Cash Wisdom

Born to a world that hates his kind, Wisdom has consistently hid his existence from everyone from the moment he learned how to use his abilities, resulting in a paranoid, neurotic, self-hating creature that could be capable of anything, good or bad. But for now, Wisdom exists solely to do his work undisturbed, trying his best to avoid the moral struggles most human beings take up so easily. With a history of tragedy and misunderstandings, he has long since been burned of any moral foundations he once had, instead prioritizing only his own happiness.

Cash was born to a small family in the middle of a version of the United States, on the west coast, somewhere in Oregon. His family lived in a world where superpowers had long existed, but always on tenuous footing in society, regarded with fear and persecution everywhere someone looked. The world governments had decided long before the founding of the States that the powers were far beyond the boundaries of nature, and had to be controlled, regulated, or destroyed, to prevent absolute and crippling war and the extinction of the human race. Paranoia, essentially, turned Cash's early life experiences inside-out.

He hadn't exhibited his abilities in any great manner yet, but he grew up around a family and a community that did not allow people 'tainted' by the supernatural to live among them. He grew up thinking he was an ordinary human, and came to fear those who had abilities that defied common scientific beliefs. That is, until he reached about high school age. He had an older brother, and his brother started exhibiting psychotic tendencies, but he had no idea what was really going on with him until it was too late.

His brother had an ability to sense the supernatural, and minor psionic combat abilities, and had been practicing them in secret, afraid of becoming hated. He was going to prove he wasn't One of Them, and it all came to a head when those sensory abilities picked up Cash's blossoming powers… Cash was reasonably well-liked, but he got attacked by his own brother in front of the school, his sibling ranting and raving about removing the tainted influence. Cash was panicked, he had no idea what was going on. His powers, which had remained dormant even as they started to develop subconsciously, flared out… and everyone watching was struck into a coma by the emotional and telepathic shock that happened, and nothing electronic would ever function there again, his powers having 'salted the earth,' so to speak.

His brother was not so lucky. Being at ground zero, he got the full force of it, and his mind crushed like a grape, instantly killed. Cash was traumatized by this experience, but no one remembered what happened, and in order for him to cover it up, he told the authorities that it was a superpowered person who attacked his school.

His parents knew better, and could see the emotional changes in Cash. His mother wanted to protect him, and took him out of school to be home-schooled, but his parents did not agree on this and broke up, a problem Wisdom has never really recovered from. He became stoic, disenchanted with society, as he started hearing their thoughts, feeling their distrust. It starting building, and building…

The Northwestern Incident occurred, and no one quite recalls how it set Wisdom off… but he shattered everyone's memory of him. His own parents no longer knew he existed, a mercy he would come to believe, and he fled south to southern California, a more liberal area where he could fade into the background. Even at an early age, he picked up on concepts quickly… He learned how to fight, and how to redirect gang attention, and he learned many practical life skills. He worked up money to go to college, and that's when his past caught up with him.

Having become a social pariah by choice, he had no concerns for romance or friendship, even if it did stumble across him from time to time over the course of his learning and work, his enemies had no way to learn who he was… so it was a supernatural man who found him. A private detective, or a Sensor, as they had been called locally, could smell the death, despair and misery on him and investigated Wisdom until the telepath was forced to defend himself or else he would be revealed. Wisdom failed to defeat this man, and found himself captured under the force of the US government.

And then the prison he was contained at vanished off the face of the planet as a rift ripped open, caused by one of the inmates in his death throes. Wisdom was catapult through space and time, and found himself in the Endless City. Old habits die hard… will he find the peace he always wanted, or will trouble find him all over again?

Wisdom is a stoic creature, acting with a taciturn demeanor, speaking nothing of his past and never revealing what his abilities are, even if someone asks him to. He has no opinion about others one way or another, able to see into their heads and form an objective opinion to survive a situation has left him jaded to the social dance, but he is far from cynical; he knows that some people just want to help, he just doesn't feel he deserves it.

He is not a difficult man to befriend, if someone can get past the brevity in his speech. Since he still weighs a lot of his decisions with his abilities, he has difficulties with those that are resistant to empathic or telepathic influence, hesitant to speak with them because of the uncertainties around them. He doesn't like dealing with the possibilities of lies and deceit, if he can't see it for what it is.

