Rad Lad
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| Rad Lad | |
| |
| The Moribund Millionaire | |
| Metadata | |
| Player: | @The-Thief |
| Activity Level: | Moderately Played |
| Archetype: | Defender |
| Origin: | Mutant |
| Primary Set: | Radiation Emission |
| Secondary Set: | Radiation Blast |
| Ancillary/Patron: | Electricity Mastery |
| Level: | 49 |
| Legal Miscellanea | |
| Full Name: | Robert Gallagher Hasek |
| Identity: | Public |
| Known Aliases: | Unknown |
| Occupation: | Playboy, Heir to Hasek family fortune. |
| Education: | SFU Highschool Graduate, Paragon University Student |
| Citizenship: | U.S Citizen |
| Legal Status: | Licensed Hero |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Marcus (Father), Gavin (Brother), Sandra (Mother, Deceased), Allison (Sister, N/A) |
| Date of Birth: | June 6th, 1989 |
| Place of Birth: | San Francisco, CA |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City, RI |
| Group Affiliations: | Young Sentinels |
| Physical Characteristics | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Species: | Human |
| Ethnicity: | Caucasian |
| Eye Color: | Green |
| Hair Color: | Red |
| Complexion: | Light |
| Height: | 6'1 |
| Weight: | 189 lbs |
| Build: | Athletic |
| Distinguishing Features: | Eye color shifts in intensity occasionally. |
Contents |
Affiliations & Allies
Known Allies
Stellar Flair - Girlfriend(?), Leader of the Young Sentinels
Biography
Personality
If one were to strip away the fruits of life that Robert has enjoyed thus far, his powers, and his wealthy upbringing, you would find a boy who most likely would've gone through history in relative seclusion from the world and it's events. He is a quiet and happy guy, with a good sense of humor, a caring spirit, and a quick smile. Deep down he is troubled, like any teen. But his problems are of a completely different sort. Struggling to come to grips with who he is, what he is, and where he will go in life. A life that was never truly his own to live. A life dictated by scientists and genetic experimentation since before he was born. Given powers he would gladly give up, and never would've touched, had he known the consequences when he first began.
In his own mind, he is Robert G. Hasek, young man of the world, looking to live his life in peace. To the world, he is Mr. Robert Hasek aka Rad Lad, wealthy playboy heartthrob and radioactive superhero, an icon for young people across the globe.
Which one is really Robert? Which is the life he will devote himself to? And what will the fallout be, literally or figuratively, if he makes the wrong choice? These are the questions he asks, the questions that define him.
Recent Events
For a time, Robert had enjoyed a close relationship with fellow Young Sentinel, Stellar Flair, who later became team leader of their group, when previous leadership retired to other duties. As much as he cared for her, his numerous business trips and bouts with illness, sometimes self-induced by accident, eventually caused some friction. His most recent coma left him in such a state for many months, and for reasons known only to him, ostensibly a mountain of paperwork and homework from his new status as a student at Paragon University, he has yet to make contact with anyone from his superhero duties, both Young Sentinel, or parent group, Sentinels United.
At Paragon U, he has taken up a liking for medicine, and business ventures. Both signs point to a newfound affinity for his alternate life as one of richest teenagers on the planet, and future head of a mega-corporation that could, with time and effort, rival the likes of Crey Industries. Which could be just what Robert Hasek wants.
As soon as the school year winds down, he desires to step back into his life as Rad Lad a little more, patch any wounds, and repair any burnt bridges that came about due to his long absences.
History
His name is Robert G. Hasek.
Date of Birth: 06/06/89
He is the son of Marcus E. Hasek, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Hasek Industries.
Today, Robert is Rad Lad, a radioactive prodigy residing in Paragon City. And a founding member of the famed Young Sentinels, subsidiary of The Sentinels United.
But several years ago, he was simply Bobby Hasek, a somewhat scrawny kid in San Francisco University Highschool, not some prestigious, hard to get in, ivy league place, to keep him in touch with the "common man". He was popular with several of the students, mainly due to his father's fortune, and his own considerable wealth. Though he never spread it around. Aside from a few bucks here and there to help a friend, or fetch a soda. Never one of the key targets for the school's budding beauties, Robert primarily kept to himself, getting near straight A's when it was a subject that suited him, but never quite perfect. Aside from his family name, he was quite ordinary.
He liked that.
