S091 - Haig, Claire

[Buko]

Name: Claire Haig
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Grade: 12th
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Creative writing, literature, video games, tabletop games, movies, television, graphic design, history, politics

Appearance: Claire is taller than average, at 5'11", and weighs about 180 pounds. Her body has a rectangular shape, and her frame is strong; her shoulders are broad, and she has long arms and long legs. Claire's skin is a pale white, with slightly warm undertones, owing to a mixture of Celtic and German heritage; she burns badly in the sun, and, in addition, her arms display rough patches and small, red, acne-like bumps on the skin.

She is not fit and remains in mediocre physical condition. Though not entirely out of shape, she often has to take physical activities more slowly than those around her. She runs out of stamina quickly, suffers from frequent aches and pains, and has decreased muscle tone emblematic of hypotonia in infancy. Her posture is poor, and she is predisposed to slouching, a tendency caused by her sedentary lifestyle and frequent minor pain in her back.

Claire has an average-sized head, a long, oval-shaped face, and a mixture of soft and angular facial features. Her facial skin is generally smooth and featureless, with some minor scarring; outside of that, her skin is mostly clear. Her eyes are large and almond-shaped, with a striking blue-gray color, filled with brightness. Below them, she has large dark spots and bags due to a perpetual lack of sleep. She has a straight, Grecian nose, prominent but not too large, which sits squarely in her face's center. Her lips are thin and pink.

She has dark-golden-blonde hair, straight with some waves, cut to the length of her shoulders. She parts it at the right side of the top of her head, favoring the left. The front-left side falls over her face, while the front-right side is usually tucked behind her ear and joins the rest of her hair. She has slightly thick, close, rounded eyebrows; they are the same color as her hair and are neatly trimmed. She does not have any facial or body hair.

Claire has a deep voice compared to most of her female peers, and it more closely resembles the voices of her male classmates; this fact causes her discomfort when speaking. Her voice is naturally loud and projected easily. She also suffers from mild rhotacism—a condition that causes difficulty pronouncing rhotic or "r-like" sounds—and though the speech impediment has faded as time goes on, it returns when she is stressed.

Claire dresses conservatively and rarely wears clothing that exposes her skin or clings to her form. She is nearsighted and has prescription glasses—rectangular, with metal frames and green temples—to help her see at long distances. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, she has regularly worn face masks. On the day of the abduction, her outfit corresponded to her preferences. Claire wore an old, worn greatcoat, a white buttoned dress-shirt with a cotton-linen blend, black linen slacks, over-the-calf socks, Nunn Bush Conway sneakers, her glasses, a black mask with an orange floral design, a monochrome bamboo scarf with a brush-stroke pattern, and a grayish-purple knit cap.

Biography: Claire Haig was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—though her family lived an hour away, in Cadiz, Ohio—on October 2nd, 2003, to Wilson Haig Jr. and Eliza Cleary; the two were married, but Eliza kept her surname. At the time, Wilson was unemployed but aspired to be a musician—a source of strife in the family—though he presently works at a Guitar Center location in Boise, Idaho, and Eliza, a veterinarian by trade, presently works at a research non-profit. When it comes to economics, the family has always remained at the bottom threshold of the lower-middle class, too wealthy to receive government aid but too poor to maintain a secure living.

She was both wanted and planned, but several difficult circumstances arose surrounding her birth. Claire was born prematurely by five weeks and had various health issues. She needed to be resuscitated at the hospital and received a heart monitor for arrhythmia. In addition, she was born with hypotonia—a state of decreased muscle tone—which impacted her gross and fine motor skills. Claire was kept in the hospital for several weeks after birth to ensure no further complications arose. Eventually, though, she was allowed to go home to her parents; after this, her infancy was relatively ordinary. Eight months later, her heart monitor was removed, deemed unnecessary, and she reached the same level of competency as her peers.

Over time, her parents began to see leaving Cadiz as a necessity; while they loved the scenic, rural environment, the isolation and concerns over Claire's education prompted them to seek other opportunities. The process concluded when Eliza received a job offer from a corporation based in Cambridge, Massachusetts; the family relocated to a proximate village, where Claire began her education. Later, when Claire was eight, Eliza was released from this job; the family's primary source of income was gone. She would find work at a veterinary clinic, but their finances were now further strained by this.

