Nicholas Caldwell

How Do They Work?
Nick does not mind read. Or rather, he doesn't read your thoughts so much as who you are. He gets right down to the depths of the soul, down where people don't ever want to go. What he sees is a person without the comfortable lies and the nice illusions that most people create for themselves. There are no excuses possible. Not only that, but the other person sees the same thing he sees, so it can be a very traumatic event for your pup. Nick, for his part, is not going to be doing all that well either. That is a LOT of information to hit a person and all of it is deeply charged emotionally, no doubt, so his reaction is generally not a good one. Once he's done this, he will have seen all of your secrets, all of your desires, who you REALLY are inside.

What does that mean?
When you think about it, a person is an incredibly complex thing. What I mean by bringing that up is that the idea of Nick seeing WHO your pup is isn't really as terrifying as you might think. Nick won't remember everything he gets. For a while, perhaps for the length of that conversation, he'll remember things especially if prompted. After that conversation, however, he'll probably only know the biggest bits and pieces, major stuff about you. A person is really only big enough to hold themself so his mind can't keep it all up there, even if he is smart.

How long does it take?

• A half-second glance will probably reveal something on the surface of the mind, some small sin or collection of truths that are on the person's thoughts. This will stay with Nick for perhaps a few minutes (to the depth in which he sees; he won't just randomly forget conversation of course!)


• A few seconds will get him some of the daily truths, the sort of things people are guilty or worried about daily. There might be a few random memories tossed in there, the sort of episodes of childhood that we remember well since they're important. Regrets. Still mostly surface with some more in depth knowledge. Nick will keep some of the major episodes and, once again, forget the rest as makes sense.


• Up to a half a minute and he'll start getting into your life motivations, the real big decisions and actions and words. This is where it might start to get painful. He'll probably remember the most from this one as it's not too harsh and yet still somewhat deep.


• Half a minute to a minute and he's basically seen you up, down, left, right, and sideways. You've utterly been laid bare and, for one reason or another, this is probably going to SERIOUSLY mess with both his and your head. Everyone's got issues, even the best characters and the worst characters. After one of these, don't expect Nick to talk for a while or even be able to do anything but shake and curl up into a ball. As this one is the harshest, he will only remember the REALLY big things, the deepest and darkest secrets, after whatever small conversation might be had after one of these.

Can my pup pull away?
It's sort of like watching a car wreck, or being caught in eye to eye with a snake. Your character will be largely frozen, unable to look away as the imp of the perverse keeps them locked to the action. OOCly, of course, it is always your choice what Nick sees and even if he ends up meeting your eyes at all. IC, however, Nick will be the one to look away. It's his choice or luck; that imp of the perverse works with him too.

How does this work gameplay wise?
More than likely, I will just ask you what he picked up. There are several options for you to choose from in the degree of what he sees and I'll happily go with whatever you pick. He might know or wave off things in the course of that conversation as makes sense and works with the flow of the thread. As conversations go, he will know less and less.

Please don't pick one of the more indepth options and hold something back from me, however. If you want to keep something secret, that's fine, but don't fuddle with his ability. Go with whatever you're comfortable with, and that can be absolutely nothing. He might never meet your pup's eye. Totally cool.

Name: Nicholas Caldwell (AKA "The Astounding Nicholai")

Age: 37

Profession: Stage magician

Zodiac Sign/Chinese New Year Sign: Rooster

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Eye Color: Hazel (blue-green)

Appearance: Relatively handsome, with that certain Something (tm) that serves him well on stage. He's tall, neither broad nor lithe, and he keeps himself in excellent shape for his profession, though he does on occasion forget to shave if he hasn't had a performance for a while. There is a chip missing from his left ear.

Personality: Brilliant, neurotic, sarcastic and witty. Friendly, to a point, but never to the point where he'll hold back a particularly good verbal jab, especially when he thinks the person in question needs to hear it; he is kind, but it's that sort of backhanded kindness that most people don't realize. He loves the sound of his own voice and he's got a certain kind of arrogance to him, the 'no one can do it as well as I can, so I have to do it myself' sort. Passionate, reckless, and erratic, he's never been able to keep a relationship going for long; either it burns out too quickly, or she can't keep up with him. He's a showman to the bone and he loves the audience, loves making them wonder and driving them to the edge of their seats. He's a knowledge whore, so to speak, and he spends most of the time between shows in different libraries, reading up on anything you could name. The other place he tends to show up is the bar. He's not an alcoholic, but he does enjoy his beer.

Backstory/Family: Nicholas, Nick to his friends, grew up the son of rather wealthy parents in Jericho, Long Island. An "A" student, he was handsome and charming even in the awkward ages but not particularly well liked. As stated above, he likes the sound of his own voice and he will take a jab at anyone if he wants. He went to college, a prestigious school, and got an English Literature degree good for exactly nothing. That didn't matter, however, as he'd already started on his stage career working at various different theatres and clubs in NYC. He does travel the country on occasion, taking gigs in various locations, but usually he just wanders around the east coast, especially between Boston and NYC, keeping body and soul together in between spending time with other magicians, getting the odd lay, drinking, and reading.

--Mutant--
How did your character come into contact with Invincible?:
The newest thing is the themed club, the elaborate and exotic decore and the interesting performers. Nicholas was hired for the opening night to play Magician at the Hat and Cane, a Vaudeville-themed joint that looked like it would be a real crowd pleaser. After several hours of dance music and an audience that was more interested in attempting sex while still clothed out on the dance floor, Nicholas had given up on his craft for the night and headed into the dressing room at the back. This proved to be bad timing as an open bag of Invincible smacked him in the face upon entering, followed by a deflected fist from the Bearded Lady, who was apparently in the middle of a very dirty fight with the World's Strongest Man. He woke up the next day with powder all over his face and a black eye the size of a potatoe.

How did your character come to have a near death experience?:
That happened months after, just after a show in New Jersey at a dungy little club. He wrapped his act, which was really far too good for a dump like this, and came to the owner for his payment. The owner refused, saying that attendance had been horrible. That wasn't his job, though, and everyone who'd come had stayed. The owner didn't see it that way. Nicholas, who occasionally has too big of a mouth for his own good, made a comment that didn't sit right with the other man and the owner pulled a shotgun. Nicholas, who doesn't quite have a deathwish but almost could be said to, thought that it was a bluff; he'd seen other people try this trick and while none had pulled a gun, he'd seen tricks like this before. He learned different a moment later when the owner fired a round of buckshot right by him. One of the pellets clipped his ear. That would be when he met the man's eyes and it happened...

The bastard threw his wallet (which held much more than the promised fee) at Nicholas and proceeded to blow his own brains out. Nicholas, who was shaking and terrified out of his mind, crawled away and called the cops. As all signs proved it to be a suicide, the police only bothered him for a few days before he was free to go. Nicholas spent the next couple of days getting very drunk and vomiting quite a lot.

What is your Character's Mutation?: Nicholas has a very focused sort of mind-reading ability: when he meets your eyes, he perceives you for what you are. You have no secrets from him. He looks into you, through you, and within a few seconds knows all yourmost private aspects, things you don't want anyone to know or things you don't know about themself. He sees it all and the person he's looking at knows he's seeing it and they see it as well... and almost anyone would rather they didn't. This is a look at the human condition with no excuses, no comfortable lies holding things in place. He will eventually be able to narrow this down to one secret and perhaps even figure out how to make it so that the other person doesn't see it as well, but for right now, he's too busy being terrified.