit-like atmosphere suit enveloping Anita, with similar armor quality as the Sentinel Modus, but with spikey/aerodynamically shaped torso and legs, two jet engines situated on the back, and extending from the upper arms two vertical wings easily twice the size of the main body that allows for quick in-air maneuvers.
Flight Modus Armament: The Flight Modus makes use of the enormous wings, which double as plasmatic blades on the forward edge. A six-barrel rotary machine gun is situated between the back engines that has a small degree of maneuverability, but is mostly useful when the body is flying horizontally so that it is forwards-pointing.
Name / Designation: Colin MacKellar / ILEX
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Place of Birth: Somewhere in Scotland
Build / Complexion: Could be described as average - not super-athletic but in pretty good shape. His shoulders are naturally broad, but that's mostly just his bone structure rather than anything else. Skin is medium-light with a warm tone and isn't particularly prone to freckling.
Height / Weight: 175 cm / 72 kg
Hair: Medium-dark brown with a faint reddish undertone, approximately shoulder length and fairly straight, generally styled with prominent bangs and usually tied back in some kind of a short ponytail. The strands of his hair fade to white at their tips.
Eyes: Green.
Distinguishing Marks: He has a tattoo of an ouroboros-like design featuring a DNA helix pattern and leaves over his heart.
Attire: When out of ANIMA gear, he tends to dress fairly casually - very much a jeans and t-shirt sort of person usually in greens, blacks and sometimes reddish earth tones. When wearing shoes, they're nearly always some flavor of hiking boots.
Carried Gear: Standard-issue ANIMA equipment with slightly increased emphasis on medical equipment, an extendable light metal quarterstaff, a pair of high-tech goggles featuring several imaging modes (thermal scanning, night vision, the works) and a navigation HUD, protective gloves in which interface nodes for his goggles are embedded, and a necklace with a small fern frond embedded in a resin triangle.
Personality: Prone to sarcasm, tactical punnery and handling even dire situations with humor - Colin tends to live in the now rather than make long-term future plans. Not to say that he rushes into things headlong - for the most part, he tends to consider all the options and do his research before making a move, approach problem-solving with a cool head and working within the situation using all known variables put to creative uses.
He tends to be very private about his own life, and while generally friendly, he does not tend to make connections that last beyond specific contexts.
Values: Colin is all about creativity and adaptability - and the value of honest, open communication - which leads to a tendency to be rather blunt.
Aversions: Manipulative and passive-aggressive behaviour, willful ignorance and arrogance.
Hobbies: Aside from a vast appreciation for the outdoors, he has a few creative pursuits (primarily drawing) and enjoys video games.
Skillset: Colin is deeply fascinated with all things biology - and that includes the corruption. In fact, you could say that the driving force behind him joining ANIMA in the first place is to learn even more about the corruption and its mechanisms of operation - beyond the carefully-curated knowledge accessible to the average citizen - and to find ways to possibly use the corruption's own mechanisms of operation against itself. His multidisciplinary biology background also includes a fair amount of medical understanding. Should he be required to defend himself, he is trained in some form of quarterstaff fightning.
Shortcomings: His sense of direction is not what anyone would call brilliant.
Relatives: His parents are alive and still together, and he keeps in touch with them by electronic means. He has no siblings.
Relations: Do not even go there. He refuses to be emotionally compromised to this degree again.
History: Being an island, Great Britain was hit by the Corruption a lot less hard than the mainland - and even when what was once England and Wales fell, the advent of barrier technology and the construction of the New Hadrian's Wall transformed Scotland into a sanctuary of its own right - with patrol units swiftly containing and eliminating whatever infection coming in by way of infected marine animals or birds that managed to survive. Aside from becoming vastly more sustainable as a result of technological progression, some political upheavals and population growth - Scotland remained a lot more free and open concerning movement within the sanctuary's boundaries than mainland Europe did. Thus, most of Colin's life could have been considered fairly normal by Pre-Collapse standards. His keen interest in biology led to multiple degrees in a number of sub-fields of biology - the latest one not as successful as the others due to events in his life drawing his attention, focus and energy from the degree at the time. Opting for a change of pace after which, he applied for a position in a Gaia Council project in Freya and moved to the mainland - where the restrictive nature of the arcologies as opposed to the freedom he was used to was a bit of a culture shock. Nevertheless, even after the project's conclusion, he opted to remain in Freya for reasons of his own. His own personal research into the Corruption eventually led him to making contact with what eventually became ANIMA and becoming part of the organization. It gets him outside and exploring - which is something that he sorely needs for the sake of his own sanity - but he never expected it to change his life forever. Until now...
