Name: Kulu M'batu
Nature:
Allegiance: Orgotek/Orgosoft Farms
Strength 2;
Dexterity 3; Athletics 1, Firearms 1, Martial Arts 1,
Stamina 3; Endurance 1,
Perception 2; Investigation 1,
Intelligence 3; Bureaucracy 1, Engineering 1, Intrusion 1,
Linguistics 2
Wits 3; Arts 1, Meditation 2, Rapport 1,
Appearance 2; Style 1,
Manipulation 2; Command 1, Subterfuge 1,
Charisma 2; Savvy 1,
Willpower: 5
Psi: 7
Aptitude: Electrokinesis
Basic Techniques: Static Burst
Modes: Electromanipulation 1, Photokinesis 3, Technokinesis
0
Auxiliary Modes: None
Backgrounds: Citizenship 1 (UAN, China), Device 1 (Orgotek
Enhancer, Allies 2 (wives), Resources 3
Weapons: Banji Lightning Taser Baton (Dmg 6B, RoF 1),
Orgotek Iris-L II Enhancer (Acc +1, Dmg 7L, RoF 2, FT 3)
Armor: Armor Vest (1/3, 0), Reinforced Clothing (0/2, 0)
Other Equipment: Vocoder (English, French, Arabic)
Kulu is a native
Kenyan and in the Islamic tradition has 2 wives (he will be able to have more
as his wealth increases, up to the maximum of four, according to the revised
Koran). According to new tradition, his
first wife chooses his second along with him in an equal partnership (both have
to agree on the selection) and now his two wives will have equal votes in
determining his third, meaning he has progressed to the stage where he could
conceivably become married to a woman he does not particularly like by the
order of his wives!
He trained all
throughout his early life in tribal schools to master the fields of science
(which always enthralled him, to go from the cradle hearing stories of Chango
throwing lightning and fire, to school to learn how lightning and fire worked). His parents were relatively liberal, mixing tribal
culture (his father was a priest/storyteller and his mother worked in a trading
house handling currencies and commodities brokerage) and it was something of a
backlash against their secular humanism that drove him into the stricter
regimented lines of Islam, which was much like the orderly scientific thought
that he had embraced early on. The
multiple wives thing was just a bonus in his opinion.
He was in the
equivalent of college (which was actually away at university, as he had been
home schooled by computer up until that point) that he turned to Islam, got
married (the first time) and was first tested positive for Latency by an
Orgotek recruiter (who was looking for Latent Teleporters actually). He scored no better or worse for any one
Aptitude, just being generally good, so the Orgotek recruiter didn't bother
telling him there were alternatives, kinda hinting that his potential lay
mainly in the direction of Electrokinesis and that he wouldn't be as good at
'that other stuff.'
It so happens that
he would have chosen Orgotek anyway as it best fit with his technocratic bent
(although he also respects the no-nonsense Ministry view and discussed both
options with his wife, who clinched the vote for Orgotek with the practical
words, 'They pay better').
About a year after
he was dunked he married again, a WEI functionary this time (his first wife
having been a schoolteacher and working now independently in Hartford). He felt different after the immersion, his
first wife seemed more distant and he felt so energized. He had never actually thought much about the
'bigamy' thing, even considering it a little excessive, but now he felt like he
needed someone to talk to, someone that he could open up to more than he felt
that he could with his first wife. He
had been talking to Sally at work on lunch a lot, she having been the first
person to give him a place to sit in the lunchroom and they had gotten to the
stage of flirting without actually noticing it. It was Ananda, his first wife, who happened to come from a
polygamous family and was more comfortable with such things, who noticed it and
had a fit. She then calmed down and
began coming to lunches from the Arcology and sitting with her husband,
insisting that Sally sit with them.
Soon she was able
to tolerate Sally, although they are only friends it seems when they are
picking on their husband, and proposed that she join their marriage. Kulu asked timidly if he got a say in the
matter and Ananda spelled it all out for him and forced him to admit that he
loved Sally too and felt more able to open up and so on, pretty much cinching
the deal. Sally thinks Ananda is imposing
and wonderful and strong and all that.
Ananda thinks Sally is a wonder wimp and should do something with her
hair. Kulu doesn't know what to think, but
he has a good job and lives with two women that he loves (even thought he doesn't
love it too much when both of them are home at the same time because it seems
the only enthusiastic conversations between them involve him and what he could
do to improve his life!).
Kulu is quite
tall, dark and, well, kind of thin and gangly.
He tends to dress in tribally inspired African dress, lots of earth
tones and natural wood, bone, shell and leather finishes and casings on even
his highest tech equipment. This is
more because Ananda selects things for him to wear and decorates his things in
her spare time, being quite good at crafts.
He personally thinks that tribalism is a bit overrated, but likes the
colors (and would never dream of telling his wife to stop doing something that
doesn't actually bother him!) He is kind
of fidgety, as one would expect from a man hen-pecked by two wives, always
adjusting this or tinkering with that, sometimes unconciously taking things
apart while speaking (fortunately, he can usually put them back together!). He sometimes wears sensor glasses and
inevitably is pushing them up or sliding them forwards, putting them on or
taking them off to clean imaginary dust off of them or put them in a pocket for
2 minutes before doing it all over again.