Name: Nick "Regal" Dennis
Gender: Male
Age: 33
Lab Affiliation: 2
Personality: Dennis prefers to go by the nickname he received from his brother, "Regal." It describes his very uptight, polite, and generally dignified manner. He always stands straight, moves his body in tight formation, and keeps a dignified posture. His laughter is almost always restricted to chuckles, and his fear is always immediately transformed into a determination to resist. He is fiercely loyal to Ursalia as a whole, but in particular to Lab 2, which has secured his livelihood for his entire life.
Though he is known for his polite manner, Dennis is not a very pleasant person. He is either awkward or downright mean with those who he doesn't trust.
Nick values order above all else. Disharmony is his greatest fear, which he believes to be the recipe for tyranny. After all, in an anarchical environment only the strong survive, and strength without social responsibility leads to corruption. In an ordered environment, any kinks in government can be worked out efficiently, like troubleshooting a program that is being written. Along with instilling order wherever he goes, Nick also seeks to find and take vengeance on the hacker who killed his family; though, to him, these goals are one and the same. He carries a memory log of when his estate was attack by its own security to remind himself what he's fighting for.
Bio: I was born in Ursalia, and I've known living nowhere else. Both my parents were scientists with Cyber-Prime Technologies, and it is largely thanks to them that I've been such a tech-whiz all my life. As I went through education, I was very successful in the fields of physics, astronomy, programming, and writing. A life of seclusion has limited my social graces greatly, as I was raised in a massive estate where I was privately tutored.
A month or so before I was going to leave home for college, the first time I'd been away for extended periods of time, I had my first exposure to chaos. The estate guards, sentry robots, were hacked by an unknown force. The hacker decided to play with the friend-or-foe identification settings, and the bots fired indiscriminately on the estate's inhabitants. I still remember vividly the night when it occurred. The bitter smell of blood and scattered flesh, the jungle of strewn about furniture and rubble, my childhood home reduced to a burning skeleton. I survived with the aid of my brother, Winston, who helped me to reach the safe room after I had broke my ankle trying to traverse the hazardous environment. From there, we were able to call in aid to neutralize the situation, and I escaped unharmed.
[As a note to my superiors who are reading this bio, you will have to forgive me for not wishing to speak in detail about the night of my family's murder. I understand that many of you are undoubtedly interested to see how my physical ability played out in greater detail, but this is a painful memory to recall, much less write about.]
After the incident, I traveled to a well respected university, where my years of extensive tutoring paid off as I ascended through the university at breakneck speed, skipping years of education. My young age coupled with life of seclusion and recent mental trauma crippled any chances I had at socializing successfully, but this was ultimately irrelevant, as I secured a high-ranking job with Cyber-Prime the very instant I left the university.
I began working in security, which involved the invention and maintenance of security technology, with my brother, Winston. You may know me for my advancements in automated defense optics, allowing for the simultaneous use of thermal, motion, and sonar. However, I was once called in to work on maintaining Lab security in a more personal fashion. A mole had been detected, someone who had been selling company information to other countries, and I was supposed to track the criminal down.
It was only through extensive monitoring, server-hacking, and stake-outs that I discovered the mole was Winston. I captured him without hesitation, transported him to a Lab 2 cell, and suggested to my superiors that instead of death, he be made into an experiment. They agreed eagerly, believing this to be a better use of his potential. I was granted one last opportunity to speak with him before his memories were removed using new technology and a subjugation chip was installed. The conversation was recorded.
>> Play Audio >>
*The hissing, sliding noise of an automatic door is heard from the background. A man is heard clambering into a chair.
"Hello, brother."
"What do you want, Regal? You here to gloat?"
"No."
"Are you going to explain why decided to stab me in the back? Your own brother?"
"Me? Stab you in the back? What about how you betrayed me? You turned on our own lab, you betrayed the welfare of your friends and your fellow Ursalians you sleazy prick!"
"Don't spew that toxic patriot lingo at me. This country is nothing but a coalition of corrupt corporations."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that we live in a nation that supports the abolition of basic human rights. Where else could live experimentation be legal? Even encouraged?"
"It's all voluntary, brother. There's no ?"
"It's only voluntary because of all the propaganda that gets thrown in our faces. 'You're securing the future of mankind,' our scientists tell the victims, 'your sacrifice will lead to the betterment of all.' It's all bullshit. We're sacrificing people for the sake of profit, not societal benefit."
"But they're intertwined."
"They're intertwined because our government consists entirely of those who form the economic monopolies. And these CEO's that determine the fate of so many citizens are not responsible enough to lead."
"So, what, you're seeking rebellion?"
"Don't be ridiculous. A revolution here is as outlandish and unlikely as one in, say, North Korea. No, I seek foreign intervention. The U.N. is the only hope of instilling a responsible republic form of leadership."
"You bloody idiot!" *A loud clamor is heard, a brief spurt of static as the mic tries to translate all the sound. "Ursalia has stability! Order! Social harmony! Yet you would open up our borders to the chaos of the outside world?"
