Aberrant: 200X - Chang Zha-Yang

[iamthedave]

Character’s full name: Chang Zha-Yang

Character’s nickname(s): White Rain

Character’s title(s):

2-3 word description of character concept: Inhuman singer-artist

General background: Chang grew up as the third youngest child of a reasonably well-to-do Chinese family. Even as a child she had an unusual intensity about her, that both put off and sometimes scared the other children. She was too bright at almost every stage of her life, and never seemed to see things the way other people did. Though a near-savant artist, her bullish refusal to receive instruction or be directed prevented her from finding success early on, and when the government recognized her ability and tried to enroll her into colleges, she outright stopped producing rather than have her life meddled with. She idolized the nova artists she saw in the news and on the OpNet, who seemed to see things she and no other baseline ever could, and put it in forms unthinkable. It resulted in a general feeling of inadequacy and worthlessness. Without the ability to see what they did, and produce as they did, how could she ever call herself a real artist? Nonetheless, bullish as ever, she kept trying, always testing her limits, always experimenting.

Eruption: Chang fell in with a nova cult in China. Though a prodigious artist as a baseline, she felt as though her vision essentially meant nothing, because she couldn't see as the far greater artists in the nova world could see. This was the lowest point of her life. She had always been a fierce individualist The cult was one of those doomed ones dedicated to doing stupid things to make themselves erupt, from orgastic parties to extreme S & M, torture, self-mutilation and suicide attempts. Chang realized towards the end how insane the whole affair was and tried to escape. The result was being made a 'sacrificial victim' in a take off on a Bacchae ritual one of the cultists had heard of in his various researches. The intent was to kill and to eat her. The result was her eruption. Her body became inhumanly supple and flexible before the astonished cultist's eyes, she slipped free of her bonds, batted the stunned head cultist aside, and walked in a daze away into the night. She declined to enter an MR facility. She had always done better alone, and decided to deal with this alone, too. Having reached her lowest point and emerged transformed, she determined to rise, and never cease her ascension again.

Activities since eruption: Chang was quiet for some time, absorbing the enormity of the change that had come over her, mastering her new powers, and coming to terms with her condition. She spent some time composing and experimenting with new forms, mimicking her former artistic heroes and discarding them as inferior one after another. After only months she found that while she had not lost any respect for what were now her peers in the artistic sphere, she had lost the feeling that they were truly inspired. Only a few earth-shattering talents still gave her that feeling of being out of her depth; but now she knew she could catch and surpass them.

She spent only a little longer in China. Frictions in the family grew out of control. She no longer felt the need to hold back on her opinions, or to pay attention to those of her elders. Eventually she decided it was time to go. She toured the world, exploring, experiencing, growing.

Three years after her eruption, she sat down and seriously looked at music. The novox singers of the time were ostentatious, dramatic, spectacular. Chang felt there was something... missing in their performances, like the glitz and the glamour detracted somewhat from their singing. So she stripped it all down. She found herself a tape recorder, a six-string guitar, and a pad of paper.

Six months later, bootleg copies of the album 'White Rain' began appearing in the hands of stunned fans all over the UK. For a long time nobody knew who the composer was, for Chang had been in the form of someone else when she gave the tapes out.

She continued this pattern for a further year, releasing two more albums with only the most basic instrumentation and her amazing, unique voice - making up to four vocalizations at a time - before someone decided it was time to make a buck off her.

After being tracked down by a Nova private detective working for a record company, the mysterious 'White Rain' was unveiled. She signed a deal, and would produce three more albums over the next three years. The relationship with her record company was fraught with trouble though. They wanted her to do big tours, she was fine with that, but only wanted to play small venues. They wanted her to do a lot of interview work, she only wanted to talk with fans. The unhappy medium saw her doing small venues - all tickets bought out in split seconds - and doing a degree of TV and OpNet interviews about herself and her work.

After the end of her deal, 'White Rain' had no interest in signing on for that company or any other. After her last album 'White Rain - Four Crosses Bare', all of her produce has become musical legend: bootleg copies appearing in whatever city she recorded it in, and spreading from fan to fan since then. The only time she has ever made money from her music since that three year period is on royalties from the original album sales and one off projects that people can hook her into.

