Gregory Barneaux "The Conductor"

Real Name: Gregory Barneaux
Hero Name: The Conductor
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Race: Human-ish
Hair: Strawberry blonde
Eyes: Peridot
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 185lbs
Blood type: Unknown



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Gregory has always been the type of guy that reacts first and thinks last. His determination has always been one of his best traits, and the added beneficial factor that continuously keeps him reaching his goals in life. He's never quick to anger, but he can definitely show assertiveness when handling precarious situations. Deep down, he's caring, and perpetually worried about what the world is thinking of him. Why would he be given such a gift?




The sun sets early during winter solstice, and not a soul can argue otherwise. The sun dips down behind the horizon, and a creeping cold sets in. As it does, the lone man hurrying home in the brisk breezes huffed with a sort of rasp clinging to his breath. The warm exhales would create clouds of mist, leaving a trail behind of him as he power-walked, a limp in his left steps. Blood matted his hair to his forehead, sweat making the stinging cold pierce down to his bones. He had lost feeling in his nose and cheeks, his fingertips turning blue.

Ice clung to the awning's over business storefront's, fresh snow flurrying around of him. Each step would pack down the fresh snow, leaving heavy imprints with his right foot, and a less prominent indentation with his left, each limp leaving less of an impression.

The street lamps overhead would burn, a low buzz emitting from the old halogen bulbs that this little old town used. The midwest was nothing to sneeze at when it came to their old, out-dated technology.

He pushed on, panic welling up in him as he kept pushing onward. It could come after him again. That... thing.

--

"I-it came out of n-nowhere," he said. His voice trembled, the cold still clinging to his every fiber.

He was sitting now, his back resting in a reclining chair, his feet extended. The sound of monitors beeping were resounding around of him, creating a symphonic calm.

"And how did you get away?" she asked, a bit of curiosity filling her tone. Her badge said "Annie" and underneath it said "Registered Nurse." Next to the badge was a picture of the nurse, and it matched perfectly. He looked up to meet the brunette, her brown eyes filled with worry, but the sort of calm worry you have when you're under a lot of pressure. You know you can't worry, but you also cannot stop yourself. You have to push through, and move past it. And also the sort of worry you have for a friend.

"I ran. And ran. I didn't stop until I got to town." he said, swallowing and letting out a sigh as an IV catheter was placed into his left arm's brachial vein near the antecubital fossa. He winced, his usual hazel eyes were a bright peridot, and they almost seemed to glow.

As Annie attached the appropriate equipment for blood draw, she audibly gasped. The vacutainer was filled with a bright green liquid, glowing faintly.

"Greg... I... don't panic."

--

The attack had been quick, almost painless. He had honestly gotten away with just a single laceration through his right eyebrow, and another gash along his left waist. It was a bit deeper, but nothing a few staples and sutures couldn't fix. He was three weeks post-attack, and he was feeling great. His secret had been kept safe, Annie being a trusted childhood friend, and she convinced the doctor that blood draws weren't necessary because it was lacerations from a broken beer bottle, not an animal attack. Gregory blamed his belligerence on being under the influence, his first initial claims of being attacked by a giant clawed demon being false. But they weren't.

He had been attacked out in the woods as he was pushing a wheelbarrow full of firewood back to his home. He shared it with his dog, Lucky, who happened to have three legs, and was missing half of his left ear.

Ever since then Gregory started to notice subtle changes. He felt stronger, faster, more focused. He found himself having bizarre dreams of floating in pure darkness, but surrounded by a viscous liquid. And there was always a looming pair of eyes, that matched his own peridot green, staring back at him with a sort of command in the glare. There was never any vocal conversation, just staring back and forth until he would jerk awake.

But then he also noticed how when he willed himself into a better mood, his phone would die, or his lights would go out for hours at a time. Seeing the patterns, he realized that it was his new gift. He could... somehow control electricity?!

--

It wasn't that. He had spent weeks trying to decide if he was losing his mind, or if he was actually able to control some form of energy. It wasn't until he was out chopping down a few more trees that he had a thought about being able to slice down these dead trees more easily. As he swung his axe into the trunk, he felt the mass of the handle grow larger in size, that same bright green energy that he had seen in that vacutainer on the first night of the attack was wrapping itself around of the axe. As the energy spread, the other trees that were around of him - standing tall and very much full of life - started to slump and sink and collapse. It was as if the insides of the trees were melting and turning into pure vapor. He could see small wisps of that same green energy pulling off of the bark, and streaming straight for the axe in his hands. He tightened his grip and pulled back one more time and then swung, hard. As he did, his axe had become as large as himself, the head of the axe barring down with vigor.

*CHOP!*

As the inertia from his swing sent his head into vertigo, and his stomach into a churning mess, he steadied himself and looked around of him. All six trees that had been in his immediate vicinity were all chopped down, and cut into perfect pieces of firewood, laying where the tree would have fallen naturally. However, the trees that had been previously healthy were just bits of brittle bark, the healthy pulp of the wood having been shriveled and left as nearly nothing.

And that was how Gregory knew he was able to become a human conductor of energy using the forces of life and energy itself.




The Conductor: Gregory is able to control and manipulate his own life force, and in turn, pulling from those around of him unbeknown to them. His powers manifest most readily from power grids, and he can pull directly from power sources such as cars, plants, animals, people, and other alien life forms. Essentially, his powers require a give and take. He is able to make anything his mind is limited to, conducting loads of mischief for himself and other's.



Equivalent Exchange: Gregory's powers can only work if there is enough energy around of him that he can draw from to use his powers.

Example: If he is outside, under direct sunlight, he can draw on the energy of the sun to create his constructs or abilities. However, prolonged use of the sun can actually cause it to dim and when he realized he was doing this, he decided not to use the sun in fear of destroying all man kind.

Example 2: If he were in a bank surrounded by computers, power, lights, and people, his powers would first start directly affecting anything that is within his ten foot proximity. Electronics would lose battery life rapidly, lights would dim, or completely snuff out, and people would start to feel faint, or even pass out, and eventually, die. The amount of power correlated to creating a construct needed is based around the same size of the object being created. If he wants to make a gun, it would likely take the battery power from a cell phone to create. If he wanted to create a thick barrier or shield, it might require the power of five individual human lives, and in this case, enough power to run a Tesla comfortably for 100 miles.




He rents a small house in the midwestern state of Kansas.
He owns a cell phone with a cracked screen that he won't replace due to sentimental value.
He has three pictures in his wallet that he carries with him everywhere. One of his dog, Lucky. One of his mom and dad. One of his mom, his dad, and himself.