Registry of the Evolved Database
File #29 Apr 2011 05:10
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 Goran Visnjic |
The Beginning
It was a cold day in September, 1975, that brought Luka, patronym Ulyanov, into the world. In the midst of Brezhnev's reign, the Soviet Union was stagnating in an already failing system. Down at the bottom of the barrel sat the Ulyanov family: poor as dirt and struggling to get by. For a poor family with two children already — both girls, Katya and Sofia — a third child was not exactly ideal. But Luka was there, and the Ulyanovs were never short on love or duty.
As Luka grew up, the Ulyanovs recruited him early to help his father with the carpentry business. More hands meant faster work, which meant, hopefully, more money to live on. They had little, and all of the childrens' toys were handmade — not that they minded. Luka, especially, didn't care: he cared more about books. Their neighborhood was a tight-knit one, with everyone helping everyone else. Among the things they shared was books, and Luka read as many as he could get his hands on, when he wasn't dutifully going to school, helping his father, or looking after his sisters.
Tragedy Strikes
When the CCCP fell, he was 17, and conditions only worsened from there. Katya was struck by an illness they couldn't afford to treat, and his father, old and wizened, fell to it as well. Despite all the care the neighborhood was able to muster, they both passed away within days of each other.
Luka was stung with heartbreak, but he never showed it. He simply stoically went on providing. He took over the business and built tables and cabinets to earn money to take care of Sofia and his mother. But his mother, significantly worse off for the loss, stopped caring for herself, in the interest of keeping her remaining children alive. Pining and heartbroken, she lasted six months before she, too, died in her sleep, leaving Luka as the sole provider for poor Sofia.
Still, he toiled away and worked late and often to make sure they could eat well enough, and as the years got on, it got easier to provide. He still read avidly in what little off time he had, and kept up with his studies and explored what he could. Though he didn't always understand what he read, he found it fascinating and would doggedly reread it until it made some sense to him.
But Then!
All of this eventually paid off, as a man commissioned him for a set of tables for his wife. So impressed was he by Luka's handiwork, and then by the calm, hard-working, well-read demeanor the young man displayed, that he offered Luka a job as his assistant in the government. Though Luka wasn't thrilled about giving up on the family business, he had to a sister to provide for, and this new job's wages were far better. So he accepted.
As the early aughts marched on, Luka's situation became much more comfortable. He was able to care for his sister and himself with plenty left over for savings and to spread around the neighborhood. He was a paper-pusher, mostly filing and making sure paperwork was in order, scheduling, and filing some more. Even better, he had more time to read now, because he was so diligent at his job.
Bliss
And one day, when he was sitting at his desk eating lunch and reading his book, a beautiful woman walked by. She was tall, blonde, and didn't look like she took crap from anybody. She flashed a smile at him, and he stared, and an answering smile creeped up on his face. Sometime later, he felt he was blushing.
Though his crush on Lana Andrevna was by no means his first crush, it was the first time he felt he had the luxury to pursue it. It was also the first time he couldn't get the woman off his mind. For a week, he was so distracted he was forgetting his duties. He kept sneaking off to find her. He learned everything he could about her, from her name to her favorite color to her favorite books.
And at last, finally, he talked to her. He was quiet, and awkward, and oh god did he just stutter? But it made her smile a little brighter, which in turn made him smile.
A year and a half later, they were married.
The Bomb
But alas, even the silver lining still hides a dark cloud. In 2006, only a year after they'd been married, the bomb went off in New York. They were stunned. Staring at the television over coffee at work, they watched the aftermath of the devastation. To see New York City so decimated… it was a shock.
But life went on, in Russia. Sofia had married away and it was just them. They had their own flat near to work, they were working on a family, they were putting away for savings…
But then, it was early 2007 in no time, and the announcement came of Evolved. Luka plain didn't believe it at first. In fact, he just plain didn't believe it for a while. Not until Lana convinced him it wasn't a hoax.
Evolved Problems
Though most people were terrified of the revelation, Luka and Lana were more personal with the matter. The announcement explained things about one of their coworkers. Soon, one of the children in their neighborhood manifested with super-speed. As the years went on between 2007 and 2011, they gained hands-on experience and they landed squarely on the side of the Evolved.
It was Lana's idea, though, to get involved. She stood up for the Evolved by advocating for them where she could. She became one of the most vocal parties for their rights. Luka, far less vocal just by nature, still looked on with reverence for his wife's courage and moral mettle. Every day, he loved her more, and he supported her in every way he could.
Misinformed Justice
As 2011 rolled around, though, Lana's Evolved advocacy finally hit its end. On the night of April 28th, 2011, a small group of anti-Evolved people used her as an example: someone who stood up for the Evolved without the threat of actually having powers? Perfect target. They beat her in the street, and then murdered her outright in their enthusiasm.
Poor Luka.
He waited all night for her to come home. When the call finally came, his heart just shattered. It was one thing when his parents died. It was another when his sister died. This? This was just too much. The proverbial straw broke his proverbial back, and even though he denied it, the truth finally sunk in. And with it, so did his power.
Going Out with a Bang
With a cry of upset, as his soul felt like it was tearing itself apart, he suddenly felt himself flash into nothing. No, not quite nothing — thousands of tiny, miniscule somethings. And zip, into the phone he went.
Only to spill out into a foreign place. His panic and adrenaline and heartbreak was enough to suck him back into the line, traveling even further afield. And further, and further, until exhausted and sick, he spilled out in New York into some hapless person's bedroom, fighting the shock creeping over his body as he tried to make sense of the broken life at his feet.
