This is relevant...mainly to anyone intending to use the Island as a story setting, passing reference, or home port for their craft. I know BlackAeronaut (Benjamin Rhodes) does, and had a short exchange with Island ATC in one of his early mini-fic fragments. Though I'll be doing my own stories eventually. When RL permits.
Eric Zhu
Written by Acyl
Appearance:
* Height: 5'7"
* Weight: 183 lbs
* Build: Medium
* Hair: Black
* Eyes: Brown
Mundane Atributes:
* Honest Businessman: Eric Zhu is the proprietor of the Floating Island, one of the first true space stations. It's also the pioneer Fen-centric shopping mall, hotel, and convention centre...as well as catering to more prosaic space travel concerns like repair, refueling, and resupply.
* Fringe Fen: Eric is on the fringes of Fen-dom. He watches a lot of anime, reads SF, but isn't committed to it. It's a hobby, not a way of life. This explains why he entered space the way he did, rather than whizzing around in a little starship. That's also why his Island is open to all Fen, but holds no allegiance to any faction.
* Frowny-Face: Serious and grumpy. Or so it seems. Eric's actually got a pretty weird sense of humour. Likewise, he projects the image of a hardass boss...but is really a slacker who delegates most work. His junior employees are scared of him, but the senior crew (and many Island regulars) see through the act.
* Browncoat: Always wears dark and earthen-tone clothing, particularly brown jackets. He is not, however, a Firefly fan, and gets annoyed whenever Fen assume this. Happens fairly often.
Handwavium Ability:
* Born on an Island in the Heavens: It ain't widely known, but isn't exactly secret. Eric is part of the Island. Or maybe the Island's part of him. It's hard to tell. He's linked to the place by a sort of strange 'wavium bond. He's got a permanent background awareness of the station's status...number of people aboard, which areas are busy, etc. If something significant happens, he usually knows when and where, if not what. He can mentally control some systems - the "original" ones, like engines and power. He has a much fuzzier connection to later additions. Eric can see through the security cameras, but usually doesn't. Not because he respects people's privacy...it just gives him a headache.
* Inner Space: There's actually a reason that (and other tricks) give him headaches. His biomod is a physical alteration to his brain and nervous system, sort of an integral 'wavium wireless connection...except purely biological. Well. Maybe. Gwen, the Island's resident scientist, keeps wanting to 'examine' him. Eric keeps refusing; he likes his head where it is. Will, station medic, just gives him aspirin.
* Holy Ground: The downside of his biomod is...Eric can't turn it off. He's always aware of the station, making it tricky to sleep if there's a wild party going on somewhere. Serious malfunctions may well affect his health. Going-ons in the Island affect his mood. The connection diminishes with distance, but that has its own problem...it's quite possible he'll die if he goes too far from the Island. Thankfully, the Island's auxillary spacecraft (ie. modified from the same 'wavium) count as "part of it" for Eric's purposes, making travel merely risky rather than outright fatal. Even in one of the small craft, though, travelling away from the main station makes him distinctly uncomfortable.
* Go Forth and Multiply: The Island's AI, Simon-Peter, is actually an offshoot of Eric's personality. Simon appeared in the station's computers shortly after Eric's 'wavium change. Simon is now an independent being, but he and Eric still hit the same wavelength from time to time, and that's just creepy for anyone else in the conversation.
Quirks:
* Part-Time Beng: Swears in Hokkien Chinese. And Mandarin Chinese. And occasionally bits of Malay.
* Walk Softly: Always carries a wooden stick, about 4 feet long. Since Eric doesn't have a limp, and lacks any formal martial arts training, this is a bit of a puzzle. It's relatively harmless compared to the alternative, though - in emergencies, he insists on carrying an M16 rifle. And he does know how to use that one.
* Get Off My Lawn: Eric does not react well to threats against his station. He reacts even worse to threats against his people.
-- Acyl
Eric Zhu
Written by Acyl
Appearance:
* Height: 5'7"
* Weight: 183 lbs
* Build: Medium
* Hair: Black
* Eyes: Brown
Mundane Atributes:
* Honest Businessman: Eric Zhu is the proprietor of the Floating Island, one of the first true space stations. It's also the pioneer Fen-centric shopping mall, hotel, and convention centre...as well as catering to more prosaic space travel concerns like repair, refueling, and resupply.
* Fringe Fen: Eric is on the fringes of Fen-dom. He watches a lot of anime, reads SF, but isn't committed to it. It's a hobby, not a way of life. This explains why he entered space the way he did, rather than whizzing around in a little starship. That's also why his Island is open to all Fen, but holds no allegiance to any faction.
* Frowny-Face: Serious and grumpy. Or so it seems. Eric's actually got a pretty weird sense of humour. Likewise, he projects the image of a hardass boss...but is really a slacker who delegates most work. His junior employees are scared of him, but the senior crew (and many Island regulars) see through the act.
* Browncoat: Always wears dark and earthen-tone clothing, particularly brown jackets. He is not, however, a Firefly fan, and gets annoyed whenever Fen assume this. Happens fairly often.
Handwavium Ability:
* Born on an Island in the Heavens: It ain't widely known, but isn't exactly secret. Eric is part of the Island. Or maybe the Island's part of him. It's hard to tell. He's linked to the place by a sort of strange 'wavium bond. He's got a permanent background awareness of the station's status...number of people aboard, which areas are busy, etc. If something significant happens, he usually knows when and where, if not what. He can mentally control some systems - the "original" ones, like engines and power. He has a much fuzzier connection to later additions. Eric can see through the security cameras, but usually doesn't. Not because he respects people's privacy...it just gives him a headache.
* Inner Space: There's actually a reason that (and other tricks) give him headaches. His biomod is a physical alteration to his brain and nervous system, sort of an integral 'wavium wireless connection...except purely biological. Well. Maybe. Gwen, the Island's resident scientist, keeps wanting to 'examine' him. Eric keeps refusing; he likes his head where it is. Will, station medic, just gives him aspirin.
* Holy Ground: The downside of his biomod is...Eric can't turn it off. He's always aware of the station, making it tricky to sleep if there's a wild party going on somewhere. Serious malfunctions may well affect his health. Going-ons in the Island affect his mood. The connection diminishes with distance, but that has its own problem...it's quite possible he'll die if he goes too far from the Island. Thankfully, the Island's auxillary spacecraft (ie. modified from the same 'wavium) count as "part of it" for Eric's purposes, making travel merely risky rather than outright fatal. Even in one of the small craft, though, travelling away from the main station makes him distinctly uncomfortable.
* Go Forth and Multiply: The Island's AI, Simon-Peter, is actually an offshoot of Eric's personality. Simon appeared in the station's computers shortly after Eric's 'wavium change. Simon is now an independent being, but he and Eric still hit the same wavelength from time to time, and that's just creepy for anyone else in the conversation.
Quirks:
* Part-Time Beng: Swears in Hokkien Chinese. And Mandarin Chinese. And occasionally bits of Malay.
* Walk Softly: Always carries a wooden stick, about 4 feet long. Since Eric doesn't have a limp, and lacks any formal martial arts training, this is a bit of a puzzle. It's relatively harmless compared to the alternative, though - in emergencies, he insists on carrying an M16 rifle. And he does know how to use that one.
* Get Off My Lawn: Eric does not react well to threats against his station. He reacts even worse to threats against his people.
-- Acyl