Early Years | Youngest in a family of five, Myka's father was a programmer in Silicon Valley, her mother an accountant. She had an older brother and an older sister as well. Things were fairly normal in their household and they lived well given their tax bracket. That all changed when they went out for a sail on the family boat one day. A freak storm came up that destroyed the boat, lightening strikes splintering it to bits. The only survivor that was recovered was Myka. She was only ten at the time.
Myka was sent to live with her father's business partner, his best friend, her godfather. She had a hard time adjusting at first and the bachelor had no clue how to raise a kid. He gave her a computer to tinker around with while he worked. It wasn't long before she was taking things apart and putting them back together, upgrading things on it and making it run even better than before. The kid had a genius level IQ already. The other gifts laying latent inside her would only boost those abilities.
Hacking Away | She excelled at school and graduated high school early, breezing past the SATs and entering college at the age of fourteen. It was here that she first ran afoul with SHIELD. In the many hours she spent in the computer labs she hacked various places, always trying for bigger and better things. The more of a challenge it was the better. She had no ulterior motives or malice in her actions, she just liked the challenge. This was when her powers kicked in and turned her world upside down.
Everything changed. Something changed inside her. It was like her mind went into overdrive and she could 'see' into computers. She could communicate with them with her mind. The world turned into binary and her thought process was blindingly fast, like a super computer. It was overwhelming the first time it happened. She woke up in the infirmary and was told she was found with a bloody nose and had been out for a few days.
She managed to hack several government organizations including SHIELD. Needless to say it wasn't long before representatives from SHIELD showed up at the school and tracing her back to where she lived wasn't hard. She was interviewed, tested, blood samples given that revealed a latent extra gene similar to others that had been seen. She was brought in to a SHIELD facility with the intent of her becoming an agent or at the least to study her since she posed a potential threat.. However given her status as a minor the recruitment wasn't exactly normal. Voluntary, yes, in the sense that if she joined them no charges would be pressed on her criminal activities, but still unusual and kept quiet.
Government Guest | She lived in a SHIELD complex for the next two years, being tested, trained, but other than her genius mind no other abnormal traits came about. She wrote programs for SHIELD, learned how to handle herself in hand to hand combat, learned rudimentary weapons usage, and other things. One of her recreational activities was always her favorite though, rock climbing and rappelling from the rock wall they had set up inside the complex. She had no interaction with the outside world other than TV and internet. There was no getting out or hanging out with others her age. It got old fast.
After a couple of years in there she worked out a way to escape, using the duct work inside the complex and the skills she'd learned in concert with her cyberpathy to get outside and stole a SHIELD SUV.
She was the typical teen and went to a movie, hung out in some hot spots, flirted with cute boys who weren't twice her age, and basically enjoyed her freedom. But when she went home to her Godfather's house she found it in disarray and a pool of blood on the floor of his office. It wasn't long before her handlers showed up, able to track the SUV's GPS. They took her back to the complex with not a word spoken, having to lift her up from the floor and carry her out. She was in shock and eventually blamed SHIELD for her Godfather's assumed death.
The Great Escape | She spent the next year complying meekly. It earned some worried glances and a few talks from some of the handlers seeing how the normally sassy gal went into such a tail spin. But she remained the same. In her mind she blamed them. She was sure her last living family, such as it was, was dead and it was their fault. She concluded that they had done it because she had escaped and he couldn't tell them where she was.
Don't Look Back | She experimented with her powers for the next six months, testing her limits and skills. She learned that she goes blind when she used her power full force, her pupils seeming to expand all the way open. Lesser extensions of power simply made them shift and contract. She planned her next escape. This time she never planned on coming back. This time she could manipulate the systems.
She set up a trickle worm that tapped in multiple large bank accounts of corporations and persons that had enough zeros in their account they wouldn't notices pennies a day missing as they filtered into another account for her elsewhere. She set up an alias as well. Once all her ducks were in a row she went for it, breaking out of the SHIELD facility and heading north to Canada.
