Bruce Orson

The Syndicate
Associate of Providence, Inc.
Magic Man of Project Druthers
Agent of Symposium #WV3200

Description


~Bruce Orson commandeers the scene with his bold arrival. The 30ish gentleman fills his sharp, stately suits with well-muscled girth. Bruce easily bears a shapeless black duffel bag over one shoulder. His swagger demonstrates his confidence and shark-like resolve. Bruce reaches up to straighten his color-coded tie and collar or to sweep back well-groomed dark brown hair. Clear brown eyes shimmer with contentment and laughter despite his ruddy, overworked features. But the happiness in Bruce's mien does not seem to derive from a "harmonious psychological diet", as the New Agers would scold. The man's face is etched with tiny lines of cruelty. His eyes glint with aggression. He's like a neighborhood bully come to collect your milk money. Pay up or else.~

OOC: Appearance 2; Style 1; Cloaking 2

"Heh, no, we don't take plastic...how about some plasma instead?"

History


Bully Boy

New strength was born in '74 when Oscar and Bess had their second child, Bruce. Bruce never really knew his sister. She died while swimming in a lake. Only four, she shouldn't have been left unattended. But Oscar was drinking. He was always drinking. The man's unrepentant alcoholism contributed to the divorce, too. Bruce was without father and sibling. Bess Orson raised Bruce on her own, doing her best to provide by working as a secretary and pulling in little alimony and child support. The Orsons dwelled in a small two-bedroom apartment in Smithville, Missouri. Bruce was fairly content with this lower middle class lifestyle. His mother hoped to help him avoid his father's footsteps. To that end, Bruce was dragged to church every Sunday, but the good Lord's teachings never really took.

In school and in his home neighborhood, young Bruce became a bully. Despite groundings, detention, and even suspension, Bruce remained a violent and domineering kid. Psychotherapy didn't really find any serious emotional dysfunction. So his behavior was attributed to the lack of a father figure in his life. Bruce was only popular as a sportsman in school. By high school, he actually joined a local boxing league. His mother (and therapist) even encouraged it, hoping it would be a good and structured outlet.

Extorting the Youth: Empowerment

And it worked well! Bruce stopped pushing his schoolmates around so much. There was more to the boy than brawn, however. He seemed to always know which kids had milk money worth taking. Bruce recognized the value of appearance early on. He always kept his attire impeccable and only semi-casual at most. Bruce even practiced his facial expressions to better intimidate others (in and out of the boxing ring). And Bruce seemed to just have an intimate grasp of "adult money". When his no-good father proved remiss with alimony/child support payments, young Bruce would call him. He'd mask his voice and pose as his mom's lawyer, thereby putting the heat on his deadbeat dad.

But that activity caught up with Bruce eventually. In 1992, after high school graduation, Bruce continued his boxing at a local gym. When he found out his dad wasn't paying again, he called the man and pretended to be the lawyer once more. However, Bruce's father now had caller ID. He realized it was Bruce playing him due to the payphone's proximity to the gym. So the drunken father and three of his construction worker pals paid Bruce a visit. And the youth was beaten unconscious.

Bruce, lying in a pool of blood and vomit, had a dazed epiphany. Money, he recognized, was inseparable from violence. So long as money was a limited factor, so could be -- and often was -- violence. The youth confided this to his therapist, unaware of his own Empowerment through this personal iota of wisdom. The therapist, meanwhile, was a sympathizer for the New World Order -- the information network of the secret Technocracy. Men in Black not long later arrested Bruce under the pretext of felony fraud.

Providence Thuggin'

Yet Bruce wasn't destined to serve the New World Order. That Convention traded him to the Syndicate to repay a favor. In "Room 101", a concerned young man learned that the fraud charge was faked. Bruce was inducted into the Syndicate as a fresh new Enforcer. He labored under Taylor Providence, the shady corporate mogul in Kansas City. Her organization was considered more ruthless than the mafia. But she needed more stalwart, tough men...like Bruce. He attended education seminars on the Syndicate. These included history, politics, finance, and computer management. In short, he felt like he was receiving a free college education. To compliment these lessons, Bruce was given Frontline training in special tactics: armed and unarmed combat, stealth, and negotiations.

