Traveller Mk. 2
We're going to try again, and we're going to do it right. My Traveller Mark II shall be the saviour - a retriever - of the human race from the clutches of the Ripple.
— Notes by Eindré Atsuki, 2058-09-XX
Traveller Mk.2, or known more simply as The Traveller, is a central figure in the Unityverse. He is the main character of Traveller, assists Jirbyth ei Kalith in Disarrayed Unity, and Tyr ei Hymirth in Witness to Unity.
He was the second Traveller to be made for the purpose of combating The Ripple.
Personality
When Traveller first gainst self-awareness, he is frequently disorientated but inquisitive about the world and his experiences. This is largely because his reality is at the mercy of the guided dreams the Traveller Project team is giving him. As the years go on he becomes more defiant as he begins to understand his subjective experiences are guided by the Traveller Project. This rubs hard against Eindré and company as it interferes with their experiments and ability to help him grow.
After he enters reality and first begins "travelling", he gains a wider understanding of the mechanics to causality. However instead of feeling defeatist at the futility of it all, he seeks to follow the spirit of his destiny, and forms an experimental perspective of time — using his abilities frequently to redo events until he's satisfied.
Story
See also: Traveller Project
The Traveller is the second genetic experiment in the Traveller Project. He spent several years within an experiment tube being fed information directly into his brain, and guided through dream worlds. As other members of the Traveller Project were taken by The Ripple, Eindre became more desperate for the Traveller's success.
He had the Traveller removed from stasis three years after conception in 2062. Traveller achieves his first "travel" shortly after Eindré is himself taken by The Ripple.
Abilities
As the Traveller, he has the power to essentially teleport across spacetime. Traveller has previously described moving through time just as one would walk, however it would be more apt to compare it to a leap. He is limited by physical distance — he cannot simply teleport to another planet, and has to use other realms of reality as shortcuts to get to different planets in physical reality.
He also has the power of Unity — this allows him to understand and psychically translate languages around him, as well as enable a degree of empathetic mediation between parties that form a bond with him. This happens with both Jirbyth and Tyr.
Development
Traveller was originally created under the name Jaabi as an earlier persona, shortly after the emergence of Taylor. During IRC roleplay there existed two Traveller Mk 2s: Jaabi and Jemba. This was because the original story of Traveller had two endings, largely as a timey-wimey gimmick, but it resulted in two Travellers with different attitudes. The current canon is closer to the original, but with a degree of professional dedication to his destiny.
The physical design of Traveller has changed over time too. The colours have remained mostly the same, however earlier designs had more dog-like traits. It was decided it would make more sense for him to resemble dragonians, and so those elements were removed.