Application for The Canyon

[mysterioisthetruth]

PLAYER INFORMATION

✘ Name: Sage
✘ Age: Well over 18
✘ Contact: quentinbeck
✘ Character(s) currently in game: n/a but also apping David Wayne Loki
✘ Favorite horror tropes/events: I really just like a variety and a bit of everything.
✘ Limits/Triggers: n/a
✘ Invited by: missnaya

CHARACTER INFORMATION

✘ Name: Quentin Beck
✘ Canon: Marvel Cinematic Universe
✘ Canon Point: During the battle of London

✘ Age: 38
✘ History: Here.

Note that along with this any gaps of his childhood and upbringing I usually fill in with the comics history as it does fit in very well. Namely, that his mother died when he was very young and his father mistreated him to the point that he was either berated or, more importantly to his future development, he was made to feel invisible. His father acted like his wife was still alive and spoke more to her while heavily criticising his young son for his creativity and interest in the movies and fantastical worlds along with calling him useless. This very much shaped young Quentin's obsession with not being ignored and needing attention and praise.

✘ Personality:

You're assigned a group project. What role do you end up taking?

There's no question that I would be taking the lead. [There's supreme confidence as he answers very quickly.] I'm very used to leading a team. A small team. A large team. I've dealt with both with equal ease. Now, I'm afraid I can't go into details with you since the projects were private but just know that I have taken a variety of leading roles in my work life. I have designed, created and developed new technologies with minimal help aside from the financial benefits of being funded by a large, rich company. Maybe you've heard of them? Stark Technologies. So you understand I can't get into the ins and out of the company workings. [He gives a slyly knowing wink.] After I... left Stark Tech I brought together a fine group of people and was guiding them to greater things. I played a lot of roles there too. Technology was involved but you could also think of it like a play, bigger than Broadway! A worldwide production, with just one perfect performance. [He holds up a finger to punctuate his point.] I directed, starred and again did the bulk of the work. In fact, forget the group project! I can handle every role on my own.

You have the chance to anonymously send a letter to someone who's wronged you in the past. What does it say?

Dear former employer,

You think you're so important and that everybody looks up to you and admires you and that's what the majority of the misguided sheep do. They see this man standing tall and looking directly at them and doing what appears to be benevolent things but it's all a huge, pathetic lie. A scam. I've seen behind the scenes. I've seen the insides of the working mechanisms of your company and I've seen you yourself and how you judge and decide and speak for others and over others as if their opinions and ideas do not matter at all. Or if they are good ideas then you take them and claim them as your own without a thought of how many people guided that process or did the actual work, got everything running and developed and put together and what are the thanks anyone got? None! You treat people like crap and mock their work, belittle it then turn on them, firing them for deluded things that you made up! But mark my words, that isn't how it ends. You'll get your comeuppance. Your time will come. Your downfall will be swift and sudden and devastating and all that you've done will be exposed for the fallacies that they really are. And guess what? It will be me standing over those ruins and stomping hard on every one of your accomplishments and revealing their corrupted insides to the world.

Yours truly never, you arrogant bastard,

anon former employee you should never have crossed.


Someone you admire very much has just done something you find reprehensible. How do you deal with the situation?

This was a highly disappointing experience. To find out that your heroes are terrible people who will step all over the little people to make themselves look good. Oh, of course they hide their misdeeds and put on a heroic front and everybody believes it. It's disgusting.

[Pot meet kettle, but he's talking about Tony Stark and not himself and his own actions. He can't see where he's mirroring the bad behaviour he's condemning and then amplifying it to ridiculous heights.]

Anyway, how did I deal with it? After my disappointment, I attempted to push forward, giving my all and accomplishing an advanced form of technology. Something so amazing that this man I had admired could not even comprehend the scope of what it could do. So he squashed it into his own box, used it for his own benefit, rejected my protests - and protest I did. I tried to explain how important it was but he refused to listen. I was shown the door, personally rejected and as insulted as my work was insulted but I would not accept that as the end of the story. I fought back. Subtly. Behind the scenes, joined by others who had also been damaged by the arrogant false hero. They say revenge is a dish best served cold and it would be very cold by the time plans came to fruition but it was ultimately very triumphant. Or it will be once the entire plan has unfolded. I guarantee you that.

You want details? No, that would ruin the surprise.

If you could achieve all your goals right now, what would your life look like?

[Beck speaks without a trace of irony for how egotistical and overinflated his speech is.] I would be held up as a beacon of hope for the world. People would always listen to my words and take my advice. Some people want riches or power but what I want is respect. Respect for my work. Respect for my ideas. It is a different type of power to be in the kind of position that people pay attention to what you say and really, really listen to you. My technology would be in every home and business, being used in all its vast array of applications. Everyone would praise every aspect of what I-- excuse me, of what it could do. People would be happier; healthier; more entertained and feeling more comfortable in their own homes and their own skin. The name of Quentin Beck would be spoken of with awe and praise and any naysayers would be laughed at and mocked. The work doesn't end there, of course. There's always greater heights to reach for and my technology can continue to develop. The military would be using it for stunningly realistic training exercises. Doctors would perform enhanced VR operations to perfect or demonstrate their skills without any danger to patients. So much potential! So many applications! And myself, Quentin Beck, at the forefront and center of it all!


Someone tells you all your flaws. What did they tell you, and are they right or wrong?

