Bastion
"People don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed."
~Nietzsche
~Nietzsche
Theme Song: I Remember by Deadmau5 and Kaskade
THE MYSTERY
Dramatis Persona: Aνάμνηση the Mantle of Mnemosyne, Greek Titaness of Memory
THE EVERYDAY
Other Names: Agent J, JF, Sebastian, Bastian
Everyday Name: John Francis Sebastian
Who are you in your everyday life? Bastion is the James Bond of SPAR-K. That's not to say he has a license to kill so much as he announces himself as an agent of a shadowy government organization the moment he walks into a room (he'd also argue he is the 'premiere' agent of that organization). Maybe he's a little more like Archer. He definitely not Batman. You can be assured of this because if he was, he'd tell you so immediately.
Bastian is not the only SPAR-K agent in The City but he is one of the more well known, least secretive and most likely to be encountered in the field (most other agents tend to stick to the shadows).
What are some of your flaws and foibles? He's a bit of a showoff, likes people to know who he is and what he does (even if he tends to distort what that is). He's not vain so much as hungry for attention. He also tends to have a disregard for personal boundaries and lack of respect for people's sense of privacy (he is a shadowy secret agent after all).
What's your deepest fear and/or pain? He worries he's making too much up in his head and 'contributing' to the problems he's supposed to be solving. He's worried (ironically perhaps) that his Mantle is controlling him more than he's controlling her (though the deepest fear is that his sense of control is just an illusion and he's not controlling her at all).
If someone saw you from across the room, how would they describe you? Depending on the setting, Bastian can appear as a tuxedoed guy that should be carrying a stack of square chips in some fancy casino on the Riviera or a bit of a rougher fellow on the verge of needing a shave (he looks a lot meaner and rougher when he's like that and doing 'dirty' work). Those with the ability to see past outer appearances will feel a sense of familiarity, as though they've known him for a long time though they'll also notice a sort of ghostly halo, like there are dozens of him waiting just behind to take his place and if they don't watch carefully he (the most solid of the he's) might turn into a ghost as well. Those with a particularly keen eye might notice something dark behind him, like the absence of light. They may also notice what looks like a shallow stream beneath him, flowing around his feet.
THE POWERS
Who Am I?
Type: Subversion
Description: Bastian can influence memories. It's easiest to plant them. Depending on the person, they may range from feelings of deja vu or a reminder of a dream, all the way to a hard held belief. A lot of that depends on the desire of the recipient for it to be real. He can also alter memories, this is usually done by taking something someone saw or experienced and adding small details. When doing this 'professionally' or in groups, he usually holds up a little pen light and makes it flash like a neuralizer from Men in Black (which is a total affectation and not remotely needed). The most difficult is to 'remove' a memory. It's possible to bury one but takes effort and often prolonged attempts and is best reserved for those in captivity or with whom he can establish a long term relationship with.
Mystery: "Is memory a cushion or a chain?"
Weakness: It's impossible to remove a memory, all he can do is make it harder to recover. The effects of a memory change are sometimes temporary and planted memories fade faster than real ones. People with strong/conflicting memories will fight the influence and/or recovery more quickly.
Who Are You?
Type: Divination
Description: Bastion can't read minds so much as read memories. With a sleeping or otherwise controlled subject, he can enter and explore their memories almost as if they were being relived (this often feels like a dream for the subject). With a willing subject, he can enter the memory with them, like observers (and they don't even have to stick their face in a Pensive) and control it like it was a movie, pausing, rewinding, fast-forwarding, getting the director's commentary, etc.
Mystery: "Are memories truth?"
Weakness: Someone has to be 'thinking' of a memory for him to read it unless they are sleeping, in which case he can 'scan' for specific memories and bring them to the surface like a dream. He can't read memories as they're being created (i.e. thoughts) but he can bring memories to the surface by asking someone the right questions (which often triggers their recall). He can only get glimpses of memories unless he can fully concentrate (which leaves him vulnerable and virtually oblivious to the world around him).
