Armphid
Crowned Sun
- Joined
- May 18, 2003
- Posts
- 9,831
I had this typed on my phone over the last few days (I wasn't able to use my computer due to that room being occupied by visiting family) only for Lit to eat it when I tried to post this morning. Argh!
Here is the bio for my first and "main" character. This is a first draft; very little here is set in stone. I'm not clear on the state of the world technologically or the crisis that originally put the Defenders together. Something about robots? Since her background involves robotics, if I need to change that, let me know. I would like feedback and criticism so I can make adjustments as needed; I don't want to do too much or have her be too powerful.
I'm also sorry for the length. I may have gotten carried away...but I don't like being vague and there was so must to say and tell! Still, I'm very sorry; I know that reading all this must be a pain.
Basic Information
Full name: Tansui Makoto (formerly Umizu Makoto)
Pronunciation: Tahn-swee Mah-koe-toe
Nickname/ Alias: Kuroari (Black Ant, outside of Japan)
Gender: Female
Species: Human mutate (nanite infestation)
Age: 32 (looks 21)
Sexuality: Bisexual and very curious and experimental
Nationality: Japanese
Religion: Shinto and Buddhism (in name only; she follows tradition but is non-religious)
City Or Town Of Birth: Toyama, Toyama Prefecture, Japan
Currently lives: Daikanyama (a neighborhood of Tokyo), Japan
Languages Spoken: English, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Korean, smatterings of Russian and German.
Native Language: Japanese
Relationship Status: Single and open!
Physical Appearance
Height: 139cm (5'2")
Weight: You don't ask a girl that! (58kg/127lbs)
Figure/ Build: Curvy and busty, particularly for a Japanese woman (see attached picture for an idea)
Hair Color: Varies; currently glossy black
Hair Style: Varies; currently long and falling to mid-back with a slight wave in her locks
Eye Color: Varies; currently/usually a dark purple
Skin color/ Skin type: Varies; naturally a light tan with golden undertones
Tattoos: Varies but none normally
Piercing: Varies but normally 2 piercing in each ear
Scars/ Distinguishing Marks: Varies; none normally, her skin preternaturally blemish free
Preferred Style Of Clothing: She dresses for the occasion and as the mood strikes her. Her typical style would be geek casual with tank tops and t-shirts over skirts no longer than knee length, socks (pulled up or not), and sneakers, sometimes with a button down or cardigan over top of it all. She finds bras uncomfortable and will go without one if she feels it is 'safe' (or thrilling) enough to do so.
Frequently Worn Jewelry: a pair of earrings that are small Defenders symbols, made from a pair of cufflinks given to her by John Smith years ago.
Costume (if applicable): A body hugging black body suit of carbon nanotubes with high tech boots with greaves, gauntlets, shoulder pads, and a visored headpiece in silver. (See attached pic) The control crown once gave her control of the nanites but now just houses comm gear and an on-board computer that can access the Internet and contains a library of schematics; the visor is capable of both low light and night vision. It also serves as a heads-up display for her on-board computer and can let her check the status of nanite construction projects. The gauntlets still contain the air cannons used to spread the nanites before her transformation.
Health
Smoker: Only for a disguise
Drinker: Makoto can't get drunk or even tipsy because of the nanites, so she drinks little now as it is pointless but will do so for a disguise. Before her transformation Makoto would drink heavily after victories or failures. And sing.
Illness: None as the nanites assist her body in eliminating any harmful substances, bacteria, viruses, etc.
Disease: See above
Mental Issues: Mild phobia of spiders, Jane Smith, and the nanites going out of control. She is also slightly paranoid about John Smith and his efforts against Jane, suspecting him of unconsciously going easy on her. Makoto was very repressed before her transformation as well as in denial about her gender and sexuality; issues surrounding this still crop up. She hates to fail or look foolish in any way and will excoriate herself mercilessly and can fall into deep depression after such incidents.
Lost Limbs/ injuries: None
Personality
Likes: technology (new and cool 'vintage' tech), exploration (academic/scientific, personal, sexual, etc), being a hero, recognition, public adoration, the sea, cute things, swimming, going bra-less, karaoke, learning new things, anime, manga, video games, most geek culture, rain/thunderstorms, seafood, LGTBQ causes/rights.
