Asphyxia (Vitus Occhipinti)'s Questionnaire

The facility, located within a remote and highly secure complex is home to V.I.R.A’s laboratories. The atmosphere is unnervingly sterile, white polished floors and fluorescent lighting, every surface meticulously sanitised. On the upper floors, far beyond the heart of the laboratory lies the quarters where their leader lives.

Accessible only through various scans and checks, this area is much more livable than the rest, with a slightly less hostile atmosphere, of course it’s still present in it’s own way.
The design is minimalist to the point of discomfort, more akin to a brutalist bunker-like aesthetic. There are no windows, no sense of the outside world, the only furniture placed there to serve a purpose, whether it be the unassuming and very uncomfortable looking bed fitted with precise black covers or the numerous screens displaying a constant stream of data from the laboratories below.

Though he mostly keeps a distance from the actual labs, other than for the most important of meetings or experiments, this is where his stream of money comes from, though most of it is sent straight back into the research and development of V.I.R.A.

When the money isn’t going towards that, its going towards the following.

Custom video games and simulations:
Despite his persona, Asphyxia enjoys gaming, though not in the way most children would. He spends his few moments of downtime engrossed within custom-built strategy games and simulations, more than often pertaining towards scenarios involving viral outbreaks and global collapse. Such fun.

Artistic endeavours:
Occasionally, he commissions works that please him, involving motifs of decay, transformation and control. His favourite artists work with stranger mediums, synthetic biological matter or strangely engineered pigments. He doesn’t display the art, who knows where he keeps the finished works.

Secret projects: 
Not directly related to V.I.R.A’s research goals, but of interest to him nontheless. These are personal ventures, hidden from prying eyes. Virus-human symbiosis, hybrid organisms doomed to perish even toying with the idea of self modification of sorts.

To the world, Vitus is a brilliant young leader with an amazing mind. His motivations to most of them are clear-cut, to master disease whether it be in the name of general research, safety or to use it to humanity’s own advantage.

His ultimate goal however, isn’t this, and has never really been this. But even to himself, it’s sometimes unclear what his means to an end actually is.

To Asphyxia, viruses and the like are the purest forms of life. Ruthless, adaptable and ever-evolving. They are the pinnacle (to himself) of natures design, and he sees himself as a sort of heir or servant to the very concept. He’s not content with manipulating global health crises, Asphyxia wants to bend the rules of pathology to his own will, and only his.

He has no moral boundaries, he has already ordered the deaths of countless human test subjects. Their suffering is data, and that’s all. As for himself, he’s a mere vessel, he’d willingly risk his own life, afterall if he cannot master these forces he does not deserve to wield them over others.

Vitus was born into a family of brilliant scientists, pioneers in their research. His parents weren’t especially bad, but they weren’t the nurturing type. He spent most of his childhood surrounded with cutting edge technology and notes upon notes of research, this is the norm to him.

One day, when he was only young, a deadly outbreak occurred within his family’s researcg facility. Something went horribly wrong, causing the highly contagious specially engineered strain to spread like wildfire, infecting everyone within hours. 

His parents, colleagues and every other living being in the facility succumbed to the outbreak, everyone except for Vitus himself. Somehow, inexplicably, he was left alive. Maybe it was sheer luck, but it certainly changed his views.

His survival gave him a dangerous sense of destiny and invincibility, that he was spared for a reason, leaving him with unwavering conviction. He was left emotionally numb, watching people he didn’t particularly love, but admired wither away before him. He saw their deaths as a necessary and natural conclusion to their work, they had failed to control the power they wielded.

If anything, this was the initial emergence of who he had decided to be. He gave himself the nickname and moniker Asphyxia. Suffocation, choking. Overwhelming. Much like a virus overwhelms it’s host.

Dr Elara Ventris, chief scientific officer.

Her role can be described as a mentor and an enabler. She takes utmost pride in her work and her position. She’s one of the only people Asphyxia truly respects, and she in turn realises that he’s an ‘uprecedented mind’, nurturing his ambitions without question. Their relationship is one of mutual utility, and she’s the closest thing to a parental figure Asphyxia really has.

Gabriel Voss, chief of security. 
A former military operative, Gabriel is a very imposing figure, acting as one of Asphyxia’s personal bodyguards and enforcers. He maintains a quiet presence and rarely speaks unless ordered to, ensuring that Asphyxia’s vision remains protected from external threats. Though he’s loyal, he watches him with a true mix of admiration and unease.

Evelyn Thorne, psychological analyst.
A psychological analyst employed by V.I.R.A. to assess both Vitus’ mental state and that of the organization’s personnel. She was initially introduced to him after the death of his family, brought to analyse and support him after such a time of turmoil. While she presents herself as a caretaker of sorts, she is deeply intrigued by Vitus’ mindset and what drives him. She sees in him the potential to reshape the world and subtly manipulates him, feeding his darker impulses while subtly steering his plans.