Post by Zane Cobb on May 11, 2011 14:11:41 GMT 9.5
::Zane Cobb::
"Cyber James Bond...aka nerd."
"Cyber James Bond...aka nerd."
::Biographical::
Name: Zane Cobb
Alias: z3r0M4n ["Zero Man" - Hacker Alias]
Species: Tau'ri
Homeworld: Earth
Gender: Boy parts
Born: Month, Day, Year (22)
::Physical::
Height: 5'10"
Hair: Poofy, brown, and messy. Normally kept above his ears.
Eyes: Chocolate brown and delicious.
Skin: Pasty. Can tan if exposed to sun - chooses not to.
Features: Thanks to a fear of everything pointy and goes into his skin, Zane - unlike Tabby - does not have a single tattoo to grace his body. He has a birthmark on his left ankle, right behind the side-bone, and on his right shoulder blade. Zane also has light freckles just under his eyes, and scattered around his arms and legs. Zane tends to keep a clean shave, unless he doesn't trust himself in the morning with a sharp object near his jugular. This happens more often then he'd like to admit. Zane also keeps his nails ridiculously short, so he can type without any disruptment...plus he finds the idea of long nails somewhat nauseating. He's not a clean freak...he just doesn't see any reason to have nails.
Attire: If no uniform is required, Zane tends to wear jeans and a t-shirt with some witty comment or logo on it. Like "Schrödinger's Cat- Wanted Dead or Alive." Zane has always been a fan of generic, lace-up, dark-colored Vans. He previously had a brown pair that lasted him for several years, but now he proudly wears a dark blue pair. If the environment tends to be a bit on the chilly side, Zane owns two jackets. One is a simple, black, zip-up sweatshirt. The other is a faded green-gray army styled jacket, for colder scenarios. Of course he has his fancy clothes, but those are only for special occasions.
Face Claim: Andrew Garfield
::Psychological::
Strengths:
- One of the best hackers in the world
- Quick study with anything computer related
- Has a sensitive pallet (can tell fine differences in taste)
- High IQ
- Movie buff
- Scifi Nerd
- Can work on barely any sleep
- Sensitive ears (can tell differences in music bit rate down to 2 bits...or so he claims)
- Knows a disturbing amount about everything technology related
Weaknesses:
- Asthma
- Not a fan of inclosed spaces [slight claustrophobia]
- A bit full of himself
- Does not handle physical pain well
- Disturbingly competitive
- Is easily intimidated
- Learned a lot of social interactions from movies
- Insomniac
Likes:
- Hacking
- Music (audiophile)
- Cheetos
- Death Metal (only while Hacking)
- Classic Rock
- Secrets
- Winning
- Feeling superior
Dislikes:
- Needles
- Small spaces
- Running/strenuous activities
- Throwing up (does anyone even like that?)
- Bad smells
- Ketchup
- Losing
Personality: Zane is an odd mixture of everything. He's an extremely sarcastic person, who tends to deal with serious situations with a heavy dose of the stuff. If anything, it is more of a fail-safe mechanism that was built in by his father since a young age. His father Bruce had a similar mechanism built in. He claimed it was from his time in war - yet Zane picked it up without ever seeing the action his father did.
Even though Zane tends to be a bit more hands off when it comes to the twin thing, he is still quite reliant on his sister. When away from her, he tends to feel a bit empty. Tabby was his best friend since the second they were born...well, there was technically five minutes of her not existing in his life. But still.
While Zane tries to play up the fact that he's never really been in a serious relationship as being a "player" - he really doesn't like that lifestyle. He loathes the idea of sleeping with someone then never speaking to them again...or even being mocked by them.
He is quite insecure about practically everything about himself. The fact he has asthma and is basically only good at computers makes him feel a bit...well...not good about himself. In his head, the ideal person is defusing bombs and walking away from explosions without looking back. In reality, he'd duck and scream if there was an explosion, and probably need therapy afterwards.
