Watching Heroes

The finalists have been chosen in Sprint’s “Create-Your-Own Hero” campaign. Over the last few months, fans were able to vote on various physical and personality attributes to create the two finalists, one male and one female. Over one million votes were cast. Now, it’s time to vote again to decide which hero will star in a new, online, live-action series which will run on NBC.com. Voting for this phase of the contest will run through February 15.

The male finalist is Santiago:

Santiago is twenty three. He is an only child, and lives with his mother in a poor part of Lima. He works as an auto mechanic, but has a burning desire to go out in the world and accomplish something that will make his mother truly proud.

Santiago lost his father years ago to the Peruvian civil war. He carries that loss in his heart, but has found solace in the teachings of the Catholic church. Santiago attends mass every Sunday, in a local cathedral which was built by the Spanish Conquistadors more than four hundred years ago.

It was one Sunday after mass when Santiago first discovered his powers. He was playing soccer with his friends in a dusty lot, when he suddenly realized that he was faster - much faster - than his opponents. In fact he was so fast, that he had to hide his ability in order not to attract too much attention.

Santiago loves being fast - he uses his power to become the star of his soccer team - but he believes that his abilities are a gift from God, and feels strongly that they should only be used for good.

The female finalist is Audrey:

Audrey is eighteen. She lives with her mother and younger sister in Paris, in an apartment above the family’s bakery. Audrey’s father is out of the picture, and Audrey’s mother has fallen sick, so Audrey has been forced to take responsibility for the family business, despite the fact that she is still in school.

It is while working behind the counter at the bakery that Audrey discovers her power - the power to affect the speed of other people. Audrey can speed people up, or slow them down to a crawl.

Suddenly everything is possible. Audrey can easily help her sick mother, finish her homework on time, and hang out with her friends - practically all at the same time.

However, Audrey begins to succumb to the temptation of using her powers for darker purposes. She starts by doing nothing more than speeding up her math class to get out early, but then, before she knows it, she is slowing down everyone in the bakery so that she can steal money from the cash register.

As Audrey’s understanding of her powers grows, she resolves to use them for the greater good, but sometimes her means of getting to that good are morally questionable.

To vote for your favorite, you can visit the Create-Your-Own Hero website at http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/create_your_hero/ or vote by using your Sprint phone. To use your mobile, text A to 6789 to vote for Santiago or text B to 6789 to vote for Audrey.