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25 Aug 2012 @ 9:20am
Chief Petty Officer Lucalin Mrina
Name Lucalin Elil Mrina Ph.D.
Position Bioengineer
Rank Chief Petty Officer
Character Information
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Bireikar | |
| Age | 27 | |
| Date of Birth | Midsummer 2362 | |
| Place of Birth | HABGR, Busuun, in the nation of Bireikara, on the planet Meratah (Bireikar homeworld) |
Character Type
Starfleet ID
| Serial Number | SQ-991-2158 | |
| Security Clearance | Level 2 | |
| Duty Watch | Beta |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'10" | |
| Weight | 142 | |
| Hair Color | Black | |
| Eye Color | Green | |
| Physical Description | Luca is narrow-built, gaunt, and there is no spare flesh on him anywhere - he is all muscle; not the sculpted muscle of a human who trains or body-builds, but the hardened texture of muscles that have tensed and held for a long, long time. He is quite pale by human standards, but not impossibly so. His cheek bones are high, his cheeks hollow, and his lips full. His teeth feature three 'canine' incisors on each side, rather than the average one for a human, but they begin at the same point in the mouth and replicate back towards the jaw, before two premolars and a carnassial. His ears are ridged internally and externally; a full curved ear lobe sliding into a petal like pattern up to a pointed ridge near the top. His eyes are a dark green the color of his homeworld's seas or bright green field in the dark - however, he wouldn't know what either of those look like, as Lucalin himself is blind. It's difficult to tell that, just by looking at him, as he doesn't appear to have anything wrong with his eyes - until you notice that his gaze is never centered; it is constantly traveling just a little towards wherever a sound is coming from. In the face of debris or dust, he has a secondary eyelid that blinks involuntarily. He tends to move slowly and can remain quite still when he puts his mind to it; most of the energy of his personality pours out of his tonal expression and his eyes. He walks a bit like a gangly colt on new legs. |
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| Body Art | [Full Bireikar physiology, history, cultural information available upon request] |
Family
| Father | Mrinal Leucala (115), genetic engineer on Meratah | |
| Mother | Kiya Meras (123), pyonpo of Mera and lifegiver | |
| Brother(s) | Remi Mrina (83) - Jesel tunneler/miner in Bireikara, on Meratah | |
| Sister(s) | Trina Mrinas (69) - Agricultural Facilitator and Urban Planner in Gwerynn (Gwer nation on Meratah) | |
| Other Family | All Bireikar are 'family' in several ways. They are all created outside the womb and then implanted in a styonpo lifegiver whose purpose is to gestate the new children and bring them into the world. One's immediate 'family' is derived from the stock of the father or the choice to cohabitate within the same immediate dwelling. Bereikar believe that all things that grow or change over time are connected integrally at an atomic level. This is part of the reason they are so systematically against the practice of violence. If hurting another creature is hurting yourself, why do it? |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Lucalin is absorbed by the possibilities of Life. He is constantly amazed by some new aspect of sentient and non-sentient living creatures he hasn't considered before. He decided to see his own existence as a miracle rather than a curse, so he works very hard to always see the bright sides of things even when the light is quite dim. He is a highly energetic, excitable, and exuberant man who is trapped in a body that cannot sustain that level of visceral energy; it can get quite frustrating for him at times. Note: Because the Bireikar are a sightless people for the most part and their ability to distinguish facial characteristics is fairly small, they do not often put much stock in facial expressions. They rely heavily on sound (including tone of voice), thermal cues, smell, and touch. |
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| Strengths | *Sentient Echolocation - Using self-generated sounds, Bireikar can 'see' the world around them with echolocation. Echoes can give detailed information about location (where objects are), dimension (how big they are and their general shape), and density (how solid they are). Location is generally broken down into distance from the observer and direction (left/right, front/back, high/low). Dimension refers to the object's height (tall or short) and breadth (wide or narrow). *Easily excited - Luca loves his work and derives a sometimes excruciating thrill from breakthroughs - his own and those of others. (This could be a strength or a weakness, given his physical limitations.) *Highly intelligent and innovative *Eidetic memory |
