Red Alert

[Red Alert]

CHARACTER INFO

Player: Toggs

Name: Red Alert
Age: Middle Age
Gender: Male
Species: Cybertronian
Faction: Autobots

Original Occupation: Domestic Warden

Occupation/Specialization: Security Director

Appearance: Red Alert is roughly Ratchet's height, though he has a slimmer, more angular build than the medic does. His paint-scheme is an even mix of red and white, white being his primary base-coat while red makes up his helm and decals. He's a mech built to be the first responder to any emergency situation, which shows in the aerodynamic design of both his root and alt mode. His optics are standard blue in color, but due to his enhanced vision his optics have extra rings which dilate and contract as he magnifies/focuses his vision. They look not unlike targeting reticles in a way, which can make being on the receiving end of his scrutiny a particularly unnerving experience.

In terms of body-language, Red Alert is very closed-off and reserved; his movements are guarded, jerky, and occasionally plagued by a nervous twitch or tremor. He's equally as guarded with his expressions, rarely ever letting them accurately reflect his thoughts or feelings - unless he's feeling vexed, in which case his eyebrows will absolutely let everyone know they should start heading for the hills.

Altmode: A white Lamborghini Aventador styled as a fire-chief's vehicle, complete with lights, sirens, and fire-apparatus license plate.

Pertinent History:

Before Cybertron's civil unrest gave way to all-out civil war, Red Alert was constructed cold and tailor-made to serve as the warden of Translucentica Heights. With anti high-caste sentiments on the rise, not to mention the frequency of riots and domestic terrorism, noblemecha everywhere had good reason to fear for their safety. To quell these concerns, Cybertron's elite were gifted (or afflicted with) the most die-hard security-guard ever made.

For a while, things ran smoothly. Unlike in the lower-caste districts Red Alert briefly trained in prior to his assignment in Translucentica, the Towers didn’t suffer from an abundance of crime, or addicts, or belligerent mecha disturbing the peace. He was more than qualified to handle the job he had been assigned, so life should have been easy.

Should have.

Red Alert isn't certain when it happened or where it started, but somewhere along the line, his life began to take a downward turn. Gradually, he found himself becoming more and more anxious, worrying over a steadily increasing number of concerns which had never bothered him before. Whether this was due to the the stress of being responsible for thousands of lives worth several times more than his own, his instincts getting out of hand, a combination of the two, or some other unknown series of factors is anyone's guess.

Over time, he withdrew from his social circles, lost contact with friends, and threw himself into his work more fervently than ever before. Considering he was always something of a workaholic, this wasn't exactly a good thing. A few residents of of the Heights began issuing complaints regarding his work performance, namely that it was becoming excessive and somewhat invasive. He was asked to dial things down a bit, and to his credit, he did try to reign in his efforts back to a less... obsessive degree. He just wasn't very successful, because at that point he was seeing more dangers in the world than ever before, and his conscience and sense of duty wouldn't allow him to knowingly put his wards at risk - even if those risks may have been all in his head.

Before long, he became increasingly worried that his memories had been tampered with, that his mind had been altered in some way, that he was being targeted by someone (or several someones) for reasons he couldn't begin to discern. Unfortunately, this conviction only exacerbated his already fully developed paranoia, and after a few long, dreadful months of constant stress and borderline-panic, Red Alert finally decided something needed to change.

He researched ways to remedy his predicament, some decidedly darker than others. After weighing his various options (and agonizing over the decision for weeks on end) he finally forced himself to reach out and seek the counsel of a therapist.

Unfortunately, the war came to a head before any significant progress could be made, but with the worst of his troubles having been (for the most part) alleviated, Red Alert was able to both join and swiftly rise through the Autobot ranks without his PPD hindering him overmuch. Eventually, he found himself promoted to the rank of Director of Security, and as the war progressed he developed something of an infamous reputation among Autobots and Decepticons alike for his controversial yet effective methods.

Eventually, Red Alert would make his way to Earth via the Ferryman after heeding Optimus' call. Once there, he whipped Outpost Omega's security system into (passable) shape, and dealt with a conga-line of crises caused by MECH, the Decepticons, sporadic fuel shortage, and a traumatic run in with Flatline which nearly cost him the use of his arm.