Wisdom is not a morally stable creature, however, and he has no problems with hurting someone severely if he has to. Survival is his primary concern, and he can and will kill someone if it means he can survive a little longer, no matter who or what they are. This doesn't mean he lacks empathy, of course, his abilities making it impossible to remain aloof about someone's feelings, and the aftereffects are often very traumatizing to him if he spends any time alone thinking about it, and because of his habits of shying away from others… It's not hard to see why he is the way he is.

On the inside, Wisdom believes that he is a good person, and he wants the best for people around him, no matter class, creed, gender or species. He cannot always prioritize this instinct, but it's there, which is why he often hides from sight, instead of taking advantage of his abilities.

He has a particular enjoyment for patterns and computers, fixed structures where a result is predictable. He doesn't like random outcomes, and especially dislikes gambling, or any other game built on the prospect of chance and deception. His obsession with computers can leave him sleepless, and he is known to keep his living area flawlessly tidy if he can manage it, though he isn't bothered if he hasn't the time to do so.

Mental Capacity: Wisdom's brain is an evolved brain, meaning it has lost some of the limitations that most human minds have. While this is the foundation of many of his abilities, it is also an advantage in itself. He can store far more information than most people, access it with more efficiency, and he's less prone to headaches or other problems when he's performing strenuous mental tasks. If he were to try to take in an enormous amount of information at once, it would be less likely to cripple him than an ordinary person. On the more spooky side of things, it has amazing defense mechanisms; in the event that Wisdom is incapacitated, drugged, or likewise, and he is not outright killed, his mind will remain active and use the remaining space to keep defending him, using ESP to substitute the crippled senses and Telekinesis to provide heightened combat strength. To put it more bluntly: Even if someone tranqs him, he can, and probably will, kick their ass.

Telepathy: Essentially Wisdom's favorite, or most instinctual, ability, it forms the basis of many of his behaviors and his past. This ability has an apparent hard limit of about fifty miles in all directions; while those within his sphere of influence are not 'safer' at farther distances, once they hit that hard limit, he can no longer detect them, and thus he can no longer affect them. His abilities for this power include communication, memory alteration and straight-up mind control, though these abilities vary in effectiveness on a case by case basis.

Communication – He has the ability to harmlessly communicate ideas, speech, pictures, emotions and sounds to anyone who doesn't have inclination to resist. This ability cannot harm an individual beyond minor distraction; they know that Wisdom is 'speaking' to them, but it won't give them a headache or anything of the sort. Actively, this ability allows Wisdom to convey information at lightning speed, skipping the problem of physically conveying something to someone. It can also allow him to 'read' minds actively: this is harder to do when he's panicking.

Alteration – The unfortunate fact of the matter is that this power can be used for unethical purposes, and one of these purposes is mind alteration. While it is an abominable use of his abilities, Wisdom has employed it from time to time, and he can at least mitigate any residual damage caused by it, at least on the mental front. This ability can alter any memory the brain stores, conscious or unconscious, long or short-term, though the deeper and/or older the memory, the more likely removal will cause damage. This can add new, artificial memories, but Wisdom is not skilled at creating these, so the best he can do is create subconscious suggestions and 'deja vu' memories. (This ability can be used to wipe out a single memory over his entire range in one shot, resistances against his abilities aside. Doing this can leave Wisdom physically, emotionally, and mentally drained for days, weeks, or even months, depending on how pervasive the memory is. It is an absolute last resort measure that he has only done once before…)

Control – The most dangerous of his abilities, mind control can seize hold of a mind not properly shielded from psionic abilities. Wisdom can then force the victim to perform basic tasks, but anything that requires higher brain functions on the victim's part will cause damage as Wisdom's own psionic wavelengths try to overwrite the processes. This damage can be prevented by controlling sleeping people, preferably ones far fallen into dreamland. Sleeping targets can be made to perform extended and complicated tasks. Evidence of Wisdom doing this is more subtle, mostly in fatigue; the people controlled in this way won't necessarily have to sleep off all the time he spent controlling them, but there will be a noticeable effect.

