Founder Saorise D'arcy (a.k.a. Zero)
Saoirse D'arcy [Sear-shah Dar-see] is the founder of
Licentia and Patient Zero of
Rumase-Associated Illness. Although the exact mechanism is unknown, Saoirse's unique chemical signals cause other
zeitgabberim to subconsciously see her as a leader. She has internalized this role as a shepherd and has made it her life goal to guide them to prosperity, ensuring her own safety in the process. As an acceptance of her role as Patient Zero, to protect her identity, and in honor of another revolutionary, she has discarded the name Saoirse for Zero. As Saoirse dies, so does her old life, allowing her to build a bold new future.
...at least, that was the plan. Everything has gone off the rails since she had two kids out of wedlock, was rediscovered by her brother
Sean, gained a cult-like following after giving her lookalike brain damage, got arrested for a murder she didn't commit, lost all control while experimenting with xenoexpressing leading to a murderous rampage, did not get arrested for a murder she definitely did commit, and began alienating every friend she's ever made. Now separated from the flock she once led, she is spiraling. In the early days of her exile, she took up "climate activism" by means of massive property damage, but eventually found she had to return to her parental duties. Now, Zero is a woman without her coveted grand purpose, nor any sense of stability.
Physical Description
Zero is visibly overweight, and has been since her pregnancy. She is not particularly happy about her weight and a little sensitive to comments about it, but has mostly made peace with it. Her exact size (height and weight) fluctuates somewhat as acute
Xenoexpression can burn a lot of calories, but like all infected Zero is unable to get mass from nowhere, that is to say, she cannot suddenly become a buff werewolf without using something else to build said muscle.
She has freckles throughout her body, but they are most densely concentrated on the middle of her face, across her cheeks and nose. Like most people with freckles they get lighter in the winter and darker in the summer.
She is prone to developing bags under her eyes when she doesn't sleep enough. Jang-mi shares this trait.
Ever since her prison break with Georgia, Zero has taken to xenoexpressing a long, brown-furred, prehensile tail. The fur is wavy like the hair on her head, although due to it having apocrine glands it feels somewhat more silky, or, dare I say oily. Although it is like a monkey's tail in function, it wags when she is happy, and sometimes seems to have a mind of its own. However, as part of her obsession with her image and not wanting to appear "cringe," most of the time she keeps it hidden under her clothes, wrapped around her waist like a saiyan. This tail brings her great joy, but at the same time, she has no qualms with cutting it off and eating it should she need some meat quickly.
There is a large keloid scar on her throat, usually covered by her bandana. She earned this during the Millbrae Massacre. This scar tissue is unable to undergo
Melding or
Xenoexpression, so it is the only truly identifying feature that she cannot change in some way or another.
In the summer, Zero is often tinged slightly red with sunburn. She grew used to it during her time on the streets and doesn't always realize when she is burning.
Zero is technically missing a few of her teeth, but these have been replaced with fish teeth that look very similar.
Zero prefers wearing sports jerseys for comfort, but at the same time is conscious about her image and tries to develop "cute" outfits from whatever she has available. For years, she wore a red bandana around her neck at almost all times to hide her scar, but has worn it less and less as overtime for fear of it being seen as "tacky." She has been replacing it with scarves, high-necked scarves, or, as the scar has faded somewhat and is no longer quite as raised, makeup.
Mental characteristics
Cisgender woman (she/hers)
Pansexual and polyamorous
Zero holds a Chemistry B.S. from Cal, but it was earned on a technicality. It turns out that if a UC has to close permanently due to a diaster, all current students graduate with their degrees. In reality she only has the equivalent of three semesters worth of schooling, although AP Chemistry does give her a bit of an edge.
Zero's first gig was a camp counselor, which didn't go very well. Her first actual paying job was a lifeguard. She began waiting tables once she started college, a job that she surprisingly quite enjoys as it lets her meet lots of people.
