John Smith 2: Electric Boogaloo

As an assassin, John is adept at quiet weaponry, especially blades. His preferred means of attack are throwing knives. Silver colored, measuring eight and a fourth inches in length, double-bladed, with six holes in the handle. He carries twenty-four of them on him at any given time, twenty-two held in holsters inside his coat pockets (eleven in each), with one in each sleeve for quick use.

A steel garrote wire is bundled inside his left pants pocket, measuring fifteen inches in length. Inside his watch is a small, plastic dart tipped with calebas curare poison, fired straight ahead by pressing beneath the right side of the face using compressed air (it must be compressed once every three days or it will lose the ability to fire). Its effective range is only about ten feet, the distance getting a bit shorter the longer it’s been since it was last compressed, though it needs to be much closer to break through anything besides light clothing (close enough to touch). Curare poisoning generally takes affect within 20 minutes of injecting a muscle, the effects lasting only about 30 minutes for the dosage used here. Death occurs because of paralysis of the diaphragm, so mouth to mouth resuscitation is an effective way to save a victim.

In his right pants pocket, he keeps a Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone, having its security increased by a friend to keep his personal data and calls a secret. He also has a USB cable to connect the phone to computer hard drives. Though he doesn’t bring it on jobs, he has a brown wallet for his money in his back right pocket, also containing a library card (name registered as Clancy Brown), a razor blade, and a Starbucks gift card worth $25 (with only $4 left). An inner pocket on his coat usually holds a copy of Mary Shelley’s The Modern Prometheus.

John isn’t a very expressive man, often keeping to himself unless he is forced into socializing. Often found clinging to the corner of the room in a gathering, he generally refuses to answer if someone talks to him. He holds a dislike or apathy towards most people, since most of them have either hurt or disappointed him throughout his life. At first glance, many would assume him to be a sociopath, especially due to his propensity for, “Cut first, ask questions later.” This is not the case, though; he has the ability to empathize quite well, but simply chooses not to use it. In truth, though, he is a sadist and enjoys inflicting pain on others, sometimes jokingly assumed to be a form of sexual gratification for him (though this could be the case, no one's really sure, not even him).

When spying, he often remains completely emotionless, collecting the necessary information and disappearing without a trace. On the off chance he is noticed, he tries to kill the witness as fast as possible, either by sneaking behind then to slit their throat or throwing a knife into their head. It would, obviously, be best if no one knew he was there, so he attempts to hide or dispose of the body in any way he can if this would be a necessary course of action.

Despite his violent tendencies, John is an avid reader. His favorite book is The Modern Prometheus (the original name of Frankenstein), to the point where he considers it necessary to keep the book with him at all times. Despite his dislike for being recorded, he has even taken out a library card (in a false name).

Alaura is the most important person in his life, partly due to her being the only person consistently in his life. Even so, he cares deeply for his friend and accomplice, seemingly breaking from his normally antisocial and introverted persona around her. He often nags at her like a parent, telling her to take better care of herself. He also cooks for the two of them most of the time. Also, they are totally not a couple.

John is an expert in espionage and assassination. As such, he can do things often described as “ninja-like”, namely walking without making noise, hiding his presence, blending in with his surroundings, etc. He is also good at sketching, often taking down the faces of people of interest who he may need to remember for later. He has been trained in throwing his knives with perfect accuracy, and has trained his reflexes to preempt the movements of those that are faster than his throwing hand. He is ambidextrous, though he prefers his right hand. He has been trained in karate, judo, eskrima, Brazilian jiu jitsu, and ninjutsu.

Unlike his infiltration skills would imply, he is very illiterate with technology; he had enough trouble figuring out how his phone works. He knows enough to casually operate computers, as well as to find where to plug in his phone, but anything beyond that (including what happens after his phone is linked to the computer system) is all the work of his accomplice. Surprisingly, he is an accomplished cook; well enough to be able to make good food from recipe or memory, at least. He has an eye for fashion, lending to his ability in disguise.

John’s most peculiar ability is his power to create portals in front of his outstretched arm that he uses to send things over distances. As one can imagine, the energy needed to use these on a regular basis is quite large, leading to a need to consume large amounts of food every day to be able to manipulate the ability properly. Over time, they have been shown to increase in strength and versatility. Unknown to him, these powers are an unconscious form of Space Magic he is naturally skilled with and calls upon to create the portals.

Level 1: These abilities have a 6 post cool down time, and can only open to about the height and width of a small car (portals only open in perfect circles). They can also only stay open for a maximum of 3 posts. The things sent through the portals must come out somewhere on Earth and can only go through if physically put into them. People can go through, as well, giving a quick escape from a dangerous situation (only one person can step through at a time). He must also know the general location of where he wishes to send something before opening the portal, meaning moving locations (planes, cars, trains, etc.) can be harder to do than a fixed location, unless he has a video feed to supplement the ability. If used too often in a short period of time (6 within 2 posts of each other after recharging), John will become exhausted and need to rest before doing anything else (10 posts worth of sitting there and catching his breath).

Level 2: Through much training, the silver assassin has managed to improve his mastery over portals. Instead of the original 6, it now only takes 5 posts to use a portal. His stamina for using the ability is also increased, being able to go for longer without becoming exhausted (8 in a row). At the expense of needing to rest and being unable to do anything but walk, as well as having a 7 post cool down on portals, he can now make two fully functional portals from both his hands. If he attempts to exert himself or make more portals before the time is up, he will be subject to the 10 posts of exhaustion.

Requires a training post and 3 Souls.

