THE FREEMEN
OF SCIENCE
most characters belong to an terrorist organization called 'the freemen of science'.the Freemen of Science (often shortened to just 'Freemen'), originally an organization that would aid scientists who desperately needed funding for small "useless" research. It was Ruslan's idea, a marine biologist who was very fond of polychaetes (Marine worms) native to a small pond. He miserably tried to save them but had no money to help himself, he reached out to Gerárd, a rich man, who saw those small projects as potential investments for his growing bank. Ferdinand was a later addition, but an important one, he had been giving out lectures on genetics after being previously fired from his job in IVF for... misconduct.The Freemen of science grew, and Gerárd found himself more infused with it, he raised facilities to invite poor researchers with promise of a future career in science, but he became careless in his screenings, dangerous people started filling the ranks. This was the beginning of a rapid decline, word spread, the exiled, shamed and the rotten clung to the Freemen like moths to a flame. Ruslan observed how the organization was growing and he confessed his worries to Ferdinand, a year later, the Freemen would be found of fraud, falsifying data, rubbing shoulders with eugenics, experimentation without consent and even kidnapping.Nowadays, the Freemen hide in the Leviathan's heart, coloquially known as the 'big boy'. What they do here is.. anyone's guess, really. But Gerárd is gone and Ash, his adoptive daughter took the mantle.
The freemen's logo, an embryo as the nuclei of an atom. the three stars as electrons, represent each major department; biology, physics and chemistry.
THE CHARACTERS
'Moira' the rebel
Olivier Hahn
Chantal "Bull" Heinemeyer
"Ashanov"
Ihor kyts'ka
"HUGO" (SE-0017)
Valérie Pasteur
Ferdinand Konig
Minor characters
"Ashanov"
Also known as 'ash' or 'silberner.40-50s
French, swedish ancestry
female...unless?
lesbian
arctic fox (wildborn)
Married to bull (but having a case with her coworker...)
leader of the freemenAsh mislikes unefficiency, she only has liquid meals as to not leave her workstation, works day to night, she writes in the glass in her showers. Her room is tidy clean, she is never home, after all. When she sleeps, she dreams of nothing, a moment of respite. She is never seem without eyebags.
Abducted at birth from her biological family, held for blackmail in france. She was raised alongside her abductor's children, and while the man himself did not like her, his wife and children accepted her as part of the family.
Though she would be rescued at her late teenager years, her uncle would keep her with him. Fearing that the man would return for her, he would train her to defend herself in hopes that she would return home but he would mysteriously pass away and Ash, with nowhere else to go, found herself crawling back to her abductors.
She would be transferred to the 'big boy'.Her abductor would quickly grow attatched to her after the loss of his wife and children, she was transferred under the guise of a test subject, and test on her they did. A failed surrogacy combined with the grief of loosing her uncle drove her into psychosis. She would be lobotomized in order to control her temper.
Ihor Kyts'ka
40-50s
Ukranian
Male
Straight (Allegedly)
Chortai hound (Domestic)
quantum physicist
Lab partner of Augustus CrimsonSoft spoken and friendly, but keeps others at an arms lenght. Much like a priest, others are drawn to confess to him, but none know what is own his mind, he always keeps his thoughts to himself. a warm figure nonetheless, very inviting, but will always turns invites for parties down.
Mysterious tall, lanky figure, not much is known about his past, why he left his home and how he landed in the freemen, his words implies that it is for protection.a former medical doctor, like his father and his grandfather and the men before him, changing his education after he landed in the freemen. though he fancies himself a quantum physicist, he often leans towards mathematics, chaology, fractals, entropy, the infinite and non-euclidian structures... the anomalies of the universe.he would work with augustus in his chronology projects, olivier was a later addition but the two hit it off shortly after. the lynx being a socially anxious individual, was drawn to his warmth in a rather.. co-dependent way, but one sided.
After a terrible accident involving a time machine, he pierces the extramaterial barrier that separates one timeline from another. he is thrown into the void. the timeline cannot function with a missing variable, nor with a whole in its borders, he must return before time implodes on itself. but he will not be whole anymore.
Valérie Pasteur
30-40s
French
Female
Lesbian
Red fox (Domestic)
Epigeneticist
Former worker of Ferdinand, now manages her own project.Almost as science obsessed as her leader. Can spend hours without caring for herself if something needs to be done, unlike her leader, however, she takes no pleasure in it and would rather go home. Used to run an improvised "nursery" for the hybrid kids, refinely known as an 'education center', her combined knowledge of helping livestock deliver and genetic engineering has made Ferdinand's job of caring for both hybrids and surrogate very easy.
French transfer student studying abroad, she has had a passion in marine biology, specifically hydrothermal vents and deep sea life, but landed an internship in livestock breeding and genetics. Her professor, Ferdinand, who saw potential in her and urged her to not go to marine biology, but to remain in genetics. Like many who end up in the Freemen, her passions were redirected to something else, and while her heart remained in marine biology, she ultimately did settle in genetics, specifically epigenetics, something her professor, now supervisor took full advange.
valérie moved to another department to work in her own project; the leviathan's heart. Alongside Olivier, they found a biological nuclear reactor under the freemen in the seafloor, her background in marine biology and epigenetics gave her the superior hand against the other teams in researching the leviathan and quickly, others joined her mission.
SE-0003
Ash first surrogate experiment, died shortly after. This is who she considers her one and only daughter.
Gerárd Charpentier and Ruslan AshanovCo-founded the Freemen of science, had a tumultuous relationship as the organization progressed.
Augustus 'Kitsya' CrimsonFormer lab partner of Ihor.
