Marika Bran

Marika Bran (born Marika Heino 1976) is a main character in Clockwork as well as The IT Files. A former forensic scientist with Interpol, Marika briefly retired to work with her husband Dieter Bran in Germany before joining the International Temporal Enforcement Agency as the head of its science wing.

Biography

• Early Life
• Interpol
• Time Agent

The Good Girl Marika was born in Turku, Finland, the daughter of Tomi Heino and Impi Heino. When Marika was very young her family moved to Espoo, which is where she grew up, so Tomi could work at a water purification plant. Impi was a stay at home mother, but while Marika was initially close with her she'd eventually find herself drawn to her father's work. Chemistry was Marika's first passion, but this soon extended to DNA and, ultimately, forensics. While forensics was a fairly new concept Marika caught on quickly. Despite her interest in criminal science, Marika did occasionally act out, including a period where she dyed her hair red and drank heavily, but she soon sorted herself out. Marika's law enforcement career started with her serving as a junior lab technician in Helsinki, being an intern while studying Forensic Science at the University of Helsinki. An early specialty of Marika's was replicating unique items used in crimes, allowing her to hone her sculpting abilities as well as dip her toes into other scientific fields. By the time Marika had graduated from university her Master's Degree was in Forensic Science, but she'd picked up Bachelor's Degrees in Chemistry, Physics, and Biochemistry. Though not considering herself a genius, many others felt Marika's talents were being wasted, including Noah Durand. Seeking Marika out, Noah recruited her to work for Interpol.

Clockwork Thief Marika had mixed feelings about joining Interpol, as while she loved the chance to travel and investigate bigger crimes, she hated having to be certified to use a weapon. Despite her misgivings Marika soon found herself spending years as a highly-sought investigator, her most high profile work being a piracy case around Japan. Lucienne Christophe met Marika in 2006, forming a friendship that became strong enough for Lucienne to request her to join her special investigation team. The case, which involved a string of art thefts, was soon determined to be the work of Erika Stone of Stone Enterprises. While Marika had some skepticism about how exactly Erika was pulling off her thefts, Marika none the less was intrigued by the scientific oddities she uncovered. Marika, along with the rest of her team, was kidnapped by Erika, but they broke free and forced the billionaire to go into hiding. Months later, Marika was working with Jean-Baptiste Odilon to investigate a series of supermodel kidnappings. Lucienne and Aisha Reynolds took over the case as it became more high profile, it recognized that Type-7, Erika Stone's weapon of choice, was involved. Marika's involvement evolved beyond the scientific once it was determined that the kidnappers would be targeting Devon Von Krieger, a German supermodel she greatly resembled physically. Going undercover, Marika met and quickly fell in love with German police officer Dieter Bran. Marika did end up being kidnapped, those behind the case later revealed to be the Paradise Foundation, but eventually, she was rescued. After the case was closed Marika purposely took assignments in and near Germany, hoping to stay close to Dieter. Months after the kidnapping case Lucienne formed a new, massive task force to deal with the international threat posed by the Paradise Foundation. With Aisha, as well as Cassandra Flick and Hui Lan out of commission, Marika became one of Lucienne's closest confidantes, as well as heading up the task force's scientific operations. Marika was exposed to the Time-Stopper as well as advanced Type-7 Chip technology, her insights proving invaluable. After the Paradise Foundation was finally stopped Marika and Dieter got married in a small ceremony, their romantic happiness helping to encourage their friends to seek some of their own.

Married Life Marika initially retired from Interpol to work with Dieter in Germany, but when the International Temporal Enforcement Agency was formed Marika and Dieter both signed on, with the stipulation that they wouldn't be required for regular field duty. Marika ended up becoming the Director of the Science Wing, now possessing an honorary Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Tampere. With the knowledge that freeze science was a very real field, Marika recruited several lab technicians and researchers to help her study the radical implications of the concept, though she remained wary of the concept of magic. Makeda Getachew was assigned as Marika's Assistant Director and she often sought the help of Colette Landry for situations related to sophisticated electronic devices. Marika at one point tried to build a version of the Uranus Generator for the ITEA to use but Colette secretly sabotaged it. During the return of Ashley Tisdale, it was Marika who, with her husband, initially investigated Erika Stone's apparent disappearance. Marika was soon captured however by Chloe Noi and it wasn't until Ashley was defeated that she was rescued. Following the incident Marika became closer to Monica Stein and Mary Hamilton, the former helping Marika obtain special scientific equipment from Stone Enterprises while the latter became an unofficial scientific advisor. Marika had also grown into the idea of being a leader, forced to take charge in London when Lucienne and others were captured in Poland in early 2009. In response to an unknown threat Marika mobilized multiple teams and even went in person to make sure the Time-Stopper that was employed was properly disabled. The Poland mission made Marika restless, and when it was suspected at Zoe Hollander's fashion show in Spain would be attacked, she volunteered to go undercover as Devon again, Nessa Kelly her back-up as she posed as Lacey Finnegan. Unfortunately, Marika's instincts failed her as it turned out Miss Zoe herself was the would-be attacker, flooding the show with Type-7 gas and nearly kidnapping everyone if not for Kayla LeFer. The incident curbed Marika's interest in adventure outside of London, but her desire for excitement never really faded. Even as her Science Wing made great strides, developing the Stasis Disk as well as the Chrono Goggles to address the new Chrono Flash threat, Marika felt she and Dieter needed to do more. Interested in swinging, Marika and Dieter came up with the idea to use Type-7 at dinner parties to freeze their guests and then enjoy them. Half a dozen couples from the ITEA have so far been roped into the activity.

