Janine Ko

Janine Ko is an Antagonist in Brambly Boundaries (Monument 14). Janine is a murderer hired by Sathariel due to her contract to kill the Black Knights and later the Protagonists, in return she is promised immunity for her crimes.

Janine follows orders mostly and acts as a sort of group leader for the Penal Legion, but is overconfident in her abilities, ultimately leading to her demise.

## Appearance

Janine has long dyed violet hair which she wears long and has what is described by her peers as a beautiful body. She's on the taller side usually wearing conservative or revealing clothing depending on her mood. She prefers the "Virgin Killer" sweater and enjoys what she calls "night out" clothes though is often forced to wear a jacket to conceal a fire-arm or grenade.

She claims she doesn't care about her clothes but makes a great fuss regarding the concealing nature of the Sathariel body armour, claiming "Nobody's going to want to fuck me in this.". As a result, she rarely wears the issued body armour.

## Personality

Janine is a cruel woman who puts forth a friendly and polite demeanour. She was found on death row on account of multiple rapes, mutilations and murders on a wide variety of people including minors, all of which she feels no remorse or need for remorse for. Janine sees her actions as ultimately good as she gained enjoyment from them, seemingly showing no empathy for her victims.

She saw her release into Sathariel's service as "only a matter of time" believing that the whole arrest was a farce. Janine is quick to use her Contract violently against people for little to no reason, stating some excuses as "I didn't like them" and "I was getting bored". She believes that she can take what she likes from people, threatening rape to several of her comrades as well stealing their mission equipment.

Janine refuses to kill her victims quickly, often getting annoyed if she has to kill them relatively painlessly, stating it as being "no fun.". Like Daryll she uses her time out of prison to commit horrendous crimes but she manages to show slightly more restraint if not a little more tact in where she commits the crimes.

## Plot

Janine is introduced in Chapter 5 along with the rest of the Penal Legion, taking the lead and suggesting that everybody gets to know each other better. She downplays her crimes and shows disgust when the Sathariel agent freely passes a list of the crimes each has committed around the group. Most of the group agree to follow her lead after she demonstrates her Contract on one of the Sathariel mercenaries, except Daryll who asserts that he'll do as he pleases.

Janine is seen later molesting Raphael in the old Penal Legion base, interrupted before things can go further by the others announcing that Daryll's crimes are forcing them to move base. She expresses extreme annoyance at Daryll but the two only swap expletives at one another, the latter even remarking that he knows what she's doing with Raphael.

During Chapter 6, in the Port Raid, Janine is shown to be able to handle fighting both Callum and Selene at the same time, however when she tries to subdue Dazzle for her own purposes, she allows the duo to push back the Penal Legion, almost killing Daryll and Raphael. Several, non-contract having minor offenders in the Penal Legion are killed due to her negligence and furthermore by her executing them for dissidence.

Later on she tries to sexually assault Raphael again but is stopped by Daryll who's annoyed at her incompetence. The blow to the ego sends her away from Raphael but she instead sets her sights on two men in a nightclub who she murders after committing various acts of torture on. She is stated to repeat this with several people, growing an interest in Charlie, the Physical Fitness Prefect who frequents the clubs.

In Chapter 7 it's stated that 6 people have died by her club predation and that people are growing more suspicious. She's held off from the Green's Bank battle by Nibbles pinning her down with sniper fire. Both Daryll and Susan have died by the time she arrives and decides on a tactical retreat by blowing a hole in the roof, the debris of which she deliberately makes fall on three hostages. She's pursued by Dazzle whom she removes the feet and hands off before attempting to have her way with her. She's stopped by seeing Selene hot in pursuit, but decides, against her pleas, to shoot Dazzle in the head before leaving, saying "It's not as fun, but I might as well get something out of you." before killing her.

Later in Chapter 7 she attempts to assault Raphael to let out her frustrations but finds that he's ran off. The remaining Penal Legion informs her that Sathariel have no intention of actually pardoning them and that several other Penal Legionnaires have broken off to form the 'Archangels'. Frustrated, she decides a final assault on the Academy wherein Sathariel remain must occur before Sathariel attempt to kill them.

In Chapter 8 Janine and the remaining Penal Legion, 6 non-contractors, walk into Brien Academy after-hours, killing the security guards with the intention of heading to the Sathariel facility. Janine has learnt of Charlie's position as a prefect however and diverts her squad to subdue him with malicious intent. This diversion gives Sathariel enough time to alert four of the eight prefects still in the building, Charlie, Rozen, Lise and Zeek. They confront Janine in the hallways and have a final battle, with Lise able to grievously damage her before she flees.

The Prefects remain, tending to Zeek and Charlie's injuries as Janine flees through the front door. She's confronted by Raphael armed with a concealed pistol and tears in his eyes. Janine approaches Raphael claiming she has to "repay you for avoiding me", disarmed by the boy's gentle demeanour, unable to react in time when he draws his pistol and shoots her in the head.

## Citizen Erased

Citizen Erased is a naturally occurring Contract which manifests itself as the upper torso of a pale, emaciated corpse with no eyes but a permanent, lipstick-spattered smile with perfect white teeth.

Citizen Erased has the ability to dissolve and re-form objects or body parts that are moving towards Janine. The dissolve results in a loss of momentum rendering things such as bullets or punches useless. The dust that forms from Citizen Erased can be re-shaped into a controllable form such as a floating arm, a fully fledged humanoid or a wall. The Humanoids formed from Citizen Erased resemble the Contract itself, using as little dust as possible to create a full person.

Janine needs to be able to see the object or body part in order to dissolve it but does not need eye contact to control the dust homunculi or other re-shaped dust formations. When great pain is inflicted on Janine and she can no longer concentrate, the dust of a living creature will re-attach itself to the main body, unless that body is deceased.

Citizen Erased only targets the part of a body or object that is moving towards her, not the entire thing. Because of this, as well as the great amount of effort it takes to target multiple parts, Janine rarely ever uses Citizen erased to fully kill a person. This is do-able as seen in Chapter 5 and 6 but Janine expresses it as being both a pain and not as fun as mutilation.

## Trivia

* Citizen Erased is a reference to the song of the same name by Muse from their 'Origin of Symmetry' album.
* The title of the song references the power as well as Janine's status and victims. It erases 'Citizens' which is generally attributed the connotation of innocence or at the least that they are law abiding.
* The lyrics could also be interpreted as to be representative of Janine's manipulative personality as well as the lies surrounding her person to present a more approachable and friendly figure, which, is all part of her plan.