[Phantom]

Zachariah Jacob Kwon

Full Name: Zachariah Jacob Kwon
Pronouns: He/Him
Nicknames: Zack/Zach
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Room #: -
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
Birthday: May 16th
Orientation: Pansexual
Status: Single
Power: Zodiac Magic
Play-By: Jongsuk Lee
Height: 6'0
Weight: 167 lbs


Personality:
Zachariah is very changeable, and tends to match the energy of the person- or people- he's interacting with. He is a master code-switcher, and incredibly charismatic. Zack is considerate of other people's needs- especially now, as he's so in tune with his own. He is empathetic, especially towards those who have lost as much as he has. When he has something to give, he is generous- and when he doesn't, he is resourceful (because there is never one right way to do anything). Personally, Zack is actually very energetic. He leads with verve and incisiveness- and due to his upbringing, possesses a special insight into other's gifts.

Zack is a paradoxical mix of open and confidential. But- everyone has a story- and he can just share what works for him. He is wary of strangers, and new 'friends', who suddenly try to insert themselves into his life. He is constantly aware of his surroundings, and who's in them. Zachariah is high-spirited, and more than a little mischievous. While he understands, deeply, the importance of secrecy- he is outspoken. He cannot sit by and abide injustice. Needless to say, he tends to attract trouble.

What is he really? He is angry. Zack has lost his parents, many of his friends, -his people-, and his way of life. He agonizes, frequently, about the state of things- and how to change it. He feels a massive sense of pressure and responsibility. While he ultimately wouldn't change it- he is resentful that he never got to live a 'normal' life. He also feels resentful that he has worked- and is continuing to work- so hard, and will likely not live long enough to see the fruits of his efforts. Zachariah is an extremist. He just might not seem like it at first- or for a long time after that. But he feels the time for "compromise" is about past.

Zack is both imaginative and a realist. He works in the world that currently exists- but he is always pushing- inch by inch- towards the world as he dreams it to be. He has a strong vision for the future: even if he's sure he won't be in it. In fact, Zachariah is so certain of his impending doom that he is actively looking for someone to pass all of his knowledge down to. Zack has spent his entire life in the resistance- he is deeply committed to the mission, and gifted-kind. But there is more to him than meets the eye.

History:
For his entire life- except for a brief break between the ages of ten and sixteen- Zachariah has always been some version of sick. In his earliest memories he had a PICC line, (his "tail",) a feeding tube- and a rash from his cutaneous mast cell disease. They just could not get rid of it- no matter how many antihistamines or steroids they tried.

As a child, he knew nothing. Nothing about the gifted. Nothing about the resistance. He lived in a small apartment with his parents up until he was six years old. Suddenly, they were packing their bags and leaving. He didn't fully understand what was going on at the time, but he could tell it was urgent, and went along without fussing.

From then on, the resistance became his life.

They started as a very small group, concerned about the rumors that were beginning to spread. That the government was beginning to gather gifted. And it sounded ridiculous, unless you knew someone who disappeared. Zack knew about disappearing- he knew other people with his disease, or a form of it- that had died. To him they were one and the same. He was scared of his parents disappearing.

At first they just lived as a group, outside of the city in a "safe house" (it seemed like an ordinary house to him, but what did he know?). Zack and one of the other kids went to school just like normal. Their parents skipped the parent teacher conferences.

Life, for him, continued as normal for a while. He still went to all his doctor's appointments, he nodded along and dealt with his teachers believing that his parents were absent, and he spent most of his time at home.

He could tell from listening to the adults that something serious was going on- even if they didn't want him to know. There was a noticeable shift in the air one day, and things were tense ever since. He finished his first- and last- year in public school, and then they all moved.

They lived a migratory life. And, in the early days, they did not have much. They couldn't always stay in the best places- but they hopscotched around. From town to town- places that were safe, until they weren't. They opted into local poverty, and shadow economies, to get by. And- when they ran out of places- they went underground.

When he was six, they were a group of seven. When he was ten, they were a group of forty.

