Renata "Fulcrum" Hodges
Origin: Mutant? Alien? Inhuman?
[sblock=Background]Renata's not sure what the deal with her powers is. Was she born with them, but they just never did anything before? Was she exposed to radiation? Bitten by a radioactive...brain or something? No idea. She doesn't think there's any mutants in the family, but the reality is that her dad and mom have every reason to conceal such a thing if it exists. Her father is Thomas Hodges, an up and coming politician in New York running on a platform of business-friendly economics and law and order. Her mom is Isabella Hodges, socialite and heiress to the byzantine holdings of her old-money family.
She's done what she can to insulate herself from their world, though she found herself needing help with money for school. That help came with strings though when Tom put his foot down on learning his daughter wanted to go into criminal justice and maybe a police officer. He wasn't going to let his only daughter (though there's two brothers in the mix too) risk her life on something like that. Normally he was an affable, even overly so, guy...for him to take a hardline was startling and infuriating. Even more so because he had her where it counted; she depended on his help for this. It was that or sell her life for a student loan. So she switched to journalism, perhaps spitefully hoping to get some dirt on him or something.
Things went differently than she'd expected though. Crossing the school parking lot after hours on her way home, Renata noticed an altercation over between some cars. Even now she's not sure what she expected to do about it with a year or two of self-defense classes and no weapons, but she ran over to try to help....and quickly realized she was in over her head. This wasn't some drunk frat guy groping his date. She'd interrupted a drug deal going bad...and now there was a gun and a knife, and two guys who very much wanted to make sure no one had seen them.
She doesn't think he meant to shoot her. Not that it makes much difference, but Renata can still see that moment frozen in time, in her memory. His expression one of dawning horror and dismay as the other guy was arguing with him and grabbed his arm. The muzzle of the gun just lighting up as hot gasses erupted from it, pushing a tiny dark chunk of metal out. She can go back and see it again anytime she wants, in excruciating detail.
What came immediately after is foggier. A kind of white light went off behind her eyes, a ringing noise in her ears, a feeling of intense pressure inside her skull. Was that what it felt like when a bullet pierced your brain?
Then car alarms. Like...a bunch of them. All going off at once. Renata opened her eyes and realized she was now standing in the center of a cleared out circle in the parking lot. Every car within ten feet of her or so had been shoved violently away. The pavement itself had a shallow depression pressed into it, like a bowl. The two men were senseless, knocked against the cars with considerable force.
And she felt...good. Like crazy good. A kind of singing high in the blood that came from sugar and exercise and endorphins, mixed with a weird kind of relieved feeling, as if she'd had weights strapped to her for...ages...and they'd just come off. Flashing blue and red lights informed her that the campus cops were coming over though, and she really didn't want to have to explain all this. So she ran.
Over the next day, and following few weeks, Renata found that whatever genie had burst from its bottle that night wasn't going to play coy. She accidentally smashed not just her alarm clock but her nightstand that morning when she clumsily tried to smack the snooze button and discovered that this strange power was both more accurate, and FAR stronger than her sleep-addled arm. Taking a sick day, Ren headed to a junkpile to figure it all out...and it turned out to be a good thing. Far from being hard to use, her ability was too EAGER...it leapt into action with barely a thought, and with force that was hard to control. It was a bit like taking the wheel of a supercar when all you'd ever driven before was a subcompact that struggled to get up hills.
Still. After a week, she was getting the hang of it. And she was getting an idea too. Her dad could use influence and favors to keep her off the police force...but he couldn't do much to stop a superhero could he? Especially if he had no idea it was her. She didn't have to fly around with the Avengers to do some real good around here...and she could do it on her own terms, owing nothing to anyone.[/sblock]
[sblock=NPC Contacts]
Thomas Hodges - Renata's father. He moved to New York from Massachusetts to go to school and stayed there after graduating. Tom has the kind of good humor and personal warmth that seem out of place on an east coaster. He's clean cut, well-spoken, and never seems to speak a word in anger. Moreover, he's a politician. True to form, there's a kind of ruthlessness that lurks under his wide grins and chummy homilies. Not bloody-minded, at least not that anyone's noticed, but just a clever, cunning mind that's quite adept at moving pieces just so...so that what he wanted to happen is the only thing that's left that can happen. He's been moving through state offices, building a record as a 'law and order' candidate who supports 'sound fiscal policy that promotes growth by encouraging local businesses to thrive.' He has his eye on a Senator's seat, though that may be some time before he can rack up the political capital to get party support for.
Isabella Hodges - Renata's mother. In many ways Isabella is Thomas' foil. An elegant rich socialite paired with his 'unpolished' working class charmer. Her family, the Rosettis, are old money in New York and along the eastern seaboard, with their fingers in shipping, restaurant ownership, and several successful jewelry and clothing lines. Each generation seems to produce another venture to add to the family portfolio. A devout Catholic, with many wealthy friends and friends of friends, Isabella has been a boon to her husband's political fortunes. Similarly, his rising star gives her something to brag about to her friends and offers the promise of more status. Like her husband, is accomplished at playing her part, but there's always an element of calculation to what she does. She's more genuine in her relationships with her three children, but there's old bad blood between her and Renata. Isabella has strong ideas about what a young lady of Renata's upbringing and breeding ought to be doing, or wearing, or saying at any given moment...and Renata has different ones. When she was in high school the two could barely speak to one another without finding things to fight over. Since Ren entered college the war has cooled, but there is always still that distance between them.
