Sofia Rabinovich
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Sofia Rabinovich | |
| Player: Genia | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Controller |
| Security Level: | Confidential |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Sofia Oskarovna Rabinovich |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 41 |
| Height: | 160 cm |
| Weight: | 65 kg |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Blonde |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Jewish |
| Occupation: | Professor |
| Place of Birth: | USSR |
| Base of Operations: | Confidential |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Known Relatives: | Alexander Rabinovich |
| Known Powers | |
| Pyrokinesis | |
| Known Abilities | |
| All around know-it-all, EMT | |
| Equipment | |
| Variety of homemade gadgetry | |
| No additional information available. | |
Quotted from www.wikipedia.org, category: Paragon City, Scientist
Contents |
Biography
Rabinovich, Sofia (Russian name Рабинович, София Оскаровна) was born in Omsk, Siberia 30th October 1967 to Oskar Davidovich Kagan 1930-1990 (Оскар Давидович Каган) and Eva Zalmanovna Kagan-Neiman 1931-1993 (Ева Зальмановна Нейман). She has one older sibling.
Oskar Kagan was a historian, and a member of the Zionist movement. His parents were blacklisted and removed from the Communist party in 1927, and the family was forced to leave Moscow for Kiev, Ukraine where it remained until the onset of World War II in 1941. Most of Oskar Kagan's family, together with the Jews of Kiev and the surrounding area, were either executed immediately after the Germans entered the city by hanging, or sent to Babi Yar. 11-year-old Oscar fled the city with his older sister to an aunt who still remained in favour with the party, and lived in central Russia. He graduated university and at the age of 21 married Eva Neiman, a last year student in the State School of Medicine.
In 1952 during the Doctors' Affair Eva, a newly appointed surgery intern, was accused of the death of a high OBKOM official undergoing surgery under her hands, and almost mauled by an angry mob. While no conclusive evidence against the young physician was found, the couple had been exiled to Siberia as 'Political Dissidents', a decision especially reinforced when Oskar's Zionist affiliations were brought before court. They settled in Omsk, where they had two children.
Sofia attended State School No. 52, from first to 10th grade, graduating with top marks. At 16 she took exams and began attending the Omsk State University LanFac (Faculty of Languages) where she received her degree in Linguistics and met her future husband, Alexander Rabinovich, 1967- (Александр Михайловмч Рабинович). The couple married on graduation, and moved to Chernobyl, Ukraine, where Alexander began an internship in Nuclear Physics in the Chernobyl power plant.
As a result of his internship, Alexander was severely hurt in the Chernobyl Plant incident receiving high doses of radiation, a mere few months after their marriage. Sofia, as a resident of the city of Chernobyl, was also exposed to high doses of radiation, though not nearly as severe. After a prolonged convalescence deemed miraculous by the doctors, including a month-long coma, Alexander began manifesting signs of rapid metabolism and high ATP production when in a stable condition. The Rabinoviches moved to Moscow, where medical care for Alexander was more readily available, and sporadically attended Moscow University, receiving their Masters degrees.
In 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union the Rabinoviches fought for, and received, an immigration permit to the United States, sponsored by the Special Medical Facilities in Berkeley, CA. They also applied and were accepted into PhD programs in UC Berkeley. Sofia received her doctorate in Linguistics in 1998, writing on the thesis of Hebrew Motion Verb Semantics. She began working in the language laboratory in Berkeley. During that period, Alexander began manifesting severe overloads of energy which he discharged in violent and oftentimes unpredictable manners such as demolishing walls and blowing craters in the sidewalk. It was known since his examination in the Special Medical Facilities that he had high energokinetic potential, which he began applying to the energy excesses his body generated.
In 2002, during the Rikti invasion, Alexander enlisted in the meta-human units serving in the California area, and Sofia followed him as a combat medic, applying her long years of medical care experience. Precise information is unavailable, but presumably due to the stresses of the war, Sofia has developed, or rather, revealed, latent pyrokinetic abilities. After the war the Rabinoviches relocated again, this time to Paragon City, where they did periodic hero-work.
