Paradise Lost: A Science Fiction Epic (OOC)

[Wing Chun]

Paradise Lost

TL;DR

The human civilization on Earth is collapsing on itself in a bedlam of strife between several conflicting parties. Just as a building falls apart the only option is to escape.
The collapse is seen from the perspective of ordinary people.
Sparse presence of supernatural themes even though they exist in the setting.
The story (role-play) aims to touch on ethical/moral dilemmas, existential questions, and philosophical conundrums.
This role-play has been posted in the casual and the advanced section to reach a wider audience.

Premise

Washington DC, 2124. A decade after a terrible series of attacks on the United States which ended hundreds of thousands of lives. The diplomatic relations with the rest of the world has grown sinister and narrow-minded, and the United States, similarly to other nations of the world, has become a closed surveillance state with totalitarian law enforcement built on paranoia and contempt to prevent potential attacks from the outside. This development of mistrust and skepticism between the nations of the world has led to a new cold war; the second renaissance has ended, and a new dark age has begun as the greatness of Earth rapidly declines. With the sacrifice of privacy, freedom, and integrity a new era of elevated terrorism has emerged in the form of resistance forces, religious fanatics, and provoked radicals; one after another, cities around the world fall into the hands of warlords and dictators.

In this epic action-drama a collection of somewhat ordinary citizens struggle to survive the fall of a mighty civilization, a civilization crumbling beneath savage instincts and lust for power. Beneath this simple premise lays several layers of moral dilemmas which the characters of this story must deal with, along with facing existential crisis, and possibly case the chance to secure a better future for themselves, and all of mankind. The only salvation is Mars, but getting there might prove much more difficult in these chaotic times than ever before.

The Second Renaissance

In the 21^st century mankind entered a second renaissance. The dawn of a new age, a revival of learning and culture, was marked by the commercial use of fusion power and the possibility of effective solar energy. In 2034, a revolutionary concept for harnessing solar energy was introduced; a truly renewable, uninterrupted energy supply powered by the sun. Today, the solar arrays are fully-articulating, in-orbit monolith constructs composed of thin polymer with polycrystalline silicon distribution, supplying the world with constantly renewable power. Furthermore, the discovery of fusion power led to tremendous advancement in power distribution; a fusion generator can power an entire grid in one of the largest cities of the world with limited maintenance. The fusion reactors generate steady Terawatt levels of power, without pulse, making power delivery more replete and efficient. Systems powered by fusion generators have blackout percentages at less than 0.01%.

During this time, the field of medicine and health care saw marvelous advancements in many of its primary and sub-fields. One of the most valuable early discoveries was the cure for cancer. Pharmaceutical and genetic advancements improved life-expectancy of a human being by half a century, at minimum; the average life-expectancy of a human is nearly a hundred and fifty years. Furthermore, rapid response treatment, through precise, minute electrical innervation, awakens dormant neurons in the brain tissue of deceased or dying patients; effectively bringing recently deceased back to life. Additionally, and perhaps the most prominent advancement was robotic prosthesis, which was initially designed for the disabled, however, now also an augmentation in human capabilities. The use of robotic prostheses as an augmentation has in contemporary times become the means for acquiring above-human physical capabilities. Replacing an arm, for example, with an augmented prosthesis will vastly improve all means of resistances and strength within that limb to super-elevated levels. However, this process is extremely painful in many regards, and expensive, especially after the operation when most subjects must continuously medicate themselves to suppress pain.

Towards the end of the second renaissance, often referred to as its peak, people with extrasensory perception began to emerge. This was a substantial leap in human evolution, however, received with conflicting views. Today, less than 10% of the human population has extrasensory perception, often referred to as “paranormals”. The magnitude of their “power” is very limited and far from accordance with fictional variations of extrasensory perception; while there is potential for further developments, most doctors and theorists believe that humans are still in the early stages of this new evolution. The very first paranormals that emerged were immediately confiscated and proclaimed property of the government. They were trained to become military assets, as part of the development of weapons technology; the perfect weapon. However, during heated humanistic riots and protests the protocols were released by mandated authority of the United Nations, effectively freeing all paranormals from government supervision. Military training for paranormals became a choice presented at the date of their 6^th birthday, rather than coercion.

