Nova Name: Speed Angel (Angel Swift, Fast Angel, et al)
Birth Name: Unknown

Gender: uncertain
Height: 177cm
Weight: uncertain
Affiliation: uncertain

Physical Description:
Usually an unexpected breeze or, rarely, a blurred afterimage.

Powers:
Fast. Very fast with (apparently) no way to slow down.

Background

Although the rumors have been circulating among those that study the phenomena of the odd for months, in recent weeks no less than three major networks have carried the story of the nova called Angel Speed. It began like this...

A group of graduate students at the Tokyo University, influenced more than a little by a weekend drinking binge and lack of sleep, concluded that a number of statistical anomolies reported throughout Tokyo in recent months could be elegantly explained by an esoteric theory involving supernatural beings and the contamination of local morphogenetic field. Such quirky discussions are not unknown and usually dismissed early Monday morning as sobriety returns and with it a sense of unreasoning panic regarding imminent examinations. However, the idea caught the imagination of one particular student and refused to release it's grip.

She reasoned that "supernatural" was merely another word for nova and with this assumption in place began to systimatically collect data on incidents that fit what she eventually refined to a very specific criteria. The delivery boy being assaulted by gang members only to find himself back at work three kilometers away within seconds after the assault began. A child falling from a fifth story window in plain view of the neighbors only to vanish in midair and reappear standing on the ground without a scratch. A restraunt fire that seems to vanish within seconds of threatening to engulf the building. Once the search started the number of strange events continued to grow and from that mounting pile of prints outs certain facts emerged.

- One; individual event could be explained with mundane actions.

- Two; no one ever gained in a material way from what transpired whether the reports were fact or fiction.

- Three; the "events" seemed to be unconstrained by geography though were statistically more common along major roads and accesses.

- Four; the time between some events was so slight as to require a virtual army of "guardians".

Of course there was no way to test her theories. Worse, the distraction of her energies into silly romantic notions rather than in preparation for academic examinations would surely prove to be a fatal error. So it was with a heavy heart, three bottles of Asahi beer, two friends and a can of spray paint she said her goodbyes on a highway overpass in a haiku to the invisible angels of Tokyo. The story might end there were it not for one small detail. The young researcher's "angel" enjoyed the poemand responded; in the process clarifying that were was indeed only one "angel".

To date only a single image of the "Speed Angel" has been captured and that only by using a sophisticated eufiber optics with an electronic resonator intended for peering into the heart of the atom. The processed image shows only a blurred humanoid form with what appears to be long golden hair and tiny jets of light on either side of her/his ankles. The allure of the Speed Angel, based on the romantic notion of living outside the world in the span that seperates one second from the next, is slowly capturing the imagination of jaded Tokyo. Angelic imagery is a hotseller and ranges from homemade t-shirts proclaiming "An Angel Loves Me" to the Oneida line of iconic platinum jewelry premiering next week.

Some theorise the "mystery" of the Speed Angel may be less due to a desire to be enigmatic than the differences in temporal perceptions. Waiting the equivalent of a "day" for the average person to finish one sentence precludes a meaningful real time conversation.