Profile

OOC Information
Name: Spell
Contact: Mishaela@crankygoldfish.com
Current Characters: None currently

IC Information
Name: Valentine Erickson
Canon: Sanguine Underworld
Canon Point: After his confrontation with Artemis00 in the Sanctuary.
History: When the Earth became too crowded for all its citizens, events were set in motion to colonize Mars. Settlements were established under the shelter of constructed domes to protect the inhabitants from the freezing temperatures of the planet. In order to see what resources were available, miners were sent under the first colony of New Haven.

It didn't take long for them to find a wealth of needed metals. Larger and more complex tunnel-work began to extract as much as possible. Even with all the precautions and safeguards, however, there was a catastrophic accident. Seismic vibrations forced the miners out of the tunnels, leaving a few stranded below.

Those few inadvertantly triggered an explosion that reverberated through the lowest reaches of the mine, destroying clusters of strange crystals and releasing an unknown element into the air. The filtration systems could not block that element as it made its way up to the newly established city of New Haven and infected many of the inhabitants.

Everyone who had been close to the source of the accident experienced radical physiological changes due to a high level of infection from the unknown element. They were still humanoid in appearance, but different enough that those with lesser infections tried to segregate them in fear. This created a rift of sorts, eventually causing the altered humans to refer to themselves as "Colonials."

It didn't take long for doctors and scientists to realize that those who had not changed had been affected as well. The birthrate of the New Haven colony slowed down so much that there was a real fear they would die out. The director of the original company that had secured the charter for the Mars colonization put the scientists on retainer to work at finding a means to work around the problem. That was when they learned that those with lower infection rates were more likely to conceive.

Seizing this opportunity, the Puritan Corporation immediately began working with the New Haven government to establish laws that would allow them to take custody of those with a lower infection so that they could help keep the city thriving. Immediately, they took men and women of eligible age in, compensating their families for their loss, and assigned them to those willing to pay for the service. Having a large family became stylish for the wealthy and upper-class. Only one city out of all the settlements refused to give Puritan any leeway: Galileo City.

From behind the scenes, Puritan also pressed the issue against the Colonials. However, unlike the panicked populace, the altered humans weren't willing to dance to the corporation's tune. Eventually, this caused a civil war to break out as the Colonials fought to be recognized as full citizens.

Puritan took things a step further by initiating a change of the base language of Mars.

After the war was over, New Haven was divided into an upper and lower layer. The Colonials were content to remain in the old city that they had originally built, leaving the shorter-lived humans to their lives elsewhere.

All this happened over the course of 400 years.

Galileo City was the established Mars colony for artists and benign science. It was there that Valentine was born and grew up. Unlike most Mars-born humans, he had opportunity to live in a simulated Earth gravity environment. This gave him a physical edge over other children, but that was short-lived at best.

An accident at the age of eight years took Valentine's sight. The loss encouraged him to focus more on his artistic pursuits where it was discovered that he was a musical prodigy. Over time, he was accepted at the Sierra Art Institute.

It was then that the Puritan Corporation struck. Valentine was a potentially valuable commodity with his thirteen percent infection rate. He was classed as a universal breeder, processed and immediately secreted away with a wealthy family.

Eventually, the client's sister started to see his predicament as what it was: slavery. She made a daring attempt to rescue Valentine, leading him down into the maintenance tunnels between New Haven's upper and lower layers. They were rescued by a pair of Law Enforcement Division officers, which turned out to be fortuitous, since it allowed Valentine to build a legal case against Puritan.

The lawsuit against the mega-corporation blew their illicit endeavors wide open. Valentine was generously compensated for the five years stolen before he returned to Galileo City. Some of the money was used to help fund a doctor who had an experimental procedure that could possibly return Val's sight. Valentine became the first person gifted with cybernetic eyes.

Able to see again and free of Puritan, he went back into pursuit of music and eventually released an album. Not long after, he was catapulted into stardom. Subsequent albums cemented his status as a super-rocker on both Mars and Earth.

When his relationship with one of the LED officers who had rescued him fell apart, Val gave his full focus to his musical career.

Ten years after being rescued from Puritan's clutches, Valentine was thrust right back into their sights when another universal breeder was found and rescued. Since he had been in the same position once, his ex asked him to assist in keeping Loire calm as well as give him an understanding of what was going on.

Valentine became much more involved as Puritan Cyborgs attempted to re-capture the young man. Rather than run, he devoted himself to safe-guarding young Loire.