Same slag, different day.



Personality:


Red Alert worries. Constantly. Excessively. About everything and nothing, about things that have happened, things that might happen, and things that are happening right this second. When he isn't worrying he's forming contingency plans for the things he's worrying about, actively enacting those plans, or trying to convince his higher ups that his plans are sound and yes he's feeling alright what does that have to do with anything.

Contrary to popular belief, Red Alert is acutely aware of the fact that most of his worries are unfounded. He's not blind, he's not an idiot, he's not crazy- he is fully capable of logical reasoning and he can deduce when his worries are irrational or excessive. It's just that he has the insidious voice of mental illness constantly screeching in his ear telling him he's wrong, demanding he reconsider, forcing him to imagine every nightmare scenario that could possibly occur - will occur - because he didn't listen. Because he dismissed the possibilities based on their probability, because he wanted to be 'reasonable', because he wasn't careful enough, because he didn't care enough.

It doesn't matter how well-constructed his arguments are, how solid their foundation of reason is. Eventually, inevitably, the devil's advocate inside his head chanting 'what if? what if? what if?' wears him down and gets its due consideration. Red Alert has lived with it long enough to know it's a foregone conclusion, that it's better to save himself the trouble and take the path of least resistance. Life is already exhausting. Why burden himself unnecessarily by pretending this is a fight he can win?

(Oh, that's right, because giving in makes life more frustrating for everyone around him, and he's already a difficult person to live with.)

He knows this. He knows this because people can't help but telegraph their concern, their frustration, their disdain. Even if he didn't have the best ears in the business, even if he couldn't hear everything anyone has ever said about him, he'd be able to tell. He can tell because nobody knows how difficult it is to live with him better than he does, and as the foremost expert on the subject he can say with authority that it's a bloody chore. He's stubborn, jittery, tense and uptight. He can't take a joke, or a break, and he gives people secondhand stress just by existing in their general vicinity. He keeps everyone at arms-length, physically and metaphorically, and he rebukes all attempts at making friends or having fun or living in any capacity, because he's already quite busy fending off the untimely severing of his wards' mortal coils and he doesn't have time to much about with anything else, thank you.

So, yes. Red Alert knows it's hard, being around him. He'd have more sympathy if being him wasn't exponentially harder.

Not that he's complaining - God no. Getting Red Alert to admit to being anything less than fine is a herculean effort, which is probably why most people know better than to ask. Ask a stupid question, get a snippy, deflective answer. No, Red Alert does not like questions about himself or his general well-being one bit, which is mighty ironic considering how much of a vested interest he has in everyone else's well being. Does that make him a hypocrite, smothering others under the weight of his undying concern while adamantly refusing to allow anyone to return the sentiment? Oh, most definitely, but Red Alert has never claimed to not be a hypocrite. It's just one of his many flaws, flaws which he sees little reason to hide since the general public opinion of him is already so abysmally low.

He's a hypocrite, he's a workaholic, his ratio of false-alarms to actual emergencies is laughable - what of it? He's heard worse and truer things about himself. What matters is that there's more to him than that, his poor reputation, both the parts that are true and deserved and those that are exaggerated (but probably also deserved.) He's stubborn, yes, and paranoid, and anxious, a workaholic killjoy who is far too preoccupied with trying not to die for someone who doesn't particularly enjoy being alive. But he's also loyal, principled, responsible to a fault. He always does his best best because he can do no less that, and Primus Knows he has a wealth of genuine concern for nearly everyone he comes across even though he does his damnedest to pretend otherwise.

He's a mixed bag, Red Alert. There's quite a lot more to him than meets the eye, but most seem content to write him off as little more than a paranoid mess held together with duct tape and neuroses. That's all well and good by him - he doesn't want to be known well by anyone to begin with, and besides, it always pays to be woefully underestimated.