Luka is a down to earth, stoic kind of guy, one who tends to listen and observe rather than speak out. He's reserved, and tends to think things through before speaking or acting. He has a huge innate sense of responsibility and a drive towards a secure, peaceful life, so he tends to be highly motivated when it comes to completing tasks. When given a large amount of work, he will dutifully see it through to the conclusion, taking as much time as needed without a second thought. If the project doesn't make sense to him, he might grouse or argue, but ultimately, he'll do the work.
He's very loyal and dependable, as well as honest, and generally serious, though he's not lacking in sense of humor by any means. He's easily able to laugh at himself and at misfortunes, but what should be taken seriously, should be taken seriously.
While he's not a traditionalist, per se, he prefers to go with tried and true rather than explore new avenues. When an alternative is presented to him, however, and it seems like it would work better than the old way, he's not averse to trying new things.
Luka is a thinker. He explores his thoughts and the world the way one would stroll through the park. It's less about the destination, and more about the journey. He likes to examine how things work, and especially likes philosophy, though he really doesn't understand it very well. He reads lots of books and lots of texts on philosophy and existentialism, and even if he doesn't quite grasp it, he works at it diligently the same way he works at any other task.
He tends to be attentive to others, to make sure their needs are met before his own. He loves kids, and tends to act as a sort of a latent father figure. Still, he doesn't always grasp 'feelings' and he doesn't always understand how others work. He tends to assume everyone is working as hard and as diligently as he is, and then gets upset when that's not the case.
For his own feelings, he tends not to show the negative ones. He prefers to keep that to himself. When stressed out, he might start finally expressing, though, and just come out with a tumble of words that aren't thought through, and emote everything he's feeling. Basically, he'll lose his filter, if sufficiently stressed, and his natural pragmatic optimism will nosedive into pessimism. Still, it takes a lot to stress him out like that.
Finally, he's generally pretty good at taking things as they come. A new environment with a language he doesn't understand is confusing, but he can generally handle it with stoic — if befuddled — aplomb, until something goes terribly wrong.
Luka is able to convert his body into electrons and use wires as a conduit for travel. He can go from point A to point B, sometimes unintentionally; he can carry small things with him; and he can act as a brief, secondary power source for small devices in emergencies.
Greased Lightning: Luka can direct himself from point A to point B via electrical wires. He can hop wire to wire, though not mid-wire (as that's what insulation protects against). So long as he does this purposefully and with focus, he'll probably arrive at his destination okay. If his destination device is turned off, he will be trapped until it turns on.
However, this sometimes happens without his consent, as well, and he has all of five seconds to direct his trajectory in a general direction. He cannot turn around, and he cannot pinpoint where he'll end up, but if he's quick on his feet, he'll be able to land within ten miles of the destination he was aiming for (further afield, if wires are sparse).
It is worth noting that while he's traveling, relative time is slower. While it's still fast, it's just his trip might take five seconds to him as opposed to instantaneously/speed of light.
Travel Restrictions: He can travel anywhere in the world with this (anywhere with wires connected to where he is, anyways), but it takes some effort to get out of a hundred-mile radius. This could either be conscious ("Let's go to China!" or subconscious effort (as in, "I am so stressed out, I just want to LEAVE!"). Anything further afield than country-hopping is going to take multiple hops, and each hop is going to count towards his daily limit. There have to be wires (like the transatlantic wires under the ocean!) to get around.
Traveling only twice a day or within 100 miles, he'll be perfectly fine. If he travels more often than twice a day or further than 500 miles away, he'll wear himself out and it'll be harder to direct his path. Any more than five times a day, or 2000 miles away, and he'll start arriving with nosebleeds, and need to ake a full night's rest before trying again. His body is simply too tired to take it. For example, getting from Russia to the United States is going to take several hops, and the effort will leave him physically ill for several days: dizzy, light-headed, weak, and possibly delirious.
In addition, his clothes will singe a little (or smoke a little), and anything metal he's wearing will heat up and burn when he emerges.
A Magnetic Personality: Luka can carry very small things with him, like a pack of cigarettes or whatever one would find in one's pockets. Anything electrical in his pockets will be fried, and anything metal will come out hot. If he's holding onto anyone else when he goes device hopping, they'll get zapped when he becomes electrical energy.
Danger! Danger! Luka can get trapped within devices if there is no power source connected while he's in them. He'll stay inside until power is returned to the device, provided he has a wire out. While in the device he is merely energy, unable to communicate or understand communication in any way. He can vaguely comprehend time passing, but won't have an accurate idea of how much time. Just that time has passed. (i.e. He won't think he just jumped into the device and out instantaneously. He'd know time had passed and wonder if it had been minutes, or hours, or years.) He cannot turn on a device to get out of it, because he can't maintain it being on while he's getting out.
Emergencies Only! In the same way, Luka can enter into a device, and power it with his own life force. It must be a simple, small device (a radio, a cell phone, an iPod, for example). The more complex it is, the more life force he'll have to give to run it. He can power an old clamshell cell phone, for example, for ten minutes before he passes out. A new iPhone 4, though, maybe only five. Simple radios are the easiest, and he can power that for thirty minutes before he's out. It will take him a full six hours of rest before he'll wake up again. He can only manage this twice per day.
Appendices
I have decided that this will be Luka in New York City.
Soundtrack
Opening Credits The Complete History of Soviet Russia Through the Eyes of a Humble Worker, Arranged to the Theme of Tetris
Growing Up
Love Theme
Breaking Up
Fight and/or Power Song
Identity Crisis/Mental Breakdown
Life is Good
Regrets
Epiphany
Chase Scene
Final Battle
Death Scene
End Credits
Pictures
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