Dislikes: being reminded of her former self, rude/dismissive people, bullies, cigarette smoke, jellyfish, pugs and bulldogs, willfully ignorant people, businessmen, lawyers, the Chinese and North Korean governments, deserts, natto, carrots, failure, anything magical or mystical.
Turn-Ons: Assertive and strong willed people, physically strong people, Jane Smith (despite herself), being dominated (with consent), spanking, bondage, gentle sex, rough sex, threatened/implied humiliation, teasing, pegging/strap-ons, futanari, costumes/role play, dirty talk, exhibitionism, intelligent people, saving people/being saved, heroics, being publicly recognized, and many more she has yet to discover or think about.
Turn-Offs: Violence and threats of violence, people trying to dominate without her consent or thinking that dominating her during sex carries over to other interactions, scat/urine, blood, gags, blindfolds, pain (any more than mild), humiliation.
Goals: Before her transformation, Makoto's goals were to provide a heroic example for his country and raise their spirits/international profile and to help re-establish their technological superiority. Those goals have been accomplished to one degree or another and now Makoto has no clear goals other than to live as fully as possible. She also has a goal of finding a way to kill Jane Smith. Otherwise, she is somewhat aimless.
Aspirations: experience as many new things as possible, one day reveal her secret and be accepted, be the focus of a gang bang or participate in an orgy, kill/neutralize Jane Smith.
Personality: Makoto has a keen intellect and curiosity, always interested and wanting to learn more. She was once very reserved and shy, and still is sometimes, but is making an effort to be more outgoing. Her moods tend to be strong; when excited, she is cheery and enthusiastic. When depressed, sad, or angry, she sinks deep into the emotion.
She is notably more confident and bold when in costume.
SKILLS
Skills: Makoto is a world class scientist and engineer. She has Ph.Ds in Robotics, Chemical Engineering, and Materials Engineering; though she no longer has proof of her degrees or any other credentials. She is a genius level intellect with deep knowledge in chemistry, physics (quantum physics especially), biology, and medicine. She is well educated and has a wide body of knowledge in other subjects as well. Her skills are not simply academic; she is a solid mechanic and excellent with electronics. She is very good at programming robots but less skilled with other types of programming, though she is a decent hacker (but she usually just uses the nanites to get into any system she wants).
Makoto does not have any real athletic training other than in swimming, being a very strong swimmer. She has experience with running, jumping, and so on but little training. As part of the Defenders, she was given instruction in kendo, karate, and marksmanship by some of the best teachers in Japan (so she wouldn't embarrass her homeland in combat) and is proficient but few would call her expert.
Growing up in Toyama, the sea was ever present so Makoto has a lot of skills relating to growing up on the coast. In addition to being a great swimmer, she knows how to sail, pilot most small to mid sized watercraft, snorkel, SCUBA (though her certification lapsed years ago for a few reasons), navigate, and a lot of knotwork. She is terrible at fishing, however, and is embarrassed about it.
Weapons: Her costume does have a pair of air cannons on each forearm that create gusts of pressurized air that can buffet an enemy but Makoto does not often use them. She generally uses the nanites to make weapons on the fly; usually katana, wakizashi, or a staff. She can also create firearms of varying types and sizes, though making such items takes time. She has been practicing making katana lately, focusing on making a harder, stronger sword with a blade whose edge is a single molecule thick...that should get through Jane's armor...
Powers: All of Makoto's powers come from the nanites she created as her greatest breakthrough; refined over the years, and which now infest her body. The nanites are microscopic, the smallest at nearly the atomic level, machines capable of interacting with, disassembling, and reassembling matter at the molecular level.
The primary use of them is construction; to make weapons, armor, bridges over gaps, walls to cut off enemies or provide cover for allies, stairs or a ladder sprouting from the side of a building to ascent it, and so on. Simple items of simple materials can be created in the time it takes to blink but the larger, more complex, or more complicated the compounds, the longer the item takes to build. She can make advanced and high tech weapons, structures, even vehicles, but these take time. The nanites can operate on any inorganic matter, plant matter, and Makoto's own body. She has them hardwired not to be able to effect any other organic matter. Though she thinks she could make them if she really wanted to...but regards that as both highly dangerous and unethical. The nanites were once kept in storage units in her costume and spread using the air cannons but now she spreads them through physical contact. The nanites can disassemble as well as assemble, taking apart enemy weapons into pieces or more dramatically turn them into air or paper.
