Chris Elman
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<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Chris Elman</default></title>
<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>
<label>Status</label><format><label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox> Chris Elman<ref name="II3.6">Glare 3.6</ref>, known publically as Cryptid,<ref>Torch 7.8</ref> and at Parahumans Online as Mystery_Meat (and two dozen similar nicknames), is a post-Scion trigger and a debutant hero.
Personality
Chris described himself as an introvert. Capricorn noted that they rarely spoke up in online chat.<ref>Cap: I do hope you’ll step out of those shadows more, c.
Cap: it’s been interesting talking to you online and seeing how talkative you are here.
Cap: I like what you contribute when you speak up
Curious_Cephalopod: that’s me being an introvert.
Cap: that’s fixable
Curious_Cephalopod: I think you badly underestimate my introversion, T - Glow-worm P.6</ref> He knew how to use the advanced features of the PHO search function.<ref name="P.4 e1">of5: Wanted k actually.
Heart_Shaped_Pupil: yuss! \♥/
of5: you know this site. I want search terms to find some people. Articles, anything else.
Would need to cover a lot of bases. Normal site search limits # of terms.
Heart_Shaped_Pupil: uh. that hard. you want packaged search string
Heart_Shaped_Pupil: i can try
Questionable_Mammal: you’re looking for others in your set?
of5: yes
Questionable_Mammal: I can make attempt. gimme time. you might want to fine tune after. - Glow-worm P.4</ref><ref name="P.4 e2">Glow-worm P.4</ref> Further he was able to work through school materials in a self directed manner, netting him some form of education.<ref name="4.2">Shade 4.2</ref>
His personality is occluded by his power as his changing of forms also effects his mind.<ref>Shadow 5.11</ref>
Because of his power's physical drawbacks he developed some morbid interests.<ref name="T7.6">Torch 7.6</ref>
He is extremely sensitive about his privacy and boundaries, to the degree of being overly controlling in his civilian life.<ref name="T7.7">Torch 7.7</ref> On the internet it made him quite adept at sockpuppeting and information funneling.<ref name="ii8.9socks">“I have like, forty online accounts. A lot are connected, but if I’m careful not to post too often, I can build up a persona and people accept me into their communities. I have something like four accounts in four very different sub-communities.”
[...]
“Why forty accounts?” I asked.
“Fog of war. It confuses investigators online, makes my trail harder to follow. Algorithms track everything you do, so I break it all up. One set of names for one site, another for another site. It lets me narrow down what came from who, if I get an email to one account or another.” - Excerpt from Beacon 8.9</ref>
Names
Strange_Mammal has 32 individual PHO accounts that Chris rotates through.<ref name="P.6e3">A_real: According to our systems you have 32 individual accounts that you’re rotating through.
Curious_Cephalopod: this is true
A_real: Is it really needed to have one individual account for each day of the month and one for what I assume are holidays?
Curious_Cephalopod: not what I was doing…
Curious_Cephalopod: …but would be amusing with some reshuffling…
Curious_Cephalopod: …assuming it was allowed… - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.6</ref> Known examples include:
- Strange_Mammal<ref name="P.3">Glow-worm P.3</ref>
- Questionable_Mammal<ref name="P.4 e2"/>
- Questionable_Cephalopod<ref name="P.6"/>
- Curious_Cephalopod<ref name="P.6">Glow-worm P.6</ref>
- Weird_Cephalopod<ref name="P.7">Glow-worm P.7</ref>
- Weird_Insect<ref name="P.8">Glow-worm P.8</ref>
Strange_Mammal has a program set up to duplicate his preferences between different accounts. He claimed that it was helping them "find out things" regarding an individual or individuals he believed was surveilling him.<ref name="P.6e2">A_real: But why do it?
Curious_Cephalopod: security. I’m being surveilled…
Curious_Cephalopod: …doing this lets me find out things
A_real: Surveilled?
Curious_Cephalopod: yes
A_real: On PHO?