Thanks to the fact that Zane does not come by sleep very easily, he is a believer is working himself to death. While he always has a moment where he's face-down on the keyboard wondering why he is doing this to himself, this behavior has also given him the ability to work incredibly well while dead tired. Most would curl up in a ball while going on two days without sleep, while Zane would still be able to code flawlessly. This tends to give Zane a highly negative attitude to anyone who doesn't work as hard as he. If he finds himself working much harder than others, he honestly does hold it against them. In reverse - he finds himself feeling awkward and uncomfortable whenever he doesn't have anything to do.
Emotionally, he's a fan of bottling things. When something bothers him, he doesn't tend to "talk it out" or "bring it up," but rather scowl angrily while facing away from the individual, and simply let it lower his mood. After getting pushed too far, he will eventually just go off on a person - not allowing the other person to speak at all, before storming away.
::Professional::
Occupation: Computer Programer/Hacker.
Rank: Old Spice
Organization: SGC
Languages: Binary, 7331, Sarcasm, Italian, and English.
Equipment: Spiderman band-aids, data-pad, laptop, lock-pick
::History::
Zane was born within [exact place] Michigan with his twin sister, twenty two years ago to Bruce and Emily Cobb. Their educational fate was sealed when their mother noticed that they had caught on to reading by the time they were roughly three. Thanks to the public school systems not being the best of places, and private being too expensive - Tabitha and Zane were home schooled.
They grew up together constantly at each others side. Most of the time was spent playing around in their forested acres of land that they called a backyard. Winters were spent building igloos and snowmen. One year they tried for snow robots.
Their studies moved swiftly, causing them to excel quite fast for children their age. Emily even decided to begin teaching them Italian. She was third generation Italian - so it only seemed fitting to teach her kin the language of her ancestors. It became the secret "no dad" language.
It was also around this time that Bruce and Emily decided to make their kids' studies a bit more concentrated. Unlike the conventional school which would be completely broad until basically high school, their parents wanted them to be able to study what they actually wanted...in addition to the basics, of course.
Bruce's friend worked with computers on a regular basis, and talked to the man about getting one himself. While Bruce was a bit reluctant to begin with, his friend - Andy - suggested that perhaps his kids would like to play on it. Andy even offered Bruce a great deal on one of his old models.
And that's when Zane fell in love.
It was a strangely erotic experience...for a kid. In his head, he felt the computer call to him. He approached the machine - and it sang. It sang for him. The interface seemed to almost know him. Pinball was the first thing on the menu. It was his new best friend. His new lover.
In reality what happened was that his dad brought home the computer, and Zane came over, curious. Andy showed Zane how to use the computer, and pointed out the last game he played in the Start menu. Pinball. The child rejoiced and hugged the machine. There was an awkward silence amongst the adults. Emily laughed.
At the same time, Tabby was brought through a hole mess of things that required 'building'. They all knew she liked that, they just weren't sure which type. Then Emily saw Tabby watching Bruce fix his old car. It was all downhill from there.
One day when the twins were just a few days past the age of nine, their father took Zane to the barber, because his hair was getting "like a hippy." As usual, Zane escaped into the sticky confines of his mind, as the barber made idle conversation with his father. The two were old friends, therefore Zane didn't have to listen. It was always the same old war stories. Normally Zane wasn't a fan of getting his hair cut. The sharp scissors always seemed to glide a bit too close to his ears for his taste. The feeling of the cold metal always freaked him out a bit.
About halfway through his haircut, a sudden and sharp pain exploded into the side of his skull, causing the kid gasp in pain. Immediately the barber halted - confused on why the child was clutching the side of his head that hadn't yet even been touched by the scissors. Zane immediately started accusing the barber of hurting him, screaming whenever he tried to cut anything else. Bruce attempted to calm the child down, as the barber grew angry at the child's random and strange fuss.
With a hat on, Zane was brought home with no dessert for a week promised. As they walked up the path to their doorway, Zane paused, looking just to the right. On the ground lay his twin sister, Tabby. Eyes closed. He screamed, thinking she was dead.
Zane has a hard time remembering what happened after that. He remembers his dad running towards his little sister. Mom crying. Their cop neighbor giving them a police escort to the hospital. Once at the hospital, things get especially blurry for Zane. All he remembers is seeing Tabby with her head wrapped up, with a nurse offering her pudding.