However, Chang Zha-Yang was far from done. She had begun to change. Taint had crept in. Relationships had soured. Some fans had said cruel things. Her perspective towards herself, the world, and the future had begun to move in a new, internalized direction. Accordingly she broke out into other forms of expression. Painting. Dance. Poetry. Sculpture. Photography. Sketching. Choreography. Anything she could use to express the whirling thoughts and emotions in her head in vivid, passionate detail.

And then the Null Manifesto hit.

She was discovered by an American art dealer, a Jewish man named Noah Antwiler. Her work had turned stranger and more complex by far as the thoughts that the Manifesto inspired were made real in ink, paint, and photograph. He saw the public interest in the Teragen growing, and strands of debatably pro-Teragen rhetoric in 'White Rain's latest songs. He thought there was a market there.

It turned out he was right, and the same youths who flocked to the calls of the Pandaimonion flocked to see the 'new' White Rain's art.

Around this time she received the Teragen's siren call, but declined it for some time, before meeting the charismatic Scrambler in Ibiza, and embracing Teras and the possibilities it offered.

Chang has gone more and more underground, as her taint has grown, her form has twisted, and her stride has steadied on the path of Teras. Ironically, the event which all but ended her 'public' life occurred after she broke away from Scrambler, when she felt she had enough understanding of Teras to walk her own path as she had always wanted, and disagreed with several of his more extreme beliefs.

On a talk show she was cornered by the host, and accused of being a Teragen poseur. She nearly throttled him with her hair before storming out. When he filed criminal charges, she returned the favour with a defamation suit, and both sides settled out of court.

Since then she has continued her artistic output, continued to push herself to the edge of her possibilities so she can peak at what may lie beyond them, and continued to settle into the niche of an underground art legend. These days, most of her work is seen on the OpNet, with pieces turning up in galleries now and again.

Most recently of all, White Rain's public perception has experienced an upswing, due to the discovery that she had been donating massive sums of money to various charities the world over for several years. When asked to explain why by an ambitious journalist, the new, inhuman Chang Zha declined any comment, and moved on to talking about her new album.

Overall, Chang Zha-Yang has been a nova for 9 years, since 2002 when she erupted at age 22.

Powers: Chang has become something of a living rubber band. Her body is supremely flexible, stretchy and malleable, something she uses constantly to experience different forms and explore different modes of existence. For example she rarely bothers with furniture; if she wishes to sit she molds her body into a chair, and has her torso emerging from it, or whichever part she desires. Likewise she often reduces herself to a kind of thick fleshy liquid and 'relaxes' in a bathtub, or morphs herself into a statue in a public place. Her hair is animate, able to lengthen at will and seems to function in the same way as eufiber, modifying itself to mimic any clothes she wills. Her hair is both prehensile and strong enough to use in a similar manner to extra arms, and she's perfectly capable of using both of her arms and her hair to perform tasks simultaneously. She has near total control over the chromatophores in her skin, allowing her to display complex, colourful patterns on it at will, and in conjunction with her bioluminescent powers can make a living, moving lightshow of herself, to the point where she can almost make her skin like a TV screen. Her vocal organs are among the most finely developed in the world, allowing her voice to penetrate into the infra and ultrasound ranges, and for her to make up to four vocalizations simultaneously. She has shown the ability to use her voice to 'make' people do something on command, but otherwise she uses this only to sing. She ranks among the world's best singer/songwriters and artists, with a broad and varied base of interests. Her hearing and sight are also extremely developed, allowing her to hear and see into the infra/ultra ranges, magnify her vision and even listen in on radio signals.

Obvious aberrations: Most obviously, Chang Zha-Yang has three breasts in a single row across her chest. She is also a hermaphrodite, lacking testicles but having an unnaturally large cock (both in terms of length and girth; enough that it would inflict severe damage on someone if used in penetrative sex and maybe even kill them). An aberration that unsettles people already is therefore made worse by the fact it's virtually impossible to miss, no matter how she dresses. As if down below wasn't enough, her eyes are both different colours, unusual ones at that, and they change frequently. One might be bright red, the other purple, and an hour later one might be ivory white and the other bright yellow. She also has the flawless beauty that only Novas can have, with her skin so smooth it seems almost frictionless, lacking any hair beyond that on her head and her eyebrows. It is also rumoured that she is some kind of sexual pervert, but when she was taken to court and sued for 'taking liberties' with a young woman she settled out of court before any details could be divulged.

