Agent North Dakota | Andrew Engelsen (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bothbarrels) wrote2012-11-23 01:21 pm
bothbarrels) wrote2012-11-23 01:21 pm
Tushanshu App
Player Information:
Name: Marti
Age: over 18
Contact: martienne17@gmail.com | martienne on AIM and Plurk
Game Cast: n/a
Character Information:
Name: Agent North Dakota | [real name unknown, usually just referred to as North]
Canon: Red vs. Blue
Canon Point: As he is being attacked for his AI by the Meta
Age: Unknown | [estimated at around 31]
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_vs_blue | http://rvb.wikia.com/wiki/North
Setting: Red vs. Blue takes place primarily in the Halo fictional universe--it started out as a fanfiction serial in itself; though it grew to have its own set canon, for the most part it follows the rules set in Halo canon. Set 500 years into the future, the story takes place during the time of an interstellar war between humankind and a Covenant of alien enemies. The aliens worship technology left behind by an ancient civilization known as the Forerunners. The ruling class in the Covenant sees humans as a threat, as unbeknownst to them, humans are the closest living descendents of this long-ago civilization. Unfortunately for humankind, Covenant technology is far advanced, able to obliterate planets full of human colonists, and the aliens prove to be ruthless in pursuing mankind’s obliteration. Humans are struggling to keep up.
To that end, a number of organizations arise, attempting to find a “magic bullet” to get an edge by creating the ultimate super-soldier. While the secretive ONI (the Halo equivalent to the CIA) had developed a top-secret and ethically-questionable program to create the genetically-enhanced Spartans, an scientist named Leonard Church secures government funding to start a group of operatives known as Freelancers. It is unknown where recruits came from, but the soldiers who entered the program were given durable body armor, advanced weaponry, and special enhancements such as super speed or energy shielding. In an unorthidox move, Church chooses to rank the soldiers to spur them to compete with one another. Consequently, there is much animosty between the operatives who desire to acheive top rankings. All of the Freelancers are adept at using the tech they’ve been assigned, and run a number of successful missions before the project begins its final phase: using the rankings, the soldiers are chosen to be assigned helper AIs to more efficiently run their equipment.
In order to continue to advance the training of the Freelancer force, Church also creates a sham civil war, pitting Reds against Blues in simulation bases to create more scenarios in which they can fight. Unfortunately, the AIs are not all the most stable pieces of software—Church created the AIs by torturing the Alpha, the only AI he had secured funding to support, made by copying his own mind. Though their assignees don’t realize the origins of the AIs at first, once the truth comes out, those who had had suspicions don’t hesitate to take action. Even as things should be gathering steam in the project, it breaks down, and a number of top operatives end up going rogue. North, along with his friend York, join top-ranked Agent Texas to try to rescue the original Alpha AI. Unfortunately, the plan fails, and the ship where the Project is headquartered crashes onto a nearby planet.
In the aftermath of this, the remaining Freelancers with AIs are left fending for themselves, on the run from one of their own, the former Agent Maine, who begins to call himself the Meta. The Meta is obsessed with gathering the AI fragments for himself. North himself is one of the Freelancer agents who is killed when the Meta comes after his AI, his fellow-agent and twin sister South failing to protect him at the last. In the aftermath of the Project’s breakdown the Alpha AI is placed in a squad of simulation Blues, believing himself to be an ordinary soldier. The simulation base training continues, but run-ins with the Meta and other former and current Freelancers change the magnitude of the situations the simulation troopers need to deal with. They end up being involved in the key events leading to the fall of the Project.
Personality: North is a trained mercenary soldier, willing and able to confront dangerous situations and improvise solutions. He’s a realist and knows the importance of following rules and regulations. He seems to put priority on following orders as close to the letter as he can, though he will deviate when circumstances call for him to deviate. He’ll still worry about the consequences, though. He couches his concerns with an easy humor, but he can’t help but ask around when he gets called in to answer for one such deviation to find out what his potential consequences could be.
He’s known for being supportive, and at one point the project’s counselor even refers to his ‘nurturing nature.’ Perhaps nothing in life has given him cause to learn how to calm and mentor others than his relationship with his twin sister, South. She is rash and impulsive, often mouthing off when something upsets or irritates her. While he seems unwilling to call her out on her outbursts in front of other people, he usually goes to find her in the aftermath to calm her and talk her through what’s upsetting her. This isn’t to say that he likes putting up with her behavior, however. When she can’t see his face he reacts with a restrained exasperation, shaking his head in the knowledge that soon he’s going to need to intervene in her anger once again.
