Scarlett Erickson

Scarlett Erickson
Information
Affiliation	Consortium
Position	Handler
Agent	Harper Vale
Area of Expertise	Operations planning, melee combat
Aliases	One-eye (derogatory)
Played By	Nick

Scarlett Erickson is a former Initiate and current Handler for the Consortium. Scarlett displayed only moderate talents during her time as an Initiate and was passed over for induction to the Order.

Early Life

Scarlett Erickson was born and grew up in Zürich, Switzerland as the only child of American ex-pat Troy Erickson. Her father, in the United States, was a hedge fund wizard that delivered massive returns on custom portfolios only to have the house of cards fall once his Ponzi schemes were brought to light. Having hidden his funds in numerous offshore banking accounts, he'd managed to keep most of it secure even after charges had been brought against him by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Committee and the Department of Justice. Switzerland, known for refusing extradition to the United States even with treaties in place guaranteeing cooperation, seemed the best solution. Scarlett was educated in the finest of private schools and given access to numerous resources typically reserved for only the country's most financial elite.

Scarlett only learned of her father's nefarious nature in her early teens when she researched her family's history during winter break for a school project. When she confronted her father, he admitted the truth but said he was a changed man. Angry and confused, she ran away from home got as far as Zürich city limits before she realized it was a bad idea and that she'd overreacted. While on her way back home she was offered a ride by an elderly woman and her granddaughter. Under normal circumstances she'd never have accepted, but in her haste to leave she'd only grabbed a medium-weight jacket. The weather was rather unforgiving. Because of this, she reluctantly accepted the kind gesture.

This was when the nightmare began.

Once Scarlett was in the vehicle, she was immediately doused with chloroform and rendered unconscious by someone in the back seat, someone she couldn't have seen in the big sport utility vehicle that the old woman was driving. When she woke up she was in what looked like a dorm room with five other girls sharing sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets. Although there were five others in the room, she could hear so many more screaming and crying the walls of adjoining rooms. Through her chemical haze she saw someone injecting something into her arm and then she'd passed back out again.

Over the course of the next several years Scarlett was victimized repeatedly, broken down psychologically as she was physically and sexually assaulted almost daily. It was only by chance that the Order had raided one of the warehouses in relation to an unrelated money laundering and extortion ring that they came upon this group of girls, many of whom were so broken by this point that they'd developed some form of Stockholm Syndrome.

By the time that the local authorities processed her, she'd been told that her father had committed suicide and while a trust had been set up for her, it had been confiscated by a ruling of international courts of law. While being treated for her wounds at a Consortium hospital, she'd been told her compatibility test was a pass. With no other options, she accepted an invitation to go to the Rome, Italy Initiate training facility.

As an Initiate

Scarlett displayed only a modicum of talent as an Initiate. Her marksmanship was rated below average, however her hand-to-hand combat was average bordering on above average. Melee combat was rated as excellent and was one of the few areas where she excelled during her time as an Initiate. Non-physical combat areas, including conceptual problem solving and spatial awareness were rated as only slightly above average.

Scarlett was an Initiate at the same time as Aurelia Pasquale. For the most part the two only had cursory interactions, however they were sparring partners for physical combat on several occasions. In one particular instance the combat between the two became so intense that others stopped to take notice. Indeed, several other instructors also stopped immediate instruction to view it. As both were drawing on their final reserves of strength, Aurelia had managed to disarm Scarlett and hit in the side of the head with the blunt end of her glaive; the impact of which had rendered Scarlett unconscious for three days. Scarlett washed out as an Initiate shortly afterward.

Both ultimately became Handlers for the Order Agents they, themselves, aspired at one point to be.

As a Handler

Scarlett is even and measured and shows an exceptional aptitude for objectivity while weighing the consequences of potential courses of action. This makes her a go-to, perhaps second only to Cyril Baptiste when it comes to overall risk assessment and viability of campaigns. Scarlett prefers strategy to tactics and tends to play the long game better than most of her colleagues.

Scarlett has handled only three Agents during her time with the Consortium. The first, a prior Chi, was killed during an Aberration Hunting Party. The second had shown signs of C36 instability. Scarlett, without question, reported the behaviors and, upon giving the Agent the stability testing battery, the Agent was found to no longer approved for field operations. The Agent was subsequently excommunicated and was removed from the Order.

Currently, Scarlett handles Harper Vale.

Physical Appearance

Scarlett Erickson is of average height and slender build. She has light brown hair and is often worn messy. She favors dark, gender-neutral clothing and does not often hard to read due to a lack of showing emotion on her face. She lost much of the dense muscle mass she achieved from the Compound when she was not given the final injection. The most peculiar aspect of her appearance is the eye patch worn over her right eye. The eye patch is a result of her Compound withdrawal, which left the optic nerve in her right eye completely atrophied and beyond repair. Her remaining eye, fortunately, was unaffected.

Powers and Skills

Scarlett did not receive the final injection of Compound 36 that would have made her abilities permanent, she still maintains good physical shape for a human being. Scarlett is still a formidable combatant, especially when it comes to melee weapons.

Other Information

Scarlett is fluent in German and English and is conversational in Italian as well.

She carries with her some trauma from childhood, although Consortium mental health professionals have cleared her for her position. She has been shown to be emotionally withdrawn and rarely expresses interest in activities outside of her position within the Consortium. She does take medication for chronic anxiety-- although that particular symptom was absent during her time as an Initiate, which has led many within the Consortium to believe it was a secondary Compound withdrawal outcome.