Since her transformation, she no longer needs the control crown of her costume to guide the nanites, doing so with her mere thoughts and instincts. They rebuilt her body and infest it and as such, they can repair damage she receives to give her a healing factor. They also neutralize any toxins/poisons/diseases/harmful substances she ingests/touches, etc.
The nanites ability to manipulate her body also gives her a limited degree of shape changing; she can alter her appearance to resemble other people. She can change skin tone, eye and hair color, height, facial features, figure, and so on. She can take on male forms and even make herself a blend of both. She is limited by her mass, however. She cannot take on a form that has more mass than she does; she could never take John Smith's shape, for instance. She also can only take "standard" human forms as this ability is limited by the nanites programming and her own psychology. She could never shapeshift Siren's wings or Lillian's horns and hooves as those are not human features.
Her powers are not without their limits. The nanites building does take time and while making a sword or a staircase takes a few heartbeats, making a turret could take up to a full minute, an eternity in combat. She also must either have memorized a schematic or have one accessible to mentally feed to the nanites, which is why her costume's onboard computer has a library of them. The nanites also cannot create from nothing; they must use available matter. Though this does include air, it can also limit the practical application of their constructing ability. She also has made sure they cannot effect anything living other than plants and herself as mentioned above. This means they also cannot make organic matter (thought they could make something that looked like it was).
The nanites are also tiny robots and though it is difficult to attack and destroy them (even an area attack would leave a great number remaining due to their vast numbers), they are vulnerable to magnetic forces. An EMP in particular would knock them offline and stop whatever they had been doing. A strong enough EMP could even destroy all of them in Makoto's body and render her powerless until the back ups kept inactive along her spine created enough other nanites to be useful.
Her healing factor is strong but it can be overrated by sudden or sufficient trauma; she can be knocked out, though it can be tough keeping her unconscious for long. Similarly a strong enough poison could effect her but it would have to be administered continuously to prevent the nanites from neutralizing it. A swift enough attack with enough force could kill her either through simple destroying her body outright or by destroying her brain. This might cause the nanites to go wild though, which could be...interesting.
She also has no particular defense against psychic abilities like telepathy or mind control beyond her intellect and will. If someone were to gain control of her mind, they would also gain control of the nanites.
Background
Background: Umizu Makoto was born the only son of a mid-level tech manager and a high school nurse. He demonstrated a keen intellect young and studied voraciously in school and out of it, graduating high school and going into college early. When his classmates were graduating with their Bachelor's degrees, he was finishing up his first doctoral thesis.
Despite or perhaps in part because of his status as a prodigy, Makoto never made many friends or connections beyond the casual. He rarely felt comfortable around others, or even in his own skin. There was always something...off. In particular, Makoto was conflicted when it came to sex and physical intimacy. He was attracted to women, but also to men, and engaging with either was good but still didn't feel right, somehow. Something about it was wrong.
Makoto burst onto the scene as a brilliant inventor and engineer; creating and refining many designs of robots for practical purposes. His creations were advanced and complex (though he kept them well away from anything resembling artificial intelligence or heuristic systems) and Japan now leads the world in robotics. He also made practical medical nanotechnology a reality allowing for surgery with microscopic precision and first aid that could save patients that would have been hopeless before; the medical nanotech the Defenders use is his work. He helped to spark a technological renaissance in Japan.
Makoto was very careful to build his designs and program the nanites used for this work very rigidly and built in numerous safeguards to ensure they could neither be stolen nor put to harmful purposes. His most advanced nanites, however, he kept secret. Their capabilities were too much, too dangerous, for any nation, for humanity, to have.
Then a group of zaibatsu backed yakuza kidnapped his parents. Fearing to go to the police, Makoto took inspiration from the anime, manga, and the newly formed Defenders to rescue them himself. Using the nanites he had kept secret and a costume of his own making, he thwarted the criminals and exposed their big business backers as Kuroari, the Black Ant, taking the name due to the insects legendary skill as builders.
The Defenders came calling soon and Makoto joined them with pride, quickly becoming one of the most prominent Japanese heroes, though he was far from the only one. He helped build and design much of the Defenders equipment and facilities as well as participate in research and field missions. He was primary part of Overwatch but participated in missions with Ecowatch as well, and one or two Blackwatch missions (he was along only for insertion/recovery of the actual Blackwatch team).
