Sarah Langley
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| [[Image:|300px|]] | |
| Sarah Langley | |
| Player: @VBComics | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Defender |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Sarah Langley |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 21 |
| Height: | 4'3" |
| Weight: | 80 |
| Eye Color: | Deep blue / pale blue |
| Hair Color: | Blue |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Japanese/American |
| Occupation: | Hero / Med Student |
| Place of Birth: | Valencia, California |
| Base of Operations: | Los Angeles, California |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Templar-02 (Best friend) |
| Known Powers | |
| Healing | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Empathic connections, electric discharges | |
| Equipment | |
| Electrostatic Amplifiers, Medical Equipment | |
| ' | |
The young hero known as Sarah Langley has risen to prominence as a guileless, innocent healer in a city rife with crime and corruption. Although she came to Paragon City as a student at the University, her duties as a hero have consumed her life and become her overriding concern. Now she finds herself at a personal crossroads, staring down two paths that will either elevate her to true heroism - or destroy her innocence one piece at a time.
Contents |
Background
Sarah's life began in Valencia, born to proud parents Martin and Yukiko Langley. Although she showed few signs of the extraordinary skills she would develop later in life, it is clear that she was profoundly affected by some of her early childhood experiences. Living with her ailing grandmother, who spent two years fighting a losing battle against cancer, seemed to instill an unnatural resolve in Sarah. At the age of six, she asked her father what it would take to become a doctor, and with some further assistance, she began what would become her life's work - studying for a degree in medicine.
The Healer
Armed with two dictionaries, Sarah began reading an old copy of Grey's Anatomy at the public library after school. Although the process of learning new words and memorizing the complex labels was tortuous for the young girl, she doggedly pressed on. Her study schedule became increasingly rigorous, eventually consuming all her free time as she mastered the basic concepts of anatomy. Three months later, with the assistance of her father, she tested herself on her knowledge, and to the astonishment of her parents, she successfully named every component of the human body, to the smallest detail. Encouraged by her early success, and with the blessing of her gobsmacked parents, she pressed on to essential first aid training, and began studying the vast variety of pathogens and human illnesses, absorbing every detail with uncanny speed.
Sarah's studies eventually led to what became a personal breakthrough for Sarah - unlocking an inherent capacity for empathic connections. Although she had expressed these abilities earlier in life, they were beyond her control, driven by fear or desperation. Now she found that by focusing her mind on a particular malady or injury, she could heal others with only a thought. Unfortunately, this ran counter to the academic sensibilities of the textbooks she was studying, and Sarah found herself trying to reconcile her abilities with the hard science of medical methodology. Eventually, through her absorption of medical terminology, as well as related studies in biology and chemistry, Sarah came to understand the physical aspect of her healing process, and took to regarding her unique powers as being simple medical procedures. She was determined to bring these discoveries to the forefront of medical journals, which she was now reading on a nightly basis. However, even at the age of eight, she understood that without a degree, her work would be ignored or possibly even ridiculed, and thus she set her sights on completing a medical degree as soon as possible.
Although her parents recommended she slow her studies and focus on enjoying her life more, Sarah remained dedicated to achieving her goal, and spent the next two years training for SATs. The same unbreakable focus that had won her medical knowledge triumped again, as Sarah passed with a perfect 1600 and found herself courted by several schools interested in bringing her into their halls. Despite attractive offers from several Ivy League schools, including Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, Sarah chose to attend UCLA in honor of her father, a former student there. It seemed that nothing would stand in the way of Sarah achieving her dream, and her encyclopedic medical knowledge helped her start a two year fast-track pre-med program. However, an unexpected twist of fate would bring this dream to an end, and start her down a new and markedly different path.
Paragon University
When a recruiter for Paragon University came to the Langley household, Sarah was eleven years old and basking in the conclusion of her first year at UCLA, having finished at the top of every class she took. It was therefore assumed that he was simply another scalper intent on stealing her away for the prestige of his own school. However, the recruiter instead approached the parents directly, informing them that Sarah was exhibiting all the major signs of having empathic powers, and explaining that at some point, Sarah would need to register with the Federal Government as a powered individual. Although this was initially met with incredulity, the recruiter offered video footage of Sarah using her healing abilities, and there could be no denying that she was more than a child prodigy. Within the halls of Paragon University, it was explained, Sarah would be exposed to a broader and more appropriate curriculum that would allow her to gain better control over her abilities. Satisfied with this line of thinking, Sarah's parents convinced Sarah to travel east to Paragon City. Sarah was reluctant to leave the school she had come to love, but found herself swayed by the promises of advanced studies and access to luminaries of the medical community.
