Harris
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SUBJECT: Ryan Harris
Background and Origin
When we first encountered Mr. Harris, we weren't quite sure what to make of him. He was quite obviously a dimensional refugee, but his method of entry was a great deal less dramatic than most others. On November 23, 2012, at 5:18 am, the Michigan State Police brought one Ryan Harris in for questioning on charges of public endangerment and vagrancy. Enclosed is the transcript of the interrogation.
Sgt. James Wainright: What is your name?
Harris: Detective Ryan Harris, LSDoI 11519.
Wainright: You--ugh. You know what? I think PRIMUS would probably want to talk to you. The longer I do, the worse this headache gets.
Wainright: You keep saying that. What's it stand for?
Harris: Lone Star Department of Investigations.
[Wainright looks through several papers]
Harris: Let me guess. You ran a search and didn't find anything.
Wainright: Yeah.
Harris: Well, you guys have my badge. And my gun.
Wainright: Yeah, we do. Want to tell me why you were sleeping on the interstate?
Harris: I wasn't sleeping there.
Wainright: That's not what the truck driver said. He almost hit you.
Harris: Yeah, I was there.
Wainright: But you still say you weren't sleeping on the interstate.
Harris: I wasn't. I just happened to wake up there.
Wainright: That's it? Poof?
Harris: Poof.
[Wainright sighs]
I've included copies of the photos the MSP took of Harris' equipment.
Badge.jpeg - Silver police(?)badge, star motif in the center. Reads "Lone Star" across the top and "LSDOI 11519" across the bottom.
pistol.jpeg - Large caliber. Unknown make/model. Under-barrel laser sight.
glasses.jpeg- Red sunglasses, sophisticated design.
Registration
Mr. Harris was much more cooperative with us than he was with the MSP, though we suspect this is due in no small fact to the gradual departure of his hangover upon his arrival at our offices. In general, we had a great deal of questions about Mr. Harris' home timeline. Once we made it clear that this past wasn't the past from his timeline, he was happy to divulge information about it.
Despite the propensity of surveillance upon the individual in Mr. Harris' home timeline, or perhaps because of it (he does claim to have been law enforcement, after all), registration with PRIMUS was remarkably easy.
-Agent Mike Dietrich
Status Under 14th Amendment
Harris has allowed PRIMUS scientists to perform blood tests and other such scientific analyses with the intent of discerning his humanity. For all intents and purposes, Harris is genetically human. Though it is true that he is dimensionally and/or temporally displaced, Mr. Harris exhibits all of the quintessential physical qualities of a human and, aside from his albinism (which is a condition not unknown to our dimension), is visually indistinguishable from other human beings. As such, it is my recommendation that he be considered a person, in keeping with the Supreme Court's 1979 decision, quoted here for ease of reference.
"The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of due process and equal protection extend to all persons within the United States or its territories. But... the term "persons" means humans."
-Frank Wolfowitz, Legal Consultant
Personality Analysis
Harris' personality is in keeping with his supposed former occupation. He is devoted to the ideals of justice and fairness, but these ideals seem to have come at the cost of his personal life. Mild alcohol addiction and stress have left their marks on him; though he is battling both of them, he often appears as if he's lost sleep. Exercise and religion are his ways to self-regulate, though his religious beliefs seem more... liberal than most.
Harris, a self-described "Christian Theurge," is simultaneously very religious and very profane. When demonstrating his powers, he would often pray in Latin or beseech aid from angels spoken of in the Apocrypha, only to be seen later with a cold (often cheap) beer in his hand. For Harris, belief seems to be a way both to focus his magic and to keep himself under some semblance of control. He claims to be a Catholic, but expresses opinions and views which would be considered liberal at the very least, compared to the average Catholic.
Like many ex-police officers, he expressed frustration at the ratio of expectations placed upon him to his ability to meet said expectations. "You'd bust your ass all week, but nobody gave a shit," he said. "You'd always manage to run into that one guy you couldn't help, that one guy who happened to call for help when everyone was handling something else." His devotion to law enforcement caused his wife to leave him, a fact over which he still feels remorse.
It should thus come as no surprise that Harris took his dimensional displacement as an opportunity to cut his ties with law enforcement. He now works as a private investigator, and in subsequent check-ups, has come across as less stressed. "I feel like I'm making more of a personal connection, now that I can choose what cases I wanna take."
Usually, Harris is quite easy to get along with. Quietly jovial and polite, he can make himself comfortable almost anywhere, having a strong personal charisma. He tries to treat everyone with respect, but lines of questioning have revealed a low tolerance for things he deems foolish.
He is aware of his problem with alcohol, but is quick to adopt a defensive attitude if the subject is pushed. After having a few drinks, he becomes maudlin and reflective, questioning the merit and/or ultimate usefulness of his work, both currently and in his former line of work.
To this day, he displays a strong desire to help others, though he tends to disregard his own emotional (and often physical) well being to provide that help. I believe Harris ultimately means well, but I am not sure how effectively he can keep himself away from self-destructive measures. I hope that his age will catch up to him before his profession does--Millenium City can be an unfriendly place for prying eyes.
