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Tanelorn App
Apr. 3rd, 2013 05:41 pmName: ExpositionFairy
OOC Journal: I haven't got one
Preferred Contact Methods: Email to bringstabbity [at] gmail [dot] com. I can also be contacted easily via Plurk at http://plurk.com/expositionfairy
Other Characters Currently Played at Tanelorn: N/A
Character Information
Name: Gibson
Canon: Tron, specifically Tron: Evolution
Canon Point: Immediately following his death in Tron: Evolution.
Setting: Tron is a multi-media soft-cyberpunk series, set in a world much like ours...on the outside, at least. Inside every computer system, though, is an entire world in microcosm, populated by the programs installed thereupon. Far from the blocks of code written to carry out rote tasks that most of humanity sees them as, Programs in the Tron universe are sentient beings, digital alien lifeforms with minds and lives and thoughts of their own, .
The System that Gibson himself comes from, though, is...special. Unlike most computer systems, which are designed to facilitate any number of jobs by and for Users--science, entertainment, mundane everyday work--the system Gibson comes from was designed by an eccentric User named Kevin Flynn as a sort of digital Utopia for Programs themselves, with no real purpose besides existence itself (and, of course, the satisfaction of Flynn's curiosity.)
Tron Wiki Article on Tron (1982 film)
Tron Wiki Article on Tron: Evolution
Tron Wiki Article on Tron: Legacy
History:
Part I: The ISOs - When Kevin Flynn created his Grid—a fully autonomous digital world, meant to be a living society built for Programs and by Programs—he never could have anticipated what occurred. In the User year 1984, an entirely new species of fully sentient digital lifeforms spontaneously manifested from the Sea of Simulation, a vast ocean of loose code and infinite possibility. These newborn beings chose their own names and seemed to have been born with an innate knowledge of and connection with their world…though for all that inborn knowledge, these brand-new beings were possessed of a sometimes painful degree of innocence and naivete. Flynn named them Isomorphic Algorithms, or ISOs for short.
The sudden appearance of the ISOs threw the still-growing Grid into confused turmoil. The Programs that Kevin Flynn had written or imported from other systems to populate his digital utopia (which he referred to as “Basics”), had no idea what to make of the bizarre newcomers. Some welcomed the ISOs with open arms, many others were uncertain and uneasy about them (would the ISOs render them obsolete? would the system be able to handle the growing demands on its resources?)…and for a steadily increasing number of Basics, that uncertainty began to turn into suspicion, prejudice, and even outright hatred.
Gibson was one of the first of the second wave of ISOs to be spawned from the Sea of Simulation. He broke out of the goggle-eyed-wonder phase of ISO development pretty fast, and gained a reputation for being quick-thinking, quick-witted, charismatic…and an incorrigible troublemaker. He turned out to have an affinity for engineering and energy manipulation, which landed him a job on Tron City’s System Utilities team, developing the Energy Transfer Conduit system that ran throughout the city (essentially panels and circuits running along streets and walls that Programs could absorb energy from.) He also invented new vehicles and vehicle modifications in his off time, and was a licensed operator for both small (lightcycles and lightrunners) and large vehicles (Recognizers, tanks, lightjets).
As the cycles wore on, and despite the efforts of Flynn and Tron and others on both sides, tensions between the Basics and the ISOs began to mount at a steadily increasing pace. The System Administrator himself—a true AI created by Flynn to be Flynn when the User was not there, to help him create the “perfect system”—considered the ISOs to be a detriment to the Grid: chaotic, resource-hogging glitch magnets who were slowly destroying the perfect system he’d been written to build. ISOs began to be treated almost as second-class citizens, barred from certain jobs and from competing in the Games, treated with derision and scorn and sometimes outright hatred. The more Gibson suffered and watched his brothers and sisters suffer under this treatment, the angrier and more jaded he became. He hid his hurt and anger under a patina of wisecracking and snark, while at the same time taking advantage of his wits and charisma to become an advocate for his people.
It all came to a head for Gibson one day while on the job at Tron City’s main energy-processing plant. Gibson witnessed one of his ISO colleagues at the plant being harassed and nearly badly injured by several Basic coworkers. The result was an ugly confrontation between Gibson and three other coworkers that turned violent and ended with Gibson being forced out of his job.
For Gibson, that was the last straw. Despite Flynn’s efforts to convince him to stay, Gibson joined a faction of ISOs who were building their own colony far out in the Outlands: a mostly ISO-only sanctuary named Bostrum. His engineering skills and experience with constructing and implementing innovative energy sources turned out to be vital to the remote colony, and Gibson became part of Bostrum’s governing council.
