Bio (Official): His full name is Infiltration Unit Zeta. He has a
high-endurance metal frame, that was built to carry an array of weapons
and tools. He can project a hologram around himself and alter his voice,
allowing him to become anyone. He was created to fight our country's
enemies - to mimic people, infiltrate their ranks, and... well, you can
fill in the ending. But something happened that his keepers never
expected:
He learned the value of human life. And when ordered to harm a man he
believed was innocent, Zeta refused. Instead he threw away his weapons,
and ran from his programmed destiny.
Ever since, the government agents that controlled Zeta have been after
him, convinced that he's been reprogrammed by terrorists. Led by the
obsessed hunter, Agent Bennet, their plan is to wipe Zeta's memory
clean, reprogram him from scratch, and send him back out as the mindless
machine he was meant to be.
At the same time that Zeta runs from Agent Bennet, he searches for the
scientist who created him: Doctor Eli Selig, former head of the
Infiltration Unit Program. Zeta hopes that as his creator, Selig will
believe that his change of heart is real, and convince the agents to
drop their pursuit. But Selig himself is a man on the move, and Zeta
hasn't found him yet.
Created in a lab just over a year ago, Zeta is like a child in a
grown-up's body. He was programmed to mimic people with uncanny
accuracy, but back in his government days, he was only copying real
people who he could study and memorize. Nowadays, Zeta's making
everything up for himself, and he's not as good at "playing human" as he
used to be. A little Mr. Spock, a little Jeff Bridges' Starman, he's
learning about human behavior from scratch -- curious, but confused when
people don't seem to make sense.
Why do we play sports? Even stranger, why do we watch sports? How do you
know when someone's flirting? And why do people put their pets in little
outfits? Zeta doesn’t always know the right response in a social
situation either, and his attempts to blend in can sometimes have comic
results. Fortunately, Ro is there to cover for his mistakes, and coach
him as best as she can.
Still, this power of mimicry is Zeta's primary strength. His on-board
holographic emitter allows him to change his appearance at will. Beneath
the hologram, his metal frame is able to lengthen, shorten, widen or
contract, to accommodate a wide range of body types -- male, female,
adult or child, with a height range of roughly four to seven feet. (Of
course, knowing what a woman looks like, and knowing how a woman moves,
are two different things. Let's just say Zeta has a lot to learn.)
Within limits, Zeta can even project his hologram into shapes that don't
exactly match his humanoid form. For example, in Batman Beyond,
Zeta projects a twisted, broken version of himself around his frame, to
give Bennet the impression that he's been destroyed. In the pilot,
we'll see him mimic an old man, and project his hologram out from one
hand to create the illusion of a cane.
What Zeta can't do is become something completely unlike his form, like
a chair or an extension of a wall. As a rule, if a shape is humanoid
enough to logically contain his frame (like say, a statue or a large
mammal), then Zeta can become it.
In general, Zeta's "default" guise will be that of a tall, handsome male
in his early twenties, which Ro nicknames "Zee." It's an appearance she
helps him choose, advising that it's just the right age: Old enough that
legally you can do what you want, yet young enough that kids still trust
you. In this guise, Zeta is able to pose as Ro's older brother, and the
two can skirt any questions about her being a minor on her own.
Although Zeta is stronger than an average human, and his metal frame can
take a beating, he's far from invulnerable. Sometimes, like the rest of
us, all he can do is run and hope to leap clear of a blast in time. To
frame his strength between some known superheroes, he's about twice a
Batman Beyond cybersuit, and nowhere near a Superman.
Of course, Zeta's robotic design gives him other advantages. He's faster
than a human, both in running speed and reflexes. His "eyes" and "ears"
are more sensitive, picking up wavelengths outside human perception. And
to a limited degree, he's self-repairing. If he sustains a minor injury,
like circuitry damage, mini-robotic tools can extend from compartments
on his arms and perform basic electronic work. But he can't grow a new
limb if one's shattered, or synthesize new materials that he wouldn't
have on board.
Lastly, Zeta is a veritable Swiss Army knife of tools. Originally
designed to carry a whole arsenal of laser-guns, he's discarded these,
and now carries only those tools he considers peaceful. Among the handy
devices he's got built into his body are:
• A cred-card that slides out of his palm. In this world, cash no longer
exists, and all currency transfers are done through "units" carried on
these cards. Because Zeta is a walking computer, he has the ability to
perpetually charge his cred, making him an unlimited source of money.
(These creds are not traceable; this isn't analogous to using a credit
card today. It's more like a long-distance phone card, or the fare cards
used in some cities' public transportation systems. You charge them up
with units, and then spend them like cash.)
• A laser-cutting tool, that can also be used within close range to
"fire" a shot.
• A computer-interface cable, that can be used to patch into virtually
any computer-operated machine -- from a video-phone to a vehicle, to the
mainframe running a building's security system.
• And of course, a plethora of drills, saws, cutters, welders.... This
robot was built to get in and out of anywhere, and if it makes sense in
the context of a story to have him whip out a new previously-unseen
device, we're open to it.
Bio (Official - WBs Zeta Site): His full name is INFILTRATION
UNIT ZETA. He has a high endurance metal frame that was built to carry a
wide array of weapons and tools. He can project a hologram around
himself and alter his voice, allowing him to become anyone. He was
created to fight our country's enemies, to mimic people, infiltrate
their ranks, and...well, you can guess the rest. But something happened
that his keepers never expected.
He learned the value of human life, and when ordered to harm a man he
believed was innocent, Zeta refused. Instead he threw away his weapons
and ran away from his programmed destiny.
Ever since, the government agents who controlled Zeta have been after
him, convinced he's been reprogrammed by terrorists. Led by an obsessed
hunter, Agent Bennet, their plan is to wipe Zeta's memory clean,
reprogram him from scratch and send him back out as the mindless machine
of destruction he was originally intended to be.
Bio: Categorized as a rogue infiltration unit by the NSA, Zeta
(or “Zee”), is a “failed” project by a number of scientists, the core of
which was Dr. Selig.
Zeta’s killing mindset changed because of a chip that Dr. Selig had
implanted inside Zeta’s brain, allowing him to have a conscience and
make moral decisions. While he tries to tell the NSA that he no longer
wants to kill, all they want to do is dismantle and reprogram him.
In his running away from the NSA, Zeta ran into Ro, a young girl who was
also on the run. The two became friends and began looking out for each
other, risking each others lives to save the other. Together they found
Dr. Selig not once, but three times, finally spending time with him on
their last encounter. Unfortunately, Dr. Selig was killed in the
explosion of his lab, the Knossos, before Zeta was able to tell Dr.
Selig who he was.
Zeta and Ro continue to run from the NSA and prevent atrocities
committed by other human beings along the way.
|