Efram Figeroa

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*Full Name: Efram Figeroa
*Gender: Male
*Age: 31
*Theme Song: TBD
*Occupation: Snoop, information gatherer, lock pick, petty thief, dirty work like that.
*Faction: FM
==History==
Efram was born into a small farming family in Brazil. He remembers very little, only a few things and hardly any names. When he was able, he would go out to the forest not too far from his home and play by himself. He had younger siblings, but they were not as interested in the plants and bugs as he was. All good things must come to and end, and one day with a heavy heart his father sold the farm. A major corporation bought the land as well as a portion of the forest for oil drilling, or maybe it was a cattle company, who knows. Just around this time, Efram's uncle tried to convince the rest of the family to join him for a life of luxury on this metropolis city for the Step Project. The young boy, too occupied with his hate for his father and loss of his childhood home and forest, was the only volunteer. Efram did not get full consent from his parents, but they believed he may be better off there and so they did not stop him.
The two displaced family members arrived sometime around X080, placed in the Purple District. Only 10 years old at the time, Efram was malleable and impressionable despite the firm stubbornness he managed to have. His uncle saw this, and started to put the boy to work. He took his nephew under his wing and showed his true colors as a conman and all around uncouth individual. It only grew worse and worse in the next few years. The close of the island in X084 made the man snap, as his plans of grandeur came crashing down. He even grew more violent toward his nephew.
By the year X086, Efram's uncle had trained him to be callous and disregarding of authorities or rules. Life on the island was a game to the uncle. He showed his nephew that everyone has dirty, dark secrets, and there will always be someone to pay you to expose those underbellies. He showed his nephew people can be conned. He showed his nephew how to hurt them before they hurt you. Even with the few years of schooling he received, Efram was not ready for V-Day. Neither was his uncle. Still, he found how to make his 15-year-old nephew useful in a big way.
Their scheming increased tremendously after Efram got a grip on his sound-nullifying vibe. They performed great heists in the other districts and made themselves comfortable. The boy often missed his old home and his old self intensely, but would be snapped at if he ever brought the subject up. "This is how we were meant to live," Efram remembered his uncle saying often. "On the edge of luxury and danger." His uncle lived more luxurious than he did, drinking and eating fine things and going to clubs on the regular. Efram on the other hand, was often ignored and only needed for his vibe. He hated his uncle more every day, for if it wasn't for him, they wouldn't be here and he would be safe and normal with the rest of his family. He was often put down by his sleazy uncle for even dreaming of returning home. Resentment for the city festered in him, and ghosts of his past haunted him.
When the time came, they took sides with the new Funk Mafia. Efram only agreed to appease his uncle, who needed him a lot more than the other way around. He knew his uncle was afraid to lose what luxury they scrapped together. They stuck together up until the war of X099, when his uncle mysteriously disappeared. Efram was left to do battle alone. He sustained some critical injury, not all physical. After the fight, he returned to what was left of the empty condo. Now, he is rebuilding, refurnishing, and repressing things. These days he never seems to be without a pair of deep red gloves on.
==Personality==
While he may come off as playful and harmless, he almost always has an ulterior motive. He is hardened and uncaring to other's strife most of the time. Because of this, most of his friends or relations are cosmetic and superficial. He often feigns interest in order to gather information that might be of use to him someday. Gossip and rumors are his bread and butter, he eavesdrops constantly.
Appearance is key. Efram goes to great lengths to appear calm, cool, collected, and most of all in control. He avoids indecision or insecurity strongly, but this aversion often leads him to get hot-headed instead. Sass is one of his safety valves, mouthing off under pressure helps relieve some of his flusteredness.
Underneath his friendly and easygoing front, Efram still harbors longing for the idyllic forest from his memory. The silence provided by his vibe helps him cope to an extent. There are times when the general noises of the city drive him up the walls. The knowledge that he will never set foot off the island brings him great pain. Smoking and drinking and drugs are often a part of his routine in an attempt to keep those facts in the back of his mind.
Much of Efram's behaviors revolve around a cycle of selective forgetting and reminding. His gloves both cover and stir memories, for example. He hides extensive scarring caused by a foolish mistake, while the red color reminds him of all the lives he took and the blood staining his conscience.
