Tippi

[Code Name] Tippi

[Gender] Female

[Work Experience] 6 Years

[Place of Birth] Columbia

[Date of Birth] Mar 17

[Race] Liberi

[Height] 165cm

[Infection Status]

Medical tests have confirmed that no infection is present.

[Physical Strength] Normal

[Mobility] Standard

[Physical Resilience] Standard

[Tactical Acumen] Normal

[Combat Skill] Standard

[Originium Arts Assimilation] Normal

Tippi is a Wrankwood background painter. She initiated contact with Rhodes Island in hopes of facilitating a partnership wherein we would provide medical services to Wrankwood's Infected actors and film crews. She has chosen to join Rhodes Island as a specialist operator.

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 Tippi shows no signs of Originium infection.

[Blood Originium-Crystal Density] 0.13u/L

Operator Tippi rarely comes into contact with Originium.

'Tippi!' An operator glared at Tippi and interrogated her. 'You made all this, didn't you? Was all that stuff real or not?'

'Tippi!' Another operator asked her with trembling hands and clenched teeth, 'Why would you do that? How did you even come up with that idea?'

Another operator punched the air silently. It took a while before he finally managed to string together a few words: 'I-I almost died of fright! I think my heart stopped!'

'Just a second, just a second!' Tippi yelled. 'C'mon, no need to overreact! I just wanted to show you guys a horror flick I worked on!'

Tippi's passion for horror films is extraordinary. Not only is she an avid viewer, she has also participated in numerous productions, and often watches them with her friends. Not just to enjoy the thrills, but also to analyze and break down the scenes and techniques.

She explains that she has a particular love for horror films because they are the most direct and simple way of studying how to build atmosphere in cinema. From backgrounds, to music, to props, to the performance itself, any weak link turns horror into comedy. She intends to learn how to keep that entire chain intact, properly conveying the atmosphere and story of the film and truly immersing the audience in fear.

Of course, the simpler reason is that she enjoys the feeling of screaming in terror with a group of friends as they huddle in a corner.

Despite her youth, Tippi has already accumulated quite a lot of experience in Wrankwood. Before she was a background painter, she has worked in scripts, props, lighting... name a role in a film crew, and it is more likely than not that she has done it.

As a prop technician, she watched a director combine multiple studio plates, dreaming of making the film of the century where Higashinese ninjas leap from roof to roof atop the churches of Laterano, and Lateran guns are knocked out of their wielders' hands in the bamboo forests of Yan... The final product was indeed dream-like in its wild, disconnected incoherence. She has been a makeup artist, watching the veterans transform a Forte into a Sankta using Originium Arts. She has been a VFX artist, helping create floods and earthquakes, explosions and storms for disaster movies. Tippi says that special effects are a burgeoning industry that recruits many graduates from the universities of Leithanien every year. All of that is part of everyday life on the dozens of studio plates in Wrankwood.

She has moved from job to job not because she gets bored easily, but because she wants to experience every part of the movie-making process for herself. At Rhodes Island, she has made no effort to conceal the identities of her parents and grandparents, who are all famous directors. She was also pleasantly surprised to find that Jara, who is like a grandmother to her, has ties to many of our operators. However, due to her sincere love for film, she refused to follow the path her family had planned out for her, and concealed her identity when working in Wrankwood. She wanted to try things out for herself, and make the things she loves on her own terms, be they backgrounds, props, or modifications to the script. Perhaps one day she will become a director herself, and make the movies she wants to see.

She also wants to learn more about the dark side of Wrankwood. Perhaps certain tragedies can be avoided, if there is someone there working to make things better.

The serial murders that occurred on the set of the last film Tippi worked on were all over the newspapers of Columbia for a while. The killer, Moira—who slaughtered multiple people who were involved in the death of her sister five years ago—was a good friend of Tippi's.

Tippi was angry at her friend's deception, but also earnestly reminisced about the time they spent together. She roamed across Columbia in those days, for one more chance to see Moira. However, she only saw Moira once before her sentence was carried out. The warden told Tippi that Moira was allowed to work under supervision in her last days, making many items that were useful to the prisoners, as well as props for Wrankwood.

'We didn't approve your visits because the inmate said she didn't want visitors.

