Tayla Gentry

Tayla's childhood consisted of nothing but good memories. She came from an average income family, loving parents with a smattering of trivial marriage problems resolved by brief stints of separation, and tragedy never really entered their lives. Certainly they lost relatives along the way and a few pets like goldfish, but she really had no complaints. She was never outstandingly popular in school like her relationship-inept brother and outgoing younger sister, but she was no outcast either. Easy would be the best word she could use to describe her grade school years.

Most of the friends she made in high school followed her on to attend the University of California in Los Angeles, though they studied different things. She spent a couple of years just wasting time and money on deciding on a major before she finally settled on advancing her knowledge in law. She had taken up a job as a part-time legal secretary to help pay for her books and housing while taking classes, and the field interested her. With her boss supporting her, she got into law school and did fairly well for herself. The first two years of her time as a lawyer were spent at a small mom 'n pop law firm before moving on to a corporate law firm and rising in the ranks.

Tayla was renown for her mild-mannered attitude, but stern approach to her cases. She has never done a pro bono case in her life and likely never will, but she has dabbled outside of corporate law for favors and the like. By the time the outbreak occurred, Tayla had been head attorney for several years. Shaken by the loss of her friends and the situation, she took time to herself to see where she could help out and ensure the safety of her family as well.

With the offset of her powers, Tayla has been toying with the idea of quitting altogether. The Revival Project has approached her for assistance in the legal aspects of their relief work in exchange for helping her tame her abilities. The medicine they've given her, while helps, has been doing more harm than good. Nothing detrimental to her health, as it does get rid of her headaches immediately (and is preferable to the constant necessity of popping too many Tylenol or taking too many shots), but in another sense. They're testing her under the pretense of alleviating her stress.

After taking a short break from the office, Tayla's started working again. Her superiors survived the incident, and she spent her time working closely with them to try and restore the place to its former glory.

after the pulse

2009

• 01/31 — Started checking out the community.

• 03/10 — Lena's mother disappeared, so she went with her brother to go find her.

• 04/09 — After losing several more friends and acquaintances, her headaches started getting worse.

• 05/19 — Cam turned up after a brief disappearing act.

• 05/31 — Got caught up in Dec and Cam's love woes, so she opted to drink the night away with him instead.

• 06/10 — Went to Taipei with Lena.

• 06/29 — Found out her friend Zoey went missing.

• 07/25 — Cam turned up again after another disappearing act.

• 09/13 — She went a little crazy and wasn't heard from by anyone, even her job.

2010

• 01/03 — Received psychotherapy from the Revival Project.

• 01/10 — Attended the Girls Abroad Tour in LA.

• 01/23 — Attended Shira's party in Chicago.

• 01/26 — Got a visit from Shira Adams.

• 02/16 — Despite suggestions to the contrary, Tayla resumed working.

• 03/20 — Attended the Double V Wedding.

• 03/22 — Helped out fighting infected when the hospitals were overrun.

• 03/29 — Went with Shira to Tokyo for Shira's birthday.

• 04/11 — Unstable and all, she started to try and find Alice's spirit for Yuri.

• 04/25 — Attended the Belle Époque.

• 05/16 — Went to Starlights for Sel's birthday.

• 07/18 — Went to Shira's party in Chicago.

• 07/20 — Helped defend LA during the attacks.

• 08/10 — Did nothing during the second WDD in LA.

• 09/05 — Cupid made her fall in love with Cam for a day.

• 09/20 — Began uncontrollably manifesting nightmares.

• 10/24 — Attended the Beautiful World Concert.

• 10/31 — Fought Micah on the outskirts of Los Angeles to bring him back to normal.

There used to be two sides to Tayla: the working girl, and the social woman. Workin girl Tayla wasn't necessarily an overbearing boss. Rather, she kept to her guns and ensured that sure everyone was on task while still enjoying themselves. In her field, it was imperative to be well-organized and on top of things. So, though she ran a tight ship, but made certain her employees were taken care of. She was not the ideal boss and had a lot of negative qualities, but she always took criticism constructively, because she felt it important and conducive to the work atmosphere. If her employees didn't like her, then it could cause long-term troubles. Certainly it was a slightly jaded perspective, but it managed to keep her forays as a boss afloat.

