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From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will create the fact. Be not afraid to live.

~~William James

Unchained Melodie
Player: @Miss Abyss
Origin:	Science
Archetype:	Dominator
Threat Level:	50
Personal Data
Real Name:	Melodie Hatley
Known Aliases:	Virgil, Plug, Limey, Greeny, Green Lady, Mel, Melly, Melondee
Species:	Genetically engineered human
Age:	4
Height:	5'10"
Weight:	176 lbs.
Eye Color:	Right eye green, left eye missing
Hair Color:	Green-blonde
Biographical Data
Nationality:	American
Occupation:	Mercenary
Place of Birth:	Paragon City
Base of Operations:	Villain group Coercion, in the Rogue Islands
Marital Status:	Single
Known Relatives:	Black Spiral Dancer (adopted into his tribe; 'kin')
Known Powers
Telepathy/Telekinesis/Regeneration
Known Abilities
Confidential
Equipment
"Makoto", her sword
No additional information available.

[edit] Personality

In order to know virtue, we must first acquaint ourselves with vice.

~~Marquis de Sade

Want, take, have.

~~Faith, "Bad Girls" episode, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Melodie's personality has changed quite a bit since the beginning of City of Villains. First, she was flat out and out crazy, though insatiably curious about everything. The only thing that hasn't changed for her is that curiosity, which is one of two traits that drive her entire personality. The second is an intense desire of ... well, whatever she desires. Currently, this is taking the form of her fear of "Not-Being", or of death, as it's been on her mind lately.

Mostly, Melodie is alternatively compassionate and indifferent, courageous and cowardly, aggressive and passive, honorable and a cheat, and so on. It really depends upon what people she's around as she tends to act certain ways around certain people, feeling their personality traits and reflecting them back. She tries not to do this too much anymore, but being the telepath/empath that she is, it's hard for her to stop completely. When left to her own devices, Melodie puts things into two very simple categories: Want and Do Not Want. Without other people clouding her emotions, her sociopathic tendencies shine through, and she merely goes from whim to whim, amusing herself. Much of her time is spent in bland meditation, however, on the quest for self-knowledge, but the rest of it... she indulges, and when she does, she does so fully with no reservations. She has a unique perspective on people, as they are just objects to her, even the ones to whom she is close. Occasionally, she'll throw a curve ball someone's way just to see how they deal with it, either being mean to someone she cares for, or incredibly loving to someone she hates.

She's quick to defend people she likes. As it was put once, "They may be toys, but they're MY toys, and woe to the person who breaks them."

Until recently, Melodie suffered from dissociative personality disorder. Being a telepath, these other selves (Caprice and Harmony) were more real to her than other folk, and she could talk and interact with them. While she used to take other people's minds--psyches as she calls them--they were seperate and apart from her, not part of the whole. Even Jorde was another mind entirely, although for a long time Melodie believed Jorde was the baseline personality. Because of her unique mind and how she interacts with other people's minds, she has complete control over the people she 'eats' or takes...but did not over her other personalities. Through a fight she had with Black Spiral Dancer, and several stresses to her psyche, she finally realized the reason why she could not cut Caprice and Harmony out of her head: they were her. Or part of her anyway. With realization came acceptance, and with acceptance came integration. However, with integration came Caprice's overt sadism and self-loathing and Harmony's desire to always do the right thing and self-righteousness. Whether these traits will hinder or harm Melodie is as of yet uncertain, especially as those viewpoints were diametrically opposed... which caused the rift in the first place.

However, even though she knew it will likely bite her in the rear later on, with the opening of Ourobouros, Melodie could not resist going back in time and reclaiming her Quilt. She convinced her earlier self to instead pass the personalities that made the Quilt to her current self rather than 'kill' them. Doing this has made current-Melodie happy, and with her younger self's agreement, she altered her own memories, so that a time rift would not be created. She thought she killed her 'friends', but really didn't... was that how it was always to have been? Or just a recent change? Whichever way, Melodie is currently struggling with the Quilt in her head, fitting them into place and readjusting to the additional minds.

[edit] Morality

"...for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

~~Hamlet, William Shakespeare

Melodie is utterly amoral. There is no right and wrong for her; nothing is inherently evil or good, it just is. As a true creature of her (and others') desires, she seperates things out into 'Want' and 'Do Not Want', and is willing to do just about anything if it amuses her or satiates some desire.

However, she does stick to a strict code of normative ethics. Her ethics are a code of behavior which through trial and error she has adopted in order to relate normally to people and to allow them to trust her. These rules for herself have been influenced by Black Spiral Dancer's code of conduct called the Litany, and also by the samurai code of conduct bushido.

• The Freedom of choice is inviolate: Even though Melodie is a mind controller, she doesn't take over a person's mind. She might rip it out of their heads and put it in hers, but she won't alter their behavior. There are a few exceptions to this rule, as some people have requested triggers or alterations in their behavior, and those who violate this rule themselves deserve to have this freedom taken away. Besides, if she mentally dominated everyone into doing what she wanted, that'd be no fun. It's too easy... most of the time.

• Always tell the truth: What she says, she means. She might hide facts or not give the whole story, but Mel will never flat out lie. If someone asks her a direct question which she doesn't want to answer she'll do just that: not answer.

• A promise is always kept: This goes back to wanting people to trust her. If she gives her promise that she will do or not do something, she'll keep it. It won't stop her from trying to think a way around the promise, but she'll keep her word to the letter.