"You would think of it that way, wouldn't you. You're still just a child, Regal, afraid to leave his home to confront the big, scawwy world. When you open your eyes, you'll see I was right all along."
"I'm done discussing your insane motives."
"Then what shall we discuss, Regal?"
"Philosophy."
*Laughter
"Okay, little brother, lay it on me. Who knew you were such a Socrates."
"Would you rather die as you are, or live with a mind that is not your own?"
*Brief pause
"Somehow I think that decision's already been made for me."
>> Stop >>
After that, I oversaw the... transformation of Winston myself. It was excruciatingly painful, to say the least, both for me and for him, but I had to be certain that it was done right. If left up to someone else, mistakes might have been made. I just wish he had given an actual answer to my final question so that the uncertainty would not have gnawed at me so.
Appearance: Regal wears a thin, navy blue coat with sleeves that get tight at the wrists. "L2" is stenciled in white on the front. He wears skin-color gloves at all times except in combat. His pants are made of thick, black cloth, forming a shape similar to jeans, but with a different texture. He has short, blond hair, bordering on a buzz-cut, and he is clean-shaven. His face has a delicate build, with pale skin resulting from many nights staring at a computer screen in a secluded, dark room. Though you normally couldn't tell unless the gloves or jacket were removed, Regal's arms are entirely replaced by cybernetics in order to boost his physical strength, and typing speed. The arms are made from a sleek, white metal, which forms the outer shell. Inside, a nano-weave forms a black muscle pattern. His eyes are a steely grey, and close examination reveals a circuit pattern behind the irises.
Abilities: Regal's combat abilities are restricted entirely to his arms. Both arms have a blade hidden under the forearm made from titanium and with a thin lining of energy on the edges. The energetic edge allows the blade to cut through many more materials with greater ease and to burn flesh. In addition, both arms are extremely powerful and responsive to Regal's brain, allowing for increased agility. He can produce punches that shatter a man's ribcage even with combat armor. The left forearm has a hidden touch screen interface that allows the user to hack without lugging around a separate device.
His eyes feature the ability to highlight areas where electric current is flowing through objects in beacons of bright gold. He can also tone the sensitivity or range of amperes that will tip off the sensors in his eyes. This allows him to spot traps operated by electricity with ease.
He is equipped with basic firearms and explosives training, but is not very proficient in either category.
Deficiencies: The energy blades consume energy rapidly when activated, so long term use is inefficient; at most, he can use them three times before a bio-cell must be used. Alternatively, he may use the blades without the benefit of energy, but it goes without saying that it is far less efficient when used in such a manner. The energy blade is meant more for a single, quick assassination rather than an all out knife fight. When the arms exert intense amounts of force, energy is also drained, meaning that the advantages brought by their strength are relatively short term. Lifting objects that are around Regal's weight is the maximum strength of the arms, and maintaining that maximum output of force drains the arms within around thirty seconds. A quick burst of maximum, bone crushing power will drain his energy reserves quickly, and a lesser punch, while still able to seriously wound a man so long as combat armor is not present, consumes energy at a merely moderately rapid pace.
Regal may use his alternate vision mode and hacking computer for hours on end, as they do not consume energy very rapidly. However, while using current detecting vision, anything that does not contain a flow of electrical current within the set range of amperes is shown as black, so he cannot see anything but electric current while in that state.
To replenish energy, Regal either uses bio-cells, a rare form of battery that is created solely by Genoform Corp, or his own body's biological energy. However, he must conceal them, meaning he can only carry around one or two. The former is a far safer way to replenish lost energy than the latter, which can lead to exhaustion, dizziness, or in worst case scenarios, fainting. Should his arms and eyes run out of energy and are not replenished using either method, the arms will become inoperable, and the eyes will fail entirely, rendering Regal blind.
A summary of power cell usage:
Energy Dagger: 1 use = 22.5% cell / biological energy
Enhanced Strength: Lift for 30 seconds (maximum power) = 90% cell / biological energy
Enhanced Strength: Punch (maximum power) = 30% cell / biological energy
Enhanced Strength: Punch (low power) = 10% cell / biological energy
When below or at 10% bio-cell energy, the arms will begin to become sluggish and unresponsive. The hacking interface and electric current vision will begin to glitch, making them highly unreliable. If Regal reaches 50% biological energy, he will become fatigued. At 25%, his awareness, strength, and reflexes will reach dangerously low levels, and his gadgets will suffer the same fate as when at 10% bio-cell energy. If he should venture lower than 25%, he will begin to suffer from hallucinations, extreme fatigue, paranoia, and dizziness. At 0%, he will either fall into a coma or die, depending on factors such as hydration. All negative effects caused by lack of natural energy will carry over despite how much bio-cell fuel is in use.
The process of applying a bio-cell takes about a minute, so when he has to use one he will be forced to hide while he waits for it to kick in.
Preferred Equipment: A pocket watch that will reveal a bio-cell and natural energy monitor that is wirelessly connected to his arms. This allows him to efficiently keep track of his energy situation while remaining classy.