She had a brief stint as a waitress in "MV Strip Club" when short for cash, but quickly changed jobs once the Red Dragon opened. Part of her wishes that she could go back to the Red Dragon, as it paid extraordinarily well and she enjoyed the job, but it has since closed down. She is currently unemployed.
Being a person who highly values her social standing and seeing it as a means of survival, embarrassment hits Zero very hard. She is a little bit obsessed with her outward image and will go to great lengths to curate it, only to be devastated when she slips up or a past mistake is revealed. With that being said she has been known to activate the normally embarrassing
RAASC in order to escape her responsibilities, and because it's generally a happier experience than being fully "awake" and stressed.
In recent years she has realized her difficulty in managing anger is costing her friends, and it has become a major point of embarrassment to her, especially after she got a mark on her ID card on Licentia warning others of her violent nature after she cracked
Kelly's skull and gave her an almost fatal brain injury.
In 2019, while in
Zeromorph form, she killed an innocent passerby and paralyzed a member of Licentia who was trying to restrain her. After changing back, she attempted to make amends but quickly decided to leave Licentia altogether after getting numerous credible threats against her and her family. While she had no control of her actions in that form, the fact she has lost her flock's trust weighs on her heavily.
Pre-Apocalypse
CW: Suicide
Zero was bullied by her older brother and classmates when she was younger, which culminated in a suicide attempt. One of the therapists she has worked with has suggested that she has lingering C-PTSD from her upbringing that was treated so well by Rumase that she was not really aware of the lasting effects of it. Zero, however, just assumed the C stands for combat and has not given this much thought. She doesn't particularly want to.
Phobias
Zero has a moderate fear of heights and snakes. But these pale in comparison to her cleithrophobia, which developed from doing time in solitary confinement. For quite some time, Zero was even afraid of going inside buildings and could only sleep in open areas or in a shack that she is she sure she could climb out of it should it collapse. She has made some progress but will still panic if in any sort of jail-like situation.
Zero has difficulty with anger thanks to PTSD. While the T-virus helps regulate it, she still has a tendency to blow up on other people, although it's rare that this becomes physical.
Overall, Zero's intelligence is average, but she is capable of careful planning to stay ahead of her foes.
She has an odd knack for military tactics, one that she has honed by careful study and hands-on combat experience. She is always a proponent of fighting smarter, not harder, and has the conviction (or at least is able to fake it well) in order to become a respected general.
- Religion: Roman Catholic
- Virtues: Kindness, diligence
- Vices: Hubris, lust, occasionally eating human flesh
- Politics: Anarchist
Personality Characteristics
Basic medic training has saved people once or twice, but Zero is far from a doctor. She knows enough about anatomy to dress corpses and has no squeamishness in doing so, unless the corpse in question is insectoid or particularly unappetizing.
She is a decent cook, but has a tendency to overcook meat and vegetables.
Her ability to read people is absolutely uncanny thanks to careful practice and gives her the skills necessary to manipulate them, get what she wants from them, or encourage them. She was not gifted with charisma, she earned it through careful study and practice.
Zero is absolutely incompetent with computers beyond the basics. This extends to most forms of technology in general; she can set her ring tone but once very nearly fell for the microwave charging trick (Jang-mi stopped her just in the nick of time).
Like most people, Zero has a few particularly random likes: the sound of rain on a rooftop, ocean waves, the smell of gasoline. But most of her true interests are kept hidden for fear of being made fun of them. These secrets include being scratched (she is a masochist), naps, nerdy puns, musicals, spectator sports, and professional wrestling. A note on the masochism -- Zero does not enjoy all types of pain. She likes being scratched and having her hair pulled, but tends to dislike anything else involving pain. Zero's phobias about being unable to escape mean that she has clear boundaries in a BDSM context.
