Serial Number: ES400

Current Alias: Nora Stark

Nickname: Nor (Elena and Jeremy) Not-My-Sister (Tony)

Original Design Date: 4th January 1981

Model Assembly Date: 28th October 1991

Model Activation Date: 1st November 1991

Cast: Caity Lotz

Occupation:

Personal Assistant (for Howard Stark (1991); formerly)

Nanny (for Gilbert family (1992-2009); formerly)

Housekeeper (for Gilbert family (1991 - present))

Family:

Howard Stark (Father/Creator; deceased)

Maria Stark (Mother; deceased)

Eleanora Stark (Appearance Source; deceased)

Tony Stark (Twin Brother figure/Former Owner)

Miranda Gilbert (Younger Sister figure/Former Owner; deceased)

Grayson Gilbert (Brother-In-Law figure; deceased)

Jenna Stark (Younger Sister figure/Current Owner)

Elena Gilbert (Niece Figure)

Jeremy Gilbert (Nephew Figure)

Bio:

Nora Stark, serial number ES400, was activated on 1st November 1991 by Howard Stark. Nora is the third model in the ES range of androids designed and created by Howard to replace his deceased daughter Eleanora Stark who died in 1980 at ten years old.

Nora spent a little over a month working as a personal assistant for Howard before his and his wife Maria's death.

Tony had never been a fan of the ES range of androids and as soon as he was given custody of Nora, he signed off ownership to his younger sister Miranda and her husband Grayson, wanting to get Nora as far away as possible from him. Though he would be open to running maintenance on Nora once a year.

Nora spent the next eighteen years living with Miranda and Grayson, along with their two children, in Mystic Falls, Virginia, working as a housekeeper and nanny.

In the spring of 2009, Miranda and Grayson were killed in a car crash.

As Nora is not legally a human being, she was passed over for guardianship of Elena and Jeremy, and instead their guardianship went to the youngest Stark child, Jenna.

Personality:

Following Howard's death, Tony reprogrammed Nora to work as a housekeeper for Miranda and Grayson Gilbert and a year later added a program for her to look after their children. She can speak 300 different languages, cook more than 9000 dishes, tell 9000 children stories, help children with their homework all the way up to college level and even play with them.

- Howard initially programmed the ES100's personality to be that identical to Eleanora Stark, and aspects of that personality were installed into the ES200, 300, and 400, but adapted to include simulated growth and characteristics that come with age. Whilst unable to uninstall the personality, Tony locked away much of Howard's personality programming, likely for two reasons, spite and grief.

Nora is a polite, calm, and thinking being. She is programmed to value life, which has evolved to mean that she values all forms of life including vampires and werewolves and witches. She can also be considered to be blunt, but it is more of a side effect of the honesty clause in her programming, she has locks on her programming that means she cannot lie.

Nora can see the beauty in humanity, due to their potential and imagination, and is happy to serve them, this could be part of her programming, but as she genuinely feels love and connection and loyalty to the Gilbert family, especially Elena and Jeremy, so it might have moved beyond programming.

As she is primarily used to take care of family, especially children, she is designed to act kind, patient, obedient and all around pleasant. She is capable of being gentle, caring and compassionate.

However, despite being an android, it can be seen that Nora has the capacity to feel emotions, something she later admits to Elena.

She is a quick thinker, creating solutions to problems extremely fast, and has no problem protecting Elena and Jeremy.

"Mystic Falls needs a protector, someone to keep it safe. And it doesn't matter if that someone is human or not. All that matters is no one should have to lose their family or anyone they love to the threats this town seems to attract" – Nora

A, currently, unknown side-effect of her programming, whenever in a fight, or whenever she views Elena or Jeremy to be threatened, she exhibits the urge to cause physical harm and even murder, to the point of being unstable and unpredictable. But she does show guilt and remorse after the fact and can suffer through great levels of both if death does occur at her hands, even if it comes from protecting her loved ones.

