((Hello, this is my first attempt at a RP story. I have wanted to do a story from my main characters point of view for some time now, but I had trouble both with what to write and why would he write it. My recent participation in The two six RP inspired me to finish it. I want to warn you, this gets a little preachy near the end, but it just seemed to fit the character. I originally wrote this to get a better feel for Coolant System and his motives; I never actually intended for it to have a moral of any kind. Please read and review. I encourage criticism. Thanks.))
Hello. My name is Nikolas; if you wish, you may call me Nick or even Coolant System. Im afraid I am not allowed to give you my last name, and dont try looking it up based on my story. The people I work for are very thorough when it comes to my protection, and the Rikti war covered up most of my past for me. The only living person that could tell you who I used to be is Eddie, but trust me, you wont find Eddie.
Most things in life arent certain. You can never know what tomorrow will bring, but you do have certain expectations. Some people realize this early on, but I wasnt the kind of person that thought about tomorrow. I always made the assumption that I would wake up the next day, and everything would be as it was supposed to be. Most people gradually learn that this isnt the case. I learned that lesson in two days; the time in-between those days was the longest night of my life.
When something big happens in your life, you have a hard time forgetting it. I can tell you that the day my life changed was a Tuesday back in 1996; I was fourteen years old. I went to a small public school in one of the better areas of Kings Row, and my school was just about to let out for Thanksgiving break.
I was never a tall kid or a strong kid; I was just average back then. I had a group of friends I hung out with, and they were pretty much average. That day, there was a Thanksgiving party for my home-room, and we were all pretty much bored out of our mind. When some of the bigger guys decided to pick on my best friend Eddie, no one was really surprised. A boring party, us trapped in the auditorium with the jocks for a half hour; this had almost been an inevitable. That didnt prevent me from trying to stop them though. This action usually ended with me getting picked on instead of Ed, but I could handle it a lot better than him.
That day was different from the start. The jocks wouldnt pay me any attention; they just keep picking on Eddie. I kept trying to get their attention, but they were having too much fun. Finally, I lost my temper. I yelled at them, knowing it would guarantee a beating, Leave him alone you stupid jerks!
First they looked at me with anger, but the next thing I noticed was fear. I couldnt understand why these physical behemoths were looking at me like I was a threat, but it wasnt just them. Everyone was looking at me in terror; even my friends were scrambling away from me. I became scared too, but I still didnt understand what was going on. That is, until I saw my arms: my blue, pulsing arms.
That is when it all started. I felt the energy leave through my arm. I saw a pulse of blue light and watched as it arched and swerved into the wall leaving a frozen mark where it struck. People started to run from me, and I would have joined them if there was anyone I could have run from myself. I was terrified as I watched blue light fly from my chest, legs, and arms. I could feel the energy as it seeped through my pores, and I wanted to cry when I saw my energy hit that first person. I hurt more than one person that day, but I shut my eyes to them to pretend it was all a bad dream.
I really didnt know her that well. I knew her name was Sharon from role call, but we hung out in different circles. The blast hit her, and I felt her heat leaving her body. I watched as she went cold, and
I knew she was dead as I felt her warmth enter my skin. I fell to the ground, and curled up into a little ball. It was at this point that I realized another horrible truth. For the first time in my life, I had a good reason to cry, but the powers that had taken that girls life, had taken away the tears I wanted to shed for her.
Despite my prayers, my own death didnt come, and I could feel the energy flowing from me. Eleven times I felt warmth enter my body, but none was as warm as the first. I found out later that Eddie lost his arm to frostbite that day; some protector I was. The only mercy that I would know that day was when I finally passed out. The sleep was fitful for a while, and all I could remember was the nightmarish image of Sharons face and the feel of her heat. Still, the nightmare I had in that sleep was short, and it was nothing compared to the nightmare I had just lived.
Many things happened while I slept. It only seemed like I had just closed my eyes, but sleep always seems to be shorter than it is. When I awoke, I knew it had not been a dream. I didnt even need to look at my blue skin to know that something that horrible was not a dream. I wasnt capable of such horrible nightmares before that day.
