Maria Guerra

Background
Maria Guerra was born in 1987 at Norfolk, Virginia. She is the only daughter of Zachary Guerra, PE high school teacher, and Mona Goodman, psychotherapist.

Their marriage had been established on shaky foundations, until Mona met a peculiar patient and slowly catalyzed, which signed the death penalty for the couple. Mrs. Goodman, upon witnessing her patient's unique mental disorder, started devising new theories on psyche and treatments for his disorder. Her patient ended up in a specialized psychiatric institute due to the extreme degradation of his mental health, and Mona's competence got questioned. Maria was 12 when it happened, and witnessed the ensuing divorce. Her Neid mother gained custody.

Mona became unmada, sometimes regaining relative sanity at random intervals. Fearing her daughter would mess things up, she drove her away, while still controlling the girl's life obsessively. Maria endured emotional neglect and abuse. However, she couldn't tell anyone; every time someone showed up at their door, they would eventually walk away and pretend they had seen nothing wrong. At first, they were in denial or too terrified to speak, but over the years, they would just genuinely forget what they had seen, if they had even seen anything in the first place. Zachary, in the meanwhile, noticed the situation, but focused more on his ex-wife's psychotic state than on his daughter's distress. What kind of woman pretends she can manipulate people's minds with fractals? He chose to leave the state and live a new, normal life, away from the madness. The girl has never seen her father again, and she still doesn't know his whereabouts. The rest of her family naturally stepped away for similar reasons.

One day, the echo doctor got approached by Phenomenologists, who wanted to recruit her. Or investigate, or were willing to get their hands on her schematics, no one may really know what they came there for. At any rate, Mrs. Goodman threw them out of her property, refusing to believe there were others like her (beside, they were completely incoherent, or so she thought).

Maria's sole meaningful social interactions occurred at school, and even then, she was too socially awkward to make friends. Her only advantage was her intelligence, which she used to try and hide the fact there was something wrong going on at home, or threaten her bullies.

Maria eventually became beholden at 17, during one of the rare times she managed to get her hands on her mother's inventions. That event completely reversed the dynamics between them: Mona started treating Maria with a little more affection. She even allowed her to follow her (outdated) childhood's dream: become a nurse. The following years to Maria a comfortably fuzzy blur; her social life was as nonexistent as before, and sometimes got to help her mother with wonders so complex they made almost no sense. In retrospect, she supposes she was controlled like a puppet, had some memories erased, or both.

One year ago, Mona suddenly fell ill. Whether it was caused by physical exhaustion or a wonder that backfired, Maria didn't know. All she knew was important was to try and cure the mother who finally loved her. But her knowledge was not enough, and while she had the intellectual aptitude to become a full-fledged doctor, she had no time to study the "mundane" way. She gorged herself with medical books, with little success. "Normal" science couldn't help. So instead, she tried to fiddle with tools and scraps in the laboratory, steal pills to mix them with strange substances. Six months later, before she could finalize the treatment, Mrs. Goodman, after the loss of sight and many pounds, passed away. Her laboratory was devastated by the explosions that followed. Maria was a wreck, but still finished her first pseudo-wonder after the funerals.

The Peerage finally contacted her, while she was cleaning up the mess that had become her mother's house. Apparently, while they didn't want her mother among their ranks, they ensured through unspoken means that she wouldn't misuse her powers outside of her property. The Progenitors welcomed the young woman, and made mention of the strange consequences of the Blizzard. Maria decided to go to North Georgia to investigate. After all, she might have the occasion to meet other Geniuses there and prevent new tragedies from happening.

Today, she's a nurse at Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta, and is renting an apartment. While she enjoys her direct contribution to humanity, she still feels it is too little, but unless she manages to use her tools on patients, she will have to use unsatisfying mundane objects and medication.

Personality
Maria, or Dr. Impostor as she prefers calling herself, has a low opinion of herself. Subconsciously, she blames herself for all the things that went wrong in her life: her parents' divorce, her mother's catalyzation and subsequent spiraling into madness, her cowardliness, her conversion into a beholden, her inability to cure her. She even believes that if she had been prettier, stronger, smarter, better, her mother would have genuinely loved her, and her father would have stuck around. Her life until now has been a waste of time and money; she could have done greater things, instead of following an outdated children's dream.

Now, Dr. Impostor clings unto the hope she could help other people, whether they are helpless mere mortals, genii, or beholden. While she tolerates the use of the later, she can't stand hearing about the younger ones, who never had a choice (or so she believes).

The Klagen also cherishes dearly one specific idea: self-improvement. She thinks of herself as a pathetic person, but she knows she can turn the raw material she's made of into someone much better. Becoming a Genius was the first step, but more than ever, she desires to discard her old identity. Someday, Maria Guerra will stop existing, and a new, improved person will stand in her place. Dr. Jekyll, no matter how fictional, had the right ideas.

Dr. Impostor deals in chemicals. Everything alive - or barely so - can be improved with the right mix of liquids. Beakers, glass containers, syringes and pills, they're all beautiful, including the insignificant bacteria that secrete the precious chemicals (even - especially - if that bacterium is not supposed to exist).

Appearance
Dr. Impostor is a young woman, physically average in many ways, with a slight tan, pale green eyes, and messy black hair with long bangs that hides part of her shy face. She enjoys wearing extravagant pseudo-scientific gear in the privacy of her home; outside, she tones it done and is content wearing covering clothes (gloves, hoodies, turtlenecks, long skirts).

Wonders
The Regen-Injector

Exelixi 1

Bound Mania: 1

Size: 1

Cost per use: 1 Mania per level of Lethal damage or two levels of Bashing damage healed

Roll: Intelligence + Medicine

Variables: Charge-up Time (3 turns) (+1) Fragile (+1) Resilient (-1) Autonomous Regenerator (-1)

Fault: The Regen-Injector is quite frankly terrifying. Anyone who the wielder tries to heal with it must roll resolve + composure or be compelled to move away a distance equal to his or her speed.

Sheet