Rami Ghai is a successful gearhead and handler for British Intelligence. She is currently on loan to SHIELD.
Reputation
Rami is sly, quick-witted, and extremely intelligent. She has a vast library of knowledge, and even knows somethings that seem impossible for any one mind to possess. She's adept at technology, particularly around communications technology, and is quite the tinkerer.
Biography
Parambir Kaur Ghai is a baptized Sikh, born and raised in Southall, London. Her family holds a prestigious lineage from the Kshatriya caste of Hindu society — back when her family were practicing Hindus. This caste was considered to be part of the military elite, and this call to military service runs deep in her family's heritage. At the turn of the 15th Century, her family became Sikh, and it is believed they were blessed by the Guru Nanak himself. It was this blessing that resulted in the genetic eidetic memory, or so the family mythos goes. This gift is passed from parent to child down a sacred line, and Rami is the most recent to be born with this gift and it will be up to her, some day, to pass the gift onto one of her own offspring. For now, it is only her grandmother, father, and Rami that are living bearers of this memory ability.
For Rami, her ability did not come into fruition until she was aged nine. It is common that the next bearer does not begin to recall the ancestral memories until close to puberty. Rami woke from a feverish night, believing herself to be her grandmother. She was able to precisely recall what her grandmother had done just the day before, and that became a clear sign that Rami was the next bearer. It was a hard transition for Rami to go from a simple nine-year-old girl to one of the bearers, having all the living memories of her father, grandmother, and all the ancestral memories of all the bearers before. She started to practice meditation, became married to very strict routines, and even had to undergo dietary changes at the behest of her grandmother (foolish old hag).
Like most bearers, her education became very important. No longer could she merely "do okay" in her schooling: now, any knowledge she gained was knowledge the next bearer would have. Her family pressed her into every educational advantage, and she was eventually accepted into the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. There she studied advanced electrical and technical engineering, communications technologies, and a passing interest in nanophysics. Eventually, she landed an internship with Stark Industries, but passed it up to instead follow her family's draw into military service. She started her work with the Royal Air Force, but was eventually funneled into the Secret Intelligence Service, and became a handler and communications expert, while also pulling work in the applied technology divisions.
It was soon after this did she begin to receive calls from her concerned mother: when was she going to find herself a nice boyfriend, settle down, get married, and start having children. The next bearer was her responsibility. Rami endured a strained social life, being drawn into arranged dates that often ended with her having to be called into work. Thank. God.
After several years of dedicated service, Rami was moved into a subdivision of MI-6 known as MI-6.5 — a black ops division. She became known as Courtier then, and was assigned to Rule Britannia — also known as Michael Carter. Courtier has served as Michael's handler for several years now, but his recent disavowing from the agency has Courtier's loyalties torn. Michael abides by her strange sense of morality, and something just doesn’t feel right. If Michael calls, she’s still going to answer it — and whatever he says will determine if she still finds him worthy.
Most recently, Rami has been sent to the US as part of a cooperative effort between MI-6 and SHIELD. Chosen because she is close to Michael, and some intelligence has pointed to Michael being in the US, Rami has left for NYC as part of a long term assignment. The good news? Harder for her mother to set her up on blind dates… hopefully…
The First Bearer. Blessed by Guru Nanak after protecting him from demons while climbing to the peak of Mount Sumeru. Ghai had been part of the prized warrior caste of the Hindu-ruled Punjab. His son shared the blessing, becoming the second bearer at aged ten — only five short years after the start of the blessing. Ghai vowed his family line to the Sikh faith, and they have been Sikh ever since.
Rami has a mischievous humor about her — almost like a fox. She smiles at most situations, meeting them with a sharp wit and wry demeanor. She is quite a loyal friend, though most of her friends are all spies, which also means she can be a bit slow to warm.
ADVANCED EDUCATION
Rami has been given every advantage in education once she was found to be her family's bearer (see Genetic Eidetic Memory). She has been sent to the best schools, achieved the highest standards, and had to meet every expectation put before her. Why? Because knowledge is power and her family possesses a lot of knowledge through their bearers.
COMMUNICATIONS EXPERT
As part of her job as a handler, Rami is capable in most all forms of communication, including computer hacking that has to deal with communication systems — i.e. cell phone networks, email systems, surveillance systems.
