Name: Bethany Trodden
Age: 6
Type: Tecno/Human
Height: 3' 8''
Weight: 45 ¼ pounds
Hair: Reddish-Brown and Short
Eyes: Blue, Green, Purple, and everything in between, all at once
History:
"Abandoned" as a baby at the door of the Meridiana Civic Hospital, she was adopted by one of the richest couples in Meridiana, Cyprus and Serena Trodden. Six years later she is "again" orphaned when a fire destroys her house and kills her parents, at which point she becomes the legal ward of Lucas Amato. At least, that's the public story; what the world doesn't know is that Cyprus and Serena were Tecnos in Von Richter's employ, made to help infiltrate the upper class of Meridiana society. But Von Richter had failed to take into account that they were a pair when he brainwashed them to do his bidding, and when put into the real world they reverted to their human personalities. After disobeying him by cutting down on the amount of Sustenance they needed to survive, they surprised themselves by having a child, Bethany, who for her own protection they pretended to adopt so Von Richter would not become suspicious. But they could not shield her forever, and after Bethany introduces them to Adrian and Lucas -and they convince Lucas to sign as her guardian - Von Richter kills them. Fortunately, he does not realize that Bethany was outside to see her friends CyberSix and Data 7, and thus she is spared.
She now lives as Lucas's ward, happy after she recovers from her parent's deaths and despite the fact that she has gone from being the richest girl in Meridiana to surviving on a teacher's salary and monthly checks from her trust fund. She is open and friendly with everyone, and makes everyone around her happier just by being around her. She also has a hobby of reading psychology books, which she mainly understands if she takes them slowly. But during the night she is unavoidably caught up in the battle with Von Richter, and while she cannot fight she helps her friends however she can, mainly by trying to keep everyone from hating each other until everything works out.
Abilities:
Bethany's DNA is unique: her parent's genetic codes were highly structured by Von Richter, which means hers has properties of a Tecno but is naturally more random like a human's. Physically, these means she's slightly better than a normal person her age - slightly stronger (About 2 times.), faster (About 5 times), and more agile (About 4 times.) - but nowhere near as good as one Von Richter's altered creatures, even taking into account her young age. It also means she doesn't need Sustenance, because the sperm and ovum from her parents that contained this coding could never have reproduced, although it theoretically wouldn't hurt her because her mother had to continue taking it while pregnant. Her real abilities, however, lie in her mind; she is highly intelligent and has psychic abilities - including both telepathy and seeing the future - beyond anything Von Richter has ever made. Unfortunately, she doesn't understand them, and can't use them to their full potential.
Her psychic abilities result in her occasionally acting more mature than her six years as her mind unconsciously reflects on her when she is older, especially when everyone needs a voice of reason and she's all that's left. She also has a tendency of saying things that she shouldn't understand or everyone thinks is impossible, but which inevitably turn out to be true. Occasionally she also gets what she thinks of as "tickles" or "itches" in her mind, that direct her to where she has to be or to do something she really has to do. Most importantly, she can get sudden flashes of danger before they happen, which can provide some much-needed forewarning. Although it takes a while, Lucas, CyberSix and everyone eventually realize to take everything she says literally and seriously, because she only says things to help, even if she usually forgets what she's said because she's still too young mentally to understand it.
Her telepathy also has several interesting effects, all of which Bethany takes for granted because they're normal for her. She has a telepathic connection with all of Von Richter's creations - which varies depending on how much they listen to him and their own inborn abilities - although it usually takes place on an unconscious level, so she thinks she's only daydreaming about talking to creatures floating in green goo. She sees things honestly, and all but the best disguises are like nothing before her, so she knows everyone's secret identities. She stays quiet about everyone except enemies, however, because she knows how important it is for them to remain hidden, even from each other, although it drives her nuts that Lucas doesn't know that Adrian is really CyberSix. Her telepathy can also give her the ability to "overwrite" Von Richter's programming on some of his creations, particularly Fixed Ideas. She doesn't know she can do this, however, and only does it in extreme stress by accident when her friends are in danger. The last side effect of her telepathic abilities is an "aura" of her own emotions that surrounds her, effecting everyone around her; because she's usually happy and always honest, all but the hardest hearts feel better around her - it's kind of a "reverse-empathy" thing. This is largely responsible for very one falling in love with her on sight, although she's too good-natured to ever take advantage of it even if she did realize what was happening. She's also slightly empathic herself, so she makes judgements about people as soon as she meets them, and refuses to change them later because they have yet to be proven wrong.
Relationships:
Adrian/CyberSix: She loves this girl like a sister, and CyberSix is the only one other than Lucas that she'd risk her life for. The only thing that she doesn't like about CyberSix is the fact that she won't tell Lucas the truth about herself, which Bethany knows is going to happen eventually and it's only going to be painful for everyone until he knows. Of course, CyberSix doesn't listen to her, even though she adores the kid like her own. Unlike Julian, however, Bethany has the sense to stay out of trouble, so CyberSix has to spend less time protecting her.
Lucas: She's his ward, and treats him like a (very) older brother. He happily returns this, and is very overprotective of her. She has no problem with this because she knows she can't fight, but it drives her nuts when he never listens to her about taking his own advise. She's equally protective of him because he and CyberSix are all that remains of her "family," and even though she understands unconsciously there's no way to keep him out of things forever the last thing she wants is for him to get hurt.
Data 7: Because of her telepathy, she can talk directly to Data 7 and hear him back, so they get along fine; sometimes she even forgets he's in the body of a cat. He's as protective of her as he is of Julian, which she just finds comforting because she knows he means well.
Lori: She gets a kick out of Lori, who reminds her almost of an older version of herself, if with a somewhat bigger attitude. Of course, Lori's crush on Adrian drives her crazy, but other than that they get along great.
Von Richter: The guy is responsible for her parents' deaths, is out to destroy the only family she has left, and if he ever gets his hands on her her life will be over. How do you think she feels about him?!? He's forgotten that he wanted to examine her after her parents died, but if he ever remembers he might realize how much she acts like a Tecno and how much he wanted to experiment on her. Obviously, the plan it to prevent that from happening as long as possible.
José: The only times she's ever seen the kid, he was trying to kill CyberSix, so she's positively terrified of him. If she knew him better, she'd probably find him as ridiculous as everyone else does, but until then she just wants him to leave her and her friends alone. Unfortunately, he's the only one that notices that things happen when she's around, and is beginning to put two and two together about her abilities.
Erika:As long as she's not trying to hurt her "family," Erika and Bethany are best friends. When the fighting starts, though, all bets are off, which leaves Bethany confused and hurt by the betrayal.
Everyone Else: Everyone who's good, she likes, but everyone that is trying to hurt her "family" she hates instantly. The only one that confuses her is F3, because she keeps switching back and forth, although she's minimally successful in turning her back to the good side. Unless they know her really well, though, people usually just don't know what to make of her, because she fits in no model of a six-year-old they've ever known.
