Mercer Lord

Mercer Lord
Information
Affiliation	Consortium
Position	Handler
Agent	Cassius Stolarz
Area of Expertise	Operations planning, hand-to-hand combat, melee combat
Aliases	None
Played By	Nick

Mercer Lord is a former Initiate and current Handler for the Consortium. He was nearly excommunicated for intentionally killing three Initiates during a training exercise.

Early Life

Mercer Lord was born to be a member of the Order. With both his paternal uncle and maternal aunt having both served as Agents, it was virtually guaranteed he would have no problem passing the genetic compatibility test. He was flagged early not just as a high match, but a precise match. A precise match occurs when an individual falls precisely between the upper and lower limits of genetic compatibility within 0.01% of either tail. Precise matches are rare and account for less than 3% of total global genetic profiles.

The Lord family was offered the largest financial incentive on record (approximately $75 million) for the young boy to be turned over to them. Both of his parents agreed. He was seventeen years old at the time.

As an Initiate

Mercer excelled at virtually anything put in front of him, though he had taken to combat more easily and readily than anything else. He was, as one Instructor referred to him, "A bloodthirsty savage on the battlefield." This observation, of course, was in direct contrast to how he performed on more cerebral tasks, such as assessment of opportunity costs for one choice of action versus another. He was also shown to be able to execute decisions quickly and efficiently, absorbing any fallout from calculated risks and turning potentially disastrous outcomes into favorable ones.

He was an excellent, but not superior, marksman. He was also adept at activating Compound 36 in localized areas that affected his senses. He could sense changes in air currents to account for the way a punch or kick would land and trace its intended trajectory or could enhance his sight to where he could use a sniper rifle at 100 yards, with no scope, in the rain, at night, and still hit a target with no issue whatsoever. His weapon of choice was a war hammer with a spike on the fore-end of the haft, which he wielded with deadly accuracy in close quartered combat. He was, again, for all intents and purposes the perfect pupil.

Until he wasn't.

During a team exercise in his seventh year, Mercer had begun activating the inert Compound 36 in his body for additional strength and speed and had managed to critically wound another Initiate. Instead of stopping, he continued. When two other Initiates had joined in to stop it, he killed them. The first he killed by crushing her skull with his bare hands, the second's neck was broke, before turning his attention to the original, whose throat was ripped out. It took three handlers and four Initiates to bring him down, eventually succumbing after being shot with multiple tranquilizers. Mercer was brought before a tribunal and was stripped of his Initiate status immediately. However, given the $75 million investment in him, the Consortium couldn't write the loss off. So, instead, they offered an option outside of excommunication: Agent Handling.

As a Handler

Mercer makes for a ruthless Handler. His expectations are typically much higher than they should be, but oftentimes Agents are able to rise to the occasion. He's skilled at building Agents up, but also tearing them down. Having been an Initiate, he knows the protocols and procedures and, further, knows what an Agent should be capable of -- especially one with a permanent dose of Compound 36 running through their veins.

Mercer's previous charge died during a field mission primarily orchestrated by Cyril Baptiste. Aurelia Pasquale, Elise Gerhardt, and Corrine Viceroy lost their Agents in the same field mission. Mercer was particularly furious about it, confronting Cyril about it during a meeting with all 24 Handlers present where he subsequently threatened his life should a mistake that cost him his charge ever occur again.

He was assigned to the former Upsilon for the Order, Bridger Brooks, but due to conflicting issues between he and Bridger an alternate assignment was requested. Mercer now handles the current Psi of the Order, Cassius Stolarz.

Physical Appearance

Mercer Lord is an attractive man with dark hair, dark eyes, a heavy brow, a strong jawline, and high cheekbones. He tends to dress in khakis or dark denim jeans with button-ups with the sleeves rolled up to his forearm. The most distinguishing aspect of him physically is his missing left arm. He maintains about 40% of it, it having been amputated to just above the elbow. This, in no way, seems to have impacted his fitness regiment, as he maintains peak physical shape for someone in his mid-thirties age group.

Powers and Skills

Mercer Lord did not receive the final injection of Compound 36, but was known to have developed several unique techniques while he was an Initiate. Similar to other Handlers, he is trained in espionage, cryptography, and other forms of tradecraft.

Other Information

Mercer Lord has suffered permanent side effects from Compound 36 withdrawal. His left arm, his dominant one, had completely atrophied and was forced to be partially amputated. While various prosthetics were offered, he refused, but has gone on record as saying that additional treatments of Compound 36 could regenerate it. The Consortium will not consider the request, as Compound 36 is for Initiates only.

Mercer's niece, Darien Lord, was recently inducted into the Order.