• Be ready to put up or shut up: More a guideline, Mel won't really go out of her way to antagonize people unless they deserve it (from her point of view). However, if someone does call her out, she'll go and take her lumps or dish them out. She's not afraid to come to blows if it comes down to it, as she enjoys fighting. If she ever decides to back down from a fight, she'll stop harassing the person immediately... because if she's not ready to back her words up, what good are those words anyway?

[edit] Powers

Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.

~~Jules de Gaultier

Melodie's powers come from her "perfect" genetic structure (which was modified heavily by Crey, using a powerful psi as a template and tweaked) and various implants. It was discovered that her genetic structure originally left it open for other powers to develop, such as clairvoyance, psychometry, and pyrokinesis, but it was so heavily modified to augment the telepathy and telekinesis already present that those powers will never be developed in Melodie. She's limited in what she can do with mental skills, but the trade-off for that limitation is power in what she CAN do.

[edit] Telepathy

Her main focus is her telepathy. She is a powerful 'path, being able to read most people's minds, with a few exceptions. The range of her telepathy seems to be several miles, more if she concentrates. She uses this in a variety of ways, to make illusions, , to help people ignore pain or feel it, to hide, to grab hold of people's minds and rewrite them as she sees fit...but her main strength is the ability to swallow minds whole, ripping out a person's psyche and adding it to her own. This is a practice she continues to this day, adding new minds to her psyche. It should be noted that she is more or less in absolute control of her own mind, and as a result, it's extremely difficult to influence her with brute mental force, or even with mind-altering drugs or pheremones (her filtration systems also help with those which have a physical base). However, a gentler touch could be successful where force is not (see weaknesses).

[edit] Telekinesis

Her secondary focus is her telekinetic powers. In days gone by, she used to rip people limb from limb. Within the last few months, she's honed her power to a razor's edge, conserving strength when using her teke to cut people instead of the messy ripping. The power of her telekinesis is not found in brute strength,but rather in her fine telekinetic manipulation. With the way her mind works and her near perfect memory, she can keep track of thousands of individual objects, even those as tiny as a grain of sand, and move them all independant of each other. With concentration, she can utilize her telekinetic abilities to "burst heal" a grievious wound. It's the finesse, not brute force, which vaults her into one of the most powerful telekinetics out there.

[edit] Regeneration

Melodie's regenerative abilities are slightly better than a normal humans. She is in general resistant to disease (though certainly not immune) and toxic substances. She has several implants that aid in filtering out foreign substances which are harmful, such as drugs, alcohol, and poisons. However, she can 'burst heal' a fair amount of damage (such as a knife wound or a gunshot) in a short period of time. This tends to leave her weak and dizzy (but, hey, better than dead) and craving food or sleep.

[edit] Vulnerabilities

Melodie is just a little afraid of cats, with the exception of pink exploding kittens.

Only the mediocre are always at their best.

~~Jean Giraudoux

Melodie has a variety of weaknesses that balance the powers at her disposal. Melodie's telepathy cannot break through most magical shielding, even if it's a weak shield, and she cannot accurately read a cybernetic organism. The cybernetics interfere with her mind-reading and dominating ability for an unknown reason: they come out as 'fuzzy' to her. Melodie is very weak against "dark" powers, which she calls the Void. If there is nothing there, she cannot affect it. Her regeneration is limited in that she cannot regrow limbs. She also tends to have random phobias and mental diseases. While not particularly vulnerable to psionic attack, a very subtle telepath could alter her perception, creating confusion in her mind. Electricity also does a number on her, shorting out her implanted systems and rendering her unconscious. She's been known to kill people on the street if she catches an errant thought they are carrying a taser.

[edit] Character History

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

~~Napoleon Bonaparte

Mel has a very long history, as she tends to volunteer herself for any of her friends. As a result, she's gone through quite a lot in the time she's been in the Islands.

[edit] Origin

Melodie was part of the Revenant Hero Project, a new branch that was concentrating on infiltration and interrogation. Doctor Sarah Jorde was overseeing the new branch, designing a new line of Paragon Protectors, based on psychics. Most of the clones did not reach maturation due to various problems within the program, or were driven incurably insane when awakened, unable to handle the telepathic input that suddenly blossomed in their minds. One clone, however, reached cognizance on June 6th, 2003 while still inside the tube. This clone "awoke" because it sensed other people nearby (the people in the lab) and became curious as to what it was feeling exactly. Because of this gentle awakening of its power and slow reach to full cognizance, it did not go insane when drawn out of the tube as it had innately buffered itself against other people's thoughts by copying parts of their personality. Jorde's personality was the main template for the clone.

Jorde realized the clone was awake, and interviewed it. The doctor was shocked to find out the clone had named itself Melodie, and created an entire history for itself based mostly on Jorde's memories. It was the only success they had in the current batch, and was processed onto the next phase--surgical implants to add protection to the vulnerable areas, and to implant a psychic inhibitor so that they could control the clone. Unfortunately for Melodie, Jorde was also a sociopath, and the doctor was both angry and amused the clone had copied her memories. Jorde purposefully and spitefully lowered the dosage of sedatives for the clone while on the operating table--knowing the personality would be wiped or controlled anyway--so that the clone felt pain during the procedure. What Jorde did not realize was how well their implants worked, and during the last phase of the surgical procedure, the clone was able to act to defend itself. The very first act of Melodie's under her own power was to rip Jorde's mind out of the doctor's body, killing her, and placing the psyche in her own mind.