She lived there a year under the alias she had created and hooked up with some people in a theft ring, earning more money and experience. She left Canada and moved to New York buy an old warehouse that she had converted into a top loft apartment decked out with all the things a cyber nerd might love. The building is owned under the name of an elderly Greek woman that she met when she was a child.
Life as We Know It | She lives in NYC now and supports herself with earnings from cyber theft. With her powers it is too easy for her to get in a close proximity of a wealthy person or stock broker and tap into their smartphones and get access to their bank accounts. She's not greedy though, she uses what she gets to live comfortably and anonymously contributes a lot to various charities. She's heard of others like her. Others with abilities or deformities that make them different but aside from passing them on the street she hasn't really made any connections with anyone. She's something of a loner in her day to day life but online she's very active from message boards to xbox live tournaments.
Cyberpathy | In short her brain is like a giant super computer. She can 'talk' to other computers like a normal person might talk to their best friend. Her consciousness moves through a device or through pathways like wifi signals or phone lines much in the way a telepath might read a mind or enter the astral plane. She 'sees' in binary and processes things faster than normal minds, like a super computer.
Technopathy | Much like cyberpathy this translates more to the material objects than it does the signal. It's more hands on an requires a close proximity of at least five to ten feet of an object to be manipulated. This applies to things that have some form of chip or computer component in them. For example she couldn't manipulate a toaster but she could manipulate a microwave that has a chip in it for programming. Same applies for vehicles. This is not a gift she uses much and is not as skilled with it as she is the Cyberpathy. It's mostly been used for locks on doors and security systems.
TRAINING | With her time spent with SHIELD she received combat training both hand to hand and weapons. While she might not really stand a chance against a highly trained operative or metahuman she is able to hold her own against the normal human attacker or mugger. Her speed is her strong suit as opposed to brute strength.
CLIMBER | She's very skilled at climbing and rappelling. It was her stress outlet while with SHIELD and a skill she has used in her heists as well.
CHAMELEON | She has adapted the skill to blend in and fit in with the group of persons she's with. Sometimes dressing in high end clothes and using a wig to attend high class social functions to pluck targets for theft. Sometimes it's shooting the bull with bar patrons. And sometimes it's just the constant front she puts up that's she's totally fine and happy when she's not.
HACKER | Even before her powers kicked in she was a hacker and a child genius. It sort of drove a wedge between her and her peers and being so young made it hard for those older than her to relate to her.
BANK ACCOUNTS | While she's no Tony Stark when it comes to wealth she does have enough money in various bank accounts to live comfortably.
WAREHOUSE LOFT | She owns a building under an assumed name and has outfitted it to suit her needs, leaving no paper trail in her name. She lives on the top floor with only an elevator up visible. She has a staircase hidden that she can escape out from if need be and the loft is wired up for all her electronics and gear. There are also steel walls that can drop turning it into a makeshift panic room if need be.
TOYS | Xbox, computers, monitors, and other fun stuff are in her loft apartment including the replica TARDIS in her living room that stores her DVDs. No..it's not bigger on the inside.
PEEPS | She has a vast network of contacts over the internet. People that know people and can get her access to things from collector's edition movie props to rappelling gear to rumors and info.
Surface | On the surface she seems like a fun loving, fearless smart ass. She's the Queen of Sass and isn't afraid to use it. She's the superficial life of the party wherever she goes but never seems to make any deep connections to anyone, only so much as knowing them on a friendly or passing basis.
FLIRT | Myka is an incurable flirt. She really can't help it. It's just who she is. She will flirt with no intentions of it going anywhere. Sometimes she will flirt merely to make a person uncomfortable and make them squirm. Sometimes she uses her flirting to disarm and distract a target she is going after.
LONER | While she might seem like the last person one might think of as being lonely or a loner she never makes lasting connections. She's afraid to. She's afraid of getting close to anyone. She tells herself that it's to protect anyone that might get close to her from SHIELD, assuming they are still looking for the asset that got away and it's a decent assumption but it's not the only reason. The deeper reason is the fear of loss. She's lost everyone in her life so far and is afraid of having to lose again.