His time in the Defenders was the best time of Makoto's life. He was challenged intellectually and physically, surrounded with amazing and luminary people, and part of something truly world altering, making life genuinely better for billions of people. It was here that he made true friends for the first time, even had lovers. It was also during this time that Makoto faced a truth that the young hero was not ready for. During an encounter with a wild magical relic (Makoto HATES magic and other supernatural nonsense) that forced people to see and know the Truth about themselves, the reason behind Makoto's lifelong discomfort was revealed. She was transgender; born a boy, but a woman in mind and spirit. Makoto was unprepared for this truth and tried hard to ignore it but once she knew, it clicked in her.
How it might have worked out given time will never be known. The downfall of the Defenders began and Makoto stayed with the team to the end. She was present at the final battle with the Syndicate and it was then that she changed forever. Already injured in battle, Makoto came face to face with Jane Smith. The two battled and though Makoto did well, being already hurt left the outcome in little doubt. Her telekinetic might broke the hero's body; snapping bones and bursting organs. She left him dying to seek out John. As Makoto's life slipped away, the reservations and illusions in her mind fell away. She accepted herself as trans and wished she had a chance to be who she wanted to be, to live life more fully, if only.
Somehow, the nanites heard. Makoto isn't sure how it happened to this day but in the fighting and the damage done to the suit and her body, the function of the control crown was merged with her mind. The billions of microscopic machines were all over due to the ruptured storage of her costume and freed from their constraints by her dying desires, they sank into her body and began to repair and remake it.
Makoto awoke three days later in a coffin. Freeing herself using the nanites, she realized almost immediately that her body had changed. Using the nanites to make a mirror, she looked and saw a beautiful and busty girl staring back at her in awe. The nanites had rebuilt her into the woman she was supposed to be. Dazed, frightened, and elated all at once, she used her new powers to make a facsimile of her old body in the coffin and slipped out of the morgue and into the night.
Umizu Makoto, Kuroari, the Black Ant, was given a hero's funeral in his homeland. His name adorns his family's grave and a statue has been erected in his honor in his native Toyama. Celebrity crazy Japan never abandoned its' heroes the way the rest of the world has, and he remains honored and upheld as an example. His will set up numerous scholarships and a research foundation in his name, as well as ensuring his parents would be well taken care of.
A few days after the funeral there was a break in at a number of government offices. The matter was confusing; someone had clearly entered and exited but it was impossible to tell how they had done so. And nothing seemed to be missing, damaged, or altered. None of the investigators noticed the documents and computer records that hadn't existed before for a young woman named Tansui Makoto.
She lived for a time on the streets for a week or so and for tired of it, But she'd need money to get an apartment or a house or anything else, really. And since she had no real background or references/work experience that could face fact checking, she only had one option. Not whoring, you dirty minded reader, you! Stealing! Using the nanites, she broke into a number of yakuza banks, gambling dens, and brothels, stealing a small fortune from the gangsters and leaving them utterly in the dark as to how it happened.
Makoto set herself up in the eclectic and eccentric Daikanyama neighborhood of Tokyo and went about the business of living. It was awkward and difficult at first, but she made herself meet people, go do clubs, dance, flirt, even hook up with men and women both! And it was good, so much better than before! Now that her body matched her spirit, it was just...right. She even got a job as a waitress and hostess at one of the many themed restaurants that featured attractive female employees wearing various costumes.
But her new exploration of life, her job, her new friends (including those with benefits), grew boring in time. Her intellect needed challenged and her new life lacked the raw thrill of being a hero. So she re-made her old costume, with a few tweaks, and a little less than a year ago, the first story broke of a new Kuroari fighting crime and saving lives in Tokyo. In the three brief interviews she has given, Makoto has claimed she is the secret protege of the "original" Kuroari. Her identity remains secret, most thinking the new Black Ant is probably Makoto's old girlfriend/childhood friend from before the transformation.
With the news of the Defenders return, the leaked footage, and the hack of the Watch Dogs, Makoto now feels conflicted. She was desperately to join them, to see her old friends again, to be a hero on a global scale again! But she is also afraid. What if they find out? She does look like a female relative of her old self. And if her DNA was tested, it would match except for the XX chromosomes. But if they reach out to her...she knows she couldn't say no.
