Alexei Santogold

Alexei Santogold is a glamour slave owned by Dominic Maiachev, and property of the Lethe drug cartel.

Background
Alexei was born in the Dysnomia Ghetto, a very poor mining settlement in the Aite Sector on Mars. She was abandoned by her destitute parents shortly after her birth due to being born blind, and left to the elements to die of exposure. A day later, she was found by Priestess Hespia and taken to an orphanage run by the Temple of Asteria, an Olympian temple originally established to recruit miners into the Children of Olympus. Despite her blindness, Alexei grew into a very curious and outgoing child, making many friends and proving her usefulness by working as a cleaner and organizing offerings from temple-goers. While some said that Hespia used Alexei's disability to invoke sympathy from visitors, and hence receive more donations, Hespia did care very much for her and the other children, unfortunately needing to play the sympathy card for funds in order to help feed, clothe, and house them properly.

A few days after Alexei's ninth birthday, two men visited the temple. Hespia tried to hide the children from them, but Alexei of course did not see her and remained on the temple floor, sweeping away. The men took an interest in her: one offered her candy with a sweet and powerful voice, while the other spoke about her blindness and technology that she didn't understand. The man with the candy asked if she wanted to be able to see, to which Alexei of course said yes. The man promised to return, and would bring a Miracle from the Gods with him. This was the first time Alexei met Dominic Maiachev and Czeslaw Romano, but it would unfortunately not be her last.

Alexei waited weeks for their arrival, and prayed to the Gods that they would return as the nice man Dominic had pomised. And, as any true Believer would say, the Gods answered her prayers -- literally. One day in July, the temple was graced by an Almighty herself: Theia, Goddess of Sight and the Bright Sky (which, ironically, not even those with sight could see from the pollution and red dust that blanketed the ghetto). Theia came to Alexei and told her that She had heard her prayers, and would reward the child for her faith. She proclaimed She would give Alexei sight, and then touched her upon the forehead.

Alexei woke nearly a day later in an unfamiliar place, very sick and in much pain. She blinked, feeling a strange sensation in her eyes as the typical blackness in her vision began to shift and change. For the first time in her life, she could see the silver walls of the room, observe the sheets on her bed, and memorize the lines and features of faces. Dominic sat next to her, holding her hand, and told her that she was on the Hysminai, the flagship of the drug organization Lethe, and that Theia had brought her there to reward Alexei's loyalty. Czeslaw (known as Romano to his peers) handed her an orange visor, explaining that it was the external power source for her brand-new, cybernetic eyes and would keep her eyes fully charged when worn. They kept her in bed for a week as she healed and acclimated to her new sight. Alexei asked when she would return to Mars so that she could show Hespia her eyes. Dominic took her hand, and with a gentle smile, explained that in order to prove to the Gods that she deserved this reward, Alexei would now be his. She would no longer live at the orphanage, but instead be raised in service to Lethe.

Dominic and the other Lethe Masters (also known as Kyrios) began her training immediately, as starting slaves out young was the best way to mold them into the perfect servant. Alexei was taught numerous ways to fight, disable, and kill the enemies of Lethe, as well as be able to effectively defend her Master from those who would wish him harm. After two years of brutal indoctrination on the various styles of fighting and killing, Alexei was sent on a test three weeks after her eleventh birthday. Her mark: a middle-aged man named Trawley, a snitch who had been selling Lethe cargo movements to the police in the Boreas colony on Mimas. Alexei broke into his house and shot him while he made dinner. For her second test, Alexei was tasked with assassinating an anti-Olympian delegate named Nyromi Tanner from the Coalition of Terra. Five minutes after Delegate Tanner took the podium in Ralsback to deliver her impassioned speech on the tyranny of Lethe on the drug-addicted masses, Alexei put a bullet between her eyes, then planted evidence to frame a small terrorist cell who had also been targeting Lethe shipments.