Chantal "Bull" Heinemeyer
40-50s
German
Female
Lesbian
Bull terrier (Domestic)
Mercenary
Leader of the Red swinesHotheaded and a bit of a bitch sometimes, though comraderie is what keeps the Red Swines together, she still treats every single soldier under her belt as her little ducklings. Particularly young for her rank but still respected. The balaclava is weared often more as a warning sign, much like someone might wear a badge that signs others, Bull only wears it when she's in a particularly foul mood and is prone to spurring others. Her mates know not to test her patience when she's wearing it.
Troubled childhood, interfered alot with her school life, landing her in one of the 'low grade' schools in Germany for children who probably aren't making to university. Still, met Ash while running from home and the two clicked almost immediately and became that stereotypical college sweethearts couple until [INCIDENT] separated themBull would get roped into crime, then organized crime, then a mercenary group and lastly into a private military organization. The latter she would develop and unhealthy relationship with Anna, a brute and the leader of the Red swine. Anna enters a contract with Dr. Charpentier, leader of another international terrorist organization named the Freemen.
Bull and Ash would reunite after finding out she was under Dr. Charpentier's wing this entire time and inherited the business after his passing, the same would happen to her after Anna met her demise. Though they have 5 billion questions after being separated for almost 3 decades (mainly, How did you get involved with organized crime??) they mostly set it aside for the sake of trying to repair their relationship, though its not going well.
Hugo
(SE-0017)
Aprox 1 year old
Freemen born
Bi asexual
Hybrid (Dog x Arctic Fox)
Mechanic, engineer in trainingHe is not allowed to leave the confines of the facility for being well, a mutant, spending his whole life inside the labs. He is later granted the freedom and permission to join the Leviathan task force where he becomes a electrician and mechanic for the submarines.His surrogate was Ashanov, though he does not remember her. She only took in the offer because she wanted to be closer to Valérie, the scientist who took on his education later.Valérie was the closest thing to a stable figure in his life, though she tried her best in being affectionate, there is a certain distance a scientist must have from their subjects.
Hugo (experiment number S-1017) was bioengineered by Ferdinand, despite his appearance, he is 99% Fox and 1% Dog, his odd looks are largely attributed to his genes being pampered to give him extra limbs and a arachnid-like look (Although None of his extra eyes are functional, and the side limbs are mostly a nuisance. His tail is just fat with a giant modified nail at the end.)
Other than that, his most notable trait is that he's just one year old, receiving several injections and treatments to speed up his maturity, he was under heavy schooling/teaching to make his brain catch up with the speed that his body was growing. He physically grew so fast he now deals with many back and bone problems that grew all wrong (giving him a terrible posture) as well as a puberty that lasted less than a week and gave way to a myriad of hormonal issues.
Olivier Hahn
40-50s
German
Male
Euroasian lynx (Wildborn)
Nuclear engineer
Physics departmentSocially anxious individual, with no ambitions in life or goals. He is content to work with nuclear power until he passes, he feels like he was not made for a greater purpose or narrative, well, destiny has proved him wrong.Suffers from extreme unmedicated OCD, the wires in his head are a result from an 'experimental' treatment from a random scientist in the psychology department, it only made it worse.
Born in Hamburg, Germany, no major events in childhood to note in his file. Graduated in chemistry with a focus on nuclear science. Hahn has always been an anxious character, stuttering, sweating and generally anti-social behaviour, moved from Germany after the country shut down all its nuclear powerplants in favor of coal. Hahn always fashioned himself a nuclear operator, so, he landed in the Freemen as the sole member and the chief of the nuclear department.
He is later invited to join the new Quantum physics time department by Augustus Crimson A.K.A 'Kitty', an american specializing in some bogers science, claiming he can predict the future... and his partner Ihor Kyt'ska, an ukranian quantum physicist with an affinity for chaology and fractals. It seems the new machine they are building requires a lot of power, way more power than a nuclear reactor can provide... but that's.. impossible? A well designed nuclear powerplant could power an entire country in theory, what are they building here?.
Moira "the Rebel"
50s
Irish
Female
Former lab rat who gained conscience
Midas departmentMoira is the glue that holds the freemen, she may be assertive and stubborn but none can deny her value to keeping the organization afloat. Perhaps its her way of speaking and intimidating others despite her size and comical proportions, but she manages to get discounts on supplies for the freemen.. it's certainly not charisma, though.
Rats are not sapient species in the Argoverse, so Moira is an exceptional case. She was originally an experiment from the Ireland facility, an attempt to construct a bioweapon from scratch. Instead, the engineered virus multiplied the brain cells, forming various small brains throughout the nervous system. This gave Moira intelligence and changed her physiology, at the cost of well.. having to pay taxes.
As the head of the Midas department, she is tasked with the economical side of the Freemen, selling various services to other gangs and illegal factions. She organizes the science groups that will perform those services, as well plan the fundings for the experiments.
Ferdinand Konig
60s
German
Male
Rooster (Wildborn, but legally a domestic)
One of the founders
GeneticistAssertive.. pessimistic about his status as a wildborn. Though close to Gerárd for his machiavellian ways, the man never gave him the time of the day nor cared much about his experiments. He was the first one who proposed the idea of hybrids, rapid domestication of wildborn and Gerárd only saw dollar signs.
Ferdinand was always excluded from the world around him, his friends, neighbors and even his own family were not prepared to deal with him. Despite the challenges of being a wildborn, he managed to study biology, then genetics, for the first time in his life... people did not see him as a joke but potential.
He supports the idea that wildborn should be either exterminated or changed, he claims that nobody should go through what he went through. the rapid domestication formula either kills or permanently transforms individuals, thankfully.. it was shelved... for now.