Alina Luddite

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Background Information
When your father is a scientist, growing up isn’t always easy - Alina and her brother Ascian are definite proof of this. Dezeel Zephyrs, a mad scientist with little conscience, creator of the I.D.O. Mindflow System, had many assistants. One such assistant was Palter Luddite, father of two, husband of nobody. Chance may have it that when Zephyrs needed some ‘guinea-pigs’ for his experiments, Palter was one of the first men he asked. Much like his mentor, Luddite wasn’t one for morals. Having been saddled with two children after an ‘unfortunate mishap’ with his former wife, he had no issues volunteering them in exchange for getting in Zephyrs’ good graces. The twins were among the first to join the experiments into the I.D.O. Mindflow System, right about the time that Myona and Ares were ‘recruited’ to this cause. However, they ran into some trouble. Although both children seemed to be responsive to the system at first, each one soon shut their mind to it, one after the other. The twins simply did not live up to the high expectations set for them, especially as Ares and myona were doing quite so well. Even so, while Alina fared physically worse than her brother, they both had the strange ‘fortune’ of /not dying/ during these horrific experiments, unlike many others. It seemed like they would just end up being “those failed experiments who happened to live”.

The last part of the experiments under Zephyrs happened during a great unrest among those on Mars. BIS was rising up against them and much infighting was going on. BAHRAM had always been a faction of much intrigue and backstabbing and during part of the change of administration - initiated by Nohman - a separate project was started. Luddite, now seen as another brilliant scientist due to his work with Zephyrs, was recruited by this new project - titled Akert. This project was created based on the discovery of a certain ability among some Orbital Frames to ‘mature’. It is during this project that another pair of Orbital Frames were created - Mayet and Amenthes. It was as part of this project that Ascian and Alina began training as frame runners, with her piloting Mayet, and him piloting Amenthes. Both Orbital Frames were built using a larger quantity of Metatron, under the theory that this was key to speeding up the 'link' created between Orbital Frame and Runner; which would, in turn, speed up the desired maturation effect.

While her brother’s more timid behavior caused him to resist this link as well, Alina actually performed slightly better during the early tests. As they were both placed under more strict military protocols, there was no excuse for mistakes or failures. While they certainly tried hard to turn both Luddite children into nothing more than cold and uncaring soldiers, it was Alina who was able to hold on to her own humanity even in the roughest of times, and through her support that Ascian managed to keep hold of his. This bond between them became ever more important to each of them as the testing of their Orbital Frames continued further. As both Runners began to form the distinctive link found between many a Runner and their Orbital Frame - they started showing mental instabilities, more severely so than normal due to the influence of the Metatron; or so, the scientists devised. To alleviate this stress and guide towards the desired end-result of the project, the same A.I was installed on both Orbital Frames - Duat. However, Alina soon nicknamed her A.I. as Amit, if only to distinguish the two from one another.

Live test-runs became more common, as Palter tried to create results. The more wars and big skirmishes happened outside of the Martian sphere, the more pressure his superiors began to put on him, and he made sure to tell his children about this – showing his anger in ways that could not be considered anything other than abusive. This anger only grew as experiments such as the Mindflow system had been completed long ago - and he had nothing to show for his experiments; his superiors were threatening to pull the plug.

It was during one of these test-runs that the facility would come under attack! During the initial arrival of the Aerogaters, many assault and recon parties were sent to different outlaying planets in the solar-system. Mars was obviously one of these. And it could not have been during a worse time. The tests were finally showing results, and the OFs were both showing readings suggesting that something was changing within them. Both Runners had created that link that had been required, and had dived somewhat off the deep-end in this aspect. The A.I. was keeping the two sane however – limiting the mental depth and connection between Runner and OF -- and in turn slowly developing a level of sentience of its own. Both of the Luddite siblings were called back to the base the moment the Aerogaters showed up as blips on the radar.

The BAHRAM science division, with their units unable keep these new enemies at bay and believing this to be an invasion by new EFA models, did what any paranoid faction would do. Blow up their base of course - not wanting their new information to be given to their enemies. The last orders that came in for the Luddite siblings was to get to earth and join the Divine Crusaders - and not to engage the strange units until given orders there. Alina, the eldest and the more stable of the two was given the research data to store on her Orbital Frame and was to give this to the higher ups on arrival. However, fate took an unfortunate turn. Whilst their escape from the Aerogaters was successful due to the incredible high velocities the both Orbital Frames could reach, the transit from the Urenbeckt Catapult to Earth was not as well executed. Alina and Ascian got separated - leaving him to arrive in earth orbit on his own. Refusing to believe that his sister has died however, he left for the Divine Crusaders’s Earth Cradle immediately – hoping to meet her there.

