DESCRIPTION
What you see looks like the result of re-tuning a mammal's structure
inside a wind-tunnel. Clearly, the body worn by this individual was
consciously designed for an aesthetic of flight.
They appear to be a softly furred mammal of rather indeterminate
gender. The face is a sharply tapered muzzle with warm, widely spaced
and almost child-like eyes and enormous, light-drinking pupils; irises
are a mixture of steel and sea colors.
The beings head moves rapidly and bird-like when observing any
loud surrounding activity, but tucks down coyly when resting. Their
body is covered by a medium length coat of soft, mink like fur that
is a rich and pure white, almost dazzling. The Flyer's limbs are long
and supple, ending in fingers on all four major appendages. A thick
tail, like that of an otter or kangaroo complements strong hips, and
seems to serve a balancing function.
The glossy white coat is joined by an incredible mane of
thicker and longer fur that is startlingly silver. The mane
of silver fur traces out along the being's body from its starting
point at the forehead, a sharp widow's peak, to a three-way branching
at the neck and shoulders, down the spine, branching again at the hips
and tail, extending along the the outside of all five limbs.
A 'mask' of darker facial fur and banded tail-stripes add a procyonid touch.
At widow's peak, tailbase and elbows, crests of feathers are coming in
from under the fur. The long feathers are elegant and pure white,
except for a sharply delineated ebony stripe just before their ends.
Emerging from the silver mane-fur, shimmering auras and tendrils of
light and force extend from the Flyer's body.
Often draped like the wings that they are, the fields may also stretch
out in fine tendrils or bubbles from time to time, and are an eye-catching
display of constant motion. Even the most cursory scan reveals them to be
supple and flexible organs of power, radiating sharply in the EM range
while simultaneously giving indications of negative-mass.
Flyte does not seem to be wearing any clothing; the rich fur provides
some modesty but there is plenty of evidence of both male and female
mammalian sexual characteristics.
BACKGROUND
Flyte is an Outsider to the Puzzlebox, but is distantly related to it -- Flyte's ancestors left as a result of some ancient political conflict millenia ago for exile in a place far distant in time and space. Flyte's people now exist in a symbiotic relationship with a black hole they call Source, and their entire physiology, life-cycle, culture and religion center around it.
The stress and difficulty of adapting their bodies to such extreme conditions has led Flyte's people in some very strange directions with respect to neural structure, biological capabilities and cultural outlook.
When Flyte arrived in The Mess, she was obviously suffering some sort of memory and personality alteration. Recent events allowed her to determine the nature and reason for this apparently self-inflicted change -- a form of suicide spurred on by guilt felt for a crime committed over a century ago. Flyte's old self was responsible the creation and use of terrible weapons of war and torture during a conflict. The new Flyte is still coming to terms with these recovered, distant-seeming recollections.
Flyte fell into Twin's orbit early on, attracted on multiple levels to the living Singularity, and she worshipped her for a time as a living incarnation of the same forces she is so narrowly specialized to live in close proximity to. Twin was not pleased with this turn of events; why (she) refuses to be seen as a goddess is unclear, but it may have something to do with (her) own dark moments of history. To everyone's benefit, events subsequently allowed them both to redefine this relationship as a more comfortable one of friends-and-lovers.
CURRENTLY
Flyte is attempting to gain access to portions of the Architecture's datalinks formerly used by Besax. Though a standing offer 'fair trade' has been presented to the Architecture for access to the files, their lack of response has forced the Flyer to seek more aggressive methods.
RELATIONSHIPS
- -Phoenix has, with Flyte, a close and intimate relationship. It seems quite stable and highly possible that offspring may come of this union. Flyte lives on the Orion and of all the factions currently active in The Mess, is culturally closest to the Bonobians. This has made for a great deal of compatibility on several levels.
- -Roque and Flyte had deveolped, for a time, a truly smoldering romance, but there is more to it. The difficulties Roque experienced brought out both the best and worst aspects of the Flyer's prior-self's experiences and skills, and this significantly influenced the Flyer's decision to being doing 'public service' as a mind-healer, acapacity some sentients have already sought out.
- -Twin, the loving Singularity; at one point, incarnate Goddess to the home-sick, memory-fragmented Flyer. The healing Twin gave Flyte helped to make their relationship less of a religious one and more like that of simple lovers and friends, but that hasn't lessened her devotion. Twin and Flyte are connected on levels above and below the mundane, and it remains to be seen if Source, Flyte's original living singularity-Goddess, will be jealous of sharing Her data-gathering symbiote...
- -Grace and Flyte have a relationship that is based on true friendship, despite the vast gulf in physical form and experience. When it does get physical between them, you might not even notice, unless you're sensitive to certain rather refined manipulations of field energies. Or are into some very, very hardcore airborne Spark-dancing.
- -Argent is someone whom the Flyer is really rather fond of, enjoying the 'true alien' perspective of one not even slightly derived from terran sources and the unusual structure of Argent's group mind. She is pleased and grateful that Argent has been both accomodating and forgiving of some of Flyte's transgressions. Flyte also has a pretty straightforward crush on a couple of the female members of the Argent pack, which was a bit of a surprise to everyone involved.
- -System and Flyte often talk to each other about enhancing general security and good order in The Mess; the fact that both of them panic when a crisis occurs has made this somewhat of a running joke amongst those unimpressed by their efforts to prevent needless conflict.
- -Kelil and Flyte talk about philosophy and various topics of that nature; Flyte goes out of her way to make Kelil comfortable and try to explain odder points of sentient behaviour to the extra-dimensional being. Kelil is one of the few beings, along with Twin, to see some of the true mechanics of how Flyers REALLY work.
- -Frostbyte has been closely monitored by Flyte and is still under observation; though this is not to say they are not friendly -- they are, even though Flyte will not sleep with Frostbyte. Flyte still distrusts Frostbyte's creators, especially after the 'Hit on The Functions' fiasco.
- -Davan earned Flyte's emnity due to his frequent mistreatment of Roque. Davan's disappearance and presumed death will not be mourned by the Flyer.
- -Besax has earned Flyte's emnity due to h frequent mistreatment of just about everybody. Flyte is currently taking advantage of Besax' apparent disappearance in an extended attempt to infiltrate the Architecture datalinks for information relating to their conflict with Flyer-Home.
Only characters who've been involved with the deepest and most complex TinyPlots were listed to avoid seriously complicating this page.
OTHER NOTES
Flyte used to refer to herself in the male context, although the Flyer species is technically hermaphroditic. Specific triggers can, and have, caused shifts in Flyte's gender perception and expression before and will likely do so again. Currently, the Flyer is in an extended stage of female-dominant-aspect, possibly preparatory to reproducing. The likely parent, of course, would be
Phoenix.
She has a very large array of senses, but will often perceive things through them differently then the way other sentients might do so. Flyte has been described as 'hyper-sane' but would disagree with that statement. Flyte is often rational, which could be considered a non-adaptive trait within the Puzzlebox.
The Flyer mind is a multi-partite one, composed of at least four independent centers of consciousness and a remote data-self that exists within the local infosphere. When things work together, this fragmentation isn't seen, but at times of stress, things can break down, causing peculiar translational difficulties and distortions in Flyte's expression and (apparent) behavior. This racial schizophrenic trait is just one of many strange aspects of Flyer culture. Flyer society is centered around more than just a Singularity, though -- it also seems to have a very important core role for Drugs, especially the cannabinoids.
COMMENTS
Because everyone else is doing it, and it's just a great idea to have a space for others to put in something..
- -Sweet William says..."Hello, stand-in for the Witness."