Post by Liam McKinly on Jul 14, 2015 10:05:25 GMT -5
Basics
Name: Liam McKinly
Nicknames: Liam Tremaine (Not so much a nickname as an alias, to prevent connection between himself and anyone who might have heard his full name.)
Age: 18
Birthday: March 23
Grade: 12th
Power:
Blue Aura Manipulation - Liam has the power to manipulate his own blue aura. The blue aura, also known as Vishuddha, is the one which is most associated with intelligence and mental power. Through concentration and meditation when not using his power, Liam can use this in order to enhance his mental abilities, with three primary effects:
(Causality Perception): This ability allows him to, upon observing a situation and focusing on it, anticipate with high accuracy all the variables within that situation and the most likely way that they will play out, which lets him plan the most viable course of action to be successful in his chosen goal. This can relate to a number of different scenarios, but the best way to explain it would be through chess. Upon observing the board, and then the player opposite him, Liam can predict what his opponent is most likely to do for his next move, the effects that will have upon the unfolding of the game, and the most optimal move he can make in turn to have the best chance of winning. In a fight it allows him to read things like his opponent's stance, muscle movements and other small factors to best determine how they will attack or defend, allowing him to prepare a counter in advance. However, there are several drawbacks to this.
Liam can not predict without information. This means that he can only use this power with regard to information he can see via observation. While his powers of observation are near supernatural thanks to his enhanced intelligence, Liam can not predict what powers a person has simply by looking at them, nor how they are most likely to use them. He also has no way of knowing in advance what talents a person has. While he may be able to deduce them by observation, this is by no means an exact science. In addition to this, anyone who possesses a power which makes them preternaturally unpredictable or difficult to read cancels this power out nearly entirely in combat. This would be the case too with anyone with enhanced reflexes, since they would be able to react to his countermoves potentially faster than he could make them. While it can make him a formidable opponent, this ability is best used from the sidelines, or in non-combat, more investigative situations.
(Enhanced Intelligence) - This is not technically an active ability but rather one that comes about as a result of his naturally enhanced blue aura. Liam has a genius level intellect, with an IQ well above the historical recorded maximum. This grants him an eidetic memory, extreme powers of observation and very quick thought processing and reaction time to external stimuli. He also has above average ability to resist mental manipulation or telepathy. The limits to this ability are of course that he does not know everything intuitively, and must take in information like everyone else: through observation or study, in order to commit it to memory. An interesting thing to note about this power is what it can do in combination with his causality perception. During investigation or upon trying to recollect past events, Liam can quite literally, create perfect reconstructions in his mind's eye based on the information he has. He can reconstruct a crime scene with almost 99% accuracy, or go over a previous fight as if viewing video footage. The downside to this is of course that while doing that, he is completely unaware of his present surroundings. This eliminates this tactic from combat and makes it a strictly investigatory tool.
Aura Sight - A power that seems to be hereditary considering both he and his sister Aura's possession of it, this gift allows Liam to view the auras of the people around him. While he has considerably better control of it compared to his sister, being able to turn it on and off at will, he is still limited in the information he can obtain from using it. Through viewing a person's aura, Liam can detect their emotions, the level of physical health that they are currently at and, with reasonable accuracy, whether or not they are lying. He cannot use their aura to detect their powers, how powerful they themselves are, or any personal information about them which they do not share vocally. In addition, using this power for too long or on multiple people at once will cause Liam severe migraine headaches.
Psionic Energy Combat - Through this power, Liam is able to manipulate his own psychic energy in order to augment his physical combat. While he can not make fully formed constructs as someone with full on telekinesis could, he can coat his body with a deep blue aura which empowers his physical attacks, increasing their impact and damage and letting him move faster, jump higher, and even dash midair. This aura can also be molded to create basic constructs like blades, bludgeons and shields which must stay attached to his body, or short ranged wave-like projectiles which can reach a maximum of 10 meters away from him. Use of this power consumes his mental energy, and over a long period of use will cause grogginess, loss of concentration, physical exhaustion and eventually even unconsciousness. In addition, his constructs are only as strong and stable as his concentration and mental focus, so the longer he uses the power, the weaker his constructs get. In addition any power specifically made to scramble focus and concentration will severely limit his effectiveness in using this ability.