Curious_Cephalopod: if they were stalking me elsewere and not here where it’s stalker central then they would be bad at what they do…
Curious_Cephalopod: *elsewhere…
Curious_Cephalopod: …and they aren’t
A_real: If you’re trying to obfuscate, I have to question why you use a chain of names that connect to one another.
Curious_Cephalopod: I’m not trying to hide. I’m trying to find out things. - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.6</ref> He also said that the different usernames correspond to physical transformations he underwent.<ref name="P.6e1">Curious_Cephalopod: …there. It should be in my user images.
A_real: Verification_For_Sydney.i
A_real: I see it. I see. I’m assuming that in a matter of days, if you’re an avian of some sort…
Curious_Cephalopod: Insect. Yes, I could supply a different verification image…
Curious_Cephalopod: …so can we chalk this up to a peculiarity of mine? Powers weirdness?
[...]
Curious_Cephalopod: …and this isn’t that serious. Consider me a curious sort of multi-limbed invertebrate who would be happy to be left alone… - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.6</ref> Chris later claimed that the entire thing was a ruse designed to draw out Heart_Shaped_Pupil's snooping tendencies.<ref name="P.6e4">Heart_Shaped_Pupil: When you were talking to Ms. Sydney earlier
Heart_Shaped_Pupil: You hinted at having a reason for the changing nicks.
Heart_Shaped_Pupil: What was it?
Curious_Cephalopod: Honestly?…
Curious_Cephalopod: …I wanted to see if you’d get curious enough to reveal yourself.- Excerpt from Glow-worm P.6</ref>
Relationships
Kenzie
Strange_Mammal believes that he was under surveillance, stating that his stalker was good at what they did.<ref name="P.6e2"/> Heart_Shaped_Pupil was seemingly responsible, possibly to gather information to ask him out.<ref name="P.6"/> They did get along sometimes, usually when Chris was using indulgence or a similar transformation.
Capricorn
Sveta
Sees her as a mother figure.
Rain
Chris loaned him video games.<ref name="P.4e2">of5: you know this site. I want search terms to find some people. Articles, anything else. Would need to cover a lot of bases. Normal site search limits # of terms.
Heart_Shaped_Pupil: uh. that hard. you want packaged search string
Heart_Shaped_Pupil: i can try
Questionable_Mammal: you’re looking for others in your set?
of5: yes
Questionable_Mammal: I can make attempt. gimme time. you might want to fine tune after.
Heart_Shaped_Pupil: aw!
of5: Thanks. I owe you one.
Questionable_Mammal: I got games btw. Will give on next meet.
of5: I owe you two - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.4</ref>
Said that he liked him better then other members of the chatroom group, willing to share medical supplies he had incase his changer transformations went aray with Rain if it meant saving his life.<ref name="6.5">“It won’t save him,” Chris hissed. “Might help.”
“Why do you have this?” Sveta asked.
“One day I change, come apart instead of changing back.”
[...]
“Didn’t want to use,” Chris was quiet. “I like him more than most of you.” - Excerpt from Pitch 6.5</ref>
Appearance & Powers
On at least one occasion, he provided a verification image for their account "Curious_Cephalopod" that appeared to be a literal cephalopod. They indicated that their transformations followed a known schedule, and that they would be an insect in a few days.<ref name="P.6e1"/> They also indicated that it might be possible to adjust their schedule so that their usernames corresponded to the days of the month.<ref name="P.6e3"/>
In person, Chris normally looks like a very average kid with brown curly hair and large braces.<ref>Behind Weld, someone else was ducking into the room. He looked like he was of a height with Kenzie, but given how boys developed slower, he might’ve been a touch older. He had a mess of tousled brown hair that would have been over his eyes if he wasn’t wearing large headphones as a kind of hairband. He had a very flat expression as he walked around the perimeter of the room. His t-shirt was black with a logo I didn’t recognize, his cargo shorts had stuff packed into the pockets, but he mostly looked like a very average kid. Only his old fashioned braces really stood out to me- the kind that made it hard for him to put his lips together.
