Deuterium

The Schoolchild alumnus named Deuterium was the first clone produced for the Millennium Batch. Known as Dee, she has also taken the alias Demetria, after a Templar whose identity she took. She shared her designation, Hydrogen, with her companions. Previously the guardian of the Freshman who shared her original name, she and another coordinated an escape from the facility they were created in some time in 2021. Together, she and her newfound family have lived as fugitive scavengers in the Orren desert.

Appearance

Deuterium is a tall, broad, and athletic young woman of [African American] descent. Despite being a scavenger, she is very beautiful, perhaps the result of her own fastidiousness or an effect of her personal charisma. She keeps her medium-length afro textured hair tied in a neat bun. She is often seen wearing a torn, sleeveless denim jacket, tight T-shirt, tattered jeans, and ratty sneakers. The t-shirt she likes wearing the most has her version of the Hydrogens' chosen symbol, a depiction of the isotope she was named for.

History

Made in the year 2000, the Hydrogen now known as Deuterium was an exemplar of genetic fitness. Not only did she display a competent array of psychic and hydrokinetic powers, she was also incredibly athletic and highly intelligent. Her ability to learn about the applications of water helped push the boundaries of what she could do with them. However, the entries recording her abilities were tampered with. An entire set of her powers remained unknown to her captors. This was by design. Some time in her early life, she discovered both the nefarious true nature of her existence and a kindred spirit in a spiteful yet kind coworker Pratchett. She learned that despite her exemplary performance, all she was to her captors was another experiment, and her growing skillset didn't matter as much because her powers didn't have variety.

As retaliation, she first asked for Pratchett (who she recognized as not only being a Schoolchild himself, but also as sharing her DNA) to delete key entries of her skill set and make sure they remain unrecorded. Not long after, her captors produced an "improved" clone that combined her DNA with genome parts taken from a deceased Schoolchild. This new Templar, Demetria, briefly became one of her rivals. The time came when the School decided that the original model was no longer useful and instructed Demetria to carry out the execution. She and Pratchett engineered a situation where she could turn the tables on the arrogant Demetria and take her place. This plan succeeded and did so for more than a decade.

As a Templar, "Demetria" was applauded by the school for the way she worked with testing-line Schoolchildren. She was an excellent teacher and a very good counselor. By 2021, she became assigned to take care of a young child, a Hydrogen like herself. She became attached to the lonely young woman and became her confidante. Not long after, she and her companion finally put into motion their escape plans. Through surreptitious sabotage, the two caused a crisis in the facility that they stayed at, using the resulting chaos to rescue the younger occupants. They succeeded only in taking one child, however, leaving the young Hydrogen's only other friend in captivity.

For a time, they've lived as scavengers in the desert. Her powers allowed the group to find sources of water, vital for their continued existence. She and the rest of her siblings eventually found a home and refuge in the Oasis, referred to by a kindly farmer they initially sought employment from. Deuterium has taken a shine to the farmer's adoptive son, Stewart and the two have apparently started a relationship since at least 2022.

Abilities

Deuterium's main unique psychic abilities lies in manipulating water molecules. She can use water as a weapon or a tool for various purposes. Given an ample source of water, she could be a force to be reckoned with. Her skills extend to finding concentrations of water in desert areas. Abilities that she refused to disclose include her ability to copy spinal cord signals. This let her mimic the precise habits of people she impersonated with unbelievable accuracy. She could also resist psychic suggestions better than her peers, but could fake being compliant until it suited her.

Besides being physically strong, Deuterium also possesses genius-level intellect. She was an avid reader and applied everything she learned into her abilities, which made them seem more impressive. Things like how metal responds when under pressure and how water behaves in its various states she used to her advantage. As a Schoolchild, she also read several books on psychology, which she was granted access to. Her comprehension of the subject approaches that of a licensed therapist, which proved incredibly important when dealing with the neuroses of her two companions. She is an excellent planner; together with Protium, she was able to engineer several situations to further her plans to acquire freedom.

She is also very sly and could retrieve information in a surprisingly stealthy manner. She has mined out a lot of information about the School's projects simply by snooping around.

Personality

Outwardly, Deuterium is incredibly self-confident. She takes pride in both her physical athleticism and her skills in hydrokinesis. She is quite compassionate and trusting (it helps that she can read people well) and has an uncanny ability to know where to find allies. The pressures of survival, however, meant that she sometimes wishes that she and her new family should stop running. As an instructor, she was compassionate and encouraging, and schoolchildren loved to work under her.

Trivia

• She never took an epithet while in disguise as Demetria. Instead, her "fellow" Templars decided she should get the epithet "Demetria the Humble". The actual Demetria did not live long enough to choose one.