By nature, he’s contemplative, and though he may gently tease his friends, he’s not as much of a joker as fellow agent York. His more introspective nature leads to an easy camaraderie between the two of them, and York’s seen going to North more than once to help him think something through. He’s even something of a mentor to the younger Washington, easing things over when York’s antagonizing of him goes a little bit too far. When sharing his opinion he often pauses before speaking, as though to make sure he has his thoughts straight before presenting them.
He has a strong sense of morality, but he also places his trust in the leadership. Therefore, he’s more reluctant to conclude that they aren’t “the good guys” than York, even when York shares his suspicions. Though he had been forming a friendship with Tex, it’s likely that his trust in York, along with the evidence Tex has in her possession, is what persuades him to go along with the plan to break in and rescue the Alpha AI. In the end, in the choice between right and wrong, he casts his lot in with them rather than continue to help the leadership carry out unethical research.
The contrast between his personality and his sister’s comes to a head as things in the project start to break down. He chooses to act as the inside man, knowing that he won’t be able to convince South to go in on the plan. He relies on his persuasive skills and their history of standing together to convince her to leave with him once the break-in has already taken place. Unfortunately his trust in his ability to influence his sister ends up being his downfall; Tex warns him that his sister is an opportunist, and though he admits to Tex that South has acted inappropriately in her quest for an AI of her own, it seems he was taken by surprise by the fact that in the end, he couldn’t trust her to do everything she could to keep him from falling to the Meta.
Of special note is North’s relationship to his AI, Theta. AIs can choose how to project themselves and how they sound, and Theta is childlike in both voice and his hologram body's proportions. Theta is timid and fearful when he is first introduced. North was chosen specifically to host Theta because of Theta’s anxiousness; the Counselor cites his 'nuturing nature' as a reason he was given the special charge. Unlike other agents, North is reluctant to shut his AI down to spare himself the difficulty when Theta’s worries and fears become overwhelming. Instead, North stays up late into the night to walk the halls and comfort the AI, comparing it to the way his father would take South for car rides to lull her to sleep. He shows himself successful at the task from the start, coaxing the AI to bring his avatar out from hiding and to speak more directly to his fellow agents. Over time Theta begins to seek North’s approval, creating animations such as of fireworks or himself riding a skateboard, simply to hear North compliment him on them. North teaches Theta that they can trust one another; once Theta learns he can rely on North, he seeks North’s reassurances whenever a new situation presents itself.
When North arrives in Tu Vishan, the thing that will most dominate his thoughts is the fact that Theta is now missing. He will be able to remember the fact that when he left his former life, the Meta was preparing to fire on him, and he will be concerned about Theta’s fate. He will be quietly accepting of it when he’s told that Tu Vishan is a sort of afterlife. His contemplative nature implies that he has spent time thinking about matters of spirituality, especially since he’s chosen such a dangerous line of work.
Appearance: North is tall, around 6’4”, with an angular face and fair hair. He’s in good shape, but isn’t as heavily muscular as his friend York. His PB is Jude Law.
Abilities: North has been recruited into an elite force of mercenary soldiers. As such he is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, self-defense tactics, shooting, and survival. His specialty is the sniper rifle; he’s nearly as accurate shoting without a scope as he is with it. In the confrontation with his sister, he’s seen dual-wielding sniper rifles, one in each hand.
Inventory: His Freelancer armor, his sniper rifle, a pistol and some grenades. His AI, Theta, will be missing.
Suite: Water sector, 2 floors. He’ll be grateful just to have a place to stay and prefers simple things out of life, anyway. He would hate to feel like he’s taking up a place that is too fancy that could be given to someone else. He’s thoughtful that way.
In-Character Samples:
Third Person:
He’d been there the first time Wash had awoken, sharing the vigil with York. As much as the two of them teased Wash, they did feel protective toward him. He'd wanted to think Wash would receive one of the more helpful AIs, like he and York had, and that everything would be fine once he got past the initial mental discomfort. Unfortunately he couldn’t say he had felt very optimistic about it, and when Wash had freaked out upon awakening, his fears had been confirmed. Something had gone terribly wrong as the AI implantations had continued. What had happened to Carolina was merely a symptom of a greater problem.
