Pax

Pax is a 33-year-old con artist and smuggler. A black woman with curly black hair, styled with more volume in the front and combed to the right. Her body is adorned with numerous tattoos, including a prominent skull-headed moth below her neck, a blacked-out torso, and stripes extending down to her crotch. She has an amber eye with white freckles surrounding it and wears a hoop earring in her left ear. Pax often wears subtle makeup. Pax possesses surprising bursts of strength and speed, activated by her "Taunt" action. This allows her to deliver powerful blows with her signature weapon, an electromagnetic baseball bat called "Psycho Pete." A specialized glove allows her to recall the bat after throwing it, and it can be upgraded to deliver electric shocks or set targets on fire. Pax also wields a variety of "Vocal" abilities, a form of mind manipulation. These powers are effective against most individuals but are less successful against those with strong willpower, robots, or people protected by "Filter" devices. Her Vocals range from "Block" (temporarily freezing targets), "Push" (physically forcing targets in a direction), and "Trigger" (heightening emotions and aggression), to more manipulative powers like "Discord" (sowing distrust), "Hoax" (increasing suggestibility), and "Bully" (controlling others' actions). Less harmful Vocals include "Normalize" and the emotionally damaging "Cancel". Interestingly, Pax's powers reflect her view of language: aggressive when she is confrontational, and supportive when empathetic. Pax's wears a yellow beanie with a tree symbol, a tight graphic t-shirt, and ripped cuffed jeans. She occasionally wears a small red jacket from her childhood. Her purple right-hand glove, essential for controlling her bat, leaves her pinky and ring fingers exposed. A harness for the bat is worn on her back when anticipating combat. Pax is fiercely protective of loved ones, but her tendency to control situations and disregard others' feelings can strain these relationships. This duality leads her to be perceived as both a protector and a bully. While she still utilizes her Vocals to navigate social challenges, Pax is capable of growth, learning to prioritize empathy and understanding. Pax initially views language and "Protolanguage" as weapons, but her powers' harmful nature and resulting relationship difficulties lead her to question this mindset. She eventually learns to use language for empathy and understanding, realizing its potential for connection. Her journey illustrates the double-edged nature of language as a tool for both conflict and bonding. Pax's past shapes her cynical view of politics and her distrust of robots. Raised in an anarcho-primitivist commune called Liberty, Pax was taught to be wary of technology. Her experiences in the American Republic and Pacifica further solidified her cynicism. While she can resort to violence for self-defense, she avoids lethal force unless absolutely necessary. In her free time, Pax plays bass and guitar and talks to herself. Born in Lebanon, Kansas, to American Republic scientists, Pax was exposed to Protolanguage experiments, granting her Anomal abilities and the skill to use the "Me-em" machine to learn new Vocals. Separated from her parents and adopted into Liberty, she developed a complex relationship with Ziggy, her foster sister. A disagreement over the Me-em machine created a rift between them that was later exploited. After being exiled from the commune for using her powers, Pax navigated a difficult life in Pacifica, resorting to various cons to survive while hiding her Anomal identity. Reuniting with Ziggy and other Anomals, she agreed to transport the Me-em machine to the Weave in Nova Scotia for research, setting the stage for the central conflict of the story. Her relationships include Sai (best friend), Noam (on-and-off partner,) and Ziggy (foster sister).