Mako Speed



'"And all the years before I had simply been murdering people. Innocents. Taken by a disease they can never hope to control ." '

-Mako Speed

Background
The main character of Mako's Story, the three books are narrated from her viewpoint. She comes from a relatively poor background (having been raised outside of Dawn City) but has such well-refined survival skills to the point where she is in peak health most of the time while others may starve of famine or coincidentally, die of the Deterioration.

Throughout the trilogy she ails from a severe Deteriorate bite to the shoulder, but does not fall victim the more deadlier parts of the diease strangely. It is explained later in the first book how Mako didn't turn into a Deteriorate.

Both her parents are known to be deceased for she has lived her life in an orphanage being raised by Emy Kassay, a spy for Dawn City and an undercover caretaker working at the orphanage. There, she is taught her inpecable survival skills and is unknowningly submitted half of the cure which the first book explains in the later chapters. Later Deteriorates end up attacking the orphanage, killing Emy, and only leaving Zane and Mako alive, with Mako sustaining the fatal shoulder injury and being pronounced dead when still alive. At the time of her presumed "death" the medical examiners leave the room and she runs away before they come back, knowing that they will likely end up burying her alive if she stays.

She soon finds a cat named Gav with whom she spends a great deal of time with mostly to keep her sane throughout the solitude. Most of the time she either talks to the cat or herself before she unexpectedly begins working for D.E.A.T.H.

Appearance
Mako describes herself as extremely pale, freckled, tall, and thin. Mako's age is never clearly stated but it is assumed that her age is in the range of 15-25 years old. She has short, light brown hair that she still puts in a ponytail to keep out of her vision. Her general appearance is usually in disarray for she clearly states many times that clothing, looks, and possessions do not define her and are only objects that distract from cold hard facts and more importantly, the truth. She gives such unclear descriptions of other characters as she does herself because most of the time she is searching more for their underlying personality and anything that may contribute to her cause.

Personality
Mako is well-known for her attitude and sharp responses. Most of the time she is unfeeling and fears intimacy with others. But under her rough exterior she soon admits to herself that she is more an emotional being. She often uses sarcasm as her sense of humor, and enjoys listening to dark jokes about her wound by Daniel. Mako usually thinks more about the task at hand rather than the consequences and often runs head first into things even though she believes that she thinks of every possible possibility before ever doing anything. She fluctuates from acting upon logic or emotion and often she is conflicted and confused.

Skills
Mako is an expert marksman with any firearm. When Ronan teaches Mako how to use different weapons he almost ignores firearms entirely for there is nothing else he can teach her to improve upon her talent. With every other type of weapon or fighting style she has basic training, yet has the hardest time with contact fighting. It is assumed her skill with firearms is contributed with the fact she can't see many shades of color and ignores them completely when she shoots. It is also assumed this is why she is afraid of fighting in the dark and is when she has the largest disadvantage. Yet the two best examples of her marksmanship are when she absentmindedly shoots a Deteriorate directly in the center of the forehead and shoots a loose bottle cap off Zane's drink without shattering the glass. She seldom misses.