Chi Teague

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**Chi** is a young bodyguard from an alternate earth. They are a quiet individual with a lot of medical problems, some of which stem from their special abilities. This article contains content including suicide and sexual assault of a minor, please read on with discretion.

## Appearance

Chi stands at a moderate 5'7, with messy silver hair and brown eyes. They have a relatively androgynous look about them, typically choosing to dress in light, airy clothing that allows for easy movement.

## Personality

Chi is strong-willed in many ways, but falls into quiet contemplation frequently. They are young, but when they speak of what they know, it's with a sense of knowledge beyond their years.

They tend to stay quiet and distant, though. Part of this is their rough grasp on English, but more they're almost skittish when it comes to people. It's often said to seem like they're afraid to get close to anyone.

Should Chi *become* close to someone, they become a little bit clingy. People are something they don't really understand, and there's a strange dissonance they find when they're around someone for a long time. They're also very loyal and fiercely protective.

## History

### Humble Beginnings

Chi's life began not in the arms of a loving family, but in the cold grip of the foster care system in West Africa. There's not a day they remember spending with their real family - in fact, as far as they're aware, they never spent any time with their family.

For them, it was a fairly simple time - easy, even, in a system where everything seemed to be tuned to making one's life hell. Most of the positives for Chi came from the fact that they were adopted at a young age. From then until Chi turned five, their life was an average, humble one.

### Tragedy Strikes

When Chi was five, they returned home from their preschool classes to an eerily quiet house. It wasn't unusual for their foster father to be away at the time, as the two worked separate shifts in order to ensure someone was there to care for Chi. It *was* unusual for there to be no activity whatsoever, however.

Naturally, Chi went looking for her - and they found her, along with her suicide note, in the bedroom. They understood what was going on largely because their foster parents had been forthcoming with how life really was. However, reading the note she left didn't help them at all - and in fact it triggered something in them, bringing their strongest special abilities to light.

When their father returned home to the scene, Chi had already gone through changes they didn't really understand, and it was careful actions on their father's side that got them to uncurl from the ball they were in. They thought he would be upset with them, like it was somehow their fault. It was what they had gleaned out of the letter, and while it wasn't strictly correct, to a five-year-old mind it couldn't be read any other way.

Their father spent the better part of an hour getting Chi to uncurl from their position, gently talking them down from the reactionary dermal armour they had raised. Once they were calmed, it was easier to explain in a way that their mind could understand, and though Chi would never be the same, they could return to functioning.

### Learning Every Day

After their powers manifested, Chi's foster father took great care (and pride) in explaining what was going on. He promised Chi that they would never be the reason something happened to his family, though the youth had trouble believing that.

In the end, Chi's life continued on much as it had been prior to their mother's death. The circumstances changed and their father's schedule did too, but they were still relatively happy. They went into school knowing that at least they had *one* parent who was still here, who cared for them beyond the shadow of a doubt.

In school, they met their first friends - their only friends, really. The two were both orphans, and they were the ones who eventually explained the way Chi themselves felt about their gender. Gal and Kiran were near-permanent fixtures in their life from then on, and the three were such a sinuous group that if there were any bullies, they didn't notice or worked together to deal with them.

### Holding Tight

Everything was, again, normal (as normal as could be, given the situation) for the next six or seven years. When Chi was twelve, they noticed that Gal was quieter than usual, keeping to themselves even when they were around Chi and Kiran.

Chi confronted them about this change, and Gal confided in Chi that something was going on in their lives. Specifically, Gal's aunt had begun taking an unwanted sexual interest in them. It had been going on for a few weeks, and they weren't sure what to do.

They couldn't go to the police, and so their only real request for Chi was to keep quiet about it. Chi agreed, unsure what else to do. They were already keeping a (much less dire) secret for Kiran, so it only seemed fair.

### Tragedy Repeated

About a month after Chi's fifteenth birthday, their father began to change. It was a sudden, grotesque thing, and their father seemed unwilling to really talk about it despite the immediate, physical changes. He was turning into some kind of monster, he was sure - but he still tried to make sure Chi knew it wasn't their fault. At the same time, if he knew who or what was causing these changes, he didn't mention it.

He had started working from home some scant months before the changes, and Chi themselves had assumed it had to do with their needs - since their mother's death, they had required a lot more time around the people they were close to.

Unfortunately, something in the changes eventually pushed Chi's father over the edge. On the tenth anniversary of their mother's death, Chi found their father's body. The circumstances, the note, the method - everything was different, but it turned the trauma they had already received from something manageable to a whirlwind of panic.

### Savior Sweeping In

Unable to process finding their father in the same state as their mother, Chi broke down. All three of their powers went out of control - suddenly, their whole body seemed connected to everything and nothing. They don't have a lot of memory of what happened at that time, but it was invariably horrific. On top of that, they ended up having a series of seizures and blacking out.

When they woke, they were in an unfamiliar hospital with people hovering around, restrained with objects that resonated oddly. Nothing they did could budge them, and they spoke to silent, blurry faces as those faces stared down at him. They talked, but it was all garbled and distant. It wasn't until they gave Chi a sedative and they woke much later that they would get any answers.

When they woke, calmed but confused, a man in a snappy suit came to speak with him, alongside a number of what Chi could only assume were guards. He explained that he was part of a company called JACKAL, and that this was one of their facilities. Chi's seizures were, according to him, a permanent fixture in their life now - and because the cause was linked to their powers, they would need a specific type of drug to help control them.

Naturally, Chi balked at this. They were certain that they didn't need help from some unknown corporation, and so they demanded to leave. The JACKAL representative didn't stop them, but it wasn't long before Chi was forced to return.

After finding themselves allergic to one of the most common anti-seizure drugs and that the others on the market did nothing for them, Chi begrudgingly returned to JACKAL. They were aware, in the end, that this was something that would be used to control them - giving anyone complete control over a condition couldn't really ever end well.

### Child Labor

When they asked what it was JACKAL wanted in return for this miracle drug, the representative told Chi that they were in need of a bodyguard. A bodyguard with incredibly strength and ability - like someone with the ability to turn their skin to near iron and connect with their surroundings, for example.

Chi didn't think they were worthy of such a task, honestly. Their entire family had committed suicide, after all, and thus being near anyone seemed like a danger. Plus, it meant they had to lie to both Gal and Kiran to keep them out of this mess... but there really wasnt a choice.

Without anywhere else to go, Chi began to work for JACKAL. They were placed on the detail of a young man without much detail as to what that man did or why, and expected to protect him with their life. Even knowing nothing about the man, Chi didn't like him. That didn't matter, though - this was their lot now, as long as they needed medication to control their seizures.