New, highly sophisticated, means of transportation emerged. The requirement for gasoline to power cars was eliminated and replaced by Zero-Loss Lithium Ion batteries; composed of traditional lithium with rare metal cathodes and nano-layered silicon anodes, Lithium Ion Batteries have ultra-low internal resistance and zero memory loss. This revolutionary energy storage became the prime standard for most technology requiring a portable energy source. Furthermore, the emergence of holographic controls and interfaces gave the workflow with computers, and the everyday access to information a much needed overhaul. Additionally, top of the line, highly sophisticated, new weaponry was developed; fabricated from heat-resistant micro-perforated titanium, usually with satellite-guided targeting detection, and variations of uranium carbide spin-stabilized cartridges.

With the vast advancements on Earth, it finally became apparent that mankind was ready to spread life to the rest of the Galaxy. The concept of Terraforming became reality, and the primary solution for the ever increasing human population. In 2056, the Atmosphere Processor was deployed on Mars to begin Terraforming the planet; this system creates a localized environment in the lowest atmospheric strata by mining the surrounding air and delivering electrostatic charge to correct the chemical composition of the planetary atmosphere. The system does this by converting toxic compounds into a breathable air ratio of approximately 1:3.1 oxygen-to-nitrogen ratios. Once stable equilibrium is achieved, the AP continually monitors environmental gas compositions and corrects imbalances. Furthermore, an Atmospheric Pressurizer creates a locally adapted micro-pressurized environment to prevent injury, illness or discomfort on off-world colonies with either marginal or oppressive stratospheric hold. In most cases, a standard atmospheric pressure of approximately 1.0 atmosphere at sea level can be achieved, reducing the need for decompression treatments and additional medical personnel in the early stages of terraforming. By the year 2098, Mars was ready to fulfill its primary purposes of large-scale agriculture, production, and Earth population control.

It was the dawn of a new era for mankind, indicating the birth of an elevated form of life, evolution, and war. And for a time, it was good.

The Age of Strife

The 22^nd century has been declared a new dark age after the decline of the second renaissance. The conditions of this title are complicated, nothing material was lost, but the fall of a great empire is in progress, only this time it encompasses the entire world. The primary conflicts are political as result of the massive attack on one of the most powerful nations at this time, the United States; often referred to as a “super-nation”. The elevated form of terrorism that followed the radical precautions has played a key part in the current state of the world. As for Washington DC, it is being run by an ex-senator turned dictator in his vision to control the entire continental US. Most cities are being run as separate states, even waging war on each other in order to secure valuable resources and assets. Most of the population is living under extreme conditions, constantly harassed by law enforcement, and pushed to the limit to obey authority. Out of this web of oppression further layers of resistance has been born: common people take to arms to resist the terrorists who have ceased the opportunity to rule in the wake of the attacks, terrorists who resisted totalitarian precautions implemented by the government in the first place; large-scale companies wage their private wars on each other for the distribution of weapons to the radicals that operate the cities; religious fanatics drive their underground cults to eradicate paranormals, augmented, and terrorists in order to purify this dark age. And somewhere, in the midst of all this chaos, ordinary citizens try their best to either endure or escape.

Mars has become the new Eden; a place that children sing about in schools, hardworking citizens dream about during the day, and the common man pray as a solution to his state of being. However, Mars is a luxury many cannot afford; neither can they make for themselves the right connections in order to secure entry. But, as the tension rapidly rises on Earth, on the verge of global war between nations, organizations, and cities, people are becoming increasingly desperate; willing to do anything at all for a safe passage to Mars. It is not without doubt that the question arises: how far is a person willing to go to avoid the inevitable Armageddon about to erupt on Earth? It is a question each and every one must answer for themselves. Furthermore, how far must the civilization of man fall before ordinary people will stand up for what is right and fight for a better future; it is only on the eve of destruction that we are willing to change.

Paranormals

The memory altering ability of paranormals allows them to extract, erase, and change memories of other people; a highly controversial ability that was banned by several governments and the United Nations, punishable with life in prison or death upon unauthorized use. Aura perception, however, is an ability that is always active with paranormals; this ability allows them to see the aura of organic life through any material yet discovered by mankind; most paranormals have described themselves to suffer from severe color blindness, with auras of other creatures being the only coloration they can distinguish.

Astral Projection allows paranormals to traverse land and sea “spiritually”, as a ghost that cannot interact with anything or be seen by others. This was the ideal military method for reconnaissance and espionage. During this state, the paranormal must remain in a torpid trance, a stationary meditation that cannot be interrupted until the astral projection is completed and the “ghost” returns to its physical body. If this process is interrupted, the paranormal risk being trapped in his astral projection until the body dies; a form of coma.

