William Lawton (ME-3)



'"I'd rather fail trying to do the right thing, than succeed at doing the wrong thing." - Will's last recorded words'

Early Life (Birth - 20)
"I am a lot of things; an agnostic, an atheist, which most people stopped listening there back in my hometown, but I'm more; I am an ignostic, a verificationist, an empiricist, sometimes an absurdist, and most importantly a humanist, but no one cared what I was; they cared about what I wasn't. I learned a long time ago, that I'll never be a normal person. I'll never be the person people think about and say 'I wonder how he's doing. I'll give him a call... 'I miss him' I'm the person who sat in the corner, listening to all the stupid around him; I'm the person you like when you need, but after you no longer need me: I no longer exist. I'm a specter, I know my place, and it's not around people."

William Byron "Will" Lawton, Junior was born in America in a time (though the place had the most to do with it) where philosophical bigotry, political staticism, and general hypocrisy ostracized any who wasn't a staunch Pro-Government, Pro-God, and Pro-Gun ideology, and Will was one of those who disagreed; he grew to believe that he was born out of his time, and that he lacked that something that made him a member of his generation. Will grew to be an incredibly intelligent and wise man, but at the cost of his social development; he became a blunt and pragmatic introvert who often used sarcasm to add humor to his life. He made efforts to become more personable, but every attempt was met with failure, especially with the opposite sex... to this day he has never been on an official date (i.e. the girl wouldn't say it was one). He went to college, double majoring in history and philosophy. Will's first (and only normal) job was working at a movie theater, where he constantly cleaned the messes left by grown adults who either never learned to clean up after themselves or simply had no manners, he stayed with the theater for five years for three reasons: by the second year the job became second nature to him; free movies for a lover of cinema; and free movie posters. Will would summarize his life as "Two short decades where I learned most of what I know now, because I had the perception to learn from nearly every crappy thing that happened to me on a daily basis." He never disclosed details of the first twenty years of his life to people he met afterward, simply putting (and leaving) it that he did not enjoy the people that surrounded him, nor they him, and that fundamentally shaped him to idealize minimal interaction with other people (nonexistent if possible). This would carry into his adulthood. He would fondly remember approximately ten people fondly from his early adulthood.

Checkmate (20 - 22)
"He's smart, intuitive, brutal, and he lacks any semblance of a personal life. He'd be a fantastic Black Knight, but he questions things, especially authority. He cares more about the details than the bigger picture [saving people/preventing collateral damage]. He cares, and that will prevent him from ever making a difference here at Checkmate."

While attending the University of North Florida, he encountered a Checkmate scout, and impressed him. Will was recruited into Checkmate, and selected the Black designation. He excelled at combat, and displayed a gift of tactical analysis, but he was not a fan of authority, especially the faceless authorities of Checkmate, so he eventually parted with them on bad terms.

Project Forsight
"I'd rather fail trying to do the right thing, than succeed at doing the wrong thing."

Before he left Checkmate, the organization suffered an internal coup thrown by the White King, Maxwell Lord. Lord's understanding of Checkmate's mission statement led him to believe the best way to ensure secruity for the world at large is to use Checkmate's resources to preemptively eliminate threats to society and his absolutist Checkmate, by creating the Brother Eye satelite network. Despite the dubious nature of her ethics, Black Queen Adeline Waller could not tolerate such a bold violation of due process and civil liberties, dispatching the Black Knights still loyal to her: Will and Sasha Bordeaux. Against all odds, Lawton and Bordeaux were able to overtake the other Black Knights.

"Well...fuck" - Will's actual last words