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PLAYER INFORMATION
Your Name: Tytaero
OOC Journal: tytaero
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: Nope!
Email + IM: tytaero@live.com ; aim: tytaero2020
Characters Played at Ataraxion: non :c

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Paul Grayson
Canon: Mass Effect
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: Accessing the Data Archives at Grissom Academy.
Number: 037
(any other number will do if this is unavailable.)

Setting:

"In the year 2148, explorers on Mars discovered the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilization. In the decades that followed, these mysterious artifacts revealed startling new technologies, enabling travel to the furthest stars. The basis for this incredible technology was a force that controlled the very fabric of space and time.

They called it the greatest discovery in human history.

The civilizations of the galaxy call it Mass Effect."

[wikipedia] [fan wiki] • [timeline] [systems alliance] [the citadel] [cerberus] • [eezo] [biotics]

History:

Ascension (POST MASS EFFECT 1)

"Paul Grayson never used to dream. As a young man, he had slept untroubled through the night. But those days of innocence were many years gone."

At first glance at his past actions, Grayson may simply appear to be a simple fanatical criminal. Having joined the human survivalist group Cerberus, he was willing to participate in the organization's numerous atrocities to help further their human-centric ideals, believing that the group would lead humanity to it's salvation in an inter-species society. Among these atrocities were the assassination of political party candidates to promote their goals. 

As a starship pilot, he was also responsible for one of the staged industrial accidents over human colonies, Cerberus' attempt to create human biotics. He sabotaged a ship, causing it's engines to release dust-form Element Zero, a volatile substance used to warp spacetime through the use of Mass Effect fields, into the planet's atmosphere. While the result usually results in cancers, birth defects, poisoning or death in the unwilling test subjects, some survivors will emerge with the ability to manipulate Mass Effect fields through their nervous systems(biotics). Despite the implications, he was willing to do what he believed was necessary for the greater good of humanity. 

As part of his assignment, he became the foster father of one of the children - the autistic child that was now known as Gillian Grayson. Grayson grew to love her as his own daughter, becoming increasingly suspicious of the medication he was tasked with administering to her by Cerberus. His distress resulted in him getting addicted to red sand to settle his inner moral conflict. 

He didn't let his personal conflict get in the way of his duties, however, and continued to assist the undercover Cerberus Operative Dr. Jiro in giving her the experimental drug. While it did boost her abilities(after being taunted by another student, her outburst created a Biotic Singularity), it unknowingly began to worsen her autism. After a dose of the drug caused a seizure in the girl, Paul was ordered by the Illusive Man to retract Gillian from the program to move her to a Cerberus facility to continue the regimen. 

At Grissom Academy, he discovers that Jiro had confessed to being with Cerberus, but demands that Gillian be released to him anyway. Hendel and Kahlee Sanders, two caretakers at the school, manage to convince him to agree to a compromise. They would allow him to take Gillian, only if he were to help her escape from Cerberus' clutches by taking her to the lawless Terminus Systems. Arriving on Omega, a space station built into an asteroid, they arrive to meet with Pel, another member of Cerberus which Grayson had told them was only an informant.

Much to his surprise, he was double-crossed by Pel, who captured all four of them to sell to the Collectors(an elusive race of aliens that exchanged advanced technology for specific individuals.). Before this could happen, however, Kahlee and the others are rescued by Lemm, a Quarian on his Pilgrimmage who was tipped by one of Pel's middlemen after confronting them about another one of their kind that had been capture for interrogation. A vindictive Grayson escapes as well, shooting Pel to satisfy his need for vengeance. In the escape, Lemm had to leave his Shotgun behind, leaving Grayson clues as to where they had taken Gillian. 

As they escape to the Migrant Fleet, Grayson asks the Illusive Man for help in retrieving Gillian from the Idenna. While attacking the Migrant Fleet was never done before, but he was motivated enough for his daughter to attempt the task. With two squads of Cerberus commandos, he and the Quarian traitor Golo attack the Idenna(where Gillian is being kept.). Kahlee and Hendel attempt to escape with Gillian, but she fights her way back to the shuttle they arrived in with her biotic abilities(she had been trained by Hendel beforehand.). It is there that she finds Grayson as he attempts to steal the shuttle they used. 

Kahlee, who had been pursuing her, gets attacked by Golo as Grayson attempts to bring Gillian with him to safety - forcing himself to stun her after she would not come voluntarily. As Kahlee is beaten by the quarian, she tries to convince Grayson that he was being misguided, that Gillian was just being turned into a weapon by Cerberus rather than being helped. 