In truth, Bruce found that the real world, the secret world under everyone's noses, was quite frightening. Filled with so many monsters and freaks of nature, Bruce found the presence of the Union of the Technocracy to be comforting. He came to place his ultimate trust not just in the violent reality of money, but also in money's representative enforcers. This confidence extended to himself when he understood his role in the Syndicate. Of course, though Bruce kept his mother in the dark about his new job, he made sure she was financially taken care of. He never stopped sending checks to his mother.

However, Bruce wasn't considered ready to devote his life to the Providence Organization or the Union at whole yet. First he had to pass a test, which was administered in the summer of 1994. Bruce was temporarily attached to an amalgam of MiBs and NSC agents. They stormed a drug house in Kansas City, one that the notorious superstitionists called the Cult of Ecstasy ran. Bruce encountered enraged junkies, unAwakened dealers, the Ecstatics themselves, and even psychedelic "spirits" (aliens) in that place. While Bruce helped the team kick ass, the leader escaped by jumping through a very vulgar temporal wormhole. Combined with some of the NSC agents' messier devices and weapons, the Paradox backlash blew the house up. Bruce survived the explosion, and the value of discretion was reinforced!

Orson Wellin'

Now he was prepared to work for Taylor Providence and her ruthless corporation. Bruce was appointed to overseeing the loan-sharking arm of the quiet criminal aspect of the organization. To avoid getting the police's asshairs up, Bruce was instructed to be very careful about who to approach for offering loans. Only the criminal element of society was allowed to borrow money from Providence, inc., and only pre-approved ones. Still, some of those criminals thought it wise to dodge repayment. It became Bruce's main task to find and...remind...these deadbeats. He put his brawn and penchant for violence to good use. Bruce's reputation grew and that allowed him to eventually frighten deadbeats into cooperating. He didn't have to kick anyone's ass more than once or twice a year.

This was Bruce's life. With the Syndicate's help and his own savvy, he avoided the police. His hefty salary was wisely invested, save for a "pension" he sent to his mother. In his mind, he owed her financially for the care and upbringing she gave. Besides, his dad skipped the country and she received no more alimony. Of course, she never learned what Bruce truly did for a living. She believed him to be a respectable businessman. His sharp suits and clean-cut appearance certainly supported that.

Yet in fact, Bruce was relishing the more brutal side to his career. One of his more dangerous assignments came early in his work, from '95 to '96. The Kampong Devils, a Cambodian gang, borrowed cash to pay off some debts to the Triads. But they refused to pay Providence, inc. back. Bruce visited them at their favorite Little Asia brothel. His fierce boxing skills were pitted against novice mhuy khmer fighters. The loan shark beat most of them down. One came at him with a butterfly knife and Bruce was stabbed in the gut. In a painful fury, his uppercut counterattack broke the knifer's neck. Soon the Kampong Devils repaid the loan. The Providence enforcer's tenacity terrified them.

After the Kampong Devils were dealt with, Bruce was asked to watch over the Providence organization's financial interest in a new casino. Owned and operated by a Native American named Job Redfoot, Bruce was just to oversee the operations and make sure Job repaid his loans. Unfortunately, the casino flopped. The Syndicate repossessed as much of it as possible. However, at least $15,000 remained unaccountable. Bruce drove to Job's reservation to collect. But a horde of Indians emerged from the tree line before he got past the fence. No, they didn't wear face paint and feathers -- they wore normal clothes -- but they did brandish rifles and pistols. Bruce turned right back around, only to sneak back in later of course. With advanced sensory equipment, Bruce located Job's broken down trailer. Bruce let himself in and grabbed the man. Torture ensued right then and there -- a lot of punching and scare tactics, nothing too psychotic! Bruce wanted the money, not blood.

And as he tortured poor Job, Bruce accepted that only fear generated real respect for money's value. It wasn't greed or love of wealth, just fear that it can, and even should, leave one's possession. He pondered this as Job finally confessed the last 15 grand's location. As the reservation's financier, Job kept that last bit with the tribe's cash stash of $20 grand. Well, Bruce, took all $35,000 for the trouble. Bruce left the reservation with Job as a hostage. He let the beaten fellow go once they were beyond the reservation. Another deadbeat bagged.

