Welcome to Gaia! ::

This is a semi-literate roleplay, so decent-sized posts are required. Use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Describe in as much detail as you can, and above all, have fun.

Intro:
The technology of the future is a marvellous thing. It creates clean air for the citizens within a protective barrier over our city. It controls the streets we walk across as traffic passes through us, for a moment rendering us as if we were ghosts to keep us safe. Our security? Machine run. No humans lives need to be taken in the pursuit of protecting ourselves. No war, no criminals, no litter. And our technology is only growing. The entire city of Baud is more advanced than others, and is run through electricity by a single mastermind computer program. Even the human mind is being improved upon with technology. CECs (Cerebrum Enhancing Chips) were created to stimulate and enhance the human brain. However, due to their high cost, only the more wealthy of Baud's citizens can afford for the chips to be implanted.

Yes, that's exactly how people felt about the technology of the city of Baud. And then something went wrong...

The mastermind computer, with its duty to protect humans with their best interests at heart, deemed that technology was weakening the humans it cared so much about. It over-rode its own protocols and command systems, and produced a wave of magnetic interference, enough to permanently destroy the technology of Baud city. However, just as the mastermind computer self destructed, the power it worked so hard to destroy came back to the city....corrupted. Many lives were lost as the technology of the city was flung into a flurry of malfunctions and self destruction. The barrier once used to protect the citizens from the outside now kept them as prisoners. The advertisement signs and billboards that once simply scanned the minds of humans to display something they'd most likely want to buy, instead used the thoughts of the humans to make what they imagine come up as real. But worst of all, every single human with a CEC in their brain lost their minds. Like drones, or zombies, these people ran rampant on the city, killing people mercilessly.

Plot: In this post apocalyptic city of the future called Baud, characters must survive however they can. Technology in this city is malfunctioning, not at all acting how it did before the system crashed. CEC users, now called Cerebytes, are roaming the streets like zombies, unpredictable, unstable, and likely to lash out and kill any living thing they see. Characters can use the ad machines to make what they imagine come to life to protect themselves, but it will only work so long as the ad machine is malfunctioning to the proper degree, and so long as they can keep their mind focused on what they imagine. The majority of Baud's citizens are dead. The rest are either Cerebytes, or lucky survivors that need to stay alive.

Good luck citizen. (Any questions about the setting or Cerebytes or anything, let me know)

Character skeletons:

This is going to be unique this time, since characters will be described during the actual roleplay. Keep the information in your skeleton minimal so that it will be more of a surprise as we get further in the rp and see more of each others characters.

Name:
Age:
Basic Appearance:

Characters so far:

Name: Introduces himself as simply "Mega"
Age: Looks forty, due to over-indulgence of cigarettes and other drugs.
Basic Appearance: Tall, muscular, and dark skinned. Walks with a very visible slouch, which makes his stance almost ape-like. Is about six feet five inches. Wears a dark track suit, covered in blood and grime. His hair is curled tightly around his head, and jet black.

Name: Scott Brinks, but goes by "Scooter"
Age: 15
Basic Appearance: Very thin, pale skin, brown eyes, light brown hair, 5"7.

Name: Faye
Age: Unknown
Basic Appearance: Faye has silver "skin" and no visible hair other than an orange glowing hologram of flowing and curly hair, just a tad longer than shoulder length. Her face is featureless and resembles an LCD screen, which will occasionally light up in certain areas to simulate eyes. She wears a tattered trench coat with large pockets and a few patches.

Name: Scott Brinks, but goes by "Scooter"
Age: 15
Basic Appearance: Very thin, pale skin, brown eyes, light brown hair, 5"7.

