Character List
CHARACTER LIST
So, I’ve decided to make a little dramatis personae, it’s probable that nobody is interested but I thought it’d be fun for me as well.
LORD EDWARD ASHDOWN, 30
Handsome. Charitable. Brave. These are three words that have never been used to describe Ashdown, and most probably never will-he’s sarcastic, shrewd, machiavellian and generally just irritating. Still, he’s a good old stick if you’re on his right side: it’s not easy to get there, but it’s been known to happen. He doesn’t make friends easily, and is always pretty damn sure that he’s right, almost as much as he’s sure he’s the centre of the whole universe. Plenty of his actions stem from roots deep within vanity and pettiness, but he does have feelings. You just have to root around a little to find them. In appearance, he has extremely pale grey-blue eyes and light brown hair.
LADY VERITY ASHDOWN, 21
The wife of Lord Ashdown, you’d think, would have a lot to put up with-in fact, it’s usually him that has to do the putting up with her. Spoilt, superficial, self-obsessed and stylish, Ashdown only really married Verity for her intense beauty and has regretted it ever since-in fact, they have even been known to plot each other’s deaths. She’s also an excellent sportswoman, hunting being her sport of choice, which gives her a vigorous confidence in herself. Verity is a silky-smooth power-girl who’s determined to get what she wants; nevertheless Verity longs for acceptance (even from her wayward husband, although she’d never admit it) and does all she can to tempt people towards her. She would not have been out of place in the twenties, and in fact is based heavily on Jordan Baker from the American classic “The Great Gatsby”. She’s a blonde bombshell with intoxicating honey-brown eyes. Sometimes she regrets marrying at seventeen.
MR ISAAC PROWSE, 37
Little is known about the past of Mr Prowse, although most people are aware that he comes from a very lower-class background due to the cockney brashness in his voice and the painful awkwardness he exhibits around people of a higher status than himself. Prowse has been the faithful clerk, bodyguard and general aide of Ashdown for as long as anyone can remember, and everyone knows that he does a lot of his dirty work too, although they would find it extremely hard to prove. He’s quiet, dark-eyed and has chestnut hair that already has a streak of silver in it despite his fairly young age. His face is craggy and square-jawed, and although he hardly talks in the presence of his superiors, he has quite a fiery tongue on him when he’s out of their sights, and has even been known to be quite playful. Generally, however, you will find this unsmiling wall of a man standing in silence.
MR HORATIO NEWSON, 62
You wouldn’t guess that he’s sixty-two: incredible advances in cosmetic surgery has caused millionaires to stay looking in their late twenties forever. Despite his age, he’s as shrewd as ever, not to mention childish-he throws tantrums every few minutes, and cannot stand not getting his every whim and wish. Most of his staff are scared of him due to his short temper. He has many contacts but very few friends, although he does enjoy drinking and smoking. He runs the supermassive company Nutriware Ltd, a company that has pretty much taken over the globe due to the huge population’s high demand for food now that farming has become obsolete. He owns the factories that mass-produce the vitamin-pumped slabs of God-knows-what that is now called food, the huge cargo vessels that tow them to the various city-continents and all of the massive shops that pour this junk into the streets and mouths of the people.
MISS ADELE MERRITT, 28
She’s a sharp-tongued, slit-eyed dragon to most people: best avoided at all costs. With robotic professionalism she goes about her job as Newson’s PA, making sneering remarks at anyone who crosses their path. Seeing as she refuses to talk about her past, most people are fairly interested in where Miss Merritt actually comes from, but nobody seems to know-aside from Newson, who says nothing. She’s cold-hearted and apparently soulless, although the bit about the soul comes from people that she’s upset. With next to no social life and certainly no friends, perhaps there’s something a little strange about Miss Merritt, but it’s not like she has anyone to tell her that it’s not normal to own a wardrobe full of pristine business suits and nothing else.
DOCTOR ADAM KIRBY, 35
The brand new chief scientist in Newson Labs after the last one had a “tragic accident”. Chief scientists do not last long in Newson’s private facility, but Kirby seems totally unaware of this. In fact, for a Cambridge graduate, Kirby seems blithely unaware of a lot of mankind’s shortcomings: he’s actually quite naive, and immersed completely in the world of science. He wants to change the world in a positive way, to cure it of every ill-unfortunately, his boss has other plans for him. He has naturally very, very light blonde hair and murky greenish eyes, and always tries his best to be helpful.
