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Character Info
Name: Whisper
Series: Original Character
Canon point: Awaiting the verdict of her assessment.
World Setting:
Origin of Morphs
Whisper's world is much like the real earth, but 40 years ago a breakthrough was made with DNA research. What led to this breakthrough was a closely guarded secret, but the results were astounding. Animals that had more human-like bodies and near human intelligence were developed. Charities and military alike were interested in this breakthrough. Service dogs that could speak to the people they helped, bomb dogs that could sniff out bombs and disarm them without risking a human life. The possibilities seemed endless.
Life wasn't too good for the experimental animal "Morphs". They had human-like intelligence but without any of the same rights, not even the rights that the animals they were made from enjoyed. Many of them were killed because they weren't made right, and others wished they were dead for the same reason but were kept alive so their creators could learn from them. One near success were the wolf morphs, made to be solders capable of fighting a war without human supervision, unlike dogs whom were often dependent on their handlers. However, they were just as dependent as the dog morphs thanks to their pack instincts and became mentally unstable when forced into the role they were badly made for. Between solders complaining about the treatment of the wolves and whistle blowers exposing the conditions in morph labs, it was ruled that the creations should have the rights of any other animals even though they were lab created and not a natural life form. The situation started to improve...at least for those morphs lucky enough to both still have a good reputation for being safe to be around and to be created by law abiding companies.
The wolf morph did not enjoy a good reputation any more, too many had either suffered emotional breakdowns or lashed out while suffering ill treatment. The Loki Project was created to correct what was a perceived fault in the wolf line, their dependence on others, to allow them to function better on the field and to give them a better quality of life, but by now the wolves had such a bad reputation that this breed of Morph will most likely be allowed to go quietly extinct. Yet science marches, on creating more morph breeds, such as cats, dogs, and foxes, and others could end up meeting the same fate.
Illegal Military Morphs
Some companies like Future Generation Genetics and its corporate spin-off NeoGen conduct illegal experiments in order to make better military morphs to sell on the black market. Some of the projects the FGG have created are:
The Mirage Project: The original project that spawned the Shadowstalker/Shadowhunter lines that Whisper herself is a part of.
The Echo Project: Which was started after discovering a morph with a mutated brain that could feel and hear the emotions and thoughts of those around them. Attempts to duplicate the mutation has had mixed results. The Resonance project is one of the results that was deemed potentially profitable.
The Ragnarok Project: This is not a morph of any kind, but a behaviour altering drug. It has been found to temporally increase the aggression and strength of a morph. This drug is still being tested for potential side affects.
What Humans think
The existence of anthropomorphic animals is an issue that has divided people. Morphs are popular in the UK after the Queen was gifted by a morph Corgi who was only meant to be a companion to the queen, but then risked his life to protect her from an intruder at the palace. (The intruder turned out to be a reporter who had managed to sneak past several human guards.) They're also gaining popularity in America after several celebrities bought some as either: Companions, who often double as personal assistants, but there are many humans who doubt Morphs are as smart as their creators claim who laugh at the thought of an animal being a personal assistant. Or; Guard animals, a guard dog that knows when to and when not to bite and can use the phone to call 911 when needed is very desirable.
But some parts of Western Europe and the Middle East view them as unnatural abominations. In Australia they illegal and are sometimes shot on sight.
Some people in morph friendly countries have started saying that Morphs should have more rights, and that they shouldn't be so unnaturally modified. But there are other people who think Morphs shouldn't be created at all. The fact is that there are stray morphs living among the homeless who sometimes steal for food. And even illegal Morph fighting rings have not done any good for the morph's reputation as Intelligent service animals that they were initially and currently sold as to disabled people.
The British Society for the control of Anthropomorphic Animals (BSCAA) and American Anthropomorphic Animal Control (3AC) have the difficult job of both protecting people from any stray or feral morphs while also protecting the morphs themselves as much as the law will allow.
But the laws are currently inadequate and they do not have the support needed to shut down illegal companies. When the FGG was under investigation NeoGen was created so their work could not only continue if FGG is forced to close, but carry on with a clean slate, as the animal control organisations have no evidence that NeoGen is as illegal as it's parent company.
Unless someone comes forward and makes real progress in setting down some new laws, and the enforcement of those laws, for the production and protection for morphs, the fate of this new race will still be uncertain. Unfortunately with opinion divided as it is who knows when that could happen.
History:
(Warning: Whisper has a miscarriage at one point in her life.)
