Born March 13, 1952.
Morqa Flowe is the most prominent contemporary world researcher, and he is responsible for many advances in the knowledge of Chaos and Light. He is known for his intellect and ability to invent and synthesize devices and chemicals needed to perform whatever function. In his early life, he worked on commission, but eventually developed his own business and research facility. He signed a contract with Caine Corp. that gave him funding to do as he pleased, so long as he was available to do work for Caine Corp. whenever they required it. With this funding, he built Flowe Manor in South Mundis.
Morqa acts as a sort of guide for The Four when they enter Mundis. He takes them in, orients them with the world, and sets them on the right path... as far as they're concerned. He also trains them in their Talents and provides them with a place to stay whenever they need it. He feels he owes them this much given what he has done to them, as detailed below.
Origins
Morqa is said to be from Luca Mé, which, according to most Mundans, explains his odd name and notable intellect (note: there is no proven difference in intellect between Mundan cultures; only stereotypes). In actuality, Morqa is an individual sent to Mundis from Panton. He was completely unaware of this for much of his life (he was indeed "born" and raised in Luca Mé), but during his research with Sara, Morqa made contact with another Flawless, which was only possible because he himself was a Flawless. He decided to keep this a secret, and it remains as such until he finally tells Thom post-Mnemosyne. Even then, only the two of them know (until Sara finds out much later).
As mentioned, Morqa grew up in Luca Mé. He was thus exposed to Talents and technology for most of his life, and received a high-quality education. He was a curious child, and began experimenting with his toys at an early age. In his teens, Morqa moved on to more serious research, and he was instantly taken by the work of Kendall, who created the concept behind what is now the Modern Theory of the World. Thus began his research career.
Talent & Abilities
Morqa possesses a somewhat unique Talent: List of Talents#Imite. Morqa created it for himself to further his studies. It mimics any other observed Talent, but only once. Using this Talent, Morqa was able to more accurately experience and experiment with other peoples' Talents. He has no natural Talent, as, given his status as a Flawless, he possess a wide variety of abilities extending well beyond the reach of Mundis-based Talents. However, given that he does not know of his Flawless status, he never once takes advantage of those abilities.
A frequent topic of discussion is Morqa's intellect. It may be that, as a Flawless, he has higher intellect than that of regular humans, but this is not the case. Flawless' abilities are strictly physical, not mental. Instead, Morqa's intellectual advantage comes from the fact that he can work with Chaos and Light much more easily than other humans. He isn't aware of it, but he is completely unaffected by both energies.
When he was younger, Morqa would defend himself with a double-bladed sword; at his old age, he rarely fights, and even then, it is strictly for self-defense. He has even ceased practicing.
Past Research & Life Events
The following are major research projects Morqa has been involved in throughout his life.
The Modern Theory of the World (1965-1968)
In the '60s, the world was growing more and more concerned with the state of things. There was clear evidence that other worlds existed and had a strong influence on the world, and people knew that Mnemon and Night must come from other worlds, but they were not sure on the specifics. Morqa, swept up in the reemerging popularity of Kendall's work, was a proponent of the idea that there existed a World of Memory, World of Dream, Perfect World, and Void of Nothing. He fought Mnemon and Night and experimented on both in his Luca Mé home, much to the worry of his family and friends. There he discovered that each was made of up substances the world already knew to be called Chaos and Light. Upon working with these substances under laboratory settings, he discovered that Chaos and Light were related to memories and dreams, respectively. Clearly, he thought, Kendall was on to something with his creation myth. Morqa then dove into Chaos and discovered an entire world based on his memories; some of which he did not remember (such as a memory of Panton). He did the same with Light and discovered Oneiris. While unable to work with the Anastigma, Morqa deduced that there is indeed a World of Memory and World of Dream that feed into Mundis; he confirmed earlier studies that suggested that Mnemosyne feeds Chaos into the world, and Oneiris feeds Light, based on the occurence of memories and dreams, respectively.