Empathic Field: Wisdom employs a subconscious empathy ability that allows him to gauge his surroundings, and provides a crutch for his other abilities and senses should he be put in tense situations. It carries many functions seemingly unrelated to eachother, but these include:

Sensory Aura – A field of electromagnetic energy projected in a short, twenty-foot radius that provides Wisdom with subconscious information of his surroundings, and allows him to use his telekinetic abilities more precisely. This field is easily interrupted by magnetic interference. It can create issues with local electronics if used too extensively. Finally, it has the special benefit of giving Wisdom an extrasensory warning alarm if something is moving toward him too fast or something detectable is trying to sneak up on him. When used in conjunction with telekinesis, he can 'feel' objects without needing to touch them, making it easier to manipulate them. This particular aspect of his powers needs absolute serenity of mind, or the bubble will burst and render his efforts useless.

Emotion Sense – An odd mutation that should otherwise be a psionic offshoot, this power actually manifests from the empathic field, and allows Wisdom to pick up on the emotional states of those around him instinctively. It also manifests Wisdom's own emotions to those who are sensitive to psionic powers, making it something of a double-edged sword.

Technopathy: Wisdom has the ability to 'command' technology to perform actions that the machine would otherwise be capable of doing. These commands are usually issued verbally, but they can also be issued by maintaining eye contact with a machine, or simply being close enough to snag in his empathic field for long enough.

Limitations – Wisdom cannot command a machine to perform a function that is impossible for it; a car cannot wash his laundry, a computer cannot do a backflip, etc. These tasks while immediately fry the machine, and can induce explosive reactions in more complicated devices. In the cases of free-thinking machines, they can just tell him 'no' and may consider him very rude and pushy.

Telekinesis: Wisdom's powers of telekinesis are iffy at best. He cannot maintain proper control of objects while in a level state of mind just yet and still use them effectively in combat or in tense situations. However, should his emotional state run high, he can create significant damage to his surroundings and even to himself.

Precision – Wisdom can, in fact, manipulate objects with conscious effort now, allowing him to lift anything up to two-hundred pounds, or manipulate an object with the same dexterity as a particularly agile human hand. He can lift water, sand, and compress gas with this ability, though not very easily.

Eidetic Memory: More accurately 'photographic' memory, it allows Wisdom the ability to recall most things with crystal clarity if he's consciously sensing them. Unfortunately, this ability tends to backfire on him quite frequently, and as a result he's developed an 'off' switch to it, to block out any unpleasant memories stored in his head should he need to.

Retention – His memory being as sharp as that means something very important: He is a very, very fast, enduring learner. He will pick up new concepts quickly, and in a place like the City, that means exposure to the advanced science that roams some regions will grant him detailed insight into technologies and concepts that would baffle most people in his home world. If he doesn't understand something, he can find a way to understand it if he tries. It also makes memory-testing games kind of boring for him.

Evolution: His body contains a gene that has created all of the abilities present on this list, and has the potential to do more with the correct conditions. This gene is an anomaly not quite unlike examples from other worlds, but attempts to crack the gene are difficult, as it doesn't seem to contain any rational, scientific evidence that it can do the things it does. This gene has already altered him to some degree thanks to exposure to the City and its inhabitants… and it's bound to do more.

Combat: Mostly just unarmed fighting, Wisdom's quick thinking and unique abilities allow him to fight with dangerous speed. It does help that he keeps in relatively good shape and has decent exercise habits, but the average thug is going to find themselves beaten to a bloody pulp if they cross him. His fighting style is rough, brutal and dirty, not hesitating in crippling or humiliating his opponent if it means shortening the combat.

Learning: Wisdom's exposure to his world left him with a need to get a coping mechanism, and in this need he found he excelled at systems. Specifically, the hardware and software of a computer, tangible objects that he can alter with his own hands. When he got into school, he breezed through and eventually found himself excelling in practices and even able to prove ones that baffled others. With his experience in the City, he has found his niche in the Great Library, and he's steadily learning more and more about computer sciences and the various practices surrounding them, though he tends to stick only to creating and maintaining computers themselves.

Practical Knowledge: He has several miscellaneous skills. He is very good at using handguns, due to a necessity to protect himself in his world. He is very tidy and methodical, capable of maintaining paperwork with supernatural ease, and keeping his living area impeccable. He knows how to haggle without his abilities, if he needs to, when he needs food or other supplies for whatever reason. He knows how to fortify his home and where the best spots to hide away are, should he need to lay low. Essentially, skills that are intrinsic to the well-being of a fugitive in a harsh world.

