A00: ZEPH NEWMAN

#1

FILE CORRUPTED. OPEN ANYWAYS?

[+] YES: Name: Zeph Newman
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Hobbies and Interests: Warhammer 40K, video games, gardening, trivia

Appearance: Zeph is 5'6'' and weighs 136 lbs, which gives him a BMI of 21.9. Due to his inability to walk, his legs lack muscles, which results in a top-heavy shape. His body is on the slim side. He is Caucasian and has pale skin. Zeph has short brown hair that curls into natural locks he inherited from his mother. He has an oval face with round green eyes, an aquiline nose, a wide mouth often adorned with a slight smile, and a short chin.

Ever since the 2017 car accident that damaged his spinal cord, Zeph has been unable to walk or even feel his legs. He requires the use of a wheelchair. There are two large scars on his back as a result of operations. In CR, this injury doesn't affect him. As such, he can walk, just as he did before the accident.

His clothing is often a mix of bright colors such as yellow, orange, or white. He also likes to wear hoodies and jeans. In CR, he likes to wear glasses despite not requiring them. On the day of the attack, his Avatar wore a yellow long-sleeved shirt under a white hoodie, blue jeans held up by a brown belt, white socks, and brown shoes. Furthermore, Zeph wore a pair of blue glasses.

Background: Zeph Newman was born on April 1st, 2004, as an only child in a hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. His parents, Rebecca and Floyd Newman, both worked in IT at the time of his birth. Rebecca quit her job to focus on their son a few months later.

Thanks to an inheritance from Floyd's late parents, the family lived in a rather large house with a big garden. Zeph spent a lot of his childhood outdoors and quickly developed an interest in flora and fauna. Once he was old enough, his father showed him how to care for plants, which Zeph enjoyed.

His parents gifted him a PC for his tenth birthday. When he wasn't outside, Zeph often browsed the internet. Due to an interest in reading odd facts and stories, he quickly assembled a vast knowledge of mostly useless trivia. He used this knowledge as a well of topics to talk with others. However, after one incident in which he slightly embarrassed himself by repeating a fake story, Zeph started to fact-check everything. Over the years, this helped him develop a critical mindset, and validating or disproving stories and facts on the internet became a pastime.

His relationships with those of his age group were nothing out of the ordinary. Zeph made good friends in both elementary and middle school. He was a cheerful child who rarely got in trouble with anyone.

Despite their expertise in IT, neither of his parents were enthusiastic about the new CR technology. As a result, they sent Zeph to a physical school.

Zeph's life took a turn on August 27th, 2017. When he and his parents were on the way to a family birthday party, a drunken driver lost control of his car and crashed right into their vehicle. Rebecca died instantly. Floyd perished on the way to the hospital. Zeph remained in a coma for about two weeks. He awakened to find that the car crash had shattered his spinal cord, which made it unlikely he would ever move his legs again. Furthermore, a large operation was necessary to ensure his back wouldn't take further damage.

The deaths of his parents and his new condition proved massive shocks to him, damaging him mentally and physically. Zeph would spend months in the hospital. He received therapy and learned how to use a wheelchair. At first, both processes were slow. The trauma made the previously cheerful Zeph passive and depressed. Others often had to motivate him to make an effort in his recovery, and it took weeks until he opened up to his therapist. He was also plagued by nightmares almost every night and often tired from a lack of sleep.

Before their deaths, Zeph's parents wrote a will naming Rebecca's sister Fran Roberts as his guardian if anything should happen to them. The will was well-written and the legal proceedings went smoothly, which allowed Fran and her husband, Adam, to take Zeph in upon his release from the hospital. However, he had to move from Cleveland to Columbus, where his aunt and uncle lived. In addition to that, Zeph had to repeat a school year. While he had gotten classes during his stay in the hospital, his mental state caused his grades to worsen to the point of him getting held back.

Getting used to the new environment was hard for Zeph. While his mental state improved much in the hospital, he still had nightmares often and would be depressed whenever something reminded him of his parents. At his new school, he ended up with a much smaller circle of social contacts than before and spent more time on the internet or with hobbies that didn't require other humans.

Following the advice of his therapist, Zeph tried out new activities and hobbies in the hopes that new experiences would help him to move on. One of those new hobbies was collecting and painting Warhammer 40K figurines, something he had often heard about online. He has never played the game itself but knows the rules. Painting small figurines was relaxing for Zeph. While he tried a few other hobbies, including painting other things aside from 40K figurines, he stopped most of them as his mental health healed over time, and he slowly began to socialize more with others. Around this time, Zeph also began to return to his former cheerful and optimistic self.

Zeph retained his love for gardening, even if the garden of his new home was much smaller and his disability limited his ability to care for all their plants.

Another change was that Zeph transferred to a virtual school, which meant he had to use a CRD regularly. A positive aspect of CR was that his physical injury did not carry over to Cyberspace. As a result, he could walk, just like he did before the accident. This was a good reason for him to use CR often, and he quickly got used to spending time in virtual worlds. Not being bound to a wheelchair is an experience he enjoys.

About one year ago, his uncle Adam, a lawyer, got a promotion that forced the family to move to San Jose, California. As a result, Zeph had to transfer to Sycamore High School at the start of his senior year. He managed to integrate himself into the social structure of the class almost seamlessly. However, he doesn't participate in the voluntary physical education classes on Saturdays. In addition, he never meets with his classmates or friends outside of Cyberspace. He is self-conscious about others pitying him for being bound to a wheelchair.

After repeating a year, Zeph put more effort into his school assignments. His grades improved to the point that he mostly gets Bs with a few As now and then. Once he finishes high school, Zeph plans to go to a university and study botany. However, since he only moved to San Jose about a year ago, he wants to take a gap year to look for the best university.

Personality: Years after the death of his parents, Zeph managed to rebuild his cheerful and extroverted attitude. He is very curious about the world and people around him. His extroverted nature makes it easy for him to get along with most people. That said, he still can sometimes be shaken when his parents get brought up. He also doesn't like it when the topic of his disability gains attention.

Reputation: Zeph has a good standing with most of his classmates. However, most of his peers would sooner describe him as an acquaintance than a friend. As his social life is spent primarily in Cyberspace, he often does not participate in any activities set in the Real World. One example of this is the classes on Saturday. Zeph joined the class in senior year when most cliques were already established, but he still made a good impression and connected with some classmates thanks to his relaxed and outgoing personality.

The fact that Zeph lost his parents is known to his peers. Some pity him, which he doesn't like, and he is not afraid to say so. He asks people to treat him no differently than others. As a result, barely anyone broaches the topic unless he brings it up, which he rarely does.

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Designated Number: A00

Designated Weapon: N/A
Designated Utility: N/A

Evaluation: "Funny. Very funny." — [LINCOLN], Announcer