the wake app Rough Draft 2
Dec. 27th, 2011 02:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
whiteandcurdyPersonal Information
Name: Marisa
Age: 23
Personal LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
someidiot
Email / AIM / MSN: mismischan(at)yahoo.com / Tsapaper / captainmarisa@hotmail.com
Current Character(s): n/a
Character Information
Character Name: White Knight
Fandom: Generator Rex
Source: http://generatorrexpedia.wikia.com/wiki/White_Knight
Character History: Five years prior to Knight's current position in the timeline, there was an explosion at a research facility in Abysus that blasted billions upon billions of microscopic robots called nanites into the atmosphere. These nanites infected every living thing on Earth, and had the potential to alter their host's DNA in unpredictable and often frightening ways. Knight was a freelance mercenary at the time of the incident, a hired gun who worked closely with his professional partner and close friend, Six. After the nanite event, people and animals began transforming into monsters at random, and suddenly Knight and Six had a lot more jobs rolling in.
Somewhere along the line, the two were hired by Providence, an organization set up to contain and kill any "monsters" that were wreaking havoc and endangering civilians. They were among the top agents and were often sent to take care of the biggest, most dangerous threats all over the world.
Less than a year before the events of the series, Knight and Six were part of a team sent to "take care of" a biomechanical monster destroying a city. Six came home from that mission with a souvenir: a young boy named Rex, the only thing in the world with the power to cure the monsters and turn them back into human beings. Unfortunately, this was because he was technically one of those monsters himself - a remnant of the biomechanical behemoth they had been fighting.
Six kept his discovery from everyone, including Knight, sneaking around behind his friend's back with Dr. Holiday in an attempt to find a way to safely reveal Rex to the world. When Knight found out, he didn't trust the boy, afraid he might turn back into that monster and kill everyone in a moment. He brought Rex to Dr. Fell, head of Providence research at the time, to be dissected at the molecular level in hopes of synthesizing and mass-producing a more efficient cure than the "touch and go" method to which Rex was limited.
Six found out about Knight's plot and attacked him in the laboratory, leading to a scuffle that activated the molecular disassembly chamber. Six was knocked unconscious as the device activated with both himself and Knight inside. If they stayed inside when the machine powered up, they'd both be killed. There was enough time for Knight to escape with his own life. However, despite their brutal battle not moments before, Knight chose instead to drag Six to safety, at the cost of his own life -- or so he thought at the time.
Knight was trapped inside of the machine as it was activated, but Rex used his technopathic powers to deactivate the machine before it could kill him. Knight survived but his body was severely damaged. Most noticeably, his body had been purged of melanin and he'd lost the ability to produce it - becoming a late-onset albino, as it were. As a result, his skin paled and his hair turned snow white, thus earning him the nickname and title, "White Knight". With the damage to his body, however, came a scientific miracle. The nanites, robots which infected every other living thing on the planet, had been completely purged from Knight's body. He was the last pure human being alive, and the only living thing on Earth incapable of turning into a monster - or EVO, as they were now called. However, the only way he could remain pure was to place him in a sterile environment, physically cut off from the outside world and the human race for the rest of his life.
The committee running Providence jumped on this opportunity and placed White Knight in command of the entire organization, pointing to him as the perfect, most trustworthy man alive because of his condition. This, combined with the revelation of Rex as the "cure" for EVOs, brought much good publicity to the organization. Public and private funding began pouring in, allowing Providence to grow exponentially in efficiency and effectiveness.
However, Knight still didn't trust Rex, still expecting him to turn at any moment and go on another destructive rampage. He placed his estranged friend Six in charge of the EVO as his handler and partner, and gave him very strict orders: Train Rex to go out on the field and perform his miracle cure without a hitch. But if he shows any indication of turning into that monster again, Six must kill him. Somewhere along the line White Knight commissioned the construction of a mechanical suit that would allow him to enter battle out in the open while protecting him from nanites. The suit and its accompanying mecha armor was equipped with weaponry designed specifically to combat Rex should Six fail to follow through on his orders.
This is where the series begins.
