Valerie Ries
That smarmy little hag is bat-shit crazy.
Quintrell Christian, Project Administrator with Hegemony International
V
alerie Ries is a project administrator assigned to the Special Projects team within Hegemony International.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
V
alerie is overweight and generally seen as "frumpy". She has incredibly poor posture. Coupled with her tendency to stare downward and never look anyone in the eye, this feeds the impression that she's shorter than she actually is.
Identifying Characteristics
H
er most striking feature is her hair. It's always brightly colored and styled in a spikey up-do. This is usually in stark contrast to the rest of her generally drab appearance.
Apparel & Accessories
S
he has an affinity for black or grey clothing. She frequently wears dusty-looking shawls, draped haphazardly across her shoulders. She always wears long pants and long-sleeve shirts, even on the hottest of days. This drab and unflattering attire has led some to derisively label her as a "witch" or a "hag".
Mental characteristics
Personal history
V
alerie was raised by missionaries, spending most of her youth in sub-Saharan Africa. She was home-schooled by parents with a particularly insular worldview and she never had many friends while growing up. Although she's only been at Hegemony International for a year, that time has been marked by numerous disciplinary incidents.
Parental Indoctrination
Her parents were overbearing in their religious objectives, which caused many of the locals to ostracize her. She blames this sense of "otherness" on an overall lack of support from their church and the open hostilities of their host countries. While she's hesitant to discuss her upbringing in any significant detail, she's alluded to the idea that she was sexually assaulted by several of her parents' supervising clergy.
Cult History
The "church" in which she was raised can probably be more-accurately characterized as a cult. They espoused ideals that are far outside the mainstream, contributing to the cold reception she often received from those who her parents hoped to convert.
Gender Identity
S
he identifies as non-binary, although she uses traditionally-female pronouns.
Sexuality
A
lthough Valerie has had relationships with men, she now considers herself to be lesbian. She's had several long-term relationships with women, with the most recent ending only a few months ago.
Education
Our parents taught her all the ugliness this world has to offer. And she was their star pupil.
Agatha Ries, Valerie Ries's sister
T
he home-schooling she received from her parents, coupled with her general disconnection from mainstream, First-World society, has left her with a patchwork understanding of the world at large. She passed all of her profiency exams and she has a basic grasp of core educational principles, but she harbors a deep-seated distrust of science, and governments, and authority figures in general. She has no problems questioning - or even, outright denying - all manner of established scientific knowledge.
Employment
V
alerie made many attempts to join Hegemony International before eventually succeeding. Those who are close to her don't fully understand why she ever wanted to work for Hegemony in the first place, and her initial interviews seem to have backed up that confusion. She was rejected on three separate occasions after interviewers described her as "odd", "unsettling", and an overall "poor fit". Nevertheless, she was ultimately successful and she joined the Special Projects team just under a year ago.
Mental Trauma
H
er problematic upbringing and her history of abuse has left her deeply suspicious of religion, local authorities, and men in general. She displays severe anxiety when forced to be in close proximity with others. She's alarmingly protective of anything she believes to be hers - even with regard to the most trivial of objects. She takes an excessive number of "sick days" and she treats those around her as disease vectors.
Intellectual Characteristics
A
lthough Valerie can struggle with cognitive tasks, she does display superhuman focus when she latches onto an endeavor that suits her. While many (understandably) question her mental acumen, she tends to make up for this by working extreme hours on mundane tasks. This can sometimes earn her accolades when she dives into boring objectives that no one else wants to touch. But it can also lead her astray when she chooses the most manual and painstaking path to achieve her goals. She's known to write vast quantities in her notebook with a traditional pen-and-paper. She prefers to perform calculations by hand, rather than simply opening the calculators that are easily accessible on her phone or laptop. For those few childhood acquaintances with whom she still maintains contact, she's fond of writing them old-fashioned letters by hand, sent via the post office.
Contradictions
She displays a distinct dichotomy in her willingness or ability to accept new ideas. For those concepts that she deems as emanating from "the establishment", she's highly resistant to even the most basic forms of common knowledge. She questions the motives behind any new law or technological advancement, and those suspicions are only multiplied if they're heralded by corporate media outlets. Conversely, she'll glom onto almost any new idea that seems associated with the counter-culture. She gladly embraces fringe theories and crackpot conspiracies, even when they're supported by little-or-no empirical evidence.
"Proof", "evidence", and "clinical studies" are the lexicon of those who've already been brainwashed by the establishment.
Valerie Ries, Project Administrator with Hegemony International
She makes no attempt to reconcile these disparate conjectures into any sort of consistent worldview. It never dawns upon her that some of the causes she supports are in direct contrast to other groups or causes that she also promotes. For example: She suspects that most new pharmaceuticals are toxic and purposely adulterated to minimize public benefit while maximizing profits. Yet she rails against government policies that keep those same pharmaceuticals from being made readily available in developing nations.
Morality & Philosophy
M
ost people fail to grasp Valerie's inherent sense of empathy. She clings to her conspiracy theories because she genuinely believes that they represent evil machinations that cause pain and suffering throughout the world. She can be generous to a fault - a situation that allows many to take advantage of her. When she encounters beggars, she's been known to give them, quite literally, nearly everything on her person. She's gone so far as to give someone the actual shirt off her back.
Taboos
S
he has little tolerance for those who don't embrace her crazy theories. She expects others to share her generalized distrust, and she can become openly frustrated when they act otherwise.