Here is the bio for my first and "main" character. This is a first draft; very little here is set in stone. I'm not clear on the state of the world technologically or the crisis that originally put the Defenders together. Something about robots? Since her background involves robotics, if I need to change that, let me know. I would like feedback and criticism so I can make adjustments as needed; I don't want to do too much or have her be too powerful.
I'm also sorry for the length. I may have gotten carried away...but I don't like being vague and there was so must to say and tell! Still, I'm very sorry; I know that reading all this must be a pain.
Basic Information
Full name: Tansui Makoto (formerly Umizu Makoto)
Pronunciation: Tahn-swee Mah-koe-toe
Nickname/ Alias: Kuroari (Black Ant, outside of Japan)
Gender: Female
Species: Human mutate (nanite infestation)
Age: 32 (looks 21)
Sexuality: Bisexual and very curious and experimental
Nationality: Japanese
Religion: Shinto and Buddhism (in name only; she follows tradition but is non-religious)
City Or Town Of Birth: Toyama, Toyama Prefecture, Japan
Currently lives: Daikanyama (a neighborhood of Tokyo), Japan
Languages Spoken: English, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Korean, smatterings of Russian and German.
Native Language: Japanese
Relationship Status: Single and open!
Physical Appearance
Height: 139cm (5'2")
Weight: You don't ask a girl that! (58kg/127lbs)
Figure/ Build: Curvy and busty, particularly for a Japanese woman (see attached picture for an idea)
Hair Color: Varies; currently glossy black
Hair Style: Varies; currently long and falling to mid-back with a slight wave in her locks
Eye Color: Varies; currently/usually a dark purple
Skin color/ Skin type: Varies; naturally a light tan with golden undertones
Tattoos: Varies but none normally
Piercing: Varies but normally 2 piercing in each ear
Scars/ Distinguishing Marks: Varies; none normally, her skin preternaturally blemish free
Preferred Style Of Clothing: She dresses for the occasion and as the mood strikes her. Her typical style would be geek casual with tank tops and t-shirts over skirts no longer than knee length, socks (pulled up or not), and sneakers, sometimes with a button down or cardigan over top of it all. She finds bras uncomfortable and will go without one if she feels it is 'safe' (or thrilling) enough to do so.
Frequently Worn Jewelry: a pair of earrings that are small Defenders symbols, made from a pair of cufflinks given to her by John Smith years ago.
Costume (if applicable): A body hugging black body suit of carbon nanotubes with high tech boots with greaves, gauntlets, shoulder pads, and a visored headpiece in silver. (See attached pic) The control crown once gave her control of the nanites but now just houses comm gear and an on-board computer that can access the Internet and contains a library of schematics; the visor is capable of both low light and night vision. It also serves as a heads-up display for her on-board computer and can let her check the status of nanite construction projects. The gauntlets still contain the air cannons used to spread the nanites before her transformation.
Health
Smoker: Only for a disguise
Drinker: Makoto can't get drunk or even tipsy because of the nanites, so she drinks little now as it is pointless but will do so for a disguise. Before her transformation Makoto would drink heavily after victories or failures. And sing.
Illness: None as the nanites assist her body in eliminating any harmful substances, bacteria, viruses, etc.
Disease: See above
Mental Issues: Mild phobia of spiders, Jane Smith, and the nanites going out of control. She is also slightly paranoid about John Smith and his efforts against Jane, suspecting him of unconsciously going easy on her. Makoto was very repressed before her transformation as well as in denial about her gender and sexuality; issues surrounding this still crop up. She hates to fail or look foolish in any way and will excoriate herself mercilessly and can fall into deep depression after such incidents.
Lost Limbs/ injuries: None
Personality
Likes: technology (new and cool 'vintage' tech), exploration (academic/scientific, personal, sexual, etc), being a hero, recognition, public adoration, the sea, cute things, swimming, going bra-less, karaoke, learning new things, anime, manga, video games, most geek culture, rain/thunderstorms, seafood, LGTBQ causes/rights.
Dislikes: being reminded of her former self, rude/dismissive people, bullies, cigarette smoke, jellyfish, pugs and bulldogs, willfully ignorant people, businessmen, lawyers, the Chinese and North Korean governments, deserts, natto, carrots, failure, anything magical or mystical.