However, Melodie was already half-insane from the pain she endured and could not handle Jorde's sociopathy. Jorde took control of the body, and realizing she had near limitless potential, slaughtered the other doctors, revelling in their pain while Melodie could only look on in horror. Unfortunately for Jorde, the hero Ascendant was raiding the facility at the time, and happened upon the gruesome scene. When Jorde turned to take Ascendant's mind, Melodie saw a shining beacon of goodness and nobility that shocked her back into control. At that point, Ascendant knocked her lights out, and she was arrested for mass murder. Crey sued Ascendant afterwards for the unlawful search and break-in. The case was later dropped.

In the Zig, with her psychic inhibitor in place, Melodie was helpless. At least, to begin with she was. During the first few weeks, she was assaulted, and one of the prisoners assaulting her removed her eyeplug--which was the pyschic inhibitor. Without that in place, Melodie went wild, slaughtering several prisoners and wounding a few others. The first mind she harvested whole--other than Jorde's--was a troll named Jurt, who ended up being a great comfort to Mel. The guards could not remove the inhibitor, and couldn't allow her to remove it either. Being too dangerous to leave unattended, she was restrained and ended up in solitary.

During this time, Jorde struggled to take control again, but the fragments of other minds--and the one Mel captured whole--buffered Mel against Jorde's attempts, effectively keeping the two women seperated in Mel's mind. This was the beginning of what Mel called the 'Quilt': a crazy blanket of minds stitched together haphazardly to protect her. Jorde began a different tactic after a while, using her knowledge of the clone's mindset to encourage the thought that Melodie was 'not real' and just there to protect 'the Girl'.

Arachnos, in one of its many raids on the Zig, freed Melodie, and left her to wander the Islands alone.

[edit] Early Island Days

It didn't take long for Melodie to adopt the 'kill or be killed' attitude so prevalent in the Islands. She was grateful to Arachnos for freeing her, and took jobs from them, becoming a mercenary. During this time, she harvested many more minds to add to her Quilt, which skewed her outlook as all of them generally had advice to give on situations at hand. The more minds she harvested, the more bizarre her behavior. However, the Quilt realized it was only through her they lived at all, and generally acted in her best interests; they didn't always agree on what that was.

It was during this time she found a small group of like minded individuals, mercenaries and outcasts all. They formed a loose affliation with one another, and named the group Coercion. It is currently led by the relatively unknown Doctor Delaware. (Side note: If you think Mel's green is bad, she's got nothing on the bright blue and gold of Doctor D.)

Melodie prospered in this environment, but Jorde was working behind the scenes in her mind. Since Melodie was content to add to the buffer between them, and felt no desire to change, Jorde began altering that perception slightly, feeding Melodie a feeling that she was missing "something" in her life, when otherwise she felt quite fulfilled merely existing. Eventually, prompted by Jorde, Mel began seeking out other people for company, though she had a disquieting feeling that someone was watching her.

[edit] Becoming Whole

Artwork by Graff. <3

It was at this point that Melodie met several people who shaped her life from this point on, the most notable of which are Mary (the Appropriator), Black Spiral Dancer, Miseria Bella, and Avurnus. There were others as well, but those few had the biggest impact upon her. She met the first three by the pyramid in the Giza, quite by accident. Mary was taken with her, intrigued by her insanity, and ended up asking Melodie out on a date after several encounters. Feeling lonely due to Jorde's prompting, Mel accepted.

The two quickly became inseperable, and Mary eased Melodie into a physical relationship while she eased him into a mental one. During this time, she met one of Mary's associates, Avurnus, who was also intrigued by her mental state of being. Those two she took on a tour of her mind (at different times), showing them a field of bodies (the mental representation of the Quilt) and admonishing them that she wasn't 'real', just made to protect 'The Girl'. While distracted with her new friends, and struggling to deal with emotional awakenings within her (most notably here Bella, with whom Mel was fascinated), Jorde struck the first time, disrupting the Quilt and erasing some of the minds within Mel. She also was able to utilize Mel's own power aginst her to break one of the connectors of the psychic inhibitor. The inhibitor--her eyeplug--had become symbolic in Mel's mind. It was Something that Wasn't to Be Touched, except in extreme circumstances when Mel's mental resources were exhausted and she needed something more. Whenever she 'pulled the plug', she let Jorde loose to kill savagely. Jorde's sociopathy was directed how Mel desired, and was forced back down again by the Quilt when her purpose had been served. Mel never remembered what happened during the times she pulled the plug; she just knew she was scared of the Girl who sang her Song to her, and made her want... something more.

It ended up that Mary was how that desire was directed, wanting to change for him, so she could be a 'normal girl'. However, as the relationship progressed, Mel lost control with increasing frequency until the both of them decided something had to be done. This was the opportunity to take full control Jorde had waited for. With the aid of Avurnus and a gifted psychic named Sighted, Mel was sedated and her mind entered. They theorized they could reintegrate the personalities--still thinking Mel was just ONE person with different aspects, not suspecting there was another whole person in her head--and restore her mind to health. Jorde was soon uncovered and likely could have overpowered Sighted and Avurnus put together... except that while Sighted and Mary struggled with Jorde, Avurnus cast a spell reverting Jorde's personality back to when it was 'safe'--when she was an infant--for a brief moment. That moment was all it took for Sighted to take Jorde firmly in hand, and hand her over to Mel. Melodie leeched the memories from Jorde later on, and destroyed the psyche.