-Dr. James Hoang, Psychoanalyst
Powers, Skills and Abilities
Harris is a "Christian Theurge" who worked for a privatized police force in the capacity of a homicide detective in his home dimension. He is considered a mage for the purposes of power classification.
Powers
Here is a list of Harris' spells and magical capabilities, or "powers" as my colleagues keep insisting. The names for his spells and techniques were supplied by him.
| Spell Name | Effect |
|---|---|
| "Lightning Bolt" | Exactly what it says on the tin. |
| "Ball Lightning" | An area-effect variant of the former. |
| "Stunbolt" | Simple, but practical less-than-lethal attack. |
| "Analyze Truth" | Maintained spell. Alerts the caster if something untrue is said. Half-truths and things believed to be true can generate false positives. |
| "Blood Sight" | Allows Harris to discern details on an individual based on spilt blood, from something as broad as blood type to as specific as an illusion of their face. |
| "Catalog" | On casting, causes the subject of the spell to recite or write down with extreme precision, every non-living object in the room. Tests revealed that unknown objects are only described to the best capacity of the individual. Harris prefers to cast it on himself with a notepad in hand. |
| "Improved Invisibility" | "Improved" in the sense that it affects both living and mechanical eyes equally well, across a number of spectrums. Does not, however, affect sound, and according to Harris, is somewhat difficult to maintain. |
| "Psychometry" | Note that this is a metamagical technique and not a spell in its own right. In layman's terms, "metamagic" can mean magic which affects other magic, or magical acts which come after or beyond a greater understanding of the art. This technique, then, allows Harris to see the history of an item. The better he performs it, the more detailed the information. He seems to enter a sort of trance while peering at items this way--it was difficult for us to reach him at times. |
Summoning
Harris also has the ability to summon beings from another realm, though there are... complications. First of all, he wouldn't agree to do it unless it was absolutely necessary. I told him that for record-keeping purposes, it was, and so he reluctantly agreed. Apparently, the Catholic church of Harris' world forbids its mages to summon spirits without permission. Understandable, given the questions that summoning raises.
He believes that they're angels, and indeed, they do appear to match the usual description of angels. That being said, I'm not entirely sure if he really has a connection to his god or if it's just his subconscious mind shaping the energy before it reaches the material plane. As a hermetic mage, it's a debate I've had more times than I care to recount. For the purpose of simplicity, and for that purpose only, I'll refer to them as angels.
The process is fairly involved, and takes several hours. This is because rather than binding or forcing the angels into servitude, he asks an archangel for help (my Latin courses don't seem so useless now) through a prayer. The archangel then presumably sends a lower-ranking angel to help. From that moment, the angel assists Harris, until it performs a (variable) number of services or until sunrise, whichever comes first. In the ritual he performed for me, he made requests of the archangel Gabriel, whose name means "God is my strength." Gabriel is usually depicted as a messenger, but he also plays a role as a revealer of truths. In some apocryphal texts he's mentioned as a patron of the sciences, as well.
Paradigm
At first, I was a bit confused as to what to classify Harris as. What he does is clearly magical and/or arcane in nature, but it's all focused through the lens of Catholic symbolism and imagery. As I heard him uttering a prayer to St. Jude (patron saint of lost causes, the desperate, and the impossible), I took the opportunity to ask him about it.
Apparently, he has a real, metaphysical connection to an entity which may or may not be THE St. Jude. I confirmed this by taking a photograph of him with a magically sensitive camera--his aura shows clear signs of patronage. Patron spirits are not uncommon in the magical community. I suspect that the entity chose him at an early age because it detected traits in his personality that were compatible with its own virtues.
The entity, who shall henceforth be referred to as St. Jude, provides him with extra affinity for his detection spells, and the summoning of angels in the domain of the element of Air. In return, Harris has extreme difficulty turning down genuine requests for aid, especially if his services are someone's last hope. It's always been a hazy distinction, deciding where the practitioner ends and the patron spirit begins.
It may help to think of him as a sort of Christian "shaman," with St. Jude as his "totem."
-Dr. Roy Gibson, Magical Analysis Technician
Skills
Professional-level knowledge with regards to forensic science, both mundane and magical. Also has a talent for networking, having the ability to make contacts and gather information easily. Legwork comes naturally to him, even without his detection spells. Work as private investigator implies some talent at stealth/shadowing/tailing. Has an intuitive understanding of criminal politics. Professional understanding of police procedure. Good interpersonal skills: negotiation, persuasion, etc. Skill with firearms is congruent with police background.
Academic familiarity with world religions, with a specialty for Christianity and biblical apocrypha. Natural English speaker (occasionally uses unfamiliar slang), speaks fluent Latin. Reportedly able to create new spells, given a few month's time and sufficient resources; stated preference for creating spell formulae through artistic medium of painting. Capable astral combatant. Able to proficiently read auras and analyze magic.