Properties of Chaos (1968)
After becoming noticed by the public for his findings in Mnemosyne and Oneiris, and in light of the emergence of Host Mnemon, Morqa was asked to study the effects of Chaos on the individual. Upon experimenting with volunteer subjects, Morqa found that Chaos infects the hosts cells and uses them to reproduce, creating a supply of Chaos inside the body. The levels can quickly drop if destroyed, though, as reproduction occured slowly. Further, Morqa discovered that Chaos excited these cells. On a larger scale, infected subjects became erratic, and were prone to outbursts of emotion and occasional violence. Unfortunately, increasing Chaos levels in one subject caused the subject to become a Host Mnemon. Morqa was able to destroy the Host and return to his studies. This event, however, caused great controversy, and Morqa's character was questioned. Caine Corp., however, defended Morqa and promoted his research. Morqa ultimately discovered that Chaos excites the individual and causes him or her to act unpredictably. Eventually, Chaos takes over the host and turns him or her into a Mnemon. This much had been suspected, but the world now had confirmation.
Properties of Light (1969-1970)
In the wake of the Chaos controversy, Morqa was left in an interesting position. He had high acclaim for his past two studies, yet much of the world questioned his good character, and thus it was difficult for him to receive funding to pursue a project he was interested in: Light. The Caine Corporation offered him a solution. They gave to him a contract that enabled him as much funding as necessary for the Light project and any further projects he would begin, on the condition that he would work for them whenever they may need him. Thrilled and filled with juvenile naiveté, Morqa signed. He began his study similar to his study with Chaos, but took extra care in his doses on his test subjects. He found, predictably, that Light had the opposite effect on individuals that Chaos had. It calmed the host and caused more frequent and deeper sleep. At higher stages, the host fell into a Light-induced coma, with their eyes glazed over and their body softly glowing with Light. This time, Morqa was able to reverse the effects with proper dosages of Chaos, and all test subjects remained unharmed. This helped restore the world's faith him, and from here on out, Morqa's popularity and renown grew.
Nature Studies (1973)
Morqa published a few books on his studies and, impressed with his work, Caine Corp. decided to make Morqa a pillar of their research institute by building him his own laboratory, at whatever location he chose. Unsurprisingly, he chose the sea. This was the start of the Sea Lab Colony that would spread out over much of the eastern half of the world. Using his new laboratory, Morqa studied sea life and a number of above-ground creatures. He was particularly fond of the vook, and requested for a vook farm to be made near his childhood home of Luca Mé. Much of Morqa's nature studies were purely for his own recreation, and he was soon urged by Caine Corp. to partake in one of their projects.
Creating Darkness (1974)
Pressured by Caine Corp., Morqa agreed to take part in a new project, as he was bound to if he wanted funding. He requested something first, though: he turned the main entrance to the first of his Sea Labs into a home for himself, and it expanded all the way down to the ocean floor. He called it Flowe Manor, and it is where the majority of his future research would take place, the first of which being this project. Caine wanted Morqa to come up with a chemical that could combat Light in some way. Morqa first suggested harvesting Chaos, and Caine went on his way to find a way to do this. Realizing the foolishness in this suggestion, Morqa hastily decided he would synthesize his own chemical that would negate the effects of Light as an energy. He knew he could not destroy it, as only Chaos could, but he could find a way to interact with Light cells and cause them to become dormant. He eventually created a gooey, sticky substance that could do this. He named it Darkness, to signify its opposition with Light and identify its purpose. It was soon dyed deep black and produced by Caine in mass quantities, though still solely for Morqa's research. To this day, he has barrels of the stuff in one of his Sea Labs.