Mega reached forward, grabbed hold of a large chunk of broken machinery, and hefted it aside. Winded, he straightened and leaned back, his hands on his hips. He always thought it was ironic that there was a stash of those cheap-as-dirt cigs by the hospital in this neighborhood. Then again, it was easier to mask the chemical-stuffed rolls in the waste of the hospital. That way the Sniffers couldn't find them. Mega stretched, and sucked a deep breath into his blackened lungs. Those things sure did do a number on him. That and all the K. He couldn't imagine life without them, though. With that thought, he carried on digging. After another minute of levering a huge sheet of metal off of the false tile that - hopefully - held the stash of cigarettes he felt his breath come short again. Losing strength in his arms, he dropped the sheet of scrap metal. It slid painfully across his palm, causing blood to blossom on his dark skin almost immediately. His heart leaped to his throat, making it even harder to breathe. Without any conscious thought, he sunk to his knees and gasped for breath. Still struggling his breath, he licked at his wound, then rose to his feet. Something sparked and crackled to his right, but that didn't interest him a bit. He really needed those cigs now, and he was going to die for them if he had to. Vision blurring, he dug like a shark in a frenzy through the metal and glass. At last, he reached the stash. He quickly opened the false tile, and dug through the dark hole in the ground. His hand closed over a dry paper package. With an exhausted smirk, Mega took it out and fumbled with the string wrapped tightly over three large packages of the rolls. Once he had it open, he held it under one arm, and fished for a cig with the other. He quickly pried one out, dropped the precious package at his feet and sunk down beside it. Within mere seconds he had it lit and was already taking a relieving, blissful drag of the chemical-ridden smoke. "Aahhhh..." He exhaled, no longer caring about anything else in the world.

Sufficiently sated for the time being, Mega rose to his feet and patted the dirt from the rear of his trousers. He winced as he felt the cut on his hand blaze anew. He stared glumly at the puckering wound. The blood had dried around the edges of the jagged cut, but was still flowing freely at the deepest point. The dirt and grime from his insane war with the junk pile had been rubbed deep into his flesh. He'd need to find some medicine - fast - or he'd find himself with a bad infection, and probably lose his hand.
The hospital was a foreboding place; all dark and unpredictable since the Collapse. Mega rounded to the front of it, and tried to pry open the gate. Stuck. He looked up and tried to see over the large, solid steel wall. This was the closest place he could think of where he could find some antibiotics. And he definitely didn't want to trek all the way across Baud again to the small save haven he had built for himself. He was getting into the hospital whether it liked it or not.
After walking partway around the perimeter of the hospital, Mega found a section of one of those old Automatic Advertisement Machines or AAMs that had collapsed across the wall. It would take a bit of work, but Mega was pretty sure he could use it to climb over. He took a moment to limber up, then jumped up onto the base. He carefully put one foot over the rip in the machinery and slowly put his weight onto it. So far so good. The climb was too steep, and the metal too slippery to simply walk up, though. He took off his shoes, tied the laces together and slung them over his shoulder. Walking on his hands and feet like a wild animal, he was able to climb over the smooth surface of the AAM easily enough. The tricky part would be getting over the broad holographic projector, which stuck out like the branches of a tree at the very top. He was certain the 'branches' wouldn't be able to hold his weight... But it seemed like there were some thicker supports running through the center. If he held on tight and kept his balance, he was sure he'd get over the wall.
THUD. Mega hit the ground hard. Luckily, he made it to the right side of the wall. He had taken a few steps like he had envisioned, and then slipped and flailed, then half-fell half-rolled down the thick network of branches and wires that made up the high-tech machine. It took him several minutes to gain his breath again. Still lying on the ground, he checked himself for new wounds. Nothing. Lucky. Then again, it was just his luck to get fatally injured as soon as he left the hospital. Just as well, he supposed. It was kind of lonely, anyway. He rolled to his feet, and looked at the main opening of the hospital. He wondered if there could be any K in there.

brrrzzzzz. brzzz...

The noises her fingers made when she awoke always intrigued her. Her vision came on and she slowly picked herself up off the ground in front of a ruined building. How... bizarre, she thought. It was new to her, seeing this building now destroyed. She wondered what might have caused it to be that way, as she recalled having seen it before when it was bright and busy. Looking around the street corners, Faye realized this area was entirely familiar to her, but apart from falling asleep the night before, she did not remember having ever been there.

"Agh..." she moaned, clenching at her chest where her heart would be. Her mind and vision went haywire for a moment, blurring and causing static to appear in areas all around her. She moved her hand from her chest and her vision was restored to normal.

