"Drink all the booze... and hack all the things."
His birth name is Is̶a̴̧a̵̶c Faust, but such information is heavily guarded and hidden deep within government files. He now goes by the alias of Ju̶͟stin Ca͠s̴e̷ (a not-so-noticeable play on words), complete with a multitude of falsified records, but is also known as the legendary tiger dubbed "The Ar̸c̕hitect" on the streets and any associated digital channels, or as "Da̢v͜e Nul" whenever he's needed to quickly drop a name.
A single word needed to describe Fau͢͞st - weird. Or perhaps the word strange fits better; Or for that matter, unique is the only term that comes to mind. He, for a he he is indeed (judging by the androgynous bodyframe cast by the undersuit that he is known for), and at one glance, the average person would assume that Faus̸͘t is a robot or cyborg of some sort. An ectomorphic framework who is neither seemingly gaunt nor corpulent, the legendary hacker is a daywalker and a night-crawler, a prowler of the streets and a smiling face from the shadows. Henceforth, befitting his station as a sleeper agent, he wears no markings or insignias of any kind that could betray him as a member of either FIRE̸̶WALL or the LSP.
Consequently, the Archit̡̡e͝ct dresses ordinarily casual. A gray and purple zippered hoodie and olive drab jeans, loosely layered atop his 5'8" frame, concealing a full-bodied armored undersuit and a full-face emoticasting helmet to serve as his "face" . Vintage 2004 purple Converse sneakers tap along the ground he walks upon, and he sports a number of as͘̕s̵orted accessories to assist him with his various duties while in the field.
However, just because he carries few weapons does not mean he is defenseless. He is more than adept in using knives and guns, however he finds the latter harder to conceal and carry, resorting to the former most of the time. In lieu of the standard-issued firearm, he carries a number of his signature programmable microdrones in addition to a personalized graphene-ceramic composite balisong, harder and sharper than most b̶́l̶̨a͘͝d͝eş̵ made of other materials, for when he is required to draw blood. While not necessarily much in the terms of lethality, when activated, the microbots are capable of fulfilling a variety of roles.
Firearms can be taken easily enough when necessary, but for the most part he prefers the intimacy of his microswarm. For Faust, dancing, fighting, and sex are, when done properly, all the same art form. And there is something to be admired in the footwork and grace in melee fighting, the same with any intense dance, and of course with techniques in bed. He is also capable of hand-to-hand combat, exhibiting a style that might be described as half minimalist martial art, and half brutal street b̨̛r͡͞͝aw̢͡l̶e̢r̸͢.̵
It has been rumored, but never confirmed, that Fa̷҉u̢͟st may have an extensive number of augmentations. These suspicions come from his strength, speed, and reflexes displayed during combat, however it is hard to guess whether these abilities come from his suit or from cybernetic enh̷a͠n͢cements, only to have these accusations grow larger after each sighting.
He is cunning and mentally dangerous. He looks at people in terms of the threat they pose; those deemed as one are treated immediately and permanently, those not are ignored only for the moment—but never wholly disregarded. He takes quiet satisfaction in dissecting the minds of those he's dealing with, allowing him to be all the better̡ in͠ interacting with them--but also so that he can string them along however he pleases. He dwells in a world with int̡e̕l͞l͟ects ranging at either extremity; from the incredibly sharp and devious to the broken and trodden. While it makes for quite̛ ͢fún ̧s̡p̀ort̡, his personal views and actions, to their core, dehumanize him.
While this seems as a tactically positive reaction to his shrouded history and training, others (for the most part) fail to attach a human face to what lingers behind his helmet, and F̶a͠ust's mercurial and abnormal nature does nothing to remedy this. He is known for being absent during important briefings, preferring to "do what he does best", and when̷e͘v͜͞er he is seen by others, whether it's in the office or on the streets, his face is always hidden behind the helmet that serves as his public identity.
