Brave New World app

[copesetic]

PLAYER INFO

Name: Reiko
Contact Information: reikofanel
Time Zone: Pacific
Characters Played: N/A


CHARACTER INFO

Character Name: Albert Heinrich
Character Canon: Cyborg 009

History:
Albert Heinrich’s backstory begins when he’s already in his 30’s and living in soviet-controlled East Germany. Based on this and through a little math, it’s safe to assume that he grew up during the Nazi regime and WWII. He was likely a member of the Jungvolk, a division of the Hitler Youth for 10-14 year olds. His family was also probably very poor, as was most of Germany at the time.

At some point after the war, Albert got engaged to a woman named Hilda and they made plans to escape to the other side of the Berlin Wall sometime around 1964 (date based on when the original Cyborg 009 manga was released), due to the extremely poor conditions in the communist controlled East Berlin. In order to do so, Albert posed as a circus worker and had Hilda hide in the back of the truck. Everything seemed to go smoothly as Hilda wasn’t discovered and the forged papers seemed to be in order to the border guard. Unfortunately, Albert started to drive off without his papers and when the guard attempted to flag him down to return them, he assumed they’d been found out and slammed on the gas, careening through the checkpoint and forcing the guards to fire upon the truck. The vehicle spun out of control, cashed, and caught fire. Hilda died in the event, having been shot by the border guards on accident as she hid in the back of the truck. Albert held her as she died, having been riddled with bullets and crash injuries himself so severe that he passed out soon after.

When he came to, Albert was more machine than man. Given the designation “004,” Albert found he had been taken and experimented on by the criminal organization Black Ghost. They replaced his right arm with a machine gun, his left with a laser combat knife he can flip out at will, and his upper legs and knees with missile launchers. His entire torso, because of the damage from the crash, was also replaced with cybernetic parts in order to keep him alive. During this time, Albert became incredibly cynical and hopeless. If it weren’t for the other two cyborgs created at the same time as he was, he likely would have simply allowed himself to be used for Black Ghost’s schemes and looked for an opportunity to die easy, but Jet Link (002) and Francoise Arnoul (003) helped him to regain some of his will to live.

Unfortunately, during a battle exercise, Albert’s body began to reject some of the cybernetic implants, causing him extreme pain. Because the technology at the time was not advanced enough and the other 00 series cyborgs were also at risk for rejection, cyborgs 001 (Ivan Whisky) through 004 were placed in cryogenic sleep until such a time as the technology advanced enough to repair them.

Flash forward to 2001 and the first four are unfrozen by Doctor Gilmore, formerly the head of the cyborg soldier project who’d worked on them all and had a change of heart while the original four had been in stasis. Since then, five other 00 series cyborgs had been created and Gilmore convinced them all to escape together. Their freedom was hard won however, and the cyborg team remained under constant siege for quite some time before managing to infiltrate the Black Ghost’s main facility and do away with what they thought was the organization’s leader.

After Black Ghost’s defeat, there are still remnants of the cyborg soldier project to mop up. One of these remnants is the Mythos cyborgs, created by Doctor Gaia, who’s approach towards cybernetic augmentation differs theologically from Doctor Gilmore’s. While Gilmore sought to enhance and improve existing abilities and allow the cyborgs as people to determine how best to use these, Gaia thought a person’s past experiences would hinder their abilities as cyborgs and so wiped the memories of each subject in his experiments, instead leading them to believe they were the Grecian pantheon of gods. The truth is eventually discovered and the Mythos cyborgs die tragically.

For a time after that, the 00 cyborgs’ lives are relatively peaceful, some going back to their home countries and some staying together with Doctor Gilmore. Albert is one of the ones to go home. He works various blue-collar jobs, trucking and the like, and keeps a shabby but serviceable apartment without many creature comforts in order to keep his cybernetics from becoming common knowledge.

During this period Albert receives a call from who he thinks is Doctor Gilmore asking him to investigate some strange goings on in an old castle in the German countryside. Once there, Albert is forced to fight a robotic version of himself, a tireless juggernaut with all of the same weaponry and physical capabilities as Albert. It’s a long and hard battle, but Albert finally wins not through overwhelming strength, but because he had the compassion to save a falling owl’s nest instead of dodging to where the robot thought he would be. The robot’s brain hiccupped and Albert was able to use the opening to destroy it. Standing over the sparking mess, Albert was confronted by Doctor Gilmore, who said he’d constructed the robot to prove to Albert that he could not compete with modern technology and that he should upgrade himself into a more powerful weapon. Convinced Gilmore would never do such a thing, Albert similarly executed the Doctor, which turned out to be a robot double as well.

