Tessa

## Personality

As the Black King, Tessa is a woman of power, sophistication, and charisma. Unlike her predecessor, Tessa prefers to rule with a silver tongue than an iron fist as her powers not only help facilitate discovering the wants and needs and interests of those in her presence but also grant her the ability to speak at length on topics from politics to fashion with great ease.  While she certainly does not possess the physically intimidating presence of Sebastian Shaw, she is by no means weak or fragile; when provoked, she is more akin to a sweet poison or stiletto blade than the blunt wrecking ball that came before.

Tessa, outside her role of the Black King, tends to be a woman who keeps to herself. Much more comfortable with machines and numbers than she is with people, she enjoys spending time restoring old clocks and watches as well as formulating different financial strategies for various stock exchanges. Such hobbies help her remain “anchored” as she refers to it, having developed issues with “drifting” into the astral plane seventeen years ago. Self-sufficient as always, her first instinct is to solve any issues without involving any other parties unless their specific skill sets or connections are required for the desired outcome.

Since Sebastian’s “accident”, Tessa has grown more agoraphobic, stemming in part from her difficulty in establishing herself as a singular entity not under the rule of the former Black King. Rarely leaving the Club, she must take plenty of time to plan the few necessary trips - even as small as to a business meeting elsewhere in London. The mantle of the Black King provides her safety and confidence she’s so far been unable to replicate beyond the Club’s reach. Shinobi’s companionship has served as a means of comfort and stability but since his move to Krakoa, she’s withdrawn further into her little kingdom.

## Powers

**Mental Computation:** Tessa is a mutant with astonishingly advanced intellectual capabilities forged from a mind that works in the same way as a supercomputer would.

* **Photographic Memory:** Tessa perfectly remembers everything she experiences. She can instantaneously retrieve every memory and any information she has perceived.
* **Multitasking:** Tessa is able to perform multiple tasks at once by allocating a partition of her brain to each task. For example, Tessa can use her mind to replay a movie she had watched previously, play a game of internet chess, and focus on battling an opponent without any one task distracting her from another.
* **Kinetic Memory:** Tessa can execute any skill she has had only a few lessons in.

**Biokinesis:**

* **Genetic Sight:** Tessa can perceive the X-Gene DNA in cells, living or dead, within close range. Combined with her innate analytical capabilities, this allows her to understand a person's current and potential abilities.
* ***Jump-start:*** After analyzing the DNA of another mutant, Tessa is able to unleash latent mutant powers or enhance existing mutant powers. The process is irreversible and can often result in unpredictable side-effects. She can also restore mutant abilities lost due to injury.

**Telepathy:** Tessa learned a great degree of telepathic talents that include detecting minds, mind-reading, projecting thoughts, astral projection, casting realistic mental illusions and a level of psionic defense unique to her. In order to do anything more than thoughtcast or read surface level emotions, physical touch is necessary.

* ***Firewall:*** Tessa is capable of creating her own unique psionic protection against outside mental influence. By erecting a psionic "firewall" Tessa is able effectively protect herself from direct mental attacks, probes and detection of the mental variety while creating a defensive force that reflects any offensive mental action back at her attacker. The wall is effective in both directions, eliminating her own psionic abilities while active and makes her completely imperceptible psionically.

## Limitations

**Reboot:** In addition to the limits above, Tessa has a small pressure point located on the back of her neck that when pressed with enough force, renders her unconscious for a short period of time. There is no lasting damage but takes her about an hour to fully recover.

## Talents

Polyglot. Engineer. Hacker. Martial Arts. Weapon Handling. Interrogator. Pilot. Stealth.

## Interests

Technology of all sorts. Wine. High Fashion. Gardening. Cooking and Baking. Restoring antique pocket watches. World stock markets.

## History

Born in a brothel in the Balkans, Tessa’s early life was full of difficulty and strife. With the area torn by conflict, she kept on the move until finally escaping into the mountains of the Hindu Kush in her teenage years. It was there that she met two men who would alter the path of her future. Having saved both their lives, Charles Xavier and Sebastian Shaw were drawn to the young woman, the latter even going so far as to name her ‘Tessa’ upon discovering she didn’t have one. Promises of a better life were made should she ever find herself in America and three years later, she arrived in New York to collect.

However, things weren’t as plush as she’d been led to believe. Seeking aid from Xavier first, Tessa was quickly given intensive training for her psionic powers though the reason for the haste came to light early on: Xavier intended to send her Shaw, who was amassing power at great speed, to keep him in check. Tessa agreed and six months later found herself on the steps of the Hellfire Club.