Precognition is considered the most unreliable ability of paranormals. It is nothing but a series of extremely cryptic visions that they experience during dreaming, of events that may transpire the next day or a millennia from now. However, in sparse cases it has proven to be useful and quite accurate, when and if the vision has been decoded and correctly interpreted.

Telepathy, similarly to memory alteration, is a punishable offense upon use. The ability allows the paranormal to see images of another person’s mind, as well as transferring the paranormal’s own images to that person; images can be compared to thoughts. Particularly talented paranormals can even extend the stream of images, effectively creating an illusionary world for the target subject. Since this ability is based on electroencephalography, just as memory alteration, non-paranormals can protect themselves with various types of helmets.

Character Sheet

If you have a picture of your character then take some time to edit it, i.e. re-size, perhaps apply some filters to fit the mood; if you cannot edit pictures then ask someone else to do it for you, or use a simple link without the [img] tags. Center your image above the character sheet information.

You may describe your character’s personality, briefly, in his or her background, but avoid wandering too deep into predetermined behaviors as it may conflict with the dynamic of character interaction; furthermore, it may add a level of intrigue in the role-play to discover what kind of person the characters are rather than just reading about it beforehand.

Paranormals and augmented are non-playable-characters in this role-play; however, I do not want to restrict your imagination, but just keep in mind, if one of these characters are to fly I must be very impressed with what you've got to offer.

Name:
Gender:
Date of Birth:
Race:
Height:
Weight:
Hair:
Eyes:
Education:
Occupation:
Background:

Character List

Daim, Inez
Flores, Casio
Freeman, Katelyn
Greaves, Nathan
Griffith, Issac
Lemaître, N. Gaspard
Reynolds, Alec
Ryse, Julia

Rules

I’m looking for well-made, well-planned, and interesting characters above all else; my ambition is for most characters to be “normal”.

I’m not going to impose any level of writing upon anyone; you do your best to impress the rest of us.

Read each other’s posts carefully to avoid confusion, and show respect; at the beginning or the end of all your posts you should briefly summarize the content of others’ new posts. For example, “Max went to the store and bought groceries, then he encountered a homeless man who he spared some coins; this moment got Max thinking and reflecting about his father”. This summary may vary in length depending on the magnitude of the posts; furthermore, you may combine summaries where applicable.

I’m not a dictator, but when and if I say that something cannot be that way I expect you to understand and not question me; you can engage in discussion, but not complain.

The perspective of this story is that of ordinary people, so, there will be no super-awesome action heroes in this role-play. You'll get the chance to fight and shoot things at some point, but it isn't the main focus; the word "action" does not necessarily mean blowing things up.

Your character sheet is your application; the more time you spend on its content and layout, the better your chances that I'll be excited about your participation.

In-Character Thread

[Werther]

Name:
Issac Griffith
Gender:
Male
Date of Birth:
2093.02.21.
Race:
Caucasian
Height:
1.82 m
Weight:
102 kg
Hair:
Dark brown
Eyes:
Grayish blue
Education:
Harvard MBA
Occupation:
Senior manager of mining department - Worth Corporation.
Background:
Issac was born on 21th of February, 2093. Born to physicist Bryan Griffith and librarian Sarah Riley he was raised in middle class neighborhood in Washington DC. His earlier life is rather normal; he grew up as anyone else in USA and received general high school education, tough during his teens he became rather rebellious and developed his own understanding of world and was highly individualistic. His mother being librarian deeply affected his late childhood and early teens as he was exposed to intellectual books starting from philosophy to political science. Being highly successful in high school granted him access to Harvard university where he received his MBA being only 21 years old. He began working for small company and rose trough ranks and early on became known for his aggressive attitude in business. He witnessed world change from highly intellectual society to depressive world of authoritarian rule. Being successful generally granted him good life, although he had to maneuver from one company to another, changing sides when he felt it was safer for him. Eventually he found himself working at one of the largest companies in Washington and USA - Worth Corporation. Issac managed to grab hold of rather large fortune trough the years and started his collection of forbidden books that were banned mostly for being individualistic and dangerous to regime. Although it is dangerous to have something like this in someone possession, he believes that knowledge is power, especially forbidden knowledge.

[Zephyr116]

Behold. The Character Sheets:

Name: Alec Bradley Reynolds

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: October 23, 2103| 21 years old

Physique: All around average; lean, but not extremely muscular; relatively strong legs make him a fast runner; larger feet (Size 13); large palms and shorter fingers.

