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| >> Campfire Creative >> Appendix >> Sci-fi >> ID #1793181 |   |
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| [Introduction]
Life isn't the way it is now, as you sit at your computer reading this. Does that sound confusing? As a popular quote from somewhere goes,"the future is now!". You were created with a specific purpose in mind, your parents or the governments choice. That's right, some of you don't even have parents. You were born in a tube in some lab in Nebraska. Now how does that make you feel? Not everyone is the same. You are what you eat as another someone said, but in this case it's more "you are what you were created to be". Those created to be musically gifted, say a piano player, is given a tweaked gene. Now they have six fingers on each hand. Handy, isn't it? Athletes are made to be athletic, and if you weren't made that way don't bother going to the gym. You can be sure that rich parents will choose only the best eye and hair colors for their heirs, though appearances are only part of the equation. Your personality is also chosen for you. If you are to be a soldier, you won't feel fear. You won't feel anything. If you are to be a detective, you are given a tenacious personality. Not that there is much crime. Why would there be? But this new science isn't, well, an exact science. There are mistakes. Flukes. Us. Somewhere along the line, some overtired lab tech read a chart wrong. Or maybe our DNA just didn't want to cooperate. Now, what to do with this defective part of society? Certainly not release them into the public. So they created the Games. We are pared in teams, and try to outsmart the others and make it to the next round. People don't get hurt too bad, and certainly don't die. Usually. There is a place for everyone and everyone in their place. Where's yours? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ RULES: Bio's for first addition. You can be a defect, or maybe someone who works perfectly fine and are hired to keep them in line. Perhaps you are secretly not as perfect as you pretend to be. Near complete age freedom... but don't be like, twelve. There is to be no cursing, no sex, and no graphic violence. With the power invested in me by WDC rules and this laptop, I hear by declare my right to edit or delete any overly explicit material. I know life gets in the way, but please try not be more than week when everyone's waiting on your turn. If you need more time or are going to be gone, just send me an email! And take it easy. I'm not in the habit of kicking people out just 'cause they're slow. ^_^ I'm going to try to keep this from 6-8 people at most in the beginning as I don't want it to get too confusing. More spots may open up later, so ask even if it's full. First come first serve! Please if possible make medium sized additions. A few paragraphs or so. HAVE FUN. If you don't or have some genetic fluke and can't... then don't join this campfire! o.o" |
 Wiskers  Defect - Signature: 12.3 Name: Aaron Thomas Age: 19 Purpose Created: Scientist. Field of Study; Engineering. Detected Defect: Suspected Autism. Abilities: Excellent analyzer of dangerous environments; can build marvelous things out of scrap material. Sometimes they don't work, but he seems to think they do. Has a sharp sense of vision at the seeming expense of some hearing. Complications: Has either difficulty hearing do to an inner ear defect, or else it does not connect with the brain synapsis as it is designed to. Apparent disconnection with touch and pain. Recorded being cut and not being aware of it. Also recorded, claiming the doctors are hurting him when they handle him. Currently Activated: Games LOG: Thomas is an exceptionally bright individual, and showed great progress for fulfilling his function in the early stages of life. However, certain defects have been detected. He is not always responsive and has to be told multiple times to do something. Very rarely violent. We are uncertain as to the degree of the defect, as it seems to vary day to day. He is not to be assimilated into the populace. Activated for Games 1/4/50. Supervising Official: Helen J. Marks [I'm excited y'all! Go crazy. Take the ideas that I had and run with it! Not all defects have to be real life disabilities. Or maybe its misdiagnosed as one! The abilities can be like superpowers, ie. a builder who can pump up adrenaline or a swimmer who can almost "breathe under water". Try to be creative!] LdyPhoenix Defect - None.Name: Sybille DuBois Age: 21 Purpose Created: Heir to Financial Empire Field of Study: Mathematics, particularly Theoretical Mathematics Abilities: She can perform complex math equations in a matter of seconds using only her mind. This includes measurements of objects, distances, codes and probabilities. Some consider her a walking