Harnessing Darkness (1974-1978)
For the next few years, Morqa worked heavily with Darkness. He was proud of his success with the creation of the substance, and wanted it to be used to its fullest potential. With help from South Mundis tailor Scott Jameson, Morqa was able to imbue Darkness into clothing. His first order of business, then, was to create armor-like tunics that could be used to protect researches from Light's effects while within proximity. From here, Morqa became involved in inventing other Darkness-based items (none of which ever reached the public). Most of them were, much to his shame, cosmetic items that simply protected the wearer by smearing Darkness across the person's skin.
The Darkness Talent (1979-1984)
Still driven by the desire to glorify the invention he most cherished, Morqa decided to find a way to put Darkness into the veins of a living being: he wanted to turn it into an artificial Talent. To do this, he needed a better understanding of Talents in general. When word got out to the public that he was planning on researching Talents, an Urman couple came to him to volunteer. Morqa was reluctant, but agreed on account of their insisting. At Caine Corp.'s request, Morqa was aided by Dr. Ethan Bennett, the company's brightest geneticist. The two eventually found the gene for a Talent that runs in one of the volunteer's family. Bennett then took the genetic code of a cell that reproduced from a cell infected with Darkness (and thus had Darkness written into it) and spliced it into the coding for a stem cell donated by the couple. As they had hoped, the cells that reproduced from this one were not infected by Darkness, but still showed signs of causing Light-infected cells to lie dormant. This, they thought, was the sign of a "Darkness Talent" instead of flat-out Darkness being present.
In late 1984, the couple offered Morqa something big: they offered to bear a child with the Darkness Talent spliced into its genes. Morqa was against this for obvious reasons, but was heavily pressured into it by Caine Corp. Seeing as he did not have any money to live on his own, Morqa had no choice but to accept the couple's offer. Stricken with guilt, he ended all advancements of Darkness, telling himself he would refuse any future pressures from Caine to use the substance again (luckily, this did not happen).
Voyage to Oneiris (1984-1985)
It wasn't long before Morqa found himself fond of his invention again. Still, he had vowed not to work on advancing Darkness. Instead, he wanted to use the chemical for its intended purpose: studying Light. Morqa found a Light Well and, dressed in Darkwear and covered in Dark cosmetics, dove into it. Morqa was instantly devoured by the Light and sent to Oneiris but was protected from any Light infection thanks to his substance; it had worked flawlessly. The world Morqa found himself in was set in eternal night-time, with stars in the sky and soft yellow lights poking out of a small village alongside a hill. Morqa approached the village to find several Night, which he observed. The Night were not aware of his presence, as the Darkness had essentially masked him from all forms of Light. In fact, with smaller Night, his presence cased the beings to collapse and fall unconscious. Morqa made frequent trips to and from Oneiris, primarily studying the Night. Unlike Mnemon, Night rarely appear in Mundis, and the information he provided on them was ground-breaking.
Sabbatical (1985-1987)
After the huge success of his Oneiris project, Morqa decided to take a rest. He spent the next couple years tending to his vook and visiting with the people of South Mundis. He was never fond of the folk up north, and decided he may want to get himself out of his relationship with Caine Corp. so he could live his own life in the country. He considers these two years a turning point in his outlook on work, and on life. He says he went from believing money and success to being important to simply wanting to help people. Morqa felt lost, though, because he felt he still needed Caine. He still had not secured much of his own wealth, as all his work was published under Caine. He decided he would thus publish his experience in Oneiris as a book, and he would do so independently to raise money.
The Experimental Pupil (1987)
In the beginning of 1987, the woman of the couple that volunteered for Morqa's Talent research returned: this time with the child (a boy) with the supposed Darkness Talent. Morqa had previously passed off research on him to another team in Caine Corp., and was skeptical about the mother's appearance at his doorstep. She burst out in tears, and begged for him to take care of the child and raise him as a pupil. Morqa was filled with the guilt of his experiment, yet wanted nothing to do with it. Ultimately, he decided that he was indeed responsible for the child. Whatever reason the woman had for wanting to give him up was her own business, he thought, but taking care of this child was his civic duty. An odd train of thought, indeed, but they came from an odd man.
