Remnants of the Earth

"Well, let me tell you something - the older you get, the harder it is to stay in shape, and I'm fucking old."

Sure, her life wasn't even half over, if you considered the average lifespan of the people of Aedolis. She still felt old as dirt most of the time. At least she didn't look like some little old lady yet.

"Mhm. Sure you won't." Folding her arms across her chest she leaned against the back wall of the elevator. "Well, we'll see. Letting you do my hair will just take up time."

Name: Alec Holding
Gender: Male
Age: 31
D.O.B: November 5th
Height: 5’ 11”
Weight: 153 lbs
Orientation: Pansexual
Occupation: Pilot Noble
Psionic Abilities: Telepathy, Empathy
Dragon: Nimbus; male



Appearance:
Alec is reasonably good-looking, if you're into tall, dark, and handsome guys in the prime of their lives. He has baby-soft, raven black hair that is cut into a dashing faux hawk, occasionally he'll have blue frosted tips. The youngest of the Holding children has the most unbelievably sapphire blue eyes one could ever find. They shine like polished gems in the sunlight. Alec's eyes are also eerily deep and profound, like endless clear pools of hidden knowledge and life.

He’s got pale skin that is smooth and clear. Alec's fingernails are actually manicured to perfection at all times. His toes are pedicured too. In fact, just assume that he’s as pampered and groomed as any high maintenance diva: eyebrow plucking, waxing, make-up when necessary – the works.

His attire is typically very professional when in the office. He has a penchant for finely tailored and expensive suits of the three piece variety. For some reason he just loves suits with vests, and owns several. He wears a dragon pendant around his neck on a short chain, letting the pendent rest at the hollow of his throat. It was custom made for him to resemble the dragon he is bound to: Nimbus.

Alec also has multiple piercings and tattoos. His ears have small, silver and diamond studs in the lobes. He has a silver bar with a dragon tongue piercing. For tattoos, he has his dragon wrapped around his left arm from shoulder to wrist.



Personality:
Quite often he seems to be zoned out and not 'all there' or absent-minded. He is actually a very deep individual and very intelligent and thoughtful. He's actually very good at math and science; he loves reading, writing, and especially drawing. You won't often catch him without a sketch book. He’s also a bit of a video game addict.

Alec is actually rather shy when he isn't working. He's fairly laid-back, not often having a problem with most people; in the past he was known to lash out if startled or threatened, which was often because he was extremely anxious and reclusive his first two years. Through the program he has gained a greater control over his emotions, or at the very least, of his reactions.
Alec likes people, for the most part. He can't stand stupid people, ignorant people annoy him, and arrogant people just make him want to explode. Unlike the typical rich kids, Alec isn’t cocky and doesn’t think he’s better than everyone else. In fact, he knows that he’s definitely not better than most people.



History:
Alec was born into the upper caste. His mother was a famous video game designer. They lived well in a nice home, and were very well-off people. He was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. Because of this, he was always given the best of everything, including his education. Private tutors were hired to make sure that he was given a proper education. He absorbed everything they could throw at him. Alec was a knowledge sponge, he loved learning.

When he was twelve he started into drugs and drinking. Why not? Everyone else did it. Even his mother did it. They embraced the hedonistic culture of Aedolis. Makes sense, when one is raised on such morals and practices. There were also other things beginning to develop. How could Alec sometimes know what another person was going to say before they even finished saying it? How could he know that someone was angry with him, or lying to him?

For a while he just brushed this aside, telling no one. It downright frightened him. By the time he was fourteen it was too late. There was no denying something was clearly psychic about him. Namely, he was shopping with his mother when he began crying hysterically about the violent whispers that wouldn’t leave him alone. A man had smuggled a contraband firearm into the mall and shot three people a few moments later.

The ordeal so frightened Alec that he had to be hospitalized. It was there that he babbled nonsensically to doctors. He told them everything. After two days recovering from shock, he was released from the hospital…into the custody of the Pilot Candidate Program.