"I... am... damaged?" she asked aloud, although nobody seemed to be nearby to hear her. She looked down and saw that her tough skin was ripped open on that one area, and the occasional spark of electricity would jump out of it. Her instincts driving her wild, she looked around for a way to "fix" herself. After an hour of trekking the streets, she dropped to her knees at the discovery of an old package of toilet paper. It had fallen off of a transportation vehicle which she could see in the ditch a few metres away. She grabbed the paper and wrapped it around her torso, covering up the wound. The sparks had stopped about half an hour ago, so they shouldnt light it. Slowly rising back to her feet, she wrapped her trench coat around her body and pulled at the belt which kept it fastened to her waist.

"What is my reason for being in this area?" she thought aloud. She "closed her eyes" and thought deeply for some time about the situation. She could not recall why she was there, but she did know that she was searching for someone. She trekked onward until she saw a dark alleyway that had caught her attention. Down the alleyway was a small, tiny light amongst the pure darkness that flooded the narrow passage. Her holographic hair glowing a dim orange, she slowly and cautiously stepped towards the strange, tiny light.

To Mega's utter disappointment, the doors leading into the main reception room and Crossroads was also stuck. He groaned, and in a rare moment of anger, kicked at the unmoving set of double doors. The sound of struck metal rang out around the small courtyard. It dawned on Mega how bad an idea that was... He bit his lower lip and listened, scarcely breathing. Maybe he got lucky. Maybe there weren't any around to hear that. Maybe - rustle.... rustle... He winced. RUSTLE... RUSTLE The sound got closer. Then, there was a loud creak of bending metal. "Oh no..." Mega wheezed.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" The cerebyte let out a battle cry that sounded like a hiss and strangled shout. Mega barely had time to move out of the way of the charging body. He tripped off of the narrow pathway and landed hard on his bum. He had somehow turned around in his tumble, and found himself facing the pitiful creature.
The cerebyte was a man. Though, it had wasted away to almost nothing, so it was hard to tell. Not to mention that it was charging forward again, and Mega had to make getting out of the way as a higher priority than guessing the sex of a mindless zombie. He rolled backwards in a somersault and dove out of the way. He crashed into a ruined pile of artificial vegetation and lay stunned for a moment. The cerebyte took its chance and went for his legs. Mega shook it off quickly, and kicked it hard in the face. It reeled back and stumbled. Mega tried to get to his feet, but was too winded. He took out his hunting knife and stayed on his knees, waiting for the cerebyte to charge again. He didn't like killing these things, but would if he had to. The cerebyte recovered and charged once again, its face a gruesome, pulped mess. Mega's heart leaped at the sight, but didn't hesitate to drive his knife into the monster's belly. The cerebyte let out an agonized scream, and lashed out with its hands and teeth. It scratched and bit at Mega until he struggled to drive his knife into the base of its skull. Finally, after a few moments of coughing, choking and screaming, the cerebyte died. Or, at least, the chip in the poor man's brain no longer had anything left to control. "Rest in peace..." Mega breathed. Then pushed the dead thing off of his legs and rolled over to catch his breath.

