Winter

Winter is a timep-displaced mercenary that receives orders from a device grafted to the inside of her head.

# Biography

Winter (born Willow) originates from a distant future in which an unkown series of events has decimated that majority of life in the Universe.  She was evntually caught in a battle that would have left her mortally wounded, had she not been abducted and repaired by a mysterious, extra-dimensional force known only as The Constant.

She woke up in a version of her past and began excecuting a series of missions under the name Winter in service of those that had saved her.  Eventually she was able to place together what had happened, and she sought ought the version of her self native to that timeline.  The younger version of Willow, had just lost her father when a gang of bandits came to town.  Rembering that this was one of the main events that caused her own decent into desperation and a lifetime of violence, she took Willow in, claiming to be her estranged mother.

The two would soon run into Neutron's Wanderers, who would stumble on the truth of Willow and Winter's relationship.  They would however agree to keep the truth from Willow before going their seperate ways at Winter's behest.  This exchange would allow Ardor to overcome his frustration with Neutron faking her death years ago to protect them.

Winter's occupation soon came into conflict with trying to keep Willow safe.  On one mission Willow got scared and ran away against Winter's orders, only to be found by a man named Torrid.  After they were both rescued by Winter, Torrid agreed to accompany them.

After a few more missions proved Winter could not give Willow the life she needed while working for The The Constant.  She tried to escape to a place were they could not reach them, but Torrid turned out to be working for them all along.  He kidnapped Willow after destroying the Ambermen, her tiny, shapeshifting guardians.  Winter agreed to go back to working for the The Constant, but quickly killed Torrid in retaliation.

This event however made her realize she couldn't continue to endanger Willow, and forced her to leave her with a group of friends.  Without Willow to keep her connected, she became even more aloof and cold, allowing the majority of her memories to be wiped in order to keep her focused from mission to mission.

Years later Winter became associated with a band of other mercenaries under the The Constant.  This group would come into conflict with Neutron over the fate of Tandem, a prankster with a time-displaced double that was disrupting the timestream.  Only when Tandem submitted to being killed in order to nullify the paradox was the kill order recended.  It seemed the main objective was to prove to a point to Neutron that The Constant was often a necessary evil.

# Abilities

In addition to being returned from the brink of death by The Constant, a variety of modifications were made to Winter in order to create an improved operative. One of the largest improvements was a resistance to both psychic interference and manipulation. Her memory capacities have also been converted into a mechanical unit, allowing a photographic memory and accelerated thought processes. However there is some difficulty committing things to long term memory, with a significant side effect being a fugue-like state if she ever looses consciousness or goes to sleep without her memory ritual.

Because the database is maintained in her subconscious, it is easiest to transfer data manually. To others this process looks like she is carrying on a conversation with someone only she can see or hear.

Winter is also a highly skilled mercenary and assassin, adept with a variety of weapons and firearms as well as hand to hand combat. She is resistant to damage and capable of going extended periods without food or water.

# Personality

Winter somewhat embittered from a harsh life in the barren future. She is often silent and is seen by others as menacing, although she has a soft spot for Willow. Quick to anger and never hesitant to resort to violence, she is ruthless over those that have wronged or threatened that which she cares about. She has very little tact or concern for what others think of her, even going as far as to question whether she can kill someone directly in front of them.
She is unwaveringly loyal to those she respects, but is at the same time unable to defy direct orders from The Constant. She rarely shows conflict in executing an order, but it is unknown if this is due to threat,coercion, or manipulation.