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Player Information ;
Your Nickname: Sid
OOC Journal: balphesian
Under 18? Nope.
Email/IM: Ask.
Characters Played at Singularity: mostsecure & alphaclass.
Character Information ;
Name: Connor Temple
Name of Canon: Primeval
Canon/AU/Other Game CR: Canon.
Reference: Wiki & Primeval Wiki.
Canon Point: Series 3, episode 4 (directly after).
Setting:
"You detect anomalies and fight dinosaurs, when necessary."
- Captain Becker
IN A WORLD...
WHERE PREHISTORIC BEASTS ROAM FREE AMONG MODERN-DAY LONDONERS...
Le Connor Temple was born in 1983 (or thereabouts) in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. He spent the majority of his childhood cultivating a massive nerdboner for cult classics and stereotypically 'geeky' media. (Sci-Fi enthusiast: check. Love of dinosaurs: check. Crush on Buffy: check.) Since the age of fourteen, he began to compile a database of prehistoric creatures on his own time - and earlier, at the age of 8, stayed back after museum closing hours to see if the animal displays would come to life. No such luck. Although he did get locked in the toilets for three hours. Somewhat traumatizing, but generally a harmless experience, especially considering the stuffed animals didn't actually start moving and try to eat him.
Due to too much Scooby Doo as a kid, Connor often entertained the thought of joining a ragtag crime-fighting team in addition to his love of prehistory. He enrolls in the (fictional) Central Metropolitan University as a student of palaeontology under Professor Nick Cutter; being a wunderkind of sorts, Connor excels at this particular area of study, propelled by his deep and slightly sad love of everything palaeontological. And it's this, combined with his interests in cryptozoology and conspiracy theories, that leads him to Cutter's office in episode one.
A reported monster sighting in the paper has him explaining that it's "Some sort of giant undiscovered predator" and that it's "the real thing!" Cutter is understandably not so impressed, telling Connor that he should "get out more", until Connor mentions the sighting was in the Forest of Dean - which immediately interests Stephen Hart, Cutter's lab technician, and Cutter himself, due to Cutter's wife having gone missing in the same forest 8 years prior. When they arrive, they meet Abby Maitland (a zoologist) and Claudia Brown (a Home Office rep) who were also pinged by the monster spotting, albeit under different circumstances. Instead, they find that the source of all this confusion is an "anomaly" in space and time that had apparently let through a Gorgonopsid from the Late Permian era. Whoops.
This effectively brings Connor onto the team, as it were: formally, a department funded by the Home Office to take care of the problems the creatures and anomalies cause. (In series two, the team HQ is called the Anomaly Research Center, or the ARC). When Cutter is asked to head the team by James Lester, senior management for the Home Office, Connor tags along and is incorporated into the special group due to his intellect, skill with computer technology, and handy-dandy creature database. Apparently, his 'sinus issues' and 'allergies' "prevent him" from heavy physical activity - or dealing with the creatures in general - until it becomes clear the team needs as much help as they can get. The success rates of his endeavors to help, uh... widely vary. He's incredibly clumsy and borderline sped re: aid of a non-technological sort during much of series one, but he means well.
The rest of the series' plot eventually leads Cutter to go through an anomaly, change his past, and return to a canon-AU version of his reality at the beginning of series two. The Connor from that canon-AU reality has apparently not changed at all from his original self (unlike Claudia Brown, who ceased to exist and instead is replaced with an identical woman called Jenny Lewis). He's the same palaeontology student/tech whiz/derp he always was, and continues to grow and develop throughout the course of series two and three, remaining an integral part of the ARC operation.
Personality:
"Connor Temple. He looks like a half-wit, but he has a very good brain."
- Nick Cutter
Connor encapsulates the generic geek stereotype like it's his job. On top of being a gigantic sci-fi aficionado, his greatest wish, for example, is to get abducted by aliens. Probably aliens the government has secret contacts with and are just covering up, you know, like they always do. "Connor never met a conspiracy he didn't like." It's important to mention that he wrote his actual dissertation on how all life on Earth evolved from aliens.
As soon as he figured out what computers could do, he began teaching himself some programming languages and started writing software in his spare time as a way to wind down. That progressed to some tinkering with actual hardware at home, until he became reasonably confident in his ability to both program and fiddle with electronic components until they worked. Later in the series, he becomes the de facto ARC software and electronics developer and inventor, creating both the Anomaly Detection Device (unfortunate acronym, there) and the Anomaly Locking Mechanism.
Despite his smarts and technological skill, Connor is an extremely clumsy and awkward individual. Think Simple Dog, only... human-shaped, with greasier hair, and a trilby hat. For someone as gifted as he is, he is remarkably accident prone, socially brainless, and lacking in any kind of common sense. On the one hand, he's enthusiastic about the things he loves, regardless of whether or not other people care. On the other, he seems to get into a fair amount of trouble without even trying. Despite his faults - which aren't so much numerous as they are hilarious - Connor is a very optimistic, happy, and humorous young man, always intentionally or unintentionally provoking smiles from the people around him. He loves easily (too easily, maybe), and is always eager to help where he can, with what he can.