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Place of Birth: Somewhere in Scotland
Build / Complexion: Could be described as average - not super-athletic but in pretty good shape. His shoulders are naturally broad, but that's mostly just his bone structure rather than anything else. Skin is medium-light with a warm tone and isn't particularly prone to freckling.
Height / Weight: 175 cm / 72 kg
Hair: Medium-dark brown with a faint reddish undertone, approximately shoulder length and fairly straight, generally styled with prominent bangs and usually tied back in some kind of a short ponytail. The strands of his hair fade to white at their tips.
Eyes: Green.
Distinguishing Marks: He has a tattoo of an ouroboros-like design featuring a DNA helix pattern and leaves over his heart.
Attire: When out of ANIMA gear, he tends to dress fairly casually - very much a jeans and t-shirt sort of person usually in greens, blacks and sometimes reddish earth tones. When wearing shoes, they're nearly always some flavor of hiking boots.
Carried Gear: Standard-issue ANIMA equipment with slightly increased emphasis on medical equipment, an extendable light metal quarterstaff, a pair of high-tech goggles featuring several imaging modes (thermal scanning, night vision, the works) and a navigation HUD, protective gloves in which interface nodes for his goggles are embedded, and a necklace with a small fern frond embedded in a resin triangle.
Personality: Prone to sarcasm, tactical punnery and handling even dire situations with humor - Colin tends to live in the now rather than make long-term future plans. Not to say that he rushes into things headlong - for the most part, he tends to consider all the options and do his research before making a move, approach problem-solving with a cool head and working within the situation using all known variables put to creative uses.
He tends to be very private about his own life, and while generally friendly, he does not tend to make connections that last beyond specific contexts.
Values: Colin is all about creativity and adaptability - and the value of honest, open communication - which leads to a tendency to be rather blunt.
Aversions: Manipulative and passive-aggressive behaviour, willful ignorance and arrogance.
Hobbies: Aside from a vast appreciation for the outdoors, he has a few creative pursuits (primarily drawing) and enjoys video games.
Skillset: Colin is deeply fascinated with all things biology - and that includes the corruption. In fact, you could say that the driving force behind him joining ANIMA in the first place is to learn even more about the corruption and its mechanisms of operation - beyond the carefully-curated knowledge accessible to the average citizen - and to find ways to possibly use the corruption's own mechanisms of operation against itself. His multidisciplinary biology background also includes a fair amount of medical understanding. Should he be required to defend himself, he is trained in some form of quarterstaff fightning.
Shortcomings: His sense of direction is not what anyone would call brilliant.
Relatives: His parents are alive and still together, and he keeps in touch with them by electronic means. He has no siblings.
Relations: Do not even go there. He refuses to be emotionally compromised to this degree again.
History: Being an island, Great Britain was hit by the Corruption a lot less hard than the mainland - and even when what was once England and Wales fell, the advent of barrier technology and the construction of the New Hadrian's Wall transformed Scotland into a sanctuary of its own right - with patrol units swiftly containing and eliminating whatever infection coming in by way of infected marine animals or birds that managed to survive. Aside from becoming vastly more sustainable as a result of technological progression, some political upheavals and population growth - Scotland remained a lot more free and open concerning movement within the sanctuary's boundaries than mainland Europe did. Thus, most of Colin's life could have been considered fairly normal by Pre-Collapse standards. His keen interest in biology led to multiple degrees in a number of sub-fields of biology - the latest one not as successful as the others due to events in his life drawing his attention, focus and energy from the degree at the time. Opting for a change of pace after which, he applied for a position in a Gaia Council project in Freya and moved to the mainland - where the restrictive nature of the arcologies as opposed to the freedom he was used to was a bit of a culture shock. Nevertheless, even after the project's conclusion, he opted to remain in Freya for reasons of his own. His own personal research into the Corruption eventually led him to making contact with what eventually became ANIMA and becoming part of the organization. It gets him outside and exploring - which is something that he sorely needs for the sake of his own sanity - but he never expected it to change his life forever. Until now...