Knowing her origins and realizing she was free to do what she wanted, Melodie engaged vigorously in the business of living, wanting to experience everything. Mary indulged her in this, and even accepted her taking other lovers. Nothing was denied her in her quest for self-exploration, and her circle of friends quickly grew as she tried to figure out who and what she wanted to be.

[edit] The Dark Ages

Things were good for Melodie for a while, but her appetite for living lead her down a dark path. In an attempt to help Dana Frost remove a psychic presence from her mind, Melodie lost her powers for a while. The loss affected her deeply, as she used her telepathy almost without thinking about it, gathering comfort from the presence of minds around her. It was during this time she learned from Grossferatu how to use a sword, as she wanted to keep killing, but had no way to do it.

During this period of time, one of her lovers rejected her. She wept and cried, and when given an opportunity to take him back, she did. By doing so, she hurt Mary, who then broke up with her. Mel took that break-up hard, breaking up with Altair (the lover she took back), and ridding herself of the Quilt in an attempt to prove to Mary she could stand on her own. Her closest friend during this time was Spiral, who was never ending with his comfort and support.

The other source of comfort was Trevor Pillman, who was at first angry at Mel for her treatment of Mary, then sympathetic to her plight. She and Trevor became closer and closer as he tried to comfort her during these months of wangst (and it was wangst, trust the player), and ended up quasi-dating. They were not a couple, but everyone else considered them so. Trevor wanted the relationship, but Mel did not, her heart set on Mary.

[edit] Liverpool

In October, Trevor made known his plans to go to Liverpool to take his vengeance on his father. Frightened that she'd lose her friend, Mel begged and pleaded to go with him. After a few days of begging, he finally relented and agreed to let her go. During this time, their relationship was bittersweet. Trevor wanted Mel, but thought he was going to die. Mel was concerned for Trevor, but torn up over Mary. It was, needless to say, a confusing week for both of them.

The raid was successful though, and the both of them caused a lot of damage to Britain's heroes. Trevor killed his father, but lost his arm in the process. Mel pushed herself to her limits and beyond, prematurely aging herself by an unknown amount, and nearly killing herself as her body ravaged itself for energy to fuel her powers.

After Liverpool, Trevor and Mel argued, and he left, leaving her distraught and alone, with only Spiral to keep her stable.

[edit] The Golden Age

Trevor eventually did come back to the Islands, and they recounciled, eventually becoming a couple around Christmas time, officially. Emotionally, Melodie was still involved with Mary, even though he wanted nothing to do with her, and when it came around to the anniversary of their first date, she could not handle it anymore. She split her mind into three parts: Harmony to contain her love for Mary, Caprice to contain her hate, leaving herself free and clear to enjoy her relationship with Trevor.

During this time, Spiral formally adopted Melodie as kin, part of his werewolf tribe. She met other friends, starting hanging out with a new crowd, and reinvented herself a few times over until she settled on the person she is now. She and several others took on the Freedom Phalanx, and won. She was at the height of her powers, and one of the most powerful psychics in the Islands, and possibly Paragon as well. Trevor and her moved in together, with Cally joining them later. This is without a doubt, the happiest time of Mel's short life.

[edit] Vengeance

The Golden Age came to a crashing halt when several of Britain's heroes who had survived Trevor and Mel's assault came to collect their vengeance. The vigilantes watched the two villains for a long time, then kidnapped them. The pair were put through a grueling affair, held helpless. It was due to the activities of their friends (Black Spiral Dancer, Fearghas, Kichi, Sovereign Fist, Callypsa, and Lunar Psicle) that they were found and rescued. Only two of the vigilantes were killed, and none were captured: they're still out there somewhere, something that Mel is not forgetting anytime soon.

Melodie retreated into her mind to deal with the torture she was dealt. Her other personalities took their licks as well, and afterwards, they seemed more 'real' to Mel. She was not able to shut them out nearly as easily as she was previous to that. It almost seemed as if they were stronger than her, able to shunt her psyche aside as if it were nothing. Trevor, emotionally stunted and in shock, was unable to help her, and she ended up turning to Spiral and Mary to center her. When she finally did find her center, Trevor left to collect himself, and Mel went through another bout of angst, feeling abandoned yet again.

[edit] Crom's Offer

Ever persistant, Melodie adapted to the loss of her lover, and took refuge in finding herself...and her friends. When the Rikti invasion began, Trevor came back, worrying about Mel, and they were reuinted happily. For a while, anyway. Trevor decided he wanted a normal life (more or less) and was constantly worried about Mel putting herself in danger. Mel, still subscribing to the 'live life to the fullest category' didn't feel she could give that to him...and his constant worrying was a bit of an annoyance. So, they split, but on good terms, as they both still care, their lives just weren't compatible.

Melodie lived life as she wished it, for the most part, continuing her mercenary work and looking into completing her goals in life. Vague and unfocused as they were, it was the only thing she could really think of applying her considerable skills to... other than just living for the sake of living. Her only two goals were to rid the world of Arachnos and to extend her life.

Doctor Crom (who had been studying her genetic structure) told Melodie that he could extend her life to something approaching the human norm. With that genetic therapy, she might also be able to bear children one day. However, because it would be reversing what Crey did to her, she would also have a dramatic decrease in power. If she did not do something relatively quickly, within a year, it would be too late to prevent the eventual cellular breakdown written into her genetic structure. Mel freaked out, and Harmony took over, accepting the deal. Due to this (and other) stresses in her life, Melodie became depressed. While struggling to deal with the feeling of futility, she realized the reason why she could not boot Caprice or Harmony out of her head: they were part of her. In effect, she was in a very real sense fighting against herself. With that realization, integration occurred.

