POWER DESCRIPTIONS

Neither of Maika's powers are any use at a distance.  Her negation is largely a passive thing; there is a tight shield of sorts around her that deadens other's powers.  It used to be a more nebulous cloud but practice had earned her better control. She can pull it almost completely against her skin and project at a single target no more than a meter and a half away.

As for the memory manipulation, that requires direct skin-to-skin contact.  When it was more uncontrolled it was roughly handled by her emotional state but she has since developed a more focused control.  She has yet to be able to repeat the removal of memories un a controled state but she can shift things; softening painful memories to a more distant, less raw event or blurring the details of minor events.  She still has a long way to go.

APPEARANCE

Though not especially tall, Mai is striking. Her eyes are slightly down-turned and shockingly pale for her complexion and framed with long, thick lashes set in a pretty face with wide cheekbones and slightly pointed chin. Her nose is rather dainty but fairly flat. Maika possesses a lush and curvaceous body. Her shoulders are on the narrow side but her hips are fairly wide-set. She makes an effort to keep herself in good shape and is leanly muscled. 

Over all, she prefers flowing, flattering clothes. In summer she wears bright colors and isn't afraid to show a little skin outside of work. In the winter though, she bundles up as much as possible as she hates the cold. At work she generally sticks to various business appropriate outfits.

PERSONALITY

Maika is, over all, a warm and friendly person. She's a great listener and possesses high empathy, making her quite easy to talk to and confide in. It helps that she also takes secrets to the grave. Whether student, colleague, friend, or lover, she maintains honest and open relationships. She is slow to anger but her anger tends to burn long and hot once riled. She is fiercely protective of those she cares about and is exceedingly slow to forgive those who have done them wrong.

She doesn't handle being idle well and is often trying to make herself useful in any number of small ways.  From running errands to help her colleagues to organizing and tidying the staff lounge, she likes to keep busy; even if it isn't strictly her responsibility. She is careful not to step on any toes with her slightly busy-body ways.  She wants to be helpful, not annoying, and takes measures to make sure her interference isn't unwanted.

BIOGRAPHY

Born on the island of O'ahu to a native Hawaiian woman and her Indian-American lover, Mai grew up in an interesting environment. Her mother was far from monogamous and had several lovers of both sexes of varying degrees of importance. Jay Talwar was one of her three main lovers and the only male of the three. So important was he to Konani that he was allowed to pass his name onto their daughter and help decide her middle name. Even so, he was not the only parental figure in Mai's life, though he was the primary father figure. Although her mother was quite the anomaly in the area and was somewhat isolated from the other locals because of her lifestyle choices, they tried not to exclude her daughter who was at no fault in it. Thus, Mai grew up with friends among the other locals, not to mention the occasional half sibling and the children of some of her mother's other lovers. It was a loose, polyamorous network and no one entered it blindly. It might have been unusual, but it was loving and there was never any shortage of babysitters.

Aside from her less than normal family, Mai's life was fairly uneventful for the early years. She went to school, made friends (and enemies), and spent much of her free time exploring the surrounding nature of the island. Intellectually, she was well aware that her family was abnormal and when she hit puberty she began trying to distance herself from them to better fit in with her peers. She was tired of the teasing and jokes at her expense and became a little bitter toward her parents over it. It was her sullen outbursts towards her peers that brought her to the attention of the school's counselor. The woman helped Maika come to terms with the fact that her family was unusual and that was alright. She provided the young woman an outside sense of support that she was unaccustomed to. This counselor made a lasting impression on the young Pomaika'i and shaped her in unexpected ways.

Like many freshmen students of the University of Hawai'i, Mai had a goal in mind for her major. Unlike many, she never deviated from that goal and in five short years she had graduated summa cum laude with a double major in psychology and teaching and a minor in sociology. She wasn't sure she actually wanted to teach, but knew that the skills she had learned achieving her degree could only help her relate to younger minds better. She wanted to be like that school counselor who had helped her as a young adult. She wanted to inspire young minds and guide them to their best potential.

She got a job at a high school on the big island right out of college and thought she was content. She began seriously dating a beautiful woman a few months into her career and all was right with her world. But in time she began to develop feelings for a teacher at the school and began to understand her parents a little better. Until she experienced polyamorous feelings herself, she had regarded the careful relationship dance her parents did as a little strange, even though she was used to it. So, she figured, if they could make it work so could she. But when she tentatively brought up the topic with her girlfriend it all backfired and she was summarily dumped. Despite her insistence that she would never cheat, the other woman didn't believe her.

Deciding she needed to get away from Hawai’i for a while, Maika went with her “aunt” Naomi to visit Naomi’s family in Japan. The cultural differences rather surprised her; Auntie Nao was culturally Hawaiian with aspects of Japanese culture. Nevertheless, different was exactly what she needed and she had planned to stay there for a while, going so far as to remain when Naomi returned home to O'ahu. 

But somewhere along the line things went wrong.  She had gotten a job as a teacher at a school outside Tokyo and was happily dating one of her colleagues when everything went pear shaped.  They were in the city for some drinks on a Friday night with several other teachers when Mai and Jiro were jumped by a few young punks.  They both made it through the experience but not unscathed; and Jiro was considerably worse off as he had tried to protect his date.  

Unaware that she had any supernatural abilities at all, Pomaika'i was shocked and appalled she accidentally erased Jiro's memories of that night.  She had been visiting him at the hospital, talking to him about what had happened and trying to assure him both that she was alright and that it wasn't his fault.  One minute they were talking, hands twined together, and the next they had both passed out inexplicably.  When they awakened, Maika now in the hospital bed next to his, Jiro had no recollection of that night or what had transpired. Even worse, however, was the fact that his memories of Mai were distorted and disjointed; somehow muddled beyond repair.  For her own part, Maika found herself with two sets of memories; her own, and fragmented snatches of Jiro's.  She had no idea how to cope with a thing that made no sense and for which she had no reasonable explanation. 

In the end the relationship fell apart. Maika returned to Hawai'i, Japan now leaving a bitter and all too confusing taste in her mouth.  She had applied to a handful of schools as either a counselor or teacher when she was approached by a scout from Aurora.  She was wary and uncertain, but the man was more than capable of soothing her anxieties and convincing her of his trustworthiness.  It didn't take terribly too much convincing to get her visiting, and then applying to work at, Aurora.

That was just two years ago and she's settled in quite comfortably, all things considered.  

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