Although Sarah had received a full scholarship to Paragon University, her parents could not afford to move away from Los Angeles, where their family and job connections were too deep to sever. They thus accepted a guardianship offer for Sarah, which left her in the care of a local hero, Starr Lawton. When Sarah arrived at the Washington Airport, Starr was there to instruct her on the details of her new life in Paragon City, the famous "City of Heroes". Sarah was moved to a dormitory at the Steel Canyon campus of Paragon University, and although she was not treated with outright rudeness, she found herself an outsider among the other students. Whether it was her wide-eyed innocence, her peculiar social anxiety that seemed to come and go without reason, or simply envy for her extraordinary abilities, she was shunned from social circles, and found no friends among the student body.
As the months passed and her twelfth birthday approached, Sarah found herself increasingly spending time with Starr, who was a mutant and enlisted memeber of the Freedom Corps. Starr seemed to be a loner by nature, but was vigorously defensive with regards to Sarah. At the age of 23, Starr was still one of the younger members of the Corps, often working the rougher patrols in the Kings Row neighborhood. In Sarah's company, Starr found a kind and honest friend who offered no judgment. Starr therefore resolved to do everything in her power to help Sarah achieve her dreams, and for the next few years, as Sarah completed her Master's thesis and began her residency at Atlas Memorial, the two became best friends.
In their time together, Starr taught Sarah about the dynamics of Paragon City's crime problems, as well as the ever-present Arachnos threat in the Rogue Isles. Sarah began to develop a fascination with the great heroes of Paragon City, having met such legends as Statesman, Sister Psyche, and Ms. Liberty in campus visits. Although Sarah admired their achievements deeply, her own inability to reconcile the true nature of her powers left her feeling inadequate by comparison. Never could Sarah imagine that her own abilities paralleled the powers of other talented empaths in the city. For that reason, Sarah never considered a career as a hero, and Starr did her best to steer Sarah away from any thinking to the contrary, fearing for her safety. However, when Sarah turned 15, her path once again took an unexpected turn - perhaps not for the better.
Crey's Investment
When Sarah began her second year of residency, she suddenly found herself in a strange position - her funding from the government had ceased, and she was no longer able to pay for rent or food. Although the situation was bizarre by any standard, Sarah found no support from school, hospital, or city administration. A week into the incident, Sarah's parents were offered a lifeline by none other than Crey Corporation. They were willing to sponsor the remainder of her stay in exchange for a research posting for Sarah at a Crey Laboratory after graduation. Sarah, ever trusting and naive, urged her parents to accept the offer so she could finish her studies, and they acquiesced. After signing a series of contracts, Sarah was the recipient of a living wage from Crey Corporation.
This created a major schism between Starr and Sarah, as Starr had repeatedly warned her about the injustices committed by Countess Crey and her villainous enterprises. Starr had begun to exhibit increasingly erratic behavior over the last year, and with this sponsorship, she began to disappear for weeks on end. Finally, one night Starr appeared at Sarah's dormitory on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, offering only a hug and a few words of advice: "Don't let them get to you. Don't become a victim." Starr then disappeared into the night, and news stories of villainous deeds performed by Starr in the service of Arachnos soon followed. Sarah was crushed by what she perceived to be a cruel betrayal, and began reaching out haphazardly to others in search of new friendships. This eventually led to an offer from Freedom Corps - one that would put Sarah in the company of many new friends, they assured her.
Sarah signed up as a part-time hero as she began her third year of residency, working weekly patrols and occasionally assisting groups of heroes with healing support. Still unaware of her powers beyond their medical components, Sarah believed herself to be a mere civilian in the company of giants. She did her best to ingratiate herself to the powerful beings around her, being as cheerful and friendly as possible in an effort to win new friends and earn a sterling reputation. Sarah's natural charms appealed to many of the heroes she worked with, but her inability to defend herself often made her a liability. When Sarah was badly wounded while providing support in a raid on a Skulls warehouse, Crey decided to step in to protect their investment.
Sarah was brought to a Crey medical facility and, after cajoling a few consent signatures out of her, was fitted with a pair of electrostatic amplifiers in her wrists. Although Sarah was uncomfortable with the implants, she was also given a special treatment that permanently dyed her hair blue, her absolute favorite color. Her amplifiers allowed her to create concentrated electrical discharges using ambient static electricity, and Sarah found herself able to look after herself even when traveling the streets alone. Thus armed, Sarah found herself back on the streets, courageously continuing her work in the face of bodily harm. She dedicated herself to mastering her amps with her usual intensity, working increasing hours on the streets of Paragon City. Sarah Langley's career as a hero had truly begun.
((Work in progress, more to come))
