Akira Han's Questionnaire

"I live in Brewster County, in Texas. It's the largest county in the state, which is over three times the size of Delaware, and is home to a little over 9,500+ people. It comes with the standard Texas characteristics of being hot as all living hell, drier than dirt in many areas, and a fuckton of cars, but it has enough to call it home. The main reason why I moved here from Dallas is because it's the closest one to the National Park I work at: The Big Bend. A magnificent place, really.

The home I have is nothing too much; an average home that I have for myself, and an extra room and bed to spare if the option of settling down and finding someone to be with arises. Other than that, it has the standard amenities a house has: a nice tv, a comfy main room, nice kitchen, the whole shebang. No extra bells and whistles aside from the nice room where I could set up my PC. It ain't the biggest house, or the one with all of the fancy shit... but I still call it home."

"Aside from the favors I earn from some of my friends, the money I get is from my job as a park ranger in the Big Bend. Salary's on the level as the national average, but thanks to the low taxes here, I still get to keep most of it. A good chunk of my money goes to sending it to my parents; to help them out in case an emergency happens, but also give them something nice to spend on and enjoy themselves. Aside from the usual bills and utilities, I but ammo and cleaning kits for my colt, and saving up to buy me Ford Mustang. There's always something about those cars that always gets me fucking pumped! Too bad they cost an arm and leg to afford."

"Ahhh... now this one... this is a good one."

"My ambition is to help preserve and protect Nature from any threats there are; whether they're mundane or supernatural, man or creature. This planet is all we got now, and unless a group of super geniuses starts kickstarting another space age to help speed up the process of colonizing the moon, we're staying here... on Earth. And if I kill for it? Well, I don't want to be too brash. If it's possible, I'll try every avenue of Diplomacy I have; help sway their opinions on nature, prevent them from harming me and/or my job, or even help me on my goal, but if all else fails, and if they have the intention of killing me, then I'll make sure I get them before they get me... and If I have every bone broken in my body, every nerve burned, every muscle torn to bits, my eyelids ripped from my face, and a gun placed against my heart to achieve it? I'll do it, because it's my job."

"I guess the most defining experience for me was back when I was a Teenager. Me and my parents still lived in Dallas, So throughout all my life, I was raised living the cities. It wasn't bad, I've got to experiences a lot of things I've loved, but growing up to the constant sounds of cars, of noises, and sometimes people... it could all be overwhelming. Until one day, my parents had some days off and decided to take me around the local parks around the medical center... and it was beautiful. A couple people were there, sure, but it was all superseded by the amount of plant life, tree's, and even birds that inhabited these parks. I spent hours just running around on the grass and making leaf piles for me to jump in, and all the way until the sun goes down."

"It showed me that, even with the might of industry, the presence of automobiles, and digital tech, it showed that nature could still flourish. That it still has an importance to us." 

"The three people that instantly come to mind: My mother, my father, and lastly, Mr. Strauss."

"My mother and father... they were always good, honest people. They worked 110% without anything to slow 'em down, and they made sure I had a good life growing up here in Texas. And they always tried to help me out, even if lord knows I was a little shit sometimes when I entered middle and high school. My mother was always the one to not take shit from anyone, even from my dad, and god forbid if you tried to start any shit or tell her her cooking's shit. My father, he was one always out and about doing work whenever he can, but when he was around, he talked about his home and how we got here. Always with a soft and calm voice."

"But the one person that I always remembered was Mr. Strauss. He was a Vietnam vet that took my parents in when they entered in America. He introduced the community to them and poured in resources to help get my parents up and make an decent living. When I was growing up, he taught me all the things I know and like: teaching me how to shoot, showing me old spaghetti western flicks, inviting me and my parents out to the daily weekend barbecues, and even introduced me to new music that I was growing up with like giving me CD's and albums from my favorite bandsa at the time: Green Day, The Killers, and Bon Jovi. Even if he preferred country. But one of the best things he ever gave me was his pistol: A Singer-produced Colt M1911 that was passed down from his father that fought in World War 2, and gave it to me on my 16th Birthday."

"I mean... without him, me and parents wouldn't have made it this far... and I'm thankful that a person like him was in my life.... I miss him."