Likes: Peace and bloody quiet, keeping busy, white noise, murder mysteries, crime novels, small talk (in small doses)

Dislikes: Being touched (and having his personal-space invaded), loud-noises, chaotic environments, being out of the loop, active combat, chatty extroverts, being doubted (and having doubts)

Strengths/Weapons:

• Rocket launcher: Red Alert possesses a shoulder-mounted rocket-launcher with a maximum firing range of 25 miles. The launcher is equipped with an anti-aircraft missile capable of causing significant damage to even heavily armored mecha, however it is difficult to aim with any degree of precision, which makes it somewhat unreliable at great distances.
  
  Particle beam rifle: As the name implies, Red Alert has a rifle built into his right forearm that fires ionized particles which disrupt the atomic/molecular structure of whatever they hit. The damage these particles cause can be as mild as a scorch to as severe as a smoldering hole through what was once a mech's chassis depending on the strength of the material being fired upon and the intensity with which the ionized particles are charged. A quick, 5 second shot is effective against light armor, a 10 second charge is effective against medium armor, and a sustained charge of 20 + seconds can give heavy armor a run for its money.
  
  
  The best offense: Red Alert is more of a protector than a soldier, and his expertise lies more in preventing attacks rather than taking part in them. However, this does not mean he is not a capable fighter in his own right. Quite the contrary; Red Alert is well versed in the fine art of effectively subduing/restraining mecha of various sizes and alts without the use of lethal force, though he rarely has the time to practice these skills as much as he probably should.

Weaknesses:

• Suspicious to a Fault: Though he does his best to keep his treacherous processor in check, Red Alert still suffers from a severe case of paranoid personality disorder. Despite being an intelligent, logical mech at his core, Red Alert has been known to make rash, irrational decisions when his condition gets the better of him. (For example: withdrawing from all social contact to avoid emotional manipulation, or re-watching the same surveillance-clip hundreds of times just to be absolutely sure he didn't overlook anything.) Additionally, Red Alert's paranoia places him in an almost perpetual state of nervousness and anxiety, which in addition to being an exhausting way to live, leaves him predisposed to physical ailments such as insomnia, fatigue, and stress-related injury.
  
  Old Habits Die Hard: Due to the nature of his former occupation, Red Alert faces great difficulty when tasked with fighting/killing his fellow Cybertronains. He can still use lethal force when absolutely necessary, though mostly from long-range (hence his two long ranged weapons; neither of which require very precise aim, which is useful when looking directly at your target makes your systems lurch in protest.) It is difficult for him to reconcile his conscience with his sense of duty, and so he struggles to bring himself to kill fellow Cybertronians, particularly with his bare-hands. However, he has no difficulties fight hand-to-hand if he uses techniques that restrain/disable rather than ones that cause lethal-damage.
  
  Hypertensive: Due to the extreme amount of sensory-input he is capable of receiving, Red Alert is in a near-constant state of sensory overload. His processor is often overwhelmed by the various stimuli it is bombarded with on a daily basis, which leads to his overall nervousness/twitchy behavior as he struggles to process all the sensory and situational information he is receiving. In addition to sensory overload, Red Alert frequently suffers from visual and auditory hallucinations, which commonly occur whenever he is particularly stressed, or in an environment that heavily feeds into his paranoia. Unfortunately, this can sometimes cause him to make rash judgments or cause false-alarms, as the 'threat' he saw or heard exists only in his over-clocked processor. His enhanced senses are also very easy to exploit, as particularly bright lights, loud noises, or harsh scents can cause him to lock up while he processes the excess of information.
  
  Workaholic: Anyone who knows Red Alert knows that he is fiercely dedicated to his job, and that it is nearly impossible to tear him away from it even for a few short moments. He doesn't seem to understand the concept of being "off-duty" and as such he is almost constantly working, save for the few moments he has to take out of his day to refuel/recharge. Unfortunately, he'll often forgo both of these rather important activities in favor of working even more, which, needless to say, is terrible for his health. Not that he seems to notice or care about this, as "exhausted and under-fueled" tends to be his default setting unless he has someone around to remind him that he cannot, in fact, run on dedication and stubbornness alone.
  
  Obsessive-compulsive: Red Alert is very easily distracted by anything that has even the most remote possibility of being a threat. Should he sense something that seems even mildly suspicious, he Must™ investigate it, regardless if he has something better or more important to do at the time. Trying to ignore the urge to investigate the possible threat is simply not an option for him, unfortunately, as the intrusive "what if" thoughts will continue to plague him until he gives in.
  
