Herald

## Origins

Zachary Heismann was an unhappy child, born into a devout Christian family and never feeling comfortable in his own skin. While not violent or even overly aggressive, his parents were controlling and dismissive of anything that didn't fall into their narrow view of what was 'acceptable' in the world.

This became an even greater problem as Zac grew older and came to the realisation that part of the reason he had never felt truly settled in himself was that he had been repressing his own homosexuality and it was negatively affecting his mental state and health. Although he had come to this realisation he knew that his parents would never accept it and so continued to hide his true self from them, and for years he only felt truly happy during the snatched moments where he was away from his homophobic community and the anger and aggression that came with it.

A key moment in his young life was a chance meeting with a young man from out of town named **Kieron Gold**, with whom he quickly fell in love and started a safe, loving relationship. He found himself sneaking out of town more and more frequently, and ultimately when he became old enough he used the small amount of money he had been able to save and hide from his family for doing odd jobs around the town to move out of his parents' house, away from the small-minded community they lived in, and in with Kieron.

In the subsequent months Zac's mind was opened and he became much happier and more comfortable in his own skin, embracing the wonder that a more open and honest life could offer and basking in the rich tapestry of the world in all its insane and messy glory.

### Emergence

A few days after his eighteenth birthday, on a night when he was home alone while Kieron was working late, everything changed. The lights in their apartment all shut off, electrical appliances seemed to shut down and after a few moments of darkness and silence, an image of a terrifying inhuman creature projected itself into the middle of their living room.

This creature introduced itself as a member of an alien race named the **Certa**, and told Zac of their history and his involvement with them.

Having escaped the destruction of their homeworld many centuries previously, the Certa had been on an odyssey across the stars in search of a new planet to call their home. They had gathered a vast fleet which they used to colonise and conquer any planets they saw fit, wiping out the inhabitants and reforming the planet to create a more hospitable environment for themselves. Over the centuries they had overrun hundreds of worlds and expanded their empire to become vast and unstoppable.

Back in 1947, the Certa had attempted to invade the planet Earth, however due to a confluence of unexpected events humanity was able to fight back and drive the invasion force back into the depths of outer space. This was the first time the Certa had been unsuccessful in an attempted invasion, and a faction of their species had dedicated themselves to taking revenge on the planet that denied them their victory. One facet of this strategy was to plant sleeper agents across the planet, Certa who would grow up convinced that they were human until such time that they were 'activated' and commanded to prepare for the second invasion.

The Certa informed Zac that he was one of these sleeper agents, and that now was his time to be activated. He had been gifted with the extraordinary ability to empathise with those around him and replicate any superhuman abilities that they may possess to use as his own and told him of his glorious destiny to burn the world to ashes. They had placed him in a situation and environment where he would be surrounded by hatred and negativity, with the intention that it would fuel his anger and rage towards humanity and ultimately make him a destroyer of worlds.

But their plan failed. Zac had spent the past eighteen years among the humans, and his empathy had come through from a young age. Rather than being consumed and obsessed by the hatred he felt in his former community, he had found love and compassion with Kieron and his friends, and instead of feeling superior to the human race, he felt that he was part of it, revelling in its beauty and chaos.

He subsequently gave the Certa projection standing in his living room the finger and told him that if they wanted to burn the Earth, they would have to go through him to do it.

### Mentored by Beacon

Soon after his activation, Zac was found and counselled by the legendary hero **Beacon**, a former member of the **Superior Squad** and fellow rebellious member of the Certa. In the aftermath of the Superior Squad disbanding, Beacon had dedicated himself to finding and helping the sleeper agents left on the planet after the first invasion.

Beacon ultimately told Zac that he had a choice: he could either succumb to his genetic programming and be the destroyer of worlds that the Certa had intended; or he could train, long and hard, to resist and hold on to his humanity. He told him that it wouldn't be easy, and ultimately it was something he had to do for himself, but that there was a support network available to him, but he also said that the eighteen years he was allowed to live as a human were a gift, one that he could embrace and use to become a light of hope in the darkness.

He also revealed this strange truth to Kieron soon afterwards, and although he was shocked Kieron's opinion was that he wasn't in love with Zac because of where he came from, he was in love with him because of the kind and generous person that he was. He also told Zac that he was fully supportive of whatever he chose to do with this new information, and Zac in return promised to be open and honest with Kieron about whatever he was going through.

Choosing to embrace where he came from, but also to fight back against his ‘destiny’, Zachary chose the name **Herald** and began using his powers to help people, hoping that the more he was able to empathise, the greater his power to resist his programming would be.

## Personality

As a young child, Zac was shy and introverted, never feeling completely comfortable in either his own skin or the situations he found himself in thanks to his family. The home environment he grew up in was neither open nor supportive and his shut-off and nervous personality reflected this. As he grew up, he started to wonder if he felt so detached from his family simply because he didn't believe in the same things they believed in, but then as he reached adolescence he realised that it was because he was repressing his own homosexuality.

Once he accepted this, even if he wasn't open about it with his family, he became a far more confident and comfortable person. He was kind and generous to other people, becoming well-liked in the neighbourhood from carrying out odd jobs, even if the people he was helping were disapproving of the kind of life he was secretly building for himself.

The turning point came when he met his future partner Kieron Gold, who showed him that there was a world beyond the small town he had grown up in, and that he shouldn't have to hide his true self from anyone. His relationship with Kieron allowed Zac to come out of his shell completely, and he became a happy, caring and compassionate person, especially when he moved away from his parents and their bigoted community.

After discovering his true heritage, Zac has redoubled his efforts to empathise with people, hoping that forging stronger bonds with the humanity that surrounds him will help to suppress the violent and dangerous instincts he was programmed with as an alien sleeper agent.

## Superhuman Abilities

As a genetically adapted member of the Certa species, Zac has some innate superhuman abilities which he has become aware of since his 'activation' at age eighteen.

* **Physical Attributes** - Zac has discovered that he is able to run faster, jump higher and lift more weight than a human being, even one operating at peak physical fitness. He also has enhanced durability and is able to recover quickly from most minor injuries, although as the injury gets more serious the time it takes him to recover also increases.
* **Empathy** - Since a young age Zac has been responsive to other people's feelings and emotions, but it was only after his activation that he discovered this was actually one of his superhuman abilities beginning to manifest itself. Now he is able to instinctively pick up on the emotions of the people around him, and he describes it as being able to 'feel a colour' radiating off them: anger is red, sorrow is blue and so forth. He is also able to manipulate these emotions but he tries to only do this for altruistic purposes, for example easing someone's sorrow after losing a loved one and making them feel calmer, or absorbing some of their anger.
* **Empathic Mimicry** - Zac's empathic abilities also extend to the abilities of other superhumans, allowing him to reflexively copy their powers and use them for himself. This ability is dependent on range, meaning that he can only mimic abilities while he is within a short distance of the person he is mimicking, and he can only take on one ability at a time. However, it is not dependent on their abilities manifesting from a particular origin, and he is able to copy powers that come from genetic mutation, alien physiology and even magic.

## Weapons and Equipment

Zac refuses to even touch weaponry as he thinks it could have a negative impact on his attempts to overcome his Certa programming: as a militaristic species, he believes that any symbol of aggression or violence could connect with that part of his brain and cause him to lose control.