Helena Shepherd
 Helena Shepherd |
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| Helena Shepherd (Scenesys ID: 2958) | |||
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| Profile | |||
| Name: | Dr. Helena Marie Shepherd | ||
| Superalias: | |||
| Gender: | Female | ||
| Species: | Mutant | ||
| Occupation: | Research Scientist | ||
| Citizenship: | United States | ||
| Residence: | Currently Relocating | ||
| Education: | PhD. Genetics | ||
| Theme: | Original (OC) | ||
| Groups: | |||
| Details | |||
| Apparent Age: | 35 | Actual Age: | 35 |
| Date of Birth | 29 Sep 1985 | Played By | |
| Height: | 5'2" (157 cm) | Weight: | 121 lb (54.9 kg) |
| Hair Color: | Brown | Eye Color: | Blue |
| Twitter: | |||
| Theme Song: | |||
Contents
Character Info
Profile
While she is no-one's hot young up and coming scientist, that is only because Dr. Helena Marie Shepherd has been forged and hardened into the steel of a finished professional with a history and a career. And yet, the woman is still a dreamer who loves her comic books and anime, never loosing sight of what was at once an escape and an inspiration. From crafting her own specialized instruments to aid in her research to writing specialized software for her devices and using CRISPR in the field of biotech to isolate and better understand the X-gene, she has been at the center of controversy that her time with SWORD helped to deflect. Her unwillingness to compromise her morals leading her to 'let' an alien 'sample' escape destroyed her place with SWORD and led to her voluntary dismissal from their ranks.
Timeline
Timeline:
September 29, 1985 - Helena was born to Ada and Frederick Shepherd. She had a mostly uneventful childhood despite her father's visible but mostly innocuous physical mutant trait of serpent-like eyes that let him see spectra of light energy normal humans could not. Helena was always somewhat socially awkward with others her age because of her intellect and interests but was given a good grounding by parents who cared and guided her the best they could.
February 12, 2001 - Helena was subjected to the horrors and bigotry of mankind when her parents were brutally murdered in front of her by an anti-Mutant militia named Pure Hope. She survived because of the intervention of an un-named teleporter, likely also a mutant, whom had been intent on saving her parents from the attack. Of course, he had arrived too late for them. Unwilling to give up his own identity, the cowled man left her with child protective services and 'jumped' out of her life as abruptly as he had entered.
September 29, 2003 - Helena turned 18 after two years of floating through the foster care system. She saw both brutality and compassion in equal measure as she was bounced between as many as 8 homes, but escaped into an obsession with super heroes and the media she loved while planning her future path as a scientist to better understand mutants like her father and advocate for their rights from a place of knowledge.
May 24, 2009 - Helena graduates college on a full ride scholarship with a PhD. in Genetics. Though far from her only discipline, genetics is her forte' and her thesis gains the attention of both Professor Xavier and the Govenment Organization for protection against extraterrestrial threats, SWORD. This is because she has drawn evidence based and peer reviewed conclusions about how the X gene compares and contrasts with meta abilities in extraterrestrials, lending a fresh perspective on the 'Mutant issue'. However, her outspoken nature led to trouble.
July 4, 2009 - Shortly after public outcry against her conclusions that Mutants are simply humanity's next step result in death threats and attempts on her life Helena is taken into SWORD's employ. The agency shielded against the bad press and scrutiny, managing to make her fall out of public view as quickly as she had emerged into it.
March 3, 2020 - For a little over a decade Helena worked for SWORD, loyally and with dedication. However she grew more and more demoralized by their methods as she found out where the gentic samples for various 'Extraterrestrial threats' were coming from. Most of the prisoners she met had violent intent. But then she met a Durlan child maintaining a human form whose eyes reminded her of her own on the day her parents were killed.
April 15, 2020 - After Elra escaped to rejoin her remaining parent, the security report spoke of subject 09187 having slipped out in the guise of a young lab technician that worked with Helena. Scrutiny over the security footage, eye witness accounts, and forensic evidence could not place any verifiable blame on Helena but her obvious sympathies towards the extraterrestrial shape-shifter as well as the complexity of the escape plan which delivered the subject into the waiting hands of her father who had been waiting for an opportunity to rescue his child did not look favorable for her either.
June 3, 2021 - After over a year of incarceration on suspicion of being an accessory to the escape of Subject 09187, much of which was due to a department head who was both an anti-alien and anti-mutant bigot who despised Helena for her father having been a mutant even prior to the escape, Helena was released due to an order from higher in the chain of command. She immediately turned in her resignation and, to her surprise, was allowed to walk free from the organization.