At the beginning, Knight treats Rex not as another agent, but as a weapon. He goes to great lengths to dehumanize the boy, locking him in a closet when "not in use" and cutting him off from the outside world or anything resembling a social life. However, this emotional starvation had disastrous effects on the boy's powers. Rex couldn't fight or cure as well if he was depressed. Knight took measures to keep Rex's emotional health in check - not out of concern for the boy, but just to keep him functional. After giving Rex his own quarters, he hired a teenager named Noah Nixon to act as Rex's "best friend" as a means of both controlling Rex and spying on him.
Rex soon found out that Noah was being paid to befriend him. Noah quit working for Knight, and became Rex's legitimate friend.
When a recon team delivering sensitive data to HQ crashed in a quarantined area of the Ukraine, a wasteland nicknamed "The Bug Jar". The area was highly dangerous and
Months later, nanites altered the DNA of a virus to become a nationwide airborne plague that placed the entire continent of North America in a coma. Rex and Knight were the only two Providence agents left unaffected - Knight because he was cut off from the world, Rex because the virus didn't affect EVOs. The two were forced to work together to combat the virus and its monstrous physical form, but they disagreed on how the solution should be handled. This resulted in a violent altercation between the two, and as Rex battled Knight in his mechanical armor, he realized its purpose: It wasn't designed to fight EVOs, it was designed to fight him. This furthered the strain on the relationship between Rex and Knight.
When a freelance "EVO Exterminator" calling himself Hunter Cain appeared on the scene, it was a reminder of the blind hatred Knight himself once held for EVOs. His own dislike for both Cain's ideology and methods were an early sign of Knight's character development, the beginning of his understanding that the world was more than just Humans vs. EVOs, it was people vs. monsters -- and that line wasn't always drawn along the human/EVO division.
As the series progressed Knight himself faded into the background, but through the little bits of interaction, one might see him starting to treat Rex slightly better with time. He was still stern, unforgiving, and willing to cut his losses, but he clearly began to see Rex as a person instead of a tool.
The Season 1 finale saw the return of Knight's battle suit, which enhanced his strength to the point of allowing him to take down Biowulf in a fight - albeit an unfair one, with Biowulf trapped by magnets. When Rex is depowered and subsequently regains the abilities he lost Knight openly expresses affection for him, offering a shadow of a smile and remarking, "It's good to have you back, Rex."
Season 2 continues much the same way, and we begin to see hints of Knight not only respecting Rex as a human being, but beginning to trust in his judgment as well. When an EVO who keeps transforming into sone rampages through Providence HQ and takes down the skeleton crew left in place, Rex accurately discerns that the EVO has a beef with Van Kleiss, the series villain, and that he can work together with Providence to take him down. Rex convinces Knight to offer the EVO a job and so far, it has yet to prove to be a bad idea.
When the enemy EVO by name of Breach got her hands on a time-travel device, Rex was sent to try and befriend her to bring her back to Providence. However, the Committee - Knight's shadowy, unknown superiors - insisted they didn't want to wait on Rex's methods, and wanted to bring Breach in by force instead. White Knight, who has thousands of soldiers at his disposal to send in his place, was eventually driven to intercept Rex and Breach in the park, personally in his battle suit, when Rex almost got through to her. From this position, Knight was able to tell his troops to hold off a little longer and buy Rex more time, until Van Kleiss showed up to cause more trouble.
The last thing Knight remembers was being engaged with Van Kleiss and his back. The EVO's needle nails, well known for extracting - or possibly implanting - active nannies, had gotten into the chest of Knight's suit just before Van Kleiss threw him away, possibly infecting him with nannies, or worse, killing him. White Knight has no idea if either of those things came to pass.
Character Personality: Knight lives in isolation, and can only connect to others by way of digital audio and video - and when he does, he is very cold, stern, and authoritative.
Knight's most prominent personality trait is his "ends justify the means" outlook. He is always looking at the bigger picture, and is willing to cut his losses. His top priority is preservation of the human race and he places that goal above all else. Knight is not secretive or sneaky about this; He is very straightforward with his peers and subordinates about his attitude. He never deliberately sends his soldiers out on suicide missions, and always provides them with the resources to complete the tasks he assigns, but he tells them flat-out that if they mess up big time, it's on their own head. He can't guarantee he'd be willing to waste valuable time or manpower to bail them out if the resources are needed elsewhere, or if he believes any attempt at rescue would result in failure. The most prominent example of this is the Bug Jar incident. The "zombie" infestation of New York also showcased the colder aspects of Knight's personality - he was willing to bomb the city itself to prevent the infestation from spreading. Though all of the non-infected citizens had long since been evacuated, this would have resulted in the death of the countless innocents who had been infected and could potentially be cured - not to mention the citywide destruction he was willing to cause to prevent infection.