They had received American citizenship at the beginning of their service in the 1st Rikti War.
Activism
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Though clearly possessing paranormal talents in the realm of pyrokinesis, Dr. Rabinovich very fervently defines herself as 'normal'. She refuses to apply to herself, or, indeed, anyone else, the term 'metahuman', and was known to remark:
"This name has been used before, throughout human history, albeit in different languages. Each time it brought the world nothing but profound suffering and trouble. As a Jew - indeed, as a history conscious human being - and as a Linguist, I cannot allow that language can't be inimical, and so must maintain rigid standards in its use, first and foremost as applied to myself."[1].
Though Dr. Rabinovich is not publicly known to be active in any metahuman-limiting legal acts, her personal preferences in worldview and outlook have been expressed vocally both in conferences and in her publications. In addition, she was known to criticize the massive nature of superpowered actions instead of pure military or police operations, and most especially in place of diplomacy and public referendum.
As a "hero" with rather radical opinions, she and her husband excite criticism from very reputed sources in Paragon, such as Statesman himself, who has been known to refer to the couple as "villains in disguise". As such a free element, however, their own criticism of the established organizations and great personalities can be downright violent. The couple has long been notorious for their sharp tongues, and the ability to publicly reduce famous personalities to gibbering, exposing their follies, foibles and failures.
- ↑ Glass, David; Gruber, Catherina (Ed.) The Semantics of Modern Crime-Fighting, Introduction, p. 23, MIT Press 2005
OOC Notes
Origin
Sofia is the main online avatar of the player Genia from Pinnacle, remade and re-instituted on Virtue. She began as a slightly comic character, specifically a spoof off of Russian Superheroes of various kinds - but later developed a life of her own, and a much more serious air.
Appearance
Sofia is a normal human for all intents and purposes, aside from her ability to shoot fire. Therefore, at 41, she looks like a 41-year-old. Her hair started graying and although she is in good shape, because of her heroic forays, she can't be described as anything more than 'average'.
Personality and Opinions
MBTI Type: INTJ
Masterminds are natural strategists, better than any other type at brainstorming approaches to situations. Masterminds are natural but not eager leaders, stepping forward only when it becomes obvious to them that they are the best for the job. Strong-willed and very self-assured, they may make this decision quickly, as they tend to make all decisions. But though they are decisive, they are open to new evidence and new ideas, flexible in their planning to accommodate changing situations. They tend to excel at judging the usefulness of ideas and will apply whatever seems most efficient to them in accomplishing their clearly envisioned goals. To Masterminds, what matters is getting it done – but also learning the principles of how to get it done efficiently and well, that is, at a professional level of quality. They tend to give little thought to the personal cost of getting there.
General Character Notes
Sofia is a die-hard cynic. She lost almost entirely her ability to view the world in black-and-white, and as a consequence has become something of an anti-hero. Her only redeeming feat is that her maverick tendencies and disdain of law are entirely unselfish; she is genuinely concerned for mankind, and has an immense, almost overbearing, sense of responsibility.
She is not what one would consider a people person. Though she is almost impossibly polite, she tends to be intimidating as well as disregarding of emotional states in true INTJ style where ideas and the application of thereof are concerned. She is almost inherently critical, though the criticism is completely impartial, since it can be applied with equal vigor to her worst enemies and her dearest friends. As for herself, her critical tendencies are even more prominent, although completely internalized.
As a profound introvert Sofia displays very little to the world, her demeanour is usually quiet and inexpressive. In conversation she is rather hard to read, lacking a great deal in the way of facial expressions and gestures that characterize most people. If she gets excited or heated in someone's presence, the individual involved should be gratified, as it is a sign of exceptional trust.
Powers and Abilities
(Note: None of the information listed here is readily available IC. If you wish to use it in any way, ask.)