After that day, Tabby really never felt exactly the same. Even if she still was as happy and smiley as before, something always felt a bit off to Zane. She sometimes repeated things. Sometimes forgot random bits of the day. It honestly scared him.
When Zane and Tabby were exactly twelve and a half, they were playing around in the forest behind their house. It had been a successful day at the duck pond that didn't ever have ducks. The frogs continued to reject their Oreos, so of course the kids ate them all themselves. Hyped up on sugar, both kids raced back to the house - Zane keeping a constant eye on Tabby since she was always a bit prone to injury. More-so than he, anyway. It seemed like a constant state of bleeding. He had even taken to carrying some band aids with him at all times for her.
As they ran, he watched as she almost stumbled over several branches and rocks - always half a motion from reaching out and catching her. Even though he was competitive, he normally let her win these races, just to keep an eye on her. Ever since the head injury, Zane always felt protective over his sister.
With each step, however, Zane felt a sort of heaviness settle over him. His chest slowly wound into a tight knot, making every breath a fight. Zane continued to attempt to run, but his steps grew less and less stable...until his legs gave out.
Falling to his knees, Zane clutched his chest, wheezing. His peripheral vision was growing darker. His head pounded. He felt like he was growing to throw up. Yet all he could do was look up at Tabby. She looked scared. She was crying. Oh god, why was she crying. Was he dying? Was this it?
Zane opened his eyes in the hospital, remembering only vague memories of how he got there in the first place. His parents were in the side of the room. Mom's makeup was running down her face. He was hooked up to a heart monitor. Zane blinked, realizing he had almost died.
Later, he learned he had asthma - and this had been the first attack. He was always to carry an inhaler on himself to prevent it getting as bad as it did that day.
The twins “graduated from high school” – meaning earned their G.E.D. somewhere between the ages of fourteen and fifteen, and were accepted to their college of choice, around the same time. Since Zane and Tabby had basically not grown close to anyone their age but each other – they clung for college. Especially since they weren’t even legal yet. Their parents moved them into an apartment close enough to the school so they could walk to class, yet live together. It was a strange and slightly awkward scenario for the school, but they stopped complaining as soon as the kids hit their classes.
It was a strange and scary new land, for the duo that only learned with each other. They had to make friends in new places. None of their classes were together. It was surreal.
In one of his many computer classes, Zane was introduced to the people that were turn him on to hacking. Their names were Eli, Chloe, and Gus. He sat between Chloe and Eli in the class, and noticed them observing him after the first few classes. They then approached him with an offer. He was sworn to secrecy and honestly felt like he was part of Dead Poet’s Society.
They gave him tiny tasks and watched him work his way through it. It was only a matter of time before he was showing them new tricks. Because of this, hacking became a hobby. When bored, he would prod whatever security systems he could find and test himself with them.
The college life treated the twins quite differently, though. While Zane was going out of his way to slide himself into the lifestyle, Tabby seemed reluctant to metaphorically leave the nest. She tried to make friends, but always ended up back at their apartment - appearing a bit eager for Zane to return.
Naturally, she relaxed slightly after they had more time to settle within their new school.
When Zane finally got his driver's license, he went to the used car lot. He had been saving up his money from random jobs he had been doing around campus...which had gotten him basically nothing. So he bought a car for basically nothing. A Ford Pinto. It was a piece of crap...but it was his piece of crap, so he loved it.
At the age of seventeen, Zane was now a Junior at MIT. It was frustrating for the boy to watch all the other Juniors go out and drink and more importantly - get laid. It had taken a bit of sweet-talking, but one of Zane's internet friends was able to get him a very real looking fake ID. His name was Alex Fields, age 21 (because all fake IDs are age 22 and up to prevent suspicion), and if scanned, there would even be a valid set of records that were cooked up. It had been a bit of a group effort to get all the details, but they had pulled it off.
