Sal Silvatti (aka Sonny Bianco)

Registry of the Evolved Database

File #03 Dec 2008 00:35

Summary

Name Salvatore Bianco Aliases Sal Silvatti, Connor Kinney, Reg Cooper Status Registered Evolved (Tier 1) Ability Physiological Manipulation Gender Male Race/Eth. Italian Birthdate November 29, 1979 Age 29 Height 6' Build Average Eyes Blue Hair Black Residence Solstice Condominiums Employment The Bianco Clinic Parents Harry Bianco (father, mayor of NY) Melinda Bianco (mother, biochemist) Siblings None Marital Status Single Children First Seen Arts and Crafty Last Seen Imagine All The People Profile Sal Silvatti's real name is Dr. Sonny Bianco, son of the mayor of New York and Evolved cosmetic surgeon. In recent months, he had spoken up and called for peace between Evolved and non-Evolved. It provoked an attack on his mother and made him a target. On the night of October 6th, 2009, Sonny Bianco was gunned down by Humanis First

portrayed by Adrian Grenier (Sonny)/Wes Bentley (Sal)

Background

On the surface, Dr. Salvatore 'Sonny' Bianco seems to be a superficial man intent on maintaining the status quo, but the truth is more complicated than that.
Sonny never wanted to become a cosmetic surgeon - he wanted to be a healer. But fate handed him a skill that was far too useful to be ignored. He was only 16 when his power manifested. He discovered he had the ability to re-shape the physiology of human beings. His mother, a biochemist, was quick to recognize what he could do, though she was still not aware of the why. It was his father, at that time a city counsellor who was being groomed for larger things, who used his connections to 'diagnose' his son.
For years, and as Sonny grew, his parents kept his Evolved status a secret. As he aged, he set his sights on medical school. His parents were happy and supported his ambitions. He fared well in pre-med, though he never seemed to excel in any one area. As he moved on to med school and his classmates were singled out as talented surgeons, pathologists or even family doctors, Sonny showed no particular strength. That is, until he started to utilize his ability. It was very subtle at first, but soon he was being dubbed the 'scarless surgeon.' It was through his work that he began to learn the limits and strengths of his odd ability. His residency proved to be very successful as he claimed a niche. Sonny grew to like the praise and accolades he would get from performing surgery with minimal to no scars. Although his original ambition was to heal, he was drawn to cosmetic surgery because it seemed the natural use for his Evolved ability.

By the time Sonny finished medical school, his father had run and been elected Mayor of New York City. His family now moved in the highest social circles. The Biancos went from a minor New York family to the upper crust overnight. Between that and his hiring on with a very prestigious cosmetic surgery clinic, life was good.
The aftermath of the bomb was a very tense time for the Bianco family. His father Harry managed to handle himself well given the circumstances, but he was under tremendous political pressure. When Registration came about, Harry managed to convice Sonny to come forward as an Evolved. He was terrified of what it would do to his career, but to have it come out after the fact would be devastating for his father's political career. He firmly believed that his father was both a good man and a firm leader - both things the city needed in this time of crisis.
Much to Sonny's surprise, the idea of cosmetic surgery with no knife, no scars and no healing time completely outweighed any anxiety the majority of clients had about having an Evolved doctor. His business boomed. It got to the point where he was forced to raise his prices astronomically high just to reduce the number of patients so he wouldn't burn himself out. Despite this, he found time and energy for charity. On his father's suggestion, and to show goodwill, he took on several patients who had been scarred or disfigured in the explosion and worked on them free of charge.