IC Journal
{{{ICJournal}}}
Personality
Mutant Rights Activist:
Helena will not tolerate anti-mutant sentiment. Nothing will earn her ire faster (except maybe clubbing a kitten or the like). She is not aware she carries an X-gene, but that does not make her less prone to defend Mutants. Some of it is what happened to her father, some of it is simply her sense of what she feels is just. Anger, however, can blind her to what is best and cause her to make stupid mistakes in her defense of mutant kind.
Nerdy:
Coming of age at a time when being a 'nerd' was still unfashionable but quickly came to be more socially acceptable, Helena has never shied away from embracing her nerdy side. She likes comic books and anime, cartoons like My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, and books like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy despite many women her age being more likely to disown such things even if they did like them. She will make frequent nerd culture references to lighten the mood, and if you befriend her she's likely to have you over to binge watch She Ra on Netflix. Her escapist hobbies give her hope, passion, and a place where she feels safe to dream.
Unshakable Will:
Steel resides behind Helena's eyes. She is of strong will and is possessed of a powerful intellect and she only chooses not to use it to obliterate all opposition, knowing confidently she may pick the terms if she must do so. Some might even call Helena arrogant, though it would be a misunderstanding of a woman who is simply reticent about too much social interaction and learned its rules like a language rather than through normal reflex. That is not to say she lacks empathy, for her empathy runs deeply. This empathy is especially powerful when she sees someone whom has a perceived commonality to her own dire circumstances before coming of age.
Character Sheet
Powers
Afterburner:
For up to five minutes Helena may boost the base abilities of technologies beyond their normal physical limits by as much as three times. Such boosts cause fatal flaws afterwards, causing the item to break down.
Bio-Electrical Vision:
Helena can focus herself upon the electromagnetic fields around her. This is something that she always feels to some degree, more energy around her usually makes her feel more at ease. However, once focused upon she may see as a targeting sense fields as minute as the electromagnetic fields of living things, allowing her to see in complete darkness or with her eyes closed. Ironically, while more energy makes her more comfortable, an overabundance can interfere with this sense.
Passive Powers:
- Base EM field: The basis of all the passive powers listed in this section, Helena has an unusually strong electro-magnetic field that creates the following effects through background EM interference and quantum interaction.
- Mental Electronic Countermeasure Systems (ECM) suite: This grants telepathic/mind-control resistance due to hardened synaptic responses. Even if she wills herself to allow telepathic contact or a telepath gets past the shielding, her thoughts will have a 'sound' of background static.
- Quantum shielding: Helena's EM field grants an increase in healing and recovery rate to her body, beyond the speeds of a normal human. Some conditions a human being would not regrow tissue from at all will occur as her body returns to it's original quantum state, such as the regrowth of a finger but more severe situations like the loss of an entire limb are still beyond this ability. The effect does slightly slow, but does not halt, her aging process.
- Increased Durability: Despite her size, Helena's EM field gives her increased durability somewhat like the effects of a skin-deep force field. She can take the beating of a much larger, hardier, person without bruising or breaking as easily. In the end, however, she is not bullet proof and is simply a bit physically tougher than the average human.
Skills
Artistic Mind:
Though her talent for artistry lays in sculptural forms, Helena also has an understanding of 3-D computer graphics modeling and rendering. It tends to find more expression in her scientific endeavors but there are times she creates for the sheer expression.
Astrophysics:
Once more of a hobby, her time at SWORD taught Helena more about astrophysics than most earthlings will ever know exists. In addition to the traditional field that deals with the physics of heavenly bodies and measurements for observational telescopes, she has experience with alien technology. Familiar with the common systems employed by SWORD, while she is not a navigator, she could plot a course on many craft of alien make as well.
Basic Firearms Training:
While at SWORD, Helena took advantage of their training programs to learn how to better handle a gun. She grew up in Arkansas where hunting and fishing was part of the culture, but only ever had a basic grasp from her father before joining SWORD. With government training she came to be able to hit the 10 ring at 30 yards (27.432 meters) reliably, basically what is required for a CCW licence.
Can Throw a Proper Punch:
Helena has never had any formal hand-to-hand training, however her two years of being bounced between foster homes taught her how to keep her guard up and, with the help of a rare kind foster brother, how to make a proper fist and focus her body's torque into a punch. She will not be winning any boxing matches with an expert any time soon, but a person on the receiving end of the 5'2" firebrand's fist might find themselves seeing stars.