[...]
Chris, too. By process of elimination, he’d be the boy roughly Kenzie’s age. - Excerpt from Flare 2.5</ref><ref>Where his curly hair was usually pushed back by headphones, so hair was very close to head - Excerpt from Beacon 8.6</ref> As he changes between his forms he constantly needs to adjust the braces.<ref name="II3.4 e2.5">
He opened the kit and drew out a pair of pliers
[...]
I glanced at Chris. Chris had two sets of pliers in his mouth. He was readjusting his braces.
[...]
“You can play me eight times,” Chris said, pulling the pliers out of his mouth, “After that they’ll probably catch on.” - Excerpt from Glare 3.4</ref> With each form he rotates through a small but permanent change occurs with his body, an addition in one area that causes a subtraction in another.<ref name="II3.2 e1">“It’s one. He doesn’t change all the way back.”
“What?” I asked.
Tristan explained, “He changes to one, he gets a little taller, a little stronger, a little more sluggish. He changes to another, gets better eyes, ears…”
“Thus the headphones,” Kenzie said.
“…and less responsive in hand-eye coordination to go with it. He tries to balance, but lately it’s been getting worse.” - Excerpt from Glare 3.2</ref>
Chris has eight core forms<ref name="II3.3 e4"/> each tied to his emotional state with strengths and weaknesses inherent in each of them, which combine with secondary modifiers that add altered characteristics.<ref name="4.6 e1">“Yeah,” Chris said. “I knew there was a risk I might be useless for the day, putting myself in a state where I just sit around, eat, play games. So I fucked off. I’ll hit anxiety a few times in the next while, but I’ll make it mad twitchiness so there’s some more motive behind it, instead of it being paralyzing. That’ll be fun.” - Shade 4.6</ref> See below. The forms vary somewhat based on a number of minor variables such as how long since the last form was used. Further, he can combine traits from different forms into a hybrid form with hybridized abilities.<ref name="II3.2 e1">“I transform,” Chris said. “Changer
[...]
I have a few different forms. They’re inspired by my moods and mental states.”
“You give them names based on what mood or state they’re from,” Kenzie said. “Like Creeping Anxiety and Wistful Distraction.”
[...]
“These forms reflect the feelings?” I asked.
“Very much so,” Sveta said.
“It sounds like he has more than a few forms,” I said.
“Eight or more, as far as I’ve counted,” Kenzie said. “He said a few, but I think he loses track. There’s wiggle room in each form, too. It depends on a lot of factors. Diet, time since he last used a form, if he pushes for something in the middle.
[...]
The forms tend to come with pretty heavy weakness. Anxiety is quick but fragile. That sort of thing.” - Excerpt from Glare 3.2</ref>
If Chris doesn't use his his whole range of emotional forms, such as trying to stay in one to long, it negatively impacts his psychology and train of thought.<ref name="II3.2 e3">“What happens if he doesn’t change?”
“The body stays the same,” Sveta said. “He doesn’t change physically.”
“Which is good.”
“But he doesn’t change mentally either. He says he can’t tap those emotions he’s not using, he can’t think as clearly, his thoughts go in circles.”
“Lose-lose,” I said.
“Something like that,” Ashley said. - Excerpt from Glare 3.2</ref> These changes can be euphoric in how they affect his mood, he likens it to a narcotic.<ref name="II3.3 e4">“Your mood seems better,” I said to him.
The smile dropped away. He looked at me and shrugged. “It’s different. I feel more human, mentally and emotionally.”
The change hadn’t seemed to make any difference in how he looked, either. Were the changes subtle?
“I’m not sure I grasped it all,” I told him. “Once you change, it’s…?”
I trailed off.
“It’s like a hit of a drug,” he said. “Focus, surprise, sadness, appreciation, disgust, fear, anger, and then this one.”
“Joy?”
