R H Y S

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TRACK LIST SOMETHING | JMSN KISS THE SKY | SHAWN LEE'S PING PONG ORCHESTRA FEAT. NINO MOCHELLA THIS BODY RUSHES | DAUNT BUSY EARNIN' | JUNGLE

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IC INBOX ▶︎ IN-GAME CHOICES ▶︎ CR CHART ▶︎ PERMISSIONS ▶︎ HMD ▶︎ APPLICATION ▶︎ THREAD TRACKER

WARNING: this post contains spoilers for the video game Tales from the Borderlands. If you'd prefer to avoid them, only scroll down to the episodes you've completed.






EPISODE 1:

▶ Did not destroy Loader Bot


▶ Trusted Sasha


▶ Did not sell out Vaughn

EPISODE 2:

▶ Kept Handsome Jack a secret


▶ Chose to go to Hollowpoint



▶ Bro fisted Vaugn



▶ Trusted Jack

EPISODE 3:

▶ Made a tentative alliance with Jack



▶ Kept the flower



▶ Refused to let Sasha fall

EPISODE 4:

▶ Lied about Handsome Jack (again)



▶ Knocked Yvette out


▶ Chose to rule Hyperion

Tall, incredibly lanky with one cybernetic arm from the right shoulder down, one cybernetic eye (left: blue when inactive, silver when active, bright gold when Jack's AI is in control), and a computer drive/ port on the left side of his head, which-- yeah, is a little bit gross as far as holes in your head go.

Has a myriad of geometric tattoos from the left side of his neck just beneath his collar that trail down onto his chest.

For those not in the know, that well-defined digital fellow up there is named Jack. 'Handsome' Jack. Self-proclaimed hero and actual worst villain in the Borderlands universe. He's mean, he's catty, he's violent and really, really into torturing people for a laugh. Real charmer.

What you need to know: He's not the real deal. In actuality, he's a digital copy-- a clone-- of the now very dead bad guy, accidentally installed into the port/drive/digital systems/cybernetics Rhys has hooked up in his body.

Can my character see this creep? Not in the slightest! They can't hear him, either, so the most they'll pick up from any conversation is what Rhys says or does in response, which...yeah, kind of makes him look crazy.

Okay but what if my character is psychic? Congratulations on being really, freakishly cool! Also on your sadness for all those times when your bffs lied to you. But the real answer is...kind of? What Rhys registers in his head ought to come through, so if they can sift through his thoughts and differentiate between what he's thinking and what his senses are noting, yeah. They'll pick up his voice loud and clear, though they still won't be able to 'see' him walking around in the pseudo physical sense the way he looks to Rhys.



Does he ever go away? Yes. If Rhys hits his head, Jack will (usually) get temporarily knocked offline.

Will he ever be a threat to my character? Maybe. He does have brief moments where he can either assume control of Rhys' cybernetic arm or the entirety of his body. They're few and far between - usually involving stress or fear or some other outside influence that prompts Rhys to let go of the steering wheel so to speak, so for the most part the answer is no: it's not as if you're going to get choked-out mid conversation over morning coffee.

Jack is cooler than Rhys; can I request a thread with just him? 1: Well duh. 2: Not exactly. Without an outside reason for Rhys to want Jack to have control, he'll fight back and take the program offline. It's probably possible to slow the process or inhibit it entirely for a short amount of time, but that's something that'd take a lot of OOC planning and more resources than just the default. Basically, just talk to me and I'll see what I can do.

PLAYER INFORMATION
NAME: Avali
ARE YOU 18 OR OLDER?: yes
CONTACT: CLU2Flynn on AIM | ladyavali
CURRENT CHARACTERS: NA

CHARACTER INFORMATION
NAME: Rhys
CANON: Borderlands
CANON POINT: The end of Episode 2 of Tales from the Borderlands
CHARACTER AGE: 30(ish? late twenties to at least)
HISTORY: wiki link covering the basic plot and cast
PERSONALITY:

Following in the lofty footsteps of a giant, megalomaniacal CEO in a world where corporations rule everything and everyone by default, Rhys is (naturally) kind of a dick. It's a byproduct of the universe itself-- maybe a little something to do with hero worship and heavy-handed propaganda-- but the bottom line is that living out the day-to-day in the belly of a corporation that burns both money and lives like nothing, there's no real cure for it: you move up, you step on who you need to step on to get there, or you find yourself either dead or someone else's doormat. Literally. Literally just a place for your boss to wipe his feet because it's funny to them.

And Hyperion, formerly run by CEO Jack (AKA 'Handsome Jack') until his gruesome, bloody death when he stepped down too hard on the Vault Hunters (treasure seekers, essentially: mercs and bandits capable of dealing with the nastiest monsters alive) of Pandora, is about as vicious as any corporation gets. Rhys cites it as a problem that started with Jack himself (despite the man's hero complex he murdered people for fun, tortured and maimed and still thought himself the good guy) but in canon Hyperion is a terrible, you-will-probably-die-if-you-work-here-but-you'll-be-rich-so-who-cares kind of place even while Jack himself was scaling towards the top from his own lowly position as a programmer. Four million dollars a year and four million deaths just to run a space station that's so massive it blocks the planetside view of Pandora's sun and moon on the regular.

