Failure to Launch

Character Overview

Mike Baker is a 55 year old man Baltimore resident who's life never really took off. After a short tour in the US Army in the early 90s and a disabling injury, Mike has drifted through life for more than 30 years since.

Condensed Information

Name: Jacob Michael Baker Jr.; Alias/Nickname: Goes by "Mike", the short form of his middle name;

Place of Birth: Brookfield, Illinois, United States; Birthdate: January 30, 1971; Family: Jacob Michael Baker Sr.(Father, deceased), Mary-Ann Baker(mother, deceased), Jessica Baker(Sister, age 53, alive, living in Brookfield)

Personality traits: Moody, Cynical, Observant, Loyal;

Strengths: Not easily frightened, unphased, mechanical aptitude, keen eye for detail; Weaknesses: Lack of self confidence, post-traumatic stress disorder, jaded; Fears: Dying alone, becoming an alcoholic like his father, never finding love; Quirks: Tends to use "Howdy" as a greeting, rarely laughs but laughs loudly when he does so; Habits: Vapes whenever possible, only drinks light beer but never hard liquor;

Education: High school diploma, 1989; Training: United States Army MOS 11 (Infantry), Boot Camp (1990, Fort Benning, Georgia); Past Occupation/Role: Soldier, Janitor, Mechanic, Sanitation Worker, Postal Worker, Hospital Porter, Custodian;

Physical Skills: Mechanical Aptitude, cleaning and sanitation, Photography, firearms training;

Personal Items of Note: Canon Rebel EOS T7 DSLR camera, Beretta 92FS Pistol (illegally owned in Maryland as this gun isn't registered - Mike bought this gun in Virginia from a third party), a heavily-beat but reliable white 2014 Ford F-150 pickup truck; Favorite Things: His camera, swimming or floating in water, playing chess and smoking hookah, Busch Light Beer, the Chicago Bears football team; Pet Peeves: Politics, religion, stupid people, the Washington Commanders football team;

Secret: Mike adores photography and wishes he'd made it his career somehow before he got too old. Mike has a thing for middle-eastern and north african women, especially Egyptian, Iranian or Lebanese women but since they're usually Muslim he doesn't see himself ever having a relationship with one. He still likes women with dark hair and brown skin tones above others. He dated a Tunisian woman named Khadija in the early 2010s but the relationship fell apart after he stopped attending therapy at the Dundalk VA Center.; Philosophy: Life's a Bitch, and then you die.; Motivation: Survive, get mentally healthy (somehow), feels he is due a lucky break;

Backstory

Jacob Michael "Mike" Baker, Jr., known to most people as "Mike", was born in Brookfield, Illinois in March 1971. Brookfield is a suburb of Chicago, relatively impoverished and with little activities for young people in the 1970s. His parents were Jacob Michael Baker, Sr. and Mary-Ann Baker. Mike's mother, Mary-Ann, operated a small home cleaning business with clients in Brookfield and the surrounding area. Mike's father, Jacob, was a Korean War veteran who later became a steelworker. Jacob and Mary-Ann had children relatively late in life. During the mid-70s recession much of Chicago's industrial and manufacturing economy was heavily impacted so Mike's childhood was fraught with poverty and uncertainty as his father's job was constantly under threat. Jacob was an abusive alcoholic and Mike began to despise his father in his teenage years...it was at this point in his life that Mike began going by his middle name of "Michael" instead of his given name of "Jacob". Mike had a reasonable relationship with his mother but resented her for staying with Jacob despite his abuse.

Mike has one sibling, his younger sister Jessica. Mike and Jessica are not on good terms and haven't spoken since their mother's funeral. Jessica felt that Mike abandoned their family when he joined the army, leaving her alone to deal with their father's abuse and their mother's inaction.

Jacob Sr. died from congestive heart failure in 2008. Mary-Ann died in 2020 from COVID-19, during the 2020 pandemic. Jessica still lives in Brookfield, having moved back there after Jacob Sr. died in order to look after her mother and failing to convince Mike to come back to Illinois to help her.