However, this in no way means he has no regard for human lives. When the EVO virus infected the entire country, and Knight and Rex went after the source, Knight knew that the coma could continue for only so long until innocent people were killed of starvation and dehydration. With that in mind, he refused to wait for Rex to think up a nonviolent cure, wanting to prevent as many deaths as possible. Once again, Knight's focus was on the good of humanity as a whole instead of more immediate ethical issues.
White Knight's tone is always sharp, and to the point. Early in his career as the head of Providence he was all business, not even batting an eye at Rex's attempts at humor. Over the course of his career, however, he's loosened up - if only slightly. After Van Kleiss' attempted siege on Providence, White Knight managed a chuckle at one of Rex's jokes - and a few months later, pulled a little prank of his own on a group of teenagers who were trespassing in Providence by dropping them in a sewer. Around this time he started getting comfortable throwing around a joke or two, though his humor was dry and sarcastic. An off-hand comment from Six also notes that Knight hates germs. This combined with Knight's preference for spotless white finishing all around his office suggests Knight prefers to keep things very clean.
It should be noted that all of this behavior exhibited by Knight occurred while he was on-duty as commander of Providence. Due to his situation, however, he is never truly, legitimately off-duty. His home and his office are one in the same, and he can never leave it without his protective armor. Little is known about how Knight would act in his down time (if indeed he has any) but his appearance in flashbacks paints a possible picture. Before he became the stoic, restrained leader of Providence, Knight was a happy, cheerful man who wore his heart on his sleeve. He took on his jobs with a smile on his face and an almost playful attitude. In his younger days, Knight was very close to and affectionate toward Six, and chatter among the low-tier grunts confirmed that the two were close (at one point, Six is referred to as "[Knight]'s boy").
During Knight's short time in Nautilus, bits and pieces of this older, happier persona began to peek through, particularly after a bit of alcohol. However, over the two years he'd been in isolation, Knight had built up many mental barriers to deal with the stress and loneliness of his isolated life, and these barriers interfered with his bending. He had trouble bending up things he wanted but felt he couldn't have or didn't deserve, and he had trouble bending up things in color as well. As he breaks down those psychological barriers, his bending might improve.
Powers: Knight has no superpowers, but he's a mercenary with extensive combat training, and was one of the best at Providence back in the day. He's a crack shot with most guns, lasers, or any other projectile weapon -- anything that needs to be aimed.
When he's in his armor, Knight has access to powerful lasers, enhanced strength and stamina, and complete protection from environmental hazards (poison, acid, disease, nanites, gas) as long as the suit's integrity is kept intact.
Knight is also an excellent leader in many senses of the word. He was able to effectively allocate Providence's limited funding and resources to ensure the organization ran at peak functionality. He also personally planned oversaw many of the high-profile and sensitive Providence missions, making him an excellent strategist as well.
Samples
First person: [Video]
[ The video flickers on to show Knight standing at the Southern Gate. He's appropriately dressed this time and stumbles forward, looking bewildered. He glances behind him at the closed, sealed gate, before stepping forward and gazing at the City in the distance. He says nothing for a moment, contemplation evident in his eyes as he takes in the scenery. As Knight begins to trudge forward toward the City, he reaches in his pocket and pulls out his cell phone. ]
[ The picture flickers out and back in, now filming from the point of view of Knight's phone. He glares down into the little device with the same stern expression and tone he uses to command the base back home. ]
There is apparently a very distinct gap in my memory, between falling asleep last night and now. And I would be very grateful -- [ he sounds anything but grateful ] -- if someone could tell me why Nautilus decided to drop me off back at the gate.
[ He refuses to believe that maybe he came out here himself. He wasn't that drunk. He distinctly remembers falling asleep in his room at Holiday's house. ]
Third Person: 300 word minimum. This is the place to show your character's inner thoughts. Give us a nice third person narrative of your character doing something, plus how they feel about it. This doesn't have to be blatant "this is what my character is thinking, designated by italics!" but should rather show your character's self via their actions and interactions with their environment.
