The HUMORIST  a.k.a. Edwin Lord
Points Value   Char Notes 0 10   STR Roll: 11-, Lift: 100kg, HA: 2d6 10 15 DEX Roll: 12- 5 15 CON Roll: 12- 15 25 INT Roll: 14-, PER Roll 14- 20 30 EGO Roll: 15- 15 25 PRE Roll: 14-, PRE Attack: 5d6 0 3 OCV 5 4 DCV 9 6 OMCV 0 3 DMCV 30 5 SPD Phases: 3, 6, 8, 10, 12 2 4 PD Total: 4(21)/0(17)rPD 3 5 ED Total: 5(22)/0(17)rED 5 9 REC 5 45 END 10 20 BODY 20 40 STUN Total Characteristics Cost: 154	Points  Complication   20 Vulnerable to Electrical and Magnetic Attacks (Common, x2 BODY)   20 Susceptible to Magnetic Powers (Uncommon, 1d6 KA per Turn)   10 Long-winded Speaker (Moderate, Common)   10 Hedonist (Strong, Uncommon)   10 Famous (Frequently, Minor)    5 Heavy Sleeper (Infrequent, Barely Impairing)    Movement   0 (45m) Teleportation   0 (40m) Flight   0 12m Running   0 4m Swimming   0 4m Leaping
Points   Power/Talent/Perk/Skill END 50   Cybermutant Powers: Multipower, 75-point reserve; All Powers Do Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼) f-5 Read Mind: Telepathy 12d6; All Classes of Minds; Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼) 7 f-4 Bend Mind: Mind Control 2d6; Multiple Classes (Human, Alien, and Machine), Cumulative (180 points; +1½), Invisible Power Effects (+½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Telepathic (+¼); Concentration (0 DCV; -½), Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼) f-5 Blow Mind: Mental Blast 4d6; Multiple Classes (Human, Alien, and Machine), Autofire (3 shots, +½); Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼) 21 f-3 Glamorous Bearing: Aid PRE 12d6; Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼), Only to Aid Self (-1) 7 f-2 Umbrous Bearing: Invisibility to Sight, Hearing, Mental and Smell/Taste Groups, No Fringe, Costs END Only To Activate (+¼); Does Not Work Against Mental Defense (-¼), Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼), Side Effect (self Drain 4d6 PRE; -1) 7 f-4 Project Force: Telekinesis (42 STR), Fine Manipulation 23-, ACV (uses OMCV against DCV; +0); Does Not Work Against Mental Defense (-¼), Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼) 7 f-4 Invigorating Medicine: Aid REC 8d6; Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼), Side Effect (recipient suffers Drain 2d6 INT; -¼) f-3 Purifying Medicine: Dispel Poisons, Intoxicants, and Diseases 11d6; Cumulative (121 points; +¾), Variable Effect (any one afflicting power at a time; +½); Concentration (0 DCV; -½), Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼), No Range (-½) 7 f-4 Restoring Medicine: Heal BODY 7d6; Can Heal Limbs; Concentration (0 DCV; -½), Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼) 7 f-3 Preservation System: Severe Transform 5d6 (living things sealed in stasis, heals back if cut free with surgical tools or dealt at least 15 Killing Damage in one strike); Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼), Limited Target (-¼), No Range (-½) 7 f-4 Relocation System: Teleportation 45m; Increasd Mass x2, Position Shift, Safe Aquatic Teleport, Safe Blind Teleport (+¼); Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼), No Noncombat Movement (-¼) 7 f-3 Make Way: Blast 6d6, Area of Effect (Damage Shield; +¼), Constant (+½), Costs END Only To Activate (+¼), Double Knockback (+½); Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼), No Range (-½), Noisy (-¼) 7   5 Rejuvenation Protocols: Life Support (Does Not Age) 11 Failsafe Mode: Regeneration (1 BODY per 5 Minutes), Resurrection (delayed by intense magnetic fields; prevented by exposure to deep space/hard vacuum); Resurrection Only (-2) 14 Kinetic Flight: Flight 40m, Costs END Only To Activate (+¼); Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼), Increased Endurance Cost (x5, -1), Side Effect (Drain DEX 3d6; -1) 20 14 Kinetic Field: Resistant Defense (17 PD/17 ED); Costs END to Activate (-¼), Does Not Work In Intense Magnetic Fields (-¼), Extra Time (Delayed Phase; -¼), Increased Endurance Cost (x5, -1), Side Effect (Drain DCV 3d6; -1) 25 18 Extrasensory Perception: Detect Minds (Mental Sense Group), Discriminatory, Increased Arc of Perception (360°), Range, Sense, Targeting Sense; Does Not Work In Crowds (-¼), Limited Range (45m; -¼)   5 Eidetic Memory 3 Absolute Time Sense 3 Lightning Calculator   6 Contact Dr. Renee Calderone (hospital administrator) 11-, Access To Institutions, Good Relationship, Useful Skills, Significant Contacts 3 Contact Ambassador K. Hawkins (alien diplomat) 11-, Access To Institutions, Significant Contacts, Useful Skills; Unfriendly 2 Well Off 1 Medical License 1 Positive Reputation: Movie Star 8-, Worldwide   12 1 Overall Skill Level 3 Acting 14- 3 Analyze: Anatomy 14- 3 Charm 14- 3 Computer Programming 14- 3 Concealment 14- 3 Electronics 14- 3 Forensice Medicine 14- 3 Oratory 14- 3 Paramedics 14- 3 Persuasion 14- 3 Power: Medical Kit 14- 3 PS: Comedian 14- 3 PS: Physician 14- 3 PS: Screen Actor 14- 3 SS: Coat'l Medicine 14- 3 Shadowing 14- 3 Stealth 12- 3 Systems Operation 14-   Total Powers/Skills/Talents Cost: 246