Name: Aranyani (or Aran for short)
Personality: For the most part Aranyani is a scholarly individual, quite dedicated to the assimilation and processing and integrating of information. Shortly after arrival and gaining access to the data systems of the planet, she began some extensive research into human history and popular culture, in an attempt to become better-familiarized with the species that she's trying to save.
This may or may not have been a bad idea.
On one hand, she admires the tenacity of the species and its nature to bloom in adversity. On the OTHER hand, its tendency to spend as much of its time as it possibly can getting into this sort of adversity when such is not present may or may not have overloaded her snark capacitors, which are entirely a real thing and not something that she just made up. Nonetheless, she believes in the potential of humanity rather than take a nihilistic approach to matters... But she will be damned if she will let the species hear the end of it.
The quirks of humanity aside, she has a particular fascination with organic life and the way it evolved on Earth - with a deep interest in plants in particular - their modular structure, their regenerative capabilities, their advanced biosynthetic properties and their symbiotic relationships with so many other lifeforms. It is largely from plants and the creatures that form symbiotic relations with them that she draws her inspiration for her forms on this particular world.
Skillset: Even for her kind, Aranyani is vastly adaptive and as her particular ability scheme is primarily focused on synthesis, symbiosis and generally being some kind of a biomimicry reactor, she is prone to wild fluctuations in form and function as she analyzes, processes and integrates the capabilities and particularly useful characteristics of the native lifeforms into her shell, figuring out ways to put them together effectively. Her bioreactor attributes allow her to generate chemical/nanomachine salves that can be used to treat wounds and contain infestation in its early states.
Shortcomings: Unfortunately, she sometimes gets a bit too adaptive and experimental for her own good - sometimes at rather inopportune moments.
Companion Modus Construction: Initially a white-shelled construct like the rest of her kind, As time progresses she first nurtures plants and learns to mimic their structures on her shell (beginning with simple mosses, progressing to ferns and grass and complexifying with time) and then learns to mimic their materials and structures and integrate it into her shell, fading into a green dappled pattern. Her form takes influence primarily from arthropods and tends to resemble, to an extent, a jumping spider.
Sentinel Modus Construction: Aranyani's Sentinel Modus is virtually immobile, rooting itself to the ground and absorbing elements from around it for purposes of processing, synthesis and self-regeneration. To compensate for the disadvantage of being rooted in place, Aranyani's Sentinel Modus comes equipped with an exceptionally powerful shield generator that may be used to support her compatriots in combat or a signal amplifier/scanner to facilitate communications in areas where such may be disrupted.
Sentinel Modus Armament: When most of her energy is directed at Being a Shield / Signal Amplifier, she is fairly limited on her energy weapon capacity, relying on spiked root-tendrils bursting out of the ground as a weapon to drive enemies away. However, should dire need arise, she can also transmute her energy excess for offensive use, becoming somewhat of a high energy turret.
Flight Modus Construction: Aranyani's Flight Modus could not be more different than her Sentinel Modus - somewhat resembling a dragon composed of arthropod elements intermeshed with plant and machine structures. The modus emphasizes speed and maneuverability at the expense of being more lightly armored - but the extra mass does not go unused...
Flight Modus Armament: Largely geared for melee combat on its own using sharp blades on its arms (which may be enhanced by energy projection), the extra mass shed for improving speed is utilized in the form of up to three 'drone' units equipped with powerful optic lasers. The Flight Modus' "ultimate" attack is a "solar beam" fired from the flight modus mandibles. The damage output of the beam is very high, but it is quite taxing on Aranyani's generators, leaving her briefly slower in motion and unable to charge her blades until sufficient energy is recovered. In later phases, the unit learns to absorb sunlight using fiber-optic surfaces on its wings and redirect these photons to supplement the generator.
Personality: For the most part Aranyani is a scholarly individual, quite dedicated to the assimilation and processing and integrating of information. Shortly after arrival and gaining access to the data systems of the planet, she began some extensive research into human history and popular culture, in an attempt to become better-familiarized with the species that she's trying to save.