THE DEFINING ELEMENTS
Bastian, John SebastianType: Routine - SPAR-K Agent
Description: John lives, breathes, eats SPAR-K. It's his life. That's not to say he doesn't have a life outside the agency, he does, he has hobbies, they just aren't all technically ethical. Almost everything he does (with the exception of those aforementioned hobbies) is tied to SPAR-Ks mission. What is SPAR-Ks mission? That's a secret. It does, however, give him a license to do what he does, carte blanche (so to speak) to do what he thinks is necessary to achieve those mission goals, whatever they might be.
Identity: It's for the greater good.
Weakness: He doesn't really like the 'secret' part of being a secret agent and has a tendency to admit he works for SPAR-K more often than he should. He's beholden to the organizational power structure of SPAR-K and sometimes has to take missions he doesn't really like. He can't erase his own memory and it's filled with a lot of regrettable acts.
Can I Borrow That?
Type: Training
Description: Bastian doesn't really like his life. He does, he wouldn't change it but he often dreams for an 'ordinary' life. OK, maybe not ordinary but different. He's intently (sometimes obsessively) interested in the lives of others. This makes him personable, the sort of person that you can open up to, trust, want to share your secrets with. He's also not averse to stealing a memory or two (pirating is a more accurate term since he doesn't take it away from someone, just copies it for himself). As a result, his head is filled with movies and movie clips taken from other lives. A lot of those are effectively worthless 'feeling' sort of memories that he can watch/imagine/live for entertainment but he also has a head full of various bits of knowledge and skills he can apply to real world situations.
Identity: It's the destination, not the journey that matters.
Weakness: Filled with other people's memories and feelings can sometimes be disorienting. He'll sometimes like/want something for no reason, has biases (good and bad) he has to control, and has a frequent turn to voyeurism (sometimes unwanted and/or inappropriate).
THE HOOKS
My Hook: Someone stole something from me, well, not me exactly, from Mnemosyne. Or maybe it wasn't taken so much as lost. What? Impossible! I am memory, I remember everything and forget nothing, therefore I can't lose anything. Except maybe this since we can't seem to remember where it was or rather, where it is. Mnemosyne seems to think this means someone stole it but so far everywhere we've looked has been a dead end (even the dead end Back Alleys of The City).
What was taken (or lost)? Now, that's rather embarrassing, so we'd rather not say at this time.
THE REST
Me and My Shadow: You could almost call Bastion's relationship with Mnemosyne romantic. At times it's even been physical (relatively speaking). It's certainly intimate, after all, she is the lord of memory and memory is all that makes a man (or woman). She knows everything there is to know about him, good, bad and ugly. He has no secrets from her. He doesn't need to tell her anything, she just knows. Though, like any relationship it's not without its struggles and in this case it's something of an uneven relationship. While Bastian has no secrets from Mnemosyne, Mnemosyne unquestionably keeps secrets from him. This puts a strain on their relationship and sometimes erodes his trust in her, especially since she's been pulling more and more at him in the hopes he'll give into her more but he's no fool, he did that once; he didn't like the results.
Me and The City: Bastian has been in The City just about as long as anyone. Want to compare notes? You were born here? OK, you win. He's been in The City a few years. He joined SPAR-K right out of college. He didn't actually know that's what he was joining at the time, he just thought he was getting a boring government job but he quickly learned that wasn't right at all. He spent several years in training before being sent into town. He knew it was a one-way ticket.
Me and The Mist: Bastian isn't afraid of using his powers openly, though to be fair, his powers aren't exactly flashy. At their most overt they manifest as mental illusions, like a waking dream. He does however occasionally use props (like he's a hypnotists). He's well aware of the effects of The Mist. He's fairly resistant to them, being the Mantle of Memory and all, though he's not immune to them. He's forgotten a few things but he's not sure if Mnemosyne has also forgotten things. If she has, she hasn't admitted it.