Henry Sparks

Name: Henry Aranck Sparks

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: 12th

School: George Hunter High School

Hobbies and Interests: Science fiction novels, amateur rocketry, contemporary classical music and synthwave, architecture, survivalism, knitting.

Appearance: Henry Sparks is slight, standing at five foot five and weighing one hundred and twenty pounds. His medium-length hair is naturally black and often messy as a result of the fact that he never combs it. Henry’s ethnic background is mixed: his father’s family are Ashkenazi Jews and emigrated from Europe after the Second World War, whereas his mother is South Piegan Blackfoot. He has a light olive skin tone and takes after his mother in terms of facial features. He has a round, gently sloping nose and a wide, broad smile. His almost almond-shaped eyes are large and distinctive, and an unusual light blue that is nearly gray. They often seem like he constantly striking something of an intense stare. Overall, his face is exceptionally expressive and easy to read.

In terms of dress, Henry strikes a balance between utilitarian and what he’d consider to be simple and elegant. Typically he wears a pair of brown timberland boots and black cargo pants, with monotone Henley shirts: white, black, or grey. While not a particularly imposing figure, Henry is a naturally fit person and it shows. His hands are large for someone his size, as are his fingers; Henry is slightly self-conscious about this, though often jokes that it is a useful trait for someone so interested in tinkering.

Biography: Henry Sparks was born in Billings, Montana to Elijah and Kim Sparks (neé Augere). Eli is an engineer whose work focuses on automotive manufacturing, and Kim is a civil rights lawyer. While their marriage alienated both of their respective families (both of which shunned marrying outside of their respective cultures), it was a loving and supportive relationship that sustained itself quite well. While they attempted to raise their son in Billings, feelings of alienation and resentment from both of their small communities and the city as a whole continued to linger. After several possible opportunities in the Midwest fell through, the Sparks family opted to move south to Chattanooga.

While both of his parents’ professions kept them quite busy, Henry’s development was often self-directed. His mother read to him as a newborn, and as a result he was reading fluently by four years old and gradually found most books directed at children to be too simple. At eight he picked up an old textbook of his father’s. Henry read it cover-to-cover; while not necessarily comprehending what he had read, he had dozens of questions. It became rapidly apparent to both of his parents that he was quite intellectually gifted, and they began to experiment with various interests to see what would take.

Henry reveled in delving into non-fiction books; many of them were simplified as they were directed towards children, whereas more advanced works he would see on a library shelf and beg his mother to be able to take home. One of his most cherished was a small book on nuclear energy, which he had practically memorized.

The idea that nearly limitless power could come from interactions at a level too small to see fascinated the young Henry. Any opportunity to explain a concept he had just learned or a piece of trivia he had read he would take to, and as a child he became known as something of a walking encyclopedia. As he progressed through primary school he began to add other fascinations to his repertoire, building small steam engines or basic electronics from kits, and eventually scrap materials. His crowning achievements were a small Tesla Coil and a rather powerful paper rocket.

He found most subjects in school almost trivially simple, and coasted his way through primary school and the first few years of high school. Naturally his highest grades were in math and science, and his lowest were in the humanities; that said, he read at a post-secondary level in the eighth grade and had little trouble with those classes either. The school board’s evaluations quickly assessed him as intellectually gifted during the fourth grade (when the test was typically implemented) and they proceeded to provide him with limited assistance, primarily in grouping him with similar students. Henry didn’t see himself as substantially more capable than other students, and resented the fact that he had been put into a special category. His parents were naturally thrilled with the idea that he was performing at such a high level, and implored him to at least give it a chance for a time.

Many of his early friendships came about through his attempt to help other students with difficult tasks, tutoring others or leading group projects. While the gifted students were encouraged to act in this capacity, attempts to implement it in an official sense tended to backfire – through tutoring sessions most students quickly developed a sense that they weren’t as valuable or intelligent as the students in the gifted program. This also often functioned in the inverse with the gifted students, who responded to the ostracization by asserting themselves as more intelligent than the rest.

An exception to this status quo was Henry, who had always been quite insistently independent and something of an iconoclast. His humility and helpful nature helped dispel the assumption that he thought he was any better than anyone else, and he was bullied far less than the other kids in the program. Even though he could run circles around most of his peers academically, he refused to believe that this division among the students was anything other than artificial and resented spending so much time away from his friends. After a year in the program, he asked to be re-integrated into mainstream classes. A few of the teachers and faculty were relieved, as he was beginning to demonstrate serious behavioural problems. He returned to regular classes in the sixth grade, and quickly became an asset in helping students who were struggling with their studies. As Henry often finished his work much faster than anyone else, he would spend the time that remained helping others.

Not all of the faculty responded well to his presence though, with many seeing him as arrogant or lazy. Frequently educational assistants would see his name on a list of Independent Education Plans and assumed he had a learning disability, treating him with a level of condescension that upset him deeply. Consequently he would respond with sarcasm or humour, which only furthered his reputation for arrogance.