As soon as he got the ID in the mail from his friend, he went straight to a local bar, and ordered a beer without any problems. Two girls were sitting a few seats down from Zane, and kept smiling at him. He shyly smiled back and bought them each "another of whatever they're having" - simply because he had seen that work in movies. Surprisingly, the girls scooted over, so one was on each side of him. They told him how they were on a road trip from Florida to Maine, and were only in town for the night. He told them honestly about MIT - but of course kept the age bit to himself. They both began touching him softly, and whispering things in his ears, that caused his pants to grow a bit tight.
After about ten minutes of this strange a new foreplay (for Zane), he found himself in their hotel room. Boobs everywhere. He is yet to convince anyone that he has actually had a three-way. Everyone laughs and calls him a virgin.
Senior year of MIT, Zane finally got himself a real girlfriend. They were both eighteen at the time - her a freshman...like normal people. Amy was actually impressed at his young age in college. Wasn't creeped out at how he was done with his GED at age fourteen. Best of all, she was a hacker too. Tabby, however, made keeping this girlfriend a bit difficult. She would often slip out whenever Zane had Amy over, but always returned at the worst times. Always when he was 'making the move'. Zane was determined to have sex like a normal person, instead of the weird threeway he started with. However each time he would start making out in a somewhat heated fashion with Amy on the couch, he would spot Tabby lurking in the shadows, holding some form of metal creation she made while not in the apartment.
He always instantly stopped and greeted her. It simply wasn't in his nature to stain his sister with things like this. Sure, he'd drag Amy into his room when things got a little more on the naked side...but still.
While both Cobb children sat happily in their graduation gowns a few months later, Zane sensed an unspoken fear between them. In all honesty, he knew that neither one had any idea what was going to happen tomorrow - nor the future in general.
As the time to get their diploma came, both searched the audience for Bruce and Emily. Guessing they couldn't see them due to the sheer mass, both twins brushed it off. After the ceremony, however, neither parent could be located. It wasn't until the Dean of students approached them, looking grim.
He had just gotten word of their parents location. It was in a hospital in New York. In the morgue. Emily and Bruce had gotten into a car accident with a semi-truck, on their way to see their children graduate. They were pronounced dead on the scene. A strange silence fell upon the crowd, as whispers of what the Dean had just said, spread through the happy graduates and parents. Zane didn't care that they could see tears running down his face. He didn't care that people around them kept whispering, "Oh I am so sorry." He just needed to leave. He couldn't even bring himself to look at Tabitha. She looked just like mom, to him. Without word, he went back to the apartment.
Later, the twins began to fight. In all honesty, neither was sure of the subject of their verbal brawl. They were both on edge, and didn't know how to handle themselves. Before the next sun had risen, Zane had managed to throw all his wordly possessions within his old car and drove to Chicago, where the exact internet friend who printed him the fake ID was offering him the other bedroom in his apartment.
Through his internet friend - Chester - Zane ended up getting a job at a local University in their IT department. He planned for it to just be temporary, in the long run.
Zane had never been one to fall asleep easy, but since his parents had passed away - sleep was nearly impossible. Even when nauseous from being tired...he would just lie there. Zane could close his eyes and relax, but his body would not obey. He tried sleeping pills, but quickly learned that his body liked to reject them...hard. He never made that mistake again.
Zane's lack of sleep sometimes caused strange reactions with his asthma. It made him feel more stressed to be tired. This caused him to breath slightly harder than normal without his realization. Overall, this meant he was sent into an attack quite a bit easier than normal. One time it happened while driving. He nearly hit three cars in the process of pulling over, so he could grab his inhaler out of the glove box. Fun times had by all.
Zane and Chester continued to break the law nearly every night to simply keep the internet on its toes. One night, they even created a virus together that to this day Zane is proud of. Imbedded within the dirtiest fetish porn site they could find, they slid the virus into clicking the home button. It came into the computer as a cookie. It constantly reset the home page of all browsers to that site - even when the cookies were flushed.
Even if he never spoke of it, Zane missed his sister. They were twins, so - in his eyes - half of one human each...yet...he couldn't do it. Something inside him just wanted a break from her. He loved Tabby...but at the same time he just needed some air. He was finally doing something with his life...ish. Though...he did wish he knew if she was okay.
