Hi-Jinx
Ms. April Gardner
Written by: Null Kit
Not everyone in our proferssion starts life as the prodigious child, the disgraced corporate-samurai or the willful defector from decadence, trading glory or the potential thereof for a life in the shadows. For every fallen angel there are rising apes, those who started with nothing and only flourished in any meaningful way upon their introduction to the shadows, and few embody the latter more than this person. Presented for your consideration is one April Gardner, former detective of Lone Star Security Services turned deniable asset out of desperation under the monicker 'Hi-Jinx'. By all accounts, she is unsuited to the task, boasting an unglamorous career ending in ignominy, a mid-to-late-stage substance abuse disorder and a perturnatural ability to seem meek and unimportant in spite of being an eight foot troll in a tailored suit.Null's not kidding with that last part. One time she got caught by security planting a package in one of Horizon's secure offices as an 'intern' and she turned on the waterworks so flawlessly that one of the middle-management apologised for her being yelled at by corpsec and delivered the package himself thinking she was just a new hire that got lost. Didn't even check if she was on the employee roster until she was long-gone! Probably had as much to do with Horizon's corporate-culture as it did her ability to come across as too pathetic to be of any threat, but hey, if it works...
I really did get lost, though...And yet... in spite of these traits, or perhaps because of them, April has so far proven an invaluable asset in strumming the invisible threads of other people's thoughts and intents, consistently and flawlessly affecting the appearance of a harmless and earnest peer in spite of her boldfaced deceits. If a myriad of neuroses and undignified stumbling are not noteworthy concerns, then her capabilities as a shadowrunner are sufficiently satisfactory to be worth considering.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
If Frangelico's physical is to be believed (and I see no reason not to), Hi-Jinx is in a mostly healthy and physical fit condition for a woman in her middle-age, albeit with the physiological issues stemming from overuse of Novacoke and alcohol. Cyberware is mostly minimal, with the most prominent implants being a Fuchi-brand implanted Commlink and polymer bone-lacing, whilst biological augmentation is more extensive, even including the telltale markers of genetic optimisation therapies and alpha-grade muscle toning programs.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Difficult as it is to believe, April Gardner is indeed of the same Gardner family of Elven socialites that all but ran Lone Star in the prime of its jurisdiction over Raleigh, and I have little doubt the source of the numerous cybernetic, biotic and even genetic enhancements present in April's system, including a prototypical version the ever-controversial Renraku Troll Reduction procedure, intended to make members of such demographic more 'presentable' in the eyes of the public.
Not like I'm claiming any moral high-ground, but if her folks ain't dead then I'm committing a hatecrime.
What if she wanted the procedure? Not a sin for a troll to want to look nice, is it?
Excellent rebuttal! One small issue: I'm outside your home with an automatic shotgun. <LINK>What I have no doubt on, owing to April's own admission, is that it was the Gardner family name that all but guaranteed her academic graduation and a chance in Lone Star as a detective, for a long and eventful career of aiding the force in investigating and solving various crimes within the city of Raleigh. Unfortunately, it was mostly her family name that kept April in the force, as her career was... less than stellar. Lacking in any offences that could send her out against her father's wishes but otherwise demonstrating a statistically belolw-average performance in most aspects of investigative work. Whether or not the Gardner family name could actually keep this up forever would be a question never answered, as Philippe Gardner, April's father and primary connection to Lone Star within the Gardner family, was forced to resign by his peers in the belief that his leadership was partly responsible for Lone Star's decline in Raleigh. Without the safety-net of nepotism, the pressure of keeping afloat in a career she simply didn't appear suited to drove her into erratic behavior and substance abuse issues, and after further declining performance and a few sporadic incidents, April was let go from the force.
Call me cynical, but there was never gonna be a better ending. Even with the Gardner's influences, a Troll getting a job in Lone Star as anything but a beat-goon is already pushing things, much less making it up the ladder without one-in-a-million marketable talent. Better this than a big scandal, at least...April would have simply dissapeared into poverty after this, had she not made connections of her own: In spite of her ailing performance as a police detective, April nontheless endeared herself to her fellow officers through the same mixture of begrudging charisma and nonthreatening commiserations that would serve us now, and while this was far from enough to prevent or undo her termination, it was enough that through our own police-contact, April was able to attain meagre employment participating in a shadowrun - not as a shadowrunner, mind you, but an associate; a space-filler for redundancy's sake - where her true talents in conversation and influence became very apparent, and earned her further assignments and eventually a provisional membership as part of The Cabinet.
Must've made an impression to go from gopher to shadowrunner just like that. What'd she do?
Got a bunch of Bunraku girls to snitch on their boss' hideaway and leave before things got ugly. Hell, I vouched for her in the first place 'cause her one saving grace in the force was interviewing people and getting cooperation from perps and witnesses.
Personality Characteristics
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Whilst she may have made for an unremarkable investigator, Hi-Jinx makes up for this and middling combat capabilities by demonstrating substantial talent in social matters - albeit not so much in ones that demand her to be commanding or imposing - showing particular talent in attaining the trust of others and blending into social-groups with little effort.
Age
37
Children
Pronouns
she/her
Eyes
Brown
Hair
Red
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
White
Height
8'1''
Weight
Nope, not touching that.
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Comments