When Wash had awoken the second time, North was resigned but prepared. He was in the same state as before, screaming in panic, falling to the floor, and York had helped him lift the younger man back onto the bed as orderlies rushed in to restrain and sedate him. York had looked at him from across the bedside, gesturing subtly with an incline of his head for North to follow him out into the observation hall. He didn’t stop there, though, and the two of them didn’t stop until York had led him back to his own dorm. “Been talking to Tex,” York said softly once they were behind closed doors. “You remember what we talked about, about the way the fragments share emotions? She found some evidence. I don’t know how much you want to know, but she’s planning something, and I’m going to help her.”
There was only the barest of hesitations. His only thought was of his sister, so ambitious to rise in the rankings with the help of an AI of her own, and he knew that no matter what York and Tex were planning, he couldn’t take part. Not directly, anyway. “You know,” North replied, kind of slowly, “I don’t think I need to know the details. I know enough. And I know you wouldn’t be doing this if you didn’t feel you had to. You want me on board?”
York shook his head, his relief evident. “We talked about it, and we think it’d be better to have you here on the inside. You’ll know when it starts. Just run interference wherever you can.”
North smiled faintly, nodding. “You can count on me.”
Network:
[ For the most part he is quietly accepting of the explanation he’s been given for where he’s ended up. It’s certainly not what he had expected any afterlife to be like, but he does remember Maine advancing on him, remembers his sister failing to cover him, remembers dropping and knowing, knowing that Maine had come to take Theta from him, before he’d awoken here. He could only hope Theta had felt that North had done everything he could to try to keep him safe from the menace that his former teammate had become, and how very sorry he was that he had failed.
The only part that really doesn’t make sense is that he arrived in his armor, with his weapons. That made it clear that he had been physically transported here. This wasn’t some spirit world. But there was nothing to do but roll with the circumstances as they stood, so he takes off his helmet and his gauntlets, removes his weapons, lays them all out in a neat row on the kitchen counter before heading to the console to fiddle around with it. He reads over a few messages to get a feel for the place before deciding to open up a signal. He might as well make his presence known, see what friends he can make. ]
Hey, there. Name's Andrew, though I suppose it's possible there's someone here who once knew me as North. Either way, if you're up for making any new contacts, I'd be interested.
Name: Marti
Age: over 18
Contact: martienne17@gmail.com | martienne on AIM and Plurk
Game Cast: n/a
Character Information:
Name: Agent North Dakota | [real name unknown, usually just referred to as North]
Canon: Red vs. Blue
Canon Point: As he is being attacked for his AI by the Meta
Age: Unknown | [estimated at around 31]
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_vs_blue | http://rvb.wikia.com/wiki/North
Setting: Red vs. Blue takes place primarily in the Halo fictional universe--it started out as a fanfiction serial in itself; though it grew to have its own set canon, for the most part it follows the rules set in Halo canon. Set 500 years into the future, the story takes place during the time of an interstellar war between humankind and a Covenant of alien enemies. The aliens worship technology left behind by an ancient civilization known as the Forerunners. The ruling class in the Covenant sees humans as a threat, as unbeknownst to them, humans are the closest living descendents of this long-ago civilization. Unfortunately for humankind, Covenant technology is far advanced, able to obliterate planets full of human colonists, and the aliens prove to be ruthless in pursuing mankind’s obliteration. Humans are struggling to keep up.
To that end, a number of organizations arise, attempting to find a “magic bullet” to get an edge by creating the ultimate super-soldier. While the secretive ONI (the Halo equivalent to the CIA) had developed a top-secret and ethically-questionable program to create the genetically-enhanced Spartans, an scientist named Leonard Church secures government funding to start a group of operatives known as Freelancers. It is unknown where recruits came from, but the soldiers who entered the program were given durable body armor, advanced weaponry, and special enhancements such as super speed or energy shielding. In an unorthidox move, Church chooses to rank the soldiers to spur them to compete with one another. Consequently, there is much animosty between the operatives who desire to acheive top rankings. All of the Freelancers are adept at using the tech they’ve been assigned, and run a number of successful missions before the project begins its final phase: using the rankings, the soldiers are chosen to be assigned helper AIs to more efficiently run their equipment.