Part II: Evolution - In November of 1989, Gibson was back in Tron City on a supply-and-information run when all hell broke loose. A viral attack on a ceremony meant to celebrate the inauguration of Radia, an ISO, as co-Administrator of the Grid with Clu turned out to be the pretense for Clu declaring martial law on the Grid and orchestrating a coup against Flynn, the User who’d created the Grid. Gibson overheard the new System Monitor (Anon) and an ISO named Quorra talking about the coup at the End of Line club and quickly left to investigate for himself. He found Flynn, who’d managed to escape Clu thanks to Tron having sacrificed himself to buy Flynn time, and sent him off to Bostrum with some friends. Unfortunately for Gibson, though, he himself ended up getting captured by Clu’s lackeys and hauled off to be killed in front of an audience in the newly-deadly Games.
He was found by Anon just before the start of the Games, and with the System Monitor’s help he managed to escape…by exercising his mad trolling skills and tricking the young and rather derpy Monitor into taking his place while he snuck off to steal a Recognizer. In his defense, at least he did come back for Anon, and the two of them formed a reluctant Bro-TP partnership as they flew off to meet up with Flynn at the Bostrum colony.
That plan, unfortunately, didn’t work out terribly well either. By time the two of them got to Bostrum it had already been attacked and nearly emptied by the Abraxas Virus. They ran into the Virus itself while searching for Flynn and managed to successfully escape on lightcycles left for them by Flynn. Alas, however, it was only a brief hope spot...they hadn’t managed to get far at all before getting cockblocked by Abraxas once again. Gibson knocked Anon’s lightcycle out of the Virus’s path and crashed practically at Abraxas’ feet, who wasted no time in lifting the ISO bodily by the throat, infecting him, and tossing the now-zombified Gibson back at his friend before finally leaving
Gibson fought the infection as hard as he could, alternating between periods of feral, agonized rage where he mindlessly attacked his friend, and periods of lucidity where he begged Anon to take the shot and kill him. After a long, drawn-out battle, Anon finally granted his friend’s wish, and Gibson thanked him for it before dying.
Personality: At first (and second and third) glance, it's very easy to simply write Gibson off as a chatty, trolling jerkass. He loves to talk, and sarcasm is definitely his native tongue. He also enjoys teasing and tricking and messing with peoples' heads in order to get a rise out of them and/or see what they'll do, to the point that one wonders just how he's managed to survive so long without getting shanked.
Authority figures in particular seem to draw out the troll in Gibson, and he'll often go out of his way to challenge them, defy them, annoy them, and generally drive them to drink. This particular tendency stems from his experiences with the two most prominent authority figures in his life: the Creator, Kevin Flynn, who Gibson considered a friend, but whose tendency to either be oblivious to or to outright ignore the mounting tensions and prejudice Gibson and his people were experiencing exasperated Gibson...and Clu, the oppressor and eventual murderer of the ISOs.
Beneath the smartass jerk facade, however, lies an intelligent, capable leader, a talented engineer, and (to those who've earned it) a caring, deeply loyal friend and a formidable ally in a tight situation. Gibson is devoted to his people and to his friends and loved ones, and will put his life on the line for them. Gibson is also a great proponent of getting all the fun he can out of life, and despite how jaded he acts a lot of the time, he's never completely lost the curiosity and playfulness that he was born with as an ISO. "I'll try anything once" and "hey, any excuse to party" are definitely two of Gibson's mottoes, and he'll cheerfully rope anyone who happens to be standing nearby into his latest stunts...after all, life's no fun alone!
Gibson’s favorite hobby is modifying and customizing vehicles of all kinds, be they ground, sea, or air, and he’ll be fascinated by the variety of new forms to be found in Tanelorn and the worlds beyond.
Abilities: According to Gibson's Tron File, Gibson is "able to manipulate and conserve large quantities of energy". Since this ability was not explained in any way (/shakes fist at the dev team), I am choosing to interpret it as an affinity for sensing the level, flow, and pattern of energy within a given area or device, and likewise for directing it into useful channels. On the Grid, Gibson worked in System Utilities' Energy Distribution wing as an engineer and helped to design the ETC system that provided accessible energy to the denizens of Tron City. He was also able to design, plan, and help to build a working city carved into solid rock in the middle of the Outlands, far from any other population/transit hub and energy source. (It also likely explains his affinity for vehicles and other technology). Tanelorn, of course, is a User world, and without the baseline connection with the System that all Programs have, Gibson will likely be finding his ability to sense and manipulate energy somewhat altered. A noted feature of ISOs, however, is their ability to adapt to novel or evolving situations, and given that finding and accessing power is a major concern for Programs in Tanelorn, Gibson's particular specializations should definitely come in useful.