It was also around this time, that Zane discovered the concept of learning real life skills from the internet. Things like lock picking, hot wiring a car, and how to make napalm were all readily available. Real life application, on the other hand, was a bit more complicated. He attempted to break into his own apartment, only to have a new neighbor call the cops on him. After Chester bailed him out, he tried again on the door to his room. He ended up breaking the lock, and spent a month's salary to get a lock smith to repair it. So Zane supports the idea that he 'know how to, in theory' - but simply 'hasn't had a successful run' with each concept.
On his twenty-first birthday, his friends from work and Chester all went drinking. Like the previous time he went to a bar, he managed to have pretty amazing luck. A very attractive girl he worked with actually seemed to finally open up to him. After a few drinks, though, it was more than a bit "open".
Zane had somewhat been idolizing the ground she had walked on, since they had met. Tali had curly black hair, piercing green eyes, and was wearing a Star Wars shirt the day they met. It was love at first sight.
Tali followed Zane home via piggy back ride (the bar was down the street from his apartment), and ripped his clothing off as soon as his door was closed. In the morning, however, she was a bit different. While Zane awoke with a big grin on his face, Tali looked a bit shocked. Even though he offered to make her breakfast and told her the shower was hers to use...she laughed and ran off without another word. She later joked about the sex at work...and mocked his performance.
Zane was heartbroken, but tried to not let it show. Instead, simply replied to one of her very public and rude remarks with, "You served your purpose."
It hurt for him to say it, but it made everyone stop giving him crap about it. Tali never spoke another word about it.
After a rather lengthy shift involving a projector that refused to see any connections and locked them out of its menu, Zane returned home, feeling like a zombie.
Knowing what would cheer him up, Zane slid on his expensive headphones (he saved up for them for ages) and played some death metal. After lightly cracking his knuckles, Zane smiled, and began hacking around the web. At first he just began by prodding to see if there was any obvious weak points. However, through some friends, he had heard about this ridiculous security system that was somewhere in Colorado. Some military base by Cheyenne Mountain. Growing bored of the usual, he decided to give that a go. At first he met little success, until he found a weakness. Someone literally forgot one backslash, which created a tiny hole in their security. Zane began browsing their 'top secret files,' and felt his head rush slightly. These had to be fake. There were databases filled with alien species. Weird symbols and their translations. Different planet names with information on each. Maybe people misinterpreted where Area 51 was really...
Suddenly the security system began to attack him, crashing down on Zane. He tried to get out quickly, but it began tracking him back. There was a chance it had his IP address. He was screwed. They knew where he was.
In his defense, he had never seen a security system built anywhere like that. He wasn't sure what to expect. Well - now he knew. And he knew that he had to run. Throwing the bare essentials into his car, he told Chester to get out of town, and drove to North Dakota, before his brain was officially running on fumes. He stopped at some random motel, and for the first time in his life, truly passed out from being tired.
Two hours later, someone knocked against his door lightly. Peeking through the hole, he saw several men in suits.
Grabbing his bag, he jumped out the window, only to see more men dressed the same, chasing after him. He tried to run, but his lack of sleep mixed with asthma and lacking of food, caused the then 19 year old to barely make a jog. They tazed him anyway.
He passed out.
Zane awoke in a hospital bed, feeling a sick sense of deja vu from his asthma incident as a child. The men in suits slowly came in, smiling at a nurse that appeared to be quite put-off by them.
"Zane Cobb, I presume?" asked the tallest of the group.
Zane simply stared at them, feeling tired, ill, and like he had just made a grave mistake in his life.
"I'll take that as a yes. We'd like to offer you a job at the SGC. I will tell you what that acronym stands for if you agree to our terms."
"You guys travel to other planets and see aliens on a daily basis," Zane whispered, his voice slightly annoyed yet filled with awe, "Why the frak do you want or need me?"
"To make our security better."
Zane paused, biting his lip from the millions of emotions that were coursing through his entire body.
"What was with the tazing if you just wanted to hire me?" he asked, his voice flat.
"It's the only way we could stop you from running."
"Right. I'll say yes if you hire my sister too," he said, folding his hands atop his lap.