In order to continue to advance the training of the Freelancer force, Church also creates a sham civil war, pitting Reds against Blues in simulation bases to create more scenarios in which they can fight. Unfortunately, the AIs are not all the most stable pieces of software—Church created the AIs by torturing the Alpha, the only AI he had secured funding to support, made by copying his own mind. Though their assignees don’t realize the origins of the AIs at first, once the truth comes out, those who had had suspicions don’t hesitate to take action. Even as things should be gathering steam in the project, it breaks down, and a number of top operatives end up going rogue. North, along with his friend York, join top-ranked Agent Texas to try to rescue the original Alpha AI. Unfortunately, the plan fails, and the ship where the Project is headquartered crashes onto a nearby planet.
In the aftermath of this, the remaining Freelancers with AIs are left fending for themselves, on the run from one of their own, the former Agent Maine, who begins to call himself the Meta. The Meta is obsessed with gathering the AI fragments for himself. North himself is one of the Freelancer agents who is killed when the Meta comes after his AI, his fellow-agent and twin sister South failing to protect him at the last. In the aftermath of the Project’s breakdown the Alpha AI is placed in a squad of simulation Blues, believing himself to be an ordinary soldier. The simulation base training continues, but run-ins with the Meta and other former and current Freelancers change the magnitude of the situations the simulation troopers need to deal with. They end up being involved in the key events leading to the fall of the Project.
Personality: North is a trained mercenary soldier, willing and able to confront dangerous situations and improvise solutions. He’s a realist and knows the importance of following rules and regulations. He seems to put priority on following orders as close to the letter as he can, though he will deviate when circumstances call for him to deviate. He’ll still worry about the consequences, though. He couches his concerns with an easy humor, but he can’t help but ask around when he gets called in to answer for one such deviation to find out what his potential consequences could be.
He’s known for being supportive, and at one point the project’s counselor even refers to his ‘nurturing nature.’ Perhaps nothing in life has given him cause to learn how to calm and mentor others than his relationship with his twin sister, South. She is rash and impulsive, often mouthing off when something upsets or irritates her. While he seems unwilling to call her out on her outbursts in front of other people, he usually goes to find her in the aftermath to calm her and talk her through what’s upsetting her. This isn’t to say that he likes putting up with her behavior, however. When she can’t see his face he reacts with a restrained exasperation, shaking his head in the knowledge that soon he’s going to need to intervene in her anger once again.
By nature, he’s contemplative, and though he may gently tease his friends, he’s not as much of a joker as fellow agent York. His more introspective nature leads to an easy camaraderie between the two of them, and York’s seen going to North more than once to help him think something through. He’s even something of a mentor to the younger Washington, easing things over when York’s antagonizing of him goes a little bit too far. When sharing his opinion he often pauses before speaking, as though to make sure he has his thoughts straight before presenting them.
He has a strong sense of morality, but he also places his trust in the leadership. Therefore, he’s more reluctant to conclude that they aren’t “the good guys” than York, even when York shares his suspicions. Though he had been forming a friendship with Tex, it’s likely that his trust in York, along with the evidence Tex has in her possession, is what persuades him to go along with the plan to break in and rescue the Alpha AI. In the end, in the choice between right and wrong, he casts his lot in with them rather than continue to help the leadership carry out unethical research.
The contrast between his personality and his sister’s comes to a head as things in the project start to break down. He chooses to act as the inside man, knowing that he won’t be able to convince South to go in on the plan. He relies on his persuasive skills and their history of standing together to convince her to leave with him once the break-in has already taken place. Unfortunately his trust in his ability to influence his sister ends up being his downfall; Tex warns him that his sister is an opportunist, and though he admits to Tex that South has acted inappropriately in her quest for an AI of her own, it seems he was taken by surprise by the fact that in the end, he couldn’t trust her to do everything she could to keep him from falling to the Meta.
Of special note is North’s relationship to his AI, Theta. AIs can choose how to project themselves and how they sound, and Theta is childlike in both voice and his hologram body's proportions. Theta is timid and fearful when he is first introduced. North was chosen specifically to host Theta because of Theta’s anxiousness; the Counselor cites his 'nuturing nature' as a reason he was given the special charge. Unlike other agents, North is reluctant to shut his AI down to spare himself the difficulty when Theta’s worries and fears become overwhelming. Instead, North stays up late into the night to walk the halls and comfort the AI, comparing it to the way his father would take South for car rides to lull her to sleep. He shows himself successful at the task from the start, coaxing the AI to bring his avatar out from hiding and to speak more directly to his fellow agents. Over time Theta begins to seek North’s approval, creating animations such as of fireworks or himself riding a skateboard, simply to hear North compliment him on them. North teaches Theta that they can trust one another; once Theta learns he can rely on North, he seeks North’s reassurances whenever a new situation presents itself.