BACKGROUND/HISTORY: At age 19, Edwin Lord was a successful stand-up comic about to star in his own prime time series. At age 24, his first major dramatic role earned him an Academy Award nomination. At age 29, he suspended his film career to go on a medical research funding crusade. All his life Edwin kept from the public that he was a capable psychic. Now he was also keeping a related terminal illness secret. Nearing the end and having exhausted every hope on Earth, the desperate mesmer widened his search.
 Piggybacking on government surveillance efforts, Edwin tracked down an alien-human hybrid visiting a mother he had not seen in years. The desperate actor demanded transport to a civilization that could prevent his death. He discovered even alien minds could be twisted to do his bidding. Edwin was soon on a voyage to the edge of the galaxy, where the Caduceus Academy of the Coat'l bestowed a form of immortality on the most worthy physicians. Divided about the ethics of treating a patient who arrived in hijacked transportation, their compromise was an experiment that would offer a chance for him to live and a chance for them to learn.
 In a series of agonizing procedures, Edwin received modified implants based on the gifts given to Academy graduates. Before his first brain surgery, the network unexpectedly forged a telepathic interface providing control precise as any Coat'l physician. With feeble body and clouded mind, Edwin managed to learn enough to heal himself completely. Yet to earn his freedom would require years of further study -- enough to graduate the Caduceus Academy. Meanwhile his life would depend on technology he did not own.
 The thriving cybermutant was welcome to read the thoughts of otherwise unintelligible instructors. As the Academy's first human student, he enriched campus culture while earning scholastic distinction. Skeptics who did not believe a human could keep up with such a demanding program saw Edwin emerge as one of the top students in his class. Socializing and exercising with other psychic students developed telekinetic capabilities in Edwin's mutant mind. Right on schedule, he was awarded full Academy laureates along with legal ownership of his implants.
 A Coat'l Medical Officer's abilities are powerful currency at most spaceports. Other physicians may be eager to work alongside one, and they make any vessel without permanent medical crew a safer place to live. Getting started toward Earth was never difficult. Adventure often broke out along the way, introducing Edwin to more alien civilizations. After linking up with another human seeking return passage, the reinvigorated actor had an unhappy homecoming. Reversing a death declaration and recovering his assets was a struggle even with benefit of mind control.
 Edwin furtively set about sharing his medicine with sick and injured people. After some close calls with film buffs, he decided to protect his identity by working through an intermediary. As soon he identified an ideal candidate he approached her honestly to build a bond that might outlast psychic tampering. Periodically this hospital administrator sets up a batch of gravely ill patients intent on experimental treatments. Passing through in the guise of an unremarkable technician or a soft-spoken assistant, the cybermutant saves them all while limiting knowledge to a small circle of trust within a single institution.
 Generally Edwin continued to avoid public attention. All that changed when he was in the neighborhood of a deadly warehouse fire with partygoers crushing at narrow exits. After telekinetically destroying door chains and barricades, the cybermutant teleported in and out of the blaze. Several victims overcome by smoke awakened to find themselves virtually uninjured. When asked to identify himself, the harried hero replied "Ed Lord." After an inglorious chapter as the psychic vigilante Headlord, he provided some emergency healing in battle and rebranded himself as The Humorist.

