Many times, a hero's journey is born out of tragedy loss, grief, pain, or any combinations thereof. Other times, it's born out of necessity.
In the case of today's MISS reveal, all of those things are ongoing and seemingly without end. The good news, however, is there is some respite for her wearied worries, and that comes from her teammates.
Those teammates or contemporaries so far revealed—MISS Inform, MISS Fire, MISS Time and MISS Place, can be found following the links, as well as previously revealed MISSes MISS Able and MISS Peak.
Meet MISS Match
Park Shihab is an anomaly. In all ways seen, and in many unseen. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have even been born, thanks to the advanced genetic screening all embryos undertake within the early stages of the first trimester, and because of the strict rules regarding birth defects of the canton where she was born.
However, Shihab's parents had been trying for years to have a child, and now on the other end of the biological clock race, her mother wasn't about to let her only viable baby die if she could help it. That meant leaving their home while Shihab's mother was only a month or two along and journeying to an island we know as Oahu, where the Millennial Institute of Social Sciences (MISS) is located.
Both parents worked hard in as many jobs as they could find up until Shihab was born. Then, only two months later, her parents, unable to afford to live on the island with just her father working, the couple was forced to return to the canton region from whence they came (an area which includes a place we call North Korea), while leaving their newborn baby girl at MISS.
MISS wasn't a place to raise children, but one of the technicians, bereft of his own child, was given permission by Shihab's parents and MISS officials to take the little girl home at night so his wife could help take care of her and then the three would spend the day at the Institute while he worked and the baby underwent various tests.
At the time, no one really knew the extent of Shihab's issues. They could see the physical. Nothing was the same, or even similar. Her arms and legs were growing at different rates, bone structure was different sizes, her skin was a patchwork of different colors (thankfully normal for humans), as well as her hair, which also grew at different rates.
The scientists and medical research staff at MISS tried everything humanly and humanely possible to help her, but essentially her own nature took over.
What they could only guess at, and stumble around, was what was happening on the inside. If there was any rhyme or reason to the way things worked, it was so random, most of the medical professionals threw up their hands. Somehow, she was alive, and not only functioning, but thriving in many ways, particularly intellectually.
As she grew, she was able to do some difficult tasks so fast, that no one has come close to matching her records, while simple things she's found difficult. That, at least, the behavioral scientists were able to devise a rather unconventional routine to aid her, by tapping into her off-the-chart abilities and applying them to the mundane.
For that reason, while Shihab is only 17, she has been at MISS by far the longest of any of the other girls. Through different mechanical and static prosthetics in her shoes, supporting her hips and back, she is able to not only walk, but keep up with most of the physical exercise requirements.
The Accidents
With each successive accident by the attempted MISS elevations, Shihab has undergone changes. Not in her physical or mental capacities, but extending from her to affect other things. After MISS Able's tragedy, objects that she came in contact with, personal items from clothes to various hygiene products, to what she would use to eat with, to exercise equipment, even testing devices—anything that touched her, and for a while, anything that came within a foot of her, changed. It no longer fit, became useless, mixed colors, whatever.
Thankfully, much of that changed about a year later when MISS Peak's tragedy occurred. Anything that remained in contact with her would change, but nothing else was affected. And most things, when out of contact with her, reverted back to normal.
However, she then had control over the ability to cause things to malfunction or fall apart because they could not maintain design or molecular integrity. She was able to project some kind of field from up to the equivalent of fifty yards away to do this.
Then, when it came time for MISS Ion, the biggest changes occurred. Her person remained the same, but instead of undoing things, she was able to duplicate them. Plus, for extended periods of time depending on the physical or mental exertion she would undergo, she was able to do anything anyone else could do. For that reason, she has become one of the more powerful members of Team MISS, and despite all her abnormalities, a highly respected individual among all her peers.
For all of the above, Shihab went from being dubbed Mismatch, for all that was wrong, to MISS Match, for all that was now right.
Concept Art
The Sketch
I'm not exactly sure what VShane thought when I first tried to explain what I wanted, but he caught on quickly. I think MISS Match was the second character I had him draw, so maybe that helped not being the first.
As you can see, her left arm and hand are bigger than her right, as are her legs (I actually wanted more mismatching to occur, but that can happen in subsequent iterations), her eyes aren't the same size, etc. You can't quite tell, but her socks and shoes don't match up.
I thought this first sketch was on the right track, though I wasn't sure what was happening with the moon shaped background. I'd learned from other experiences not to get too concerned in the early stages until I could tell what was going on. So, onto next phase we went.
Inks
More details pop up. Especially with her face and then with her socks. Her uniform becomes more obvious and you can tell something is different about her shoes.
This would be one of those characters, though, where more would become apparent in the coloring. So, after liking how things were going (including the background), it was time for the last part.
Colors
Here you see all the oddities that is MISS Match come together—or is if fall apart?
Shoes and socks are definitely wrong, skin tone is all over the place, eye colors different. Her hair, though, looks the same throughout, but they are actually dissimilar, too. Not strand by strand, but small enough areas that it might need some retouching to make it more obvious.
There really isn't a manifestation of her powers going on here like with the rest of Team MISS. However, I think just based on her appearance and her codename, you get an idea of what she's able to do.
And there you go. That's MISS Match.
Next Monday, I will reveal the final member of Team MISS. She's been mentioned in one of her forms many times throughout the other reveals. The version of her that will take place next week is how she is currently.
Until then...
Enjoy!
Images courtesy of Glen Anthony Albrethsen