PROFILE
Name: Pretti
Race: Cyber-Elf
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 220 lbs
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Skin: Fair
Distinguishing Features: Metal Legs with Tail and Talons
Mother: several foster; birth mother unknown
Father: unknown
____________________________________
BACKSTORY: “ELECTRIC MAYHEM”
____________________________________
NATALIE TAN
(AGE 20)
*It wasn’t easy getting out of the tunnels, but I finally made it,* Natalie thinks to herself as she fastens the chin strap on her helmet. *Yeah, being a tall girl helps. And yeah… I worked hard for these abs.*
Nat peers through the T-shaped slit in her feathered helm. Beyond the shimmering skirt practically painted on the cheeks in front of her, it’s all smoke and lasers and noise. Her sweaty hand keeps a white-knuckled grip on her three-meter-long spear.
“Let’th move it,” an effete man commands, “you can be thtatuethque without being a thtatue!”
His words sound more rehearsed than her act, and that is Natalie’s only thought on them as she flits out onto the stage with the rest of the troupe.
*Center stage! You know you’re arranged by height, not talent, but you WILL be noticed today. Catch the beat and—*
Natalie dances! Her costume is basically a chain mail bikini, or meant to look like one. It’s actually more like a flip sequin sports bra with a matching skirt so short it should be reclassified as belt.
Nat twirls her spear, plants it in the ground, and slides her body down the shaft of the spear. Cringey catcalls and wolf whistles confirm the crowd is too enthralled to notice that, with each bounce of the hips, Nat’s hands are guiding the spear tip into position.
She somehow hears the click over the pounding bass. With the shaft now securely in its place, Nat immediately wraps a long leg around it and—
—her world becomes a dizzying blur of drunken faces lit hot pink, electric blue, neon green. Her feet stretch overhead, she bends over backwards, there’s a lot of spinning!
And she doesn’t get distracted by the angry guy swearing, whatever he said.
She leaps!
And she doesn’t get distracted by the panicky guy flailing his arms into other faces in the crowd.
She lands her flip!
And she doesn’t get distracted by the crowd parting a circle for the two men, or the bendy red laser one knocks from the other’s hand—
She… falls?!
There’s no pain. There most certainly should be, but there isn’t. Just shock and fear and no answers and no questions as the other full-helmed, bikini-clad dancers shriek in horror at the sight of their leader—
*me?!*
—severed in two at the waist!
And Nat’s long pretty legs, still joined at the hips, lie on the stage bottom-side-up, one twitching. Nat’s amazed that her little skirt stayed on. As for her innards sliding from the lack of body below her rockin’ abs… not so impressed.
________________
NATALIE TAN
(AGE 21)
“Happy Birthday!” a chipper voice calls from outside the recovery room.
Nat knows who it is.
After the dance friends all stopped coming, apparently too horrified to make eye contact with their then-blind and still-now-disfigured peer, there was only one girl her age that kept showing up for visiting hour.
Her name: Marie Kishi. Blogger. Anime geek. And… the one person that somehow made this all bearable.
The friendship started with an interview, though Marie ended up answering more questions than she asked.
Answers like: ‘It was a laser whip. Your face rolled over onto it when passed out. You look great. Wait’ll you get your new eyes, you’ll see!’
Saying ‘you’ll’ see to a girl whose eyes were burned off taught Nat that laughing hurts. So Marie Kishi stopped aiming for the funny bone and instead went straight for the heart.
“You bring a cupcake, MK?,” Natalie asks her BFF.
“Yeah,” she calls from the hall, “a rum cake’s against hospital policy. I did bring along a beefcake.”
It turns out there is a cupcake in her hand with a candle (unlit due to hospital policy). But the male guest with her is a curious sight.
He has a metal face, though elven ears imply the back of his head is intact. He is shirtless, (which does not violate hospital policy, since) his torso and one entire arm are all goldish metal and wires.
He extends his hand. His left. That’s his real hand. Nat accepts the lefty handshake. The left hand won’t accidentally crush her hand into goo.
“My name is P R Three Pie Oh,” his metal mouth says in an accent that suggests it must be tea time. The gentle voice is strangely comforting.
Even more comforting is the news. MK’s blog captured the interest of a famous shrine maiden. Her fame spread the word across the Desu island chain, even so far as to capture the interest of a wheelchair bound yakuza boss and a troll kickboxer so famous that there are action figures in his likeness.
