Meet Cor
If you’re thinking that there’s no way a reclusive man like Felix stands a chance of escaping a fixated huntress like Kla, well…you’d be right. On his own Felix has all the practical brains of a senile cocker spaniel. Fortunately he’s got two friends in the Known Universe, and half of them is Cor.
Cor’althan is an old soldier, with a long memory and lots of stories about all of it (and some of them might even be true). He’s one of the handful of Hybridians that left his home planet and has been traveling the Way as a mechanic on different ships, and while he’s no brain, he’s learned more about machines than most will in two lifetimes.
Meet Cor.
Name: Cor’althan
Age: 50 +
Height: 5” 7’
Eye color: Brown with a metallic overlay (quite common among Hybridians).
Physical appearance: Stocky, well muscled, with short gray hair and leathered skin. He’s been through the ringer, but has an optimistic outlook on life and people.
Strange or unique physical attributes: He has a secondary skeleton over his spinal cord and top of his main spine, characteristic of Hybridians, that produces a ‘static field’ which he manipulates as a human manipulates their hands and fingers. It is another sensory organ and a large component of how they interact with each other.
Where does he live? He’s been living ship to ship for decades now and enjoys it. Whenever the air inside a ship gets stale, he moves on.
Defining gestures/movements: He snaps his field when he’s angry. Passerby sometimes get a few shocks.
Pet peeves: Arrogant morons.
Hobbies/interests: Organic people. They do such weird things he doesn’t understand. Ain’t it great?
Special skills/abilities: Served with the Corp of Engineers during the war on Hybridia.
Quirks/eccentricities: He has a thick accent he’s never bothered to adjust and his field pops and rolls.
Temperament: Cor’s fairly easygoing as well as easily amused. He loves a good joke, and he loves a bad one even more.
Negative traits: He’s a vagabond at heart and moves on when the air gets stale inside a ship.
He is highly opinionated about: Everything. Especially if it has to do with Hybridia’s history or royal family. And don’t talk bad about either unless you want a good smack.
Things that make him happy: Pancakes. And a machine that’s humming. But mostly pancakes.
Family: Orphaned at a young age because of the war, he was raised by his older brother Cor’iander, more than ten years older than him. They managed to survive long enough to join the war near the end, where Ian was taken prisoner along with Cor’s fiancé Mari. They were scarred by enemy experiements and Ian receded from everyday life after it ended, including his brother.
Other people’s opinions of this character: Most people think he’s brash, outgoing, and doesn’t give a flip in the current what people think of him. He laughs when people are put off by him, and only feels insulted if they patronize him. Mostly they’re curious about him and his static field. Because of the Hybridians’ overall reclusive culture, straight up organic races have never met one in person before.
Favorite bands/songs/type of music: Something with a strong beat and a good guitar riff.
Favorite movies: Big badda boom.
Favorite TV shows: He’s got a soft spot for those interstellar soaps. And don’t think he likes admitting it either.
Favorite books: Technical manuals and blueprints. Hey, ya gotta keep your hand in the game.
Favorite foods: Pancakes.
Favorite sports team: Ridet Routers! Roust ’em, roust ’em, ra!
Political views: Live and let live, for the most part. It’s when you try and force your views or morals on others that he steps in.
Religion/philosophy of life: He believes in the Ghost in the Machine.
Physical health: Robust, but aging.
Dream vacation: A beach somewhere with beautiful women and drinks with those funny little umbrellas. Humans think of the darnedest things, but they sure are fun.
Description of his house: Always on the move. Ya see more that way.
Description of his bedroom: Neat and squared away, with minimal fuss and clutter.
Any pets? Nah, ain’t got time for them. Unless Felix counts anyway…
Worst thing that has ever happened to him: Mari ending their relationship and Ian going off without him because of their war wounds.
Superstitions: Machines can hear ya pretty good. That’s why they run better when you talk to ‘em.
Three words to describe him: Rough. Tumbled. True.
If a song played every time he walked into the room, what song would it be? Renegade by Styx. He would start head jamming along with it too.
Cor was definitely my favorite character to write! Not the least because I had fun dropping all his ‘g’s in a good drawl. 😉 And it’s all thanks to him that Felix avoids Kla as long as he does. Too bad he also spends as much effort avoiding his only other friend alive.
Find out more about Cor’s counterpart next week, or pick up your copy of The Hybridian Way today and read more about Cor and how he (mostly) keeps Felix out of trouble. Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and (I just found out) as an ebook too!
Until next time!
Bethany R.