Things did not end as well for Alina, as her Frame ended up thrown off-course, dangerously into A-Laws territory. With the responsibility of such sensitive data on her narrow shoulders, the young runner knew she only had a matter of time to bury the data as far as she could within Mayat’s systems. She had to be secure in the knowledge that she wouldn’t break under the worst interrogations that the A-Laws would throw at her. The battle between Orbital frame and A-Laws units was brutal. By the time Mayet stopped moving, she had managed to take quite a few of the them with her. It was something just short of a miracle that Alina survived at all. The military doctors went through quite a bit of trouble trying to keep her alive in those first few days, suspecting that there must be more to this Orbital Frame and its pilot than meets the eye. However, after all of the operations to repair the damage done from the battle, one thing remained broken - Alina’s mind.

Many might find it cruel, but the soldiers saw nothing wrong with harshly questioning a girl who didn’t even remember her own name. With her memories scattered due to the trauma from that final battle, there wasn’t much they could gleam from her. Frustrated with a futile effort to force their way into her Orbital Frame, which had resulted in the deaths of at least three soldiers, they decided to put the girl effectively ‘on ice’ until they could get a specialist to survey the damage to her brain. It was in this state that she was found by a Kathron assault party, who were not expecting to come across a heavily damaged Orbital Frame and its runner during their raid. For now, a recovering Alina and her damaged frame have been transported onto the Argama, where her future remains as uncertain as her scattered memories.

Personality Traits
The elder of the Luddite twins, if only by a matter of seconds, Alina tends to have the more stable personality of the two. She had been the more outgoing of the two in their early childhood, before being conscripted into their father’s experiments. Even at a young age she’s always looked out for Ascian, tending to be able to read his moods more easily than others, even when he doesn’t want people to see it. When things tended to be at their worst, though, she needed him just as much as he needed her, although perhaps that part wasn’t as obvious. Her support and her love were always the outward emotions she portrayed for his comfort, even when the world was a terrifying place for her. At the same time, she’s still maintained a bit of that youthful quality, tending to relax easily and simply smile or laugh when there aren’t pressing matters at hand.

The military training they received at a young age only served to teach her how to keep better control of her own emotions. In battle hardened conditions she might simply come off as cold, or uncaring, for the fact that a soldier is to do what they have been commanded to do. While most of the combat she’s experienced is simulations, the one real battle against the A-Laws was enough to show her the price of war. The scars she carries from it aren’t just physical, but mental as well. Inwardly, she has her qualms about doing things that would harm those who had no choice to be involved in such battles, but her training rarely has her questioning these things at the time. Sometimes, there have to be sacrifices for the greater good. For that matter, she is loyal and respectful to her superiors, without the constant vying for power that comes with many that she works with. Rank and responsibility are not high on her priorities, which center more around her brother and her companions.

Such actions might have her labeled as ‘selfless’, but that isn’t truly the case. Alina gets just as much back out of such relationships as she puts into them. Without the love and affection of her parents at a young age, she needs such ties to other people in order to feel ‘whole’. This is part of the reason for her strong relationship with her brother, the one person she’s actually been close to for most of her life. The need transcends just this relationship though, as there is a want to be part of some greater whole. She has read stories about romance, love, companionship, friendship, things that were denied to them as part of their upbringing, so it is something she craves like others might crave food. Then again, like most of her outward emotions, it becomes much more subtle. She’s more likely to trust those kind to her, and more likely to stumble into relationships, good or bad, to try to fill that need in her life.

At the same time, Alina is quite naive about the outside world. There is so much that she hasn’t seen or done due to the somewhat sheltered (if you can consider it that) childhood she and her brother had. There are many places she has never seen, or things she has never done, which leaves a sort of innocence about her that hasn’t quite been squashed just yet. She wants to see, try, and experience all that life has to offer. She’s ridden just at the edge of death, and knows just how quickly this life could be taken from her. So she isn’t about to let a single breath go to waste.

When it comes to her Orbital Frame, though, there is a certain strange relationship between Alina and Mayet. Like her brother, she has a stronger link to her unit than some other pilots, although she seems to have maintained her sanity far better than her twin. Even so, she still exhibits some of the same separation symptoms that he does. When separated from Mayet for an extended time, she quickly loses her sense of reality. Beyond just the physical changes that the Metatron exposure has caused in her, Alina also has some psychological effects, although not to the extent that Ascian has suffered. After strenuous exposure, the world sometimes warps in her vision, losing or gaining colors and sometimes shifting entirely into somewhat artistic semblances of reality. While disconcerting, she can usually still function, although she hasn’t tested just how far it can be pushed before there is permanent damage.

Talents & Abilities
Talents & Abilities go here.