Name: Alisa Harlow
Nickname: Tank
Age: 24
Faceclaim: Alizee Jacotey, fmc794



Ability: Mass Conservation and Concentration

Alisa is able to increase and decrease the density and therefor raw mass of her body at will, without affecting her physical form in any way.  This has a number of key effects on its own: the denser she makes herself, the more resilient to harm she becomes, and the heavier her body is.  For example, pushing herself she could increase her mass to several tons, which would render her all but invulnerable to physical harm – bullets would not be able to pierce her, and punching her would be akin to punching a solid metal wall.  With all that mass packed into her small form however, she would likely break through any floor or weak surface she were standing on.  At the other end of the scale, she could make herself effectively light as a feather, such that she could jump and soar on the wind.  In this state, she would be very weak, to the point a gentle shove could break bones.  Her physical fortitude is directly proportional to the level of mass she retains.

There is one other key element to her ability: muscle density and strength.  By default, her muscle density increases with her general mass, which allows her to move and function at the same level of proficiency speed (with some exceptions) as she can when at her normal weight.  The exceptions being at the extremes of the scale – were she to mass several tons, she would have difficulties coming to a stop at a run, not because she lacks the strength to do so but because of the shear amount of kinetic energy she carries.  This strength also prevents her from harming herself when throwing punches – punches that, at high levels of mass, are more than capable of pulverizing armor plating – as her flesh and bone would be dense enough to withstand it.

Through testing, Alisa has discovered that her muscle density is the first to increase when she pumps up her mass, and the last to decrease when she lowers it.  She believes that this is an instinctual element of her ability, preventing her from getting to a point where she could not move her own body, or at worse collapse and crush herself under her own weight.  With practice and concentration, she has begun to gain the ability to trigger her mass increase with a greater delay, allowing her to access increased strength without bulking up her mass, albeit for a short period of time after which point her body mass will catch up unless she drops it back down to her current level.  This effectively allows her to access great bursts of strength and speed – accessing, for example, the strength to move a one-ton body while massing only a third of that – but it comes with a great deal of risk.  When utilizing this particular ability, Alisa runs the risk of harming herself, for if she uses the strength without her mass increasing, she can easily break her own bones, or worse, as they are not dense enough to compensate for her strength.  Generally, Alisa uses this ability to a smaller degree, elevating her strength about 10% greater than her mass level when needed, in order to give herself greater speed and power, without running the risk of breaking a foot or fist.

Weakness: The main weakness of Alisa’s ability is how it is powered: energy.  Specifically, calories.  Simply put, Alisa’s rate of calorie burning is proportional to the relative mass she maintains for her body.  Making herself heavier burns more calories, making herself lighter burns less.  This burn level is not directly proportional, instead functioning akin to an exponential function, and is not always consistent, being affected by her body’s exertion as much as a normal human’s.  By making herself lighter than her standard weight, Alisa can survive on far less food and calorie intake than a normal human.  However, if she pushes her ability and makes herself stronger and heavier, she will burn through calories at an increasingly quick weight – making herself weigh several tons will render her starving quickly, and if she were to hold it, she could pass out from the exhaustion.  For this reason, Alisa rarely holds her mass at an increased level, relying instead on ‘bursting’ her mass upwards as needed.  Maintaining an increased weight burns calories far quicker than boosting it up high for short moments.

Other Special Abilities: Alisa is quite proficient at hand-to-hand combat, having trained in wrestling and kick-boxing in school and outside of it.  In addition, she has attained a honed survival skillset out of necessity, with a fairly broad knowledge of local flora and fauna – to a degree.  She knows what she can and can’t eat, what’s poisonous, and the like.  Her survival skills also include navigation, how best to scavenge abandoned towns, how to move silently, and how to build and maintain a functioning camp.  She has lived in the wilderness and on her own for a great deal of time since the Virus struck.



Is your character a League member or a recruit?: Pending League Member
Occupation on the Campbell Compound: League Membership offered, pending response...

Theme song: Takedown, Blue Stahli (Specifically, fitting when someone’s managed to piss her off)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrHS84AV2HA

Physical Description: Alisa is an unassuming woman at first glance.  Short at a mere 5’4” with a petite build and curves, she is easily overlooked in crowds due to this alone.  Dark reddish-auburn hair kept at a utilitarian short length and a fair complexion and dark green, almost brown eyes give her a charming kind of beauty, which usually holds about as long as it takes for her to open her mouth and ruin the illusion.  Said illusion also lasts as long as it takes for one to notice the finer details; though petite, her body bears noticeable muscle definition.  Wiry arms, abs, thick calves and thighs, and callouses on her hands and fingers, all belying a high level of physical acuity and capability despite her size.

Alisa's wardrobe typically involves utilitarian shorts, cargo pants, or work pants, sturdy hiking or work boots, either a t-shirt or tank top, and an old, worn leather jacket if the weather is on the chilly side.  She was never one for fashion.

Distinguishing Features: Beyond the general level of physique she maintains as a matter of course, a closer look at the bare skin of her arms, legs, and torso show a countless number of small, sometimes jagged scars.  Her face is clear of them, as is her chest and front torso, however her legs, arms, and back seem covered (when she deigns to show it off).  Due to a decent tan and frequent bruising and callouses on her hands and arms, the scars aren’t always obvious, but they are there.