computer. Complications: On paper, nothing. She is a perfectly constructed girl, though somewhat analytical when dealing with others. Currently Activated: Games LOG: Chairman Dubois and her husband were extremely pleased with the progress Sybille made as a young toddler. Her ability to calculate numbers as well as construct virtually uncrackable code went beyond their expectations. As their only surviving child, she is set to take over her mother's conglomerate after she passes. However, at the onset of puberty, Sybille experienced sudden bouts of numbness in her arms and legs. Migraines soon followed. Although she has experienced periods of paralysis, her parents volunteered her for the games to curb any thoughts of her being irreversibly "defective". Activated for Games 11/28/49. Supervising Official: Daniel Laeddis Lonewolf - Catching up Name: RaphaelAge: Unknown Purpose Created: Unknown Detected Defect: Unknown at present Abilities: Currently being tested, has shown signs of super human strength, with occasional bursts of plasma from the palms of his hands. Preliminary tests show signs of regenerative tissue, to what extent is unknown. Complications: Amnesia, Can only retain 30 days worth of information at a time. Currently Activated: Games LOG: Raphael was found inside an incubator by chance in a long lost area of a science lab by a remodeling crew. Information on his past and the purpose for his creation is being closely guarded by his supervising official that is in the possession of the file and other affects where he was found. Cannot be assimilated into the human populace. Has been activated for the games in hopes they will trigger permanent memory retention Supervising Official: Marlene McGuinness Nicky Name: ParkerAge: 17 Purpose Created: Artist; Undetermined Detected Defect: Completely deaf in both ears. Shows signs of Synesthesia. Abilities: As if to compensate for her complete inability to hear, Parker’s four other senses are exceptionally keen. Tests are still being conducted to measure the full extent of her senses of smell and sight, and, so far, her potential far exceeds that of the average human. Her sense of smell is as sharp as a blood hound and her vision is probably somewhere around 20/8 (that means that at a distance of twenty feet Parker and see an object as clearly as the average person with 20/20 vision can see the object at a distance of 8 feet). In addition to sight and vision, Parker’s sense of taste is exceptional as well, allowing her to detect untraceable poisons, and not only sense but I identify individual minerals, gases, and chemicals in water, vapor, etc. Her heightened sense of touch allows her to detect the vibrations in the air caused by sound; though she can’t hear sound, she can feel it. Test results have revealed the subject to have been born with a rare neurological disorder known as Synesthesia. A mysterious phenomenon that has puzzled scientists for years, Synesthesia is a rare condition in which the subject’s senses “cross”. That is to say, Parker’s sense will often respond to mismatched stimuli. For example, the sight of the color red gives Parker a distinct taste in her mouth. Another strange phenomenon that occurs in Parker’s brain is that she can not only feel the vibrations that sound makes, she can see them in bursts of color. Because she has absolutely no hearing ability, none of these reactions are a direct result of receiving the audio information. The bursts of color are only a response to sensing vibrations in the air. Parker is an exceptional visual learner. She has a photographic memory and is able to process visual infomration quickly and effficiently. Her ablity to organize and choreograph images to create a visually appealing piece make her an ideal artist or designer. Complications: She is hyper sensitive to touch and taste which can cause extreme discomfort. Sometimes, the only way Parker can enjoy food is by sitting alone with her eyes closed. Parker’s pain receptors can sometimes fire off at random either because of a sight or sensation. It is difficult to trace every mismatched reaction to the mismatched stimuli—her reactions will often seem arbitrary though some reactions to stimuli are constant and predictable—but aside from being a slight annoyance, Parker’s condition is harmless. Her deafness combined with the added complication of synesthesia has made learning and communicating difficult throughout her whole life. She is very withdrawn and though she communicates proficiently through signing and lip reading, she doesn’t connect with anyone except perhaps Aaron because she feels like she understands him. Currently Activated: Games LOG: Parker’s artistic ability is undeniable, however her crossed senses and inability to hear both distract and alienate her, which would make her a poor choice for a design company. She