Aleta
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Aleta is a defender currently in the employ of the Information Distribution Institution. Officially she is a researcher and the apprentice of Postino, the chief operator of the I.D.I. When she is seen in public she can frequently be found in the Pocket D taking notes about the activities going on around her. She is not a hero in any sense of the word, and is not out to help anyone by gathering information. She, like the rest of the I.D.I., is neutral.
| |
| Aleta | |
| Player: @Aleta | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Defender |
| Security Level: | Confidential |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Aleta Lastings |
| Known Aliases: | N/A |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 20 |
| Height: | 5'4" |
| Weight: | Confidential |
| Eye Color: | Grey |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | N/A |
| Occupation: | I.D.I. Researcher |
| Place of Birth: | Galaxy City |
| Base of Operations: | Galaxy City |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Deceased |
| Known Powers | |
| Control of atoms. | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Confidential | |
| Equipment | |
| Specially modified datapad. | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
Background
Early Years
Aleta was born Aleta Lastings and was the only child of James and Annaleis Lastings. They had a simple middle class lifestyle. Aleta's father worked as a broker for Wardworth while he was alive, and her mother stayed at home and took care of her. As a young child, Aleta had a very happy life. Her parents were kind and loving people, and took good care of her. At the age of five she started school as most children do, and until the age of eleven her life was fairly normal. She was well loved by her family, and generally liked by the other children. She had a few friends, and showed signs of being exceedingly intelligent. If things had remained as they were, she'd have likely excelled in her studies.
Aleta enjoyed almost every subject, but she loved science above all others. She was always searching for more information. Despite her young age, she took a special interest in physics, and especially in atomic physics. From an early age, she could always "feel" all the atoms around her. She could almost see them. It was a vague notion, and she never knew quite how to express it to anyone. Through the study of basic physics, she came to believe that what she (and everyone else by extention) was feeling were the particles in the air. This feeling made her feel connected to the world around her, and the more she came to understand about the physical universe, the more connected she felt.
At the age of eleven her family was met with a terrible fate. One evening during a family gathering Galaxy City was overrun by a zombie attack. The family attempted to escape the house only to find the zombies right at their front doorstep. Knowing that none of them could escape in a last ditch effort to save their daughter's life, James and Annaleis shoved their daughter into a small closest that only had enough room for her. The blocked the door with one of the couches in hopes that the zombies would not find her. The last Aleta heard of her parents were their screams of terror as the zombies came into the house and ended their lives. Eventually, everything in the house became quiet; Aleta managed to push open the door with a great deal of effort. When she finally managed to force her way out, she found her house empty and destroyed. There was no sign of her parents.
Homeless Years
After her parent's death, Aleta wasn't quite sure where to turn. She had no other family to speak of, or if she did she didn't know about them. She thought about going to the police and handing herself over to child services, but she had heard horror stories from other children about foster care. Her child-like mind told her that it could be no worse to live on the streets by her own devices than with a family that wouldn't take care of her. Little is known about her activities during this period of time. She somehow managed to get by through the next few years.
At some point in time, Aleta developed the ability to pull atoms from the air and turn them into self-contained cosmic energy. Though she was living on the streets, many sources say that she would come into the university library in Steel Canyon from time to time to read about and study physics. As her knowledge of the field continued to expand, she found that her connection with the atoms around her became more intimate. She also realized that not everyone could feel this. With help from her studies in advanced physics, she was able to learn to the tell the atoms apart by their feel, and how to pull them from the air to create the dust that develops in nebula. It is safe to assume this is how she managed to survive.
The only really hard fact about Aleta during this period of time she was introduced to the man who would change her life. At the age of fifteen, she encountered a large group of The Lost. Unlike previous encounters with the various villains of Paragon, their numbers were far too many for her to hold off on her own. Unable to hold them off, Aleta felt that her death was at hand at last and she'd finally be joining her mother and father in the grave. At the last moment, a man in a brown trench coat shot a grenade into the group of approaching Lost. After a brief fight the man quickly dispatched most of the members of the assaulting party, saving Aleta. To this day, the Postman claims that he was only trying to gather Lost parts for research purposes, but upon saving her he took the wounded Aleta back to his base of operations: The Information Distribution Institution.
The Information Distribution Institution and Beyond
After being rescued by the Postman, Aleta became his apprentice. With a love for knowledge that she's had since she was little, Aleta picked up quickly on the Postman's line of work. At first she didn't understand the concept of not sharing her knowledge with everyone, but soon came to realize that the Postman's philosophy of having people pay for it prevented people who might misuse the information from acquiring it. Over the last 5 years, she has accompanied Postino and the other members of the I.D.I. on numerous missions. Eventually, she was given her own datapad and sent out on her own to aid in the ever going acquisition of new Data.
She is currently involved with a secret project involving a company called The X-1 Corporation. What this mission pertains to and what her role in it are unknown. She is also in charge of the observation of the patrons of the Pocket-D. She can often be found sitting in a corner with her datapad out furiously taking notes, or interviewing some poor unsuspecting patron in order to compile more information. She is always open to finding out new information, and always willing to talk.
