An open letter from Paragon Big brothers/Big sisters. (open)

[Gabriel Templar]

Dear superhero,

As you may be aware, there are many at-risk children in Paragon city, children who lack a stable home life or a safe environment in which to grow and learn. No doubt in your professional capacity you have come across the end product of an unstable upbringing where no one was present to guide a youngster and serve as a positive role-model.

This problem is especially dangerous when it comes to those youths with supernatural or other superpowered abilities, where positive role models can make the difference between a true hero and a dangerous villain.

We understand you are busy with all your various duties, but we would like you to consider helping us with a portion of your time. We are currently composing a collection of essays entitled "who I am," to show our enrollees examples of heroes making a positive contribution to society through their unique gifts.

If you would, please sign your essay with your title (or job description), and your name, and conclude with a brief summary of your essay. For example, the essay we've already received from Mr. Cole concludes:
"My name is Phalanx Statesman, and I am a protector of peace."

((Just to clarify, because I've had some questions, this thread is absolutely wide open, it's a letter each student got in their campus mailbox, regardless of their individual reputation, they're looking for a wide cross-section of the hero community.))

[Gabriel Templar]

why do I do it? Gabe thought to himself, sitting and staring at a blank word-doc he'd opened up. Well, the strict truth was he did it because he never felt he had much choice in the matter, but that wasn't exactly encouraging words for the kids, was it?

"Who I Am: Gabriel Templar

Why am I a hero? Why do I go out at night, put on my armor and my mask and plunge into the fray? I do it because there are people that can't. I do it because there are too many people who don't have what they need. Because there are too many predators out there and no-one deserves to be prey.
Actually, most of the time I spend on patrol isn't acting in my law enforcement capacity. I spend a lot of time tagging along with EMTs and ambulances. I'm an empath, a healer, and I go out there nearly every night because I know there are people that may be dead if not for my abilities. I do it because I can keep children from losing a parent, parents from losing their children.

Okay, that's the melodramatic part, but more simply, I do it because I enjoy it. Not exactly the kind of thing you'll hear most heroes say, I know, and the cape can be a heavy burden sometimes. But it's the greatest feeling in the world to finally put a drug-pusher behind bars, to clear the streets of gansters, to put a nether demon back into the space beyond time where it belongs. I'm a part of an excellent group of heroes, I've gotten to meet so many fantastic people, living legends. As a hero, I belong, people count on you in a way that's astounding. As a hero duty is our greatest joy. I am out there every night for the people that need people like me, for the people that depend on us.

My name is medic empath Gabriel Templar, and I am a defender of the people.

[Karakuriya]

She frowned at the letter she had found floating around the halls recently. Thinking about what it meant for her to be a hero and why was taxing, many of the triggers to those though processes were still reconstructing. But it was an important thing to do, at the very least, to keep her rational. And as long as she was thinking about it, she may as well write something. Maybe Sister Mary Moltar would offer some extra credit.

What could she possibly say that would inspire a young Super to greatness? Certainly not the truth. "I'm a hero because..."
"...there was nothing better for me to do"?
"...I was beating things up anyway, and this way it's legal"?
"...all my friends are doing it"?
"...I was programmed that way"?

"I'm a hero because I'm afraid of what I'll become if I don't."

Her stomach lurched, she thought of him, and frowned at the paper again.

"I'm a hero because...I'm fundamentally a good person..."

At least he thought so. And she trusted that.

"...despite..."

What had they done to her? She still didn't understand the extent of her cyberization. Had they pried loose her very soul? Something felt fundamentally wrong about that. It seemed there could be more than one of her, but where did her soul lie? Was there some sort of definitive test for that? Were copies just as legitimate?

The whole idea engendered a feeling of violation, rather than a liberation the scientists had more likely envisioned. The taste it left was too similar to the one she got from dealing with Crey. Something told her that getting to the bottom of the latter would yield a trail to her own situation.

How long before the children of the next generation of Project Daedalus manifest? With Sydney missing, she might be the only one to save them from a similar fate.

I do not remember much of anything before I became a hero, but I have come to terms with it. Even though I do not know who I was, I feel that I am a good person now, so that is all that matters. I follow my heart. Like many young people who begin to learn about how and why the world works, I want to change it for the better; and, because I have abilities that allow me to make a great impact, I have become a hero. I do not mean to imply that if one is not "super," one has no power to make change and is just left to become increasingly cynical. Heroes would have no contacts, support, or means to do what they do if it was not for activists. I feel like a finger on a powerful arm, doing my part and working with others to help the whole body.

Those with exceptional abilities, "super," or otherwise, often feel the need to be constantly challenged. As a hero, I am always reevaluating my ethics and morals, which gives a purpose to what I do and why I try to better myself. Many people, without direction, learn to strive to do whatever they are capable of, simply to see if they can, no matter the cost. That is one way villains can begin. Again, though, one does not need to be a supervillian to do just as much harm to the fabric of society and the people one touches.

Pursuing feats of science simply for the sake of inquiry, with little or no regard to morals, ethics, or the law, is also wrong. It breeds its own villains. And when companies grow so strong through immoral manipulation that even the law cannot contain them, they, themselves, become villains. I have made it my task to put these villains in their place, to protect sacred things from tampering, and to protect the people who have been and may be sacrificed in the name of scientific inquiry.

I and my abilities are the product of science, but it was an immoral science that caused much hardship to myself and many before me. It is not a need for revenge that leads me to combat the companies that protect sciences simply in order to profit from them and achieve megalomaniacal ends. I put down those who corrupt science so that it can continue to advance in ways that protect and better the environment and the life of all creatures within it.

My name is Aeon Quisling, and am a combatant against scientific hubris.