This may or may not have been a bad idea.
On one hand, she admires the tenacity of the species and its nature to bloom in adversity. On the OTHER hand, its tendency to spend as much of its time as it possibly can getting into this sort of adversity when such is not present may or may not have overloaded her snark capacitors, which are entirely a real thing and not something that she just made up. Nonetheless, she believes in the potential of humanity rather than take a nihilistic approach to matters... But she will be damned if she will let the species hear the end of it.
The quirks of humanity aside, she has a particular fascination with organic life and the way it evolved on Earth - with a deep interest in plants in particular - their modular structure, their regenerative capabilities, their advanced biosynthetic properties and their symbiotic relationships with so many other lifeforms. It is largely from plants and the creatures that form symbiotic relations with them that she draws her inspiration for her forms on this particular world.
Skillset: Even for her kind, Aranyani is vastly adaptive and as her particular ability scheme is primarily focused on synthesis, symbiosis and generally being some kind of a biomimicry reactor, she is prone to wild fluctuations in form and function as she analyzes, processes and integrates the capabilities and particularly useful characteristics of the native lifeforms into her shell, figuring out ways to put them together effectively. Her bioreactor attributes allow her to generate chemical/nanomachine salves that can be used to treat wounds and contain infestation in its early states.
Shortcomings: Unfortunately, she sometimes gets a bit too adaptive and experimental for her own good - sometimes at rather inopportune moments.
Companion Modus Construction: Initially a white-shelled construct like the rest of her kind, As time progresses she first nurtures plants and learns to mimic their structures on her shell (beginning with simple mosses, progressing to ferns and grass and complexifying with time) and then learns to mimic their materials and structures and integrate it into her shell, fading into a green dappled pattern. Her form takes influence primarily from arthropods and tends to resemble, to an extent, a jumping spider.
Sentinel Modus Construction: Aranyani's Sentinel Modus is virtually immobile, rooting itself to the ground and absorbing elements from around it for purposes of processing, synthesis and self-regeneration. To compensate for the disadvantage of being rooted in place, Aranyani's Sentinel Modus comes equipped with an exceptionally powerful shield generator that may be used to support her compatriots in combat or a signal amplifier/scanner to facilitate communications in areas where such may be disrupted.
Sentinel Modus Armament: When most of her energy is directed at Being a Shield / Signal Amplifier, she is fairly limited on her energy weapon capacity, relying on spiked root-tendrils bursting out of the ground as a weapon to drive enemies away. However, should dire need arise, she can also transmute her energy excess for offensive use, becoming somewhat of a high energy turret.
Flight Modus Construction: Aranyani's Flight Modus could not be more different than her Sentinel Modus - somewhat resembling a dragon composed of arthropod elements intermeshed with plant and machine structures. The modus emphasizes speed and maneuverability at the expense of being more lightly armored - but the extra mass does not go unused...
Flight Modus Armament: Largely geared for melee combat on its own using sharp blades on its arms (which may be enhanced by energy projection), the extra mass shed for improving speed is utilized in the form of up to three 'drone' units equipped with powerful optic lasers. The Flight Modus' "ultimate" attack is a "solar beam" fired from the flight modus mandibles. The damage output of the beam is very high, but it is quite taxing on Aranyani's generators, leaving her briefly slower in motion and unable to charge her blades until sufficient energy is recovered. In later phases, the unit learns to absorb sunlight using fiber-optic surfaces on its wings and redirect these photons to supplement the generator.
Name / Designation: Adrienne Richter / HYDRA
Gender: F
Age: 26
Place of Birth: Randstad
Build / Complexion: Thin/Pale
Height / Weight: 5'6"/150 lbs.