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| Weaknesses | *Blindness - no possibility of visual senses. The neural pathways just aren't there. *Accelerated metabolism - If Luca stopped ingesting calories for a day, he could easily lapse into a coma or potentially die of starvation. His body burns through calories so fast that it is a constant battle to keep up with it. His arsenal consists of mountains of high calorie foods and drinks, a parenteral IV drip worn as a small pack across his back and running into the back of his neck, and a parenteral IV that links directly into a replicator for the times that he is stationary and/or sleeping. Another tactic he uses is conserving his energy, i.e. not moving unless it's necessary. He can breathe very shallow, hold very still, and actually slow his blood pressure through meditation (although he's still working on getting better at that). *Experimental - Luca is constantly pushing the limits of what is known. Often this leads to new and exciting things, but there's always a chance that something brilliant could turn out to be something terrible. |
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| Ambitions | Discovery. There's no end to it. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | Luca plays classical guitar, harmonica, and chimaeric keyboard. He enjoys historical fiction from most cultures. He genetically engineered a cat-like creature called a heka (named Flim Flam) who is about the size of a small dog, and purrs almost continuously. (She is a reddish brown color, with large bat-like ears, eyes like an owl, cat-like whiskers and purr, raccoon-like grippy paws, a fat belly, and a short stubby tail that wags.) (Looks a bit like this: http://bit.ly/KHBI4O. Sounds a bit like this: http://bit.ly/l6K0dR, http://bit.ly/LMcYKe, http://bit.ly/cRarWK) |
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| Vernacular | Lucalin's voice is very low and somewhat hushed. He speaks quickly and to the point. Once he sets his mind to communicate something, he does not pause, skip, stutter, or get distracted. His speech is rounded and precise. Often he sounds thoroughly excited, due to a certain quality of breathlessness in his baritone. In order to 'see', Luca is consistently making soft clicking and whistling noises, or tapping his fingers, toes, tabletops, anything he can touch. When speaking Federation Standard, Luca will probably either temporarily give up his peripheral awareness, rely heavily on Flim Flam, or insert clicks and whistles into the silence to keep an ear on things. [Bireikari (language of the Bireikar) sounds not entirely unlike the Earth language Xhosa. Clicks are inherent in the words. There are five clicking sounds used in the language, which are phonetically similar to "mph!", "Ttsk!", "tluk!", "chiuk!", and "tchick!". The clicking is fairly understated and would probably be included in the translation system of the communicators as parts of most words.] |
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| Orientation | Homosexual | |
| Language(s) Spoken | Bireikari, Federation Standard, Gwerun, Klingon, Rihannsu, Sabujanese |
| Personal History | Lucalin is an example of what can go wrong when you try to go too far, too fast with genetic engineering. He was designed with the intent of creating a stronger, faster, smarter line of Bireikar who could respond more aggressively to the threats of the Romulans and the Gwer, but under Mera's guidance, his carefully aligned genetic traits took on a life of their own in the womb and the result was Luca. A warning against all those who would try to use the Bireikar's gifts with eugenics and genetic engineering to create a race of warriors. Luca emerged from his six month gestation into the world in a sconce-lit laboratory, the Hallowed Academy of Bireikar Genetic Reconstruction, in the cultural center of Busuun, in the nation of Bireikara, on the planet Meratah in the summer of 2362. He nearly died fifteen times in the first week of his life before they figured out exactly what was wrong with him. And when they did, all other military non-defensive eugenics projects in the works were called to a halt. For the first four years of his life, Luca would remain strapped to a bed to keep from moving and using up too much of his limited energy. He ate continuously, anything he could get his hands on - r'kens, miels, worms, in addition to the food the doctors provided for him. Every day, he was visited by priests, member of his family, physical therapists, tutors, and doctors. They kept his muscles from atrophying, his mind and spirit active, and his sense of culture alive. When he was five, they developed a rolling chair for him so that he could finally move outside of the laboratory and he had his first physical experience of his nation. The end of the Second Meratah War meant the first time the Bireikar would emerge above the surface in fifty-three