Claire had an uneventful time in preschool and primary school, but this began to change as she entered elementary school in third grade. Her speech impediment and awkwardness resulted in bullying, and her weakness and temper solidified her as an easy and entertaining target. She responded to this by lashing out verbally and, when hurt, physically, though she was always weaker than the ones targeting her. Nobody with authority ever took the bullying seriously—her teachers generally overlooked it, while her parents only prodded her to stand up for herself more—but it took a toll on the young Claire. From an early age, she was othered, which impacted her severely. Academically, though, she shined, took quickly to her work, and maintained good grades without much trouble.

From a young age, Claire forged a love of literature. Eliza often read books—particularly classics—to her, sparking a passion for reading. Claire developed a strong vocabulary and an ability to read quickly at a young age. As a young child, she also enjoyed other books, such as those about prehistoric life and ancient civilizations. Over time, Claire's taste in books shifted back towards classic literature and to stories with darker themes, especially those set in the real world. Her favorite way to experience them is through audiobooks, so she can complete other tasks as she listens.

Claire developed an interest in video games at an early age, in place of activities that required social interaction or physical exertion. While her first console was for educational video games, she soon acquired more and expanded her growing collection. Claire was often allowed to play games above the age rating; her parents found them generally harmless outside those with excessively violent or sexual content. These reasonably lax constrictions allowed Claire to explore the world of video games without much hassle. Her evenings are often spent streaming games on Discord with friends. Claire is also interested in traditional games, such as tabletop roleplaying and board games. Her interests in the subject skew towards more narrative-based experiences, though she also enjoys them for their gameplay and mechanics. In addition, she enjoys hidden role games and considers herself a good player at them. Claire, on occasion, plays these games with groups of friends, both at school and online.

Claire also enjoyed watching movies and television. Her mother raised her on Studio Ghibli movies, so she grew up watching anime, which became a favorite genre. Claire also enjoyed watching educational documentaries about prehistoric creatures and marine life. Currently, Claire enjoys an eclectic variety of media. Her favorite shows primarily consist of old favorites, the movies, and shows she watched as a child and younger teenager. At the same time, she often tries watching new shows and movies, especially documentaries, as she likes to keep herself informed and current.

As she entered middle school, her situation worsened; though she remained academically sound, problems began to crop up and affect her performance. Mental mathematics on a more involved level proved difficult, and she had to rely on calculators to compute accurately. In addition, her mind would wander most of the time, but at times she would fixate intensely on certain things. Her difficulty with social situations continued, and she failed to make many connections with others. Eventually, she developed symptoms of depression, which escalated into thoughts of self-harm and suicidal ideation. Claire was too distrustful and afraid to confide in others about her struggles and instead chose to suppress and hide them; as a result, she gradually slid into misery as they went unaddressed.

Claire's connections also remained limited; she had a group of a few friends with similar interests to her, but that was it. Her peers continued to shun Claire, and though they no longer belittled her openly, there was still animosity towards her; in short, she was a pariah. This negative sentiment became so prominent that one of the teachers became complicit; when Claire told others, they refused to believe her. Ultimately, the situation culminated during a meeting between Claire's parents and the administration, and it came to light that the teacher was writing false information in reports. Her parents decided to pull Claire from the school and made plans to transfer her; however, the process was not yet complete when another situation arose.

As time went on, the relationship between Wilson and Eliza declined. The two had been together for many years, but at that point, their marriage was in dire straits; Wilson's infrequent employment and financial tension had caused massive cracks to form. The two bickered and argued and fought constantly. Eventually, the two split and agreed to separate; Wilson moved across the country while Eliza remained in the house. The custody of Claire was never in question; both came to the agreement that she should stay with her mother. While this separation was initially amicable, money drove a wedge between them; an acrimonious divorce ensued as the two fought over the division of financial assets. Eliza only narrowly avoided the loss of the home; this was a pyrrhic victory, though, as she lost much of the savings she'd worked hard to earn.

In 2016, Eliza left her job at the clinic, driven by a multitude of factors and stresses to that point. She took up a position with a non-profit research laboratory, but the commute to its location was long. In addition, costs were rising; as a single parent, the mortgage of the aging home and its upkeep proved hard to maintain. Ultimately, she decided to sell their house, and the two relocated further east to a new home in Salem. It was closer to her work, which eased the pain of the commute, and it was cheaper to maintain. Claire was devastated by the change. What few friends she had lived there, and thus she lost contact with them. In addition, the comfort of her childhood home was gone, and she had to adjust to an entirely unfamiliar environment.

These were not the only struggles for Claire; her mental health, already poor, took a sharp dive during this time. She began to have problems with her self-image and, in particular, an overwhelming loathing of herself and her appearance. She picked apart her features and found flaws everywhere. It was difficult for her to function, as these problems exacerbated her other troubles and sent her into bouts of severe depression. In addition, she failed to make friends among peers at her new school; her status as a pariah had left her without opportunities to develop better social skills. To make matters worse, the bullying and mental health issues she faced ensured that she had no confidence and a lack of self-esteem. It took the remainder of middle school for her to adjust to the change of environment.

