Tag: maria tempest

LORE24 ENTRY #51 – Supers Month #20 – Maria Tempest

 

From the personal journal of Delia Emmerson, Star Reporter of Channel 9 News…

 

Is it possible for a place to be more shady than the Edgewater Institute?  I’m not sure, but I’d wager that the Tempest Grand Academy is a strong contender for it.

And what about Maria Tempest, the owner and administrator of the TGA?  She’s just as beautiful as her sister Jennifer, and has just as forceful a personality, perhaps even more so.  She is not as icy as Jennifer in terms of temperament as I’ve determined, but she can be just as strict and unaccepting of nonsense.  I can absolutely attest to the fact that I get the same sense of awe that I felt with Jennifer during our official interview and tour of the TGA facilities.  That’s the second puff piece I’ve written about the Tempests this year…I’d better be careful, or someone’s going to accuse me of going soft on them.

I suppose I’ll start with Maria herself.  Publicly, she is a reputable businesswoman, well regarded in Sentinel City and beyond, who prefers a quieter and less intense occupation than, say, Jennifer or another of the sisters, Amelia.  She seems more playful than Jennifer, more willing to joke or openly tease, but has a no-nonsense attitude underlying it all.  I get the impression that she can be an absolutely strict disciplinarian when the situation calls for it, and that she’s no stranger to such matters.  She attends many of the same meetings as Jennifer regarding the Edgewater Institute’s business, and is listed as being on its board, though she tends not to be involved overmuch.  There does seem to be some amount of overlap regarding the clients of Edgewater and the TGA, so there is much more to the story that I’ve yet to uncover.  I feel like there may be a deeper bond between these two than the rest of their sisters, I just haven’t been able to confirm the nature of this bond.  Twins, perhaps, though available records aren’t conclusive.

In her personal life, Maria has recently started dating Misha Kyle, the owner and chief designer at Latex Leopard Limited, whom she met during a meeting at Edgewater.  The two seem happy, spending a lot of time together outside of work, though much of it is behind the closed doors and high fences at the administrator’s residence on the grounds of the TGA facility outside of Sentinel City proper.  Prior to her involvement with the Tempest family, Kyle’s record looks clean and innocent enough, though there was one blip a few weeks before she met the Tempest sisters involving a very poorly documented account of an assault, maybe even a kidnapping?  There were no legal records beyond this, and whoever the detectives were who handled the situation completely botched it…or were intentionally hiding something?  Perhaps a lead for another time.

Misha just happens to supply the uniforms for the Edgewater staff as well as some of the more intense restraints for the superpowered patients.  Is there more to this relationship than it seems?  I have no doubts in my mind about it.  Following the contract with Edgewater, 3L’s sales skyrocketed, and they immediately purchased and implemented expanded production facilities.  I would not be surprised if the Tempests were using 3L as a way to launder some of their secret funds; no proof yet, but that’s one of the many angles I’m looking at.  

But what of the TGA?  What exactly goes on there?  Officially, the Tempest Grand Academy is a private education facility catering to the wealthy, like a fancy finishing school from the old days, teaching people how to be proper lords and ladies and the like.  It would seem to be a bit of an anachronism in that regard, but as its public earnings reports indicate, in the five years since the facility opened, its profits have steadily risen.  As I suspected, that simply wasn’t the whole story.  Who would believe that many people would be interested in learning proper social graces these days, after all?

Speaking to known staff members led to little in the way of useful information; they had nothing negative to say about anything that went on there, and seemed well schooled in keeping secrets.  I discovered that the facility’s chief physician had previously came from Edgewater, but little else on that front.  I attempted my own information gathering at the facility, but the nature of the grounds make it very private.  Though it’s in the hills outside of Sentinel City, the woods have been cleared away a good distance from the high walls and even higher foliage inside them, and the whole area has been designated a no-fly zone for drones, so I couldn’t manage to get an aerial view.  I managed to get some long-range photos of some of the students, but couldn’t find anything substantial about them or their relations with the Tempest family.

Compelled to find the truth of the mater, I reached out to Maria Tempest directly.  I was honestly a little surprised that she accepted my request for an interview and a tour of the facility so readily; she even picked me up herself so that we could get to know one another on the drive to the school.  Again, like with Jennifer, Maria’s very presence is incredible to experience.  I could not help but be enthralled by the passion she showed for the school, of her dedication to the students to make them the best they could be.  But what was she making them into?  In spite of what I reported in my official piece, I’m not entirely sure myself.  The whole weekend I spent there went by in a blur, only my interview is really clear in my memory, as was the tour of the main school building.  I know there are other buildings there, dormitories, a riding stable, even kennels for keeping pets, some quite exotic, but the details are vague (though Maria’s cat, Sheba, stands out as most well-behaved and beautiful pet in my mind).  Of the students I encountered there, all seemed to be very well mannered and confident in themselves, each displaying at least the demeanor of a dominant, and in some cases, aggressive, business executive.  

So is the TGA just an elite business school then, training the next generation of elite, corporate executives?  Perhaps…and perhaps not.  It’s frustrating me to no end that I can’t seem to recall a lot of the details during my visit there, but every time I try to think over what happened, I get a sense of fond longing, almost a pleasant, peaceful nostalgia, like a dog curling up by a fireplace at the feet of its master, that kind of cozy feeling.  The more time I spend in the presence of the Tempests the more overwhelmed I seem to be by them.  It’s dangerous business; I should probably just stop trying to dig into their affairs, and yet, I’m compelled by my own need to find the truth, whatever the cost.  Anything for a scoop, after all!  

