Rockstar hails from Los Angeles, California. She's been in the spotlight since her debut as a Ward, always on the front page of some magazine, TV show, or sketchy tabloid site. She has no cape persona, and her public information is full game. Her debut was loud and flashy- an experiment gone wrong due to a tinkertech malfunction. No one was hurt, but the abandoned warehouse she was using as a workshed was shaken down to its foundations and later collapsed. After she joined up with the PRT, she made it her duty to always be in the starlight in some way, shape, or form. Her recent transfer to Devilfish has been under some amount of scrutiny- but the official talking point is to, "Bring life into an otherwise unnoticed Protectorate branch." She sticks by this, regardless of whatever nasty rumors the tabloids drum up.
As Rockstar (which is an incredibly cliche name to release music under) she’s released two full-length albums, a 4 song EP, and a slew of singles and tracks she’s been featured on. Her first album, Damage Control, is a pop-rock look into being a cape and totally PRT pushed. Her second album, NewGame+, is less PRT focused and is a multi-genre rock opera style album that deals with the themes of identity, isolation, being comfortable as yourself- and also has a quirky interlude about really enjoying some salsa late at night. Her first album wasn’t very well received, with many people seeing it as a PRT cash-grab. (True depending on who you asked.) Her second was more successful, with one of the singles from the album hitting the #8 slot in the Billboard Hot 100.
Emmaline is exactly what you'd think of when you imagine a teen (semi) Popstar. She's loud, gaudy, and always doing something that ends her up in the public eye. Standing at 5'4", she makes up for her small stature with how loud she is. Pink hair constantly done up in a flashy little 'do, with her outfits even flashier. When she'd not trying to draw attention to herself, she usually wears a hat and bulky clothing to obfuscate her identity as much as possible. She's exactly what you'd expect from someone who's physical appearance is often the end-all be-all of her popularity.
Equipment and Resources
Tinkertech gear that she takes into the field, in addition to the standard slew of equipment that the PRT outfits the heroes with. Handcuffs, zipties, pepperspray, SWORDFISH-approved communications relay, and the like. Whatever is reasonable to take into the field as a hero does.
Small little floating drones that project light onto an area in front of them, as well as around them. They're mostly spherical, with the exception of where the lights are mounted. Each one is slightly larger than a tennis ball.
Abilities
The Sonospheres operate off of sonoluminescence- meaning they create light through sound. The louder that the sound is around them, the brighter they can become. At the maximum, the entire array can create enough light that each one is as bright as a floodlight. In addition to being able to produce light from them, the Sonospheres are also capable of recording the area around them- approximately 30 feet.
One of the staples of Rockstar's arsenal, it allows her to turn any patrol she's apart of into an impromptu concert if she so chose.
Relatively easy to make, it's more worth her time to build a new one and scrap a damaged one for parts than it is to repair said damaged one. The Sonospheres serve as a baseline platform for potential upgrades in the future.
A flashy, gaudy suit that Rockstar wears into the field. It has the trappings of something that Lady Gaga would wear to the VMA's. It's skintight, pink and cyan, and covered in sound equipment. It has a small case on the back of it for the Sonospheres to deploy out of, as well as a mounted rig that carries speakers along her body. LED's run up and down the length of it.
Abilities
The Sonosuit turns Rockstar into a one-woman show. She's able to amplify her voice to incredible lengths- approximately up to 150 decibels, which is louder than listening to a live rock band in the front row in front of the speakers. It's armored enough to deflect knives and small caliber pistol ammunition, but only knives reliably. The suit allows her to manipulate sound in a variety of ways. She can increase or decrease sounds in an area around her, approximately 75 feet. She can launch a bass-noise-rumble out of her feet, which allows her to 'fly' (More like jumping really well.) The equipment gives her a HUD with pertinent information. Decibel level and sounds from around her. The pitches created from her speakers are able to amplify or detract from emotions- but not as strong as an outright emotion hijack. Her sound is bone-conducted, meaning that you hear it even if you cover your ears or use earplugs.