An eighth grade project on rocketry was supposed to be a simple paper-rocket school project pulled more or less entirely from NASA's website, but Henry and his father took it to a ridiculous degree after Henry became bored and frustrated at the small scale of the project. With supervision, he built what he considered to be an actual rocket and demonstrated it on the day of the presentations. This was the beginning of his deep and abiding fascination with space travel.

While his good nature and affability made him relatively popular, few people at school counted him as much of a friend as many found his perceived intelligence quite intimidating. Most assumed that they wouldn’t be able to have much in common with him, and so throughout the early years of high school he found himself sidelined at social events and parties. To some degree his interest in science fiction kept the loneliness at bay, as he found himself easily able to pour his mind into novels and video games. Much of his musical taste comes from film scores of various works of science fiction, and his favourite artists are Philip Glass, Vangelis, and Tangerine Dream.

To some degree the bullying he experienced got worse in high school, as his isolation and slight appearance made some of the school’s jocks assume he was gay. This was enough of a problem that Henry himself began to question his sexuality, and experimented briefly in the tenth grade. Coming to the rather clear conclusion that he was not anything other than straight, this experience served to make him more comfortable in his own skin and was a significant boon to his self-confidence. Even still, he doesn’t see himself entering a long-term relationship anytime soon. His standard response is a general feeling of not being entirely mature or ready for a relationship; in reality, he doesn’t want to have anything tying him down to Earth if his dreams come to pass.

Henry’s reputation at school is primarily of someone who is highly intelligent and kind, though some view him as arrogant and aloof. His close friends often refer to him by his last name or “Sparky” if they’re teasing him.

As he has matured so did his interests. Henry’s personal beliefs began to develop and crystallize as he approached his senior year: stories his parents told about his ancestors instilled him a deep belief in the potential cruelty and monstrosity of human beings, and he began to question the stability of modern civilization. When he looked to his own family tree he saw the wounds of the Holocaust and the genocide of Indigenous Peoples; this combined with a keen awareness of the destructive power of nuclear weapons made him deeply fearful for the future.

Never one to focus on the small problems, Henry wanted to do everything he could to advance the potential survival of the human race, and opted to look into a future in space travel. Thinking in a similar vein as many popular futurists, he wishes to play some part in making humans a "multi-planet species." Ultimately his dream is to become an astronaut in either the public or private sector, and has already gone through some effort to make himself viable candidate.

While he’d experimented with alcohol and drugs in the first few years of high school he has since avoided all mind-altering substances and takes his health and academic performance quite seriously. Though he is quite capable, he has difficulty with the actual work involved in academic pursuits due to his predisposition to boredom and restlessness. More often than not, Henry has to seek help from others when it comes to trying to figure out the exact expectations of a course, lest he either fall behind out of boredom or put in far too much work than is necessary. If Henry isn’t interested in a topic, he finds it incredibly difficult to pursue it.

As his ultimate goal is entry to a high level post-secondary program at MIT, he has set aside most of his other obligations to work towards this particular goal. This has caused him to neglect his few social obligations, though he feels it is a necessary sacrifice. Though he found the experience wildly unpleasant, he managed to do exceptionally well on the standardized tests necessary for admission. His test scores landed in the 99th percentile.

While he acknowledges that the likelihood of his actual success in going to space is astronomically small he envisions several contingency plans should he be unsuccessful, and would still wish to work in the aerospace industry.

Henry maintains an interest in rocketry, and finds the concept of asteroid impact avoidance fascinating; he often daydreams about working on such a project as a means of rehabilitating his early interest in nuclear energy. As a child it fascinated him, but as a teenager the prospect of nuclear war was altogether horrifying and the subject of recurring nightmares. Recent political instability and the rise of what Henry very firmly describes as “neo-fascism” has only aggravated this fear. The use of nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles as a means of saving humanity remains a way for Henry to channel his fears and anxieties for the future into something productive.

Politically, Henry finds it difficult to align himself in any firm direction. He naturally despises anyone who possesses views he’d label as “anti-science” which pushes him far away from the extreme left or right. He views the rise of Jerrod Canon as the second coming of Fascism and sees it as furthering the certainty of some kind of global catastrophe.

For most of his life Henry has had a good relationship to his parents, who value his independent spirit and recognized early on that there was only so much they could or should do to guide his interests. Given that Henry is an only child, and without many nearby members of their extended family, Henry is quite close with his parents.

Eli Sparks is a particularly exuberant and excitable man, whose passion for science and technology was passed down to his son. When they aren’t talking over one project or another, he frequently tries to get Henry to read and watch some of his favorite works of science fiction. Eli tends to approach life with an engineer's mindset, and addresses difficulties in life as problems to be solved. While he tries his best to offer support to “fix” problems that Henry might be facing, he often finds himself lacking in emotional intelligence. He is aware of this, though is frequently insecure about not being a better father to his son. Henry finds his father’s quirks occasionally frustrating, but genuinely enjoys spending time with him. The way that his father finds genuine joy in solving problems and manages to maintain an optimistic and curious attitude towards the world is one of the qualities that Henry tries his best to emulate.