Fau̡̕s̨̛t is a digital ghost, an (mostly) unarmored, exposed secret agent--spy, watchout, double-agent, and more. He frequents the criminal underworld and highworld. His clientele involves junkies, ferrymen, Mafioso, hookers, and petty crooks in the streets, clubs, and shady alleyways; and likewise politicians, corporate heads, and the rich elite in their penthouses, offices, and country clubs. He serves as an ear and mouth for the LSP and FIREW͠A̴L͜L, listening to the current that flows in these circles and, when beneficial to the LSP, starting new ripples. But this is just his day job.
Every nation, every government, and every organization has its dark practices, and G͜͢͞Ų̛A̴͞R̷DIAN was no exception. Clad in a jet-black and silver bodysuit made from several composite materials with data ma̸n̶͢͠i̛p̢ú́͠lation capabilities, Faust is by far one of the more elusive oṕ̡͜e͡r̴a̷̷͠tives that GUARD̵͘I̴̷͘A͜͞͠N has been known to utilize for their FIREWALL Initiative.
The Arc̶hí͡tect is a myth, both figuratively and literally speaking. He is a living phantom, with little to no records existing, and the few that do exist have been blacked out due to his military career. This allows him to remain undercover with whatever alias he's currently using with no worry that he'll "be fi̴͘͠g̡u̴̧r̢͢ed out", as every contract, every covert operation that he has participated in, had been removed from whatever records they were on when he had completed them. From the "few" undercover contracts that he receives from FIR̡E̷͠WALL, he has more than enough time to "kill off" an alias and start anew, and when coupled with his previous history, effectively makes him a sleeper agent. Blank fingerprints, if any to begin with, included.
Though the history of how F̴͜͜aù̷̧st became to be affiliated with the LSP and F̶͝Ì͘R̵̢EẀ̸͘AL̴̡̧L̴ is dubious at best, it is known that he's employed under the name of "Justin C̛a̷̴s͝e" as a data security consultant and resident information broker currently for the LSP while moonlighting as one of their detectives.
Custom Hardware
Enhanced Attributes
As specific sources of these physical augmentations are debated upon, it is certain that his strength, speed, and stamina are on par with those within the augmented populous. While these attributes aren't pronounced compared to those on the heavy end of the spectrum, he is nonetheless superior that those that general don't have such enhancements.
Modified Ghost Module
A Ghost Module, down to its very core, is a specialized neural implant designed to carry an artificial intelligence in order to assist a "master" with processing and maintaining data from implants and sensory inputs, lessening whatever strain being exerted onto the master, without allowing the slave to provide physical output. Faust's personal implant had been modified with a neural interface in such a way to enhance his mental and physical reflexes.
Custom Firmware
Anti-Disruption v1.73b Upgrades
As one of the original developers and researchers, Faust has intimate knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals behind the effectiveness of the now commonplace anti-augmentation devices. Using this knowledge, he had incorporated various algorithms and redundancies into his personal augmentations to counteract most varieties and grades of what he jokes about being [their] best and worst mistake.
"RASPUTIN"
A synthetic assistant of Faust's own volition that's slaved to the ghost module built within his cybernetics, Rasputin assists the legendary hacker with preventing surprises and manages the microswarm while Faust is running bypasses and creating backdoors through digital defenses. Hidden from reality, Resputin is an illegal variation of artificial intelligence that'd been copied and forged from Faust's own brain patterns.
Custom Software
_Offensive_
Shutter Exploit
One of Faust's favorite toys out of his bag of dirty tricks, Shutters are digital exploits and (mostly) undetectable lines of malicious code that're fully capable of being injected into an acceptable target, the most common being visual/audio sensors and devices, in order to disable or otherwise disrupt the target from properly recording or sending data to its linked processor.
Behavioral/Kinesics software
Software designed to monitor and record voice stress patterns in addition to building psychological profiles when referencing data of a particular individual, in order to analyze and profile against attempts of deception or other emotional states.
Infosec Exploits
Software and tactics employed by the Architect to take advantage of known security vulnerabilities in order to succeed at intrusion attempts.