Member Group: Neutral
Canon or not: Yes; Student Council President
Appearance: Issac Haxton, Liam's closest and perhaps only real friend has described him many a time as "a deceptively skinny kid, in need of a serious dose of sunlight." This is accurate, pretty much to a tee. Liam stands at about 5'9", and weighs in at 140 lbs. That combined with his longer limbs and angular features makes him look quite lanky and scrawny, though this is somewhat deceptive. As a government agent, though having not been primarily in the field, Liam is in excellent physical condition and has more lean and compact muscle than his frame belies. His face, often appearing quite drawn and tired, is very angular in its features as mentioned previously. His jawline is slim and sharp, with a smaller triangular chin and high, defined cheekbones. His nose is triangular as well and his mouth, thinner-lipped than most, is almost always curled up at the corner into a light smirk. Liam has dark, almost cold brown eyes and long black hair which is most usually disheveled and falls in bangs at the front to cover his forehead. His skin is also quite pale, a result of most of his life being spent indoors.
Liam's style is more planned than one might think at first glance. He intentionally wears clothes which are 1 or 2 sizes to large for him. Most usually his outfits consist of jeans and a sweatshirt, with a good pair of athletic shoes. The reason for this is that one size bigger isn't quite enough to give someone more to grab onto in a fight, but just big enough to make him look even smaller and skinnier than he is. This is casual attire is carefully calculated to, hopefully, cause a person to underestimate him physically and thus be less guarded in his presence. It also helps to put a lazy front on to anyone who spies him and helps to cause people to further underestimate him. He also carries a chess piece on his person at all times, which is a marble white knight. This piece hangs from his neck on a silver chain at all times.
Personality
Overall Personality: Liam's outer personality is, in truth, a combination of fronts and fakes that are used for psychological leverage. The only person who has ever seen the person below this combination of facades and lies is his only friend, Issac Haxton. On the outside, Liam puts up a kind, open front. Especially in his position as Student Council President, it is important that he make himself seem approachable and positive; doing so also helps to throw people off the scent of his former vocation. To this end he smiles often, eagerly seeks out association with other students, and acts very pleasant and upbeat. He has a carefully practiced naturalness to him which is very difficult for the average person to see through, as it has been perfected since the day he began operating as an agent. In this persona, Liam is social, friendly and incredibly likeable.
Before getting into his actual personality, it should be noted that almost everything Liam does is planned, intentional and methodical. In many ways, Liam could be considered mildly sociopathic. He has no issue with manipulating and maneuvering anyone and everyone, including supposed allies, in order to reach his own personal goals and agenda. He tries to think almost three steps ahead of everyone in the room at all times, and does so unapologetically an without remorse. He is, at his core, a strategist; this element of his mentality and personality is present in everything that he does, from combat to social interactions. The unique perspective of the world that his powers give him means that Liam does not underestimate, and knows the dangers of pride. However, he often overthinks and over-plans, which can be a point of weakness for him if one his aware of what he is doing and knows how to exploit it.
Under the masks and facades, Liam is quite the damaged individual. He is jaded, sarcastic, and very much pessimistic about the world in general. He plans for the worst, assumes the best won't happen, and when it does chalks it up to chance. He also deals with an extreme amount of guilt, being that he is now in a prison full of people who he helped put there. Having operated under the assumption that he was helping the world for so long, he deals with feelings of failure and depression, which he often retreats into meditation to deal with. He is largely antisocial and often cold and emotionless, the only exception being when dealing with Issac, the one individual that he truly trusts and considers a friend and partner. In summation, Liam is a pessimist, pretending to be a realist disguised as an optimist. The perfect agent, no?
