My name is Cody Cooper, and I grew up in North Dakota, in May-Port, out in the boonies. My childhood was average, and like any teenager, I was a little bit of a hooligan. I've certainly never been anything special — life was pretty calm for the first half of my life. Fer sure, I never knew anything about any Advanced folks, just regular power-free folks like me. But then, ya know, lotsa folks don't realize that Advanced are just people like you or me. Just with a little somethin' special that God gave 'em.
I was a cop, back home, catchin' robbers and chasin' criminals. Really, it was filing paperwork, mostly, and arresting the drunk and disorderly. Poor lambs; there's not much to do in North Dakota, especially in the Winter. Just drinkin', and stealin' cars, I guess. It's different, growing up in May-Port: you know everyone. It's a small town, so you get real friendly with yer neighbors.
Well, poor Walt. A few years ago, I was put on a case to investigate something real strange. Walt's wife, Mrs. Buckman, was found dead in their house, but she was frozen. Now you'd think that would be ordinary, in North Dakota, but they told me she was frozen from the inside. Plus it was the middle of summer time! I went lookin' fer Walt, but Walt was nowhere to be found.
We just needed to bring him in fer questioning, to see how this could have possibly have happened, but he put himself out on the run. Wouldn't you know, the force assigned me a special partner fer this case: Brandon Zimmer. Mister Zimmer was the quiet type, but what a sweet fella. He listened to me natter on about all sorts of things, when we were chasin' Walt.
Anyway, we caught up to the man outside a gas station in Grafton. He was ready to bolt like a nervous rabbit but I talked him down. Walt, I said, why're you running away? We just need to ask you some questions.
And Walt, he says he's the one that did it. Well, I don't need to tell you: that sounded awful weird, especially since Walter loved his wife. He'd never do anything bad to Missy. Well, Walt, I said, how'd you do it? And Walt told me it was an accident. He told me all about how things were turning into ice around him, in the middle of Summer. That's awful strange, I told Walt, but if you say it was an accident, I believe you.
We talked for a little bit, while Mister Zimmer watched. He'd pulled out a gun of all things when we caught up to Walter, but thank goodness he'd put it away. For pete's sake, you don't need a gun to talk down a frightened man! Well. Anyway, Walt showed me what he could do, and I felt a little out of my depth there. I'd never seen anything like it! But I'm sure certain there are stranger things on this Earth than that, and I told him such.
By the time we finished talking, Walt was more than happy to come in for questioning, and Mister Zimmer told me he'd handle it from there. I have to say, I wasn't too thrilled about that. But orders are orders, and the chief told me to let him go. I expected that'd be the last I'd see of Mister Zimmer, but lo and behold, a week later, he's at my office again.
Turns out Walt's case wasn't unique, and Mister Zimmer was from some company that dealt with them. He said they wanted to study 'em and protect 'em, and they were short on people like me who can just talk to 'em. Well, thinking on how Mister Zimmer wanted to handle the case, I decided they did need more people like me. What would have happened to poor Walt if I hadn't taken the opportunity to sit down and talk to him? So I agreed to join.
I was on the police force a while longer, balancing work fer them with work fer the Company. It was pretty quiet out there in Mayville, but the occasional Advanced man or woman cropped up once in a while. It was a pretty quiet life. After the eclipse in July last year, though, I got a call that we were being transferred to Las Vegas. Las Vegas, of all places!
So, I packed up, I quit my job, and I moved out to Las Vegas. The Company tried to set me up with a job at Primatech, but it really didn't sound like my kinda gig, though it was very kind of them to offer. Las Vegas is very flashy, and I missed North Dakota terribly. I'd saved up a lot of money from my job back in May-Port though, and I used it to open up my own bakery: Nothing Bundt Cake. I manage it, and I bake — I love to bake, of course. Being on my own all these years has given me a head for doing my own finances. Managing a business wasn't too easy at first, but I got the hang of it. Now it's my own little slice of the Midwest.
Thankfully, being the manager, when a Company operation comes through, I can usually rely on my employees to look after things for a bit. I do my darnedest not to slack; I usually get there around 4 in the morning to do morning baking, and I work the counter when I'm around, too.
And for now, that's what my life is like: Nothing Bundt Cake, and doing Company missions when they crop up. It's a good life.
High-School Education and Police Academy:
Cody made it through high school with moderately high grades, and joined the police academy when she was in her twenties. She was pretty good at that too.
Police Skills:
She was a cop for a long time, and knows how to handle a gun, detain suspects, bring people down, etc. She's also not half-bad at investigating, though it's not her strongest suit.
Baking:
Cody is a pretty great baker, which is good, since she runs her own bakery.
Managing a Business:
Cody is very DIY about most things, and running her own business is one of them. She's definitely someone you can go to for advice on that, for example, but she's not really a guru.