He takes these words into account after noticing that Gillian had become more expressive and happy since she had been with Kahlee and the Quarians. After some heavy deliberation, Grayson has a change of heart and kills Golo, finally accepting that the Cerberus he had believed in had never existed. He also reveals one of the Idenna's scout ships had been rigged with explosives to cripple the ship. With this information, Hendel and Captain Mal manage to reach it and disable the explosives in time. 

 Grayson is brought into custody under Kahlee, and was intended to be brought to the authorities on the human colony of Cuervo. Knowing that Cerberus agents were present throughout all of the human Alliance ranks, he manages to escape and isn't pursued by the other two. 

He later contacts the Illusive Man and personally tells him that he was leaving Cerberus, and threatened to go to the Alliance with the sensitive information should they pursue Gillian or Kahlee, knowing the valuable data would serve as leverage. Although reluctant, the Illusive Man agrees to these terms for now. From there, he would pursue a path of redemption for the sake of his daughter, forsaking his past. 

Retribution (POST MASS EFFECT 2]

"He didn't know how many of the aliens were in his head; sometimes it felt like a single entity, other times it felt like billions of individuals." 

Comfortable with the fact that Gillian was safe on the Quarian deep-space exploration vessel, Grayson attempts to forge a new life for himself and leave his past behind. He returns to Omega and is employed as a mercenary by Aria T'Loak, coming clean of his Red Sand addiction in the process. He also keeps in contact with Kahlee after she returns to Grissom Academy, always being careful not to reveal his location as he carves out a living in the outer fringes of galactic society. 

He slowly grows to be a bit more accepting of other aliens, getting into a casual relationship with an asari named Liselle and being forced to work with aliens as a squad leader for Aria. His calculated, methodical manner had allowed him to rise in the ranks above simple cannon-fodder to lead assault teams and rival gangs on Omega. He had some inner qualms, wondering if being a gun for hire was any different from working with Cerberus, but seemed mostly content with his new place. 

In a twist of fate, Grayson is later discovered and captured by Kai Leng, a top agent of the Illusive Man. At the time, Grayson was used to living with fake identities under Cerberus and had made cautious concessions in case he was discovered. After being assaulted in his apartment, he manages to send all the Cerberus data to Kahlee and wipes his computer terminal clean. Although he was also armed with a pistol, he and Liselle were quickly overwhelmed by the attack team. He is knocked out by stun darts and carried off, with Kai Leng killing Liselle out of his own hatred for other species.  

Biding his time, The Illusive Man had found a use for Grayson as a disposable traitor, and personally visited him after he was brought to a Space Station. Implanted with Reaper nanites, he became the sole test subject of an experiment to witness the transformation from a human to a husk. The Reapers remotely take over as they repurpose his physical body, leaving him trapped as a prisoner in his own mind. Although he attempts to fight back with increasing desperation, it is ultimately futile as the incomprehensible machine presence grows more oppressive. After monitoring his progress for some time, he was to be killed off before becoming too dangerous. The order was never enacted however, as an assault team from the Turian Hierarchy found the space station. 

With the data he had given to Kahlee, she had contacted Admiral Anderson on the Citadel and managed to get Turian Ambassador Orinia to organize a devastating attack on Cerberus' infrastructure. The turians successfully infiltrate the station and rescue Grayson, who at that point was being remotely controlled. The machines waited for the turian shuttle to enter into an FTL jump before murdering all the members aboard and ejecting them into space. Originally, they were planning on going to the Citadel, manipulating Grayson with thinking he would be able to see Kahlee there. Instead, he manages to resist just enough to redirect their course to Omega, where he set up a meeting with her.

Afterwards, he feels more hopeless as his sense of identity is further sanded away, literally described as being reduced to a 'reference library' for the alien minds to use to further their goals. Reaching into his memories, they become interested in the Ascension Project after he began to ponder about Kahlee on his own. Unbeknownst to Grayson(and the Reaper(s?) controlling him), Aria had set up a trap for his capture after being paid by the Illusive Man to kill him. Having captured Kahlee, they were planning to use her as bait.

Oddly enough, the nature of his experiments were never revealed in their deal. This proved useful, as the potent physical capabilities and artificially augmented biotics proved to be the death of the ambush squad that had been waiting with her. With the enhanced cybernetics, the Reaper host was capable of fending off the extensive mercenary forces, but in the end, they decide to flee and hack a shuttle to make their way towards Grissom Academy.  

