Weight: 63#
Hair: White
Eyes: Blue
Skin: Weathered
Clothing:
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Height: 46" Weight: 63# Hair: White Eyes: Blue Skin: Weathered Clothing: |
Widget was the recipient of a rare genetic condition that threw his hormones out of whack. He is considered a little person due to his short stature. The proportions of his body are normal, it's just his actual size that isn't. His appearance was severly impacted due to irregular hormone levels that caused the bones,cartilage and some connective tissue of his face to grow at rates different than it normally would have resulting in a rather startling appearance.
Max Tesla was born and raised on a ranch on the border-world of Boros. Though a fair amount of Boros is home to large spreading scrap heaps, much to a scavengers delight, there is still a great deal of prairie land given over to ranches and farms. This is where Max grew up. The Teslas bred and raised mainly horses for use on the planet as well as a few other small herds of varying animals over the years, such as kangaroo. As Max grew up it was discovered that he just wasn't growing as fast as other kids his own age. To complicate matters he was, quite frankly, a hideous sight. After medical examination Max and his family learned that he was the recipient of a rare medical condition connected to his growth hormones that would restrict his growth to roughly half that of his peers though his body would be in proportion unlike other strains of 'dwarfism'. It was also responsible for his appearance having caused the bones,cartilage and some connective tissue of his face to grow at rates different than it normally would have. The kids from the ranches nearby took it in stride and for the most part he was treated normally. Max's only problems with prejudice normally came from adults, mainly outsiders. He was given chores on the ranch commensurate with his age but due to his short stature and the fact that for some reason the animals never really got on with him, shying away when he came near, his family found it difficult to find tasks that he could do. It wasn't until his 10th year that his mechanical apptitude showed itself. Max had always found the machines facinating and much more comfortable to be around since they didn't tease him about how he looked or run away when he got closer like the animals did. There was a day when the ranch handyman was having problems repairing an old hovercraft and had stalked away in disgust leaving a bemused Max looking on wondering what was wrong. Max walked over to the hovercraft made the adjustments needed and replaced secondary compression coupling, just like the old mule had mentioned needed to be done. Max had the hovercraft idling and was replacing the handymans tools back in the toolbox when the handyman returned from lunch. The handyman was astonished that everything was fixed. The old hovercraft was even running better than it had in years. Once it was known that Max had made the repairs it was brought to the attention of his family and from then on Max's primary responsibilities revolved around the vehicles and machinery on the ranch. Max was in heaven. He had finally found a way to contribute meaningfully. It was when he found a few engineering textbooks at the nearby city library that things really took off for him. By the age of sixteen it was a common site for Max to return to the ranch in one of the familys mules towing a gravsled piled with scrap. Max had taken those engineering books and found that the scrap piles around Boros were a treasure trove of pieces and parts that he could assemble into devices of his own design. His favorite invention was a wind powered hoverboard that he used to travel all over the countryside, often racing whooping and hollering alongside one of the horse herds. His invention didn't go unnoticed and soon there were several hoverboards owned by his friends from the surrounding ranches and farms. Somehow one of those hoverboards ended up in the hands of a visiting engineer who, recognizing a great idea, scanned it, changed a few minor parts on the design to make it more efficient and shipped the design to the company's marketing group. A few months later Max found an ad for his design on the cortex. Repeated waves to the company resulted in nothing more productive than the announcement that he hadn't patented the design so they were not responsible for paying royalties. Ever since that situation it has been Max's dream to pull together enough money to start his own engineering firm (possibly even a shipyard!) and create and patent his own designs. It was to this end that in his 19th year that he left his family and Boros for a position on a merchant marine vessel as Mechanics Mate, second class. Over the next few years Max began to build a bit of a reputation for uncanny repairs when others just couldn't make sense as to why a device in apparently working order just didn't function. Due to this knack, as well as his size, his shipmates began calling him 'Widget' a name he has continued to use. He traded on this reputation, and, despite his short stature and unpleasant appearance, was able to find positions of increasing responsibility and challenge. While serving a stint on a starliner he met a man working security. Though the officer was rather reticent at first Max found that he warmed up enough when Max shared out his homemade whiskey. He'd found the designs for a working still in the Galactic Encyclopedia and had decided to try it out. After a few false starts and a couple of different recipes Max became rather proficient at distilling his own 'Gremlin Whiskey', a pun on both his chosen profession as well as his own appearance. Locating a few oaken casks on a planetside layover he was able to put aside a few gallons of his homemade brew and allow it to mellow with age. At the time Max met the security officer he was never with out a flask that could be shared out. Max found Gremlin Whiskey would often grease the social wheels that his appearance caused to grind to a halt. The two of them spent the rest of the tour becoming fast friends and kept in contact even after, with Max occasionally bottling an aged cask of his homemade brew and mailing it off to his friend along with a unique device or two of Max's own design to suit a need that his friend had. Max's most recent post has been onboard an old trader vessel that had seen better days. Upon arrival at Santos an Alliance cutter ordered them to heave-to and prepare to be boarded. The captain gave orders to run. The pilot, in full knowledge of the situation, heeled the trader over in preparation to run and punched the pulse drive. There were muffled explosions from the engine room and smoke billowed out. The captain, absolutely certain the little creature he'd hired to keep the ship running was in league with the Alliance, barrled into the engine room spun Max from his attempt to make sense of the damage and proceeded to beat him with a handy wrench. It was this wrench that Max had been using to make a last minute repair when seals on the primary control coolant valve blew, as he had told the captain repeatedly would happen. The box-end of the wrench had cracked throwing Max across the walkway to slam his head into the bulkhead. It was as a dazed Max made his way back to the pipes to put a temporary patch over leaks and reroute the coolant that the captain had barged in with murder in his eye and cluelessness in his mind. Meanwhile the Alliance had been able to attach bording lines to the trader vessel and anchor it to their own ship. They had borded as the captain was preoccupied and his crew had run about confused, seeking to keep the Alliance off the ship any way possible. With the engines down the crew resorted to firearms to keept the Alliance officers at bay. Through superior numbers and firepower the Alliance boarding crew overcame the traders' crew and took them into custody. Dimly, Max recalls an Alliance soldier pulling the captain off of him before he passed out. He awoke two days later in the hospital. Max discovered, much to his horror, that the crew had been smuggling drugs and other illegal substances used to keep many of Santos inhabitants in the thrall of their employers. After hearing Max's story the Alliance officer let him go and advised him to keep his head down for a bit as the trader captain had been putting out the word that Max had sabotaged the engines as an Alliance spy. Well, nothing could be further from the truth and Max rebutted the captains statement saying that it was his own greed that had caused the problems onboard his vessel since he wouldn't pay for basic maintenance. Max's reputation won out with the crew who knew how stingy the captain could be and he went on his way. It's been a couple of weeks since he was discharged from the hospital and Max has been taking his time finding a new ship.