[iamthedave]

Name: Chang Zha-Yang

Nickname/Nova name: White Rain

Archetype: Portent

Nature: Rebel

ATTR: 2/4/4 -- 5/4/5 -- 4/2/4

ABILITIES: Stealth 1, Awareness 3, Investigation 2, Academics 3, Computer 3, Linguistics 4, Arts 5 (4 with +1 from BP), Style 3, Streetwise 3, Perform 5 (singing), Meditation 4 (35 of 35)

BACKGROUNDS: Resources 3, Eufiber 3, Influence (fame) 2 - various artistic circles; especially independent music, Node 2 = 12 (5 extra via NP) Reputation 3 (fame - eccentric and brilliant artist)

BP: Quantum 4 (7 BP), Arts 5 (2 BP), Willpower + 3 (6 BP) = 15 BP

Merits: Iron Will (6 point merit), Lusty (1 pt flaw) - Merit points generated by aberrations taken as flaws

Powers: Shapeshift 2 3 pt weakness - cannot take creature forms, traded

for duration; shapeshifts last for two scenes out of

combat or 12 turns before needing extra

expenditure)

Bioluminescence 1

Body Modifications Internal Life Support (allows her to keep people alive

inside her after devouring or engulfing them)

Extra Limbs (for hair-tendrils)

Chromatophores

Advanced Chromatophores

Enhanced Vocal Organs

Tendrils x 2 (hair)

Mega Attributes: Mega Dexterity 2

Mega Stamina 1

Mega Perception 3

Mega Intelligence 2

Mega Wits 3

Mega Appearance 1

Mega Charisma 2

Enhancements: Fast Tasks

Flexibility x 6 (She can stretch 128 meters (416 feet)

Omnidexterity (specifically to use hair as accurately as hands)

True Omnivore x 2

Electromagnetic Vision

Hyperenhanced Hearing

Ultraperipheral Perception

Analytic Taste/Touch

Self Analysis

Artistic Genius

Appearance Alteration

The Voice

Performance Prodigy

Tremorsense

Quantum: 4

Willpower: 8

Taint: 6

Aberrations: Sexual Fetish: engulfing/swallowing lovers whole, third breast and aberrant eyes are taken as taint aberrations, unnatural beauty and hermaphroditism taken as flaws.

Chrysalis: 1

Temp. Chrysalis: 4

Movement: 7/17/28

Soak: 6 (9 w/eufiber)/3 (6 w/eufiber)

[iamthedave]

List of Expenditures

NOVA POINTS

Shapeshift 2 (3 pt weakness, can't take creature forms, traded for duration; both tainted) - 6 NP

Mega Dex 1 (tainted) - 2 NP

Mega Sta 1 (tainted) - 2 NP

Mega per 3 - 9 NP

Mega Int 1 (tainted) - 2 NP

Mega Wits 3 - 9 NP

Mega App 1 - 3 NP

Mega Cha 1 - 3 NP

Bioluminescence 1 - 1 NP

Internal Life Support (tainted) - 1 NP

Tendrils 2 - 2 NP

Extra Limbs - 1 NP

4 for stats - 4 NP

2 for abilities - 2 NP

2 for willpower - 2 NP

1 for backgrounds - 1 NP

TOTAL 50

Xp: Mega Dex 2 5xp

Mega Int 2 5 xp

Mega cha 2 5 xp

Hyperenhanced hearing 5xp

Flexibility 10xp

Performance prod 5xp

True Omnivore no. 2 5 xp

Chromatophores 3 xp

Advanced Chromatophores 4 xp

Enhanced Vocal organs x 2 8xp

Omnidexterity 5 xp

Multitasking 5 xp

Ultraperipheral Perception 5 xp

Analytic Taste/Touch 5xp

Total 79 xp

[iamthedave]

Some extra details using the 'character questionaire' format

--------------------------

Character’s most obvious blessing/strength: Incredible determination and artistic vision.

