Registry of the Evolved Database
File #31 Jul 2010 03:42
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portrayed by Luke Burgess |
Jaiden's birth was interesting, if not inauspicious. Unlike most children, the boy was born on April 1, 1981 on the banks of the Abercrombie River in the shade of a eucalyptus tree. You see, the family had been on the way to hospital but, thanks to a washed out bridge and a rain-swollen river, were unable to complete the journey. The boy was healthy and had all his parts, and the mother was doing fine after a quick bath in the cold water, so, without further ado, his father turned around their battered brown land cruiser and headed back to the ranch.
Growing up on a sheep station in the middle of the Outback isnt a normal upbringing by any stretch of the imagination, but for Jaiden, the fact that there were not any other children for over a hundred miles and the monthly trip over rutted roads to pick up necessary provisions (and the occasional book to read) was simply the way things were. He grew quickly, as children his age often do, spending time with the aborigines who wandered across the land that they had so graciously allowed his father to run sheep on, disappearing int the outback for days and returning, painted head to toe in dark tribal glyphs, to collapse in his bed beneath the big cooling fan. Schooling was taken care of via shortwave radio and mailed exam packets that often took weeks to arrive on a supply plane, but he really didnt have a knack for it. He graduated with his higher school certificate, via radio, with the rest of his class, only seeing them through photographs and letters. Free time what little there was of it, at least, was spent listening to The Blues playing in the annual Rugby League State of Origin series or buried beneath the hood of whatever broken-down car he could find abandoned at the side of the road. It was this last trait that got him interested in automobiles.
Shortly after getting his certificate, Jaiden joined the Australian Army, rightly thinking that discovering the world and learning a trade while doing it would be a good thing to have under his belt. He moved through the ranks quickly, taking to the organization like a fish to water, volunteering for the Australian Special Air Service Regiment and becoming a member of the SASR 3rd Squadron after a grueling 3 week selection course. Gaining his beret and the rank of Trooper, Jaiden rose to the rank of Sergeant and took part in many missions, mostly classified, some not, including an honor guard post of security at the 2000 Sydney Olympics during the first few years of his enlistment. He probably would still be in the military today if it wasnt for having to retire early due to an injury to his right knee during a training exercise that left him with six meters of silver wire holding his right knee together.
After rehabilitation and walking with a slight limp that was lessened by a sometimes-used cane, Jaiden took a break and, for some reason, thought that becoming a freelance reporter for the Australian news agency would be a relaxing idea. For those not aware, a freelance reporter specializes in going to places considered extremely unsafe and taking pictures or telling stories that arent being told to the rest of the world, but should be. Places like Darfur, Somalia, Burma, Sarajevo; stories that are normally passed over in the normal news cycle because there just isnt anyone on the ground to tell it. He gained a bit of notoriety and a death sentence in absentia from the North Korean government by taking photos just inside North Korean border just south of the China, highlighting human rights abuses and the absolute poverty the populace lived in. He was also nominated for an award for his story of a Protestant and Catholic neighborhood living in harmony in the middle of Ireland during the height of the Troubles. This doesnt mean that his only contributions to the world were images of tragedy. His photographs of the 2004 24 Hours of LeMans graced the cover of a few sport magazines and was used in Audis advertising material for the new R8, and a small walkabout in the wilds of Australia brought new interest in the wildlife and people that was relatively unknown outside of the borders. It was during this last trip that there was a falling out with his family. This caused Jaiden to start looking for a place to put down new roots and, thinking back to his travels and, despite the fact that every business dinner was at Outback Steakhouse and Fosters was considered a good beer, he enjoyed his time in the United states. A few documents were shared and he started on the road to citizenship in the United States. This was an afterthought when the bomb went off. Jaiden was doing a retrospective of the Fuji speedway in Japan, and as soon as the story exploded over the airwaves, Jaiden booked a flight to the US. Its where one more story was.
Somehow, he found a flight (first class, Quantas). Landing in Los Angeles, Jaiden found a battered Mustang for sale that he could keep running with the tools on his belt, put four new tires on it, and made a beeline for New York, only stopping to sleep in roadside parks off the beaten path and send story updates to the Australian papers using his laptop and mobile phone. At one point he did have to stop in Amarillo, Texas when his right head gasket decided to blow, but thanks to some tinkering and a lucky tube of JB weld he had tucked in his pouch, he somehow managed to patch it well enough to get to an auto parts store and repair the car, which, according to the guy behind the counter, should have been basically impossible, since driving for so many miles with a blown head gasket would normally have totally wrecked the engine.