Mike was a decidedly average student and after a high-school experience in the late 80s based around frequent underage drinking, a heavy nicotine habit, and several brushes with law enforcement, Mike took up one of the only careers available to him: He reluctantly followed in his father's footsteps and joined the army.

Mike is a 100% combat disabled Veteran, having served in the US Army in his late teens. Unfortunately, his duty was cut short within 18 months of him joining up. Mike was deployed as part of US Military Operations in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and he was badly wounded in an Iraqi SCUD missile strike while in barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in 1991. Mike lost several of his friends in the missile attack and spent more than 9 months recovering from severe injuries to his left hip and leg at the Baltimore VA Medical Center.

After Mike was released from the Medical Center and discharged from the US Army, he just never really left Maryland. Mike drifted through life working relatively unskilled and menial jobs, relying heavily on his Veterans disability benefits to survive. At one point he worked for the United States Postal Service but managed to get himself fired for reasons he refuses to discuss.

Current Situation

Mike currently works at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) as a low-level plant operator. The Back River WWTP serves the city of Baltimore as well as much of Baltimore county, so his employer is technically the City of Baltimore. He doesn't get paid a huge amount but the money he gets from working for the city supplements his Veterans disability benefits.

Mike lives in Dundalk, Maryland in a cheap apartment off Dundalk Avenue near Veterans Park. Mike's apartment is not in the best part of town, with Dundalk Avenue being a haven for petty crime, drugs, prostitution and homelessness.

Mike spends much of his time at work. In the evenings he frequently works quietly on his photography work, either sorting, curating or editing images or communicating with fellow photographers on social media. At the weekend Mike often meets his friend Mo to smoke hookah and play chess, or eats buffalo wings and drinks Busch Light while watching the Chicago Bears play football at a local sports bar.

Mike's singular bright spot in his life is his camera. He has a strange knack at capturing the people of Baltimore in perfectly lit and framed candid shots, small snippets of life where you can find the beauty in the world. People of the city, the Maryland coastline, even beauty in the wastewater treatment plant where Mike works. Mike captures and crystallizes memories of people at their best, a rare talent that he hides from everyone. If only one day he'd turn the lens around and look at himself.

Every couple of weeks, Mike feels compelled to take new pictures. He will travel around Baltimore and the surrounding area and take candid shots of people, landscapes and other slice-of-life situations. Mike's eye for photography is remarkable, seeming to capture the perfect moment with outstanding framing and lighting. Mike things his pictures are "okay, maybe pretty good" but he has definite untapped talent.

Mike has a permanent limp and mostly-unmanaged PTSD from his time in the army.

Connections

Mike's best friend is an Iranian man, Mohammed (Mo) Ahmadi. Mo is about the same age as Mike and the two of them smoke hookah, drink Persian black tea and play chess in a lounge in Canton at least once a week, usually on Friday night. Mo tries to convince Mike to somehow sell or exhibit his photography, and also to convert to Islam. Mike doesn't tend to listen to Mo in either regard.

Mike hasn't spoken to his sister Jessica since their mother died from COVID-19 in 2020. He feels bad about their relationship falling apart but doesn't have the will or self-confidence to try to rekindle it. He misses his sister as she is the only surviving family he has left.

Ellen Fremont was an important person in Mike's life, being the only therapist at the VA Center in Dundalk who actually made progress with Mike's PTSD from his injury. When Ellen left Baltimore to work at the VA in Norfolk, Virginia, Mike spiraled back to his previous state, lost his job at the US Post Office and ended his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Khadija. Ellen is still a therapist in Norfolk and Mike just can't bring himself to contact her or drive the several hours down into Virginia to see her. Ellen was the woman who convinced Mike to find himself a hobby and led to the beginning of his love of photography.

Appearance

Age: 55; Gender: Male; Height: 5'10; Appearance: Rugged, not conventionally attractive, tough; Build: Stocky, strong arms, something of a beer belly; Hair: Shaggy, was brown but now mostly gray. Beard mostly gray also.; Eyes: Color: Brown; Skin: Color(caucasian, tans easily, rough); Scars: Extensive scars from waist down left leg from injuries sustained during military service; Quirks: Mike walks with a limp on his left side due to his combat injury;