Justin Carter
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| File:N/A | |
| Will have one | |
| Justin Carter | |
| Player: HSZMV | |
| Origin: | Mutant |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Blaster |
| Security Level: | 20 and rising |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Justin Carter |
| Known Aliases: | Project Witness |
| Species: | Human Mutant |
| Age: | Unknown, believed to be around 17 or 18 |
| Height: | 6'0" |
| Weight: | 165 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Long Brown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | US citizen |
| Occupation: | Runaway/Vagrant |
| Place of Birth: | Rhode Island |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Parents. (Living, lost contact) |
| Known Powers | |
| Telepathy/Telekinesis | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Has demonstrated the ability to find people | |
| Equipment | |
| None | |
| Although he rarely makes sense, he is not legally crazy. | |
Justin Carter is the first and highest blaster attempted by HSZMV, taking inspiration from various sources including Firefly, Heroes, Runaways, and of course, HSZMV's own imagination. He is a "proving ground" to write a character that sounds crazy but is truthfully speaking coded messages that carry symbolic meaning. It should be noted that Justin is not mentally handicapped and is capable of rational thought. Depending on the writer's mood, this may waver from being rather cryptic to almost lucid and normal (though he seems to be developing an odd habit of referring to people by nickname.
Contents |
History
Early Years
Justin Carter lived a normal life in a suburb of Paragon. Having grown up in the "hero" capital of America and being a comic book nerd at heart, Justin grew up with an obsession of one day fighting with the likes of Statesman and other big name heroes. So when his mutant powers began to manifest at age 12, Justin began to develop a heroic identity, and practiced using his new found telepathy and reading minds, an aspect of his abilities that would make him a target. Knowing that his parents would never let him do this, he did not sign up for a hero license.
Swallowed
At age 14, Justin's dream of being a hero came to fruition and he took up the mantle of an unknown masked crime fighter and set off for the mean streets of Paragon. But the comics about the heroes don't teach you everything you need to know. In fact, they never tell you what happens. At 3:45 AM, a masked man was seen "throwing a robber without touching them" on a gas station security feed. Moments later, several masked men swooped in and overwhelmed the young hero, knocking him out and removing him from the scene. Due to a lack of any Hero ID, the masked man could not be picked up by medical reclimators.
At 6:45, PPD recieved a call from a worried Mrs. Carter that her son Justin went missing. This was the last known instance of the boy's name ever being mentioned. Quickly there after, agents working with the captors removed memories of Justin Carter form all relevant parties. For the next three years, the name was never spoken or heard of. The security tape was the last thing that remained, having been turned into police about two weeks later. A manhunt did go underway, but with no identity nor missing persons from that night, it was soon called off.
Project Witness
In reality, Justin had been "selected" for Project Witness, a Crey Industries experiment that was to augment his mutant abilities for any number of reasons (a new breed of Paragon Protector clones, or an observation system that could find the bad guy using telepathy are popular theories). Justin was subjected to dangerous surgeries to physically bypass certain portions of his brain that inhibited his powers. His telepathy range was increased from line of sight to a city wide circumference.
However, this came at a price. Several mental barriers were damaged, specifically Justin's ability to turn off his telepathic abilities. He now had the ability to hear every thought in several square miles, without any filter or way to stop it. After several weeks of antagonizing pain, he eventually learned to live with the altered state, the best he could.
Escaping Monsters
It is unknown if he was in the Crey facility for three years and on the run for one, or in for one year and on the run for three. Whatever the case, somewhere along the line, Justin was able to escape his confinement and ran, hiding where ever he could, possibly leaving for several major cities for some time. And for reasons unknown, he has made his way back into Paragon City.
He was recenlty picked up by The Artful Dodgers, where he seems to have made himself at home.
Powers
Justin has telepathy and telekinesis. He has demonstrated to be able to lift and toss a full grown human by sheer will, all though his upper limit is still unknown. His telepathic range seems to be city wide and has, when focusing, been able to locate people anywhere within his radius of listening.
Weakness
At great loss to his perceived sanity and intelligence, having a steam of consciousness of millions of city dwellers has not been an easy burden to bare. While he maybe able to focus and get the right information, Justin is just as easily able to slip and read the minds of people no where near his present location or that of his target. Depending on several factors, he can loose track of the difference between his own thoughts and those of people anywhere within range. This effect has made his thought process slow and he often responds to questions cryptically and quickly. Although a message may not make literal sense, it will carry the figurative meaning and several people who have held conversations with Justin have been able to understand him completely. This is not an absolute state of mind, as Justin at times does sound "normal" and understanding of the situation.
Focusing seems to still be line of sight and anything blocking his sight from the target will stop his ability to get more than surface thoughts. This may be a way to negate the above situation by placing Justin in a room with a thick wall (reinforced concrete or lead lined might work, although this is unknown.). This method is not recommended as Justin has a fear of being confined and will react defensively to such a situation.