Bradford Hodges - Renata's older brother. The firstborn of the family, Brad was always caught between the tantalizing allure of his mother's high society life, and his father's gentle but firm insistence that he learn to earn his way rather than have things handed to him. He's finished his undergraduate studies now, and is starting in on his master's work in the business world. A classic 'type A' overachiever, he feels the financial sector is a perfect place for him to get the kind of influence and clout his dad has, along with the money that his mom's family has. He's a shark, a go-getter, and his eyes are on the prize. He's got nothing but respect for his old man, and loves his mother dearly, but his relationships with his siblings are a bit more fraught. He feels like his younger brother is swiftly spiraling down a drain of moronic intellectualism and fantasy-land dreams that will eventually land him in the middle of nowhere. He actually kind of respects Renata's spirit...he just wishes she did a better job picking causes to stick up for, and maybe that she'd bother to get some minimal ability to back her tough talk up with. In his own way he wants them to get better, but they keep disappointing him...and he really only knows one way to try to encourage people, and that's to challenge them, harder and harder.
Dorian Hodges - Renata's younger brother. For whatever reason, Dorian went a different path than his brother in pretty much every way. He eschewed the athletics that Brad excelled in. He avoided class politics or visible roles or extracurricular activities. He's a quiet, low-key guy who escapes his troubles through reading and introspection. Renata can't remember a time they've ever got along. Toleration is the best they can generally hope for. Back before Brad left for college, he tended to go out of his way to pick on Dorian. When that happened she started coming to his defense. Brad never tried to hurt Dorian physically, but would push him around or verbally mock and belittle him. Ren stood up to him, though she wished Dorian would do it for himself more. His solution to the situation was to shrug his brother off, though she could tell it hurt his feelings. They got along pretty well, Renata and Dorian, though their interests were pretty far apart. They didn't hang out much, but sometimes it was fun to watch a movie and talk about it, or ask what was interesting in the news that day. Dorian always seemed to have something to say about just about everything. He's a junior now, not too far behind Renata after skipping a grade.[/sblock]
Attributes 250
Fighting - Good (10) - Renata's been in self-defense/martial arts classes since she was in high school.
Agility - Excellent (20) (reduced from Remarkable by body armor) - Physically fit, athletic, and coordinated for someone her age.
Strength - Good (10) - She's actually pretty strong for someone her size, though she never really thought it was weird.
Endurance - Amazing (50) - It's never occurred to Renata, but she's never had a real sick day in her life, and when working out she stops because it's time to, not because she's tired. She's never pushed herself hard enough for it to seem strange.
Reason - Good (10) - Ren's fairly smart but doesn't pay attention well in school.
Intuition - Incredible (40) - Since her powers awakened, her mind has sharpened in other ways as well...
Psyche - Unearthly (100) - Perhaps the only reason she was able to temper and control her powers...an iron will that has always masqueraded as just stubbornness. Whatever doors opened to unleash these mental abilities only strengthened her mind further.
Health 90
Karma 150
Resources - Good (10) - Renata earns some money on the side, but most of her spending cash is part of her 'deal with the dad-vil' that pays for her school and expenses.
Popularity - 20 (origin and identity secret, looks human) - She's been really meticulous about trying to keep her nose clean, letting no one in on the secret.
Talents 15
Martial Arts (5)
First Aid (5)
Journalism (5)
Equipment
Camera (7rp)
Bicycle (4rp)
Powers 325
Extraordinary Sense (TK 'radar') - Amazing (50) - Fulcrum's telekinesis comes with a kind of mental feedback that gives her a tactile sense of what she's affecting; it allows her to carefully meter how much force she's applying and manipulate objects with some precision. She's found she can also extend a thin 'field' of telekinesis in an area around her that reacts to mass even if she's not trying to move anything. This reaction lets her know where obstacles, people, objects are in relation to her...though she can't perceive details of their appearance.
Flight - Amazing (50) - Telekinesis appears to violate laws of momentum and Newtonian physics, allowing Fulcrum to lift herself and move around using her own power.
Force Field - Amazing (50) - She can, by focusing her will entirely on the effort, redouble her psionic defenses and create a solid barrier of telekinetic force. This can bolster her personal defenses, or be projected over an area to create a sort of wall or dome. The effort of this is significant, and if the force is disrupted there a kind of backlash or feedback effect that is very painful for her.
Body Armor - Monstrous (75) - Renata has learned to 'grab' onto the air around herself with telekinesis and force it to become effectively solid, with tensile and ductile strength limited only by the strength of her psychokinetic power. She has to consciously move this effect in tandem with her body in order to move at all though...and the extra thought that requires slows her down a bit.
Telekinesis - Unearthly (100) - She has no real idea how strong she is. There was nothing in the junkyard she found to practice in that came close to her limit. And once she tore a pickup in half, she decided that it'd be better to focus on how to pull her punches than on finding bigger and bigger things to try to throw around. Renata's actually uneasy about her ability, where it came from and what its limits are. She tries not to rely on it TOO much.