Personality: While being a rockstar would immediately cause concern in some people, Valentine is not stereotypical. He isn't a party hound or a diva. He enjoys meeting with his fans, but he keeps a polite distance since they're not interested in the 'real' him, only the illusion he projects.

If one looks past the stage persona, they would find a man who has learned the harsh lesson of love lost. Valentine recognizes that it was his own foolish carelessness that cost him the one he loved most, but rather than let that dictate his life he moves on. This isn't to say that the regrets of the past don't haunt him, he simply doesn't allow that to happen unless it's on his own terms.

At his heart, he is a protector. He remembers well how his life went while he was, himself, a victim and will do his best to keep that from happening to others. Not surprisingly, he harbors a deep hatred for the Puritan Corporation due to all the lives they've destroyed with their actions.

For the most part, Valentine is an easy going soul. He believes that hate is, generally, a waste of energy and emotion - his own towards Puritan being an exception. He is confident in himself, but not aggressively so.

Valentine believes that violence is a last resort, but he will not hesitate to defend himself if a fight picks him. Should that happen, he will put his accumulated skills to use to end such a confrontation quickly. All the while popping off with taunting quips, stylish kicks and a keen accuracy with his H&K Florian Needlers.

Samples
First-Person: The first burst of light always blinds me momentarily until my eyes compensate. The roar of sound that assaults my ears always increases in volume at that moment. I liken it to being born, in a sense, as my heart rate picks up and my adrenaline kicks in. Then, I start singing and the sea before me goes wild. Each time, it's a rush. My addiction. The drug I inject into my veins.

These two things are what keep me in the industry. There's no feeling like the one I get when I'm on stage, sharing my art with the people who care to listen. It's an expression of myself. This is the conduit to the deepest core of who and what I am.

Two hours later and I'm drenched in sweat, my hair plastered to my forehead and neck as if I'd run a marathon through a thunderstorm. I'm exhausted and drained, but I still feel the exhiliration of the crowd. For that short while, we were one entity and I was the voice calling out to the night.

I could never give this up. If I had to, I wouldn't do it with a 'farewell' tour. You don't break an addiction by feeding it. Especially with something that has a rush that even makes sex pale in comparison.

This is why my heart continues to beat.
Third-Person: Valentine looked up at the ceiling where the disembodied voice spoke to him from. "How long before they break through the door?" he asked, his mind already making and discarding a plethora of strategies.

The voice of the Guardian answered him, sounding like a worried grandmother. "Not very. I'd say ten minutes at the most."

"And our rescue?"

Miranda was quick to give him a response. "Maybe a little longer than we have."

He reached back, reassuring himself that his needlers were where they always rested at the small of his back in their custom holsters. "Where is the largest room with the most cover?"

"The warehouse... Honey, what are you thinking?" Miranda finally asked.

His reply was delivered in the tone of a man prepared to give his all. "Ten minutes until they breach and our rescue's running late. There's really only one thing I can do," Valentine said.

"I'm going to have to buy us some more time."

His ambient blue eyes flicked over to where Loire was just rising from the bunk, the younger man giving the impression of a rabbit ready to bolt. He was afraid and with good reason. Puritan would ship him off to Fahrmeier if they caught him again. If that happened, Loire would be subjected to another round of processing and then kept in a storage tank as chemicals pumped through to put him in an artificially induced coma.

Valentine knew that was a fate worse than death and there was no way in hell that he was going to allow it so long as he kept breathing.

Under the Guardian's guidance, the pair descended one level within the sanctuary through the main halls, all the while conscious of the fact that Puritan's cyborgs were trying to cut their way through the titanium reinforced doors. The warehouse they came to had once been used to store necessities for the children that had been left in Mirand's care during the Anti-Colonial war. Most of those supplies were gone, save for a stack of crates haphazardly balanced against one wall.

Everything was at a critical point, so the musician wasted no time with frivolous words. "I want you to hide in that mess of crates," he told the younger man. With Loire out of the way, his chances of getting injured were lessened.

Loire hurried to comply, fear giving him extra speed. With a satisfied nod, Valentine pulled free his H&K Florians and moved to one of the support pillars. Rather than stay standing, he crouched down and closed his eyes to listen. While his eyes could see vast distances, they couldn't penetrate walls so his hearing once again had to become his means of 'seeing.'

Miranda spoke to him as they settled into their positions. "I'm afraid I won't be much good to you, dear."

"Actually," Val began, "I'll need you to kill the lights once they're in the room."

The request seemed to surprise the Guardian. "Sweetheart, if I do that then you won't be able to see anything."

Val glanced up momentarily at that. "More importantly, they won't be able to see anything."