Phototaxis

THIS PAGE IS NOT FINISHED. I still need to create Miss Onyx's page, fill some things out here, and post on the subreddit.

Phototaxis

Burnout Beastcaller
The Hunted, Hunting
Not All Mothers Love Their Children
Discord	@suitguy9831
Reddit	[1]
Metatype	Troll (Giant)
Street Cred	0
Notoriety	1
Public Awareness	0
CDP	24
D.O.B.	March 4th, 2054
Age	31
Folder	https://tinyurl.com/hyzbrdxv
Priority	Metatype - A Attributes - B Magic/Resonance - D Skills - E Resources - C
#Max IGs/Ascension	1

Character Information

Summary

Phototaxis - movement of an organism in response to sensing light. A moth to a flame, seeking something that will only cause pain. Isabel Montagne has taken a handle that fits her more than she has perhaps realized.

The runner using this handle is a woman of imposing presence who nonetheless assures that she poses no real threat. She is highly knowledgeable of magical phenomena, and frequently calls upon spirits with a suspicious resemblance to invae. Regardless, her intelligence and utility seem to be worth the team being mildly uncomfortable.

Goals

- Hunt down and kill Ada Mathers.

- Return to the site of West Gomorrah and see what has become of where she once called home.

- Find a way to bring the Invae under her will without losing herself to them.

- Die in such a manner that nobody will ever forget her again.

Background

Isabel Montagne was born in Detroit on March 4th, 2054, 30 years ago. Though, despite being in one of the better economic brackets, she suffered from an incurable case of "her parents were racist and wanted to ignore that their kid is a trog". At least she had the common decency to take after her father's Nordic ancestry. Then, the comet passed, and everything changed. Her, most of all. Ares Macrotechnology has a vested interest in Vhortas and the spirits which call it home. A changeling displaying insectoid traits isn't especially notable, but when it starts summoning spirits with a strong resemblance to Invae, that's when you feed the parents some line about qualifying for an internal project and give them a luxurious stipend to never speak of this child that they already tried to ignore as much as possible. From the age of 12, Isabel would spend the next sixteen years embedded in West Gomorrah, a Midwest blacksite operating as part of Project: Pyro. These years, she spent under the care of one Ada Mathers, a senior researcher who was effectively her surrogate mother. Initially, she was led to believe she was to help research the bugs and find a way to control them. And, well... that's not inaccurate, it just left out the part where she'd eventually get strapped to a table.

It’s hard to count how many times Isabel was taken apart and put back together, just to see if they could glean anything new from one of their star specimens. Each time she woke, she could feel that something was different. Sometimes, parts were taken out, sometimes new ones put in. Probing variables to find a response. Isabel grew cynical once she realized and internalized that nobody actually cared for her here. Despite Mrs. Mathers' words, Isabel suspected she was just doing this to keep her obedient. Once again, the woman felt she was denied of anything substantial. So she schemed. Knowing the layout by heart, all she had to do was wait for, or manufacture, a situation that would end up with her, outside, unattended. And West Gomorrah’s a building full of angry hybrids and valuable research data, so… what do you think happened?

Isabel got her opportunity when a shadowrun targeting the facility went loud and the decker apparently decided the easiest course of action for covering their exfil was to breach the entire building. And when the opportunity came, she was ready. Four spirits bound, one called forth. An escort of five children devoted to her and her alone, forming a wall of astral flesh to let Isabel simply walk out of the building, largely unbothered by the chaos of a bug-filled blacksite’s security systems being disabled.

Ares, naturally, did not take kindly to this, and has spent the past year and a half chasing her wherever she appeared for more than a few months, hoping to eliminate the one who got away. But… Isabel is not a fool, and she knows to keep moving. Thus, we bring her to Seattle, hiding somewhere more permanent over the winter, down in ash-choked Puyallup. And… well. Everyone has to make money somehow, right?

Isabel still holds the ideals she held when she joined the project, even after the perceived betrayals. She’s seen the organization among an invae hive, and envisions a world where metahumanity will never have to work again once we figure out how to trap invae within artificially-grown shells. Until her dreams can be realized, however, she will have to be content just taking potshots at the corporation she blames for a decade of pain.

Narrative Significant Qualities

Positive

• Dedicated Conjurer: Phototaxis has been practicing her technique for decades. She knows how to squeeze the most out of a spirit - not necessarily with the spirit in mind.
• Common Sense: Turns out, spending years on the run gives you a decent sense of when something's not clicking.
• College Education: Phototaxis is extremely well-read. Her specialization as a component of Project Pyro means her knowledge base is primarily related to invae, but frankly, ask her anything and she might know.