Searching the old I.D.I. Database, you find a journal entry from 11/30/12
"I don't know that anyone will ever read this, but I've decided to quit the I.D.I. I appreciate everything that its done for me. Postino took me off the streets and I learned thing I thought I would could never learn. I became something I never dreamed I could become. I became me and learned to love me, and I'll always be thankful for that.
But there comes a time when we need to move on with our lives, and now is that time. I submit my official resignation to Postino today. He seemed to understand. The next step is to leave Paragon City behind me. I'm going to miss the D, and all the strange people I've met there. All the friends I've made. I'm really sad that I'm leaving it behind, but I'm also really excited. Who knows what new things are out there and what new people I'll meet.
I loved my time in Paragon City, despite everything that happened to me. I wouldn't trade my life for any other. I'm going to miss everyone, and I hope everyone will be safe while I'm gone. I wish I could say one day I would return to this city of heroes and villains, but I don't think that will ever be in the cards. Good bye Paragon City. I will miss you dearly.
-Aleta Lastings-"
Body of Work
Aleta's body of work is contained on her datapad, and it mostly pertains to the people she meets. After Postino became involved with other projects as Aleta completed her apprenticeship, he gave her the duty of compiling information on the various heroes, neutrals, rogues, and villains around the city. Most of the files have been out-of-date as it has been quite some time since Postino himself has gone out. Aleta has the task of fixing the files, and adding any new ones that may be missing.
This has been a fairly awkward task for her, as Aleta has grown shy of people over the years. What she would like to do most is become the chief physics researcher in the I.D.I.
The Datapad
Aleta carries around a very special model datapad which is based on a AE Architect personal tablet. It has access to all the files in the I.D.I.'s database, and is scanned in the manner one might look through an encyclopedia. The files, which are divided by topics, are accessed by tapping the screen via links. The datapad has a few neat features on it, including a technology detector, wireless datascan, molecular analyzer, and digital camera.
In addition to all the features, the custom datapad also have hacker protection. At the first sign of any sort of hacking (i.e. failed entry multiple times, or attempts to tamper with the code), the Datapad will send all of its information to the main terminal at headquarters. In a matter of seconds, the transmission is completed and the datapad terminates itself, obliterating its hard drive so that none of the information stored on it can be retrieved ever again.
Aleta, The Datapad, and Psychics
One of the primary threats to any member of the I.D.I. is having a psychic invade their mind and steal the information out of it. In order to prevent this from occurring, Emrick Hazard (I.D.I.'s psychic researcher) developed a method by which the portions of the brain that contain the information are blocked by a force not within the mind of researcher. Any attempts to anything other than superficial data on the researcher is restricted even to psychics.
In addition to the data stored in their brains, the password for the datapad that Aleta characters is also blocked by a strong mental barrier. This was put into place should someone actually manage to get inside Aleta's head and take over her body. The barrier only drops for Aleta's brainwave pattern, sort of like a mental fingerprint, that cannot be accurately replicated. This mental block prevents the data on the datapad from being taken by unusual means.
Personality
Aleta is a very quiet girl at first appearance, but when she gets talking in the case of an interview she can be very wordy. Despite having lived on the streets for a few years, she is also very shy. When she does speak, she tries to be as matter-of-fact and to the point as possible. Despite interviewing many people, she is uncomfortable in the presence of most, and always appears to be shocked when someone approaches her. It is for this reason she has never been able to develop a romantic relationship with anyone.
When it comes down to it, Aleta is a kind person. She tries to be friendly with everyone she meets, but due to her shy nature and the nature of her job she often embarrasses herself. Like other members of the I.D.I., Aleta is neutral. She has no good or evil leanings. While she is moral and "good" in her own life, she takes no issues with those who choose to be evil. Her only negative feelings toward a group of villains is directed at The Lost (and by association the Rikti) due to the traumatizing incident that occurred before her induction into the I.D.I.
Physically
Aleta could be considered attractive, but her shy disposition tends to make her somewhat awkward. Though her body is filled out, her frame is slender, so she appears to be somewhat fragile. In actuality, her training as a researcher required her to stay fit, and as a result she is quite quick and athletic. Her hair is black with blue streaks dyed into it (an attempt at being a normal teenager). Her eyes are gray, and vary to light blue depending on the color of clothes she chooses to wear.
She tends to wear mostly black, as its the easiest color to deal with. She does not consider herself a goth though, and is sometimes frustrated by people who think she is. She also wears a pair of blast goggles on her forehead, inspired by steampunk fashion which she doesn't care much about for the most part.
Friends and Allies
Postino - Aleta's mentor and boss. He saved her at the age of 15 from a gang of The Lost. Seeing that she had no home, he took her under his wing. He found that she was a capable researcher and allows her to edit much of the physics section in the project.
Lorant - Aleta's co-worker. They don't always get along because Lorant looks down on Aleta for being so much younger and untrained. However, Lorant has been helpful and kind to Aleta in the past. He is responsible for getting her on the Pocket D detail so that she would have some field work under her belt before taking on harder missions. He is responsible for research involving mechanized and computerized technology. He created Aleta's datapad and its security system.
Emrick Hazard - Another of Aleta's co-workers. He is in charge of the psychic research in the project, and handles most of the potential psychic issues that arise as part of the job. He is Aleta's closest friend in the Institute after Postino.