“I call this particular flavor of it Wan Indulgence,” he said. He bit down on the chocolate bar, then closed his eyes, clearly enjoying it. He talked with his mouth full, “Can be enjoyment. I’ll feel it more normally for a few days now that I’ve changed.” - Excerpt from Glare 3.3</ref>
His exposure to his own monstrus forms allegedly gives him resistances to horrific mind effecting powers.<ref>Shadow 5.11</ref>
He has claimed to have two transformations a day, although on one occasion he has been seen to transform three times in one day.[citation needed]
| Known Forms | |
|---|---|
| Name | Description |
| Wan Indulgence | Humanoid giant with a pot-belly, small head and thick limbs. Has the ability to swallow large objects<ref name="II3.3 e1">The two of them went to plant it, with Chris picking up a fallen tree on the way. [...] Chris had his head turned, and he was using one hand to cram the last few feet of the dead tree into his mouth. [...] Chris had one hand full with the tree, mouth distended with a fat tongue sticking out, apparently to keep the tree from rubbing against his lower row of teeth; his hand served to protect the other teeth. I was put in mind of the man I’d seen during the broken trigger, who’d had a tree come out the other direction. Chris laughed, deep and booming, tree digested. He lowered his chin, mouth closed, hands and arms up to protect his face and guard Kenzie. - Excerpt from Glare 3.3</ref> and re-shape the materials.<ref name="II3.3 e2">Chris, legs embedded in spiky rock, was using both hands to haul what looked like a long, thin rod out of his throat. He’d swallowed the length of the dead tree like a sword-swallower swallowed a blade, and now he was drawing it back out, changed. Narrower, thinner, smoother, and slick with fluids. Chris, it seemed, wasn’t just the kind of changer who could adapt his form. He was the kind of changer who gained new sorts of powers while in an alternate form. He hauled the last of the tree free of his mouth. Fifteen feet long, thicker at the end he had just removed than at the end he held, now that he was turning it around to get it in a position he could wield it. Too long to be a proper club, not quite a rod either. - Excerpt from Glare 3.3</ref><ref name="II3.3 e3.1">He reared back, and he blew. He’d broken down and processed more of the dead tree than what he’d used to condense it into a giant club-staff. He exhaled a cloud of wet sawdust. - Excerpt from Glare 3.3</ref><ref name="II3.3 e3.2">He swallowed hard, giving me a suspicion about what he was about to do. He spat out a ball of wood pulp and phlegm, and I flew to one side, letting it sail past me. He began to pick himself up, working his way up the hill, stabbing down to pierce the ground with his half-stick and plant it there like an ice-climber might use a piton. The slope was just a little steeper at the base of the hill, and the water had become rock again, smooth and with the spikes all pointed downward, not good grips. He swallowed hard, giving me a suspicion about what he was about to do. He spat out a ball of wood pulp and phlegm, and I flew to one side, letting it sail past me. I was put in mind of Crawler – the changer power, the spitting, the joyful monster. Crawler had laughed too. Crawler had critically injured me with his acid spit, and that had let Amy get her hands on me the second time. It was a dark, unpleasant thought. - Excerpt from Glare 3.3</ref> |
| Mad Anxiety | A horrible screaming<ref>“People are coming through,” Chris said. “If we need it, I’ll be a distraction. I’m quick, I’ll be in and out.” [...] “Yeah,” Tristan said. “We’ll debate it when the time comes. It’s anxiety?” “Yep. Mad Anxiety.” “Great,” Tristan said. “It’s not the screaming one, is it?” “Mad is the screaming one,” Chris said. “I wanted to make an impact and if we need me as a distraction then screaming is good.” Tristan said something Spanish under his breath and went to his whiteboard. Swear words, if I had to guess. - Excerpt from Shadow 5.1</ref> face taller than the average person and twice as wide, completely cheekless. The lower jaw is attached to the rest of the face the way an insect is attached to a thorax. Innumerable legs that look to be made out of pure muscle provide locomotion while a few claw at his face.