Matthew Prentice
Basic Information
Character Name): Matthew Prentice (Matt, Matty) aka Switch
Character Sex: Male
Character Age: 23
Character Type (Empowered or Human): Empowered
Descriptions
Physical Description: Matthew (Matt or Matty) is fit but not imposing. At 511 and around 160 lbs, hes lean without a lot of fat. The prevailing theory is hat his body consumes vast amounts of calories during his switch, which makes it difficult for him to maintain muscle mass. Thats not to say he doesnt have to work out to keep in shape. He does, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which to minimize muscle atrophy.On a good day, his eyes are dark green and his dark wavy hair swept back. On a bad day, his eyes are still dark green, just a little less sharp and a little wider. On those days, his hair tends to fall out of place a little more. Those who have gotten to know him can usually tell what kind of day hes having based on his hair alone.
He does his best to dress well, even when having a bad day but its probably a tell as well, a tie a little looser (or missing), a shirt a little less crisp, all signs that whatever changes going on under the surface of his skin is itching to get out and they are not pretty.
The same can be said of his smile. While its always pretty, it ranges from a sort of boyish enthusiasm thats almost as infectious as a pheromonal bloom (a prevailing theory of emerging empowerment) to a softer fake it till you make it optimism. In all cases, its stronger in the company of others, like a mask he wears to convince everyone else theyre going to be alright; its actually sincere, its just covering his own, personal fears.
Face or Model Claim: Lorenzo Richelmy
Distinguishing or Noteworthy Features Not Mentioned Above: Nothing noteworthy unless it develops overnight.
Personality Description: Matthew does his best to keep it together. Hes pretty good at seeming together and a lot of the time he is. Thats not to say hes always got it under control, hes actually a bundle of anxiety. In fact, he develops mental health issues as frequently as he develops new powers. He assumes thats related to his genetic makeup, that when his body re-configures itself it re-configures his brain too. Sometimes those mental issues stick, sometimes not and hes fortunate enough to usually know the difference, between something temporary and something with teeth.
His anxiety is permanent (so far), based on a fear of what tomorrow might bring. He balances it with optimism, excitement, and anticipation. He puts on a good show but when he closes his eyes to sleep, his last thought is usually a prayer.
A study in contrast, he begins his day with structure, waking at a certain time, meditation, exercise, a specific diet, a solid routine. It helps keep the mask on though those who take the time to look can usually tell when that mask slips, his hair goes a little astray, his eyes a little funny, his clothes a little less well-kempt.
He sets the notion of routines aside when he steps outside his door, opening himself to possibility. Being anyone in Lookout is a crapshoot, never knowing whos going to bloom, who might be having a bad day and about to explode. Hes not often scared of others though, certainly not as scared as he sometimes is of himself and in fact, other than his appointments with his own doctors and therapist, other than his own moments of introspection and meditation, he prefers worrying about the problems of others. In fact, he finds them much easier to deal with than his own.
Special Abilities
Tier and Stage of Empowerment: Early Bloomer
Description of Powers: Genetic Switch (see Appendix A for the mechanics)His doctors at Genevex are still trying to fully understand his power(s). That doesnt make him particularly special, thats true of most of the subjects who participate in their studies. What does make his special is that his powers change, frequently, regularly and sometimes dramatically.
What is known (with relative certainty) is that when Matty switches from Stage 3 Non-REM sleep into REM sleep, his genetics change. Like puzzle pieces locking and unlocking, his body works to rebuild itself in Stage 3 NREM, his genetics broken apart like a jigsaw puzzle turned out on a table, unable to put itself back together until he reaches the state of dreams. Then, it snaps back in place.
Unfortunately, this leaves him waking up with unknown powers. Sometimes he has a sense of what they are, he can feel them, he can remember dreaming about them or they just plain explode out of him (like the time he woke up and burned a hole in his ceiling). Other times, its a struggle to find out whats inside him, waiting to get out. On occasion (rare, but it happens), he doesnt even figure it out. In those instances, he knows he has powers, he just cant reach them.
Hes never developed more than three powers at a time (that he knows of) and not all of his powers are cool. In fact, a lot of them are stupid and pointless, like the time he grew hair all over his body (his Cousin Itt day) or the day he could talk to fish. Technically, it was more arthropod empathy and the day ended with him arrested for misdemeanor destruction of property for smashing a tank full of crabs at a grocery store and trying to set them free. It did not go well considering there was no ocean for them to get to. It was also the day when he became a vegetarian.
Point being, every day he wakes up to a new power or set of powers, unless of course, he doesnt sleep well and reach Stage 3 NREM. On those days, hes just tired.