His father, too, also liked keeping up an "ordinary" appearance, on the outside. But deep down, unlike his son, he knew that the darkness that always festers upon the world, does not stop for ordinary people. It takes extraordinary men and women to keep the world safe. Marcus was a brilliant geneticist, and decided when he formed the company that would keep his family provided for, he would put most of the money earned from their public and R&D ventures into a special project, codenamed MIDAS. A complex procedure which involved direct DNA manipulation to unlock latent mutations within a person that could not, or would not, surface on their own. While the public board of directors could not be trusted to keep such a project secret, Marcus took the top scientists in the company, each able to keep such a secret, and turned them into a de facto board of directors for MIDAS alone. To review test results and potential subjects. At first, the directors of MIDAS were skeptical about the whole project, but to ease their worries, and to show them how much he believed in the project, he named himself Subject 01.
It took days to complete the process, but in the end, Marcus emerged triumphant. Still himself in every way, except for newfound abilities, colloquially known around the world as "superpowers". Shown to be a success, MIDAS became official within the bowels of the top secret reasearch facility deep underneath Mount Tamalpais in San Francisco, the home city for Hasek Industries. To further maintain the secrets of MIDAS, Marcus and the directors initiated a protocol that would remain in place for as long as the project ran. To keep subjects secret, each one would be assigned an alias, and would be referred to, in all records, as their assigned alias. No personal names or information would be used, to safeguard their identities, should something happen to the primary database.
Marcus was designated Doctor Meson. In order to keep his position as Chairman and CEO of his company, he only administered a small portion of the MIDAS treatments to himself. Marcus gained a small level of control over, ironically Radiation, and Fire. He cannot create either element, but he can sense and partially affect them. Which proved highly useful later on, when Robert took the mantle of Rad Lad. Later subjects were given designations appropriate for their new abilities as well. But it wasn't all a wondrous success for the Hasek family empire. The third subject was Gavin Hasek, Marcus' second son, and secret (To the public) younger brother to Robert.
For their whole lives, Robert and Gavin had lived apart, mostly unaware of the other. From his birth in 1994, Gavin had been a sickly child. Prone to illness and maladies much more frequently than most children. While he hated to separate the brothers in such a manner, Marcus just wouldn't risk having Robert watch Gavin deteriorate, and likewise didn't want Gavin to feel as if he was a burden on older brother Robert. The most contact the two shared was when Gavin was five years old and had begun writing letters to his brother in his drawing book. While he did not intend them to be sent, as it was more his version of a journal, Marcus was sympathetic and mailed the crayola correspondence to Robert. Their relationship as pen pals lasted a little over a year, when in the year 2000 Marcus decided to risk it all on trying to give Gavin the life he deserved. A trip to Tamalpais to undergo the MIDAS program.
Deciding to keep the truth from Robert, he kept the Tamalpais research projects from him, as well as his intent on trying to cure Gavin of his condition. He explained the situation, and later on lack of contact with Gavin as a result of him taking an extended trip to the African nations as a youth ambassador to rural tribal areas. To this day, Robert believes this facade.
It was going to be Marcus' and Hasek Industries' best and brightest achievement, curing Gavin. But it wound up as their darkest hour...
A defective group of T Cells within Gavin reacted badly to the new DNA being introduced to the young man, and like any virulent or foreign cells it detected, it attacked them with a vengeance, unable to see that this was no virus or disease. The subsequent trauma of having his blood literally fighting against itself threw Gavin into cardiac arrest, as the wild blood caused damage to every part of his body, including his heart. The top notch team of doctors and scientists managed to halt the process and place Gavin into a medically induced coma, with life-support, but that was all they could do. MIDAS and it's procedures were still too new to completely understand, so with Marcus' urging, Gavin was left on life-support. With a team of vigilant researchers working day after day in an attempt to find a way to save the boy.
After that, some of the directors of MIDAS considered ending the project there. But Marcus and the some loyal directors convinced the rest of the board to continue the project, with greater emphasis on looking at every strain of DNA possible in a subject, to make sure that such a tragedy would never happen again. The head of Hasek Industries then vowed to never pitch the idea to anyone again, as he had with Gavin. He would let prospective subjects look at all the information about the project, and have them decide on their own if they wished to undergo the genetic manipulation offered by MIDAS.
Following his own vow, while also indulging in his own desire to share the newfound "extraordinary" that MIDAS could provide, Marcus carefully planned to have key information about the project be discovered by his eldest son, Robert. It took years to plan it all out, to make sure everything was just right, to ensure success.