Although her trust issues are epic, this dynamic can be strangely turned on its head when she's in the presence of any highly-charismatic person who she deems to be... Messianic. For those few who qualify as such, she can be disturbingly obsessed. In fact, some suspect she wanted so badly to join Hegemony International because she views Reginald Howell himself in this light.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
O
n a personal level, Valerie yearns to be part of something "bigger" than herself. She sometimes bemoans the idea that she can't find "her tribe". She's deeply suspicious of nearly everyone and everything. Yet she moves from one group, or one cause, to the next, always looking for something that feels authentic to her.
Conspiracies Abound
On a broader level, she's consumed by a myriad of conspiracy theories. She perceives devious ulterior motives in every corporation, government, and demographic group. She's haunted by a pervasive sense that the truth is being concealed from her - indeed, from all of us. And while she has limited resources at her disposal, she'll use extreme measures if she believes it will expose those who orchestrate such evil plans.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
S
he has a photographic memory. Or at least, she has an exquisitely-detailed mental map of all her many (often useless) possessions. If even the most insignificant item goes missing - nay... if it's even nudged in any way - she'll absolutely lose her shit. When she suspects that her personal space has been violated in any way, she's liable to devolve into an active fit that's equal parts rage and inconsolable sobbing.
Vices & Personality flaws
Somebody took my yellow paper clip! And when I find out who did it, there'll be hell to pay!!
Valerie Ries, Project Administrator with Hegemony International
V
alerie is a certified hoarder. Her apartment is barely accessible. Her car can accommodate no passengers, because everything but the driver's seat is packed to the gills. Her workspace is a quagmire of pointless odds-and-ends. She's the only member of the Special Projects team besides Dontae Shukara that has her own office. This is not a reflection of rank or status. It's a tacit acknowledgment of the fact that no one wants to be confronted by the mountain of absolute crap that she keeps around her at all times. Despite the petty politics that often circulate around the Special Projects team, no one has complained in the slightest about the "privilege" of her having her own office.
Hygiene
H
er hygiene is extremely poor. Although she makes modest efforts at personal grooming - mostly, with her hair - her finger nails are dirty and twisted. She's lost several teeth that she's never bothered to get fixed - a development that causes some to see her as a "hick".
Social
Family Ties
S
he's completely estranged from her parents, who are presumably still pursuing their lifelong missionary work in some far-flung country. Truth be told, she can't say with any certainty whether they're even still alive and she hasn't made any attempt to communicate with them, in any way, in years.
Estranged
She has three sisters with whom she does maintain some basic contact. For reasons that aren't entirely clear, they were never dragged on her parents' missionary journeys. Instead, they were raised with an aunt in California. This unfortunate dynamic means that she feels she has little in common with her siblings, but she does maintain at least some cursory level of contact with them every few months or so. Her rapport with her sisters is somewhat strained, due to the many far-flung and extreme theories to which she clings, but they do manage to carry on some degree of familial dialog.
Religious Views
G
iven the alienating and traumatic experiences she suffered under the tutelage of her religiously-inclined parents, one might assume she would reject religion altogether. But it's more accurate to say that she disapproves of all traditional, organized religions. She sees Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism as buffoonery and she openly scorns those who cling to their values. She also has a particular distaste for the particular cult in which she was raised - understandably laying many of her early traumas at their feet.
Gullible
But she's also highly impressionable and succeptible to charismatic leaders. Coupled with her nascent desire to be part of "something" - something bigger and more important than herself - she's fallen into dangerous flirtations with several other cults since she escaped her parents' tutelage.
Social Aptitude
V
alerie does poorly in any mainstream social settings. She exudes a disturbing lack of confidence which tends to push others away. She can't relate to many of the social cues and media references of her peers. When she does feel compelled to engage with others, she's prone to angry and disjointed diatribes. Her last long-term relationship ended when her girlfriend brought her to her family's house for Christmas - and Valerie proceeded to scare the crap out of everyone.
Supposedly there was a team Christmas party. I only know this cuz I saw the pictures a few months later in Rabbit Hole.
Valerie Ries, Project Administrator with Hegemony International
Impressionable
Although she's generally viewed as standoff-ish, with some even classifying her as a shrew, she can be disarmingly sweet with anyone who shows her even the slightest of kindness. She assumes (correctly) that most people will treat her like crap. But when someone goes out of their way to extend even a modest olive branch, she can quickly shift gears to being friendly and inviting. Unfortunately, few ever bother to extend her such courtesies.
Wealth & Financial state
V
alerie is usually demonstrably poor. Her Hegemony salary is commensurate with her peers - a salary that is reasonable by market standards. But she prefers to send nearly all of her available funds to the many "causes" that she chooses to support. While this sounds noble on the surface, the exact organizations that she chooses to finance would lead most to question her motives.
Causes
She enjoys sending money to various groups of "freedom fighters" throughout the world. She doesn't give much thought to the ideals of these particular groups, and she can scarcely define the exact grievances that these groups are supposedly fighting against. All she really seems to care about is the fact that someone out of power is fighting against those who are in power - and that's good enough for her.
Anti-Science
She gives copiously to numerous anti-science organizations and a plethora of "secret societies". She's particularly fond of any organization that purports to expose the "real" truth of the established scientific norm. These can be people who oppose basic scientific facts (e.g., flat-earthers). But they can also be those who seek to unmask the vast world conspiracies of the "Illuminati" and the "New World Order". She's also been suspected at times of supporting - either through actions or funding - the activities of the Canadian Collective, although this has never been proven.
Current Location
Year of Birth
2043
27 Years old
Children
Sex
Female
Gender
Woman
Presentation
Feminine
Eyes
Pale grey
Hair
Short and black, but dyed bright green, styled in a spikey up-do
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Almond
Height
1.7 m
Weight
90 kg
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Comments