And when he was ten, suddenly, like nothing had ever happened- his rash disappeared- and all the other symptoms that came with it. He had his feeding tube removed. The PICC line had been out for some time, after a series of infections and site failures.

They practiced their powers together. They had action plans, developed grips and signs to identify each other- and their allies- by. For a while, Zachariah was just a concerned observer. He was jealous- he wished he had a power like that- but he didn't. He was ordinary, and he was just a kid anyway- what could he do? By then he had eavesdropped enough to have a good idea of what was going on in the outside world.

There were many nights he lay awake, wondering: Why are they killing us? Will they ever stop? With no answer.

The first time Zachariah ever used his power, he was frustrated. He was competing with another kid over something silly- and he melted the table they were playing their game on.

She promptly told on him.

Zack panicked. He had no idea what he just did, or how he did it- but he had to fix it and fast. There was, of course, no way to fix the jelly-like puddle on the floor. He was going to be in so much trouble.

But he wasn't. He hadn't hurt anyone- and they could always buy a new table.

Instead, everyone was puzzled. When he tried to show anyone what happened, he almost never got the same result. Even when they were practicing together, it was almost like he had several different powers. But nobody could figure out how, or what the difference was, between them. It was just a quirk of his- and they could learn to work around quirks.

It wasn't until he was thirteen when they figured it out. They were dealing very seriously with the crisis of gifted existence; astrology wasn't something that they talked about every day, or even at all. It was his mother who suggested it. She was a Leo- and so was that girl- and he melted things when they were together. His father was an Aquarius, and with him, he could use his power to hide effectively in a fog of clouds.

Zack had no power of his own, but he could use his power effectively with just about anyone- so long as he got creative. Their group continued to move and grow, and they were beginning to make more habitable settlements (permanent is perhaps too strong of a word). Ones that they could move to and from often.

If they stayed in one place too long, they risked getting raided. And as their group got larger- and their views more divided- they began to split up. Many believed that this was all a big misunderstanding, that they could reason their way out. Others were separatists, they planned to leave the country.

Their group- still one of the largest*- was becoming more militant by the day. They trained frequently on what to do if they were raided- and they would fight to the death.

*large being relative. A resistance movement getting to a gifted person before the government was becoming more rare by the second.

Their group had become so large they couldn't all live in the same place anymore. They built more bases, and safe houses. Switched more often than ever, and formed affinity groups.

When Zachariah was sixteen, his parents, and many of the older members of the group, traveled to a different base. They kept in contact for months- and then... nothing. Absolutely nothing. Disappeared. And in this case, Zack was sure disappeared meant dead.

He was never sure if it was from stress, or if it was inevitable, but he developed severe bowel issues shortly after.

Navigating the medical industrial complex by itself is a difficult task. Made all the more difficult by their need for secrecy. And this time, he didn't have his parents around to help him.

Zack began to harbor a deep resentment- at first for his body- and then towards the people that had done this to him- to his family. They were all his family now, and he had loved them dearly. But if they had really killed them all, what could he possibly do? He was just a teenager with a severe inflammatory bowel disease (so severe that he had a colostomy done two years later).

Having a literal shitbag was oodles of fun. Meanwhile, Zachariah was beginning to take on a more important role in the organization. The younger kids tended to look to him as a leader- and the adults (he was, at this point technically an adult, although he didn't feel like one,) saw him as an asset.

He himself, shitbag and all, decided that if they were traveling- he should see what the outside world had to offer- outside of the resistance, where the pressure was beginning to mount on his shoulders.

When they were in town for a few days, if there was an event or a festival, he'd go. Sometimes he'd meet an interesting stranger- and they'd fall in fake love for the evening. He was always careful not to get too attached to anything- or anyone- always knew that he had to hold people at arm's length that were uninvolved.

They were beginning to hear so often of bases being raided. If not one of their own, then those of another group. Meanwhile, the bulk of the gifted- the unaffiliated or the uninitiated- were getting these benign letters in the mail. They called it a school, but to him, it seemed more like a prison. If they were really interested in helping them "control" their gifts- they would do it out in the open. Not god knows where- where people went to never be heard from again.

