KOMARCOS, RYLAN

25

MALE

BISEXUAL

SECURITY

SABOTEUR

ARMS

Rylan is every conspiracy theorist's worst nightmare. From train derailments to elevator collapses, from well contamination to traffic accidents and gas leaks, he's had his hand in just about everything. Not surprising given that he's the person the government calls in when collateral damage is necessary. One death is suspicious. Twenty? Not so much. After all, the easiest way to keep a name out of the media is to give them more names to print. That part, the killing, he's never had a problem with. Rylan has never questioned orders, never asked questions and never failed to do what was asked of him. His problem lies with the fact that he knows it's only a matter of time before the higher ups decide to tie up loose ends. One would have to be pretty stupid to assume that a government prone to assassinations wouldn't resort to the practice to ensure that no one ever discovered the truth.

He might do his job without question but that does not mean he buys what the government sells. There is no blind faith here. In fact, Rylan's loyalty is quite mutable. While he's ultimately only looking out for number one, he'll side with whichever side is winning. The question is whether or not they will have him in the case of the rebels. He is responsible for countless deaths after all. He has no backup plan and just assumes that he will be welcomed because of his expertise in the event that the government starts losing. Might he be in for a wake-up call? So far, the guy has been living a carefree life because he's been able to distance himself from any repercussions. I'd like for them to finally catch up with him and see how he handles it, especially being confronted by someone whom he has befriended who has lost a loved one --who wasn't the target-- because of him.

He has a lot of growing up to do.

Rylan is a tactile learner: he has to be able to do something in order to comprehend it. As such, while he struggled with subjects such as math, reading and history, he excelled in mechanics and chemistry at school and, later, in combat, firearms and explosives while in training. The guy likes to take things apart and fit them back together in his spare time. Consequently, he has gained, through trial and error, a working knowledge of how various systems might function. This is how he is able to conduct his precision strikes: he can approximate the points where jamming a gear or setting off a shape charge will produce the result he desires.

Both mentally and physically. The young man thinks well on his feet, reacting to unforeseen consequences with absolutely no sense of panic. He tends to roll with the punches and has an uncanny ability to rebound from mistakes, rapidly assessing situations as he goes along and adjusting his approach as necessary. He is light on his feet as well, though better at being evasive than outright fast. In effect, it isn't his top speed that is impressive, but, rather, his ability to accelerate and decelerate rapidly in succession. He can stop and turn on a dime, cut tight corners and weave his way through a crowd without breaking much of a sweat.

Because Rylan is so good at reacting, he tends not to put too much effort into extensive planning or thinking things through beforehand. The one exception, of course, being in regards to his job where it's expected of him. It's not that he can't scheme and plot; he just prefers not to. The young man enjoys living in the moment. Worrying about consequences and circumstances that can change inexplicably seems like a waste of time. He'd rather make the most of his current situation than aspire to delusions of grandeur. The guy has killed enough of the latter type of people to know that the effort often goes wasted.

The young man has always had trouble experiencing deeper emotions, even as a child. He would have no problem feeling happy or sad or angry but empathy, remorse and guilt were another matter. At least, in the abstract sense. He could empathize with his mother having to work a double shift or feel guilty that a game he suggested got his friend in trouble but when it came to orphans being mistreated or wasters wiping a village off the map, he felt absolutely nothing. This was further reinforced when he learned of the cost of his father's proclivity toward empathy and, quite frankly, he likes it this way. It allows him to do his job without having nightmares. As such, the guy makes it a priority to keep his victims at a distance. When possible, he requests that any names or pictures be removed from his mission briefings, opting to receive just the locations and kill everyone present.

Owing to his ability to remain detached, Rylan actually sleeps well at night. In fact, he acts more like a carefree child than a person with blood on his hands. He jokes, he laughs, he makes witty and inappropriate comments --a near complete departure from the grave and dour demeanors those in his line of work are expected to have. And while he certainly takes his job seriously, he does not dwell on it. Once a mission is complete, it is out of mind, replaced with more important thoughts --such as finding a hangout with better-looking waitresses.

Rylan had very humble roots. Though born and raised in Alpha Sector, his parents were not some genius scientists. Rather, the one was a mechanic who performed maintenance on the various contraptions the eggheads cooked up and the other was a nurse. At least, that's what he assumed up until the age of ten. Turned out that his father had been trained as an engineer as well. He had had the opportunity to advance but didn't take it --because he didn't want to help the government gain anymore weapons. And so, the bastard sabotaged his own work and doomed his family to a life of rags and scraps. (Truthfully, it wasn't that bad. Rylan only chooses to remember it that way.)

The boy did not take the news well. The thought of his father putting strangers ahead of his mother and himself infuriated him. Consequently, he promised himself that he would never be as weak as his old man. He would do what was necessary, regardless of what happened to anyone else. It only took him until the next day to act on his vow. While at lunch, Rylan decided to eat some other kid's apple simply because he wanted it. One schoolyard brawl later and he'd begun the pattern of behavior that would eventually lead him to the Security Board.

Over the next few years, the boy got into a lot of fights thanks to his newfound behavior. He always handled himself quite well though, because he'd gotten an early start in learning how to brawl. The only other skill he actively cultivated was mechanics. His father had gotten him into it at a very early age and the passion for it stuck, even as his affection for his old man waned. He would offer to fix things for free, just to gain the experience. Rylan was exceptionally good at it as well, intuiting correctly how radios and televisions and even vehicles worked without much problem. It was probably the only reason why people tolerated his abhorrant behavior.

One day though, in his fifteenth year, he went too far. After taking some kid's lunch, Rylan ended up in a fight with him and the poor bastard fractured his skull upon hitting the pavement. The authorities showed up the next day, though, surprisingly, they offered him a choice. Because one of his teachers had kept immaculate records of his aptitude with mechanics, they decided that he would be an ideal candidate for a new program that was being conceived.

He, of course, said yes. The choice was easy considering that his only other option had been jail. Rylan quickly grew to actually enjoy his training regime though. They were asking him to do what he loved after all, in addition to undergoing combat, firearms and explosives training. All of those he found quite engaging as well, which was why he devoted his spare time to continued practice. (Not that he considered firing guns and setting off explosives to be anything other than fun.) Consequently, the boy flew threw his training, graduating as part of the covert sabotage program in a little under two years.

Thankfully, they did not saddle him with an alias. Rather, he officially became a mechanic for the military, the role providing him a ready excuse to be wherever he was needed. In addition, his schedule was kept free by being filled up with fake work. As a result, Rylan assumed that he would be getting his first mission fairly soon. It did not happen until a year and a half later, however, because, as he eventually discovered, the higher ups refused to use him as anything other than a last resort. Something about too many accidents undermining their rule.

Consequently, his new life turned out not to be nearly as exciting as he'd been led to believe. The missions were quick, taking no more than a few days at the most and far between. The rest of the time, he was left to his own devices. Eventually, after experiencing much boredom, Rylan convinced his handlers to let him smuggle parts on the side by arguing that it would help sell the idea of things malfunctioning on a regular basis if someone was cannibalizing the system and also help them identify those who would be willing to sell government property.

He's been dealing ever since, though his focus is now on salvage rather than actual theft of parts. Rylan still does do the latter on occasion --but only if the payoff is sufficiently high. After all, he made the change to make life simpler: he doesn't need other branches of Arms coming down on his ass. That would surely mean a bullet in his head given what he knows. Besides, no one ever bothered trying to hold him to either of his promises anyway.

MADE BY KIROUKO OF GANGNAM-STYLE