G060 - Pfeiffer, Scout[/DECEASED]

MK Kilmarnock · #1

DECEASED

Name: Scout Pfeiffer
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Grade: 11th
School: Cochise High School
Hobbies and Interests: Video Game Design, Math, Ghost Hunting, Professional Wrestling

Appearance: Scout is an Irish-American who stands at about 5'2" and 118 lbs, with broad shoulders and visibly built arms it is apparent she keeps herself in shape. This is rarely apparent from her normal attire and pale skin. Her face has enough soft features including her smooth jaw and small nose. that there is no confusing her for a boy, along with a small smattering of freckles covering her cheeks. Her clear blue eyes are often scrunched up, giving her a mean disposition. Her orange hair is cropped around her jawline, and Scout often ties it up into a short ponytail.

Scout's attire mainly consists of hoodies and jackets overtop graphic t-shirts, and baggy jeans. On the day of the field trip, Scout was wearing a pair of jeans, a pair of black boots, and a blue flannel jacket overtop a dark graphic t-shirt.

Biography: Scout Pfeiffer was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City. She lived in the neighborhood of Bay Ridge from the moment she was born until the beginning of high school when she moved to Kingman, Arizona. Born Irish American, Scout was born into a family that lived in New York City since the late 19th century. She grew up in a conservative household, with strong individual values and rigid rules of behavior. She was raised by her mother, Debbie, and father Lane. While she was a single child, it would be unusual if a member of Lane's extended family did not peek their head in through the door sometime during the week. There was also Debbie's side of the family, many of whom lived all the way in Arizona. Scout never got to see them until she moved to Kingman, and she isn't nearly as close to them as she was her father's side of the family.

During her early childhood, her parents were there for her. During preschool, Debbie and Lane were always home, always around as constant figures in her life. Once Scout entered elementary school, however, things began to change. Slowly but surely they became more and more busy of both parents. Some days her mother made it home just in time to make dinner, other days there would be a babysitter waiting for her as the bus dropped her off. When Debbie was home, she spent most of the night holed up in the dining room grading assignments and filling out forms. There was a connection, her parents were not neglecting her. It felt like there was a rift forming in her family.

Scout never thought much of this at the time. She figured this was natural, that a child should learn to take care of themselves. Her father was always a busy person, as is expected of a police officer. More specifically, he made rank sometime in fifth grade, becoming Sergeant of the precinct that he worked for. This meant that his schedule could be stretched thin on the drop of a dime. It was not rare for him to arrive home just as Scout was getting ready for bed. And while Lane had Sundays and the occasional Saturday off, Lane was quick to respond to any calls from work. She assumed the same must have been true of her mother. Debbie was an teacher at a local art school, so Scout figured that she was busy with her work too. Debbie taught several different classes at the college, so her schedule often fluctuated between semesters. So, again, she didn't think much of the growing bridge between her parents. Now, with hindsight on her side, she's not so sure.

Things were easy for Scout, boring even. Her father never put his life into jeopardy, as his position was more managerial which meant less time on the beat. Their neighborhood was decent but there were few kids her age. Most of the friends she made came from school, finding herself getting on better with the boys in her class. She became comfortable with the environment there, though even as a child she understood just how underbudgeted her elementary school was. There was no computer lab, all the rooms had old scratched up black boards and they used projectors from the seventies. She cannot recall anything particularly special about elementary school; it happened, that's all she really cares about.

By the time she entered middle school Scout was independent, learning how to cook and do all of the chores without even having to be forced. Math was her favorite subject coming out of elementary, and that combined with access to new, top-of-the-line computers opened new doors for her. Scout received a Playstation 2 for Christmas one year, but sixth grade was the first time she became invested. She'd find herself hanging out in the computer lab with a few of her friends every chance she got, playing platformers and RPGs and going on to video game forums to chat. She also participated in a wrestling bulletin board that she was technically too young to be posting on. She loved professional wrestling as a kid. Even though she knew it was fake, it felt so real to her that she didn't even care. Her interest faded as she grew up and she became more and more obsessed with her computer. Scout's social circle began to wane in middle school, preferring the anonymity of online friends to most of her real life classmates, whom she was finding harder to understand. Her grades were fine during this time, though most of her teachers believed Scout was capable of so much more if she just worked harder.