That was the doorway in to work that could undermine his father's career. He met a young woman who called herself 'Feather' who convinced him that other Evolved needed him. Although wary at first, the man who had once urged to heal had become jaded by the superficial world of cosmetic surgery. Rich women were obsessed with the size of their breasts as whole families lived in one tiny trailer. It was reprehensible. Which, given the fact that he himself lived in an expensive condo post-bomb, was rather a hypocritical thought.
That was how Dr. Bianco came to be involved with the Ferrymen. At first, he served as a healer for those in need who couldn't afford a doctor. As time went on, he changed the identities of a few to help them escape persecution. It was forever a balancing act. He still supported his father, but felt the man was pressured too much to come down harder on the Evolved than he needed to. Sonny is a moral man, but one who is not quite willing to give up the comforts of his own life, or to sacrifice his father's career in the name of what's right. He will only help to a certain extent and may, at some point, draw back entirely.

Psych Profile

Evolved Ability

Physiological Manipulation

Sonny's ability has been over a decade in use, and quite intensively in the past five years or so. His is an ability that requires a great deal of practice and skill to wield with any success. It helps too, that Sonny is extremely versed in anatomy.
In the simplest terms, he has the ability to reshape the appearance of the human body. It is not difficult given his knowledge of anatomy and years of experience for him to change eye colour, facial features or even the skintone of a target. It is more difficult, but still possible for him to alter someones' figure. He can even go so far as changing height and bone structure, though this requires considerable effort and carries a risk of deformity or injury for the subject being changed.
Sonny can also work this ability on himself, with more ease and less danger. In this way, he is a sort of limited metamorph, but the difference being that when he changes himself, he is physically changed. He must expend the same amount of effort changing back into himself as he does changing into someone else. Altering a few of his features would take a few minutes of concentration. The difficulty goes up exponentially from there. It is also more difficult to change himself (or someone else) into a duplicate of someone than it is to just make them look like a different person. Though, given the fact that he's worked off cosmetic surgery patient's exact instructions, this can be done. Technically, he'd have the ability to change finger prints and retina scans too, though he's never tried it. DNA however, would remain unchanged.
Another aspect of this power is the ability to move the position of an injury. Sonny can't strictly heal people, but what he can do is move say, a hole in a lung to a superficial, and non-critical injury to the skin. His ability to move injuries and make them non-critical decreases greatly the more injuries there are. There very quickly comes a point when no matter which way he configures the wounds, the person is still going to be in jeopardy. He can also act on injuries to make them appear as if they were caused by another source. A gunshot wound could be made to appear as a stab wound, for instance.
His ability still functions on the recently deceased. Until a corpse has been cold for 48 hours, he can make the body appear as a different person (handy for faking deaths) or change the nature of injuries to reflect a different cause of death.

Sonny can accidentally disfigure, but he can also disfigure as a way of protecting himself. As he is a doctor who is pledged to do no harm, this would only be used in extreme circumstances. He can, with physical contact, shove things out of whack to the point where the skin around the eyes could swell and deform enough to harm sight, or limbs could become misshapen. This is more a reactionary thing than a conscious attack and the nature of the deformity would be mostly random and more a distraction than cause physical pain. The deformities however, would be permanent unless corrected by surgery or by Sonny himself.

Like many abilities, this can be overused. In most cases if he overdoes it, he starts to make mistakes and may end up (at least temporarily) disfiguring himself or his target. If he were to attempt a radical change such as changing gender, he would suffer from nausea, dizziness and other flu-like symptoms and find it very difficult to work any of his abilities for at least a day or so.

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Second Manifestation

The above description of Sonny's power remains the publically known one. Lately though, his ability has manifested in a different way.

He can touch someone, concentrate for about 30 seconds and capture a 'template' of their appearance. This template can be held in his mind for up to twelve hours (or if knocked unconscious) and can be used to very quickly give the appearance to someone else or to take it on himself. The downside of this is he has one hell of a headache when he's holding the 'image' in his head. He can't make use of his ability while he's got the 'template' in mind either. Likewise, he's impaired while holding the image the same way someone with a low level migraine would be. This new manifestation makes it easier for him to switch a subject back to themselves (though not instant) as he has developed the ability to 'see' the real person through the changes he made.
A person duplicated in this way is far more precise than one he created from scratch, with all the right scars, imperfections and tiny variations therein. It also transfers voice and identifying marks like fingerprints or tattoos. However, DNA remains unchanged, so the true identity could still be discerned by blood tests.
The other benefit is, he's now able to set a 'template' of himself, that he can switch back to easily rather than having to re-craft his own face every time. This makes it easier for Sonny to make use of alter egos.