Mundane Special Abilities: Matts emphatic though not specially so. Its not a power, its not even a natural ability so much as a gained one. Having been through so much, hes pretty understanding, not terribly judgmental and pretty good about putting himself in someone elses shoes. Hes also good about talking to people and getting to understand them. He can guess and imagine but theres nothing quite like getting someone to open up and tell you how theyre really feeling. Matts pretty good about asking the right questions and patient enough to wait for the answer (even if it takes days, weeks, months, years to get it).
Hes a ravenous consumer of information. There was a day when his brain was functioning at a higher level, so fast that he actually thought he could control time (he couldnt, his mind was just processing senses so rapidly it felt that way). He read a hundred books that day and remembers them all. He also got his license suspended and was fined for reckless endangerment after having driven over 100 mph through town (everything was just moving so slowly). Even when his brain isnt supercharged (which is every other day before and since), he reads constantly, shifting topics almost as randomly as he shifts powers. While not a genius, he had a wide variety of knowledge about everything from history to philosophy, art to science. Hes also got a BS in Psychology and is pursuing a Masters in Developmental Psychology (he wanted to study Biological Psychology but it just didnt click as much). His focus is on Empowerment and how it affects existing psychology (though hes just started and thats more his plan and if hes learned anything from his own empowerment, plans change).
Character History and Outline of Story Arc
History and Background: Talking about getting your powers was a lot like talking about losing your virginity. Usually, the first thing someone would talk about was when, how old they were and depending on the person and those listening, it either made them seem cool or gross, embarrassing or just sad. There were very few stories about getting your powers that didnt end up one of those ways and his was no different, in fact, it was all of the above.Hed actually found when wasnt so important, how mattered so much more. When told you how long someone had been empowered but it didnt really tell you much about what it meant to them, how it had shaped the person they were now. You could learn a lot about someone, even someone who just bloomed yesterday, by learning how. Of course, it wasnt the whole story, people werent that simple, but the how often shaped a person in ways when never would.
For instance, his how was good, it was exciting, it was cool. It was also a little embarrassing, something thats kept him humble since. It continues to be exciting, cool, occasionally embarrassing and always humbling. Its also scary and has been outright terrifying at times, especially since theres still so much he doesnt understand and so much thats still out of his control.
A lot of his life has felt out of his control. His mother was strict, supremely religious, distant and cold. He didnt have much freedom growing up. His world was orderly, controlled, just not by him. In retrospect, he was just a kid, thats not such a strange concept, free-range kids were mostly a thing of the past, Tiger Moms all the rage. Not that she was a Tiger Mom, she expected very little of him, was sure he wasnt going to amount to anything, would probably think shed been right if she could see him now; she didnt think much of the Empowered.
Winding up on the street when he was fifteen, on the other hand, was a complete shift. No freedom to total freedom in the blink of an eye and slap of a palm. Like a ying/yang symbol spinning from all white to all black, it was a shock to his system. He sometimes wonders if thats why he manifested what he did that first time.
His bloom wasnt immediate, it was actually more than a year later. His first year and a half were just like any other kid on the street, getting by, day to day. At first, he still went to school, pretended everything was OK, he just didnt go home at night, slept instead wherever he could, sometimes in the school, sometimes with friends, sometimes elsewhere, anywhere. He made do.
He kept that up a few months and made it through the end of his sophomore year. He didnt make it back to see his junior one.
He was still on the street when he first bloomed. He was seventeen.
Damn it, he thought. Hed fallen into the trap, starting with when.
He was seventeen when he first bloomed. Hed been running with a small group of other kids around his own age, a half dozen in all, each of their stories as unique as his, most of them far far worse. Hed woken up from a dream, a dream he had a lot on bad nights, that he was back home. Home had never been great but it had been safe and theyd had a bad day. Bryan had gotten jumped by some tweakers, his eye was swollen and he wasnt talking. Jenny had gone off with some guy. Matt didnt like him, he was too old for her and a creep but he had a job and an apartment and she was imagining a better life. She hadnt gotten it.
It was a dream he had on those bad days, back home, stark walls, pictures of his grandparents and the Mother Mary on the wall, his mom on the couch watching game shows, him sitting at the kitchen table doing homework so he could go to bed. And then he was falling, not down a hole but down the street, like falling down a flight of stairs made of nothing but endless sidewalks and the occasional wall to bounce off of. The walls didnt normally wake him, that was usually someone else, someone like Bryan or Jenny, shaking him awake since hed be grunting or kicking in his sleep, only Jenny wasnt there and Bryan was out of it on some Percocet theyd scored from Jeremy D. It wasnt a wall that woke him finally, it was a cattle prod.
He wasnt sure if his first manifestation was electrical or magnetic (probably more electromagnetic). It ran up and down his body like he was a Tesla coil. It tickled and lit up the room. It was really cool until his clothes started to smoke. That was the embarrassing part, especially when he tore them off out of fear of being burned.