MR CASSIDY LAJOIE, 50
This man is the longest-surviving scientist at Newson Labs and is the exact foil of Kirby: he’s cynical, observant and usually quite wry. He’s not a big player in the facility, but Kirby-the supposed chief scientist-finds himself heading his way for advice a lot of the time. LaJoie feels that Kirby needs a serious reality check, and that his idealism is going to get him into deep trouble. LaJoie has a large family to support so he keeps his mouth shut and does what he’s told, although he’s grown quite resentful of Newson and his company over the years.
MISS ROBYN WALSHE, 25
Private-school educated and from a rather lavish background, many people wonder why in the world Robyn decided to cast aside her family’s ideas-who would have been happy for her to get a degree in something pretty and marry a rich bloke-and joined the military at eighteen. She doesn’t really seem sure, either, but she knew it was the right thing to do. Standing well over six feet tall and with an extremely athletic build, Robyn is not the kind of girl you want to mess with, although she isn’t intrinsically violent or aggressive. She has dark gold-blonde hair that she always wears in a fat plait down her back and sharp blue eyes. Even though she’s been secure in this job for a long time now, she takes her physical training very seriously and never gives Newson a chance to give her trouble if she can help it: they end up doing a lot of dark work in his black ops team, but she is an ideal leader as well as a workaholic, meaning that Newson never has to worry about a task going undone. Although she can act a little gruff sometimes and is certainly not the most friendly of people, bossy Robyn tends to grow very protective of those she becomes close to: she seems to have especially a soft spot for Victor Blacklegde.
MR BRADLEY DEKEYNEL, 27
This Afro-British chap is a bit of a wild card who makes endless quips as quick as he can. He’s strong and physically fit, but is also surprisingly the brains of the outfit; he has paramedical training and is very good at keeping a cool head. He thinks on his feet a lot and his big mouth can get him into trouble-sometimes he and Robyn don’t see eye-to-eye, but the team are very close after years in service together and their friendship is never affected by what happens in the field.
MISS TAISY DANIELS, 20
The youngest of the team as well as the newest, Taisy rather has “little sister” dynamics in the group. She is a chatterbox and can be annoying on occasion-but her skills have come in handy many times. Taisy is an incredibly talented gymnast, her flexibility reaching a standard near contortionism, and is perfect for getting them in and out of places. This line of work seems a little too dangerous for a young girl like Taisy, but she has little choice-not that she seems to mind. Determined to escape her slummy life on the twelfth level, she used her acrobatic skills to scale the outside of skyscrapers and lived outside of society, stealing food and water from whence she could by breaking and entering. Her one-girl crime-spree came to an end when she was caught by guards in a Nutriware Ltd warehouse, but instead of being charged or punished she was press-ganged into his black-ops team, where she has been working ever since. Taisy doesn’t mind-anything’s better than the slums.
MR VICTOR BLACKLEDGE, 26
Doctor Gideon Blackledge created the Blackledge Children originally as a military asset, but this treatment of them as second-class citizens was highly criticised after the first series and batch of them came out pretty much as ordinary people with some cases of heightened senses. All Blackledge Children are genetically engineered from Gideon Blackledge’s own genes (although he created females as well as males) but with the addition of various talents and other little meddlings in their genetics. Victor came of one of the very last batches to be made: VC-11. Series V, Batch C, Number 11. He was born with perfect photographic memory, a useful asset, but before it could be made use of the Blackledge Facility was burned down, Doctor Gideon Blackledge died and the Blackledge Children either escaped or were filtered into various orphanages around the country. Years down the line, they are in all areas of society-hundreds of them were created-but still suffer from some prejudice, as all minorities do. There are no particularly powerful or influential Blackledges, as they tend to be seen as strange and people are intimidated by the fact that some of them have slight superhuman abilities of “powers”. There is also a stereotype for pyromania amongst the Blackledge Children because of the fire. Victor looks like a typical Blackledge: pale with a shock of dark hair and wide grey eyes. He’s naturally thin and doesn’t talk much, especially to people he doesn’t know well. There is an intensity to him that some people don’t like, including Newson, but his photographic memory and other certain skills make him very desirable as an agent black ops team. He is the fourth and final member.
CAPTAIN JACOB GRAHAM, 37
A typical gold-toothed pirate, one would think, judging from his appearance. He’s no Captain Blackbeard, but Graham is in fact a highly successful pirate that milked riches from stranding merchant vessels upon the many coral reefs surrounding the Bahamas, specifically Grand Bahama island. The man who was sent to challenge him was Lord Ashdown, of course, and the two have been locked in a mortal battle of power and wits ever since their first meeting. They have faced many a showdown and several times their fights have become incredibly personal, but they never quite seem to catch each other. It’s a constant game of cat-and-mouse that the two of them almost seem to enjoy-although they would still happily kill each other. Swaggering, confident and gold-crazy, Captain Graham is still a kid in many ways, but be wary of him-he’s got a cunning streak a mile wide and has been known to stab even those closest to him in the back to get what he wants. Like all pirates, he’s ruthless, even if people don’t see it right away.
