[Character] Mr. Crimson

[Mr. Crimson]

Mr. Crimson

Mr. Crimson is the nova alias of one Renée Artaud, although he very rarely uses the baseline name. Although publicly considered to have strong Teragen sympathies, the truth (known mainly to the Teragen themselves) is that he was a peripheral member of the movement in his early years, but soon left, disillusioned by the idolatry surrounding the figure of Divis Mal, the strength of the more radical, supremacist elements, and the, in his opinion, severely restrictive nature of Teras. He took a few Terats with similar views with him, and throughout the years he has accrued a small following. He describes his main philosophy as "Non-Competittive Transhumanism", which uses much of the Teragen rhetoric, especially in rejecting the Zurich accord, placing novas as governments unto themselves, but taking a turn for cooperation, or at least non-conflict, with baseline population and society, and rejecting many of the ideas of Divis Mal, including the Archetypes of Teras, the method of Chrysalis and the exaltation of Taint as a mark of evolution. He proposes to refine, or possibly reinvent, the Chrysalis process to free it from the limiting Archetypes, which were created by Mal and have a definite supremacist content, and from the progressive debilitating effects of Taint accumulation. As far as anyone knows, he has made no progress, but this doesn't stop some hopeful novas coming into his influence, especially heavily-tainted beings hoping for a "cure".

He normally resides in his fortified compound in a lawless region of Guinea, where he enforces his own order through his powers, his few nova associates and a considerable native militia. Although the international community, and especially Utopia, frowns on his "illegal authority", his considerable resources, derived from the bauxite, gold and diamond mines in the region, and the fact that even if he wasn't paying the Guinean government large sums of money, it would be powerless to stop him, and Utopia won't send Team Tomorrow in with an uncooperative local government and against an unknown number of novas, although certain undercover agents and elites hired through proxies have tried to disrupt his operations, especially after it was revealed that Mr. Crimson provides both resources and shelter to the subversive Aberrant faction, while at the same time fishing for more adherents to his "movement". His defection from the Teragen and vocal scorn of Divis Mal and nova supremacists has earned him the enmity of a good portion of the more radical Terats, as well, and even the more moderate elements regard him as a bit of a fool, stating he egocentrically wants to "become a new Divis Mal".

Renée developed significant powers when he erupted when attacked by Guinean nationalst rebels sometime around 2004, and he has been developing them ever since, rumors say that with the aid of special techniques he learned during his stay at the Teragen. These revolve mostly around the control of gravity, with which, apart from the obvious effects, he can warp space and, to a lesser degree, time, up to and including creating relatively stable wormholes between two points in space (his usual mode of travel). This ability is the basis for his most feared technique, nicknamed Crimson Holocaust, in which he forces incandescent plasma from the sun through various holes in space, devastating everything in a considerable radius. He has only used the technique twice, once to impress into obedience the group of rebels that controlled the mines before his arrival, and another time in self-defense against a group of elites. Testament to this are two vast areas of ash in his territory, and many rumors about his violence and destructive power. Apart from his more flashy powers, Renée has important levels of superhuman strength, and, to a lesser degree, nova-level looks. Some reports credit him with important levels of intelligence, reaction time, velocity and resistance, but they are unconfirmed, highly speculative and the rumors may have been started by Mr. Crimson himself.

Renée stands as a nearly seven foot tall West African of indeterminate age and mixed heritage, with paler skin and more European features than natives. Broad-shouldered and heavily muscled, he is significantly imposing, and it is a hard contest to determine what contributes more to his piercing look, the small nearly-black iris of his left eye or the crimson shine of a dying star that permanently obscures his right. Dreadlocks reach his shoulders, and various piercings adorn his ear, nose, tongue and possibly other body parts. He seems to accentuate the counter-culture image by smoking almost constantly, although nicotine can certainly have no effect over his nova metabolism.