Malady

**Malady,** (real name **Cassandra "Cass" King**), is a former human turned Somathurian-Human Hybrid reanimated by a Somathurian retrovirus in the possession of Project Cadmus, who currently operates as a vigilante. Prior to her reanimation, Cassandra served as a secret agent affiliated with a Black Ops department of the FBI and was recommended for a post in Project Cadmus for her own reputation and her exceptional aptitude in biological and xenobiological fields. Masquerading as the chief research scientist of a branch of the Project, Cassandra was tasked with the research and weaponization of what was previously thought to be some sort of bio-weapon sent by an alien civilisation. Overseeing all forms of research and development carried out on the designated entity, Cassandra relayed her findings to the government, discovering that the retrovirus in question was in fact simply made to splice the DNA of humanoid races with that of an alien race *closely resembling* that of humanity.

However, in a suspicious tapping incident, Cassandra's signal was intercepted by Cadmus security, presumably from a double agent within her own ranks, and as a result her mission was jeopardized. Regardless, upon an order to save her research on the bioweapon at all costs, Cassandra extracted a small sample of the virus only to be cornered by by a combination of Cadmus' operatives and their creations, being brutally executed along with her fellow operatives so as to prevent an intelligence leak. However, within those events, Cassandra's body was riddled with the contaminated shards of glass she used as a container for the virus, dying, but not before being infected entirely.

Reanimating days later due to having her corpse assimilated into the virus, Cassandra's body was reconstructed entirely out of it's own viral material in a desperate attempt to keep itself alive. Simultaneously genetically splicing her with extraterrestrial DNA, Cassandra became a sentient manifestation of the virus she was meant to study, created from an amalgamated genetic template of both human and extraterrestrial origin. Vowing to uncover the secret behind the "accident" that caused killed her and her allies, as well as to take a new chance at life by the reins, Cassandra began operating as a vigilante with good intentions, but in need of some sort of guidance.

## Appearance

Cassandra is a slender, well-endowed young woman, considered to have an attractive figure by those she has manipulated; sufficient for her to be more than capable of utilizing at as an advantageous asset to her already remarkable prowess in espionage discounting this attribute. Cassandra has long flowing raven black hair that cascades past her shoulders and down her back; and pale skin with a tinge of redness to it. Born with naturally heterchromatic eyes, in her current life the pearls of her sight tend to take on an amber colour, but occasionally changes in colour depending on her outfit if attempting to pull off a form of disguise.

As Malady, Cassandra wears an intricate black and red furred dress invoking traditional Chinese themes and imagery befitting her immigrant heritage, with a golden trim along the outside of the dress as well as a white streak going across her left side. Seemingly going somewhat bare, Cassandra's dress highlights quite a bit of skin in the form of cleavage and displays her legs, only obscured to some minor extent by the dress. The dress itself is accessorized with black elbow gloves covering her arms and leaving her hands free, and a black and red choker of a similar colour scheme to her dress.

Alternatively, when relaxing, Cassandra seemingly tends to reduce the length of her hair somewhat, though still enough for it to flow off her shoulders when braided, and often changes her eye colour to red to maintain a hidden identity. She also often wears golden earrings, as well as manifests a flower necklace. More commonly than not, if visited in the privacy of her own home, Cassandra wears a flower-patterned blue robe, which in itself is quite short and reveals about the same, if not more skin than her Malady attire does. Due to being a shapeshifter, Cassandra can take a variety of different forms, but these two refer to her base appearances/configurations that she most commonly employs due to having a predisposition to appear as she did prior to her reanimation.

## Cassandra in her downtime, thinking.Cassandra in a formal dress, spear in hand.Cassandra as Malady.Personality

As if flying in the face of what one would expect from the true, underlying casual personality of a former professional spy, when not actively operating as Malady,  Cassandra is surprisingly, or suspiciously, depending on who you ask, laid-back. Commonly engaging in activities seemingly as mundane as chilling in her house, practicing her traditional family style of gardening,  reading books in her backyard, or just going to nearby entertainment venues in her free time, Cassandra is so well-integrated that one would a hard time imagining even her neighbourhood without her. An inherently good-natured woman, Cassandra is known for donating to orphanages, the poor, the elderly and those in general who can be considered to be socially excluded by circumstance in some shape or form, something that increases her range of potential informants for her work as a vigilante.

Perhaps complimenting this aspect of her personality, Cassandra can come off very playful, and to some extent, teasing, almost subconsciously when relaxed, demonstrating a quite developed sense of humour for a person with her background. As a result, she is by no means above playing pranks on others she knows (or doesn't), finding ways to amuse herself should she feel particularly bored that day. Yet, Cassandra clearly enjoys being left alone to enjoy her own personal time strangely enough, seemingly taking the time off to read or otherwise just engage in recreational activities, leading her to identify personally as an ambivert. Due to her habit of teasing others, Cassandra is accustomed to being perceived as flirtatious even unintentionally, and occasionally exhibits a pretence of coyness seemingly indistinguishable from when she *genuinely* and rarely shows these feelings (i.e, attraction) to another person. In addition, Cassandra is quite self-confident, albeit not arrogant, allowing her to stand up against threats others would have something like fear apprehending them, and also serves as the reason why she chooses to return to her pre-reanimated form upon the end of a shape-shifting transition. Cassandra is quite confident in her own appearance, being why she decides to wear clothes that lean towards exposing more of her skin. However, delving deeper into her psyche, it becomes apparent that, her playful nature is at least partially a manifestation of her longing for the days of being a child that were stolen from her after her father's death.

Experiencing first-hand the toxicity of an abusive relationship until she was nine years old, the suffering experienced by younger children strikes a personal chord with Cassandra, especially if such suffering comes from a place like domestic violence. As a result, she is considered to be quite motherly to children both in her civilian persona, as well as when acting as Malady due to sympathy; as well as experience helping her grandparents take care of her younger sisters. ***However***, Cassandra's own military experience has made her apprehensive of interacting too intimately with those who her  heart may long to reach out towards when actively engaging in some sort of duty. Due to how calm and seemingly casual Cassandra is when not acting as Malady, the transition between her civilian persona and her vigilante persona is uniquely intimidating for those who have heard of both facets of her life. Despite bleeding through somewhat to her civilian persona in the form of an incredible determination, Cassandra as Malady is intrinsically goal-oriented and is strongly self-motivated in her own right, driven by a purpose in any endeavour she truly desires to embark in. Having started military service specifically to refute her mother's own delusions of the world that those of the so-called fairer sex were meant to be beneath a man, Cassandra's determination is nothing to scoff at. Due to this, Cassandra can seemingly become calculating to an almost disturbing degree in order to ensure that her goal is achieved with enough certainty, unhesitatingly planning through and around even morbid  outcomes of a particular strategy, a skill she picked up on  intuitively in her previous life in her time as a young military recruit and government agency secret agent.

After the semi-traumatic incident that resulted in the loss of her father over a dispute about her decision to join the military when she became of age, as well as her statement in-confidence that she personally identified as pansexual, Cassandra and her siblings were raised by her paternal grandparents, immigrants who had come from China, and had settled down to attempt to secure a better life for their progeny and their successive generations. Out of reverence for those who had truly parented her, despite them having passed away, Cassandra strongly identifies with her immigrant heritage, invoking traditional Chinese themes and imagery to create the attire she wears as Malady.

## Trivia

* Somathurians are the name of the race that Drura Sepht, otherwise known as Infectious Lass hails from, forming a part of the Legion of Substitute Heroes, and failing to join the official Legion only because she lacked control of her powers. They hail from the planet Somahtur.
* Cassandra is openly pansexual.