Gender: Female
Age: 18
Grade: Senior
Hobbies and Interests: Motorcycle repair, metalworking, lifting weights, yoga and meditation, collecting stuffed animals
Gift: Energy Palms
Power Details: Mercedes is able to fire beams of electromagnetic energy out of the palms of her hands, at a wavelength of 450nm. The beams are a dark blue colour, and scatter in the air, causing them to become visible to the naked eye. She has a measure of control over the width and intensity of these beams, but they cannot be wider than the diameter of her palm, and even at their weakest the beams are hot enough to burn through materials such as paper, fabric, and skin; at their strongest they can melt holes through sheet metal.
Limitations and Drawbacks: Mercedes’ internal body temperature has been raised drastically by her Gift; her resting body temperature sits at around 40 C. As such, anything that is liable to raise it even further, such as strenuous exercise or repetitive labour, will seriously overheat her and cause her to become exhausted and disoriented. So too will using her energy palms; she can use them at their highest intensity for around 45 seconds, but is liable to black out if she uses them for any longer, and she must also spend a significant amount of time afterwards without using them in order to prevent herself from overheating. This process takes around 1-3 hours, depending on the humidity and temperature of her current location, although she can shorten the process to around ten minutes if she has cold water or ice to hand. Hot weather will also have this effect, and during the summer she has to take severe precautions or else she is liable to pass out, or potentially even die. Her Gift has also left her with two large holes in her palms, and while she has learned to work around them, she still on occasion struggles to push things or pick things up, and they prove to be a notable weak point; they are incredibly painful to the touch, and anything that jabs or prods her palms is likely to provide an overwhelming amount of pain.
Appearance: Mercedes is 6’1” and weighs 160 lbs. She is Caucasian with lightly tanned skin, although she also has a near present flush in her cheeks due to her Gift. She has dark green eyes, an average sized nose which turns up towards the tip, and full lips. Her hair is wheat blonde in colour and short, naturally reaching the nape of her neck, but she keeps it in an undercut style, with the left side shaved and the right side done in a sideswept comb over fashion. Mercedes is somewhat top-heavy, with notably toned arms and a sizable bust. She has two small, simple brass hoop earrings in her left ear. Her skin is notably and unusually warm to the touch.
Due to her Gift, and her most prominent hobbies, Mercedes almost exclusively wears tank tops and shorts year round, with the occasional t-shirt on the coldest of days. A lot of her clothing has oil stains and grease marks on it, which she keeps because she likes the aesthetic, but she also has a good amount of blemish-free clothes. She also always wears a pair of black, leather fingerless gloves; these hide the pair of large holes burned into the palms of her hands, from which her Gift emanates. When she was abducted, Mercedes was wearing a black low-cut tank top; this had a design of a skull and crossbones printed on it in silver, with the skull wearing half a shattered motorbike helmet and the bones made from a pair of crossed wrenches. She also wore a pair of dark blue denim cutoffs, a pair of black plimsolls, and her usual pair of black leather fingerless gloves.
Background:
- Mercedes was born in Bend, Oregon, four minutes before her twin brother, Lincoln. Despite the family only expecting a single daughter, her parents did their best to look after the needs of both children, and so Mercedes grew up happy and well-adjusted.
- Her father, Desmond, works as an accountant at a local tax firm, and her mother, Maria, is a sous chef at a high-end restaurant. Maria mostly worked odd catering jobs while the kids were growing up, but entered the food industry full time after the kids reached middle school in order to pursue a dream she’d held for years.
- Mercedes’ powers manifested early in her childhood, and so she spent a lot of time with her father in order to practice with it and keep it under control, as the potential for her to cause harm to herself or the people around her was very high.
- Desmond owned a motorcycle while in college, and although he no longer rides it, he keeps it in the family garage. He introduced Mercedes to it and taught her how to maintain it, and she enjoys it very much; she spends every weekend repairing and tinkering with it.
- Mercedes also has a motorbike of her own, and although she doesn’t ride it very often due to the engine and protective gear causing her to overheat, she also enjoys tinkering and modifying it.
- Her interest in motorcycle maintenance and repair also introduced her to a love of metalworking, particularly making sculptures and pieces of abstract art out of scrap metal. She utilises her Gift to do so, using her beams of energy to solder and weld pieces of metal.
- Mercedes does her best to keep fit, despite the limitations that her Gift causes. She has a balanced diet, follows a yoga routine every morning and evening, and practices a series of meditative techniques whenever she needs to focus or when she’s getting upset or stressed.
- Mercedes also works out via lifting a small set of weights at least once every day, although she cannot do this for very long before she needs an extended breather.
- Mercedes has collected stuffed animals since she was a little girl, with her bed and shelves absolutely covered in them. She has a preference for sea creatures, with her pride and joy being a huge stuffed shark plush.
- Lincoln and Mercedes get along well overall, but she has a habit of babying her twin due to his small stature and nervous disposition. Despite being told this is embarrassing for him, she is yet to stop being fully overprotective of Lincoln.
- At school, Mercedes receives above average grades, and is considered to be a good, studious student by her teachers. She also gets along with the majority of her classmates due to her pleasant and calming personality, although she gets very fired up when she believes someone is being picked on.
- Mercedes is openly bisexual, and although she has been on a fair few dates before, none of them have lasted for very long, as her Gift causes her issues with intimacy.
Personality: Mercedes is generally quiet and calm, owing to her Gift dissuading her from expending very much energy. She avoids speaking unless spoken to, and can be rather intimidating due to her appearance, hobbies, and potentially destructive gift. Those who interact with her, however, find that she’s very welcoming, friendly and supportive. She enjoys hearing about other peoples’ interests and hobbies, and will encourage them to pursue them further and to show her the results. Mercedes has a protective instinct, stemming from how she sees Lincoln as needing her to look after him, and so can be shockingly fierce and defensive of anyone she believes is being picked on or bullied.
Other Skills: Gift Expertise, Mechanical Repair Knowledge
Designated Number: Student No. 002
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Conclusion: "Fucking laser hands? I'd make fun of this girl for having the same name as a car, but damn now I just want to see her go 'pew, pew!' on everyone." - Crocodile