Morqa then began raising the boy, and taught him to hone his Talent along the way. The boy grew up to be Varios Flowe.
Creating a Chaotic Equivalent of Darkness (1988)
Inspired by his adopted son's existence, and remembering his ventures into Oneiris, Morqa decided he wanted to make a substance much like Darkness, but it would work with Chaos instead of Light. As soon as he began working, Caine demanded a sample as soon as possible. Morqa agreed, though he was a little fed up with Caine Corp. by this point. Morqa created the chemical from the sap of the Great Willow in The Elms, which was a pinkish, water-like fluid. It worked solely on proximity, emitting a sort of aura that made nearby Chaos lie dormant (Darkness required physical contact). After handing over his first successful batch of what he called Order (named to signify the opposition to Chaos and identify its purpose), Caine Corp. informed Morqa that they would be utilizing Dr. Bennett's skills and would be splicing a child's genes to create an artificial Order Talent. Outraged, Morqa finally cut himself off from Caine Corp., and continued his research - and his life - at his home in South Mundis. He decided to become a man of and for the people.
The Oneiric Stasis Endeavor (1990)
See Experiment on the Four, below.
A New Pupil (2001)
As Varios grew, Morqa decided he needed a companion. The boy was now 16, and his repressed social side was showing. By what could only be described as "fate," Morqa was found by a young girl of 11, requesting quite plainly to be taught by him. Her name was Carmen. She was apparently from Aubre, and was sent by her people in immediate response to Morqa's dream, which the Aubrans had interpreted from Oneiris. Regardless of her origins, though, Morqa was simply thankful. He took the girl in and she became Carmen Flowe.
Experiment on The Four
In 1990, Dr. Bennett visited Morqa with a request. Not a business request, but a personal one. Dr. Bennett had gathered four Recalls, individuals reborn into the world via Mnemosyne. He told Morqa of his own plans for the experiment, but he didn't have the resources or the time to go through with them. In essence, he wanted to put the four in Oneiric Stasis and monitor their Chaos/Light (C/L) levels while recording what they experienced in Stasis. He said that Caine was trying to accomplish the same thing, but had failed, and the four were recalled a second time. Caine had apparently wanted to use them to generate both Chaos and Light in a controlled environment, such that the energies could potentially be harvested and harnessed. While against the harvesting of energies, Morqa was intrigued by the chance to observe four Recalls, who he saw as lesser beings, and the effects their feelings and experiences have on C/L levels.. He decided to go through with Bennett's experiment and put the four in Oneiric Stasis. Over the years, he and Varios would interact with the four in some way by entering their Stasis World (via temporary Stasis connected with their Stasis World) and guide them towards each other. Morqa made it a point to ensure that the four knew each other in the Stasis World, just to make studying them easier. His regular studies continued for 15 years, until Varios freed the four, calling the study tyrannical and inhumane. Morqa was devastated by the sudden loss of his son, and was floored at the realization that he was depriving these four of their lives. They were regular humans just as anyone else, he realized, never mind where they came from. In an instant, he dropped any notion of re-capturing the four and turned instead to bringing them back so he could orient them in the ways of the world, which functioned much differently than their Stasis World. His research became his duty.
Story During the Mnemosyne Narrative
During the story, Morqa's primary drive is attempting to help the four any way he can and dealing with the conflict involving Varios and Carmen.
At the start of the story, Varios betrays his father and master by freeing the four from Stasis and escaping with Carmen. Morqa is shaken by the loss of his children, and he realizes the moral wrongness of his project with the four, and sets out to make things right. In an attempt to work on both problems at once, he manages to get a hold of Carmen. He knew that she did not leave willingly and would be easy to talk to. He asked her to find the four and send them in the right direction. He waited, preparing his home in hopes of their arrival. When they finally arrived, he panicked, and locked them out. They managed to accidentally force their way in, and Morqa collected himself and went to welcome them. He found one of the four, Amber, unconscious, apparently in a Light-induced coma. He hastily went to work on her, applying Darkness and then small doses of Chaos to balance her C/L levels.
