Spellbind

CLEA DATA FILE

Agent’s Job Speciality:

• Infiltration and investigation

Identity:

• Alice Landry

CLEA Classification:

• White Guardian

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

• Alpha ability – Alice has the means to emit pheromones that cause people to compliant to her will similar to mind control but her ability is not psychic based. Effects are temporary but if she makes physical contact the “imprinting” lasts very much longer. Since her pheromones spread out from her body she can use it as an “area” effect weapon.
• Skilled at infiltration.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

• Her ability can easily be blocked through protective clothing (physical contact) or a filtered mask. Even people with bad head colds can be immune to her.
• When using her alpha ability to affect an area or group of people she can only be successful if the air is relatively still. Strong air currents such as wind or air conditioning systems can scatter her pheromones.
• Not the most skilled unarmed fighter so prefers to use stealth and manipulation to achieve her goals.

Notes/History

Alice (real surname unknown) started life in a small orphanage outside the heart of Pacifica. Her future parents, Michael and June chose to adopt her after staff revealed that her birth parents had chosen to abandon her after learning that Alice was an Alpha Inferior. This was “abnormality” was deemed a sin by their religion so rather than bring up a daughter and suffer the shame they chose to give her up.

June was unable to have children of her own and having always wanted a family so had chosen to adopt. Alice was to be their third daughter but before rushing in, they first of all chose to research what exactly an Alpha Inferior was in case it would give them “future” problems later. Like many people the Landrys had only heard rumours on Alpha Inferiors and Superiors and had no solid fact but after meeting a few specialists could not see any reason not to adopt Alice.

Though there was a possibility of “changing” and becoming an Alpha Superior and gaining super human capabilities they were advised that such transitions were very rare. Therefore the only “abnormality” they had to contend with was the fact Alice would be immune to illness and they took that to be a blessing rather than a curse. Alice was therefore adopted aged three and completed the family line up.

Whilst growing up in the Landry household Alice enjoyed a relatively normal life. Being the youngest of the three children with a six year gap between her and the next oldest sister meant Michael and June often treated Alice differently. They allowed her to get away with more things than her sisters and by avoiding chastising her they did Alice no favours for later life.

By the time Alice reached puberty she was seen by many as “a spoiled brat”. Combined with the hormonal swings Alice’s attitude towards her parents varied from rebellious to completely out of control. She was constantly in trouble at school and when she started mixing with the wrong people it was not unusual for the police to bring her home after finding her walking the streets.

June and Michael convinced themselves that Alice “was going through a phase” but things went from bad to worse when at the age of fifteen Alice became ill for the first time. Aware that she was making the transition from Alpha Inferior to Superior, June and Michael felt it was in everyone’s best interest to pull her from school until the “situation” was resolved.

After the itchy skin and light sensitivity ended it was then a matter of “discovering” what new superhuman ability, Alice was capable of. This took some time to be learned since as with most new Alpha Superiors the ability had to be triggered the first time and then could be accessed more easily afterwards. In Alice’s case, Michael and June were shocked to find that once her Alpha ability was triggered if she perspired at close range she could force another to obey her will. When this first occurred Alice took control of her sisters but luckily for the family the effect wore off quickly. To avoid any recurrence when home the family began wearing masks when around Alice and that in turn started to give her feelings of being isolated.

Rather than risk her causing mayhem at school June and Michael decided to finished Alice’s education at home. Aware that others might be alarmed that Alice was an Alpha Superior they coined a whole barrage of excuses to friends and neighbours why Alice had not returned to school. They implied she had learning difficulties and when anyone visited they sent her out of the way in case she “accidentally” subjugated any guests. In truth June and Michael as well as Alice’s sisters were actually scared of her. By now she was over her rebellious phase but the negative attitudes of the rest of the family made her think they were ashamed of her and no longer wanted her around.