Whisper is a first Generation morph, meaning that she wasn't born; she was grown in a capsule. She was created as part of Project Shadowstalker, which was a research project with the goal of making stealth fighters. She was part of the second wave created, the first wave had been below expectations, only one prototype had survived. Whisper and her sisters were meant to be stronger and more durable. From the moment she was taken out of the capsule, Whisper had been told how her life would progress. She was taught that, once they were sure she was fit and healthy, her duty would be producing more of her kind once she reached maturity. As she grew up Whisper was taught basic skills. Reading, Writing, control over her invisibility. However when the sole surviving member of the first wave of prototypes escaped, Whisper was also taught basic fighting and marksmanship so she could show possible investors what her kind could do. Which had been the original prototype's job until puberty.
When Whisper was two and a half, her small limited world was changed. The fox who had helped the previous prototype escape was recaptured, and promised to her as a mate. Whisper was excited about this. The fox himself, Nott, looked horrified at the prospect, avoiding her as much as he could when they first met each other. Whispers feelings were hurt, but her handler told her not to worry, that by the time she was ready to breed at three or four years of age, Nott would be ready to be her partner and, to make sure that happened they were going to be moved to another facility. So she put those hurt feelings aside believing that the possibility of being a mother in the future was more important than her, or Nott's, feelings right now.
Despite his reluctance to be physically close to her, Nott was not heartless. He told her a little of his life outside the facilities and how he wished to be outside again. He also told her how he'd like to take her with him to meet Mani, the previous prototype. Whisper took this to mean Nott really did like her after all, when really the male fox who was a year her elder only wanted to save her from the life planned out for her. When the time came for the pair to be moved to the other facility Whisper's little world was shattered as a truck crashed into the transport. She woke up in the wreckage, Nott out cold next to her, and the other morphs dead as far as she could tell. A handler tried to check on her and the others in the transport but in her fright, she lashed out killed him.
Morphs were never, ever, meant to kill a human; she was alone and on the edge of panic. She knew she was meant to stay with the Transport but was afraid to because of what she had done. However, she knew what Nott would want, he'd want to run away. So she dragged his prone form out of the transport and into the woods, where she waited for him to wake up. She never told him that she had killed a man. And he was happy to be away from their handlers, so Whisper was content. She believed that as long as Nott was happy, everything would be okay. She had yet to learn that the world did not work that way.
Whisper had thought it would just be her and Nott alone, but there had been another survivor of the crash, Cole. Despite being badly hurt, Cole had followed the pair's trail and caught up with them. Nott tried his best to look after Whisper and Cole but it was still rough. The trio were far from the only stray morphs around, it was hard finding food, and inevitably Cole's wounds got infected. Thankfully there was a way for them to get medical help without handing themselves over to NeoGen or the BSCAA, which Nott would not allow no matter how ill Cole got. However looking for a Morph Vet who was willing to risk his licence by treating runaways would be risky. So Whisper didn't understand why Nott was so stubborn about not handing themselves in. Living on the streets was not nice, they were over a hundred miles from Nott's home, and his attempts to contact his friends had failed. But out of the three of them Nott was the only one who had experience living outside a NeoGen facility so she followed his lead, even when he insisted they go by aliases Whisper temporarily going by the name of Willow. They found a back ally morph vet willing to treat Cole's infected wounds for the right price and suggested a local underground morph fighting ring where they could win the money needed. Nott wasn't happy, but it was the only choice they had. However, Nott lost his fight. In a desperate attempt to get the money, Nott grabbed the bookkeepers lock box and gun, holding the humans who run the fighting ring at gunpoint as they took the money. Two other morphs, a dog named Mint and a rat named Nathaniel, joined up with the pair as they picked up Cole and paid off the vet. They booked it out of town in a stolen car before the fighting ring could send anyone after them.
Mint had promised Nott and the others that if they could reunite him with his sister's gang, she would reward them. Nott agreed, not because of the promise but because he had lost his own sister in the past. Whisper could not understand the reasoning, and said so, but Nott insisted and she was so used to following orders that she didn't put up any further argument. The group made their way south stealing food, money and petrol as they needed. Whisper only grew more confused and frustrated as Nott insisted they took what they needed. She was also hurt that he still refused to treat her as a partner, instead of just another member of the small gang.
Things did not get any easier when they finally got to London. Mint's sister, Libby, did give them a safe place to rest, and fed them well, but they had their own problems. Libby worked with a human because there were some things that a Morph just couldn't do easily. She thought the human, Leon, was trustworthy, but Leon had been using her. He'd been picking off random members of Libby's gang to sell. This was how Mint had ended up in the fighting ring Nott had robbed. Knowing Mint would soon put two and two together, Leon told the gang that there was a BSCAA raid coming. In the panic stole away several Morphs including Whisper and Cole. He intended for them to be his last sell before moving on. Although the captured morphs were handed over to Leon's buyers together, Cole being younger was quickly separated from Whisper. Whisper was thrown into a couple of test fights and found that she liked the fighting ring.
