Allen James

Allen James
Residence	The Calling Port
Nationality	Fenspace Convention
Citizenship	None
Occupation	Archivist
Employer	self-employed
Height	6'3"
Weight	217 lbs.

Primary writer: Bluemage... though very suitable as a bit character for anybody who wants him.

Appearance

• Height: 6'3"
• Race: White (incredibly pale, usually)
• Weight: 217 lbs.
• Hair: Copper, shoulder-length, in messy ponytail
• Eyes: Variable (Hazel, mud-brown, devil-green, or glowing blue w/ red streaks- see 'Splitting Minds' below)

Mundane Attributes

• Self-Reliance: Jack-of-most-trades, capable of, through freakish levels of generalism, working almost anything he needs... and no more. (Upshot: Never has to ask for help getting something to work. Knows enough to make a staggering array of gadgets. Variety and synergy used to replace efficiency. Downshot: Never knows enough to make gadgets/devices as effective as the ones that other fen/'danes get. Reliant on stuff he's created to higher than normal degree (generally will reengineer others' devices, if possible, before use). Needs lots of Things for any sort of efficacy whatsoever.)
• Master of His Domain: Lives near-exclusively in his private miniature, mobile space station (not a ship, but a space station with a bizarre stardrive and quarters for seven). The station is almost self-sufficient, and roams fenspace, searching for junk to use, knowledge to gain, and fun places to be.
• I don't know what they're doing: Near-totally unaware of the current technological state of fenspace. On the upside, Allen makes things that other fen never dreamed of actually seeing. On the downside, they have little to do with the collective technological paradigm of fenspace - his computers are generally incompatible, his drives work at cross purposes with common stardrives, and all his other gadgets tend to cause mutual screw-ups with those of other fen.

'Wavium Abilities

• Your mind and my goop are going north and south: Has a talent for making 'wavium gadgets do incredibly useful things, but through methods incomprehensible to any other person. (Upshot- nobody can steal his stuff, and get it to work, since they'd have to understand it to operate it, and nobody else can. Heck, he can't always understand his own stuff sometimes. Downshot: He can't trade his stuff to other fen, loan it out, or even have a visitor pilot his station while he mans the guns. The only way that other people can operate his stuff is if he's standing there, telling them how to do it - even then, it won't work as advertised.)
• Splitting Minds: Exposure to 'wavium over time has made Allen's physical, mental, and social abilities dependent on frame of mind, as shown by eye color, as a half-physical, half-mental extension of his preexisting mental imbalances. Switches are generally triggered emotionally, but also tend to happen for no apprent reason.
  • Brown: Social. Allen is gregarious, easy to please, and generally a happy, friendly guy. Most of his skills are limited, as his focus is on interpersonal relationships and fun. If he does do something, it'll be done with exaggerated casualness- reading a book while shooting at pirate ships, or setting a course without looking, while talking to a visitor. Generally seeks to avoid conflict whenever possible; if foced to fight, he'll use an absolute minimum of force. Triggered through intensive relaxation, great satisfaction, or cosmic whim.
  • Green: Business. Allen, in this mode, is totally focused on his objective, to the pointed exclusion of anything else. This is the only state in which his entire mental capacity can be focused on less than three functions at the same time. He shows massive intelligence, incredible dedication, and dexterity sufficient to not accidentally screw things up. Situational awareness goes from almost nil to considerable. All social skills are ignored- in this mode, Allen is blunt and to the point, totally honest, speaks in a monotone, and is generally quite rude. He is also quite dangerous, as human life ceases to hold meaning to him. He won't take it unnecessarily, but if it achieves his objective, he'll have no qualms whatsoever about killing or destroying. Triggered through intense concentration, repressed anger, or great need.
  • Hazel: Mixed. Able to interact with others less than Brown, but more emotional, driven, and capable than Green. Notable for its average skills, lack of glaring vulnerabilities (averaged out, along with most of the skills Green and Brown have), and tendency to feel melancholy, depressed, and angsty. Tends to act a bit like a broken-down veteran soldier. Most often seen if Allen is left alone for a long time, but also as a post-stress state after a crisis that made him go Green, or when Brown gets depressed.
  • Glowing blue w/ red streaks: Data trance. Generally seen if Allen left his eyes open while plugged into his station computer, of if his green-eyed self focused all his brainpower on a single problem, which he was trying to solve in his head. This color tends to flicker in and out when Allen's thinking deeply, and only stays during periods of total mental focus.

Quirks

• I can do that too: Chronic multitasking, to the point that Allen can't focus on any less than three things at the same time. Typically, it's more like five. No more than 1/3 of his total intelligence or attention may be directed towards any one thing at a time.
• Oops: Not very dexterous. Effects range from shaking hands to misspelled words, accidental breakage, inadvertently knocking people down, connecting the wrong wires, and bad aim.
• Mental Manipulation: Whenever presented with a new idea, will reflexively (and often, subconsciously) devote brainpower to reversing it, reapplying it, combining it with other concepts, or rescaling it in the extreme.
• Quicksilver: Changes moods almost inhumanly fast.
• Loner: Unable to spend long periods in the company of others without experiencing acute emotional instability. In the short term, must spend one day per week without human contact (three hours per day, every day, or one full day), or suffer psychological problems.
• Archivist: Partially fixated on collecting and storing all the knowledge that he possibly can. Odds are, he knows something about whatever you're doing. Problem is, he doesn't necessarily know that he knows, or act on his knowledge...

Faction

Unaffiliated. Generally unaware of the political state of Fenspace, and thus belongs to no polity, associates with no particular faction, and is essentially a state unto himself. If the Boskonians were polite and helpful enough, he'd do them favors; same with the 'danes, and all varieties of fan.