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User Name/Nick: Kota
User DW: I don't have one
E-mail: waningsunflower@gmail.com
Other Characters: None
Character Name: Kent Clark
Series: Contact
Age: 35
From When?: Just after Ellie told her story about the Machine
Inmate/Warden: Warden. Kent has spent his life overseeing the charity cases. He took Ellie under his wing and guided her to where she needs to be. He is a charismatic speaker, dedicated worker, and an intelligent man who really believes in people.
Item: Yellow Walkman
Abilities/Powers: He knows science real good. Great cheekbones. The ability to humor almost anyone. Translates nerd to layman like a champ. Knows German.
For real, though, Kent is blind. His abilities lie in his natural talent of listening. Though his hearing isn't any better or worse than anyone else's, he has learned to rely solely on it, and can often pick out different levels of sound. His other senses are not heightened by any means, but he has a great memory of other sensory experiences (a certain cologne, shampoo, the sound of someone's voice, etc) that deal with other people.
Personality: Kent is, first and foremost, a good man. However, he also has a scientist’s mind and a scientist’s healthy curiosity for the unknown, which has helped him in his career as a project leader for the SETI program. He’s spent his life trying to understand the secrets of the universe through mathematical means and continues to do so because he finds such enjoyment out of it. Sometimes, just like anyone with a passion, he finds himself completely sucked in and no one can pull him out of it until he’s figured it out. This doesn’t just apply to astronomy. When he is in the middle of any project, he can’t be swayed from it. He will ignore anyone around in favor of getting the problem solved.
He admires Ellie for listening to the radio waves, as not many people do it anymore. They rely, he believes, too much on computers for the information they’re seeking and he doesn’t think that’s as good or effective. It might give them results, but he attaches an emotional value to those results that cannot come from computers. But that’s not to say that he is a man ruled by his emotions. Far from it. While he is not so stoic as some of his colleagues, he does tend to think in terms of math and science. He perceives the world in rationalities and absolutes, which includes how he thinks about other people and their own perceptions of the world. Kent doesn’t normally judge people on their beliefs. He doesn’t have time to fit that into his brain. But he is an atheist and doesn’t believe that the universe was created solely for human kind. Rather, he subscribes to Ellie’s belief that the universe must have been an awful waste of space if humans were the only ones around.
Kent has a strong sense of independence. While he will allow certain people to grab his arms (only with his friends, like Ellie), it usually startles him and he doesn’t tolerate it for too long. He prefers, if he’s going to be led through a crowd, to use his cane or to put his hand on someone’s arm. Beyond that, he can and does take care of himself. He’s a very competent scientist, going through his career in a swift but efficient manner and is a very determined individual. When it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to see Ellie during the second mission, he stayed and argued with the guards until he was eventually let through (though Palmer had to come and put in a good word for him).
It’s not difficult to see that Kent rarely has trouble making friends. He’s a very easy person to get along with as he has a natural charisma and charm with people he’s comfortable with. He has a sense of humor that doesn’t go overboard, either, and is quick to make a joke or try and get his friends and colleagues feeling at ease. However, he is very awkward and quiet around some strangers at first, especially when they’re in large groups. He’ll stay with a person he knows and trusts until he can find his own way. He doesn’t generally hide away, though, and will soon open up if he finds the opportunity. That’s when he becomes himself. When he can engage with one or two people at a time, he is happy and fun to be around. He’s mastered the art of professionalism, though. He has his friends, like Ellie and the rest of the team, but he also has his coworkers, like Drumlin, who he is friendly to but distant. These are still people he will pal around with, but he doesn’t form meaningful relationships with them.
However, Kent is the type who doesn’t like to be by himself. Even when he’s working or when he’s focused, he prefers to have at least one person around him. It gives him a sense of grounding, especially when he’s been listening to nothing but noise for hours on end. If he knows that someone else is there, it just gives him a sense of ease. This is not something that he would share with other people, though. In fact, this kind of mild insecurity is what he strives to get rid of through a façade of trying to be everyone’s friend, even though he doesn’t necessarily like everyone he’s around.
Ellie, after finding the Message, remarks: “I wish Kent was here.” At a time when she was feeling the most excited and the most afraid, she wanted him around. Not just because of his expertise, though that was certainly a contributing factor, but because of his nature. He’s the calm in a storm. He’s where people gravitate when they need something. He’s the type of person who just seems to make his friends feel better with his presence, as long as he’s not in his science zone. At his best, Kent is a quiet presence in the midst of chaos. He uses that mathematical mind of his to look at all the angles and reasons before he speaks. At his worst, he’s a sort of pushover, a man who doesn’t like confrontation on a personal level and who tries to make everything alright for everyone. He doesn’t pretend, though, and doesn’t lie to make others feel better. He’s straight up and honest, giving the truth as well as he can.