They complimented her fighting style, her heath, her looks. It wasn't all that different from living in the facility; she enjoyed the praise and found the security comforting instead of oppressive. It was a welcome change after the uncertainty of the streets, and having Nott trying to keep her at arms length. So much so that when Nott came to save her and Cole, she turned away from him in the chaos the fox had caused, and let herself be recaptured by the humans in charge of the ring. Another drastic change in her short life of three years, but this time it was a change she chose herself. A change she thought would be for the better, she no longer had to worry about food or helping to look after the group. She felt even better about her choice when her new owner agreed to let her try for cubs. She was less than impressed with her partner but she was so happy, finally becoming what she was always told she was meant to be, a mother. Whisper was crushed when she miscarried four months later. Even after she fully recovered physically she never fought as well again. And she just couldn't find the heart to care about pleasing her owner any more. Her owner was attempting to breed her a second time when her life took a new turn.
Things had changed while Whisper had been living caged. Some humans had started to believe that Morphs like Whisper deserved more rights. Nott and Mani had capitalised on this new trend working with the BSCAA to push for those rights. It was slow, hard work as many humans still thought of Morphs as stupid animals. Some Morphs thought the process was taking too long, that trusting a human society to campaign for morph rights was stupid. These Morphs held the sentiment that Morphs should fight for their own rights, and force Mankind to accept them as equals. These Morphs formed a group called The Wildclaws and operated in cells. One cell needed more members if they were gong to make themselves known and they were doing this by taking in the homeless and taking down fighting rings and "liberating" the fighting morphs imprisoned in them.
The Wildclaw's attack on Whisper's home was everything Nott's desperate and chaotic attempt to save her wasn't. It was clear that a lot of time had gone into the planning and execution. And Whisper, disillusioned with her situation, was impressed enough to turn on her owner and follow them. Glyn, the leader, respected her as much as the fighting morphs had. But he was tender like Nott had been, when Nott hadn't been trying to distance himself from her. Whisper lost and unsure of herself, looked to Glyn as a leader and an ideal. She was devoted to him, and Glyn knew it. When he found out Whisper once knew Nott, one of the best known names connected to Morph rights and the BSCAA, he started coming up with a plan.A plan to show that the Wildclaws were strong, stronger than the BSCAA, the police, a name to be feared.
Glyn planned to capture Nott, and Mani, or as he told Whisper, “Liberate” them, to which Whisper agreed. She told herself she wanted to save Nott and her predecessor; after all, they couldn't be willingly working with the BSCAA could they? But in actuality, she simply wanted to prove she was better than them. Whisper tried not to think to hard about Glyn's plan or how it could go wrong. On the surface it sounded horrible. Kidnap Nott and Mani and show them what the Wildclaws were all about. Whisper didn't know Mani, but she knew Nott wouldn't make anything easy for them. Still, she believed in the Wildclaws, and was convinced they could win him over. All she had to do was go to London with Glyn and the others, where Nott and his friends were planning what she saw as a useless peaceful protest, and make sure Nott saw her. It was simple, but it worked. Whisper and Glyn pretended to be fighting. When Nott saw them, and called Whispers name, they took off running. Nott was meant to chase her, he'd always been trying to look after her. But instead Nott went after Glyn. The deviation from the plan was disastrous. The last Whisper saw of Glyn he was struck by a car after Nott chased him into traffic.
Devastated Whisper didn't know what to do apart from meet up with the rest of the cell. There she found that while they hadn't captured Nott, or Mani, they had caught one of his friends... and three of the youngsters who had been walking with him in the Protest. Scrambling to save what Glyn had built Whisper decided to ransom them back to the BSCAA. They'd lost their chance to get a powerful name on their side, but they would gain money they could use for future plans.
Of course, Nott and the others refused to take this lying down. But it wasn't Nott who ruined Whisper's plans, it was her predecessor, Mani. The other shadowstalker had been even more vocal than Nott, indeed it was for a reason she had had the nickname "The one who spoke". But she spurred others into action; no one had ever heard of the prototype taking action herself. Whisper had thought she was weak, and had never expected to find her in the Wildclaw's hide out. She'd never expected to lose a fight to her, or for some of the Wildclaws themselves to turn on her. By the time the rest of the BSCAA came, all they had to do was clean up the remaining rebel Morphs. With Glyn dead and Whisper broken, they were no longer a threat.