Under all the layers of secrecy, stony indifference, egocentricism, and repressed memories, Efram is just a lonely man trying to deal with the life-altering decision he made as a 10-year-old. He believes he is not the man he could be, that his life has been wasted and nothing matters, that it's all just a joke and the world is laughing at him. There have been instances and people who shake this belief, however. He keeps those few people very close to him. While most of the time Efram does not outwardly extend sympathy, he does have a soft spot for people like himself, people stuck as the butt of some cosmic joke and shitty hand after shitty hand.
==Dance \ Vibe style==
Efram's uncle made sure he knew some Latin styles of dancing. He took a liking to blues and soul as he grew older, and of course knows some disco. I mean come on.
The Vibe he obtained lets him shoot a beam from his hands, usually fingertips, that nullifies the sound of whatever gets hit with it. Color variation usually corresponds with time span of muting. The maximum mute time is about 45 minutes to an hour, but Efram usually doesn't go past 30, as the full use of his vibe often makes him feel ill afterward.
Zaps: These are short sparks, meant to mute for short periods of time. If Efram zaps a dog, it cannot bark. If he zaps a pair of shoes, they make no footsteps. Zaps can also be specialized to only mute a certain part of an object. If he zaps the throat of a person, they cannot sing or make vocallizations, but may be able to make cheek and tongue clicking. If he zaps their hands, no clapping or slapping noises. The vibe appears as a thin beam of light.
Streams: These are a more constant pouring of vibe. The beam is usually a solid or slightly wavering cylender of light from the palm of one or both hands. This can shower over an entire object to mute it all. The size variation has been car sized, but is capable of larger. With this, he can mute an entire person's ability to make sound. Time length is on average 5-10 minutes.
Blasts: A dense ball of vibe is hurled at an opponent. When it strikes, it has physical force. It is usually about the size of a basketball and feels like being hit by a pitched baseball. He has seen this use of his vibe leave bruises.
(probably more later)
==Character Relationships==
Funk Mafia
*Laron Fitch: They were very close. As they were both lonely souls, Efram took a liking to Mister Fitch despite the creepycrawlies and... creepiness. He shared a lot with Laron and trusted him with some of his secrets. When Bennett came into Laron's life, he felt their friendship drift. Nobody likes to be a third wheel.
The UG
*
Banditos
*
Squares
*Sigurd L. Reinhart: Their first meeting was.... less than friendly. He encountered Sigurd again later after Swan Song closed, and after some drink and talk, well... Efram has taken a shine on the pianist. He is protective of him, as their circumstances are similar. They see each other quite frequently. Sigurd has even given him a spare key to his home. Efram never thought himself capable of the title for several reasons, but somehow the word "lover" comes to mind...
==Miscellaneous Information==
He has an affinity for quiet things, specifically the relative quiet and organic sounds of nature. One of his favorite creatures are snakes. They are quiet, sleek, mysterious... he identifies with them, in a way.
Efram likes to keep himself well-groomed, and his morning ritual can take a long time if he feels like getting up in the morning. In public, looking sharp and cool his his priority, so one must take care.
One of the ways he relaxes at the end of a particularly stressful day is taking a nice hot soak in the tub. Y'know, some quiet private time...
Most of the time, he doesn't like to show off his vibe and saves it for when he works. Piss him off, and he'll shut you up with a zap.
Efram has partially soundproofed some of  the rooms in his condo, mostly just a little extra insulation for when the noises of the city get too much for him.
He's never had one dancing partner for very long, in his past and present he's usually just done informal partnerings for just a night, or a few days.
His uncle had him sell small amounts of drugs, but recently he doesn't deal any. Sometimes he will trade or barter, but becoming a drug lord or neighborhood dealer just isn't that appealing to him. The power over others, certainly, but the act not so much. Part of him is afraid he'd use all his stock privately before he got a chance to sell it.
Keeping plants interests him, but eventually Efram got too fed up with the blasted things dying and gave up actively caring for them. He blames it on "all the bad air." Even still, he avoids artificial/silk flowers.
Category:Characters
Category:Funk Mafia
Category:Efram Figeroa