Karsten Schrade

Karsten is a German follower of Stanislav. He was previously a soldier in the German army, before he was conspired into a top secret and morally questionable project involving the science of Bio-metaphysics - he was made into a super-solider, the ultimate living weapon.

Karsten has a fanatical hatred of other races after years of indoctrination. He has a somewhat strange relationship with Magda Beckenbauer, Stanis' adoptive sister, who attempts to teach him to trust other races after his years of indoctrination by way of physical intimacy.

Life as a Super-Solidier

 * "Man sought to replicate the abilities of those great champions of history - the Demigods - for their own selfish gain"

Karsten is conscious of his abilities since his induction into the program that saw himself and a chose few others bio-mechinally altered into living weapons, but is extremely private about the full extent of his abilities. Known to Stanislav, Karsten has incredible super-human strength and hyperstimulated reflexes; other than that his other abilities are unknown. Karsten chose to give Magda some insight into his time as part of the project, telling her that though he did not choose to become what he is, he 'cannot deny that [his] upgrades have helped him survive thus far'.

Karsten feels like an outsider as a follower of Stanis, whose creed demands him to unite the races of humans and demigods - Karsten no longer feels human and thus is an anomaly. When confronting Stanis about the subject Stanis refers to Karsten as 'a human', causing Karsten to erupt into a rant of how his human was ripped from him whilst being experimented on.

Negative effects from the project
Karsten remembers little (or chooses to remember little) about his time as a test subject. He does however reveal to Magda the pain he felt as he was experimented on, telling her that 'it was so great [he] would have ripped the flesh from [his] bones with his bare hands to end it'.

Karsten has visible scars that illustrate his past torture, from surgical procedures that sought to enhance his abilities as a soldier and his survival chances in battle. For example, his entire skeleton was replaced with a titanium and carbon fibre equivalent, leaving many scars on his body from repeat surgery.

Karsten seems unable to remember the location of the facility where he was held, as is revealed when he stumbles across the facility's ruins - he does not recognise where he is until he finds the cryogenic storage room, which contained a pod with his name on. Magda helps him explore the facility and try to relive his memories; they come across Karsten's old jumpsuit, his identification papers and (more morbidly) his original skeleton. The experience brings back memories for Karsten which cause him extreme physical pain. Magda finds Karsten's file which explains what was done to him - the papers reveal that Karsten, due to his extreme mental trauma after each experience, was fitted with an implant in his brain that would trigger a release of a sedative named Brotizolam to calm him - over the years Karsten had become increasingly immune to the effects of the Brotizolam, causing him increasing pain when reliving memories. This also explained why Karsten suffered from near-constant headaches, as they are a side effect of frequent use of the drug.

His experiences have given Karsten memory-induced terror, brought on by: the smell of medical cleanliness, enclosed spaces, bright artificial light, and the colour white to name a few. All these triggers existed in some way when he was part of the project; for example, the lab assistants and doctors wore white coats while experimenting on him. Whilst in an induced bout of terror, Karsten will seek to eliminate the source of his current mental state in a blind rage, attacking both objects and people.

Karsten is addicted to a number of drugs used in medical facilities, including hypostims, sedatives, pain relief drugs, etc. He was exposed to these drugs during the project, and they were the only source of relief he could find. He constantly carries hypostims on him, shooting up whenever his mind cannot take his past trauma. Stanis attempted to confiscate Karsten supply of hypostims, which resulted in Karsten going into meltdown and attempting to kill himself.

Relationship with Magda

 * "All they wanted was my genes, my DNA...never have I loved another human being, never have I felt any emotion towards another when I did my duty as a breeding male; until you..." - Karsten, to Magda

Having been part of the military breeding program, Karsten had never had a relationship in his life before he met Magda. Despite being mixed race she found a way to let Karsten ease his defensiveness around her. Magda wished to try and help Karsten build a new life - she would talk to him and let him be physical with her to try and ease his mental pain.

Over time Karsten began to trust Magda. He confessed to Magda he had never had a relationship in his life, only fulfilling his duty as a member of the breeding program when requested - he had children, many in fact, but he had never met any of them as family relationships were not allowed in the breeding program. Having poured out his heart to her Karsten realised he loved Magda and the two forged a strong and trusting relationship.

Stanis did not approve of Karsten's relationship with his sister, believing Karsten to be an emotional wreck who did not have the capability to protect her. This silent war between the two men erupted into violence when Karsten attacked Stanis in response to Stanis comparing him to a rabid dog. Stanis was injured badly before Magda could calm Karsten down and take him away from the fight.

Magda later told Karsten she was pregnant, causing Karsten to react strangely and shy away from her. He later confessed that he was scared that he could not be a father because of how unpredictable he was, that and having never had a fatherly role in any of his children's lives. Magda promised him that they would work together to make Karsten better and that being a father could be the making of him.

Karsten revealed to Magda once that, as part of the breeding program, he had slept with over 100 women - his genes were some of the most desirable in the entire program, making him one of the most popular breeding males. He also privately endures unwanted flashbacks of the women he was forced to impregnate whilst making love to Magda, which she is unaware of.