Computer Expertise:
While not one of the rebellious hacker types popularized in the 90s, or a decryption professional, Helena is more than capable of intruding upon all but the most heavily guarded of government systems. Even said systems might be unable to withstand her skills, though she would dislike her chances of being caught. She is more than capable of writing her own code, drivers, and operating systems for her inventions as well as bypassing security when she needs to.
Drive:
Helena has a driver's liscence and can drive a stick shift.
Home Cooking:
Yes. The single, nerdy, science girl can cook.
Hypertech Inventor:
Commonly Helena used her inventive mind and skill with engineering to help customize instrumentation in her research. However, she is adept and familiar with not only Earth technology but some alien technology. Her prodigious intellect, measured by an I.Q. of 240 and bolstered by a sense of wonder with a framework of simple experience, allows her to adapt and create new technologies.
Mechanical Engineering:
Helena knows basic mechanical engineering, though it is neither her field of choice nor her forte'. She can break down and repair most simple machines, but also knows how to machine parts with the right equipment as well as do basic maintenance and even rebuilding on cars and trucks.
Phd Genetics:
Dr. Helena Marie Shepherd's forte', genetics and genetic engineering is her career path for a reason. She has a deep understanding of DNA, RNA, Biology and Biophysiology. She understands how to use CRISPR for genetic splicing, as well as how to alter the CRISPR methodology to her needs in researching the X gene.
Research:
Both in the broad sense, and in the sense of a scientific endeavor, Helena has essentially been a researcher for over a decade. She may have skills for applied science, but she understands basic and professional fundamentals for deep dives into information and research topics.
Xenobiology:
Over a decade at SWORD took Helena's fledgling knowledge of extraterrestrial biology and genetics to a level few have. To a point that SWORD may still be keeping an eye on their errant prodigy. She can understand the similarities and differences between human and xeno genetic sequencing and has seen many of the alien life forms that have come into contact with earth through a microscope.
Resources
Savings:
After a decade as a professional scientist for SWORD, Helena has a small nest egg of savings that she could live comfortably on and no debt, but little else.
Truck:
Helena has a beat up old blue pickup truck that she has kept running with mechanical knowhow.
Weaknesses
Impulsive:
Though Helena has survived via her mind, her passion is its own double-edged sword. She will do and/or sacrifice nearly anything for the cause of mutant rights or anyone she sees as sufficiently downtrodden. That is why she is no longer with SWORD after all.
Only Human (?):
Helena is not particularly large, being only 5'2" (157 cm) and 121 lb (54.9 kg). She has basic human physiology and, until her powers manifest, no particular way to overcome that. Short, only as fit as the most basic of daily exercises, and never terribly athletic she will not be a real physical threat via anything save her powers or a gun. Oh no, bullets, my one weakness!
Stamina:
Even with her powers, the physical strain on Helena will be immense when she begins using them. She could build her stamina up, but she would have to climb to near Olympic level for that to have a demonstrable effect on the drawbacks mentioned about stamina in her power set. Limitations like the 5 minute length of Afterburner come at the cost of severely tiring her out. Even though she can absorb more damage than the average person or recover faster from wounds, she will feel like she is running a marathon despite the automatic nature of those passive abilities.
Watched By Sword:
Helena suspects she is having tabs kept on her by SWORD. After all, she has a vast amount of knowledge, nondisclosure be damned. She has no idea just how right she is. There is, in fact, an entire unit assigned to keep track of her movements, relationships, and general behavior. SWORD knows she released the Durlan child, Elra. Her loyalty, not just to her country but to the planet, is in question. She could, at any moment, be deemed too much of a risk and find the Sword of Damocles descending upon her.
Role-Play
Logs
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Helena Shepherd has
2 finished logs.
| Title | Date | Scene Summary |
|---|---|---|
| GIRL Expo: Day 1 | November 16th, 2021 | Day 1 of the GIRL Expo goes quite well! The universe is not destroyed. |
| Stereotypes: Fact or Fiction | July 30th, 2021 | A random encounter has a few people talking about stereotypes, and then one seems to be verified about New York politeness. |
Cutscenes
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Helena Shepherd has
2 finished logs.
| Title | Date | Scene Summary |
|---|---|---|
| No logs submitted yet. | ||
Entertainment Credits
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Helena Shepherd has been credited in
0 shows.
| Title | Date | Scene Summary |
|---|---|---|
| No shows submitted yet. | ||
Helena Shepherd has been credited in
0 albums.
| Title | Release Date | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| No music submitted yet. | ||
Helena Shepherd has authored
0 books.
| Title | Release Date | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|
| No books submitted yet. | ||
Gallery
Helena Shepherd/gallery [ edit ]