Likes:
Dislikes:
Fears:
Strengths(Should be mix of Personality, psychical and mental):
Weaknesses(Should be mix of Personality, psychical and mental):
Goals:
History
Family Members/guardians: Aura McKinly (sister), John McKinly (father), Calista McKinly (mother)
History: What happens when a gifted develops the indicators of his power early? What if he develops them before he is ever born? Terrible, inexcusable things, is the answer. Liam McKinly's fate was sealed in his second trimester, at 24 weeks, in fact. The enhanced intelligence that is one of the hallmarks of his power began to develop as soon as his aura did, which occurred while he was still in the womb. When Calista and John McKinly went in to the doctor for a simple ultrasound, doctors were astounded. They had to double and triple check the images, and then ran an MRI of the developing fetus under the necessity of needing more tests, but there was no doubt. The amount of neural connections in the brain of the baby was developing at nearly three times the speed that they should have been at that stage. Before these findings could be passed down to the parents however, the still early stage Ashford organization caught wind and intervened. The physicians would not share a word of this with the Calista and John. In fact, they would say just the opposite; they would lie and say that the baby was in serious danger of a rare developmental disorder.
The baby boy was born on time, seemingly healthy and fine, but the parents had just enough time to see the boy once, and pronounce his name "Liam," before "disaster" struck. In a flurry of panic and chaos, physicians burst into the room, swiftly spiriting the baby away. It was not an hour later when the parents were informed. Their child had died, the result of complications, post birth. A body was given to the heartbroken McKinly's and that, as far as they knew, was the end of it. For Liam, however, it was just the beginning. The child was kept at a government facility and studied, tested and examined. As he grew it became exceedingly obvious that Liam possessed vast intellectual potential, developing speech, reading ability and fine motor scales at a much greater rate than the average comparable child in the first couple of years of his life. The government saw this potential and of course, decided to utilize it.
Liam was, for all intents and purposes, raised and indoctrinated in government care. He received private schooling starting very early and of course as the year went by quickly mastered his lessons. He never forgot anything after hearing it once, and seemed to have near perfect visual reconstruction as well. During this time, he shut off from the outside world and anyone besides his handler and his teacher. He was conditioned during this time to believe that anyone different, like him, was a criminal. Someone who needed to be captured and put away for the safety of the world, and themselves. As he aged, his other powers slowly began to develop as well, and in combination with his extremely fast mental development it became even more apparent that he would be perfect for reconnaissance and capture work. At the age of 12, they started Liam playing chess, against opponents gradually increasing in difficulty and complexity, quickly approaching grand master. He showed a natural talent for strategic thinking and employment of tactics, and If it can be said that Liam enjoyed a part of his childhood, this was it. Chess was something that he inherently understood very well and playing made him feel, at least somewhat, happy.
At age 14, they began a regimen of what they called "strategy games." These were computer simulations, which included a nameless, faceless target. This target was then dropped into a 3D grid. Given a limited amount of time and different assets, Liam had to force the target into a corner, and capture it. The games were presented by his handlers as a 3D form of chess, with the target as the opposing king. This did not fool Liam for long, of course. By this time, he had been moved to a larger location where other agents could be found, and based on people's reactions to him and chatter he was far too observant not to hear, he figured out the truth: he was helping to capture real world targets. When he confronted his handlers about this, they were forced to confirm what he already knew. As they hoped, he was not angry. Instead, he wanted to be a bigger part of it. The indoctrination had been successful.
