Thursday Thirteen– 13 things about Jaegar-Caleb Nikolaiev and an excerpt

My muse has slipped a bit lately. I don’t like that I can stare at the last paragraph written forever and still not know what comes next, what my characters are going to do. I knew once, had it mapped out but I’ve hit a brick wall and letting it sit is making it become stagnant. So, I thought I’d do my thursday thirteen about Jaegar-Caleb Nikolaiev, the hero in my manuscript

1. J.C. is a prodigy, a man who has always excelled in intellect and because of it he rose to the ranks of scientist, training young children of their psychic abilities and honing their craft.
2. Unfortunately, his position also makes children fear him, giving him the nickname of the Boogeyman. Because he has the ability to blackmark them. Should a child fail their training for whatever reason or just don’t meet the standards the Council has mapped out, it is he who turns them over to the Council to be rid of.
3. J.C. was also trained to be a killer. Part of his being an agent requires him to be able to take a life and shut off his emotions in order to be successful at a mission.
4. When he was a baby, his genetics was manipulated in order to turn on the psychic pathways. He is able to manipulate matter/cells.
5. Unfortunately, having his genetics manipulated has messed up the balance in his body and slowly, his mind is shutting down other necessary elements like emotion. During the breakdown of his sanity, symptoms of migraines, nosebleeds and convulsions occur, as well as outbursts of violence. This process is irreversible.
6. The drugs given to ‘hone’ and ‘control’ his psychic abilities aid in this disintegration, although they all believe that it is there to help them and that it’s necessary for their survival. J.C. wants to get off these drugs, but because he is underwatch and has already been marked for their by the Council once, he is refused and is forced to take them. He’ll do anything to find out the truth, even going so far as to not give the drugs to the heroine, Amy O’Connor.
7. He has a black tattoo of a lightning bolt on his neck, the significance not yet known.
8. In a moment of wanting to end all the experiments and shut down the Council, J.C. blew up his lab, which unfortunately had other scientists in it, forcing him to go on the run.
9. Broderick (the handler for project Adam and in charge of J.C. and his unit) believes that J.C. is the only one who can stop the serial killer who is going around and killing off the psychic agents. That is the only reason why J.C. wasn’t put to death after blowing up the lab.
10. The Council believes that J.C. is losing his mind and that he cannot be saved and J.C. doesn’t care enough to try and prove them wrong. He will do whatever it takes to free his unit/friends from their control. Even if it means taking drastic measures.
11. When he blew up the lab, he lost the trust of his unit. Now no one will help him prove his innocence in the murders.
12. When Amy begins communicating with him, he refuses to believe the truth that she’s real, because he had never seen a telepath before. Most die before they are 3 because their minds can’t handle so much stimulation.
13. Though he has his own agenda where Amy is concerned, he will do anything to keep her safe and to win her love… and prove that he isn’t the monster he feels he is becoming.