At this point, Grayson himself could only helplessly observe as the machines used him as a shell to sabotage the Academy. They infected their security and communication systems with a virus, using stealth to avoid direct confrontation. Making sure to stay hidden in the middle of the facility's night-cycle, they make their way into the Data Archives, finding the information the scientists had collected on their students and uploading the data to the Reaper fleet. Kahlee and Anderson quickly pursued, using the distraction Grayson provided to escape as well. 

Arriving to the Station, Kahlee alerts the security guards and tells them to gather all the students in the cafeteria while Anderson searches for Grayson with a shotgun. Having been so entranced with processing the data, their attention was dulled enough not to notice the man approach from behind and fire at nearly point blank. Ripping his side to ribbons, the Reapers blast him backwards with a biotic wave, and attempt to escape with Kahlee, who had been crashed into by Anderson. 

Wounded and low on energy, the Reapers flee back to the shuttle, dragging Kahlee along with their avatar and beginning to change her thought patterns through the host to instigate her compliance. The plan is thwarted when one of the students(who had left the cafeteria) unexpectedly attacks Grayson, knocking them both off balance.  This gives Anderson(having taken some medigel to numb the pain of the previous attack) a chance to shoot him again, with the final killing blow being two shots to the head from a hidden Kai Leng.

Nick had been wounded in Grayson's retaliation, giving Kai Leng a chance to escape(even after being wounded in his legs) as they attempted to treat him until more help could arrive. Grayson's body was later autopsied by Kahlee and the others to study the technology and find some sort of countermeasure against the impending Reaper threat.

Personality:

"You always want to wait, human. It's a sign of weakness." 
"It's a sign of intelligence, that's why I'm in charge." 

Grayson was mostly a cautious, patient, and distant individual. When working under Aria, he was placed in charge of her assault teams for these qualities, reigning in more impulsive mercenaries when tasked with taking out the security forces guarding the Red Sand of the Talons(another gang on the Station.). 

Rather than storm the complex, he staged an ambush and successfully collected their loot. He was also careful not to have it delivered to her directly, as that would most certainly incite an attack. As a squad leader in general, he was shown to be highly competent. When he staged the assault on the Idenna, the Cerberus commandos were quickly decimating the ongoing battle, and would have destroyed the ship had he not had a change of heart. 

Working under Cerberus as a secret operative has helped build up this careful and tentative nature, as he had to forge various identities and keep his own very secret. He even collected valuable intel on Cerberus itself in case he were ever betrayed, despite having faith in the organization's ideals. After he was being attacked in his own apartment, he had already prepared by keeping a pistol in his bedroom and a program set up for wiping all his personal files clean(as well as forwarding the Cerberus data automatically in case of his death.). The xenophobic conditioning of the organization also leaves him wary of other alien species. Although he was growing to accept them as time went on, he still held a prejudice.

The caution and wariness extends even to the people he trusts. Though he had kept a close connection with Kahlee after she had helped save his daughter from a life as an experiment, he never gave out the details of his activities or locations to avoid being discovered. When he was asked by Liselle about his uncertainties after their raid on the Talon's compound, he preferred to keep his actual feelings hidden rather than explain to her what was wrong. Any inner qualms he may have had about what he was doing never let got in the way of more pressing matters. When He had nightmares of the atrocities he committed with Cerberus, but had stayed loyal to the organization until he was fully convinced that what they were telling him was a lie.

This tendency to ignore his gut feelings often leaves problems to build up and weaken his resolve. When he was feeling uncertain about Gillian's medication and the morality of his actions with Cerberus, he found himself drowning out his worries with Red Sand. This thought continued with working for Aria, where he had pondered on stealing some of the Red Sand they had found at the Talon's compound to forget about his problems. Although he is willing to commit to morally ambiguous tasks, he is very much haunted by a persistent conscience when he feels he is doing something immoral. When he satisfies his conscience, such as when he turns his back on Cerberus and helps Gillian escape, these tendencies tend to weaken.

As previously implied, Grayson can get particularly protective of the few things he holds dear to him. This was evident with Kahlee and Cerberus(at one point), but this is especially the case with Gillian. He had grown so attached to her while raising the girl that he was willing to compromise his own ideals and betray the organization he had served. In fact, Gillian in general has had a heavy influence on his life. It had motivated him to leave his previous life behind and attempt to find redemption for her sake, having recognized his previous actions were wrong. When troubled, he often draws on her for inner strength, finding comfort in the fact that he had managed to keep her safe. 

After being brought under the dominion of the minds that compose a Reaper's presence, he had grown increasingly dejected and nihilistic, revolted with what he had been turned into and uncertain which thoughts are his own. The indoctrination was traumatizing, having sapped his willpower and autonomy, mental resistance crushed into submission. Although the damage done was severe, he had still retained some independent thought, which left the possibility of a slow, arduous recovery possible. 

