Strength 6c

Agility 5d

Intellect 6b

Willpower 4d

Hand Size: Edge:

3 (17) 1

Powers:

Natural Psi Powers (technopsi):

Psitronic Awareness (a): core of the technopsi discipline of power, this art gives Arpad an instinctive understanding of technology - what it is, what it can do. When holding (or even looking at) any device, he automatically knows how it works, and how to operate it properly.

This power works for him at intensity 13. He will immediately sense any sort of booby trap or other impediment to operating an item, and is allowed an average difficulty action (vs security intensity) roll to bypass them. This power also works on any item built by psi powers, whether it is technological or not.

Technospeak (t): this talent allows Arpad to communicate with an electronic system in a direct fashion. It allows him to understand computer code as though it were his native tongue, whether it is currently being processed by a computer system or is merely printed out on paper.

Easy actions allow Arpad to sense the function of a program just by looking at it, whether it is active, dormant or listed on a printout. On the other hand, average actions let him make and monitor computer transmissions, either on a network or within a single machine. This is an intensity 10 power.

Technological Sympathy (s): practically the opposite of the previous power, this skill lets Arpad sense what a device is 'feeling' at any given moment. Working almost like psychometry, technological sympathy can be used to tell who has used a device in the recent past, or where it was used.

This is the power that gives Arpad the most trouble, since he cannot control it in the slightest. Thanks to this intensity 16 power, Arpad is always at the mercy of all electromechanical devices in his vicinity, which seem to constantly shout out to him what they're feeling, since he can understand them...

Override (a): this art, the use of which normally results in Arpad needing therapy, allows him to take mental control of any device, whether or not it is currently being used by someone else. If Arpad passes an easy difficulty override action (intensity 10), the targeted device will do Arpad's bidding.

The thing to keep in mind when using this art is that devices can only do what they were designed to do. Guns will shoot, cars will drive, etc... Furthermore, if an overridden device has an inherent Willpower score, Arpad must pass an average difficulty override (willpower) action to control it first.

Cyberspatial Projection (t): his most recently discovered power, this talent allows Arpad to project his mind into any cyberspace in his vicinity. Once he has done this, Arpad's consciousness can interact with traffic and travelers within said c-space normally, as though using a cyber deck.

Since he has no cybernetic implants, Arpad has no software to speak of from which he can draw special abilities. However, he can eventually learn a power stunt for each of his other powers, stunts which will act as though they are his 'programs'. This power works for Arpad at intensity 8.

Hindrances:

(none)

Skills:

Boxing: one Army-given skill, one that Arpad has honed over the years, is his ability to fight unarmed when necessary. When engaged in weaponless melee, Arpad may divide his pre-cardplay action score between two attacks, the last of which will occur as a contingent action.

Clubs: though he is trained in the use of firearms, Arpad has found that their chatter is too distracting under normal circumstances, so he has learned how to fight with simple, non-mechanical items like canes, bats, and so on. He uses such weapons at a reduced difficulty.

Electronics: going to college after his discharge from the Army, Arpad became a competent electronic engineer, having a Masters degree in this field. He can design, build or repair electronic devices, whether analog or digital in nature, at a reduced difficulty.

Espionage: since he has taken to investigative work of late, Arpad has trained with some of Mike 013's colleagues in the fine art of detective work. As such, the man is now well versed in the principles of surveillance, interrogation, and criminal investigation work.

Languages / English and Hungarian: thanks to his upbringing, Arpad was raised speaking English as well as Hungarian, the native tongue of his mother. Though he doesn't really use the latter language much, he can still speak it with ease, and can even read and write in that tongue.

Marksmanship: another part of his Army training, Arpad has learned how to handle guns in combat. Whether he's firing a standard, semi-automatic or fully automatic rifle or pistol, or even freaky weapons like a shotgun, Arpad may do so at one difficulty level lower than is usually necessary.

Military / United States: the source of two of his skills, this talent described the time Arpad spent in the Army - at least, until he was seriously wounded in action. Though out of the service for years, Arpad still has an instinctual understanding of military protocols and procedures.

Calling:

Peace of Mind: more than anything else, Arpad strives for inner peace. The problem is that, in order to do so, the man requires outer peace as well - in other words, he probably won't be happy until he is trapped on a deserted tropical island somewhere, with no technological items to speak of.

Costume:

Arpad doesn't do costumes. He isn't a super hero, and thinks most of them are crazy. As such, he wears conventional clothes when he's working for the Agency. These include blue jeans, a white T-shirt, brown cowboy boots, his old dog tags, and a pair of Oakley (tm) sunglasses.

Personality:

Arpad is troubled, in that he never really got a handle on his natural technological powers. While he's a dedicated, efficient fellow, Arpad is constantly distracted by the hoots and hollers given off by high tech things in his vicinity, and this tends to make him a perpetually grumpy adventurer.

