Theresa Wren

Theresa Wren is a character in The Grand Heist.

Equipment
Paper clips, rubber bands, marbles, safety pins, playing cards, mints, spare change, a pocketwatch, a notepad, and a few pens.

Ability
Simply put, Datamancy is the ability to transfer individual qualities from one physical object to another. Qualities, or Aspect Data, can range from 'soundproof' or 'fragile' to 'edible' or 'light blue.'

Aspect Data cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be moved from one object to another.

For instance, if a Datamancer had to open a locked door without the key, one possible solution is to take the 'opens when pushed' Aspect Data out the hinges, and put it into the lock. Then, simply pushing on the lock would unlock it. The Datamancer would then put the 'opens when pushed' data back into the hinges, and push the now-unlocked door open.

Aspect Data is not copied, but removed from the object, and when Aspect Data is placed in an object, it will remain there permanently (unless it is moved again through further Datamancy).

Aspect Data does not have to be used immediately; a Datamancer can carry data for up to 30 minutes before it returns to its original owner. (A Datamancer cannot just put the data into something as a placeholder and take it right back out as a way around the time limit. The time limit takes a while to regenerate.)

Datamancy also works on other living beings, but with a more limited effect. A Datamancer cannot remove Aspect Data from a person; instead, they only produce a copy of their target's qualities. Aspect Data that is placed in a living being only lasts 30 minutes before being sent back to its original location.

There is one side effect to data transfer, which is that because the universe must maintain the amount of information it contains, Datamancers take on the qualities of the Aspect Data they are currently carrying. So, 'sturdiness' data from a rock might give a Datamancer rock-solid skin until he or she does something with the data. In some ways these side effects can be beneficial, or even more useful than the data itself. But in other situations, they can become a limitation. For instance, a Datamancer trying to transfer 'dead' Aspect Data into a living person would die instantly in the attempt. Also, more useful data such as 'fragile' and 'dissolves when wet' are more hazardous for a Datamancer to carry around.

A Datamancer has a little control over the effects of the data on themselves. The same 'sturdiness' data that gives a Datamancer tough skin would cause temporary petrification to another human.

Because Datamancy is an unfinished draft, it has four distinct limitations:

Datamancy has no power over Aspect Data that is caused by outside forces. (e.g. Monetary wealth cannot be controlled because it is the state of having a physical possession, not a quality of the person who has it. As such, there is no such thing as 'wealthy' data.)

Datamancy cannot control Aspect Data that would replace all of the other qualities of an object. (e.g. There is no such thing as 'made of water' data.)

Data can only be transferred to places where it would make sense for a change to take place. For instance, in the lock-and-hinge example, a Datamancer could not take 'locked' data out of the lock and just place it into the floor, because locking a floor would not do anything. The Datamancer is exempt from this rule; he or she can store and transfer data such as 'locked,' but it will have no effects on the Datamancer.

Finally, while it is not technically a limitation of Datamancy, a Datamancer can only manipulate Aspect Data that they know exists. Trying to manipulate nonexistent data causes a painful backlash.

Description
Studying magic takes a person with a sharp, focused mind, a lot of self-discipline, a lifetime of effort, and above all, it takes a person with remarkable intelligence.

...Which is why it's so surprising that Theresa is as good as she is at Datamancy, given that she's an eccentric, scatterbrained, breezy, distractable young woman, barely in her 20s, who has intelligence and strong willpower but sees the world a little too much like a game. Arguably, these qualities could be exactly what makes her so good at Datamancy.

As expected from someone who spends all day altering the fabric of reality, Theresa's clothes tend to be very eclectic, and her clothes rarely make it through the day looking exactly the same as when she left her apartment. The only three things that are sure to stay constant are her long, unruly blond hair that reaches her mid-back, her brown eyes, and a long, faded olive green overcoat that is far too big on her, obscuring most of her hands and giving the vague impression of a set of robes. She carries around her notepad and keeps a spare pen tucked behind her ear at all times. (Often, she keeps track of interesting Aspect Data or writes out magical equations on her notepad before performing a particularly complex transfer.) The rest changes far too frequently for even Theresa to keep track of, but frequently it includes earrings (mismatched), striped socks (likewise), and some type of scarf.

Biography
On the Higher Plane there very briefly existed a being of near-Grandmaster-level power called The Tinkerer. His current whereabouts are unknown, but it's generally accepted that the events leading up to his disappearance are as follows:

The Tinkerer had only very recently gained access to the Higher Plane, and he was relatively weak among Grandmasters in fame, influence and power. But he did have one remarkable ability, which was that he could control qualities of the world around him, creating or altering complex objects on a simple whim. The idea of a weak Grandmaster with powerful abilities attracted the attention of a dimension-hopping sorcerer called Metheus. Although he was a very ambitious man, Metheus was similarly weak among sorcerers, but he decided that the inexperienced Tinkerer's abilities might be simple enough that humans could use them just as easily. He began to follow The Tinkerer, chronicling his exploits and researching his abilities thoroughly. Eventually, Metheus established a small institution of talented mages and researchers to try to use his findings to produce an artificial version of The Tinkerer's abilities, a project which would come to be called Tinkermancy. The institution acquired promising young students to test the new style of magic, and some of the more notable mages throughout the Multiverse as overseers. As the project grew, it became harder and harder to perform in secret.

When The Tinkerer finally found out, he swiftly destroyed the institution and attempted to kill Metheus for trying to steal his abilities for public use. It is at this point that The Tinkerer and Metheus's whereabouts both become unknown, but it is very likely that one or both of them died in the ensuing battle.

Unfortunately, The Tinkerer had no way of knowing how far along the project to create Tinkermancy had progressed. He was so caught up in trying to kill Metheus that it never occurred to him how easy it would be for a talented Tinkermancer to simply alter his or her physical characteristics and escape the destruction.

There is no way of knowing how many people involved with the Tinkermancy project escaped, but one student recently turned up - a breezy, eccentric Theresa Wren, who went into hiding in a local city called Auda. Because Tinkermancy was supposed to have died along with Metheus and his institution, and because no one was able to reproduce The Tinkerer's abilities beyond transferring simple physical qualities, (or "Aspect Data," as the more empirical researchers were quick to call them,) she called herself a "Datamancer" instead. And with no formal education except in an unfinished field of magic, she was far from being a powerful enough sorceress to achieve any sort of fame or even a career in magic. She was forced into a situation where she had to rely on doing odd jobs around her city, some of them questionably moral or safe. Her abilities were always extreme overkill, and rumors about a young woman with supernatural powers spread, not all of them favorable. Theresa had reached urban legend-status by the time Lockpick started looking, so he was quick to track down the infamous "Auda City Witch."