Stray

Stray, whose real name is apparently Mack, is a neohuman information broker and occasional guitarist originally from somewhere in Colorado; little is known of his past or how he became associated with Mole other than they met in a bar in Charlotte on the day of the riots there and sometimes provided information for Varana.

### **History**

Stray spoke very little of his past other than that he was born "*near Denver"* and was an orphan after the age of eleven.

During his teenage years, not long after his powers manifested, Stray claimed to have had his blood and bone marrow taken by an organisation that may have been System-12, though he managed to escape.

He would provide info to Varana during her attempts at doing some good after she left the Shellheads, though her, he became a GVS member and was asked by Mole to protect the cybrid Fledge from a Redemption sect who were chasing her across the US from Minnesota while he dealt with one of their leaders personally. Stray, however often had other commitments, mysterious friends and contacts he'd often see; during one of these private missions Redemption seemed to take or kill Fledge as she tried to fly away. Furious for letting Fledge be taken and likely killed, Mole refused to work with Stray any longer despite Stray offering to go and track her down; he felt bad enough that he did so of his own accord, though came to some dead ends, including the death of several armed Redemption gunmen who were killed by a third party; whoever wanted Fledge was long gone.

During this time Volt and Anri were investigating the later murder of Sim and Pip and met Stray whilst searching an abandoned factory; They all concluded that cybrids were being "harvested" by some group following Redemptions culling, investigations lad them to believe it may have been System-12 via The Primates after finding an empty Prime8 vial.

It was suspected that Stray was some kind of '"spy for hire" did a lot of covert work for various individuals and made most of his money as an information broker.

It was later revealed he had joined the Guild and there was some suspicion that he may have been selling Guild secrets to other parties, though there was no actual evidence of this and it was more likely that he was a passive-type Hunter who would help relay information, money or small packages between guildmembers that otherwise wouldn't be trusted to be sent any other way.

### **Appearance**

Stray was a well-muscled man with long dark-brown hair, a full beard and striking blue eyes. He had a distinct scar over his left eyebrow and often wore ear and eyebrow piercings that he kept during his shift. He often wore dark, black clothes, rock t-shirts and spiked collars and wristbands.

### **Personality**

Cerice knew of Stray after contacting him for a Guild mission, and found him highly attractive, according to her Stray wasn't the type to hold commitments. He was something of a rebel among rebels, often doing his own thing, it seemed to be his life's work to fight against 'the system' and helping on the small, every day level. He often seemed tired or at least very apathetic and hated politics and red-tape with a passion; despite this Stray did actually care for a few people and felt terrible when Fledge was taken, so much so that he later went into a depressive spiral, but has since remained strong. Stray was often cool under pressure and had a 'five-mile stare'.

### **Powers and Abilities**

#### **Powers**

Stray was a neohuman born with n-genes that activated some time just before his 11th birthday, gave him superhuman abilities.

* **Lycanthromorph:** Stray had the ability to morph himself into a dog-like form or any transitional stages between human and dog; This canine form had black and brown fur. As this ability is solely cellular, his shifting originally didn't include his clothing and any piercings he may have, though recently he has been able to shift clothing he wears made from natural materials as part of his body.
	+ **Homanid:** A form that increases his strength, speed, reactions and agility slightly while little physical change occurs aside from pointed ears, the growth of extra hair, thicker, dark nails and perhaps a tail; in this state Stray can often be mistaken for a cybrid.
	+ **Lycanid:** A taller "weredog" form, partly humanoid, with long, haunched feet, claws, fangs, fur, this state increases his strength considerably as well as his senses and reactions. This form originally ripped his clothing and shoes and had to remove anything he first dosn't want to break.
	+ **Lycan:** A "fully dog" form, resembling a cross between an Irish wolfhound and an alsatian with black and dark brown fur, this form let him run much faster, leap considerable distances, and increased his senses and reactions to massive levels too, making him the perfect tracker. He would claim to feel the most comfortable in this state and sometimes spends weeks on end as a 'stray', which also allow him to gather information inconspicuously.

#### **Abilities**

**Street Fighting:** Despite using his abilities mainly to track and spy, Stray was nevertheless an extremely powerful and proficient fighter, but rarely would he seek out a fight, especially if he is in the middle of relaying or gathering important information.

**Strategist and Tracker:** Stray became very adept at tracking enemies and predicting their moves and motives.

**Underground Knowledge:** He possesses a vast array of memorised knowledge of various organisations, people, places and anything related to secret, underground criminal empires, deep-government or mercenary and assassin manoeuvres and various other forms of information that he sells to clients.

**Keen Memory:** He has a gift with remembering details, events, words and pictures with incredible accuracy and remember them clearly for many months and enabling to become one of the best information brokers in the world.

**Guitarist:** In his spare time he has also made money playing in several short-lived bands or short, solo performances in bars.