A tinkertech guitar that hooks into the overall sound system of the Sonosuit. It's rigid enough to be used as a baton in either its collapsed or extended form. It's very minimalistic, more like a MIDI controller than an actual guitar.
Abilities
Stratos is the means by which Rockstar accompanies herself. She can launch visible soundwaves out of her speaker system by using it, as well as use it to beat the fuck out of villains when they think they can flee arrest. Mostly, it's just a means by which she can make a show. The main effect of the guitar is that it's an infrasonic psychological weapon. Those that hear it's tune find themselves experiencing awe or unease at the frequencies it operates at. The soundwaves she launches from the device can be focused or omni-directional. She can adjust the performance, volume, and traits of the device through VenueControl.
The Stratos is entirely white, an homage to The Artist Formerly Known as Prince's guitar Cloud
N/A. Built into her suit and nearly entirely software.
Abilities
VenueControl is the general term for the controller portion of her helmet and equipment. It's designed to increase her sounds, and decrease the sounds that she doesn't like or want someone else to hear. It makes sure she's autotuned and always on pitch, as well as keeping her equipment running smoothly. It also operates the microphone panopticon that's on the Sonosuit. through this, Rockstar is able to capture voice prints and analyze them through their patterns of speech. It pings back to her computer back at base, and is engineered into a voice profile which can then be used to text-to-speech a voice that's been analyzed. The microphones are very sensitive, even able to pick up someone's hearbeat if they're close enough.
If you're within a 50 foot range of Rockstar and you're having a hushed conversation- not only can she hear you, but you're also being recorded. The extent of the sensitivity is not publicly known, and she's nearly always recording at all times. Regardless if you're hero, villain, or civilian- if Rockstar gets ahold of your voice she's making a copy of it.
About the size of a volleyball, the Concert-Grade Sonospheres are oddly-shaped. They vibrate and shift like they're alive, shifting through several different spherical shapes as they pulse and hum through the air. While they don't look as if they're capable of doing much- the Sonospheres can direct focused or omni-directional light, in addition to changing shapes and reallocating mass.
Abilities
Similar to the normal Sonospheres, the Concert version is capable of the same feats. They can create dazzling light shows, holograms, and even simulate fireworks and lasers. In addition to that, each one of the Sonospheres is capable of acting as both a subwoofer and a surround sound system, pumping out whatever Rockstar wants up to 150db. The Sonospheres are also two-way devices, recording sound in addition to broadcast. They can record any sound within a 50 foot radius, and are sensitive enough to pick up someone's heartbeat. The sounds they make are bone conductive, meaning that you don't need your ears to hear the music. These Sonospheres are also capable of broadcasting Rockstar's master effect, though it's off by default and needs to be toggled on. The official reasoning for this is: Crowd Control during EB or Class A/S events. The 'Infrasonic Psychological Weapon' setting is also toggled off, but can be toggled on. She will have ten of these for the show.
Some of them are painted when in storage. Little hearts and pink skulls.
A software plugin to VenueControl, this allows Rockstar to use her Sonospheres to silence or deafen an area within the Sonosphere's range. She can pinpoint certain sounds and cause them to become dramatically amplified, or silenced. The same applies for the overall area as a whole- allowing her to deafen and entire area completely, or turn every sound within it up to 175db. This is only included with the Concert Grade Sonospheres, but will be added at some point. Duration: Until upgraded. Can be destroyed, but it's a software program that Rockstar keeps under lock and key.
A subwoofer array that's modular, allowing her to scale the amount of bass needed for a show. The entire array consists of a literal wall of subwoofers, with each of them being varying size. The front of them are slick like metal or glass, making it almost like a mirrored finish.
Abilities
Originally designed for concerts, this array has been upgraded over time. It allows for a massive increase in bass, allowing an entire stadium to vibrate to the point of shaking itself apart. The mirrored surface projects lasers, lightshows, and holograms. At maximum, this array is capable of creating a physical wall of sound similar to a forcefield. It's entirely meant to amplify shows/concerts, or be used for crowd control in Class A/S events. Capable of being used as an Infrasonic Psychological Weapon, but this effect has been turned off and needs to be toggled on. The entire array is about the size of the back stage wall- so about 50'x20'. She can remove parts of the array for individual use. The smallest one she would be able to carry on her back. The smaller it goes, the more diminished the effects.