might get along as a freelance artist but her defects make unequipped for life in a normal environment. She is defected to the point that it is unsure exactly what purpose she can safely serve outside of her participation in the Games. Helen Marks has been her supervising official since birth, since Marks' credentials in communicative studies have allowed her to work well with subjects born with defects such as hearing impairment or learning disabilities. Supervising Official: Helen J. Marks Wiskers "Aaron..." Aaron didn't answer. He was thinking. New tracking program. All he needed was an old cellphone, some wires, one of those chips to keep the lines from getting crossed... "Aaron." Helen said again. He shook out his hand and looked at her right ear. He didn't like making eye contact. "How are you feeling today?" She asked. Helen was in her early 40's. She had wavy red hair that was always put in a tight bun. She wore only one suit; gray with a pink collared shirt beneath. Brown nylons. She had hazel eyes that were kind. "The light in the bathroom isn't working." He said. She turned in her chair to see the bathroom door slightly ajar, light shining out of it. "It looks fine to me." She said, turning back to him. "It isn't. It's not right. The wattage is off, so the light doesn't travel right. It bounces off the tile." "I'll have someone look at it for you." He shook his left hand out some more, holding it in his right hand. She folded her hands in a steeple and leaned forward. "Are you functional?" "Ninety percent." He nodded. "Ninety?" She smiled. "Why not one hundred?" He nodded his head towards the door. "The bathroom." "Hm." She leaned back into her chair, sighed, and wrote something in her datapad. Then she stood, and straightened her gray jacket. "Go ahead and get dressed, and I'll have someone come and take you down to breakfast." With a last smile, and a code typed in to seal the door, she was gone. Aaron rocked a bit in his chair. He looked at the bathroom, that yellow light spilling out from behind the door. He didn't really have to pee that bad, did he? - - - - Ten minutes later he found himself in the dining area for their team. Other teams ate in other rooms, so there was no infighting. Or maybe they were the ones eating in the other room. Perhaps the other teams room was the room, and they were in the other room. He stopped at the white table where his friends were sitting. "That's my spot." Aaron said. Raphael just spoke with a mouthful of oatmeal. "Just sit right there." He motioned to a seat next to him. Aaron waved his hand, explaining. "This is my spot. I always sit here." "Does it have your name on in?" Raphael smiled, playfully. "No. I don't write on other peoples property. I don't sit on other peoples seats." Raphael opened his mouth to say something but Sybille cut him off. "Just move. Stop being such a child." Raphael rolled his eyes and scooted his tray to the other seat. Aaron sat down and put his tray on the table. "He's mad because he keeps having to watch vids every month so he knows where he is." "Aaron." Sybille warned. "And because his hair color isn't right... it's a mutation. There's no string of code for that exact color." "Aaron." He opened his orange juice, and turned to Raphael one more time. "Your shirt is missing a button. You should ask someone about that." Aaron placed the juice on the far left of the tray. The oatmeal to the right of that. The banana to the right of that. "Hi." He nodded at Parker, who was sitting opposite him. She smiled at him and signed him a goodmorning. He signed a reply. They could communicate fairly well because Parker was good at sign language and reading it didn't require Aaron to look her in the eyes. The messages could get jumbled sometimes though because his habitual hand flicking confused her. Another defect passed the table and smirked at the lot. "Well look at that." Hector snorted. "The rejects of the rejects table." Sybille made a move to stand but Raphael took hold of her arm and made her sit again. "He isn't worth it." Raphael said as he took another bite of oatmeal. "I can't believe we have to team with that idiot." Sybille said. "He's a swimmer." Raphael shrugged. "We could use the tactical advantage." What are they saying about Hector? Parker signed. They were turned from her and she couldn't read their lips. That he has misfiring synapsis. Aaron replied. Suddenly the large screen on the far wall lit up. The usual morning tone played, followed by an image of Fredrick Grayson, the current head of operations for the Games. Everyone turned toward the vid; Parker looked at the vid display on her watch. It allowed her to be close enough to read lips, and communicate with others in the team during the Games. "Good morning!" Mr. Grayson boomed. "As you all know, tomorrow is the beginning of the First