Consequently when she turned eighteen she decided to leave home and try to find a normal life for herself. This was difficult since home education had given her no qualifications which meant getting a job was all but impossible. She started off as a cleaner in a sales company but felt she had much more potential. Though she wanted to do everything “normally” when nobody gave her the chance to further her position she found her Alpha abilities too tempting. In quick succession she moved from sales person to supervisor in her department and whilst many of her fellow workers wondered how she got her own way, they never realised she was an Alpha Superior.

Adult life gave Alice her the first proper experience of socialising and the small groups of friends she made were special to her so she never used her Alpha abilities on them. Outside of work she liked to party hard and being attractive she soon became a magnet for the opposite sex. Since their only goal seemed to be to get inside her knickers, at first Alice resisted their advances until she met David. He was like all the others but had tried to woo her so she decided to turn the tables and use him for her “entertainment by using her Alpha abilities on him. This was when she discovered a secondary aspect to her Alpha ability for one time she grabbed David to in order to breathe in his face but her firm touch seemed to produce the same result only the effects lasted a lot longer, anywhere from days to weeks.

When she no longer had a use for David, Alice sought out other partners that could amuse her as personal slaves. A string of “boyfriends” followed and once she had taken from them what she needed she simply dumped them and moved on.

Being careful not to attract attention to herself, Alice did not realise her use of Alpha abilities might bring attention to others and make her stand out as a common link. As she became ever more demanding with her requests for material things some of her partners ended up turning to crime to satisfy her needs.

This in turn attracted the police. Over a period of several years they arrested many of her boyfriends for stealing electronic equipment, jewellery and other items and though they admitted their guilt detectives could not help notice they shared the same partner. Since each of them also seemed hell bent on pleasing Alice to the point they seemed to have lost their own motives and drives this was noted on the police reports.

Eventually CLEA got to hear about Alice’s boyfriends and figured an Alpha Superior might be involved. The international law enforcement agency were not alone in making the link for the Protectorate had also done the same. They considered Alice’s abuse of her Alpha abilities meant she was a danger to society and needed to be removed so Orion was dispatched to find her.

Before CLEA agents got the chance to interview Alice, Orion snatched her late one night when she was walking back to her apartment from her favourite night club. Aware of her Alpha abilities, Orion’s body armour and helmet filters prevented her from affecting them and though she called for help her cries were muffled by a cloth bag placed over her head as she was thrown into the back of a van. She still tried to fight back but against the four trained soldiers she stood little chance and then her ability to resist was soon stopped when she felt something sharp jab in her arm and suddenly found herself unable to keep her eyes open.

When she did eventually open them she found herself in a strange room, looking something akin to a cheap hotel suite with bland looking walls and sparse furniture. Alice moved across to the window and noticed in the distance she could see the sea or an ocean but any hopes of exiting the room via the window was out of the question due to the rather substantial bars. She tried the door but that was locked and it was then she noticed something around her neck, like a collar. Naturally she tried to take it off but nothing she did would make it open. Alice found a mirror and tried to examine the foreign object around her neck. As well as being solid in construction the unit also appeared to be lit up. There did not seem to be any obvious opening and it soon became clear to her that the only way it was going to come off was if someone else removed it.

With nothing to occupy her mind, all Alice could do was sit on the bed and wait to see who came. Having no means to keep track of time, it felt like hours had passed before she heard a noise of keys and then the door opened and in walked a well-dressed man in a suit. Before the door closed she spotted what appeared to be a pair of armed guards stood outside.

The man explained that she had been taken to facility belonging to the Protectorate who removed Alphas from society they deemed dangerous or a menace. She was then told that the collar around her neck prevented her from using her Alpha abilities. Alice did not believe him so she lunged at him and exhaled over his face which normally ejected her pheromones only nothing happened. She tried to touch him instead but again nothing happened. This time the man produced a key fob and pressed a button and an instant later Alice felt an intense electric shock. Very quickly she had learned that the collar had a secondary purpose.