When North arrives in Tu Vishan, the thing that will most dominate his thoughts is the fact that Theta is now missing. He will be able to remember the fact that when he left his former life, the Meta was preparing to fire on him, and he will be concerned about Theta’s fate. He will be quietly accepting of it when he’s told that Tu Vishan is a sort of afterlife. His contemplative nature implies that he has spent time thinking about matters of spirituality, especially since he’s chosen such a dangerous line of work.
Appearance: North is tall, around 6’4”, with an angular face and fair hair. He’s in good shape, but isn’t as heavily muscular as his friend York. His PB is Jude Law.
Abilities: North has been recruited into an elite force of mercenary soldiers. As such he is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, self-defense tactics, shooting, and survival. His specialty is the sniper rifle; he’s nearly as accurate shoting without a scope as he is with it. In the confrontation with his sister, he’s seen dual-wielding sniper rifles, one in each hand.
Inventory: His Freelancer armor, his sniper rifle, a pistol and some grenades. His AI, Theta, will be missing.
Suite: Water sector, 2 floors. He’ll be grateful just to have a place to stay and prefers simple things out of life, anyway. He would hate to feel like he’s taking up a place that is too fancy that could be given to someone else. He’s thoughtful that way.
In-Character Samples:
Third Person:
He’d been there the first time Wash had awoken, sharing the vigil with York. As much as the two of them teased Wash, they did feel protective toward him. He'd wanted to think Wash would receive one of the more helpful AIs, like he and York had, and that everything would be fine once he got past the initial mental discomfort. Unfortunately he couldn’t say he had felt very optimistic about it, and when Wash had freaked out upon awakening, his fears had been confirmed. Something had gone terribly wrong as the AI implantations had continued. What had happened to Carolina was merely a symptom of a greater problem.
When Wash had awoken the second time, North was resigned but prepared. He was in the same state as before, screaming in panic, falling to the floor, and York had helped him lift the younger man back onto the bed as orderlies rushed in to restrain and sedate him. York had looked at him from across the bedside, gesturing subtly with an incline of his head for North to follow him out into the observation hall. He didn’t stop there, though, and the two of them didn’t stop until York had led him back to his own dorm. “Been talking to Tex,” York said softly once they were behind closed doors. “You remember what we talked about, about the way the fragments share emotions? She found some evidence. I don’t know how much you want to know, but she’s planning something, and I’m going to help her.”
There was only the barest of hesitations. His only thought was of his sister, so ambitious to rise in the rankings with the help of an AI of her own, and he knew that no matter what York and Tex were planning, he couldn’t take part. Not directly, anyway. “You know,” North replied, kind of slowly, “I don’t think I need to know the details. I know enough. And I know you wouldn’t be doing this if you didn’t feel you had to. You want me on board?”
York shook his head, his relief evident. “We talked about it, and we think it’d be better to have you here on the inside. You’ll know when it starts. Just run interference wherever you can.”
North smiled faintly, nodding. “You can count on me.”
Network:
[ For the most part he is quietly accepting of the explanation he’s been given for where he’s ended up. It’s certainly not what he had expected any afterlife to be like, but he does remember Maine advancing on him, remembers his sister failing to cover him, remembers dropping and knowing, knowing that Maine had come to take Theta from him, before he’d awoken here. He could only hope Theta had felt that North had done everything he could to try to keep him safe from the menace that his former teammate had become, and how very sorry he was that he had failed.
The only part that really doesn’t make sense is that he arrived in his armor, with his weapons. That made it clear that he had been physically transported here. This wasn’t some spirit world. But there was nothing to do but roll with the circumstances as they stood, so he takes off his helmet and his gauntlets, removes his weapons, lays them all out in a neat row on the kitchen counter before heading to the console to fiddle around with it. He reads over a few messages to get a feel for the place before deciding to open up a signal. He might as well make his presence known, see what friends he can make. ]
Hey, there. Name's Andrew, though I suppose it's possible there's someone here who once knew me as North. Either way, if you're up for making any new contacts, I'd be interested.