Doctor Cheng, Application for Dr Cheng to join the H2

[manitou]

Your ‘Real’ Name (or preferred 'out of character' Handle) Manitou

How Often You Can Post: A few times a week, as schedule permits.

Tell Us About Your Roleplay Past/Abilities: Extensive experience with pencil-and-paper RPGs, though no online gaming experience.

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In your mind, you can picture your Original Character...now let us 'see' them.

(Posted Image)

If you could 'cast' the role of your OC, who would play the part: Mike He Jun Xiang, a Taiwanese actor and model

What ship/location do want to be assigned to? MediCad Research Vessel HippocratesII

Character Name: Dr. Cheng

Character Occupation: New doctor, starting his residency

Gender: Male

Age (the character, not the actor/actress): 26

Summary:

Cheng was recently certified as an MD and is performing his residency on the Hippocrates II. He is small, slender, asian, a little naive, and terribly self-conscious, not least about his variety of obsessive and compulsive habits. His reclusiveness and long list of allergies are both a result of being raised on an isolated orbital with little social or environment variety. He is overly polite, terrified of giving offense, and tends to freeze-up in front of even small groups. Having grown up in and around machines, he is far more comfortable with equipment than people.

Though intelligent and well educated, Cheng has been trained to think only inside the proverbial box. He always reads the manual and, when faced with a novel situation, prefers to follow someone else's lead. Cheng has excellent coordination and reflexes; if he is not thinking about it, he moves with precise, economic grace. Typically, he will remain motionless until there is reason to move, but does fidget when exceptionally nervous.


Detailed Physical Description:

Height: 153 cm (5' 1/4")
Weight: 45 kg (100 lbs at one gravity)
Hair: Black, currently buzzed short.
Eyes: Light, soft, muddy brown. Innocent and expressive, which is one of the reasons he wears his Spex so frequently.
Features: smooth, slender, youthful, southeast-asian
Build: Narrow, wiry, with very little body fat.

Cheng goes out of his way to remain unnoticed, speaking rarely and softly. He remains physically relaxed and motionless until something needs to be done, then moves with a quick, quiet, fluid certainty, becoming still as soon as his task is complete. Unfortunately, when he thinks he's being watched, he second-guesses himself, stammering, becoming clumsy, and even fidgeting. He cat-naps frequently, a habit that combines with his stillness and ever-present spex to render observers uncertain as to his attentiveness and even his consciousness.

His spex look like quality sunglasses with round silvered lenses, black shiny frames, and matte black side-guards. In truth, they are a high-grade audio/video interface for his wearable computer, Channa. Most of the time, he wears fingerless black gloves that control Channa and sometimes, when he's going to be dealing with a lot of people or is especially nervous, he will wear transparent exam gloves over them.

Shipboard, he typically wears well-worn, well-pocketed, soft grey coveralls, and tabby socks. Planetside, he adds a long duster and broad-brimmed hat, both of which are dark brown, soft, and slightly travel-stained. Well-worn Alliance-surplus combat boots protect his feet any time he's off ship.


Detailed Personality:

Cheng is intelligent, perceptive, and well-trained. Unfortunately, he is terrified of being judged by others, failing at anything, or disappointing anyone. He always reads the manual, follows maintenance schedules exactly, and stocks as much emergency gear as he can. Having grown up with little human interaction, he knows he has poor social skills and so tries to remain unnoticed, since there is no manual or design spec for humanity. The truth is that no one could judge him as harshly as he has already judged himself and no one could scrutinize him as closely as he fears everyone does.

He is also ashamed of his assortment of obsessions and compulsions. He recognizes that his organization, attention to detail, and thoroughness are strong assets, yet strives to keep these habits from ruling his life and, more importantly, from being noticed by others.

Cheng has a very sharp focus and is able to tune out his surroundings almost completely. This is both an asset, as demonstrated by the ease with which he absorbs education and training, and a liability, evidenced by his compulsions and obsessions.

A combination of heritage, training, and environment have rendered Cheng's circadian rhythm obsolete and his sleep patterns highly pliable. He catnaps frequently, slipping in and out of deep sleep with ease. Unfortunately, this means that he is an exceptionally light sleeper and rarely sleeps more than five hours at a stretch.

Detailed History:

Void Engineers (gōng chéng shī tài kōng), one of the clans that crewed the colonization ships from Earth That Was, were selectively bred and (slightly) genetically modified for life in space. They are characterized by a light build, small stature, excellent reflexes, and strong work ethic. While powerful during the terraforming phase of The Verse, the Void Engineers have fallen on hard times due to the increased populations, and resultant resource exploitation, of the planets. Cheng grew up on a large, decrepit, centuries-old orbital that was one of the few clan assets not nationalized by the Alliance. The other inhabitants of the orbital are the monks and nuns of a Buddhist monastery with whom Cheng had regular, though appropriately inscrutable, contact.

Growing up, his only family was NaiNai (Chinese for "grandmother") an aging former matriarch who does not seem to recognize that the power of the Void Engineers is long past. She is obsessed with clan history, past glories, and family blood lines. Cheng remembers his mother only faintly, since NaiNai had her excommunicated from the family for the sin of breeding with an "impure", a jazz musician who was only partially Void Engineer. NaiNai has isolated Cheng "for his own good" to keep him from "corrupting influences", which seems to be anything not directly related to maintaining the orbital or following an "honorable career path".

Cheng has learned most of his extensive skill set in simulation, including most of his meager social skills. His isolation and focus have combined well with hypnotic implantation and virtual reality to earn him two degrees and a slew of certifications. He did most of his schooling remotely, though he lived on the Osiris University Orbital Campus for three years while finishing his MD. Before being accepted onto the H2, he had been planetside on only two occasions, once on Osiris and once on Sihon.