Around the time of the 2016 election season, she became interested in the country's politics and the history that contextualized them. This fascination sparked due to her growing outrage toward an economic system she saw as unfair and a government that never seemed to do anything. At first, she considered herself a social democrat; however, as she has grown more knowledgeable about politics and government, she has drifted much further to the left. At the same time, Claire does not subscribe to any particular ideological labels. Despite her lack of faith in the government, Claire remains passionate about setting things right. Her tenacity and stubborn nature become apparent in debates, where she refuses to concede unless confronted with concrete evidence that she is wrong.

Claire's newfound interest in politics—and a burgeoning love of strategy games—led her to become interested in the topic of history and, in particular, alternate history. Ultimately, she decided to join the team of an alternate history mod for a strategy game. Later, she would leave the team, but the resulting interests would remain. She first discovered political simulation through the mod's community, having joined one server on a whim. She enjoyed the experience of writing alternate history, and she particularly liked the collaborative writing elements. She eventually joined a community that catered to such interests and was active there for a time. However, her enjoyment decreased as toxicity, bigotry, and extremism—all of which found a home there—increased. Claire found herself deeply uncomfortable with her position in the community, which now looked very different from the one she'd first joined. Eventually, she stopped participating, tired of putting effort into something that no longer brought her joy.

An interest she discovered through the mod was graphic design. As an artist for the team, she helped create game assets for the mod; she started out colorizing black-and-white photos and making small icons and eventually worked on additional details, such as menu assets and GUIs. Claire discovered that she had a passion not just for working as an artist for a mod but for digital artwork as a whole; she enjoyed the fulfillment of having a design look exactly how she wanted it. To that end, she would obsessively change details until she felt satisfied. Claire still makes digital art for her projects, now in the form of things like sprites and logos.

Claire still harbored a love of creative writing and wanted to find another place where she could apply her experience and appreciation of literature. Ever since she stopped participating in her previous communities, she felt there was a void to fill. While browsing the internet, Claire discovered a listing for a literary discussion and writing forum; users on this forum discussed their favorite books and submitted their own stories for others to view, read, and remark. On discovering the website's pages, she decided to read further and immediately found herself hooked. Soon, Claire registered an account and began to participate in discussions. Later, she would post some of her work, primarily concepts and short stories. At first, Claire expected others to rip her work to shreds, but she was surprised by the warm reception. Claire has actively participated on the site for a while and counts her fellow members among her closest friends and confidants; she loves the spirit of community it provides, viewing it as one of the few places she feels she belongs.

As she entered high school, Claire began to open up again; she slowly tried to exit her shell and was surprised at how welcoming and accepting the staff and other students were. In the end, she found herself in the company of new friends. Despite this, Claire still felt unhappy; her self-image problems only worsened, and despite her attempts to improve herself, they never seemed to cease. Eventually, Claire started to wonder if the problem was with her gender identity; she denied it for months, both to others and herself, but ultimately concluded that she likely suffered from gender dysphoria and acknowledged that she was transgender. Still, she kept this fact secret; a part of her, though she knew it was illogical, believed that others would reject her for it.

Over time, it became impossible for Claire to remain silent about some of her struggles; in particular, she was concerned about being closeted about her status as transgender. Early in her senior year, Claire came out as transgender to her mother and peers, though she has not come out to her father or extended family. Others, to her surprise, generally accepted her, and their opinions remained unchanged. She has sought assistance in her transition with a local provider, though the process has taken longer than is ideal. She wishes to continue onward and to do so at a faster rate than before. Though her dysphoria still plagues her and takes its toll, she still tries to remain hopeful about her transition.

Claire has a complicated relationship with her family. She loves and cares about her mother but privately worries about her mental and physical health. She and her father are distant and only speak via infrequent phone calls; a part of her resents him for this, and his recent decision to refuse to attend her graduation is a particular source of tension between them. Claire is close to her mother's extended family and maintains a strong bond with her grandfather, uncle, and the partner of her late grandmother. She has almost no contact with her father's family; with him absent from her life, she has no reason to be involved with them.