Profile: Alec's thick eyebrows and dark eyes give him an unusually serious look. His ears and nose are slightly larger than average. He keeps his hair at a short length (1'' or so) because otherwise it gets in the way.

Race: Caucasian

Height: 5’11’’

Weight: 152 lbs.

Hair: Very Dark Chestnut-Brown

Eyes: Similar color to his hair, but with a very light outer ring.

Education: Excelled in and graduated high school; was pursuing Economics degree at Georgetown University before it was burned to the ground about a year ago.

Occupation: Unemployed, but has inherited money.

Background: Born and raised in Washington, Alec has lived in hell for most of his life. He was born into wealth, since his mother was a US senator and his father an accountant for the Worth Corporation, but spent only a small portion of his life living so. As soon as the Strife began and riots started up in the streets, the majority of the federal government abandoned DC and moved the capitol to Mars. Several congressmen and the Vice President were left behind to keep some semblance of authority intact. Along with Senator Earnshaw and the Vice President, Alec’s mother, Susan, attempted to keep order in DC. Little did Susan Reynolds and the Vice President know; Earnshaw planned to take control himself. The day of the terrorist attack on the White House, both Susan and the Vice President were murdered. In the wake of the attack, Earnshaw took the reins and declared the District of Columbia under his control.

Earnshaw kept himself from being directly linked to the attack, and made both Susan and the Vice President out to be heroes. Alec’s father, Bradley was given significant compensation under this pretense. However, the now-fractured family could no longer maintain their usual lifestyle with all of the rancor and contempt for both the government and the upper-class. Alec and his father moved into an apartment on the east side of Washington, hoping to take off some of the heat. By this time, Alec was eighteen, and out of grade school. He began attending Georgetown, one of the last remaining colleges in DC due to its funding by the Worth Corporation.

Isolation and secrecy spilled over into Alec’s personal life as well. Throughout most of his school years, he had few friends, and the ones he had were not very close. He was always that weird kid nobody talked to. Nonetheless, Alec did very well in school, especially since most of his teachers were paid off to keep his relation to Senator Reynolds secret. In High school however, he began attracting more attention. Rumors began to spread about Alec’s mother actually being Susan Reynolds, the senator. His life went from isolation to complete antagonization. His peers became hostile and hated him for his namesake, even with no proof. He was often forced into many fights, most of which he lost. He always made them bleed though, as taught by his father. Alec wasn’t the toughest kind of student, but he also wasn’t the get-beat-up kind. In that year, Alec fell in love with a girl named Katelyn Freeman (her bio will come at the end of this).

One year ago, Georgetown University was razed to the ground by supposed anti-Worth and anti-Earnshaw protesters. Alec was in the library in the center of the campus when the explosions began. By the end of the night, every building had been decimated. Alec was fortunate enough to escape the attack with a few scratches and burns. Earnshaw declared it another terror attack and amped up his police force as a result.

A few months later, Alec’s father was found dead on the streets, killed by a single gunshot to the head. His killer was never found. The circumstances of his death were questionable, to say the least. No struggle and only his wallet was stolen, even though he wore an expensive-looking watch.. Earnshaw’s police, however, didn’t look very deep into the issue. They were quick to rule it as a random street mugging. Soon after, Alec left the apartment and moved in with Katelyn. The two currently live together about a mile east of Washington.

Alec, with all that he’s experienced, is convinced that most, if not all of the tragedies in his life were set up by William Earnshaw. It’s become an obsession of his to see Earshaw go down. However, he currently has little means to actually do anything.

Name: Katelyn Kylee Freeman.

Gender: Female.

Date of Birth: July 23, 2103.

Physique: Katelyn is often criticized for being too skinny. Although she is average height, she comes off as being very small and doesn't have much of a presence, so to speak.

Profile: Katelyn has relatively soft features. Her unusually-colored eyes make the rest of her face look almost pale. Her hairline high on her forehead, making it look somewhat large when her hair is back.

Race: Caucasian.

Height: 5’6’’

Weight: 132 lbs.

Hair: Dirty Blond.

Eyes: Deep, dark blue; almost indigo; small irises make her eyes appear larger than average.

Education: High School Diploma

Occupation: Currently working as a waitress in a café in Washington. It was once a respectable place to have some pie or a beer, but now it’s a shithole. But opportunities to make money are slimmer than ever in this place.