Artwork by Nebel Sirene. <3

During this point in time, Mel performed several mercenary jobs for various people, including the Dread Aces, helping their leader Crimson clear a psychic's influence from her mind, and aided Septa in assaulting a base in England, along with Black Spiral Dancer and Trevor. When she returned, she was a bit despondant. She missed "hunting" or doing jobs with Trevor, feeling alone. She approached him on it, and while he missed it too, he could not handle the extra minds in her head... as she had taken back her Quilt, using Ouroboros.

Enter Gerard, or Junior. Back from doing an extended job for the Council, Melodie ran into him by happenstance. Having known him for almost as many years as she'd been cognizant, she latched onto him immediately as a link to her past. Upon revealing he was chafing under the leash of his "employers", Melodie suggested he quit, and began talking up the Aces to him. He eventually joined, and Melodie thought she was clever: this way he wouldn't up and just leave again... and then he up and left, going with the Aces on a world tour. He came back to visit, however, and the two have spent much time together, bonding on more than a few levels.

The experience of his rude and sudden departure, however, showed Melodie that she really couldn't trust anyone to be there for her, not even Spiral as the two of them had yet another argument. People left, whether she wanted them to or not. Instead of looking for an outward reason, she looked inward... and she wanted to live. She reasoned it to herself that being on the lower scale of power would be more of a challenge anyway. When next she saw Lazarus, she accepted.

Through several grueling weeks of "treatments", the procedure was a success... for the most part. Much of her telekinetic strength vanished along with the shortened life span as Crom reversed a good deal of the genetic engineering Crey did to the genetemplate. Her regenerative abilities had been cut down as well, but at least now Melodie felt she had time enough to accomplish what goals she has.

[edit] Allies

Be nice to people on your way up because you meet them on your way down.

~~Jimmy Durante

• Ascendant: Her hero!

• Junior: Gerard. Junior's been around since the very beginning, when Mel first started to socialize. He's always been a good friend, and they have WAY too much in common, both being psychics and more recently a love for the Hunt. She is completely enamored of how much they are alike, and how different they are at the same time...and more than a bit enamored of him as well.

• Low Brow: Hoo Ha. Her "co-worker" in Coercion, a small mercenary group. Hoo Ha is probably the most intelligent being Melodie has ever met, and one of the most effective in combat. She still gets a giggle out of watching people be on the wrong side of Mr. Winston.

• Trevor Pillman: Narf. Mel's ex, though they split on good terms, more or less. He's come back to the Islands, but so far they've maintained tenuous contact, at best.

• Avurnus: Dante. Another friend who's been with her since the beginning. She jokes that he or Mary are always the ones saving her... and it's mostly true. He's a mage, and sort of a telepath, and she respects his skills, but more than that, she loves him dearly for always being by her side.

• Black Spiral Dancer: Wolf. Her Other Half. She sincerely believes that she shares her soul (if she has one) with Spiral. They think alike, act alike, and if she didn't restrain herself, she'd be almost just like him. There is nothing she wouldn't do for him, if he'd ask. And there's nothing she wouldn't sacrifice him. He calls her 'First Among Many' and she feels the same for him. Recently, her relationship with Spiral is more than slightly strained as they two have been arguing for a variety of reasons.

• Graffiti Samurai: She likes Graff a lot. They have a lot in common, including missing an eye, and he's one of the few people she bonded with right away. It's not uncommon for her to be seen holding hands with him in the D, just to savor the human contact.

• Techno-Avenger: Ems is one of the few lesbians Mel likes: she's quiet, sweet, and doesn't overtly hit on her. She's known Emma for years, and they have a comfortable not-quite-flirtacious friendship between them. Mel also tries not to mention any mass murder sprees around Ems since she's a hero, though very faint-of-heart for a whitehat.

• Kichi: That Asian hussy! ... Mel likes Kichi, more or less. She's sometimes confused by Kichi's behavior when it doesn't fit the 'I am a deadly assassin' persona, but she owes Kichi her life, and since both follow bushido, Melodie will be there to aid Kichi whenever she needs in order to pay back that debt.

• Vexx Vandal: Mel really loves Vexx's youthful enthusiasm. He makes her want children of her own...but not children who can set things on fire.

• Firelight: Mel's daughter by "adoption". She loves Julia as a daughter, both versions.

• Septa: Mel's cuddle-monster. She's close with Septa, very close, and if he wasn't such a work-a-holic, she'd probably be shacking up with him.

• Sunbreaker: Mel's Lion. Melodie still loves him. She broke up with him after taking him back, but they parted on good terms. She shared a couple love triangles with him, with made it a mess and cost her her love, but if he were to come back to Earth, she'd welcome him with open arms... even if Trevor hates him.

• Addramalech: Fluffy. Mel loves Addra because he's emotionless. He's a welcome relief from everyone's emotions running all willy-nilly over her mind. But, because of that same lack of emotion, she will likely never date him (if she ever became free). She needs to be emotionally close to people and he has no emotions to be close to.

• Nebel Sirene: Mel has an up and down relationship with Nebel. She feels sorry for Nebs, but is exasperated (and sometimes pissed at) with her. She does like the diminuitive Nazi, but she knows that the more she gives Nebel, the more Nebel will take.