PERSONALITY/MOTIVATION: Even as a young actor, Edwin Lord was a complicated man. Aside from his mutant powers, he was an intense student. In revels and labors alike, he would commit completely. His preparations could be lengthy and immersive even for minor roles. The quest to survive his affliction only amplified this intensity. That drive allowed him to complete an ambitious program of training at an entirely alien insitution. Yet the Humorist seeks outright debauchery when not pushing toward some urgent goal. He retains many of a performing artists' instincts. Often he gets what he wants with smooth words, resorting to mesmerism only to achieve truly vital objectives or overcome truly disagreeable individuals.

POWERS/TACTICS: The Humorist works best with a team. Fortunately, he can create one from pretty much anyone willing to let him make a lengthy pitch (or otherwise unable to prevent the mentalist from lurking nearby.) He also excels at psychic assaults that disorient and disable foes, but his most formidable physical attack makes slow work of reinforced concrete. Sometimes the best he can hope for is to contain a threat that does not yield to psychic force. The Humorist tends to evade and escape if engaged alone with no bystanders to protect.
 Tactical analysis reveals a predictable opening gambit in team battles. He activates telekinetic powers while taking a dose of Invigorating Medicine, then pauses to recover from that effort. Once girded, the Humorist flits around battles mending wounds and administering stimulants to optimize the effectiveness of others. Any attacks he delivers are likely to be non-lethal. Sometimes the Humorist bluffs his way through a clash by channeling his psychic power into dramatic intimidation. He can be reluctant to flee an engagement while there are innocents in need of assistance.

APPEARANCE: Edwin Lord is a tall thin fair-skinned man whose long dark hair has yet to show a touch of gray. Though not extremely agile, his movements normally appear both deliberate and graceful. His voice often pours out as a rich and clear baritone. Yet his attire varies greatly by circumstance. For public appearances he favors suits yet avoids neckwear. Otherwise he often dresses for comfort or to blend in with locals. If the Humorist is truly worried about being seen, then he will literally go unseen. When anticipating combat, he may put on an old hazardous environment suit the Coat'l designed for him. This battered garment no longer provides life support, but it should hold together through a superpowered beatdown. Its broad helmet and scaly exterior are suggestive of a menacing serpent.

CYBERMUTANT POWERS: The Humorist is a natural born psychic and the recipient of advanced alien implants. Though imperfectly adapted for his body, these technological marvels melded with their mutant host on a telepathic level. A side effect of this blend causes the same magnetic forces that disrupt the implant network to damage the Humorist's nervous system. Electricity also poses particular risk due to the implants' metallic content. Coordinating mind and machine causes hesitation, yet it leads to synergy.
 The Humorist's medicinal powers are expedited by natural empathy, and his mental powers can be applied to intelligent machines. Given sufficient data he can correctly calculate all manner of mathematical formulae. He can keep time more accurately than any Earthly technology. The Humorist also has access to almost limitless information storage. Though meant for accumulating reference materials and associating patients' faces with detailed histories, these archives allow perfect recall of anything deliberately studied. This even extends to thoughts and memories perused telepathically.

READ MIND: The Humorist's mutant brain contains structures that mirror information within other minds as well as structures that project patterns into other minds. Even with primitive beasts he is able to monitor behavior-forming processes and delve into memories. The Humorist can explore the deepest of motivations in more sophisticated minds alongside whatever memories and thoughts might be of interest to him. It takes an especially probing contact or an especially strong personality for a target to experience this scrutiny on a conscious level. If the Humorist chooses to make an overt connection, he can also transmit psychic messages to all but the most resistant targets. With willing participants his mutation can be used to converse with perfect clarity across any language barrier. The telepath can only establish new connections with targets he can sense, but communication is effortlessly maintained across distances under 360m regardless of walls and other intervening obstructions.