Things fell apart during summer break, towards the end of middle school. The marriage was rife with trouble from the start, even she was aware of that. Once Scout bought her first computer, she had an outlet to plug in her headphones and drown out the sound of her parents arguing. Unbeknownst to Scout, both of her parents were cheating on one another. She cheated on him with a married man for three years. He cheated on her with another woman for two years. The only difference is that it was her father who was caught red-handed. Even now, years later, Scout doesn't understand what exactly happened, and her mother has always been tight-lipped about it. She knew something went down, involving a third party. Scout could put two and two together, but she hates making assumptions without evidence.

Then Debbie told her they were moving. It was sudden; the divorce wasn't even finalized when her mother told her the decision. It wasn't just to get away from Lane either. She secured herself a position as Assistant Director of the Arts and Culture program in Northern Arizona University, more specifically the Mohave Campus. She was in talks about it before the divorce, having been reached out a year before. It became a foregone conclusion once the papers were drawn up. The pay was significantly higher, Debbie wouldn't have to teach multiple classes, and it was closer to Scout's grandparents. So it wasn't a selfish move; Debbie was thinking of what was best for the both of them. She thought it would do Scout a lot of good, since she's lived in New York City all her life.

Scout did not see it that way. The fact that Debbie did not let Scout know about all of this until things fell apart with Lane, and the fact that her mother was (and still is) cagey about the circumstances of the divorce makes it harder for her not to jump to conclusions. all she knows, all that she cares to know is that her mother was the one who divorced her father. She divorced him, took custody of Scout, flew the both of them halfway across the world to some small town near Las Vegas of all places. Away from New York, away from the rest of her family, away from everything Scout has ever known. She loves her mother, of course, but it is impossible for Scout to not hold any animosity towards her.

Since moving to Kingman nearly three years, Scout still hasn't quite let up about her irritation. To her neighbors, she is a recluse; she almost never comes out of the house apart from coming to and from school. To her classmates, she is weirdo with a funny accent. Settling into high school was easy, Kingman as a whole, not so much. It was hard going to sleep the first couple of months because she was so used to the hustle and bustle from far off that silent nights kept her wide awake. So she stayed up late, burying herself away in her computer like she did during the divorce of her parents. She became even more interested in video games, not just playing them as she did when she was younger but making them as well. It all culminated with her computer, discovering clients that allowed her to program. It started off as simple games she programmed in Java, ones that did not deserve to be posted anywhere. Then she started experimenting with the Unity engine, then the C++ language as a whole. Soon she found herself staying up from dusk until dawn in front of her computer. This caused the first (and only) mark on her permanent record when she was caught sleeping in class one too many times. She got detention and a health dose of Melatonin to help her get back into a healthy sleeping routine, but that did not discourage her from game design and making games. She still carries that torch, though she only shows her games to a few close-knit group of friends.

Scout has burrowed a niche for herself within Cochise, with her little group of close friends and acquaintances, but she rarely socializes without this circle of friends. At best she is an oddity, a gruff girl with a weird accent and a cold disposition. At worst, her introverted behavior comes off as arrogant and many students do not want anything to do with her. They are right in a sense; Scout can be stuck-up and cold to those she has little interest in. This also applies to her coursework, which is an all-or-nothing affair to her. She rarely shows commitment in anything that does not interest her, only doing the minimum amount of work to pass and nothing else. She is in two AP tracks; math and science. Math has always been her favorite subject, and science classes are a breeze to her. She does well in her English classes and gym, as well as her cooking electives. She is on good terms with her teachers, as she is certainly not the type to cause trouble. Scout is on especially good terms with her math teacher, Maureen Brown.