Some time later, after several other adventures, the 00 cyborgs uncover a plot by the Black Ghost cyborg commander Von Bagoot to utilize the giant creatures possessed of hypersonic abilities of the underground empire of Yomi to cause wars all over the world and profit from them. Two (out of five) princesses of the Yomi people, after escaping from Black Ghost and Von Bagoot's control, ask the 00 cyborgs for their aid. Albert expresses some major mistrust but Joe and many of the others don't back him up, and so the two princesses - Helen and Bina - lead the cyborgs down to Yomi. On the way they're betrayed by one of the princesses still under Von Bagoot's control and are ambushed, causing the party to be split into groups. Albert escapes with Bina after several others are captured and they make their way to Yomi in order to rescue everyone he and Bina coming to an understanding and Bina even developing feelings for the stoic cyborg. Meanwhile, the other group of their friends had been captured by another faction known as the Sa'tans who possess the ability to control minds. Albert and Joe (009) end up fighting, Joe forcing Albert into retreat before they all hurry on to Yomi.

Unfortunately, in trying to rescue the others, Albert and Bina are captured and sentenced to be executed. Luckily the other cyborgs break free of their respective imprisonments and come to rescue the pair at the last moment, leading up to a confrontation between the heroes and Von Bagoot. Unfortunately, Von Bagoot still had possession of Doctor Gilmore and so set up a prisoner exchange; Helen and Bina for the Doctor. The exchange is made, Bina and Helen deciding for the group, and the treacherous Von Bagoot kills all five of the princesses in retaliation and begins to fight Joe, both cyborgs moving at speeds too fast for the human eye to follow.

Albert, deeply upset at the loss of Bina who he'd come to respect and care for, outwits Von Bagoot by listening to he and Joe duke it out. Albert recognizes the sound of Joe's accelerator and so he fires at the other sound, able to land the fatal blow without seeing his target.

Without much time to grieve, the resurrected Skull immediately puts his plan into action, firing a statue/space ship weapon into space in order to topple the dominoes and plunge the Earth into another world war. As Yomi crumbles around them, Ivan transports the cyborgs to safety - all but Joe, whom he sends to the ship in order to stop it, leaving the rest of the group to wonder where he's been sent. Ivan explains he's trying to limit casualties, but Jet (impulsive as he is) flies off to join Joe, Albert calling after him unheeded.

The ship is stopped, Joe successful in destroying it before it could fulfill its purpose, and Jet stays with him as they both plummet back through the atmosphere as a falling star.

AU History:
Since Black Ghost doesn't exist and most if not all of the technology that would have turned them into cyborgs isn't possible in the world at the level it is, Albert's AU history is much more placid. As a child, his family was small, his mother unable to conceive again after a difficult birth. His father was a Sword of the Savior and his mother a Medic; both died of relatively mundane things when Albert was in his 20s. Albert himself was born an Enlightened but other than being a rather inexplicably heavy baby and being a steel/normal type, he's never trained up these abilities very much, instead finding more joy in peaceful and intellectual pursuits.

Because of no World War claiming his parents and forcing him to enter the workforce early to support himself, Albert was able to pursue his education and become a professor of ethics, focusing on mankind's relationship with pokemon historically and in the modern era. He managed to marry his fiancee, who in this case was a ranger, but before they could have any children she was killed in the line of duty under mysterious circumstances, supposedly at the hands (or claws or whathaveyou) of a wild pokemon.

Since then, Albert has not remarried, instead throwing himself into his work in the hope that understanding more about Pokemon would prevent deaths like that of his wife. He continues to spread that message to his students.

Canon Personality:
Albert is the third oldest member of the cyborg team (though the oldest if you count being frozen for 40 years) and he’s had a fairly harsh life, which all serves to make him taciturn. He’s not the most talkative or the most warm and cuddly person, but that doesn't mean he’s standoffish or rude. In fact, Albert simply reserves his words for when they’re most needed and keeps an eye on most things in order to keep everyone safe. Despite his own beliefs, he has a big heart and really does want to see the world at peace even if he’s more of a realist and doesn’t believe it will ever actually happen. Even so, he doesn't find that as any deturrent for working towards it anyway.