BEND MIND: Even as a child, the Edwin Lord could tinker with the beliefs and behaviors of others. So long as the he can look directly at his target, new adjustments can be layered atop old in any unprotected mind. From motivating a municipal parking officer to overlook a specific vehicle to installing a new prime directive in a global AI network, the Humorist reliably embeds enduring commands. Though a miraculous tool for treating behavioral disorders, Bend Mind can also suppress memories or plant false recollections of events. Each use of this ability requires a moment of thoughtful scrutiny directed at the target. These gentle efforts cannot be detected, but they are blocked by just about any sort of psychic defense. One application is rarely enough to get someone to change a dinner order, but a regimen of dozens silently administered over five to ten minutes of focused observation compels even the most objectionable behavior.

BLOW MIND: Edwin Lord has always been an avid explorer of inner space, hip about where to find the good stuff. He finds it easy to spark deep conversation with a single thought-provoking idea. The Humorist can package a collection of paradoxes, profundities, and psychedelia into a coherent burst of mental energy intended to overwhelm. Even alien beings find themselves astonished to the point of shock, while machine minds begin looping into a form of dizziness. The Humorist has trained himself to unleash up to three of these mental assaults simultaneously, either at one victim or a group of adjacent targets anywhere in his line of sight. Connecting with one would momentarily disorient a normal human, perhaps with a powerful epiphany. A target coping with multiple psychic onslaughts may collapse into a dreamlike torpor. Willpower alone is no defense, but the magnitude of these cognitive pummelings can be reduced by psychic countermeasures.

GLAMOROUS BEARING: True cinema buffs cannot forget Edwin Lord's greatest dramatic monologues. The man also never failed to impress during a red carpet moment or a public service appeal. By rallying his own confidence and inverting the flow of his mesmerism, the Humorist acquires a level of personal majesty that has been known to prompt unsolicited kneeling and submission. Selectively exposing himself to reverse mind control allows the impulses of onlookers to drive his body language and vocal tone. Every gesture or verbal inflection becomes an elegant amalgam of the specifics his audience will find most pleasing or impressive. From partners in a scene to foes in the heat of battle, the Humorist's personal gravitas becomes an irresistible force. Accumulated memories of this experience serve as sufficient proxy when no live audience is present. Glamorous Bearing requires repeated renewal for sustained effect. These psychosomatic feedback loops otherwise fade away over a couple of minutes.

UMBROUS BEARING: Hide-and-seek provided the first sign that there was something superhuman about Edwin Lord. If he wishes not to be noticed, he can adopt such a furtive state of mind that this actually happens. All organisms and machines presently able to see, hear, or smell him fail to do so. Remote viewing does not overcome this obfuscation. Thanks to his Caduceus Network, this same state causes the Humorist's image to go uncaptured by cameras and sounds to go undetected by microphones even if they are not part of any intelligent network. Mentalists are likewise hoodwinked unless some special defense foils this tampering. Standard efforts to detect the Humorist by psychic means will also fail while this power is active. Adopting Umbrous Bearing leads to a meekness of spirit, with confidence resurgent over the following minute even if Humorist chooses to remain effectively invisible for a much longer span of time.

PROJECT FORCE: Coat'l neural stimulation broadened the scope of Edwin's psychic abilities. Now he can lift a full grown elephant off the ground from up to 300m away. This force can be applied to smash through brick walls or rip objects apart. A quick blast can be violent enough to knock out an unprotected human, though something like strangulation tends to require sustained effort. The Humorist can also restrain a normal human, moving that person up to 72kph or violently throwing the individual up to 24m. He need not exercise this power at full force. The most delicate objects can be handled without breakage. Complex controls can be operated smoothly, and surgical precision can be applied at will. Yet, the Humorist often requires repeated attempts at the initial mental grab unless his target is nearby and still. Any power of psychic resistance is a ward against his telekinesis. Though he can hold and levitate multiple targets, the exercise is something like spinning plates. Maintaining six simultaneous holds normally creates strain intense enough to prevent any other significant activity. Regardless of how many targets Humorist attempts to hold in mind, their total mass cannot exceed 6,400kg.