Zero was never a huge fan of P.E. and generally hates running. However, if given the opportunity, she is not entirely lazy. She loves swimming, water polo, and roller skating. She also is proud of her skill at freerunning, but does not particularly enjoy practicing it as she sees it as a survival skill that kind of looks cool but unfortunately involves running. Being disrespected is also a huge turn-off for Zero, as are appeals to legal authority. Zero deeply believes in ACAB due to her trauma at the hands of law enforcement not long after the Millbrae Massacre.
Her favorite meal is a large helping of fish and chips served with peas, salt, and vinegar. With that being said, she adores pretty much any sort of meat. Her favorite way to eat """advanced primates""" is to have the liver and kidneys raw.
It may come as a surprise that when she first meets someone, Zero usually tries to befriend them. While she is prideful, she usually doesn't degrade others, because she has always preferred friends over enemies. It's also a survival tactic, because it is rare that she has the upper hand in situations without prior planning, as she isn't particularly good with weapons. This supposed friendliness is not always pure-hearted, but Zero is capable of caring about other people and doesn't condone senseless acts of violence or oppression.
Zero has dabbled in cocaine usage in the past but is not addicted. Similar to other infected, she also relies on nicotine to control sudden cravings for food. This too has yet to become an addiction. One thing she is a little hooked on though are inhalants.
Hubris
When a mob of infected clashed with police and private security in SFO airport, Zero knew that her life wouldn't be the same again. In the months that followed, she adapted to the life of a homeless vagrant. Because she was neither fast, strong, nor prepared, Zero took a different path than the quintessential "murder hobo" style of survival that one might expect for a post-apocalyptic survivor. She does not consider herself traumatized, nor does she consider herself a victim. While the supposed "end of the world" forced her through terrible circumstances, Zero has become prideful, even arrogant, because she has learned that she is much more resilient than she thought.
It is a little awkward to describe how Zero's hubris works, as it doesn't quite fit the usual connotations of "self-centered." First of all, Zero does not consider herself inherently better than other people. She believes that her actions are, generally speaking, moral actions, and she thinks that's how most other people operate too. Likewise, Zero feels empathy towards the people she cares about.
But with all that being said, Zero truly believes that she has been chosen to fulfill an important role as a liberator. She truly believes that her form of morality is true justice. She truly believes that her role is absolutely essential and that nobody else could do it--which is not to say she thinks everyone else is incompetent, but that she's the only capable of this particular role. Zero has always been a bit self-centered and had grand plans for herself, plans that she often hid from others, but her absolute faith in her role sometimes alienates others.
Accepting criticism doesn't come easily to her. Attacks on her ego will usually be either completely rejected and mocked, or will cause her to suddenly become furious. It is possible for her to admit wrongdoing, but it is rare.
As of 2020, Zero's hubris has been damaged by her exodus from Licentia.
Hair-pulling is a tic that she's not quite fully aware that she has, usually looping it around a finger when in conversation or deep in thought. It happens more often when she is nervous.
Armed with a strong belief in a good first impression, Zero spends much of her precious time devoted to her appearance. Her nails never have dirt under them, she waxes or shaves her body hair (depending on which resource is available), and a pocket comb is always on hand. This was all true even during when she lived in the midst of the apocalypse. On one occasion, she seriously burned her leg with hot wax, much to the anger of her traveling buddies at the time (Sven and
Watchdog) who could not fathom her reasoning. All in all, Zero likes to stay clean, and personal hygiene helps her feel in control when everything around her is falling apart.
Zero is not rotting, so she does not "smell" dead. Thanks to some characters teasing her about her (non-existent) scent, she is a little bit obsessive about normal body odor and showers twice a day whenever possible. At one point it was three times a day but it began drying out her skin. The overwashing means that if she goes without a shower for a day, her hair will quickly become very greasy.
When living in Taqfleck, Zero is a diver and spends so much time in the ocean that she begins to smell a bit like the sea. It is not an unpleasant aroma, but the salt has a tendency to dry in her hair and make it harder to detangle.
