OOC:

Name: BB
AIM: oh deers
Email: bbquirks at gmail
Age: twenty-four


IC:

Name
Esme, Phoebe and sometimes Sophie

Codename
The Hive

Age
Nineteen

Powers -- Multiple Man
Able to create duplicates of herself (sometimes at will) through absorbing kinetic energy. Each of the duplicates is completely capable of independent thought and can create additional duplicates. The duplications also create copies of the clothing they are wearing and it has been speculated that they could duplicate any matter they are holding, a power surpassing simple self-duplication.

Absorbing a duplicate will also mean the memories, knowledge, skills and experiences are retained. The Hive have limited control of their powers, keeping them from mostly duplicating from every impact though unintentional duplication is still not uncommon, especially upon hard impacts such as being punched. The Hive also has limited control over exactly where they duplicate when fully concentrating.

The Hive also uses merging with duplicates as a form of healing. Currently, uninjured dupes "share" the damage when merging. For example, if an injured dupe merged with an uninjured dupe, the result was an injury half as severe as the original injury. In the future they may be able to reabsorb injured or even near-dead dupes without taking on any of their physical injuries at all, although the memories of traumatic experiences are still there. They can use this technique to combat the effects of poisons, splitting them between duplicates lessens the effect.

As a consequence of splitting into multiple selves, The Hive can accumulate knowledge and experience very quickly, sometimes resulting in confusion over who has done what. Specific skills accumulated through their past experience include picking locks, knowledge of firearms, military etiquette and culinary expertise.

The extent of how many duplicates The Hive can produce and how many are still at large is unknown — at one point, an upper limit of forty, counting the core five, was established, but this has since been called into question. It is conceivable that they have dupes even the core five are not aware of. (Description of powers modified from Wikipedia.)


History
To this day some of the older nurses of St Patrick's Hospital, located in Boston, still whisper about about the Stepford Births. The unsettling circumstances surrounding the infant girl(s) birth in addition to their perfect blonde hair and blue eyes meant that the name would stick, turning into an urban legend of sorts.

Though there are a number of variations to the story it generally follows a similar pattern. A very beautiful, very pregnant and sometimes teenaged mother with no identification is brought dramatically into the hospital via ambulance. In most versions the mother gives birth to twins, while others say triplets. Regardless of the number in all stories the unnamed mother dies.

Nurses care for the identical baby girls but eventually one of them goes missing. The hospital is turned upside down looking for the missing baby, but she is not to be found. Then, hours later, the infant returns to the pediatrics ward. No one can explain what took place and eventually it's chalked up to a clerical error. Until it happens again.

Nurses and doctors are at their wits end. A policeman is eventually placed at the entrance of the pediatrics ward. All personnel have to show him their badges before they can get in to do their jobs. This appears to put an end to the missing infant scandal until three days later, a fourth and a fifth baby are discovered, completely indistinguishable from the originals. At this point, someone from "Child Services" comes to take the children away wearing an expensive dark suit with a very intimidating demeanor. Not only does this person take the children, but the birth certificates, the medical records, the mother's body and even her medical records.

The story is mostly true. The children were taken to a government facility. From a very young age their limits were tested. They were hit with canes to see how many duplicates could be created at once. Sometimes a duplicate would be severely injured or poisoned and forced to rejoin one of the unhurt ones. Occasionally duplicates were killed to study if their death had an effect on the others.

It is theorized that the girls were originally one person. There are, however, five distinct personalities who have been given the names Celeste, Esme, Mindee, Phoebe, and Sophie. Because of the nature of the mutation it is impossible to tell which one or ones are the original.

At eighteen the girls escaped escaped as a small army. After their terrible treatment, they'd learned to use their powers in horrific, offensive ways. Mobbing and trampling their captors, sometimes duplicating and bursting from within some of the scientists who studied them, the core five managed to flee at the cost of several fatalities to their other duplicates. Since their escape, Celeste and Mindee have gone missing and are assumed to be either dead or recaptured.

Discovered by Erik Lensherr, the girl(s) gladly accepted his protection and in return do much of his dirty work. Duplicates occasionally take on suicide missions, while the remaining core three are no less diabolical in the use of their power to help the mutant supremacist cause.


Personality
Because all duplications within The Hive are so accustomed to functioning as any number of individuals, whether absorbed into one person or fifteen, each duplicate will refer to themselves in the plural third person as if speaking for a multitude of possible duplications contained within each body. Of the core five, four appear to represent a distinct emotional state.

Because the core five have spent so much apart, when they merge the quintuplet can still feel five distinct personalities, thoughts and emotions within the same mind and body. The core five feel more comfortable apart than they do together. Split, The Hive can compartmentalize the wrongs of the past and their present internal struggle.

♦ Celeste was once considered the leader and if any one of the core five were the original, it was probably her. She was the smartest, most level-headed Celeste was also considered the least emotional out of The Hive, comically compared to Spock. While not cruel she's certainly heartless. It is theorized her duplications took the brunt of her emotional turmoil in order to distance herself from the atrocities committed against The Hive.

♦ Esme is considered to be the current leader of The Hive. If The Hive originated as twins then she would be considered the second candidate for who is original and who is merely a duplicate. She is a polar opposite of her sister Celeste, embodying the essence of The Hive's wrath and vengeance. It is Esme's dupes who take on the dirtiest missions, more than a few of which were not expected to return.

♦ Mindee was a dreamer. It was Mindee who originally came up with the plan for The Hive's escape, even if it took Celeste's brains and Esme's wrath to see it through. The rest of The Hive would like to believe that Mindee is still alive somewhere, fulfilling their dream of living a normal life. Perhaps as a ballerina or something else equally ridiculous. She embodied The Hive's hope, naivety and ambition. When even Celeste or Esme were at a lost for what to do next, it was always Mindee who gave the girls something to look forward to. While the others would like to believe the best about Mindee's whereabouts, they're fairly certain she's dead.

♦ Phoebe is the most jovial of The Hive's five core personalities, though her jokes aren't particularly funny and her temperament isn't particularly stable. She laughs at inappropriate circumstances, perhaps out of cynicism. Phoebe isn't The Hive's smartest, but she's certainly the most enthusiastic. Frequently merged with Sophie the two have a tendency to cancel one another out and look to Esme for leadership in their mellow almost apathetic duel state.

♦ Sophie has recently taken to staying merged with Phoebe. She is the quietest and shyest of the core five and also has the greatest difficulty producing dupes. When Sophie is not merged with one of the others, it is generally to act as an anchor for Esme's wrath, keeping their leader in check. Sophie is also considered the kindest, which might explain why her presence has been so limited with The Hive's new role in The Brotherhood.


Strengths
Takes the phrase strength in numbers to the extreme.

Weaknesses
Each duplicate created weakens The Hive, permanently damaging the core five when one is killed in action.

Appearance
With long blonde hair and blue eyes, standing next to one another the members of The Hive look like a grown version of The Village of the Damned. Each duplicate is identical down to their fingerprints. There is absolutely no way for an outsider to tell them apart. Even going by clothing can be tricky if one of the core five created a duplicate of herself that day.

PB
Elisabeth Harnois

Affiliation
Brotherhood


♦ Writing sample