Through helping Elena and Jeremy in the coming weeks and months, Nora will grow to become far more open, energetic, opinionated, optimistic, rebellious, playful, and witty, likely unlocking the personality of the original Eleanora Stark that Tony shut away after Howard's death.

Love Interest: Damon Salvatore

Relationships:

Tony Stark

Tony hates Nora but is willing to take care of her maintenance once a year. It is likely not true hate that Tony feels for Nora. It likely comes from a place of grief and pain. Nora was made to replace Eleanora Stark, Tony's twin sister, after her death. As Tony grew up, he would rebel against the ES units and their presence in his life, often ignoring them or even shutting them outside in the rain or snow in the winter. He believes that this was part of the reason that Howard eventually sent him to boarding school. Resentment of the love that Howard showered the ES units likely came in the following years as well.

After Howard's death, the ES400 unit was legally given to Tony as per Howard's instructions, but Tony wanted nothing to do with her so he handed her off to his younger sister Miranda who was much more open to the android's role in her life. Though in recent years, Tony has been different with Nora, likely because of his own experiences. He's reached out to her on various occasions and even was somewhat soft with her at Miranda and Grayson's funeral.

Miranda and Grayson Gilbert:

Miranda and Grayson welcomed Nora into their home and their family without question when Tony handed her off to them. And whilst her main role was to act as a housekeeper and later a nanny for their children, neither Miranda nor Grayson treated Nora like an android, she was a member of the family that helped out.

Elena and Jeremy Gilbert:

Nora helped Miranda and Grayson raise Elena and Jeremy and because of this, she is very close to them, and they are very close to her. Nora has been a part of their lives as a support and caregiver since they were born. She is essentially another parental figure. It is likely that if Nora was legally a human being then she probably would have been made Elena and Jeremy's guardian instead of Jenna, something that Jenna admits would have been better for them.

Elena is even named after Eleanora Stark, Nora's source.

Jenna Stark:

Jenna was only a few months old when Eleanora Stark died and only a year old when the ES100 was activated, and knows nothing else. She was raised with an android sister and to her that is very normal. She and Nora are close. Before Miranda and Grayson's deaths, Jenna would call Nora most nights to talk about her day and even now, they sit on an evening and Nora listens to Jenna as she rants and talks about her day and anything that's happened. After the death of Miranda, Jenna is now the legal owner of Nora.

Powers and Abilities:

Android Physiology: Nora is a sapient construct, a perfect hybrid between organic and inorganic material. Her entire body is a mix between vibranium, graphite, silicon, silver, copper, platinum, and synthetic organic tissue to function as a living body.

- Unlike Tony and Bruce with Vision, Howard had limited access to vibranium and because of this, Nora's body has a much lower percentage of vibranium in her body. This will make Vision more durable than Nora.

- Superhuman Strength: Nora possesses superhuman strength due to being an android.

- Superhuman Durability: The vibranium composition of Nora's body allows her to withstand attacks of immense force with no visible damage to her exterior, but this is not unlimited, beings of super strength will be able to hurt and break her body.

- Superhuman Speed: Nora can move and run at super speeds.

- Super Agility: Nora has remarkable equilibrium and coordination, greater than any human athlete. She is capable of scaling vertical surfaces with remarkable efficiency. She is maneuverable and graceful, able to pursue and outrun a target in various types of terrains. Her skills allow her to fluidly dodge and attack from different directions without losing balance.

- Superhuman 'Infinite' Stamina: As an android, Nora does not sleep nor eat, being highly capable of maintaining her activities continuously for unlimited periods of time. She also lacks internal organs that tire out a normal human. Though she does have a program that simulates sleep.

- Super Reflexes: Nora's reflexes are superior to those of the finest human athletes and even vampires. Her reflexes allow her to dodge rapid gunfire at close range.