INVIGORATING MEDICINE: Coat'l physicians excel at optimizing physiological processes. For any case of concussion, disorientation, exhaustion, and/or physical discomfort; a Caduceus implant is able to quickly administer an effective remedy. Doses can be automatically prepared without expert oversight from the Humorist, but he must touch a patient to deliver the medicine. Recipients should experience improvement from moment to moment, especially if at rest. The experience is powerfully euphoric -- blissful for some and completely stupefying for others. Natural healing processes are stimulated into overdrive, making quick work of bruises, scrapes, and assorted minor injuries. Though the effects fade away in around a minute, strenuous activity may seem effortless during this time. One infusion can turn a floundering combatant into a relentless aggressor.

PURIFYING MEDICINE: Skillfully operated Caduceus implants quickly identify any hazardous pathogens or poisons in the bodies of prospective patients. Onboard pharmaceutical synthesizers, beam emitters, retrovirus printers, and nanotech factories deliver fast-acting treatments to neutralize just about any affliction. The physician must form an expert opinion to guide this process. The Humorist may need to go several rounds to deal with the most complicated cases, but simple conditions are remedied by a single touch. Work on the toughest cases should leave a patient free of disease and contamination after ten to twelve seconds of treatment for each major affliction. When the Humorist confronts conditions like malnutrition, dehydration, and annoxia; his treatments merely "reset the clock" on biological needs without furnishing the substance and satisfaction of actual supplies.

RESTORING MEDICINE: The Caduceus Network may be the most versatile medical equipment in the galaxy, but it is also known for its seemingly impossible capacity to repair bodily trauma. Many advanced races remain awed by the way a few grams of injections and aerosols rapidly reconstruct much more massive anatomical formations. Experienced physicians master the art of blending substances applicable for the particulars of each case while leaving physicists to contemplate deeper mysteries. The implants cannot resurrect anyone other than their host, but they can repair a failing organ or replace a severed limb with procedures completely effective in a single second. All generated tissues, fluids, and solid deposits are consistent with the recipient's natural form, including details at the cellular and genetic levels. This marvelous capability sometimes drives interstellar warlords to make slaves of Caduceus Academy graduates.

PRESERVATION SYSTEM: If a Caduceus Academy graduate fails to treat a condition, life can be sustained by way of suspended animation. This technique might also save individuals facing insufficient air, water, or food. Dispensed with a single touch, a mass of clear gel spreads to engulf the subject in a thin shell of durable rigid material. Unwilling targets may avoid being touched, but little can be done to resist the spread of the gel. Two applications are typically sufficient to preserve a single human adult. Truly massive or hardy creatures may require additional points of contact. As the enclosure is completed it safely infiltrates the body to arrest movement, digestion, breathing, thought, and all other physiological activity. Even aging does not occur while the barrier is in place. Each protective shell is impervious to small arms fire. If a devastating force shatters one, its occupant returns to the state he or she was in previously, possibly with a fresh injury from excess power applied during breakage. Visible seams in the shell indicate precisely where a series of surgical incisions will harmlessly revive and release the creature within.

RELOCATION SYSTEM: Designed to deliver lifesaving assistance in the midst of battle or natural disaster, Caduceus Networks can instantly reposition their hosts, even when those hosts are burdened with a patient the size of an adult human. Any destination within 45m is possible, including unseen spaces. Safety features prevent harmful interactions with nearby fluids and solids. The Humorist even has the option to arrive with a different posture, perhaps crouching with a casualty slung over his shoulder only to arrive standing already poised to gently lay that patient down on a nearby bed. The strain of powering this system limits the Humorist to around 45kph by way of repeated teleportation, though frequent doses of Invigorating Medicine can drive a pace over 62kph.

MAKE WAY: The Caduceus Academy does not require healers to be pacifists, buts its gifts are never designed with killing in mind. Thus the Emergency Contact Deterrent System is accompanied by a spinning constellation of colorful warning lights plus sounds much like a turbine engine might produce. Anyone who touches the vortex swirling fiercely around the Humorist will trigger a discharge of concentrated sonic energy. A mighty roar accompanies potentially bone-crushing force. Few normal humans remain standing after contact, and a typical event launches the victim 5m away. Alone, they are rarely deadly. Yet an unprotected human would likely be mortally wounded by the third in a series of these blasts. The implants energizing Make Way were intended to deter interference with a physician's work, though the Humorist can deliberately bump targets to trigger a blast.