Turn-Ons: Assertive and strong willed people, physically strong people, Jane Smith (despite herself), being dominated (with consent), spanking, bondage, gentle sex, rough sex, threatened/implied humiliation, teasing, pegging/strap-ons, futanari, costumes/role play, dirty talk, exhibitionism, intelligent people, saving people/being saved, heroics, being publicly recognized, and many more she has yet to discover or think about.
Turn-Offs: Violence and threats of violence, people trying to dominate without her consent or thinking that dominating her during sex carries over to other interactions, scat/urine, blood, gags, blindfolds, pain (any more than mild), humiliation.
Goals: Before her transformation, Makoto's goals were to provide a heroic example for his country and raise their spirits/international profile and to help re-establish their technological superiority. Those goals have been accomplished to one degree or another and now Makoto has no clear goals other than to live as fully as possible. She also has a goal of finding a way to kill Jane Smith. Otherwise, she is somewhat aimless.
Aspirations: experience as many new things as possible, one day reveal her secret and be accepted, be the focus of a gang bang or participate in an orgy, kill/neutralize Jane Smith.
Personality: Makoto has a keen intellect and curiosity, always interested and wanting to learn more. She was once very reserved and shy, and still is sometimes, but is making an effort to be more outgoing. Her moods tend to be strong; when excited, she is cheery and enthusiastic. When depressed, sad, or angry, she sinks deep into the emotion.
She is notably more confident and bold when in costume.
SKILLS
Skills: Makoto is a world class scientist and engineer. She has Ph.Ds in Robotics, Chemical Engineering, and Materials Engineering; though she no longer has proof of her degrees or any other credentials. She is a genius level intellect with deep knowledge in chemistry, physics (quantum physics especially), biology, and medicine. She is well educated and has a wide body of knowledge in other subjects as well. Her skills are not simply academic; she is a solid mechanic and excellent with electronics. She is very good at programming robots but less skilled with other types of programming, though she is a decent hacker (but she usually just uses the nanites to get into any system she wants).
Makoto does not have any real athletic training other than in swimming, being a very strong swimmer. She has experience with running, jumping, and so on but little training. As part of the Defenders, she was given instruction in kendo, karate, and marksmanship by some of the best teachers in Japan (so she wouldn't embarrass her homeland in combat) and is proficient but few would call her expert.
Growing up in Toyama, the sea was ever present so Makoto has a lot of skills relating to growing up on the coast. In addition to being a great swimmer, she knows how to sail, pilot most small to mid sized watercraft, snorkel, SCUBA (though her certification lapsed years ago for a few reasons), navigate, and a lot of knotwork. She is terrible at fishing, however, and is embarrassed about it.
Weapons: Her costume does have a pair of air cannons on each forearm that create gusts of pressurized air that can buffet an enemy but Makoto does not often use them. She generally uses the nanites to make weapons on the fly; usually katana, wakizashi, or a staff. She can also create firearms of varying types and sizes, though making such items takes time. She has been practicing making katana lately, focusing on making a harder, stronger sword with a blade whose edge is a single molecule thick...that should get through Jane's armor...
Powers: All of Makoto's powers come from the nanites she created as her greatest breakthrough; refined over the years, and which now infest her body. The nanites are microscopic, the smallest at nearly the atomic level, machines capable of interacting with, disassembling, and reassembling matter at the molecular level.
The primary use of them is construction; to make weapons, armor, bridges over gaps, walls to cut off enemies or provide cover for allies, stairs or a ladder sprouting from the side of a building to ascent it, and so on. Simple items of simple materials can be created in the time it takes to blink but the larger, more complex, or more complicated the compounds, the longer the item takes to build. She can make advanced and high tech weapons, structures, even vehicles, but these take time. The nanites can operate on any inorganic matter, plant matter, and Makoto's own body. She has them hardwired not to be able to effect any other organic matter. Though she thinks she could make them if she really wanted to...but regards that as both highly dangerous and unethical. The nanites were once kept in storage units in her costume and spread using the air cannons but now she spreads them through physical contact. The nanites can disassemble as well as assemble, taking apart enemy weapons into pieces or more dramatically turn them into air or paper.