• Sovereign Fist: Ray-Ray or Rayshine. He helped to save her, and he hasn't hit on her! He's a good guy, and someone Mel considers solid...though he wins at the 'guess who' game. :(

• Geothermal Joe: Another of her heroes, Joe's young, but seems like a grizzled old man. She is very enamored of her 'favorite pile of rocks', and wishes she could hold onto ideals as he does. He is someone for whom Mel would do anything for, without question.

• Toledo Tornado: A Spanish friend, and one who's a cape, his laid back attitude and Hispanic sexiness appeal to Mel. Even when she's 'Red', she'll go and lean her head upon his shoulder and listen to Diego pontificate on his world view.

• Maulgar: The other werewolf Mel knows, Rory is a thug turned fuzzy. She likes him because he's big and snuggleable, especially in wolf form, and who doesn't need a giant werewolf to snuggle with?

• Wild Shrike: Mel loves Shrike. He's simple and sort of stupid, but she loves him nevertheless. She has a promise to kiss him every time she sees him if he took a bath that day.

• Aeterna Firebrand: Harvey. No one gets the name she hung on him because he doesn't wear white anymore, but he still likes his nickname at least. He's one of the few people Mel will rely upon because he's trustworthy, and that's something she doesn't say about many people at all. Plus, he blushes easily and that's always fun.

• Zeal Drain: Mel is exasperated by his innocence, but fascinated by it as well. She sees in him what she could have been in a different life. She's almost sad he doesn't want to talk to her anymore, but instead of trying to become friends again, just wrote him off. She doesn't think ill of him, though she pouts whenever his name is brought up.

• Jet Nitro: Mel's not sure what to think about Jet. She likes her, but she's...so reserved, so against touching. She reminds Mel of herself, back in the Ago, and she feels sympathy.

• Cloudgazer: Skye. His head is up in the clouds along with his name, but he's nice to her. She pays special attention in flaunting her villain-hood around him, asking him how many people she has to kill to make up for the good deeds he's done. He doesn't think it's as funny as she does.

• Mr. Minion: Sykes. Melodie had almost forgotten about Sykes and his peculiar brain, but recently ran into him again, renewing their acquaintance. He's fascinating because of the people in his head, so like Mel herself, and now is even MORE fascinating as he's dead yet still moving. She almost feels sorry for him.

• Shade Wield: A friend from days gone by reacquainted anew. Mel likes Shade and feels sorry for him... but only because he echoes her so strongly. She wants to tell him that people who love him will never leave, but having had bad experiences with that herself, feels it's hypocritical. She nevertheless enjoys his company, even if both of them can be moody.

• Fearghas: TV's Frank. Mel likes James. His hair is fabulous... and so much fun to muss up. He's a good guy who's been there for her when she needed him.

• Pick Pocket: Mel hasn't decided if she likes Pick yet. The girl is annoying, but energetic. She also carries knives, so she can't be all bad.

• Doctor Crom: Lazarus. A relationship of mutual respect, which has changed recently. She's leery of Crom for several different reasons, but doesn't truly believe him a threat to her.

• Sungazer: Theo. Mel's /really/ not sure how to feel about Sungazer. She likes him (hey, he's in the friends list) and he gave her the name of 'Fishbow', which is unique and Mel likes. But he's also dating Kichi (which leads to her giving Kichi strange looks--see above), which sort of grosses her out.

• Rakescar: Rakey-poo. Mel has conflicted feelings about Rake. He dated her daughter, and they broke up not on the best of terms...but he's always been nice to her.

• Reiraku Overdrive: The Doom Bunny. Mel, for some reason, can't remember Rei's name. She likes her, but thinks the crush Rei has on Kichi is hilarious.

• Dana Frost: Mu. Mel went into Dana's mind to free her from the Carnival's influence, but at a hefty price: losing her powers for well over a month. It was during this time that she lost Mary, and she's never quite been able to seperate the two events in her mind. Because of this, she's friendly with Dana, but holds the woman at arm's length.

[edit] Enemies

NOTE: One person took considerable offense to being mentioned here. Nevermind it seems he was part of the sequence of events. So in the interests of soothing the feelings of that ONE person, we've rendered him anonymous. -- The Management

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.

~~Henry Ford

• Appropriator: Once her closest friend and lover, she has no choice but to label him an enemy. Being around him makes her unstable, more so than normal, and she takes great pains to avoid that unless absolutely necessary. It was because of him that her primary preferred victim type was defined: slim blonde men who wear glasses.

• Mistress Demonica: Although Mel gets along with Demonica (when she's around) on the surface, there is something inherently repellant about D to Melodie. Mel might kill people and steal their minds, but she doesn't *change* them, and that is what Demonica is about. That sort of unethical behavior is abhorrent to Mel... the taking away of *choice*. Also, Demonica beat the heck out of her during a duel...which Mel won. Still too much of a vicious fight for Mel to want to repeat it.

• Enerix: Not so much an enemy as someone who pissed Mel off, Enerix is just the type of woman that Mel hates anyway: someone who thinks they have a veneer of culture because they sip wine and act seductive. (Unchainer also fits into that category.) However, there is a personal reason for the dislike: Enerix has messed with two of Melodie's friends, trying to take away their freedom of choice. One seems to be holding his own while the other submitted entirely, and Mel had to bail him out at great effort, though she's afraid that reprieve might be temporary. She hates people messing with her people, though she's not quite sure how to get back at the succubus thing magic whatever it is. It could be a mutation, but with the effort it took Mel to reverse the effects in Junior's head, she's pretty sure Enerix has magical energy... one thing Mel's incredibly weak against.

