Bartholomew "Bat" McArthur

Virtual Adepts
Webhead Extraordinaire
Student of the Closed Circuits
Disciple of the Crossroads Chantry

Description


~Bartholomew "Bat" McArthur looks like the kind of guy that one would expect to idolize Seth Rogen movies. A fuzzy beard embraces Bat's round cheeks and mussed strawberry-blond hair caps his scalp when a Royals Starter hat doesn’t. Sunglasses frequently shroud his hazel eyes, even at night. His mother doesn’t dress this rotund post-graduate, but maybe she should help next time! Clashing colors and bizarre ensembles make him such a fashion eyesore that people don't even want to look at him for long. So, they usually gloss over the fact that Bat always carries a custom-designed laptop. Always.~

OOC: Appearance 2; Arcane 3

"There's here...and then there's there."

"That's a lot like Dante's Inferno: there's Purgatory, and then there's Paradise."

History


Disintegration

Childhood was never easy when a boy’s parents divorced in 1985 and the child was only five years old. Bartholomew “Bat” McArthur, like his older sister Meredith, ended up living with his mother, Mary. The kids’ father, Eddy “No-Shoes” McArthur, was a deadbeat jerk off who on the run from the loan sharks. Fortunately, Bat’s mother secured a decent job working as an executive assistant (…secretary) for a corporate manager of the local branch of Avalon, inc. So, the broken family had a decent home, a small house in a nicer Chicago neighborhood. As the demands of her work grew, her children became more and more the latchkey kids. Bat’s older sis had little patience or time for her brother, far more determined to impress boys. Bat stayed home most of the time, playing on the computer.

Not that he lacked friends! Bat had only a few pals but they tended to be close buddies. By his adolescence, Bat was a full-on computer geek. He behaved rebelliously but always made up for his mischief at school with superb grades. But his in-school attitude could never match his out-of-school schemes. Bat was proving to possess a natural knack at computer hacking. Within rejected garbage code and garbled jargon, Bat recognized algorithms even his math teachers did not recognize. Surely, he was just imagining things!

Well, Bat would have accepted that if it weren’t for his penchant for playing around with every tidbit of data he ever found. That included his “make-believe” algorithms that proved to not be as trashy as suspected. He began to wreak havoc on the early Internet, spreading viruses to random advertising websites that died out soon after inflicting damage, as he designed. Most interestingly, however, were the mysterious messages that the skilled user began to receive on his DOS screens: strange instant messages that gave him hints for more effective codes, or commendations for his chaotic successes.

In a Flash

But Bat did not want his life merely to be about computers. In his sophomore year, he found the courage to ask one of the prettiest girls to the prom. Despite his confidence, Emily Redman turned him flat down. He wasn’t “jocky” enough. Nevertheless, he went home and angry punched away at his computer. The manic programming seemed to almost become a chorus senseless jargon, until finally a veritable explosion of light and data streamed from his monitor. Overwhelmed, Bat stared at the screen and the cornucopia of mysterious coding until exhaustion set in and he fell asleep.

When Bat woke up that Saturday morning, he found his computer screen has returned to DOS and there was nothing but a new IM blinking for his attention. He was invited to meet someone at the local Internet café. Someone who knew what he was going through. Having nothing better to do, Bat trudged downtown and met Cherry Katz – an older woman whose intelligence and good looks outshone Emily Redman a thousand to one. And yet, Bat felt no real attraction to the lady. Her cool mien was professional and matronly, and he was merely eager to hear what she had to say.

Right there in the café, albeit away from prying ears, Cherry shared with Bat the reality of his “gift”. He possessed an unusually advanced computer literacy that enabled him to work with software in ways normal people never could. It wasn’t any special “mutant powers”. It was simple talent that he had, Cherry had, and few others ever developed. He was invited – indeed, already accepted – to the Flashpoint School of Higher Technology in downtown Chicago. With his mother’s permission, Bat withdrew from high school and began instead to attend this “prep school”.

There is the Truth

So began Bat’s studies as a so-called technomancer, a “mage”. Only a few other pupils attended this small but prestigious school. His mother was proud (if oblivious, and glad he was out of her hands). There were even fewer teachers, like Cherry. From those instructors, Bat learned some of the truths of reality and the Internet: that the reality known to the masses was just a sugar-topped coating, and they blissfully slept in ignorance. Those who were Awakened to the true nature of the universe were destined, obligated in fact, to pursue greater truths. The true essence of a man, Bat learned, existence only beyond consciousness. Yet, that consciousness was now accessible through the Internet, and it was his goal to find his true essence (his Avatar) and merge with it to fully self-realize (Ascend).

And while he was at it, Bat was taught that everyone else should have that opportunity to become something more. They just needed their brains shocked awake and their eyes pried open. So, Bat learned how to manipulate the reality through the connections of the world (the Net) through specialized, advanced coding that he had only begun to toy with before meeting Cherry. In addition to basic training, he learned of the history of his education’s tradition – the Virtual Adepts – and the Technocracy that they abandoned. Hints of the rest of the Hidden World were also dropped, but the enemy Union was above all explained. Hearing about the dangers abroad, the seventeen year old realized he was happier in his virtual world. Indeed, he grasped that joy to an existential point and felt truly charged and prepared to face the challenges of his talent’s obligations, so long as he had the sanctuary of the Net into which he could retreat.