Having proved his point the man explained that so long as she “behaved” herself and did as the guards and facility staff asked she could enjoy the freedom of the facility which she was told was well equipped with everything she would need to have a reasonable quality of life but she could never leave. She was then warned that if she was disobedient she would be punished in the manner she had experienced and if she was regular offender she would be cryogenically frozen until such time that science found a way of neutralising her Alpha ability without the use of technology. It was at the point that the man suggested that if she found living in the facility intolerable she could request to be frozen. Having made his speeches the man opened the door and took her around the “guest” areas of the facility where she met other Alpha Superiors like her that had been removed from society by the Protectorate.

Over the following days and weeks Alice settled in with her new “life” at facility. She met and talked with the other residents and quickly learned that not only was she destined to stay there for the rest of her life but everything she had been told in relation to punishment for non-conformance was also true. She even heard rumours that some Alphas brought in did not even get the option of “living” in the facility but were cryogenically frozen without question. Though she did not like the fact that someone had decided to take her away from the people and life she knew without so much as a trial or hearing, over time Alice felt in some part she deserved what she had got for she had abused her Alpha abilities for her own gain. She most felt sorry for those people in the facility that had never done anything wrong and had simply been deemed too dangerous to keep their freedom.

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. The daily routine of life quickly grew tiresome. Every morning she would be woken up at seven when the door to her “cell” was unbolted. Meals were on a strict time schedule and then each night she would be escorted back to her room by the guards. All the remaining time she had to herself and though a whole host of entertainment, mental and physical stimulation was provided, she longed to walk outside and feel the fresh air. The ocean in the distance enticing her felt almost like cruelty since she knew she could never visit it. Alice even contemplated escape but any hopes of that were dashed when other residents revealed every escape attempt had ended in failure. She finally reached her low when she contemplated that being cryogenically frozen was better than her current “existence”. Before she could get the facility staff to honour her wish something else happened that would alter the course of her life.

The day had started normally enough and she had entered into her usual routine and trying to find different ways to pass the time when suddenly the alarms sounded all over the facility. The instant this happened, guards quickly began filing into the day room. Alice along with everyone else was taken back to their respective cells. Being locked in during the middle of the day was certainly unusual but what was to follow was equally odd for within minutes the door was flung open and in walked a strangely dressed man.

He simply looked at her and asked if she wanted out and when she said yes he created a swirling vortex and told her to step through it. Alice did as asked and emerged close to a quayside where there was a boat waiting. Others from the facility soon joined her. Alice watched the portals appear and then deposit a few of her “friends”. The process continued until finally the strange man and several others she did not recognise appeared through a portal and with them were several cryogenic chambers.

A man who had his face obscured by a mask or covering told everyone to get on-board, and Alice did not need to be asked twice. She suspected she was still on the island and this was confirmed when the boat began pulling away and several high speed launches appeared each full of guards that were wearing the same uniforms as those in the facility.

Not able to outrun these other craft the man in the mask asked to man that had saved her to form a portal. This was duly done and appeared in from of the boat. When the boat emerged on the other side it dropped into the floor of a warehouse along with a large volume of water but more importantly the portal closed before their pursuers could join them. At this point the man who created the portals collapsed onto the floor of the boat.

Though grateful of being freed, Alice and the other “prisoners” wanted answers and they were told they had to wait until their collar had been removed. The man in the mask then revealed that the last portal had transported them a third of the way around the world and they were not in Pacifica. He then told them he was known as Mind Storm and his group Night Shadow (later called Night Rangers) had tasked itself against anyone that mistreated Alpha Superiors. The Protectorate was on their “list” and having granted the freedom of Alice and the others he wanted them to join him on his crusade.

Though grateful of everything Night Shadow had done for her, the last thing Alice wanted was to get herself noticed and perhaps be captured again by the Protectorate. She was however scared of what Mind Storm might do if she rejected his offer. However though he was disappointed he did not seem to hold it against her and allowed her to leave. He even wished her luck and hoped that if she ever changed her mind she might reconsider.