<ref>What I saw had to be Chris. I was far away, so I couldn’t see him well, but it had to be him. It was a face, six feet tall, three feet wide, with no cheeks or anything but a spine connecting the top half from the lower half, as if the chin and bottom row of teeth were the ‘head’ of an insect, the rest of the head the thorax. The setup was surrounded by a ring of spider-like legs in varying shapes and sizes. They looked like flesh and not chitin, though, muscular meat with a pronounced ‘elbow’, coming to a pointed tip where it touched the ground or face. He jerked and twitched, large eyes wide, and some of the legs seemed to be more focused on clawing at his own face than on keeping him mobile. I would have said it was like someone dragging his fingernails across his cheeks, but he didn’t have any cheeks. He screamed at them, and it was the sound of mortal terror. He’d succeeded in getting Love Lost and Nailbiter’s attention, and now huddled at the foot of a building, pulling against it as if he could pull himself through the seam between sidewalk and store. They didn’t seem to know what to make of him. I didn’t blame them. - Excerpt from Shadow 5.3</ref>Something similar called Creeping Anxiety is mentioned by Kenzie<ref>Glare 3.2</ref>Mad Anxiety might be a combination of Creeping Anxiety and "mad twitchiness".<ref name="4.6 e1" /> |
| Keen Vigilance | Perception-focused, with "a fresh set of eyes".<ref>“Yeah, well, I dunno,” Chris said. “I’m going to relax and wait until my vision comes back. If it takes too long or if I run into trouble, I’ve got another change I was wanting to make today. Keen Vigilance. Perception focused. It’ll give me a fresh set of eyes.” - Glare 3.5</ref> Slow but tough; described as an "armadillo with ears like a fennec fox and bigger eyes [...] and claws because its keen". On the same "spectrum" as Multifaceted Interest "but focused more and pulled together tight".<ref name="II5.6e1">Creepy Kid: Blind rage would be a mistake I think. Sudden Shock is quick… |
| Deep Reflection<ref>Shadow 5.6</ref> | Victoria remembered this as Dark introspection. Crow-like and coil-shaped with layers of hard, protective feathers and scales. <ref> Black, feathered, and wholly unintuitive in construction. He had four legs like a crow’s talons, but large and spindly, and his body wrapped in on itself, with thick scale-like plates like the talons that extended around his ‘face’ and front. The actual features weren’t birdlike, but were nestled in the ‘conch’ of his physical form. If he’d been a banana, the eyes, mouth, and useful features would have been on the inside curve, the outside curve facing forward. But he was more of a tight spiral than a banana, confused by the crests and flares of large, glossy black feathers that filled the gaps.
|
| Strained Peace<ref name="II.7.8"/> | Peace as in happiness. A tall, gaunt-limbed, bearded form hampered by a "shroud" made of loose skin that conceals its pot-bellied torso.<ref name="II7.8e1">“Strained is a modifier for forms, it goes around the circle with Repressed Anger, Tense Acceptance, Paralyzed Fear, Stifled Disgust, yadda yadda,” Chris said. He took Kenzie’s cloaking device. “All of which are the bases but with faster reactions and movements in a pinch, like I’m made of elastic bands that are all taut, ready to release, or I’m a gun with a trigger that needs only a light touch to fire.” “That’s not a good thing,” Capricorn said. |
| Brooding Anger<ref>Beacon 8.7</ref> | <ref>Beacon 8.6</ref> |
| Known Modifiers | |
| Mad Twitchiness | Used in Mad Anxiety to give the anxiety "motive" rather than being paralysing.<ref name="4.6 e1"/> |
| Strained | Used in Strained Peace. Lowers stamina and strength, increases speed and durability. Results in "faster reactions and movements in a pinch, like I’m made of elastic bands that are all taut, ready to release, or I’m a gun with a trigger that needs only a light touch to fire."<ref name="II7.8e1"/> |