He didnt stay with the group much longer, especially once his powers started really showing themselves. It was cool, usually, but hed started to worry, sometimes they all but erupted from his body, one time literally sending needles out like an exploding porcupine. It was a miracle no one was hurt.
Hed heard Jenny pulled herself together, gone to community college and was studying to be a teacher now. Bryan was in rehab last he heard, Billy D was in jail and Sam was coding for some tech company. Hed lost track of the rest, the ones whod floated in and out though he asked around whenever he caught up with one of the old gang. Mostly though, they were happy to forget about that past.
But it was part of him, just like his mom, just like his powers, just like his bloom.
Maybe thats why he felt like he understood Bloomers. Hed been through it, been through it all, the good, the bad, the ugly. Hed felt alone at times, seen the looks, the wonder and the fear in equal measure, he knew the feelings inside and out.
Hed heard about Lookout, almost from the get-go and scrounged up enough money for a bus ticket after having waited a few weeks to developed either flight or teleportation, two powers he still hasnt yet manifested. He had manifested levitation once, he could hover about three feet off the ground. His balance was terrible and he had to flap his arms like a bird to keep upright. It looked stupid but it remains one of his favorite days so far.
Hed heard about Lookout, gotten a bus ticket, made the trip and immediately felt like he was home. He got a job (nothing special), his GED, a BS in Psychology and was pursuing a Masters though he had a new job now, one that made the Masters a thing he was pursuing on the side. He liked his job now, working for Genevex, as a peer counselor and intake specialist, working with new arrivals as well as those struggling with whatever it was they were struggling with, helping them when he could, directing them to someone more knowledgeable when he couldnt. It was a pretty good job, it made him feel useful and he really did understand what they were going through. They also helped him understand what he was going through too, after all, he went through it again and again, every day.
Profession: Empowerment Counselor and Intake Specialist for Genevex Corp, Graduate Student
Family: Matt never met his father (and only knows his name, Joseph Prentice). He hasnt spoken to his mother in nearly a decade having fallen out with her when he was fifteen. Hed said a few things he regretted, had snapped after a lifetime of being told there was something wrong with him, that he had the devil in him, that something was missing. She meant his soul, not his genes and hed said something mean in return, something to the effect of if she was so worried about the devil she shouldnt have let the devil into her bed and into her. He might have included a vulgar word in that last part, a word related to pleasure, procreation and the associated exchange of genetic material. Shed slapped him, hard. Hed deserved it though he hadnt really deserved to be kicked out of the house.
Proposed Story Arc: While Matt is happy in Lookout, hes begun to feel that its all a little too safe and hes getting a little too complacent. He spends a lot of time thinking about the new hims out there, those people who are blooming out on their own without anyone to help them make sense of it. A part of him will start pushing for a more aggressive outreach program, less about waiting for people to come to Genevex (or whatever organization he winds up with) and more about going to the source (i.e. the empowered) and offering them a place to learn and grow. He knows thats a bit of a cliche, like a school for gifted mutants or whatever, but he feels guilty and undeserving of what hes got and thinks maybe if he did something like that, maybe that would change.Hes also going to be looking for people who can help him better understand his powers. While hed grown comfortable with the randomness of his abilities, a part of him is confident he can one day get them under control. Most of his current ideas in that direction involve new age thinking, lucid dreaming, visualization, etc. Finding someone who can help him with that is a goal, as well as finding others he can help in the hope that learning to teach them will help him turn those lessons around so he can apply them to himself.
How His Power Works: Every day Matt wakes up (i.e. any time shift or other circumstances in which he sleeps), roll 1d10 and consult the following table.
1: Stage 3 Non-REM sleep and/or REM sleep not reached. No change in powers. Instead he suffers headaches and fatigue.
2: One new power (https://www.bestrandoms.com/random-superpower-generator) instantly supplants any previous powers. The new power manifests upon waking.
3-5: One new power develops (https://www.randomlists.com/superpowers). Any old power(s) fade quickly, disappearing completely within a few hours of waking. The new power takes effort to discover and emerge.
6-8: Two new powers develop (https://www.randomlists.com/superpowers). Any old power(s) fade quickly, disappearing completely with a couple of hours of waking. Each power takes effort to discover and emerge.
9: Three new powers develop (https://www.randomlists.com/superpowers). Old power(s) fade almost immediately. New powers take effort to discover and not all three may emerge.
10: A random number of powers develop (https://www.springhole.net/writing_roleplaying_randomators/superpowers.htm). Old power(s) fade almost immediately. New powers begin to emerge uncontrollably.
Unless the power has already been mentioned as having been developed in the game previously (e.g. Arthropod Empathy), roll a 1d100. On any roll under 5 and hes had some variation of the power before.