years. Luca learned to walk for the first time, although climbing was beyond him at this point. He needed his hands free to eat and the exertion of holding himself up on anything was far too much. Still, he did manage, stumbling, to make his way to the surface and sense the infinite expanse of space. It was a mind-altering experience, leaving the clear paths and sloped walls of his underground world for a place with no ceiling. And, as it had for many Bireikar before him, it gave him a sense of the infinite complexity of the universe. Three years later, the Dominion War forced the Bireikar back beneath the surface. Once again, Luca's life was in jeopardy. With the arrival of the Dominion troops to Meratah, the surviving Gwer fled underground into Bireikara where they met their surface cousins the Sabujan, who were surviving among the Bireikar as a respected minority. Tensions grew between the age-old enemies, but they managed to focus on battling the enemy at the gates instead of each other. However, Luca's presence caused undue strife to everyone, even his own race, because he represented what awaited them all on the surface: a child who was beholden to machines to survive. A Borg of their own creation. Luca's family hid him away in the two rooms allotted them n the overcrowded and struggling city. He stayed in those two rooms for the entire course of the Dominion War. They say that, when the War ended, a thousand Federation ships descended into the golden atmosphere of Meratah and the Dominion troops evaporated into dust. Later, Luca learned they'd simply transported back to their ships and retreated. Either way, they were gone. Meratah was free again. Sort of. As the Gwer returned above ground, and the planet struggled to pick itself up and reassemble its tattered remains, Lucalin made a decision. He didn't want to live in the two rooms of his family's alcove for the rest of his life; nor did he want to be a constant reminder to the nation he loved and lived for of the horrors they'd experienced during the Dominion War. So he needed to leave. He made a decision to go and try to gain entrance into Starfleet Academy; to learn about their new allies and discover new worlds and rise above the existence that awaited him in Bireikara. Fortunately for him, he passed the entrance exam with flying colors and was immediately accepted into Starfleet Academy... |
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| Starfleet History | The trouble was getting there. For the first few years after the Dominion War, it was nearly impossible to find a ship that was passing through Klingon or Romulan space to the Federation - and those that were had no interest in carrying the dead weight of a wet-behind the ridged ears alien none of them had heard of who knew nothing about Starfleet, the Federation, or even how to be a cadet. Especially not with his odd medical problems. It just wasn't worth the risk to try to transport him. Three years went by like this, with Lucalin 'learning by doing' as they say. He did everything asked of him aboard Starbase 173 for the first year and then began shuttling back and forth between 173 and 123 in search of a ship that would take him to the Academy. He learned like a sponge, and was well accustomed to the narrow corridors and lifts of the ships as they were designed very similarly to the caverns and tunnels of his nation. Late in 2378, Luca settled on 123 and began apprenticing to Dr. Qynaris Pilnar, a well-respected bioengineer. The two had a meeting of minds, both eagerly sharing their knowledge of genetic engineering with each other and discovering the differences between their cultural methods and applications. In 2380, Lucalin designed and developed a brand new life form, built of many different types of animals on his planet, based on some of the research his father had done in his youth. The creature he emerged with he called a heka - a hybridized echo location aid. This chimaera, engineered from (here I use stardard Earth equivalents for understanding's sake) a raccoon, a cat, a mole, a wombat, a bat, and a cuscus, he named Ticket - as he assumed she would be his ticket off the station and on to the Academy life that awaited him. Only she wasn't. Luca was still an unknown, despite Meratah's probationary inclusion in the Federation, and he was still plugged into a nutritional sack and he was still - as far as they were concerned - untrained, despite four years experience on Federation shuttles and stations. He'd earned a soft spot from the commander of the station, though, and Pilnar was a great supporter, so he was promoted to the rank of Petty Officer Second Class for his accomplishments. The next year, he replicated Ticket's genetic sequence and made some small adjustments and alterations, and a few months later, a second heka - this one a male - appeared in the lab. In early 2383, Luca had an opportunity