Strengths:

Cheng considers his extensive training to be his only real strength, though in truth he is far more creative and imaginative than he is willing to believe. He has excellent coordination and reflexes in any (and no) gravity and never gets motion sickness.

Education
BSE from Sihon Polytechnic (remote education program)
Microbial Genetic Engineering
Focus: In Silico genome design
MD from Osiris University, Orbital Campus
Focus: Remote Endoscopy (telepresence robotic microsurgery)

Certifications and Licenses
Small Spacecraft Operations License: Microgravity Certification only (not legal to operate craft in atmosphere)
Microgravity Operations: Solo Spacewalk, Crew Boss (robotic), Hazardous Conditions, Telepresence, Emergency Response
Repair and Maintenance: Welding (vacuum, mig, laser), Telepresence, Lifesystems (closed-loop orbital)
Genetic Engineering: Basic Algae, Basic Archea

Cheng is fresh out of Osiris University Medical School and has been accepted for residency onboard the Hippocrates II. His main contributions will include his facility with remote endoscopy and microbial genetic manipulation, as well as a extensive microgravity and repair experience. He is also qualified to fly the Dolphins, though not in atmosphere.


Weaknesses:

Severe allergies. This comes from a combination of his heritage and his ultra-clean upbringing. He is allergic to most stuff, and will always find something to sneeze at. He works hard to keep his body's reactions under control, the experience of which provided the impetus for him to attend medical school.

Obsessive and compulsive behaviors, a side effect of Cheng's upbringing, education, and hypnotic training:

* Exceptionally clean; worries about infection all the time. Typically, this is under control in public yet, when particularly stressed, he will wear exam gloves in case he has to touch anything or (particularly) anyone. Will sterilize his space and possessions as thoroughly as possible, keeping them as neat and clean as he can without anyone noticing unduly.
* The 3 pairs of exam gloves in sealed packets in his pocket are transparent because he is ashamed of his fear.
* He is only comfortable eating with the plastic Japanese-style chopsticks from the self-sterilizing clean-case in his right breast pocket.
* Packet of anti-microbial, anti-viral sanitary towelettes in his left breast pocket.
* Overly worried about spacecraft and spacesuit safety, especially about the capabilities and reliability of emergency equipment. This manifests as excessively frequent and severe maintenance schedules and a compulsion for checking and hoarding emergency, safety, repair, and survival equipment. Sometimes when he can't sleep, he will run inspection diagnostics on escape pods or inventory survival packs down to the last vitamin supplement. He finds it soothing.
* Deeply afraid of being judged to have failed, been incompetent, or having let down or disappointed someone.
* Sees himself as an observer, an outsider, and is terrified of being identified as some sort of impostor or wannabe.


Sample Post:

Whew, made it. Cheng sighed in relief as he felt the decrepit scow settle to the ground. Now for a room with a shower, his mind immediately switched gears, remembering that he hadn't felt properly clean in days. Unstrapping the emergency restraints and rising from his bunk, he pulled open the door to his room, closing it softly behind him. As he let go of the handle, the fingers of his transparent exam glove stuck to the grimy metal for just a moment, pulling free with a tiny smak!

Entering atmo had elicited shuddering groans from the aging transport on which Cheng had booked passage. He had been planetside only rarely, and had always come down in commercial transports, so this disconcerting chorus, punctuated with vicious shakes as the grav flickered, had made him glad he'd emptied his bladder before laying down and strapping himself into the bunk.

Positive. I have to remain positive, Cheng chided himself as he slipped quietly down the hall, duffel over his shoulder, After all, I asked to be assigned to the Hippocrates II and this is the only way to make the rendezvous in time. Being terrified that they would disintegrate in a massive fireball had taken his mind off of how dirty the ship was for nearly half an hour. That was positive, right? There was a lot of character in something so old and poorly maintained; it would make a good sim. I'm definitely going to edit out the roaches, though. He shivered at the memory of how he had awoken his first night aboard.

He stepped into the nearest airlock, left the inner door open, and reached down palm the controls for the outer door. A lifetime of living in space caused a reflexive glance at the lock's pressure indicators, ensuring there was atmosphere on the other side before popping the hatch. Not that I'd trust the gauge. Or anything on this boat, for that matter. Outside was cold and windy. Cheng stood in the lock, trying to get his bearings and buttoning his duster. Now, if I can just get away without running into-

"Ho there, Doc!" Boomed from behind him. Cheng jumped, spun to face the huge, hairy, grinning captain. "Smooth landing, eh? Told 'im to take it easy on you." The big man, made larger by a shapeless black duster, engulfed Cheng's shoulder with a massive paw. Cheng froze. He knew what was coming. He had dealt with it on occasion as a student, yet had been warned that it would be worse once he was a full doctor. Reluctantly, he allowed himself to be drawn back, deeper into the still-groaning ship, knowing he was a fool to have made the promise.

"She made me shave it off, you know. I had it for years. It's just that, well, it's growing in so slow," A meaty hand stroked a bushy mustache for a moment before the deep, slightly embarrassed voice continued, "Now, you said something about a prescription? Some cream was it? You know, for my beard..."

[GrimJack]

Oh hell yes!

"My name is GrimJack...and I approve this application."

Ben is looking forward to meeting you, Dr. Cheng ;)

[Synthia Lyndon Heller]

I'll add mine as well. :)

[Ertia]

Oh, well... I suppose if GrimJack & Syn say okay....

WELCOME TO THE HIPPOCRATES II!!!! :D

I'll have Paquin set up at the Corner of Else & Where soon, (if you'll let me out of bed tomorrow?) and you can feel free to make an intro post to get started!