  Fragile Speedster: Red Alert's frame-type is built for agility, dexterity, and speed rather than durability. It's at the low end of the medium-grade, durable enough to take a few good hits, but not enough to tank a rifle blast or withstand extreme heat. Simply put, can last a few rounds in active combat, but not much longer.
  
  
  Glitched: It's uncertain how the glitch first developed, whether it came about as a result of stress, a coding error, faulty software, someone's fingers in his brain, or a twisted combination of all of the above. Repeated attempts have been made to isolate the source of the issue, and none have been successful - a few even made it worse. Red Alert has long since accepted that it's just something he has to live with, and he's vitriolically opposed to any/all future attempts to 'fix' his brain, which is prone to frying itself with excess electricity whenever he's particularly stressed, or gives it too much to process all at once. The electro-glitch comes and goes, sometimes going off at the slightest provocation, sometimes not being seen for weeks or at a time. In order to protect his processor from damage, his helm is outfitted with a pair of conductive finials which help divert some of the surplus electricity away from his delicate neuro-circuitry.
  
  (Hence why a good way to tell whether something has gone pear-shaped is to see if Red Alert's helm is sparking.)
  
  For the most part, this glitch is little more than an annoyance: it rarely interrupts Red Alert's life in any meaningful way, beyond giving him a start and a slight pain every now and again. This isn't to say the glitch is entirely harmless; far from it. (Excess electricity in the brain is nothing to sniff at, after all.) It's just rare for it to get truly out of hand, as Red Alert takes great pains to maintain it and keep it under control. At its worst, the glitch can cause debilitating pain, significant electrical damage, and maybe even kill him outright - but that's at the most extreme end of the scale. Most typically, the glitch manifests not unlike epilepsy: sometimes triggering brief lapses in awareness, a sudden spasm, loss of motor control, etc. The most pressing concern is preventing heat and electrical damage, which only becomes a problem when the glitch is triggered excessively.

Special Skills:

• Hyper-awareness: Red Alert's senses of sight, hearing, and smell are all advanced far beyond the limitations of the average Cybertronian. His optics can pinpoint small objects distance of 500 feet, while his audio-receptors can pick up on conversations occurring up to half a mile away, provided there are no obstructions such as walls or noise pollution. His olfactory sensors are equally impressive, granting him a sense of smell comparable to that of a bear.
  
  Top of his field: Red Alert is arguably the most skilled Security-director to have ever held the position in the Autobots' ranks. Or, at the very least, he's the most infamous. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of all Autobot security procedures and protocols, as well as a plethora of self-made contingency-plans for just about every disaster-situation imaginable, so it's very difficult to place him in a situation he hasn't already prepared for to some extent. Additionally, he is (out of necessity) talented at encrypting data and designing/coding firewalls, intrusion detection systems, counter-viruses, and et cetera. In short, if it is at all security-related, chances are good Red Alert is intimately familiar with it.
  
  Amateur mechanic: Red Alert naturally knows how to repair security equipment in addition to designing it, as he wouldn't be very good at his job if he couldn't do maintenance on his own tools. His knowledge of mechanics is limited mostly to security equipment, but over the years he's picked up a few tid-bits here and there about other things like ship/weapon repair.
  
  Tactical training: Red Alert is a moderate-level tactician. Though he specializes in defensive maneuvers, he can still competently design and implement offensive battle plans.
  
  A good defense: Red Alert's expertise in the art of self-preservation, coupled with his enhanced senses, have made him a formidable target for both assault and capture (it's rather difficult to sneak up on a mech who can literally see and hear you coming from a mile away, after all.) Additionally, Red Alert has taken great lengths to make his processor a hacker's worst nightmare - anyone who tries to get into his head without his permission is in for a very bad time.
  
  Remote access: Red Alert has integrated Outpost Omega's security system with his own internal systems, allowing him to remotely access and operate the various cameras and sensors which litter the base. This grants Red Alert immediate awareness of any triggered traps or sensors, in addition to remote access to the base's many security feeds.