_Defensive_
Active Countermeasures
Defensive measures such as dynamic firewalls and virtual networks, that Faust and Resputin can utilize to resist and prevent intrusion attempts on his own augmentations and devices. Commonly known as ICE among the many infosec communities.
Digital Shroud
The Digital Shroud is an effective "second layer" of defense that Faust employs that masks his augment and data footprint and otherwise scrambles basic scans against him. Most scans would simply fail to pick up anything out of the ordinary, but in the rare event a scan does pick up something, the scanner would only notify against the anomaly but not necessarily identify it.
Technomancy
Jokingly called a wizard when it comes to technology, Faust's skill at data manipulation is considered magic (stemming from Clarke's Third Law) when compared to other so-called programmers and their ilk. A living anomaly among his kind, Faust is a rare breed that's capable of using specialized security exploits and vulnerabilities to infiltrate and manipulate multiple sources on the digital spectrum, while in real-time.
<0ver_Ride>
What the unskilled calls magic, Faust is capable of remotely accessing various data systems (including augmentations to an extent) and subvert the security of what would be considered "unhackable." Through this, Faust could override the necessary administrator permissions of the affected piece of tech, allowing him to manipulate said technology as if it was an extended part of his conscious for a limited time. What makes Faust really shine however, is when he utilizes this so-called "magic" in a matter that temporarily overloads and disables inflicted technology, in a similar fashion to a mobile disruptor.
<Unf0reseen_Decepti0n>
As his position requires discretion on his part, Faust holds mistrust towards recording devices, thus a bit paranoiac when it comes to being out in social settings. Because of this, and combined with his skillset and experience, Faust prefers to stay hidden while in plain sight. By hacking into any and all nearby security systems (and optical augmentations), Faust is capable of effectively erasing his footprint as he edits himself out from data feeds and video footage, all in real-time.
<Panoptic0n>
Translated as "All-Seeing", by commandeering and accessing nearby cameras and other sensory inputs, Faust can (effectively) create a 360° surveillance event around a targeted location, providing him a much wider field of observation than those relying on conventional methods. If need be, Faust is also capable of recreating past events by accessing the memory storage of those devices and piecing together recordings from different angles.
Black-Ops Anonymous
Faust's unconventional service within the LSP requires unconventional training. While his personal records are mostly blacked out, others could only guess where he had served and trained, and it's become obvious that his training didn't originate from any department of the LSP but rather some outside organization with similarities towards GUARDIAN.
<P4thf1nder>
While he's no mountain goat, whenever he's out in the city, Faust is capable of easily reaching from Origin A to Destination B by taking the shortest route, even if that means cutting through or over buildings and other obstacles.
<D1rty_D4nc1ng>
Faust is unusual in his approach to violence; as for whenever negotiations are over and the punches start throwing, he is capable of holding his own against a small number of opponents. A pragmatist at heart, Faust isn't afraid of being accused of fighting dirty, usually seen utilizing whatever's in hand and what appears to be stylistic dancing.
Faust is a member of the sub-faction located deep within GUARDIAN's organizational structure known as the FIREWALL. They are secretive in their nature, as the original purpose of the organization was to serve as a failsafe should main organization became under political influence. They are mainly an intricate web of spies and information thieves, but are often used for wetwork operations. They don't discuss to others about their affiliations, as this valuable information can be used against them and can backfire, often resulting in an operative's discovery and removal.
-Relationships with LSP-
As the department's resident information broker and dedicated infosec specialist, he generally works alongside Specialist St. Cloud, much to mutual chagrin. He doesn't care much for them, as it seems that the tiger has a disdain for the many unnecessary regulations imposed by the LSP, and while the same could be said about the SLP's care for him, he is often considered a necessary evil, since he's one of the best at what he does. Despite these differences, he works alongside the other officers with relative ease, especially when it's regarding information updates and the like.
What the LSP doesn't know however, is that he's doubling over as a deeply undercover Investigator from <FIREWALL> and his directives are to uncover the true reason behind the LSP's "purge" following the Bamako Incident, and that his superiors have given him extreme slack over how it is to be handled.