Character’s greatest perceived blessing or strength: Excellent insight and musical talent.

Source/Cause of aforementioned blessing or strength (if applicable): True and fearless

intention to transcend her baseline self and explore the world around her.

Character’s most obvious flaw/weakness: Over-analyzes herself to an obsessive degree in

order to avoid 'falling off the path'.

Character’s greatest perceived flaw or weakness: Negative attitude, depression.

Source/Cause of aforementioned flaw or weakness (if applicable): Awareness of how difficult

the apparent path of ascendance is, and iron determination to discover what lies

beyond for her.

Physical Traits

===============

Age: 32

Gender: Female

Race/Subrace: Human, Chinese

Height: 5' 6''

Weight: 62 kilos, 136 pounds, 9.6 stones

Frame or body type: Slender

Skin color: Oriental, slightly yellow

Eye color: Various

Hair color: Black

Level of attractiveness: Very high

1. Tattoos/Birthmarks/Scars: Various tattoos; spiderweb on one shoulder, white raindrop

under her left eye. Other tattoos come and go at whim.

1. Purpose/significance of above markings (if applicable): The spiderweb is a simple stylistic

choice; she tends to have that shoulder bare and it provides good contrast on her

skin. The white raindrop is altogether more meaningful to her, she takes it as a

signifier of her determination to die in spirit in order to be reborn anew. Every time

she looks in the mirror, she is reminded of the pact she has made with herself.

Facial hair (if any): Eyebrows!

Handedness: Ambidextrous

Usual dress:

Jewelry or accessories worn: Frequently wears piercings, ear-rings, shawls, mesh and other

things as the mood takes her.

Brief physical description: Chang Zha is a woman of obvious asian descent, though she could be mistaken for Japanese rather than Chinese. Her skin colour leans more to Chinese, but her eyes have a distinctly Japanese slant. She has a slender build, offset by the presence of three near-perfectly round breasts in a row across her chest. Her hair is silken and black, flowing down to the back of her knees and visibly melding into her clothes. She usually dresses and styles herself in the habit of punks, goths and other subcultures. Her hair can be much longer, however.

Hairstyle: Various. Often traditional Chinese hairstyles, sometimes mohawks, spikes or styles that are completely impossible.

Vocal type (shrill, booming, musical, etc.): A flawless, musical tone that lacks the kind of unconscious ups and downs common to most people. It leans towards the center of the spectrum while still being feminine, but her vocal range is enormous. Thanks to her heavily modified throat, Chang is able to make up to 4 vocal sounds simultaneously, essentially giving her up to 4 voices.

Accent (if any): Not at this point, though at times a little of her Chinese accent slips in.

History

=======

Hometown: Nanchang

Location of hometown: Jiangxi province, China

Traumatic or defining childhood experiences (if any): Having stones thrown at her by local girls at school, and not covering up against the pain; accepting the abuse and staring them down.

Brief description of childhood: Somewhat troubled. Chang was always one of those people who stuck out as 'different', not the best position to be in when part of a large Chinese family and a girl. She was usually too bright, and far too intense for her years, to the point many people thought she was insane.

Description of any childhood friends/enemies: Chang was largely disliked for the aforementioned intensity. She was friends with one local girl named Fei Wa, a gymnast and athlete who would go on to have some success in baseline competitions.

Current location/status of aforementioned friends/enemies: Fei has retired now and gone into training a new generation of gymnasts. Her childhood enemies are businesswomen, athletes, soldiers, a mix.

Family

======

Father’s name: Mao Chang

Father’s age: 54

Father’s profession: Businessman

Father’s current status: Still working

Description of father: Balding and fattening, with somewhat bad knees. He still tries to be athletic and workout but physical issues are making it more difficult. He's a strict disciplinarian.

Mother’s name: Xia Chang

Mother’s age: 52

Mother’s profession: Housewife

Mother’s current status: Still wifing

Description of mother: A slim and quite refined looking woman beginning to grey, she's managed to stay healthy with a steady regime of Tai Chi.

Description of any siblings: Mostly older and younger brothers.

Relationship with siblings: Almost nonexistent since her eruption. Chang's taint and philosophy drives her very strongly away from her family.