Stage 1, or the grace period, was a living nightmare for him. His abilities were completely out of control, his intense empathetic episodes coming and going on a whim. Sometimes he felt like he was drowning in the thoughts and emotions of everyone around him. Other Candidates quickly found that he was a rather easy target, at least, when he wasn’t able to control his abilities, which was a good portion of the time.

Alec was coerced into doing sexual acts a few times, and his shy, quiet nature got him a lot of teasing and more than one beating.

In Stage 2, things didn’t get much better with the bullying, but he had made it to Stage 2, that was all that had mattered to him. Classes were a breeze for Alec, he’d always been an excellent student, and he didn’t let the exhausting physical drills or bullying stand in his way. He’d show them. Wait until he became a Pilot, then they’d see who got the last laugh.

When he became Stage 3, all the bullying stopped. He was forced to work with his fellow Candidates, and he finally grew into his own place within the program. While he still found the program harsh, he no longer resented being drafted so much. He had begun to accept that this was inevitable, and for the best. Besides, he could do some good as a Pilot. He could help his country in ways he could never have imagined as an ordinary citizen.

By Stage 4 his psionic abilities had finally been brought into heel. Only the very occasional slip still came through. His mentor hammered this last bit of psionic frustration out of him with refinement. He no longer feared being TRIMed. Becoming a Pilot was only a matter of time now.

Stage 5 went quickly, only taking a year for a dragon to probe his mind and decide to bond with him at the age of 20. Thankfully Nimbus was not particularly violent. Alec is left mostly to his own devices on a day to day basis as long as he is doing what he should be, with his dragon taking little interest in micro-managing his life. They have bonded well, sharing a good rapport after years of being partners.

At age 24 they were promoted to Echo rank, and now they have freshly minted Pilot Noble status.



Psionic Abilities:
Telepathy- Alec is a particularly strong telepath. He has learned to shield his thoughts very well, instinctively and reflexively. Only another truly gifted with their telepathy could hope to crack the wall he builds around his mind. Not only is he great at shielding, but penetrating as well.

Combining his telepathy and empathy he has learned to manipulate the minds and emotions of others, causing their mental shields to crack or even shatter, giving him access to their inner most private thoughts and memories.

It is a very draining process to break into another person’s mind, and Alec hates doing it. Despite his gift for interrogation, he has a different gift he vastly prefers putting to use.

Empathy- Learning to guard his own emotions so they would not spill out and have an effect on those around him was a long, hard battle. In the end he did learn to project emotions at will, and to keep himself from being overwhelmed by the emotions of others.

His empathetic nature makes him very good at consoling or soothing others. Helping people rather than hurting them makes him extremely happy. That is why he now works in the HR department as a counselor for both Pilots and Candidates.



Dragon

Name: Nimbus
Gender: Male

Appearance:
-Nimbus is a smaller, more agile dragon.
-Mostly blue, with a silver underbelly and wing membranes.
-Left rear leg is completely mechanical.
-Right side of neck is mechanical. From jaw to shoulder.
-Lower jaw is mechanical.

Personality:
-Aloof
-Indifferent
-Introverted

Name: Summer Dawn Meadows
Gender: Female
Age: 42
Height: 5’ 4”
Weight: 137 lbs
Orientation: Questionable
Occupation: Pilot Royal, Tech Specialist
Psionic Abilities: Telepathy, Telekinesis, Teletechnopathy
Dragon: Zenith; Male

Apearance:
Summer has black hair that she keeps in a choppy, chin-lengthy cut, with blood-red streaks throughout. It is kept brushed over to one side, falling over half of her face.  Her eyes are a vivid green, like clear-cut emeralds. She’s not exactly an impressive height, but the way she carries herself leaves no question of her position as a person of some power.

Blessed with an athletic build, Summer doesn’t have to deal with gigantic breasts getting in her way while she works. Oh she has them, to be sure, but they’re a modest size for her build. Because of her military training she is leanly muscled and in very good physique. There isn’t an ounce of flab or fat to be found on her body and she prefers to keep it that way.