She saw Nott while she was being processed; he wouldn't look at her. That was the final straw. Whisper sat in her cell, awaiting reassessment to decide how much of a threat she was and what to do with her. Whisper was tempted to wish for death, a very possible outcome. She felt like she had nothing left to lose any more. She stayed quietly awaiting the day the verdict on her assessment would be announced.
Personality:
Having spent much of her life in Isolation from others Whisper was woefully under socialised. She had trouble detecting dishonesty, and often struggled to read expressions as well as having trouble sympathising with those around her, unable to imagine herself in their position. She was also taught to be dependent on her handlers, and knew very little about know how to provide for herself. So first impressions can be rather off putting because she can come across as selfish and uncaring, such as when she wanted to return to NeoGen while Cole was sick. Nott saw returning to NeoGen as the worst possible outcome of their situation. Whisper saw them as benefactors. Whisper's idea of a compromise was to just leave Cole for them to find and treat, a suggestion that horrified Nott and drove a larger wedge between them. To make it worse Whisper could not understand why he was so angry at her, and lacked the empathy to know how to fix it.
However when Whisper is praised she will put aside all her problems to gain approval. Sometimes she makes the mistake of thinking good praise is the same as forgiveness for past mistakes. Like when Nott was angry at her for the suggestion of abandoning Cole, for example, Whisper stopped voicing her concerns in a clumsy attempt to smooth things over. Further more she tried hard to please Nott by following orders, aiding him when they were cornered by another gang, helping to steal food and money when needed, as well as helping out however else she could. Trying not to bothering him other wise. Nott appreciated and thanked her for all these things, but this only made her even more frustrated when Nott still didn't trust her because of how she had spoke about Cole. This and her craving for approval, for attention was why she abandoned Nott after being praised on her fighting abilities. Glyn praised her too, which was why she aided him with all the loyalty she once had for Nott and her old owner. This loyalty and need for validation first led to Whisper setting aside her concern and guilt about Glyn's plans, and it later fuelled her attempt to carry out the mission while ignoring her grief. Desperate to prove she really was worth the praise Glyn had given her.
Whisper followed whoever praised her because they make her feel like she was a person worth being. Nott didn't like her fighting and wouldn't touch her, so she felt worthless around him. This was compounded by frustration at herself for not being able to understand him. When she miscarried she felt like she was even less than worthless. It was only her owner's care for her that stopped her from getting sick, because she wouldn't have looked after herself; she felt like she didn't deserve to be cared for, she hated herself. Yet Glyn saw her at her worst and still saw fit to save her, to show her a way she could help others, or so she believed. He made her feel like she was worth something again. And when she failed him too it made everything leading up to that point a huge waste of time, like she was a huge waste. She hated herself again and the one who had saved her from herself before was gone.
The Whisper that sat in the BSCAA detention cell was broken, but it's only at her lowest points that Whisper has ever found the strength to change; her frustrations at Nott motivated her to choose her own fate. The loss of her unborn child, along with a little encouragement from Glyn motivated her to try and help other morphs. She has always tried to be good, but her need for validation led to her trying to reach too far, and to the wrong people. Now she had no one left to reach for, or measure herself against.
And so at the end she's the same as she was in the beginning. A person who doesn't know how to deal with other people. But part of her will always desperately want to reach out.
Age: 5 (Due to how morphs age she's the physical and mental equivalent of 19.)
Gender: Female.
Appearance:
Whisper is a bipedal fox that's 4 foot 10 inches tall. She has a streak of grey that starts at the centre of her forehead goes over the back of her head and neck down to the very tip of her tail where it turns black. The rest of her fur is a tan colour save for her muzzle, cheeks, throat, and chest, which are white. Her chest is flat. She also has a grey patch over her right eye. Her eyes are blue, her hair on her head is styled in such a way that it makes it appear half grey and half tan. She also usually wears it in a pony tail. She has two diagonal scars on her left cheek both about an inch long. Her palms and fingertips have no fur on them.
Due to how her powers work Whisper has no problem not wearing clothes, however most morphs start wearing them outside facilities and she does have a few favourite outfits, usually vests and jeans. She doesn't normally wear shoes and her legs are digigrade.
Abilities/Powers:
Whisper has what you might expect an anthropomorphic animal to have, the heightened hearing and sense of smell of a normal fox, as well as good night vision, and although colours look a tiny bit different to her, her ability to distinguish them is closer to that of a human than a fox.
What power she has which is not normal for any mammal is the ability to blend into her surroundings. She isn't undetectable, since she can been spotted if she's moving, and any part of her that isn't covered in fur (Inside of her ears, eyes, nose, palms of her hand, and bottom of her feet) are still visible. She can also be detected by smell, however her scent is fainter than a normal fox. Pain can also break her concentration causing her fur to return to her at rest colours.