Robbing the Robbers

So far, all of Bruce's jobs were against Sleepers. From '98 to the turn of the millennium, his assignment finally brought him into conflict with superstitionists. Bruce observed the other Kansas City area casinos in the Providence interests. After awhile, in casinos in which the LCN (mafia) shared an interest, Bruce noticed some of the booking wasn't adding up. Though not uncommon in a mafia-run casino, Bruce checked anyway because it was foolish. Then all the casino's money vanished without a trace! Millions of dollars was gone. The Syndicate put a cap on things to keep the media and police out of the loop. The mob was clueless and its entire people were accounted for, so it didn't appear to be an inside job.

In other casinos, the mob swelled the in-take to make up for this loss. Bruce kept an eye on all the books suspiciously, waiting for an attempted repeat of the theft. A fellow Providence agent, a computer geek, ran 24:7 watches. Finally, six months later, it did happen again. The hacker ran a stealth trace and unwove a maze of electronic decoys to discover a local source. Taking the address and a crack team of Providence enforcers, Bruce immediately stormed the place. It was a decrepit building downtown in which a pair of "Tradition mages" took up to run this scam. A Fortunea Hermetic and Virtual Adept were purposely trying to drain Syndicate resources. But their escape plan via teleportation was foiled by horizon blocks that Bruce requested Taylor Providence personally arrange. The team raided the building and shot the Hermetic dead mid-sorcery. The Adept was overpowered and surrendered. Bruce realized that he narrowly avoided a dangerous exchange of "willworking". He was glad the problem was solved with relatively minimal violence. The mob was cleared of any suspicions and business continued as usual.

Quintessential Loan Shark

With the new millennium, business took a twist for Bruce and the whole organization. Taylor Providence had a new, brutal plan. The Pogrom -- the Technocracy's fascist policy of extermination of all aliens, superstitionists, and freaks of nature -- was toned down. But that didn't mean the Union really tolerated these dangerous monsters anymore than they once did. So the Providence Tithe Act was born and Bruce was one of several agents chosen to locally enforce the act. Simply explained, the Union was letting all those freaks live without aggressive persecution so long as they stayed quiet and unnoticeable. But this wasn't a free service! So the RDs had to pay -- in Quintessence, of course. Their bioenergies were to be collected in small amounts, like a tax. It was pay the tax or pay the piper -- the Pogrom would be reinforced. Extortion? This was right up Bruce's alley!

The Syndicate leader in Kansas City, Ellis Parnell, gave Taylor permission to approach the local Tradition superstitionists at their Crossroads Chantry. So Taylor and her advisors met with the three chantry masters. Bruce, among a few others, was also present as security. A few Asians -- Akashic Brothers, apparently -- were present, too. They looked pretty badass and Bruce couldn't honestly say he would survive if a fight broke out. As tense as the negotiations went, things remained peaceful. Though clearly disgusted by the extortion of the Providence corporation, the Masters recognized the realistic fairness of the offer. No fighting took place, Bruce suspected, for fear of retribution from the Union at whole.

Later Taylor asked Bruce if he thought he could handle the Akashics if security did break out. He admitted no, he probably couldn't. So she just said that he would have to trust she and the Syndicate to keep his back covered. For Bruce was being promoted to the official "tax collector". Bruce was pleased with her trust. He agreed with her vision. The people of the world, Sleepers, had enough deadbeats and psychopaths to worry about among their own kind. Having to tolerate the unchecked presence of prideful wizards, bloodthirsty vampires, and genocidal werewolves was asking too much of humanity. Bruce was glad he was part of the Union, a force devoted to protecting mankind and its civilized institutions. And Bruce was proud to serve under a fearless and bold leader like Taylor Providence. From then on, Bruce collected Quintessence from the chantry every month. They gave it to him in the form of supercharged water from an unknown source. Its source didn't matter too much -- the superstitionists had many hidden Nodes under their power. It wasn't Bruce's job to find out where it came from. He just collected the stuff and stayed careful to never provoke fights from the begrudging mages. Bruce also always kept an eye over his shoulder, wary of spies and traps.

