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+--- Thread: Takeo Onoda (/thread-285.html)
- Takeo - 08-11-2013
Takeo Onoda
Age: 34
Born: Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, Japan, Dominance IV
Current Location: Moscow
Occupation: Privelege of Dominance IV
Personality: A disciplined and decorated life - equal parts Yakuza-made-politico and orphan-cum-billionaire - has manifested into the blunt but beloved "Voice of Tokyo" that is Takeo Onoda. Often affectionately renamed 'Tokeo' by right media, of which he is a reluctant member, Takeo lets little slip when the cameras are on - or off. He is ever the image of intense repose; the chaotic harmony that is his namesake. Through meditation, physical training and endless mental effort, Takeo is driven, obviously, but also deliberate. Unleashed unto the CCD, Takeo's disparate roots intwine to produce one hearty banzai that will require the care of both the Ascendancy and Japan to thrive.
Physical: Of average height, Takeo has the sinewy, lean build of a trained martial artist, with long and dextrous limbs and digits, and scrutinous black eyes. He is of mixed Korean-Japanese lineage, and has a clean olive-tan complexion, few blemishes and no freckles, tattoos or piercings. He keeps himself trim, along with his always-crisp jet black hair, manicured nails, and smart, refined wardrobe. Well-fitted suits, often grays and blues but with the occasional pop of color, are his norm, along with brandless pieces of solid colors, and lots of black. His many associates and hangers-on sport similarly turn-of-the-century minimal threads. And they all have the accessories to match: watches, swords, motorcycles, cars, drinks and women. Ever conscious of his image, Takeo is rarely if ever anything but the cool, polished poster child for obedient Japanese CCD citizens.
Powers:
Dreamwalker
Background:
Takeo "Tokeo" Onoda (小野田 猛雄 Onoda Takeo; born July 10, 2013) is the 2nd and current Privelege of Dominance IV; Publisher of The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper; Producer, Host and Commentator of various Japanese television, radio and web programs - though primarily affiliated with CCBS, NTV, The Japan Times and NHK - and Host of his immensely popular plog, "Day IV". Born in a brothel in the fallen ward of Shinjuku, Tokyo, in what once was Japan, Onoda has had a prophetic rise from less-than-humble beginnings to the very lap of luxury that has long been the subject of much conversation, along with no few books, films, parodies, articles, documentaries, manga and at least one thriving video game franchise. And, ever the entrepreneur, Onoda has cashed in on every step along the way (case in point, one stone step from his childhood brothel went for $803,2013 CCD in 2034, to an American). Onoda is also acclaimed as one of the first children adopted by a city - Tokyo. He was then the first child to file for emancipation from a city - Tokyo - and the first to sue a city - Tokyo - and win, for charges of kidnapping, forced labor, child labor and child abuse, among many others. And, as a result, he was a multi-millionaire, and instant celebrity, by age 15. A graduate from Kyoto University, Onoda was also a ninjutsu, taijutsu and weapons instructor before leaving the University system to pursue his career in politics. Financially savvy, with the support of the people, Onoda was quickly tapped as Privelege after the Dominance's first choice was assassinated 13 days after his coronation.
Early Life
Takeo was a healthy, vibrant child from the moment he was plucked from his mother’s lifeless corpse in a brothel I’m old Tokyo. The Yakuza, owners of said brothel, serve the CCD in Japan as a private police force, a spy network and, in many regards, a litmus test of the health and prosperity of the Fourth Dominance. Largely autonomous, they nonetheless show deference to the Ascendancy for the boon of wealth and technology that came with CCD intervention. After dwindling in numbers in the latter half of the last century, they have since rallied a large following of men, and women, wanting more control over their lives, and more freedom. Their nostalgic lifestyle, rooted in its own lore and mythos, is a popular alternative to the usual grind of everyday life in the staunchly regulated Dominance. They have their hands in every level of government, from local police to the newly appointed Privelege, and they use their influence judiciously and without remorse.
When Takeo was strong enough, he was released from the small Yakuza-owned hospital in which he'd been placed, and promptly drafted into the city's foster system. Along with many orphans of his age, he was under constant observation, watched day and night for behavior, temperament, aesthetic and overall adaptability. He was an amenable child, it was decided, one that was slow to upset and accepting of almost any situation in which he was thrust. For this reason, he was chosen.
