☇ PROFILE
Mackenzie. ɥɔuǝɹʍ. Richards
Knives in the kitchen, sheets on the bed
It's just another distraction from the love we have
FULL NAME: Mackenzie Peta Richards
CODENAME: Wrench
NICKNAMES: Mac, Kenz, Richards, Butch
DATE OF BIRTH: January 1st
CURRENT AGE: 31
SEXUALITY: Heterosexual, bisexual leanings
OCCUPATION: Mechanic, contracted with Army
LOCATION: Fort Wenachee, Washington
PARENTS: Henry Richards [father, deceased], Cara-Lee Michaels [mother]
SIBLINGS: Jillian Mare Richards, Deirdra Una Richards
MARITAL STATUS: Single, formerly engaged
History.
Oh Babe, I would die for you. Oh Babe, I will never stray
First born, Mackenzie was thought to have been a boy before her birth. Her father had already picked her name and was loathe to change it. Due to this, Mackenzie kept what would've been her boys name, her mother deciding to change her middle name from Peter to Peta. Despite Henry Richards' desire to have a son, Mackenzie showed early signs of being so much more than just the 'angel little girl' she was between her birth and to the age of five. Henry, a decorated Military man, found that little Mac was more than happy to sit with her father and listen to stories, watch black and white war movies and play catch. Mac was an obvious tomboy from age four.
When Mac was five, Cara-Lee gave birth to the family's second daughter, Jillian Mare. It was at this point Henry was given a position in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and the family moved from Idaho to Florida. Jillian was far more of a mommy's girl than Mac had ever been, so Henry spent most of his time with their first born, while Cara doted on their princess. When Mac was seven, they decided to enrol her in public school and Mac refused to wear skirts or dresses of any kind. She had her dark hair cropped short and started wearing boys clothes to school.
Assertive and out-going, Mac fit in fine despite her slight quirks and thrived well at Lay Point Hall. Her fathers influence and stories gave her a drive and natural discipline for learning that pleased her teachers and Mac was often given great praise for her behaviour and work while in school. When Mac was ten, Henry's job was moved once again and the family were sent from Florida to Texas. Although Cara and Henry were worried about how well Mac and Jill would adapt, both seemed to cope with the change easily -Mac far easier than Jill. Developing an interest for geography, Mac pinned an atlas to the wall in the hall of the house and Henry placed post-it notes on all the major military bases around the world where they could possibly go.
It was the start of Mackenzie's fascination with the military.
One year after their move to Texas, Deirdra Una joined the family. Due to complications during the pregnancy, Cara was told she would never be able to conceive again. She and Henry agreed that three daughters was enough for them. While Henry had always longed for a boy; something everyone knew, it was evident that Mac filled the hole of not having a son simply. Her avid interest in her fathers career sparking the notion of a military life for the girl. While Cara struggled with Deirdra, with Jill's well-meaning help, Mac spent most of her time with her father when she could. It was from her father that her interest in mechanics stemmed, the pair often working on beat up old cars in the garage together.
At thirteen, they moved again, this time to Nashville, Tennessee where Henry worked on base for the ROTC program. Mac and Jill were sent to St Joan's all girl school where Mac had difficulty making friends and chose instead to stick to her own company -although Jill attempted to include her big sister by eating with her twice a week. Although Mac preferred living in Texas to living in Tennessee, she and Henry still managed to spend most weekends and evenings playing with cars, going to the US Reserve and mapping out Army, Naval and Military bases on Mac's map.
Mac was sixteen when her father died of a heart attack at work.
Coping with the loss of her father was compounded with the onset of Mac's mutation; the ability to activate and deactivate objects around her with little more than a thought. At first, only touch could affect things. Mac found herself turning her light on without flicking the switch, just simply touching the casing for the switch, if she bumped into a kitchen appliance it would flair to life or turn off. It took three weeks of electrical faults for Mac to figure out just what she was doing. With Cara struggling with her own grief, Jill and Deirdra unsure about what was going on and their mother's sister Sara living with them for the moment, Mac didn't tell anyone about her ability; the only person she would trust with the information was gone.
