Spotlight: Walter Meechum

Okay so this guy creeps me out like nothing else. He is terrifying and vicious and malicious and a sadist and I still don't know how the hell I came up with him. He's not just my nightmare, he's Dean's nightmare. And I dunno, maybe it's because I used to be terrified of hospitals and doctors (but have since become largely desensitized to them) that, you know, Meechum was born. Or, well, who knows. Anyway, here's Mr Creepy.

Name: Walter Meechum
Power: to be incredibly sadistic and creepy? He's Homo spaien
Codename: n/a
Team Affiliation: none; Apolyta Medical Facility, NOS

Meechum is in his mid-forties when Book 1 happens. He's British/Welsh/Somewhere In That General Area (no, I haven't figured that part out yet). Is that important? No, but I've been giving that kind of info for a lot of the others, so why the hell not give the information for this guy? Anyway. Mid-forties, married twice, divorced twice, no kids. He is the most apathetic guy on the planet, so I have no idea how he married in the first place.

In terms of who he is? He's a Homo sapien. He is also heavily involved with the NOS. Like, his grandfather (or whatever, family was involved) helped start the current incarnation of the organization. The NOS has been around for-freaking-ever, though it's probably not always been called the NOS (okay, it most certainly hasn't been called the NOS....which stands for...stuff. And no, I'm not telling). He was "raised" (I think he might have been hatched) with the general idea that Homo superum should be eliminated, no two ways about it. They are the upstarts who ruined the greatness of the sapiens and therefore must be put down. Look at all the problems (there really aren't that many problems in the world, remember? It's a utopia, more or less....except for the sapien terrorists) with the world these days. Freaks with powers are walking around unchecked with no source of dignity or manners, letting that nastiness just hang all out there. It must be stopped. That's more or less that kind of attitude Meechum's people have.

His parents were very hands on, very much the "mold you into what we want you to be to shape the future for the rest of us" type brainwashing crazy. They were also heavily involved in the NOS. Meechum has no siblings (thank the Gods) and is pretty much the apple of his parents's eyes. Well, kind of. They're dead, but you get the point.

Meechum hid his crazy, psycho....stuff and went to college. He was pretty normal, was neither top or bottom of his class, drew no attention to himself, and got his degrees in biochemistry and genetics. The NOS paid for everything. They then set him up on Mu and built him the Apolyta Complex, where Meechum could have access to prisoners (there is always some sort of crime going on, and any crime that does happen, the justice system goes down hard on them to discourage people) and small children that no one would miss. Meechum would take little groups of children, because the adults didn't interest him all that much (their genetics are fixed and old and not easily pushed or prodded), and kept going for years, searching. The thing he's looking for is the mythical "link" between races, the point where Homo sapien becomes Homo superum, the key to undoing everything that is the superum race. It's a big thing. This is mostly what happens in Book 2, that Meechum's crazy pays off and he finds said Link. He has a team in Apolyta full of crazy and creepy, and talented, people that are also on the same page as him and want the same goal - to eliminate the superum (which is rough 80-90% of the human population currently).

Then he met Dean and Evelyn and got distracted. Temporarily.

I'm gonna jump back for a second. Meechum's first wife he meet in college and they got married and they were happy (I guess?). She was a chemistry major, sapien, so they could talk shop and shared a love of science. Meechum can be very passionate about what he is doing. Then Mrs Meechum #1 found out that her new husband was off his nut about what he wanted to find (the Link) and they got a divorce. The NOS watches her, just in case she starts talking, and will have her killed if she does open her gob. Mrs Meechum #2 was someone within the NOS that Meechum married because it looked good at the time. ...Meechum ended up dissecting her. She had very nice genetics, and actually had a little bit of a superum power, which kind of made Meechum twitch. Legally, on paper, they got a divorce and then she moved somewhere and the NOS has covered everything up. They like their pet scientist very much (especially when he has the power to veto/shoot down many things that the various boards put forth) and want to keep him happy. As far as I know, he has no kids. Mrs Meechum #1 might have had one, but that's her business. Maybe it'll pop up later, but honestly, it's for the best that he doesn't have a kid. He'd probably end up vivisecting it. He's crazy. Beyond crazy. He scares me. D:

Meechum is Dean's nightmare, his boogeyman, his ultimate fear. Nothing scares Dean as much as Meechum does. Meechum is responsible for Dean's twin sister's death. He doesn't forget that, even through the mess his early childhood has become thanks to the telepathy; he can't forget it, really, since that's what started the majority of everything that has ever gone wrong with him. Meechum is the very last person Dean ever wants to have to deal with ever again.

And he scares the crap out of me and I hate writing him but I have to and omg why did I create the scary?! Ahem. I mean. It's usually a good sign when an author can scare themselves with their own creations, right?

And that is more or less Walter Meechum. The only other thing I'll say about him is that he is like a cockroach - impossible to eradicate. Which really pisses off Medic. Which really puts Dean into a tailspin every now and then. Which is also very dangerous. 

Spotlight: Troy Parker

Started this a week ago at work and then just couldn't finish it. So I'm going to keep going with this and hopefully finish getting it posted today. In other news, writing and focusing on my world and my characters is a really good way to ignore the way my life has, more or less, gone to hell. :D I'll probably post some fiction later, introduce you all to Dean, who is my very favoritest baby.

Name: Troy Parker
Codename: Breaker
Power: telepathy
Team Affiliation: the Alliance

Troy is an anomaly, as far as telepaths go. He is very powerful, but it was a slow progression for him, his power knob slowly turning from low to high (though Dean will eventually be much more powerful) and his mind and body adjusting accordingly. By the time the Alliance finds him (at age 18) he's more powerful than the last telepath the Alliance had thirty years ago. It is very hard to keep your sanity when you have minds pressing in against yours, hearing snippets of thoughts and having to push to make sense of what you're hearing. For Troy, this is as natural as breathing.

