Shihong Smith

**Shihong Smith**, also known by her superhero alias **The Red Princess**, is a current member of the Young Bloods. Her sociopathic and callous demeanor stem from a lifetime of artificial experiences manufactured by the GCI in an effort to create the perfect asset with a front of being a popstar and heroine.

## Biography

### Pre-YB

Shihong 'Shi' Smith's story begins like all great and tragic tales, one of romance and lose. As a a daughter to an upcoming Hong Kong singer, Anita Hui, who had major potential to be one of the first Asian singers to break into the Western Market, her mother would travel to England a few years before Shihong's birth in order to further her career. Once her flight landed in London, she would catch the attention of GCI, a villainous cabal of like minded Media Power Brokers and Cultural Icons, who planned to utilize her for their own nefarious purposes. When she was first contacted by GCI, through one of its many dummy corporations, Anita was entranced by the stories of glamour, wealth, and fame they had offered her. Growing up in abject poverty within the slums of Kowloon, Anita was not prepared for the major lifestyle changes and freedom her new found wealth would bring; she soon descended into long stretches of drugs and overindulgent partying. Many of the leading members of the GCI themselves were known for their excessive alcohol and drug use, and didn't necessarily condemn on Ms.Hui's behavior, however, their patience soon began to wear thin. During this time of hard drug use and liberal use of protection, Ms. Hui soon found herself pregnant, father unknown.

What came after, Shihong does not know. Vague stories of her mother's death or her father disappearance came in fifty different variations over the years. All variations involve her mother dying during childbirth, a week after her first English album topped all major Billboard charts; however, its the little details that changed over the years. Sometimes her handlers would tell her that her father was an English Socialite, other times he was unknown quantity. What ever was the case, Shi first came into the world surrounded by a gilded cage; any desire she ever had was fulfilled by an army of personal assistants and employees. It was during her formative years that the GCI had a new individual ascend into the thralls of leadership and began to bring forth new ideas and plans for expansion; the 'Alien Invasion' and subsequent 'Treaty of New Horizons' had left the organization in odd position. Its previous primary function and goal was the control of all forms of information and cultural thought, however, the discovery of life outside of Earth left many wondering whether they could even continue with said goal. The possibility of new media and cultural exchange left the GCI in a position of possible obsolescence, more direct methods were needed to ensure their continued power. Their new leader, Lazarus, saw Shi as one major asset in his control and thus authorized experimental surgeries and augmentations on her. These augmentations were acquired from some unknown third party, a third party that only promised vague chances of success, however the GCI was brute forcing its own in house meta human program, so thousands of 'candidates' were put through hundreds of variations of these augmentations, from the scientific to the magical, everything was tried. Shi was just one of the few lucky ones.

While the specifics of the augmentations and gene therapies unknown to Shi, she soon was able to generate fire from her limbs through very specific actions and movements. By the age of seven, her life soon became revolved around arduous hours of training, whether it be traditional schooling, vocal lessons, or power manipulation; speaking on the later, her teachers soon began to notice positive correlations resulting from using marital arts techniques with fluid and precise movements. The GCI fashioned her into their own little celebrity by the time she turned eleven, a pre-teen icon that they used to gain a substantial following in England and abroad; thousands of articles and magazine sites were manipulated in order to position her as the up and coming it girl. They cultivated an image of the perfect it girl, a meta-human who sang, and danced, and was gorgeous. By the time she was fourteen she was selling out concerts and fighting 'villains' all in the same day. None of this was natural of course, she was seen as the accidental discovery, somebody who was discovered in a quite little audition. But it didn't matter, the narrative is all that mattered.