Personal Information

• Current Age: 33
• Height: 5'9.5"
• Weight: 121 lbs
• Hair Color: Blonde
• Eye Color: Green
• Bra Size: 36B
• Hypnosis Rating: 4
• Current Place of Residence: London, UK
• Sexual Preference: Men
• Favorite Drink: Teerenpeli Kaski
• Favorite Food: Pretzels
• Special Notes: Resembles Devon Von Krieger

Inventions

• Immunity Ring Protective Device (with Makeda Getachew, Mia Santos and Travis Paddington)
• Stasis Disk Freeze Device (with Takahishi Nakamura and Mary Hamilton)
• Chrono Goggles Protective Device (with Makeda Getachew)
• Sentinel Tactical Device (with Katie Grant, Hyun Su and Mia Santos)

Personal Items

• H&K USP45, Personal Sidearm
• X26 Taser, Secondary Sidearm
• Custom CyPad, Personal Computer
• Wedding Band
• Ford Focus, Personal Vehicle

Residence

Marika's home is a townhouse in the Merton Park region of Greater London. The house is an older model home she shares with Dieter Bran and is two floors. On the top floor of the house there are two bedrooms and a bathroom. On the first floor of the house is a living room with bar space, a small dining room and a kitchen as well as a half-bathroom. The house has a small lawn and garden but no garage, though the driveway has space for four vehicles.

Special Skills

• Administrative Knowledge, specifically agency administration.
• Scientific Background, primarily forensics with additional knowledge in chemistry, physics and biology.
• Trilingual, knowing Finnish, English and German.

Relationships

Family

• Dieter Bran, Husband
• Tomi Heino, Father
• Impi Heino, Mother

Science Department Staff

• Makeda Getachew
• Katie Grant
• Mia Santos
• Hyun Su
• Irvine McFarland
• Zora Jugovic
• Danka Stojanović

Friends

• Lucienne Christophe, also Co-Worker
• Hui Lan, also Co-Worker
• Cassandra Flick, also Co-Worker
• Miranda Ohala, also Co-Worker
• Jean-Baptiste Odilon, also Co-Worker
• Colette Landry, also Co-Worker
• Jelena Hendraille, also Co-Worker
• Tasia Spiro, also Co-Worker
• Ivan Popov, also Co-Worker
• Suzanna Ortiz-Volt, also Co-Worker
• Gitana Brook, also Co-Worker
• Nessa Kelly, also Co-Worker
• Ariel Landry, also Co-Worker
• Noah Durand, also Co-Worker
• Rhonda Evens, also Co-Worker
• Aisha Reynolds
• Erika Stone
• Monica Stein
• Mary Hamilton
• Irina Popov

Appearances

Canon

• Clockwork Thief
• Clockwork Paradise
• Clockwork World
• The IT Files: Colette's Test
• Clockwork Revenge Parts 1 and 3
• The IT Files: Ivan's Christmas
• The IT Files: Barry's Vengeance
• Tales from the Tuckerverse: Fashion Disaster
• The IT Files: Ivan's Reunion
• The IT Files: Lucienne's Agency
• The IT Files: Takahishi's Choice
• The IT Files: Tasia's Recovery
• Clockwork Crisis Parts 1 and 3
• The IT Files: Lucienne's Compensation

Non-Canon

• Happy Anniversary

Trivia

• Marika's physical appearance is based on that of actress Charlize Theron, who was frozen in Long Shot.
• Marika and Devon Von Krieger are nearly identical, Devon being a quarter-inch taller and possessing a mole that Marika does not.