REJUVENATION PROTOCOLS: The Academy insists practioners maintain the appearance of excellent health as a matter of institutional pride. Robust fitness also promotes confidence among patients. Thus upkeep of a Caduceus Network requires a set of procedures that also involves maintenance of the host's body. As the implants service hygeine and health needs, the effects of aging are suspended by a series of microdosed medications. This familiar daily routine enables practitioners to perform delicate calibrations and assess optimal choices for resupply. Like natural organs, Caduceus implants can be sustained by body fat; but a diverse diet supports optimal performance. Unfortunately, only hosts with a full Caduceus Network can derive more than cosmetic benefit from this regimen. These features are nothing more than grooming and cleaning tools when applied to others.

FAILSAFE MODE: Many recipients of a Caduceus Network owe their continued survival to redundant Lazarus Archives distributed along the spine from skull to tailbone. These hardened capsules receive real time updates of physiological data, including all memory formation and personality development. When a host is slain the network surveys the Lazarus Archives to recover every last bit of the physician's individuality. Their only design flaw is a tendency to lose crucial organic storage matrices when accessed outside any sort of atmosphere. Many regard this as a feature rather than a bug, considering the prospect of being endlessly revived while drifting through deep space. Otherwise, reconstruction proceeds at a slow methodical pace. Roughly one hundred minutes after the Humorist is killed, he will have regenerated to the point that he can consciously administer medicine to complete the healing process. The presence of a strong magnetic field suspends Failsafe Mode until the magnetism has subsided and the network can resume normal function.

KINETIC FLIGHT: Edwin Lord first dreamed of flight long before it was something he could actually do. Using telekinesis to take hold of his own mass risks clashing mental momentum with muscle movement. The worst cases leave him flailing ineffectively for a little while. Once off the ground, the Humorist can vary his own momentum up to a velocity of 120kph relative to the underlying terrain. He can manage tight turns, evasive maneuvers, and safe landings while traveling under 60kph. Maneuvering by thought alone, he remains relaxed and comfortable during long trips at top speed. The Humorist can even nap while hovering. He favors this mode of movement when adventuring both to be prepared for action and to avoid the comparatively tedious chore of walking.

KINETIC FIELD: The Humorist can approach invulnerability by adopting a mindset that causes him to radiate telekinetic resistance. Significant concentrations of matter or energy interacting with this resistance are turned aside. Applying brainpower to shield himself sometimes confuses the Humorist so that he leans into attacks rather than avoiding them. Fortunately the threat from a gunshot is diminished to a potentially jarring shockwave. Raising this defense requires intense strain. Yet, the mental pattern is much easier to maintain than attain. Even when power on the level of a tank gun or lightning bolt overwhelms the field and delivers a portion of its destruction to the flesh inside, breaches instantly close behind any penetrating attack that leaves the Humorist alive.

EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION: Even around a powerful magnetic influence, the Humorist's passive psychic receptors remain keen. Whenever he is conscious, he is aware of all other minds in 45m and a direct line of sight. This sense is always attentive to a 360° radius, thwarting most ambush attempts. In particularly dense crowds like the seating area of a packed theater or an urban sidewalk at the height of foot traffic, individuals blur together into a chaotic jumble of thoughts and feelings. With fewer than ninety-nine other minds in the same room or otherwise on the scene, the Humorist's sense of position and movement is accurate enough to support aimed attacks. He can assess general characteristics like great intellect or tremendous willpower the way a person might see graceful movements or robust musculature. This ability does not convey facial expressions, yet it outperforms normal sight for purposes of establishing empathy and gauging intentions.