But it pays well.

Really, really well. And success comes with power above and beyond just a desk and a fat paycheck: again, corporations run everything in the Borderlands universe. Being in the upper tiers of the heavy hitters is like a claim to royalty, and all it takes is shoving the right person down at the right time. Which Rhys, a low-level programmer doggedly fighting his way to the top via backstabbing and keeping a select few close (namely his best friends Vaughn and Yvette), desperately wants sooner rather than later.

By Hyperion standards he's a thoroughbred: expensive taste, a tendency to act like everyone around him is beneath him and the computer skills to match. At ten years old Rhys was printing his own business cards, and he calls it his life, his everything, basically. Even in brief discussions about how crushing and miserable it can be, he doesn't want his efforts to be for nothing. He doesn't want to fail, and he doesn't want to forget the picture-perfect imagery of what it'd be like to be on top. And while the idea of being the average worker in our universe is only so-so, even Hyperion's lowest standards are impressively high class. Rhys is literally drowning in privilege.

But for all the class and maturity he likes to think he carries, Rhys is prone to making really, really stupid decisions for petty reasons. When his corporate nemesis (Vasquez) gets promoted to be his direct boss and then promptly demotes Rhys to the lowest ranking job in the pile, Rhys doesn't take it well. Lashing out verbally (with stuttering threats because he's incapable of pulling off 'menacing' apparently) gets him a bloody nose and a trip to the floor, and his insistence on getting back at his rival leads the trio of bffs to steal from the company and Vasquez in order to screw him over. Later, when Vasquez uncovers the truth and tracks Rhys down to kill him and take his body back to Hyperion carrying a loaded prototype gun, Rhys hurls insults at Vasquez, then a shovel, and effectively makes everything worse. Long story short he's just emotionally driven and too vulnerable to cutting off the entirety of his nose to spite his face.

Surprisingly enough, though, when the rug's pulled from under his heels once Hyperion hears he and Vaughn have lost 10 million dollars of the company's money, he doesn't break or buckle. In part it's more the same expectation of success that plagues him on the regular, but Rhys dives in headfirst to recover the money, chasing it down further and further into dangerous territory and impossible odds rather than just lifting his hands and admitting defeat. He just expects to win, to find an outcome that'll work, and operates within those parameters like there are blinders strapped to his forehead.

But he does have a soft spot beneath all the demands and pettiness and played-up cockiness: he sincerely cares about Vaughn and Yvette, drops the facade of being a smug, corporate jackass in a heartbeat when the person he needs helping him turns resistant and shows a deep, emotional brand of earnest pleading, refuses time and time again to betray his friends and even calls them his 'family'. In a lot of ways so much of what defines him is an act, but underneath those burned-in survival instincts he's just a guy looking to find a foothold-- a safe haven for himself and the people that matter-- in a world that is unbelievably unforgiving. He pretends to be his hero, Jack, he pretends to have it all put together, he pretends because if you keep up an act long enough you can fool everyone-- even yourself.

Eventually in an effort to outmaneuver Vasquez (and Hyperion in its entirety) Rhys uses the digital input port embedded in the side of his head to install an alternate Hyperion ID. The chip that he uses, however, has a digital clone of the very dead Handsome Jack inside of it, and after a short period of blackouts, glitches, uncooperative cybernetics and disconnected commentary echoing in the back of his skull, the clone finally adjusts and starts talking to Rhys, visually and audibly present only to him via a digital projection from his left eye implant. Cool having your hero around to tell you how to respond, less cool when he's insane and expects you to become his personal errand jockey.

Way less cool when everyone else around you thinks you're absolutely crazy for talking to yourself, jumping at nothing, ignoring conversation and running away without so much as a cue for it - and for the most part, Rhys' reaction to Jack are neutral to negative for that fact alone.

Jack's not a hard character to pin down, and the AI reflection of him operates as a perfect reflection. He's selfish, egotistical, prone to acts of extreme violence out of anger (with a violent temper to match) or just because he thinks 'it'll be funny'. Treating himself like the protagonist of his own story, there's no cap on the overflowing bottle that is his self-image. He also has the sense of humor of a teenager: projecting his hand clipping through Vaughn's crotch to make a talking dick joke, laughing about phrases like 'booty salads', mimicking conversation and basically being a gigantic jerk.

And Rhys gets to live with him. Good times.