Real Name: Sgt. Arpad Barnett, Ret.
Occupation: professional investigator, former Army trooper
Legal Status: citizen of the United States with no known criminal record
Marital Status: divorced
Alias(es), if any: a few throwaway, one-use aliases
Group Affiliation: Agency 13, former U.S. Army operative

Height: 6' 1"
Hair: white
Eyes: blue-gray
Weight: 190 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Arpad wears his hair somewhat long, as all of it is about five inches long, and walks with a pronounced limp.

Story:

Arpad is the child of Jupiter Barnett, a World War II veteran, and his Hungarian bride, Duci Borbala. Though he was raised in the States, Arpad was forced to learn both English and his mother's tongue; while his father didn't necessarily like the idea, he loved his wife and deferred to her wishes.

That's kind of how Arpad was named Arpad, after all, instead of something like Alan or Joey. Arpad's childhood was sort of strange, though, in that both of his parents were keeping secrets. Not the kind of secrets that most parents do, mind you, but Secrets. You see, super powers run in the Barnett family.

His father, Jupiter, for instance, got his name as a result of a freak accident at birth, one which gave him impressive electrical powers. Of course, this accident wouldn't have even happened if not for the fact that Arpad's grandfather was an entreatist mage specializing in the Greek gods.

Arpad's mother, on the other hand, is a telekinetic of the highest order, trained by Mindwatch (yeah, they were around way back then) until she was a veritable overmind in that discipline of power. His parents' powers complemented each other somewhat, and they fought Nazis a whole lot in their day.

With all this ominous history backing him up, it was a surprise to both of Arpad's parents that he didn't develop powers himself. His big sister did, after all, becoming a heroine in her own right; her career didn't last long, though, for she was abducted by B.A.H. operatives, and subsequently 'vanished'.

So, since he had no ascendant abilities, his parents didn't have to have 'that' talk with Arpad when he was in high school, and the youth grew up relatively normal. He joined the Army, hoping to serve his country like his father did, and was subsequently wounded in action in the 'Nam back in '71.

This is where Arpad developed his trademark limp, the one which forces him to rely on a cane to walk normally. Shipped home and honorably discharged, since he couldn't really walk well, much less run, Arpad had to find himself a 'real' job in the 'world'. So, he went to college.

Feeling drawn to the world of electronics, Arpad went for a degree in this area, and wound up with a Master's by the time he got married. Settling down to raise a family, Arpad got a good job with the phone company (this was right before the whole baby Bells thing went down) and had some kids.

Imagine his surprise when all of his high tech toys started talking to him at work. This was because a strange confluence of his parents' powers, which didn't manifest until he turned thirty, combined to form his strange technopsi abilities. Unfortunately for Arpad, his powers didn't bode well for his sanity.

Slowly growing more edgy, Arpad's life fell apart over the next ten or so years, his wife leaving him due to his irrational behavior (and the constant screaming at the television). When she left, she took the kids with her, and ths only made Arpad even more despondent. He even tried killing himself.

Imagine his surprise when he was rescued from his leap off the Golden Gate Bridge by none other than his mom! After she took him home with her own impressive powers, she and Jupiter explained their histories to their son, and that he wasn't crazy... just possessed of strange, special powers!

While they hoped that this would ease Arpad's mind, it only served to overturn the last part of his structured life, that last bit of normalcy that Arpad was desperately clinging to. So the man went nuts, and spent several years in an insane asylum. It's taken lots of drugs, but Arpad finally came back to the real world.

The only problem was that he couldn't really work in his chosen field, what with him hearing the screaming of devices as he works on them - there's no such thing as anesthetics for inanimate objects, after all. So, having nothing else for it, Arpad started to wander the earth, looking for a purpose in life.

It was at about this point that he was contacted by Mike Jensen, a young man wearing a bevy of accursed high tech devices, who had a job offer for him. He had somehow become aware of Arpad's abilities, and wanted him to use them in his nascent investigative firm, Agency 13.

Unwilling to do the 'super hero' thing, Arpad almost turned him down, but Mike changed his mind by explaining the true purpose behind the Agency - it was to look into weird happenings all around the world, in order to better predict them on alternate timelines; this because their world was a nexus of sorts.

Events on this world were mirrored in countless other timelines, you see. So, having no other job prospects, Arpad agreed to work for Mike, though he wasn't too happy about it. This because he'd have to go back to school, after a fashion, learning investigative techniques from some of Mike's 'peers'.

Soon enough, Arpad was ready for Agency work, but imagine his surprise when he found that Mike was constantly sending him to look into various high tech crimes, or other bizarre events that involved advanced technology. Mike only did this because he wanted to help Arpad out, though.

He figured that, if Arpad was exposed to enough high tech chicanery, he'd finally become accustomed to his powers - perhaps enough that he could at long last control them (and turn off the voices). So far, though, this hasn't worked out as well as Mike hoped; it's only served to make Arpad surlier than ever...!