Appendices

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Timeline:

List of logs. Badly in need of updating.

Dec 3rd: Arts and Crafty
Dec 5th: Just a Little Nip - Sonny gets a visit from Minea who enlists his services on something super sekrit. A Night at the Orchid Sonny meets Lysette
Dec 7th: Not One of Us, Not One of Them - Sonny goes to help Elvis with some gravel embedded in her back. They get along fine until the truth of Sonny's privileged position comes out.
Same Day - Sonny is contracted by Minea to re-make Felix into Dantes for his own protection. We Can Rebuild Him
Dec 8th: Check-up and Pie - Sonny goes to check in on his patient, Dantes aka Felix
Dec 11th: The Dinner Date - Sonny and Lysette get to know each other better over fancy food.
Dec 12th: In Search of a Wayward Fed - Sonny gets another visit from Minea who is searching for Felix.
Dec 13th: Alter Egos - Sonny meets Miles in one of his hosts and gets some fake ID for his new identity as Reg.
Dec 15th: Skinned - Sonny does his Ferrymen duty helping out a crash victim. He stabilizes the patient, then Abby works her healing magic.
Dec 27th: Sonny receives an anonymous call
Dec 29th: A Terminally Ill Party - Sonny meets Zachery at a pitifully bad doctors-only holiday party.
Dec 31st: The Bianco Bash - A New Year's Eve party courtesy of the Mayor. With all the fanfare and politeness one would expect.

Jan 1st: Scar Tissue - Sonny does his part for the Ferrymen and does his best to fix up Alex's scars.
Jan 2nd: The Corpse of Josie McCallum - Sonny goes to do a favor for a family friend - that is, making over the corpse of a young girl. There, he runs into Zachery again, and the coroner gets a front row demonstration of how his power works.
Jan 4th: The Scars are Merely Hidden - Sonny goes to work on some of Alexander's painful scars and ends up in the middle of what seems to be a romantic quarrel.
Later: Anything But Grace - Sonny ends up doing a favor for Sylar, thanks to Zachery. Gee, thanks Zachery.
Jan 6th: Gems of Wisdom from the Drunken Sage - After a day of muddling through his normal routine, Sonny blows off some steam in the form of a lot of alcohol. The events of other night and with the anonymous call still hanging over his head means the doc is a bit stressed. It leads to a pressure build-up that he hasn't felt in a long time. He runs in to Teo and for some reason gives him relationship advice.
Jan 8th: First, Do No Harm - Sonny takes Abby's stitches out. The two different types of healers talk medical morals.
Jan 10th: Teo calls to check on Sonny in Retched, the comes over to check on him in person in Chivalry is Dead

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Faces:

Reg Cooper

After the incident with Felix, Sonny decided that it was time to develop an alter ego of his own. The identity ended up being his primary 'mask' that he uses when moving about without being detected. He hasn't made an attempt to establish Reg as a separate person, and hasn't used this identity in some time. (Reg is played by Michael Trucco)

Dr. Connor Kinney

Dr. Kinney was the false identity that Sonny used for a time to work with Phoenix and the Ferrymen. The identity was rendered non-viable when Sonny was mugged while carrying Connor's ID. (Connor is played by Gale Harold)

Relationships:

Ferrymen/Phoenix

Teo - Their relationship was tumultuous, full of arguments, double-lives, insecurity and infidelity. Despite all that, there were moments of great tenderness, happiness and genuine affection that seemed to balance out all the problems they had. Recently, Teo was possessed by his time-traveling future self. Said self tricked him, disregarded him, delighted in leveling brutal criticism on him and went on a murderous rampage. Sonny can't reconcile the man he thought he loved with that future version. That has lead him to believe he never knew Teo at all, and the man he thought he loved was nothing more than a figment of his imagination and a product of his ability to see the best in Teo, and to ignore his darker impulses. As a result, he ended his relationship with Teo while he was still possessed by his future self. He regrets not being able to speak to the his version of Teo, but obsession over their relationship, agony at being helpless to fix things and a sense that their relationship was doomed anyway forced him to break it off for his own sanity. He has constantly felt in Leonard's shadow, because all of Teo's friends and Leo himself seemed to view him as only a temporary complication, a bump in the road to Leo and Teo getting together. The new merged personality of Teo is someone he can't bring himself to associate with. He is trying to make a break from him, to chart a new course in his life. He still has a lot of conflicted feelings for the charming Italian, and he fears continued association will bring up affection again. Affection that he can't see leading anywhere but to further hurt.

Leonard - Despite their competition for Teo's affection, Leo and Sonny managed to maintain a civil relationship. That is, until Leonard revealed things about future Teo that there was no reason to. Leo told him that he was in a relationship with Teo in the future, and that Ghost's reign of murder and destruction was triggered by grief over his death. Leo did this when Sal called him over to concede gracefully and to step out of the way. Leo's willingness to rub salt in an open wound has completely changed the doctor's opinion of the man. As a result, the only contact the two are likely to have is in the face of a medical emergency.

Abby - Despite their conflicting views on science and religion, Sonny and Abby have come to a mutual respect and understanding over the past few months. He's done what he can to help the former healer. He set her up with a psychiatrist and a publicist. Abby took the proverbial bullet once by pretending to be Sonny's girlfriend to deflect his father. The only hitch (besides the science and faith conflict) is that Abby is among the people who seems to believe Teo and Leo belong together.

Other

Cardinal - Recently, Sonny's found himself working with the thief. He's finding the missions with Cardinal to be a welcome distraction from his relationship issues. He feels useful, and feels as if the shadowman has some faith in him and his abilities. It's with Richard that he's begun to use his shapeshifting skills for infiltration and espionage. He doesn't entirely trust the man and hasn't yet told him his real identity. There is however, a growing trust that Sonny hopes is not misplaced.

Gillian - Although they don't know each other very well, there is a certain unspoken understanding that comes from being a part of a difficult relationship. Sal was the one who delivered Gillian the news that Brian is really her brother (through arranging a blood test) and has thus started out their association on a good foot. So far, Gillian hasn't actually met the real Sal, seeing as their previous encounters were over the phone. The one time so far they've met in person, Gillian's augmentation triggered a transformation, so she ended up speaking to him as a double of Gabriel. Awkward.

Gabriel - Their associations got off on an extremely poor foot. They met during Sylar's murderous stage. Gabe threatened to kill him if he didn't make over a corpse to hide its true identity. That soured the pot and made future interactions extremely difficult. He refused to believe that Gabriel was as reformed as Teo claimed he was. Despite this, he saved the man's life once (while he had augmentation, which caused Sonny to grab an imprint of the serial killer and to, inconveniently, make it easy to shift into a duplicate. Like that's useful) and made sure to warn him about Ghost. The warning backfired, since at the time Sonny didn't know it was Teo's future version doing the possessing. So he was indirectly responsible for Gabe's subsequent disembodiment. He doesn't hate Gabriel, but he's come to represent a lot of things Sonny doesn't like - about other people, and about himself.

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Memorable Quotes:

• "If you're asking me if I've ever changed myself, the answer is yes. But before you judge…imagine that you had the ability to erase everything you don't like about yourself with a thought. Wouldn't you do it?"
• "I might've gone over the recommended daily intake of shit that will fuck me up." on being drunk, in Gems of Wisdom from the Drunken Sage

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Gallery

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Trivia and Notes:

• Sonny's ability is supposed to be a little creepy, a bit macabre. His ability plays with the line between beauty and deformity. The person he alters has to go through a period of surreal sensations and deformity before coming out the other side. Although the alterations are an Evolved ability, there's still something surgical and scientific about it. The process is very much akin to cosmetic surgery, but with deformity in place of incisions and sutures and with a compressed time line. This balance between the beautiful and the ugly reflects a duality in Sonny himself. Read We Can Rebuild Him for descriptions of what the transformation feels and looks like.

