Character Name: Ralin Karatis

Age: 23

Gender: Male

Height: 5'4"

Build: Ralin has a rather sickly build with no real muscle tone. A close observer would notice something odd about him physically and could liken him to a skeleton with skin.

General Appearance: Ralin is not very pleasant to look upon. His hair is thin and wispy with no color, just white. While one of his eyes is a robotic replacement. He wears a long sleeve shirts and full length pants year round in an attempt to hide as much of his body as humanly possible.

Personality: His personality can by summed up on just a few words: Resentful and unpleasant. He is very resentful of anyone who is physically superior to him whether it be athletic or looks. He is also unpleasant towards pretty much anyone else, always playing the victim and trying his best to make others feel bad for him. Usually uses his feeble state to guilt others into doing what he wants them to do.

History: Ralin was born into an extremely wealthy family and trading magnates. They had a contract with several groups of extra-terrestrials that gave them exclusive sales right to their technology and merchandise. Ralin and his family lived in a large mansion right near their personal landing field where the E.T.s would unload their wares.

By the time he reached the age of sixteen he was quite a looker and could have any girl he chose, however he never spent much time with any girl, always deeming them "not good enough" and quickly dropping them by the wayside. This feeling was not reserved only for woman, he felt this way about nearly everything in his life. If it was not the latest and greatest, he didn't want it and was not afraid to express this vocally. This situation would eventually prove to be his undoing.

One day while he was loitering around his family's landing field he saw the most magnificent vessel land, it was the closest thing he had ever come to love at first sight. Once the unloading was finished he quickly approached the owners and asked to purchase the ship, he didn't get far before he was told no. He wasn't one to be perturbed and quickly went to his father to ask for his help. When his father tried to purchase the ship, he was declined just as quickly and less kindly. With all the sensible options used up, Ralin decided to take matters into his own hand.

As the owners were away, the night before the ship was scheduled to leave, Ralin boarded the ship. He didn't have much of a game plan, but thought if he could hide the ship long enough the authorities and the owners would give up and it would be his. Unfortunately he didn't check the ship first and lifted off with the refueling hookup still attached. As it ripped free, it tore off part of the fuel system and threw sparks causing the fuel to ignite. He managed to clear the walls and get away from the facility before it detonated in the air and buried itself into the ground, nothing more then a charred and crumpled wreck.

When Ralin awoke, a month and a half later, he was staring at the concerned face of his parents and the sounds of many a machine, working to keep him alive. Most of his body was damaged beyond saveable in the crash and was replaced by mechanical parts to keep him functional and alive. He was glad that he was alive and that no expense was spared to keep him alive, it wasn't till he saw a mirror did he know the full extent of the damage. The mechanical replacements didn't repair his damaged looks.

Once he was well enough to leave the hospital, he learned that his actions had caused his father a lot of grief. The extra-terrestrials whos ship he had stolen refused to trade with his father any more. Several other groups threatened to cease trading as well, but most changed their minds with one concession. Ralin had to leave, so the risk of him taking a fancy to another ship was eliminated. So Ralin was sent off to spend the rest of his life in the best city his parents could think of: Krung Thep.

Other: Despite being made of 95% mechanical parts he has sub-par strength. All the parts he has are solely life sustaining and therefore can't be replaced with enhancements.

---

The waiting room to the Immigration Centre of Krung Thep was swarming with people, irritatingly loud people. Harlen, one of the many officers working there, scrunched up his nose in slight disgust as he opened the doors of his office and stepped out into the halls. "Ralin Karatis," his voice was low yet still managed to carry itself over the numerous people chattering. Harlen's narrowed brown eyes scanned the crowd in search of his next appointment.

With an audible groan of protest Ralin stood, slowly, from his seat. As he moved through the crowd towards the immigration officer he made no attempt to slip through politely and earned many a hateful glare as he pushed, jostled, and bumped people out of his path. "I am Ralin Karatis." He said as he finally reached the officer. The man looked like he was ill or deformed someway, like something wasn't right, but you couldn't quite put your finger on it.