- Pyrokinesis: Sofia is a psioniciist whose abilities are restricted entirely to the area of heat manipulation. She is a natural, self-taught pyrokinetic of very mediocre strength, and very fine-tuned control. Her ability is limited in range of achievable temperatures and ignitable substances, but this lack is compensated for by an especially fine-tuned manipulation as well as vivid imagination that oftentimes provides... unorthodox solutions.
Sofia does not have the expected explosive temperament of a pyrokinetic. In fact, rather to the contrary, she is a cool individual whose emotions never seem to get out of control. Nonetheless, her pyrokinesis is linked, to a small but significant extent, to her emotional state; while in a fury, or having temporarily lost control of herself, she sometimes is able to produce feats of power that she cannot repeat under ordinary circumstances. The price of such a performance, however, is the loss of the careful tuning her powers ordinarily possess. Such an incident can result, therefore, in significant damage.
- Gadgetry: Being an extremely practical-minded individual, Sofia suplements her pyrokinesis with a variety of gadgets, both technological and magical, purchased and home-made. In her repertoire, there is no such thing as "in-character weapon". If it works, it stays. For ease and comfort, many of her gadgets are built by her husband Alexander Rabinovich and employ various levels annd applications of radiation and nuclear tech.
- Psionics: While technically a "psionicist". Sofia possesses no talents that can be recognized as the traditional definition of psychic powers. She is clearly not a telepath; she can neither read nor send thoughts, though if a trained telepath "sends" thoughts her way, she will "hear" him. No other psychic traits, like telekinesis, clairvoyance and so on, have ever been detected.
Despite that, Sofia seems to have a certain amount of passive ability. She is a very strong-willed individual who values her internal privacy greatly. Nobody is allowed into her mind without her permission, and that is final. Somehow, she managed to establish completely impenetrable boundaries around her internal sanctum that can only be broken through by the combined force of a planetary intellect (like the Rikti) or a deity. A searching psionicist would not see a "barrier", "wall" or "shield" as Sofia has no concept of these. They will simply find themselves staring at an empty space where all logic dictates someone's thoughts should be. Due to that fact the barrier, or whatever it is, cannot be unravelled or weaseled around. The only way into Sofia's psyche is either by breaking in, eliminating her resistance (rendering her comatose might do the trick) or getting permission (an item which is exceptionally hard to come by).
Inside her mind, while aware on any level, Sofia is in complete control. She is extremely self-possessed, and self-aware, and the tricks of psionics either miss her, or miss their point. It is exceptionally difficult to torture a person with nearly-eidetic memory by bringing forth nightmarish events from the past, and it is equally difficult to persuade a person with a strong awarreness of the real and imaginary that something only in their mind is real. Having a vivid imagination, on the plane of psychic phenomena, Sofia can perform tricks that are not humanly possible by asserting her ideas over reality. While conscious, she almost never loses connection to the Real World.
Her main and absolute weakness is that she is entirely a passive force. She can affect her own conscious and subconsious, but she cannot really do anything to other people's psyches, since she is not psychic in the first place. She can dodge, but she can't hit. She can absorb but is incapable of dishing out. Any action of hers would be, at the most, as potent as her real-self would have made it and, at the least, ineffective. While she can find people on the psychic plane, and set herself as a sort of human shield, she can't bring them out without someone's help. Most of her control is entirely confined to her own person. The most she can do is try and convince the person in peril that the peril isn't real, as well as provide a sort of "back" for them to lean on, mentally. This limitation renders her a very difficult obstacle, but not a dangerous opponent.
Miscellaneous
- Sofia has an almost phenomenal rapport with time travelers. Her prodigious knowledge of history and close identification with it allow her to set a baseline which is easy for the people to follow, regardless of period. Her behaviour and mode of dress are something of an anachronism, and she can adjust her vocabulary as necessary. In addition, though this is not public knowledge, being an immigrant and an outsider for her entire life, she has a deep empathy for people who are lost in a foreign culture and far from home.
- She gets along better with villains than with heroes. Heroes, in her mind, are too full of their own worth and self-righteousness, and she prefers the company of the more cynical and jaded bit of humanity.