Sometimes that doesn’t go as planned, though. Sometimes, he just can’t make himself be the bearer of bad news and attempts to make the person feel better before he has to give them the truth. This isn’t out of a desire to lie or deceive, but it comes out of an understanding of people’s feelings and motivations. He’s learned to listen to people, to really listen, to understand where they are and what they’re doing. He reads volumes into silences and can tell a person’s mood by the tone of their voice, even if it’s slight. That’s not to say that he will take it into consideration when he interacts with people, but it does make him more aware of it.
Barge Reactions: Being a warden, Kent will at least not be as confused as he might be otherwise. He will treat this as any other job, and the appearance of other fandoms, of people he may have read or known about only as fictional, will simply be filed away in the box in his head known as "multiverse." The floods and breaches are the same; simply something to be overcome. Of course, the physical challenge of getting through the Barge itself will be disorienting, but Kent has a knack for making friends and then relying on them the same way he would want them to rely on him.
Path to Redemption: N/A
Deal: Kent will be able to meet the aliens that Ellie mentioned himself. He will be able to ask them questions, visit them, and learn what Ellie could not.
History:Kent was always fascinated by the cosmos. He grew up reading books on astronomy and physics and took quite a liking to mathematics. He was born blind, which gave him a bit of a disadvantage in the eyes of his colleagues, but he impressed them with his knowledge and ideas, so he advanced quickly. Soon, he became the project manager SETI and went to the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, where he met Ellie Arroway. Together, they formed a friendship based on mutual understanding and desire to learn and research. He always shared her passion for pure research, rather than more practical applications and they continued to get along, even after her funding was pulled and she had to move elsewhere.
He stayed with her, on her team, when they went to the VLA in New Mexico, where they had access to private funds and were able to continue their research. It was there they found the Message, a series of pulsing radio waves in a sequence of prime numbers. It came from Vega. The government was brought in and, when everyone was in the room, Kent discovered, through the audio feed, that there was a different message. A video message that they then found to be Hitler’s speech at the first Olympics. The Message went public. Through more research, they found plans for a machine of unknown use, and, after much debate, the American government decided to build it. Ellie was on the team but was not chosen to go.
Disaster struck that Machine, though, through the form of terrorism, and Ellie found that there was another one secretly built somewhere else. She was chosen to go on that one. Kent was brought in during that mission and sat to listen through the static-riddled feedback. He was the one to hear her say that she was “okay to go” which continued the mission.
Sample Journal Entry: [Kent's voice is soft, low, and some of his words are punctuated by gentle yawns. Insomnia is rough.] I hope at least someone's awake tonight, or else this is going to be a damn strange one to wake up to tomorrow.
Anyway... [He pauses, collecting his thoughts.] I think the worst part of this Barge is the silence. I mean...well, okay...listen. Silence is not always silent. There are layers to it. And they build. One on top of another. In Arecibo, there was the sound of the fan in my room. Underneath that...the sound of the jungle. Under that? The road.
But here? I don't know...it's different. And yes, yes, silence here is usually good. [After another yawn, he turns playful, almost amused.] It means there isn't a flood, or a breach, or the sound of people running up and down the hallways, screaming. It doesn't make it more comforting! So I'm filling that silence now with words.
Long story short- who has candy?
Sample RP: It was midnight. Kent knew it was midnight because he had been waking at midnight every night for the past few years. Midnight meant shift change, and that meant that Dr. C had to be available to sign paperwork, sometimes in his Kermit pajamas. The habit was difficult to break, so he had been, on the Barge, turning it into something useful. A walk on the deck was usually enough to clear his head, and there wasn't any imminent danger in doing so. After checking first to make sure that he wasn’t wearing aforementioned Kermit pajamas, Kent tied his shoes, preparing for a quick outing.
He took his cane, holding it against his chest, and made his way into the corridor, taking the familiar route to the deck. His headphones provided a wonderful distraction from his lack of sleep, and he plugged them into his communicator with the best of intentions. He could catch up on the Barge news and gossip, and at least pretend to be productive in the process.
The deck tended to be a place where people gathered to search the skies, comment on the stars, or simply meet for some shady dealings in plain sight. Kent ached to be able to experience the awe he heard about when they first laid eyes on the place. To him, it was simply a wooden deck and benches that were just high enough to leave bruises on his shins if he wasn’t careful. Finding one that seemed empty, he sat, hesitating as he toyed with his headphones. The quiet of the night was overpowering, and it was tempting to not shut out the rest of the world. A few seconds of indecision passed.
Decision made, he replaced the headphones by his side and leaned back, listening to the chatter from other insomniacs.
Special Notes: Because Kent is visually impaired, I'd like for him to have a text-to-speech technology adaptation for the communicator. Nothing too fancy, of course, but just a way for him to be able to both use texting and read texts.
