Dr. Tachyon

Dr. Tachyon is a male extraterrestrial literature character who features in Wild Cards.

Biography

Tisianne brant T'sara sek Halima sek Ragnar sek Omian

A geneticist from the planet Takis, whose people naturally developed various telepathic powers. Interbreeding among these psionic peoples created a royal caste system and various specified powers. Tachyon's royal house of Ilkazam created what human doctors called Xenovirus Takis-A also known as the Wild Card virus. The virus, was intended to boost their own natural psionic powers, allowing his House to conquer their rivals. To avoid the side-effects, it was decided to test the virus on an isolated population with the same DNA as Takisians - the humans of Earth. Tisianne protested this decision. He then tried to stop his partners from testing the virus on Earth, without success, since he had personally been responsible for achieving enough success in getting the virus to its present testable stage. When the virus was released, he worked among the "jokers", physically deformed and mutated victims of the virus, guilt-stricken over his responsibility for their suffering. Of course, Tachyon was not so anguished that he refrained from hobnobbing with celebrities, politicians, and many "aces", those rare humans successfully granted paranormal abilities by the Enhancer. His nickname came from the scientists who worked with him and is a reference to the tachyon particles used by his ship's faster than light drive - his own name was prohibitively long, and hard to pronounce. His normal telepathic powers include skilled mind reading, thought projection, and the ability to physically control up to three human bodies, in totality, while simultaneously reading their minds and projecting his own thoughts to them. These powers can be reduced by extreme physical, emotional, or psychological stress.

However, when it was decided to test the virus on Earth, Tisianne rebelled and tried to stop the experiment on his own. Aboard his personal spaceship, Baby, he intercepted his family's vessel and in the ensuing battle caused the enemy ship to crash, killing all on board. Tisianne's own ship was damaged, forcing him to seek asylum on Earth. Tisianne landed on the military base of White Sands in August 23, 1946. He tried to get the military's help in locating the crashed spaceship with the alien virus, but failed to convince the authorities of the danger. When the virus was released in New York City, killing and mutating thousands, Tachyon's guilt was enormous. He pledged to dedicate his life to treating the victims of the virus. He worked as a doctor in Mount Sinai hospital during the 1940s. It was there that he met Blythe Stanhope van Renssaeler, the ace Brain Trust. He taught her how to control her memory absorption powers and helped construct crude psychic shields to keep the minds she absorbed at bay. The two fell in love, and Blythe (who had already been kicked out by her husband) went to go live and work with Dr. Tachyon. She even used her powers to absorb Tachyon's memories and knowledge. Those were the happiest years of Tachyon's life, even though he worried about Blythe's deteriorating sanity, threatened by all the minds she had absorbed. In 1950, the nation was swept by anti-wild card hysteria, and Blythe was summoned by the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and intimidated into revealing all the names of the aces Tachyon had treated. Before she could reveal the names, Tachyon grabbed her mind with his telepathic powers. The shock fragmented Blythe's fragile psyche and she went completely insane. Tachyon's guilt was unbearable. He was deported to Europe and spent more than a decade as a drunken derelict. Tachyon finally returned to the US in 1961, when the political climate became more favorable to wild carders, but his personal situation was little changed; he was still a drunk living in deplorable conditions in Jokertown.

Notes

• Dr. Tachyon was created by Melinda M. Snodgrass where she featured in the setting of the Wild Cards universe.

Appearances

• Wild Cars: (1987)
• Double Solitaire: (1992)

External Links

• Wild Cards Wiki Entry

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