Annual Worldwide Competition. You won't be just competing with each other! You will be competing with the top players from China, Russia, Africa, UK, and the USA. This is a historic event, and in preparation for tomorrow, new smaller teams will be assembled from the populace. Your supervising officials will let you know which team you've been placed in. Exercises are cancelled for today, and it is highly recommended that you rest up. I'm sure you'll do us proud." The monitor flashed and the image was gone. Chatter slowly began again the room. Aaron took a bite of his banana. "We're doomed." [Hai! xD We will all be on the same team, obviously. ALSO... games won't start till next turn. This day is for us to get to know the chars/let them know each other. Write on!] LdyPhoenix “Aaron. We’re not doomed.” Raphael looked at her skeptically. “What’s the probability that this is going to work out in our favor?” “Thirty-seven point two percent,” she replied instantly. “Aaron is right. We are doomed.” Sybille turned back to the table in time see Aaron sign their answers to Parker. With shame, she had done it again, positioning herself away so Parker couldn’t see her speak. Sybille curled her hands underneath the table in frustration, the tingling in her fingers a welcomed pain a reprieve from the throbbing in her skull. It didn’t matter how hard she practice, social niceties always seemed to escape her focus. Someone tapped her on the shoulder. A young woman apart of the facility stood stiffly behind her chair. “Miss DuBois, your supervising official will see you now.” Sybille sipped the rest of her orange juice. “I’ll see all of you later.” “Unless you’re not functioning properly.” She couldn’t help but smile at Aaron as she stood up gingerly from the table. “That is always a possibility.”     The physical examination room was state-of-the-art technology. Having been in dozens of rooms like it before, Sybille always felt a shiver run down her spine when she had to sit on the examination table to run through tests. There was always poking and prodding and blood tests and CTs. Daniel Laeddis was a short man of plain tastes – much to Sybille’s comfort. He was a man of shorter stature with pale skin free of freckles. He kept his white hair slightly longer than standard, the length brushing his shoulders, but kept in a ponytail when in doctor mood. Sybille never understood why he left his lucrative career in neurology to work as a supervising official. There were rumors that her mother had offered him a great deal of money to appraise her “special” case. The probabilities were high to that affect, yet every time he greeted her with a friendly smile, she couldn’t fault him for his help. In the back of her mind, Sybille knew she took away some of her fears, but she would never say that aloud. The notion went against the DuBois family code. “Hello, Sybille.” Dr. Laeddis walked into the room, data pad tucked underneath his arm. The door slid quietly shut behind him. “How are you doing today?” Sybille’s face crinkled in consideration. “Fine…somewhat. I had a bit a tingling in my right leg this morning.” “And your head?” Sybille lost all the expression in her face. “You’re not experiencing some sensitivity to light? Possibly a pulsing pain at the base of your skull?” The lines of his face softened. “The pinching around your mouth denotes pain, Sybille. How long have you had a migraine?” She bit the inside of her lip. “It began before breakfast.” “I need to report this.” “No! The games begin tomorrow. I can’t let the team down.” She grabbed the sleeve of his coat before abruptly letting it go. The shock of her emotional outburst struck her as inappropriate. Sybille hopped off the examination table, catching herself on the edge as her right leg went partially numb. She knew she shouldn’t move, have the doctor run tests, but Sybille feared she had spoken too much. “Please do not mention this to the Chairman. She might have you pulled for knowing I was getting close to my teammates.” “Nothing leaves this room, Sybille. Your confidences are strictly private with me.” Dr. Laeddis sighed, taking a thin syringe out of his pocket. “This will help talk some of the pain away. I’ll give it to you, so you may rest before tomorrow. But-“He held up a hand before she could speak. “You’ll have to run through a battery of mental examinations before you leave here today. We need to get to the bottom of why this is happening more frequently.” “I was created to process large amounts of mathematical data with minimal effort. It is reasonable to assume there would be some physical costs to my mental abilities.” “I was created to understand the mind, and I can tell you with certainty that this isn’t necessarily expected, no matter how intelligent you are, Sybille.” “Then I accept your expertise, doctor.” His soft laughter echoed