Aurora Jiang

With a humanitarian for a father, Aurora led a motherless childhood under his wise and watchful eye. She was able to travel to many countries in her youth, visiting place after place with her father who always tried to lend a helping hand. It impacted her greatly, and he was met with a great deal of respect in his home country of Taiwan, her birthplace. He was making a mark as not only a man of Taiwan, but of his tribe. She had wanted always to follow in his footsteps, and he had always told her to live the life she constructed for herself, that she should not let anyone stand in the way of her dreams. Typical, fatherly advice, and all of it has remained forever etched upon her heart.

She was exactly eleven when it happened. During the Pacific typhoon season, her father had made a trip to the Philippines in order to help with future relief efforts. Preparing for the impending typhoon had been important, but also dangerous to the point that he opted to leave Aurora behind in Taipei with his most trusted friend, Daiwei, as he had no other remaining family members. She remembered clearly the day the skies finally looked like they would clear, how there was a birthday cake on the table waiting for her, and the phone call later that night to say that her father had been lost in the aftermath.

Orphaned as she was, Dawei took her to where her father had spent his childhood growing up in the southernmost corner of Taiwan. It was a fishing village, and she told herself she would never go back to Taipei out of despair. She knew she needed to come to terms with it being the place where she felt like she lost her world's center, but that kind of strength was not something she felt she possessed. At least, not yet.

Instead of a famil, she was given to a local temple and consequently raised by the Buddhist monks. She took a great interest in the religion, and boldly decided to become a nun herself. In the process, she almost let go of some of the dreams she had been forming, but she was fortunate and to this day considers herself to be a lucky girl. Her closest friends reminded her always of what she wanted to do with herself, and so she deviated in time in order to go to University for archaeology. So, with their encouragement she decided to face her past and go to Taipei for just that.

Together they did everything, even returned to that village to watch her follow through each precept to become a Bikkhuni, or Buddhist nun. They supported her along the way despite feeling like she would be giving up something of herself in order to follow that kind of path. She had to overcome a lot of obstacles, prejudices even, but in the end became a bridge between the divide. In the weeks before she was to become a full-fledged nun, she decided to go with her friends to the country's capital for a break from it all so she could close that chapter of her life fully and also simply relax.

That was when she met someone new, a foreigner named Brice. He was teaching English abroad for his graduate program at the time and she had just been visiting the school in question. At first, he only afforded her a second glance - traditionally dressed as she was and then he was introduced to her by the Principal. She had frequented it to teach while still attending University. She was surprised by his use of Mandarin, accented as it was, and his interest in Taiwanese culture drew her to him without her even realizing it at first.

Since he was still new to the country, he asked awkwardly if she could show him around the city. Thereafter, they became fast friends and he even went as far as to protect her from some of those that didn't care to see women of her station. In less than a week, they had developed a unique bond between them that led her to asking him if he'd like to see where she lived in his free time, once they would be separated. He was hesitant in the beginning, but eventually found the time to see her and the temple received him well until one of the monks took note of the way they behaved around one another.

When he left, she was scolded and she took it with her head held high. She had realized that she had feelings for him, but she wasn't about to turn back from her path. She gave up her hair, and put the past behind her for the sake of being able to help others anywhere the temple could send her. Then, he came back and was surprised to see her new state. She was relieved that in the end, he didn't think less of her and they managed to maintain a lasting friendship.

Even when she would go traveling, he would occasionally accompany her if he had the time and the means. She was always glad to have him nearby, and never feared what could become of her as long as he was at her side. The only thing she had to fear was the way the monks reacted each time it was shown that she had taken him as a companion regardless of whether her friends of which they were accustomed went along as well.

Surprised by their view on the matter, she inevitably stood up to those who had helped train her, that gave her home, and made her plea. In the end, she was asked to renounce herself and come clean. It shook her up tremendously, but she was able to make it through with not just his support, but also that of her friends. They banded together to help her get back on her feet, and he wound up taking her back to the states with him until he was able to renew his work visa.

It took them awhile to realize their feelings for one another, but it was never voiced. Their relationship became something subtle, tender, easily seen but hardly expressed. They had managed to change one another in many ways, all of them for the better. Less than a year into their relationship, the outbreak occurred. They had been in Taiwan at the time, and his abilities were something volatile and uncontrollable. His own grip on reality was shaky at best, and before she knew it his hand was even fading while holding hers.

Then, she felt his energy through her fingertips. What happened after that, she still isn't quite sure. Whether he faded away, or if she absorbed him to the point that he was nothing but human ash left to the wind, she has no concrete way of knowing. Since then, all she can glimpse of him anymore are echoes in her mind that prompt her to uproot herself in search for him in new places. In the past year, it has led her to where she had lived with him in Honolulu where she's often found standing on the beach, watching the sea. Seemingly waiting for someone to come that never will.

Since becoming a resident of the state, she has become something of a freelance detective offering to look for those who have lost loved ones with the use of her abilities. She asks for nothing in return, as she feels being able to bring someone back is more than enough payment. It has given her just what she needed in order to move on from the loss of him.

condemnations

2010

• 09/30 — Started posting.

