Chesterfield Act Registry of the Expressive Database
File #12 Mar 2019 21:42
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portrayed by Jared Keeso |
The decision to go to Scotland was based on having life experiences and school. That's what she told herself, her parents, her friends. It's what she repeatedly told her boyfriend, Cooper Ayers, in the days and hours leading up to her departure. She would be back, but this was something she had dreamed of doing. However, Kelli Williams has no way of knowing her last night in the United States was going to change those dreams. Nor could she have guessed that nine months later she would be answering to “Mom”.
The pregnancy was full of ups and downs, a baby would put a wrench in her plans and she had no idea how to take care of something so fragile. The idea of adoption and other alternatives was proposed a few times, with her parents and with Cooper, and such conversations always ended with mixed results. In the end, it was nearly nine months to the day of Kelli's arrival in Edinburgh that Christopher Nolan Ayers was born. It was a warm summer evening on the 21st of June in 1997, and it was love at first sight.
Chris would never know how his mom worked to make ends meet or the help she received from his grandparents and father overseas. As a small child he only recognized the love and care that she gave every day. That he was kept warm and safe and well fed.
Then one day it changed.
When his mom collapsed in the middle of the market, Chris was nearly five years old. It was the shopkeeper that called for an ambulance that took them to the hospital. He didn't know what was happening, couldn't begin to understand how sick his mom was.
A group of nurses took turns caring for him in the few days that followed. They made sure he was fed and kept busy. There wasn’t a lot in the hospital to entertain a young boy without disturbing other patients, but they made a solid effort with exam glove balloons and plenty of colored pens and paper. In small moments of quiet, they’d even tried to explain the cancer that had made his mom very ill so quickly. But a child cannot understand the sickness, only that his mother is being taken away forever.
Time passed in a blur of sitting at unfamiliar and too-large desks and sleeping in a hard chair beside his mom’s bed. And one day some voices that had only ever been known from the telephone were given faces. Cooper had flown in with Chris’ grandparents to see Kelli through her final month and bring his son back to his home in Astoria, Oregon, in the United States.
It was an uneasy start, with Cooper and Christopher being unfamiliar to each other and both still feeling the weight of loss. The young boy dealt with it as children often due, by withdrawing and growing angry or sad or scared, or sometimes a combination of all three. His dad tried to help him understand that Mom couldn’t come back and that he missed her as well. It was a rough first year for the two of them. But with the support of family and friends, Christopher began coming out of his shell. Birthdays came and went, seasons changed, and eventually a young boy began doing some of the things boys do.
Life is full of hiccups, and the loss of Kelli certainly wasn’t the last one that Chris would endure. But for a handful of years in between that hiccup and the next, it was smoother sailing.
The next fork in the road came in 2006. Everyone has their own memory of November 6, when Midtown was essentially destroyed. For Chris, it was an event that happened almost half the world away which he witnessed through the safety of televised news. A part of him knew it was a frightening, terrible thing, he wasn’t immune to the images or the reports that were broadcast and they affected him with worried questions and bad dreams. The only time he came near enough see the devastation first hand was when he traveled with his father to New York City for his aunt and grandmother’s funerals.
Hardly three months had passed when the next proverbial bomb fell. The revelation of people with superpowers was both fantastic and terrifying. The same questions and fears that followed the explosion in New York now had a face, and it could manifest in anyone. But would it happen again, and where would that be?
The answers weren’t fast in coming. Months passed and Chris learned that his dad couldn’t explain anything about the evolved population. No one did. Eventually the fears and wonderment turned into those shadowy memories that linger somewhere in the back of every kid’s mind.
As time put distance between the back-to-back events of late 2006 and early 2007, the world for Chris returned to its carefree state. There was still school to attend and trouble to find with friends. One day in late 2007, nearing the anniversary of the explosion in New York City, Chris was taken for testing and registration. While it wasn’t mandatory, only strongly suggested, there was a peace of mind in seeing the test turn blue. There’s no way to have known then that the test came from a faulty batch, and relief for Chris and his father came with that ignorance.
The next few years passed with a sense of normalcy. Chris enjoyed riding bikes with his friends and giving grief to the neighborhood. It was a return to a happier time. Until it wasn’t.
Mid August there was a phone call while Chris was still at school, and when he got home he found his father closing up a duffle bag filled with clothes. Uncle Corbin had called, they had to leave. He was given ten minutes to pick out anything he wanted to take with, then they were on the road.
Life on the run changes a person. While there were plenty of good times, constantly moving made those formative years difficult for Chris. The lack of answers, having to leave his home and his friends, and never staying in one place for more than a couple of months chaffed. He became sarcastic and laced conversation with dark humor.
Constantly moving taught Chris a lot also. From his father, he learned to fix cars and mend clothes. He was instructed in map reading and navigation. Cooper even taught the boy how to use a rifle for hunting and a handgun for defense, albeit the latter was done with reluctance. Over time he became good at lying and figured out how to have light fingers when the merchandise wasn’t being watched. Skills that perhaps weren’t the best for a teenaged boy to acquire but necessary for survival when money grew tight.
Life on the road finally came to an end, or was forced to an end, when in 2012 the civil war broke out in earnest. They had spent nearly two years criss-crossing the western states when the war peaked in June of 2012, and they became caught up in the fighting. There is little in the world that can prepare a fifteen year old to fight for their life, except being plunged into war.