For clothing, like most Pilots, she only gets her uniform out for formal occasions and necessary events. Most of the time she’s in black cargos, whatever shirt she happens to throw on that day, black combat boots, and a black half-jacket; Summer likes to keep her style simple and tasteful. She isn’t much for accessories. She does have platinum, extremely high-tech watch/computer that she wears at all times on her right wrist. It was a present from her Pilot mentor upon graduation.

Personality:
A personality is a hard thing to really peg down. Everyone has multiple layers. Everyone wears masks. Sometimes you wear a mask so long; you forget what lies beneath it.

Summer is nothing if not dedicated. Her life is devoted to the good of Aedolis. You see, Aedolis is a Utopia. No one goes hungry; no one has to sleep on the streets. This is possible because of the control dragons exert over humans. Humans are irresponsible at best, and cannot be trusted with their own fates. All her life she has been conditioned to be a slave to this political machine and she fills this role well.

All that aside, she does have more to her than that. Despite her willingness to submit to dragon rule, she is a remarkably strong person, with a charismatic personality. Her self-assurance, and her conviction have led her to excel in situations that might have brought another person to their knees, and she sub-consciously draws people to her. Because of her ease of taking charge of a situation she could be considered a bit of a natural born leader.

While she isn’t completely anti-social, she does tend to keep to herself a bit. She shields her thoughts for the most part, wishing to keep what goes on in her head to herself, and her dragon, of course. There are no secrets she keeps from Zenith.

It is hard to touch on every aspect of a person’s personality. Summer takes authority seriously. She has busted her ass to earn her place high up on the military food-chain, and she doesn’t take shit from subordinates. Her Candidates that she mentors are blessed and cursed. Summer will never, ever give up on a Candidate once she’s taken them in, even if they end up wishing she would! She has a tendency to be a bit of a hard-ass when it comes to whipping Candidates into shape.

Summer has a habit of cussing, perhaps more than strictly necessary. She smokes and drinks, but refrains from harder drugs. Her relationship with her dragon is rather extraordinary. While she is a bit of a stickler for authority, she does frequently cuss and bitch at her dragon. He finds this amusing and does not punish her for it.

History:
Summer’s father was a Pilot, and her mother had psionic abilities as well, although they weren’t enough to put her into the Pilot program. Her mother worked at TRIM as a scientist instead. It wasn’t all that surprising to either of them when Summer showed psionic capability, and when she was thirteen she was recruited into the Pilot Candidate Program.

For the next five years, she trudged doggedly through the program. If not for the fact that she was not old enough, she’d have finished in four years. However, once she hit eighteen and was a level 5 Candidate, she was quickly tested and probed by a dragon named Zenith, who had been watching her for quite some time. Satisfied with what he found, he bonded to Summer and she has been his Pilot ever since.

Together they have made a remarkable team. Between her dedication, and his ambition, the pair has proven themselves a formidable duo. Summer has received recognition for outstanding service, more than one award for heroic action, and more than her fair share of scars.

Psionic Abilities:
Telepathy- When it comes to this psionic power, Summer is much better at shielding her own thoughts than cracking into someone else’s mind. However, she can fluidly communicate with willing conversationalists.

Telekinesis- This power lies powerfully within her. In fact, it is her greatest talent. She can easily move objects with her mind that her body couldn’t manage, even though she is not a weak woman. Inanimate objects are preferred targets, however, when people get on her bad side, she isn’t afraid to use her talents to her own advantage.

Teletechnopathy- Not really her strongest ability, but it is well-honed and more than adequate. She can remotely patch into machines both simple and complex.



Dragon

Name: Zenith
Gender: Male

Appearance:
-Zenith is not the largest dragon, nor is he the smallest.
-His wingspan is rather impressive.
-Primarily black, with a red underbelly.
-Right side of his face is mechanical as is his entire tail.

Personality:
-Ambitious
-Confident
-Extroverted