Since her transformation, she no longer needs the control crown of her costume to guide the nanites, doing so with her mere thoughts and instincts. They rebuilt her body and infest it and as such, they can repair damage she receives to give her a healing factor. They also neutralize any toxins/poisons/diseases/harmful substances she ingests/touches, etc.
The nanites ability to manipulate her body also gives her a limited degree of shape changing; she can alter her appearance to resemble other people. She can change skin tone, eye and hair color, height, facial features, figure, and so on. She can take on male forms and even make herself a blend of both. She is limited by her mass, however. She cannot take on a form that has more mass than she does; she could never take John Smith's shape, for instance. She also can only take "standard" human forms as this ability is limited by the nanites programming and her own psychology. She could never shapeshift Siren's wings or Lillian's horns and hooves as those are not human features.
Her powers are not without their limits. The nanites building does take time and while making a sword or a staircase takes a few heartbeats, making a turret could take up to a full minute, an eternity in combat. She also must either have memorized a schematic or have one accessible to mentally feed to the nanites, which is why her costume's onboard computer has a library of them. The nanites also cannot create from nothing; they must use available matter. Though this does include air, it can also limit the practical application of their constructing ability. She also has made sure they cannot effect anything living other than plants and herself as mentioned above. This means they also cannot make organic matter (thought they could make something that looked like it was).
The nanites are also tiny robots and though it is difficult to attack and destroy them (even an area attack would leave a great number remaining due to their vast numbers), they are vulnerable to magnetic forces. An EMP in particular would knock them offline and stop whatever they had been doing. A strong enough EMP could even destroy all of them in Makoto's body and render her powerless until the back ups kept inactive along her spine created enough other nanites to be useful.
Her healing factor is strong but it can be overrated by sudden or sufficient trauma; she can be knocked out, though it can be tough keeping her unconscious for long. Similarly a strong enough poison could effect her but it would have to be administered continuously to prevent the nanites from neutralizing it. A swift enough attack with enough force could kill her either through simple destroying her body outright or by destroying her brain. This might cause the nanites to go wild though, which could be...interesting.
She also has no particular defense against psychic abilities like telepathy or mind control beyond her intellect and will. If someone were to gain control of her mind, they would also gain control of the nanites.
Background
Background: Umizu Makoto was born the only son of a mid-level tech manager and a high school nurse. He demonstrated a keen intellect young and studied voraciously in school and out of it, graduating high school and going into college early. When his classmates were graduating with their Bachelor's degrees, he was finishing up his first doctoral thesis.
Despite or perhaps in part because of his status as a prodigy, Makoto never made many friends or connections beyond the casual. He rarely felt comfortable around others, or even in his own skin. There was always something...off. In particular, Makoto was conflicted when it came to sex and physical intimacy. He was attracted to women, but also to men, and engaging with either was good but still didn't feel right, somehow. Something about it was wrong.
Makoto burst onto the scene as a brilliant inventor and engineer; creating and refining many designs of robots for practical purposes. His creations were advanced and complex (though he kept them well away from anything resembling artificial intelligence or heuristic systems) and Japan now leads the world in robotics. He also made practical medical nanotechnology a reality allowing for surgery with microscopic precision and first aid that could save patients that would have been hopeless before; the medical nanotech the Defenders use is his work. He helped to spark a technological renaissance in Japan.
Makoto was very careful to build his designs and program the nanites used for this work very rigidly and built in numerous safeguards to ensure they could neither be stolen nor put to harmful purposes. His most advanced nanites, however, he kept secret. Their capabilities were too much, too dangerous, for any nation, for humanity, to have.
Then a group of zaibatsu backed yakuza kidnapped his parents. Fearing to go to the police, Makoto took inspiration from the anime, manga, and the newly formed Defenders to rescue them himself. Using the nanites he had kept secret and a costume of his own making, he thwarted the criminals and exposed their big business backers as Kuroari, the Black Ant, taking the name due to the insects legendary skill as builders.
The Defenders came calling soon and Makoto joined them with pride, quickly becoming one of the most prominent Japanese heroes, though he was far from the only one. He helped build and design much of the Defenders equipment and facilities as well as participate in research and field missions. He was primary part of Overwatch but participated in missions with Ecowatch as well, and one or two Blackwatch missions (he was along only for insertion/recovery of the actual Blackwatch team).
