Preston Hauser ((WIP))

[Karl the Mad]

Name: Preston Hauser
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Species: Human Mage (rat anthro ancestry)

Strengths:

Despite a lack of actual training (and a great deal of school and theory), Preston has a diverse and seemingly disparate set of skills at his command. In the criminal arts he is second to none; he can pick a man's pockets clean before he knows what's happening, he can subvert most vehicle security systems and hotwire them too, and there isn't a lock or security panel made yet that he can't bypass given time. He knows the surface of Hope like the back of his hand, but he prefers to stay above ground most of the time; go down more than a few levels and you're better off hiring a specialist, in his opinion.

Preston also has great potential as a technomancer, but so far he has barely scratched the surface of what he can do. At the moment he can't create his own magic, but he can activate, recharge or suppress someone else's runes or spells engraved into machines, and in general has an uncanny knack for figuring it all out, be it digital or mechanical; this is most apparent in his skill as a biker and cyclist , of course, although it has obvious applications for carjacking too.

As far as combat goes he is highly pragmatic and tries to avoid it whenever possible, quite willing to turn tail and run if the odds are against him; he is very good at stealth and blending in, with a keen sense for cops or other belligerent types in the vicinity, and while some may swear he can turn invisible it's really just a well-chosen wardrobe, a quick pair of feet and a dash of parkour. If there's no other option but to throw down, though, he's got a full repertoire of tricks and underhanded moves he learned in prison and on the streets, mainly of the evasive, crippling or disabling variety, and even then he's still likely to just walk or run away once the fight's been knocked out of his opponents. Despite the apparent ferocity and brutality of his style he actively tries not to kill or seriously cripple his opponents, and by extension he dislikes guns or knives; if and when he does kill, though, he does it quickly and cleanly, with a minimum of pain and mess, and he is careful to leave as little trace of himself as possible. He has no moral objections to murder, but he understands all too well the legal ramifications, which is why he goes out of his way to avoid conflict entirely.

His anthro heritage gives him some subtle benefits, too. Food poisoning is a null concern for him; he'll eat just about anything, raw or cooked, fresh or spoiled, and be none the worse for wear. He doesn't show symptoms of illness, although that doesn't mean he's not infected and it doesn't mean he lets himself slob away; on the contrary he tries to keep a decent level of personal grooming and cleanliness, as much to be presentable as out of preference.

-Self-taught technomancer, can't enchant machines but can activate spells others put down, in general has an easier time with machinery and electronics than others
-Has an innate and highly tuned sense for cops and feds, or any "authorities"; very, very good at disappearing or making himself effectively invisible until the threat passes
-Highly street-wise, very connected; knows the back alleys and hidden in-roads of Hope like the back of his hand, can tell you anything about what the criminals in town are up to, for the right price. Skilled pickpocket and carjacker, good at picking locks and cracking safes too. Very proficient street fighter, comfortable with his bare hands or a knife or even a pistol; takes inspiration from JHR and Gouging, pragmatic to the bone.
-Very good with bikes and cycles, made easier with his magical talents
-Heightened resistance to diseases and toxins, but can still carry such

Weaknesses:

As far as personal weaknesses go, Preston is a social catastrophe waiting to happen. He is shy and unsure of himself around strangers, having to consciously analyze what people say and do; where most people just absorbed these myriad social quirks and interactions he had to make a conscious intellectual effort to learn them, and has yet to properly integrate them. This makes it difficult for him to express what he needs, to the point that he will occasionally feign muteness and communicate through a pen and notepad (and with the written word, he is very articulate indeed). He tends to stutter around women, severity depending on their attractiveness and/or the importance of what he's trying to say, and in general just comes off a step behind when dealing with others; even around close acquaintances he tends to speak briefly, in terse sentences with lots of nervous gesticulating, sometimes using large or complicated words and terms without realizing it.