Social
There is an outdated stereotype that the Irish are very religious. This is no longer the case, and Zero should not be used as an example of the religious views of a typical Irish millennial woman. However, in Ireland, there was a "baptism barrier" for getting into some schools that is only recently (2018) in the process of being removed, so like many people Zero was baptized as Catholic in spite of not coming from a very religious family. Due to this baptism, knowledge of Catholicism from the cultural mores of Ireland, and easy access to Gideon bibles when sheltering in hotel rooms, Catholicism was readily accessible to her when she began questioning her purpose in an unstable world. (It's worth noting not everyone responds to war or societal breakdown in this way, both in real life and in fiction.
Jang-mi Kang is atheist, for instance.)
It is often said that there are no atheists in foxholes. While this is merely a trend, not an absolute truth, it has proven true with Zero. After the fall of society, she became very religious, seeking a meaning to her suffering. This goes along with her self-centered ideals; in essence, God has made her suffer so that she can lead society into a more just era. But this theory does not develop immediately, and as such, she spent a lot of time as a "lost soul," terrified and afraid, for a very good reason: She realizes that has the potential to be vicious, incredibly violent, and double-crossing to save her own skin.
She prays regularly, but rarely in front of other people. Although she will cut her prayers short if she is needed or if praying in public makes others uncomfortable, if she can, she will usually pray about five times a day. (Once in the morning, once before meals, and a longer one at night.)
Zero does consider being queer and a Catholic to mean she is hypocritical, because she isn't attacking people who are queer with Catholic doctrine. This does not mean she is completely at ease about the situation. She is ashamed of her relatively normal sex drive and the fact she had children outside of wedlock.
Zero has a certain charisma that is hard to pin down. However, unlike
Sleepy Saoirse, she has lived through the apocalypse and has forever been changed by those experiences. She can be arrogant and abrasive when somebody disagrees with her or makes her upset, even though she paradoxically prefers to make friends with almost everybody she meets. Likewise, Zero has difficulty with anger thanks to PTSD. While the T-virus helps regulate it, she still has a tendency to blow up on other people, although it's rare that this becomes physical.
Classic Zero
When in a life-or-death situation lasting more than a few hours, whether actual or perceived, Zero's personality shifts. She becomes far more formal, secretive, and aloof. She "cuts off" her empathy and becomes harder to have a casual conversation with. This is not to say that she becomes an axe murderer or loses all humanity; it's generally subtle. It is actually an attempt to use her social skills to her advantage while still remaining guarded; if she is more serious, she figures, she will be more likely to be taken seriously as a leader or potential ally. It was in this mental state that she spent most of 2017, when she first arrived in Los Caidos. Only a few people are aware of this shift and most of them have made peace with it.
Jang-mi Kang actually admires it and thinks it's a very useful skill. Most of Zero's current non-infected friends didn't know her so long and therefore are not familiar with this "Classic Zero."
Zero has a "Wesht" Irish accent with an notable lilt and the usual associated Hiberno-English. The combination of California's usage of "like" and Ireland's usage of "like" means that she tends to use the word a little more often than is ideal. When stressed, all of the little adjustments she makes to present a "better" image of herself slip away -- the TH sounds drop, her voice deepens (unless she's in a panic, then like most people it goes up), her lilt becomes stronger, and she may begin rambling.
Even when not stressed, her voice is deeper than that of most women, but this has only been the case after the Millbrae Massacre. When trying to impress (which is most of the time), it is on the lower end but would still be considered feminine. If she drops the facade, it is androgynous leaning towards masculine.
If she enters a
RAASC, she will suffer aphasia.
History
The two arrived together in Taqfleck, so almost no one knows how they met, and they're not keen on explaining the blood-soaked story.
When Zero became pregnant, the two broke up. Jang-mi got back together with Zero after the twins were born, mostly out of pity at first. The two were on the rocks for a while, but were rock-solid after the Georgia incident.
