Roberta

[Code Name] Roberta

[Gender] Female

[Combat Experience] None

[Place of Birth] Columbia

[Date of Birth] May 10

[Race] Anaty

[Height] 155cm

[Infection Status]

Medical tests have confirmed that no infection is present.

[Physical Strength] Normal

[Mobility] Normal

[Physical Resilience] Standard

[Tactical Acumen] Standard

[Combat Skill] Standard

[Originium Arts Assimilation] Normal

Roberta, a well-known makeup artist from Columbia. At her own insistence, has been evaluated by the Engineering Department, displaying accomplishment in the field of automated machinery. With Closure's approval, has become an operator aboard Rhodes Island.

Imaging tests reveal clear, normal outlines of internal organs, and no abnormal shadows have been detected. Originium granules have not been detected in the circulatory system and there is no sign of infection. At this time, this operator is believed to be uninfected.

[Cell-Originium Assimilation] 0%

Operator Roberta shows no signs of Originium infection.

[Blood Originium-Crystal Density] 0.12u/L

Operator Roberta rarely comes into contact with Originium.

When I first saw her resume, I thought she was kidding. I watched the last Academy Awards ceremony from start to finish! The lead beautician on the movie that won Best Makeup and Hairstyling? Was this her? Same name? Same face?! If I remember right, you're gonna need way more than one hand to count all her nominations in the past five years, big or small!

Is our pay seriously enough to draw in professionals as SUCCESSFUL as her already? Wait, that's not right... why do we even need a makeup artist?

I read her evaluation records, and only then did I believe it: she was serious. Her engineering knowledge is definitely enough to handle our department's basic work, but what draws me most has to be her sketches for these automatic multifunctional support machines. She calls them full auto modelers, but I sure got new inspiration for modifications to give Lancet-2 once I read through them... oh, yeah, and also, what do you all think of installing one of these modelers outside the dorms on every floor? Add on a payment module, get operators swiping their paycards to enjoy some quick and convenient makeup service!

——Memo of Closure's remarks in an Engineering Department internal meeting, prior to Operator Roberta officially taking up her post

Wrankwood, huh? It's a heck of a boring place.

See, you roll up in Wrankwood, Columbia, and the movie stars are merchandise, and behind them's a full assembly line. Someone even went in for surgery a full 36 times in one year just to keep the goods looking perfect! That's a horror story, isn't it? I eat less hotpot than that in a year!

Also, when you're around in Wrankwood, there's people all the time telling you how you should do and say things, and who you have to interact with. It's like being in a movie no matter where you go, and the script's all prepared. Agencies analyze what kind of persona's most popular with the current mainstream, and all you gotta do is act it. What does it matter if it's different every day? It's not like anyone cares what your true face is, they're all there for the constructed, perfected facade. And so what if they actually question it? Public relations has people who'll help you right the ship.

See, that's why I wasn't interested in heading to Wrankwood to broaden out. The way I see it, shooting a move's about hard work and art, not playing a mannequin people can gawk at all day, you know?

——Operator FEater's point of view on the topic of Wrankwood

Wrankwood? Pretty decent place, easy to turn a buck.

But I hate its guts too. They always think if you just give the shiniest places more spit-shine, people'll just go ahead and ignore the dirt piling up in the corners. What gave them that idea? All styling can do is make a face look pretty—there's no way it can actually smooth out all the real bumps in your skin.

To me, fame is a hassle. It means even more boring work's on its way.

But I'm thankful for my fame, too—it lets me start picking my clients, and it got me here now, living the easy life.

You think I've got a lot of sense? Lemme tell you how many 'auteurs' are built on sensible foundations. Nothing but temper, blind to the real world, while every year hundreds in low-rent apartments right next to Wrankwood starve to death. Nobody in Columbia's really free until they've got enough money.

——Operator Roberta's personal view on the topic of Wrankwood

On several occasions, we've seen Roberta exploring with operators how to 'decorate' their bodily crystals, in a natural way. Amazed at her approach, we inquired about her views on Oripathy.

'Respect comes from within.' ——So she replied.

When she was freshly aboard Rhodes Island, Roberta mentioned that she'd met the Doctor before. It was in Tkaronto in Columbia; she was invited to a dinner party, and sick of the social niceties on loop, she quietly slipped off and found a staircase. There, she met the Doctor, who had left a dinner partway through, same as her, wanting to catch a breath.

Neither moved to greet the other at first; they simply sat on different steps and stared off. After ten minutes, the door to the staircase was opened, and they both chanced to duck to the side, giving a 'shh' to each other, and upon seeing the other do exactly the same thing, they chuckled derisively.

After they each returned to their respective parties, Roberta still remembered the figure who'd hidden along with her by the staircase, subsequently wandering around questioning everyone who was in the building that day, eventually managing to contact Rhodes Island.

She tells us her work at that time had hit a bottleneck. She thought, originally, that her own creativity had been whittled down by endless assembly line duty. She always longed to meet someone with a face written full with stories, to give her ever more motivation to wield the makeup brush.

Now, she believes she's found it.

Roberta's real name is Roberta Baker. When we asked for the codename she'd like to call herself, she chose her own name without hesitation. She even strictly guided us on how to pronounce it, with a proper Siracusan air. Though she moved to Columbia when she was very young, in her heart, Roberta remains a Siracusan.

After a follow-up chat, we discovered that Roberta's childhood was by no means a wonderful one. Her family was based in a small Columbian town, working for a bigger family who, like them, came from Siracusa. This was not often decent work. She became used to seeing poverty, sickness and crime, and was aware from an early age that money could change a person's life.

After entering the styling business, Roberta's situation didn't improve much. In Wrankwood, no one showed respect for this penniless Siracusan-blooded girl. Any random star with their fifteen minutes would be bossing her around, putting her through days in a row without even a break to sleep. She relied on her own skills, earned through blood, sweat and tears, and stubbornly climbed from the very bottom of the industry, up to its top. Money came rolling in along with the fame, but it never turned Roberta the slightest bit snobbish. Through years of Wrankwood experience, she never once forgot her old friends. But when she returned to her hometown, she found that of the friends she'd grown up with, several had lost their footing after contracting Oripathy.

Roberta has never said it out loud, but her favorable opinion of Rhodes Island, we believe, is deeply rooted in the vision of 'true' Columbia reflected in her eyes.

She said she's hiding away here on vacation? No, that's not right, she's super intense about pursuing her makeup skills... have you seen those 3D models in her workshop, for styling practice? I sure recognized a few familiar faces! Plenty of them are even from records of enemies we've faced... coming in and suddenly seeing them is a serious heart attack!

In the end I think she's pretty suited to Rhodes Island. We do have all sorts here, after all, and so many have a fire in them. No matter what makes it burn, they keep us going. They're the force that pushes Rhodes Island to keep sailing on!