throughout the room. She took comfort in it as she calculated the frequency of each sound wave hitting the adjoining wall before bouncing off and hitting her eardrum. It helped her to remember to be polite. “Thank you.” Lonewolf - Catching up Raphael watched as Sybille left the table to go see her handler which made him cringe because he knew that he was supposed to report to his own once he was done with his breakfast. He downed more of the oatmeal then realizing there was no more there he pushed the bowl away and stared at all of the people in the mess hall. He thought he caught someone staring at him from the corner of his vision, but when he turned in that direction there was no one there. Claire Worthington noticed Raphael looking in her direction, and gave him a nasty look before going back to her mindless chatter with Hector. “You should really have someone look at that missing button you have there.” Aaron said, studying Raphael’s shirt. Raphael turned to look at Aaron momentarily seeing someone else, someone he knew from his past. This new person smiled and ran a hand through his dark colored hair then extended a hand toward Raphael palm out displaying a mark that was the opposite of his own. The name Seth entered his mind. Shaking his head the image of the boy vanished leaving Raphael at the table with Aaron and Parker. Parker in turn looked quizzically at Raphael then back to Aaron, mouthed something then got up to leave. “Are you malfunctioning? You should find out about your strange hair color as well.” Aaron commented, while arranging the items on his tray in proper order of size and shape. “There is nothing wrong with my hair color.” Raphael replied defensively, unconsciously running a hand through the red mess Sybille called his hair that was littered with blonde strains. She called it a mess because Raphael decided after awhile to stop combining it which made it look like tangled dreads. “I had to go see my handler. Try to stay out of trouble.” Raphael said, as he stood to leave. ~ ~ ~ ~ “I saw him again, and this time I remembered a name.” Raphael sat on the examination table as he spoke with the woman sitting behind the desk rifling through files and folders. He hated having to be in the examination room, it always triggered something in him that just felt wrong. “Tell me again what he looked like, and that name.” The woman muttered still going through the files. “I keep telling you. Raphael said exasperated. “He has black hair with white highlights as I have the blonde in my red hair. He and I are the same or about the same height. “He demonstrated by However, he has black hair with white highlights. We have the same olive tanned complexion, but his eyes unlike my honey gold are grayish blue.” Raphael finished. “And his name again? Marlene McGuiness asked, staring intently at a file in her hands. The strain in Marlene’s voice made Raphael glance in her direction. “The name that came to my mind when I saw him was Seth.” He said, puzzled. “There is some good news.” Marlene announced impassively. Raphael hopped off the examination table. “Okay, that’s great, right? What is it?” He asked standing in front of her desk. “I have been going over the files that were-“Marlene had begun, when they were interrupted by a knock on the office door. Elsewhere… Dr. Julian Harper watched the monitors with an agitated intensity, as he went over his notes. The boy in the hospital bed he was looking after had just been found in a bunker near the west quadrant of the city 7 months ago, and for a minute his vitals had fallen. `lemur` Name: Desmond IgnazioAge: 19 Purpose Created: Created by a group of off-the-grid terrorists for the purpose of being an assassin. Abilities: Desmond is able to create metal weapons, eg daggers, throwing knives, hidden blades, swords, out of seemingly nothing. On top of this, Desmond has increased reflexes, able to process thought much quicker than an average person. Growing up within the terrorist group, but strangely kept away from the propaganda and politics, he studied human anatomy since he could remember, and as such is able to place an injury with exact precision. Detected Defect: A reverse sort of Mark of Cain. Complications: Desmond suffers 1/8th of any injury that he inflicts upon another person. He will suffer the injury in the exact same position, so must use every ounce of his ability to keep himself from harming himself fatally or seriously. Currently Activated: Games LOG: Desmond has only been within the organisation for three months now, and is getting increasingly frustrated at his lack of freedom. Growing up in the outside world is making it difficult to make him cooperate entirely, although he has shown an interest in the games themselves. May be able to be readmitted to the outside community, but not without serious thought and further