Alexander Marcion was always a very smart boy. Skilled in nearly every discipline he laid his hand to, teacher after teacher bounced him around the Leonid Educational System, desperately searching for someone who could keep him interested for more than ten seconds. His parents both held high hopes that he would follow in their steps as doctors, but blood made him squeamish. It was always math and science that called to him, but no field ever held his interest long. They even purchased a computer for him, risking the social stigma just to see if it would project interest, and while he became an amateur hacker almost overnight, it was not, precisely, what they had been hoping for from their only child.
Finally, in an act of desperation, they heard of a special Camp at Delphi for "special talents," a smart kids camp. It cost quite a bit of money, but hoping he would find his calling there, his folks shipped him off to Caprica for a month. While there he dabbled in genetics, electronics, physics, and even music, and when the month was over it seemed that all he was going to bring back from it was several copies of vintage Science Fiction Comics that he'd found in a specialty store. Then, on the ride home, an unexpected meteorite shower made a portion of the journey unpassable, and in order to stay on schedule, the liner performed an FTL jump, rather than plotting a conventional route around. Alex got off the liner and barely even noticed his parents. His mind was buzzing.
He had been twelve at the time. By the time he was twenty, his fascination had turned into a full on obsession, and he spent countless hours researching the very principle of FTL. Sure, he had heard of it before, but no one ever really believed FTL travel until it their first jump. One moment in one place… the next, another. It should have been impossible. Several laws of Physics said so routinely. Except that there were these OTHER laws of Physics that told the first to go and whistle. Alex ate up everything he could learn about the subject, and it was like his slacker mentality had been replaced with one of complete obsession… every moment was spent learning how it was done, and how it could be improved. He even wrote articles on the subject, arguing that the term 'jump' was popular nonsense and misleading. Completing his undergraduate education in two years and his Ph.D. in three, he was soon an up and comer in the field of Faster Than Light travel, and the ink on his diploma had barely gone dry when he received an offer he couldn't refuse.
The man had been wearing the uniform of the Colonial Fleet, sans rank, and had simply told Alex that he had been watched since that special camp, all those years ago. He was a special talent, and his work on FTL's had been noted. Now, he was being given an offer. Enlist in the Fleet, and recieve the opportunity to work on some of the most cutting edge FTL drives ever devised. It wouldn't be easy… he would have to undergo basic and officer training, though in a limited regard as he was not on Command Track, but who knew, in only a few years he might work his way all the way to the primary design thinktank on Caprica. His choice was easy, though Basic was less so, his small frame not used to the physical demands the military placed on it. But before long he was being given his first assignment, a member of the team working on the brand new FTL Drive for the Battlestar Cerberus. Diving into his work, Alex's grasp of the Physics behind FTL flight were more than adaquate to offset his relative inexperience of practical work with the drives. Though he has much to learn when it comes to maitenence and repair of the Drives he theorizes, his eagerness to learn keeps him working, and he quickly built a reputation as a quiet eccentric… efficient in his work if a bit odd in his free time.