Socially, Claire has become closer with other people than she has been in the past; though most of her friends are from the site she participates in, she is no longer entirely isolated in real life. Claire is generally good-natured and polite but often comes across as awkward distant, and guarded. While few try to instigate problems with her at school, she's learned not to tolerate it; Claire gives as good as she gets. Romantically, she is primarily attracted to other girls and considers herself gay; she generally develops crushes based on pre-existing platonic attachment. Claire will rarely admit her feelings, afraid of rejection and the possible destruction of friendship, and instead tends to hide them as much as possible. She has never held together a romantic relationship, as her attempts usually crumble rather quickly; Claire feels somewhat insecure about this, and she wonders if she'll ever find the right person to love.

Academically, Claire is generally a good student with a history of high marks; on occasion, her performance lands her on the honor roll. However, they have declined somewhat as of late; a depressive slump earlier in the year and general exhaustion have made it difficult to maintain her prior achievements. Her best classes are in subjects that hold personal interest to her, such as English and History; she uses her interests to propel her and sometimes impresses her teachers with knowledge of various minutiae. She performs competently elsewhere, with average or above-average grades in most subjects. The only exceptions to these are classes that involve significant use of mathematics, where she struggles. While Claire has been successful at John Endecott Memorial Academy, something about the school setting makes her uncomfortable; she's eager to graduate and receive her diploma.

Claire is proud of how far she's come; at the same time, she is aware that she is far from perfect and that there is room to improve. She still suffers from waves of profound depression. At the same time, her thoughts of self-harm and suicidal ideation have faded; they only crop up infrequently, and Claire moves past them quickly. Her attention span and ability to focus have stabilized, and though she still fixates on small details, she can more easily maintain direction. However, there are still some areas where Claire struggles heavily. She tends to respond to stress by catastrophizing, imagining situations to be far more hopeless and impossible than they are, resulting in self-destruction. Claire has previously tried to seek professional help with her mental health, attending counseling of her own volition on multiple occasions; she always finds it ineffective and has trouble interfacing with it on a deeper level.

She will regularly become fascinated with a new topic, only to lose steam—and subsequently, her interest—in short order. If she finds interest in a task but does not immediately succeed, she quickly gives up. Despite this, she maintains a static core of persistent hobbies, which she consistently engages in and maintains; these are the ones that matter most to her. Her participation provides her with a solid quality of life and keeps her motivated; a lack of interest or activity indicates that Claire is utterly miserable.

Claire, personality-wise, is a sensitive, empathetic person with strong emotions; she wears her heart on her sleeve and does so proudly. Over time, however, she has become more adept at keeping her feelings under lock and key; her temper is quieter than before, and she tries to keep discontent silent when possible. At the same time, though, Claire presents a front to others, trying to be friendly to avoid revealing information on a deeper level. She can be thoroughly wary and distrustful; years of scorn have left her emotionally guarded, and it takes time for her to open herself to others on a deeper, more complex level.

Claire has decided on her goals for life after her secondary education. She plans to attend college in the fall semester; she has received an acceptance letter from Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, which she chose due to its relatively low tuition and proximity to her home. Claire plans to enter without a declared major and decide later. At the same time, though, monetary problems continue to weigh on her; even at a community college, the tuition is outside of her means, and she worries that she won't be able to remain in college without taking on debt. For Claire, the future feels uncertain, in equal parts hopeful and daunting.

Advantages: Claire is intelligent, able to quickly absorb information, retain the knowledge she has learned, and react accordingly; these factors may allow her to outwit some of her peers. She is passionate and willing to fight for what she believes; her energetic drive, resolve, and grit will push her forward, even in desperate situations. Claire is wary and emotionally guarded, and trust does not come lightly to her; others will find it difficult to deceive or lie to her, and insincerity will fall on deaf ears. If nothing else, Claire is resilient; she has faced adversity throughout her life and powered through it, which may prove a factor in survival.
Disadvantages: Claire is physically weak, in mediocre shape due to her sedentary lifestyle, and suffers from frequent aches and pains; as a result, she will have difficulty competing with her more active and fit classmates. She has poor eyesight because of myopia; while manageable, her vision suffers considerably without her glasses, and she will find it more difficult to see at a distance. Claire is emotionally and mentally brittle, with her various mental health problems—such as depression, dysphoria, and her tendency to catastrophize—primed to plague her during the game; she may struggle to maintain hope when faced with the horrors of the island. Her fixation on small details may detract from her awareness of the big picture; an improper frame of mind may prove fatal in a situation as grand in scale as the Survival of the Fittest.

Designated Number: Student No. #091

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Designated Weapon: Night-vision goggles (thermal)

Conclusion: Do your best and, y'know, try your hardest. - Donald

For fuck's sake Donald, at least make some kind of "light in the darkness" pun or something. What do we keep you around for? - Veronica Rai