Kim Sparks is by contrast, a more deliberate and reserved person. Having escaped a life of poverty on a native reservation, she has never been able to turn a blind eye to injustice in her own life and in the lives of others. Given her profession, she is a woman of ideas and a very active conversationalist. Though more cynical than her husband, she shares the notion that the only way to better the world is to take an active role in doing so and has worked hard to instill that value in her son. She frequently acts as a sounding board for some of Henry’s thoughts on the nature of the world, and as he has gotten older that relationship has become less one-sided, with Kim often turning to her son for some of his own insights. Kim often worries that Henry is overworked and not taking enough time to enjoy his youth, and makes a point of taking their family out on camping trips or the occasional vacation. Henry bristles against this assumption, though he understands where she is coming from. Though she has often taken the role of a disciplinarian, Henry sees his mother as something of a personal hero owing to her determination and strong moral center.

His interests outside of applied sciences are few, given the all-consuming nature of his ambitions. As a means of relieving stress, Henry has taken to knitting in his spare time. The meticulous nature of the hobby is an exercise in mindfulness to him, and he often gives away the by-products of his work to friends and relatives, particularly the few that his family still keeps in touch with back in Montana.

Henry also owns several books that feature varying kinds of architecture, his favourite being a large coffee table volume entirely devoted to Brutalism. The meticulous nature of architectural design and the notion of building something to last appeals to Henry, and he quietly views it as an additional backup plan in case his aspirations of space travel fail. He also owns an extensive collection of survivalist literature, featuring everything from the Anarchist’s Cookbook and various field manuals, to assorted works of post-apocalyptic fiction. Though not a “Prepper” by any means, Henry empathizes with the mindset and views his future aspirations as his own means to deal with civilization’s inevitable collapse.

He has occasionally dabbled with various survival plans, but hasn’t had the time or wherewithal to commit fully to any of them; his greatest success was in putting together a survival kit that he keeps under his bed, which contains a number of survival implements and some non-perishable food items. He continues to nurse a strong desire to test his abilities on a solo camping trip, though he has struggled to convince his parents that it is at all a good idea.

Regardless, he continues to pursue this hobby with a similar level of determination as his studies. Feeling capable and able to fend for himself in a worst-case scenario keeps his mind at ease. Henry believes it keeps him grounded and aware of the tenuous and potentially unstable nature of modern life.

Henry’s lifestyle is somewhat austere. He awakens early every day and works out for half an hour, then takes a quick shower and has a simple breakfast, leaving for school nearly an hour early so he has time to take a walk and work out various concepts in his head. For lunch he tends to vary his diet, but always has a protein shake in the middle of the day. After school Henry will often head to a local library to study or read as a means of decompressing, before taking another long walk home. Most of his evenings he tries to relax, but inevitably finds his way back to working on some project or leftover schoolwork. While he is incredibly picky in terms of his diet, his parents tend to be fairly accommodating when it comes to evening meals. Henry counts every calorie he takes in and maintains an incredibly detailed log of various markers of his health and overall fitness. He despises having to sleep, but still makes an effort to be in bed by midnight.

His most valuable possession is a telescope, which he often sets up out in the country on weekends to avoid the light pollution. He also has a small black and white Norwegian cat named Morpheus, who frequently sits in Henry’s lap as he works at the desk in his bedroom.

Henry finds it incredibly difficult to sit still, and has a perpetual need to be working on something. His greatest fear - aside from the end of civilization - is being perceived as useless or incompetent. Though not particularly religious, he does find inspiration from the spiritual teachings of both sides of his family. He tries to remain humble and doesn’t presume to understand much about the nature of reality, and tries to respect the temporal nature of his existence. Henry is much more comfortable uttering the phrase “I don’t know” than most would expect.

Advantages: Henry is intelligent and driven, with an exceptional aptitude for problem-solving skills. He is emotionally stable, unlikely to falter in situations of extreme stress, and will work towards a given solution until all possibilities have been exhausted. He is also in good physical shape and has no major physical or mental health issues to speak of.

Disadvantages: Henry’s ambitions may prove to be his undoing, as he is unprepared for a circumstance where his life doesn’t necessarily go according to plan. He is also naturally kind-hearted and finds it difficult to do anything that might put someone else in harm’s way. In no way does Henry have any experience with physical confrontations as he generally avoids conflict with others as much as possible.

Designated Number: Male student no. 030

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Designated Weapon: Punt Gun

Conclusion: This kid sounds super boring. Hell, the most interesting thing about him is the fact he's got overcompensation the gun. - Josie Knight

'The above biography is as written by Shiola. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Shiola

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Collected Weapons:  Punt Gun (assigned weapon)

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Threads
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