In 1956, Dr. Everett Reedy founded the AuRA Project, an attempt to use the remarkable conductivity properties of gold to develop a synthetic being that could process information with the same speed as a human being. Unfortunately, just as it seemed his project was achieving its goal, the facility was attacked by the supercriminal known as a the Queen of the Nile, intent on stealing both the project's large gold supply and the scientific data the project had so far compiled. In a desperate attempt to save his creation, Dr. Reedy activated the most recent prototype, AuRA-79, and told it to "Run!"
It did, and broke the sound barrier doing it.
AuRA-79 was able to defeat the Queen and send her packing, but Dr. Reedy did not survive the assault. Lost and alone, the android did not resist when agents from the Department of Defense (Unusual Assets Division, which would one day become AEGIS) came to collect it. They completed its development and its education, but they could not give it a home, or replace the "father" it had lost.
In the wake of Hades' invasion of Freedom City in 1960, cities and nations around the world began to wonder what they would do if faced with a similar occurence, leading to a wave of sponsored "superteam" creations. One of these was the California Dreams, appearing in 1963, sponsored by the government of California and headquartered in Sacramento. The group consisted of The 49er (a seemingly-immortal man name Maximilian Grey, who had in fact been a '49er at one point), Holly Wood (a mutant with illusion powers, who came out of the LA special effects industry), and Golden Bear (a Native American with mystic powers granted to him by his totem). In addition, the California government requested AuRA-79, since Dr. Reedy's lab had been in Santa Barbara, and AEGIS agreed. The PR team for the group renamed the android "Gold Rush," to keep with the team's theme.
From the beginning, the Dreams were plagued with personality conflicts. Holly and the Golden Bear were glory hounds, interested in personal fame and advancement, while The 49er had all the patience of an extremely old and crotchety grandfather. By 1968, the group had broken apart. Nevertheless, for Gold Rush, it was and remains the happiest time of its existence. It had friends, of a sort, and a place to belong, a purpose to serve that it believed was in line with the directives placed in it by Dr. Reedy, and a home. When the Dreams went their separate ways, Gold Rush was once again left aimless. Though AEGIS tried to use the android as an agent, Gold Rush requested deactivation and storage in 1979, until a purpose could be found for it, and AEGIS reluctantly agreed.
That purpose became clear in 1993, with the Terminus invasion. Needing to throw everything it had at the alien forces, AEGIS reactivated Gold Rush and sent it into the fray. In the battle, Gold Rush focused primarily on saving lives rather than battling Omega's forces, but it was nevertheless close enough to see the Centurion's final battle. It realized then that it did indeed have a purpose, and one that was not served by existence in storage. It elected to remain operative, and has since joined with other heroes to continue pursuing that purpose, to whatever end.
Appearance: Gold Rush appears to be a humanoid, covered entirely in burnished gold, with no clearly distinguishable facial expression. Its chest plate still bears the AuRA Project logo, a sunburst emblem, etched into the metallic covering. During the heydey of the Dreams, several publicity photos were taken of Gold Rush holding a golden sword, point down, which - once the logo had been airbrushed out - made it look very much like a famous movie award statuette.
Gold Rush – PL 10
Str 10 (+0), Dex 30 (+10), Con - (-5), Int 24 (+7), Wis 6 (-2), Cha 4 (-3)