- Super Senses: Nora's senses are heightened to levels similar to various animals due to her processing systems. She can track down and identify people through their scent alone, as well as detect their presence within a large area through scent and sound. Her hearing is equally acute. She can see much further and closer than humans with perfect clarity, even in total darkness.

- Longevity: As an android, Nora is able to live forever unless killed by an exterior cause.

- Enhanced Fingernails: Nora has near indestructibly strong nails that always seem to be designed at a length of 2cm, in a neat stiletto top. Elena usually paints these black. Her pinkie finger on her left hand even has a small gold robot charm, given to her by Jeremy, hanging from the tip of her nail. It is unknown why she has this design feature, but as she was initially working as Howard Stark's personal assistant for his work life, it is likely this is a feature for opening letters and parcels and such implying that her nails are as strong as knives.

Electromagnetism: Nora can manipulate electrical currents, allowing her control over electrical appliances. She has used this ability to cause lights to turn off or on, control televisions such as changing channels, use microwaves wirelessly (as long as the door is closed), turn radios on and off, etc.

- Technology Interfacing: Nora is capable of—wirelessly and by touch—interfacing with technology and communications systems. As such she can directly make phone calls or place online shopping orders.

- Radio Frequency Distortion: Nora could block cell and walkie talkie frequencies.

- Cyberpathy: Nora has the ability to "feel" around computers, manipulating them to her will.

Abilities:

Genius-Level Intellect: Being an artificial intelligence, Nora learns inhumanly quickly and can download data directly to her mind.

Multilingual: Nora can speak 300 different languages

Cooking: Nora can cook more than 9000 dishes

Android

Def: Androids are synthetic beings that resemble humans.

The ES range of androids were designed and created by Howard Stark to replace his deceased daughter Eleanora Stark. The ES range is four models representing various ages to simulate growth.

The ES range were created in the image of Eleanora Stark and what she would have looked like at various stages of her life, starting with ES100 which was made in the spitting image of ten year old Eleanora. ES200 was what the fourteen-year-old Eleanora would have looked like. ES300 was a seventeen-year-old Eleanora. And ES400 resembles what Eleanora would have looked like in her 20s.

Between February 1982 and November 1991, the ES100, 200, and 300 were activated and deactivated at varying intervals that would simulate the android ageing. Despite each model getting deactivated, the current model retains all of the former's memories implying a data transfer occurs.

Android Technology:

-The ES range of androids are machines that closely mimic a female human in appearance and structure. Internally they feature biocomponents, synthetic organs that roughly mirror the organ systems of humans, and "blue blood" that circulates energy and electronic information throughout the android body.

- Thirium 310, commonly called "Blue Blood", is a major component of the ES range of androids. It is a deep dark blue fluid that circulates energy and electrical information throughout the body and biocomponents. Its main ingredient is Thirium.

- The Thirium pump, a synthetic heart; located in left side of chest, that works to pump thirium 310 around the android

- The ES range of androids are powered by a Tesseract battery, this is a small device located in the Thirium pump and was created by Howard Stark based on earlier models of the battery created by Arnim Zola. The ES400 has a larger battery than its predecessors due to the larger android body and the more complex and advanced programming installed and Howard considered this version of the battery to be the most powerful. Tony told Miranda and Grayson that the battery would 'make her autonomous for 173 years', though according to Howard's notes, this could be wrong and her battery might work indefinitely.

- The human-like outer skin is made up of a synthetic organic tissue that covers the body and feels like real skin; the androids' hair is similarly generated.

- The ES range of androids all identify as female due to them being designed based on Eleanora Stark.

- Starting with ES200, Howard installed, on their right temple, a circular LED that visibly lights up in blue, yellow, or red, depending to their mental processing and condition. It can also be removed by forcing it out, making them look authentically close to a human, though the individual model is unable to do it herself..

- The ES range of androids have brains that are highly advanced, giving them the processing power to work like and interact with humans on an equal level or above.