During episode four, one of Connor's university mates, Tom, is killed by a parasite that was living in a dodo bird. He dies in Connor's arms at the conclusion of the episode. This is a major wake-up call for Connor, who had perhaps not been taking his job as seriously as he should have been, despite the constant danger his teammates have faced. He tells Cutter he doesn't think he can do it anymore; if he hadn't been involved, Tom wouldn't have been killed. Cutter tells him in no uncertain terms that he's one of the few people left that can do something about this, and that he can't back out now. Connor agrees to continue working with him.
It's obvious he's primarily ruled by his emotions, and will not always think things through before leaping headfirst into a dangerous situation. It's not that he's naive, or that he can't plan, or unaware of the consequences, but rather that he's willing to risk himself for other people's safety at the expense of everything else. He finds it exceptionally easy to grow close to people given the chance. It's basically because of all these new relationships in his life that there's so much pressure to live up to expectations - especially Cutter's. He's never been one to particularly care what people think of him, but with his coworkers, it somehow matters more than it ever did before. There's a definite thirst to prove himself. Despite, you know, his superhuman ability to make a lot of mistakes while doing so.
He looks up to Stephen Hart and Nick Cutter as his role models and idols, both incredibly cool and capable people whom he wants to emulate; he's frequently seen asking Stephen for romantic advice, a la older brother/younger brother dynamic, and views Cutter as his personal and professional mentor. Ever since the beginning on the series, he's had a thing for Abby Maitland, and she's pretty much the only subject of his romantic inquiries. (In series two, episode four, he tell her he loves her in a high-adrenaline circumstance, but utterly fails to do anything about it post-confession. WAY2GO, stud.) Even though his bonds with both Claudia Brown/Jenny Lewis and James Lester aren't as strong in the beginning of the series, they grow to be two of the only anchors he has left - even if Jenny ends up leaving the ARC. At least it was a resignation form, and not an obituary.
When Stephen dies in series two, and Cutter in series three, Connor is the only one left able to continue with the anomaly research Cutter had begun. The death of his friend and professor is a huge emotional blow and leaves him both more miserable and more dedicated to working at the ARC than before. Without Stephen and Cutter, Connor is forced to grow up and mature abruptly; there's no room for mistakes in the ARC anymore, and the importance of the work he's doing trumps anything else. And despite his previous experiences - experiences that tell him not to get attached - he forms friendships with Becker (the new SAS captain), Sarah Page (an archaeologist), and Danny Quinn, Cutter's replacement as team leader, while also clinging to Abby like a lifeline. Despite this, or maybe even because of it, Connor remains the heart and soul of the ARC, always hopeful and in good spirits when it counts.
Abilities and Weaknesses:+CS. He writes computer programs in his spare time. Database-compiler. Amateur software engineer.
+MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. Builds stuff. Constantly. Generally for the ARC; he's invented both the ADD and the ALM using a thorough knowledge of compsci with several hardware components supplied by the ARC. Give him time and a screwdriver and he can probably MacGyver something useful out of it.
+ENTHUSIASM. Ayup.
+GENRE SAVVINESS. Connor's seen so many films and television shows that he knows a plot trope when he sees one, especially when it applies to "real life". He's been known to hang lampshades and cast asides, but he's only moderately successful when physically dealing with the trope in question.
-CIVILIAN STATUS. Connor's only human. He doesn't have any superpowers and he's not military, even if he's had gun training. Meat and bones and not much else.
-SENTIMENTALITY. While this is generally a good thing, Connor's emotions tend to get in the way and will, without fail, influence a lot of his decision-making. He'll take risks without thinking out the logistics, despite it being what he's good at.
-DERP. Though this mostly applies to S1 & 2 Connor, he can still do incredibly stupid things on accident.
Inventory:one (1) yellow t-shirt.
one (1) black hoodie.
one pair (2) fingerless black gloves.
one (1) pair of black skinny trousers.
one pair (2) brown boots.
one (1) handheld anomaly detector.
one (1) cell phone.
one (1) iPod.
one (1) watch.
one (1) ARC-issue communications earpiece
one (1) necklace: an (unmarked) gold band on a loop of leather.
one (1) duct tape wallet, containing:
-a driving licence, issued to Temple, Connor
-an ARC ID and clearance pass, issued to Temple, Connor
-an old CMU student ID, issued to Temple, Connor
-a group photo of Abby Maitland, Nick Cutter, and Stephen Hart
-another group photo of Abby Maitland, Jenny Lewis, Captain Becker, Sarah Page, James Lester and Danny Quinn
-a photo of him, Tom and Duncan from university
-£4.32 in notes/change
Appearance: The words "dopey-eyed human chipmunk" come to mind. Connor is of average height, slim, with dark hair, pale skin, and perpetual stubble with slightly prominent front teeth and droopy eyes. His style, as mentioned by his actor, is one of most interesting things about him. During much of the first two series, he wears a lot of scarves, fingerless gloves, an iconic trilby hat, and several waistcoats (usually over t-shirts or hoodies). In series three, his clothing becomes slightly less eccentric; at his canon point, he's wearing this. Minus the Giganotosaurus.
