Playback

Melee RV 4

Coordination RV 6

Brawn RV 4

Fortitude RV 6

Intellect RV 10

Awareness RV 20

Willpower RV 10

Lifestyle RV 20

Repute RV +2

Health: Fortune:

20 40

Origin:

Miriam Morse, otherwise known as Playback, is a paranormal. Already a latent psychic before the White Event occurred, she developed potent psionic abilities in the wake of this bizarre astronomical phenomenon, as did many other psi-sensitive individuals throughout her world.

Known Powers:

Natural Psionics (Psipathic Powers):

Postcognition (t): Playback has the ability to project her consciousness back in time, doing so with rank value 10 ability. She can do this relative to any object she touches, allowing her to view any point in its history within (at least) the last one hundred years.

Originally, this required Playback to retain contact with whatever object or person she's attempting to view the past of. In time, however, she's learned how to retain a 'lock' on something for some time after touching it, allowing her to follow its path through space.

Limitations / Enhancements:

(none)

Equipment:

(none)

Quirks:

Dwarfism: Playback is a little person, standing at just under four foot tall. In addition to causing her grief from ignorant folks of a normal height, this trait makes it especially hard for Playback to purchase properly fitting clothes, much less furniture she'd find comfortable.

Skills:

Detective / Espionage: before she manifested her parability, Playback had to rely on conventional investigative techniques when helping the police solve crimes. She should receive a +1 RS on ACTION rolls required when looking for clues or otherwise seeking information.

Performer: her primary source of income before the government recruited her, Playback is a public speaker of note. Talking at length during her time hosting crime seminars, Playback gains ten Fortune points for each week's worth of speaking engagements she engages in.

Contacts:

Supplementing her numerous contacts amongst the nation's police departments, Playback is in the employ of the National Security Council. In addition to giving her considerable government backing, this allows Playback to call upon the NSC's paranormals for aid when necessary.

Costume:

Playback doesn't make use of any costume to speak of. A consummate professional, she tends to wear business casual attire tailored to her unique proportions while she's on the job, often accented with a leather rain coat if the weather (or her mood) encourages it.

Personality:

Playback is much tougher than she at first seems, having grown up lonely thanks to her particular physique. Having developed a black sense of humor thanks to her history and her unique line of work, she tends to get on well with other dark individuals, such as Shudderbug.

Real Name: Miriam Morse
Occupation: psychic consultant, government agent
Legal Status: citizen of the United States with no known criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: the National Security Council

Height: 4' 3"
Hair: black
Eyes: brown
Weight: 80 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: as one of the little people, Playback is short of stature, standing a bit under four foot tall.

Story:

Miriam Morse got her start working as an investigative consultant, using her seeming psychic abilities to help solve crimes the police couldn't. She never took money for this work, instead using it as the inspiration for a public speaking career that made her wealthy.

While she had some success in the past, Miriam's crime-solving accuracy greatly improved after the White Event, an inexplicable astronomical phenomenon that bathed the world in paradoxical energies. In the wake of this incident, Miriam's psychic potential was greatly amplified.

Developing the power of postcognition, Miriam could view the past of anything she touched, earning her the nickname of Playback amongst her police clients. And while they may not have believed in psychic powers, the police couldn't argue with Playback's results whatsoever.

Playback's life took a turn for the truly weird, however, when the police asked for her help investigating the murder of Lonnie Poole. Arriving at his apartment, Playback used her power to see how he was killed, only to watch as the the vigilante known as Justice struck him down!

The truly weird part, however, was that Justice not only saw Playback as she projected her awareness back through time, but spoke to her as well! Terrified that the mass murderer was going to come for her next, Playback ran from Poole's apartment in a panic, making her way home.

Seeing someone lurking near her apartment later that night, Playback started to call the police, but gave up when she realized no one would believe her about Justice. When she next left her apartment, she was seized by Jimmy Phearson, a child molester she helped the police catch.

Having planned his revenge every day he was stuck in prison, Jimmy attempted to drag her off, only to be vaporized by Justice, who was keeping an eye on Playback. Though she was even more frightened of him than Phearson, Justice assured Playback that he was no threat to her.

After all, she was using her paranormal powers as she should, and if that meant helping the police capture him so be it. As such, she returned to the police soon after, and helped their sketch artists to produce a likeness of the so-called Justice Killer for the public.

Playback's life returned to normal for a time after this, at least until she attended the Pitt-Aid concert, held a short time after the city of Pittsburgh was mysteriously annihilated. There she tried to purchase 'real' rocks from Pittsburgh, so she could determine the calamity's cause.

She again encountered Justice there, though he still insisted he intended Playback no harm. Actually glad to see her, he handed her a piece of paper with the Star Brand drawn on it, and asked if she could get a reading on it. Unfortunately for Justice, she saw nothing at all.

Waiting for him to be distracted, Playback fled from Justice as soon as she could, bumbling into the arms of Terrance Updike. Working for the National Security Council, Updike offered Playback protection from Justice - and, as it turned out, a position within the NSC.

Though happy to leave her be, Terrance let Playback know that the government knew she was a paranormal. As such, he implored her to work with the NSC, because at least she'd have a choice in the matter, unlike any other government agency that might come calling after he did.

For her first job with the NSC, Playback accompanied Updike as he journeyed to Philadelphia to track down Justice, who was hallucinating after being drugged by local police. She helped point her fellow agents towards the vigilante after meeting Justice's daughter, Angela.

Most of Playback's field work was a lot less active, however, usually involving her assisting investigations for the NSC just like she did with the Chicago police. Something would happen that flummoxed the authorities, and the NSC would send Playback in to resolve the bottleneck.

Playback's next direct investigative work saw her pursuing Elliot Quill, who accidentally shot the Creeping Crud when trying to kill Justice. Helping Justice to track Crud's murderer, she followed him with her powers until Quill made use of public transport to shake any pursuit.

In the wake of this incident, Playback slowly grew closer to Agent Chauncey, one of her human compatriots within the NSC's paranormal annex. Close friends initially, the two eventually started dating once they found they both really enjoyed each other's company.

Her final known excursion into the field, at least when she wasn't solving cold cases with the NSC, saw Playback journeying to Coney Island. Joined by Agent Chauncey and Shudderbug, she looked into rumors of a paranormal enclave active in the practically abandoned park.

Captured by said paranormals, the so-called Forsaken, Playback was put on trial by their deranged leader, Judge Mental. This kangaroo court was interrupted by Captain Brookyn, who broke into the courtroom to rescue them, though he was ultimately slain by Mental's bailiff, Seraph.

When Justice came with his daughter to investigate the investigators' disappearance, they were held as hostages in Coney Island's ferris wheel, successfully distracting the NSC's most powerful operative as he dealt first with Judge Mental, then Seraph, seemingly once and for all.

Of course, the NSC's headquarters was destroyed while most of its paranormals were in New York, so what Playback and her beau got up to after the Coney Island incident is as of yet unrevealed. That ultimately depends on whether or not the NSC could even continue after losing its base.

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