Hecate

**Hecate**, formerly known as Subject 19, is a member of The Snake Tong's Unit 14, more commonly known as the "CIC Postal Service" for delivering assaults to fortified locations. Her true name is unknown due to her being captured by a group that experimented on humans and other beings. While it is known that she was the daughter of a magus, further details are either kept classified or lost. Bound to an amalgamation of undead and spirits, including her own mother, she possesses a protective entity that has caused chaos to people that experimented on her to give her off to the Snake Tong, a group where she has been treated with more humanity despite it being a mage organization that can be ruthless and profits from blood money. It is the place where she met her "Chiefs".

## Background

Subject 19 does not know her own origins. She was born as the daughter of an unknown magus who had the unfortunate fate of being captured by a group that used humans and other beings for experimentation. She was subjected to many experiments of various kinds and as soon as subject 19 was born the two were separated. As such Subject 19 was only able to see her mother's face once in her whole life.

Her life as an experiment began as soon as possible. She never learned about the outside world or the intricacies of social interaction, she was only taught the bare minimum to continue functioning and to understand her handlers. Due to her Essence of Assimilation, they used her to test out techniques for magical transplants, having more margin for error when they used their experimental methods on her. After a few successes that boosted her Mana production she was also used as a battery, often having her energy and fluids taken to run other rituals and experiments.

She never knew any other life so she never complained or anything like that, she just accepted her role as a guinea pig for the research of mages. However there was one member who was different, a man who had begun to develop a conscience in spite of his magus upbringing after witnessing the dehumanizing and cruel treatment of their subjects. He would sometimes bring her small comforts such as candy or coloring supplies and always tried to make things gentler for her so that things would be at least a little better.

Eventually Subject 19 was put through a new experiment. The organization that had been experimenting on her also experimented with the spiritual. As an experiment in creating weapons and guard ”dogs” they had created a spiritual amalgamation. The combination of many different spirits and souls into a single being, a very powerful weapon to the one who could wield it. However it proved to be very violent and the very power that made it useful also made it difficult to bind by force.

Unknown to Subject 19, this being contained within it the soul of her mother so the researchers decided to make one last attempt at matching the spirit with someone. 19 was placed into a room and instructed to keep facing the wall opposite of her no matter what might happen. Eventually the wall opened up, letting in the spiritual monstrosity. At first the spirit and her just stared at each other before the spirit suddenly fell into its usual violent habits. Seconds before it could harm her though, the spirit suddenly stopped and they looked at each other a while more. The researchers took this as confirmation that their idea had worked and used a pre-prepared ritual to bind the creature to 19. It worked and the creature began to follow her commands, though it did take some practice at first.

This life continued on for a while longer. She would be called out of her cell for an experiment, do whatever or go through any operation they ask, then return for some brief recovery. Eventually though, her time with these researchers would come to a violent end. She was being visited by the kinder researcher as usual when the results of her last experiment went wrong. The magical eye that had replaced her original eye acted up, trapping him in a nightmare before he could react. Subject 19 tried to call for help but before anyone could respond or even realize she was calling for help, the creature that been bound to her sensed her distress and manifested itself. It immediately lashed out at everything in their vicinity and before 19 could reign it in, the researcher had been killed.

After this event, Subject 19 was decided to be a liability but they had one more use for her which would also conveniently get rid of her. This group had recently moved into Snake Tong territory and as is customary they had to pay a protection fee for it. So after applying some amnesia spells to not leak any important information about their research they used her as a large part of the initial payment. They gave her the title “Hecate” and sent her to the Snakes for whatever they needed, promising to send another “Hecate” if this one breaks as part of their agreement.

Hecate was still pretty young at this stage so rather than being immediately put into action she was put in the care of a Snake couple. While they weren’t always the best caretakers they did at least treat her like a person which was quite a new and puzzling experience to Hecate. She was also befriended by an older Snake who was already working in general affairs. It’s possible they may have helped her to have a relatively normal life but all three ended up dying in one way or another. When she was taken in by a friend of the couple who also died shortly after, Hecate came to the conclusion she must be cursed and rejected any further attempts at personal care.

So she continued to grow up without family or friends until she became old enough to pull her weight and was assigned to Unit 14. She has continued to view herself as only a tool, not having the same value as any other human and being a danger to get close to. However, the efforts of her unit leaders and other members have begun to have something of an effect on her, perhaps opening the way to reclaiming her sense of humanity.

## Personality

Due to her childhood full of trauma and abuse in which she wasn't even given a name, as well as many of the experiments involving having to merge her mind with others, Hecate displays signs of chronic dissociation. Her memories of her time as an experimental subject are hazy at best to the point that, combined with a couple memory altering spells, she can not confirm what her past was before she was found by the Shiai-shi. She also displays apathy and disconnection towards her own self and her environment, often not truly feeling her emotions in the same way most people do.

Combining her dissociation with her past as a test subject, Hecate doesn't have any real ambitions of her own and merely acts as a tool to be ordered and used by the Shiai-shi. It's also possible that her origin affects her here, wanting to assimilate and become merely a part of a larger organization. She will follow any order as long as it is coming from her "handler" or does not contradict with their desires. Hecate even believes that this is the best path for her and will warn those who treat her as anything but a tool that those who give her kindness always meet terrible ends.

Hecate feels that she has probably been cursed to never be able to experience closeness for long. Perhaps she annoyed a higher being or perhaps it was a security measure from her tormentors to ensure no one bonded with the subjects. First the kind researcher, then her friend, etc. Hecate herself has accepted the fate of dying alone and unloved so she doesn't try to get close with people.