Birth position (first, second, third, eldest, youngest, etc.): Chang is the third youngest child.

Description of early family life: Chang has very much been the black sheep of her family. Her intensity and obsessions, and philosophical leanings put her far away from what her family wanted. Her mother was proud of her and always urged her to follow her heart. This may well be the push she needed to begin the journey that has taken her to where she is today. She learned music from a travelling Buddhist monk when she was young, and that proved to be her true nature. She was near-savant level from the start, but resisted official teaching and did not get along with the government's attempt to guide her musical growth.

Enemy within family (if any): Her eldest brother, Guo Chang, believes she has shamed the family since her eruption and would very much like to bring her down to earth. He is a powerful businessman now, and he still seethes over an incident where she slapped him, and when he punched her back she just stared at him like he was nothing.

Relationships

=============

NPC friends: Noah Antwiler

Status of such friends: Michael is her primary art dealer in the USA and serves as a go between for contacts who would rather not deal with her directly.

Reason for association: He was one of the first who recognized her as having great potential to the disaffected who flock towards the Teragen.

NPC sweetheart(s) past or present: Olga Romanenko

Current status of sweetheart(s): Model

History: They met while Chang was beginning to mutate due to taint accumulation. She's the closest Chang has come to finding love since becoming hermaphroditic, and it haunts her. Unfortunately when she developed her fetish for engulfing people in her body it became too much and Olga actually sued her. Things are somewhat bitter now.

NPC enemies: 'Scrambler' her former Terat mentor

Current status: Member of The Primacy and Nova Vigilance

History: Scrambler met Chang during one of her lengthy stays in Ibiza, more or less on a nova spotting trip for inspiration. They hit it off and as she talked of her desires to grow and change, and her admiration for the null manifesto, they got to talking about the Teragen. He would eventually take her under his wing as his student and guide her on the path of the portent. However, he always hoped to bring her with him into other factions, in part to increase his own standing and power. Chang recognized this and, when she felt she understood his teachings, and knew she could walk alone once more, she cast him off and did so. This has led to extremely bitter feelings from Scrambler, especially since he had begun to view her as something like a pet artist, guiding her in producing more and more extreme works.

How the character feels others perceive him/her: Chang feels that she is viewed as a growing monster, and knows that she's considered a Teragen sympathizer by most She knows that most people don't get her art, baselines especially. Equally, she knows that many other novas don't like her because of her taint, but realizes that if she's ever going to find love again it will probably have to be with another nova.

Loyalties: Chang is mostly loyal to her artistic, philosophical and spiritual vision. She has rarely had long term friends or relationships, none lifelong. But she is fiercely loyal to those who inspire her or who help her on her path, recognizing that few people can help, and some of those that could might not want to.

Generally trusted people: Anyone she believes can help her on her path, or those who appreciate and understand her art and music.

Generally despised people: Those without the conviction of their beliefs or those with no artistic spirit at all. Not fond of the ignorant, either. In general, though, Chang works hard to purge all hateful emotions from herself, so that she can stride into her future with pure intent and clear heart. Rather than 'despising' them as such, it is more that she views them as irrelevant to her existence.

General relationship with peers: Depends entirely on how they deal with taint. She can be somewhat confused and tongue-tied with beautiful women.

General reaction to attractive members of the opposite sex: A mixture of indifference and confusion. She has never really come to terms with her changing sexuality, but at this point is more or less a lesbian.

What the character would kill for: Her own evolution.

What the character would die for: Her music, art and her beliefs.

Greatest sin ever committed against the character: Being accused of being a Teragen poseur during an interview. She came within inches of inflicting severe injury on the baseline, and has not given a TV interview since.

Personality/Beliefs

===================

Role models: She drifted from role model to role model as a baseline, focusing on various Novox singers and Nova artists. That period is behind her now.

Legendary heroes: Zhuge Liang and some other characters from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. She appreciates the idea of wisdom.

Contemporary heroes: Divis Mal, for opening the window to the mode of thinking that has defined Chang's life.

Disillusion of heroes: Divis Mal. While she initially celebrated the Null Manifesto and was fascinated with its potential, she's quite concerned with the apparent direction of the Teragen, seeing it as an apparent contradiction.