Physically, Gibson is quick and reasonably able to fight but overall pretty average. When it comes to combat he prefers evasion and guile to a straight-up fight--like Bronn in A Song of Ice and Fire, he'll dance around his more powerful opponents and let them wear themselves out, or trick them into locations where they'll be boxed in, fall off the edge of a cliff, or be otherwise compromised. Defeating his opponent is less of a concern for Gibson than getting away and living to fight another day. (It should also be noted that his Tron File states him to be an expert in "baton combat", which to me indicates melee weapon templates like shock staves or the like stored within batons, kind of like Quorra's short sword.)
Gibson comes with all the standard Program weaknesses (can't heal on his own without active repairs to his code, susceptibility to overheating, the vulnerability that comes with carrying a detachable, edit-capable backup brain literally on his back, etc.), with a couple twists because ISO. Specifically in regards to his disc, Gibson's code is incredibly complex and, even to experienced programmers, bizarre almost to the point of being nonsensical. Edits to his code may not do exactly what the person intended, whether intended for good or for ill.
Network Sample: .../ Open video transmission to Contacts list
[Have an overworked, underpaid Gibson who is about ready to tear his hair (which is, in fact, sparking a little) out. Getting Tanelorn's few ETCs working stable-like would be way the hell easier except every time this glitching city-in-a-bottle moves the power distribution gets completely discombobulated.]
Man I hope you all appreciate what I go through to keep you guys fat and happy.
Anyway! To business. I need a drink. Bigtime. Before I electrocute myself or someone else out of pique. Anybody wanna join me? I think there should be enough in the energy-still reservoir by now. Y'all Users are gonna have to bring your own hooch, though.
Hey Yori, make sure and drag Rinzler in, you know he needs one. Or five.
Log Sample:
Three User days now, and Gibson has yet to log more than 4 standard hours of recharge.
Oh, he's got plenty of good excuses. For one, the strange city he'd found himself snatched away to so unceremoniously is fascinating. He'd heard Flynn's stories of the User world, even seen some of the video and image files that Flynn had imported, but it's another matter entirely to be there. Even discounting its more bizarre aspects (and they are legion), there is enough alien color and life and detail here to keep Gibson on the edge of overwhelmed for cycles. He hasn't felt this way since he was a beta, staggering out of the Sea without a solid grasp on much beyond his own name, and even the protective shell of sarcasm and cynicism he'd built up over his cycles on the Grid can't quite fully mask his awe.
Nor is he the only one. Half a dozen others from his world are here with him--tagged with wildly varying timestamps (and boy isn't that a processor-burner in its own right) but he's not alone here and that affords a crazy sort of relief. At the same time, that means there's work to be done, because this gonzo User city isn't built to support Programs long-term, and once he'd gotten over the immediate shock of waking up in a strange world when he'd never expected to wake up again, ever, he'd gotten right to work trying to jury-rig a livable, accessible power source for them. Having Yori here is a bonus in that regard, with her experience and skill at design and streamlining energy efficiency. Nothing's ever guaranteed, and even the best-laid plans can fall apart in an instant of bad luck (or malice), but Gibson thinks it's going to work.
He should rest, he knows. He needs to rest. You're no good to the others, yourself, or anyone else if you burn yourself out, he tells himself, imagining a tiny Anon on his shoulder, arms folded and glowering at him through that stupid mask. The thought makes him smile.
And yet...
He still can't bring himself to recharge. Because every time he tries, it's always the same.
Running through the corridors and caverns of Bostrum, the formerly steady green lights guttering as the corruption eats into the walls, inwardly terrified he's going the wrong way even though he's memorized every micron of his city. Running from his friends, his brothers and sisters, as they shamble toward him, burned black and poison-yellow and it'd be so much easier if they weren't still recognizable underneath. Screaming as the virus burns through him, line and root and disc. Shouting at Anon to take the shot, begging him to end it already, and feeling the anger and the need to rend and gouge and destroy rising closer and closer to the surface when he won't...
He figures he can push himself another two User days before errors start happening, after all. He always did pride himself on having made an art form out of running on short rations. Besides, the sun will be up soon, and Gibson's still not quite over that, yet.
He snags another scavenged lithium-ion cell out of his dwindling stash, and settles back against the angle of the rooftop to watch the lightshow.