Finally, in five years Bat was ready to graduate. But his final test would apply his knowledge and skills to the “real world”. With a remote laptop of his own design, he was given a dangerous target: the US government (easier than the Union itself). He targeted the law enforcement computers of Chicago, including the local offices of the FBI. For an entire day, their systems went haywire, sending out false calls, APBs, and alarms across the city. The hacking episode terrified the municipality but they kept a lid on it, and so no genuine criminals took advantage of the chaos. The Technocracy took Bat’s bait meanwhile and began an electronic investigation, only to have the virtual door slammed in their face when Bat quickly severed the connection.

Isolated & Alone

After his successful graduation in 2000, Bat boasted his choice of admission to “mage chantries” in the region. He opted to remain in Chicago and joined the prestigious Endless Spire chantry. There, he grew acquainted with the other Traditions and spent a couple years getting his profile together. He assisted the chantry fathers on e-security, helping them build stronger and smarter firewalls to keep intruders and hackers out. All the while, as the Internet advanced, so did his skill and comprehension. And yet, in advance he witnessed how the growth of mass media and personal electronics were going to contribute to the isolation of the masses: and he recognized that it was both good and bad. The good elements of isolation had to be emphasized so that Sleepers wouldn’t slip further into apathy.

Beginning in 2002, Bat also began to experience isolation, though it was self-determined. He did not quit the chantry; he simply became more aloof. He hired himself out to anyone that could pay as either an e-security specialist or a hacker. He worked for anyone except “the Man”, of course. Generally, he was paid in cash. Awakened clients paid in Tass, especially the ruling Hermetics of the area. His most brazen act was when in 2003, on behalf of the Order of Hermes, he hacked into a Syndicate database, slipping past their firewalls in order to acquire secret financial records. It proved harrowing: a close-call with backup virtual security in the form of killer viruses almost severed Bat’s connection to reality, which would have turned him into an eggplant. He slipped out, though his overconfidence was properly punctured. From then on, Bat vowed to take the Technocracy as seriously as Cherry always warned.

A year later, the Syndicate sponsored a counter-attack on the chantry’s computerized infrastructure. Thankfully, since Bat really had no life outside of virtual reality, he was monitoring all of his channels when the hacking attack began and he detected it – albeit barely in time. The Syndicate operatives came on hard. And they knew enough to give their Magic Men street agents a vague location of Bat’s base. He fled his home with only the shirt on his back and his empowered laptop. As the mirrorshades chased him down back alleys, he was forced to use every trick he knew, every piece of coding and reality-hacking emergency program he possessed, just to elude and escape the nefarious agents.

While he was given sanctuary within the Endless Spire’s chantryhouse, he was advised to erase his hard drive and start anew. Furthermore, since he had been IDed, the chantry’s leaders strongly suggested that he leave town. It didn’t sound like a suggestion so much as an order. Luckily, the masters weren’t upset with Bat. They were only being practical, and so sent their reference ahead to the Crossroads Chantry in Kansas City, Missouri. Reluctantly, Bat uprooted with his meager belongings and moved to a new state and new town. Crossroads accepted Bat in exchange for his work on their own electronic security. Meanwhile, Bat prudently kept a low profile. He networked new friends, but avoided major events and particularly hazardous jobs. This was not the most stimulating life, but the Technocracy scared him. Boredom was starting to set in, however, and it led to new habits. And a girlfriend, amusingly enough, who was helping him prop his pride back up high again. Maybe it was time to stop living the life of a computer geek…?

Naaaaaaah!

Significant Other


Bat has always a pervert's eye for pornography, even drawn artwork. In fact, since he was a teenager he had been a fan of hentai, the Japanese comic porno art. So, when he stumbled across Noel Canbury's work online in early 2007, he contacted her over the Internet. To his glee, he discovered Noel really was a chick -- a pretty hot chick at that -- and lived nearby. He arranged to meet the artist, and despite his inherent dorkiness, his computer savvy and Awakened confidence attracted the young woman. They began dating, and soon discovered they offered one another inspiration. Bat's feverish imagination helped Noel, and Noel helped Bat by providing stunning and inappropriate icons to add to his network. Their relationship is twisted and erotic, and neither would have it any other way.

Noel

Weakness
TruRebel


"TruRebel" is a frequent screen name the hacker uses. But Bat doesn't realize the irony with which the sobriquet might be associated. "Tru" could refer to truculence and his contrary, rebellious nature. But it might just as well be short for "truancy" and the immature, adolescent outlook he has on society.

Likelihood of Corruption


Average.

Bat isn't a bad person, he's just relatively clueless to the many hazards and temptations that exist even (especially) on the Internet. It's hardly just a playground for Virtual Adepts. Nephandi and worse lurk in that alternate reality...

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