Series: Original Character
Canon point: Awaiting the verdict of her assessment.
World Setting:
Origin of Morphs
Whisper's world is much like the real earth, but 40 years ago a breakthrough was made with DNA research. What led to this breakthrough was a closely guarded secret, but the results were astounding. Animals that had more human-like bodies and near human intelligence were developed. Charities and military alike were interested in this breakthrough. Service dogs that could speak to the people they helped, bomb dogs that could sniff out bombs and disarm them without risking a human life. The possibilities seemed endless.
Life wasn't too good for the experimental animal "Morphs". They had human-like intelligence but without any of the same rights, not even the rights that the animals they were made from enjoyed. Many of them were killed because they weren't made right, and others wished they were dead for the same reason but were kept alive so their creators could learn from them. One near success were the wolf morphs, made to be solders capable of fighting a war without human supervision, unlike dogs whom were often dependent on their handlers. However, they were just as dependent as the dog morphs thanks to their pack instincts and became mentally unstable when forced into the role they were badly made for. Between solders complaining about the treatment of the wolves and whistle blowers exposing the conditions in morph labs, it was ruled that the creations should have the rights of any other animals even though they were lab created and not a natural life form. The situation started to improve...at least for those morphs lucky enough to both still have a good reputation for being safe to be around and to be created by law abiding companies.
The wolf morph did not enjoy a good reputation any more, too many had either suffered emotional breakdowns or lashed out while suffering ill treatment. The Loki Project was created to correct what was a perceived fault in the wolf line, their dependence on others, to allow them to function better on the field and to give them a better quality of life, but by now the wolves had such a bad reputation that this breed of Morph will most likely be allowed to go quietly extinct. Yet science marches, on creating more morph breeds, such as cats, dogs, and foxes, and others could end up meeting the same fate.
Illegal Military Morphs
Some companies like Future Generation Genetics and its corporate spin-off NeoGen conduct illegal experiments in order to make better military morphs to sell on the black market. Some of the projects the FGG have created are:
The Mirage Project: The original project that spawned the Shadowstalker/Shadowhunter lines that Whisper herself is a part of.
The Echo Project: Which was started after discovering a morph with a mutated brain that could feel and hear the emotions and thoughts of those around them. Attempts to duplicate the mutation has had mixed results. The Resonance project is one of the results that was deemed potentially profitable.
The Ragnarok Project: This is not a morph of any kind, but a behaviour altering drug. It has been found to temporally increase the aggression and strength of a morph. This drug is still being tested for potential side affects.
What Humans think
The existence of anthropomorphic animals is an issue that has divided people. Morphs are popular in the UK after the Queen was gifted by a morph Corgi who was only meant to be a companion to the queen, but then risked his life to protect her from an intruder at the palace. (The intruder turned out to be a reporter who had managed to sneak past several human guards.) They're also gaining popularity in America after several celebrities bought some as either: Companions, who often double as personal assistants, but there are many humans who doubt Morphs are as smart as their creators claim who laugh at the thought of an animal being a personal assistant. Or; Guard animals, a guard dog that knows when to and when not to bite and can use the phone to call 911 when needed is very desirable.
But some parts of Western Europe and the Middle East view them as unnatural abominations. In Australia they illegal and are sometimes shot on sight.
Some people in morph friendly countries have started saying that Morphs should have more rights, and that they shouldn't be so unnaturally modified. But there are other people who think Morphs shouldn't be created at all. The fact is that there are stray morphs living among the homeless who sometimes steal for food. And even illegal Morph fighting rings have not done any good for the morph's reputation as Intelligent service animals that they were initially and currently sold as to disabled people.
The British Society for the control of Anthropomorphic Animals (BSCAA) and American Anthropomorphic Animal Control (3AC) have the difficult job of both protecting people from any stray or feral morphs while also protecting the morphs themselves as much as the law will allow.
But the laws are currently inadequate and they do not have the support needed to shut down illegal companies. When the FGG was under investigation NeoGen was created so their work could not only continue if FGG is forced to close, but carry on with a clean slate, as the animal control organisations have no evidence that NeoGen is as illegal as it's parent company.
Unless someone comes forward and makes real progress in setting down some new laws, and the enforcement of those laws, for the production and protection for morphs, the fate of this new race will still be uncertain. Unfortunately with opinion divided as it is who knows when that could happen.
History:
(Warning: Whisper has a miscarriage at one point in her life.)
