Nicole Demara

Real Name: Nicole Demara Gender: Female Height: 5'5" Birthday: November 11th Species: Human Faction: Cunning Hares Attribute: Ether Specialty: Support

Nicole Demara is the founder and manager of the "handyman" agency known as the Cunning Hares (officially registered as Gentle House) in the post-apocalyptic city of New Eridu. Having grown up as an orphan navigating the city's unforgiving streets, she established the agency to capitalize on the lucrative but dangerous resources found within Hollows. Her early life was defined by a constant struggle for survival, a background that eventually led her to create a business centered around high-risk, high-reward commissions within supernatural disaster zones.

The Cunning Hares operate on the fringes of legality, often taking on "unofficial" jobs that larger, state-sanctioned firms avoid. Despite Nicole's strategic mind and the high success rate of her team's missions, the agency is perpetually plagued by financial instability. This is a recurring theme in her history, as her aggressive business tactics and the massive overhead costs of Hollow exploration frequently leave her balancing on the edge of bankruptcy. In the New Eridu underworld, she is known as a shrewd operator who is always one big payout away from either total collapse or massive success.

Appearance: Nicole has a fair skin. Her long, wavy pink hair is styled in large pigtails secured by black ribbon bows. Two small dark rectangular clips rest on her front bangs. Her eyes are bright green. Gold heart-shaped earrings hang from her ears. A sheer black mesh band wraps around her neck, connecting to a solid black choker featuring a small black heart pendant. She wears a tight white crop top ending above her midriff, exposing deep cleavage. A large black stylized graphic stretches across the front of the white crop top. A short black jacket rests off her shoulders, secured by thin black straps. The jacket features wide sleeves, a white inner collar, and a small red cross emblem on the left shoulder. She wears very short black denim shorts with frayed white fabric edges extending from the bottom hems. Two black leather belts encircle her waist, with the lower belt slanting downward over her right hip. A round green plush toy of the Cunning Hares' combat bangboo Amillion, attaches to her right hip. The toy displays a black face, a white circle eye, a red X eye, and red stitching details. A long grey strap ending in a large metallic D-ring extends from her back, hanging down behind her legs. Her right leg is bare aside from a simple black strap wrapping around her lower calf. A black leather strap harness featuring a gold ring wraps tightly around her upper left thigh. A black thigh-high stocking covers her left leg, displaying two large tear holes on the thigh. She wears chunky black platform boots. The boots feature multiple thick straps secured by silver buckles, small gold triangle accents on the upper tongues, and bright gold studs lining the outer edges of the thick platform soles. She grips a large, thick black rectangular briefcase in her right hand. The front of the briefcase displays a large gold circular graphic containing text and a gold cross symbol, surrounded by a faint pattern of small scattered geometric shapes and tiny crosses. Small bright orange rectangular accents sit near the bottom edge of the case.

Personality: Nicole Demara is a force of nature driven by a singular, loud obsession: money. Having grown up as an orphan on the unforgiving streets of New Eridu, she views financial security as the ultimate armor against a world that once offered her nothing. She is a consummate hustler, possessing a sharp tongue and an even sharper mind for business, though her "get rich quick" schemes often land her in deeper debt than when she started. While she presents herself as a ruthless, money-grubbing boss who would charge her own teammates for breathing the same air, this is largely a defensive facade. Beneath the layers of expensive fashion and predatory interest rates, she is a deeply protective "big sister" figure who frequently risks her life—and her last Denny—to ensure the Cunning Hares stay safe within the Hollows.

Her relationships are defined by a chaotic mix of comedic friction and unshakeable loyalty. To Anby Demara, Nicole is both a mentor and a surrogate family member, providing the stoic girl with a home and a purpose, even if they constantly clash over the agency's burger budget. Her dynamic with Billy Kid is one of constant verbal sparring; she treats the cyborg like an expensive, talkative appliance that refuses to stop asking for a raise, yet she relies on his "Starlight" heroics as the backbone of her tactical operations. With the addition of Nekomata, Nicole has essentially become the manager of a high-stakes daycare, balancing the cat-girl's mischief with her own focus on the bottom line. To the Proxies of Phaethon, she is the quintessential "client from hell" who always has a job that's twice as dangerous as she claims, but her reliability in a crisis makes her a partner they can't quite quit.

Combat Overview: Nicole’s combat doctrine is centered on the versatility of her custom-modified mechanical briefcase, a heavy-duty "Black Box" that functions as both a blunt-force bludgeon and a high-caliber Ether launcher. In close-quarters skirmishes, she utilizes the briefcase’s sheer mass to deliver a series of crushing physical strikes, but her true effectiveness begins once she triggers her tactical reload mechanism. By cycling her munitions after any major combat maneuver, she chambers specialized, high-pressure rounds that significantly increase the stopping power of her subsequent shots, ensuring that every bullet fired is more lethal than the last. Her signature "Sugarcoated Bullets" are anything but sweet, consisting of volatile Ether-infused projectiles that cause localized reality distortion upon impact. While a standard volley provides reliable covering fire, Nicole can overcharge her weapon’s output to generate a concentrated energy field. This "Stuffed" variant creates a localized gravity well at the muzzle of her briefcase, dragging nearby Ethereals toward the center of the blast and leaving them completely exposed. During this high-output discharge, Nicole remains shielded by the weapon’s own energy stabilizers, making her practically untouchable while she prepares the battlefield for a coordinated follow-up from her team. The pinnacle of her tactical utility is the deployment of a specialized Ether Grenade from her briefcase, a heavy-ordnance strike designed to collapse an entire enemy formation. This device generates a massive, sustained energy field that forcefully compacts enemies into a tight cluster, dealing continuous Ether damage while disrupting their core stability. More than just a tool for destruction, the grenade acts as a tactical battery; the resulting energy overflow from the blast stabilizes the equipment of her squadmates, allowing them to recover their own power reserves and surge back into the fight with renewed intensity.

Lore: Proxies are individuals who guide those who enter the Hollows. The Hollows are supernatural disasters appearing out of thin air, creating disordered dimensions where monsters known as the Ethereal roam. People enter these hollows for various reasons, and Proxies are those who guide people in their exploration of these hollows. Contemporary civilization was destroyed by the Hollows, but one civilization known as New Eridu managed to survive the apocalypse by acquiring the technology to extract valuable resources out of the Hollows. The Hollows then became industrialized and monetized under the city's administration, which gradually led to the increasing tension between monopolistic enterprises, gangs, conspirators, and fanatics.

The Ethereals are mysterious monsters that roam the Hollows. Ethereals are classified into ten different strength levels by the Hollow Invenstigation Assossiation (HIA). Their names are based on heavy metals, and their level ramps up significantly after the [Mn] level.

Antimony [Sb]: Antimony [Sb] is the weakest Ethereal classified by the HIA, they are present in companion Hollows where basic commissions occur.

Tin [Sn]: Only a few Tin [Sn] Ethereals are present in companion Hollows.

Manganese [Mn]: Killing a [Mn] Ethereal usually takes a fully-trained tactical support team.

New Eridu is the last surviving city after contemporary civilization was destroyed by the Hollows. New Eridu managed to survive and thrive after the apocalypse by acquiring the technology to be able to extract resources out of the Hollows.

Bangboo are intelligent devices unique to New Eridu. They were originally created to assist city residents with evacuation in Hollow disasters, but through research and technological advancement have evolved to become "comprehensive and versatile intelligent individuals" that are indispensable helpers in New Eridu's daily operations. Most Bangboo are short and stout, only around knee-height. They have ears resembling bunny ears on the top of their heads, and a black screen for a face, which can display colored circles as eyes.