CaliforniaNightmares:Brian Robeson

Played by TigerBunnyMark

Post #blah: 14 years old. Kind of a weedy kid. Didn't always get enough to eat, and was sickly. Lived rough with his elder sister and another kid a little older than him - in between his age and sister's age. This second kid had a "protector" relationship with Brian and his sister, and Brian both idolized and resented him. Becoming a pilot is the first time Brian's been strong on his own, able to fight for himself. He's a bit drunk on the thrill of it and acts out a fair bit.

Post #48: Brian Robeson, Age 14, Eager Young Soldier

Physical Description: Skinny, long unkempt black hair, large nose. Sort of ratty-looking. Leather jacket that’s a bit too big for him, heavily patched jeans, an assortment of garish rock t-shirts. Smokes his green more than is good for him.

Nine-year-old Brian and his big sister Maia didn’t have a whole lot more than each other before the end of the world, so they did okay after it. “Dads”, when they had one, were as much to be feared as anything else, and mostly just meant that Mom resented and ignored them more than usual for a while. They’d been taking care of themselves their whole lives, so everybody falling asleep mostly just meant that they didn’t have to worry about getting caught shoplifting dinner any more.

The first thing they did when they figured out nobody was going to wake up was get out of their neighborhood and start looting a better class of house. For a while, they lived in a beautiful mansion, up on the hills looking out over Piedmont, with some other kids – not really a gang, not really a family, but in a lot of ways, better off than most.

Then the monsters came out of the sea. They stomped through the streets of San Francisco like something out of an old movie, spewing beams and smoke and methodically hunting down any sign of human habitation.

And Brian got sick. Some of the other kids got it too – the fever, the shaking, the headaches, then the sleep, and then – they died. Brian lived. On and on, shaking, trembling, moaning in pain and thrashing with nightmares.

Maia never told Brian what she’d done to get [Protector] to let her go through his gang’s dwindling stocks of drugs searching for something to help him. He does know that nothing helped. He just got better. Sort of.

Ever since then, Brian has the headaches. He can’t seem to keep his weight up, his legs shake when he tries to walk too far or too long, and everything aches, all the time. Maia gave up their house on the hillside for him, had to depend on [Protector] instead of her brother because he was too weak to protect her.

A lot of bad things happened. [Protector] and his gang, along with Maia & Brian, hid as best they could. Sometimes there wasn’t enough to eat, and sometimes a fight would break out and someone would get shot or stabbed or whatever. Sometimes Maia and [Protector] would fight, and Brian would hear her sobbing in the night afterwards.

Then, one day, [Protector] comes back from a “shopping trip.” But he doesn’t have a satchel of canned food or butane fuel – he’s got a scruffy, hand-printed sign. “Help Us Fight Them – UCB”.

Most people didn’t believe what the geeky grownup and the nervous girl told them. If the guy hadn’t had a riot gun, somebody might have even started something. But for some reason, [Protector] believed it. Brian maybe didn’t, but he really wanted to. They said that they needed help, because they had a plan to kill one of the monsters.

It worked. [Protector] even got to be a big hero, luring the monster into the trap on a motorcycle. By the time the other monsters showed up, everybody was gone, and the so-called “Resistance” had what they wanted – samples from the monster’s insides.

It took a while to get results, but what would become the ANIMa was a success beyond the wildest dreams of the Resistance. Especially Brian. Finally, he wasn’t the weak one, the burden. Getting sick might have been worth it after all – because he seems to be a better natural pilot than any of the other candidates. Sure, [Seasoned Veteran] has been fighting longer, and volunteered for the test mission back before they even knew if this would work. Sure, [Dead Pilot] tested higher, but he crashed and burned. Sure, Raymond is everybody’s golden boy. But _Brian_ is the one who [AF] relies on.

Maia is gone now. He still visits her, sleeping in the master bedroom of the old house, like Sleeping Beauty waiting for her prince. It won’t be [Protector] who wakes her, though. It’ll be Brian. He’ll finally be able to protect her, like she protected him.

Relationship Summaries

Authority Figure – 3/3 – “He gave me a chance to be strong. I won’t let him down.” Minor A – 1/2 – pending Minor B (Protector) – 4/1 – “You didn’t deserve Maia, and you’re not better than me.” [Seasoned Veteran] – 1/2 – “You were the first, but you’re not the best.” Tina – 2/1 – “She’s nice. I don’t think [SV] treats her right, though.” Evan – 1/2 – “Just like I used to be. A doormat.” Riri – 1/2 – “She’s spooky. And reading all the time can’t be good for you.” Raymond – 1/2 – “Why’s he so damn popular? I’m a better pilot.” Ashley – 1/2 – “Always sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.” Sally "Robeson" – 1/4 – “That’s why I fight. Because the little kids like her need protecting.” Katie – 2/2 – “I can’t believe [AF] lets her be a pilot. It’s too dangerous for someone like her.” Brandi – 2/2 – Anchor. “I don’t really know what her reasons for fighting are, but she wants to win as bad as I do. We’ll be a good team.”

ANIMa

Sleek, curvy, silver. Like a sportscar or a jet fighter. Or maybe a little of both.

Chassis – Brandi – Light, fast, and made for fighting. Looks a bit like a Valkyrie in GERWalk Mode, but more like Gundam Kyrios. Jets/Wings – [AF] – Powerful thrust and turns on a dime. Missile Pod – [Protector] – One shot is usually all it takes. Minigun – Tina – Accurate, but not a lot of stopping power. ECM Suite – Sally – When things get hairy. Afterburner – Katie – A little extra.