Whisper is a first Generation morph, meaning that she wasn't born; she was grown in a capsule. She was created as part of Project Shadowstalker, which was a research project with the goal of making stealth fighters. She was part of the second wave created, the first wave had been below expectations, only one prototype had survived. Whisper and her sisters were meant to be stronger and more durable. From the moment she was taken out of the capsule, Whisper had been told how her life would progress. She was taught that, once they were sure she was fit and healthy, her duty would be producing more of her kind once she reached maturity. As she grew up Whisper was taught basic skills. Reading, Writing, control over her invisibility. However when the sole surviving member of the first wave of prototypes escaped, Whisper was also taught basic fighting and marksmanship so she could show possible investors what her kind could do. Which had been the original prototype's job until puberty.
When Whisper was two and a half, her small limited world was changed. The fox who had helped the previous prototype escape was recaptured, and promised to her as a mate. Whisper was excited about this. The fox himself, Nott, looked horrified at the prospect, avoiding her as much as he could when they first met each other. Whispers feelings were hurt, but her handler told her not to worry, that by the time she was ready to breed at three or four years of age, Nott would be ready to be her partner and, to make sure that happened they were going to be moved to another facility. So she put those hurt feelings aside believing that the possibility of being a mother in the future was more important than her, or Nott's, feelings right now.
Despite his reluctance to be physically close to her, Nott was not heartless. He told her a little of his life outside the facilities and how he wished to be outside again. He also told her how he'd like to take her with him to meet Mani, the previous prototype. Whisper took this to mean Nott really did like her after all, when really the male fox who was a year her elder only wanted to save her from the life planned out for her. When the time came for the pair to be moved to the other facility Whisper's little world was shattered as a truck crashed into the transport. She woke up in the wreckage, Nott out cold next to her, and the other morphs dead as far as she could tell. A handler tried to check on her and the others in the transport but in her fright, she lashed out killed him.
Morphs were never, ever, meant to kill a human; she was alone and on the edge of panic. She knew she was meant to stay with the Transport but was afraid to because of what she had done. However, she knew what Nott would want, he'd want to run away. So she dragged his prone form out of the transport and into the woods, where she waited for him to wake up. She never told him that she had killed a man. And he was happy to be away from their handlers, so Whisper was content. She believed that as long as Nott was happy, everything would be okay. She had yet to learn that the world did not work that way.
Whisper had thought it would just be her and Nott alone, but there had been another survivor of the crash, Cole. Despite being badly hurt, Cole had followed the pair's trail and caught up with them. Nott tried his best to look after Whisper and Cole but it was still rough. The trio were far from the only stray morphs around, it was hard finding food, and inevitably Cole's wounds got infected. Thankfully there was a way for them to get medical help without handing themselves over to NeoGen or the BSCAA, which Nott would not allow no matter how ill Cole got. However looking for a Morph Vet who was willing to risk his licence by treating runaways would be risky. So Whisper didn't understand why Nott was so stubborn about not handing themselves in. Living on the streets was not nice, they were over a hundred miles from Nott's home, and his attempts to contact his friends had failed. But out of the three of them Nott was the only one who had experience living outside a NeoGen facility so she followed his lead, even when he insisted they go by aliases Whisper temporarily going by the name of Willow. They found a back ally morph vet willing to treat Cole's infected wounds for the right price and suggested a local underground morph fighting ring where they could win the money needed. Nott wasn't happy, but it was the only choice they had. However, Nott lost his fight. In a desperate attempt to get the money, Nott grabbed the bookkeepers lock box and gun, holding the humans who run the fighting ring at gunpoint as they took the money. Two other morphs, a dog named Mint and a rat named Nathaniel, joined up with the pair as they picked up Cole and paid off the vet. They booked it out of town in a stolen car before the fighting ring could send anyone after them.
Mint had promised Nott and the others that if they could reunite him with his sister's gang, she would reward them. Nott agreed, not because of the promise but because he had lost his own sister in the past. Whisper could not understand the reasoning, and said so, but Nott insisted and she was so used to following orders that she didn't put up any further argument. The group made their way south stealing food, money and petrol as they needed. Whisper only grew more confused and frustrated as Nott insisted they took what they needed. She was also hurt that he still refused to treat her as a partner, instead of just another member of the small gang.
Things did not get any easier when they finally got to London. Mint's sister, Libby, did give them a safe place to rest, and fed them well, but they had their own problems. Libby worked with a human because there were some things that a Morph just couldn't do easily. She thought the human, Leon, was trustworthy, but Leon had been using her. He'd been picking off random members of Libby's gang to sell. This was how Mint had ended up in the fighting ring Nott had robbed. Knowing Mint would soon put two and two together, Leon told the gang that there was a BSCAA raid coming. In the panic stole away several Morphs including Whisper and Cole. He intended for them to be his last sell before moving on. Although the captured morphs were handed over to Leon's buyers together, Cole being younger was quickly separated from Whisper. Whisper was thrown into a couple of test fights and found that she liked the fighting ring.
