Jael Todorov

Jael Todorov

Dichen Lachman as Jael Todorov.

Full name	Jael Rawiya Todorov / 'dʒeɪəl 'tɒdərɔːv /
Other names	Nicknames: None Aliases: JR Todorov; Jill Thomas
Born	15 October 2095, in Chengdu Age: 54
Gender identity	Woman, Pansexual
Occupation	Bounty hunter; Assassin
Locality	Budapest

Characteristics

Height	5 ft 9 in
Weight	120 lb
Hair	Dirty blonde
Eyes	Brown

Cybernetic Enhancements

Spryt's name	Spryt (later, Bashe / bā-shé /)
Spryt's status	Normal
Other enhancements	Cybernetic left arm; Cybernetic left eye; Cybernetic right ear; Adrenal gland manipulator

Initially hired to steal the ancient text from Darius, Jael recognizes his need for protection while trying to unravel the mystery of the virus. When Jael gains full control over her Spryt, she realizes she has the power and the responsibility to help. She embraces her difference in a way she has never been able to before.

Jael, a lifelong outcast, learns to use the full power if her exclusion from mainstream society as a way to liberate others.

• Character's goal: Jael wants to prevent the megacorporation from gaining control of the virus and using it as a means to further oppress society.
• Character's motivation: Jael wants to escape the social hierarchy she is trapped within.
• Character's conflict: Jael is often in conflict with Darius over their respective reasons for challenging the megacorporations.
• Character's epiphany: Jael, once she has full control of her Spryt, realizes she has more power than society has told her.

Character Synopsis

Following a failed mission to protect the daughter of a corporate executive, Jael is hired by the TS Group to find and retrieve an unknown artifact that has become the obsession of the CEO of ElCorp. She had been snooping into Creedence Windsor's past for a few weeks before she learned that Darius was being brought in to track down a missing scholar. She is able to track Darius easily enough, but is frustrated by her inability to lock onto his Spryt signal with the systems in her ship. At the dig site, she cannot mask her presence from him, another common trick she uses. She eventually gives up and confronts him directly, but is caught off guard because he is more concerned about his friend Hassan's safety than with protecting the tablet. Jael detects the incoming strike force in time to protect Darius and the tablet, but Hassan's confused state causes him to step into the line of fire. Jael is able to kill a number of the soldiers and to cause enough chaos to allow an escape. Because she had not figured out what was most important at the scene, she takes Darius and the table with her on horseback.

Exhausted from the energy expenditure, Jael eventually finds an old government building (in what was once Zhanybek, Khazakhstan) to hide out in. Jael begins securing the area while Darius begins an analysis of the tablet. He complains that Jael allowed Hassan's notes to be destroyed. When asked if she is going to kill him, Jael explains that she no longer kills for money, only for survival. As Jael prepares a fire, Darius relates the fable that is printed on the tablet. Jael asks how old the tablet is and comments that not much has changed in 5,000 years. Before she goes to sleep, Jael tells Darius that the system she set up to alert them to any intruders is also to prevent him from sneaking off.

In the morning, Jael wakes up to find Darius making coffee. Jael's ship, which had been hiding in the clouds, has landed in the old city square. Darius and Jael argue about which corporation was behind the strike team and which one should be given the tablet. Onboard, Darius explains to Jael the implications of the unknown language that appears on the tablet. While Darius is talking, Jael is following the news about the sudden outbreak of a virus that causes people to lose the ability to communicate. Jael watches in confusion as Darius argues M3747r0n because she can't see him. As Darius relates to Jael what M3747r0n has told him, the ship is hit by a rocket. Jael recognizes the signs of a settlement of the Unseen. She tells Darius to turn off his Spryt and then jumps with him out of the ship, which she has programmed to crash into some nearby mountains near the former city of Žilina, Slovakia.

After being rescued by the Unseen she had spotted, Jael speaks with the community and asks for sanctuary, with Darius translating as best he is able. In exchange, they must agree to not use any networked technology while they are with the Unseen. She explains that the Unseen do not exist without any technology -- which Darius agrees would be impossible -- but only without networked technology. She asks for news about the virus, which has continued to spread, though no one understands how it is transmitted. When Darius suggests a connection between the tablet and the virus, Jael agrees that the timing makes sense even if the rest doesn't. Jael is surprised by the guilt Darius seems to have because of this possibility, but also notes his resistance to destroying the tablet in response. Later that night, Jael asks Darius how he knows a Low God, which she always believed to be an urban legend. Darius shares the story with her and asks how she knows so much about the Unseen. Jael tells of her early life with the Unseen and how she ran away when she was fifteen. Jael is particularly fascinated with the fact that Darius's Spryt is rooted and speculates that Darius doesn't really understand the full impact of that freedom.

Although Jael is restless without her usual technologies, she sees that Darius is not that troubled by the change. He spends much of his time staring at the tablet and scribbling notes. Darius tells her that the mysterious language is in fact a written form of PIE, something that should not exist. Jael wonders why it matters. She and Darius discuss their respective roles in the world. Darius talks about helping humanity, but Jael scoffs, wondering what humanity has ever done for her. When they witness the drone battle over the Malá Fatra mountains, Jael suggests that humanity has already made itself redundant. Jael is furious to learn that Darius has kept his Spryt on despite their promises to the Unseen community. She believes his need for knowledge has put them all at risk.

When Darius tries to convince Jael that they should deliver the tablet to ElCorp, Jael protests, knowing what she knows about Creedence. Darius thinks she is only concerned about her commission, but she argues that going to Budapest, where the TS Group is based, is the more sensible and realistic option, since they can hide within a caravan of the Unseen who are going to do some trading. When Darius tells her he has been in communication with M3747r0n and that he believes he wants to help them, Jael is skeptical but eventually accepts that they might need the help.

Just before they arrive at Fez, they are approached by a young woman on horseback. She hands Jael a piece of paper and rides off. The message says, "Speak the name of your soul." Jael acts dismissive of the message, but continues to think about it. Once in Fez, they are met by Kiyaara and a security detail and ushered into a Faraday transport. Kiyaara tells them to keep their Spryts off as ElCorp believes that it was the Low Gods who attacked their ship. Jael is distrustful of Kiyaara, recognizing in her a mercenary attitude. She can also tell that despite the corporate appearance, Kiyaara is a heavily modified individual. High up in the ElCorp headquarters, which towers over the rest of Fez, Jael and Darius are separated. Kiyaara offers to lead Jael to where she can receive her compensation, which she promises is better than the original offer. In an awkward hug, Darius tells Jael to reboot her Spryt and to speak its true name. As her Spryt reboots, Jael and Kiyaara discuss their work. Kiyaara tells Jael she is familiar with her career; Jael scoffs at the idea of anyone knowing what she has done. M3747r0n appears on Jael's reloaded display. He tells her they have rooted her Spryt and that she needs to quickly figure out what that means because ElCorp is planning to kill both her and Darius. As his image disappears, Jael's display gives a full analysis of Kiyaara's enhancements. When Kiyaara realizes Jael is on to her, she attacks, but the newly empowered Jael is able to react and respond more rapidly and aggressively than she imagines. She quickly rips Kiyaara's cybernetic arm off, severely damages her leg, and grabs her weapons. Jael has Bashe to locate Darius and to find them a ship. Jael is amazed at how more effective the communication between herself and her Spryt now is, as if they are of one mind. Jael dispatches several soldiers as she races to find Darius. She finds him in a massive auditorium surrounded by soldiers. She is able to kill most of them quickly as she slides down the ramp to the auditorium floor, where she scoops up Darius and runs toward the massive windows of the auditorium just as the windows shatter. Jael leaps through the falling glass and briefly loses her hold on Darius. She grabs him again and they tumble into the open bay door of the ship Bashe is now controlling. Jael sees that it is the exact kind of ship she has always wanted, and as she straps herself in to pilot it, Darius asks her what she is doing. "Saving the world," she tells him as the ship takes off. Jael uses her new abilities to fly the ship more capably than the military drones. Bashe is able to confuse their sensors so that they hit things with rockets just after she passes them. Over the course of several minutes, they are able to destroy a significant portion of the megacity of Fez. As a final move, Jael is able to cause the upper floors of the ElCorp building, killing Creedence and destroying the tablet.

Eventually, Jael is lands the ship in an abandoned military base in what was once Greenland. Darius teaches Jael how to alter the location signal of her rooted Spryt. Jael continues to marvel at how little of the power he has Darius has ever actually used. While Darius and M3747r0n continue to contemplate the secrets of the tablet, Jael works on her new ship with Bashe and explores the desolate region. While hunting for food, she comes across a group of local hunters who speak a language her Spryt can't translate. When she shares this information with Darius, he dismisses it initially, but soon makes the connection about how language acquisition creates unique synaptic structures in children. Because Jael grew up speaking an Unseen dialect based on Mandarin, her brain does not have the same structures as the brain of someone who grew up speaking a PIE-based language. Before they can make more progress, they are invaded by a squadron led by Kiyaara, whose new cybernetic enhancements prove too much for Jael when they fight. M3747r0n is able to send in support with the help of other Low Gods, and Darius is able to drag Jael to her ship, so they can make an escape.

While Jael is unconscious, Darius flies the ship back to Lake Elton. When Jael wakes up, she is furious at the risk he has taken, but impressed by the fact that he took it. Her anger is also assuaged when he reveals that he has figured out how and why the virus works as it does. While Darius studies his findings, M3747r0n appears to Jael to update her on what has happened since the Battle of Fez, as it has come to be known. Creedence is believed to be dead, although his body was never recovered. Kiyaara has seized control of ElCorp, with the support of a number of high-powered backers. They have begun consolidating power in other provinces and are wiping out weaker corporations. M3747r0n and Jael also discuss how much Darius has changed since the discovery of the tablet. He seems ever more committed to understanding and even less concerned about his own well-being. M3747r0n also tells Jael some new things she can do with her enhancements thanks to the rooting. When Kiyaara and her team arrive, Jael is ready for Kiyaara but not for the android soldiers she has brought with her. While Kiyaara and Jael fight, M3747r0n and some other Low Gods deal with the androids. Jael is able to overpower Kiyaara thanks to the tricks M3747r0n has taught her. Against Darius's protests, Jael kills Kiyaara before collapsing.

When Jael next wakes, Darius is helping her out of the ship and onto horseback. They travel 100 miles, stopping only at night. After three days they arrive at a cave entrance in a desolate region and are greeted by a young girl who leads them into a hidden bunker. There they find M3747r0n's human body on life support. While M3747r0n's acolyte tends to Jael's wounds, M3747r0n appears to both Jael and Darius and explains the more religious nature of the Low Gods. Jael finds it all rather pedantic until she realizes he is talking about trading places with Darius, who seems to be in agreement. Darius explains that it is the only way for the Low Gods to be able to interpret that table enough to find a way to stop the virus, even though they accept that there is no chance of reversing the damage it has already done to so many. Jael is overwhelmed at the idea of losing Darius, but he promises he will never be far from her. After the acolyte has disconnected M3747r0n and begun the process of connecting Darius to the Low Gods, Jael cradles M3747r0n's withered body.

Biography

1st Fifth (Ages 0-19)

Formation & Dependency (Crisis: Security vs. Uncertainty)

Jael grew up in one of the early Unseen caravans, after her parents chose to reject the mandatory installation of Spryts. For much of her youth, she rebelled against the simple and transitory lifestyle of the Unseen.

When she was fifteen, she ran away from the community and spent three weeks on her own walking to the megacity of Chongquing. There she registered herself with the city corporation, had her Spryt installed, and enrolled herself as an apprentice with a corporate security firm.

Soon learning that her late start in life was holding her back in Ca system, she began taking black market jobs. Starting with deliveries, she quickly moved on to working as hired muscle.

2nd Fifth (Ages 20-39)

Productivity & Social Validation (Crisis: Status vs. Stagnation)

Jael committed her first contract killing when she easy 18. For Ꞇ20,000, she strangled the Chief Financial Officer of a small manufacturing firm. By her 30th birthday, she had traveled to every province on the planet and had killed someone in 38 of them. Soon after, she stopped taking assassination jobs and limited herself to bounty hunting. She is highly regarded by numerous corporate executives and is regularly called upon when they want someone found quietly.

3rd Fifth (Ages 40-59)

Reinforcement & Adaptation (Crisis: Relevance vs. Obsolescence)

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Relationships

Jael has been alone for the past 40 years. She has always told herself she prefers it that way and considers herself something of a holy person. But she also knows that she stays busy in order to avoid thinking about being alone.

She has never been in a long-term relationship. Beyond the risks of career, she has never seen the point in anything beyond brief sexual encounters.

Characteristics

Physical Appearance

Jael is a striking woman with a unique look. Her features suggest mixed heritage - high cheekbones, almond-shaped eyes, and a refined bone structure.

Tall and slender, Jael is deceptively powerful, even without her augmentations. In hand-to-hand combat, most assume she will rely on something like Aikido, a fighting style to redirect the opponent's strength. She will instead, though, attack aggressively and brutally.

Although she would like to keep her hair in a variety of unnatural colors, she keeps it to her natural blonde to limit calling attention to herself. She has long been aware that her unusual beauty is both an advantage, as it distracts and disarms many opponents, and a hazard, as it attracts unwanted attention.

Personality

Jael's self-isolation along with the violence of her work has turned her into a highly cynical individual. When she does have a real conversation with someone, they have difficulty telling when she is being sarcastic and when serious. She herself has trouble differentiating this.

She prefers to keep interactions simple and intentional. She will engage with someone only as long as she needs to in order to get what she wants.

Health

Jael is in extremely good health, considering she lives in a world which exposes her to dangerous levels of both UV and nuclear radiation. At 55, she is perimenopausal, and she has struggled for most of her adult life with low-level depression. She is fairly fanatical about taking her daily prescriptions.

Standard Morning Pill

• Radiation Mitigation Matrix
  • Selenium (55 mcg) + N-acetylcysteine (600 mg) + α-lipoic acid (300 mg): scavenge free radicals from nuclear plant proximity.
  • Coenzyme Q10 (100 mg): mitochondrial shield against ionizing radiation.
• Hormonal & Metabolic Support
  • Black Cohosh (40 mg extract) + DIM (200 mg): phytoestrogen modulation for perimenopausal stability.
  • Calcium (500 mg) + Magnesium Glycinate (200 mg) + Vitamin K2 (45 mcg): bone density trio, timed to avoid interference with iron absorption.
• Neuro-Mood Complex
  • L-theanine (200 mg) + Rhodiola rosea (250 mg extract): adaptogenic stress buffer with morning-focused GABA/glutamate balance.
  • Omega-3s (EPA 500 mg/DHA 250 mg): anti-inflammatory brain support in lipid-based nanoemulsion.
• Sunlight Compensation Blend
  • Vitamin E (30 IU) + Astaxanthin (4 mg): lipid-soluble antioxidants for UV and radiation synergy.
  • Zinc (15 mg) + Beta-carotene (3 mg): internal photoprotection and DNA repair cofactors.
• Circadian Vitamins
  • B Complex (B1: 1.2 mg, B2: 1.3 mg, B3: 16 mg, B5: 5 mg, B6: 1.7 mg, B9: 400 mcg, B12: 2.4 mcg): morning-release granules for cortisol rhythm alignment.
  • Vitamin C (250 mg): radiation/UV-reactive ascorbic acid in delayed-release matrix.

Delivery System

• Multi-phasic release:
  • Instant layer: Rhodiola + B vitamins for immediate alertness.
  • 4-hour delayed: Black cohosh + DIM to coincide with cortisol dip.
• Lipid-encapsulated core: Omega-3s + astaxanthin protected from oxidation.
• Authentication: QR code printed with curcumin-based ink (doubles as anti-inflammatory).

Evening Pill

• Melatonin (0.3 mg) + calcium (500 mg) for nocturnal bone remodeling.

Augmentations

Level 0: Baseline

Because she grew up in one of the earliest Unseen settlements, Jael received her Spryt later than the average citizen. After leaving the settlement and making her own way to Chongqing, Jael had her Spryt installed when she was 15. Jael's Spryt is called Spryt because no one told her she could give it a unique name. They have a detached and professional relationship. Unlike most people who consider their Spryts as a companion if not a friend, Jael sees her Spryt simply as another tool. Despite this, she is quite adept at using her Spryt, far exceeding the effectiveness of most Human-Spryt relationships.

Level 1: Basic Integration

• Simple sensory add-ons (enhanced vision correction, basic audio filtering)
• Minor physical aids (joint support, basic strength assistance)
• Cosmetic modifications that don't alter core function
• Spryt upgrades (memory expansion, processing boost)

Level 2: Professional-grade

Adrenal System

Jael's first optional augmentation was a Strong Jack Relay, a nanopartical magnetic remote system. On command from her Spryt, a magnet implanted on her fifth rib heats up nanoparticals in her adrenal gland which cause the release of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol -- either individually or in combination -- by targeting specific regions of the gland with tailored magnetic fields.

• Adrenaline triggers the fight-or-flight response, rapidly increasing heart rate, blood flow to muscles, energy release (glucose), and overall alertness, which is essential for immediate physical reactions and peak muscular action.
• Noradrenaline works with adrenaline to increase alertness, blood pressure, and readiness for action, enhancing focus and reaction time during high-stress situations.
• Cortisol mobilizes energy by increasing glucose in the bloodstream, regulates metabolism, and helps manage stress. While excessive cortisol can impair performance, controlled surges can be beneficial for energy mobilization in acute stress.

Left eye

Six years ago, Jael underwent a procedure to replace her left eye with the Argus Tactical Model VI, a lab-grown ocular implant that offers a suite of advanced visual enhancements. This cybernetic eye grants her multi-spectral vision, including infrared and ultraviolet imaging for detecting heat signatures -- useful for night vision and tracking targets in darkness -- as well as revealing ultraviolet patterns such as forensic evidence or hidden security markings. The device’s ability to detect polarized light allows Jael to identify material stresses, like cracks in structures, and to spot camouflaged objects by analyzing light polarization. AI-powered scene analysis further augments her capabilities, providing real-time threat detection through deep learning algorithms that flag weapons, hostile movements, or environmental hazards such as unstable terrain. Enhanced biometric scanning enables her to recognize individuals in crowds by analyzing gait, thermal signatures, or retinal patterns. The eye’s adjustable zoom, ranging from 3x to 30x, supports both long-range surveillance and microscopic inspection, while low-light optimization ensures functionality in near-total darkness (down to 0.001 lux) with minimal visual noise. High-speed tracking processes motion at up to 1,000 frames per second-far surpassing the human eye’s 60 fps-making it critical for intercepting fast-moving threats. Additional features include LIDAR mapping for generating 3D depth maps to aid in precise navigation, and electromagnetic spectrum detection for identifying active electronics, wireless signals, or power sources.

The Argus Model VI’s lab-grown retinal tissue not only repairs minor damage, reducing the risk of rejection and maintaining optical clarity, but also incorporates bioengineered photoreceptors that interface seamlessly with the cybernetic sensors, minimizing latency to approximately one millisecond.

Left Arm

Twenty years ago, Jael’s left arm was amputated at the shoulder and replaced with an Airgetlám Mark II prosthetic, which she upgraded to the Airgetlám Mark X four years ago. This advanced bionic arm grants her superhuman load capacity, with carbon-fiber tendons and powerful actuators enabling her to lift up to 50 kilograms with a single grip, and piezoelectric systems providing bursts of force for tasks like crushing or breaking barriers. The arm’s frame is constructed from smart polymers that autonomously repair minor cracks or wear, ensuring durability in high-stress situations. Its 10-degree-of-freedom system allows for natural wrist rotation, thumb opposition, and precise finger articulation, while AI-driven predictive movement anticipates her actions, adjusting grip and joint angles in real time. Osseointegrated titanium implants fuse the arm to her skeleton, and implanted electrodes in her residual nerves enable response times faster than biological reflexes. The artificial skin features micron-scale pressure sensors, giving Jael tactile feedback for textures, temperatures, and delicate forces, and direct neural feedback simulates proprioception for subconscious spatial awareness. Machine learning algorithms refine grip stability and targeting accuracy, achieving micron-level precision in repetitive tasks.

The Mark X arm also integrates seamlessly with her other augmentations. By engaging with her Spryt, it can cross-reference environmental data to optimize grip and motion, and project real-time force metrics and hazard alerts via her retinal HUD. During adrenaline surges from her Strong Jack Relay, the implant temporarily overrides safety limits, unlocking peak performance in emergencies. The arm and her Argus Tactical Model VI bionic eye work in tandem: the eye’s multi-spectral imaging informs the arm’s tactile sensors for adaptive grip, AI threat detection enables preemptive defensive positioning, and telescopic zoom feeds spatial data for micron-level adjustments. Both systems interface through her Spryt as a central processor, allowing visual input to guide the arm’s movements with sub-millisecond latency, and enabling cross-modal learning that continually improves performance by correlating visual patterns with optimal arm behaviors.

Level 3: Military-grade

When she was 21, Jael had a Sicarii Expansion Pack installed on her Spryt. Expansion packs give Spryts additional controls, but use significantly more energy, and can only be used for short periods of time. The Sicarii EP enables the Spryt to manipulate biological and cybernetic functions to enhance the user's stealth capabilities.

• Phantom Protocol: A comprehensive stealth suite with layers. Level 1 manages basic heart rate suppression and micro-vibration dampening to eliminate footstep resonance. Level 2 adds heat signature masking through controlled blood flow redirection and enhanced proprioception for perfect spatial awareness in darkness. Level 3 includes micro-muscular control that eliminates unconscious fidgeting, breathing pattern regulation, pheromone suppression to avoid detection, and nerve dampening to prevent involuntary reactions to pain or surprise.
• Ghost Touch: Hyper-sensitive fingertip enhancement for lock picking, safe cracking, or detecting electronic security measures through minute electromagnetic fields. Also includes grip strength modulation—strong enough to climb walls, delicate enough to handle glass threads.
• Predator Sense: Beyond focused hearing and spatial awareness, this includes echolocation capabilities for navigation in complete darkness, vibration sensing through floors and walls to track movement patterns, and even limited electromagnetic spectrum perception to see through certain materials or detect hidden electronics.
• Memory Burn: Enhanced situational recording that captures everything with perfect clarity, but with built-in data encryption and self-destruction protocols. If captured, the user could trigger a memory wipe of the mission-specific data while preserving their core personality and skills.