Profile
Basic Information
Name: Julien
Birthplace: Syndicate
Affiliation: Rustfire
Gender: Male
Background
Julien is a genius architect and the de facto leader of Drifter Camp and of Rustfire. He was the son of a high-ranking engineer from Nirvana, but his father left home for Eastside when he was ten years old (presumably due to the collapse of the Hypercube industry following the DisSea Explosion) but the young Julien remained behind. Julien became friends with Donald, who protected him from the gangsters now taking over Syndicate, and the two of them soon joined Rustfire. When Rustfire's workers were massacred during the descent of BR-002, Julien stepped up to protect the survivors until a "true leader" arrived to save them.
Julien is worn out, frustrated, and doubtful of his own abilities as a leader, but he is stubbornly diligent and is known to often pull successive all-nighters at his work. Despite his devotion to his people, Julien has a low opinion of humanity writ large, believing that people never listen to reason and that this is the source of many problems. For all his gloom, however, Julien is a visionary whose goal is to burn down the current order and take back everything that has been lost by the people of the West District. Julien has a prosthetic arm and uses a wheelchair due to a paralyzing leg condition.
Role
Main Story
Drifter Camp
Julien receives news from Raven about the crystallization of Hypercube fragments in the remains of BR-004, which has been reawakened by Corpus 002, and learns that the Chief of the MBCC will be returning to Syndicate for the first time since its destruction. Julien resolves to find out whether the Chief is a friend or foe. Disguising his identity, he goes to Keylan Square to observe the Chief. He is detained by the FAC for attempting to take Hypercube fragments from the Ring site, but the Chief directs the FAC not to punish him or the other civilians for this crime.
When the Reconstruction Executive Committee attacks Drifter Camp, Julien orders Taran to release the Chief so they and their Sinners can help in its defense. Following their victory over the attacking forces, Julien kills the defeated Donald. He then asks the Chief to a one-on-one meeting, where he confirms that he has spies within the Reconstruction Executive Committee and declares that he is willing to provide any assistance he can to the Chief's investigation of Mania in the camp. He directs the Chief toward the site where, ten days prior, Executive Officer spies had mutated into Corruptors.
When the Chief informs Julien that invisible contamination has already spread through the entire camp, Julien orders an evacuation of Drifter Camp. Despite this, he stays behind himself to repeat the announcement and operate the camp's mechanisms. Despite Taran's objections, he says that if he and leaves others to die, it will be engraved in everyone's memories and destroy the moral fabric of Drifter Camp. But if he becomes a sacrifice, it will be a public demonstration of Rustfire's inner strength. He reveals his intent to wait for the Black Ring to erupt, and then use Hypercube bombs to weaken its Corpus so that the Minos Bureau of Crisis Control can destroy it. After that, he says, Rustfire must take over the wreckage of both it and BR-002, because "everything we need is there."
Julien ends the communication with Taran and prepares himself to die, glad that he finally has a chance to exact his revenge against the Corpus. But before he is able to commit suicide, The Chief and K.K. break into his office and take the bombs from him. With his mechanisms he assists in the fight against the Corpseborne, and his already-damaged legs are crushed when the building collapses. Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the battle, Julien is more energetic and hopeful than ever before. Having seen the Chief defeat two impossible challenges, he hails them as the new Zoya who can lead Syndicate to the battlefield. He promises to tell the Chief everything about the history of BR-002, and then falls unconscious.
Oblivion Depth
Uncharacteristically positive after their victory over the Corpseborne, Julien argues with the Chief that, despite their refusal of the role as Rustfire's hero, the unavoidable truth is that the Chief was the one saved Drifter Camp and brought hope to the people. They direct the Chief to Shelter W-31 and gives them a letter containing Raven's ink that they can read when they arrive to learn the history of BR-002. Julien stays behind to act as bait for the Executive Committee to attack Drifter Camp again while the Chief and Rustfire attempt to neutralize the Black Ring.
Julien later approves the Chief's plan shift focus back to the Corpseborne in Syndicate while tricking the authorities into believing that the Executive Committee must assist with its destruction in order to protect Eastside, which buys time for Drifter Camp's survival. However, Julien is worried by the Chief working with the Committee, recalling how Rustfire's first leader defected to Nirvana 8 years before. He dispatches Taran to follow the Chief and make sure that they aren't taken away either by the Committee or the monster.
When Taran returns with the Chief's body, Julien realizes that they are again at a crossroads where Rustfire's only hope has been extinguished. Instead of letting that happen, at Taran's urging, he decides to make the Chief into a martyr and declare open rebellion against DisCity.
10 days later, dismayed by what his revolution has become, Julien quits Rustfire and heads towards the Inner Bay. Along the way, he converses with the Underground Shepherd about the Corpseborne, which is now clearly visible, but no longer anyone's concern as internecine violence ravages Syndicate. As Julien bemoans how history has repeated itself and Rustfire's dreams have been destroyed again, the Shepherd gives him a red crystal flower. She tells him that he can harness the Corpus's out-of-control power, as she doesn't want it anymore. Julien crushes the flower, and its crystals enter his body. As he approaches the Corpseborne, it greets him, recognizing his similarity to the people whose desires it was born from, and offers to make his wish come true. Julien accepts, and Syndicate's largest Black Ring erupts. The reborn BR-002 destroys Drifter Camp and wipes out the deranged forces of Rustfire.
Towering Black
Fused with Corpus 002, Julien spent seven months locked in a stalemate with the Ring's Corpus for control of the Ring's spiritual realm. During this period, Julien warped the interior of the Ring into a complex mechanical maze that trapped its monsters inside and channeled the energy gathered by the Ring away from outward expansion and into a constantly-rising High Tower that lifted the nexus of its contamination farther and farther away from the people outside. However, in November, Parma's infiltrated the Black Ring and funneled energy in to tip the scales in favor of the Corpus. A panic in Rustfire's refugee camp gives the Corpus the last bit of energy it needed to overwhelm Julien and seize control of the Ring.
However, at the same time, the White Cube carried by Hecate dispels enough of the contamination around her that Julien's fading consciousness is able to speak to her through the Shackles connecting them. This clarity allows Hecate to detect the Chief's location for the first time, and Julien urges her to go to them, promising to keep the way clear for her, and providing the necessary nudge to resurrect the Chief.
Julien acts one final time at the end of the Chief and Donald's final battle with the Corpus. Having been stripped of its power by the collective will of Syndicate, the Corpus attempts to flee again, but Julien -- despite everyone having believed his consciousness was gone -- seizes control of the Black Ring again to surround the High Tower with a cage preventing its escape.