Hair: Brown, straight, medium length
Eyes: Brown
Attire: Leggings, ballet shoes and giant sweaters / Has a lab coat thrown over top at work / Typical ANIMA outfit with edgy fanged skull stenciled on helmet/gas mask
Carried Gear: Tablet and extra batteries but also paper and pencils for when appropriate, headlamp, scalpels, specimen collection, “ninja stars” (black market thrown TASER-like devices)
Personality: Adri is a cheerful workaholic who always needs some project going, but who rarely finishes any of them, leaping from topic to topic as it interests her. She’s a cheater and a tinkerer, always looking for the easiest path forward, and will eagerly step or climb over others if they’re in the path of her latest pursuit. Rules are just there to make you think before you break them! She will lie without hesitation, agreeing to do something and then avoiding it, or agreeing not to do something and then doing it anyway. However, for as long as ANIMA’s goals are aligned with hers, she is a friendly, driven worker.
Values: Adri’s chiefest pursuit is whatever amuses her, which generally means new knowledge and novelty. ANIMA suits her very well, because the only thing better than new knowledge is new, secret knowledge. She also values hard work and capability.
Aversions: Adri has a tiny bit of a problem with authority, but she doesn’t express it through confrontation or physical aggression, but rather through all her small acts of rebellion and avoidance. She will also sabotage leaders/”leaders” who have power over her when she feels they don’t deserve it (deserving = smart and capable).
Hobbies: Chasing amusement on Wikipedia or future equivalent, tinkering, trying to break things to see how they work, has started going to the gym more seriously insofar as it helps her with her ANIMA projects clambering around in the woods and such
Skillset: Smart but easily bored, she would have been one of those kids who only does the bare minimum if she hadn’t also been well-instilled with a fear of being a “shirker”. Works as a medical imaging technician, so knows some anatomy/medicine but not nearly as much as a doctor, just things she sees every day and things that interest her. First aid, some machine repair/electronic intrusion measures and defense against same, SCIENCE (medical/biotech lab training)
Shortcomings: Ruthless to a degree, lies easily. Easy for her to get tunnel vision, uuuuuusually not to the point of putting herself in danger, but there have been a few missions where it was a near thing. Overthinks things and misses the obvious.
Relatives: Parents are doctors, no siblings.
Relations: Not really, too focused on The Work and her own interests. Cordial and friendly to everyone in ANIMA.
History: The subtext in all of Adri’s education was always a sense of an old Protestant work ethic, and its dark side, a judgement against people who refuse—and sometimes, those who are unable—to work. She was supposed to be a doctor but flunked the mental evaluation—the committee could tell she didn’t have the focus necessary or the regard for others—and became a technician instead. This, however, suited her much better in the end and left her time for her own projects and amusements. Her pursuit of secrets led her to internet clubs for mysteries and unresolved disappearances, treasure hunters and illegal explorers. The users who founded ANIMA were exactly those she wanted to surround herself with: smart, capable people who didn’t mind flouting the rules for a greater purpose.
Gender: F
Age: 26
Place of Birth: Randstad
Build / Complexion: Thin/Pale
Height / Weight: 5'6"/150 lbs.
Hair: Brown, straight, medium length
Eyes: Brown
Attire: Leggings, ballet shoes and giant sweaters / Has a lab coat thrown over top at work / Typical ANIMA outfit with edgy fanged skull stenciled on helmet/gas mask
Carried Gear: Tablet and extra batteries but also paper and pencils for when appropriate, headlamp, scalpels, specimen collection, “ninja stars” (black market thrown TASER-like devices)
Personality: Adri is a cheerful workaholic who always needs some project going, but who rarely finishes any of them, leaping from topic to topic as it interests her. She’s a cheater and a tinkerer, always looking for the easiest path forward, and will eagerly step or climb over others if they’re in the path of her latest pursuit. Rules are just there to make you think before you break them! She will lie without hesitation, agreeing to do something and then avoiding it, or agreeing not to do something and then doing it anyway. However, for as long as ANIMA’s goals are aligned with hers, she is a friendly, driven worker.
Values: Adri’s chiefest pursuit is whatever amuses her, which generally means new knowledge and novelty. ANIMA suits her very well, because the only thing better than new knowledge is new, secret knowledge. She also values hard work and capability.
Aversions: Adri has a tiny bit of a problem with authority, but she doesn’t express it through confrontation or physical aggression, but rather through all her small acts of rebellion and avoidance. She will also sabotage leaders/”leaders” who have power over her when she feels they don’t deserve it (deserving = smart and capable).