The real boundaries in his life, however, are legal in nature. He is in fact a convicted felon, and is unwittingly connected to a number of gangland murders; he might have spent five years in prison, and there might be rules preventing discrimination against people for any criminal background, but that doesn't mean anything. He is still looked down on by greater society, by the innate American attitude of retribution regarding criminals rather then rehabilitation; this is most prevalent in the police, which is why he expends so much effort in evading them. In his mind, no encounter with "the authorities" can ever end well, not even when bribes are involved, and years of personal experience only serve to validate this point of view.

Related to the above, is the fact that despite legally controlling millions of dollars and a small industrial empire, in practice he may as well be a penniless vagrant. His parents' assets and fortune are tied up in legal procedures, and watched very closely; any attempt on his part to reach any of it sets off red flags, bringing attention he doesn't need and blustering, self-righteous lawmen out looking for his sorry felonious ass. Any attempt in general, really, to rise and make something of himself in the socially accepted manner brings disdain and condescension, whether it be getting an honest job or enrolling in new classes, or anything along those lines; until he can clear his name and resolve the bullshit, he's a criminal, and seemingly everyone knows it.

-Several legal quandaries and hurdles limit his life circumstances, not least of which are a drug-related felony and five years in prison, as well as being a "person of interest" in a number of recent murders
-Unwillingly bound to the lower rungs of society; feels that any attempt to rise will bring too much attention and ruin everything he's worked for
-Socially inept, always coming off a step behind in casual social encounters; these things didn't come naturally to him, he had to "learn" how to act and how to fit in "normally", and still has trouble assimilating

Appearance:

If Preston were to stand up straight, he'd measure about 5'10", with a lean and wiry frame weighing around 140 lb. His body is muscular without being bulky, more of a runner's build than anything, with long arms and thin, clever looking hands that would look just as at home playing a piano as clutching a set of lock picks and burglars' tools. He tends to hunch over, though, the better to hide and avoid notice. His features are mostly human, the rat ancestry showing in subtle ways; dark gray hair, worn long and unkempt although he drags a comb through it twice a day: brown eyes so dark as to almost be black, set in narrow sockets with thick brows; a narrow and fine-boned face, with a large nose that seems to stand out. He shaves every morning, and used to have buck teeth but those got knocked out in prison, and one of the first things he did on getting out was get implants and reconstructive surgery; it was expensive, but well worth it in his opinion.

He tries to dress anonymously, with a shapeless gray coat that obscures his form and a dirty black scarf to wrap around his head in the cold. He prefers boots, and unlike most things he'll spend whatever has to to get the good ones; he doesn't want his feet giving out on him at the wrong moment, after all. He buys a new pair once a year, from different stores every time, and every now and again messes with the treads to make it just a bit harder to trace him. Dark cargo jeans and a random shirt round out his wardrobe, although he does have a few formal suits for particular situations.

As far as identifying marks go, he tries to avoid scarring, and always makes use of scar-reducing gels whenever he gets wounded. He has two gold studs in his left ear, green and yellow Celtic vine tattoos wrapping around his wrists and forearms, and across his chest in stylized Gothic script is the phrase Per Ardua As Astra, Latin for "Through adversity to the stars". To him, this symbolizes his desire to reclaim his old life and his station in proper society; a distant and wistful dream, to be sure, but it keeps him driving on.

-5'10", 140lb
-Mostly human in appearance, rat ancestry not obvious; dark gray hair worn long and shaggy, extremely dark brown eyes (almost black!), narrow face and large nose, muscular in a corded and sinewy way, long-fingered and clever looking hands
-Tends to dress anonymously, shapeless gray long coat and dirty black scarf to keep hair back, sturdy boots, dark cargo jeans and a random shirt
-Gold stud in left ear; green and yellow celtic vine tattoos on wrists; Per Aspera Ad Astra tattooed in black across his chest

Behavior:

Preston is highly intelligent and very clever, capable of learning quickly and practically absorbing new skills. This comes at the cost of the social issues mentioned above, of course, but he tries not to let that stop him. He has a couple degrees under his belt, in finance and advanced math, and was well on his way to a degree in business law when his life went down the drain; as one can imagine, such skills come in handy when running a criminal enterprise.