DAREDEVIL | She loves a challenge both mentally and physically. She can't resist one, in fact. She gets bored easily and is always seeking out something new to challenge herself. It might not always be the smartest move and being a genius she should know that but she can't resist it.
NERD | She loves all things nerdalicious. She's a fangirl of things like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Doctor WHO, etc. Her apartment is decked out in these things. She even has a life sized TARDIS in her living room. (But no it's not bigger on the inside) She plays Xbox and World of Warcraft and enjoys first person shooters. She has books stacked up everywhere.
ROCKER GRRL | Don't look for her to wear thick glasses and pocket protectors. She's more likely to be seen in chains and leather.. well leather anyway. She isn't someone you might look at and see as a super brain. She listens to classic rock and punk music and is a fan of records over digital music. She can be found frequenting dive bars and music venues.
OMNIVORE | She had high metabolism to begin with but when her powers kicked in it was like she processed everything even faster, even food or rather the energy that food provides. She tends to keep high calorie food on hand at all times and eats like she has a hollow leg. She has to keep high calorie snacks to keep from passing out when she uses her powers.
FREEDOM | The single biggest motivator of her life at this point is to remain free. She is fearful to ever be public because of her past involvement with SHIELD. She's hacked into and seen enough of their databases to know that those who cross SHIELD tend to be sent away where they never see freedom again. She's terrified from her past experiences with them that the same might happen to her. Rational or irrational it's her deepest fear.
INSOMNIAC | With a mind as busy as her own and the increase of wifi signals that abound it's hard for Myka to sleep. It's not as bad as it was when her powers first developed but it still happens from time to time. It's easy for her sleeping mind to tap into a signal and follow it. It makes sleeping a challenge.
PHYSICAL DRAWBACK1 | Using her powers takes a lot out of her. The extent of which varies depending on how much she has to put into it. Running basic things like a series of conversations over the internet with her mind is not as complicated as putting her full focus into hacking into a complicated lock or computer system. Physical drawback can manifest as migraines, nose bleeds, all the way up to and including, short term comas.
PHYSICAL DRAWBACK2 | Her body runs off a very high metabolism, accelerated beyond her normal high metabolism now that her powers have developed. It has it's perks in that she can outdrink a crowd of sailors with her body metabolizing the booze into sugars so quickly. But it also means that she must eat high calorie foods to survive let alone function. Using her powers consumes a lot of energy and she has to replenish it as she goes to keep from losing consciousness.
PHYSICAL DRAWBACK3 | When she uses her powers her pupils contract and expand like a camera lens. When using full powers her eyes go entirely pitch black. She uses dark sunglasses to disguise this.
WEAKNESS | Aside from having absolutely no special protections physically or invulnerability she can be hurt like anyone else. But uniquely to her powers she is also susceptible to EMPs like any computer or electronic. She can be knocked out with one and shut down until she has time to reboot just like a computer. It remains to be seen if there are any long lasting effects of this since it has not happened yet.
COOKING | Don't let her do more than use a microwave to cook. Just don't. She terrible at it and tends to set fire to things when she tries. Seriously, DON'T!
ISOLATION | She keeps herself isolated from others for the most part. She's had one night stands and is passing friendly with people around town she sees regularly but ask them anything more than the superficial about her and they will be at a loss.
EMP | She's susceptible to EMP pulses like electronics and it will knock her out clean, shutting her down. This has yet to have happened and the results of it have not yet been discovered.
PARANOID | She blames SHIELD for the death of her godfather. It might be true. It might not be. It remains to be proven but in her mind she sees them as the bad guys and will do anything to stay out of their grasp. She's fears them finding her and locking her up.
CHALLENGES | She can't resist a challenge be it a dare or a risky heist or target. She needs them to satisfy her ever active mind.
HOT TEMPER | She has a quick temper at times and when it flares she doesn't exactly think like the genius she is. She gets all scrappy and is likely to do something rash and often destructive.
SOFT SPOT | While she tries to maintain a distance from everyone and everything she has a soft spot for kids, the elderly, and animals and basically anyone that can't defend themselves. She might grouch about it as she does it but she can't pass by someone in need without trying to help in some way be it directly or indirectly.