• [NAME DELETED]^[1]: ...although Melodie hates to agree with Blake, on this issue, they are unified: [CENSORED] is a douche. He's insulted her before, and Trevor, and not only that, but is locked in a hopeless relationship with someone Melodie does like... and all he does is hurt Petite. So, he's just one of those people who just have to die. Plus, he smells funny.

• Chill Yeti: Mel has made it one of her life's goals to annoy Blake, until he dies. She used to get along with him, but something changed within him, he assaulted her, and she has hated him with a fiery passion ever since. However, Blake isn't the brightest crayon in the box, and when he was worried that he would lose control and he wanted some way to keep that from happening, he asked Melodie to put in a trigger to keep him calm, so he 'wouldn't go psycho'. She *could* have erased the alternate personality lurking in the depths of his mind, but instead chose to extract a price for the trigger...six *other* triggers of her choosing. Vengeance, ah, so very, very sweet. He mostly ignores her now, which Mel considers a victory, since that means she doesn't have to deal with him.

• Unchainer: Boobs. Although not technically an enemy as they get along for the most part, Mel really dislikes Rose. Maybe it's the snobby elitism, maybe it's the fact she drinks red wine and believes herself superior... in all likelihood it's both, coupled with Unchainer's tendency to wear outfits which threaten to slip at any moment, hence the nickname.

[edit] Mindscape

I have an existential map; it has 'you are here' written all over it.

~~Steven Wright

Melodie is a psychic, and a relatively powerful one. To her, thoughts are more real than 'realtime'. A thought is a living, breathing object to her, and a person's mind is an entire world to explore, each one different. She often (though less common nowadays) 'zones' out as she's exploring someone else's world, or her own inner world, searching for wisdom. There are several levels to Melodie's mind.

[edit] MUSH

A MUSH is shorthand for 'Multi-User Shared Hallucination'. This is not really a part of her mind, but often a bubble of a mindscape created between her mind and another. When she wants to be in deep conversation with someone and not be disturbed on this level, she creates a mindscape for just the two of them, letting some other part of her talk and interact in 'realtime' as she talks in the MUSH. When in this scenario, other non-psi folks can get an idea of what life is like for Melodie, as whatever they imagine can be manifested.

[edit] The Field of Bodies

The first level of Melodie's subconscious is her Quilt. This is her second line and best line of psychic defense (the first being awareness of her own mind as anyone has), and where she stores the minds she harvest from other sentient beings. Each mind is represented by a body, battered and bruised, laying down on the ground. With each step on the Quilt, blood seeps up, coating the walker's feet. Sometimes there are just fragments of a body... an arm, a leg, a hand... and those are just fragments of another's mind, a few memories or fleeting emotion.

A visitor can talk to a body, as it is perfectly sentient and 'alive', in a sense. A few notables are:

• Jurt: A troll who was Melodie's first mind taken whole (save for Jorde's). He is Melodie's staunchest supporter in her head, oftentimes giving bad advice, but warm feelings.

• Arad: A Thorn mage ripped from his reanimated body, Arad seeks for a way back out, or to take over Mel's body for his own. As most of the other minds agree there isn't a way out, he's often kept in control by the other bodies in the Quilt knowing that as long as Mel is alive, they are alive... in a sense at least. He contains much magical knowledge, but rarely shares it.

• John: A HeroCorps spy who was sent to investigate her, Melodie took his mind and sent back a report on herself anyway, just to make him happy. He spends most of his time urging Mel to stop killing, which she mostly ignores.

• C'Kella: A rikti guardian, Kella is normally very quiet unless another Rikti is about. This is the only other 'psychic' mind Melodie has ever taken, and Mel is a bit frightened of it. Kella is powerful and never interferes... just watches.

• Danny Boy: A Hellion, Danny thinks being in the body of a hawt chick is great. He wants Mel to go lesbian. Very occasionally he'll miss being male, but he's often at the top of her mind when she's out hunting.

There are also two vacant spots in the Quilt that looks on into nothingness, like something is missing. The first has tatters and pieces of blue decaying flesh around it, and seems to be healing. The second hole has smooth edges, as if it were cut out neatly. Occasionally, eyes can be seen looking up from the depths, but that is very rare.

From the Quilt, there are several places to go. Melodie keeps her mind organized strictly, and to get from one area to another, there are only a few paths to go down. From the Quilt, there is a door standing in the middle of nowhere, a plug (that looks like her eyeplug), and a pool of stagnant water.

[edit] The Forest

The door opens to a flight of stairs. As the visitor walks down, a breeze hits them, and eventually, they will realize they are in a forest. The forest of trees has blood red leaves (and careful observers will note they can see the Quilt above the trees) and black trunks, but the grass here is green and soft and fragrant. It leads to a river of running water. Flowers bloom here, but amongst the trees and flowers and various paths are file cabinets and books, stuck haphazardly around, looking out of place. Those file cabinets contain some of Melodie's memories, facts and languages and other stolen information. The memories she's lived are contained within the flowers: smell a flower and relive the memory.

[edit] The Laboratory

The Plug leads through a hole of dirt, coming out in a Crey laboratory. The path splits again three ways. One path has a green trail of spattered liquid, one trail red, and the other no trail at all, but a cold wind blows from it. The Red tunnel contains Melodie's memories of how she came to be. This is the place she goes when she fights Crey, whom she despises. It is brutal, wanton violence, but without pleasure... it is fighting to survive. Eventually, one will see a bright shining light come and subdue the violence, restoring order at last.