Scooter sat silently, staring at the floor below his knees. He'd calmed down a little, but was still very scared. It took him awhile to notice that a shadow had appeared along the wall in front of him. When he finally saw the shadow, he let out a half high-pitched scream with surprise.
"No no! It's okay! I'm not going to hurt you." a woman's voice spoke softly, with a kind tone. Scooter looked left and right.
"Wh-who... who said that?" he whispered in reply to the voice. He watched with unblinking eyes as the shadow became larger, then was covered by the figure it belonged to. Scooter squinted to try and make out the person's features. It was a woman, at least 5"11 in height. She wore long, somewhat musty pants, and a warm-looking jacket. Her face was calm and friendly, and her auburn hair was short and well looked after.
"I didn't know anyone would still be in this hospital. You must have hidden here for quite awhile." the woman said softly. Scooter liked the way her voice sounded. The way she spoke reminded him so much of how his mother used to speak to him when he'd been crying. Yet, his mother had told him not to trust strangers, and this woman was most definitely a stranger. Scooter stood on shaky legs, then backed up along the wall, his scared eyes trained on the woman who frowned in response to his reaction.
"You must be shaken up from all that's happened. I'm sorry if I scared you," the woman continued, not taking any steps closer to Scooter, "my name is Annette. Could you at least tell me your name?" she questioned. Scooter backed up a bit more. He needed to listen to what his mother said, and not talk to strangers. And yet... Scooter wanted company so badly, and this woman seemed so nice.
"Scooter....that's me...." he said quietly. Annette smiled softly.
"There. That wasn't so hard. I guess we're not really strangers any more." she determined. Scooter thought this through for a moment, then nodded his head.
"Yeah! We're not strangers." he agreed, smiling just a bit. He was surprised that she knew what he was thinking, but at the same time, he was somewhat relieved.
"Well Scooter, are you hungry? I came through here looking for something to eat you see, and I found some vending machines here and there." Annette offered, digging into the very large pockets of her well-worn coat. Scooter was about to nod, but then remembered that he wasn't the only one here.
"Come meet my mommy. She's probably really hungry too." he told Annette before pointing in the direction of the room his mom was asleep in. Annette nodded, letting go of whatever kind of snack food she'd found so that it fell snuggly back into her pockets. Scooter smiled, then started to lead the way, far calmer than he'd been only minutes earlier.

((Annette is now a character soooo...

Name: Annette
Age: Looks 20-ish
Appearance: Described well enough in this post. I'll be using the same colour for her as I do for Scooter.

Faye looked around at what little there was to look at. She had grown tired of seeing the same boring environment for what seemed like eons. As if answering her prayers for a change, she suddenly heard a loud noise.

"PROCESSING" it screeched in its tinny female voice, completely devoid of any emotion. Suddenly the ground below her shifted. She looked down to see that the narrow walls of this bizarre alley were now moving... moving... closer. She looked to the wall to her left and in the small amount of light she had, she could determine that there was red on the wall. Red was not a colour Faye liked, not at all.

"I foresee unfortunate outcomes." she spoke as the wall slid slowly towards her.
She could not see an exit in either direction still. This area was very, very long. Thinking of a way to get out, she noticed the walls were now so close that she could touch either side with her feet. Her eyes lit up quickly, as if she had just hatched an idea. And she did.

She jumped upwards and planted her feet into the two sides of the "alley". This would work. She sprang upwards again. Again, Again. She was definitely making progress but the walls were closing far too slowly. Her feet were almost touching now as she kicked off the walls over and over.

"disregard previous ideas of limiting." she said aloud as she sprang forward and started bounding along the walls so quickly that it seemed as though she was climbing an invisible staircase. She finally made it to the top but soon noticed a problem: her right foot was now stuck between the walls. Faye started to panic. She darted her head around the room and saw that she was in a closed off area that resembled a warehouse or factory. She saw a sign. She was not the best at reading but she did know one word: "garbage". She hated that word. It held bad memories for her. However, this was not the time to get negative nostalgia. If she had a physical heart, it would have been beating rapidly. She could hear her internal clock ticking, and it seemed to slow down. The whole world seemed to slow down. There was no way to escape this thing but still she struggled.

She shook her foot to try to get it free, but to no avail. She tugged and pulled with all of her might but nothing was working. She finally snapped.

"somebody please, help me! my foot is stuck in the compactor! PLEASE, HELP!" she was screaming at the maximum volume she could, her voice whimpering and shaking with fear and frustration. She looked down as she heard a loud cracking noise.

"NO!" she screamed as her foot finally gave way to the immense pressure of the compactor, being crushed into scrap metal like a soda can.

The damage had been done but she was still stuck. She weeped and pounded away at the metal crushers. They would not budge. If she was going to ever get out of here, she would need somebody to help her out. Occasionally she would glance at her foot and think about how thats her only one left. She would have to find something to use as a crutch or cane after she escaped... IF she ever escapes.