Chinese NPCs

Major Yu Li Kuang

Yu Li Kuang was an officer in the People’s Liberation Army when he erupted during an otherwise uninteresting meeting with the Wuhan Steelworks Association in 2001. Suddenly he was surrounded by bluish light, light which he could shape into patterns or turn into clear laser beams. His thinking changed to a state of total strategic clarity and he realized that he had become superhuman.

After over a year of examination he was announced to the world. The major is proud to be spokesnova of China and is fiercely nationalistic. In the media he is described as the great Chinese military-scholar and he often plays the role of the clear-thinking commentator lauding official policies or plans. He is able to create realistic illusions, send out searing blasts of bluish laser light and demonstrates profound administrative and tactical thinking.

Being a military genius has proven singularly frustrating for him. He sees blunders on every level, and convincing the authorities that they ought to listen to him because he is right has proven extraordinarily difficult. Especially since he does not want to criticise anybody or go outside his role.

Privately he is a keen reader of Confucian and Taoist classics, despite their unsuitability to party norms. He is genuinely and quietly engrossed in their ideas, hoping they will help guide him and China through the current transformations. He is ashamed to admit even to himself that he thinks the I Ching does give him very useful advice.

Ao Anli ”The Engineer”

Ao Anli was a young engineer when he erupted dramatically during a stressful traffic jam in central Shanghai. Suddenly all cars drove themselves out of his way, causing a massive foul-up and plenty of personal damage.

It was discovered that Ao Anli was able to control and perceive technology at a distance. In addition he had gained a tremendous intelligence and ability to design machines in his head.

Ao Anli is a peaceful, somewhat conformist man. He doesn’t want to stand out and prefers to quietly work from the research centre the MSS has given him. There he is overseeing design work of new rockets and planes, as well as a project in processor design.

Xia Lingkuo

An ordinary Beijing traffic cop, Xia Lingkuo erupted in a traffic accident he escaped from by flying out of the way. He soon discovered that he had tremendous abilities to run and fly long distances.

A simple and pragmatic man, he enjoys the newfound fame and does what he can to avoid rocking the boat. His wife is more worried, both out of jealousy and the realization that one misstep from her beloved husband can make him an embarrassment, and what then?

Bei Lange (“Taikonaut”)

Bei Lange was a 14 year old farmer girl in Sichuan, working hard but dreaming of going somewhere. One day her wish was literally granted when she suddenly “fell into the sky” and began to fly/orbit around the world. After several scary hours she managed to control her powers and got back to Earth, landing in Xian. She was taken in by the government who soon realized her tremendous potential. News spread, and she was declared the first Chinese in space – the Taikonaut. Beside the Major she is the best known and loved Chinese nova. She is loved, feted and listened to. Becoming a nova was the best thing that ever happened to her.

Bei Lange is able to fly freely and survive perfectly in space. She can perceive things around her in a vast volume. She also has gained tremendous beauty and charisma.

Yan Yan Keu

While the Major and Engineer are highly visible Yan Yan Keu is a well-kept secret. She is able to read and influence minds at a great distance, something that both worries and appeals to the intelligence community. To make matters worse anybody she meets takes a liking to her; she is so pleasant to be around.

The MSS uses her for telepathic spying, monitoring loyalty and other useful tasks, but does not trust her fully. How can they tell if she is loyal? Once her charms were understood she was also carefully kept away from other novas, the leadership of the MSS and other vital institutions.

Yan Yan on the other side is getting bored. Her mental abilities are great enough to reveal most about a person – his character, history, motivation, hidden flaws and quirks and the like. This makes other people boring, like already read books. She is starting to realise that novas are the only ones that can surprise her and be interesting, but the authorities are transparently trying to keep her away from them. And their “secret” contingency plans to get rid of her in case she rebels are so crude…

”Lady Phoenix”

The nova codenamed Lady Phoenix erupted in a rural village outside Guiyang in late 2004. At her eruption every male mammal (and some reptiles) died within a radius of five kilometres. Although her powers quickly went down, she still continuously produces a field that damages cells containing the Y-chromosome. She cannot turn off this permanent power; just reduce the radius down to 25 meters. When realising her situation she went quite mad, and it has taken the finest female psychologists the MSS can find to bring her back to a somewhat functional state. Now she is kept at an isolated research compound in the remote inland while the authorities are pondering what to use her for.

“Reasonable hate”

Another near-miseruption, although quite stable. The nova looks like a human without skin and suffers from total amnesia. It is able to induce rage, hate and other anger-related emotions in others. It can make people go berserk or collapse in helpless fury. As for itelf, he only becomes more and more placid the more people hate and kill around it. The MSS keeps it isolated, both for its own sake and for others.

Yu Chen Lo (“Kid Cadre”)

One of Chinas youngest and most promising novas. Just ten years old, his enormous intelligence and enhanced physical abilities complements a nearly ideal behaviour. The third son of a party official in Harbin, he erupted late 2004 and quickly became the darling of the MSS. He is learning at a prodigious rate, mastering administration computers, chess and martial arts to the astonishment of his teachers.

One of his abilities that most impressed the officials was his psychic shield; Yan Yan Keu had a hard time breaking through. This suggests that Yu Chen may become mentally impenetrable as he grows up, a valuable defence against Yan Yan.

Who the real Yu Chen Lo is only he knows. He is able to hide his thoughts even from himself, so if there is a treacherous streak in him he might not even know it. He seems to be the cheerful young intellectual: unfailingly polite to superiors, harsh but fair to others.

The Major has taken him under his wing and regularly challenges him to chess games.