Arc Tangent
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Lead Sentence
| Arc Tangent | |
| 50 ? Scrapper | |
| Katana/? | |
| |
| Arc Tangent: Reloaded! | |
| Hyperion Force Director | |
| Player: ((Private)) | |
| Activity Level: Main | |
| Real Name: | Patrick Salt (formerly John Patrick Salt) |
|---|---|
| a/k/a: | None |
| Physical Identifiers | |
| Species: | Human |
| Sub-Type: | Clone |
| Gender: | Male |
| Apparent Age: | 29 |
| Height: | 6'1" |
| Weight: | 185 lbs |
| Build: | Athletic |
| Complexion: | Unknown |
| Eye Color: | Gray |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Distinguishing Features | |
| None | |
| Biographical Data | |
| Birthdate: | Confidential |
| Birthplace: | Confidential |
| Nationality: | Presumed citizen of the United States of America |
| Residence: | Paragon City |
| Occupation: | Hero |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Legal Status: | No criminal record, registered as a Hero of Paragon City |
| Relatives & Associates | |
| Dr. Bernard Salt (presumed father), Janice Dearborn (presumed mother), Grace Allison Carlyle (presumed sister, deceased), Darryl Allen Salt. | |
| Known Powers | |
| ' | |
| Skills & Abilities | |
| Martial artist, swordsman | |
| Equipment | |
| Katana | |
 | |
| "Deeds, Not Words" | |
Contents |
Personality
Due to Arc Tangent's accelerated cloning process, the personality and demeanor of the current Arc Tangent is very different from the previous. The new Arc Tangent is far more mechanically oriented, even in his movements and thought processes. He maintains a marked reliance on the Mycroft Core, and his powers diminish considerably if he does not maintain a close proximity to the system. He speculates that this is the result to the circumstances of his return, but believes that the situation is temporary.
Powers
WIP
Katana
WIP
??
WIP
Additional Powers
WIP
??
WIP
Abilities
The original Arc Tangent practiced a lost martial art derived from mathematical theory found in the Egyptian "Book of the Master of the Secret House". Originating in an age where mathematics and magic were the same art, the Way of the Secret House is as much a mental discipline as much as a martial art. In bygone times, these calculations have also been used for divination, which sometimes manifests as precognition in its current use.
The current Arc Tangent retains a degree of this former power base, but due to gap-programming in his accelerated runtime, his skillset was augmented by the powers of other members of Hyperion Force in the DNA record. This current incarnation is a master of kendo, perhaps spliced from Hyperion Force kensei Outside Chance.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Arc Tangent is presently dependent on proximity to the Hyperion Force's Mycroft Core system; his powers diminish substantially if he is not in close proximity. He believes that this condition is a temporary one, and will fade entirely with time.
Equipment
WIP (Impervium katana?)
Character History
The current Arc Tangent is a clone of the "original" Arc Tangent, who was himself evolved from a previous series of clones by an entity known only as the Machine. Much of what was known about the original Arc Tangent's past has been revealed to be an elaborate fabrication and simulation, part of the total programming initiated by the Machine. What the Arc Tangent identifies as his "self" is in actuality this programming; in a sense he exists only as type of "daemon" in various formats, the physical manifestation being his current host body.
The Fabricated History
All three children of noted linguist Dr. Bernard Salt and anthropologist Janice Dearborn followed their parents' careers in Academia; of the three, John Salt (the middle child) had an aptitude and discipline for mathematics. John's early career was largely based on analysis; later, in his mid-twenties, he became more influenced by John Erdos and contributed significantly to writings in combinatorics and prediction theory. Published and tenured at the Conservatory of the Pacific, he seemed well on the way to a distinguished (and rather dry) career as a scholar.
His sister Grace's meaningless death at the hands of a petty criminal changed his course. He left mathematics for a term and began editing his sister's papers. A significant amount of her research pointed to ancient works concerning numerology and divination. He soon discovered that where she could not understand the mathematical theories, he could comprehend them easily. These tomes held the secret to long forgotten powers, and as time passed he began to acquire a discipline for them. It was as Pythagoras once said: "number is the ruler of forms and ideas and the cause of gods and demons."
In time John realized that his sister's death was not the result of a chance encounter with crime - she had been murdered because of this secret research by those who wished to suppress it or keep it for themselves. Now himself at risk, John became the caretaker of this knowledge and his course became clear - to use it for his own survival, and as an instrument of justice and redemption.
Paragon City...and Hyperion Force
Upon moving his base of operations to Paragon City, John Salt became increasingly devoted to the advancement of his work, spending long hours with the Hyperion Force computers and equally long hours on patrol. At this time, he appeared far more comfortable in his Arc Tangent persona than as John Salt, and he confided in some of his peers (such as John Flag) that he believed that the experimental programming on the Mycroft system would eventually be able to predict the future for all intents and purposes, the only limitations being the amount of input sources and the processing power of the Hyperion Force system.
This work lead to an experiment, wherein Mycroft predicted Arc Tangent's death in a few weeks. Arc Tangent travelled to the Rogue Isles and began working undercover for a term. During this time he became aware of the Machine, which caused a conflict in his programming. The Machine severed the connection between the Arc Tangent host body and the daemon. Thus sundered, Arc Tangent existed for a time as a disembodied entity (for all intents and purposes, a "ghost") before perishing. His host body was reprogrammed by the Machine into the supervillain Threadbare.
Before passing from existence, Arc Tangent asked Brendan Aft to retrieve his programming core from a mysterious data warehouse facility off Sharkhead Isle. Brendan Aft accomplished this, and although it was not enough to save Arc Tangent, the programming core was executed by the Mycroft system with the hope that the daemon could be restored. By all estimates, the program's runtime would be considerable, perhaps even years.
The destruction of the Hyperion Force headquarters changed this, and as part of its failsafe, the experimental Mycroft core accelerated the runtime and released the new Arc Tangent to assume leadership of Hyperion Force.
Affiliations
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Organizations
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Friends
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Opponents
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Trivia
WIP
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