Mell
| Mell | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Race | Human |
| Magic | Aether Technician |
| Technician Gift | Androids |
| Faction | The Last Horizon |
| First Appearance | The Captain |
| Family | |
Mell is the Engineer of the Last Horizon. She fought and stole from the Advocates for years under the name Doctor Nova before becoming the Engineer of the Last Horizon. Mell has a deep fascination with the Zenith Devices, and requested to find the Zenith Devices as part of her goal to join the Last Horizon.
Appearance
Mell wears a dusty white lab coat and glasses that function as a console. She wears plain but comfortable black clothing underneath. After joining The Last Horizon, Horizon added a tiny ship logo onto the left side of the coat’s chest.
As Doctor Nova, Mell wears a more elaborate white coat lined with blue, as a deliberate mockery of the Advocates. Her glasses are more of a visor, and she had consoles strapped to both arms. She carried a bandolier of what looked like ammo across her chest, and she carried tools in pouches and straps on her belt.
Biography
Childhood at Stellar Synthesis Labs
Mell never had a family, as she, alongside others, was grown in a lab by Stellar Synthesis Labs. Her full name is Mell D-One-Twenty-Five [1]. She was cloned from the DNA of four human Aether Technicians who were believed to have worked on the Zenith Devices. Stellar Synthesis Labs were attempting to mass produce Aether Technicians, and though the project was overall a failure, Mell was a success.
The living conditions of the lab were mostly good, and Mell was well taken care of. However, when Mell and the others broke a rule or when they were being transferred, they would be placed in a small, tight room, at which point they must wait until they are released. Mell hated this and she would end up developing claustrophobia as a result.
When Mell grew up and awakened her gift, she told the lab workers to stop with the small rooms. For the most part, they did stop, but one time when she was nineteen, she was placed into a small room for a transfer into a new lab. Mell never ended up figuring out what happened, suspecting that she was forgotten, but she was kept in that small room standing overnight, with barely enough space to sit. She had no access to the Subline, toilet, or to food.
Mell received an apology afterwards, but she was at her limit. That night, Mell tore the lab apart and sabotaged the inventory system, causing them to lose their funding. Since then, Mell has kept Stellar Synthesis Labs from rebuilding by continuing to sabotage them, such as by stealing their deliveries[2].
Creating Starhammer
After escaping the Stellar Synthesis Labs, Mell built her first Nova Bot, Starhammer. She wanted someone who would protect her and never forget her. She made him using the Evolution Engine and the Temporal Field she stole. Her goal with the Evolution Engine was to work around the restriction that prevents most Aether Technicians from making multiple masterwork Aethertechs. She wanted Starhammer to be able to handle anything, and to develop abilities Mell couldn’t make herself[3].
Despite having romantic intentions when making Starhammer, Mell did not program Starhammer to love her. Not only would she not trust it, but she wanted Starhammer to develop feelings for her organically. It didn’t take her long before she realized she couldn’t stand him[4]. Mell and Starhammer would stay together up until some unknown amount of time after Starhammer triggered the Evolution Engine for the first time.
As Doctor Nova
It is unknown when Mell began or what exactly caused Mell to fight and steal from the Advocates. She expresses frustration that the Advocates can get away with murder and violence[5] and the amount of control they have over the Free Worlds. Mell’s goal is to fight against that control, and to fight off and stop Starhammer.
Mell quickly became one of the most wanted criminals by the Advocates. Her known crimes include robbery and sabotage of the Advocates or organizations that cooperated with them, abduction of Advocates and stealing their Aethertech implants or altering Advocates with new implants, disguising Nova-bots as Advocates, and piracy. She purposefully targets Advocates that are corrupt[6] or use excess violence[5]. Despite her criminal activity, Mell dislikes killing or hurting her victims, and in some cases uses local anesthetics on her victims[6].
At some point, Mell paused or lessened her criminal actions, presumably to further her plan to take Starhammer down[6].
The Captain
Mell receives a prompt to compete for The Last Horizon. With eagerness and some hesitance, Mell accepts. Despite her initial confidence, she struggles through the rounds, but manages to win every time. When the competition ends, Mell is infuriated that she isn’t picked for the crew. As a consolation prize, Horizon sends Mell a schematic for one of her basic fabricators.
The Engineer
With the fabricator schematics, Mell is quickly able to advance her plans. She makes a return to the crime scene by abducting the Advocate Moonmaster to steal his Aethertech. However, Mell’s signal is tracked and she is caught and imprisoned on Carturus.
While in prison, she is visited by Starhammer. The two argue, but are interrupted when Shyrax crashes into the room and kidnaps Mell. Mell is brought to The Last Horizon to join the crew. Her request is to collect all the Zenith Devices.
In Varic's Alternative Life
Mell meets Varic three months after he sets off as a mage for hire when she goes after the ship he is on. Varic had been hired by a band of smugglers to keep an eye on the ship’s cargo, but after a few days the ship was found and called for inspection by Steel Avalanche. Mell had been after the ship to steal the Temporal Prism in the cargo, a part of her work to keep Stellar Synthesis Labs from rebuilding, but when she saw Steel Avalanche boarding, she couldn’t help but to board herself. Varic is able to push Steel Avalanche into an escape pod away from the ship with his Lagomorph contract, and with the rest of the crew dead, Mell offers him a job. Together, Mell and Varic work against the Advocates under the name’s Doctor Nova and Spellbinder and eventually end up in a relationship. When Starhammer finally captures Varic, Mell tries to rescue him and is in the crowd when Starhammer tortures Varic to death.
Aether Technician Gift
Mell’s gift is Androids, which lets her work with almost any material or integrate almost any system as long as it adds up to a humanoid robot[7]. Her most notable use of her gift are her Nova-Bots.
Nova-Bots: They are generally human in shape, but can vary in size. The amounts of limbs can vary. Almost all Nova-Bots have a single red eye, though this can be covered up. Nova-Bots fabricated by The Last Horizon can push the size limits, such as making particle sized Nova-Bots, and have a purple eye instead. Nova-Bots have some level of intelligence, being capable of speech, asking questions, and having logical reasoning. They follow Mell's orders. The uses of the Nova-Bots can vary, from being simple henchmen to being made to carry out specific tasks that Mell is unfamiliar with. This includes:
- Pilot Bots
- Medical Assistants
- Hand-sized Nova-Bots able to conduct surgery
- Decoy-Bots: Allows Mell and others to direct a Nova-Bot with a helmet. When directing a bot, users can lack a sense of smell and taste(replaced by a processor telling sensory information). These bots can self-detonate to scramble any proprietary technology and prevent analysis of Mell’s techniques. Decoy-Bots can vary in accuracy in their appearance.
- Sentry-Bots, which act as security cameras
Masterwork
Starhammer is Mell’s first Nova-Bot as well as her Masterwork Aethertech. She made him using the Evolution Engine and the Temporal Field she stole. Her goal with the Evolution Engine was to work around the restriction that prevents most Aether Technicians from making multiple masterwork Aethertechs. She wanted Starhammer to be able to handle anything, and to develop abilities Mell couldn’t make herself[3].
Other Abilities and Equipment
- Glasses: Function as a processor with Subline access. They show Mell the status of her lab and surrounding Nova Bots, and the view from her sentry-bots.