"Growing up in Dallas as a kid was alright. My parents were like your average, Asian immigrant family that moved in to America, and they were good parents, but had that firmness in discipline whenever I acted up. Wasn't anything too bad, like spanking me 'n shit, but some pretty gnarly words and lectures. I attended in the usual public schools that were provided in the district we were living in, and it wasn't too bad either, and I fit in pretty decently. I made a couple friends here and there, and we usually hand out after class talking about the average stuff teenagers talked about during that time; music choices, movies, games, etc. But only a few remained after I graduated, and I didn't really seek out extracurricular activities outside of our nature courses and playing guitar."

"Overall, it was a decent experience, but nothing really stood as exceptional or life changing like you see in those cheesy, mid 2000's, coming of age films people liked to make to seem relatable to the kids."

"Ah shit... I knew this cane up."

"There have been some flings I had during middle school. Nothing too major... a couple dates here and there before breaking off... and one date that involved Twilight that almost ended my pursuit of relationships... but there was one girl that stuck with me.. one girl that was the one. Her name was Eliza Miller. We met around during sophomore year of high school after my friend dared me to ask her out during after school hours. I talked to her for a bit, joked around here and there, and the next thing I know, I was on a date with her."

"She was not only beautiful when you looked at her, but beautiful in the way she acts. It's a beauty that could only be described as... whole. She was smart, and kind, and always helped people even if there was nothing to benefit her. It was amazing to be even around her. Throughout Sophomore and all the way to Senior, we hung out almost daily; I introduced her to my parents, and she was even accepted by them... I thought this could be it. The girl I would be with."

"But after high school came, things didn't really turn out alright. Her parents wanted her to go to California to study university there. She was enrolled in honors, so she had scholarships from all across the country to recruit her, but I had hoped she would stay here and hopefully work somethin' out. But it didn't come to fruition. She told me straight up, that, she was going to pursue her studies in California. After that, she told me thanks for all of the memories we both had, she kissed me on the lips one more time, and then she was off with her parents."

"All I could remember was... strangely enough... her hair. She had dark, crimson hair that was about medium length. Enough to reach her shoulder, and it always shined through even in the darkest of nights... and when was about to leave, I could've seen tears coming out... I didn't really keep in contact after that. I guess we were both so busy with college that we couldn't maintain communication."

"I hope she's doing alright, but she probably forget who I am now... It has been 15 years after all...."

"I'm sorry... can we move on to the next question please?"

"Great... I thought this was gonna be a more lighthearted one, but I'll bite."

"My biggest fear... my biggest fear is the fear... of everyone not caring."

"What I meant is people not caring anymore. Not caring on what's happening around them, people not caring what their actions might cause and going through with it despite damaging people in the process, people not caring what might even happen to them, and people not caring about... anything at all. Throughout all of our history, there's been a lot of bad shit that happened to use. A lot of the times it's from natural causes, a lot of it comes from ourselves, or even a mix of both. But through it all... we persevered. We trudged through ancient times becoming the dominant species, not through sheer muscle, but from our brain and sticking together. We've invented new technologies to make our lives easier, invented new medicine to get rid of sickness that we thought were incurable, and we even set up a dialogue throughout most nations around to world to help make it a better place."

"Now I'm not saying that everything has gone perfect, or that we shouldn't point out flaws, and not everything we made didn't come with problems, but the simple fact that we're still here, still trying to figure out and come up with solutions to help out this world... It's reason enough for me to keep going.. and if people lose that drive... if everyone loses that drive... then everything we've built up would be all for nothing. And I refuse to let that come to reality."

My most prized possession is... probably this friendship bracelet I got a few months back.

While I was still early in this contract game, I was looking through and heard about some kind of legendary artifact that involved this show called My Little Pony, or a spin-off of that same series. This was also the time where I was still dealing with a loose end with a big foot in the Big Bend, so I was getting pretty antsy on grabbing anything to get an edge. For a couple hours of digging through some information and deciphering, the location of the bracelet was revealed, so I headed towards there and got the item I sought after. And honestly, it's possibly one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

Not just because it's powerful. It saved my life a couple times, and it allowed me to fight things that would've made me shit my pants and pray to God I don't die in a single hit, but it's also brought me to meet some pretty amazing people throughout my journey. Friends that I cherish, and people that were contractors, too! I thought that it was just a handful of us in this world, but this bracelet showed me that there were more people like me that have their own powers, their own dreams, and their own lives.

