Sakura Tanikawa
Name Sakura Tanikawa
Position IT Teacher
Character Information
| Gender | Female | |
| Age | 29 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5’ 3” | |
| Weight | 106 lbs | |
| Hair Color | Lavender | |
| Eye Color | Dark brown |
Family
| Father | Nakamaro Tanikawa | |
| Mother | Sugi Tanikawa (née Osada) | |
| Brother(s) | Yuji Tanikawa (32) | |
| Sister(s) | Chifumi Fujima (née Tanikawa) (34) | |
| Other Family | Shijo Fujima (brother-in-law, 37) |
Personality & Traits
Powers
| Alias | Tekku | |
| Mutant Registration Status | reg | |
| Primary Power | Technopathy: Understands machines of all kinds with a touch | |
| Secondary/Travel Power | Can interact with computers mentally. This includes networked computers. To her, can seem like she’s inside the computer, walking around in a virtual space. | |
| Training/Skillset | Limited karate and kendo: computer programming across multiple formats, basic machine engineering | |
| Mission Team Specialty | Technology, engineering |
History
| Personal History | Sakura is the youngest child of Nakamaro and Sugi Tanikawa, a family from Tokyo, Japan. They were not wealthy, but their household was well off enough to live comfortably in a single-family home in a more affluent part of town. Eldest sister, Chifumi, listened, did well in school, made no waves in any social circles, and was married off young. The middle child, her older brother (and therefore oldest son) Yuji was the family favourite and heir to the name and moderate holdings of the Tanikawa family. Sakura was the baby and while she did her best to listen and be good, it seemed trouble often found her. Other kids would tease or bully her, and she would get into a fight, and then be blamed by her parents for attracting the negative attention. To instill her with some discipline, she was forced to take karate and kendo, but was removed from both at age 14 when she actually used some of the skills she learned to fight off a boy. It was when she was 14 that her mutant power manifested, thankfully in a way that was mostly silent. The teen was confused when images came into her brain unbidden whenever she touched anything the least bit complicated. Her parents and siblings dismissed her as being dramatic. In time she figured out what was the matter. She was a mutant, and she could understand machines and technology with a touch. At school she kept her power secret from even her closest few friends. She went so far as to detach herself fully from everyone, just so she could keep her head down and finish her education in peace. She used her power to excel in any technical studies, though she worked extra hard to find reasonable explanations for why she might know things that she only figured out from her mutant power. The Tanikawa children attended very well funded schools, and in 1980, when Sakura was seventeen, her school obtained six NEC PC-8001 computers. These were the first computers she had ever interacted with, and her mutant gift permitted her to work with it far better than her classmates. She was given permission to stay late after school and program, both with the tools taught to her by the school and her own innate gifts. In Fall 1981 she started taking classes at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Again, her powers permitted her to thrive, and she was near the top of her class in Computer Sciences. Upon graduation, she and a former classmate, Miss Chihori Hironaka, both got jobs at NEC. Her parents were happy she was out and on her own, but disappointed that she hadn't married yet. Indeed, she was not married, but she had begun to date a coworker, Kenichi Ishihara. In late 1985, Sakura walked in on Chihori at the public bath and saw that, when she thought she was alone, Chihori had been staying under the water for a very very long time. She was a mutant too! She confided in her roommate/best friend that she was one as well, and they gave each other nicknames. Chihori became Māmeido (Mermaid) and Sakura became Tekku (Tech). Regrettably, in mid 1986, Sakura and Chihori were found out by Kenichi. He outed them to senior managers in NEC and the two were dismissed. They tried to find work in other electronic/computer/tech companies, including Nintendo and Hitachi, but none would keep them for long. In 1987, at age 24, Sakura applied for jobs at American tech companies. She was offered a one-year contract at McAfee and accepted. Unfortunately, the US government's earliest social experiments with mutant registration included registration of foreign labourers. Sakura's work permit included a line which read MUTANT - Y. McAfee was required by law to honour her contract, but when the year was up her contract was not renewed. This came as no surprise, given the year was full of microaggression and anti-mutant rhetoric. From 1988 to 1992, she worked for varying lengths at Microsoft, Novell, Trask, Apple, Lotus, Oscorp, Roxxon, and IBM, but none kept her for more than a couple of months. She'd be hired on the spot for her qualifications, but then they would see her work permit. Individual coworkers and supervisors might have been kind, but upper management didn't want the tech mutie on staff. Part of her wondered whether they didn't blackball her out of kindness, or whether they wanted a competitor to have the PR disaster an anti-mutant protest outside headquarters would bring. In late August 1992, with her work permit due to end soon, and with fewer tech companies to call, she was fortunate to receive an invitation to teach tech studies at the newly opening school at Ridgehaven Manor... |