"Your sister?"
"Mechanical Engineer. We both graduated from MIT last year."
"You're only 19."
"So's she. We're twins. Homeschooled from preschool to the end of high school."
The men exchanged looks, before one held up what appeared to be some form of a tablet computer. Zane tried to sit up to see it better, but the big one blocked his view.
"We'll check her out. If we like her, we'll take her two."
"I'll only go if she's in."
The men fell silent.
"I can see you guys really need my help with your security. This is my terms and conditions. Break it, and I'll tell the public."
"Oh no," said the tall one, smiling down at him, "It appears the nurse is going to give you too much morphine or the wrong asthma medication in the next hour..."
Zane stared up at him, "Oh death threats. Then I won't be use to anyone."
There was a long pause, before the man with the odd computer tapped on the bigger one's shoulder.
"You'll be arriving in Colorado tomorrow. Your sister the day after that. Welcome to the SGC."
::Sample::
And he was back. His head sent out an instant throb, and his tongue tickled in the back of his throat. Opening his eyes, Zane let a low moan escape from between his lips. He was in the hospital. But why? What had led him to this place of dread and evil. Last time he was in his current position, he had almost died of an asthma attack. Before that - Tabby had managed to brain herself falling off of the roof. Yet here he was. With the awkward smells, bleeps, bloops, and fleebs. Yes fleebs. It's the sound of the heart monitor. He hated that sounded.
Okay...okay...what's the last thing?
Zane pondered silently, his fingers tapping at the white sheets that lay over his lap. His mind flashed with running. Fear pulsing through his veins. Lungs seizing up.
Asthma attack?
His mouth slid to the side, eyes narrowing. Had he had an attack? But why had he been running? Why hadn't he used his inhaler? Frowning, he lifted the sheet to check for pants.
Negatory.
God dammit.
His mind flashed to men chasing him. Holding something. What was that? A gun? Had he been shot? No...no obvious parts were missing or throbbing. Just...a headache.
Eyes wide, Zane quickly touched everywhere on his head, horrified that he had somehow survived a shot to the head. Luckily, only messy hair greeted his fingertips. Then what was that thing?
He had hacked something. The...the place with the aliens! Then they found him, chased him...and tazed him. Then he was here. Meaning they were probably just outside.
God dammit.
Zane's eyes darted towards the window, just as the door opened.
"Zane Cobb, I presume?" asked the tallest of the group who stepped over the threshold and into his room.
Zane simply stared at them - his heart in his throat.
"I'll take that as a yes. We'd like to offer you a job at the SGC. I will tell you what that acronym stands for if you agree to our terms."
"You guys travel to other planets and see aliens on a daily basis," Zane whispered, his voice slightly annoyed yet filled with awe, "Why the frak do you want or need me?"
"To make our security better."
Zane tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowing as he searched to see the trick that would bite him in the ass.
"What was with the tazing if you just wanted to hire me?" he asked, his voice flat.
"It's the only way we could stop you from running."
"Right. I'll say yes if you hire my sister too," he said, folding his hands atop his lap.
"Your sister?"
"Mechanical Engineer. We both graduated from MIT last year."
"You're only 19."
"So's she. We're twins. Homeschooled from preschool to the end of high school."
The men exchanged looks, before one held up what appeared to be some form of a tablet computer. Zane tried to sit up to see it better, but the big one blocked his view.
"We'll check her out. If we like her, we'll take her two."
"I'll only go if she's in."
The men fell silent.
"I can see you guys really need my help with your security. This is my terms and conditions. Break it, and I'll tell the public."
"Oh no," said the tall one, smiling down at him, "It appears the nurse is going to give you too much morphine or the wrong asthma medication in the next hour..."
Zane stared up at him, "Oh death threats. Then I won't be any use to anyone."
There was a long pause, before the man with the odd computer tapped on the bigger one's shoulder.
"You'll be arriving in Colorado tomorrow. Your sister the day after that. Welcome to the SGC."
::Player::
Name: Hayles
Experience: 6+ years, sadly.
Characters: Abi Ely
Referral: JAY DID THIS
Password: asshat