The biggest hurdles for Albert to overcome in his life are the loss of his fiancée and the loss of his humanity. The first he comes to terms with during a battle with another 00 series cyborg, 0011, that was sent after the group. This cyborg was manipulated through the use of his wife and child to do Black Ghost’s bidding and when that came to light, Albert hesitated in shooting him. Because of that hesitation, 0011 was able to escape and was short circuited by Black Ghost to go after the cyborg team again, a fact which Jet reminds Albert of in typical blunt fashion. With most of the team down due to a paralyzing poison and Albert slowly succumbing to it himself, the German ends up finally destroying 0011 by hooking his engagement ring (which he still wore on a chain around his neck) onto the trigger of his gun and being able to fire it that way, protecting his team. Or, more accurately, protecting his new family.

During a break between fights with 0011, Albert has a short conversation with Joe concerning trying to bring the other 00 series cyborgs that had been coming after them to their side, away from Black Ghost. When Joe says he’s not sure they should bother trying at all, Albert agrees and cites that the enemy could kill them while they’re trying to convince them to switch sides, but that he wants to believe it could work. Saying that he wants to believe the best but accepts the worst is a defining personality trait for Albert and the way that he works within the world.

His second biggest issue, that of being human or a machine, is addressed in several episodes and he has the same dichotomic view of it as he does of optimism and pessimism, only here it causes him more problems than that view does. On the one hand, he still feels, and he acknowledges that he has emotions like anyone else and clings to the fact that robots cannot do the same in his estimation. On the other, he’s more metal than flesh and even his own reflection reminds him of that on a daily basis. He has to cover himself neck to toe in order to pass in ordinary society and even has to keep the fingerprints for his gun hand on a synthetic flesh glove. That is decidedly abnormal and makes him feel isolated at times. Because of this he has issues sharing his name even while he’s somewhat uncomfortable with his number. He doesn’t feel much like Albert Heinrich anymore and so if someone must call him something, unless he trusts them or has some sort of strong positive feelings for them, he’ll give his cyborg number instead.

That being said, Albert is quite likely to make sardonic jokes about any topic at hand. He is not without a sense of humor and he keeps watch over the rest of the group in a surprisingly caring way. For instance, during an alien invasion, when Jet is staying behind with Geronimo (005) to watch over their alien ally charges and Jet has been going a bit off the reservation, Albert asks Geronimo to keep an eye on Jet not only for the sake of the aliens but also for Jet’s own sake so he doesn’t do anything he regrets later. He’s also the first person to comfort Francoise at the end of the series.

In fact, he shares a special sort of camaraderie with the first three cyborgs, the four of them having all been experimented on and then cryogenically frozen, so they’re all out of their times. Jet especially he works very well with, their powers complimenting each other nicely. Albert proves himself to be fairly fearless in letting Jet pick him up and fly him around at superhuman speeds in order to take out areal opponents with his machine gun or knee rockets, and even being chucked at targets midair and subsequently caught by Jet mid-descent.

AU Deviation:
In this setting, even though humanity is in much more dire straights, Albert is far more idealistic. He's still a realist, seeing the world as it is, but his drive to change it for a peaceful end is much stronger and something he believes may actually be possible in their lifetime.

His two major personality influences take some interesting twists with the changes in the world. The loss of Hilda still affects him deeply and he goes into a depressive spiral for awhile but is able to pull himself out of it through his work and because he isn't dealing with the second at the same time.

Concerning his cybernetics, I plan to deal with this as the game progresses instead of in Albert's backstory. Being a steel-type Enlightened, as Albert levels up he will gain his canon abilities (see below) or similar to fit the world. This comes with the side effect of his arms, legs, and torso becoming metallic. He will be forced to come to terms with this over time and question the nature of his humanity similarly to how he does in the canon series. It will also spur him to delve into the nature of the Enlightened in general in a desperate effort to find a way to maybe reverse the effects.

Canon Abilities:
Albert is a one man arsenal. He has a machine gun in his right arm with the fingers as barrels, a combat knife he can flip out and retract at will in his left hand, mini rockets in each knee, and his upper body from shoulders to waist is metal plated. He’s got a brilliant tactical mind as well, able to sort out opponents next moves or theorize on what will happen next in a given scenario. Because of his predominantly mechanical body, he is resistant to most toxins, poisons, and disease and on certain areas of his body – namely the ones housing weaponry – he can feel pressure but no pain. Lastly, his brain has been enhanced with a translator that can process any language so he can understand it. (I would say just Earth language, but they encounter aliens and can communicate just fine so it could be more akin to the Star Trek universal translator.)