Name: Marisa
Age: 23
Personal LJ:
someidiotEmail / AIM / MSN: mismischan(at)yahoo.com / Tsapaper / captainmarisa@hotmail.com
Current Character(s): n/a
Character Information
Character Name: White Knight
Fandom: Generator Rex
Source: http://generatorrexpedia.wikia.com/wiki/White_Knight
Character History: Five years prior to Knight's current position in the timeline, there was an explosion at a research facility in Abysus that blasted billions upon billions of microscopic robots called nanites into the atmosphere. These nanites infected every living thing on Earth, and had the potential to alter their host's DNA in unpredictable and often frightening ways. Knight was a freelance mercenary at the time of the incident, a hired gun who worked closely with his professional partner and close friend, Six. After the nanite event, people and animals began transforming into monsters at random, and suddenly Knight and Six had a lot more jobs rolling in.
Somewhere along the line, the two were hired by Providence, an organization set up to contain and kill any "monsters" that were wreaking havoc and endangering civilians. They were among the top agents and were often sent to take care of the biggest, most dangerous threats all over the world.
Less than a year before the events of the series, Knight and Six were part of a team sent to "take care of" a biomechanical monster destroying a city. Six came home from that mission with a souvenir: a young boy named Rex, the only thing in the world with the power to cure the monsters and turn them back into human beings. Unfortunately, this was because he was technically one of those monsters himself - a remnant of the biomechanical behemoth they had been fighting.
Six kept his discovery from everyone, including Knight, sneaking around behind his friend's back with Dr. Holiday in an attempt to find a way to safely reveal Rex to the world. When Knight found out, he didn't trust the boy, afraid he might turn back into that monster and kill everyone in a moment. He brought Rex to Dr. Fell, head of Providence research at the time, to be dissected at the molecular level in hopes of synthesizing and mass-producing a more efficient cure than the "touch and go" method to which Rex was limited.
Six found out about Knight's plot and attacked him in the laboratory, leading to a scuffle that activated the molecular disassembly chamber. Six was knocked unconscious as the device activated with both himself and Knight inside. If they stayed inside when the machine powered up, they'd both be killed. There was enough time for Knight to escape with his own life. However, despite their brutal battle not moments before, Knight chose instead to drag Six to safety, at the cost of his own life -- or so he thought at the time.
Knight was trapped inside of the machine as it was activated, but Rex used his technopathic powers to deactivate the machine before it could kill him. Knight survived but his body was severely damaged. Most noticeably, his body had been purged of melanin and he'd lost the ability to produce it - becoming a late-onset albino, as it were. As a result, his skin paled and his hair turned snow white, thus earning him the nickname and title, "White Knight". With the damage to his body, however, came a scientific miracle. The nanites, robots which infected every other living thing on the planet, had been completely purged from Knight's body. He was the last pure human being alive, and the only living thing on Earth incapable of turning into a monster - or EVO, as they were now called. However, the only way he could remain pure was to place him in a sterile environment, physically cut off from the outside world and the human race for the rest of his life.
The committee running Providence jumped on this opportunity and placed White Knight in command of the entire organization, pointing to him as the perfect, most trustworthy man alive because of his condition. This, combined with the revelation of Rex as the "cure" for EVOs, brought much good publicity to the organization. Public and private funding began pouring in, allowing Providence to grow exponentially in efficiency and effectiveness.
However, Knight still didn't trust Rex, still expecting him to turn at any moment and go on another destructive rampage. He placed his estranged friend Six in charge of the EVO as his handler and partner, and gave him very strict orders: Train Rex to go out on the field and perform his miracle cure without a hitch. But if he shows any indication of turning into that monster again, Six must kill him. Somewhere along the line White Knight commissioned the construction of a mechanical suit that would allow him to enter battle out in the open while protecting him from nanites. The suit and its accompanying mecha armor was equipped with weaponry designed specifically to combat Rex should Six fail to follow through on his orders.
This is where the series begins.