The other side, the social woman Tayla, was always laid back and congenial. She was even upbeat, but came across as an intelligent woman. She used to be very playful and a little reckless, but after several years in the law field, it matured her to a degree. She liked to maintain a cool and casually professional seeming exterior, because it helped take the edge off her high-stress work environment. She used to have a lot of friends to go along with her magnetic personality, but after the outbreak and the loss of many of them she became a little downtrodden and somewhat cynical. After the loss of her best friend, the flare that made her distinctive was put out. Eventually, she took leave for a month from her job, leaving the cleanup in another attorney's hands temporarily to make up her mind on what she wanted to do with her life.

When she found she was too much of a workaholic to leave it all behind, she made her inevitable return to all but bury herself in paperwork and finish restoring the office to its previous state. It seemed as though right as she was back on track and as content with life as she would ever be, her remaining friends turned up missing on her, and some even were even found dead. Something inside of her snapped, unable to deal with so much loss. Her usual stable mindset has been put through an emotional ringer. A little bit left of center now, Tayla is struggling to keep her head on straight. She had lost herself in devastating infected for months mindlessly putting an end to them until she was picked up by the Revival Project. She had put herself so largely at a risk that it almost affected those living near the outskirts of the Greater Los Angeles area.

They sedated her for a time and when she awoke, was put through psychotherapy to sort her out. It took quite a bit of time, but she was later released on the pretense that she was no longer unstable. Her leave from work is almost up, but she has become so numb inside that she doesn't altogether care. Seeing some friends that were still alive has helped put things into perspective, but she's still someone who should be tentatively dealt with as her sanity appears to be something hanging delicately in the balance.

Empathic Psi — She can take your emotions and manifest them as illusions. She is limited in the use of her power by her need to see the person from whose consciousness she derives her images. She can use her power on a person even if he or she can only be seen by Tayla through binoculars. However, she cannot draw images from a person who is standing only a few feet from her, but behind something she cannot see through. Nor can she derive images from a person whom she sees via live television but who is not actually within her vicinity.

empathic illusions casting — Taking those telepathic illusions and manifesting them as psionic energy, so they are solid. She can only do one illusion at a time with ease. The three-dimensional images that Tayla causes to appear are similar to holograms, although they are created by psionic energy rather than by lasers, and can be seen by anyone in their vicinity. However, only the people from whom Tayla derives the images will perceive them as "real", indistinguishable from the real persons or objects they portray. To other people, the images are recognizable as immaterial illusions.

dream empathizing — In lieu of these other abilities, Tayla is able to see your dreams and nightmares vividly while you are sleeping. She can even influence them for better or worse now.

neural weaponry — She can focus her psionic powers into energy weapons of her choosing, which can stun an opponent by disrupting their central nervous system, or force them to relive a traumatic memory.

Death Itself — Tayla presides over death itself and consequently, aspects of life before death.

death sense — She has the ability to perceive and sense the coming of death. She could perceive a "deathglow" surrounding a person who is in serious danger of dying. A person surrounded by the deathglow is in danger of death, but might still be saved from dying. Additionally, anyone else with a death sense can sense Tayla when she is nearby.

gift of life — She can give someone a second chance at life, but only one second chance.

gift of death — Tayla has the power to free the soul of a body and send a soul to its appropriate destination (usually an afterlife or reincarnation) if that is that person's true desire.

omnipresence — Death exists everywhere, therefore Tayla in some way does as well. She has a conscious awareness of everything on the brink of death at all times. She can't be seen by others, but in a sense - she has eyes everywhere.

teleportation — She can teleport anywhere someone is dying or in danger of dying, which now is essentially anywhere in the world now.