2005. It was just another day at school for Robert, the same classes, the same friends, the same teachers he'd had for years. And when it was time to be picked up by his driver and bodyguard a few blocks from school, it was the same men, and the same vehicle they always used. An armored and trustworthy Ford Expedition, front seats occupied by driver Alan Ricardo, and Robert's bodyguard Thomas Miller. They greeted him the same way they always did, telling him they dropped his father off at a meeting earlier that day, to let him know the house would be empty. As it was nearly every day.
The only difference was a pile of papers strewn across the back-seat, seemingly left accidentally by Marcus in his haste to get to a meeting. Always curious, Robert flipped through them during the ride. By the time they reached the Golden Gate he was amazed at what he was reading. And by the time they had reached the opposite side of the bridge, he had made up his mind about what he wanted to do. With the prospect of leaving that ordinary life he had led up until that point, Robert initially decided 'no', but as he thought about it more, it slowly became 'yes'. It was that simple turnover of his own decision that changed his life entirely, forever.
Forcing Alan and Thomas to change their route and head for the Tamalpais facility (also listed upon the documents), they obliged, albeit willingly as this was Marcus' plan all along. When Robert arrived at the underground base, every scientist, doctor, researcher and employee had been carefully trained to feign ignorance and alarm at the idea of another Hasek son following in Gavin's footsteps. But every precaution had been taken, and the green light to get Robert in touch with MIDAS had been given long before he ever knew about the project.
Robert's own date with the complex program took a little over a week, as the mutant genes dormant within him were extensive, and as time progressed, incredibly powerful. MIDAS unlocked Robert's powers of pure Radiation Manipulation. Effectively turning him into a walking nuclear reactor, of weaker yield. To compensate for the drastic changes in his DNA, his body changed to adapt to the new stress such power could bring against him. He grew several inches and gained nearly thirty pounds of muscular mass to his scrawny figure. Going from a skinny 145 lb., 5'8" boy of highschool, to what looked like a young and handsome olympian athlete. Standing straight at 189 lbs. and 6'1". When he emerged from the recesses of the facility, Marcus saw him from his one-way window high above the atrium, a smile growing on his face. For his second chance had come, and while he could not and would not forgive himself for what his actions did to Gavin, he could be happy that Robert was stepping out on his own, in more ways than one. But always, the lie he kept feeding to Robert, weighed upon his heart...
A small group of technicians, including Thomas and Alan, were assigned to Robert by the project leaders. Pretending to have been fired for their actions in aiding Robert, they decided to work for him. Keeping him apprised of developments at home, and of new technologies or alterations that could be made to further enhance his powers in his newfound career as a superhero. Dubbing himself Rad Lad, which then became his designation in the MIDAS archives, he set off towards the eastern seaboard nexus of superheroes...
Paragon City.
Powers & Abilities
Radiation Control
Partial Regeneration
Sub-sonic Flight
Near-Genius Intellect
Radioactive Defenses
The power that is Robert's to command has many different facets with which he may perform his heroic duties. On the defensive side of things, he has the power to heal wounds, both minor and mortal, with a dose of quick-dissolving radiation that briefly bombards nearby allies, and himself, with a specially suited energy band that increases the potency of platelets and white cells nearly tenfold.
With the same energy, he can release a cloud of radiation that targets the metabolism of those around him. The benefits of this are increased endurance, muscle density and reflexes. Because it alters base genetics, for a short time, at such a basic level even extraterrestrial and magical beings experience a change in how they operate.
While not entirely defense, nor completely an offense either, Robert can change tactics and envelop his enemies with stronger and more toxic doses of radiation. Often doing the opposite of what he does for his allies, draining their energy, endurance, slowing their reflexes and reaction times, blinding them, choking them in non-lethal fashion, slowing regenerative effects, both superpowered and not. The widely felt effects of these emissions are very potent and powerful.
Radioactive Offenses
On the other side of the spectrum are the specific energy bands that Robert can fashion into deadly weapons. Energy bands like X-Ray, Neutronic, Photonic and Protonic are all at his disposal. Focused through his ocular cavity, X-Ray energy is condensed and shaped into a pinpoint beam of superheated energy. Released en masse, Neutronic, Photonic and Protonic energy is crafted into clouds and makeshift explosives that work wonders against organic enemies and wreak havoc on those either utilizing, or crafted by, technology. As Robert experiments with different calculations and formulas in his head, he can think of new and efficient methods of using this power he has. In short, with every foe he faces, the stronger he gets. Figuratively speaking.