Even if I gain or make some items or weapons that might surpass it, I'll still hold this bracelet until I draw my last breath. And to remember a good friend that was lost.

Biggest problem in my life right now is probably the government… I’m kidding. But, the actual biggest problem is these supernatural creatures popping up all around the world… and more specifically in Texas. Dealing with certain animals is hard, even requiring groups of people and a whole ton of gear. For example, the feral hog hordes tearing up the countryside. For years, people have hunted them on foot, by car, and even by helicopters with rifles, shotguns, machine guns, and goddamned mini guns. And even after all of that, they’re still a problem. And it’s still not enough to just cut down their numbers deeply.

Add some kind of mystic animals and creatures into the mix, with some kind of special abilities and unknown energies into the mix like other invasive species and feral animal, and you got yourself into a problem that not even an average politician in the state can’t just bullshit their way with words and a whole fuckton of money.

I’ve got my powers, however, and in some cases, like the Bigfoot I’ve encountered, and the White Stag, showed me that there are species out there that are intelligent and sapient. So, that could lead to some more, non-violent solutions to deal with them… but I’ve only seen few, and I’m just one man.

I’ve been out of the game for quite some time… and I need to get off my ass and do more of what I did before.

Morning routines, eh? 

Most days, I usually get up around 6 or 8 am, depending on whether or not I have work on that day. I do my morning run around the neighborhood to keep in shape, and also if something happens at the Big Bend and needing to respond if any travelers get lost or stray too far from the trail. After that, I take a shower, have a light breakfast, put on the unfurling, and drive to work. In that order. Rinsing and repeating that order for damn near 4 or 6 years now. Guess you could call the whole thing… I guess monotonous?

But on the days where I have my days off, or the harbingers are out and terrorizing some poor bastards to enter into a lethal contract and not me, I do the same thing. Only differences being I hang out the few, normal friends that stuck around after high school. Even after all of this time, I still haven’t told them about what I do, and probably for the best. Don’t want them to get caught up in all of this… or maybe the harbingers are planning to get to them.

Hmmm… this is honestly a pretty hard question. Let me think for a sec.

Alright, alright! I got it. 

If it’s the special place I’m thinking about, then the first thing I would do to prepare is these things in order:

Number #1: First thing I would do is to take a shower. When I come home after a long day, especially after work and in Texan weather, there’s always the feeling of sweat forming all around your clothes and body, and when you’re around a whole group of friends, and you’re wearing your nicest clothes, you don’t feel good. You feel the dampness and fabric intermixing, and that’s one of the worst feelings in the world. So, a shower afterwards fixes that up.

Number #2: Now, after that, is putting on some nice clothes. I never really buy nice clothes. Don’t really want to waste a shit ton of money on some clothes, so I use the same ones that were passed down to me from my dad, when he managed to get some fancy clothes and spurs to impress my mom. They still fit, and they still fit me nicely, an’ I don’t like wasting stuff that still works.

The last thing I do is just put on some light perfume and head my way to the event. Quick and easy.

Probably the same thing I’ll always do ever since 2020.

Wake up, hang out with some of my friends and go to some bars, go to a bowling alley, and rewatch some movies here and there, and at the end of it, we have a little competition on playing an instrument we played back in High School, and whoever played the best tune, gets a hundred dollars from each us to give to them. Normally, I’d fucking lose on account on Zeke playing the violin like a goddamn expert, but this time, I was able to get the best of him, on account of playing the Devil Went Down To Georgia—damn good song—and got him by the end. Best $900 earned in my goddamn life!

But after that, when we all had our fun, we pack our bags, say goodbye, and go home. And after that, I call my parents in to see how they’re doin’, and hope they’re being safe over down in Michigan, and after that, I go on my computer to play some games, and finally, I go to sleep.

My greatest regret is the one that’s always plaguing me ever since I entered in the contract: hesitation.