Quantum Energy Manipulation — The ability to manipulate quantum energies to affect energy and matter on a subatomic level and fire powerful energy blasts.

Mother & Father — Safe and sound in a Revival Project facility.
Bri Bri — Her big brother, he's a guy's sort of guy and probably the driving force behind her lack of understanding of women logic from helping him through his own women troubles. The poor guy's never had a girlfriend last longer than a month. Tayla's stays with him at his apartment (cue pillow fights of epic proportions) when she's feeling glum or nervous.
Teresa Gentry-Adams — Resa — Her younger sister by four years. She has moved back to Los Angeles and stays with Tayla and Brian.
Lena — She'd refer to her has her god niece, Tayla looks after her like she was her own. She was a long-time friend of Helena's parents, and will be doubling her efforts to be a positive influence in her life with her new circumstances.
Josh — Her god nephew. He's a tough kid in his own way. She likes to knock him down a peg just to make sure he doesn't get too far ahead of himself. She thinks he's a good kid though.

friendships

Cam — This? This is her bestest bestfriend. You don't mess with him. There's very few people, other than her family, that she'll get worked up over to protect. By and large, he is the the original basis of her basically snapping due to his unannounced disappearance. Not being able to find him made it very hard on her, but she at least was able to tell that he hadn't left the world when her powers evolved. When she was able to discern that, she started leveling out a little more. Now that he's back, she finds herself much more at ease.
Ed — A fellow attorney she's worked a few cases with in the past. Loads of respect for him, thinks he's a great guy. Always a pleasure to work with, too.
Koudelka — She knew her husband first, but came to know Koudelka inevitably over time! She liked her a lot and stayed in touch with them throughout the years. In the time after the outbreak, she spoke to her again and is to keep it a secret from Clinton her whereabouts.
Ta — Nice girl she met at a club and has seen her on and off outside of it. Tayla likes to keep an eye on her when she finds her at the clubs since the girl is underage and all. Doesn't want anything to happen to her.

lovahs

Vanness — Tayla simply looooves him. She has a blast with him. He's the kind of guy that keeps her interested in still having relations with guys, seriously. They slept together on and off prior to his rekindling a steady relationship with Vivian. She still likes to hear from him and is happy for him!
Nia — A lady she's banged in the past. Likes her tremendously and has remained friends with her. She went to help her find her sister who passed away recently in New York City, New York.
Sel — Hot younger woman she occasionally bangs. It works well, because neither of them have to talk about what's bothering them while still letting off some much needed steam. Selina's also become a very good friend to her, oddly enough. They know how to keep things in the bedroom.
Shira — Someone she used to bed not too far back. It was a frequent thing, but also short-lived. Tayla always enjoyed her presence regardless of whether they were just hanging out or messing around. She had no problem separating the two concepts for herself, and is glad they can remain very good friends. She also appreciates her efforts to try and check up on her and be there as a friend.

clients

Micah Gunther — While Micah wasn't her client directly, his father, Richard, was a long while back. Before working for the corporate form, he was one of many clients she took along with her throughout her advancements in the field. From what she knows of him, he's a well-mannered and nice guy.

acquaintances

Jerry — She knows him as Jerry of F4, and was kind of *.* at talking to him now, too.
Mihara — Ed's brother. She came to know him when Edward first turned up missing and she was worried for his well being. She thought Ryu was incredibly nice and appreciated his understanding nature about her concern for Ed.
Noemi — A woman she met at a bar once that didn't speak very good English at the time. Nevertheless, Tayla found her to be a nice woman (and it helped that she was attractive) and tried to help her out as best she could despite the semi-language barrier.
Yuri — A total stranger to her, but unique enough that he caught her attention about a problem with a dead girl visiting him. She is keeping an eye on his situation in the future.

the departed

Ash — Cam's bff, and therefore a good, good friend of hers, too. They're her boys and she loves 'em dearly. Missing.
Belle — A relative of Adams' and so when she found out about his death, she was contacted by the woman eventually. She feels very bad for her and is doing her best to support her. Missing.