User DW: I don't have one
E-mail: waningsunflower@gmail.com
Other Characters: None
Character Name: Kent Clark
Series: Contact
Age: 35
From When?: Just after Ellie told her story about the Machine
Inmate/Warden: Warden. Kent has spent his life overseeing the charity cases. He took Ellie under his wing and guided her to where she needs to be. He is a charismatic speaker, dedicated worker, and an intelligent man who really believes in people.
Item: Yellow Walkman
Abilities/Powers: He knows science real good. Great cheekbones. The ability to humor almost anyone. Translates nerd to layman like a champ. Knows German.
For real, though, Kent is blind. His abilities lie in his natural talent of listening. Though his hearing isn't any better or worse than anyone else's, he has learned to rely solely on it, and can often pick out different levels of sound. His other senses are not heightened by any means, but he has a great memory of other sensory experiences (a certain cologne, shampoo, the sound of someone's voice, etc) that deal with other people.
Personality: Kent is, first and foremost, a good man. However, he also has a scientist’s mind and a scientist’s healthy curiosity for the unknown, which has helped him in his career as a project leader for the SETI program. He’s spent his life trying to understand the secrets of the universe through mathematical means and continues to do so because he finds such enjoyment out of it. Sometimes, just like anyone with a passion, he finds himself completely sucked in and no one can pull him out of it until he’s figured it out. This doesn’t just apply to astronomy. When he is in the middle of any project, he can’t be swayed from it. He will ignore anyone around in favor of getting the problem solved.
He admires Ellie for listening to the radio waves, as not many people do it anymore. They rely, he believes, too much on computers for the information they’re seeking and he doesn’t think that’s as good or effective. It might give them results, but he attaches an emotional value to those results that cannot come from computers. But that’s not to say that he is a man ruled by his emotions. Far from it. While he is not so stoic as some of his colleagues, he does tend to think in terms of math and science. He perceives the world in rationalities and absolutes, which includes how he thinks about other people and their own perceptions of the world. Kent doesn’t normally judge people on their beliefs. He doesn’t have time to fit that into his brain. But he is an atheist and doesn’t believe that the universe was created solely for human kind. Rather, he subscribes to Ellie’s belief that the universe must have been an awful waste of space if humans were the only ones around.
Kent has a strong sense of independence. While he will allow certain people to grab his arms (only with his friends, like Ellie), it usually startles him and he doesn’t tolerate it for too long. He prefers, if he’s going to be led through a crowd, to use his cane or to put his hand on someone’s arm. Beyond that, he can and does take care of himself. He’s a very competent scientist, going through his career in a swift but efficient manner and is a very determined individual. When it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to see Ellie during the second mission, he stayed and argued with the guards until he was eventually let through (though Palmer had to come and put in a good word for him).
It’s not difficult to see that Kent rarely has trouble making friends. He’s a very easy person to get along with as he has a natural charisma and charm with people he’s comfortable with. He has a sense of humor that doesn’t go overboard, either, and is quick to make a joke or try and get his friends and colleagues feeling at ease. However, he is very awkward and quiet around some strangers at first, especially when they’re in large groups. He’ll stay with a person he knows and trusts until he can find his own way. He doesn’t generally hide away, though, and will soon open up if he finds the opportunity. That’s when he becomes himself. When he can engage with one or two people at a time, he is happy and fun to be around. He’s mastered the art of professionalism, though. He has his friends, like Ellie and the rest of the team, but he also has his coworkers, like Drumlin, who he is friendly to but distant. These are still people he will pal around with, but he doesn’t form meaningful relationships with them.
However, Kent is the type who doesn’t like to be by himself. Even when he’s working or when he’s focused, he prefers to have at least one person around him. It gives him a sense of grounding, especially when he’s been listening to nothing but noise for hours on end. If he knows that someone else is there, it just gives him a sense of ease. This is not something that he would share with other people, though. In fact, this kind of mild insecurity is what he strives to get rid of through a façade of trying to be everyone’s friend, even though he doesn’t necessarily like everyone he’s around.
Ellie, after finding the Message, remarks: “I wish Kent was here.” At a time when she was feeling the most excited and the most afraid, she wanted him around. Not just because of his expertise, though that was certainly a contributing factor, but because of his nature. He’s the calm in a storm. He’s where people gravitate when they need something. He’s the type of person who just seems to make his friends feel better with his presence, as long as he’s not in his science zone. At his best, Kent is a quiet presence in the midst of chaos. He uses that mathematical mind of his to look at all the angles and reasons before he speaks. At his worst, he’s a sort of pushover, a man who doesn’t like confrontation on a personal level and who tries to make everything alright for everyone. He doesn’t pretend, though, and doesn’t lie to make others feel better. He’s straight up and honest, giving the truth as well as he can.