It used to start out small. Back when I was still fresh faced in this whole thing, but over time, it started to affect how I operate and its effects in the future. Especially my teammates. But most importantly, my hesitation to not act in the aftermath of my friend’s death, Kevin. I attended the funeral and, through his sacrifice, he was able to kill the “fake” Batamir… or whatever the fuck he calls himself. But after his death… I froze up, and for months, I didn’t even accept anymore of those invitations from the harbingers, and I tried to move on … but that didn’t work.

Another example was on one mission… one of the contractors that was with me, they were injured and a whole mob was coming after them, and… and I ran. I didn’t what came over me, but I just ran as fast a I could… I had the tools… the gear… I didn’t even feel the pain or felt like shit, but… I left them. And I couldn’t spare the effort to at least try. 

And there was one other moment of hesitation which… eh… it involved dogs and through naïveté, I thought I could’ve just done the easy way and scare them off… but that didn’t work, too. And it almost killed me.

So… in summary: Hesitation to act and save my fellow teammates is my biggest regret, and if I don’t do anything quick enough about it… it might even end in my death.

From what I’ve seen so far, the nature of my gifts are definitely tied to my job and my upbringing, and a little bit of my personality. Some of them are observational by nature, and the most prominent being my ability to investigate areas. First, it only started out as me being able to do it in natural environments, and I could only get 100 feet or so in. But overtime, it grew stronger. Now I’m able to do it seconds, and get information from the borders, finding out who lives there and what they are, and even down to traps and getting a past event on that area… and all within a mile!

There are also some neat abilities I’ve picked up along the way. I’m able to heal my wounds so much I’m able to regrow almost any part of my body, if I’m given enough rest, and it got to the point of healing other people scars. I’m able to push further than my body could take, and my adrenaline pushes me even further. I can see clearly in the dark, and I’m able to command animals at my will… though, that needs to be worked on, and I feel like they’re growing stronger when the days go by, even if it feels like it’s growing at a snail’s pace.

So far, aside from that red haired, pointy eared lady that met me and blew some sort of magic weed in my face, no harbinger ever really came up and grant my wishes like a genie, and earning those gifts is pretty much this:

“if you want it, you got to earn it.”

I used to be religious when I was younger. Catholic, to be specific. Mostly because of my parents passing it down and wanting me to commune with the community. Much like it was for them when they spent their first years in America. But after middle school came, the appeal wore off real fast. My parents sensed it, too. Since they just left me to do my own thing and not asked me to attend mass.

Spirituality, in general, always stuck with me. Even before finding out supernatural shit like gods, ethereal entities, or mythical creatures were real… even when I left the church, there’s always going to be some people wanting to believe in something greater than themselves, and a need to find out what they are… find out who they are, as a person. And most of the time, people just don’t think about doing it… they just do it without hesitation.

And so, my belief is that, spirituality is always going to be apart of our culture… it’s just that now… it’s real.

It conflicts with just about some with my views. Throughout my time, if there’s anything consistent about the Contracts is how diverse everything is. Not just with the different Harbingers that gives them out, but to locations, our targets and how we deal with them, and to the contractors themselves. Different species, different powers, occupations, and most importantly, different ambitions and goals and how they want to achieve them.

How would I react is probably the same process I had right after I graduated university: going with the flow of things. There are some times when stuff that didn’t make sense for me really scared the shit out of me; bigfoots, ghosts, and godly entities that are now real, but at the same time, there’s no point being scared shitless and doing nothin’ about it. I have gotten better at it—made some friends along the way willing to help me, and some supernatural beings are receptive and are intelligent—but I also encountered my fair share of beings who wish to do me harm, and almost killing me a few times. So, as long as I’m still standin’, I’ll do my best to just try and find a way to integrate it and turn it into something good, and try to face it head on, I guess.

Other contractors on the job?

Well, luckily, the contractors I've met have been pretty decent. Virtually all of them were good in a team, a mix of good abilities for us to investigate and come up with solutions, and most of the time, we finished the mission without any huge amount of destruction. There were a few times where things got fucked beyond belief, which is pretty much a given with these jobs, but thankfully, only a handful of these jobs failed.

