Diego Thulani Smith. He didn't really seem all that special at birth. Just another baby. But as life moved on the differences between him and the general populace would slowly become clear. His life began October 22nd, 1979. At birth, his father later claimed, he performed a miracle. His mother, Olivia Smith, was once a successful soul and latin singer. She had been beautiful, gifted, and in love. Sometime along the way, however, something changed inside her. She had been becoming depressed. By the time he was born, she was long past that point. But as soon as Diego was born, it was as if the clouds departed, and for the first time in years she was truly happy.
It bears repeating that Olivia had met Adam Smith early on during her career. As she was slowly attracting notice in the music industry, Adam was carving his name forever upon it. Working behind the scenes, the young African immigrant- who voluntarily changed his name and ditched his accent as quickly as possible -established himself as a media mogul, first with his own Motown record label in the height of that era and then moving on into television and the big screen. He was the one who discovered Olivia, and it wasn't long before the happy couple was married. As so often happens in show biz, however, Adam's ambition clashed with Olivia's passion. The two began drifting apart shortly after their honeymoon.
Adam and Olivia were still in love, but they fought more often than not. Adam had conceded early on that Olivia be allowed to name their son, though he reserved the right to the middle name. Olivia named Diego after her brother who had died as a revolutionary during Castro's invasion of Cuba. Though she had differed in politics and beliefs, the two had held a very close bond before his death. Adam's contribution was a late resurgence of pride in his own culture and a statement on Diego's affect on his mother. Thulani, 'to quiet, to comfort'.
His affect didn't last long. As he grew older, his magical impact on Olivia's mood faded. Soon she was more depressed than before. Having drifted too far from Adam to seek comfort in his arms and having lost her brother year's earlier, she committed suicide. This was devastating to the young family. Adam became cold and distant, focusing all of his energies on his growing media empire. Diego was increasingly raised by a host of family employee's. Nanny's, cooks, even at one point a football coach hired on to help mentor the boy for some time. Still, Adam's affluence did not have its own beneficial impacts. Diego attended only the finest schools, and his combined mental accuity and athletic prowess meant that when it came time to attend college, he had an entire host Ivy League and other top schools to choose from. He went to West Point, instead.
He continued to excel at West Point as he had in prep school before it. He had an admirable if hardly honor-earning career as a running back for Army. His cold childhood meant that while he was often sought after by co-eds, he rarely had anything resembling lasting relationships. Even his friendships were confined to a small, select group whom he became very loyal to. These things helped him make his decisions after his graduation, where he worked to quickly become a member of the Army Ranger's, finishing Ranger training and Jump school before his twenty fifth birthday.
In some ways, he was the perfect soldier. He was an excellent shot. His mind was a strategic and tactical computer. Physically he was in top shape. And he never faltered in his duty. But he was also cold and calculating, in a branch of the armed forces often expected to foster good will amongst indingenous (and usually oppressed) people. Its not that he looked upon them with disdain, just that they often mistook his efficient method of business for heartless dedication. At twenty eight, in the height of the surge in Iraq, Diego was amongst a fast reactionary force responding to an attack on an American convoy. The call for aid had been part of an elaborate ambush, however, and soon it became clear that the attack wasn't on a convoy but on Diego's squad. Sometime during the firefight, everything seemed to slow down for Diego. The climax came when he watched a grenade descending on their position; caught in out of mid air, and returned it like a deadly hot potato. People often talk of 'everything slowing down', top level athletes often call it 'being in the zone'. But this was something else entirely.
After the attack left three fellow ranger's dead in the Iraqi sands, along with a number of insurgents, Diego Thulani Smith was hailed as hero. He was also quietly awarded a Silver Star, and quietly discharged from service. Officially the word was that Diego had done his duty as an American. Unofficially, doubts had arisen as to whether or not he was mentally sound to continue his service to his country. Returning to the United States, Diego discovered that little had changed with his relationship with his father. Adam continues to be an influential member of the media at large, but he offers little beyond the education already provided and the trust fund established to help 'Thulani' acheive some sort of success. Diego used this opportunity to move across the country from Adam, who now lives in Los Angeles, and back near his old Alma Matter. Once in New York, New York, he saw a need being completely unfufilled. He opened his own business, Stillwater Security Consultants, and quietly began to search for the brain trust in charge of the actions of PARIAH. Seeing the Linderman Act as un-American, unconstitutional, and tyrannical, he never registered despite having clear assumptions that his own genes have separated him from the ranks of the normal. As one of his favorite sayings goes, 'All it takes for Evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing'. And so with his business opened and offering a sort of umbrella for him to operate under- especially given his propensity to seek out juicey government contracts -and a name, PARIAH, to discover, this young man begins his own journey in the new New York landscape.