ENGINEER AND IMPROVISER
Rami is a talented engineer, innovator, and improviser when it comes to a wide range of technology and weapons. This has made her a valuable part of MI-6 where she is able to tinker, manipulate, and create for the benefit of her fellow spies. She is not a field agent (yet), but instead acts as both a handler and gearhead for Rule Britannia — or she did, before he was disavowed.
GENETIC EIDETIC MEMORY
Rami is the most recent child that possesses the genetic eidetic memories of her family's clan. The origin of this power is hard to map, but it has been handed down parent to child for generations and is believed to be connected to Sikh reincarnation. To an outsider, it looks like an intense eidetic memory that includes both visual and auditory memory mapping. What Rami actually possesses is the ability to recall any memory from a specific line of ancestors, and to perfectly map her own memories. This immense memory ability comes with its own series of disadvantages (see Disadvantages for more info).
MARTIALIST
As part of a secret black ops division of MI-6, Rami is well-trained in a wide-range of weapons and martial arts. She tends to favor the typical Muay Thai training, but also integrates some of the Sikh practice of Gatka — particularly when using improvised weapons that can replace the typical gatka sticks used in the full-contact martial art.
ORDER FROM CHAOS
Perhaps due to her job, or due to her ancestral memories, Rami is able to make order from chaos. Her mind works quickly, often coming to conclusions on a situation's first read. She is quick with tactical information, and even quicker still with informative commentary. This has her slotted well as a spy handler, being able to process data quickly.
PENNY-PINCHER
Rami, against all rationale, is a thrifty person. She lives very modestly despite her access to resources — some familial, some job related. She does not believe in high fashion, having the best cars, or other things she deems frivolous. The only break to this is when it comes to obtaining the right technological hardware — she understands that sometimes cost equates quality, but quality always comes first. She has no need for branded tech if unbranded is better.
POLYGLOT
Rami is well-versed in a wide-range of languages, particularly those spoken in London — Mandarin, Cantonese, a variety of European languages, Punjabi, Bengali, and Hokkien.
GEARHEAD
Rami is an outright gearhead. She has access to a wide variety of high-end technology, most of it spy related. She has contacts all over the world when it comes to obtaining gear, and has her own unique license to create gear for MI-6 and its compatriots.
MI-6 BLACK OPS HANDLER
Rami is employed by MI-6 as a handler for black ops. She has been working in this position for the better part of a decade, and it shows in her renown, the confidence the organization has in her, and her access to gear, contacts, information, and a salary.
SHIELD COOPERATIVE
Rami is part of a small MI-6/SHIELD cooperative, which has landed her a job in NYC in SHIELD headquarters. She's meant to be working with SHIELD on any variety of world-wide national security threats, but is also there for her own purpose.
FAMILY OBLIGATIONS
Rami can sometimes be limited by a meddling family who expects her to find a good husband and have babies until the next bearer is found. It is up to Rami to pass on the bearer gift to her children, and she has to have children to do that. As her mother is quick to remind her. Often. Followed by an arranged date. Good thing her job is not really social calendar approved.
JUST AND RIGHT
Rami is driven by a core value of justice. She has a strict morality, but not always a strict code of ethics. She believes that you can do bad things if the cause is just, and for her there is no more just cause than the GREATER GOOD. Because of her job as a spy handler, she has participated in many unethical tasks, and have had to lie to family and friends about what she does. She sometimes worry that each day she becomes less and less of a good person, and that can trouble her sometimes.
STRICT MORNING ROUTINE
Rami gains new memories from her father and grandmother — the only other living ancestral memory mappers alive besides her — whenever she sleeps. This means, upon waking, Rami struggles to reconnect with her identity and own memories as her synapses are flooded with new information. Her brain takes time to organize this new information, and therefore a strict morning routine helps her center herself and allows her to reconnect with her personality and identity. Interruptions to her morning routine can cause disorientation for periods of 1-2 hours depending on how much she has upset her routine.
VULGAR
Rami is vulgar. She cusses, curses, swears almost constantly. No-one on earth is more adept at dropping the f-bomb in the middle of a conversation and do it with such poise and precision. This can set people off the wrong way until they get to know her.