They complimented her fighting style, her heath, her looks. It wasn't all that different from living in the facility; she enjoyed the praise and found the security comforting instead of oppressive. It was a welcome change after the uncertainty of the streets, and having Nott trying to keep her at arms length. So much so that when Nott came to save her and Cole, she turned away from him in the chaos the fox had caused, and let herself be recaptured by the humans in charge of the ring. Another drastic change in her short life of three years, but this time it was a change she chose herself. A change she thought would be for the better, she no longer had to worry about food or helping to look after the group. She felt even better about her choice when her new owner agreed to let her try for cubs. She was less than impressed with her partner but she was so happy, finally becoming what she was always told she was meant to be, a mother. Whisper was crushed when she miscarried four months later. Even after she fully recovered physically she never fought as well again. And she just couldn't find the heart to care about pleasing her owner any more. Her owner was attempting to breed her a second time when her life took a new turn.
Things had changed while Whisper had been living caged. Some humans had started to believe that Morphs like Whisper deserved more rights. Nott and Mani had capitalised on this new trend working with the BSCAA to push for those rights. It was slow, hard work as many humans still thought of Morphs as stupid animals. Some Morphs thought the process was taking too long, that trusting a human society to campaign for morph rights was stupid. These Morphs held the sentiment that Morphs should fight for their own rights, and force Mankind to accept them as equals. These Morphs formed a group called The Wildclaws and operated in cells. One cell needed more members if they were gong to make themselves known and they were doing this by taking in the homeless and taking down fighting rings and "liberating" the fighting morphs imprisoned in them.
The Wildclaw's attack on Whisper's home was everything Nott's desperate and chaotic attempt to save her wasn't. It was clear that a lot of time had gone into the planning and execution. And Whisper, disillusioned with her situation, was impressed enough to turn on her owner and follow them. Glyn, the leader, respected her as much as the fighting morphs had. But he was tender like Nott had been, when Nott hadn't been trying to distance himself from her. Whisper lost and unsure of herself, looked to Glyn as a leader and an ideal. She was devoted to him, and Glyn knew it. When he found out Whisper once knew Nott, one of the best known names connected to Morph rights and the BSCAA, he started coming up with a plan.A plan to show that the Wildclaws were strong, stronger than the BSCAA, the police, a name to be feared.
Glyn planned to capture Nott, and Mani, or as he told Whisper, “Liberate” them, to which Whisper agreed. She told herself she wanted to save Nott and her predecessor; after all, they couldn't be willingly working with the BSCAA could they? But in actuality, she simply wanted to prove she was better than them. Whisper tried not to think to hard about Glyn's plan or how it could go wrong. On the surface it sounded horrible. Kidnap Nott and Mani and show them what the Wildclaws were all about. Whisper didn't know Mani, but she knew Nott wouldn't make anything easy for them. Still, she believed in the Wildclaws, and was convinced they could win him over. All she had to do was go to London with Glyn and the others, where Nott and his friends were planning what she saw as a useless peaceful protest, and make sure Nott saw her. It was simple, but it worked. Whisper and Glyn pretended to be fighting. When Nott saw them, and called Whispers name, they took off running. Nott was meant to chase her, he'd always been trying to look after her. But instead Nott went after Glyn. The deviation from the plan was disastrous. The last Whisper saw of Glyn he was struck by a car after Nott chased him into traffic.
Devastated Whisper didn't know what to do apart from meet up with the rest of the cell. There she found that while they hadn't captured Nott, or Mani, they had caught one of his friends... and three of the youngsters who had been walking with him in the Protest. Scrambling to save what Glyn had built Whisper decided to ransom them back to the BSCAA. They'd lost their chance to get a powerful name on their side, but they would gain money they could use for future plans.
Of course, Nott and the others refused to take this lying down. But it wasn't Nott who ruined Whisper's plans, it was her predecessor, Mani. The other shadowstalker had been even more vocal than Nott, indeed it was for a reason she had had the nickname "The one who spoke". But she spurred others into action; no one had ever heard of the prototype taking action herself. Whisper had thought she was weak, and had never expected to find her in the Wildclaw's hide out. She'd never expected to lose a fight to her, or for some of the Wildclaws themselves to turn on her. By the time the rest of the BSCAA came, all they had to do was clean up the remaining rebel Morphs. With Glyn dead and Whisper broken, they were no longer a threat.