They currently live together and are raising Zero's kid's together, something Jang-mi outright refused to do several years ago.
As Zero lost most of her friends and money ran out, stress and distaste for each other's personal failings is pulling them apart. Jang-mi is tired of Zero burning bridges, losing her temper, and losing track of what the household needs. Zero is tired of Jang-mi's aloof nature, increasing bloodlust, and inability to get a job that supports them. (Zero, being undocumented, has more or less given up her job search and sees that as Jang-mi's responsibility.) The two also have different views in parenting, with Jang-mi being more emotionally distant yet also more protective, while Zero is more affectionate yet also hands-off.
Nicknames & Petnames
Through unknown means, Zero has picked up the petname "Fishsticks," to her chagrin.
Relationship Reasoning
Jang-mi knows Zero cannot handle raising the kids alone, and thus the two are together sort of out of obligation. That's not to say Jang-mi doesn't care about Zero at all, but sometimes she isn't sure if what she feels is love.
Zero was previously convinced that they were in love, but now isn't quite so sure. Her faith is greater than that of Jang-mi's though.
Shared Secrets
After Zero was essentially forced out of Licentia after the Xenomorph incident, the two of them went on a crime spree to gather sufficient funds to live independently.
Their current rocky status is hidden from all who ask, although someone might eventually be able to worm it out of Zero. They were never a very publicly affectionate couple, but make an effort to hold their arguments when in front of people who know they are a couple.
History
The two had a rocky start thanks to Zero's postpartum depression. It took time for Zero to begin to bond with her children, and it certainly did not help that Gráinne soon developed colic. In fact, it was because of this colic that Zero gave herself the T-virus:
Show spoiler
Zero knew that she had anger issues and was afraid that the colic would set her off, leading her to retaliate against her own child--
a fear that unfortunately has some basis in truth. As she had little success with anger management therapy, she had a long discussion with Jang-mi about this and eventually decided to purposely infect herself, as the T-virus was originally developed as an anger management drug. While the side effects have been severe, Zero is ultimately glad that she made this decision and has not retaliated against her children.
Nicknames & Petnames
Zero calls her daughter "a little pirate" due to her sharing a name with a famous Irish pirate and her tendency to get into trouble.
Legal Status
Gráinne is legally recognized as Zero's daughter, creating a paper trail between Zero and Zero's legal name.
History
Although Eoin is more easy-going than his sister, Zero still had early attachment problems to him due to his poor health at birth. She did not want to get too attached as she was afraid she would lose him. That fear still lingers, but she has made the conscious decision to be vulnerable as, in her words, "a kid needs to be loved."
Legal Status
As with his sister, he is legally recognized as Zero's son.
Malice timeline counterpart
Main timeline counterpart
Nicknames & Petnames
Zero-From-Main was the one who originally assigned the nickname Daoirse to Zero-From-Malice. Daoirse hates the name but it has stuck.
Relationship Reasoning
Zero resents the fact that her counterpart lead to her being imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit. Even though it eventually came to light neither of them attacked the building, Zero realized that Daoirse's actions of showing up at the scene and putting what Daoirse thought were explosives there means that Daoirse is perfectly capable of performing such a heinous act. While Zero recognizes Daoirse did so under duress from Bakii, it is difficult for her to move past the realization that Daoirse's subservience is so extreme she is willing to abandon morality.
Daoirse considers Zero to be naive and self-centered, seeing a lot of her own past in Zero's actions and fearing Zero might be heading down a similar or worse path. Zero's unwillingness to heed her advice further irritates her.
Mundane timeline counterpart
Main timeline counterpart
History
Prior to Bakii's meddling, the two were completely ignorant of each other, but sometimes shared dreams.
Relationship Reasoning
Zero sees Sleepy Saoirse as an overwhelmed but somewhat naive version of herself. While frustrated by Sleepy Saoirse's lack of ambition, she is mostly sympathetic.
