The Arceneaux Twins, rulers of Big Spring. Brilliant research biologists and cyberphysicians, they seek biological immortality and youth, experimenting on captured victims and financing their efforts by performing surgery on the wasteland's wealthiest.
History
Andor and Chrysanthemum were born in Lost Hills during a period of relative optimism for the Brotherhood of Steel: there were no significant dangers to the Brotherhood and the Elders were considering significant eastward expansion since the controversial Chicago expedition. The birth of healthy fraternal twins, a rarity anywhere in the wasteland, was considered another good omen heralding an upward trend for the Brotherhood. Andor's parents were Paladin Lazare Arceneaux and Senior Scribe Vilma Arceneaux nee Szabó, a medical officer and singularly skilled surgeon. Because their father was frequently out on patrol and their mother's skills were in high demand, Andor and his twin were not supervised as closely as was likely necessary. This was exacerbated by the fact that the twins demonstrated high intelligence early on, able to read and write with blocks before most children were even potty trained, it was simply assumed that a pair this bright didn't need as much attention since they spent so much time reading everything they could get their hands on. As bookish children sometimes do, they had trouble with the other children in the Brotherhood. The twins experienced bullying for a few weeks, but after a poorly understood incident where one of their tormentors was found locked in a dark service tunnel after several hours and another burned his hands in the kitchen, they bullying stopped. None of the other children ever confessed as to what happened but none would ever play with the twins again.
Andor and his sister became Initiates as mere children where it was simply accepted that they would eventually be Scribes. They demonstrated great interest in their mother's work and so much of their time was spent in the clinic or observing surgeries. Andor and Chrys were capable of performing first aid and CPR before they were ten. They were advanced to Journeyman Scribe status at twelve years of age, a nearly unheard of acceleration. As journeymen, they served as research assistants to Senior scribes but they devoted much of their free time to their own projects. At fifteen years of age, they perfected a process whereby which Ultra stimpaks could be made to cause less residual damage. They also studied psychology, a discipline largely ignored by the Brotherhood. Throughout their teen years, they rehabilitated their image as social pariahs, not out of any consideration for friends or a need for socializing but to put their studies into the human mind at work. They considered the human brain to be a biological computer and psychology a debugging kit for its software. They also started experimenting with Mentat derivatives based on research unearthed by a Brotherhood-friendly adventurer at an unknown site. Their goal was precise control over hormone production and brain chemistry and applying it to various ends from mind control to increased longevity.
Because they were so rarely supervised outside the clinic, nobody questioned their research and they eventually took away the impression that there was an unspoken approval of their work. When their work hit a dead end they made requests for test subjects and a raid on the Stables which was said to be a wasteland-operated chemistry lab. Their unusual requests resulted in a review of their activities and the twins were barred from further research along that path, and given extra duties outside the clinic to cut down on available time. The twins agreed that their goals could no longer be met amongst the Brotherhood and began plotting their escape. They copied their own research and the Brotherhood's collected knowledge of medicine to data tubes and holodiscs, obtained a Pip-Boy 2000 and volunteered to join an expedition to the distant east.
With their cultivated androgyny, it's difficult to tell the siblings apart.
Before the expedition had even left California the twins abandoned the group and high-tailed it to San Francisco. Easily evading the attention of the Brotherhood's tiny presence in the city, the twins were able to further hone their cyber surgery skills and studied with Shi doctors. They parted amicably with the Shi to serve as physicians to the Hubologists. They found most Hubologists delightfully easy to manipulate and the twins enriched themselves greatly, reinvesting some of their spoils into the cult to advance as far as AHS-6. Unfortunately, they met their match in the current AHS-7 who engineered a scandal that forced them to abandon the city entirely.
They then moved to Nevada where they proved adept card sharks in New Reno thanks to their ability to count cards and detect the "tells," of the other players. They quickly exhausted their hospitality in Reno, forcing them to move on.
The twins then went further east in pursuit of a theory. Having no FEV with which to perform longevity research they thought they could create it from scratch with an entirely new viral architecture if only they had a sample of Limit-115. Unfortunately, the region they set out to search was coming under the influence of Caesar and they were forced to abandon their makeshift lab which was subsequently burned down by the Legion. They wandered southeast, evading the Legion and other dangers until they reached west Texas. They spent a short time in Fort Holly and the Midessa Compact while they got a lay of the land before settling in at Big Spring. They both adored the town's iconic Hotel Settles and decided it was where they would like to settle down. Within the span of a year, they had completely taken over and transformed the town.
As their clinic's reputation, and clientele list grew, the twins drew attention from distant corners. They were approached by a Bright Star Express courier, with an intriguing letter from Alexander Munkhbold. This instigated a year long correspondence leading to the twin's initiation into The Golden Wheel. As members of the wastes-spanning conspiracy, they've further refined the ability of Big Spring to siphon money and information from visitors, and several people who've dished out for extensive cybernetic treatment have unknowingly been turned into remote sensors for the twins intelligence gathering apparatus. Among their greatest coups in this regard was bugging Yvette Lamontagne, a close relative of the Devereux Dynasty.
As of 2281, the twins primary interest is in researching the mysteries and limits of the human mind and body. They pursue knowledge of, or advances in longevity, cybernetics, surgical and chemical enhancement, psychic phenomena, mind control, and so on. They also enjoy intrigues, social and memetic engineering. They do work for hire related to their various specialties, though they do not leave the safety of their Big Spring fortress lightly.
Appearance
Andor Arceneaux
Andor is a slender Caucasian male who appears significantly younger than his years. He has blond hair and blue eyes and a symmetrical, vaguely androgynous quality to his features that was achieved with surgery. He has a number of faint, white scars in discrete locations such as his armpits and the inside of his thighs, remainders of otherwise flawless cyber-surgeries. Chrysanthemum looks very much like Andor, though more obviously feminine and slightly shorter. With the right clothing and footwear, the twins look nearly identical.
Abilities & Skills
The twins are manipulative geniuses who, with each others' help, have enhanced their bodies with cybernetics. They both have myopia which is treated with corrective lenses.
During their time as Brotherhood Scribes, they received specialized training as doctors. They supplemented this training after their exile by continuing their education in San Francisco and Vault City, along with a strong auto-didactic streak. They have combined their mental health expertise with superficial charm to great effect.
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Equipment
The twins have access to some of the best medical technology available in the wasteland within their Big Spring laboratories. They avoid fighting, but can fall back on Brotherhood training if they have to, preferring a Bringham Needler pistol, a scalpel, a Ripper, or a straight razor. They generally eschew the use of armor but have a rather extensive wardrobe.
Quotes
About
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