Her choice in extracurricular activities is more lax. After her attempts to start a game development club crashed and burned during the ninth grade, she joined the book club on a suggestion of a friend. She only really goes because a few of her friends attend, but it's sparked an interest in reading for her, particularly mysteries. Suffice it to say, that interest she has taken to reading and the club itself has helped her grades in her English classes. From there she branched off into the paranormal club, with a small but close group of members. She always found ghosts interesting, more specifically the mystery of whether they truly exist or not. There is no way ghosts could exist, yet she cannot disprove the existence of them. Such a quandary intrigues Scout, so she acts as the resident skeptic, always being the one to err on the side of rationality.

Most of her social life occurs in school. Scout usually just heads home after school if there's no club. Every other afternoon she goes to her school's gymnasium to exercise, since her maternal father Lane always stressed the need to keep in shape back in middle school. It certainly helps, since spending so much time on the computer does not lend itself to a healthy lifestyle. She rarely hangs around Downtown or ventures outside of Kingman. The only place she frequently visits in town is Larson's Comics and Games, because its the only place to get games she actually wants to play. She has poked her head into the skate park once or twice but never for long. There isn't much to Kingman, which feeds Scout's desire to leave for greener pastures.

This doesn't mean she avoids social gatherings like the plague; they just do nothing for her. She cannot see herself having any fun shopping or just loitering around the place. Scout has always cared more about the carrot than the stick. Nothing beats the feeling she gets when she takes something, a concept that might seem convoluted or even foreign to her, and through rigorous work and cleverness, make sense of it. Remembering facts, passively flipping through flipcards, doing what she is told, it isn't for her. It is why she's taken such an interest in math, programming and game development. It's less about finding the answer to Scout and more about the journey to that answer, where all the hard work and sleepless nights pay off for her. This is also why ghosts intrigue her so much. She knows they don't exist, but something inside of her tells her otherwise. It's that shot of adrenaline that courses through her veins when she hears creaking in the dead of night, and the relief she tells herself that it must be the house settling.

Scout still speaks to her father occasionally. Their connection is strained due to the distance between them, but they have always had a good relationship. Most of their bonding happens over the phone, though lately Scout has been electing to call him on her cellphone simply because her mother feels the need to monitor their calls on landline. She hasn't seen her father face-to-face in years, though he is insistent on flying out for Scout's graduation. Her relationship with her mother is tenuous, however. Their bond was stretched thin after the fallout of the divorce and Debbie's decision to move halfway across the continent. They see one another all the time, but her mother struggles to connect with Scout. Her relationship with her daughter is the only problem in Debbie's life. Everything has improved dramatically for Debbie since moving to Kingman. She loves her work at college and it has given her tons of satisfaction. She has also been dating a man named Gary Halwood over the past couple of months, culminating in the two of them getting engaged. Gary has a daughter named Clarice, who is a senior at Cochise High. Scout knows about the engagement, and about her future stepsister Clarice. She doesn't know what to think. The fact that she and Debbie do not have the most stable of relationships makes it hard for her to be objective. Despite this, she has made a connection with Clarice, who got Scout back into professional wrestling. Due to the circumstances of their meeting, she has not made any attempts to connect with Gary.

Scout plans to move to Seattle once she is done school. While her graduation is still a ways off, none of the schools in Arizona have any schools with a dedicated focus in game design. She feels her chances of graduation and success in finding a career are better there than in Arizona. Regardless, Scout does not plan to stay in Kingman longer than she has to. She has not told her mother about her plans for the future, and avoids the subject entirely whenever Debbie brings it up.

Advantages: Scout is in relatively good shape and has a fit mind. She is a proponent of lateral thinking and has been conditioned to think problems through, finding answers that she would not have thought of otherwise. She has a tendency to stick to her guns and dig her heels at the face of contention, and she works well under stress.
Disadvantages: Scout is not a team player. She is a lone wolf through and through, and even though she has close friends, she is stubborn, rigid on her morals, and will only seek help from someone else if it is absolutely necessary. There is no love lost between Scout and many of her classmates, and she is terrible at reading others.

Designated Number: Female student no. 060

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Designated Weapon: Bonesaw
Conclusion: BONESAW IS REAADYYYYYYYYYYYYYY - Dennis Lourvey

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