Jason Bur'I

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Jason is Hunter Jusenkyou's partner/sidekick/roommate/well-wisher in the Course Books.

He appears in story-order in The Path to Ascension in the short story Disarming.

Physical Description

Jason is described as being tall and somewhat stalky, handsome with dark hair and dark brown eyes. He is muscular but not overly imposing, possessing of a frame between light and heavy, but a little past medium-size.

Early Life

Birth

Jason was born to Tadashe and Caleb Bur'I in the royal palace. The palace includes an extensive and well-appointed hospital for use by the staff as well as government officials and the royal family. Jason's birth took place amidst great fanfair, with a room full of the finest doctors in the kingdom.

Sadly, unannounced to anyone, Tadashe had an un-diagnosed brain aneurysm, which ruptured with the strain of giving birth. Her death went unnoticed for several minutes.

Early Life

As per custom, Jason was raised not by his father, but by a team of professional care-givers which included a protection detail, child psychologists, and tutors. He was given every opportunity and no expense was spared in raising and educating him. However, Jason disliked the constant entourage, and yearned for the attentions of his father.

From a young age, he would often escape his guards and roam the palace. Though his likeness was everywhere, he had a way of going un-noticed. When he could, he would find his father; at other times he would hide amongst the servants' children and pretend to be a commoner.

Caleb did have an active a role as he was allowed in raising his son, and aided by proxy in hand-picking Jason's tutors.

Education

Jason was educated by the finest tutors available on Bur'I, who used a wide range of teaching styles in the hopes of making something stick. Though brilliant, Jason's intellect would not be recognized by his teachers. Jason loved to cheat, often looking for ways to game the system. He refused to think the way they taught. What his teachers saw as laziness was really his greatest gift: lateral thinking.

Teen Years

Jason was quite famous through Bur'I for being prince. His step-mother often tried to change the perception; but it was well understood that Jason had the only legitimate claim to the throne (his father, Caleb, was considered merely a place-holder monarch, as not of the royal bloodline).

That he was young, handsome, and a prince gave him a great deal of popularity in the media. It had become tradition within the past few centuries for the crowned prince to choose a commoner as his bride. This meant that girls all over the kingdom grew up with the very realistic dream of becoming princess.

Gudersnipe

While at Gudersnipe School, Jason attracted a great deal of attention for the same skills his childhood tutors attempted to train out of him. The school delibrately built systems to make the students beat them, and Jason was quite adept at it.

While at the school, he earned 5 of the 6 available commendations available to students, including the medical award.

Personality

Unlike Hunter, Jason is considerably more serious, focused, and tends to have a much darker outlook. Though chronologically-earlier stories paint a picture of him as just stuck-up, his personality changes drastically with the death of Rebecca Rikart, widely regarded as his true-love.

Personality Cult

Jason's sharp good looks and a team of publicists and image consultants built a massive personality cult around him in his youth. It was all essentially fake, staged, and even doctored photographs; quotable sound bites provided by writers made up the bulk of what the public believed of the shy prince. He was made out to be a nice, good-natured individual, who respected his parents and thought clean morals were a 'must' in any girl. Teen magazines all over the kingdom ate it up, and Jason's life had a huge impact on the youth culture of his generation.

The cult would be largely shattered upon his return from Gudersnipe when he began spending more time in the public's eye. News of his work for the Foundation had reached Bur'Ian surfaces by then, so the clean-cut 'good boy' image was imposible to maintain. Still Jason was aware of the importance his public image played, and used it.

Family

Jason would eventually have a daughter, Rebecca Bur'I, who appears briefly in The Reunion of the Eighth Power from The Path to Ascension and Full Circle from The Inclination to Destiny. She is named for Rebecca Rikart, and Rebecca Jusenkyou (of the Consecution Books) is named for her.


Random Trivia

Shortly before being introduced in the short story Introductions from The Concourse to Victory (Jason's second chronological appearance), he took up smoking. He eventually got Hunter involved, and though they both quit, quitting was considerably harder for Jason.