Karla Marimeth Herkes, the Rigger of Mornings (1922-???)
Born on All Saints' Day to renowned ice climbers Marimeth Abigail Baxter and Francis Cornwallis Herkes, Karla Marimeth Herkes was groomed from birth to take up the climber mantle from her parents. At age 6, she became the first gold medalist in ice climbing on the Ultra Youth Olympic Games, a controversial radio program which ran from 1926 to 1980 before being converted to television as Star Search. Dissatisfied with the climber life, Herkes rebelled against her parents in 1938 during a record-breaking climb up Kilimanjaro; upon reaching the summit, she revealed an elaborate hang-gliding device, jumped from the side of the mountain, and disappeared into the clouds.
Presumed dead, Herkes remained in the shadows of society until 1968, when she reappeared at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a student. There, she excelled in the physics program despite acquiring entry under suspicious circumstances. According to declassified FBI documents, Herkes had never graduated from any school prior to entering MIT, and yet had not only secured entry but also done so without submitting an application. While no conclusive evidence exists, the FBI suspects blackmail facilitated by the Night's Son, an international criminal organization known for manipulating college entrance procedures. Regardless, Herkes' work on time dilation and solar manipulation so impressed MIT professors that she was immediately given a post-graduate position and a $5 million research grant. This would spark the beginning of Herkes' nickname: the Rigger of Mornings.
From 1975 to 1982, Herkes worked on the Solar Dial, a machine she invented to control the orbit of the Earth and Sun via control of time strings (theoretical subatomic bands tied to string theory). In 1982, MIT terminated her position under the belief that her research had not produced significant results; the remaining portion of the grant was given to Dolores Astridge Harper, which she used to develop self-toasting bagels. To everyone's surprise, Herkes showed little concern for her dismissal; a decade later, she revealed why in a letter to the New York Times: the Solar Dial had worked, but she had chosen not to reveal this for fear that the device would be used as a weapon.
Numerous attempts were made to acquire the Solar Dial from Herkes from 1995 to 2007. However, despite the best efforts of the U.S., Russian, Chinese, and Tunisian governments, she managed to keep herself and the Solar Dial hidden. No doubt, this feat was the result of Herkes' contacts in the Night's Son, though it is also possible that the Canadian government's Security Intelligence Service played a significant role.
After over a decade in hiding, Herkes finally revealed the Solar Dial in 2007 to a packed crowd at Tropicana Field. There, she demonstrated the device's abilities, turning the evening into morning and back again. Before authorities could capture Herkes and the device, however, she once more escaped via an elaborate hang-gliding device, disappearing into a thunder storm. The following day, the morning remained fixed for 48 straight hours, simultaneously casting the entire world in a brilliant misty orange light.
The same event now occurs on every All Saints' Day. The regularity of the event has convinced some that the Earth year should include an additional day. As of August 18, 2021, a Change.org petition has received 6,244,000 signatures. Herkes remains on the FBI's Most Wanted list.