Aleksey Volkov

You notice a man standing by himself a few meters away from the main crowd. Dressed in all black, he is unnoticed by most of the people, and yet you still manage to spot him. He is wearing a simple tracksuit with white stripes on it, a shirt with an “I love me” slogan underneath it, and some white sneakers; in his hand he's holding an orange drink—a juice, you presume. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary, but you just keep looking. The man appears to be tall, but not of an exceptional height, and your eyes focus instead on his lean physique - strong arms, broad shoulders - you assume he exercises daily, or at least keeps his body in check.

Your gaze shifts up and you notice that the man has long hair which he holds in a low ponytail. It seems fluffy to you, dark blonde with a tint of grayness to it, but before you can spot anything else the man turns around - and his eyes meet yours. You unintentionally look away and immediately catch yourself regretting. You shouldn’t have stared, perhaps crosses your mind, and yet you lift up your gaze to look once more. The man is no longer there.

He is standing right in front of you. It catches you off guard but you muster the courage to keep the gaze on his face; what gets into your focus however is not the man’s eyes but his scars. Large, they cover the whole left side of his face, leaving it ever so slightly disfigured. They seem to be from an animal at a first glance. Far too old to have any stitches, and yet far too fresh to fully merge with the undamaged skin. If you were a doctor you would’ve given them about 6 months, but either way they grab all your attention, and you catch yourself wanting both to stare more and to look away from the hideous sight.

Gathering all the will within you you manage to move your gaze to meet the man’s eyes - he is staring back at you, has been, for a long time now. He smirks at you and his scarred lip follows the corner of his mouth, but you keep your eyes on his, unable to look away. Amber-colored, they appear almost golden under sun rays, and you can feel them emanate undefiable intelligence. Danger, however, is what your mind tells you as the man’s gaze seems to devour you whole. You feel yourself backing away from him and thinking to yourself that no matter what he tells you, no matter how sweet or truthful he may sound, you will never believe him.

You don’t want to do anything with this man, is what you conclude as you turn away one final time, this time deadset that you won’t look his way again. The man, however, watches you for a second more as you try to escape, a smile gradually leaving his face. "What a bore," he thinks to himself and turns the other way, soon disappearing in the crowd.

Strong-willed, Adaptable, Confident, Goal-oriented, Well-bred

Cold, Self-centered, Conceited, Uncaring, Unhinged

1. Neuroscientist [Merit] [+4]

• "A mad genius, if you will!"
• Has an extended knowledge on the human body, brain, and behaviour, which includes (but not limited to) the immune system, cognitive psychology, cell structure, hormones, animal behaviour, neurobiology, organic chemistry, genetics, calculus, physics (introductory).

2. Army's dog [Merit] [+3]

• "It got boring, that kind of life."
• Handling firearms, ammunition, providing first aid, proper hand to hand combat, the ability to follow orders and focus on tasks under pressure, etc. Aleksey is not interested in the army anymore, but all the skills he acquired there are like second nature to him.

3. Checkered field [Merit] [+4]

• "In order to bring you down, which move should I make next?"
• Has spent decades improving his skills in playing chess and therefore has an improved critical thinking and concentration, is able to easily recognize patterns and build various strategies based on the situation and the opponent.

1. Predatory Instinct [Flaw] [-4]

• "I have this insatiable hunger inside of me..."
• Treats everything as a hunt. If he gets interested in something he follows it until the world's end—like a wolf that hunts its prey—not caring about the world and everyone in it, keeping his eyes dead set only on his target. Aleksey's composure drops to negative and he gets a bit crazy, his danger meter and rationality disappearing completely.
• Aleksey always had the desire to keep learning more, but back then there was a fine line between the rational interest in things and an unhealthy obsession which he never crossed. The scarring event destoyed that line.
• Him not having a danger meter was a result of some brain damage. Instead of feeling fear he feels excitement, the greater the danger the more he craves it. (Doesn't mean that he gets excited on every single occasion though. He's mostly indifferent to things)

tl;dr: Happy family of three, successful parents = successful kid, was a loner in school because who needs friends, studied well, joined a chess club, went on tournaments, decided to go to army after school, spents 3 years there, got bored, left to pursue a degree in neuroscience, got bachelor, got masters, received a scholarship for a PhD in Oregon, during summer had an accident with a wild wolf, got scarred, received a concussion, got treatment, moved to Oregon.

Full bio will be available some other day.