Tara Trask
Tara Trask is a professor of gender history from Bryn Mawr College, currently spending a year at Columbia University as a visiting professor. A mutant with the power of astral projection, she has an unexpected connection to Mother Askani.
Contents
Details
Name: Tara Trask
Aliases: None
Occupation: College professor
First appearance: May 25, 2007
Family: None
Biography
Tara Trask is a professor of gender history at Bryn Mawr College, specializing in the history of women in warfare. An attractive woman in her late forties, she is an inspiring teacher and a noted historian, but her personal life is a mystery to most of her students and colleagues.
Thirty years previously, Trask struggled through the manifestation of her mutant powers, a form of astral projection that crossed not just space but time. It was involuntary, but she found herself wandering most often to the Askani's time period, drawn to Askani herself. Unfortunately, when she projects across time she is completely unable to communicate with the person whose mind she visits. Even a psi as strong as Askani could never sense her watching, so Tara quietly witnessed much of the Clan's history, right to the end. Her lack of ability to do anything but watch would later shape her response.
When Askani died and transferred her astral self back in time and to Nathan's mind, she was no longer there for Trask to connect with in the future. Because of the temporal paradox, Trask's loss of contact with Askani actually happened ten years prior to the events with Nathan, although Trask did see memories of Nathan in Askani's mind. For Askani, the two things were happening simultaneously. Trask continued to project herself involuntarily to Askani's time even after Askani's death, and saw what came after armageddon.
Trask, in the current day, set about trying to do something about the future she saw. For ten years, she selectively mentored choice students, attempting to pass on Askani beliefs and customs in a form adapted to the current century. The adaptation, unfortunately, was very loose. She saw their 'what is, is' philosophy in a way that would have left Askani herself aghast. In Trask's mind, 'what is, is' meant that you were responsible for yourself and to yourself. Only people who followed the same rigorous philosophy could be trusted, because only they could be trusted to maintain their own integrity as individuals.
By creating her version of the Askani sisterhood, Trask was hoping to create a tradition that could survive the coming conflict and give those worthy of survival a fighting chance. Unfortunately, she also became intolerant of weakness, rather cold towards the suffering of others, and in an ironic twist, would have gotten along shockingly well with Gideon Faraday and Saul Morrow.
Powers/Abilities
As mentioned above, Trask's mutation is basically psionic, a form of astral projection. Over the years, she perfected her ability to project her astral self across space - she can visit the mind of anyone she chooses and even influence their psyche to an extent. She can't control their minds, but she can make strong subconscious suggestions that anyone with a 'normal' mind would find difficult to ignore. Her temporal wandering is still spontaneous, limited, and uncontrolled, always with that wall between her and the mind she's touching.
Plots
Meta
PB: Joan Allen
Socked by: Persephone Kore