After Alexei's menarche at age twelve, Dominic began to groom her as a glamour slave, taking her virginity and putting her to work as a dancer and prostitute at the various Lethe-operated nightclubs scattered across Mars and the solar system. Alexei learned the art of conversation and manipulation, seamlessly blending charm and sexuality with her job to throw vulnerable marks off guard. She also was trained to cook, sew, paint, read, recite poetry, perform basic cybernetic and weapon maintenance, and clean wounds. Dominic wanted her to be useful in ways other than sex and killing.

At some point after she turned thirteen, Dominic also introduced Alexei to drugs: first cocaine, then rose, then heroin, and then all the rest available in the solar system. It was not long before she was hopelessly addicted, another method of control exerted over her by her Master.

By age fifteen, Alexei had ascended to the ranks of a fully-fledged glamour slave, and with this her life drastically shifted. She was allowed to choose her own surname, as is Lethe custom, though it could not be the same as any other, and could not be from her past life. No longer did she have to sleep with dozens of other slaves in cramped rooms aboard the Hysminai or in chattel houses. No longer did she have to spend hours on pitiful, merciless tasks outside of killing, drug dealing, or whoring. Now, she could sleep beside Dominic in his cabin, or in one of his many suites across the solar system. He dressed her in expensive designer clothing and had her undergo breast enhancement surgery to make her even more beautiful in his eyes. He brought her nearly everywhere he went, eager to show off his precious, sweet honeybee, and Alexei was happy to please him. For her eighteenth birthday, Alexei asked Dominic to take her back to the Temple of Asteria, so that she may thank Priestess Hespia for taking care of her as a child. When they did so, Hespia broke down in tears at the sight of Alexei, which angered and upset her. Several months later, Alexei accompanied Romano back to the temple to find more slaves for Lethe. This time, Hespia had hired mercenaries to protect the children, a move that took both Alexei and Romano by surprise. After the mercenaries were killed, they confronted Hespia, who refused to hand over any children and have them suffer the same fate as Alexei: forever bound to an evil organization with no true regard for her autonomy and well-being. Romano ordered Alexei to get her out of the way, but Alexei hesitated. She had never been told that what had become of her was anything other than the price of the Gods to raise her pitiful self from the dust. Every gift that had been given to her had bettered her life -- and to see this woman who had once been like a mother to her decry what she had turned into upset and shocked the poor girl. In this hesitation, the children successfully escaped, and Romano mutilated Hespia and burned down the temple in a fit of anger. Alexei was sent to reconditioning for her hesitation, undergoing two weeks of torture and electroshock therapy. However, Romano was also sentenced to six months in Lethe prison for the transgression of blaspheming the Gods by destroying their temple and for his overall troublesome behavior.

The burning of Alexei's childhood home shook her to her core, and in spite of her reconditioning, she began to understand the whispers of the chattel slaves who spoke of overthrowing the Masters, or running away to find a better life somewhere away from Lethe. At dinners held in the most illustrious restaurants on Venus and in designer boutiques, Alexei would look at Dominic and love him dearly for all that he had given her. Naked against his brutal, oppressive body, Alexei loved and hated Dominic -- her abuser, lover, father, and Master. In the throes of withdrawal during punishment for one embarrassment or another, Alexei hated that she had never been given the choice to say no. Standing above the dead body of some person or another and covered in blood, Alexei hated Lethe and what they had turned her into. Replaying the mutilation of Priestess Hespia over and over in her head, Alexei hated Czeslaw Romano for being so cruel to a woman who had simply been trying to protect her children. And when she looked in the mirror, at the eyes he had so sweetly promised her years ago, Alexei hated herself.

Personality
As a child, Alexei was bright, curious, and playful, always seemingly optimistic despite her blindness. In truth, this disability did bother her, as she was never able to gaze upon the statue of Asteria, see the food she ate, or even know the faces of Priestess Hespia and her fellow orphans. This may have helped inform her naivete about the world around her, since she did not have to see the dire conditions of Dysnomia Ghetto and its inhabitants, and did give way to trusting those who promised good, such as Dominic and Czeslaw. She would later learn to regret this part of her being.