Taken from his foster parents - themselves members of the Yakuza upper echelons - Takeo was enrolled in a new, highly controversial government program. Located in a newly renovated district in central Tokyo, the Kago School was at once a training facility, a prison and an entertainment venue all rolled into one. The children - surprisingly equally represented by boys and girls - were trained in martial arts, tactics, strategy, unconventional warfare, espionage, weaponry and guerilla warfare; the tenements of ninjitsu. All the while, these modern ninja were being filmed, edited, manipulated and packaged from the Dominance's immense pleasure. "The Kago" was an allmedia raving success, across the CCD, not just within Dominance IV, and unwitting stars, such as Takeo, were born.
Takeo took to the programming instantly and unquestioningly. HIs dedication to the art and the dogma of the semi-religious Kago School's teachings were what drew his massive fan base. He ignored conflict, but was quick to end it once it did chance upon him. The Kago School allowed combat, obviously, and promoted through subtle manipulation and crowd control. Fights to the death were rare - usually saved for special episodes or corporate tie-ins - such as the fight over the last Mountain Dew, or the love triangle involving the Lundt chocolates. The little ninja themselves rarely amounted to anything. Those who survived were typically drafted into the Yakuza or the CCD's own special forces, as assassins or instructors themselves. A very few - namely Takeo, his closest companion Kuichi and the beautiful Noriko - were followed on actual hits, though they never knew where the video and audio feeds were sent.
It was a rare 'live' event the night Takeo struck out on the streets of Akihabara. He was instructed to avoid detection, and so he did … for awhile. The video was filmed from a combination of a polycam affixed to a headpiece on Takeo's brow, along with various surveillance and street cameras typically operated by the city. Every move Takeo made was broadcast instantaneously across the globe, and, as such, he made it three blocks before being stopped by a crowd of teenagers.
"Are you Tokeo?" shouted one of the girls, running up. The others had a wallet projection out, showing themselves from Takeo's viewpoint, and screaming wildly at their own reflections on the 'big screen'. "We're on The Kago!" he heard more than once.
"Mission compromised," chimed a hollow female voice from Takeo's ear just as he motioned his fingers for his handscript to interpret for him, the system powered down, and Takeo's heart rate began to plateau. He turned to leave, and hesitated only slightly as one of the boys yelled to him to come back, that they wouldn't compromise the mission any longer. Only 13 at the time, Takeo nonetheless immediately pegged them all as idiots and made no effort to engage. He had failed, though his name on their lips would haunted him for years.
He ducked into a pachinko parlor to avoid what his hud whispered was a camera emerging from a nearby pocket. How were they hearing his mission briefs? There was no sign of a tap. Takeo ignored the ghoulish pachinkoma patients and headed out a side exit - into the arms of two massive men waiting there. A woman in front of him began to speak - official-looking, in a business suitdress - but cut off as he twisted his arm free of one goon and racked the other with a fist to the crotch; he doubled over and a strike to the temple dropped him completely. Takeo dove forward, out of the reach of the first man and rolling casually over the second, before touching down on light toes to face the woman. She made some gesture, and Takeo's world went black…
Media Sensation
Takeo was released from the Kago School to a frenzied news conference on the steps of the courthouse. His lawyer, a freckled child not much older than Takeo, did most of the talking. His client was too stunned to field their questions. In truth, Takeo was calm - his training would not permit otherwise - contemplating his next move. It seemed simple enough. Buy a boat with his settlement and sail to some distant world - America, maybe - where their children were not exploited and publicly humiliated. Simple is a relative term, however, and Takeo had little with which to relate. He'd known only his training, his studies, his prayers.
"Are you going to sign with Nike?"
"Did you really kill those three Russians…?"
"Where is Noriko?"
Noriko. If for no other reason, Takeo would stay in Tokyo. She might still be alive. She and Kuichi. And the others. Takeo knew his purpose. Not to run. To fight.
"Was any of it real?"
Takeo Onoda changed that day, or at least showed his true potential; a pawn stepping in to check his king. No longer the inept rat racing through some unseen maze. Takeo smiled as he thought of the analogy. He would become the cheese. He let his lawyer talk, went to his hotel room, and immediately began his assault. Stealthily, he began gathering information. With the world's resources a few clicks away, he brought himself up to speed. It was terrifying to know just how famous he was. His name appeared first when searching the name Takeo. His trial was everywhere, from CNN to NHK to seemingly every plog, allcast and forum known to man. At least, to every Japanese man. He was not so popular abroad, apparently. No surprise. There was even fanart featuring his likeness. And porn. A lot of porn.
Disgusted, but determined, Takeo began to speak. He made a poorly-shot video addressing The Kago School personally - along with any 'den of perversion' in the great Dominance that was his home. He promised he would use every inch of his training to bring down these dens, these programs, these men - by any means possible. No pleading would deflect his sword, no cry stay his gun. He made an oath - heard by millions - to kill.