to catch a ride on the USS Galmetrix to the Academy, but he was in the middle of overseeing the hekas second breeding attempt and in the middle of a doctoral program that the scientists aboard the 123 had developed just for him and he wanted to finish that work. In late 2383, he helped Ticket give birth to four gorgeous baby hekas and was rewarded with a rank of Petty Officer First Class. Two years later, he finished his doctoral work by helping Doctors Wilson and Ferregot develop a neutralizing agent that used genetic therapy combined with two plant elements and a bacterial agent to effectively neutralize a previously incurable neurotoxin. For that work, he received another rank promotion and also an ersatz doctorate from the scientists on board. With his work finished, Lucalin decided it was finally time for him to move on to the Academy and hurriedly tried to transfer to the next ship that rendezvoused with 123. The excitement and anticipation of the event, paired with a lot of last minute activity, sent Luca's sensitive system into overdrive and he lapsed into a bed-ridden state for several months. During the whole time in the Sickbay, Ticket and Flim Flam rested with him, curled on either side of him on the bed. With effort and two organ transplants, he slowly recovered his energy and began the path to recovery. Although his physical health was returning, he'd taken a deep blow to his psyche with the sudden illness and suffered a terrible crisis of faith. Maybe he wasn't meant to leave the sector. Maybe everything that had happened was a message from Mera, keeping him near to Her. Maybe She meant for him to return to Meratah. Maybe She'd meant for him to die years ago, to complete the message that violence would not be tolerated on Her soil. In the end, he decided to return home and see if Her voice was clearer there. It was. He'd taken a trade vessel to Meratah from 123 and remained on board the ship in the atmosphere, communing with the pyonpo through the ship's communicator. In the end, it was discovered that Mera had no wish to see harm come to Luca. Nor did She wish to punish him for the mistakes of those who had created him. The example had already been made. They were proud of his accomplishments with the Federation and pleased that his activities were shining a positive light on their humble planet. If he wished to leave the sector, the choice was his. Mera wanted nothing but the best for him. He gifted three of the heka - Ticket, Stiff Upper Lip, and Starry Night - to the pyonpo and returned to starbase 123, reassured. He immediately put in a transfer request and packed his things for transport and for the next years, he mentally and physically prepared himself every morning for a move to a new ship. Finally, in 2389, he received the news that the research vessel USS Galileo was coming on a resupply mission and would be accepting new crew from the station. Calmly, with a slow breath and a few quiet whistles, he smiled. |
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| Medical History | Luca has been undergoing treatment for accelerated metabolism since he was born. He's currently beholden to excessive meals and a portable nutritional IV, but he's always looking for better solutions. Due to this condition, he is often winded, easily overtired, often in danger of malnutrition, and just plain too skinny. The usual physical effects of malnutrition and hunger can crop up from time to time. Another bi-product of his genetic engineering is frequent migraines, caused by over-stimulation of neural pathways. Lucalin is blind, as are about thirty percent of the Bireikar population. They 'see' through echo-location, but this does not allow them to distinguish colors or patterns or any firm edges. Everything is dependent on echoes. While he does not consider his blindness a disability, many Federation doctors seem to. |
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| Service Record | 2376: Accepted into Starfleet Academy. 2376-2778: Shuttled between Starbase 123 and Starbase 173, searching for a way to get to the Academy. 2378-2379: Settles on Starbase 123 and begins apprenticeship with Dr. Qynaris Pilnar, bioengineer. 2380: Engineers hybridized echolocation aid - Ticket. -Rank: Petty Officer Second Class 2381: Engineers second hybridized echolocation aid - Stiff Upper Lip. 2383: Oversees first reproduction of hybridized echolocation aid creature - now named 'hekas' - Flim Flam, Starry Night, Felix, and Hardaway Jr. -Rank: Petty Officer First Class 2385: Engineers neutralizing agent to previously incurable poison. -Rank: Chief Petty Officer -Earns Ph.D. in Bioengineering, courtesy of Doctors Pilnar, Wilson, Ferrugot, and Wade. 2389: Transferred to Starbase 152 for temporary stay, then transferred aboard USS Galileo -Rank: Chief Petty Officer -Position: Bioengineer |
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