Nica Stamatis

Nica Stamatis is the assistant to Emily Bespin. She is voiced by Kelly McCabe.

Childhood
Nica is the second of three siblings; Leon is her older brother, and Dimitri is her younger brother. Nica was a storyteller as a child. When a hurricane hit and knocked out the power in the Stamatis household, she told stories by candlelight, and even stole the fuses out of the fusebox so that she had an excuse to continue telling stories.

At a video rental store, Nica and her mother ran into Chevy Chase, which sparked Nica's interest in becoming famous.

When Nica was 9 years old, she and her brothers went to Danehy Park after a blizzard. Dimitri attempted to climb a snow mountain but fell through the middle. Leon dug him out, but Nica was too scared to help, which she felt guilty about for years to come.

Adulthood
In high school, Nica began working at an upscale sewing shop. She decided not to go to college, but frequently visited Leon at school. She met Professor Frakes, who taught English, whose refusal to believe in her only inspired her further to become famous. Nica also met Rob Zylowski, who was in a short horror film with her and later had a cameo in The Princess Diaries. She continued forging similar quasi-famous connections. Eventually, she began working at a sewing and vacuum repair store, where she repaired Amanda Palmer's sewing machine. She also performed regularly at open mic nights.

Nica went to Dimitri's party to celebrate the unknown. He gave her a party gift in a puzzle box, and invited her to come with him. Nica, who didn't believe that Dimitri would permanently leave, refused. Afterwards, Dimitri left Boston for over a year. Nica became obsessed with trying to solve his puzzle box.

After Leon broke up with his girlfriend, Louisa, Nica insisted on taking him to Wonderland to cheer him up. They boarded the Whirlodon roller coaster, at which point Leon died mid-ride. Nica realized while still on the roller coaster, and held his hand until the ride stopped. Michael picked her up from the park and took her home.

After Leon's death
Nica was distressed after Leon's death and blamed herself, which she admitted in her eulogy at Leon's wake. She was upset that the price of becoming a local celebrity was her brother dying.

Shortly after Leon's death, Michael invited her to ThirdSight for a seance to contact Leon. She met him at the office, where she read all of Dimitri's letters to Leon. During the seance, a message came through the pneumatic tubes to remind Nica of the incident at Danehy Park. She was upset and left ThirdSight abruptly. On her way home, she stopped at the Park Street station, where there was a rally for Red Line. She watched a free-runner fall on the tracks, but was too scared to go help him, which she felt guilty about. Later, she write a letter to Dimitri telling him that she felt like he gave up on her, and that Leon had died. With no way to reach him, she put her letter in a bottle and threw it into a river.

Nica visited Louisa Alvarez, who was worried about Leon's calendar appointments mysteriously rescheduling themselves. She admitted to Louisa that she was worried that she had somehow disappointed Leon. That night, she intended to go to the Someday Cafe and perform a final open mic night, but instead gave her monologue on a train, where she admitted that she felt like a coward who didn't deserve love. Nica continued giving her monologue on trains for weeks. Most of the commuters ignored her, worsening her depression.

Eventually, Nica returned to Wonderland, and the Whirlodon. She rode the roller coaster dozens of times in a row, holding onto Dimitri's puzzle box and not enjoying the ride. On her last ride, Oliver West sat next to her and recognized her. She was grateful to at last be noticed by someone. As the roller coaster reached its peak, Nica threw Dimitri's puzzle box away.

Working with Oliver
Oliver told Nica about his vision for Boston. Nica, feeling like she needed work with a purpose, agreed to act as a courier for him. She also became a manager for an Olive Garden food truck, where she hired Mallory as her employee. Nica frequently met with Extinction Event Poletti, who acted as a go-between for her and Oliver. At one point Extinction Event brought her a letter, which she took to Emily Bespin.

In addition to her job at Olive Garden, Nica became the mastermind of The Lottery. She designed the attacks and helped carry them out. Despite finding work, Nica remained depressed, smoking pot at work and openly telling customers that she hated herself. She felt detached from her actions, and asked the "Dear Leon" column at ThirdSight for advice with taking back ownership of her life.

Michael eventually visited Nica at her food truck, bringing her a letter from Oliver as well as Dimitri's letters. She refused to take Dimitri's letters and told Michael to avoid getting any further involved with ThirdSight. Michael mentioned offhand that Louisa had been injured in the last Lottery attack which upset Nica deeply. She told Michael to leave her alone and asked him to send her best wishes to Louisa. Michael warned her that he would not leave her forever, because he knew Leon wouldn't want him to.

Nica grew more and more uncomfortable with what she was doing for The Lottery. She tried to meet with Oliver to stop the next attack. While she was preparing it, Phil West approached her and told her the attack had been cancelled. Nica left, relieved, but the attack was carried out anyways. Mallory was badly injured in the process.

Nica became wracked with guilt over both Mallory and Louisa's injuries. She went to ThirdSight to try to find Oliver but detoured to Michael's office. She found both letters and a puzzle box from Dimitri. To her shock, a letter came through the pneumatic tubes, ostensibly from Leon. He told her that Michael was trapped and asked for her help with a plan. Afraid, Nica took Dimitri's things and left. She met and deflected Gemma Linzer-Coolidge in the parking lot.

Overwhelmed, Nica found Louisa. She admitted that she felt like Louisa and Michael abandoned her after Leon's death. She confessed to helping develop The Lottery, so called because when someone finally noticed her struggling, it felt like winning the lottery. Louisa promised to stay with Nica and help her look for Michael, but also urged her to confess.

Nica went to confess to a Red Line officer, but was distracted by the TV. She saw Dimitri, who had found famed criminal D.B. Cooper and was trying to get home. Upset, she decided not to confess after all.

Red Line
Oliver went missing not long after The Lottery's attacks. Nica began looking for a new job, and applied to be Emily Bespin's assistant. Emily hired her because of her association with Oliver.

Trivia

 * Nica played drums in high school in a band called The Weimeraners.

Season One

 * Family Riddles
 * Leon at the Watch Factory
 * Message in a Bottle
 * Leaps of Faith
 * Vox Populi
 * Outbound

Season Two

 * Extinction Event at the Olive Garden
 * Dear Leon 1
 * Breaking Kayfabe
 * Dear Leon 2
 * Criminals
 * Dear Leon 3
 * Chuck Octagon’s News Seven Wedding Special, Live from Red Line, with Special Guest Andy Wood
 * On the Advice of Mary Wollstonecraft
 * Quitters

Season 2.5

 * Assistant 2