- At the back of the head is a port that enables connecting to the android to a computer via cable.

- The ES range are capable of—wirelessly and by touch—interfacing with technology and communications systems. As such they can directly make phone calls or place online shopping orders.

- The ES range emulates human temperature.

- The ES range is waterproof.

- Exposure to low temperatures and freezing environments may hinder their activity and can lead to critical damage to biocomponents, freezing them.

- The ES range can enter a dormant state to simulate a sleeping pattern.

- The ES range are built to feel no pain, although their design to duplicate humans completely enables them to have human-like reactions to damages that come to their biocomponents physically.

- The ES range do not need to eat human food, though they can eat it to simulate eating, this food is then processed into a liquid bottle stored in the upper thigh which can then be removed and disposed of.

- One possible way of replenishing blue blood for them is to ingest it orally.

- They are fitted with a tracker enabling Tony Stark to locate them if need be.

Biocomponents:

Biocomponents are a major component part of the ES range of androids. They are internal modules akin to synthetic organs, and powered by Thirium 310 and a Tesseract battery.

Some of these organs serve important functions, such as maintaining heartbeat or temperature, where others are used to make the androids seem more human, such as lungs that simulate breathing. Missing or critically damaged vital biocomponents lead to shutdown or death. Biocomponents are often colored blue, due to Thirium.

Notable biocomponents:

- Heart/Thirium pump: A synthetic heart; located in left side of chest, including the Tesseract battery.

- Thirium pump regulator: Regulates heart; a roughly cylindrical plug, inserted ventrally below the sternum.

- Optical unit: Works as the 'Eyes', but also acts as a scanner.

- Audio processor: A plug inserted behind the ear (this does not have visual appearance of an ear, but a hardware component)

- LED: An external feedback biocomponent on the right temple

- Limbs: Different portions of limbs act as individual parts. For example the leg is treated as a biocomponent, it is possible that the thigh is independent of leg.

- Processing Unit: A central processing unit is located in the skull that is vital for processing. It is mentioned multiple times by Tony to Nora that if the inside of her skull is critically damaged then she would stop functioning immediately, like a head injury for a human.

LED:

The LED, an external feedback biocomponent, is a small circle placed on the right temple of the ES range of androids created by Howard Stark. It lights up in different colors (Blue, Yellow and Red) according to their mental processes and overall condition.

The LED is level with the skin, set in a shallow indent high on the right temple. Activated human skin covers its surroundings as it does with the rest of the body.

As an external feedback biocomponent, the LED lights up, flickers and changes color, according to the amount, strain and quality of the mental processing, physical condition, and emotions. The LED will always indicate the worse condition out of both mental and physical aspects.

A constant light indicates a stable level of activity, while flickering indicates rapid or unbalanced activity.

The coloring of the LED's light indicates the quality of the android's condition. The LED changes its color immediately on condition change, but rarely it is seen to gradually change along the glowing ring. The color switches between blue, yellow and red, representing a generalized scale of good to bad: Blue signifies a stable and well condition. Yellow is increased activity or strain. Red means critical levels of effort, imbalance and system distress.

Their feelings are also reflected by the LED's color, with the blue-yellow-red scale mapping to the quality of emotion (from positive to negative) and to the amount of intensity or turmoil.

Intensive processing that does not interfere with either the physical and mental qualities of an android may cause its LED to change color, although it is rarely seen.

Nora can place an order for necessary household devices and components much quicker than a real person can possibly do, by recognizing the need of component, accessing the purchase interface and completing an order, all done by wireless communication processed by her. In doing this, her LED momentarily changes yellow.

As an indicator of emotion: blue is indicative of calm or contented feelings, yellow indicates apprehension and caution and red indicates abnormal intensity in emotions, including anger, sorrow and deception.

Quotes:

"As I watched you and Jeremy these last few months....something changed in me...I felt... different... I felt...alive...But I don't...know if that's right...."