Hobbies: Chasing amusement on Wikipedia or future equivalent, tinkering, trying to break things to see how they work, has started going to the gym more seriously insofar as it helps her with her ANIMA projects clambering around in the woods and such
Skillset: Smart but easily bored, she would have been one of those kids who only does the bare minimum if she hadn’t also been well-instilled with a fear of being a “shirker”. Works as a medical imaging technician, so knows some anatomy/medicine but not nearly as much as a doctor, just things she sees every day and things that interest her. First aid, some machine repair/electronic intrusion measures and defense against same, SCIENCE (medical/biotech lab training)
Shortcomings: Ruthless to a degree, lies easily. Easy for her to get tunnel vision, uuuuuusually not to the point of putting herself in danger, but there have been a few missions where it was a near thing. Overthinks things and misses the obvious.
Relatives: Parents are doctors, no siblings.
Relations: Not really, too focused on The Work and her own interests. Cordial and friendly to everyone in ANIMA.
History: The subtext in all of Adri’s education was always a sense of an old Protestant work ethic, and its dark side, a judgement against people who refuse—and sometimes, those who are unable—to work. She was supposed to be a doctor but flunked the mental evaluation—the committee could tell she didn’t have the focus necessary or the regard for others—and became a technician instead. This, however, suited her much better in the end and left her time for her own projects and amusements. Her pursuit of secrets led her to internet clubs for mysteries and unresolved disappearances, treasure hunters and illegal explorers. The users who founded ANIMA were exactly those she wanted to surround herself with: smart, capable people who didn’t mind flouting the rules for a greater purpose.
Name: Glunkus
Personality: Mischievous and easily bored; very similar to Adri but without her work ethic
Skillset: Kinetic energy manipulation: starts off as fire/ice powers but progresses to kinetic energy in general, accelerating/decelerating masses and particles. Nanobots develop to mediate the heat transfer and then acceleration. Limited by overheating at first; lots of blowback from fire but the heat from cooling to ice has to go somewhere too. Fast and agile with 360 degree vision.
Shortcomings: Lazy; if missions get too samey he won’t go
Companion Modus Construction: Displacer beast: mechanical “cat” (“ears” are actually heat sinks) with six legs and manipulating Doc Ock arms. Head has a sample uptake port surrounded by analytical modules that look like teeth.
Sentinel Modus Construction: Squat humanoid with three weapon "heads", heavy forearms with fire/ice beams, jumping legs, extra pair of manipulating arms
Sentinel Modus Armament: Fire/ice beams that progress to injectors and then nanomachines that alter target kinetic energy, accelerating/decelerating or heating/cooling. Fire/ice bombs. FIRE SWORD. Other energy weapons as useful
Flight Modus Construction: "Flying wing" shaped with thrusters on trailing edge and weapon ports on leading edge
Flight Modus Armament: Fire/ice missiles at first, energy weapons, progresses to "bombs" of nanomachines
Personality: Mischievous and easily bored; very similar to Adri but without her work ethic
Skillset: Kinetic energy manipulation: starts off as fire/ice powers but progresses to kinetic energy in general, accelerating/decelerating masses and particles. Nanobots develop to mediate the heat transfer and then acceleration. Limited by overheating at first; lots of blowback from fire but the heat from cooling to ice has to go somewhere too. Fast and agile with 360 degree vision.
Shortcomings: Lazy; if missions get too samey he won’t go
Companion Modus Construction: Displacer beast: mechanical “cat” (“ears” are actually heat sinks) with six legs and manipulating Doc Ock arms. Head has a sample uptake port surrounded by analytical modules that look like teeth.
Sentinel Modus Construction: Squat humanoid with three weapon "heads", heavy forearms with fire/ice beams, jumping legs, extra pair of manipulating arms
Sentinel Modus Armament: Fire/ice beams that progress to injectors and then nanomachines that alter target kinetic energy, accelerating/decelerating or heating/cooling. Fire/ice bombs. FIRE SWORD. Other energy weapons as useful
Flight Modus Construction: "Flying wing" shaped with thrusters on trailing edge and weapon ports on leading edge
Flight Modus Armament: Fire/ice missiles at first, energy weapons, progresses to "bombs" of nanomachines
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