And the world cheered.
The sewer rat would save the children of the world from their own despicable parents. The parents themselves laughed and beckoned he try. It would make for fascinating viewing.
But not everyone was cheering. Social workers were banging at his door, when that door was not shattered across the hotel floor from CCD officials, police and Kago agents all eagerly seeking an interview with Teen Tokeo. Takeo learned to stay on the move, mobile. With his nest egg compounding interest in the bank, Takeo took to the streets, the rooftops, the clubs. Anywhere conversely derelict or teeming with supporters. He began teaching karate or judo or parkour duringg the day. Corporate sponsors took this as a sign that perhaps they'd been too rash. Surely this child was not seriously planning to kill - again. The reformed assassin. The pious ninja. The righteous killer. Now this was a man they could get behind.
Corruption begets corruption, and perhaps the attention was filling a need emptied by his self-expulsion from the School, but Takeo took to the limelight like koi to a pond. He began making appearances - accepting grotesque amounts of money, and, ever the miser, squirreling it all away. He signed contracts. He sold his name, his image, his likeness, his voice. There were Takeo action figures. Takeo Adidas - they offered more than Nike. Takeo-approved Swiss knives. He accepted to be interviewed, he sold his story in writing, on video, at appearances. He endorsed Toyotas - remember the time on The Kago when he ran down that child molester? He sold huds, swords, guns and rice.
He opened a charity, a halfway home for children displaced in the foster care system, from exploitation, prostitution or slave trade. The Kago program was dismantled, along with nine other institutions of similar disdain, and Takeo's rhetoric calmed. His past was eroding as he constructed a new future, always in the public eye, but now conscious. Awake.
Current Affairs
At 18, a perceptive early buyout of an ever-expanding gaming system stock, as well as his many endorsements and a new consulting position with the CCD and local police made Takeo wealthier than some small pre-CCD nations.
At 22, Takeo ran for and was elected to the City Council of Tokyo. He also released his first book, "Tokeo's Revenge", an instant bestseller.
At 25, a shrewd business decision resulted in Takeo's acquiring a major percentage of the city's lower-income housing. The Tokeo Bailout saved the city from severe budget cuts and earned Takeo several million paychecks per month. His cleanup efforts did not go unnoticed - by the public, the media or the CCD's generous tax incentives.
At 28, Takeo left civil service for a title of Publisher at the Yomiuri Shimbun media group, where he was also a contributing writer and public figure. Contracts with CCBS, the Tokyo Times and NHK fell in line quickly thereafter and made Takeo an official, self-made billionaire before his 29th birthday.
At 30, Takeo was made Privilege by the Ascendancy himself, a man he'd met only once.
At 32, Day IV, Takeo's vlog on the state of Dominance IV, his life in Moscow, and Japan's place within the CCD earned him a Pulitzer, among other accolades.
At 34, Takeo had his first Dreamwalk. In it, he found Noriko. And lost her again.
- Takeo - 08-20-2014
PPCs
Junichi Yamada – Staff Manager
Kasumi Fujimoto – Media Manager
Sergei Braun – Bodyguard
NPCs
Hara Ushijima - 63, Patron of DIV. A cleanly shaved head and no sign of make-up, cosmetic surgery or improvement of any kind. Former military, she is gruff and to the point, especially with Takeo, who she seems to find unpolished and unsuited for his position as Privelege.
Maiko Tanaka - 42, liaison to the Patron of DIV, recently assigned to Moscow, and a respected aristocrat in DIV society. She has aquamarine hair, cut short and parted sharply on the left. She has an artificial voicebox which makes her sound robotic at times.
Daigo Takahashi - 35, operates a gossip rag popular in DIV, close companion to Takeo. They go back as far as Kyoto University, where they had Journalism classes together and eventually became roommates for two years.
Ken Ichiban – Owner and Manager of the Rose Pagoda, a popular Asian gathering place and restaurant in Moscow. Has a tenuous relationship with Takeo - he lets the Privelege use his establishment, but fears the repercussions. Married with three children - the youngest named Takeo (before he had actually met the man in person)
Dr. Takeshi Saito – Japanese-American Historian - big fan of Nick Trano. Currently studying the Americans' reluctance to join the CCD, which he finds fascinating.
Ayumi – Intern. Lower-ranking CSS.
Ren – Intern. Lower-ranking CSS. Killed in Action
Miki – Intern. Lower-ranking CSS.
Haji – Intern. Lower-ranking CSS. Returned to Active Duty.
Edited by Takeo, Aug 20 2014, 12:57 AM.