Dreams or ambitions: To see where her own path of evolution takes her, and to pursue it without wavering.

Reason for dreams or ambitions (or lack thereof): In part it stems from that feeling of having always been different, in part from fear. She knows that she has picked up taint, that her body is changing, and she now knows her mind has begun to change as well. She wants to purge herself of that fear, embrace those changes, and move on. She feels if she can accomplish this it will be a worthy achievement.

Short-term goals: Come to terms with her transformed sexuality.

Long-term goals: Transcend her current state of being.

Plans to fulfill these goals: Meditate and consider her motivations and feelings, and to explore her state of mind and being through as many forms of media and art as she can express herself in. At the same time to push herself physically, artistically and psychologically to the very limit of her capabilities.

Fears or phobias: Of becoming what is colloquially termed 'a taint-ridden abomination'. Never finding love.

Possibility of overcoming: Accepting taint, embracing what it does to her, and in so doing banish her fear forever. As for love... not really something she can control. Understanding that though she walks alone, she can do with support from time to time makes it more likely.

Willingness to discuss or admit to fears: With someone she feels is intelligent or insightful enough to usefully respond, very high. If she feels the discussion would be counterproductive or a waste of time, completely unwilling. She leans towards the former more than latter, though.

Attitude regarding material wealth: Its only value lies in providing for material needs. Excess wealth should be donated to charity - ultimately she knows she needs to move beyond it. Baselines have far more need of money than she does, and if she cannot ascend to a point where she barely needs it any more then she will ultimately fail.

Level of greed/miserliness: Very low.

Level of generosity: Very high.

General attitude toward others: Intense, studying, analytical until she has a feeling for them.

Requirements to gain the character’s trust: Genuine interest in her beyond the basic 'oooo you look odd'; trust automatic if she finds the person to be in any way inspiring for her artistic or philosophical endeavours.

Introverted or extroverted: Introverted. She's too philosophical and analytical for it to be otherwise, and her philosophy is based on her interpretation of the Null Manifesto, that she needs to walk her own path, more or less alone.

Habits: Shapeshifting, stretching and contorting herself into inhuman shapes and conditions, finding places to just stop and listen or look at the world around hre, sometimes for hours at a time.

Contradictions in personality: She has a philosophy which demands she walk alone, but she yearns for love and knows it. She wants to be understood, but declines to explain herself. Perhaps the biggest contradiction of all is that she is aware of these contradictions but does nothing about them. She's still trying to determine if she should in fact try to 'straighten out' these contradictions, or accept them as a part of who she is and instead internalize and embrace the contradictions.

Favorite food: Char Siu roast pork buns, also dim sum and steamed fluffy buns.

Favorite beverage: Absinthe.

Favorite dessert: Various types of caramel or chocolate mousse.

Mealtime tendencies: She varies greatly. When she forgets herself, Chang can go into sudden inhuman surges; for example swallowing her entire plate of food at once and 'tasting' each bit individually inside herself. She has begun to do this more and more over time, since developing her sexual fetish.

General tastes: Rice and meat usually; though she does have a pretty sharp sweet tooth.

Favorite color (if any): White

Musical interests/talents (if any): She is an obscenely talented musician. Easily one of the best singer/songwriters of the Nova age and able to play multiple instruments to great degrees of skill. She specializes in the guitar (including variants such as the shamisen) and various sorts of flute, but can play dozens of other instruments including the piano.

Artistic/literary interests/talents (if any): She's skilled in multiple other artistic areas as well. She specializes in physical arts such as dancing, chereography and photography, but she is also an accomplished poet.

Personality “hot buttons” (actions that provoke anger, embarrassment, etc.): Jibes about her sexuality - if known about - or her enjoyment of devouring people. Also direct challenges about her attempt to embrace inhumanity, or efforts to trivialize her choice.

Views on religion: The most powerful ideas ever created. She has immense respect for them, but she feels no religious stirrings herself. Unquestionably, religion is a powerful tool being used against Novas.

Religious/spiritual traits and tendencies: Her meditations definitely have a spiritual edge, as they focus on exploring her relationship between herself and her node, and her node and the rest of the universe.