On his arrival in New York State, Jaiden found that getting into the city was a near impossibility. He had cash, credit, and a few trusted contacts in the US military, but nothing he could do would allow him to get anywhere near the blast site to take pictures and get stories so, like any good reporter, he found a place to situate himself, started listening and watching and sending the stories to his agent until he could get into the city. The photos he sent back the ones that werent considered too graphic for publication, at least were of jammed highways out of New York, radiation symbols outside of churches and schools, a man selling gas masks on the side of a packed road, and one very ornate shot of the Statue of Liberty with the devastated skyline of New York in the background, strangely pristine, taken from a bobbing kayak almost a mile offshore from New Jersey costal waters with a massive telephoto lens. This did get him a visit from a patrolling Coast Guard ship and required a lot of talking and even faster paddling to get out of the bay without being interviewed in a more confining space. These photos that he sent back were accepted readily and were run on the front page of several papers. His story of travelling across a nation hit with an enormous nuclear explosion in the heart of one of the largest cities in the world was the biggest story of his career. Considering there was no-where to go but down after this story, Jaiden resigned his position as freelance reporter and stayed in the US on his visa, living on his military pension and considerable savings for a while before starting up a small auto-repair business on the outskirts of New York City. This was not to earn money rather to maintain his savings and give him something to keep busy with.
And then, a scant few months later, superpowers were confirmed to be real.
Even if you didnt have TV, like Jaiden, word gets to you. Newspapers, magazines and even conversations on the street all were focused on the newly revealed evolved humans. And when the beatings started of those who came forward as evolved the terrorizing of innocent people becoming commonplace due to no fault of their own, Jaiden couldnt remain uninvolved. The basement of his auto shop, long neglected, was slowly turned into a makeshift shelter, with a generator, a few solar panels on the roof, a shower, and a half-dozen cots for people to sleep on, hidden from the world until things grew quieter and it was safer to move around. He worked autonomously, never looking for outside assistance, even though his work would fit perfectly in with the Ferrymen. They would probably be interested to see how he got along, or they might know about him already.
Jaiden knew he was evolved he had for several years when his knack with machinery turned out to be something more than luck and intuition, and the persecution of people for no other reason than fear turned his stomach. The kind of behavior being exhibited was the kind of behavior Jaiden saw many times in third-world countries instead of witches or curses being the cause of societys ills, it was the evolved. When the Linderman Act was announced, he remained hidden. The few that he was able to never knew his name or even where his shop was only that it was a basement and they came and went under cover of night. PARIAH was viewed, at least by Jaiden, as a misunderstood organization that was reacting as a persecuted people often did with violence. If there was one thing he learned in his time as a soldier and as a reporter, was that violence caused more violence, and the attacks and violence would only lead to more.
Jaiden mainly kept his head down as the time passed. When pressed for his opinion, he simply gave a polite answer that really didnt establish his beliefs one way or the other. He followed the rule that the Marines in the US had taught him so many years ago: Be polite and professional. The murders in New York were a blip on his radar the old news hound wanting to get out and sniff, but simple homebody Jaiden thought nothing of it and remained safe and silent, fixing cars and helping those who needed help.
In the community he called home, Dobbs Ferry, he was known as a kind, generous man. If someone needed a job to get off their feet, hed employ them for a few weeks until theyd earned enough to get where they needed to go. If someone was hungry, hed feed them without thought of repayment. Lessons learned through years of experience had him becoming known as a good guy in the community, and that made observation and listening that much easier.
When the Narrows fell and the power plants went up in smoke, Jaidens garage became an essential center of life in Dobbs Ferry. The solar panels and generator allowed a couple of refrigerators to be run, and the underground basement, long hidden, was opened for anyone who needed shelter, explained away as Jaidens apartment. No one really cared why such a thing was in the basement of an auto repair shop, but the fact that it was there made life a little more comfortable for the neighbors until the power was restored. And instead of closing it up again and making it a secret, he moved in and stocked it, fully, with food and blankets and things needed in an emergency, like guns and ammunition, because, with horrors, they often come in groups. His shop during the Great Storm became a tiny cell of warmth and light in the middle of a sea of darkness and snow, the windows and roof covered by hay bales to keep in the heat, the natural gas generator chugging along to provide light while the gas heater kept life almost tolerable within the stained walls. Those who needed help were helped. Jaidens good guy reputation was cemented when the ice began to thaw.
