Carter, Astrid Mae

NAME – Astrid Mae Carter
AGE – 24 years old (November 3rd, 1983)
SEX – Female
ORIENTATION – Heterosexual
SUBJECT NUMBER – #156
STAGE OF BLEEDING EFFECT – Stage V
ALLIANCE – None
PLAY BY – Anna Lutoskin


APPEARANCE DESCRIPTION

The most striking feature of Astrid would likely be her hair, which reaches past her shoulders. It’s a natural red in colour, yet dull and usually a mess, due to Astrid’s indifference of her appearance. Working as a test subject, she has little time to care for her hair and skin, so it’s not uncommon for her to look as if she’d just woken up. In fact, she often deliberately goes for this sort of look, mostly to bother the prim and proper Abstergo employees.

With a freckled face, light eyelashes and green eyes, Astrid has never been an intimidating figure. She stands at a height of 5’5, although her habit of slouching makes her appear much shorter. Due to this, intimidation has never worked on other people, as she isn’t a very imposing figure. This had bothered her for years, as she could never use the skill of intimidation like some people could.

As for clothes, Astrid cares little about what she wears. She can often be seen wearing jeans and a plain t-shirt – nothing ever too fancy. As for makeup, very rarely does she ever wear it, as she finds it a nuisance to put in. With her slouching posture and shabby clothes, Astrid takes pleasure in knowing just how much she stands out from the clean Abstergo employees. In little ways, she enjoys rebelling against them, although she would never do anything too drastic, for fear of what they’d do.

PERSONALITY DESCRIPTION

impatient, adventurous, hot-headed, decisive, stubborn.

Ever since she was a young child, authority has never mixed well with Astrid. She has quite a hard time following instructions, as she’s always trying to do something different. However, this rebellious nature changed completely once she joined Abstergo, as the Templars were very different than her former teachers and principals. They had real power and authority, which could potentially place her in a very dangerous situation. So, she’s adapted to this change, learning to rebel through little ways rather than by doing something too drastic.

Once Astrid decides on something, she won’t settle for anything else. She can be very stubborn at times, as she hates to change her mind. She believes that her decision is the best, and that there would be no point in changing it for something else. She has a habit of ignoring other people’s more logical ideas, and instead going with her rash decisions. This, of course, usually doesn’t end well, and she’s been in more tight spots than she can count. Unless she believes that she’s in some sort of real danger, she’ll defend her argument until the other gives up.

Hot-headed is a perfect word to describe Astrid. She doesn’t respond well to teasing, as she can be very defensive at times. Anything can set her off, and once you’ve done that, it’s hard to get her to shut up. She’ll ramble on until she believes she’s made her point, which could potentially take quite a while. As a result, she’s never had too many friends, since most people just piss her off after only one conversation.

Astrid has never felt a sense of duty or loyalty toward anything before. She sees no point in joining some sort of cause, as they never suit her beliefs. The Templars especially irk her, since she dislikes how proud they are of their accomplishments. As for the Assassins, Astrid’s never shown much interest in them either. The influence of Jacqueline has swayed her opinion slightly, and at times she feels a small sense of loyalty toward the Creed, yet she blames this on The Bleeding Effect. While not under the influence of the Animus’ side effects, Astrid would never dream of joining any cause. She prefers sticking by herself, since there would never be any possibility of betrayal.

Ever since she could remember, the sense of adventure has always appealed to Astrid. She loves the idea of exploring new land, finding secrets and mysteries that had never even been dreamed of before. However, even though the idea appeals to her, she never acts on it. Her lack of bravery contributes greatly here, as she is quite the coward in situations where her life is on the line. If it wasn’t for this, she would have surely done some digging around Abstergo by now, as they seem to be hiding many secrets.

HISTORY

Neither Astrid’s Father nor Mother had anything to do with the Assassins or Templars. In fact, they were quite oblivious to the world around them. Mr. Carter was self employed and ran a small, slowly failing business. Meanwhile, her Mother was an unemployed teacher, always searching for a job. Money was very tight in their household, and as a result, her parents were often stressed, although she didn’t realize this at such a young age. Life was difficult for Mr. and Mrs. Carter as it was, without their daughter adding even more to the chaos.

You see, Astrid wasn’t exactly the quietest student at school. She was always questioning the teacher’s instructions, making a point to do something differently than what the person in charge had said. She had a very difficult time listening to the authority, and was often sent to the office because of this. Even in high school she had a tough time following orders and paying attention, resulting in low grades and more time in the office. Eventually, Astrid did manage to get through high school, and by that time she was done with learning and homework. She planned for a life free of responsibility, where never again would she have to sit through another boring lecture.

Unfortunately for Astrid, it didn’t exactly work out that way. She soon found out that no further schooling would lead to a life of living in her parent’s basement, with no money and no job. This wasn’t the kind of promising, adventurous life that she had always dreamed of, so she decided to look over her other options. There was the possibility of pursuing University or College, but that meant more work and back to the sort of life she had hated before. So, for a while, Astrid put off applying to any schools. Her parents had given up trying to convince her, and she was retreating back into her old ways of procrastination.

A few years passed, and every day became the same boring routine. Astrid accomplished nothing and experienced no feeling of adventure, becoming tired of such a monotonous life. However, this all changed in the month of August in 2007, when the twenty-four year old stumbled upon a job offering for some sort of ‘test subject’. Very few details of this job were given, yet it enticed her. And, despite not knowing anything about the job, she sent in her resume out of sheer curiosity. Much to her surprise, she received a phone call a few weeks later about the job, from a company called Abstergo. Again, they shared very little details with her, other than informing her to stop by for an interview. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to follow through for an unknown job, but Astrid did it anyway. Her curiosity was too strong to let it go.

The day of the interview was interesting, to say the least. Instead of an actual job interview, they made her fill out piles of paperwork, which she merely glanced over at. They then hooked her up to an uncomfortable looking machine. They explained to her that she would see her ancestors as they saw the world, and that very few got this privilege. At this point, Astrid began to question the scientist’s sanity. However, this uncertainty soon melted away after she opened her eyes, finding herself to be somewhere very far away from that testing room...

Seeing through her ancestor’s eyes was a thrilling experience for Astrid, who had never shown much of an interest in history. During the Animus Session, she found out that she was related to someone called Jacqueline Rousseau, a French woman who had lived in the late 1700’s. In a moment, she was up on rooftops, climbing across Paris like it was her own personal playground. The old city was alive with people and full of history, and for the first time, Astrid felt excited for the future. She knew that this job, albeit secretive and different, would be perfect for her. She could ignore the withdrawn scientist and the too-clean building, as long as she could experience such thrilling adventures.

However, things didn’t go as smoothly as Astrid had planned. After a few weeks of working there, she began to feel the side effects. They called it the Bleeding Effect, which she felt was an appropriate name. At first, Astrid only experienced the brief hallucinations. After a few more months, however, the side effects got much worse. With Abstergo pushing her more, forcing her to spend long hours in the Animus, Jacqueline began to merge with her. Astrid began speaking French fluently and confusing it with English. She also lost a hold of who she was, and at times she was no longer Astrid, but Jacqueline.

The Animus sessions took over her life, and soon Astrid became nothing more than a tool for Abstergo’s research. They diagnosed her with Stage V of the Bleeding Effect, and she was forced to live at the facilities. Abstergo viewed her as unstable, and wouldn’t dare let her out in the real world. She knew far too much – about them, the Templars, and her ancestor, an Assassin – to be able to walk freely.

So, Astrid was forced to stay at the facilities. She never had any chances to escape, for Abstergo kept tight security watching their test subjects at all times. Perhaps, one day, they would let their guard down. But, with Astrid’s unstable mind, she wouldn’t exactly fare well in a public setting. Her hallucinations were stronger and clearer now, lasting much longer than she had ever experienced before. Soon enough, she could reach Stage VII, and lose all hold on reality.

ANCESTOR -