study. Supervising Official: Jasper Cook -------------- “‘lo everybody” Desmond rubbed his eyes and stretched as he walked into the dining room, groggy. He was definitely not a morning person. The rest of the group was there; as usual he was last out. He hadn’t even been bothered to put a shirt on, and his black hair was ruffled, as it would remain for the rest of the day. “Articulate as usual, Desmond,” said Raphael without looking up from his food. “Ah! Raphael! I see you remember me today. How very good of you.” This made Raphael look up, an annoyed look on his face. Desmond just walked on by to get his breakfast. By the time he had returned and dropped himself down into a chair, most of the group had left again, and Desmond found himself sitting with Parker and Aaron. They were signing to each other, and hadn’t seemed to notice him, so he just leaned back in his chair and poked his breakfast with a spoon. Their silent communication continued, and Desmond studied the pair. Aaron was a guy he could easily get along with. Even though there were difficulties to living with him, he was straightforward, easy to understand. Well, that was in some ways anyway. Parker, on the other hand, he hadn’t been able to get to know. He had no idea how to sign, and he found relaying a conversation through Aaron too uncomfortable. As a born-and-bred assassin, he mistrusted relaying information through others, it was too easily intercepted. By people like himself. He knew he was being paranoid, and it was only a simple conversation, but growing up being told by a bunch of terrorists to ‘trust no one’ had definitely an influence. Luckily, this same message had backfired for the terrorists, because, as Desmond didn’t have to trust them either, he was free to grow up making his own moral decisions. Still, maybe talking to Parker would be worth pushing past his paranoia. She’d always intrigued him. “Parker would like me to tell you that she says good morning.” Aaron interrupted Desmonds’ thoughts, pulling him back to reality. “Oh. Yeah, good morning back,” Desmond smiled. “To me or to Parker?” Desmond sighed. “To Parker.” Some quick signs. “So when are teams announced? Pretty keen for something to actually happen around this hole.” “They will be announced tomorrow. You should have been here for the video. We’re not supposed to sleep in so late.” “Oh come on. What’re they going to do? Threaten to lock me up? Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I already am. So really, they can’t do anything that I care about.” Aaron looked at his ear. “Parker says that they can lock up your team. She and I both ask if you’d be okay with that.” “Yeah yeah, alright, I’m not heartless. It’s just, having your freedom stolen from you doesn’t inspire the most confidence in this system. Anyway, I’ll be in the gym if you need m--” “No you’re not!” Jasper, Desmond’s supervisor, had come into the room. “Not yet, we need a check-up before you can go.” Desmond flushed. “You don’t have to come fetch me like a kid,” he grumbled, and reluctantly walked off. ---- “Alright, let’s get this over with. I feel fine. Great, in fact. I haven’t happened to hack myself open because I haven’t attacked anyone, ‘cause I’m not a psychopath so, I guess you can say I’m fine. Fine to go, now?” Desmond slouched back onto a couch. “Nice try. Are you feeling fine both physically and mentally?” Jasper’s eyes were studying Desmond with an annoyingly serious look about them. “Yes. You know why? Cause I don’t have mental problems. I don’t have physical problems. The only defect is that I have is the Mark, which is easy to avoid. I don’t go around hacking people open. So tell me again, why am I cooped up in here?” “Don't play ignorant with me, you know why. You’re infamous in the outside world. The government knows that you were forced to kill, but the public, most of them, don’t. We can’t guarantee your safety.” “I can guarantee my own safety. Raised as an assassin, remember?” “Not good enough. Not for now anyway. There may be some hope for you in a few years, when everything cools down, but for now, you will remain in here. Don’t try to fight it. You’re right, though. You don’t have the same sorts of defects that others in here do. So our meetings are pointless in that way. But they might help keep you sane. I’m your friend, I wouldn’t keep you in here if it was up to me.” Jasper sighed. “Anyway, I guess I can’t keep you here with nothing to talk about. You’re free to leave.” Desmond leaped off the couch, and stalked off to the gym. Jasper was a nice guy, but that didn't stop Desmond from wanting to hit him. © Copyright 2011 Wiskers, LdyPhoenix, Lonewolf - Catching up, Nicky, `lemur`, (known as GROUP). All rights reserved. GROUP has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work. |
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