Q & A AMA - Jon Eckart

[Jon Eckart]

I'll try one of these here things...

Jon's Background:

Jon James Eckart was born in Medford, Oregon on August 15th, 1993. In 2006, Jon was orphaned in a car accident that took the lives of his parents, at which point he became a ward of the state and ended up in foster care in Yreka, where he decided he did not like it and ran away. Eventually, he made it to Red Bluff, California, where he slept in unlocked cars, and ended up finding a slimjim and a set of lockpicks in a car, and with those two tools, he managed to take a car and after some stops and detours to make sure he was not being followed after several false alarms and a couple gas-and-go’s, he made it to the outskirts of Oakland, where he ditched the car. He kept the half carton of cigarettes he found in the car, along with the two hundred dollars he found. He was three months shy of turning fourteen.

He managed to get back into school, having a friend he met on the street pose as his parent, and the two of them got part time jobs and a place to live. Jon graduated over six months early, and set about getting into college for computers and criminology, and got in. Meanwhile, his makeshift parent had managed to get hired full-time, and that let Jon go to college without working a job after a full day of classes. In his spare time, Jon started trying to learn a foreign language, starting with Spanish (passable, but stumbles), French (can ask basic questions), and a little Japanese and a tiny bit of Russian.
Jon powered through his classes, and was awarded scholarships to help him get books and a computer at home. His adoptive father passed away 6 months before graduation. Jon moved out of the two bedroom into one closer to ACME’s campus. He ended up graduating in the top three percent of his class. On walking out of the graduation ceremony and lighting a cigarette before he drove home, he found an envelope waiting for him… inside his car. He checked the envelope and found an application for ACME Academy.

On entering the Academy, he did pretty well in most classes, and excelled at computers, defensive driving, and Criminal Procedures and Evidence Gathering. Though, the teachers had their doubts about him considering his history, and when he graduated, the Agency did not hire him on right away.
He had been sitting out on the patio, having a couple beers at a local restaurant, when a well-dressed person asked to sit at his table. Jon did not mind, and never looked up from the paper he was reading, and the person sat down. He introduced himself as Chase Devineaux, Director Of Operations from ACME, and that was last week.


Okay... let's start taking calls here on the air (as soon as I figure out where my radio studio went).
Ask me anything, and I'll answer anything.

(Jon's journal is located over here if you haven't seen it yet)

 

[Chase]

Tell me about this 'Friend on the street'. What was their name, a he or a she? Any background info you've built for them?

 

[Everly]

If you could have any magic power, what would you pick?

 

[Jon Eckart]

(It took a few minutes to figure out the Quote system, but that's so handy... wish other message boards had that)

Tell me about this 'Friend on the street'. What was their name, a he or a she? Any background info you've built for them?

The friend I made on the street was named Jake Henderson; when I met him, he was a 46 year old homeless Gulf War Vet. Only later (once I got back into school and got a computer), did I realize his behavior at times bordered on bipolar. On his good days, he was a great friend; on his bad days, he would become paranoid about doctor's and the government. Towards the end of his life, his memory started to fade a bit, and he was showing some weakness.
He passed away in his sleep at 59 years old and left everything to me; I didn't know it until later, but he had life insurance through his job, and it was mentioned in his will that he left everything to me, and while dealing with the lawyers, they discovered that my old friend's parents (who helped me out after the accident that killed my parents) had taken care of selling my parent's old house and put the money in a trust fund for me when I was older.

If you could have any magic power, what would you pick?

Hmm... not sure... the ability to teleport to anywhere would be really useful, but so would the ability to levitate objects.
Teleport would be handy for getting to a mission when needed, or just in general from point A to B quickly.
Levitation would be handy for disarming someone at a distance or even subduing them if needed.
The problem with having any kind of magic power or ability would be the responsible use of it... being that any kind of power or ability like that could be used for either good or bad, regardless of what side of the law you stand on before you use the power or ability for something.

 

[Chase]

Jake Henderson, when I met him, he was a 46 year old homeless Vietnam Vet.

I like the Vietnam Vet idea, although you might need to make him a little older. Considering that the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the youngest private serving in that war would have to be 49 by 2006 when Jon was orphaned. And since your story has him meeting Jake Henderson after that, the man can't both be 46 and a Vietnam Vet. Feasibly, he could have been a Gulf War vet, a 46 year old man in 2006-2009 would have been in his late 20s during the Persian Gulf War in 1990-91.

 

[Victorique]

What would be your ideal suit of armor made up of everyday objects (buckets, pans, bubble wrap, etc. May be held together by duck tape, gum etc.), the situation in which you would use it, and the weapon accompanying it?

 

[Jon Eckart]

he could have been a Gulf War vet, a 46 year old man in 2006-2009 would have been in his late 20s during the Persian Gulf War in 1990-91

Point to Chase... (OOC: my fault for not researching that one as thoroughly as I should have... I will go back through and rethink that one... Gulf War could work)

What would be your ideal suit of armor made up of everyday objects (buckets, pans, bubble wrap, etc. May be held together by duck tape, gum etc.), the situation in which you would use it, and the weapon accompanying it?

For bullets, (depending on gauge):

Ceramic floor tile with one layer of denim on front, as many as possible on back, glued with Liquid Nails or Loctite, wrangled into a vest or shirt-style apron. (might also work for stabbed sword if struck straight into a tile)
OR
Heavy frying pans (for small area, however covering oneself in frying pans requires some strength to wear a coat of pans) should work for smaller gauge rounds

For knives:

Heavy baking sheets, heavier sheet metal, for arms and legs some stovepipe could work (probably wouldn't work for swords)
OR
About 2 inch thick wood sheeting should stop most knives
OR
Rubber sheeting would stop some thicker knives, if it wasn't dried out

For swung swords:

1/2" to 3/4" rebar might work (heavy, thicker would be better, could maybe go with thinner, but even just one piece would work for deflection)
OR
Thick (say about 2-3") tree limb, greener would be better for stopping a swung sword
OR
Asphalt roofing sheeting (or some shingles rolled up) would stop lighter swung swords

For punches:
Thicker pillow (with dense filling)
OR
Bubble wrap (the kind where the bubbles are all connected in long rows) doubled or even tripled up and held with duct tape
OR
Packing peanuts in a sturdy bag or stuffed in a sturdy pillow case (as full as possible)

Defending face is a challenging one... a thick bucket might defend against some punches, maybe some sort of angled heavier steel might deflect smaller bullets around head (think angled like stealth bomber angles)

Of course, all these are assuming you have the time to raid the garage or shed to throw anything together at all.
And, all of these would affect maneuverability and agility (at least some).

 

[Charlet]

What is your weakness?

 

[Jon Eckart]

Hmm... weakness, not really sure what to consider a weakness *while juggling Kryptonite*.

I would have to say I hate seeing kids in bad situations and anyone getting arrested for crimes they didn't commit.
Although, I would say fast cars ranks up their for a very close second.

 

[Eugene]

Although, I would say fast cars ranks up their for a very close second.

No, you don't sound like an adrenline junkie at all.

With entering ACME, are you angling for a specialist job of some kind, or considering more of a general investigations/law enforcement role?