Antigone Carlyle

The first child of Deforest Carlyle and his wife Lauren Merritson, Antigone Franchesca Miranda Carlyle is the younger sister of Julia Carlyle (and second-born of their generation of siblings).

Background

Antigone (known to most people as ‘Annie’) is 5’2 and weighs 105 pounds. She has large, cobalt-blue eyes (with vibrantly silver-hued flecks in her irises) and the trademark dark scarlet hair associated with the Clan Carlyle. She is unusually slender yet busty, especially for her height. Antigone is four years younger than Julia and two years older than her twin siblings Lexington and Vidalia Carlyle.

Unlike her brother and sisters (whose metahuman powers manifested as children) Antigone’s powers manifested at puberty. (While the grand majority of direct-line blood descendants of Majel Carlyle within the Clan Carlyle possess powers, they usually manifest before the age of ten. In addition, almost all direct blood-line Carlyles possess dark red hair and jade-green eyes.) Antigone possesses traditional Clan Carlyle abilities, but is also the first Homo sapiens superior (or mutant) ever born into the Clan Carlyle.

Due to several incidents involving Antigone's accidental use of her former pheromone powers (see below), she was allowed to apply for special Federal seminars designed to help meta-active civilians control their powers). She has also been given a prescription for 'flush', and has received a Mark 31 augmenter to help her learn how to control her abilities. Since seemingly 'growing out' of her former pheromone powers, she does not use the Mark 31 except on special occasions.

Powers

Telepathy: Antigone is a low-level Class Two telepath. She can fully scan and communicate with others up to three miles away, and her mental communication speed is five hundred times faster than normal verbal speech. Antigone can communicate through images as well as spoken language, and thereby communicate with animals and people in differing languages from her own.

Molecular Manipulation: Antigone has the ability to mentally manipulate molecular structures down to the quantum level. This allows her to effectively alter reality, but only within a three-meter radius and no further than forty meters from her current location. Antigone has used this power primarily as part of her stage-magic hobby, for when she travels or goes camping/hiking (as it allows her to create instant shelter for herself and others) and for self-defense (disabling vehicles and weapons, or changing clothing of attackers into restraining items, etc.).

Mental Invisibility: Antigone can mask her presence from all beings' sensory perceptions, and all forms of detection or psionic/neural attacks (both active and passive). Her power has a two-hundred meter radius; she can mask anything in that area for up to thirty hours before she has to rest.

Mental Shield: Like all members of the Clan Carlyle, Antigone possesses the hereditary power of an innate psionic shield that protects her from all mystical, psionic, neural and emotion-based probes and attacks, regardless of the form or level of power involved. This shield is always in place. Antigone can use her mental abilities through her mental shields.

Astral Form: Antigone has the ability to project an astral form, which she can travel up to 1000 miles away from the location of her physical form; or travel into other dimensions (such as into the temporary 'pocket dimensions' of dreaming persons and animals). If her astral form is harmed, she instantly returns to her body. Like all of her family members with astral abilities, Antigone can use her physical abilities in her astral form, and her regenerative abilities to protect her astral form from psionic and astral attacks.

Regeneration: Like all members of the Clan Carlyle, Antigone possesses a form of healing/regenerative ability; she possesses the limited ability to heal herself or others from any form of trauma, but at a far slower rate than Julia. This is parallel to her former pheromone ability (see below) but Antigone must willfully activate her healing enzymes, which is one-tenth as potent as Julia's ability. She can, however, save persons from dying in extreme cases with her power, and keep them alive long enough to reach proper medical attention or until she generates enough of her enzymes in her saliva to keep them going. She has found that, with concentration, her healing enzymes can manifest themselves in her tears, sweat and urine.

Enhanced Physical Attributes: Despite her slender build, Antigone is more physically durable than she appears. Antigone can lift up to 800 pounds (200 pounds without effort), leap twenty feet straight up or across an area (or jump down from a a height of thirty feet without harm),run/swim at speeds of up to forty miles per hour until she is mentally fatigued, and hold her breath for well over ten minutes.