In his personal and professional life, he has two hard rules that never waver, regardless of how flexible his other morals are. "Never leave a job unfinished," and "No one left behind" are the rules in a nutshell. This means, in short, that no matter how difficult or expensive a task is, once he's set his mind or his people to it, it gets done, no matter who or what gets in his way. Period. It also means that once someone is working for him, they're as good as family; he might not ever say two words to them, but if they get in trouble while on the job he will move heaven and earth to get them out, to the point of risking all else if that's what it takes. He can't quite say why this is, only that he's known betrayal and loneliness before and he would not inflict it on others, not for anything. One can imagine this leads to difficulties sometimes, but he usually makes it through.

He has an aversion to carrying guns while doing work, more out of professional consideration than any ethical objections. This is simply because mere possession of a weapon can dramatically increase the fines and punishment Law can inflict if one is caught, and Law isn't afraid to play loose with itself and turn a simple robbery or courier job into attempted murder or aggravated assault in the eyes of the courts. On the other hand there's always a client who wants murder, but that's a different story. As mentioned above he is loyal to employees, but loyalty to clients is somewhat different; he insists on as much anonymity as possible when accepting and completing a job, for their protection as much as for his, although he does keep his ears open and anything he might learn that isn't specifically relevant to the job is usually fair game for being pawned off. He goes to great lengths to keep from outing his underlings, and if he is betrayed, whether by client or by employee, he will happily give up anything he knows and do whatever it takes to get back at them; depending on the enormity of the betrayal he may be satisfied with inconveniencing them a bit, or he might not stop until they're utterly broken, ruined, lower than he is on the totem pole of society. He won't kill them, though; no profit and too much risk in personal assassinations, after all.

In spite of his typical aversion to Law, he isn't above limited cooperation with them, if only to ensure he remains a "person of interest" on the paperwork. Usually this is just informing or snitching, but even that leaves an oily feeling on the backs of his hands, although he often has no choice but to grit his teeth and go through with it. These sorts of assignments are never handed down either; it doesn't feel right to give someone else the risk associated with working for Law, and the rewards are never concrete anyway.

He also has a sort of scale related to what he charges for his services. A simple delivery is typically just a few hundred bucks, depending on the size of the package and the distance needed to carry it, and hazard pay will be tacked on the run proves dangerous in any way. Burglary, carjacking, spy work and the like are of course more expensive, since these are riskier jobs, and he won't do such work for just anyone anyway. As far as murder goes? He won't not do it, but he charges a pretty penny for the work; several thousand dollars at the minimum, and he requires an ironclad guarantee of protection and anonymity in case things go badly. As a result of this requirement he will only kill for someone who can provide such guarantees in the first place, and there aren't many such people in Hope in the first place; in fact he's usually happy to report your ass for attempted murder if he thinks you can't protect him

-Preston has two hard rules for work and life: "Never leave a job unfinished" and "No one gets left behind"
-Very clever and intelligent, had completed a number of finance degrees and was studying business law before his life went down the drain; learns new skills very fast, and is generally eager to learn if it helps him survive and stay ahead
-Dislikes carrying a gun for mundane jobs, since just possessing one will dramatically increase the possible punishment; then again, there's always someone who wants someone else dead...
-Very loyal to his clients and employees, in that he never reveals anything specific he learned while doing an assignment and NEVER outs his underlings; however, stuff he just happens to overhear is fair game for brokering off, and if he is betrayed he will happily give up everything he normally wouldn't to get revenge
-Is not above working with or for the "authorities", if only to ensure he officially remains a "person of interest" as far as HPD, the Feds, or anyone else is concerned
-The riskier the work, the more he charges; a simple delivery is a few hundred bucks, but outright murder will run several thousand dollars and a guarantee of protection MUST be in place; as a result he will only perform killings for people in position to actually provide such protection, and a similar rule is strictly enforced on his networks

Goals:

All Preston really wants is to escape the weight of his youthful mistakes and return to as normal a lifestyle as he can manage. The irony, then, lies in how these efforts have mostly gotten him deeper into a criminal life; the only real culmination of his years of work is that he stands at the center of a nebulous and shadowy web of contacts and shady individuals, from spies, thieves, informants and couriers to professional carjackers, strike-breakers, enforcers and bouncers, to contract killers and assassins. In other words, "troubleshooters." There are even a number of mages and wizards of every specialty and description somewhere within the shadows of Preston's networks, as well as bored or impoverished vampires looking for a quick thrill or buck. The extend of his reach and the exact membership is explicitly ill-defined, for security and anonymity; most are only aware of themselves and a few others, many have never met or even heard of Preston, and Preston himself can't be bothered to meet and memorize every thug and desperado under him. Sometimes a package will change hands hundreds of times across the city, whether by dead drop or hand to hand, before it reaches its destination, although the rules of privacy and operational security are always paramount; the less questions are asked along the way, the better.

As one can imagine, such work isn't exactly the most profitable stuff ever. The majority of payments go to the individuals directly involved, and Preston himself may not even get a cut if he wasn't involved in some way. He refuses large lump sums of money, as such attracts attention; better by far to move larger payments in increments, an envelope of cash here or a prearranged debit card there, maybe a check over by the way if the signature's strong and the amount is discrete.This would all be moot if he were ever to regain control of the Hauser fortune and estate, since he would be a millionaire several times over; at the moment, however, his assets are in a constant state of flux, one day perhaps being as high as three million and the next plummeting to two hundred thousand dollars. Very little is actual liquid funds, of course, for reasons outlined above.

-Preston's one desire is to escape the weight of his actions and resume a legitimate lifestyle, to reclaim his family's money and get back into college
-Is the head of a nebulous network of couriers, spies, informants, thieves and killers that spans the entire city and is slowly expanding over the Eastern seaboard; loosely organized and highly informal, very few questions are asked and operational security and discretion are paramount, Preston tries to run a ship his employees can take pride in being a part of
-Not exactly much money in it though; large sum transfers attract attention, which is anathema to his own safety and that of those beneath him; were he to reclaim his family's money he would be a millionaire several times over, as it stands the sum of his assets would amount to roughly three-quarters of a million, very little of which is actually cash at any one time.

History:
-Born April of 1994, only child of reclusive cooling industry magnates Max and Bella Hauser; intellectual prodigy, could speak full sentences before he was two years old, learned to read and write before three. Was privately tutored and completed his GED before he was nine; went on to take online university classes in finance and business during his teen years.
-Parents died in a helicopter crash when he was 16; estate placed in a trust fund per their will; unfortunately Preston got bored and fell into drugs, ended up taking over a drug ring out of impatience born from disgust and knowing better
-A series of unfortunate events culminated in a dead body or two and led to his going to prison for what was supposed to be twenty years; he bargained some of the trust fund into bribes and got it down to five, but still met some interesting people and learned a lot while in the can (how to fight, how to run a smuggling op, how to spot "interesting people" on the outside); spent a lot of time in the machine shop and tech classes
-When he got out he had a brief window of access to the trust fund; he drained as much as he could without drawing too much attention, diverted and invested most of it, used the rest to help himself disappear from people
-Eventually he got bored and decided to put what he had learned to use; found some "interesting people" who had knacks and skills of their own, invested in an ailing courier service, reestablished his old contacts from before, and dug in for the long haul
-Unfortunately he wasn't quite as invisible as he wanted to be, and he found himself doing favors to keep out of trouble; decided he might as well make money off this and started doing "favors" for others; found himself hearing and knowing lots of useful things, realized he could sell that too if he had to
-After years of doing this and building up networks he found himself at the head of a quasi-invisible ring of people you could politely call "troubleshooters"; he could only lament how little of it was actually benefiting him or his bank accounts
-Today he still does what he does, keeping a finger on the city's pulse and trying to stay one step ahead of his enemies, but he still takes some pride in what he's managed to set up