Immediately recognizing the benefit of a telepath under his employ, Sebastian Shaw hired the young woman though her duties were not limited simply to business dealings. The Hellfire Club was an organization of powerful people, all with secrets and desires that Shaw meant to capitalize on. Tessa became his secret weapon, picking blackmail material from men’s minds while occupying them with her other talents. Having been saved by her once before, Sebastian also gave Tessa the task of governess-slash-body guard for his seven year old son, Shinobi, as the boy’s mother had died and Sebastian’s fiancee, Lourdes, had no interest in raising the child.

For the next year, Tessa found herself settling into the strange dynamic the family presented with Shinobi being her main focus. The two formed a deep bond with Tessa determined to give him some semblance of normalcy given the opulent chaos surrounding him. Shared Japanese lessons, afternoon baking, and time in the greenhouse all served to bring the pair closer until it became apparent that Lourdes had plans to send Shinobi to boarding school in Europe following the wedding. Unable to allow such a thing, Tessa made her first power move on the chess board; a night out was interrupted by an assassination attempt everyone assumed was meant for Sebastian though in the end it was Lourdes who’d lost her life.

With his fiancee dead, Sebastian found comfort in Tessa. Sex turned to conversation to advice to genuine admiration and she was soon taking on more responsibilities not only with the Club but Shaw Industries as well. Mornings were spent at the office, afternoons seeing to Shinobi’s education and needs, and evenings in the halls of the Club - a routine that rarely varied though was little trouble for the woman whose abilities included a photographic and kinetic memory as well as a mind capable of advanced multitasking. For four years, it was easy to mistake the trio as a happy family; a perception even Tessa found herself lost in.

However, the peaceful existence was not to last. Tessa suffered a major seizure - later to be discovered as a result of the Jaspers’ Warp thanks to the sudden surge in the existence of Mutants and her powerful memory trying to reconcile the changed world with what she’d known before. Hospitalized for a month followed by several more of rehabilitation, Tessa found it very difficult to keep herself grounded psionically. She would “drift” into the astral plane, losing hours before being able to pull herself back. As a result, she began to employ the use of her firewall more often, which in turn limited her use to Sebastian during a time when he needed it most. Reeling slightly from the near-loss of another woman close to him, Sebastian’s demeanor hardened and while he still depended on her, their relationship never regained the emotional intimacy they’d once shared. Likewise, Shinobi soon began boarding school in upstate New York, further rupturing the fantasy she’d constructed. Overtime, she regained full control of her powers (though still susceptible to drifting in periods of high stress), but life was never the same.

With Shinobi away for school, Tessa’s duties shifted to center completely around Sebastian, serving him in many capacities - some legal, though many not. Hungry for power, the Black King continued to extend his reach, gathering allies to him even as he alienated his own son who he perceived as weak and unfit to be his heir. Years of abuse and neglect were taking their toll, Tessa knew, and rather than attempt to repair their relationship, she worked instead to keep Shinobi away from his father - including encouraging him to attend University in Japan no matter how much she hated to be separated from him.

Another decade was filled with more of the same; life with Sebastian, under his control and fists even as she worked in the shadows to keep him from becoming too powerful. A telepathic suggestion there, a missed appointment there… She’d been drawn into a gilded cage but a cage nonetheless.

Then, one day, Tessa discovered that Sebastian had set plans in motion that could ultimately see Shinobi killed. Determined not to let such a thing come to fruition, she attacked the Black King in his study, leaving him in a vegetative state and herself barely conscious due to psionic overload. It was Shinobi who discovered them both and while Sebastian was ultimately placed under around the clock medical care, Tessa slowly recovered under Shinobi’s concerned watch following the admission of her actions. A week later, on the eve of Shinobi’s official recognition by the Inner Circle as the new Black King, Tessa approached him to clarify the status of her employment. A heartfelt discussion ended with Shinobi removing the collar she’d worn for twenty years - a symbol of her position within the Hellfire Club - and offering her a position as the new Black Queen. She graciously declined and instead remained on as his closest advisor as she felt it more appropriate given their relationship. With Sebastian out of the way, the pair admitted the depths of their feelings for each other - those of mother and son. Their bond solidified, they immediately closed ranks to ensure Shinobi’s rise in power encountered as few obstacles as possible. A decision was made to leave New York and they found a new home and base of operation in London.

Within six months, another shift in power occurred. Shinobi had grown restless, discontent with the responsibilities outweighing the rewards of his position and brought forth a solution. At his urging, Tessa took up the mantle of Black King and immediately appointed Shinobi as Black Bishop, tasking him to oversee the Black Court’s interests in Krakoa. Soon, the Hellfire Trading Company took shape, affording them a new way to expand their global reach  - and help mutants across the world.

Twenty years removed from her original mission with little - if any - loyalty left to Xavier, Tessa has settled nicely into her role of Black King, ruling from her chosen throne in London as Shinobi works in Krakoa. Together, they are a formidable pair, but the specter of the man held deep in the heart of the Blackstone continues to linger, casting a shadow over their progress neither is sure they’ll ever truly be free of.