He began to nurture the idea of uniting them all. Ideologically, they were different- but did that matter in the face of survival? Where were they going? Will they ever stop?

Zack eventually had his ostomy reversed. It was a risky procedure, he stayed in the ICU for weeks. It wasn't the first time. He was like the energizer bunny- one of the internists told him. Even when he was dying (he knew he was dying, right?) But he was still here. What didn't kill him left him scarred- but once they healed properly, he wasn't having constant intestinal infections anymore.

He couldn't die- he had too many people to fight for. Too many people relying on him, too much to do.

They began making plans to bolster their numbers. But it was becoming more difficult than ever to distinguish between friend and foe. Beyond the obvious moles- while his father had been in charge, and his successor after him- they began to make enemies. All the subgroups turned on each other like wolves for the little bit they had.

The fighting was pointless, and he smoothed things over when he could.

As for recruitment, it wasn't like they had anyone that could tell at a glance if someone was gifted. And those outside of the country didn't feel that it was their problem. Even if they were actively recruiting- what were they going to do? Where would they strike? It would be like running up against a brick wall. Any strike that wasn't precise would be seen as an insurgence or insurrection- they'd be crushed like ants.

Nonetheless, they continued to train amongst themselves. Kept moving, kept an eye out. When he had anything he could offer, he gave. When he couldn't, he became the problem solver in chief.

But just like everything else in his life, Zack's temporary good health did not last long. It was a slow creep. He'd suddenly feel exhausted out of nowhere. He'd get a rash sometimes, when he ate certain foods. He found himself getting overheated easily. He assumed that he was just pushing himself too hard. He began to change the way he did almost everything.

He was too busy gluing everything together to notice. Focusing all his energy on doing what needed to be done- not even noticing that the things he wanted to do were being pushed further and further back, until they fell over the edge completely.

Then it got too big to ignore. He was sleeping for twenty hours at a time, and fighting to stay awake for longer than thirty minutes. And it was a very heavy sleep. He slept with an Epipen next to him.

Zachariah wasn't going to help anyone like this, he finally gave in.

After running into a wall of bureaucracy, and a number of obstacles, they did a bone marrow biopsy. His mast cell disease, which had suddenly went into remission, was back- with a vengeance. He vaguely remembered the terms from when he was younger- indolent, smoldering, aggressive. His bone marrow was working overtime, producing spindle-shaped, granular, mast cells that were clustering together and punching holes in his organs.

His tryptase level was 720 and climbing. And the bad news was that he possessed the gain of function mutation D816V (a fatal flaw in his code,)- associated with a resistance of c-kit to Imatinib. Instead, he was started on Cladabrine, a regimen of strong antihistamines, and other mast cell mediators. It was shocking how quickly many of his symptoms improved. And now- when he felt he had time to look back- he was shocked to take stock of all the things that he'd had to leave behind to make it this far.

Was that really the last time he'd done that, or was that just the last time he remembered? He became disabled by stealth, bits and pieces of his past life strewn behind him, like the shed skin of a lizard.

He'd always lived an asynchronous life- but now instead of bending his body to fit time- he was bending time to fit his body. His every action was informed by his awareness of his own mortality- his boldness, his urgency- his anger. Up until that point it felt like he was leading three different lives, and now, he had to let go of all of them.

They would all be in danger if he clung on- he had to stay in one place. If he lived, (he was sure he wouldn't, he'd seen this play out before with others- sometimes his friends,) he would find them again.

He had always had a strong support system- but at the end of the day he was his own last line of defense. Injecting himself with epi, working out issues with his line, giving himself emergency medications- dealing with the pharmacy when they filled for 30 pills instead of 90. It was never his job to make anyone feel better about the fact that he was sick, it was his job to stay alive.

And despite everything, he was happier than he'd ever been. Now that all the noise was cleared away, he could see what was truly important.