Negative

• Addiction (Bliss): Isabel frequently turns to the substance in an attempt to escape the reality bent on ruining her.
• PSC Vindictive: She's on a hair trigger, frankly. Best not to antagonize, lest some poor fool discover the value of caution.
• Changeling: Phototaxis SURGEd into an insectoid form, which nets her a constant stream of suspicion (with everyone considering her Hostile at first meeting). Plus, obviously, the issues that innately come from being a cold-blooded, nocturnal, faintly glowing weirdo.
• Phobia (Tomophobia): Phototaxis has a near-crippling reaction to medical equipment and the thought of a surgical procedure.
• Prejudiced (Ares Macrotechnology): Phototaxis holds a lingering resentment for everyone associated with the company that betrayed her. She’s aware that most had nothing to do with what happened to her, but the red, white & blue spartan still evokes hateful memories.
• The Goat: Her appearance makes it easy to distrust her at first. Frankly, people should listen to their gut on this one.

Run History

Name	GM	Metaplot	Threat	Date of Run
Anamnesis	Zerre	A Quest for Transcendence	Medium	28 October 2085
Sleeper Sleaze	Fangblade_		Medium	26 September 2085
CATastrophe	Eva		Low	20 August 2085
Hopefully Nonradioactive Reagents	Eva		High	17 August 2085
Birds with Clipped Wings	Discogoblin		Medium	13 August 2085
The Wolf and the Bear	Scranton		Deadly	20 June 2085
Catch Us Before We Fall	Fangblade_	Amhrain na Preachan	High	7 June 2085
To turn a tide	TidanShock		Extreme	14 April 2085
Osculum Infame	Fangblade_		High	11 March 2085
Move Ahead, Lay Down Dead, or Slip on By	Fangblade_	Sign of Zeta	High	8 November 2084
Noblesse Oblige	Fangblade_	The Light Before We Land	High	6 November 2084
Operation Opal	Zerre	And Love You Shall Find	High	23 October 2084

Affiliations

Contacts

Contact	Connection	Loyalty	Archetype	Profession	Aspects	Chips
Miss Onyx	4	2	Fixer(N,K,A,G)	Obsessed Arcanist Fixer	Study Partner, Arcana Informant, Infobroker, Trinketeer, Bar Crawl	Even
John Baptise	2	1	Service	Taxi Driver	Reliable, Voodoo, No Questions Asked	Even

Enemies

Ares Macrotechnology, on a technicality. Realistically, the only people who actively target her are whatever task force is assigned to cleaning up escaped Project: Pyro assets.

In Character Information

Matrix Search Table

Threshold	Result
1	Aside from the literal definition of the word "phototaxis", nothing.
3	Searches querying "insect changelings Seattle" yield some pictures taken of a huge moth-like woman lurking around Puyallup.
6	The above seem to be congregated in Hell's Kitchen in the vicinity of a local bar/BBQ joint called The Ashen Chalice.

Shadow Community Table

Threshold	Result
1	No clue who this woman is.
3	The handle "Phototaxis" rings some bells... just some runner linked to ShadowHaven.
5	That handle belongs to a shaman that a few people are convinced is literally just a bug spirit hybrid form who's really good at Masking.

Assensing Table

Assensing tests against Phototaxis take a -1 penalty.

Threshold	Result
1	Subject is Awakened. Subject’s aura has a peculiar intensity to it that makes it difficult to glean anything useful.
2	Cybernetic spinal implants present.
3	No astral signatures present.
4	Skeletal and neural bioware present. Essence 3.25, Magic 3.
5	Gene treatments present. Subject is not a technomancer

SINs

Maria Merian (R4 UCAS). Conjurer living in Hell’s Kitchen, work history in entomology.

Appearance

Phototaxis appears to be a 3.1 meter tall woman covered in charcoal black chitin and an underlying alabaster white dermis. Her hair is long and just as pale as her dermis, while her eyes are an unnatural pale green with black sclera. Each of her four arms are densely plated, which seems to provide her some difficulty moving. Finally, soft tufts of white hair-like structure grow from a number of places where her dermis shows. A faint silvery glow, like moonlight, seems to follow her everywhere.

Clothing

Phototaxis is typically found in a long, bulky overcoat, the same shade of white as her dermis. It's possible she has more underneath it, but she seems to always wear it around.