__________________Quick Stats Name- Fala Mauburin
Nicknames-Pluggy' or 'Dragonpet', for all the time she spends plugged into the Network.
Birthday- April 30
Zodiac Sign- Taurus
Age- 24
Gender- Female
Sexual Orientation- Heterosexual
Single or Taken? Single, since she's so far found no one irresistible enough to distract her from the Network for extended periods of time. One-night stands, though, are another story- they're a welcome diversion.
Species- Human
Blood-type A+
Height 5'6
Weight 125 lbs.
Eye Color- Dark blue.
Hair Color- Aqua green.
Affiliation- Wholehearted supporter of Aedolis.
Religion- None. Her entire world revolves around her Dragon.
Occupation- Pilot
Birth Place- Aedolis
Location- Aedolis
Most Used Phrase(s)- "Can I plug in for a lil' bit?"
Character of Mine Most Likely to... Sleep while fighting.
Finished Threads- None yet.
Current Threads- Who wants some pie?!Drowning it OutUnder Suspicion of Treason__________________In-Depth StuffPhysical DescriptionThis one's mine. 
However,
this one's much better. :3Personality- Normally, when not under stress, she's an arrogant, sexist ass. Believing women to be more adept at Piloting (due to their ability to better communicate with the emotional rather than word-based language that some psychics share with the more organic Dragons), she sneers at all of the men in the program whenever she gets a chance. It's gone from a simple bias to being almost prejudiced, she tends to shun contact with the physically buff men as much as humanly possible. Despite the fact that she's heterosexual, and thus does find some of those men attractive, her feelings as a Pilot often come before her own well-being. This prejudice, while flaring during the workday, vanishes whenever she's not on duty. After all, when she's not working or not ready to be called in, she's just a normal, Aedolian psychic.
She's a skilled pilot, and she knows it- she doesn't fail to let others know about it, either. Blowing stories out of proportion to put more of the spotlight on her and her partner isn't uncommon. While some women dislike her arrogance, she's always the best one to go to when men are at fault in a situation- if a male psychic tried to pry into a female's mind, for instance, Fala would be the first to go to in order to ensure that an ass-beating is handed out promptly. While she often loses fights against the more burly members of the program, she leaves marks almost every time that dissuade them to continue pestering their victims.
Fala's also quite vain, choosing clothing that will express whatever shreds of feminine qualities she possesses. The irony seems to be lost on her that, while she dresses like a woman and physically is one, her rash ways and her aggression in combat far exceed that of most female pilots. Also, her in-the-gutter mindset and the willingness to throw back more than a few beers after hours with the men effectively scorch the name 'tomboy' into her sense of self. Her famed promiscuity is also something that most women would also condemn, if they had the guts to say it.
As long as she's not called that at work, she's fine with it.
Fala absolutely abhors being left alone for extended periods of time, though she doesn't let this knowledge become too public. She does have her pride, after all, even if she's got a debilitating fear of loneliness.
Weaknesses- She's a slave to her machine. Her Dragon virtually controls her every action, threatening to retract the Network from her if she does not do what he says. The addiction has gotten severe enough to the point where the need for mere physical touch is no longer enough to satiate her need for intimate connections with the Network- while most Psychics need only to be in the gem-like compartments attached to their Dragon, Fala needs to also be physically connected via cables while being suspended in liquid. Jorinth, her Dragon, saw fit to only give her glimpses of the Network through touch, forcing her to start connecting when the fleeting images were no longer enough to keep her satisfied. As such, she has consented to the first stages of Assimilation without her knowledge, already developing ports in her skin to literally absorb bits of data through her body.
Attacking these ports is like having a knife stuck into her vital organs, causing intense pain and causing her nervous system to misfire. If struck with a material that conducts electricity, she undergoes a seizure- if it's a plasma or energy-based weapon, most of it can be absorbed through the ports in her arms, but not her sides, which reject such energy. In addition to this, striking the inner surface of the ports in her skull often results in her suffering a mild stroke. As a result of these weaknesses in normal combat, she's resorted to fighting almost exclusively in her Dragon- a problem when confined or separated without her mount.
Despite her arrogant and standoffish nature, she is extremely prone to separation anxiety as a result of loneliness. This often leads to destructive behavior, whether it be to herself or her environment- she is so used to having another presence in her head that her lone mind is no longer enough to keep itself company. This is a good way for Aedolis to keep its hold on her, as she would never leave without her Dragon or another Psychic. She also has a strange attraction to her Dragon, like a pet to its master. Perhaps it is due to Jorinth's strange initiation rituals- he goes through many Pilots before he finds one that's just right for him.
Fala's also slightly allergic to mold, crabs, and peanuts.
Strengths- While it's very dangerous for her to engage in melee combat (for all her weakness to common metals), the Pilot program nevertheless did not fail to breed another ruthless combat machine. She has grown remarkably adept in the art of kick boxing, allowing her to defend herself in this manner whenever it is necessary. She likes abusing this skill against others who irk her at the workplace.
She is also a very confident and very gutsy pilot, with very good communication skills with her mount. That does not mean that they always work perfectly together, but most of the time they cooperate to some degree. With her Dragon, she has a powerhouse at her command... that is, when he chooses to listen to her. Most often, she's just the backseat driver.
Likes- Jorinth, the Network, sculpting, eating crab (allergies be damned!), and enjoying a nice bourbon after work.
Dislikes- Most foreigners, people with no manners, exclusively dictation-based psychics, peanuts, cabbage, and cheap plastic chairs.