Enhanced Physical Attractiveness: Like her siblings, she also possesses enhanced physical attractiveness. Antigone is rated as a 3 on the Byrne/Claremont passive power scale; this means that she is possessed of a noticeably distracting level of physical beauty that (combined with her physical assets) can allow her to be a distraction among those with little self-control (or those who choose not to exercise it). This has already led to a number of incidents where Antigone has had to physically deal with those who could not control themselves.

Former Powers

Pheromone Emission: Antigone formerly possessed the ability to generate an enzyme emission capable of controlling the behaviors and actions of anyone exposed to them. Her pheromones could be secreted through aerosol transmission, touch (even through clothing), or ingested through food or drink. Antigone had the ability to affect everyone within forty meters of her, and anyone affected by her pheromones would remain under her control for ten hours (per initial dosage; if exposed to a new dose, the ten-hour period started over). People affected by her pheromones would lose all inhibitions, become physically aroused, and retain all memories of their actions. Antigone needed to consciously release her pheromones (but had several accidental releases). While she was immune to the effects of her own pheromones as she generated them, she was (and remains) vulnerable if she comes into physical contact with a person affected earlier, or if she was exposed to them independent of her actively generating them. After exposure to Antigone's pheromones wore off, those affected would fall into a deep slumber that lasted between ten to twelve hours, after which they returned to normal.

Antigone's regeneration power also worked with her pheromone ability; her pheromones also carried her regeneration factor (now vastly increased) which hyper-charges every physical function in exposed persons. Any person exposed to the pheromones became unnaturally fertile (women would begin ovulation upon ingestion of the pheromones, while men began massive production of semen which immediately replenished itself upon ejaculation). Persons exposed were instantly healed of any physical aliments; their adrenaline levels were increased, fatigue poisons were instantly neutralized and the refractory period of exposed persons was eliminated while the pheromones were still active in their system (allowing for the persons to engage in extended periods of intimate activity).

While this power has been effectively disappeared as an active ability, it has not been eliminated in its entirety. Antigone still possesses the latent potential for this ability (which means that with her genetic material, it could possibly be regenerated through power-duplication abilities and methods in others. Furthermore, an extremely low-level version of her pheromones is still active within Antigone's body, as it still generates the enzymes at a rate to allow residual trace-elements to be detected within her saliva. Because of this, the use of her saliva can still heighten arousal in persons and increase fertility at about one-fiftieth of her former power's rate (an extremely reduced level than before).

Talents

Antigone is classified as a 'gifted child' (her intellect is not related to her powers). She was reading at age two, capable of college-level studies at age five, and engaged in doctorate-level mathematics at age seven. Antigone received several degrees in electrical engineering, computer science and artificial intelligence (including her doctorates) before her fifteenth birthday. (Antigone may be correctly be addressed as 'Doctor Carlyle', because of her achievements and awards.) Despite this, Antigone is currently enrolled at Fielding Academy (so she can spend time around people her own age); and is about to 'graduate'. While she has steadfastly refused any form of formal combat training, even though she could easily secure an appointment at the USAES, she has accepted personal tutoring from several of Julia's psi-active friends and cadre-mates. Because of this, she can use any of the 'aspects' taught to USAES Mental Enhancement Program cadets at a level of a Cadet Fourth Year (the third year in the USAES First Academy). She has also learned basic self-defense tactics and has two levels of Leviathan weapons-enhancement training (one in blunt-force melee weaponry and one in basic shotgunning); for this reason, she always carries some form of telescoping baton on her person and can use it with the strength and damage ability of a metallic baseball bat.

Antigone is an excellent stage magician (with a love of 'sleight-of-hand' tricks); unlike Julia, she enjoys being on stage and performing in front of audiences. (This has caused some slight friction from her parents and other elders, who do not want her to be a full-time entertainer, but allow her to do performances for children at hospitals and certain other locales). She is also an excellent motorcycle rider, and shares Julia's love for sneaking off and exploring. At her family's insistence, Antigone speaks excellent French, Gaelic and High German. She also shares Julia's disdain for high fashion and for being manipulated into societal functions, even though (like her older sister) she is well-versed in all aspects of proper etiquette in such circles. Antigone also has a noticeable preference for sweaters and outdoors-related clothing (such as flannel shirts, jeans and boots).