At the beginning, Knight treats Rex not as another agent, but as a weapon. He goes to great lengths to dehumanize the boy, locking him in a closet when "not in use" and cutting him off from the outside world or anything resembling a social life. However, this emotional starvation had disastrous effects on the boy's powers. Rex couldn't fight or cure as well if he was depressed. Knight took measures to keep Rex's emotional health in check - not out of concern for the boy, but just to keep him functional. After giving Rex his own quarters, he hired a teenager named Noah Nixon to act as Rex's "best friend" as a means of both controlling Rex and spying on him.
Rex soon found out that Noah was being paid to befriend him. Noah quit working for Knight, and became Rex's legitimate friend.
When a recon team delivering sensitive data to HQ crashed in a quarantined area of the Ukraine, a wasteland nicknamed "The Bug Jar". The area was highly dangerous and
Months later, nanites altered the DNA of a virus to become a nationwide airborne plague that placed the entire continent of North America in a coma. Rex and Knight were the only two Providence agents left unaffected - Knight because he was cut off from the world, Rex because the virus didn't affect EVOs. The two were forced to work together to combat the virus and its monstrous physical form, but they disagreed on how the solution should be handled. This resulted in a violent altercation between the two, and as Rex battled Knight in his mechanical armor, he realized its purpose: It wasn't designed to fight EVOs, it was designed to fight him. This furthered the strain on the relationship between Rex and Knight.
When a freelance "EVO Exterminator" calling himself Hunter Cain appeared on the scene, it was a reminder of the blind hatred Knight himself once held for EVOs. His own dislike for both Cain's ideology and methods were an early sign of Knight's character development, the beginning of his understanding that the world was more than just Humans vs. EVOs, it was people vs. monsters -- and that line wasn't always drawn along the human/EVO division.
As the series progressed Knight himself faded into the background, but through the little bits of interaction, one might see him starting to treat Rex slightly better with time. He was still stern, unforgiving, and willing to cut his losses, but he clearly began to see Rex as a person instead of a tool.
The Season 1 finale saw the return of Knight's battle suit, which enhanced his strength to the point of allowing him to take down Biowulf in a fight - albeit an unfair one, with Biowulf trapped by magnets. When Rex is depowered and subsequently regains the abilities he lost Knight openly expresses affection for him, offering a shadow of a smile and remarking, "It's good to have you back, Rex."
Season 2 continues much the same way, and we begin to see hints of Knight not only respecting Rex as a human being, but beginning to trust in his judgment as well. When an EVO who keeps transforming into sone rampages through Providence HQ and takes down the skeleton crew left in place, Rex accurately discerns that the EVO has a beef with Van Kleiss, the series villain, and that he can work together with Providence to take him down. Rex convinces Knight to offer the EVO a job and so far, it has yet to prove to be a bad idea.
When the enemy EVO by name of Breach got her hands on a time-travel device, Rex was sent to try and befriend her to bring her back to Providence. However, the Committee - Knight's shadowy, unknown superiors - insisted they didn't want to wait on Rex's methods, and wanted to bring Breach in by force instead. White Knight, who has thousands of soldiers at his disposal to send in his place, was eventually driven to intercept Rex and Breach in the park, personally in his battle suit, when Rex almost got through to her. From this position, Knight was able to tell his troops to hold off a little longer and buy Rex more time, until Van Kleiss showed up to cause more trouble.
The last thing Knight remembers was being engaged with Van Kleiss and his back. The EVO's needle nails, well known for extracting - or possibly implanting - active nannies, had gotten into the chest of Knight's suit just before Van Kleiss threw him away, possibly infecting him with nannies, or worse, killing him. White Knight has no idea if either of those things came to pass.
Character Personality: Knight lives in isolation, and can only connect to others by way of digital audio and video - and when he does, he is very cold, stern, and authoritative.
Knight's most prominent personality trait is his "ends justify the means" outlook. He is always looking at the bigger picture, and is willing to cut his losses. His top priority is preservation of the human race and he places that goal above all else. Knight is not secretive or sneaky about this; He is very straightforward with his peers and subordinates about his attitude. He never deliberately sends his soldiers out on suicide missions, and always provides them with the resources to complete the tasks he assigns, but he tells them flat-out that if they mess up big time, it's on their own head. He can't guarantee he'd be willing to waste valuable time or manpower to bail them out if the resources are needed elsewhere, or if he believes any attempt at rescue would result in failure. The most prominent example of this is the Bug Jar incident. The "zombie" infestation of New York also showcased the colder aspects of Knight's personality - he was willing to bomb the city itself to prevent the infestation from spreading. Though all of the non-infected citizens had long since been evacuated, this would have resulted in the death of the countless innocents who had been infected and could potentially be cured - not to mention the citywide destruction he was willing to cause to prevent infection.