If cyber-eyes could shed tears of gratitude, MK would need a snorkel.
_________
PR3π1
(AGE 22)
Natalie leaps rooftop to rooftop with the grace of a gazelle! From atop a three story building, she drops to the pavement, jacked cyber-legs absorbing the impact.
She skates down the final stretch of road, whizzing past the Finish Line, where MK awaits.
“Gotta get your brakes fixed, Pretti.”
Right. It’s not Natalie anymore. Being born an underground SINless caused complications with the funding. Nothing a forged ID couldn’t fix, but MK doesn’t even remember the name attached to the fake SIN.
She only knows the model number of the female PR borg: PR3π1… which MK reads as “Pretti.”
Pretti asks, “How fast did I go that time? And… do you really think I’m pretty, MK?”
MK replies, “40 miles an hour.”
She answers the second question with a kiss.
________________
CONTACT LIST
Name: Marie Kishi (MK)
Role: Blogger and Animation Enthusiast
Connection: 1
6 — BFF, roommate & lover
Name: Akina Nagamimi
Role: Decker/Fixer
Connection: 2
3 — created a fake ID for Pretti
Name: Kireina Yuumei
Role: Shrine Miko
Connection: 1
3 — a spiritual leader to Pretti and MK
Name: Taisei Nanamei
Role: Emergency Medical Extraction Specialist
Connection: 2
2 — led the team that saved Pretti from literally dying onstage
Name: Yuusuke Takahashi
Role: Bartender
Connection: 2
2 — owns the Finish Line where Pretti and MK hang out
Name: PR3π0
Role: Cyber-Mentor
Connection: 8
6 — Father figure and mentor to Pretti. Three-Pie-Oh taught Pretti all she needs to know about her cyber-parts, and how to embrace them as part of her own body.
Name: Abe Namika
Role: Ama Mermaid
Connection: 8
1 — Loves the sea so much she had her body enhanced so she can swim all the time. Funded the cyber-eyes and fins by donating a rare purple pearl.
Name: Takao Yuudai
Role: Martial Arts Master
Connection: 8
1 — Troll kick-boxing champ with his own action figure. Funded the raptor talon, bone-lacing, and MK’s InterTrol action figure collection.
Name: Pretti
Race: Cyber-Elf
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 220 lbs
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Skin: Fair
Distinguishing Features: Metal Legs with Tail and Talons
Mother: several foster; birth mother unknown
Father: unknown
____________________________________
BACKSTORY: “ELECTRIC MAYHEM”
____________________________________
NATALIE TAN
(AGE 20)
*It wasn’t easy getting out of the tunnels, but I finally made it,* Natalie thinks to herself as she fastens the chin strap on her helmet. *Yeah, being a tall girl helps. And yeah… I worked hard for these abs.*
Nat peers through the T-shaped slit in her feathered helm. Beyond the shimmering skirt practically painted on the cheeks in front of her, it’s all smoke and lasers and noise. Her sweaty hand keeps a white-knuckled grip on her three-meter-long spear.
“Let’th move it,” an effete man commands, “you can be thtatuethque without being a thtatue!”
His words sound more rehearsed than her act, and that is Natalie’s only thought on them as she flits out onto the stage with the rest of the troupe.
*Center stage! You know you’re arranged by height, not talent, but you WILL be noticed today. Catch the beat and—*
Natalie dances! Her costume is basically a chain mail bikini, or meant to look like one. It’s actually more like a flip sequin sports bra with a matching skirt so short it should be reclassified as belt.
Nat twirls her spear, plants it in the ground, and slides her body down the shaft of the spear. Cringey catcalls and wolf whistles confirm the crowd is too enthralled to notice that, with each bounce of the hips, Nat’s hands are guiding the spear tip into position.
She somehow hears the click over the pounding bass. With the shaft now securely in its place, Nat immediately wraps a long leg around it and—
—her world becomes a dizzying blur of drunken faces lit hot pink, electric blue, neon green. Her feet stretch overhead, she bends over backwards, there’s a lot of spinning!
And she doesn’t get distracted by the angry guy swearing, whatever he said.
She leaps!
And she doesn’t get distracted by the panicky guy flailing his arms into other faces in the crowd.
She lands her flip!
And she doesn’t get distracted by the crowd parting a circle for the two men, or the bendy red laser one knocks from the other’s hand—
She… falls?!
