Ataraxion app (WIP)

P L A Y E R   I N F O R M A T I O N
Your Name: Chris
OOC Journal: milennialfalcon
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: Nope
Email + IM: canadia.dayo@gmail.com + gazzafizza
Characters Played at Ataraxion: Sam Alexander

C H A R A C T E R   I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Bug
Canon: Starship
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: the end of Act 2, part 8; just after Bug and Pincer get shut out of the airlock and his human body dies
Number: RNG, please!

Setting: Wikipedia link, and Starkid Wiki link

Starship takes place over 900 years in our future. On Earth, the widespread Robot Wars have devastated the planet, leading humanity to venture out into the stars, colonizing planets under the direction of the (secretly evil) Galactic League of Extraterrestrial Exploration, whose agents are known as Starship Rangers.

The main action of the play takes place on and around a planet called Bug-World, which is inhabited by a race of sentient insects. The bugs are varied in species from caterpillars to mosquitos, but they all live in a Hive under the rule of the Overqueen, who assigns all bugs a job to serve the Hive when they come of age. Such jobs include Mammal Wrangler, Egg Planter, Queen Impregnator, and Nourishment (aka food for the cannibalistic Overqueen).

History:

Approximately 18 years ago, a ship full of Starship Rangers crashed on Bug-World after a gamma storm messed up their equipment. They were subsequently eaten by a giant scorpion named Pincer, who had fled the Hive after the Overqueen had assigned him the role of nourishment.

18 years later, a young bug named, appropriately, Bug spends his free time at the crash site, watching the ship's videos over and over again until he's seen them enough times to teach himself "Human language" (aka English), and dreaming of becoming a real Starship Ranger himself. His best friend, Roach, pleads with him to get his head out of the gaseous atmosphere, to no avail. When Bug goes before the Overqueen to be assigned his job, he tells her of his dream of being a Starship Ranger, but she ignores this and assigns him the role of Egg Planter, much to Bug's disappointment.

Meanwhile, a new starship has been sent to Bug-World by the Galactic League, and sends down a shuttle carrying their dimwitted science officer, February. February quickly gets captured by a bug acting as mammal wrangler and brought back to the Hive to be implanted with an egg (because that's how bug life cycles work). Enter Bug on his first day as Egg Planter. He recognizes February as a human and speaks to her in Human language. Unable to see Bug due to the mucus covering her eyes, February mistakes Bug for another Starship Ranger, thinking he's come to rescue her. Bug, of course, has fallen in love at first sight and vows to help February escape, much to the chagrin of Bugette, who herself has feelings for Bug and wants to tear his head off so that her larvae can devour his body (something any sane bug would go nuts for). Needless to say, Bug does not feel the same.

The other Starship Rangers receive a distress call from February and venture down to Bug-World to rescue her. In the ensuing fight between bugs and Rangers, Bug and February get separated, the Rangers get stranded on Bug-World, and Mega Girl takes an unconscious February back to their ship.

Bug is brought before the Overqueen and sentenced to death for his betrayal of the Hive. Roach, who has some pull with the Overqueen, pleads for Bug's life and the Overqueen relents, instead forbidding Bug from ever leaving the Hive ever again. Bug and Roach then run into the Mosquito Brothers gang, who tell Bug that their boss, Pincer, can hep him with his plight, but in order to do so, Bug must once again betray the Overqueen and leave the Hive. Bug, having had a taste of his dream, agrees to go.

It turns out that Pincer is a giant scorpion who had rebelled after the Overqueen had given him the job of Nourishment (a death sentence). He was around when the last Starship Rangers crashed on Bug-World, and is in possession of one of their crew, braindead in a cryo-tube. He also has a creature known as a brain leech which allows two beings to mind-meld with each other. He offers Bug the chance to put himself into the body of the Ranger in exchange for Bug's promise to befriend the humans and bring them to him. What Bug doesn't know is that Pincer ate the survivors of the old crash, and plans to eat these new humans as well. Bug agrees to the task and enters the human body.

Now human, Bug finds the stranded Rangers, about to be eaten by a giant spider. Bug talks the spider into letting them go, and the Rangers accept him as one of their own. Before Bug can bring them to Pincer, though, they realize they can get back to their ship via the shuttle February came down in. They invite Bug to come with them, and he bids farewell to his old life.

During all this, Mega Girl has delivered the unconscious February to Junior, the (secretly evil) son of the (secretly evil) leader of the (secretly evil) G.L.E.E. He's disappointed that February doesn't have an alien egg implanted inside her, as that was the real reason behind this mission to Bug-World. Realizing that the rest of the crew is on their way back, Junior has Mega Girl punch him to frame her for his evil deeds. The Rangers (and Bug) arrive and arrest Mega Girl. Bug and February are reunited at last; everything is looking up! Except Junior doesn't want to give up on his mission just yet, so he lies and says the ship's warp crystals are missing, leaving them stranded.