DR. RENEE CALDERONE: Every graduate of the Caduceus Academy is taught to operate covertly in societies that do not fully safeguard the health of all members. More than a few immortal healers have been enslaved, even tortured, for falling behind a gruelling work schedule. The Humorist feels an ethical duty to preserve life, yet he also wishes to avoid becoming the hub of an industry built around alien medicine. Dr. Renee Calderone is a hospital administrator with the authority to operate ad hoc wards in a sprawling complex, the stature to confer with world class physicians, the guile to pass off Edwin's craft as experimental medicine, and the juice to execute a quick payoff when something goes amiss. Her team of investigators selects travel-worthy cases, then her team of hospitalists supervises care while deflecting credit toward outside doctors. Together they treat as many terminal patients as they can manage without generating unwanted scrutiny. Successes give Renee the clout to keep pulling strings and Edwin the peace of mind that his gifts are being put to good use.

AMBASSADOR K. HAWKINS: Once the Humorist understood that no medicine on Earth could save him, he tracked down the first extraterrestrial he could find. The alien-human hybrid Killer Hawkins had only arrived on Earth weeks earlier, reconnecting with a parent unknown to him since early childhood. His father's dying wish was that the young brave should see his human mother again. Killer Hawkins still hasn't forgiven Edwin Lord for cutting that halcyon chapter short and compelling a journey to the rim of the galaxy. On his return, the hybrid continued to enjoy a strong relationship with his mother while obtaining a government job. Now he serves as a consultant and emissary dealing with alien civilizations. Some would say it worked out for the best, but Ambassador Hawkins remains a reluctant go-between for the Humorist and various spacefaring cultures. Killer's personal interstellar warship the Lucrative Lancer sits concealed on the grounds of his rural estate.

ANALYZE ANATOMY: The Humorist usually knows the general mood of everyone nearby. Sometimes he can infer a subject's immediate intentions from posture, breathing, eye movement, etc. He may also observe physiological specifics that reveal deeper insights. Though part of the Caduceus method, this analysis enhances efforts to practice conventional medicine as well. It can also be used to gain advantage in social situations by monitoring the responses of participants. With the most astute analyses, the Humorist identifies physical imperfections that can be exploited for tactical advantage. From improperly healed injuries to uncomfortably fitted armor pieces, his aptitude for spotting weaknesses opens up helpful and harmful possibilities alike.

MEDICAL KIT: The Caduceas Network is a doctor's little black bag refined through many millennia of technological progress. Though the Humorist experiences normal vision, hearing, and smell; assorted tiny implants allow the network to go beyond what its host can perceive. Physical observations are quantified in explicit detail. Specialized processors support augmented reality monitoring of otherwise imperceptible patterns like heart rhythms and neural oscillations. The Humorist typically logs relevant physiological activity while monitoring a patient. Even extremely subtle changes in skin color or pupillary response will be noted. The bond between mind and machine instantly furnishes the most relevant database references to assist in diagnosis and treatment. Scans and models may be visualized in context provided by the living patient.
 Additional information can be gained with help from wonders implanted in the Humorist's fingertips. Each contains a tiny Prismatic Myriad capable of emitting a staggering variety of energies. Any spectum of light can be used to study samples and other objects at hand, including documents. Particle rays and sonic vibrations can produce scans of solids and fluids up to 45cm behind a surface. Computer-guided with almost microscopic precision, lasers can be configured into the ideal cutting lances or cautery torches for any medical application. Converging proton beams or harmonic vibrations can destroy targeted internal masses with minimal stress to surrounding anatomy. Malignancies may also be eradicated with applications of extreme cold, though milder levels of cooling or heating are also options. The Myriads likewise make electricity available at levels ranging from the most delicate neural stimulation to the aggressive defibrillation of a large creature.
 Coiled within the Humorist's arms are Regenerative Dispensaries able to produce medicines and a few basic supplies. With simple gestures he can spray moisturizing mists, disinfecting solutions, drying winds, or abrading beads. It takes less than a second for him to prepare a batch of genetically tailored viruses, a swarm of custom built nanites, or a dose of almost any pharmaceutical. For hypodermic sites, focused sonic energy opens and maintains a tiny conduit known as a virtual needle. Topical substances are administered by aerosol atomizer or gel applicator. Inhaled fluids can be served up by way of heated vaporizer or sonic nebulizer. Dry medications emerge in hand as pressed pills or fine powder. Though a Caduceus Network is theoretically capable of dispensing deadly poisons and directly disabling vital organs, hardwired safeguards pair with Academy training to prevent the most malicious abuses of this technology.

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