Troy grew up on the mainland of Europe, in Denmark. He has two older brothers who he's very close with. His family runs a greenhouse and nurtures plants and special hothouse fruit. This is half the reason Troy's room in Eden is covered in plants and why there's a mini greenhouse at Medic's childhood home (and why the Sky Tower's upper most floor is covered with greenery). He might be a telepath, but he's still very good with plants.

His life was pretty ordinary until he ran into a tiny, 10 year old Scry, and saved his scrawny ass. I really need to write this scene because it's adorable and Scry Sees that he's never going to get rid of Troy and just grouches that he might as well take the brat with him now. Which Troy finds hysterical. Instant friendship, or something like that. Troy turned into a kind of babysitter for Scry (which mini!Scry objected to loudly) but they got to be really good friends. Troy'd been on the Alliance for a bit before Mimic had joined the team, being Scry's partner and being part of the Alliance's Unbeatable Dream Team(tm), and found her refreshing. And constantly tried to get her to smile and laugh, which he promptly fell in love with. Scry sulked, for the most part, because Troy started ignoring his young friend in favor of spending time with Mimic and then marrying her, and then having a baby.

Of course that's when things went to hell. Mimic pulled away from him and Troy never understood why. He tried hard to do whatever he could to keep Mimic smiling and happy, but after a while it just got to be too much for the both of them. They took a break, Troy raised Medic and spent more and more time with Scry, and then he and Mimic gave it another shot. And they had Casey. And then Mimic just moved out of the house to the Sky Tower and that was that. Every now and then they'd give it half-hearted try, mostly for the kids's sake, but each attempt ended up with Troy thoroughly discouraged and Mimic colder than ever. Around this time, Troy started dropping hints at Scry (who is oblivious and asexual and just Doesn't Get It) that he'd very much like to try a relationship with the younger man. Troy is bi, Scry is asexual, and Mimic is just...cold. It went on for a bit, Troy wearing Scry down inch by tiny inch.

And then Aployta happened, and the NOS. And that was that. Poor guy. I wish I could give him a happy ending. Instead he just sits in an Assisted Care facility and stares out into nothing. 

Spotlight: Serah Marks-Parker

So this is a test drive of the Blogger app for Android. If this works, I can totally do the spotlights when I'm at work or commuting there. It'll take longer because of the keypad, but whatever. ;)

Anyway, onto today's Spotlight, yeah?

Name: Serah Marks-Parker
Codename: Mimic
Power: Power mimicry
Team Affiliation: The Alliance

Mimic is...interesting. She's Medic's mother and Troy's wife (I'll do him soon/next/something) and an absolute piece of work. She goes by her codename only, though Troy got her to open up a little bit, but he's special.

Mimic has a bad background. She came from a home where people didn't really care about each other. The Marks family has lots of money and social status. Her mother was the one who worked for everything the family had while her father was preoccupied with spending the money and trading on the status of the family. Mimic is the oldest of four. The one after her, James, died because of his power manifestation (body made of fire that he couldn't control so he lost human sense and just turned into a normal fire). Her two other siblings are in perfect control of their powers and work at running the company and charities that the Marks family comes from.

Mimic cut all ties with her family at 16, after James, and struck out for the heroing gig. She didn't join the Squad but waited around, doing some minor and big things, until the Alliance came calling. She had her first costume commissioned from a friend in fashion and pretty much did everything on her own in her own very serious way. So she joined up with the Alliance at about...18.

So when she joined, Troy and Scry were already there. And Mimic and Troy met, he made her laugh, and that was that.

A note on ages, actually. Because I got myself into a slight bit of trouble. Troy is 8 years older than Scry. Mimic is 6 years older than him. Mimic was born in 1997, Troy in 1995, and Scry in 2003. It makes it interesting. Since these guys are at the heart of half the story, and understanding Mimic's position in the little triad there is key, here's the....slightly abridged version:

The Alliance came for Scry when he was 8-ish. He was already spouting off accurate prophecies and he is from such a strong line that the Alliance wanted, and wanted badly. They went to Pythia, who asked Apollo's advice since Scry is her very favoritest nephew ever, who said it was all right, and Pythia allowed them to "kidnap" her nephew away. With a few strings attached. About two years later, Troy saved Scry's ten year old ass from something (telepaths are forever saving everyone else from getting their asses kicked~). There was a tiny bitch fest and Scry, knowing that he'd be stuck with Troy, dragged him back to the Alliance (for lunch) to get started on making what he saw a reality. Troy was 18 then. Troy ran into Mimic there and began flirting, making her laugh. Which, you know, is a feat. Cue long romance and sweetness to them getting married when Troy's 21 and Mimic's 19, and having Medic a year later and then Casey 4 years later. Scry and Troy become this ridiculously effective and perfect dream team for the Alliance and they love it. They get shit done. And then Troy goes crazy, Scry closes off, and that's that.

Somewhere after Medic's birth, though, Mimic shut down. She didn't laugh or smile much anymore, and Troy did try, but Mimic just couldn't do it. She moved into the Sky Tower, Troy took care of Medic. Casey was a fluke, one of their attempts to try and fix their marriage and Mimic, but it didn't take (obviously). Troy raised both kids while he did duty to the Alliance. Mimic did hers as well, but closed the door in everyone's face. She wanted to do her job and be left alone. A lot of it stems back to her childhood and how she was raised, how she saw her parents interact, and how the adults in her world interacted with each other. She knows it's not right, but it's all she does know, and you cannot always fix what is so deeply ingrained in your psyche.

When the going gets tough, she sticks it out as long as she can, and then runs. She's been fighting the flight response in her system for a long time, but eventually something is going to give.