'She finished her last prop on the day the sentence was carried out. It was a sunny day, and she didn't leave any message behind except to say that she was sorry, and that she would atone for her crimes with her death.

'I'm afraid that's all we're allowed to disclose.'

That was the only thing Tippi heard from the prison. But she could imagine how Moira spent her last days. She is glad that her friend was finally free of the delusions that had plagued her, of thinking she had a sister that loved her. Moira's final days were real, and fulfilling.

She also thinks about the things she can do to prevent a tragedy like Laura's from happening again, and to prevent other people like Moira from being driven into a corner by scorn and belittlement. Perhaps it would have to start with her getting to know people on a deeper level, or by providing more direct help.

She wants to do something.

From FEater's sudden retirement to Roberta's departure, it is not hard to piece together a picture of Wrankwood from the accounts of our operators who came from there. Factory-like movie production pipelines, the flimsiness of the silver screen's facade, an ever-repetitive cycle of work and publicity, the hundreds of dream-chasers who starve to death year after year, and the concealment of this darker side beneath the bright surface.

Tippi does not deny any of this. She admits that her willingness to persevere and keep trying new things at Wrankwood was made possible by her parents' and grandparents' status as famous directors, and the love and care that Jara showed her. Even though she had walked her own path and earned everything herself, it was her family ties that taught her about Wrankwood's dark side and how to deal with it. And it is because of these same ties that she is able to laugh off any scorn or abuse she encounters on the set, allowing her to focus solely on what she wants to do. If not for that, she would be one of the thousands of people huddling in tiny rented spaces and working multiple jobs trying to make ends meet in Wrankwood.

Tippi does not deny Wrankwood's status as a 'factory of dreams', either. She has met many friends in the years she has worked there. It is not unheard of for a small-town girl to work her way to stardom, a humble stagehand to be brought to tears when they see their own name at the end of the credits, or for an abandoned plate to be repurposed as a studio plate, creating temporary jobs for the unemployed to be extras and stagehands, and giving them a reprieve as they look for the next job. In recent years, Wrankwood has even implemented policies that protect the jobs of Infected actors, provided they can afford the expensive insurance fees—a first step in a long journey for Infected rights, so to speak. Many dreams have come true in Wrankwood, and many people got their first jobs here. Even Tippi's own family, people who've been through the ins and outs of Wrankwood, have their eyes light up when they run across the town's first silent picture.

That said, she does understand why FEater and Roberta left: the exploitation and abuse is still there, and it is happening every day. For their part, FEater and Roberta also understand why Tippi has chosen to stay: she has a dream to chase, one that still has a chance of coming true—it is, after all, Wrankwood.

Yet Tippi has also told us that she wants to establish a union, not just to work with Rhodes Island to further protect the rights of Infected cast and crew, but also to help people like Laura and Moira, people struggling at the bottom rung of Wrankwood's ladder. To create a better environment for them, so that they will not have to fall by the wayside on the path of dreams.

Vroom! A shadow flies across the sky, and the operators out in the Columbian wilderness start cussing out this 'crazy bastard'.

'What is he even here for? We always run into him on missions. He doesn't go when we ask him to, and jets upward as soon as we get close. Melee operators can't reach him, but there's no time to get a ranged operator. He doesn't do anything when he approaches, only fly around with his jetpack. Is he just trying to show off?'

'We had someone look into him, and apparently he was someone who quit a university job to put together weird stuff like this. And he's pretty darn good at it, to tell the truth. It took so much effort to get close enough to ask whether he was interested in working together, but he turned us down without a second thought and flew away! Seems like the kinda guy who only does what he wants to, and only talks to people he wants to.'

'Son of a gun!'

The squad leader curses as he instructs his operators to intercept the intruder. 'Good timing, Tippi! You can fly too, right? Go get him out of here and tell him not to get in the way of our mission again!'

'Roger!'

Tippi takes to the air with her own flying equipment, operating it with great proficiency—in fact, her movements and techniques are almost an exact mirror of her counterpart. When they eventually intercept one another, they look at each other with questioning glances through their helmets, before suddenly embracing each other—

Tippi: 'What are you doing here, master?!'

Jetman: 'My best student! I haven't seen you for so long!'

Operators: 'Wait, you two know each other?!'