She saw Nott while she was being processed; he wouldn't look at her. That was the final straw. Whisper sat in her cell, awaiting reassessment to decide how much of a threat she was and what to do with her. Whisper was tempted to wish for death, a very possible outcome. She felt like she had nothing left to lose any more. She stayed quietly awaiting the day the verdict on her assessment would be announced.
Personality:
Having spent much of her life in Isolation from others Whisper was woefully under socialised. She had trouble detecting dishonesty, and often struggled to read expressions as well as having trouble sympathising with those around her, unable to imagine herself in their position. She was also taught to be dependent on her handlers, and knew very little about know how to provide for herself. So first impressions can be rather off putting because she can come across as selfish and uncaring, such as when she wanted to return to NeoGen while Cole was sick. Nott saw returning to NeoGen as the worst possible outcome of their situation. Whisper saw them as benefactors. Whisper's idea of a compromise was to just leave Cole for them to find and treat, a suggestion that horrified Nott and drove a larger wedge between them. To make it worse Whisper could not understand why he was so angry at her, and lacked the empathy to know how to fix it.
However when Whisper is praised she will put aside all her problems to gain approval. Sometimes she makes the mistake of thinking good praise is the same as forgiveness for past mistakes. Like when Nott was angry at her for the suggestion of abandoning Cole, for example, Whisper stopped voicing her concerns in a clumsy attempt to smooth things over. Further more she tried hard to please Nott by following orders, aiding him when they were cornered by another gang, helping to steal food and money when needed, as well as helping out however else she could. Trying not to bothering him other wise. Nott appreciated and thanked her for all these things, but this only made her even more frustrated when Nott still didn't trust her because of how she had spoke about Cole. This and her craving for approval, for attention was why she abandoned Nott after being praised on her fighting abilities. Glyn praised her too, which was why she aided him with all the loyalty she once had for Nott and her old owner. This loyalty and need for validation first led to Whisper setting aside her concern and guilt about Glyn's plans, and it later fuelled her attempt to carry out the mission while ignoring her grief. Desperate to prove she really was worth the praise Glyn had given her.
Whisper followed whoever praised her because they make her feel like she was a person worth being. Nott didn't like her fighting and wouldn't touch her, so she felt worthless around him. This was compounded by frustration at herself for not being able to understand him. When she miscarried she felt like she was even less than worthless. It was only her owner's care for her that stopped her from getting sick, because she wouldn't have looked after herself; she felt like she didn't deserve to be cared for, she hated herself. Yet Glyn saw her at her worst and still saw fit to save her, to show her a way she could help others, or so she believed. He made her feel like she was worth something again. And when she failed him too it made everything leading up to that point a huge waste of time, like she was a huge waste. She hated herself again and the one who had saved her from herself before was gone.
The Whisper that sat in the BSCAA detention cell was broken, but it's only at her lowest points that Whisper has ever found the strength to change; her frustrations at Nott motivated her to choose her own fate. The loss of her unborn child, along with a little encouragement from Glyn motivated her to try and help other morphs. She has always tried to be good, but her need for validation led to her trying to reach too far, and to the wrong people. Now she had no one left to reach for, or measure herself against.
And so at the end she's the same as she was in the beginning. A person who doesn't know how to deal with other people. But part of her will always desperately want to reach out.
Age: 5 (Due to how morphs age she's the physical and mental equivalent of 19.)
Gender: Female.
Appearance:
Whisper is a bipedal fox that's 4 foot 10 inches tall. She has a streak of grey that starts at the centre of her forehead goes over the back of her head and neck down to the very tip of her tail where it turns black. The rest of her fur is a tan colour save for her muzzle, cheeks, throat, and chest, which are white. Her chest is flat. She also has a grey patch over her right eye. Her eyes are blue, her hair on her head is styled in such a way that it makes it appear half grey and half tan. She also usually wears it in a pony tail. She has two diagonal scars on her left cheek both about an inch long. Her palms and fingertips have no fur on them.
Due to how her powers work Whisper has no problem not wearing clothes, however most morphs start wearing them outside facilities and she does have a few favourite outfits, usually vests and jeans. She doesn't normally wear shoes and her legs are digigrade.
Abilities/Powers:
Whisper has what you might expect an anthropomorphic animal to have, the heightened hearing and sense of smell of a normal fox, as well as good night vision, and although colours look a tiny bit different to her, her ability to distinguish them is closer to that of a human than a fox.
What power she has which is not normal for any mammal is the ability to blend into her surroundings. She isn't undetectable, since she can been spotted if she's moving, and any part of her that isn't covered in fur (Inside of her ears, eyes, nose, palms of her hand, and bottom of her feet) are still visible. She can also be detected by smell, however her scent is fainter than a normal fox. Pain can also break her concentration causing her fur to return to her at rest colours.