The voice is a combination of the several voices that Abacus requested, in addition to a little bit extra thrown into it. It sounds nearly-human, but is purposely designed to be firmly in that uncanny valley niche. Rockstar based it off of the vocal mannerisms of several real people that she'd stolen from, in addition of scraping audio files of the insane AI's that Abacus seemed to romanticize so much. The program is running on Rockstar's servers, but she would give Abacus the source information so she can run it on her own.
A pair of all black tinted sunglasses. They're aviators, but Rockstar can port them into any suitable glasses.
Abilities
The glasses are capable of running VenueControl while Rockstar is out and about in her 'civilian' persona. They are capable of doing everything that VenueControl normally does, hooked up to Rockstar so she can control them with the same amount of ease. The downside is that she needs to be wearing them, though they do have a limited amount of voice control.
An upgrade on the Sonospheres before them, these drones are much more elegant to look at. It's impossible to tell where the LED's are mounted on the device, yet it's able to produce omni-directional light within all portions of the visible spectrum. The drones themselves are roughly between the size of a tennis ball and a grapefruit, and are completely spherical. When activated, they shift into odd geometric shapes as the metal moves and shifts like water.
Abilities
An upgrade to the previous Sonospheres, Rockstar has gone for redundancy. The upgraded Sonospheres are capable of producing light and sound, in addition to recording sound. The sound they produce isn't nearly as loud as her suit, and it's moreso designed to be surround sound than anything else. They're designed to record at an incredible intensity. If you're within 50 feet of one of her Sonospheres- she not only can hear your heartbeat, but is recording it too.
A program currently being tested. Through the use of low-level hums and pitch-shifts, Rockstar is currently trying to map out terrain. It doesn't work very well as it's in pre-production, but the program does give her enough information to determine that something is somewhere. Due to how the pulse works, there's a latency. It cannot track people just yet- only stationary objects. If you're standing or sitting still, though, she can get you.
In addition to the mapping portion, the module allows for the Sonospheres to mitigate damage. Setting them up in a perimeter around herself, this program will stop Rockstar from unintentionally shattering windows or causing general damage. She can still do it intentionally, though.
A set of earrings, a necklace, a choker, two rings (one for either hand) and a torso-mounted bodysuit rig.
Abilities
Worn together, this allows Emma a measure of protection when she's in her civilian comings and goings. It allows her to turn her voice into an infrasonic psychological weapon. Following in the stead of the rest of her tech, it allows her to get extremely loud, or extremely quiet. Her voice becomes bone conductive. She can force someone to experience awe, fear, psychosomatic pain, happiness, forgetfulness, sadness, and anger. Though, it's within the bounds of the individual person. She can't force someone to become more angry or happy than they can get on their own. This module also makes her practically immune to audio-based Master/Stranger effects. This portion of the module carries on to her regular patrol costume. (I just forgot to put it in the original post oopsies.)
The databank that Rockstar uses to store her voice modules. Currently she has a rudimentary voice module for everyone in the PRTHQ. Rudimentary meaning, short sentences that sound fairly realistic. She has an advanced module for the following individuals: Zipdash, Mantle, Zeitgeist, Phalanx, Abacus, and Celestial Wind. Advanced profiles allow Rockstar to create a perfect copy of that voice, completely indistinguishable from the original. It will fool any and all voice recognition tests, in addition to fooling any sound-based M/S protocols.
A squat building on the crossroads of Utah and Ramsey, parallel to Arena Drive. The building itself is covered in graffiti, wires of several powerpoles and telephone wires all leading to it. While the building itself looks messy- nothing looks particularly out of place. It just looks forgotten, lost to time. The upstairs of the building has been boarded up and stuffed with Rockstar's tinkertech. The interior is clean, with a few salvaged chairs and tables scattered around. Tinkertech is carefully catalogued and kept cleanly organized.
