Thursday, October 30, 2008

Character Bio: Erik Lundgren

Name: Erik Lundgren
Age: 42 (earth years)
Species: Human
Occupation: Engineer
Born: Stockholm, Sweden
Current residence: Gerod City

---

Erik Lundgren is the technical consultant and lead engineer for Genesis News. He partners with Elena to ensure she gets the story every time. Erik is a tall but skinny Swede, and unlike his brothers Ulf and Simon, he was not much of an athlete. About six feet tall, Erik sports a fair complexion and some graying hair. Decked out with a pair of round specs, Erik spends most of his day behind his bank of monitors and computers, watching the developing headlines as well as his information sources.

Erik's dress slants towards the conservative, often wearing collared shirts, slacks, and occasionally ties. What he lacks in style he often makes up with useful insights and timely help. Elena and Erik constantly chatter with each other via wireless link, and it's together that they are able to consistently beat other news services to the punch with accurate, groundbreaking stories.

---

Erik grew up in the snow covered hills of Sweden, the middle of three children. A graduate of computer science from Stockholm University, Erik moved to Gerod City in the American Protectorate after graduating to join Azunon Systems, a major manufacturer of video processing systems. This is where Erik learned how to build quick and efficient automated video processors, skills which would serve him well later on.

At the age of 30, Erik left Azunon after nine years of service to join up with the Assembly Aggregate, the leading news provider of the solar system. For a time, Erik was stationed on Mars, in charge of working out kinks in the Martian bureau's video aggregation systems. Erik completed this task with flying colors, and spent his time coordinating the video efforts. By the time that Bruce Daltrey had come in person, Erik had years of experience behind him. He spent the next few years working closely with Bruce and his recent hire, Elena Kalas. Working together, Erik edited together many of Elena's best segments.

When Janus Syndication System took over the Assembly Aggregate, Bruce had quickly departed. In the vacuum of Bruce's absence, Erik was approached by one of his fellow Mars bureau compatriots, Oscar Spencer. Spencer detailed to Erik that he was going to leave and start a competing news service, as he could not stand what Janus had done to the once respectable AA. Erik agreed, and left Mars along with him. Spencer founded the Genesis News Service on Earth, at the outskirts of Gerod City. One could never be too close to your competitors, he reasoned, since Janus had absorbed AA's Gerod operations.

Erik came aboard as the lead engineer and video technician, and the Genesis service was soon nipping at the heels of Janus, despite the fraction of manpower. They needed something more, though - and that's when he remembered the girl that always hung around Bruce. He told Oscar about Elena, and said that they needed a reporter like her.

Oscar agreed, and sought out Elena. Soon enough, she was in the building, and very pleased to see her old coworker again. Erik has spent the last year teaming up with Elena to produce the best segments for Genesis, and is a major part of their success today.

---

Erik's personality is that of a know-it-all who often times burns himself thinking he has an answer before he's examined all possibilities. It's sabotaged their efforts several times, but more often than not Erik is correct. Erik is the "tech guy" and as such repairing gadgets and implementing new systems is up to him, though he does not have much of an inventive nature and tends to be conservative in his approach to solutions for problems. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is a motto he lives by.

Erik rarely goes on location and prefers the safety of his video banks. While one could rip this as cowardice, he prefers to think of it as best utilizing his talents. All of Elena's video and stills captured by the ARC go straight to his monitors, where he arranges them with her reporting and interviews to quickly get coverage on the net and waves.

When not tinkering with his vast collection of failed films, Erik enjoys skiing and painting.

No comments: