application for Neon Requiem

[itreachesout]

OOC:

Player Handle: Fox
Contact: namang or PM journal
Pronouns: they/them

Invite/Current Player: Invite Link
Other Characters: N/A


IC:

Character Name: Josephus "Joe" Miller
Age: 49
Canon: The Expanse (TV and book series)
Canon Point: Season 2, episode 5 / post-Leviathan Wakes


History: TV canon & book canon
[I'll be primarily using TV canon, but supplementing some background information with book canon.]

Joe Miller was born and raised on Ceres Station in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter in the Sol system. He was orphaned at a young age and became a ward of the station, living in a children's home where he was frequently mistreated, malnourished, under-medicated, and occasionally beaten. Miller and his fellow orphan Sematimba took to a life of petty crime just to survive. When he was 18, he had a decision to make – "Do you want to be the ass or the boot?" He wanted out of the life that had kicked him around, and he wanted to kick back – so he became a cop. And after years working for Star Helix Security, an Earth corp with the security contract for Ceres, he was promoted to detective. Choosing to work for Star Helix meant working for Earth – the oppressors of Belters like himself – but at least it put him on the side in power. In this role, Miller was skilled and competent when he (rarely) chose to put in the effort, but he accepted bribes and often purposely overlooked certain criminal activity.

Miller was married briefly, and by the time he's first seen in canon, he's been divorced for at least 2 years. It ended poorly.

The change in Miller's life came when he was assigned an off-book missing person's case. He's tasked to find and return (a "kidnap job") the runaway daughter of a rich shareholder. Something about the case captivated Miller, and he turned his full attention to discovering the young woman’s whereabouts. What started out as the usual sort of investigation quicky escalated into uncovering a major conspiracy way above Miller's paygrade. When he tried to report his findings to his captain, he was fired, presumably to keep him from digging any deeper into the mystery.

Miller became obsessed with finding the missing heiress, Julie Mao, and his firing from Star Helix did not stop him from continuing his investigation. Miller found himself needing to leave Ceres for only the 1st time in his life, traveling to the human colony on the asteroid Eros. There he finally finds Julie… dead. But before he can leave Eros, a major biochemical attack using semi-sentient alien technology (called "protomolecule") destroys the station, killing 100,000 Belters (all souls aboard).... Miller barely escaped with his life.

After (mostly) recovering from his injuries on a ship named the Rocinante, Miller joins an assault team sent by the Belter station Tycho to find those responsible for the attack on Eros. They storm what turns out to be a research station. Miller kills the lead scientist out of a need for justice (or revenge) for Eros and Julie, which gets him kicked off the Roci but embraced and taken in by the others who were on the assault team.

However, the biochemical danger on Eros remained a threat, so Miller helped come up with a plan to destroy Eros once and for all. Ultimately, he was killed during this operation (the only casualty), but not before he managed to convince the protomolecule (which was wearing the form and thoughts of his missing Julie Mao) controlling Eros to collide with uninhabited Venus instead of destroying Earth.

He is remembered as a hero.

But Miller’s consciousness doesn’t end there. Right before Eros’ impact with Venus, the protomolecule absorbs Miller the same way it did Julie Mao. Later, the protomolecule will project Miller’s form and consciousness into the mind of James Holden... but that’s a story for a different canon point.


Personality: After 30 years of working with Star Helix, Miller has witnessed a lifetime of the horrible things people will do to each other out of greed, anger, lust, and desperation. He knows the system is rigged, and he's determined not to be on the losing side of it. He took payoffs when he could and made arrests only when he had to. Others saw Miller as unmotivated, maybe even lazy, rarely closing his cases. Because of this, he was routinely assigned the least urgent duties as well as any assignments for which lack of results was preferred.

In reality, Miller is observant and intelligent. He could have been a fine detective if his early life hadn't treated him so poorly. Growing up abused and a criminal, he understands what some people must do just to make ends meet and survive. He’s not afraid to bust heads when he needs to, but what others see as laziness is (sometimes) Miller granting mercy to those who need it the most.

Miller is completely intolerant of anyone who harms or endangers children, even going so far as to throw a man out an air lock for not replacing faulty air filters and causing multiple families (with children) to choke on polluted air.

In his 48 years on Ceres, Miller became cynical, jaded, disillusioned, and a bit of an alcoholic. He’s used to taking shit from Inners and Belters alike—living in both societies while belonging to neither—but his patience for it is not long. He’s quick to resort to a show of force to make his point.

And then came Juliette Andromeda Mao.

At the start, it’s just another job, but Miller quickly becomes obsessed with her case, even sobering up so he can focus and follow all the minutiae of a conspiracy that is growing ever more complex and surreal. As he digs through her life to find clues to her whereabouts, he builds up a mental picture of who he believes she is—an image that persists for him even despite certain evidence from the people who really knew her. Deeply moved by her story, Miller turns Julie into more of an ideal rather than a real human being, an illusion that takes hold even more strongly after discovery of her death. She represents to Miller the opposite of all the failures in his own life: headstrong, dedicated, determined, pure-of-heart, always choosing to do what is right and fighting on behalf of the Belt (instead of Miller’s “traitorous” attitude for most of his life).

It is mentioned that he has "Laura" syndrome -- a detective falls in love with a victim whose murder they're investigating. It is a doomed one-sided relationship, and Miller even admits he knows it’s bullshit, but his love for her becomes the driving force in his life. He calls her his “guide star,” and through the influence of both his fictional Julie and the real one, Miller begins to turn his personality around. He wants to be better than he was, but he fears it’s too late.

Miller has a dark sense of humor and frequently uses self-deprecating language. No matter the good deeds he comes to do with the last year of his life, he still feels the crushing weight, pain, and shame of the rest of it.


Abilities:
• Miller is an intelligent and skilled detective with better-than-average intuition.
• He is a very good shot with a handgun/revolver and can use the weapon ambidextrously.
• For the most part, he's standard human, but his body has some structural differences due to living his whole life in low gravity--primarily his thinness, lighter bone density, and spurs in his neck and top of his spine.

NOTE: Due to his canon point, Miller is currently infected with alien pseudo-sentient molecular nanomachines collectively called the "protomolecule". This manifests through the appearance of The Investigator, which is visible in-game as his Shadow. The protomolecule also occasionally causes Miller to have a faint blue afterimage or shed little blue "fireflies". It can spontaneously grant him preternatural insight.

Inventory:
• dark orange and black environmental suit
• dark gray flight suit with the ship name "Guy Molinari" on the back
• dark-colored thermal undershirt with a patch for the "Tachi" on the shoulder, slacks, boots, etc.
• a cracked, non-functional hand terminal
• his revolver
• a silver beaded necklace formerly belonging to Julie Mao
• a few "poker chips" from Ceres station
• pocket knife

Eternal Reward: to be reunited with Julie, preferably with both of them alive and uninfected, but he'll take whatever scenario is offered.

Goals/Ideas: I am most interested in getting Miller to be social and participate in monthly events. He may be interested in starting a P.I. business, since investigation's what he's good at, and in interacting with local criminal elements (or law enforcement) in various capacities.

Samples: Sample 1, Sample 2

Secret Code Phrase: "My curse is my redemption."