Sleepy Saoirse is terrified of Zero (and Daoirse) because the tiny tidbits of their memory that she has seen has taught her that she capable of all sorts of questionable acts to save her own hide.
Commonalities & Shared Interests
Both of them lean socialist. Sleepy Saoirse toes the social democrat/democratic socialist line, while Zero is an anarchist, but they share enough political views for this to not really cause friction between them.
former fellow delegate (Trivial)
former fellow delegate (Important)
History
Zero and Ethan have distinctly different ideologies, and he presented an early challenge to her attempts to organize Taqfleck under anarcho-communism. It is because of Ethan and like-minded infected protesting that Zero was forced to allow the creation of the neighborhood of Gadsden even though it goes against her plans for her communities. On some level, Zero resents Gadsden for not failing utterly, and Ethan knows this.
After a particularly fiery argument during a delegate meeting, Ethan invited Zero to his car to sort out their differences. Zero agreed to this reluctantly. At some point, Ethan loses his temper and exclaims that Zero is completely unwilling to hear his ideas, to which Zero responds that it might help if he actually had any good ideas. In the ensuing discussion the two of them inadvertently agree to start a business together. The business, later known as the Green Eagle, provides a decent amount of income for Taqfleck.
Relationship Reasoning
Getting along with Ethan is more important to Zero than the reverse was to him, because Ethan was (and largely still is) the face of economic dissidents in Licentia.
Commonalities & Shared Interests
They have found some common ground on their dislike of tankies and law enforcement, although Ethan believes law enforcement is currently necessary to protect private property from bad actors.
Shared Secrets
The fact that the Green Eagle is run by members of Licentia is not common knowledge.
object of obsession (Important)
History
Over time, Zero has gone from dismissing Kelly to mentoring her to becoming seriously concerned. When Kelly was first selected as a doppleganger, Zero did not intend on getting too attached. As they spent more time together, Kelly began to charm Zero enough to help break down Zero's standoffishness. The two worked well together for quite some time, moving together from Taqfleck to Dallas Outskirts when Licentia began formally trying to clean up the CDC's mess.
When Sean D'arcy first got in contact with his sister, Zero thought he was an assassin and sent Kelly in her place. Kelly stabbed Sean, not realizing who he was, only to be stopped by Zero herself. Faced with the belief Sean was going to die, Zero became enraged and smashed Kelly's head against a metal light post twice before throwing her to the ground. Kelly was attended to by Kuneho but still ended up with an major brain injury. Kelly does not resent Zero's actions in the slightest -- in fact, she is ashamed of having nearly killed Sean and cries whenever she thinks about the incident for having let Zero down.
Nicknames & Petnames
After gaining some height by growing horns, Zero off-hand referred to Kelly as a "mini-me." Kelly was so delighted with the comparison that Zero never used it again because Kelly's reaction kinda freaked her out.
Relationship Reasoning
Although freaked out by Kelly and never happy to spend time with her, Zero blames herself for Kelly's mental state and feels a sense of responsibility to keep her happy. She also appreciates that Kelly took the fall for the jailbreak and the fact Kelly is not sexually aggressive, unlike some of the other acolytes.
Commonalities & Shared Interests
Prior to the injury, the two loved to discuss how to build utopia. Both of them love complicated, overarching frameworks and systems of connections.
Shared Secrets
Neither Kelly nor Zero talk about the head-smashing incident. That being said, a few other people know, and anyone seeing Zero's ID card knows she has a mark for unspecified violent behavior.
History
Kuneho witnessed Zero attack Kelly and wrote a report detailing the situation. This report has since been publicized by Dissidents and others who don't approve of Zero.
Prior to publishing the report, Kuneho put out a no-contact order with Zero.
Legal Status
No contact allowed
At the moment, Zero is almost completely destitute, only housed by merit of being allowed to stay there for free.
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