Flaws are relative. What some see as a flaw may just be some genius masterstroke that nobody has discovered yet. Flaws, like mechanics, can be fixed and adapted and made into some amazing creation.

[Denial? Trying to change the subject? He finally concedes and answers. Sort of.]

People have called me a lot of things. They've said I had a big ego but what's wrong with that? I mean, it shows confidence, right? You need confidence to succeed. Really succeed. If I believed what everybody told me was a flaw then I would never be in the position I attained by my own hard work and diligent attention to detail. Overinflated ego? No, they're not right. I have brains and talent and the will to put them to the best use to gain what I deserve.

[Those people were very right... Beck is completely delusional as well as egotistical.]

I've also been accused of manipulations and of being selfish. But don't we all need to look after ourselves? Who else is going to do it? People put you down. You have to pick yourself up because nobody else will look out for yourself as well as you can. Nobody else knows your deepest wants and desires. You should treat yourself. Boost yourself up. Don't let others put you down. Don't let them climb on you to get to that pedestal. Sometimes you have to twist things just a little, tiny bit to get what you want. You could call that manipulation. I call it bending the tools to fit the narrative that I need for the most climatic and spectacular ending.

[Yes, he's exceedingly selfish and manipulative.]


✘ Type: Mechanical
✘ Powers:

Power 1: Body changes: computer-like tech appearing on his arm (touch screen) and glowing green in his eyes which is an alternate computer screen and augmented reality, where he can see and run his own calculations. No more need to carry any device. Can be distracting if he's looking at that and not what's actually in front of him.
Power 2: Mind becomes like wi-fi: directly connecting with networks and able to see into any public systems. Developing this, he can hack/code-break into more private areas (within reason and some things just can't be cracked). He can post/text anything hands free.
Power 3: Mentally projecting illusions via the devices people are communicating with. His tech can tap into the mind and thought patterns with frequencies and unseen waves so this is a development of that as his body becomes his own tech. If people catch on, they can easily disrupt this by damaging, turning off or distancing themselves from their devices. Some people's minds will also be completely immune to these intrusions.

He'll also need to be near some sort of power source otherwise his own powers will get run down. Excess submersion in water can result in electrocution.

✘ Inventory: He'll be wearing his mocap suit, boots, gloves and tech helmet upon arrival. Along with that, he has many attachments - a touch screen wrist device; thigh clip with a loaded gun; various other tech gadgets all linked and integrated into the suit. He will have to adapt them to the new location - and some will technically become obsolete due to his own personal transformations.

✘ Sample:

Sample 1. Network-style post.

Okay, okay, okay, now I need everyone to gather around and listen very carefully because I don't want to repeat myself and this is very, very important.

Are you listening?

[A pause as if he's waiting for an actual answer.]

You need to really be listening.

Now...

[He clears his throat in a dramatic way to gain attention.]

Now! This world we have been brought into is another dimension. We can all agree on that, correct?

And some of us have been experiencing... certain changes. Not all the same but changes in some way, shape or form that we haven't been expecting and in many cases, probably don't even want. None of this is normal, even for those of us where odd things have happened back home. None of asked to be here, right? Right.

I want to collect data. Tell me your experiences and what has happened to you since you got here that shouldn't be happening, aside from the obvious. These changes. Maybe there's a pattern and if I can collect enough data, I can run it through my systems and any common threads can be looked into. Or something. Or maybe we just need some sort of teleportation device to get us all home. Something to create a rip across dimensions. Yes! That could be it. I have experience with that! I've crossed dimensions before.

[Lies. That was just a ruse. But he wants to seem helpful here. Useful. He then waves a dismissive hand, eventually building up to a grand crescendo.]

Anyway, my point is I have expertise and you need me, so help me out by telling me about your anomalies and also if you have any mechanical knowledge or technical expertise. I can build a new team and with my guidance we will find our way out of here. Now who's with me?!


Sample 2. Log-style post.

Quentin Beck was where he most often was - in his room, working on his tech. It was a passion project and long had been. His ideas were potentially dangerous, as Tony Stark had once claimed, but did Beck listen to that sort of reason? No. He had a single-minded focus on his craft and developing it far beyond what anyone would think of as safe. It was brilliant but ethically it could very easily be manipulated in the worst ways. A technology that could show you the deepest and most hidden parts of your mind. Your fears; your dreams; your buried memories; your imagined ideas and everything in between. Something that could reach directly into the brain even without attached cables or permissions - ideally to use for therapies or a source of augmented reality fun and entertainment but which could easily be twisted into a nightmare so severe as to cause permanent emotional scars and trauma. That Beck even used it in that capacity while still not conceding it was far too dangerous was a sign of his deep seated obsession in just developing it further without thought to the consequences.

He was so fixated on his work that he didn't at first notice a change in the room. A chill that took his body a moment to process. Then there was a sudden thunderclap that caused him to startle and drop the component he'd been placing.

"What the---?" He looks around - then the lights go out. He frowns toward his computer as the screen goes dark. "Oh son of a... Lucky I backed up that last data," he mutters.

He straightens up with a weary sigh and goes to the door, opens it. Rain starts up on the roof, pattering heavier and heavier. Then there's a drip, drip, drip... Is that getting on the equipment?

"Hello? Anyone out there? I need... maybe a torch or a bucket or something? Hello...?"