Once she awoke, Morqa oriented the group on the nature of the world, and, when asked where they were, he lied: he told them they had been physically removed from their home and brought here for experimentation thanks to their "weird powers" (he had observed their lives in the Stasis World to formulate this story), and that Varios had saved them. It was a shaky story, but he hoped that, in their hysteria, they would believe him. They appeared to, and so he decided to send them to find Rael. He told them - and Rael - that they needed to perform a certain task, but in reality Morqa just wanted them to find friends, and Rael was the only boy he knew that would fit well with them.
Just before setting them on their way, Carmen returned to Flowe Manor. Morqa was ecstatic, but restrained any emotion to show his disapproval of her actions. He sent her to fetch some vook for the four to ride to Urma on, and she told him she might not return afterward. Morqa began to understand Carmen's own struggle with Varios, and told her he was fine with that.
From here, Morqa mostly just waited. He occasionally attempted to contact Varios, but to no avail. He constantly kept watch on the four and what happened, and was devastated to see that Thom, the Recall of a Chaos Representative, had fallen to Chaos and sent Amber to Mnemosyne. In his depression, Morqa took to an old habit: cooking without purpose. He filled his freezers with food in a desperate attempt to ignore the grave reality outside his home. On one evening he devoted to cooking, he was visited by three individuals: [[Kim] and Sara of the four, and Rael. They had recovered from Thom's attack and were desperate for guidance. Morqa fed them and offered them living space whenever they needed it, and sent them off to find Thom with a device he had used during his research to extract Chaos from the boy. Again, he waited. He decided this time that he would not monitor their progress, as it only worried him, though at one point he noticed a flicker of activity on Oneiris.
After a few weeks, he was visited by Sara alone. She told Morqa that Amber had assimilated into Oneiris and Thom had returned to normal. The two talked of Thom and Amber's relationship, and then about Kim, and his relationship with Sara. They spoke of Chaos, Light, and the events of the world. Morqa was impressed with the knowledge and insight Sara provided, and asked if she would like to research with him. She accepted, on one condition: that Morqa would help her find Kim, who she hadn't seen in weeks.
Relationships
With Varios
For as long as he can remember, Morqa has loved Varios like his own son; in fact, that's how he saw him. He thought he was doing everything he possibly could to serve Varios' best interests, but was betrayed by him when Varios was 20. Morqa's love for his adopted son quickly turns into heartache and regret. Morqa realizes he was too restrictive with the boy, and accepts that the life he offered Varios may not have been the one he wanted. He also realizes that Varios is no longer a child, and, naturally, wants a life of his own. Morqa struggles with accepting this loss as the story goes on.
With Carmen
Carmen, his relatively-recently adopted daughter, is loving, yet somewhat distant. Morqa cares for her, but she was only brought in at the age of 11, and hasn't warmed up to him much. She treats him as more of a teacher and mentor than as a family member, but Morqa can tell she truly appreciates his love, and she reciprocates it at times. After Varios takes her away, Morqa begins to worry that she might not actually care after all. These worries are relieved when she offers to help him once more. Still, he feels like something stands between them, and she no longer lives at him with him. As with Varios, Morqa simply misses simpler times with Carmen.
With Sara
Morqa was impressed with Sara from the start. In his observations in the Stasis World, he made note of her intellect and wisdom in social situations. Upon meeting her in the real world, she further impressed him with insight regarding the four's fabricated problem and later on the actual workings of the real world. After Morqa helps her find Kim, Sara becomes a colleague - not a pupil - of Morqa's and lives with him at Flowe Manor to research. The two have great respect for each other, and Morqa comes to love her like a daughter.