 

 

 

LORE24 ENTRY #45 – Supers Month #14 – Specialist Leopard

 

From the Personal Journal of Jennifer Tempest…

 

Ah, Specialist Leopard…what a delightful discovery.  I suppose my dear sister Gloria can be useful after all, when she’s not dallying with her boi-toy, anyway.  

Misha Kyle is the very epitome of a workaholic, going far above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to running her personal business, Latex Leopard Limited, perhaps to her own detriment, though myself and Maria are working on tempering this aspect of her nature; early indicators suggest our methods are having the desired effect.  I was certainly skeptical when Gloria suggested I look into her work; what need did I have of a fetishist making latex sex costumes, even if they were more advanced than the average catsuit?  In retrospect, I suppose my initial opinion was hasty and ill-informed; Misha has quickly become perhaps my most valuable team member here at Edgewater.  Without her, we would have only a fraction of the superpower-rated restraint systems we employ here to contain the most dangerous patients, after all.

After her initial demonstration, (what an interesting weekend that was), I immediately proposed a special contract for her, which she rather gratefully accepted.  Misha now works within Edgewater as ‘Specialist Leopard’ (she has no medical training to speak of perhaps aside from basic first aid, so I could not simply elevate her to the medical staff with such a title like I did Healslut, could I?), and she seems to enjoy the moniker, so it shall remain in effect.  If anything, being known as Specialist Leopard within Edgewater’s walls brings out some amusing quirks to Misha’s personality, namely displaying a more snarky attitude compared to her normally polite and professional demeanor.  This tends to come out most often when she sees other staff displaying a lack of respect to others when it is due, or if they are not properly focused on their tasks.  As expected, Doctors Bayne and del Vecchio are the most common recipients of Misha’s snark, given their own personality quirks and the amusing reception they gave Misha during the extended demonstration of her work.

As one of the rare individuals who possesses a resistance to succubus charms, Misha is even more valuable to myself, and the family, in general.  She is able to give her opinion on various matters without our subtle influences affecting her thoughts, and isn’t always trying to fall over herself to please us as most do.  This automatically places her above the rest of the staff, and this distinction has not gone unnoticed, much to Bayne and del Vecchio’s consternation.  Maria has become quite enamored with Misha as well, the pair hitting it off almost immediately during Misha’s first demonstration.  The fact that the pair have a special love of petplay further cemented their bond, and outside of her work here and at 3L, the two spend much of their time together; I do believe Maria is absolutely spoiling Misha when she’s in her pet persona, but as long as it doesn’t affect her work, then so be it.

I must admit that I am consistently impressed with Misha’s remarkable creativity and ability to adapt the designs of her latex clothing and restraints into something innovative and tailored to the needs of individual patients, even those who are not necessarily superpowered.  Though she seems not to be aware of her true nature, she does indeed possess a mystically enhanced creative spark; what was it Claire called her type?  Artificer?  The term seems a bit archaic these days, but there are certainly plenty other examples cropping up across Sentinel City and the world now, the most prominent currently being Mecha Musume.  From my observations, each of these ‘artificers’ possess a unique specialty.  Mecha Musume has her robotics and related technologies for example, and Misha has her latex creations, clothing, restraints, toys, etc.  

Further regarding artificers…though I have only observed Misha personally, I can make some suppositions as to their nature; Claire has been avoiding the family for some time now, so I have been unable to speak with her to confirm any of this, so the follow should be taken with some amount of skepticism.  Misha has demonstrated repeatedly to be able to envision methods of construction that would seem nigh impossible given what was previously established as possible in this world, and can make these new creations, or modify existing ones, in a fraction of the time one would expect.  She took one look at Miasma’s prototype containment suit that was developed in-house, for example, and had the improved version ready in less than a week, complete with the strength-enhancing modifications.  Though the reinforcing frame is of a decidedly technological nature, pure robotics, really, the fact that it was so closely interweaved with the latex creation seems to have brought such a thing into Misha’s wheelhouse.  She has admitted no special training in robotics and advanced technologies, and couldn’t exactly explain how her creation process in this regard worked; in her own words, “it just clicked.”

Within their ‘focus’, their chosen craft, I would surmise that artificers possess superhuman stamina, able to remain focused on the task at hand for extended periods without suffering ill effects of exhaustion, either physical or mental, and are able to work on them much faster than a normal person could (though I am not entirely familiar with the nature of Mecha Musume, Bobbi has clued me into some details as to the advancements of her armor and weaponry over time that would help support this theory; her own advancements should have taken months to develop, if not years, according to him).  As an example regarding Misha, I have specified new designs and modifications to existing systems and she has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to turn in exactly what I requested, overnight in many cases, while managing her company’s normal operations, and seems to suffering none of the ill effects one would expect of being severely overworked.  A normal person simply could not keep up with the stress, but she handles it almost effortlessly.

Even if my suppositions are correct, I feel I must still intervene on Misha’s behalf.  Even if she is possessed of superhuman ability, I would be remiss in my duties as a medical doctor if I permitted her to continue indulging the obsession with her work without proper breaks.  I believe that I will begin making plans for her to have a series of mandatory vacations, perhaps here inside of Edgewater or another location held by my family, for a period that shall not be less than one week at a time, more if I feel she has demonstrated a higher than normal amount of work during the preceding period.  If Maria has anything to say against the idea, then I have absolutely no qualms about having her join Misha in enjoying the same comforts and relaxation; we do have suites for couples, after all, as the recent incident with Nurse Winters and Catherine Ramos demonstrated.  It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve intervened on one another’s romantic affairs, and I am certain it will not be the last.  What are sisters for, after all, if not to keep one another in line?