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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Davies" data-source="post: 8484757" data-attributes="member: 30538">Max Ryan<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-pGmWjZH/0/a1d4a69d/M/winch-M.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />When Howard Ryan, one of the founders of Argus Security who had acrimoniously broken with the company, passed away in 2008, there was understandable speculation about what was to become of his business empire, as he had no known family following the death of his daughter Bethany in the assault by Cerebron, seven year prior. It lasted less than a single news cycle before Ryan's attorneys announced that they had discovered a distant cousin, one Maxime Ryan, a resident of Anchorage, who was now the sole heir to all of Ryan's wealth. Now the speculation focused on who this hitherto anonymous person was, and what he was going to do.The first one of those is something Max would like to know himself. His earliest memories are of growing up in a Catholic-run orphanage in Fairbanks, Alaska, under the name Maxime Philippe, trying and usually failing to stay out of trouble and hoping that someone would eventually adopt him. That never happened, and at eighteen he was released into the world with a basic education and no real prospects. He decided to hitchhike his way to Fairbanks, throwing himself on the mercy of fate to see what the world would make of him.Fate threw him a curve in that he happened on the scene of an automobile breakdown, and offered his assistance to the elderly couple who were trying to determine what had gone wrong with their car. Max had paid attention in shop class, and was able to get it up and running again, and they offered to repay him by taking him the rest of the way to Fairbanks. After spending the trip there talking with Gregory and Cara Ryan, they further offered him a place to stay until such time as he found his footing. It was more charity than Max had ever expected to find, and he agreed.Five months later, he had all but become the child these two had never had, and Max and Gregory were both devastated when Cara passed away after a sudden stroke. Gregory didn't outlive his wife by more than a few weeks, but lived long enough to change his will to declare Max to be his sole heir, leaving him the house. Grieving, Max adopted the name of these two good people as his own, and continued to look for work that he hoped would let him maintain the only real home he'd ever known.One month after that, the attorneys for the Ryan estate contacted him. Gregory had been the unknowing uncle of Howard Ryan, and so Max was now also the heir to the Ryan fortune. Dazed by these sudden changes in his circumstances, Max found himself waiting for the other shoe to drop. The good luck of meeting people he had come to care about had been balanced out by their sudden loss, and he wondered what would balance out this sudden wealth. It would probably be something horrifying.He was right. The first thing that he was shown after being taken to New York was a video message from the late Howard Ryan, recorded shortly before the man died. In it, Howard explained that he was placing the business empire he had created in the hands of his cousin so that he could take care of it until he fulfilled a last request. "Find my daughter," said the recording. He believed and presented evidence that he proved that someone had kidnapped Bethany Ryan during the chaos in 2001, and had held her hostage ever since. If his young cousin succeeded in this quest, he would receive a generous gift that would let him live in luxury for the rest of his life. If he chose to abandon it, or failed, however, the lawyers would see to it that he lost everything.The simplest thing would have been to just give up at that point, and return to Alaska. But this girl whom he had never met was tied to two people whom he genuinely admired, and so the harder course of action was clearly the right one. Max took up the gauntlet thrown down before him, and began a search that has lasted right up until the present day. In the course of these activities, he has also had to work to protect his financial holdings from a variety of other enemies, whether mundane or superpower. So far, his cunning, guts and sheer luck have all kept him going despite this opposition.While not a superpower by any stretch, Max has taken advantage of his wealth to acquire highly advanced technological devices that assist him in his exploits. He also maintains something of a secret identity. In order to get people to underestimate him, he acts much more brashly and impetuously than he actually is, behaving as though the danger and excitement of his life is what he enjoys and he cares about nothing but his money. His true character is known only to attorney Robert Oldcastle, who has been retained to monitor Max's attempts to find Bethany. Max and Oldcastle have an uneasy alliance; as long as the lawyer believes that Max is sincerely doing all that he can do to fulfill the honestly impossible task he was given, Oldcastle will refrain from starting procedures to have Max removed from his position.However, it has been more than a decade since this whole affair began, and Oldcastle is running out of patience -- or more accurately, time. If Max cannot produce some genuine results before Oldcastle retires from practice, in less than five years, it seems likely that whoever succeeds him in handling this case will be much more inclined to declare the quest has ended in failure. (Oldcastle has not issued any ultimatums, but he has not hidden the fact that many of the younger associates in his firm look forward to getting to do that.)Max clearly needs help if he is to do what he agreed to do, but who can he trust with this problem?Max Ryan -- PL 7Abilities:STR 2 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 3 | INT 2 | AWE 1 | PRE 3Powers:Cool Shades: Senses 5 (direction sense, time sense, tracking infravision, ultravision); Removable (-1 point) - 4 pointsAdvantages:Attractive, Benefit 4 (Multimillionaire), Daze (Deception), Defensive Roll, Equipment 8, Evasion 2, Fearless, Improved Initiative, Language (French, [English is assumed to be native]), Ranged Attack 4, Seize Initiative, Taunt.Equipment:Concealed protection (Protection 2, Subtle), hoverboard (Speed 6), meta-taser (Ranged Affliction 5 [Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated), and 11 points of equipment as needed.Fortified Home: Size Medium; Toughness 10; Features Communications, Computer, Library, Living Space, Power System, Security System 2 - 10 pointsSkills:Acrobatics 7 (+9), Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+6), Deception 7 (+10), Expertise: Business 5 (+7), Expertise: Civics 4 (+6), Insight 4 (+5), Investigation 4 (+6), Perception 7 (+8), Persuasion 8 (+11), Ranged Combat: Meta-Taser 2 (+5), Stealth 5 (+7), Technology 4 (+6), Vehicles 4 (+7).Offense:Initiative +6Unarmed +6 (Close Damage 2)Meta-Taser +9 (Ranged Fortitude 5)Defenses:Dodge 8, Parry 6, Fortitude 4, Toughness 6/4/2, Will 5Totals:Abilities 36 + Powers 4 + Advantages 26 + Skills 32 + Defenses 14 = 112 pointsOffensive PL: 7Defensive PL: 7Resistance PL: 5Skill PL: 6Complications:Responsibility--Motivation. Reputation (thrillseeking jerk.) Secret.</blockquote>

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