MISS LIDIA GRAHAM, 16
The half-Spanish daughter of Captain Graham has been through a lot in her time-she was raised in an almost poverty-stricken environment by her fierce mother and on-off lover of Captain Graham: Camila Santos. She has inherited the fiery streak from her mother and has a strong affinity with the sea, as she has dreamed of her father’s romanticised adventures since she was a little girl. She doesn’t see her father much, but she certainly does love him, and takes after him in certain ways. Smart and streetwise, she’s a tough little thing that won’t let anything bring her down, but as a temperamental teenager she’s also easily hurt and very naive. Young Liddy becomes targeted by Ashdown as one of Captain Graham’s few weaknesses once he discovers that he has a daughter-this is why Captain Graham advised her not to take his surname, but Liddy refused to go by any other. Her mother Camila is in love with Captain Graham but knows that it is unlikely to develop into anything even resembling a true relationship: her brother Gaspard Santos has been supporting and helping her to raise Liddy for years, and disapproves somewhat of the pirate. Gaspard is married to Noélle and they have two daughters: four-year-old Mireia and one-year-old Rafaela.
COOPER BRAUN, 24
This valiant young man is a modern-day pirate and the head of the raid-parties. The name “pirate” was given to them by the media to make it all seem a little more exciting, but he is happy for it all the same. Aside from the raids on the cargo vessels, the sea-dwellers actually live very peaceful lives, but nobody else seems to notice this. Cooper is a dashing redhead and healthy from the sea air, albeit slightly tactless at the best of times. He can act on impulse a lot, but luckily is usually followed by his right-hand-man to cool his head...
FRANCIS GOWER, 25
Dark-haired Francis is quiet and can on occasion be described as “brooding”, although generally he’s simply a little bit gruff. He doesn’t smile often and tends to get lost in thought, but he’s nice enough and never is actively rude to someone. He was orphaned during one of Newson’s many campaigns against the sea-settlers and has been hiding a deep loathing for Newson and his company ever since, always making sure that they choose Nutriware Ltd cargo ships for their aids. This little vendetta may not be seen as very sensible, but he sees no other way to let his feelings out. His ten-year-old nephew Ciro Machiodi also lost his parents, and Francis takes care of the kid himself. Oh, and Francis is a homosexual-he’s out, but most people wouldn’t notice
PIA REES, 19
This stubborn, fire-haired youngster is spunky and full of life. She’s lived on the ground floor all of her life, and to have survived this long is pretty amazing. She knows everything there is to know about survival-streetwise and tough as old boots, Pia’s not about to let anything get in her way. She partakes in the highly illegal street-bike races (colloquially known as ‘rat-running’ or ‘ratting’) and has also used prostitution as a way of gaining the things she needs to survive. She’s more cynical than most women double her age from the upper levels, and finds it hard to trust those that she sees as “outsiders”. She’s not overtly intelligent and is uneducated, but don’t tell her that unless you want a fist in your face. This girl’s not afraid to scrap for what she wants and believes in-and those she holds close.
SIMMINS ???, 27
Like many of the lower-level folk, Simmins does not have a surname-it was lost generations back and nobody could find it again. People like Simmins do not need a second name, anyway. Lanky, incredibly thin and permanently scruffy, Simmins is not the most imposing of people but he’s a little bit nutsy and has no regard whatsoever for personal safety. He’ll do near-suicidal things if he thinks he’ll gain something from it and is forever getting into trouble. He talks a thousand miles an hour but rarely tells the truth, and often gets so caught up in his own lies that he can’t breathe. Despite all this, he’s not all that bad once you get over the slight issue of his lack of sanity, and he adores Pia Reese: she’s been like a sister to him all of their lives and he would literally die to protect her. Being the fiercely independent thing that she is, she doesn’t like him thinking of her as a damsel-in-distress type that needs saving at all, but the truth is that the two of them have saved each other’s skins a fair few times. Simmins is very thin and very good at scaling buildings and breaking in: therein lies his only strength. Other than that his physical ability is weak and he is often to be found nursing a few injuries from his latest tousle with the Firebirds.
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