Persona

**Persona** is a synthetic power created through the merging of Vicio del Pecador's DNA, Pandora's existing **Daydream** ability, multiple powers, and the residue of souls from other test subjects deemed unfit to receive the modifications that created this power.

## History

On Pandora's thirteenth anniversary in 2008, the SEHB, having researched her medical files and discovering that she was able to conjure---and give life to---calming illusions, abducted her. In the hopes of creating a pawn on par with the likes of nuclear weaponry, the scientists began conducting a series of experiments known as the "Mirror Trials," which spanned the next decade and focused on combining the powers of multiple individuals through specialized conditioning, genetic modification, and the extraction of human consciousness.

During this time, Pandora---along with five other test subjects---were tested for compatibility with externally sourced DNA samples from superhuman beings. Upon Pandora being the only one to successfully receive an ability, the SEHB implemented DNA from their most diverse subject, increasing Pandora's tolerance to the grafting of power genes to her DNA. The collective power granted by these modifications was called **Persona**, a name inspired by the eventual addition of the other subjects' souls to the personification of each power.

## Details

The user can create up to five personas, or "**Acolytes**," to do their bidding. Acolytes have personalities based off of one specific emotion/ideal and can be granted a singular power based off of their base "core". The more acolytes are active, the more control they have over the user's mind, making it a somewhat safer option to make one acolyte with multiple cores. When acolyte(s) are not "summoned" or in physical form, powers are granted to you. If the acolyte's core(s) are removed or destroyed, it cannot be summoned and powers associated with it cannot be utilized. Cores regenerate after some time. A singular persona with multiple (limit 5) powers is harder to control than a normal persona with one. It is still easier to control than multiple personas being active, but it also consumes slightly more energy.

Each Acolyte listed below is supposedly unique to Pandora, meaning that, hypothetically, each person with this power would have a unique set of Acolytes.

### Pandora's Acolytes

* Hestia (mercy) - stony but passionate healer with the appearance of a young girl. Wields a staff tipped with a fragmented onyx gem.
	+ **Ability**: Flame of Olympus - cannot resurrect others, but can heal the injured. Must be uninterrupted for a whole minute to get to full recovery, which is not normally required to get a patient back into fighting condition.
* Susanoo (retribution) - a merciless, yet handsome warrior. The fastest Acolyte, and the strongest alongside Mordred and Styx. Wields a katana that holds a fractured ruby in its hilt.
	+ **Ability**: Gates of Heaven (2 mile radius) - Cannot exceed the limit, and is restricted to lightning, snow, and hail for solid control (lightning strikes have a 4 second delay in between, and function as normal lightning besides the ability to choose where it strikes). Results of agitated weather such as tornadoes or hurricanes are impossible to control even for him.
* Sekhmet (destruction) - a ruthless huntress with gleaming golden eyes. Wields a flaming polearm tipped with a cloudy amethyst opposite from the spear-point.
	+ **Ability**: Aura of Ra - does not affect terrain, but sends tremors through the ground/surroundings to throw opponents off balance.
		- Can only send the tremors every minute.
		- When needed, can convert heat and light energy to large orbs of flame that function as highly destructive bombs with a very wide radius
* Styx (hatred). a dark maiden wielding claws of shadow. Has a black sapphire in her abdomen
	+ **Ability**: Hand of Nyx - Cannot affect shadows cast by living things, but can control shadows to create weapons, shields, or doorways (for transportation). Is weaker in areas with high amounts of natural light, but artificial light can also help reduce her power.
		- Solar eclipses remove her ability, while lunar eclipses augment its effects.
* Mordred (delusion) - a sickly king with skeletal wings and a smoking bone sword. Despite his frail appearance, his strength is unparalleled, even when compared to Sekhmet. Has a beefier form to intimidate his opponents (really just for show). His three Cores of pale emerald reside on his forehead and temples.
	+ **Ability**: Terror Incarnate - can periodically inflict horrifying hallucinations upon his enemies that last for about ten seconds.
		- During the duration of the affliction, the victims can only be harmed by physical attacks rather than weaponry or power-based techniques (exceptions such as physically augmented punches are not affected by this rule).
		- Causes loss of morale and can induce temporary insanity.

### Genetics

Persona is often a volatile power, as it can cause, in essence, MPD within its wielders. Unique cases such as Pandora are highly conditional; Persona normally causes total mental breakdown in its wielders, as most would not---hypothetically---understand how to use each power efficiently, or would lack proper instruction on the subject.

## Sub-Powers

**\*\***Omnis Persona (1) - the ability to split into multiple different entities, only joining back together when an "aspect" is killed, severely wounded, or falls unconscious. Each aspect's power is predetermined by its wielder's personality, but has very few draining aspects beyond maintaining consciousness. A short recharge time is needed once an aspect falls asleep or is knocked out.

Spectris Persona (2) - user possesses up to five Acolytes for personal use in whatever they wish, with medium mental strain on the wielder from multitasking with one or more Acolytes summoned simultaneously. See above information for more on Spectris Persona.

**\*\***Patronis Persona (3) - user is able to command an entity to carry out commands. Ability can be quite draining at first if unused to it, and the entity is hard to use in situations requiring fine-tuned handling such as combat or construction of delicate objects.

## Trivia

* Pandora's Acolytes are the only variation of the power to possess sentient entities capable of independent thought and conversation with their host wielder.
	+ This is thought to have been due to the soul-based connection the Acolytes have to the slaughtered test subjects; each Acolyte possesses more emotion and cognitive processing than the tests anticipated, with each one capable of independent thoughts and actions separate from the host.
	+ The binding of the souls to each Acolyte was a test by the SEHB to determine how much more effective a power became when tied to multiple entities, but was never resolved due to the destruction of the Pacific division of the SEHB.
* This power is the only one to have been duplicated without being an extracted DNA sample (Vicio's power had been replicated, but was taken as a sample)
	+ Persona is also the only unique synthetic power created by the SEHB to this date.
* Studied and named by the SEHB.