"Do come in," Harlen stepped aside so the man could enter his office, little concern or care on his face for the people Ralin had just stormed over. As the sickly looking guy entered the room he closed the door, cutting off any other sound. "I assume you can speak English or at least have a general understanding of it?" Harlen took his seat behind the desk and began to rummage around in the top draw, cursing under his breath as he failed to find whatever he was hunting for. "If not we do have the means to 'teach' you."

"Of course I speak English! I'm not some misshapen, multi-appendaged alien." Ralin said with obvious aggitation. He also fixed the man with a look that dared him to say something about the misshapen part of his mini-rant.

Harlen tilted his head to the side but otherwise his expression didn't change. He'd dealt with people like Ralin before so wasn't exactly threatened, though of course he leant back a little, just in case. "A simple no would have sufficed," his tone was ever so slightly mocking. The officer finally pulled out what he'd been hunting for in the draw and placed it on the table. "This is just a document for general information, questions we ask all people entering the city." Pushing the paper towards Ralin he cleared his throat. "I'm going to need your full name, place of birth, occupation, marital status," Harlen paused as he stared once again at the sheet. "Oh and there is a part about children, but I assume you don't have any of those," it was an obvious stab at the guy currently seated in his office.

Ralin sneered at the man, the kind of sneer reserved for the people that didn't know their place in his eyes. He snatched up the paper and a nearby pen and began answering the questions. In the silence you could hear faint, muffled clicks and whirs. It was obvious that the man had some internal hardware. "It's like no one in the world knows who I am." he mumbled to himself and he shoved the completed paper away, back towards the officer.

"I see," as the paper was shoved at him, Harlen took a small step back in his chair, using the desk to push off of. This man seemed a bit dodgy so he made sure he had the phone within reaching distance just in case he flipped. Harlen picked up the completed sheet and began to read. "Can you just talk me through this so we have all the correct details..please," he slurred the word 'please' and placed the form down, using a pen to go to each line in turn.

Fighting the urge to ask the officer if he was capable of reading, Ralin began answering a few of the basest of questions. "Name: Ralon Karatis, Male, 23, Birthplace: Karatis Spaceport, unemployed, not married, and no kids, and I'm coming to this city because of family matters." He really saw no point in this huge waste of time. A person of his type should be welcomed into the city with open arms. "Anything else?"

"Oh no, that's fine." Harlen gave Ralin a fake smile as he put the document back in the desk, seemingly just chucking it in as if it really didn't matter at all. "Do you have accommodation sorted out or will you need one of our officers to help you locate a home?" He instinctively reached towards a small booklet about Government housing, expecting the man to pretty much be on his own considering his unsavoury personality.

"I do not have a place yet, but I do not need your poor houses." Ralin said, seeing the booklet the officer was going for. "All I am needing is to find a house for sale that fits my needs. Till then I will be staying in a hotel."

"Well okay," Harlen tossed the booklet aside. He took out a few more forms from the draw and began to scan over them, occasionally looking up from the sheets to glance at Ralin, implying they were about him. "May I ask why you are here? I have no information about your past employment or education so will need some detail upon your 'intentions'."

Ralin really didn't think telling him the real reason would help him get into this city any more then his winning personality, he just had to figure out how to word it better. "My parents decided it was time for me to move out of the nest and on to my own life."

"I'm going to need a bit more information than that," Harlen narrowed his eyes and put down the papers he had been holding. "To enter the city we have to do CV checks, hence we require ALL information." He could tell Ralin was hiding something and the sparse information they had collected suggested whatever it was, was of an unsavory nature. "Why did your parents make you move out? Why did you decide to come here? You don't just travel here for no reason, there is always something pulling or pushing you."

Ralin was still not going to tell this man that he stole a ship from their spaceport and crashed it, almost costing his family their business. "I was involved in ship crash at my father's spaceport."

"I see," Harlen made a small note of this though made it very clear with a large question mark that he did not believe Ralin. "And, you had a normal education? Only did the mandatory learning." He needed to know this mans skills if he was going to help him get a job.