ABILITIES:

■ talented hacker/programmer
■ ECHOeye implant is capable of scanning/ analyzing surrounding people and objects even through barriers or in the dark (without a connection to the ECHOnet there is no database to draw intel from)
■ cybernetic arm is metal so it's somewhat more resilient than just fleshy...everything; works as a flashlight thanks to its fully functional HUD that operates in conjunction with the port/drive stored in his temple - normally used to hack/control various systems but without anything available just looks really, really pretty
■ port/drive stored in his left temple is for basic input and file uploads/downloads; when used in conjunction with either the ECHOeye implant or cybernetic arm display Rhys is capable of remotely accessing computer systems (again, needs compatible software)
■ has an AI in said port of his recently deceased hero/boss that actively comments on just about everything and has moderate control of Rhys' cybernetic arm (and body though from what episode 2 seems to imply full control requires permission from Rhys himself)-- nothing about this fact is an advantage

SINS & VIRTUES:

7 SINS
■ PRIDE - In Hyperion pride is everything. Rhys lives, breathes, eats and sleeps in a world where status is dictated by how far down you shove the guy in front of you, and despite keeping a close lock on his two best friends Rhys isn't shy about mentioning the backs he's shoved knives into. Is less shy about voicing how great he is whether he's staring down a coworker in the multi-trillion dollar, pristine space station that is Helios or a dirt-poor scavenger on Pandora without a penny to their name. He even talks down (repeatedly) to a bandit holding a bloody meat cleaver.

Yeah, he's all about this one.

■ GLUTTONY - Byproduct of his surroundings yet again; what you don't get, the person next to you will. And that's across the board, covers everything from gossip and verbal artillery to hard earned cash. Sporting custom skagskin shoes, carefully cultivating his hair, facials, wraps, high-end cybernetics that cost more than the average human living in poverty on Pandora - Rhys is a creature of privilege and preening, and he's never afraid to talk about how overboard he's going to go once he finally nails that big score and puts Hyperion under his heel. He also definitely never stops expecting it, either.

■ GREED - Hand-in-hand with the above, Rhys can't afford to keep his hunger for success and wealth in check. He prides himself on what he's earned (what he will earn and how far he can push the envelope) and while it's true he shares with a very select few, it's always under the impression that he is-- and will stay-- top dog. Scales tipping in someone else's favor don't really do it for him, and the end result means he's the type of guy to use charity (literally suggests using charity in casual conversation) as a lipservice shield without actually helping anyone but himself.

Also demands the larger half of the life-changing score the group finds without even waiting for anyone else's input. Take from that what you will.

■ LUST - Less Rhys' deal than anything else. As a matter of fact, it's his weakest point when it comes to vices and sins, and despite a few throwaway comments here and there he's just not that much of a carnal guy. That said, the AI in his head-- the one that coexists and hijacks his everything for a laugh-- is about as into it as into it gets. So where he falters in terms of traits, his partner in mental crime can more than easily pick up the slack. With catch phrases like 'who wants to make out' and 'who wants to touch my abs' it's not all that hard to miss, at least.

■ ENVY - Oh, Rhys is bad with jealousy. Never mind that he can be a downright brat when it comes to missing out on opportunities, praise or even a spare compliment, his prickling fuss is in full force when his Hyperion nemesis, Vasquez, not only trumps Rhys' promised promotion by killing his boss and taking his place, but adds insult to injury with a demotion to senior vice janitor. It sparks a spiral of stupid, angry decisions: most of them suicidal by sane standards, namely stealing ten million dollars, Vasquez's car, and his business deal.

■ WRATH - Yeah, the above again. Jealousy leading into revenge, in a company where stealing candy bars means you wind up dead without your family knowing where your body was stashed, Rhys decides to go all out and add insult to crippling injury. Every opportunity he gets to hammer Vasquez's pride is one he takes (usually failing terribly, but it's the petulant, condescending effort that counts) even going so far as to cripple Vasquez's self confidence while the guy's attempting to be nice.

■ SLOTH - Laziness might seem a bit beyond a programmer that's all about climbing to the top, but Rhys has his share of moments. Mostly the ones that revolve around things he really dislikes doing (whining about having to get out of the car and ask for directions, suggesting Vaughn who has 10mil in hard cash strapped to his arm should do it instead) and just the general idea of expecting things to be done for him because of who he is and where he's from. Hating the dirt and grit of living like the average human being, wanting to find the quickest way back to spa days and the sweet life. He'll comply if he has to, but man does he ever whine about it.

VIRTUES
■ DILIGENCE - Kind of a given considering where he is and where he started. Moving up in Hyperion isn't easy, and three years spent kissing ass to his boss Henderson only to find him dead didn't stop him from hunting down an alternative path to the top of the corporate ladder. It's not fun - he confesses he doesn't even like it half the time - but Rhys knows to get what he wants he's got to stick with it for the long haul.

■ KINDNESS - Rhys has a weakness for his friends. For the friends he calls his family and stays steady beside: he looks after Vaughn, trusts him and protects him from Vasquez when a deal's offered that'll clear his name in exchange for Vaughn taking the fall. He might be spoiled and bratty and entitled, far from 'kind' in the simplest sense, but he's loyal to the people that matter, and what he's willing to do for them goes beyond the norm.

SAMPLES
test drive thread A
test drive thread B