Age: 26.
Samples ;
Log Sample:"We have an incursion," Becker says, voice crackling over the comm earpiece, and Connor grabs the tranq off the shotgun carseat as the vehicle screeches to a halt outside the fitness centre. "You have the locking device?"
"Yep," Connor says, rushing round the back of the car to pop the boot and haul out the cases containing his latest invention. Half of Becker's SAS team speedily fan out around him, grabbing what he can't carry, and Jenny releases the safety on her shotgun on his other side. "Have you seen the creature yet? Any guesses?"
"Not yet," Becker says. Short and curt. Abby's voice, slightly wary, chimes in on the comm. "Looks like a raptor might've got him. The body, I mean. Lacerations all up and down his chest and legs. Bite marks on the shoulder, small teeth."
"Okay," Connor says, hurrying into the building with Jenny and the rest of the SAS, one hand holding the tranq, and the other curled tight around the handle of the main ALM case. Dromaeosaurids race through his brain - Velociraptor, Achillobator, or god forbid, another Utahraptor - Cretaceous, vicious, deadly, unless it isn't a raptor at all. Connor shakes his head. No room for speculation until he's seen the thing, and that's only after... "Okay, we've dealt with raptors before, it's - hold on, I just have to lock this."
"Hurry up. Charlie, Holloway, Mendez; you're with me," Becker says in Connor's ear, and three of the SAS team peel off as Becker specifies his and Abby's location. Jenny pauses next to him, catching his eye, and Connor nods as they move quickly to the anomaly site. Indoor tennis court, all green and artificial fluorescent lighting. Big. Not the anomaly; it's a smallish portal, slightly dull, nearing its death. Connor pops the case open and fires up the laptop control near the net. Two of Becker's men set up the components while Connor starts plugging in wires, and the whole thing's ready in about a minute flat, orange wires and black equipment awkward out of place among the ball machines. Jenny nods, Connor squints, and he hits the button. The polarities reverse. Light blooms, and then the anomaly collapses in on itself as it compresses, tightly. Jenny lowers her gun.
"Yes!" Connor says triumphantly, and breaks away from the team. "All locked. I'm comin' to find you."
Turns out that yeah, it's a Velociraptor, which means it's a tiny little turkey-sized killing machine with feathers and a mouth full of razor teeth, and it had been about two seconds from sinking its hind leg's miniature sickle into Connor's side when he shot it down with the tranq. Only one had gotten through, thankfully, but one evil lizard chicken is enough excitement for one day; Connor's perfectly fine with hauling it back to the anomaly with Becker and Charlie and sending it on its merry way. He's sorry about the poor, nameless man - a janitor, apparently - who'd suffered the run-in, but at least it'd only been one casualty. After-hours. In a labyrinthine centre.
Sometimes they don't get lucky breaks. Sometimes they do. Bit of a toss up, but at least it'd only been a Velociraptor.
Network Sample:[ The fact that he's on a space station has not escaped him. And he's. Well, okay. It's practically a dream come true if you ignore all the implications, which he'd love to do, trust him, but there's really nothing about this that's particularly relaxing. His lifelong mission to get kidnapped by aliens? Sounded cooler when he wasn't... actually... kidnapped. In fact, this is like something out of one of those science fiction films that end in bloodshed and disaster. Not like his normal life isn't like that already, but this just takes the cake.
The voice that's broadcasting over the network sounds a bit shaky, but it's one with an unmistakably Northern English accent, so. Human. A slightly confused, very suspicious human. ]
This the... Sacrosanct network? Hi. Connor Temple here. Like anyone knows me.
So I don't really know what's... I mean, I know what's goin' on, I've had the tour. Nice, but not exactly informative, you know, regarding... why I'm here. The detector isn't working. Don't know how I fell through the anomaly in the first place; I wasn't even near one when it happened. When I left. When I was -- never mind. But it's not lookin' like it's gonna close anytime soon, so I'll run some tests, see if anything can be done, and then... [ awkward, nervous pause. Tentatively, like he's just covering all his bases: ] Abby? Becker? Danny?
[ ... ]
Right, okay. Worth a shot.
Sooo. It's a space station. Empty space station. Supposedly. Any humans? Anyone? Give a shout if you can hear me. Or. Something.