Views on the supernatural: The coming of the Nova age has made supernatural natural. Is there anything that can really be thought of as 'super' natural anymore?

Tendencies/attitudes toward killing: She is mostly non-violent, but believes it would be better to experience it, so she knows whether or not it is part of her nature.

Most likely reaction to an attack: Defense as best she can manage.

Most likely reaction to theft: Injury to the attacker.

Most likely reaction to public insult: Ignoring it.

Views on government: Soured somewhat by her youth. She never forgot the Chinese government's attempt to make her put her musical talents to their purposes when she had so many ideas of her own, and that lingering resentment has never quite left her, though her extended period of self-analysis has planed it away to a rather simple basic distrust. Her general view is that governments by their nature are of little help to an individual, as they must by nature focus on the needs of the group.

Most treasured possession: An old-style bamboo flute; her first instrument.

Career/Training

===============

Description of education: To university level.

Honors/awards/special considerations: Straight A-equivalent music student from start to finish.

Profession: Artist/musician.

Lifestyle/Hobbies

================

Daily routine: Wake up, activate flexibility, stretch out as far as possible then slowly retract. Go to bathroom and look in the mirror, focus on the white raindrop tattoo, open mirror to reveal vial of drugs, refuse to use (drugs represent all forms of 'easy' relief from her journey). After that meditate for an hour, then take breakfast and go to work on whatever artistic endeavour she's working on. If working on nothing, seek inspiration, trawl the OpNet for recent developments. At the end of each month arrange charitable donations after calculating personal needs. In general though she attempts to avoid falling into a routine, she believes it may stunt her growth. Late in the day meditate on the day's events, go into a period of self-analysis to determine if anything was achieved or learned, or if at least no damage was done..

Likely reaction to interruption of said routine: Interest. Breaking routine is key to personal growth.

Hobbies: Reading, especially essays relating to the Null Manifesto to get additional perspectives, dancing, using her powers to take the form of furniture or objects in public places, doing complex puzzles to keep her mind sharp.

Interests: 'The Nova Race' as a concept, and whether it has any kind of validity. Philosophy in general. Ongoing research into taint accumulation and its effects. Furthering her powers and expanding her self-understanding.

Usual mode of travel: Walking or taxi.

Hangouts: Prefers to find a place where Novas are specifically catered for and are welcome.

Description of home: Open plan, surprisingly bare. Minimal furniture for TV, OpnNet console, kitchen units. She no longer bothers with a toilet, as she does not expect to be catering to visitors. Most of the area of her home will be taken up by areas assigned to different artistic pursuits. A specific area for composing music, red room for developing photographs, dancing/choreography area, and so on. Everything in general is ordered and carefully designed to give her the optimum conditions and environment to work in.

Cleanliness of home: Extreme. She believes absolutely in order and its maintenance. This is key to whatever eventual growth she achieves.

[WhiteRain]

XP: 2 (banked) + 7 (april) + 7 (May) + 8 (June; extra for Mod niceness) + 9 (July) + 7 (August) + 7 (September) + 7 (october) + 7 (November)

+3 Reputation dots awarded (May)

1 NP reserved for combat-relevant skills

Temporary gain of Combat Paralysis Flaw

Total: 54

+3 dots of temporary chrysalis (accumulated over all posts to end of May)

+1 dot of temporary chrysalis (4th June; during Victoria Crush Charity Extravaganza thread)

-2 dots of resources (12th June, due to overspending in the charity event)

EXPENDITURES

April 1st: 5 xp for Analytic Taste/Touch Enhancement

May 11th: 5 xp for Tremorsense Enhancement + 5 xp for a third flexibility enhancement (raising stretch distance to 16 meters/52 feet)

May 27th: 3 Reputation dots put into eccentric/brilliant artist

June 1st: 5 xp for fourth flexibility enhancement (raising stretch distance to 32 meters/104 feet)

July 1st: 5 xp for fifth flexibility enhancement (raising stretch distance to 64 meters/208 feet)

August 1st: 5 xp for sixth flexibility enhancement (raising stretch distance to 128 meters/416 feet)

RUNNING TOTAL: 29