Sometimes that doesn’t go as planned, though. Sometimes, he just can’t make himself be the bearer of bad news and attempts to make the person feel better before he has to give them the truth. This isn’t out of a desire to lie or deceive, but it comes out of an understanding of people’s feelings and motivations. He’s learned to listen to people, to really listen, to understand where they are and what they’re doing. He reads volumes into silences and can tell a person’s mood by the tone of their voice, even if it’s slight. That’s not to say that he will take it into consideration when he interacts with people, but it does make him more aware of it.
Barge Reactions: Being a warden, Kent will at least not be as confused as he might be otherwise. He will treat this as any other job, and the appearance of other fandoms, of people he may have read or known about only as fictional, will simply be filed away in the box in his head known as "multiverse." The floods and breaches are the same; simply something to be overcome. Of course, the physical challenge of getting through the Barge itself will be disorienting, but Kent has a knack for making friends and then relying on them the same way he would want them to rely on him.
Path to Redemption: N/A
Deal: Kent will be able to meet the aliens that Ellie mentioned himself. He will be able to ask them questions, visit them, and learn what Ellie could not.
History:Kent was always fascinated by the cosmos. He grew up reading books on astronomy and physics and took quite a liking to mathematics. He was born blind, which gave him a bit of a disadvantage in the eyes of his colleagues, but he impressed them with his knowledge and ideas, so he advanced quickly. Soon, he became the project manager SETI and went to the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, where he met Ellie Arroway. Together, they formed a friendship based on mutual understanding and desire to learn and research. He always shared her passion for pure research, rather than more practical applications and they continued to get along, even after her funding was pulled and she had to move elsewhere.
He stayed with her, on her team, when they went to the VLA in New Mexico, where they had access to private funds and were able to continue their research. It was there they found the Message, a series of pulsing radio waves in a sequence of prime numbers. It came from Vega. The government was brought in and, when everyone was in the room, Kent discovered, through the audio feed, that there was a different message. A video message that they then found to be Hitler’s speech at the first Olympics. The Message went public. Through more research, they found plans for a machine of unknown use, and, after much debate, the American government decided to build it. Ellie was on the team but was not chosen to go.
Disaster struck that Machine, though, through the form of terrorism, and Ellie found that there was another one secretly built somewhere else. She was chosen to go on that one. Kent was brought in during that mission and sat to listen through the static-riddled feedback. He was the one to hear her say that she was “okay to go” which continued the mission.
Sample Journal Entry: [Kent's voice is soft, low, and some of his words are punctuated by gentle yawns. Insomnia is rough.] I hope at least someone's awake tonight, or else this is going to be a damn strange one to wake up to tomorrow.
Anyway... [He pauses, collecting his thoughts.] I think the worst part of this Barge is the silence. I mean...well, okay...listen. Silence is not always silent. There are layers to it. And they build. One on top of another. In Arecibo, there was the sound of the fan in my room. Underneath that...the sound of the jungle. Under that? The road.
But here? I don't know...it's different. And yes, yes, silence here is usually good. [After another yawn, he turns playful, almost amused.] It means there isn't a flood, or a breach, or the sound of people running up and down the hallways, screaming. It doesn't make it more comforting! So I'm filling that silence now with words.
Long story short- who has candy?
Sample RP: It was midnight. Kent knew it was midnight because he had been waking at midnight every night for the past few years. Midnight meant shift change, and that meant that Dr. C had to be available to sign paperwork, sometimes in his Kermit pajamas. The habit was difficult to break, so he had been, on the Barge, turning it into something useful. A walk on the deck was usually enough to clear his head, and there wasn't any imminent danger in doing so. After checking first to make sure that he wasn’t wearing aforementioned Kermit pajamas, Kent tied his shoes, preparing for a quick outing.
He took his cane, holding it against his chest, and made his way into the corridor, taking the familiar route to the deck. His headphones provided a wonderful distraction from his lack of sleep, and he plugged them into his communicator with the best of intentions. He could catch up on the Barge news and gossip, and at least pretend to be productive in the process.
The deck tended to be a place where people gathered to search the skies, comment on the stars, or simply meet for some shady dealings in plain sight. Kent ached to be able to experience the awe he heard about when they first laid eyes on the place. To him, it was simply a wooden deck and benches that were just high enough to leave bruises on his shins if he wasn’t careful. Finding one that seemed empty, he sat, hesitating as he toyed with his headphones. The quiet of the night was overpowering, and it was tempting to not shut out the rest of the world. A few seconds of indecision passed.
Decision made, he replaced the headphones by his side and leaned back, listening to the chatter from other insomniacs.
Special Notes: Because Kent is visually impaired, I'd like for him to have a text-to-speech technology adaptation for the communicator. Nothing too fancy, of course, but just a way for him to be able to both use texting and read texts.