Level 3: With extreme emotional unrest, he can evolve to the next stage of his portals. Portals are now limited to a 4 post recharge, as well as no longer becoming exhausted after making two portals, but is still subject to a 7 post recharge. He is no longer unable to move while performing a portal; as long as it has been created successfully, he can move around at will and keep it open. However, moving decreases his concentration, meaning a portal created under these conditions will often dissipate after 2 posts.

Costs six Souls.

Level 4: At this level, it only takes 3 posts to recharge from a single portal, 5 for double. In addition, he can now create walls of portals surrounding his body, though this can only be done once a day and leaves him exhausted for 10 posts. At this point, the damage portals do to his body becomes apparent. The strain they put on his cells is slowly killing him, continued use eventually destroying his cells and shortening his life.

Costs 9 Souls and two training posts with Level 3, one of which being a double portal.

Level 5: Portals need only recharge for 2 posts, double portals now lower to 5 posts of recharge, and portal walls can be used twice a day and leave him less exhausted than before (five posts of rest). The size of his portals can now be increased up to the size of a plane, though this will increase the recharge time by 1 post. Consecutive portal use in short periods of time begins to show visible cellular destruction, starting in his palms and moving up his body. This will heal with enough rest, though the damage is done.

Costs 12 Souls and three training posts at Level 4, including one portal wall.

Level 6: Dubbed “God Mode”, it can only be acquired through years of training and mastery of body and mind through meditation. Any amount of portals can be used with 1 post of recharge. He no longer needs to extend his arm to use a portal, but often does so as a means of concentration. He can also create a small black hole to suck in matter around him, but it will only last for 1 post. Use of the black hole will show immediate cellular destruction, destroying the skin and tissue on his hands and arms with little chance for fully recovering (his articulation will be affected permanently and his arms will heal to the point of resembling a brown recluse spider bite grown infected). Use of the black hole multiple times may completely destroy his arms, as well as reduce him to a feeble and deathly state. The event horizon extends to approximately twenty-five feet from his hand.

Costs 25 Souls.

John grew up in a mostly normal American home, born as Nathanial River. His parents were slightly distant to him, usually leaving him to his own devices while they did what they did. He had few friends, though a girl named Alaura was especially close to him (about the only person he could say was close). His illusion of the perfect family was shattered quite suddenly when his mother was struck and killed by a car as she was walking home from the store. After the funeral, his father sent him off to an orphanage, because, in his words, “A man shouldn’t raise a child on his own, especially not one like this.”

After being shipped to the nearest home for boys, the caretakers realized quickly they were dealing with something quite unusual. The stinging comment by his father was referring to his ability to create other worldly rips in reality, awakened after the news of his mother’s death upset him enough to want to get away, which he did through his first portal. While they tried to adapt to this as best they could, they were unable to fully understand what was happening. Was he the devil? An alien? A monster? In the end, they told him he could no longer stay there and was forced to leave.

The next few years were extremely hard for John, being forced to live on the streets. He was not only attacked numerous times for his small size and feminine characteristics, but had no money to support himself, often going hungry and living on the brink of starvation. He eventually couldn’t take it anymore and turned to theft to get what he needed to survive. He’d found a rusted switch blade (he keeps this in a drawer in his room to this day) in a dumpster and used it as his primary weapon during robbery.

On one of his particularly daring days, he attempted to mug what he thought was an ordinary man. To his surprise when he attempted to attack the man for not turning over his money, he grabbed his arm and carried him to a car. He threw him in the back seat and drove off, where they were going being a total mystery to the young boy. In reality, the man was a world class assassin looking for an apprentice to pass his teachings to before he died. Whether he was impressed with the boy’s tenacity or simply had no other options by that point, no one is entirely sure (most likely a mixture of both), but the fact of the matter was that the young boy was now his, and he would teach him what he knew.

For several years, John trained in espionage and weaponry, practicing making his portals and controlling them on his own. Having cleaned himself up and become much healthier, he was able to experience relaxation for the first time. When not training, he would read books, something his trainer encouraged to make him a more well-rounded person (and, therefore, a more believable plant). Eventually, he started to wonder how he got his special ability, concluding it must be aliens after watching a program about extraterrestrial life broadcast on the History Channel. In reality, it was simply a strange reaction to a “male enhancement” product his father used on the night of his conception. The drug allowed the child to externalize internal energy from his cells, using his body as a bridge between to places in space-time.

Over the years, John grew increasingly more skilled, but resented his master. The man was abusive and worked him nearly to death more than a few times during training. The first time he killed was at fifteen, ordered to execute a man the trainer had taken back to their house in a show of commitment. Unwilling to do it, he was forced into it after the gun was placed in his hands and his fingers made to pull the trigger. Though this was traumatizing for him, it grew easier as time went by, to the point where he stopped feeling any emotion when taking a life.

Even after completing his training, John stayed with the master, more out of necessity than desire. With nowhere else to go and no applicable skills, he had no choice but to do the man’s job for him now that he was too old. One job involved killing a hacker, hired to deduce the identity of the man himself. They had gotten close to finding the truth, and that would not be tolerated.
Having located the hacker, John was sent to dispose of them. He was poised to garrote them from behind, but realized she was Alaura after noticing the reflection in the computer screen before her. Unable to kill someone he’d thought of as a friend, even from so long ago, he explained to her the situation and told her to kill him, since he couldn’t return to the man as a failure. Instead, she proposed they work together, unwilling to let her once-friend die like that.

John decided this was an infinitely more appealing idea to both dying and serving the man. Using his friend’s abilities with computers, a report of his death was filed, freeing him from his past. Taking on the name “John Smith” formally, he has worked with Alaura as a team of hacking/enforcement agents for the past five years. Alaura does the hacking while John does the infiltration and eliminates those that might be a threat to them.