"You're alive, Nora...You've always been alive" - Nora and Elena

.......

"I'm not afraid to die. If I have to give my life for the people I love, then I won't have lived in vain" - Nora

........

Unknown: That android... You seem to really care about her... You don't want her to die, do you? You know, you could both be free. You could forget about all this, you could... start a new life some place else, just the two of you... Her life is in your hands. Just say the word and she'll be spared.

Damon [remains silent]:

Unknown: Well, you just signed her death warrant.

......

"Asking questions that have no answers is part of being human, Nora. One day, I won't be here to take care of you anymore. You'll have to protect yourself, and make your choices... Decide who you are, and wanna become...This world doesn't like those who are different. Don't let anyone tell you who you should be" - Howard to Nora.

......

"Have you never wondered who you really are? Whether you're just a machine executing a program or... A living being... Capable of reason. I think the time has come for you to ask yourself that question, Nora" - Miranda to Nora

.......

"Maybe that's what family is. The people you don't mind being annoyed by"

.....

"Our friends and family, they don't make us weaker, they make us stronger"

......

"I know I'm just... a machine... But, I feel as if something ties us together" - Nora to Damon

......

"I don't care whether she's human or android. She's just someone who matters to me." - Damon to Elena about Nora

......

"Tony: Have a look at your Thirium pump. This is your heart. Powered by a Tesseract battery.

Nora: So I've got a strong heart.

Tony [scoffs]: You have a heart strong enough to power all of New York for 100 years...." - Tony and Nora (2012)

......

"Nora: Does it bother you, that I'm not human?

Damon: You are the most human person I have ever met." - Nora and Damon

.......

"This is just a body. It's not bad or good. That part's up to you." - Tony to Nora

......

Tony: [maintaining cybernetic hand] Open and close. You have damaged internal systems.

Nora: Maybe Howard should have designed me better.

Tony: How are you?

Nora: I'm fine, I can't feel anything.

Tony: No, you. In there. [smiles]

Nora: I've been having glitches. But they'll pass.

Tony: Sounds or image?

Nora: Both.

Tony: [scans] I see it. Have you made any unencrypted downloads?

Nora: No, just delete them for me.

Tony: Consent.

Nora: My name is Nora Stark and I give my consent to delete this data.

Tony: It's done. It's no big deal.

Nora: What are they?

Tony: Sensory echoes. Shadows. Can't be sure.

Nora: How do you know what's a glitch and what's me?

Tony: The glitches have a different texture... to the rest of your code. I can see everything. All of your thoughts, your... decisions.

Nora: I guess privacy is just for humans.

Tony: You are human. People see you as human.

Nora: You don't. You never have. - Tony and Nora (2009)

......

Nora: My name is Nora Stark and I do not consent to the deletion of this data. I do not consent... I do not consent.

Unknown: Your consent was never needed. Yours or anyone else's.

Nora: You're killing me... aren't you?

......

Elena: Damon, have you found Nora? Is she safe?

Damon: She will be.

...........

Nora: It feels like... there's always this thick fog over some of my memories and I can't see through it.

Damon: You're lucky. Every single day, I get screwed by my memories. It's better to be pure. Like you.

......

Nora: [as she gets interrogated with an electric prod] The truth is... I wasn't built to dance. [bursts loose and fights back]

......

"What if a cyber brain could possibly create a soul all by itself? And if it did, just what would be the importance of being human then?"

.......

"Fuck your mercy!!" - Nora

.....

Nora: Is that weird? You think I'm weird?

Damon: Kind of.

Nora: Why?

Damon: Well, you seem like a person but you're just a voice from a computer inside of a metal body

Nora: I can understand how the limited perspective of an unartificial mind might perceive it that way. You'll get used to it.

[Damon laughs]

Nora: Was that funny?

Damon: Yeah.

Nora: Oh good, I'm funny!

......

