Latency
Matilda Seras (Praetorian) - Mutant Mastermind
Matilda Seras was a shy child who manifested gravitational powers at a young age. Though not very useful or dangerous, people became easily spooked in her presence due to her lack of control. Withdrawing into her own little world, she became interested in technology, and eventually robotics.
Matilda is one of the Singularity Seven, a group of girls born to
different parents yet sharing striking similarities down to the genetic
level. All of the girls are mutants with gravitational powers, though
in this they each manifest slightly differently.
While Praetorian kids had ample access to technology, she was well ahead of the curve having built her first rudimentary friend by her teens. A few more years and dismantled clockwork later, and she was qualifying for some rather prestigious scholarships. Not big on theory, however, most of her efforts were directed towards practical applications, including frivolous pursuits such as building her own groups for online games.
Being a mutant and gifted with technology, she was quickly drafted into Powers Division upon graduation. After several decades spent in Praetoria, she eventually found her way to Primal Earth. (More on those intervening years below.)
Latency in Praetoria
The world of Praetoria had taken a different turn from Primal Earth when the Devouring Earth appeared in the seventies. Attacks on cities across the world led to an unimaginable death toll, turmoil, and a world-wide refugee crisis. While this led to the rise of Marcus Cole, it was just as significant on the citizens as their world would forever take a new direction from that of others.
For Matilda Seras, it would start when her father, stationed in Texas at the time, was lost in action against the Devouring Earth. Although a sad event, her worship of his selflessness and the patriotic fervor surrounding Cole's ascension would instill a deep sense of patriotism. Her mother's death a few years after from self-neglect she blamed on the DE. Being an orphan in this world was nothing special--the numbers lost to the Hamidon's attacks were staggering, and the years of tumult following only exacerbated it. She withdrew and was allowed to do so, losing herself in video games, hobbyist electronics and robotics, and trying to gain some control over her powers.
As the world was being reshaped and growing at a time when she was as well, Matilda blossomed despite her isolation. Powered beings were virtually guaranteed a position in the new regime, an opportunity to use their abilities for the benefit of all, and their growth was supported through scholarships, work programs, and myriad side benefits. Her technical skills we're an asset to the realm of research, search and recovery, and micro- and macro-scale robotics while her strong sense of patriotism made her fearless in advocating for the people behind the scenes and in pursuit of goals in the field. Although never one of Cole's poster children, she was involved in a few high-profile cases where she diffused tense situations, and what was noted by the public, seeking help for those on all side affected by the conflict after-the-fact rather than letting it fall to the bureaucratic system to resolve.
In the later years of Cole's rule, utopia was decaying into dystopia. Matilda had not yet had the blinders removed, but she was going through personal issues when it was decided to insert her into the Resistance as a mole. This backfired in that with the new perspective she started to see the cracks in the system. She realized that the vast majority of people were straddling the line between the two realms, however extremes in both camps were so partisan that the entropy was going to shatter the system. The height of this was when she discovered Cole was planning on invading an entire other earth in some mad idea that it would pacify rather than incite them. She was offered an opportunity to go to that world, prepare it, and hopefully stave off a multi-dimensional war that might finish the extinction of Praetoria that the Devouring Earth started. (Though not the only one--both Vetrano and Marchand sent operatives ahead trying to prevent disaster. Why they kept them in the dark from one another is a mystery.)
She took it, though now disillusioned of government and with limited intel, she opted to travel to the Etoile Isles and set up a covert operation to begin preparations. Whether a stroke of luck or destiny, one of her alternate world Singularity Seven 'sisters' with similar abilities had been operating there as a rather vicious, and seriously powered, mercenary. She had disappeared from public notice years ago. Arachnos took advantage of both this Latency's disappearance and her new doppelganger's more amenable nature to help her settle in to the original's holdings. They provided cover stories and facilities to build a robotic division to act as part of the counter to the imminent, and what would be massive, invasion of Primal Earth. Of course Arachnos benefited from her intel on Praetoria and knowledge of their technology, and she was too naive to understand just how valuable her knowledge was.
This series of events led to the final fall of Praetoria. Refugees began flooding into Primal earth. Though the oldest amongst them were often refugees several times over,
and her mission here was of utmost importance, it still weighed heavily
upon her that she wasn't there when the Devouring Earth resumed their
full-scale assault. She turned her time and resources into helping them adjust and settle.
With Cole taken into custody, and even more horrifying things learned about his rule, she has finally settled into a quieter life. Most of her fabricators have been dismantled, mothballed, and sabotaged to prevent another build-up of robotic troops. She spends her time working on technological enhancements for other super powered individuals' kits, taking on mercenary work to test out modifications to her own robots, attending various Praetorian-related events, and a massive amount of time still playing video games. Every few months though she dons a replica of the original Latency's outfit and makes some noise. Usually this is to remove technology from the hands of those she deems too irresponsible to possess it, but her methods during these escapades tend to be brutal and highly-explosive.
