Dante Orion Carrington | Thirty Six; Head of Brink House
House: Brink Status: Uninfected Elite Specification: Head of Brink House, Psychotherapist Alignment: New Wave Reformists
History
Dr. Dante Carrington always took his job very seriously. As the head of the medical facility at the Old World’s HM Prison Altcourse in Liverpool, Carrington’s reputation superseded him. Well-respected and rarely questioned, his professional and chilling demeanor rendered him rather intimidating to other staff of Altcourse. He was sure of his work, reliably blunt and snappish, and held high expectations of the employees that he monitored—nurses frequently reported being more afraid of disappointing Carrington, than of accidentally pissing off an inmate.
He rarely cracked a smile; he kept his personal life exceptionally private and never socialized with other members of staff. No one knew who he was outside his life at Altcourse and he preferred it that way.
But that is why no one knew about the affair that went on between Carrington and one of the guards of the ward. It is also why no one could explain the nature of the breakdown he suffered when a fight broke out between several inmates and three guards. The incident left two men dead—one prisoner and one guard; Dante’s lover, having taken a knife to the throat.
No one knew why, but Dr. Carrington was crueler since that day, edgier and even less approachable. But the main changes that occurred were things that went unseen by most of the staff, things done under the cooperation of a handful of the prison guards and the privacy of the cold and dungeon-like basements beneath Altcourse. For Dante wasn’t the only one who wanted vengeance for the death of the man they’d lost. His lover had had many friends among the team, and so it took very little persuasion to get enough men on his side. In the dead of night, Dante would take out his anger on disobeying inmates—torture them until they sobbed and begged for his mercy, flay them till they collapsed. Meanwhile, the guards would cover for him, keep a watchful eye on the empty cell and the entrance to the basement deep below the ground. And Carrington was sure to keep one thing quite consistent—he always kept his victims conscious, just cognitive enough for him to tell them that if they ever tried to rat him out, they’d have an excruciating death awaiting them. After all, how were they to know who was working with him and who was not? And even if they squealed, no one would believe them—prisoners weren’t exactly held in high regard.
No one ever did find out, but as the six month mark post the tragic incident approached, the prison warden had his suspicions. Mostly they were concerns about Dr. Carrington’s mental state and his increasingly caustic interactions with the staff. After several harassment complaints from the nurses and other medical workers, the warden was forced to let Carrington go. But because of his many years of dedicated work with the facility and his still withstanding reputation, it was done quietly so as not to tarnish his name or damage his credibility.
From there he moved on to take up a position with Ravenswood Institution, a nearby facility for the criminally insane. There, Carrington had hoped to turn over a new leaf with his damaged psyche, and continue on with his medical practice—and his life. His skill and intelligence kept him slotted as unquestionably one of the best in Britain. But upon entering the doors of Ravenswood, he found himself up to his elbows in work—lousy staff, poor patient treatment, outdated medical prognoses… foreseeing a lot of work ahead of him, he hit the ground in that brisk and confident stride, making quick demands and swiftly taking over with the neglected patients. It seemed, at first, that despite his irritable manner and galling tongue, he was just what the Ravenswood needed.
The question remained, however, whether or not he was doomed to become its worst nightmare.
Dante Today
Dante was stationed as Head of Medical with Colony 4 up until the coming of the New Wave. For Dr. Carrington, the apocalypse had come at a time in which he was balancing self-recovery with the recovery of others—a messy juggle for even the most clear-headed individuals.
D-Day had, to say the least, thrown a wrench in his hope for a healthier life, and the repatching of his mental state was more or less put on hold. Or, depending on how you look at it, accelerated. Already alone in the world, he felt oddly numb to the loss that was D-Day, shock of the end of the world aside. Certainly he suffered the traumatic effects as anyone would, but it did not feel personal, but rather distant, like it was happening to someone else. He’d been an island for so many years prior, that this loneliness didn’t feel all that different.
He didn’t get better, exactly, but neither did he get worse. He spent a number of years coasting as a questionably immoral man, halfway between cruelty and nobility, but nowhere near honest. He teetered with the dual faces of himself—the man who was once capable of loving deeply and caring about his profession, and the man who’d twisted into something dark and callous from within.
The New Wave Reformists recruited him, and though he was not particularly enthusiastic, neither did he have the energy to resist. Medically and professionally speaking, he did think these evolutionary changes of man were unnatural and should be carefully monitored and kept under control. Based off the kinds of things he’s seen in the world, he knew that these kinds of powers put into the wrong hands could be disastrous, and even the Infected themselves were in danger so long as the human condition of imperfection, greed and a lust for power remained as it was.
Really, it was in their best interest to be audited by the Reformist government, because at least with them in charge they would secure some kind of protection.
Three months after being recruited by the NWRF, Carrington was asked to transfer to Colony 22, where he would be instated as the new Head of Brink house, and take on a position of Psychotherapy. Though Dante’s main focus in the Old World had been medical, there was already an acceptable head of Medical at Col22, and Dante’s PHD and credentials counted him as qualified for the job.
The irony left a tar-like taste on his tongue but he accepted, and has taken on his position with the same striding intimidation as he has everything else. So far, he has not made many friends within the Colony, but that is hardly his concern.
TAKEN