After being enslaved to Lethe and subjected to incredible emotional and physical abuse as part of her training and ownership, Alexei's personality shifted drastically. Friendships with fellow glamour slaves were fleeting and surface-level, and her only true affection lay with her Master Dominic. Being raised as a glamour slave gave rise to an expectation of a certain lifestyle, and she became incredibly materialistic and vain, afraid to be seen as anything other than perfect to her betters -- especially Dominic, whom she both loves and resents. This causes discomfort for people outside of Olympian culture, as they see a rich, beautiful, and entitled woman who was still seen as no more than a dress-up killer doll for her Master to play with. Alexei gained some measure of autonomous thought after witnessing the mutilation of her mother figure Priestess Hespia, but she grapples with her duties to Lethe and the unimaginable thought of being a free woman.

Alexei's true nature is hardened by her experiences, but she is able to adopt a varying number of them depending on the situation -- from silent bodyguard, to charming and talkative socialite meant to show herself off for Dominic. However, she does show capacity for mercy and kindness, especially when it comes to children, and those who have been good to her for no reason other than their own goodness, such as Priestess Hespia.

Alexei has been heavily addicted to drugs since the age of thirteen, and shows no interest in getting clean. Like most addicts, she argues that as long as she has access to a supply, she is able to function without issue, so there is no reason for her to get clean -- of course, Dominic would never let her, even if she did want to.

Since her duties to Lethe include occasional prostitution and stripping, Alexei is very liberal in her approach to sex, using it for both pleasure and as a weapon. It is also one of the few areas of Alexei's life that Dominic lets her be free in, as long as she is careful. Going hand-in-hand with her addiction, she does not consider sexual acts in exchange for drugs to be demeaning, since it is a means to an end. Alexei considers herself to be pansexual.

Being raised on Mars, and at an orphanage run by the Temple of Asteria at that, Alexei naturally fell into the beliefs of the Children of Olympus. She is incredibly reverent to the Gods, and often prays. She struggles sometimes with her faith, however, for while she does believe that Theia made the events possible for her to be able to see again, Alexei does not understand why her faith was rewarded by a lifetime of slavery.

Equipment and Modifications

 * Second Skin - A fitted bodysuit that can be cloaked and worn under normal clothing, featuring a ballistic weave and a built-in kinetic shield generator. It can also store outfits inside of it, for quick transitions in and out of battle.
 * SPK Silent Shooter - A tactical pistol with an activated silencer. Uses traditional bullets, and while this has a small magazine, has no kickback and surprising range.
 * Gargoyle MKII Rifle - A collapsible, fast-shooting sniper rifle with medium kickback. Also uses traditional bullets, and must be reloaded after each fire.
 * Harmonia G3 Shrieking Knife - A vibrating knife, capable of puncturing weak armors like leather and mail through sonic manipulation. Shreds wounds, and is not considered a clean weapon.
 * Blue Comet Precision Knives - Two retractable daggers built into Alexei's Second Skin. Made of durasteel and is considered a must-have for any assassin.
 * SPK Neural Lash - A retractable electromagnetic vibrating whip built into Alexei's Second Skin, retrievable from a slot at her hip. When uncoiled, a button can be pressed to turn on and off the electromagnetic charge.
 * GenEx Mod Series Alpha VI - Genetic modifications strengthening bones and skin to reduce instances of breakage, bruising, and scars. If the body does not take a direct hit at the skin, chances of the bullet only bruising the skin increases by 20%. Also increases blood flow and clotting to wounds to prevent someone from bleeding out, but does not protect against fatal wounds.
 * GenEx Mod Series Beta III (Discontinued) - A series of genetic modifications that protects against sexually transmitted diseases. Had a high body rejection rate and was eventually discontinued. The most severe cases led to complete sterility.