Background: Katelyn comes from a much different background than Alec. At the young age of seven, her and her parents were victims in one of the first major terror attacks, in New York City. Both parents were killed in the brutal bombing, and Katelyn’s aunt and uncle were given legal custody. Katelyn was seriously injured though. She had several broken ribs, and her right lung was almost completely ripped apart. Her aunt and uncle, being very close to her, shelled out the last of their money to purchase a prosthetic lung for Katelyn.

However, they were forced to borrow money from some shady people who demanded repayment within ten years. To pay off the debt, Katelyn’s aunt and uncle desperately sought stable employment. Eventually, her uncle found a job working for Worth Corporation as a heavy machinery operator in their mining division. This was too little, too late however. When Katelyn was seventeen, her aunt was brutally beaten to death in the family’s home.

This was the Catalyst for Katelyn’s departure from New York. The moment she came home to the terrifying sight, her uncle rushed home and began handing Katelyn money, licenses, ID’s. He told her that it was very important that she leave the state and go to Washington, DC. Fearful and confused, she got on a bus and let it carry her to Washington. She has never heard from her uncle since.

After arriving in Washington, Katelyn sorted through all of the papers and money given to her by her uncle. On the top of the mess, was an application for Schumer Private Education Facility, the school that Alec attended, and a single name written on paper: Reynolds. She skated relatively unnoticed through the two years she attended Schumer and didn't find much importance in being in Washington, despite her uncle's urgency. She did, however, follow the name "Reynolds". She watched the news closely, which spoke of a woman senator named Susan Reynolds. She also befriended a boy in her class named Alec.

I've cut them down a bit, but I'm still content. Tell me of any errors.

[Wing Chun]

So, Why exactly are Paranormals and Augs no-touchy?

Well, rather than saying "only 1 of you can be this or that" I chose to have it this way; everyone wont make one, and those that feel that that kind of character is their true calling can still set themselves up for the challenge to create one.

Werther: you were very fast. I usually read characters in chucks, several at a time, so I'll give you my thoughts at a later time.

[Werther]

Well, rather than saying "only 1 of you can be this or that" I chose to have it this way; everyone wont make one, and those that feel that that kind of character is their true calling can still set themselves up for the challenge to create one.

Werther: you were very fast. I usually read characters in chucks, several at a time, so I'll give you my thoughts at a later time.

You shouldn't mind, it is very casual for me to be excited over stuff like this and post early on.
I wonder, how long the story should be? Mine is ok?

[Wing Chun]

Your background story is precisely as long as you want it to be; if you feel that it is sufficient to give the rest of us an idea of who your character is then it is all good.

I've added some information about paranormal's abilities. If anyone chooses to play such a character I'll contact you via PM to go over a few details.

[ElRey]

As I mentioned in the IC, I'm pretty much ripping a character straight from another very similar RP. He's a big time dealer for a drug called Zephyr, Zeppelin or "Z." (which is funny cause look who's in the thread with us? Zephyr116) Originally he had some pretty serious military grade augmentations, because, you know... Corruption. Buuuuuuut I'm forgoing those in favor of something less drastic, akin to Will Smith's arm in I,Robot if you're familiar.

Does that sound agreeable or would you prefer him simply be a human? I'm happy to make him full blown squishy if need be hahahha.

EDIT- In fact, it might not make sense for him to have any thing fancy, cause if he was rich enough to buy himself a robot arm, he'd probably be rich enough to buy himself a ticket off Earth, yes?

So... yeah, just lemme know.

DOUBLE EDIT- Werther, just a heads up, you have two different birth dates on your CS.

[Wing Chun]

Augmentation is most definitely inspired by Deus Ex in this role-play, however, it is much less wide-spread for that particular purpose: augmentation. You are right in your logic that it is quite expensive to acquire augmentation if you haven't lost a limb, or other body part, for real. Something similar to "I, Robot" would work, giving your character actually lost his real arm. I'm still determined to have this story told from the perspective of "normal" people, it could also most definitely be told from other perspectives, involving big "heroes" packing much more punch, but we'll save that for another time.

[Valtyr]

This Engineering Suit is standard issue for most repairmen and laborers that venture out into the hazardous outlands. First of all its body armor, able to withstand few direct shots from small caliber rounds and melee weapons (to an extent); a good defense against scavengers that threaten the area. The gauntlet's have shock prongs allowing Nathan, when striking someone with his palms, the option to send high voltage electricity into the assailant and knock them unconscious or at least make them spasm a little bit. The mask (hidden in the image) offers ventilation and high tech optics that are a great defense against inhalation based toxins and bright lights; also allowing night vision. The hazardous waste has more then scavengers and vagabonds. The suit prevents against radiation and the intense rays from the sun that easily penetrate the weakened ozone. The arms and legs are outfitted with minor hydraulics to assist with lifting/carrying heavy debris to get to damaged valves or what have you. On top of the right forearm there is a slot for metal bolts that are primarily used to secure rope lines on rock faces when needing to scale down a mountain side; though the metal bolts have been known to travel a good distance. It does take fifteen seconds between each bolt to pressurize before firing.