| Anxiety | Probably a synonym for "fear". Kenzie notes that "Anxiety is quick but fragile",<ref name="II3.2 e1"/> but Chris says it's "paralysing" without Mad Twitchiness.<ref name="4.6 e1"/> |
| Other Mentioned Forms | |
| Quiet Awe<ref name="II.7.8">Torch 7.8</ref> | Used for relaxation purposes.<ref>I was stressed, so I went out last night, went to the middle of nowhere, changed to Quiet Awe. I put on some music and lounged, tried to shut out the world. I spent too long like that, changed back by accident, went straight back to that form. - excerpt from Torch 7.8</ref> |
| Sudden Shock | Noted to be fast.<ref>Shadow 5.6</ref> |
| Blind rage | Mentioned by Chris.<ref>Shadow 5.6</ref> |
| Wistful Distraction | Mentioned by Kenzie<ref name="II3.2 e1"/> |
| Creeping Anxiety | Mentioned by Kenzie<ref name="II3.2 e1"/> |
| Multifaceted Interest | Similar to Keen Vigilance but with more senses.<ref name="II5.6">Shadow 5.6</ref> |
| Repressed Anger | Mentioned by Chris as an example of the "Strained" modifier. |
| Tense Acceptance | Mentioned by Chris as an example of the "Strained" modifier. |
| Paralyzed Fear | Mentioned by Chris as an example of the "Strained" modifier. |
| Stifled Disgust | Mentioned by Chris as an example of the "Strained" modifier. |
| focus | surprise | sadness | appreciation | disgust | fear | anger | happiness | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strained | Tense Acceptance? | Stifled Disgust | Paralyzed Fear | Repressed Anger | Strained Peace | |||
| Wan | Wistful Distraction? | Wan Indulgence | ||||||
| Mad Twitchiness | Mad Anxiety | Blind Rage? | ||||||
| Creeping Anxiety | ||||||||
| Keen Vigilance | ||||||||
| Multifaceted Interest | ||||||||
| Deep Reflection | Brooding Anger? | |||||||
| Sudden Shock |
Equipment
He generally carries around medical supplies to make sure that any transformation he undergoes isn't the last one[citation needed]
History
Background
Triggered after Gold Morning.<ref>Flare 2.5</ref>
By his own admission he was once involved in involuntary manslaughter.<ref name="I4cII">Ashley shook her head. She looked the way Victoria had gone. “She hasn’t killed anyone before, if I had to guess.”
“Just Victoria and the kids, then.”
“Just Victoria and Kenzie,” Chris said.
Rain looked at Chris. Chris shrugged. “Accidental.” - Excerpt from Interlude 4c II</ref>
Glow-worm
Strange_Mammal joined a team of parahumans.
They successfully enticed Heart_Shaped_Pupil into revealing that they had been reading Strange_Mammal's chatlogs.<ref name="P.6e4"/> This revelation did not cause Strange_Mammal to leave the group.<ref name="P.7">Glow-worm P.7</ref>
Early-Ward
Attending therapy with the rest of the group. He is working his way through study packets provided by the education system instead of actually going to class.<ref name="4.2">Shade 4.2</ref>
Met the coach, wasn't impressed.
Was a major factor in the survival of Rain.
Post-Fallen Fall
His overuse of his abilities damaged his body.<ref>Torch 7.8</ref>
Assisted Marquis with treating a suspect, was competent.<ref>Torch 7.9</ref>
Cryptid had a gall to play games with the Goddess,<ref>“He came to me with a form prepared to counter me. And that is, as far as I detected, only one of three levels of deception that boy was putting into practice. You don’t want to tell me that you’re following his suit.” - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.9</ref> when she took lead of Breakthrough.
Fanart Gallery
<tabber>Chris=
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Chris by Lonsheep
|-|Changer Forms=
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'Mad Anxiety' by DerTodesbote on Deviantart -
Mad Anxiety by SaintSayonara
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Mad Anxiety by Drunkfu
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Deep Reflection by Lethalmud
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Illustration by SaintSayonara
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Keen Vigilance by casocial
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Brooding Anger by casocial
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Brooding Anger by Manirearkman
_Anxiety_by_DerTodesbote.jpg){kind=link}
</tabber>
References
<references/>