Amato Salucci
Amato
Portrayed By Paul Bettany
Sex Male
Status Registered Evolved
Ability Psychometry
Age 45
Date of Birth December 18, 1973
Date of Death N/A
Occupation Psychiatric Patient, former beekeeper/handyman
Family Viola Salucci (mother, status unknown), Giacomo Salucci (father, status unknown)
Significant Other(s) N/A
Time Served 5 years of a Life Sentence
Themesong "Miserere" by Allegri

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.

from T.S. Eilot's "The Waste Land" lines 1-11



Character History:

2009

"I cannot pay for his sins, but I can pay for mine."

The disappearance of Lucrezia Bennatti from the Ritz Carlton on March 9, 2009 has Amato on the run again. Having made contact with Eileen, he is taken in by the Ferrymen while Teo uses his resources to locate his aunt. In the meantime, Amato pays off his debt to the Evolved population the Ferrymen represent by volunteering at St. John's soup kitchen. After a few months, Amato gathers up enough money to move out on his own.

-2012

Amato lives in Staten Island, working odd jobs at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in order to pay the rent on a small house. He has adopted the alias Benjamin Sacredo (both in homage to Lucrezia and because he has gotten use to the name Benjamin). Out of curiosity and nostalgia, and encouraged by some of the parishioners, Amato takes up beekeeping. He sells the collected honey to parishioners at Our Lady of Good Counsel.

Amato's existence isn't exactly unknown in Staten. Even with his alias, he keeps in contact (if irregularly) with Eileen, operating in the "older relative" capacity once more, though he retains a respective distance believing that she wouldn't want to be reminded of their shared past. All romantic feelings for Eileen fade as he watches from afar, and are replaced by a parental or pastoral pride. Given that Eileen is more or less mum in regards to her government work in exchange for amnesty, Amato is assured that he is safe from being turned in as one of Eileen's "quota.”

2013

"The wages of sin is death, but the truth shall always set one free."

Despite the fact that Eileen has been quiet in regards to Amato's location, he is among one of the first people apprehended by a government task force hunting for former members of the Vanguard, which is easy for them given Amato's relatively stable state in Staten Island over the last four years and his contact with Eileen. Somebody always knows, and somebody always talks. Amato's capture does not go very smoothly, ending up with the Italian knocked out and brought in rather than calmly escorted. During his interrogation and evaluation, Amato is "encouraged" by threats to reveal his full involvement with Kazimir Volken and the Vanguard, though he does not mention Lucrezia, believing her to be already arrested or perhaps murdered. Being that Amato has not existed on paper (and does not exist in any DNA database) for many years, his trial is glossed over at best, though due to his remorseful attitude, he avoids a death sentence.

2014

"Monks swore oaths of poverty and lived in communal dwellings to better serve God. How is this place any different?"

After an incident at the prison involving Amato using his abilities on an inmate in the appeals process and allegedly driving that inmate to commit suicide, Amato is even more dark and somber than he had been when he arrived. A psychological evaluation is called for. The evaluation is slow, given Amato's reluctance to speak with anyone about his past, but it soon comes out. Amato is diagnosed with severe depression as well as paranoid personality Disorder, and is noted as showing symptoms of borderline personality disorder.

2015

"I am not unbalanced. I am simply removed from the general shared psyche of the rest of the human population."

After going through a lot of red tape, stamps, and forms, Amato is transferred to the psychiactric ward of St. Luke's Hospital, where he is set to serve the remainder of his life sentence. He is described as quiet, polite, and complacent by the nursing staff, but the doctor assigned to his case worries about his tendency to sit by himself rather then interact with other patient-inmates.

2016-2019

"I miss the bees."

Amato remains in the St. Luke psychiatric ward, and despite his time served there, does not mingle with the other "chronics" in the facility for life. He is regarded as an "old man" on the ward, despite being only 45 (46 in December). Unable to shave as close as he wishes in accordance with the ward's policy, Amato has acquired a reddish blond stubble and a general unkempt and tired appearance. His clothes, by contrast and despite being the hospital-issue pajamas, are as tidy as ever. Amato is visited by both Eileen Ruskin and Abby Beauchamp on a semi-regular basis, and while he enjoys philosophical conversations with the latter, he has yet to let her heal his right hand.


Evolved Human Ability:

Unlike in the past, Amato is in full control of his psychometry, and there are no mental-block type limits on it. He can pinpoint a specific event, but blinding plunging in without an event or expectation in mind can result in headaches and fatigue. His ability is still confined in that he can only "read" human tissue/cells. By touching anyone or any part of a person (hair, skin, sweat, blood, etc.) to his skin, Amato can see that person's past. The scenes play out quickly as though through the owner’s eyes, as if Amato were standing inside the person’s head looking out them like windows. Amato must close his own eyes, or the images combined with reality are too overwhelming.


Timeline

Pre-April 2019
Date Title Participants Summary
April 2019
Date Title Participants Summary

Scrapbook

Front page of the May 3, 2013 Issue of The New York Times

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