Name: Dr. Hugo Blanchard

Gender: Male, Bisexual

Age/DOB: 25 unknown DOB, arrived RY9

Origin: Aperturth, of French-Canadian descent, at Austin Texas facility

Family: Unknown, likely deceased in Resonance Cascade

Other:

Height: 5'10"

Weight: 155, not well toned but not overweight, wiry and more quick than strong

Hair: Dark brown, thick, kept short and styled; has a thick beard

Eyes: hazel green, small and focused

Appearance: Fair skinned, a few scars, keeps himself pretty clean and neat, rarely wore any scientific gear unless required and for some reason Aperture allowed this; speaks with a slight accent and often adds French words to his discussions

Genetic Abilities: Atomic senses, Hugo is able to detect wavelengths and frequencies of radiation. He can to a small extent manipulate these at very close range, such as being able to microwave a hand-held item. It is likely that he had this ability prior to the Resonance Cascade to a certain degree given his profession with catalyzing chemicals. With that in mind, and his expertise in chemical engineering, Hugo has begun to manipulate items with this radiation and experimenting on ways to weaponize himself. Since there are now targets on which to practice, in the form of the Combine, so much the better, but he would probably have done this anyway. If he and some of the other engineers get together, they might manage to focus and strengthen his range or level of effect, similar to some of the Pantheon. He can absolutely kill small animals such as Headcrabs, and do serious damage to humans, so he is careful with this. Thankfully it requires both concentration and effort. He does seem to be able to 'soak' radioactivity, with no ill effects nor any spill-out, so he can move into a dangerous location and mitigate its effects within a few minutes. This energy does need to be released, which often comes in the form of frying headcrabs and making dinner...

Icarus Processing: none, though with the Resonance Cascade his latent talents have grown strong enough to be functional

Image Credits: Gmod / (unknown origin)
Skills or Profession: Formerly a Polymer Engineer, Hugo is quite adept with inorganic and other forms of chemistry. He has a functional knowledge of structural materials, physics, and associated fields which benefit from or contribute to his degree. As a lab technician he is somewhat of a slacker, but most Black Mesa or Armacham-EC scientists blow this off as 'he's from Aperture of course he's like that'. He will certainly clean things up if he drops something, and makes sure that everything is present and accounted for both before and after any given experiment, but while he's working, he is rather apt to drag wires, shove other things out of his way, and talk to himself. He also has a modest knowledge of explosives and forensics, mainly because he's been called upon to help fix chemical issues that caused those explosions. Outside of his professional knowledge, however, he's actually an apt and charming speaker, though he tends to run with the more 'egghead' types rather than casual conversations with random refugees.
Personality: Focused and intense, but with a big picture in mind. He knows that Aperture was responsible for his world's major problems, and feels as though they could have done more to fix it - and in the words of some Black Mesa folks, "that's exactly part of the problem too". He doesn't get stuck in a rut, if he thinks there's another way to do any given experiment he'll try it out and move on. But he will certainly attempt until those trials are exhausted. He does have the sense in his head to recognize when someone is flirting, and enjoys enounters of whatever type is available, but it's likely he also keeps track of his 'successes'... his 'little black book' thankfully is all kept in his head.

Events or History: His parents moved from Quebec when he was around 4 years old, and he spent much of his childhood and adult life in Texas. His graduate studies were in a private university in Cleveland Ohio - not coincidentally the same city where Aperture's primary research labs were. Hired on to Aperture fresh from his graduate work, he had been assisting in creating plastics, substances, and explosives. (Some of his work was adapted into Repulsion and Adhesion Gels.) When the Resonance Cascade occurred he and the others managed to escape with their lives and little else, and then were found by Local Lane.

Since much of the Rookery is filled with dragons instead of equipment these days, he has relocated to North Aperture. However he does frequently pop over to both the Rookery and the Borealis, once his work on any given project is finished in the Spheres. Resides and works in Shaft 3, Sphere 2.

Dragon

Name: Reticulate
Gender: Female
Size/Shoulder/Length: Medium-large 13' s / 65' l / 60' and 32' ws
Colors: belly from chin to mid-tail medium brown with aqua fade at edge, slightly metallic looking; main body, face, limbs, tail, wing arms medium brown; dorsal neck and body armor, wing armor, dorsal tail strong teal aqua grades to light aqua to orange-brown, pattern on tail flips those colors; face armor, neck, body, limb scales dark teal; medium teal face accents; wingsails butterfly patterned in medium teal, bright cyan fading to mottled white with bright white edges, hazel to teal spots; dorsal webbing and tail tip muted orange-brown to hazel teal; claws dark graphite; eyes hazel green (they are the same color as Hugo's)
Features: Silkwing - Leafwing hybrid, very evenly balanced features with multiple wings and silk-wing like antennae and production; leafy scales and webbing.
Powers: Winged Flight, Reticulate is strong and even in the air, and enjoys being able to hoist things with her silk as well as drag them along when she can't quite lift them. Her wings are surprisingly durable, and she is adept at hovering in a remarkably steady pattern, and can hold delicate equipment while flying without damaging it or spilling any contents. (In other words she's way more careful in the air than her rider is on the ground...) She spends most of her time flying, though she does need to be exposed to sunlight or full-spectrum lighting in order to be at her full strength.*
Communication, Reticulate is quite nerdy and speaks a lot of big words - and knows how to use them. She and her human friend get along very well for this reason, she doesn't have a degree but she might as well. She uses technical English, Draconic, and can suss out words in Vortigese though she doesn't have any particular Vortal power otherwise, and while she and Hugo are definitely paired up, there is no Impression or bond, they're just really well matched.
Leafwing-Based Energy Processing, Reticulate can absorb light and minor amounts of infrared or ultraviolet energy to recharge herself, and when she's been able to bask above ground she can go for at least 2 days without 'topping off'. *She has been able to warn people that an area is dangerous, because she senses a little of both infra and ultra frequencies in a small radius around herself. Sending Hugo in, problem solved at least for a while until they find where it's coming from...
Silk Production, Reticulate's focus is on creating meshes, netting, weaves of all kinds, which Hugo then uses as the basis for materials in the lab. She can make extremely fine meshes, capable of being used as filtration masks, through gauze-grade cloth, and even very large corded netting. She rubs her wrists together in ways that get a specific kind of silk going, and then it's kind of like watching a spider wrap prey, only in reverse... She can only produce one type in a 2 or 3 day period, so she'll sit down and work on one for a while, and then swap out, with a day or so between work sessions. Because of her efforts, the medical bay in North Aperture's Spheres are well stocked with any gauze and bandage-based items, as well as masks for exploration purposes. When Hugo uses some of these, it's to create fiberglass strips, and they are extraordinarily strong. The silk never becomes brittle - unless she makes it that way to start, and doesn't dissolve again until she means it to while making it.
Senses, her antennae can detect changes in pressure and air currents, as well as being the focal point for her radiation detection. However, all of her scales can 'sense' non-optimal radioactivity or heat.
Parentage: Unknown Silkwing mother and Leafwing father, unrelated to others in the Rookery
Origin: Adopted from GuildKnight with lines by Musewings, WoF by Tui Sutherland
Other Info: She likes making functional goods, but appreciates the presence of the silk-weavers that make cloth for the humans, because if you can't look pretty while you're working, what's the point?