Enlightened Abilities:
Albert was born with the Steel and Normal types but through his Trainer ability of God of War he also has the Fighting type, much to his chagrin.

From the get-go Albert weighs more than he looks and was born with a knife he can slide out of the outside edge of his left hand. This looks more like a Scyther's blade in game than the small razor it is in canon and can be popped in and out at will. To start, none of him is visibly metallic, though if x-rays were a thing they would show that his skeletal structure is metal instead of bone, though still inexplicably functional in the normal ways that human bones are. He starts with the moves Iron Defense and Foresight, as not only can he take heavy hits with his denser than normal structer, but he posesses a keen and calculating mind. Because of the blade in his arm, he also has the move Slash.

At his second evolution, both of Albert's arms will turn visibly metallic and he'll gain the ability to fire rapid projectiles through his right hand's fingers, much in the same way as he can in canon, though the ability functions more like the Pokemon attack Bullet Seed, just with the Steel type instead of Grass.

In his final evolution, Albert's legs from the knees down become visibly metal like his arms and his torso becomes more blocky and inorganic. He gains the ability to fire pojectiles from his knees at this stage on top of his previous abilities, typified by the move Magnet Bomb. If paired with a flying type in a double battle (that is, only when he's fighting alongside Jet), they can perform something like a Flying Press together, with Jet picking Albert up and allowing him to fire his knee projectiles from a height.


Starter Pokémon:
Mareep (Gertrude). The pokemon used to belong to Hilda and she would use its wool to knit sweaters and other things. It's more of a pet and a friend than a battle-ready pokemon and because its an incongruous type to Albert's as an Enlightened, he has issues sometimes with getting static shocks. Its moveset is: Growl, Tackle, Thunder Shock, and Cotton Spore.

Notes/Special Considerations:
N/A

SAMPLES
First-Person:
-What would you say the role of Pokémon is in your life?
I don't really go out to fight or anything like that. Honestly, Gertrude -- that's my Mareep -- is a dear companion. She used to belong to my late wife and I think without her I may not have recovered from Hilda's passing. We healed together.

-What do you seek for humanity’s future?
I believe the only way to ensure the survival of the human race is to find a way to cooperate with Pokemon even more than we are currently. The histories of the war teach us that Pokemon are the real masters of the world. If we want to live and flourish, we will need to break down the borders that separate us to bring a better understanding between Man and Pokemon and prevent history from repeating itself.

-What would you say the most important occupation is within Union?
It's difficult to say what's more important than anything else. Everyone would have a different answer based on their personal values. A breeder might say that those who provide food for the Pokemon are most important, a Ranger would thank those who keep the transmitter tower running and grant him the ability to call his Pokemon, or a Guard might call their own post the most important. It's a very subjective question. At the rist of sounding presumptuous, I think that teachers are incredibly important, otherwise how would the rest know how to do their jobs?

-What do you think your Pokémon respect most about you?
Gertrude and I have an understanding because we care deeply for the same person. I'm sorry, cared. But I think Gerty has respect for me because I respect her in turn.

-A human has attacked a wild Pokémon who retaliates in defense. How do you respond and whom do you defend?
That can be a complicated question. If the Pokemon is only acting in defense, forcing the human to withdraw is the best option. Generally speaking, a wild Pokemon would rather retreat to safety than to openly pursue a battle, though... that's not always the case. There are some wild Pokemon that will ot hesitate to murder a person for the smallest slight. In those cases, it may be necessary to come to the human's defese even if they were the aggressor. In essence, the outcome with the fewest casualties is always the best option.

-You plunge into the depths of the Old City. What is it that you seek from the past? Treasure, technology, wisdom?
Wisdom, definitely. Treasure may be nice in the short term but can't benefit society as a whole and technology is useless without the wisdom of how to use it. Uncovering the facts of the past can inform our present a great deal.

-No Enlightened chooses their abilities - and not all are Enlightened. What type abilities would you most desire to manifest and why?
Frankly I would have preferred not to have been one at all, but it's really not something I would like to discuss.

Third-Person:
To threads that show him in drastically different scenarios:
Connection Accepted: Albert after he first wakes up in the canon universe. His fiancee has just died and he finds his humanity stripped from him. Warning for mentions of suicide and descriptions of body horror.
What's cookin' good lookin'?: Much more cheerful thread. Albert's regular attitude is outlined here, as well as what he's like in a relationship. (This is in brackets, but I write my brackets like prose so it's a secondary option if the first one is too heavy for the mods subject matter-wise)