The most damaging aspect of the indoctrination was his questions of identity. Even if the Reaper minds are gone, he still retains some mental conditioning they had imposed on his psyche, and the subtle influences his implants impose. He had typically held an inner monologue with a sarcastic voice of reason that expressed his thoughts, but had noticed that his own patterns appeared to have changed. This leaves him wrecked with self-doubt and uncertainty as he struggles to find what he truly is at this point, something which he already had been grappling with even before being used as an experiment. Although this inner conflict will be well-hidden, it still surfaces as indecision and insecurity.

Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:

Skills: Trained by Cerberus for espionage and assassination, Grayson is familiar with hacking electronics and handling guns(preferably pistols or sniper rifles). He is(or was, rather) capable enough to successfully lead assault teams, and prefers a methodical, patient, and well-thought out approach to his duties. He was also a pilot and is intimately familiar with ships designed by the Systems Alliance. 

Nanite Enhancements

After being implanted with the nanites, the cybernetics invaded every aspect of his person. He would not be able to understand how to use some of these abilities, as he was almost never in control of his own body after becoming a puppet for the Reapers. 

Rapid Healing: This process is involuntary, and provides faster healing due to the self-replicating nature of the nanorobots. Bullet wounds and a broken hand were healed in a few hours. Although the process is highly effective, it requires the host to be resting to properly take effect. 

Sensory Upgrades: Implants in his ears, eyes, and other senses can be activated to dramatically increase their capabilities. The machines often used this to listen in on radio conversation from afar, and spot things in darkness. Grayson himself does not know how to activate them, thus leaving him with the senses of any normal human.

Physical Upgrades: Although taxing on whatever is left of his organic body, the cybernetics can provide temporary bursts of superhuman strength and agility. On the turian shuttle, he had pummeled the members on board to death by hand, despite them being in hard suits. By the escape on Omega, he(being remotely controlled) was quick enough to dispatch a group of mercenaries in little over thirty seconds - through a combination of biotic attacks and physical mauling. Shortly after, he had vastly outran reinforcements in an attempt to escape before his energy ran out. The exertion proved too debilitating afterwards, and left his body unable to directly confront the scarcer security on Grissom.

The upgrades would also be limited by pain and the integrity of his organic parts.  Although the implants were capable of generating enough force to punch through the armor and outer-cartilage of the turians on the shuttle, Grayson suffered from extreme pain as the bones of his hand was shattered on impact. The only reason he was able to continue was because the Reapers controlling him simply ignored it and continued onward with other tactics.

Biotics: Although he previously never had any biotic capability, the implants made use of his nervous system to artificially produce biotic potential. He himself does not know how to use them, but the machines were able to conjure high-level attacks. The greatest example was once again on Omega, where he created Singularities and other particularly violent alterations to deal with Aria's forces. The force of the attacks dissipated due to the distance between them, but in close range they prove to be devastating. Even in the weakened state of their avatar at Grissom, the Reaper-controlled Grayson pushed Anderson away close quarters confrontation with a biotic wave that was described as having the impact of a high-speed monorail. 

These sort of attacks require training, therapy, and careful instruction, which Grayson himself lacks. Learning to harness biotic abilities also requires a large amount of mental focus and physical energy no matter how potent the individual, as it does not come naturally to humans. He would probably be lucky if he managed to figure out how to knock over a coffee mug on his own. A side effect of this is that he suffers from frequent static jolts due to the excess element zero in his system, though. 

Machine Connection: He appears to be able to connect directly to machine interfaces by touching them with his bare hands, essentially being turned into a living conduit of data. His controllers used this to hack doors and mainframes, touching the machine interface and extracting data from it. After a certain point, Grayson's brain was also repurposed to be able to process computer data, although it was mentally exhausting. The process was also engineered to produce feelings of euphoria, with the machines attempting to play on his previous tendency toward addiction to gain more control over him. 

Other Weaknesses: Although the synthetic implants can help Grayson survive severe wounds, he can be killed with a shot to the head like any other person. As mentioned before, certain abilities require large amounts of energy, leaving him vulnerable if he does not take time to recuperate afterwards. Although this is extrapolating, he is most likely susceptible to having his body hacked by a sufficiently advanced AI that would know how to make use of the Reaper constructs already in place. In terms of skill, he never had any particular focus in hand-to-hand combat(having relied on stealth and surprise to catch foes off guard) and would probably be easily outclassed.

