Kirian

## Overview

Kirian is a late teen human who lives with his mother and grandfather on Devon/High Tortuga. When he was 13 his genetic disease left him without the use of his legs. Fortunately the city of Thon is wheelchair friendly so he can travel within his apartment and around the city.

His mom is working 3 jobs in the healthcare industry to keep him in the Grier Free School in the city of Thon. She also hopes they can afford treatments to help him regain the use of his legs.

His disability therapist encouraged him to find a way to serve others. Kirian volunteers at the Richelieu orphanage for Noel-ni, children, usually at the library where he is trusted and loved by the orphans

## Activities

### The School of Harder Knocks

#### She is the Principle

Kirian is the target of a human hating bully, Dex. Dex and his followers bully other students but have a real hatred for Kirian.

Kirian does have 3 very close friends Nerril, Maddox and Lutian who attend school with him. The foursome are also active as a team in virtual combat tournaments. Unknown to the general public, BA and ADAM own the arcade the team plays at. Kirian comes to ADAM's attention because of Kirian's strategy and tactics in the game. When ADAM digs into Kirian's background he uncovers the link of Kirian's family to the Empire marines. Kirian's father was a Guardian Marine who was killed in action. Janet left the Empire with a monetary compensation for his death not knowing her child would be born with a genetic condition. When it is brought to BA and Stephen's attention Stephen come up with a subterfuge using Jennifer as a doctor to administer Nanocytes infused blood to Kirian as a newly found treatment rather than fighting the issue of the family getting a benefit from the Empire.

Dreamland Entertainments has VR and AR suites for immersive reality games that were top tier for High Tortuga. Dex trash talks **Kirian** leading Kirian to ask the game EI to place them on opposing teams in the tournament. Weston reviews the footage and agrees. Kirian's Hyperion force defeats Dex's Brutal Theory team through clever strategy on Kirian's part making Kirian first place in individual rankings even though Hyperion as a team is ranked third. Dex is outraged claiming Kirian cheated, moving to attack Kirian. When Dex is held back by the security androids, he damages one of them resulting in a ban from the site until the repair is paid for. When Dex threatens to have his family's wealth demolish the site Weston scoffs that his family isn't up to that and permanently bans Dex, purging his gamer account.

Kirian and his friends are taunted and bullied by a Noel-ni named Dex and his followers Gralen and Charr'est. Kirian is determined to resolve the issue without relying on adults. He enlists Tor to enhance Xander's drone so they can find out the life of the three of them outside of school to come up with reasonable plans to deal with them.

* Gralen Gralen's father runs an auto repair shop. He resents Gralen going to school, wants Gralen to finish school so he can work full time at the shop. Gralen's father is angry at the world and takes the anger out on Gralen and his mother. Kirian decides that whatever plan they have for Gralen needs to keep him in school so he has a chance for a better future.
* Charr'est Charr'est lives at the end of the rail line is a series of abandoned tunnels. The tunnels are a refuge for a colony of Shrillexians. Charr'est is seen being very social with the other Shrillexians and well accepted. At his home his 2 sisters and mother are excited to see him. His mother immediately gives him the antidote to the Empire serum and applauds him when he talks about the bullying. But, she wants him so to continue taking it for school so he can get a better role when he becomes a mercenary. There is a noticeable lack of men in the colony, the expectation they are mercenaries or even professional fighters. Charr'est participates in the fights and is good partly because he is more controlled in his attacks. Again, Kirian wants the plan for Charr'est to keep him school so he can have a better life.
* Dex Dex lives in a luxurious home with all the attributes that come with wealth. Most of the charities in the city are funded by his family. On the other hand, his family was willing to drive Tor's family out of business for a perceived slight by Dex. As they follow Dex around his estate they see him being cruel to his siblings and the staff while sucking up to his parents so they do not see his true nature. The climax is when Dex tortures a small animal he has trapped to death. The decision is made to go after Dex first with a forceful lesson that will hopefully rein in his cruelty.

They know the gaming site where Dex plays and modify the game to give him the experience of being bullied and attacked. Unfortunately the game they stole from ADAM had flaws and they cannot shut it down. BA and ADAM arrive to shut it down and take Dex to one of their medical facilities to repair the life threatening injuries. Kirian's friends all have their memories of the event removed and are taken back to their homes to sleep. BA leaves Kirian's memories intact and talks to him. Kirian admits that even knowing how the effort went wrong he would still do it. He truly believes Dex will become a danger to other individuals given his willingness to secretly kill animals now.

Kirian is offered a place at BA's Institute of Education-Focused Extrajudicial Foundational Studies. The school will be her pipeline for the next generation of Special Ops leaders for High Tortuga. The first thing BA does when Kirian shows up is put him through the POD-Doc. He is only enhanced to Level One, all genetic flaws removed and a normal life expectancy. Kirian realizes he will not die by the time he is 30 and even middle aged will be 65 years old.