Finally free to resume a normal life, Alice soon discovered that her idea was no longer normal. Fear of the Protectorate meant she felt the need to change her name and keep a low profile. She also chose not to visit any of the areas that had been part of her life from before, in case the Protectorate had people waiting to intercept her. Such was her paranoia that she even elected to never use her Alpha abilities ever again.

Fate though had other ideas and one night when she was walking down passageway she used as a shortcut to her dingy apartment she came face to face with a member of a street gang. In the past she would have simply “persuaded” such a person to let her go but she was fearful of using her Alpha abilities so allowed herself to be captured. Instead of robbing her or even raping her the man simply frogmarched her to the gangs hideout. There she was told by the leader that the gang had been the victim of a group of vigilantes known as the alley cats and she was going to be used as bait to draw them out. Failure to comply was to be met with unpleasant consequences.

For the rest of the night Alice was forced to act out a mugging situation with one of the gang members and draw the Alley Cats out into the open where the rest of the gang would take them out. Still full of fear about using her Alpha abilities, Alice complied and when the trio belonging to the Alley Cats appeared she could only look on in shock as the gang sprung their trap.

Outnumbered the trio of women fought bravely despite the odds. At first then seemed to be holding their own but when the tide of battle turned something inside Alice broke through her fear. Seeing brave individuals put their lives on the line to “rescue” her meant she was unable to do nothing so for the first time years she used her Alpha abilities and released her pheromones, targeting the closest members of the gang. She then told them to fight their fellow gang members. The end result of this was total chaos and this kept everyone occupied until the police eventually showed up to a reported disturbance.

Alice used the distraction to slink off into the night but if she thought there would be no ramifications of her actions she was very wrong for a few weeks later Hailey Dixon aka Caracal tracked her down and intercepted her outside her apartment one night. Hailey’s intention was to thank Alice for her help but Alice simply wanted to downplay everything since she felt if attention was ever drawn to her then the  Protectorate would find her. In her desperation to avoid having a conversation with Hailey, Alice came across as extremely rude and abrupt. The odd mannerisms and hostile action spelled out desperation and fear which piqued Hailey’s curiosity so the Alley Cat leader chose not to do as asked and leave.

Conversation turned to argument during which Hailey effectively forced Alice into a corner at which point she blurted out why she was so scared. Having let slip Hailey suggested they perhaps go inside and talk in private and this would be the first conversation Alice had with anyone about how she had been captured and taken to a remote island by the Protectorate. Having told Hailey her story, Alice felt a great weight had been removed from her mind. Hailey then suggested that since avoiding using her Alpha abilities was impossible then perhaps she could use them for good, and make friends with others in the hero community. Hailey’s theory was the more “well known” Alice became as a vigilante the harder it would be for the Protectorate to act without exposing themselves. Alice resisted the idea of becoming a vigilante for weeks but eventually saw it as perhaps a way out of the hole she felt she was in so she contacted Hailey again.

For a while Alice became a useful addition to the Alley Cats until she built up her confidence at which point she attempted solo work. This was a disaster for CLEA finally caught up with Alice. Though they still wanted her for her criminal past the agency acknowledged Alice had made important steps by wanting to reform. Rather than simply throw her in prison the agency made her an offer of wiping her slate clean and that was she join the White Guardian program. Having learned from her interviews that Alice had been a victim of the Protectorate they also promised her that CLEA was perhaps the best means of keeping trouble away from her since they were used to protecting White Guardians from enemies.

Alice felt she had little choice but to accept the offer and once agent training was complete she adopted the codename Spellbind. Able to use her Alpha ability to infiltrate criminal strongholds, Alice is regarded as one of the best operatives to send in situations where an entire area needs to be neutralised before sending others in. Her CLEA career has also seen her work with other vigilante teams and ironically on one occasion she even assisted the Night Rangers when CLEA and they had a common goal.