It didnt even surprise me that the metal room I woke up in was not my home, but what did surprise me was a digital display that was left by my bed. The people that had put me in this room werent very subtle, and I can understand how this mater would be hard to explain to a fourteen year old boy. I expected the display to show November the twentieth, 1996. What I saw was July the eighth, and the year was 2002. Not ten minutes later, I had passed out again from all the energy released in my anger and sorrow; I still couldnt cry.
Over the next few days, the scientists who had revived me introduced me to my first suppression-suit, and taught me the basics of how to move in it. They began to explain things to me. They told me of my condition and how my mutation worked. They informed me of the things that had happened that day, and they told me of the war. My family couldnt be found and were presumed dead. Paragon City had changed during my nap. Needless to say, I passed out many times during the days after I first awoke.
The thing I hated more than anything during that time was how many times the scientists said it could have been worse. Yes, I know it could have been worse, but that really is no consolation to a fourteen year old. I had killed someone I barely even knew, I had hurt many others, everyone and everything I loved was either dead or destroyed, and my mutation had made me a prisoner from warmth and touch. I didnt realize back then how right they were, but in my mind, I just didnt see how things could be worse.
Over the next two years I went through a lot of changes. I had to do a lot of growing and learning in a short amount of time, and I had to focus on the goal of one day leaving the cursed suit that held me prisoner. I am not the person I once was, and I owe many people for their help during that time in my life, but I cant name them here. They know who they are, and they know I would die for them.
Almost two years after I awoke, the Statesman put out the call for heroes to come and help their city. Shortly after that I left the complex that had become my home, and I became Coolant System for the first time. From that point on, I became a protector of Paragon City.
A lot has happened to me in this last year, and I could write many stories of my adventures with many great heroes. I choose to write down this story, because I knew it would be the hardest for me. I have learned to control my emotions well over the last few years, but nothing breaks my control like thinking of my past and the day my life changed. This story is therapy for me, but I hope you can take a lesson from it.
In many ways, I died that day in November, and I was reborn that day last year when I became Coolant System. I am a different entity now, and I will try hard to make the best of my curse until I learn to master it. I am thankful for the few things I can do. If you read my story and think, My life is worse than that, you missed the point.
Thank you for reading my tale, and please, make the best of the worst in your life.
((Hello, this is my first attempt at a RP story. I have wanted to do a story from my main characters point of view for some time now, but I had trouble both with what to write and why would he write it. My recent participation in The two six RP inspired me to finish it. I want to warn you, this gets a little preachy near the end, but it just seemed to fit the character. I originally wrote this to get a better feel for Coolant System and his motives; I never actually intended for it to have a moral of any kind. Please read and review. I encourage criticism. Thanks.))
Hello. My name is Nikolas; if you wish, you may call me Nick or even Coolant System. Im afraid I am not allowed to give you my last name, and dont try looking it up based on my story. The people I work for are very thorough when it comes to my protection, and the Rikti war covered up most of my past for me. The only living person that could tell you who I used to be is Eddie, but trust me, you wont find Eddie.
Most things in life arent certain. You can never know what tomorrow will bring, but you do have certain expectations. Some people realize this early on, but I wasnt the kind of person that thought about tomorrow. I always made the assumption that I would wake up the next day, and everything would be as it was supposed to be. Most people gradually learn that this isnt the case. I learned that lesson in two days; the time in-between those days was the longest night of my life.
When something big happens in your life, you have a hard time forgetting it. I can tell you that the day my life changed was a Tuesday back in 1996; I was fourteen years old. I went to a small public school in one of the better areas of Kings Row, and my school was just about to let out for Thanksgiving break.
I was never a tall kid or a strong kid; I was just average back then. I had a group of friends I hung out with, and they were pretty much average. That day, there was a Thanksgiving party for my home-room, and we were all pretty much bored out of our mind. When some of the bigger guys decided to pick on my best friend Eddie, no one was really surprised. A boring party, us trapped in the auditorium with the jocks for a half hour; this had almost been an inevitable. That didnt prevent me from trying to stop them though. This action usually ended with me getting picked on instead of Ed, but I could handle it a lot better than him.
That day was different from the start. The jocks wouldnt pay me any attention; they just keep picking on Eddie. I kept trying to get their attention, but they were having too much fun. Finally, I lost my temper. I yelled at them, knowing it would guarantee a beating, Leave him alone you stupid jerks!