Mentally, the Reaper's indoctrination has taken a heavy toll.  Indoctrination often results in decreased autonomy as the machines begin to overtake more of their subjects' minds. His weakened state leaves him completely vulnerable to telepathy and mind control. Any mental resistance he might have had was painfully and utterly crushed under their reign. Had it been allowed to continue, he probably would have been rendered incapable of any individual thought.

As it is, he can still think and make his own decisions, but his will power is considerably decrepit. This compromised his ability to make quick decisions and act as a leader, as he is more easily swayed by persuasion. Psychological and mental tactics would be highly effective in shrouding his mind in self-doubt and confusion.

Inventory:

Two pistols (Hahne-Kedar Kessler models)
Utility Knife

Appearance: 

"Confused and overwhelmed, Nick could only stand there, looking in horror at the half-man, half-machine rising to his feet and turning towards him." 

[facial structure]
(note: this is before modification)

He is described in Ascension to be fairly tall with a lighter build, most likely around 6'2", with black/brown hair. Although he was once a normal human, Grayson's physiology appears to now be in symbiosis with a creeping machine 'organism', for lack of better words. The two are irreversibly merged together. His skin has grown more pale and translucent as a result, which exposes the intertwined black filaments and tubes underneath. Some implants also emanate blue or red lights.

As a whole, he appears to be in one of the middle stages between an ordinary human and a husk. He still remains essentially human in appearance, retaining the different organ systems which would maintain his nerves that are necessary for biotic ability, but is extensively modified. Unlike husks, he is also capable of growing hair. Although he was shaved for the surgery that implanted the nanites, his hair had later grown back in a shagged and untamed manner - lacking any means to tend to himself in a containment cell. (Afterwards, he would take care of his appearance if he had the means.)

Age:  It is never specified, but he is most likely around 60 years. In Mass Effect, humans age slower due to advances in medical technology, with lifespans at around 150 years. It is mentioned that humans begin to show signs of aging at 70 years, so he appears somewhere around his early 30s. 

AU Clarification: N/A


SAMPLES

Log Sample:

The roaring of the Reapers was gone.

There was only bleak silence. Mostly. 

This was the first thing that came to mind as his eyes fluttered open to the blue filter of the stasis pod. Had he finally been so deeply quarantined in his own brain that he was now just some subconscious facet of his own dreams? To be used and out of the way for the machines to perpetrate their brutal wrath on whatever unfortunate soul encountered them? Was the entity even capable of dreaming? Was he?

Grayson could still feel an odd inner tugging as he closed his eyes for a brief moment. The echoed murmur of some godlike being that had it's plaything unexpectedly ripped from it's grasp barely scratched through their connection. If what the Illusive Man told him held any iota of truth, quantum entanglement should have kept them solidly chained together from any location in their own universe. Yet, the whispering that remained was weak, as if all that remained was the incessant chatter of the implants themselves.

He had little chance to further ponder on the thought as the cold fluid was suddenly sanctioned from the pod. All the information from his senses suddenly crashed down on him in full force. He could feel the sudden chill on his skin as he stumbled out onto the conditioned medbay, and a sudden inner twang of ravenous hunger. He could hear the desolate hum of electronics, and the patter of liquid dripping from his outstretched arms. He saw the dark, angular sections of the ship pan across his vision: this was a vessel of unknown make. 

The sudden re-emergence of control would have brought forth a ballooned elation had he not seen the damned pale thing staring back up at him from the polished floor.

"My god.."

He murmured in utter shock as the extensiveness of the implants glowed softly through the translucent skin. Revulsion twisted his stomach as he got full view of himself - the bedraggled mane of hair and simple nakedness that had been twisted and repurposed to something no sane person would still consider fully human. He had been tagged like some animal, an experiment to be poked at and prodded. Number 037. It was after this initial wave of revulsion that he noticed the slight mechanical tinge of his own voice - he could speak?

A comforting tingle of relief served to briefly qualm absolute disgust as he gingerly stepped forward, enjoying the simple ability to put the foot wherever he liked without the tidal wave of repression hindering every thought. He was some horrible amalgamation of organic and machine parts, but he could walk, he could see, he could feel. 

He could think.

He was free.

Comms Sample:

[The communication was brief and well-rehearsed. The more he spoke, the higher likelihood their communication could be compromised. He never really felt particularly social, and his current condition most definitely didn't help. Had it been a general broadcast, he would have taken the time to modulate his voice, but it's intended receiver had already met him in person.]

Recent exploration has revealed several restricted areas. There's something they really don't want us to know about.

[Why else would they dump them on board with so little information?]

It might be safer to just get off on the next station and try our luck with the pirates, something seems off. I'll meet you back where we saw the statue to discuss this further. 

[The message ends.]