The Green tunnel leads to a rack of clone tanks. The tanks are filled with visions of dead folk, people she knows and talks to telepathically. When she is talking to them, they are active in their tube. The pathways lead down to the center tube, where Melodie floats, peaceful and serene. It has an antiseptic feel to it, and visitors will feel someone watching them at all times. Melodie often comes here to talk to herself, as this is the closest access to the "core" Melodie.

The Cold tunnel leads to a frozen corpse, which still moves and talks and breathes. This is her memory of Jorde, who is perfectly interactive, but subsumed as a part of Melodie's psyche. All of Jorde's memories and knowledge (after Mel reclaimed them from her former self) are accessible, but they are part of Melodie, not seperate like the Quilt. Jorde herself is quite cold to the touch, and tries to get visitors to stay here. She is often holding a black and white cat which bears a collar and a nametag naming it "Spots".

[edit] The Wasteland

The pool of stagnant water, if one jumps through it, leads to a desert, a barren wasteland with no sign of life. The wind blows hot and the sky is red. Eventually, one will come to a horrible scene of violence, where Melodie, clad in red, is butchering some unlucky sap. Sometimes it might be Mary, sometimes Trevor, oftentimes herself. This is where Melodie contains her hate and rage, including her own self-loathing. This is a part of her mind she kept more or less intact after reintegrating Caprice, as she felt very strongly that this hate needed to be expressed instead of suppressed, otherwise it would cause more damage in the long run. This is the place she goes when vengeance is called for, but is wary of it as well.

[edit] The Ball of Yarn

Each of those 'scenes' in Melodie's mind is just a way for her to organize her thoughts and feelings systematically so she can review them and figure out what she is feeling. Each part has specfic 'threads' connecting to it, and new scenes or mindscapes may appear as needed. However, if one looks very very closely, they will see that each bit of the mindscape is cleverly made out of a myriad of strings. Untangling a single string and following it will take the visitor to a void, a space of nothing, save for a ball of yarn made of multi-colored strings. This is Melodie in her truest form, each string detailing a particular shade of her emotion or thoughts. It is here that she can be manipulated psychically, pulling and snipping strings to suit the visitor's desire.

Although no one has ever been able to untangle the ball of yarn, inside the very center of it is a cage with two white mice: Forty and Two. Forty represents her curiosity, and Two represents her desire... those are the two real driving forces to Melodie, and when it gets down to it... all she really is.

[edit] Mel-Speak

If you can't convince them, confuse them.

~~Harry S. Truman

Back in the day, Mel almost had her own language she was so... different. Although she mostly uses a lot of pop culture references now, there are still a few things that are hers and uniquely so.

• Colors: What other psychics may call a person's aura from which they read the person's emotional state (and other things in some cases), Mel uses the word 'Colors' to refer to the emotions themselves. Thus, when she's talking about seeing all the pretty colors, she's talking about all the emotions she sees writ upon people. See also Strings.

• Green: One of the colors Mel has a preference for, this is an indicator of her mood. When she says she is 'green', she is laid back, bubbly, happy, and also way more empathic to the needs of others. See also Red.

• Hunt, The: Always with a capital letter, the Hunt means more than just hunting and killing to Mel, although she'll refer to that as hunting. It is what she lives for, the thrill of the edge, living life to the fullest.

• Hunting: Usually means working, it's when Mel is in the field, earning her paycheck. She also uses it to reference hunting people for fun and also looking for something to do, ie, 'I'm bored, I wanna hunt.'

• Meat: A person's body.

• Mindscape: A multi-user shared hallucination that is seperate from the 'top' mind. A quirk of her telepathy and the way her mind works allows Mel to function on several levels at once, splitting her mind up to accomplish tasks. Oftentimes, she will establish a telepathic bond with someone and create a hallucination of a place for them to sit and talk privately, without being interrupted. That hallucination is a mindscape. Also a term used for the symbolic representation of a person's mind, ie, their mental landscape.

• Psyche: (pronounced sigh-key) A person's whole mind, not just a thought or emotion, but their entire mind. Mel theorizes this may be the 'soul' that people talk about, as it is to her what makes each person unique, but there's no way to know as she's not magically inclined.

• Pulling Strings: To alter a person's emotional state.

• Pulling the Plug: To go psycho-bitch crazy on someone, usually causing a lot of pain and suffering in a short amount of time.

• Quantify: To explain what you mean in detail. Usually made as a request, ie, 'Quantify?' or 'Quantification please?'

• Realtime: Anything outside an altered perception; what people call 'reality'.

• Red: One of the colors Mel has a preference for, this is an indicator of her mood. When Mel says she is 'red', she is angry, upset, hostile, and in general sadistic and mean. See also Green.

• Riding: To feel what another person feels as they experience it, ie, going along for the ride. Sometimes said as 'mind riding', though not often used in either case.

• Strings: Emotions and thoughts. See also Pulling Strings and Colors.

• Trigger: A code word or gesture that will cause a certain reaction in a person. Triggers are usually installed by Mel upon request only to control a person's reaction to a specific set of stimuli or to cause a certain action. Works just like a hypnotic trigger, except the person generally remembers it. Generally the triggers she installs are auditory or have to be heard in order to work.

• Wangst: An emotional state of depression over something stupid. Although this is in the common urban dictionary, Mel uses it a lot.

1. ↑ Yep. This is the one person mentioned.