Clive App

[rikoren.livejournal.com]

CHARACTER

✧ NAME: Clive
✧ SERIES: Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
✧ HISTORY: Layton Wiki.
✧ TIMELINE: Post-canon
✧ PERSONALITY: Clive is an intelligent, resourceful and pioneering young man with entirely the wrong motivations in life. His intellect can be shown in the fact that he was the mastermind behind the villain whom everyone had originally suspected, having not only erected a working underground city and contributed to the successful abduction of the prime minister of England and a multitude of scientists, but also managed to create a hidden military weapon without his supposed partner ever noticing. He's a very good actor, convincing everyone in the group that he is "Future Luke" and acting every bit the proper gentleman during their adventures, treating Flora, the lady of the group, even more politely than Layton does. His acting skills also make him a very good liar, and the personality he shows to people is one that is calm and collecting in all but the most surprising or stressing situations, at which times he can actually become quite agitated. He's very self-assured as well, always confident in his beliefs (or able to convince himself that he is), as is shown in his never showing any indecision to Layton and Luke, and his diligently sticking with his plan to the very end. Added to this is patience; it took ten years for him to reach this point, and yet he good-naturedly egged on Layton and Luke's excursions and side-trips. This patience actually helps more than one might think, as the more time he spends with the group, the more he starts to realize how much he enjoys it. He admits to this himself at the very end, as well as the thought that, deep down, he wanted Layton to save him from himself. In other words, he knows full well that he's gone too far, and acknowledges (however subconsciously) that he needs help.

The one most noticeable flaw in his personality is his stubborn obsession with finding justice. He holds a burning hatred for the government due to its involvement in covering up the accident that killed his parents ten years before, and his time working as a reporter has only helped to fan the flames with his discoveries of other families who had also gotten the short end of the stick. His hatred - which eventually evolved into some skewed idea of justice - tends to cloud his logic, causing great holes in his plans that are not always noticed or corrected, despite his having dedicated his life to it since the death of his adopted guardian. One good example of this is the fact that his plan to cure London of corruption involved leveling the city, something counterintuitive to his desire to fight 'for the people', as it were. This isn't to say he was automatically consumed with a desire for revenge as soon as his parents died - the couple who runs the clock shop are adamant in their belief that he is a good-hearted person, and a photograph is shown of him happily smiling with them and the woman who adopted him. This attempt at happiness was cut off before he could truly recover though, throwing him back into his initial despair and consequently bringing his attention back to the idea of revenge. What is real biggest flaw, though, isn't an obsession with justice but the inability to open up to others. No one knew of his feelings or the reasons behind his plan until he finally revealed them all to Layton, the culmination of ten years' worth of pent up anger and frustration.

In all, despite his faults, Clive is still a very kind and gentle person, one whose self-contained attempts to fight off despair have driven him to desperately extreme actions. The clock shop couple attest to this, and one of the few men who directly answers to him states that the only reason he doesn't attack them is because of Clive's orders. This last statement is actually quite significant, having been made at a moment in which having Layton out of the picture would most likely have saved his plan, close as it was to falling apart. Layton himself, in his final journal entries, writes that "somewhere in him, he has the heart of a gentleman."
✧ ABILITIES/POWERS: Despite his superior intelligence and acting skills, Clive has no powers to speak of.
✧ TIME OF ARRIVAL: Night.

✧ MASK DESIGN: Here.
✧ PLACE OF SOLACE: The clock shop on Midland Road. A small place with rows upon rows of clocks covering the walls.

SAMPLES

✧ FIRST PERSON: [There is a click as the PORTAL turns on, revealing the face of a somewhat angry, tired-looking young man. He quickly notices the device is on though - a second's pause, and suddenly he is smiling pleasantly at the screen, though try as he might it does seem somewhat strained if one looks closely.]

What a strange device this is. Like some sort of portable telephone, I'm assuming? I'd feel quite silly speaking aloud like this if no one could actually hear me. [He lets out a slight chuckle, though he doesn't actually seem all that amused.] Ah, but getting to the point. If I'm correct in my assumptions, then is there anyone on the other end of the line who can tell me where I am, or how to leave here? I must admit I'm at a loss as to how I arrived. I will be grateful to you for any help you may be able to offer.

[A moment of silence. His smile, fake as it is, becomes lopsided, as if he'd thought of something unpleasant but wishes not to bother the viewer with it. The feed cuts off shortly afterwards.]
✧ THIRD PERSON: He was alive. It was the first thought that came to his mind as he woke, a thought accompanied first by confusion and later by frustrated anger. Where was he? He'd been in the fortress just moments ago, and now...silence. Everything was gone. Perhaps he'd been knocked out? But no, that was unacceptable. Whatever had happened, it was clear he was no longer where he was supposed to be. He had failed to fulfill his goal, had failed to even see his failure through to the end for some inexplicable reason. He'd been so close, so close to the end! It didn't matter how doomed his life's work had been - he'd heard it crashing down around his ears, felt the jolt of a machine no longer able to hold itself up, but it hadn't been over yet, he hadn't--

The impact of his fist against the wall brought him back to his senses, and the grimace that had contorted his features slowly smoothed into a disappointed frown. He was alive, yes. His plan had failed, that much was obvious. The Professor...no, now wasn't the time to think about that. Better to concentrate on getting his bearings in this new place now. With this resolution he started a survey of the room he'd found himself in: it was clean, quiet. Unfamiliar. And here, a paper - he read it quietly to himself, smiled a cheerless smile, and placed the message in his pocket. 'You are not safe'? Really? He couldn't possibly have guessed. But danger or no, he would find a way out of here, find a way back. Whether he'd try again when he did, well...he'd think about that on the way.

And he hadn't even found the mirror yet.