Although her grades had dropped dramatically at school, Mac was able to pull them up the following year for her applying to University. Mac made the decision to continue her work on cars, but to expand it on a large level. She applied for a partial scholarship to Syracuse University to study Mechanical Engineering, securing a place in the course. Following her graduation of St Joan's School for Girls, Mac moved to New York, accepting help from her father's brother Raymond. Applying herself to a full-time course and a part time job, Mac rarely made it back to Tennessee where her mother and sisters stayed, although she wrote emails and called occasionally, Mac eventually drifted to only calling once every few months.
Finishing top of her class, Mac took one year out of her studies following receiving her Bachelors in Engineering. Working on her control of her powers, which she dubbed her 'on-off' switch, Mac travelled the country in a beat up red pick up truck she fixed up herself, stopping at every Military base in the US to take a polaroid picture for her atlas. Returning to New York the following year, Mac started her Masters in Mechanical Engineering, having secured funding for the whole course. At her uncle's encouraging, Mac applied to the Military Academy at West Point to gain a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering after working for a year in garages around New York and feeling wasted.
After graduating, Mac was declared one of the best mechanics the military had seen and deployed to Iraq to work with the vehicles being used in combat. Mac was overseas for three years with the unit, repairing, reworking and stripping vehicles for spare parts when needed. Although home for a few short weeks at a time, Mac rarely stayed in the US for long before returning to active duty at her request.
Mac was twenty nine when an LED blew a convoy she was travelling with, almost obliterating several vehicles. Mac used her ability in the combat zone for the first time, restarting two of the humvees that shouldn't have run and reactivating the communications device that should've been destroyed. Because of this, the convoy are able to call in back up and get out of the open zone, saving numerous lives. During the attack, one of the Lieutenant's with the convoy was killed, Keith Willis; whom Mac had secretly been engaged in a romantic relationship.
Although her powers could turn on the vehicles and the communications, Mac was utterly devastated to discover that her powers couldn't restart Keith's heart.
After an investigation into the incident, Mac stepped forward to admit to her abilities, declaring herself a mutant to her CO and the General of the base she was situated at. Three days later Mac was informed of a post in Washington that she would qualify few. Since she refused to see the Army psychologist, she was removed from active duty and posted to Fort Wenachee in Washington. Before reporting to Washington, Mac went home to Tennessee to see her mother and sisters, surprising her family on Deirdra's twentieth birthday. Spending the weekend with her family, Mac finally told her mother that she was a mutant, and that her power had helped to save some of her fellow soldiers in Iraq. Cara took the news hard, and Mac said her goodbyes without planning to return.
She drove her red pick up truck to Washington and didn't stop until she reached Wenachee; two days late. At Wenachee, Mac has been tasked with the general upkeep of the base, keeping her busy enough to focus. Following an invasion of the camp, in which Mac was injured and close friend Ethan was kidnapped, Mac has been far more invested in the security of the base. She's still not convinced that everything is dealt with, and although she's not the overly vigilant type, Mac wants to keep a close eye on the happenings around base.
The fact that young soldier Jesse was shot in the invasion, Ethan was kidnapped as a result of it, and then St John was injured upon a rescue mission for Ethan isn't settling Mac's nerves. She's trying to hide the anxiousness, mostly through work and a bolstered over-confidence. It might be working.
Personality.
Oh Babe, I would die for you. Oh Babe, I will never leave
With her life filtering slowly into the Army, Mackenzie has always been a disciplined and focused person. Although her small rebellions are fairly obvious, she is dedicated to her life with the Army. Strong willed, stubborn and a little pig-headed, Mac is prone to bouts of disagreement and flairs of temper. However, despite her mouth occasionally getting away from her, Mac has utmost respect for authority, especially her superior officers.
While family isn't a huge part of Mac's life, her father had been and Mac still suffers a 'dad' sized hole in her life. She misses her father almost constantly, and feels very small and lost sometimes without him. Vulnerable to certain instances of something she calls her 'daddy issues', Mac often seeks justification from older, respected males. Her adoration for veteran soldiers and for 'war heroes' is evident in her avid curiosity and unrestrained respect. While Mac can be brash and abrasive with numerous people, she will never back-talk or mouth off to what she would consider a father figure.