His time in the Defenders was the best time of Makoto's life. He was challenged intellectually and physically, surrounded with amazing and luminary people, and part of something truly world altering, making life genuinely better for billions of people. It was here that he made true friends for the first time, even had lovers. It was also during this time that Makoto faced a truth that the young hero was not ready for. During an encounter with a wild magical relic (Makoto HATES magic and other supernatural nonsense) that forced people to see and know the Truth about themselves, the reason behind Makoto's lifelong discomfort was revealed. She was transgender; born a boy, but a woman in mind and spirit. Makoto was unprepared for this truth and tried hard to ignore it but once she knew, it clicked in her.
How it might have worked out given time will never be known. The downfall of the Defenders began and Makoto stayed with the team to the end. She was present at the final battle with the Syndicate and it was then that she changed forever. Already injured in battle, Makoto came face to face with Jane Smith. The two battled and though Makoto did well, being already hurt left the outcome in little doubt. Her telekinetic might broke the hero's body; snapping bones and bursting organs. She left him dying to seek out John. As Makoto's life slipped away, the reservations and illusions in her mind fell away. She accepted herself as trans and wished she had a chance to be who she wanted to be, to live life more fully, if only.
Somehow, the nanites heard. Makoto isn't sure how it happened to this day but in the fighting and the damage done to the suit and her body, the function of the control crown was merged with her mind. The billions of microscopic machines were all over due to the ruptured storage of her costume and freed from their constraints by her dying desires, they sank into her body and began to repair and remake it.
Makoto awoke three days later in a coffin. Freeing herself using the nanites, she realized almost immediately that her body had changed. Using the nanites to make a mirror, she looked and saw a beautiful and busty girl staring back at her in awe. The nanites had rebuilt her into the woman she was supposed to be. Dazed, frightened, and elated all at once, she used her new powers to make a facsimile of her old body in the coffin and slipped out of the morgue and into the night.
Umizu Makoto, Kuroari, the Black Ant, was given a hero's funeral in his homeland. His name adorns his family's grave and a statue has been erected in his honor in his native Toyama. Celebrity crazy Japan never abandoned its' heroes the way the rest of the world has, and he remains honored and upheld as an example. His will set up numerous scholarships and a research foundation in his name, as well as ensuring his parents would be well taken care of.
A few days after the funeral there was a break in at a number of government offices. The matter was confusing; someone had clearly entered and exited but it was impossible to tell how they had done so. And nothing seemed to be missing, damaged, or altered. None of the investigators noticed the documents and computer records that hadn't existed before for a young woman named Tansui Makoto.
She lived for a time on the streets for a week or so and for tired of it, But she'd need money to get an apartment or a house or anything else, really. And since she had no real background or references/work experience that could face fact checking, she only had one option. Not whoring, you dirty minded reader, you! Stealing! Using the nanites, she broke into a number of yakuza banks, gambling dens, and brothels, stealing a small fortune from the gangsters and leaving them utterly in the dark as to how it happened.
Makoto set herself up in the eclectic and eccentric Daikanyama neighborhood of Tokyo and went about the business of living. It was awkward and difficult at first, but she made herself meet people, go do clubs, dance, flirt, even hook up with men and women both! And it was good, so much better than before! Now that her body matched her spirit, it was just...right. She even got a job as a waitress and hostess at one of the many themed restaurants that featured attractive female employees wearing various costumes.
But her new exploration of life, her job, her new friends (including those with benefits), grew boring in time. Her intellect needed challenged and her new life lacked the raw thrill of being a hero. So she re-made her old costume, with a few tweaks, and a little less than a year ago, the first story broke of a new Kuroari fighting crime and saving lives in Tokyo. In the three brief interviews she has given, Makoto has claimed she is the secret protege of the "original" Kuroari. Her identity remains secret, most thinking the new Black Ant is probably Makoto's old girlfriend/childhood friend from before the transformation.
With the news of the Defenders return, the leaked footage, and the hack of the Watch Dogs, Makoto now feels conflicted. She was desperately to join them, to see her old friends again, to be a hero on a global scale again! But she is also afraid. What if they find out? She does look like a female relative of her old self. And if her DNA was tested, it would match except for the XX chromosomes. But if they reach out to her...she knows she couldn't say no.
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I look forward to RPing with you and learning more about Katya. 