Zack began to go out of his way to attract attention, once he was sure everyone he loved and cared about was long gone. He wasn't doing it without a plan, he just didn't tell anyone. He didn't want them to worry- the outcome would be the same anyway. If he was going to die, he wasn't going to run away and die in the dark. He was going to die fighting for his people- fighting for love.

Zachariah wasn't afraid of death. When he died, everyone would be waiting for him. His family, his friends- not just in the resistance. Everyone he knew that had died because of their illness- directly and indirectly. They'd all meet again. In a place without prior authorizations, or IV occlusions. Where port sites didn't become infected, or have to be moved. (Because while Phantom Limb Syndrome is usually reserved for limbs- he can still feel where his colostomy was. Can still feel where his port, and his feeding tube, were placed. They are very much a piece of him.)

They'd laugh about all the absurdities of being sick, and they'd dance, and they wouldn't have to pop emergency meds ever. Without the jerky stops and starts of chronic illness that they'd dealt with in life. Back in time, synchronous. Utopia.

He thought back to when he was a boy. Where did they all go? Zack knew they were going to find him. What he didn't expect was the tactic they used to reel him in. If he came, to Infinity, they would give him access to a clinical trial drug. It was a monkey's paw offer, and he knew it- but he took it. Took it, and cradled it firmly in his hands.

He was sure he was going to die. If not now, then in a year, if not in a year, then maybe in two. And if he was going to die- he would take as many of them as possible with him. He'd kill them all if he could.

It's time for retribution. His second beginning.

But before then, he would have to recruit all the gifted he possibly could. Teach them all the grips and the signs. He'd look for someone trustworthy to pass on everything he knew about the resistance.

"Gifted." A term with so much power. It made them sound special, powerful- in reality they were far from it. But to Zack, all abilities are gifts- the choice to use them that way is up to you.

Now, time to plan how to communicate the urgency of the situation without sounding like his mast cells have made giant holes in his brain.

And if he asks "What's your sign?" - know that he's not trying to calculate your sun sign compatibility.

Other:
The Powers:
Zodiac Magic- Zachariah has no power of his own. His power is derived from his bond with (or willingness to work with,) others. With someone he doesn't know well, he has to make physical contact. When he has a strong bond with someone- he can tap into it- and use his power even over a distance. When he's working with multiple people, he needs a few moments to switch between powers.

The expression of Zack's power depends on the zodiac sign of the person he is using it with.

Aries: Kinetic Charging- Users can take the potential energy stored in an object, and convert it to kinetic energy thus “charging” that item with explosive or disruptive results.

Taurus: Sharpness Inducement- User can induce sharpness in a target, regardless of how blunt it began, in various ways from actually sharpening the edge to creating a field of energy that causes the target to cut.

Gemini: Evaporation- The power to vaporize oneself and/or objects and then fuse them back together.

Cancer: Water Augmentation- The user has the power to greatly increase the amount of water in a place.

Leo: Melting- User can liquefy objects/organisms by causing molecules to merge together and thus lose total physical cohesion. Viscosity depends on the object being liquefied, if it has a high water content then the object could become completely water-like liquid. If the object is rock-like or inorganic, then it will become a thick and mud-like liquid, while metal would become like mercury.

Virgo: Earth Swimming- The user can swim through the earth/ground as if it were water.

Libra: Aerokinetically Enhanced Durability- The power to enhance one's durability with air.

Scorpio: Water Exoskeleton- The ability to create armor around the user's body made from water.

Sagittarius: Jet Propulsion- The user can use jet propulsion, which is motion produced by passing a jet of matter or energy in the opposite direction to the direction of motion. By conservation of momentum, the moving body is propelled in the opposite direction to the jet. The jet can be a continuous stream or, especially when used by animals, pulsating.

Capricorn: Plant Infusion- The power to infuse plants into objects (usually a weapon), beings, or powers.

Aquarius: Cloud Generation- The power to create clouds.

Pisces: Vapor Solidification- The power to solidify vapor into tangible form.


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