| Arnold Faust | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Arnold Faust | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Arnold has a love of the dark and macabre, in his line of work he was often confronted with the untimely death of people he knew and sometimes even felt a great affection for. Not only that but witnessing the darker side of life threatened to break him in the first year in London (see the History section). That time period (approximately 1837 to 1901 C.E.) was not known for its social welfare programs to say nothing for human rights. Coming from a time where freedom and self determination are paramount in governing, he had to change his outlook on life to accept the darkness that came with his work, do his job, and maintain his focus and sanity.
In essence the assignment was a crucible for him, burning away much of his preconceptions about the world and how it worked. He was left with an appreciation for the beauty of death and the new life that comes with it. How there can be no light without the shadow and how the shadow itself provides light to those who have fallen. A central focal point for him is love, a timeless thread that he has witnessed throughout different time periods and on various missions. It need not be a love that anyone else recognizes or even something that anyone would call healthy. Love gives a reason to live, to fight, and to cling to life even when a person by all rights should be dead. Love tells a person when someone is at their weakest and it protects a person when they need it most. Or, at least, that is his philosophy.
One night in 1999, after being transferred to Moscow, Russia in September of 1999, at a karaoke club in the city he had met a young woman by the name of Eva whom enjoyed an American artist named Meat Loaf. Even in his personal log it gives little reason on why he made the choice to go up and sing to the young woman once her friends had left. It was not typical behavior and Operatives usually stay in the shadows, just another person drinking at a bar. Instead, on this occasion, he got up on stage and sang a 1993 song, "I'd Do Anything for Love" by the artist Meat Loaf. The feeling behind the lyrics seemed to solidify something within his personality beyond just the girl in the bar but somehow focused on her at the same time.
Other Affiliations
Special Skills
- Temporal Operative Training
- Command Training
- Philosophy
- Poetry
- Space Piloting (Small Vessels & Starships)
- Atmospheric Piloting (Small Aircraft)
History
Up until 2377 Arnold had spend 6 years doing field world investigating temporal anomalies and possible inflection points in the timeline. A good portion of this time was spent in Victorian London (about 4 years). He then was sent to the year 1998 on a long term investigation in New York City. This investigation lead him deep into a subculture within the city know, at the time, as Steampunk. His experience in London previously proved extremely useful here and allowed him to navigate among social circles using knowledge of how to create a Victorian Era look and some of the mannerisms and speech patterns. His careful use of experience and planning allowed him to trace the threat to Russia in the following year.
On the 1999 mission he was tasked with ensuring that a series of apartment bombings actually continued to take place in Russia in September of 1999. The bombings killed almost 300 people between September 9th and 13th. The event was categorized as a no-win-situation where the actions had to happen to preserve the timeline but 4 different operatives had serious mental issues related to helping the events occur. Asher himself was not one of them but this is possibly related to the individual events that lead to his success during the operation.
During the operation he met and was assisted by a woman native to the timeline named Eva Teplov whom was destined to die in the 2nd attack. During the events leading to the 2nd attack it was clear that Asher himself would need to kill her and place her body, appropriately burned, within the explosive area where historical records would have found her. In a stunning decision by his commanding officer he was allowed to explain the situation in full to the woman and allow her to choose her fate. She chose life and assisted the operation to a stunning success preserving the timeline, even though her friends had already died in the first explosion.
His current assignment is investigating temporal anomalies while Eva is educated in the modern day. This decision also marked the first actual enforcement of newly created general orders regarding such a situation. The oversight council ruled in favor of the Eva's displacement in time which surprised many who considered the council to be a mere way for operatives to be then forced to go back on decisions to save one or two people who would have otherwise died.