There’s no pain. There most certainly should be, but there isn’t. Just shock and fear and no answers and no questions as the other full-helmed, bikini-clad dancers shriek in horror at the sight of their leader—
*me?!*
—severed in two at the waist!
And Nat’s long pretty legs, still joined at the hips, lie on the stage bottom-side-up, one twitching. Nat’s amazed that her little skirt stayed on. As for her innards sliding from the lack of body below her rockin’ abs… not so impressed.
________________
NATALIE TAN
(AGE 21)
“Happy Birthday!” a chipper voice calls from outside the recovery room.
Nat knows who it is.
After the dance friends all stopped coming, apparently too horrified to make eye contact with their then-blind and still-now-disfigured peer, there was only one girl her age that kept showing up for visiting hour.
Her name: Marie Kishi. Blogger. Anime geek. And… the one person that somehow made this all bearable.
The friendship started with an interview, though Marie ended up answering more questions than she asked.
Answers like: ‘It was a laser whip. Your face rolled over onto it when passed out. You look great. Wait’ll you get your new eyes, you’ll see!’
Saying ‘you’ll’ see to a girl whose eyes were burned off taught Nat that laughing hurts. So Marie Kishi stopped aiming for the funny bone and instead went straight for the heart.
“You bring a cupcake, MK?,” Natalie asks her BFF.
“Yeah,” she calls from the hall, “a rum cake’s against hospital policy. I did bring along a beefcake.”
It turns out there is a cupcake in her hand with a candle (unlit due to hospital policy). But the male guest with her is a curious sight.
He has a metal face, though elven ears imply the back of his head is intact. He is shirtless, (which does not violate hospital policy, since) his torso and one entire arm are all goldish metal and wires.
He extends his hand. His left. That’s his real hand. Nat accepts the lefty handshake. The left hand won’t accidentally crush her hand into goo.
“My name is P R Three Pie Oh,” his metal mouth says in an accent that suggests it must be tea time. The gentle voice is strangely comforting.
Even more comforting is the news. MK’s blog captured the interest of a famous shrine maiden. Her fame spread the word across the Desu island chain, even so far as to capture the interest of a wheelchair bound yakuza boss and a troll kickboxer so famous that there are action figures in his likeness.
If cyber-eyes could shed tears of gratitude, MK would need a snorkel.
_________
PR3π1
(AGE 22)
Natalie leaps rooftop to rooftop with the grace of a gazelle! From atop a three story building, she drops to the pavement, jacked cyber-legs absorbing the impact.
She skates down the final stretch of road, whizzing past the Finish Line, where MK awaits.
“Gotta get your brakes fixed, Pretti.”
Right. It’s not Natalie anymore. Being born an underground SINless caused complications with the funding. Nothing a forged ID couldn’t fix, but MK doesn’t even remember the name attached to the fake SIN.
She only knows the model number of the female PR borg: PR3π1… which MK reads as “Pretti.”
Pretti asks, “How fast did I go that time? And… do you really think I’m pretty, MK?”
MK replies, “40 miles an hour.”
She answers the second question with a kiss.
________________
CONTACT LIST
Name: Marie Kishi (MK)
Role: Blogger and Animation Enthusiast
Connection: 1
6 — BFF, roommate & lover
Name: Akina Nagamimi
Role: Decker/Fixer
Connection: 2
3 — created a fake ID for Pretti
Name: Kireina Yuumei
Role: Shrine Miko
Connection: 1
3 — a spiritual leader to Pretti and MK
Name: Taisei Nanamei
Role: Emergency Medical Extraction Specialist
Connection: 2
2 — led the team that saved Pretti from literally dying onstage
Name: Yuusuke Takahashi
Role: Bartender
Connection: 2
2 — owns the Finish Line where Pretti and MK hang out
Name: PR3π0
Role: Cyber-Mentor
Connection: 8
6 — Father figure and mentor to Pretti. Three-Pie-Oh taught Pretti all she needs to know about her cyber-parts, and how to embrace them as part of her own body.
Name: Abe Namika
Role: Ama Mermaid
Connection: 8
1 — Loves the sea so much she had her body enhanced so she can swim all the time. Funded the cyber-eyes and fins by donating a rare purple pearl.
Name: Takao Yuudai
Role: Martial Arts Master
Connection: 8
1 — Troll kick-boxing champ with his own action figure. Funded the raptor talon, bone-lacing, and MK’s InterTrol action figure collection.