Alternatively, a chemical inhibitor may exist that could take away his powers temporarily, though what the nature of said item is is still in question. It is believed to be either a stimulant or depressant, though neither have been documented to be used. It must pass entirely through his system before his powers truely come back, though through this time, he will be at his most cognitive.
Personality
Oh boy, here is a doozy. First and foremost, it should be understood that while he was being experimented on, the ability to say certain words was taken from him. As such, anything pertaining to the names of Crey or any facility, faculty, or project he has heard about is mentally blocked. He tends to substitute these words for more cryptic words, often his closest best, but even then it is a long, long way off. Though this does not pertain to actual people, he does have a tendency to refer to people by nicknames that are in a discriptive mannor or a shortened version of someone's name, used sparingly and often when it has an object relation (I.E. Dustin Travers is refered to as Dust, but Jessie Tell is refered to as Quiet, as he met her during a phase when she was mute and she is harder to mind read then others.)
Due to his ability to hear all thoughts in the city of Paragon at once, his thoughts can get mixed up. This can range from being slow to answer a question, to answering the wrong question or even asking someone about the wrong detail (he has asked men about pregnancies before, and once expressed a hatred of the girl in the front yard singing a pre-school song, one that did not exist anywhere near his present location.). Often his sentences are overly simplified to the point of being unable to understand.
It should also be noted that he is not insane or mentally handicapped in any traditional sense. Most of his thoughts do follow a logic train of thought. The problem comes from the previously mentioned way he over simplifies things. In an attempt to block out wrong thoughts and opinions, he tends to reflect the very bare minimum he can, often forcing it to loose meaning. Coupled with the inability to say certain thoughts, this can give an illusion of crazy or even stupidity to an unfamiliar listener.
During periods of lucidity, normally brought about by chemical induction, he will be perfectly normal and even thoughtful and deep (as observed by a recent conversation with Dustin Travers) and philisophical. He has expressed that while such quick fixes are an obvious cure, their not the help he wants, knowing full well that he has the power to shut off his telepathy at any given time, he just needs to re-learn it.
Madness of Good and Evil
Justin has been spotted on the island of Port Oaks in Rogue Islands, aiding an unknown masked woman (Probationary Martyr) on an unknown quest. He has been seen using his powers more aggressively, causing apparent mental pain, stealing memories, and even mind controlling certain victims. It is theorized that Justin's more violent and amoral use of his powers is a result of being in an area with a higher crime rate and possible thoughts from members of the Family. This behaivor has also been seen back in Paragon city of recently and to those looking closely, it may seem that certain personality traits from various people are becoming stuck inside his head more and more, making him a wild card in expected actions and response even more so. Since these ideas are becoming more internal than external, it may follow that if a fix is found, Justin will still behave in a manor indicative of the above actions. A more accurate look is advised...
A few translations
This is a list of words Justin uses and what meaning he puts behind them. This list is completely OOC and has not been divulged ICly to anyone (though some people tend to pick up on it). Regardless of how lucid Justin may appear to be, he will always uses these terms to refer to their proper definition.
- Monsters - Crey or anyone of Crey relations. Never refers to Crey brands, as they are tools and don't intentially harm. Hasn't stopped him from being afraid of boxes with the Crey logo.
- Sky - Freedom. Was explained to someone, but he was other worldly. In the sky, their are unlimited ranges of movement. To Justin, who has been locked up for a long time in a cell with no view of the Sky, sky represents freedom, though the meaning has more symbolic weight. Jailers are Sky Stealers and to be Skyless means you are confined to certain parameters. Both are metaphorically used as he can't say he was captured either.
- Made Better- Perhaps the most haunting, this is Justin's way of describing his condition. Tongue and Cheek refers to how the Crey experiments tried to improve him. Often said with a very somber tone.
- Muttering Tree/ Mutter- The Tree of Wonder in The Artful Dodgers base, referred to as such because of Justin's claims that it is thinking and he can hear it, but is mostly muttering. The tree is from the Shadow Shard, so no word on it's true nature... yet.
- Quiet/Loud- describes how much a person's thoughts are in Justin's mind. Quiet people are normally mentally shielded, while loud people are not. Normally, Justin will inform people of their nature. Only two people have been nick-named such. Loud thoughts are actually hard to pin down, Justin may be attributing much mind chatter to one person when really it is a whole area. OOCly, Loud and Quiet are determined by how much stuff is in my chat box.
What Others are saying about Justin
For people to leave comments.
Notes and FAQs
- Justin is a prototype for a series of books I may write in the future. The actual storyline is picking up details from Justin's more and more, although the name will defiantly be changed.
- Justin's character design is mostly based off of River Tam from the short lived sci-fi series "Firefly". There are two types of people in the world: Firefly Fans, and the people who never watched the show. I highly recommend you be in the former category. The use of the word sky was taken from the show's theme song.
- Other characters that contributed are: Nate Grey, X-23, and Wolverine of X-men, Matt Parkman of Heroes, Chase Stein, Victor Mancha, Molly Hayes, screw it, almost all of the cast of Runaways, and smidgens of the Incredible Hulk (no he is not green. It's symbolic!).