February shows Bug around the ship, and his guilty feelings for lying to her begin to eat him up inside, so he goes to Commander Up for advice. After Up tells Bug his story of surviving the Robot Wars but literally losing his manhood, But realizes it's important to be yourself, and that he has to tell February the truth. He decides to take her back to Bug-World to try to rid her of her fear and disgust for bugs. Junior overhears this and sees it as his chance to get his egg.

Back on Bug-World, Roach and the other bugs sing a song about how beautiful their life is, but February (who doesn't speak Bug language and therefore couldn't understand a word of it) isn't convinced. She then has a moment of inspiration and realizes they can take the warp crystals from Bug's crashed starship! At the crash site, February unlocks the full distress log video, revealing that the G.L.E.E. knew about the bugs all along, and wanted to harvest alien eggs for themselves.

Meanwhile, the Mosquito Brothers capture Junior and take him to Pincer. At first, Pincer just wants to eat Junior, but (using the brain leech to communicate) Junior convinces him that if they work together, he'll have an even greater reward, plus the chance to get back at Bug for not holding up his end of the deal.

Bug and February return to the starship to warn the others about Junior's plan. Junior sends Pincer and the Mosquito Brothers up while he attacks the Hive. On the ship, Pincer forces Bug to reveal his true identity to the Rangers and they battle, eventually leading to Bug trapping himself and Pincer in the airlock. Saying a teary goodbye to his friends (and February), Bug and Pincer get sucked out into space where they die.

(Bug then wakes up in his regular insect body, saves the Hive, reunites with the Rangers, and makes out with February, but I'm pulling him from just before that canon point.)

Personality:

Bug's personality and mindset is entirely shaped around his obsession with Starship Rangers and his desire to become one. He obsesses over the crash site, spending all his time there and watching the ship's videos enough times to learn Human language. He is a mimic, and once he becomes human, he bonds with the other humans by mimicking their behaviors and interactions. He is, at heart, more human than bug. Any other bug would embrace the job assigned to them by the Overqueen, and see it as their duty to the Hive, or thrill at the chance to have Bugette bite off their head and let her larvae devour their body. But not Bug. Bug instead has the more human desire to become something greater, to escape the limits of his society. This sort of desire is taboo in bug society, where all bugs live to serve the Hive.

All the other bugs on Bug-World that go against the Overqueen are seen as villain, but not Bug. That's because his desires aren't violent or purely selfish, like Pincer's or the Mosquito Brothers'. He wants to become a Starship Ranger not just to serve his own needs, but to help people (specifically February). Bug realizes that the Hive way of life works for other bugs, just not for him. He wants to protect the Hive when it's threatened, not just abandon it.

That's not to say that Bug's desires and motivations aren't a little bit selfish. He does go against the status quo of the Hive because he wants more, because he wants something different. He wants to escape the confines of Bug-World and explore the galaxy. Those ambitions benefit no one but himself.

Once he meets February, though, he's motivated instead by love. Yes, he still wants to be a Starship Ranger, but he wants to do it to be with February, and to save her. Eventually his lies eat him up inside and he tries to come clean with February about who, or what, he really is.

Bug, though ambitious and honorable, is also pretty stupid. He doesn't see through Pincer's lies to the violent truth behind his proposition. He thinks February is the smartest person he's ever met when she can't even properly pronounce the word "science." He's not the brightest bug or human, but then again, no one in this play is remarkably intelligent (except maybe Specs). Still, Bug's ignorance can be explained partially by the fact that he's still young and naive. The play never gives exact ages, and the lifespans of bugs seems to vary from days to decades, but Bug and Roach start the play by being assigned their jobs, which is a sort of coming of age ritual. One can assume from that evidence that Bug begins the play as an adolescent. And though the actions of the play span only a few days, Bug endures a lot of growth over the course of the play.

A lot of Bug's internal conflict comes from the clashing of ideals. The childlike wonder and desire to become something greater than himself versus his ambition driven by a sort of teenage rebellion versus the sense of duty instilled in him by his upbringing. The Hive's motto is "The needs of the many bugs outweigh the needs of the few bugs, or the one bug," and the Ranger Corps motto is "We're here to get the job done." Between those two, Bug isn't the type to sit back and let things happen around him. Yes, he wants to accomplish his own desires, but not at the expense of those around him.

Immediately upon waking up on the Tranquility, Bug would be reminded of his youth, gestating inside a mucus sac. After that nostalgic moment, he'll be very excited, thinking the ship is run by the Galactic League. He'll quickly become worried, however, when he realizes his friends aren't on board with him. He is being pulled from a point right at the climax of the play's action, and will want to get back to Bug-World and help save everyone from Junior and Pincer. Once he learns that time is on pause back home, however, he'll likely accept that fact blindly and with little questioning. He'll still worry about February and the others, but he'll turn his focus to the endless possibilities open to him now. Being a Starship Ranger is all he's ever wanted, and while being a passenger aboard the Tranquility isn't quite the same, it's close enough.

Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:

Being a bug, specifically an ant-like bug, Bug has increased strength (ants can carry over 100 times their own body weight). This strength is shown to carry over into his human body. Unused as he is to the body, Bug sometimes uses an inappropriate amount of strength (shown when he crushes Junior's hand during a handshake). It is easy enough to limit his physical strength by just halving it, as it really doesn't come up much at all in the play.

Bug also has taught himself Human language/English just by watching the video from the crashed starship. He's a quick learner and a good mimic, so can easily learn new things. This is an innate ability and doesn't need to be limited.

His main weakness is that he's naive, inexperienced, and just plain stupid sometimes. But he tries hard to make up for it. He sees the good in everyone, be they human or bug, but he'll be more wary now that he knows the truth about people like Junior and Pincer.

Also, though Bug can speak and understand English, he doesn't know how to read and will have to be taught (though like I said, he's likely to learn quickly).

Inventory:

• blue sweatband (on, if possible)
  
• Starship Ranger uniform

Appearance: As a bug, and as a human/Starship Ranger. Bug is played by Joey Richter. As a human, he's 6'1", average weight, with dark hair and hazel eyes. He will be wearing a blue sweatband at all times, since he thinks that's what's keeping his mind tethered to his human body (when in fact he's just been made human by the game mechanics). As a bug, Bug is about 4' tall, orange, with two legs and two arms, pincers for mouth parts, big blue eyes, and long floppy antennae (see second from the left).

Age: Unclear. No specific ages are given in the play, and the lifespan of the bugs on Bug-World seems to vary widely. Bug most closely resembles an ant, which can live anywhere from 1-12 years. He's an adolescent, so let's say he's about 4 years old. As a human, though, he has the appearance of a guy in his early twenties. He would be mentally and emotionally capable of handling whatever the game throws at him.

AU Clarification: N/A

S A M P L E S
Log Sample:

Bug once thought that lying to February was the hardest thing he's ever done. Then, he'd thought that telling her the truth was the hardest thing he'd ever done. Now, though, he knows that saying goodbye is the hardest thing of all.

He's close to tears as he tries to hold Pincer back outside the airlock doors. This is ironic, as now that he's finally come clean about being a bug, he feels more human than ever. Inside the doors, he sees Up and Taz salute him, and he feels a twisting pain in his thorax, as though his heart is swelling in size. One last, blurry look at February is all he gets before she opens the airlock and Bug feels himself and Pincer getting sucked out into space. Time seems to slow down, and all Bug can see is February's blue uniform, pink face, and yellow hair. Then, everything is black.

A distant part of Bug's mind remembers that old Bug-World saying, 'The needs of the many bugs outweighs the needs of the few bugs. Or the one bug.'

After that, Bug doesn't know where he is. Is this what dying is like? It feels a lot like being born, he thinks. Soon, though, that feeling goes away and Bug opens his eyes. He's... Well, he isn't sure where he is but it doesn't look like anywhere he's been before, and it sure doesn't look like the vast emptiness of space. "Is this a starship?" he wonders aloud as he stumbles out of the pod. He's got mucus or something all over him and his Ranger uniform is missing, but-- "Oh!" He quickly checks, and yes, the blue band Pincer gave him is still there. He lets out a sigh of relief.

Looking around, there seem to be a lot of other humans waking up around him. Are they all Starship Rangers too? "February?" he calls out. "Up? Taz? ...Anybody?" But no one seems to answer. He follows the crowd out to a room with walls lined with little compartments. He tries opening one, but it won't open for him. Looking around again, he notices people checking the skin on the inside of their arm. His own arm has some symbols printed there. "Huh," he says, "never noticed that before."

It takes him a while, but he eventually finds the compartment that matches the symbols on his arm, and hey! It opens! Inside are his uniform, more human clothes, and a small device that looks like one of February's science tools. He gets dressed in the spare set of clothes, not wanting to get mucus on his Ranger uniform, and follows the crowd once again towards a set of blue doors. Inside, he worries about where his friends are, but outwardly he smiles as excitement takes hold. "I wonder what the Galactic League has planned for us now, eh, fellow human?" he says to the person next to him, who just sort of regards him suspiciously. Bug won't let that bother him, though. It's clear to him now that what he'd thought was the end was really only the beginning of another whole set of adventures.

Comms Sample:

[The face that appears on the comm appears to be in its early twenties, and is smiling with surprise and excitement.]

I did it! It's on! [Still smiling, Bug clears his throat and starts again.] Greetings, fellow Starship Rangers! My name is Bug, and I am new to this starship. I'm looking for some other Rangers who were with me before I got here. I'm looking for Commander Up, and Lieutenant Taz, and Specs and Krayonder, and Tootsie Noodles and Mega Girl. And, most importantly, I'm looking for the most beautiful shience officer ever, February. [He sighs over the name the way no one has ever sighed over the word February before. He also lists off ridiculous names like Tootsie Noodles as though they're the most normal names ever. As though he's asking for Richard, Susan, or John.]

Anybody who can help me find them, I'd really appreciate it! In the meantime, I'd like to help out however I can, because I'm a Starship Ranger, and I'm here to get the job done!