Name: Russell Spraut
Age: 40 years old
Gender: Male
Division: Poisonous
Rank: Member
Element: Titanium

Description:

Russell stands at 5'6" and weighs in at 132 lbs; his build is average, but he's fit from exercise. His eyes are an amber sort of color and he has short green hair, darker on the top and growing lighter at the bottom. He prefers clothes that are functional and professional, and tends to cover up as much as possible.


Likes and Dislikes:

(+) COFFEE
(+) TEA
(+) Spending time with his daughter
(+) Good patients
(+) Cats and dogs
(+) Detective novels
(+) Clean work stations
(+) Rooms with good air circulation and filtering
(-) Energy drinks
(-) Ginger
(-) People looking at his daughter funny
(-) People being idiots in his part of sickbay
(-) Patients being idiots in his part of sickbay
(-) Patients being idiots
(-) Doctors with dubious practices
(-) Actual combat
(-) Horror stories
(-) Contact lenses
(-) Messy work stations


Personality:

In a nutshell, Russell is rather like an angry mother hen. He tends to worry about and fuss over people, particularly the younger members of Hazard--at times he seems to forget that these kids aren't actually related to him, and that the rest of his coworkers are grown adults that can take care of themselves. He's the kind of guy who will insist that you eat your damn vegetables, drink plenty of water, don't smoke, et cetera.

Though he is usually gruff with others, he does make an effort to be a soothing, stable presence, particularly around younger kids and those with more anxious personalities. He's also a very tactile person, despite his irritability--he'll give someone a pat on the arm, ruffle their hair, or punch them in the shoulder without thinking. He's also not above hitting someone (lightly!!) with a clipboard or an icepack to emphasize a point. Russell may seem like he dislikes everyone, but he actually prefers having someone around, even if they're not paying attention to him. He's a good listener, but is terrible at giving advice and comfort, particularly when it comes to matters of sex and love.

He is uncomfortable with combat and is very nearly a pacifist; he doesn't like that so many of the combat division are closer to his daughter's age than his. He can be very loud and argumentative, but will usually back down if someone pulls rank--usually. He has a very strong moral compass, and is entirely willing to screw the rules to do what's right, if possible.


Backstory:

Russell was one of the doctors in a smaller community. Due to the fact that they were almost chronically understaffed, he ended up picking up odd jobs around the hospital, in addition to his own job as a general physician. This was actually how he met his wife, Sylvia: she was one of the radiographers he assisted from time to time. They eventually married and had a daughter, Lillian; life was hard and busy, but he was content.

Then Sylvia died in an accident.

Russell tried to keep it together for his daughter's sake, while Lillian did her best to put on a brave face to put her father at ease. It would have been a lot easier if not for a rash of incidents--in short, Russell was spitting dust and smoke at odd moments. As much as he would have liked to think he was hallucinating, he couldn't deny the evidence or the potential risk to his patients. Unsure of what else to do, he contacted Hazard for clues about his condition--he'd heard enough of them to know they dealt in oddities.

Apparently, Russell had inherited the element Titanium from one of his parents. Until recently, his abilities never manifested in a noticeable way--as for what triggered the change, who knew? Perhaps he was an extremely late bloomer, perhaps it was an outside stressor. Russell was recruited and his daughter brought into the fold with him--he refused to go anywhere without her, and given that she had a chance of inheriting his abilities they couldn't leave her behind.

He has spent the time since then trying to learn to control his abilities and training to be a proper field medic.


Weapon:

Russell carries a handgun and is a decent shot. He is also not above hitting people with whatever's at hand, but he's not well-trained in hand-to-hand combat.


Powers:

SMOKE SCREEN: Russell's body can produce a compound that creates thick, irritating smoke upon contact with air. This ability is subconsciously suppressed under normal circumstances. There have been slips in control, usually during times of stress or illness. The compound mixes in with his mucus and saliva, hence the suppression--it's difficult to eat when one opens one's mouth and smoke pours out. (Sneezes and coughs are also problematic.) He hasn't figured out how to consistently use this ability at will.

_{*Titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) is a dense, colorless distillable liquid and a component of smoke screens. Upon contact with humid/moist air, it produces clouds of heavy white smoke (titanium dioxide and hydrogen chloride) that has little tendency to rise.}


FIRE HAZARD: Russell's body is also capable of producing titanium dust; as with the smoke screen ability, this is usually suppressed. Slips tend to happen when ill or stressed; so far, the dust is usually expelled via coughing and sneezing. He hasn't figured out how to control this at will either.

_{*Titanium powder and metal shavings pose a significant fire hazard. Titanium powder can also form an explosive suspension in air, i.e when heated in air, it poses an explosion hazard. Powdered titanium is also used in pyrotechnics as a source of bright-burning particles.}


HEAT RESISTANCE: He has an extremely high tolerance for heat--he'd still burn in a fire, but at least he doesn't get heatstroke under normal conditions.

_{*Titanium's relatively high melting point (over 1650 C/3000 F) makes it useful as a refractory metal (i.e. metal that's resistant to heat and wear). However, titanium loses strength when heated above 430 C/806 F}



Miscellaneous:

-Daughter: [link]
-When being dragged into the field, Russell takes his ring off and stores it somewhere safe--otherwise, he's always wearing his wedding ring.
-Sylvia was just as grumpy and fussy as Russell; the thing was, she laughed more easily.
-He's grumpier when he's hungry, but if he's absorbed in his work it's entirely likely that he'll forget to eat. Vicious cycle of grump ensues.
-He likes coffee and tea and all, but he tries not to make a consistent habit of drinking it to wake up, because he's wary of developing some kind of dependency.
-Either way, he's a bit of a zombie in the morning
-The fastest way to wake him up is to say that Lillian needs him for something.
-When he's sick, he wears a mask to try to keep from getting STUFF EVERYWHERE