Now? With frozen corpses being pulled from snow drifts, a serial killer, and H5N10 starting to make its way around the state, Jaiden remains steadfast and ready for what is to come. After all, the marines taught him to be polite, to be professional, and to have a plan.
Jaiden is a military man who has kind of worn down around the edges, if that makes sense. He can be very businesslike when necessary, but can let his hair down and have fun in the right crowd. He is quiet and contemplative, thinking before he speaks, often toying with a tool or a bit of metal to keep his hands busy while he formulates the right things to say. People are often given a wide berth and are held at arm's length until it is known that they can be trusted with any form of loyalty and then, once that happens, Jaiden can be a good friend. He has an eye for beauty and composition and finds it in the strangest places. Even during the great storm, the pattern of frost on the windows, or the way that breath curled from the nose of sleeping children in his garage was enough for a photograph or two and a smile. In another life he could have been a painter or a sculptor.
The Evolved don't worry Jaiden much - he is one, after all - but those who want him to register his fairly minor power once it's known and if he allows them to know are politely and quickly shuffled off to the perimeter of his social circle before all contact is cut off completely. Registration with the government is the same as the tattoo given to Jews by the Nazi regime - a mark that makes it easier to find them, and as the prisons are built and destroyed and as laws tighten their noose tighter, Jaiden may burst forth and put his training to good use.
Jaiden’s evolved ability is Hydrokinesis, or the ability to manipulate and control motions of atoms in their liquid state on a molecular level. In the simplest terms, Jaiden uses the inherent properties of water to manipulate the large concentrations of water molecules in ways that allow him to do many interesting things. This power would break down into three subsets – Kinetic Use, Surface Tension, and Other.
Kinetic Use allows Jaiden to draw enough moisture from the air or nearby sources of water to generate spheres, columns, streams or barriers of water. The size and density of these columns, streams, and barriers, as well as the number of streams that can be generated or the relative height and thickness of a barrier, column, or stream, are all directly related to the amount of moisture available. For example, if the water is drawn from very dry air, barriers will impossible to make or negligible at best – perhaps a cup or two of water with a little effort. If the water is drawn from the ocean or heavy rainstorm, larger, denser barriers and more powerful columns, barriers or streams can be formed. The most powerful of these barriers are drawn from standing water sources – oceans, lakes, and ponds, and could hinder the forward progress of a slow-moving car or block small arms fire. The force of the average stream that could be created with readily found water sources – puddles, faucets, bottled water and the like - would be comparable to a small-diameter fire hose on full blast, and average thickness of a barrier would be 10cm thick and approximately 3m square. Use of any barrier, stream or column would require line-of-sight to the target, so no shooting around corners unless Jaiden knows the person is there, and barriers must be concentrated on to be maintained or frozen in place. As soon as concentration lapses, the barrier falls with a splash.
Surface Tension control allows Jaiden, with sufficient concentration, to pull water molecules closer together to allow the surface of a body of water to support his weight and do a very good imitation of Jesus. This will allow him to slowly walk across a lake or stream. He can bring one other people ‘walking’ with him, but that requires a great deal of concentration and leaves him pretty much defenseless while doing so. This also allows the creation of ‘bubbles’ of air by modifying the surface tension around his head and trapping the oxygen there, allowing underwater breathing and slow movements beneath the surface with a weight belt to prevent floating away. This can be done for up to one other target but, like the walking, requires a lot of concentration.
Other is anything that does not fall into the above three categories: Specifically, Jaiden’s inherent ability to find water and the ability to pull water out of solutions. Jaiden’s power gives him a good idea of where water is and how he can get to it. Large concentrations of water can be detected if within 25 meters or so, and can be affected. Of course, the closer he is to the water, the more control he can exert. For example, if Jaiden is in the supermarket and needs a source of water to control, he can cause the bottled water in aisle four to burst free of it’s container under his command, the leaking sewer lines, the sink in the kitchen, the toilets, etc. Items must be easily broken or have a leak that can be exploited. This power also allows Jaiden to pull water out of weak solutions purify water by removing the substance he controls from the more toxic substances it’s in solution with, usually by ‘floating’ it from one container to the other, leaving the bad stuff in one, the good stuff in the other. Given enough time Jaiden can pull more powerfully bonded water from substances – drying concrete, mud, clay, paint and the like, and given a lot of time, he can pull the water from a human being enough to kill. This would take hours and would not be pleasant for either person, but would end up with a desiccated husk and an exhausted Jaiden.
Be Polite, be Professional, and Always have a Plan.