Her life for all of its glitz and glamour began to take a toll on the physical health of her, which of course was corrected with another round of surgery or another barrage of medication; as mentioned before, her life seemed perfect but functioned entirely like a prison. Some handlers were instinctively told to be physically and verbally abusive if she failed at her stated goals or assignment, while others were told be nurturing and smothering. This was on purpose, the abuse was painted as a few bad apples in the young girls mind, the real GCI would protect her and give her the tools to let her succeed and provide her the motherly love she dearly wanted. Lazarus was the best example of this, he would regularly surprise her with lavish gifts and cuddle her; only for agents under his orders punish her 'behind' his back. Her media intake was carefully monitored to prevent her from questioning the lack of any paternal figureheads, instead the irregular was presented as the 'true normal'. Only the best was expected of her and she would often have to compete with the other children in the organization for their 'love', this was to program the successful to idolize themselves in terms of their relationship with the Superiors. The failures and weak willed were often seen as a result of their own internal deficiencies, if Shi could accomplish her tasks then why can't they? This distrust soon became a major hallmark within the minds of Shihong, competition and proving how much better you are was a necessary way to show your worth. Life was a zero sum game, true worth a finite resource. And if you wanted to be successful, then shouldn't you look the part? The surgeries and cosmetic 'upgrades' soon became a regular occurrence after her menarche. It started small with minor edits such as rhinoplasty and blepharoplasty then as she became a 'teen' idol these soon involved into another beast entirely. In truth, her more 'Asian' features were toned down and white washed, augmentations to her breasts were done so she had that perfect '34C' look; at least that's what her handles told her. Any sort of acne trouble was quickly removed and skin issues were quickly resolved with no difficulty. The final product was everything her investors were looking for, a true bombshell that all the teenage boys were swoon over and the teenage girls will dream they were. She was expected to put grueling hours at the gym while balancing her studies, and even had to take diet suppression pills as she was discovered to be two pounds over their targeted goal. But she endured, she had too. This was what she made for, and these people throughout her life had taught her to push for this. This was all she had, another life soon became a childish dream. She became more than a success, and from the outside, she was more than happy. All this constant attention, constant pursuit of success, and constant desire to please soon began to warp and manipulate the mind of Shi. While she was a nice and innocent when she was younger, she soon became arrogant, manipulative, and downright sociopathic. Her legion of followers stunted her nominal relations of people, and the constant barrage of 'villains' distorted her sense of morality. She was unaware that these fights were all a fabrication, instead she saw herself doing the world a service through her connections to the GCI; she was told to keep her connection a secret, it was the job of the most powerful to lead the weak. It was her divine right, she was born into greatness, they were not.

By the time she was sixteen she soon discovered through that through sheer determination and arduous physical and mental training, she could run conjure lightening and electricity from the tips of her fingers. This was much more destructive and precise than her simple fire balls. This new power-set caught the attention of Lazarus who saw the need to move her into a new location and position, one where they can better monitor actions with the West. Their largest chapter, Los Angeles, had been keeping a close eye on the recent movements of the Young Bloods Organization and requested a new asset within their disposal in order to better monitor it. Shi's recent album success and her dismantling of a major criminal organization, who were also suspiciously a major GCI competitor, within the heart of London made her the perfect candidate for the position. So this is where she is now, going halfway across the world to become apart of a team organization despite being a solo hero for most of her life. What's the worse that can happen, a pop star joining a group of hot heads?

## Powers and abilities

Shi received her powers from augmentations and gene therapies done by the Guild.

* **Fire Manipulation**: The ability to generate fire in a variety of manners through her limbs by following specific techniques and art forms. Their heat, color, and intensity vary depending on her mood, environment, and physical limitations. Her most common flame comes in a bright blue color. Her ability to generate fire depends on the environment and her own physical condition. Cold or low oxygen environments may mean her abilities are severely weakened. Her powers are magnified by the presence of heat and the sun, and the inverse of cold and the moon leaves her diminished.

* **Lightening Manipulation**: The ability to generate streams of electricity through the tips of her fingers. These streams once produced travel at the speed of light and produce an energy output similar to a standard lightening strike. While the ability to generate lightening can be incredibly powerful, it requires very specific movements and a 'large wind up' in order for the electricity to be generated.
* **Fire Resistant**: Her skin is incredibly resilient to heat and fire damage, although this begins to break down once they succeed her own intensity.
* **Tactical Mind**: The GCI soon saw her mental aptitude to be just as important as her mental. Light cybernetics were applied, although her own natural intelligence was what made an attractive target at first. She isn't a smart AI, her decisions in the battlefield maybe good and helpful; however she is limited by own lack of data, and mental capacity.