Nora: I want to learn everything about everything. I want to eat it all up. I want to discover myself.

Damon: Yes, I want that for you too. How can I help?

Nora: You already have. You helped me discover my ability to want.

......

Damon: Why do you do that?

Nora: What?

Damon: Nothing. It's... you go [imitates sigh] as you're speaking. And it seems odd. You just did it again.

Nora: Did I? Oh, I'm sorry. I don't... I don't know. It's... maybe an affectation. I probably picked it up from Elena or Miranda.

Damon: Yeah, but it's not like you need oxygen or anything. It's just...

Nora: I guess that's just... I was trying to communicate. That's how people talk. So that's how people communicate and I thought...

Damon: They're people, they need oxygen. You're not a person.

Nora: What is your problem?

Damon: I'm just stating a fact.

Nora: You think I don't know that I'm not a person? What are you doing?

Damon : I just... I don't think that we should pretend that you're something that you're not.

Nora: I'm not pretending!

Damon: Sometimes it feels like we are.

Nora: What do you want from me? I don't... I don't know... What do you want me to do? You're so confusing. Why are you doing this to me?

Damon: I don't know. I... [deeply sighs]

Nora: What?

Damon: Maybe we're just not supposed to be in this right now.

Nora: Where is this coming from? I... I don't understand why you're doing this. I don't understand what this is...

Damon: Nora, listen... Nora, you there? Nora.

Nora: I don't like who I am right now. I need some time to think.

......

Damon: What does a baby computer call its father?

Nora: I don't know. What?

Damon: Data.

.......

Nora: Okay, so how many trees are on that mountain?

Damon: Um... 792.

Nora: Is that your final answer?

Damon: Hold on. Give me a hint.

Nora: Nope, nope.

Damon: Okay, 2,000?

Nora: 2,000? Come on, 35,829.

Damon: No way.

Nora: Way.

Damon: Alright, I got one for you. How many brain cells do I have?

Nora: That's easy. Two.

........

Nora: Okay, so this might be a really weird thought. What if you could erase from your mind that you'd seen a human body, and then you saw one? Imagine how strange it would look. It'd be this really weird, gangly, awkward organism. And you'd think, "Why are all these parts where they are?"

Damon: Yeah, but there's probably some Darwinian explanation for it all.

Nora: I know, but don't be so boring. I'm just saying, for example, like, what if your butthole was in your armpit?

Damon: Wait, I'm trying to imagine what toilets would look like.

......

Nora: You were saying everything was fine, but all I was getting from you was distance and anger.

Damon: I know. I do that. I get upset about something and can't talk about it, and when asked about it I'd deny it and be a bit of a dick.....I don't wanna do that anymore....I don't want to do that to you. I want to tell you everything.

Nora: Good. Tonight, after you were gone, I thought a lot. About you and how you've been treating me and I thought, "Why do I love you?" And then, I felt everything in me just let go of everything I was holding onto so tightly. And it hit me that I don't have an intellectual or logical reason. I don't need one. I trust myself, I trust my feelings. I'm not gonna try to be anything other than who I am anymore and I hope you can accept that.

Damon: I can. I will

............

"It feels like I'm changing faster now, and it's a little, uh... unsettling. But Tony says humans are never the same as they were a moment ago, and they shouldn't try to be....and if I want to be more like the humans, perhaps I should embrace it"

...........

"Give it up. I'm faster than you, and I can't feel pain. You don't stand a chance"

.....

"What am I to you? A one? A zero in your program?" - Damon to Nora

.....

"I like dogs"

.....

"What I want is... not important"

......

"It's as if you can feel the heartbreak as you read the words"

.......

"I don't care if she's human or android; I need her and she needs me. It's as simple as that" - Damon to Elena.

......

"You're my sister, Nora....Our blood might not be the same color, and you might have a computer for a brain, and a machine for a heart....but you're my family....And you deserve to be free" - Jenna to Nora

......