Magic/Abilities- When it comes to her pilot duties, Fala is an adept Psychic, engaging in both empathic and word-based languages with Jorinth. As with all other Psychics, she can also relay images to her Dragon, and vice-versa. In fact, he is more likely to link to her in this way, rather than the other way around. She also has the benefit of being extremely sensitive to magic, almost sensing it before she sees it. Adversely, a simultaneously launched pair of physical and magical attacks can overload her senses, leaving this anticipatory sense temporarily 'numb' to incoming strikes.
However, despite her bilingual communication with her Dragon, her only means of communicating with people using her psychic powers is to force feelings and sensations onto them. While she cannot tell someone she is injured through her psychic links, for instance, she can relay to them a sharp feeling of her pain and a 'gut feeling'. This leaves her at quite a disadvantage to other Psychics, who can converse with one another through actual words, rather than having to piece together whatever Fala is trying to tell them.
History- Born in a downtown area of Aedolis, Fala's parents were both members of a fairly low caste (having done nothing but clean stoves and kitchens their entire lives) and were thus very surprised to have been given a child destined for such a high ranking. Her psychic abilities weren't very prominent from the start, as she was only able to push feelings of joy or stress onto them- feelings that parents are normally expected to have at that time in their lives. However, once she hit about the age of four, her mood swings and the resulting affect on those around her left them wondering just what this child was capable of. One closed room and three experiments later, her parents quickly sent the necessary reports to the Aedolis government.
Pleased to be gifted with another potential Pilot, the recruiters stopped by to conduct quick and succinct tests on the toddler, asking her to try to tell them what colors were shown to her without speaking. While she tried conveying with frantic hand gestures at first, the flashes of emotions relating to the colors in their minds (she did, however, send almost no reaction to purple, since she was at a loss concerning any emotional representation) let them know that she was at least adept enough with the psychic art to begin her acceptance into the program. Her parents received financial compensation for their cooperation, and she was admitted into the Academy designed to breed pilots.
It was a bittersweet time in her life- though she got to stay home at night, transported to the Academy every morning to begin her lessons, her education was teaching her to distance herself from others. The vulnerability of the mind was especially stressed during the early stages, and she learned her ABC's along with the psychic pressings of her instructors. This treatment was not meant to be cruel, but to build up defenses against the minds of other psychics. With this early training, the invasive pushes of the instructors allowed the annoyed children of the academy to push back, forming the foundations of their mental defenses. This was the routine until just before puberty, when the mind's natural developmental changes could be directed with the proper and brutal education.
Fala began dorming at the age of eleven, bunking with several girls her own age. Together, they began the true, fierce regimen of the Aedolian military's training... but only Fala herself graduated this so-called academy. The barbaric trials beat apart their minds, forced them to rebuild them, and broken apart again as physical and mental classes pushed the girls to their limits. Her other three roommates were sent to TRIM as a result of their mental breakdowns, and Fala would have joined them for her inability to convey words through Psychic communication had it not been for her exceptional physical prowess. At this time, her excellent records in kick boxing (one of several options in the melee combat mandates implemented in the program) was what kept her in the program and what kept her sane, allowing her to vent her anger on her opponents.
Once she had graduated from the seven-year program, she was allowed to join the ranks of the Pilots. She was given the chance to meet her Dragon, as their compatibility would be assessed after five-minute meetings with the serpentine mounts. Her options were quickly narrowed from five to one as Jorinth, a Dragon infamous for being notoriously choosy of his mounts, would not allow her to leave the meeting room after the five minutes of introductory Psychic communication had passed. Having seen the behavior before, the Instructors allowed the gargantuan dragon to test his newest pet Pilot and watched the seeds of their relationship begin to take root.
When she was told of his request to test her, Fala quickly began feeling anxious- though she'd heard of Dragon initiation rituals before, she was told that this particular one wouldn't eat her if she didn't make the cut... it would dash her against the wall, refusing to even eat her corpse. Placed in a room with Jorinth after a quick meditation session, the serpentine behemoth began the mind-intensive screening of her mind while the scanner on his tail scanned her body for imperfections. While his mind sought to find a niche in which he could place his foothold, his physical scan searched for any physical defects, from blood-borne illnesses to genetic abnormalities. Finding nothing negative and finding a mind that was surprisingly susceptible to addiction, Jorinth accepted his newest Pilot after a seven hour screening process and gave her her first glimpse into the Network.
It was absolutely intoxicating to her, to be allowed the opportunity to hold so much information at the touch of her mind to his- and yet, he only allowed a whisper of its potential reach her. While at first this was enough for her, her curiosity and need were great, and she soon was catering to his every whim in exchange for a brief glimpse into the Network she had grown to crave as much as the Dragon who gave it to her. Induction into his belly ports was swift, as her suspension in the core not only allowed for the true Pilot-Dragon connection and combat capabilities, but more control over her surfing of the Network, as well. Addiction literally changed her, mind and body... to the point where ports began growing into her skin.
Never once had she questioned his actions, even though he has had quite a history in absorbing his Pilots alive, taking over little by little until nothing but an inanimate slab of flesh is all that remains. But it isn't all selfish- after all, the Pilots always died in bliss and it went towards treating his degenerative skin disorder. It was their price to pay for his allowance of them to Connect.
Candidacy Timeline: Discovered at age 9. Began Candidacy at 13.Stage 1: 6 months.
Stage 2: 1.5 years. Mostly because Alden knew that if she wasn't damn good at this, she wouldn't make it through the program.
Stage 3: 2 years.
Stage 4: 2.5 years.
Stage 5: half a year.