First they looked at me with anger, but the next thing I noticed was fear. I couldnt understand why these physical behemoths were looking at me like I was a threat, but it wasnt just them. Everyone was looking at me in terror; even my friends were scrambling away from me. I became scared too, but I still didnt understand what was going on. That is, until I saw my arms: my blue, pulsing arms.
That is when it all started. I felt the energy leave through my arm. I saw a pulse of blue light and watched as it arched and swerved into the wall leaving a frozen mark where it struck. People started to run from me, and I would have joined them if there was anyone I could have run from myself. I was terrified as I watched blue light fly from my chest, legs, and arms. I could feel the energy as it seeped through my pores, and I wanted to cry when I saw my energy hit that first person. I hurt more than one person that day, but I shut my eyes to them to pretend it was all a bad dream.
I really didnt know her that well. I knew her name was Sharon from role call, but we hung out in different circles. The blast hit her, and I felt her heat leaving her body. I watched as she went cold, and
I knew she was dead as I felt her warmth enter my skin. I fell to the ground, and curled up into a little ball. It was at this point that I realized another horrible truth. For the first time in my life, I had a good reason to cry, but the powers that had taken that girls life, had taken away the tears I wanted to shed for her.
Despite my prayers, my own death didnt come, and I could feel the energy flowing from me. Eleven times I felt warmth enter my body, but none was as warm as the first. I found out later that Eddie lost his arm to frostbite that day; some protector I was. The only mercy that I would know that day was when I finally passed out. The sleep was fitful for a while, and all I could remember was the nightmarish image of Sharons face and the feel of her heat. Still, the nightmare I had in that sleep was short, and it was nothing compared to the nightmare I had just lived.
Many things happened while I slept. It only seemed like I had just closed my eyes, but sleep always seems to be shorter than it is. When I awoke, I knew it had not been a dream. I didnt even need to look at my blue skin to know that something that horrible was not a dream. I wasnt capable of such horrible nightmares before that day.
It didnt even surprise me that the metal room I woke up in was not my home, but what did surprise me was a digital display that was left by my bed. The people that had put me in this room werent very subtle, and I can understand how this mater would be hard to explain to a fourteen year old boy. I expected the display to show November the twentieth, 1996. What I saw was July the eighth, and the year was 2002. Not ten minutes later, I had passed out again from all the energy released in my anger and sorrow; I still couldnt cry.
Over the next few days, the scientists who had revived me introduced me to my first suppression-suit, and taught me the basics of how to move in it. They began to explain things to me. They told me of my condition and how my mutation worked. They informed me of the things that had happened that day, and they told me of the war. My family couldnt be found and were presumed dead. Paragon City had changed during my nap. Needless to say, I passed out many times during the days after I first awoke.
The thing I hated more than anything during that time was how many times the scientists said it could have been worse. Yes, I know it could have been worse, but that really is no consolation to a fourteen year old. I had killed someone I barely even knew, I had hurt many others, everyone and everything I loved was either dead or destroyed, and my mutation had made me a prisoner from warmth and touch. I didnt realize back then how right they were, but in my mind, I just didnt see how things could be worse.
Over the next two years I went through a lot of changes. I had to do a lot of growing and learning in a short amount of time, and I had to focus on the goal of one day leaving the cursed suit that held me prisoner. I am not the person I once was, and I owe many people for their help during that time in my life, but I cant name them here. They know who they are, and they know I would die for them.
Almost two years after I awoke, the Statesman put out the call for heroes to come and help their city. Shortly after that I left the complex that had become my home, and I became Coolant System for the first time. From that point on, I became a protector of Paragon City.
A lot has happened to me in this last year, and I could write many stories of my adventures with many great heroes. I choose to write down this story, because I knew it would be the hardest for me. I have learned to control my emotions well over the last few years, but nothing breaks my control like thinking of my past and the day my life changed. This story is therapy for me, but I hope you can take a lesson from it.
In many ways, I died that day in November, and I was reborn that day last year when I became Coolant System. I am a different entity now, and I will try hard to make the best of my curse until I learn to master it. I am thankful for the few things I can do. If you read my story and think, My life is worse than that, you missed the point.
Thank you for reading my tale, and please, make the best of the worst in your life.