Between the ages of 14 and 16, Liam began agent training. He was instructed in hand to hand combat, as well as field and survival tactics; everything he would need to function as an arm of the Ashford organization. As with all his other lessons, he learned quickly, and was soon ready to be made active. At 16 he was ready for active duty, and assigned a partner, and the one friend he was ever to make: Issac Haxton. Though initially distant and mistrustful, Issac and he quickly became close. The two were deadly effective at their commission: hunting down and aiding in the capture of gifted that the program located. However, associating with Issac caused an effect the government had not intended. Unlike Liam, Issac had experience in the real world. He had social skills, but most importantly he had a moral compass. The more time they spent together, the more these traits slowly began to impress themselves on Liam. Distanced from his handlers and their indoctrinating influence, Liam began to notice something in his partner. Guilt. He had always been taught that the people they were bringing in were criminals. Dangers to society. But Issac always seemed to keep him away from the dossiers with the exception of necessary information, and insisted he stay at overwatch during the captures. He needed to know why. And soon, he found out.
It was 2 years later, during the capture of a gifted with the ability to manipulate fire that it happened. It was even more easy to corner the subject than usual, Liam commenting from overwatch that it was as if playing chess against a child. The hesitation in Issac's voice as he responded made him doubt. But it was when Liam requested to come and help with the capture, and Issac insisted once again that he was not needed, that he began to dread. He slipped out of overwatch just as the team was closing in on the target and sped his way there, determined to find out the truth. What he found however, was horrifying. It was into an alleyway that he himself had backed their target. When he rounded the corner though, the hardened criminal that he had expected to see was not there. What he saw was a young girl. No older than 7. Fire whipped itself into a frenzy around her as she curled and sobbed, begging not to be taken away. As he stared, he couldn't help but remember himself, crying for a mother he had never known, locked in a cold dark room day in and day out. And he observed in horror as an agent tasered the girl, sedated her and she was carried away. Issac, spotting him in the alleyway, came to him and the two had a serious talk on the way back to overwatch. Though initially infuriated at Issac for lying to him, he couldn't help but understand the reasoning, grim though it was. But the two agreed. Enough was enough they were going to do something.
They agree to botch the next op on purpose. Issac would bring Liam into the field with him under the excuse that he needed hands on experience, leaving another strategist at overwatch with a pre-prescribed plan by Liam. Once in the field they took the target, another child, and tried to spirit him away, hopefully causing the government to lose his trail and allow him to go home. It almost worked. Almost. But the agent at overwatch soon recognized that the plan Liam had left was in fact a ploy to keep the capture teams chasing smoke, and quickly the teams were set after Liam and Issac himself. When he heard the choppers overhead, Liam knew they had no chance of escaping, but perhaps Issac could at least get the child to safety. He created a diversion, separating himself from the two and drawing off pursuit. While Issac and the boy got away, Liam was captured. He was enraged and furious with his handlers, Ashford, the government in general. The initial thought was to have him executed on the spot, but that wasn't safe and the organization knew it. How could they know the monster they had raised hadn't thought four steps ahead of them? Had some kind of plan in place to leak information to the public if he did die? No, death wasn't the answer. At least not directly.
The organization destroyed any technology he had ever had his hands on, disavowed him as an agent and shipped him off to his new home: Ashford Academy. There, he would be surrounded by people that he himself had helped to kidnap and lock away. There was every likelihood someone there would kill them and solve their problem for them. Locked away from the world, on an island with no escape, with no family to run to and no friends to trust? It was quite the strategy, even Liam himself had to admit. But he was not thrown completely off guard. A couple months after his arrival, Liam maneuvered himself into a position of safety. Through subtle manipulation and use of his agent credentials, which many of the people stationed at Ashford were not aware was no longer valid, he became student council president. From here, he would be loved by the students, safe from the prefects, and not likely to be bothered by the island's rebel group, Battlefront. Once safe, he himself began to plan. He would make the government pay for using him, for locking up innocent people, for their treachery and deceit. He would survive Ashford Academy. And then, he would bring down the Ashford organization, and drag them into the light once and for all.
Behind the Character
Name: Raghumana the Voxedge
Chatango Name: VoxHumana
RP Experience: 4 years +
How did you find us?: Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy of course
RP Sample: N/A