None at all.

Social Issues: Wisdom, for all of his abilities and insight into the human mind and the world around him, has no confidence for speaking to other people, nor for the world at large. He still gets easily embarrassed by situations he fumbles in, he can't form romantic connections with people because his abilities make it a spooky prospect– he has tried to get a lover or two, but various issues related to his telepathy and otherwise have given him the impression that it's not worth the effort needed –and he has a hard time trusting people in general.

Psionic Bleed: Being a psychic lends to a certain amount of danger to his surroundings… Wisdom's telepathy, empathy and even his telekinesis can do weird things when he gets too scared, sad or angry.

Saturation: In the event his emotions get too strong, and he reaches a shaky threshold and he's pushed over it, either by his own actions or the actions of another, his psionic imprint will be left on his surroundings. This can amount to anything from 'weird feelings' to flat-out poltergeist-like activities, with windows cracking for no reason, objects floating and dropping, technology refusing to function properly, and hallucinations from mundane to absolutely horrific. These effects don't last more than a few days, at worst, in the City, but in his world they have lasted for years, and still do to this day, a fact that Wisdom knows and is constantly running from. He cannot reverse the effects of this after it's been done, because it seems to mute his abilities entirely, but others can fix it…

Telepathy: On the more mild side of things, if he's agitated, people around him sensitive enough to it might get instinctive clues to this without ever really spotting him, like foreign memories or peculiar deja-vu moments. It makes him easy to read, even for a normal person, but it also makes him a hazard in that it can cause paranoia or make people think they're going crazy. This is easier to suppress than most of the consequences of his abilities.

Empathy: If he gets really, really angry, it reaches the stage where his emotions seem to overflow and bleed out into the surroundings. This can incite riots, or drive crowds to their knees in despair or agony, and is a sure sign that he's falling over the edge, and fast.

Telekinesis: While he can do some impressive feats if he reaches this tier in his meltdown, it can mean he's nearly impossible to bring down from it. This hasn't actually manifested yet, and isn't likely to unless he's goaded to it. In the event he reaches this, he degrades to nearly bestial thoughts, and his only goal becomes to destroy the transgressor that caused the issue, or escape from the problem and destroy anything in his way. This can result in significant collateral damage, as his telekinesis is capable of titanic feats when he reaches this stage; shattering heavily-armored vehicles, lifting tanks, breaking concrete, and more.

Enemies: Wisdom has done things that the people of his world find utterly unforgiveable, in some cases, and some will go out of their way to capture him, or kill him.

Bloodhounds: Members of the United States government of his world, these are agents with abilities like Wisdom, trained to track and contain people like him. They have, through indirect means, captured him once before, and they would love to get their hands on him again. They aren't necessarily evil, however, and they are fairly easy to reason with… but they do have a mission to accomplish, and they will fight the laws of the City to do it if they believe a target is a high enough priority. They won't use 'seedy' methods, however, limiting the danger they possess.

Others: There are family members and other individuals such as that who have been indirectly affected by the fallout of Wisdom's life, and would very much like him killed or captured as well; many of the ones who would want to act on this are people with abilities themselves.

Mysterious Stranger: An individual who has, for some reason, tried to kill many powered individuals from Wisdom's world, and succeeded on more than one occasion. He tends to nearly lobotomize existing superpowered people, using their fears and flaws against them to torture them into insane assassins. It's very likely he already has his fingers in the City, somewhere, and his pawns are waiting for the right moment to do his bidding.

Gotta Get Paid: Remarkably more difficult than it would seem, Wisdom is trying to find a way to get himself a proper paycheck in the City, and that means finding a job. That also means competing with many, many different people who could quite possibly best him in his own skills.

Belonging: Wisdom's encountered more than a few individuals with stories he can relate to, so he's become less uncomfortable with his abilities. While he still hesitates to outright tell people about his psychic powers, he's trying to find his place among them, and possibly become friends with a few of them. This is much more difficult than you would imagine, because… he isn't much of an extrovert. He's also on the lookout for people who can relate to his interests.

Survival: The Endless City may be a haven for many, but Wisdom has a lot of people who want him locked in a cage or put six feet under. He's very intent on finding ways to hone his abilities and to learn how to fight more easily, and will be very open to discussions on how to do this.

None as of yet.