Background: Before the Turning, Bhagat Garibaldi was just a pseudonym and the bespectacled man who answered to it was known by his birth name, something he has since abandoned. The name and identity of Bhagat Garibaldi is that of a prolific online activist, a self-described anarchist and supporter of progressive causes all over the world. Bhagat, active online even in his extreme youth in the prehsitoric days of dial-up modems that sounded like a synthesized Godzilla, had spent years preparing himself mentally, if not physically, for what he had long expected was an inevitable conflict. But when the day came, he found himself only half right. True, it was mankind that engineered its own downfall, but it was the machines that turned the proverbial key and put an end to the electronic age. With his whole world essentially gone forever, Bhagat Garibaldi found himself out of luck, out of place, and in need of some sense of purpose. And while he hasn't quite found it yet, whatever nagging urge in his waking dreams pulled him towards Tucson will have to be a start.
Outside of his online presence - which, to be fair, was far-reaching in those circles and is of no relevance or value without broadband access - Bhagat was a technician at an instrument factory in California, himself originally an Oakland resident. He's a dedicated music nerd and truly enjoyed the hands-on experience of his day job, and he always told himself that he'd learn how to really play, if only he could find the time. He rarely did, but that seems to have changed as of late. Bhagat is also, perhaps incongruously, a huge baseball fan, and is prone to using baseball metaphors and analogies, only some of which are particularly strained. Bhagat loves the Oakland A's, and has a tattoo of the classic 'white elephant' logo on his left shoulder and another of the oft-forgotten Charlie-O on his right. His favorite player is Reggie Jackson and he is sensitive about the way the Steinbrenner family, in his own words, "paid him off to get him into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee despite Reggie really being an A."
Bhagat Garibaldi remains convinced that things were really going to turn around once the A's moved to Las Vegas and will never get over the fact that will likely never see that come to pass.
Description: Fairly average in appearance, Bhagat stands out mostly due to his fashion "sense", sporting round spectacles and an old-fashioned pipe, affectations that he once thought made him look interesting and unique but has long since just become one more part of the uniform. His voice is a little raspy and his posture is slouched. He squints virtually all the time, still more comfortable in the dark than under the glare of the desert sun. Bhagat's demeanor displays a fidgety preoccupation, though who knows with what, and he frequently hums, whistles, and sings under his breath to himself when he's concentrating or is unaware he's being watched. In terms of personality, Bhagat is quick-witted and far from shy, a bit dry perhaps but possessing a good sense of humor and a tendency to jump to conclusions and find himself being forced to put together the logic afterwards - if he even can. He is very inquisitive but his interests tend to go more broad than deep, which is to say he knows a little about a lot of things. Luckily for him - as things have trended quite a bit lately - he has a knack for knowing the right things and being able to fake it otherwise.
Bhagat Garibaldi has a voice that's neither particularly high or low and somewhat monotone, although he is fairly animated and wordy when a conversation gets going. Bhagat loves music and dabbles in various instruments, though he isn't very good. Despite traveling pretty light, he seems to have an unending supply of different instruments when needed. He does not do requests.
Like other Corrupted, Bhagat bears the mark of the Turning. When it happened he was, as usual, glued to one or several monitors, which erupted into a blinding flash of white light and knocked him out for roughly a day and a half. He felt normal enough afterwards, if a bit electrified, but it wasn't until he looked into the mirror that he saw the change - his eyes had lost all color. Not solid white - the pupil and iris were still distinct from the sclera - but all of them had taken on an appearance like milk in a glass, undulating slightly beneath the surface, his pupils bottomless holes in the liquid void surrounding.
It took a while before he figured it out, but Bhagat's eyes glowed in the dark, and were uniquely visible even from a distance, despite not projecting any appreciable outward light. The effect was unnoticeable in daylight, but he had learned to take additional cautions after sunset, as it could serve as a giveaway not only to is location but also his identity, depending on who saw what. In addition, Bhagat experienced a consistent light breeze that affected only him, which only added to the mixed bag; on the one hand, his clothing and hair always fell in the perfect place and it gave him a dramatic look that he leaned into, rather clumsily, on occasion, while on the other, it meant that any torch he held would wave and dance slightly, even on the stillest night.