Music:

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Sonny's themesong:
Grace, Too - The Tragically Hip

He said I'm fabulously rich...

Grace, Too - The Tragically Hip

He said I'm fabulously rich
C'mon just let's go
She kinda bit her lip
Geez, I don't know
But I can guarantee
There'll be no knock on the door
I'm a total pro
that's what I'm here for
I come from downtown
Born ready for you
Armed with will and determination
and grace, too

The secret rules of engagement
Are hard to endorse
When the appearance of conflict
Meets the appearance of force
But I can guarantee
There'll be no knock on the door
I'm a total pro
that's what I'm here for
I come from downtown
Born ready for you
Armed with skill and it's frustration
and grace, too

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Sonny to Teo:
A Life Less Ordinary - Carbon Leaf

You blew away my storm and strife and shook the bones of me...

A Life Less Ordinary - Carbon leaf

Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me
Live a life less sedentary
Live a life evolutionary with me
Well I hate to be a bother,
But it's you and there's no other, I do believe
You can call me naive but…
I know me very well (at least as far as I can tell)
And I know what I need

The night you came into my life
Well it took the bones of me, took the bones of me
You blew away my storm and strife
And shook the bones of me, shook the bones of me
By the way, I do know why you stayed away…
I will keep tongue-tied next time

Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me
My face had said too much
Before our hands could even touch
To greet a 'hello'
(So much for going slow…)
A little later on that year
I told you that I loved you dear
What do you know?
This you weren't prepared to hear
I'm a saddened man, I'm a broken boy
I'm a toddler with a complex toy
I've fallen apart, since the ambush of your heart

The night you came into my life
Well it took the bones of me, took the bones of me
You blew away my storm and strife
And shook the bones of me, shook the bones of me.
By the way, I do know why you stayed away
I will keep tongue-tied but…

Honey understand, honey understand
I won't make demands
Honey understand, honey understand
We could walk without a plan.
Honey understand (honey), honey understand
I won't rest in stone all alone
Honey understand, honey understand
I'm all ready to go
But you already know…

Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me.
If I could name you in this song
Would it make you smile and sing along?
This is the goal: to get into your soul
If I could make you dance for joy
Could that be the second-chance decoy?
The bird-in-hand I would need
To help you understand?

The night you came into my life
well it took the bones of me, took the bones of me
You blew away my storm and strife
And shook the bones of me, shook the bones of me
By the way, I do know why you stayed away
I will keep tongue-tied next time

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Sonny over the Ghost situation:
Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing - Chris Isaak

It hurts so bad when you finally know just how low, low, low, low, low he'll go.

Baby did a bad bad thing, baby did a bad bad thing.
Baby did a bad bad thing, baby did a bad bad thing.
You ever love someone so much you thought your little heart was gonna break in two?
I didn't think so.
You ever tried with all your heart and soul to get you lover back to you?
I wanna hope so.
You ever pray with all your heart and soul just to watch her walk away?
Baby did a bad bad thing, baby did a bad bad thing.
Baby did a bad bad thing, feel like crying, feel like crying.
You ever toss and turn your lying awake and thinking about the one you love?
I don't think so.
You ever close your eyes you making believe you're holding the one you're dreaming of?
Well if you say so.
It hurts so bad when you finally know just how low, low, low, low, low, she'll go.
Baby did a bad bad thing, baby did a bad bad thing.
Baby did a bad bad thing, feel like crying, feel like crying.
Ohh. Feel like crying, feel like crying.
Ohh, feel like crying, feel like crying.