From time to time, Mac has a case of 'run-off-at-the-mouth' syndrome and finds that the smallest of truths come out. She doesn't necessarily lack tact, she just looks at tact as not saying things that are true and she dislikes sugar coating things. She comes across as overly confident sometimes, whereas this is just her own confidence in her ability in that she had never met another person who could out match her when it came to mechanical skills -as this is something her father taught her, Mac holds her capabilities very dearly to her and never allows anyone to best her.
What is rarely seen is Mac's more vulnerable moments; having lost her fiancé to the Army already, Mac attempts to keep herself closed off from making those connections again, but usually fails. She's too social to keep herself closed and sometimes suffers a sort of lash back from these instances. When Mac makes a friend she tends to get in a little deep and feels a bit much, sometimes leading to some compromising situations.
Despite her appearance, which is usually a little unkempt and grungey, Mac is a well read and well educated woman, her tastes are slightly outdated and old-fashioned purely because she grew up listening to her father's great loves and watching his favoured shows and movies. Fairly playful, her sense of humour is fairly well developed to encompass her small quirks, her use of spoonerisms as a fall back to watching old style movies with her father.
Mac is a habitual over-sleeper, regularly gets lost in her work and forgets to eat and smokes like a chimney.
Appearance.
HEIGHT: 5'7"
WEIGHT: 134lbs
HAIR COLOUR: Black
EYE COLOUR: Blue
If asked, Mac would describe herself as 'shapely' and that's exactly what she is. Despite her tomboyish nature she is in no way androgynous. Her bust is ample, her hips curvy and her butt shapely. She's not particularly image conscious, she simply is what she is. Her hair is mid-to-short shoulder length, a preference that wasn't caused by the Army, and she rarely so much as runs a brush through her hair.
While Mac has several tattoos, covering her shoulders, wrists, the back of one hip and the front of her hand she is not overly tattoo'd in a butch or man-tat sort of way. Although concessions had been made for Mac's tattoo's upon her admission to the Army at twenty-five, the mechanic is usually required to cover them and has made a habit of constantly finding new jewellery to put in her lips as her lip rings are often confiscated.
In sticking with protocol clothing, Mac can usually be found in her military issued boots, grey or black combat pants cut off at the calf and a tank top while working. She tends to have her dog-tags on at all time and her father's tags in her pocket. Her only rebellion against dress code is her occasionally scarlet/coral lips.
When off duty or off base and granted the terms of her own wardrobe, not a lot changes. Mac is thrity to the point of almost being back in the seventies. She likes band and tour shirts that were actually sold at the gig and well worn jeans that go as far as to be worn through in the ass and knee. Normally, Mac's clothes are loose fitting and not figure hugging -not because she dislikes showing off, but simply because she's a comfort over style type. Mac's only oddity by this way is her shoes. She likes high heels or heeled boots when she's not serving and normally they are bright and flashy colours -reds, yellows, greens, oranges. Something that is definitively eye catching. Mac walks like she's standing on faces, her posture all attitude all the time. Her style just shows her confidence.
Powers.
Mac's powers aren't overtly obvious. Labelled a technopath, Mackenzie displays the ability to control most technological devices, switching electrics on and off at will. However, Mac's ability pushes just a little further than just controlling these objects. Mac has an inherent understanding of electrical devices and mechanical objects, giving her an insight into the workings of each mechanism.
In times of stress, Mac can trigger full blown wipe outs in electrical objects, under control, she can pinpoint specific devices and render them useless. She can also take information from computers and memory storage devices with little trouble, however she does not retain the knowledge of the information for long.
Mechanically, Mac is an absolute whiz with machines, something she developed an interest in while she was young. If anything, Mac's power compliments her interest and boosts her ability with machines, availing her the chance to really invest herself in her chosen profession.
Beyond her powers, Mac is also a fully competent mechanic in her own right, she has developed skills in plumbing and electrical wiring, not to mention her base computer skills and all around handyman capability. Mac is generally the go-to for fixing up maintenance issues or the like. On base, Mac deals with the garage, the military and personal vehicles, the security system, maintaining all on base electrics and the up keep of the buildings plumbing, wiring and structure integrity.
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out of character.
OOC STUFFS OOC STUFFS OOC STUFFS.
NAME: Tina
AIM: tinamakesfire
AVAILABILITY: GMT timezone
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