Merlyn Hitchens

Gateway Resident Database: Non-Expressive

File #09 Jan 2023 21:00

Summary

Name Merlyn Hitchens Aliases Status Registered Non-Expressive (Augmented) Gender Female Birthdate June 12th, 1994 Age 57 Height 5'4" Build Petite Eyes Green Hair Silver Residence Gateway Arcology, Sector 3-12 Employment Executive/Personal Assistant to the Executive of Human Resources Parents Katie King (mother; deceased) Unknown Father Siblings None Marital Status Widowed (Elliot Hitchens; deceased) Children Ames Abel Burgess-Tracy (Sort of) First Scene Last Scene Profile The Executive/Personal Assistance to the Director of Human Resources, Merlyn uses her charm, wit, and cunning to fit in like a chameleon in all sorts of social circles. She's very good at her job, using a silver tongue to make connections to all kinds of people… and set them up with what they need. She also raised Ames Abel Burgess-Tracy upon the death of her parents.

portrayed by Florence Pugh

Background

Invited to the arcology thanks to her connection with her husband Elliot Hitchens, Merlyn made it safely inside and got to be present with all of the chaos that ensued afterwards. That connection gave her a tiny bit of a leg up getting started and also allowed her to gain custody of his biological child when Wright never made it into the arcology. As soon as gears started moving she realized quickly that she had to get into the game as soon as possible. If it were just her, it'd be much easier to travel in any and every circle, but she wanted to make sure that Ames had somewhere safe. She made sure that Ames was also aware of how to keep herself safe if she went out. Tactics to get out of trouble, how to sneak and hide, anything she thought could make sure it'd give Ames a leg up if something happened to her.

If she wanted to secure a place for herself it meant a lot of talking, a lot of listening, and a lot of secrets. With her experience growing up on the streets when she was younger, she was able to adapt to how things were within the Gateway. She hovered on the edges of middle and lower levels, but mostly her rise came with secrets. She didn't usually get her hands dirty, especially given Ames, but she knew who did. She knew who could get jobs done, she knew who wanted jobs done, and she connected things.

Merlyn stayed well away from the direct spotlight and violence herself, preferring instead to take advantage of situations by knowledge, cleverness, and networking. With her connections, she could see who were the rising stars from the lower levels moving to the upper ones, and she cast her lot in as someone organized, informed, and a fixer of problems. She had a network of her own. This led to a very delicate balance between trouble and parenting a wild child she never even expected, but also allowing her to learn from her experience. She never hid what she did from Ames, but she cautioned her at almost every opportunity how easily people (especially those in power) could screw someone over. As soon as Ames was independent enough, Merlyn made sure she was able to go off on her own with the option of always being able to come to her if she needed anything.

First and foremost, she wanted safety, something she never felt like she had in life before. Merlyn made that happen by █████ ███████ ██ █████ ████████ ██████ ████. By █████ ███████ ██ █████████ ████████ and ███████ but also the █████ █████, she didn't have to be ████████ ██ ███ █████████ but she could manage things. When ████████████████████ became Executive of Human Resources, she was right there at ███ ████ to be a █████ █████ █████ ██ ████████ ██████ ████ included.

Psych Profile

Where once Merlyn sought out slim moments of light in the dark world, now she does her best to look for the good in the grey. She's a chameleon in her surroundings, blending socially depending on the circle of people she's with. Slipping from charming and elegant to down-to-earth honest, she's particularly hard to get a read on. Charming, cunning, manipulative, she seeks to play the game to her advantage and see to her own survival, and the survival of the few she cares about (such as Ames) or ties herself to (███████████████). Her loyalties are strong, and she makes that a very well-known fact to those she deals with. Merlyn also tries to never personally get her hands dirty, preferring to stay the brains and organizer of things rather than the messy work herself, though she's capable of it. She carefully curates her vulnerabilities to appear as more strengths than weaknesses. Ames and ███████████████ are really the only people who have seen her fairly unguarded. She still swears like a sailor, but it entirely depends on the people she's around. She may have learned to rein it in a bit.

Augmentations

• Occular HUD
• Occular Motion Detectors
• Cranial Communications Implant
• Audio Filtration and Amplification Implant (isolates particular voices or sounds and enhances them for her own hearing)

Appendices