Abilities
The building itself has been stuffed with Rockstar's tinkertech. She's been slowly accumulating tinkertech over the last several months. She's built a second lab inside of the building, using her knowledge of general electrics to wire herself into the city's powergrid in a way that looks like acceptable bleedage. Noise Control is the brain of her operations, and from here she makes changes to her software or hardware that the PRT otherwise wouldn't allow. Here's, she's amassed enough v2.0 Sonospheres to give herself fantastic situational awareness of the surrounding streets, in addition to mapping the area out over time and creating perfect 3D models of the terrain. The building consists of a backup for nearly everything she's ever made, encrypted with M/S Protocols that she's devised herself.
A small tube-like device, about a foot long with an odd set of angled octagons at one end.
Abilities
The Sonic Screamer is a prototype device. It's designed to emit incredibly powerful acoustic energy in a general direction, either targeted or untargeted. It's designed to lock onto a chosen object and release short bursts of frequency designed to break, shatter, or otherwise render the target unusable or destroyed. This is not finished tech, Rockstar's just laying groundwork for something brutal.
Skills and Specializations
Rockstar's power gives her an innate understanding of all musical instruments, musical composition and theory, as well as vocal ability. Anything relating to music she just gets! She's only moderately versed in boxing, having taken a few classes just to make sure she didn't always have to rely on her tinkertech. Out of costume, she likes to do some scrapbooking and interior design. A little bit of fashion stuff, too. Pays to always be on the cutting-edge of haute couture.
Mentality
Emmaline is lonely. Incredibly lonely. Sure, she has all the fame and adoration she could ever want- but at the end of the day it's worthless. She's paranoid that people only want her for her fame, for her looks, for her power, and never the stuff inside that makes her who she really is. She's afraid that she's boring and dull, so she often acts out in the public eye just to make herself interesting. All publicity is good publicity, after all. Her shard has only increased the thoughts and ideas that she has, ramping up her paranoia of interpersonal relationships past the point that it was before she'd triggered. She's still a stable individual, but there's always a part of her that yearns for something more. To be truly noticed.
Power
Trigger Type: Natural Single.
Rockstar is a sound-focused tinker with a slight subdiscipline in Master effects. Through the tech she creates, she's able to both manipulate how sound operates, and also manipulate the emotions of those that hear them. She would be classified as a Multithreaded Tinker (Hyperspec X Multi). The more that her different effects line up, the better that her tech operates. While she can still make tech in only one category, it tends to either be shallower, or hyper-focused.
Backstory
Emmaline had never had anyone actually love her. Not really. For years and years and years, she was the bane of existence to everyone around her. A failure. A waste of space. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she worked- it was always the same. She was the byproduct of a ruined marriage, just a tool used by her parents to get back at each other. Despite being an only child, she knew that her parents would've been better off without having kids at all. Emma did everything she could to try and stand out, to make something of herself. It never seemed to work. She was always a failure, always unloved, always alone. Even when she eventually found a small group of friends it never felt like it was anything real. She could've ever tell if she was being used or not, just a pawn in some nefarious gang of her betters. Day after day, week after week, year after year- she did what she could. She learned that she could find solace in music, and started to make her own. Even then, no one was ever really impressed. It was just the futile efforts of a sad, sad girl. No one supported her. Not even her friends. Eventually, she just got used to it. She learned to shut up, keep her chin up, and not rely on anyone for something you can do yourself. It all came to a head one day when her Mom was drunk, screaming, violent. She ran away, got a ride over to her Dad's house in the hope that it would be better there. Bad idea. He ripped the headphones out of her ears and broke them,, throwing them to the ground and stomping them underfoot. It was all just silly little games, her silly little coping mechanism. It all came to a head that day. The loneliness, the betrayal, the isolation- and a problem she was never able to solve no matter what she tried. Trigger.
While in the Wards, Rockstar was more focused on her career as a musician than as a Hero. While she does have experience both patrolling and fighting villains, she was often relegated to console duty due to her perceived importance by PRT higher ups. After a close call that's been covered up, she was transferred to Devilfish in an attempt to cool down.