• 10/31 — Helped out where she could despite being haunted by an image of her man.

There is a lot that could be said about Aurora. She is strong, resilient, optimistic, and full of faith. Although one couldn't simply skim the surface of her, it's easy for others to tell she possesses a brave heart and effervescent smile. Even in the hardest times, she thinks of others first. Her happiness is easily sacrificed for the greater good, no matter how great or small the cause may be. In so many years, she has become a courageous individual that reaches out a hand for everyone without sparing time for herself. She has never run herself down into the ground, at least not to the point that anyone has ever seen save for one person.

Throughout any hardship, she'll carry a smile to encourage others. She has been something of an inspirational figure in the past, and understands that despite having shed her title she is still a figure that others look up to and admire. Her pain has been internalized, leaving her on slightly shaky ground to which she is unaware; however, she has surrounded herself with people she cares about and knows they care for her unconditionally in return just so that she can handle the weight of her own world.

Her spirit has not been lost, if anything she has been filled with a unquenchable vigor. She would search the far reaches of the globe just to find the happiness she had to give up, and in many ways she has done so. Shedding her title, starting over fresh to center herself as a person. She has blossomed and come into her own without leaving traces of what made her who she was in the process, which says a lot about her.

Voluntary Absorption — Aurora can absorb the memories, knowledge, talents, personality and physical abilities (whether superhuman or not) of another human being through physical contact of her skin with the skin of the other person. She is not limited to absorbing superhuman abilities. She can also absorb psionic abilities. In absorbing another person's memories, Aurora also gains the emotional responses connected to them. This is not limited to living beings only, meaning she can take on the same from those killed and brought back to life as zombies. This transfer is usually temporary, lasting for a period of time relative to how long contact is maintained, but if Aurora holds on to her victim for too long, the transfer may become permanent and leave the victim either comatose or dead. How quickly she can absorb someone else's abilities depends on their own superhuman abilities and resistance. As Aurora is absorbing the total psyche of a person, there is a risk of a personality overwhelming her and taking control of her body. Even though Aurora eventually forgets the memories she has absorbed when a psyche returns completely to its body, 'echoes' of their personalities remain buried in her mind. She is also capable of absorbing psyches and abilities of several beings at once, though the experience can be confusing and disorienting for her. It is a transference, meaning what she takes is actually taken and gone for a limited amount of time barring lethal usage. In addition, she possesses template recall which is the ability to recall any powers she had ever absorbed and use them as though they are her own.

absorbed abilities —

Photokinesis — The ability to generate, control, and emit light that is directly affected by her own emotions. Aurora is capable of generating from her body a bright white light equivalent at maximum intensity to half million-foot candle. The discharge of this light she generates herself is dependent on her mood for whether they are destructive or not. She can produce either a "calming light" or "light daggers".

calming light — It causes her target to feel emotions and memories that make them at peace, or even purge their system of drugs, poisons, toxins, etc, but not heal physical injuries. It can even be used to break telepathic control.

light daggers — They are 6-inches long and thrown from her fingertips. Her daggers may automatically form under certain conditions, such as someone being in danger prompting her to feel alarmed. The maximum effective range is unknown to her, but the daggers seem to weaken with further distance. She has a limited ability to control their flight and reinforce them by compelling them to seek targets. Those hit by these daggers have their own life force disrupted. she can then drain a portion of their life force - enough to kill if she wishes. This is not something she has done, as she would never kill a soul.

notes — In controlling the light, she can bend it to create illusions to make people appear invisible when they are not. She can also remove the light from an area or increase its intensity to blind others and even burn them. Stealing "the light" from someone would cause them to feel ill and even die. Conversely, she could emit light to serve a positive purpose by giving someone strength. With the light she generates, she can purge a person's body.

Emotion Control — She can control emotions, but only one emotion at a time; however, it can affect many targets in the same area simultaneously if she chooses. She cannot control feelings that do not exist in her target.

empathy — In lieu of this, she can telepathically sense the emotions of people around her. When using this ability, she closes her eyes to "see" the emotions around her in different coloured waves (like auras). She is then bombarded by the emotions of people around her, and must concentrate to fasten onto a single, strong emotion to protect herself from being overwhelmed. She can use this to find an individual in a crowd, as everyone's emotions not only have a distinctive colour from the spectrum, but a feeling unique to them that she can differentiate. For those possessing mental immunity, it's as though nothing is there where the person stands to her.