Personality Description: Alisa’s personality is in line with her usual problem solving method: apply force as necessary.  If unsuccessful, apply more force until successful.  She is blunt and straight to the point, the kind of person who says exactly what is on her mind in most situations.  It is very easy to determine where one stands with Alisa, which can make dealing with her a little easier than some… and far more challenging than others.  She’s far more willing to call others out on their evasions or subversions, for example.  This isn’t to say she completely lacks finesse or subtlety, Alisa has just found that beating around the bush takes time and often leads to misunderstandings.  That said, Alisa is generally good-natured and wears a broad grin more often than not; while straightforward and blunt, she does prefer to see the upside of things, and likes to push those around her to better themselves and enjoy life where possible.  It is the best way she’s found to stave off the threat of depression that looms over everyone in this day and age – herself included.



History: Alisa was 14 when the virus struck.  At the time, she worried about her studies in her first year of highschool, about tryouts for her school wrestling and kickboxing teams, and about upcoming extracurricular tournaments for those very sports.  She lived a relatively peaceful life in a small town not far from Knoxville, TN.  When the virus came across the sea to the States, it struck her little town hard.  Looking back, Alisa figured it had to have been brought over by one of the senior field trips, which had just returned from Europe about a week before the first outbreak occurred in town.  Whatever the source, the effects were swift and brutal.  Alisa’s parents and younger sister were all afflicted negatively by the virus, while she herself suffered no lasting ill effects – at the time she had not realized she had been one of the lucky Gifted.  Her father and sister died quickly, whereas her mother became what folk later referred to as ‘Mutants’ before her very eyes, while she tried to care for the woman.

Alisa fled in fear when it was clear her mother was no longer in there.  Only a handful of residents of her town survived the virus with their minds intact, yet none of them seemed to care about her own plight.  They had their own lives to worry about, and so Alisa set about protecting herself.  She gathered what supplies she could carry from local stores, as quickly and quietly as she could manage so as to avoid the growing threat of the things the virus had created, then set out away from the town, aiming to avoid major population centers and – hopefully – find somewhere safe.  Thanks to a hand radio and a meagre collection of batteries, she had heard of safe zones popping up at various military installations across the country, and aimed herself toward Fort Campbell, the nearest one she knew of.

She never even got close.  Between looters, self-styled bandits, and the monsters lurking in the shadows, Alisa was forced further and further away from civilization, instead fleeing east towards Nantahala National Forest.  It was in her flight there that she linked up with a small group of survivors – people like her, whose lives had been torn apart by the virus, people who were looking for a place to be safe since cities had devolved into warzones – literally, she learned, as time went on.  After being caught in the crossfire between factions one too many times trying to reach a safe zone, Alisa’s group fled into the hills of the national park to set up a more permanent camp there.

They were successful, for quite a while at that.  For eight years, Alisa lived with the people in that camp community.  Originally, they numbered just over a hundred, spread out across two neighboring hilltops to spread out their coverage for hunting and foraging, and to avoid being boxed in.  Within the first year, Alisa discovered the mutation the virus had granted her, though she did not share this knowledge with others.  Instead, she used it carefully, learning about it and putting it to use where she could to help around camp.  For the first few years, things went well.  Encounters with mutants were frequent but not problematic, situated as they were so far in the wilderness.  Run-ins with armed groups were infrequent, and though they inflicted casualties, most were driven off or evaded.

Eventually though, things took a turn for the worse.  Food stores dwindled due to the devastated animal population.  Foraging became less and less successful due to the impact on the environment, and the settling of the Virus in certain areas of the forest.  Medical supplies ran dry, and tensions rose.  People began to die, from infection, from accidents, and from altercations within the group, and with other roamers.  People began to leave, deciding they would be better off on their own.  And… people began to disappear.  At first, they went in ones and twos, never returning from hunting trips, or disappearing at night.  Random people initially, until later the disappearances were limited to those who had displayed Gifted abilities openly.

Eventually, long after Alisa had lost track of time, the community had been reduced to a single camp numbering only two-dozen and change, they were attacked.  Of their number ten were gifted aside from Alisa, with her own ability known to only a few close friends.  The attack came at night, and it was as swift as it was effective.  They had not been random bandits or mutants, but soldiers – though Alisa had seen very little of them.  She had thought herself brave and a fighter, but in those moments, seeing people she cared for brought down by the attack in an instant – people she looked up to – Alisa fled.  She used a trick that, to date, she has only used once: she pumped her muscle mass as high as she could without increasing her raw mass.  She leaped, and at the apex of her muscle extension, she dropped her mass as low as she could make it.  The power from her buffed legs launched a now feather-light body into the sky and away from the forest.  By her judgment, Alisa managed to soar almost two kilometers, the winds above the forest propelling her further and in unpredictable directions before she began to drop back toward the trees.  She was forced to pile on the mass for her landing, and came down like a meteor.  Trees and branches splintered and shredded along with her clothing, leaving behind numerous scratches and gashes by the time she finally came to a crash-landing.

Despite her wounds from the landing, Alisa managed to continue her flight, running for a hideaway often used by her community’s hunters.  She stayed there for only a night, patching up her wounds as best she could and catching some sleep.  In the morning, with what supplies she could gather, Alisa set out alone once more.  It has been about a year since then, and Alisa has been more or less on her own, taking care of herself and surviving as best she can.  From time to time, she has met and interacted with other survivors, others who live on their own in what is now known as the Wastes – whether by choice or not – but she has never stuck with anyone since losing her second family at the community.

The Campbell Compound has been mentioned by several, though so far Alisa has not yet made the push in that direction.  She’s heard mixed tales about the compounds, run as they are by the military.  The memories of the attack on her community are still fresh – armed soldiers – and the assumption that even were she to make it there, she might not be accepted in.  Still… with her ability requiring her to burn extra calories to use it, or render herself fragile, Alisa has been walking a knife’s edge in her time alone.  Slowly, steadily, food became harder and harder to find, until she was forced to make a decision: head toward Fort Campbell… or die.