Name: Odysseus Laertes
Suggested Occupation: Quorum Member; Ithaca state representative
Age: 40.
Gender & Pronouns: Cis male, he/him.
FC Suggestions: Oscar Isaac.
Can be seen: Striding through the Quorum with aides jogging in tow; disregarding the advice of his PR people; taking meetings in the café at the Cultural Archives; barking interview quotes over Tala voice-notes; dictating his to-do list to Cassandra in line for coffee; appearing on Nemean News as a guest commentator
Influence ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Charisma ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Protection ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Information ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Experience ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
There was never any denying the hunger in Odysseus. His hunger for knowledge, incessantly curious, that compulsion to explore the world around him at every level. Gathering dirt to inspect underneath the microscope, mapping out the stars in the evening, taking apart anything he could get his hands on just to put them back together again. To say he’d always possessed the mind for science would be to undersell his own investigation, to underestimate his faith in the discipline and the guidance it offers to the human condition. For Odysseus, he pursued it so fervently because it offered one the tools to do right by humanity in a real and tangible way. By going forth with his hunger, he makes a promise to the greater good.
Odysseus was an early Scalpel acquisition. There was quite the buzz when he joined Gemtech, courted and mentored by some of the most prestigious professors in the institution, every student group and burgeoning tech initiative eyeing him like their next golden goose. His reputation wreathed him like myth, preceded him by leagues. The Scalpel team moved swiftly to join in on the attempted wining and dining, but Odysseus stopped them before they could begin. Like an old king, Odysseus hushed the table with a raised palm: give me the basic pitch. If you’re trying to change the world, that should be enough.
With an added genius under their wing, Scalpel began making great strides, and greater waves. They’d always been a mysterious operation around campus, plucking their members across academic disciplines, a pocketful of rare gems. Medicine and tech, engineering and biology– and now the preeminent Laertes himself, the final jewel completing their crown. Within a year, they were ready to start on human trials. Within weeks of that process, Odysseus had quit the group. It was only for Vardanyan and Kim’s begging, and the personal relationships he’d developed amongst the team, that Odysseus’ public condemnation was kept to a minimum, limited to a few scathing soundbites and quotes. Damage done forever, a bond permanently broken, but not enough to halt the project entirely. They gave him their word that they would move forward with greater care; now outside the project, Odysseus could never be certain if they ever kept to it.
The experience changed Laertes forever. The fundamental belief from which he’d spun the path of his life, that salvation stemmed from innovation, and exploration was an ultimate good, cracked apart. Skepticism tore through his worldview, his trust in the industry, in the law. He’d always known technology was a tool, imbued with the moral value of whoever chose to wield it, but he’d believed in the system to shake off the more malignant participants, if not through legislation then through lack of funding. Starve them out through basic sense and decency, a common consideration for cause and effect, the responsibility inherent in all power. Instead, he found that power was the ends for so many, rather than the conduit for righteousness. That regulation, at least whatever was already in place, was arbitrary and all that mattered was the glory that could be bought.
So he changed tack. Several decades into his life, and Odysseus Laertes was a beginner again, but rising swiftly. His political star buoyed by his technological prestige, the drama of his sudden academic exit, the authority of life experience and, above all, the sacrifice of the career he spent his life building. It wasn’t long until he was an official member of the Arcadian Quorum. It’s said that Athena extended the invitation to meet before half the votes had been cast in the election, and Zeus Rhea himself called to congratulate him on inauguration night. The partnership with Nemean brought him resources, information, and attention. New allies and platforms to spread his message. He meets another Quorum member of similar grand reputation, Diomedes, a hero of Aetolia, who does extraordinary work for his people, for his home. Drawn together by way of similar designs, similar ambitions. They’re a duo for the ages.
But he’s proven naive, again, by the person he least expected. The news of the origins of Diomedes’ wealth, from an investment into tech with unfettered limits, so diametrically at odds with Odysseus’s principles, their work, shakes them to their core. A betrayal by omission. Stricken one too many times by his own trust in institutions and individuals, he becomes jaded, becomes more emboldened in his crusade against unregulated tech, more entrenched in his partnership with Nemean News. Some would say he attaches himself to one necessary evil over another, that his ideals are at odds with the world around him. But he would disagree; the only thing with which he finds himself incongruous is the greed of man - the world would sooner follow a greater path, if only it were delineated, mapped out. And he would be the cartographer.
Familial Connections: None.
Professional connections: Diomedes (once closest friend, traitor by omission - learning they’re human, as any other). Briseis Krisia (an admirable colleague, worthy of the buzz she’s been receiving). Zeus (ally and a tool, friend and a means). Athena (strong moral fiber - one of the few). Delphi Púthien (at odds, too cutthroat).
Social connections: Scylla & Charybdis (a difficult lesson). Orion Hyria (flirtation, they seem uneasy with his partnership with Nemean News). Hermes (a real shame). Circe (old rival, was once smug she never was a part of Scalpel - now, he counts her lucky).