Fittingly for her weak sense of self and belief that she's best as a tool, Hecate does not have many hobbies and zero passions. She does not attend events unless directly invited by someone and she often does not engage in the entertainment available to her. Rarely, her unit has even found her quietly sitting by herself in her room and learned that she's been in that state for days, aside from meals.

Despite her usual apathy and preference to be treated as a tool, she can show a surprising amount of initiative when it comes to taking care of people she considers her handler or comrade. She'll often take actions and make suggestions to ensure their safety, although if she receives a direct and explicit order to do otherwise from her superior she will often trust them. However if the order is exceedingly likely to result in their death she will refuse it and/or remain by their side to the end. This is most commonly seen in matters relating to Unit 14's "Chiefs", people she seems to be unusually attached to. Her greatest desire seems to be to simply stay by their side and the only times she ever smiles, even if it's still pretty rare, is around a Chief.

In contrast to other members of her squad, Hecate is both responsible with her money and does not have any debts that she needs to pour all of her earnings into. While she is a generally responsible person who wouldn't waste money, this is also partly because of her lack of desires for much of anything. Aside from the essentials the only things she buys are art supplies and annually she buys flowers to leave on the graves of old friends.

The only activity Hecate has ever shown interest in of her own initiative is art. Her notebook is full of art that she drew in her childhood and teen years. Sometimes she makes drawings or paintings of models, the most common being portraits of her squad leaders, however much of her art is abstract or depicts things that do not exist even in stories. When asked about if there's any meaning she always answers vaguely. One of the only things she shows interest in aside from that is strawberry flavored candies. The taste is one of the few things that can make her feel some happiness, although it also gives her a tinge of regret about something.

## Abilities

### Magic

Witchcraft is the magical school she was taught by the agents that took her in. She learned how to cast rituals, summon familiars, fire raven feathers as projectiles, etc. Despite her job and her usual apathy she seems to prefer using her own blood for sacrifices rather than animals or other people. She is not a particularly exceptional user of witchcraft but is knowledgeable and competent at least.

### Mana Lobe

As a part of the experiments performed on Hecate, she had the mana lobes of a dozen other mages transplanted into her. This gives her a massive amount of magical energy production, however even with her essence assisting not every operation went perfectly. Sometimes the operation had a mistake and sometimes the mana lobe was just incompatible. As a result only half properly integrated with her mana lobe. The rest strongly resist attempts to be used as anything other than mana batteries.

### Nightmare

Nightmare is the magical being bound to Hecate. It contains the souls of many beings considered undead or ghosts, most prominent is a Draugr. Thanks to the experiments done to her, Hecate has no problem maintaining Nightmare's power and giving it a solid form for extended periods of time. Nightmare possesses exceptional physical strength capable of breaking down trees and tearing apart humans. It is also capable of casting curses, the main one for combat being *Finn* shots powerful enough to break through walls and kill most targets with a single direct hit. Nightmare is often used for scouting in its imperceptible spiritual form and can also serve as a good shield in confined spaces. Unknown to Hecate, a portion of the spirit is her own birth mother who she never properly met. Although her mother was never even able to name her, the lingering love for her child makes Nightmare very protective of Hecate and anyone who would assist her.

Witchcraft is the magical school she was taught by the agents that took her in. She learned how to cast rituals, summon familiars, fire raven feathers as projectiles, etc. Despite her job and her usual apathy she seems to prefer using her own blood for sacrifices rather than animals or other people. She is not a particularly exceptional user of witchcraft but is knowledgeable and competent at least.

### Eye of Terror

A powerful specialized variation on illusion that replaced Hecate's original left eye. Upon making eye contact with her left eye the victim, even a magus or other beings usually resistant to illusion, is pulled into a nightmare. It will be the worst possible torture and terror for them, although if their imagination is not strong enough to come up with a suitably terrifying nightmare then she can instead trap them in one of her own. The nightmare last until Hecate looks away or covers her left eye with her mystic eye killer. If she keeps them in the nightmare too long or repeatedly immerses them too many times the victim can die of a fear induced heart attack. She almost always keeps it covered because the experimental nature of the transplant makes the eye unusually burdensome and difficult to control even with her origin helping the process of accepting it. She can't even use it as a normal eye without getting headaches.

### Equipment

#### Eye Killer

Despite the ominous name, the eye killer is actually rather harmless in function. It is a simple artifact that is meant to help Hecate with her magical eye. The eye killer takes the form of an eyepatch covering her left eye, preventing it from activating.

#### S11 ‘BB’ Bulletproof Body Suit

Standard issue magic armor that Snake Tong provides its members. It is a black suit which was made to be bulletproof (tested with 9mm, 7.62, NATO/.308) and provides magic resistance, dispelling low level spells. It is considered to be one of the iconic uniforms of the Shiai-shi. The suit is made with a composite of multiple magical materials, a major one being Huohuan Bu Silk from a Spider Yaoguai. This makes the Suit durable (enough to withstand modern gunfire and magical projectiles), easily enchantable with magic, and has innate fire resistance. If the Suit was stained, one simply needs to burn the area with the stain and the mess will soon disappear without damaging the cloth.

#### Snake Key

The Shiai-shi key is more of a tool than a weapon even if it's usually shaped like a knife. It is created with materials and methods that grant it the ability to disperse mana. This means the blade can't be magically reinforced but it can be used for purposes such as subtly creating a hole in bounded fields or removing the effects of a reinforcement spell.

#### Dream Catcher

A protective charm that was given to her by the couple that took her in. Hecate used to have terrible nightmares every single night so they made this for her and she began to keep it on her all the time after their death. It doesn't always work but she can at least get a few peaceful nights of sleep a week.