Intellect
It is believed that Robert has a mind that uses more than the average human amount of brain-power. The sheer concentration and control it takes to mold the raw power he can unleash is definitely something that seems to confirm this. The ability to shape his energy to his specific needs, within reason, and to keep debilitating waves of deadly radiation from harming his friends and companions, even if they are encompassed by the fallout, is something lesser humans would find nearly impossible to achieve without outside help. If this is something innately special about Robert, or a result of the MIDAS gene-therapy, remains to be seen. This increased level of brain activity does make him quite a bit more intelligent than the average human, but he rarely shows it. Though with his current classes at Paragon University, he has become more comfortable with it.
Partial Regeneration
To keep his body together, almost literally, his DNA was altered during the MIDAS program to give him regenerative capabilities, albeit not as potent as many other cases of regeneration seen in the metahuman world. It cannot, for instance, regrow limbs or recuperate lost blood, but it does allow wounds that do draw blood to close much faster than even the most potent of unpowered humans. It also dampens the signals his pain receptors recieve from trauma, letting him take more punishment than he normally could.
Containment
Because of the dangers to himself, and more importantly, the world around him, special containment measures have to be taken periodcially. While not on the same level as reknowned Phalanxer Positron, Robert's own life follows a similar track when it comes to power and keeping that power in check. To this end, Robert is in possession of a skin-tight twin layer neoprene bodysuit, with a thin coating of aerogel between the layers. Thanks to nanotechnology, the suit allows 100% freedom of movement, and is not constricting or restrictive to his functions. A small amount of carbon injected into the fibers gives it a slight power-dampening feature, so in the event he were to lose control of his powers, the fallout would be significantly less than it would be under normal circumstances.
Armor
While impressive, the neoprene containment suit just cannot hold up to the punishment of every-day hero activity, both in the shape of Paragon's many villains, but also Robert's own ability to dish out so much power. While no damage would come to the suit, the dampening capability is next to nothing when matched against the sheer destructive power a wild blast of radiation can achieve. So when he is out on a mission, or feeling out of control, Robert also has several carbon-plate battle-armor additions that work in tandem with the containment suit to protect his own life, and the lives of those he encounters, both friend and foe. There are several variations,
Mark I
The Mark One unit consists of augmenting the standard grade containment suit with further carbon injections into the weave, and prepping the design to accept the grafting of armor plates right onto the neoprene shell. The first of which is two form-fitting plates around the waist area. Due to his own desire to control his powers as best he can, this low carbon level suit is most favored, as it gives him the best control of his abilities, with enough dampening to prevent a full meltdown, with his current level of control and concentration. However, under duress, it would not be able to cope with how much power would be unleashed in the event of such a cataclysm.
Mark II
Mark Two begins the armor process by encasing Robert's lower leg area within heavy duty combat armor fashioned from carbon and titanium. These armored greaves are also fitted with micro rocket boosters and shock absorbers, allowing him to fly and to fall or jump from greater heights with ease. His hands are encased in large gauntlets fashioned in a similar way to the greaves, with carbon/titanium mail gloves wrapped in a large carbon plate shell. Special vents are included, which open only under extreme pressure from Robert's radioactive activity. This has only happened once before* thus far, when he pushed himself beyond his own limit and leveled the warehouse hideout for one of the Young Sentinels' enemies, with an incredible barrage of continuous superheated plasma. It was this incident that left Robert comatose for several months.
- Note: It should be noted that this incident occurred while Robert was utilizing his previous containment unit, not the latest and most potent line of armor.
Mark III
The Mark Three stage of augmentation completely places Robert's upper arms in a carbon/titanium shell fitted with nanofiber muscles, giving him increased physical strength and endurance, along with the usual requirement of radiation dampening. A fully encompassing helm is then fitted to the suit, with wide-view HUD and faceplate to compensate for the lack of visibility. Finally, a solid plate of carbon armor is grafted onto the torso, which possesses enough carbon to be nearly equal to 50% of the power dampening capabilities of all the other armor segments put together. At this stage, Robert is fully capable of sustaining massive physical damage, unleashing large amounts of radiation, and even long term survival in environments lacking in oxygen, including space and underwater areas. It is not known how long the suit-supplied oxygen containers last under such use, but it is estimated to be worth several hours.
Mark IV
A new, light-weight and specialized suit has been seen in recent weeks. Rumor has said that Hasek Industries must have hit a breakthrough in carbon dampening technology, or some other technology based medium, for this specialist armor consists only of his right arm being encased in carbon and nanofiber muscles, a cybernetic monocle for recon, rocket propelled carbon plate boots, and a harness containing several small pouches set in a bandolier design. What is in these containers is unknown. Any rumors stating that this is his best suit should not be taken seriously, as in several occasions, he has appeared in the more potent Mark One, Two and Three units as well as this new Mark Four.