Now, all this being said the suit isn't flawless. The suit is low grade and mostly salvaged from junkyards to cut cost on the manufacturer that would rather save money than a person. It does obviously restrict full range of motion but by only 10% of a degree. Being a self taught engineer Nathan has done his own repairs to the suit but still has some bugs and kinks like malfunctions. When using the shock prongs on occasion it will also shock Nathan. The ventilation tubes may break or the power core my short circuit. Its shotty, amateur work but with its efficiencies.

Name: Nathan Greaves

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: 2.25.2078

Race: Caucasian

Age: 46

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 197 lbs

Hair: Black with faint greying

Eyes: Dark emerald

Education: No formal education, self taught engineer and tinkerer.

Occupation: Repairman

Background:
Born into a small family Nathan has never fallen to the delusion of greatness; his father was a factory worker and that was his future. He lived in a small colony a hour south of Washington DC that was only stabilized by the firearms factory at its epicenter. The small colony stayed out of the politics and the wars as it minded its own and kept its head down, which was why the factory was placed there. Discrete and out of the eyes of any threat. Nathan was educated by his mother from old text books that were found in the towns library, a bit out of date but they taught him to open his mind to new concepts and ideas so it did the trick. His father raised him and taught him how to craft little things out of metal or wood and assisted his father with repairs around the house; one of his favorite activities. He was the only child so he had no siblings to bide his time with and not many other kids lived in the small colony. He spent most his free time disassembling toys and repairing them or exploring the surrounding woods for interesting bugs and beetles.

When he was fourteen he began working at the factory with his aging father to help financially support the household. It took him a while to understand the ropes and get into a rhythm with the assembly but he eventually got the hang of things. After a couple years he had become complacent, something he began to hate. He needed something other than work and sleep. He began to pocket items, small items at first, from the factory and taking them home to tinker with and create little gadgets and things that his imagination could think up. Most things at first would just simply not work, short circuit or even explode but that didn't falter his attempts. He began to read books in his spare time about engineering and researching concepts to get a better understanding; the process cutting into the hours of sleep he got. As time passed the things he took became larger and his successful gadgets were more often than not. For his projects if he couldn't take an item from the factory he would spend his last dime buying the pieces he needed.

At the age of twenty-nine Nathan's father died from a line brake that whipped a steel cable so hard it nearly cleaved his father in two. His father death hit Nathan hard, but the trauma forced him to open his eyes. His father was always into politics and was always complaining about the corruption of the world but Nathan had always kept himself out of it. He always said that the government was for the politicians and smarter man than a factory worker. But the way the government and business swept his fathers death out the door like it was nothing hit him harder than a truck. The government no longer cared about its people and so neither did the business'. Nathan began to take more notice of the world outside of his small colony. Nathan was no longer in his bubble of denial and finally saw the world as it was. Saw the violence that was on his front door step and he was sickened. He wanted out. He needed out. Knowing only haven from this hell he found his Earth had become. Mars.

Nathan now an older man of forty-six spent his last seventeen years in DC, working as a repairman for a rather small company. For so many years he has plans and formulated theories on how to get out though never took the chance. They were never solid enough ideas to put into action. So he has become complacent once again. Biding his time with tinkering until the path of escape showed itself to him. Over the years Nathan has created handfuls of failed offensive and defensive gadgets with few working prototypes for if the day came for escape and he needed to fight his way there.

[Zephyr116]

Augmentation is most definitely inspired by Deus Ex in this role-play, however, it is much less wide-spread for that particular purpose: augmentation. You are right in your logic that it is quite expensive to acquire augmentation if you haven't lost a limb, or other body part, for real. Something similar to "I, Robot" would work, giving your character actually lost his real arm. I'm still determined to have this story told from the perspective of "normal" people, it could also most definitely be told from other perspectives, involving big "heroes" packing much more punch, but we'll save that for another time.

What so we're not eventually going to BE the heroes? Forgive me, I'm just curious about the direction you plan on taking this exactly.

EDIT: Oh and what month is it? I want my age to be correct.