Crystallization — Formally, crystallization is the (natural or artificial) process of formation of solid crystals precipitating from a solution, melt or more rarely deposited directly from a gas. It is also a chemical solid-liquid separation technique, in which mass transfer of a solute from the liquid solution to a pure solid crystalline phase occurs. So, essentially her ability consists of being able to create create hard crystalline constructs from atmospheric mineral content (whether a solid, liquid, or gas), and create the appropriate chemical reaction in order to fashion them into weapons, shards to throw, shields, etc. She can even imprison someone within a huge crystal with enough effort. The crystals are hers to manipulate, so other than creating them and altering their size and shape on a whim, she can also shatter them. In time, she has been able to do any of this with a simple snap of the fingers.

crystal types —

• Natural mineral crystal formation (such as gemstones)

• Stalactite/stalagmite, rings formation

• Ice crystals (i.e., snow flakes)

• Honey crystallization

• Sand

recrystallization — In chemistry, recrystallization is a procedure for purifying compounds. The most typical situation is that a desired compound is contaminated by a small amount of impurity. She can remove those impurities to reform previously existing crystals and consequently, slightly decontaminate an area. She can also reduce antifreeze levels in order to speed up the growth of ice crystals.

Probability Field Manipulation — The ability to affect probability fields through psionic means in order to give herself "good luck" in her activities. This allows incredibly unlikely events to happen in her favor. This ability is tied into the positive aspects of her personality: should she attempt to use her any of her powers for a selfish or evil act, or should she give up hope, her powers will fail to function or even backfire, giving her bad luck for an indeterminate amount of time.

Organic Manipulation — The manipulation of any organic matter via touch to perform various effects. This is included but not limited to healing or distributing ailments (such as bacterial infections); closing or even creating wounds; causing physical mutations to herself and others; and even remove mental illnesses. She could make flowers bloom, wilt, and theoretically accelerate the evolution of an entity. In essence, she could feasibly make a tree a scary killing thing with a mind of its own if she really wanted. The possibilities are rather limitless, she just hasn't fully explored them.

Bio-Molecular Spatial Displacement — The ability to displace matter through a type of teleportation rift, appearing as blinking holes, enabling her to move an object or people, including herself, various distances and displace matter out of sync with reality. Her effective teleporting range is to the moon and back. She is capable of "blinking" beings or objects without reassembling them properly, catching them in a portal and temporarily splitting them into pieces. The effects of her power on living beings varies from brief unconsciousness to death.

banishing — The ability to manifest the energy for her portals in the form of short javelins, which she could throw at an object to cause it to teleport, but never reappear. She is capable of sending targets to multiple locations at once.

NOTE — Whenever she uses any of her abilities, she develops a pattern of crystals over her face because of her crystallization ability reacting with her own body.

Baba — Deceased in the '95 Typhoon.
Mama — Died in childbirth.

lucky star

Brice — He was the complete opposite of her, in a way. Outspoken, careless, carefree, but he did share one concrete trait with her: he was understanding. Brice worked as an English teacher in Taiwan, and before that, he was a soccer player until he injured himself and could no longer play. That prompted him to switch gears in school and travel to find himself. The American that stole her heart~ She lost him after the outbreak, and still searches for him because she can't let herself believe he's dead. She knows it's his abilities trapping him somewhere somehow. Every journey she makes is in an effort to find him. Had she absorbed him in some way, she would have retained the ability. That's all that keeps her going sometimes.

friendships

Nan Ming-Hao — A fellow archaeologist! He's an interesting person, but Aurora thinks he's a good guy. He's also in the same field as her, which is cool! Doesn't seem to be affected by his swearing. She has a tendency to just accept people as they are. Besides.. they're just words, aren't they?
Sayuri — She's Ming's girlfriend that she happened to meet while lost in thought by the sea. She really thinks highly of Sayuri, as she seems like a nice girl. The nicest thing for her is to see that her and Ming get along so well, and she hopes they stay together!
Suzume — She is incredibly nice, isn't she? Aurora likes her a lot! She hopes they can continue to become better friends for as long as she's on the island.

like kin

Dawei — He was a friend of her father's and became her surrogate caretaker after his death. Although he remained in Taiwan, he survived the outbreak and occasionally travels with her throughout her searches.
Lipeng — He was Jiawei's boyfriend, but didn't make it through the outbreak. She thought of him as an older brother, and had always hoped he would marry Jiawei.
Xiling — She's like an older sister to Aurora and has been there with her every step of the way. She's also the one who got her into Sleeping Beauty, but that's a secret between them! Like her, she lost the one she loved in the outbreak. They have never not been close friends, and she knows Aurora better than anyone.

• Picked her English name because of her love of Sleeping Beauty.
• She really likes to sing, as she feels it can be kind of an inspiration for others.
• Uses very formal speech in each language she knows, and always uses titles in place of names if the person has one.
• Often found by the sea lost in thought.
• Echoes of those she has absorbed powers often lead her to new places, no matter how dangerous, in order to find some way of atoning on their behalf.
• Before fully becoming a nun, she was part-time so she could attend University.
• Once was a fully ordained Bikkhuni when living in Taiwan.
• When she was formally an ordained nun, she was bald.
• Because of that, now her hair style is often changed constantly with hair extensions and wigs.
• Has a soft spot for elephants and horses.
• Travels have taken her all over the world, including:

• Tibet

• Thailand

• Malaysia

• Singapore

• Philippines

• Japan

• South Korea (including the DMZ)

• Iraq

• Morocco

• Canada

• United States

• Australia

• New Zealand