The Collector

Emboldened by the Traditions' capitulation, the Providence Organization was given a green light from the Syndicate's Special Project Division to tax any and all Reality Deviants. Given a special bioenergy-siphoning device he only dimly understood, Bruce began to secretly sap RDs of their "juice" on whim, as he saw fit. His advanced sensors recognized a gaggle of goofball street punks some genius turned into Brujah vampires. Bruce began to track and observe their activities. He noted their hangouts, such as the notorious Moonshade Bar. He used his special device to steal the Primal Energy from these violent vampires, who got it from stealing blood from hapless Sleepers after all! Due their volatile nature, they reacted angrily. But they weren't sure of the source of this...taxation. The device was quite subtle and no visible trail of energy or radiation connected their physiologies to the source. After several such episodes, one of the Brujah punks did home in on Bruce simply by probability. The enraged vampire assaulted the agent. While the freak's Celerity tripped Bruce out, and he took his licks, one well-aimed and advanced training-accelerated uppercut knocked the vampire clean out.

That leech's pals took offense to a mere human decking one of their own. They tried to stalk Bruce, but the cool-headed man misled their efforts. An array of commonplace illusions -- such as a man wearing the same kind of suit or driving the same kind of car -- confused the vampires. Not only did they lose scent of Bruce, he was able to plant tracking devices on them. Bruce discovered their communal haven thereby. With a little financial push on the Providence Organization's contacts in the city machine, Bruce arranged for the old abandoned house to be bulldozed.

That very day, the old house was demolished. The one vampire sleeping inside was incinerated by the touch of sunlight. The other Brujah, ignorant of the Hidden World around them, assumed that Bruce was an agent of the mobster-like Ventrue Clan of vampires. So unable to locate Bruce, they went after the local Ventrue Clan elder for revenge, Alan Tellessey. That powerful Kindred single-handedly destroyed most of that whole gang. One he left (un)alive to interrogate for motive. Naturally, when Alan learned of Bruce, the elder began to seek the man, too.

Right Arm

But Bruce stayed low on the radar and kept his nose to the grindstone. He reported to Taylor Providence and his Technocratic superiors at HQ#WV3200 (also the US Center for Engineering in Kansas City, as the Sleepers know it). He knew his mission wasn't over. While he may earn enemies over the years of his cruel work, Bruce knew he always had allies. Though he suspected ulterior motives and complex machinations within the Union, he remained loyal to the organization. And why not? It was mankind's brightest and truest hope. The Syndicate and Union needed smart players like Taylor. But it also needed fresh and fearless strength like Bruce. Safe in the knowledge that he was inexpendable if not unique, Bruce pursued his duties in search of greater value yet.

Significant Other


Bruce met Flynn Eleazar in fall of 2004. They were training at the same boxing club in Kansas City. After a bit of conversation, they both quickly realized they were more than the typical meatheads that frequented that gym and decided to try a few dates. In short time, their dating became a lot more serious. A wild and passionate fling ensued and thrived. The pair are still together, reveling in each other's desires and respecting one another's intellects. However, Bruce has no intention to "enlighten" Flynn to the reality of the Hidden World. He may at some point incorporate Flynn into the Syndicate as a unEnlightened and unwitting provider. Beyond that? Bruce doesn't know. Marriage and children haven't even crossed their minds.

Flynn

Weakness
Schoolyard Bully


As a Syndicate Enforcer, it's Bruce's job to enforce the value of civilized equity. But sometimes, he's too pre-emptive. Bruce sometimes is too aggressive in collecting debts and "special interest". While it's not his job to negotiate with debtors, he must learn how to be more compassionate and persuasive without resorting to brutality.

Likelihood of Corruption


Average.

Bruce is a punisher, not a negotiator. There are no loopholes for him to fall through when making deals. That's a guilty conscience his superiors get to keep. His life is much more simple. And for that, he is thankful.

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