"If normal is a whole slew of private and very expensive tutors." Ralin said, answering the question and bragging about his wealth at the same time. "A bit more then the 'mandatory' learning."

"Okay, I'll just tick other and write that in the box below," there was a hint of sarcasm in Harlen's voice as he filled the document out so, as if he was mocking Ralin. "Well, with such an extensive amount of knowledge I'm sure you are aware of the history of Krung Thep?" Placing his pen down, Harlen lent his aged face on his palm and looked expectantly at Ralin.

"The City of Angels or The Grand Capital of the World Endowed with Nine Precious Gems?" Ralin said, using two of its other names. "I know that it is an old city that, after the world changed, became a sort of Eden for those that wished to live a good life."

"So I take it you read the tour guide in the waiting room?" Harlen nearly rolled his eyes when Ralin pretty much quoted the the front cover of the book at him, but was impressed by the latter part of the statement. "Yes, this is Eden indeed." He gracefully swept his hand around his office and smiled, looking intently at the young sickly looking man. "Might I esquire about your, physique?"

Ralin let out a very loud sigh, "If you must. The crash almost killed me as it nearly destroyed my entire body. They used mechanical implants and replacements to keep me alive and functioning as more of my body failed. I am more of a robot now then human."

"Crash?" Harlen went back to his reports and files and began to flit through. "Ah yes, it details here about the incident with the ship," he gave Ralin a cautious look, he'd probably just read the bit about the nature of the incident itself. "We have health plans, should you require further treatment." Harlen moved yet again to another draw and began to fish out the leaflets. "Do you require further treatment? What are the limitations of your 'condition'?"

"My condition is stable and I do not require any more treatment unless one of the parts suffers a malfunction." Ralin said, obviously not very keen on speaking about this. "And if one does then I will most likely be dead before help could ever be called."

"Either way I would like to give you this," Harlen pushed a small leaflet towards Ralin, detailing the locations of the hospitals within the city and contacts should he fall ill. "I would also recommend that you registers with a GP or at least have a meeting with one of our health care officials." Harlen didn't know much about Ralin's condition so couldn't comment further, he just didn't want the young man walking out only to suffer some awful attack cause by his disability. He may have been cynical about the people who immigrated to Krung Thep but he would never wish sickness upon them.

Ralin rolled his eyes and grabbed the leaflet, he couldn't stand people who were so worried about how "fragile" he was. "Anything else?" he asked.

As Ralin snatched the leaflet, Harlen moved back a little in his chair. "No more questions, though I would have liked to discuss your personal issues further," it seemed he didn't want to drop the health matter. "But if you are ready to leave I can sign your papers." He grabbed all the sheets together and shuffled them down on the desk, aligning them perfectly and then stapling them together. As he picked out the front sheet to sign he grabbed a few little flyers. "If you are interested in meeting some people you should check out these." Harlen handed the flyers to Ralin. "There are celebrations taking place all over the city, you arrived at a good time for socialization."

Right, as if Ralin had any interest in socializing with others. "I will keep that in mind." he said in hopes that it won't create a need for further conversation.

"Then I'll just sign your papers I guess," Harlen left the conversation at that and began to fill in the front sheet. "Alright I need you to sign here and here." He pushed the sheet towards Ralin and handed him a pen, gesturing with a finger where the guy should sign and date.

Ralin took the pen and briskly signed and dated the paper in the appropriate spots. He set the pen down and pushed the paper back to the officer. He greatly hoped that this whole charade was over and he would be able to get into the city and start his new life.

"Well then," Harlen muttered as he clipped the front page onto the file. "I hope you find your feet in Krung Thep," he marked the sheets with an 'approved' stamp. "All you have to do is sign out as you leave and you're free to enter the city." Harlen gave the man a small smile and gestured to the door. "Good evening."

"Let's hope." Ralin said as he stood from the seat and walked out of the office. He took a bit to locate where he was supposed to sign out, once located he moved over there quickly and requested the sign out sheet.

---

- Genesis Gauntlet