Small skirmishes, mostly intended for evasion and escape, kept Chris and his father out of the government’s hands until they came into one of the militia groups. Cooper was conscripted almost immediately and sent to fighting. It was the last time Chris would see his father.
Because of his age, Chris was kept in the camp but still given work as part of the militia. He took his turns in cooking and cleaning and digging latrine pits. But weapons and equipment needed upkeep such as cleaning and repairs and he learned how to rebuild firearms with parts of others. Only occasionally would he be sent out with other men, usually on scouting trips where the chance of an attack was small.
Livestock care was another chore that Chris found himself tasked with, or seeking more often. Cleaning stalls and feeding, tack and saddle care, shoeing and grooming. There were more experienced men to take care of the animals, but they accepted the teenager’s presence and made sure he learned the work quickly and thoroughly. He got along with all of the animals to varying degrees, but had a way with the horses that they responded well to. Along with care, he was taught how to ride.
As the war came to an end, and with nothing left to keep him with the camp, Chris decided to forge his own path. He talked his way into ownership of a two-year-old dappled paint and struck out into the world alone. He’d made it nearly a week before he encountered them, the Horsemen. He spent a few days following them, mostly because they were going the same direction anyway, at least that’s he told himself. In those few days he’d somehow become a part of their group although he didn’t know it until he’d tried to part ways.
Chris stuck with the Horsemen, followed them through the dead zone and up to a settlement that’s now called Sedro-Woolley. It was a place to be, where there was a semblance of civilization. It was good to stay in one place for a while, even if it wasn’t going to be forever. In 2017, the Horsemen left for the east with plans for Chris to join later.
Later is now. It’s time to pack up and head east, to Providence in the Pine Barrens.
Chris is generally accepting of all people, and is willing to give everyone a chance. He has a tendency to use sarcasm and his dark, dry sense of humor as a means of deflection from the uncomfortable things. Or as a way of showing friendship. Really, the more he teases the better he likes you. Typically he'll keep his opinions to himself unless it's asked for and he prefers to do things his own way.
Electromagnetic Forcefield Generation
Chris Ayers is able to create localized, immobile forcefields with his mind.
Talents
Talents | Effort | Description | Learned From |
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EM Forcefield | High | Chris can create a field of transparent force that expands out from his body to a 6-foot radius around himself in all directions. The forcefield requires line-of-effect to take shape, which means it does not go through solid objects that can completely block its path (such as walls or the ground). However, the forcefield instantaneously snaps to form a sphere when obstructions are removed. Such as if a wall causing it to deform out of a sphere shape was destroyed, it would extend out to its maximum available size. Objects smaller than the force field are surrounded or subsumed by the bubble. Once formed, Chris' forcefield is an impenetrable barrier as thin as a wine glass. To the touch, the barrier is impermeable and pleasantly warm, carrying a subtle conductive tingle. No physical force can damage or harm the forcefield nor can any small particles (including oxygen) transfer from one side to the other. Sound is muffled through the barrier. The effects of sonic attacks are cut in half each time they pass through the barrier. Temperature inside the barrier begins at whatever ambient temperature existed prior to its formation, rising as appropriate for the number of bodies and environmental effects inside. Chris' forcefield does not conduct heat or electricity and therefore prevents the transference of either through the barrier. Temperature outside the barrier has no effect on it and as such the barrier can be used to survive sudden high-heat and kinetic environments, such as an explosion. However, the barrier cannot move. If Chris is moved while inside the barrier, the forcefield immediately dissipates until he takes the effort to form it again. | Manifestation |
Magnetokinesis Synergy | None | Chris' forcefields can be sculpted into different shapes (though not expanded volume) by someone with the magnetokinesis ability. They can open or close holes in his forcefield large enough for themselves to enter, but cannot dismiss it entirely. Chris may be able to learn how to resist these effects if he can figure out how to lower the effort it takes to generate his forcefields. |
Vulnerabilities | |
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Oxygen Limitation | As Chris' forcefields block all particles, including oxygen molecules, there is a limited air-supply inside the forcefield as is appropriate for environmental conditions within and number of breathing bodies inside. |
Immobile | Chris' forcefields cannot move and are immediately dismissed should Chris move more than a foot from the point of origin in any direction. |
EMP Pulse | The electromagnetic forces that create Chris' forcefield cause an EMP disruption on any electronic items inside the barrier when it is formed. As such, cell phones, batteries, and other objects susceptible to an EMP may suffer damage or be permanently destroyed when the field is raised. This is incredibly dangerous if Chris activates his forcefield while in a vehicle with computerized components. Shielded electronics are unaffected. |
Susceptibility | Abilities that do not require a line-of-effect such as telekinesis, telepathy, and teleportation function through Chris' barrier. Additionally, characters with the Phasing ability can also pass through Chris' barrier unless they have a vulnerability to electricity or electromagnetic radiation, in which case Chris' forcefield keeps them out as well. |
Effort Key | |
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None | Requires no effort and is a part of Chris' autonomous functions. |
Low | Requires minimal effort and concentration, like walking, holding a conversation, or reading. |
Moderate | Requires dedicated concentration. Moderate-effort abilities cannot be used while actively fighting or using another talent with an effort of Moderate or higher. |
High | Requires undivided concentration. Cannot do anything other than move slowly or talk in short sentences while using a High effort talent and cannot use other talents that have an effort level of Low or higher. |