Name: Dr. Maria Centeno
Age: 46
Ethnicity: Filipino/ Indonesian
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Appearance: She isn’t what many consider beautiful, but she’s always prided herself more on her brains than her beauty. She has light skin for a Filipino woman and dark brown hair. She keeps it short so that it doesn’t get in her way while working. Maria is a towering 5’2” and has somewhat of a stout build.
Personality: Maria is the epitome of what most men want in a wife: she is kind, caring, nurturing, and above all, selfless. She works tirelessly to do what she can for other people regardless of who they are or where they came from. She is usually very sparse with words and soft spoken until she believes her voice must be heard. She can be a bit of a push over but she has a strong heart and will do whatever she feels is right.
Strengths: Maria is “a people person.” She can easily relate to others and get others to see her point of view. Her gentle nature helps diffuse difficult situations. Though she is not strong, she is quick to think and quick to act. She has saved many lives that way.
Weaknesses: Maria is emotional. She is usually level headed but in personal situations her feelings may get the best of her rationality. She is not a fighter, she is a lover, and will flee before she fights. She is small and not physically strong.
Backstory: Maria’s life began simply enough. She had a mother and a father, and many siblings. In fact, she was the second youngest of eight. She had older sisters and one brother, which her parents decided would be the finishing line. Her family was unremarkable except for their poverty and determination to overcome it by doing what is right. They did not lie and they did not steal. They went to church every Sunday. They all worked hard to pull their own weight and, for the most part, were an average Filipino family.
Maria didn’t realize she had gifts for a while. She was always taught that God’s children were pure and were not given “powers.” No, those mutants, she was taught, were work of the devil. She never thought she was one.
When she was young, she was told she had a way with words. She was smart. Her gifts were in academia. She excelled at school and anything she put her mind to. Teachers and peers loved her. She was an A student with many friends. There was no reason to think that she was anything but an average girl who worked hard to be where she was.
When she reached middle school, life grew harder. Her father passed away, leaving a widow and eight children behind. Her mother became cruel and her life turned upside down. They struggled but made ends meet when their father worked. Their mother had to take on as much work as she could almost overnight, sewing, cooking, and cleaning for the neighbors just so she could feed her children. The kids who struggled in school dropped out to work. Eve was allowed to continue studying as long as she behaved and kept good grades.
She immersed herself in school, focusing on math and science. She liked art but her mother saw no use in frivolous and expensive hobbies. Maria devoted herself to learning all she could until she graduated top of her class at the tender age of fourteen. She mastered English and applied to schools in the US. After being accepted to an undergrad school in New York, she kissed her family goodbye. She vowed to keep helping them any way she could, but secretly promised she’d never go back.
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Years later, she met the love of her life: Demetri. He was a hardworking boy who loved science and technology. Unlike her, he was taught that all gifts, no matter what they were, are meant to be embraced. He had dreams of making the world a better place, and she fell for him because of it. Together, they finished school and began using their skills to help Gifted and those without extraordinary powers.
At the age of 22, Maria became pregnant with Demetri’s child. Around the same time, Demetri developed a test to determine the probability of a child being born with Gifts. It had been accurate on all the volunteer test subjects, and the couple looked forward to having a baby with powers. However, the Agency found out about Demetri’s experimental test. There were 100 women, Maria included, who had elected to take the test. Those who had children were given a choice: surrender your child or die. Many mothers gave their children up to save their own lives. Some found ways to abort their children. Some chose to go into hiding. Maria was forced to abandon her child in hopes that secrecy would keep it safe. Maria and Demetri packed up their belongings and fled, vowing to stop any tragedy like that from happening again.
Faction: Defiance
Gift: Maria has a strong mind. She can read the feelings of others and can project her feelings onto them. She is empathetic and can feel the extent of whatever someone else is feeling. In a time of overwhelming emotion, she can “share” emotions to lighten the burden.
For example, a person who is in mourning is in extreme grief. Maria can siphon some of the sadness to make it feel less intense or try to project her happiness onto them. Someone in an extremely hyper state may need to be calmed down a bit. While it is no extraordinary gift, it has helped her out in life and has not put her on the Agency’s radar.
Maria’s gift is not very powerful, but it can be strong. It works best by physical contact, but it also works well in close proximity. She can sense the emotions of people round her but the farther away they are, the more faint it feels. On another note, she has always been considered very personable and has a great bedside manner.
So Bakari is alone now?
Originally Posted by Kiro Akira
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