However, this in no way means he has no regard for human lives. When the EVO virus infected the entire country, and Knight and Rex went after the source, Knight knew that the coma could continue for only so long until innocent people were killed of starvation and dehydration. With that in mind, he refused to wait for Rex to think up a nonviolent cure, wanting to prevent as many deaths as possible. Once again, Knight's focus was on the good of humanity as a whole instead of more immediate ethical issues.
White Knight's tone is always sharp, and to the point. Early in his career as the head of Providence he was all business, not even batting an eye at Rex's attempts at humor. Over the course of his career, however, he's loosened up - if only slightly. After Van Kleiss' attempted siege on Providence, White Knight managed a chuckle at one of Rex's jokes - and a few months later, pulled a little prank of his own on a group of teenagers who were trespassing in Providence by dropping them in a sewer. Around this time he started getting comfortable throwing around a joke or two, though his humor was dry and sarcastic. An off-hand comment from Six also notes that Knight hates germs. This combined with Knight's preference for spotless white finishing all around his office suggests Knight prefers to keep things very clean.
It should be noted that all of this behavior exhibited by Knight occurred while he was on-duty as commander of Providence. Due to his situation, however, he is never truly, legitimately off-duty. His home and his office are one in the same, and he can never leave it without his protective armor. Little is known about how Knight would act in his down time (if indeed he has any) but his appearance in flashbacks paints a possible picture. Before he became the stoic, restrained leader of Providence, Knight was a happy, cheerful man who wore his heart on his sleeve. He took on his jobs with a smile on his face and an almost playful attitude. In his younger days, Knight was very close to and affectionate toward Six, and chatter among the low-tier grunts confirmed that the two were close (at one point, Six is referred to as "[Knight]'s boy").
During Knight's short time in Nautilus, bits and pieces of this older, happier persona began to peek through, particularly after a bit of alcohol. However, over the two years he'd been in isolation, Knight had built up many mental barriers to deal with the stress and loneliness of his isolated life, and these barriers interfered with his bending. He had trouble bending up things he wanted but felt he couldn't have or didn't deserve, and he had trouble bending up things in color as well. As he breaks down those psychological barriers, his bending might improve.
Powers: Knight has no superpowers, but he's a mercenary with extensive combat training, and was one of the best at Providence back in the day. He's a crack shot with most guns, lasers, or any other projectile weapon -- anything that needs to be aimed.
When he's in his armor, Knight has access to powerful lasers, enhanced strength and stamina, and complete protection from environmental hazards (poison, acid, disease, nanites, gas) as long as the suit's integrity is kept intact.
Knight is also an excellent leader in many senses of the word. He was able to effectively allocate Providence's limited funding and resources to ensure the organization ran at peak functionality. He also personally planned oversaw many of the high-profile and sensitive Providence missions, making him an excellent strategist as well.
Samples
First person: [Video]
[ The video flickers on to show Knight standing at the Southern Gate. He's appropriately dressed this time and stumbles forward, looking bewildered. He glances behind him at the closed, sealed gate, before stepping forward and gazing at the City in the distance. He says nothing for a moment, contemplation evident in his eyes as he takes in the scenery. As Knight begins to trudge forward toward the City, he reaches in his pocket and pulls out his cell phone. ]
[ The picture flickers out and back in, now filming from the point of view of Knight's phone. He glares down into the little device with the same stern expression and tone he uses to command the base back home. ]
There is apparently a very distinct gap in my memory, between falling asleep last night and now. And I would be very grateful -- [ he sounds anything but grateful ] -- if someone could tell me why Nautilus decided to drop me off back at the gate.
[ He refuses to believe that maybe he came out here himself. He wasn't that drunk. He distinctly remembers falling asleep in his room at Holiday's house. ]
Third Person: 300 word minimum. This is the place to show your character's inner thoughts. Give us a nice third person narrative of your character doing something, plus how they feel about it. This doesn't have to be blatant "this is what my character is thinking, designated by italics!" but should rather show your character's self via their actions and interactions with their environment.