Most common contractors I've came across were Oz, Minerva, and Jason Valent:

Oz is a guy I'm glad I've met. A man from Japan who's ultimate goal is to build the ultimate car. No bullshit about it. It's not a grand ambition by any means, but one that's dedicated nonetheless. And as far as I know, I never saw him have any other powers, aside from the TORI and technological gadgets he has. The fact he got this far, and with some of the other people I've been with, without any major abilities, is a fuckin' feat. Also, he's been a pretty good friend and strikes up some great conversations! I still need to go to Japan with him and check the sights when we got the time.

Minvera McAlaster is a unique one: a young girl that looks harmless, but she's got incredible sets of abilities... far beyond what I've seen in other contractors; shapeshifting, altering reality, advanced communication, the whole works. A devious little fella, but it gave an important lesson during these jobs: anyone can be a contractor, and no matter what age, they can be an absolute terror to those who stand against them, and do them harm. To me? Minerva's up there in terms of being absolutely terrifying to go up against, but when you're in a team, she's incredibly good at what she does, especially teamwork... needs to protect her snoot, though.

Jason Valent is... kinda odd. I've met him when I was still kinda green, and he came of a bit unusual. His ambition was to find his lost daughter, which is one that I find noble. He's the same as Oz, both of them using technology and advanced gadgets to get the job done, only Jason usees beer as a way to activate them... which has to difficult if you're tryin' to not get drunk. We've talked during our contracts, and he's a nice enough guy... but after our last contract together, he disappeared off the face of the Earth. I've tried calling him a few times, but it always goes back to nothin'. My best guesses are either he died, or he finally found his daughter, and is jsut living out his life and quit this whole Contractor job. Kudos to him! But if not... then I give my condolences. 

The perfect room... that's easy!

The room that I had in mind would be a medium-sized one. Not too big, but just enough room to roam around and walk. To think, but also not get bored. There would be room for an indoor fireplace to keep roam and cozy, a couch big enough to have someone beside you and rest... a nice carpet big enough for your dog to rest alongside you, and comfortable enough not to go crazy an rip off the furniture.

On the side of the room, there would be some windows, and on the outside, there would be a very nice view... a view that covers the scenery of an entire forest. Trees that team with branches, and birds that congregate and rest in the homes they built. Animals roaming around, but not too overwhelming, and when it turns into nighttime, and you have someone beside ya, the sky would be littered with stars from the beyond, and all of it would illuminate the forest from below.

That, to me, is the perfect room. It ain't grand, but it's something that I love.

I really excel at getting the finer details down, and being aware of my surroundings. Everything from the environment and what's present, knowing where something's wrong, and getting information way ahead of anyone. Guess it's a big reason why I did so well in school, and why I was attracted to the National Parks and nature, as a whole. There's so many things that I pick up and learn about! From forests, deserts, volcanoes, grasslands, oceans... the list is endless. Not to mention the different animals, history... So much information to keep track of, to catalog. It's fucking exhilarating! Since it's just more things to point out to others and keep them updated, so they could tell it to their peers and friends!

The whole contract just gave me even more avenues for awareness, and I'm all the more powerful for it. I guess the philosophy I have about it is continuous learning and teaching. A walking, talking alert system to make sure contractors are informed and use it to help in their situations. Just like I did as a Park Ranger.

Limits, huh? 

Well, I guess it says I'm a product of a man who lived as a comfortably middle-classed upbringing, with loving (but firm) parents that valued family, communication, and education as a premium, and growing up around a lot of animals. Which equates to loving animals, hate being in continuous, prolonged, painful torture, and I fucking hate people who lie to me.

What it'll take to break them is a little tricky. Especially with the animal loving part. Ever since I was growing up, I put animals above people a lot of the time, aside from a few, and that did bite me in the ass a couple times when I went on these jobs. So, in situations where peaceful methods of animal de-escalation fail, my power to influence and command animals fail, and/or these animals intend to kill or harm me, my friend, and family, then that's where I would break it.

For being tortured and the betrayal, thankfully, have come up infrequently. No one has lied to me or backstabbed me yet, and I got no reason to backstab others. It just causes problems and conflicts for no reason... still, it's a troubling thing to think about.