[OOC] Stolen Lives: A Runaway Story

[GingerBoi123]

Well, if anyone wants to work out specifics feel free to mention or PM me if you find it easier :D

[thedman]

Despite his background, Jared is actually really optimistic. He has a general philosophy of "life sucks, so I might as well try to make it suck a bit less."

[Serendipity]

Relationships!

I was partly being slow to pick this up until we know which characters make the cut, partly because I passed out almost as soon as I finished posting Elaine/Iris. Actually during, but that’s another story.

I went with Project Iris because Daedalus seem to like their Greek mythology and decided she would use the code name for her own because of the disconnect with her pre-Daedalus life.

@NorthernKraken I think she would likely be cautiously friendly with Kieran, don’t you?

@thedman I was looking at Jared in a similar light, but I think reviewing his profile he would be more likely to make her uncomfortable. He probably wouldn’t approve of her cooperative attitude to Daedalus either (at least over the last year since her rescue). I don’t know, what do you think?

Anyone else want to talk prior relationships, for good or ill?

[NorthernKraken]

With regards to why characters may have been allowed to interact with each other - this post goes over some of the effects of solitary confinement. If the folks at Daedalus wanted Team Freak to maintain at least some degree of functionality (a super soldiers no good if he kills himself first chance he gets, and you probably don't want your super humans to start hallucinating), at least some degree of care for their well being would probably be required. Super humans are, after all, essentially still human. The same reason why you feed your prisoners and you let them sleep - if you don't, chances are they're not going to last very long, are certainly going to get very ill in the mean time. Hence why in my CS, I tried to keep it so that most of the mistreatment was down to the actual procedures being carried out - like any scientist, the Daedalus scientists would likely want to avoid introducing unnecessary confounding variables, as it would add uncertainty to any results. Evil and unethical science should still try and stick to the scientific method, especially when there are large amounts of money involved and higher ups demanding results. This post talks a bit about things that should probably be considered when writing about unethical experimentation. A big drive for scientists of any stroke, ethical or less so, is funding - they want to keep putting food on the table, same as anybody else in any other job. If their subjects are too messed up to be useful, or if their method is riddled with confounding variables - that's bad science, and bad science gets called out pretty regularly in the scientific community. If this happens, Daedalus is not going to want to fund any more research by the individual(s) in question.

[Serendipity]

@Ever I feel Alice would confuse Iris at first read - sometimes the darkness and anger would scare her, and sometimes she would be strangely drawn to the masked girl. Want to build on that with a micro scene, or have ideas about which way that would land? What would Alice think of Iris?

@Gingerboi123 Iris would be polite and courteous to him, and might be cautiously friendly but that would depend on whether she caught a glimpse of the humanity beneath. Thoughts?

[NorthernKraken]

@Serendipity Sounds about right to me! He'd probably want to try and help her, especially once he realised she was on the verge of starting to change her opinions about Daedalus - and would gently encourage this change. (He has... complicated, but mostly negative views towards them. He rationalises a lot of what individuals have done to him and makes excuses for it in his head, but is pretty angry at 'the top', dehumanising the owners of Daedalus helps him to cope - he needs somewhere to direct his anger)

[Ever]

@Ever I feel Alice would confuse Iris at first read - sometimes the darkness and anger would scare her, and sometimes she would be strangely drawn to the masked girl. Want to build on that with a micro scene, or have ideas about which way that would land? What would Alice think of Iris?

@Gingerboi123 Iris would be polite and courteous to him, and might be cautiously friendly but that would depend on whether she caught a glimpse of the humanity beneath. Thoughts?

@Serendipity

She would definitely find her powers interesting I think, but I also think she would be cautious about what she says around Iris. Being as she was saved by the doctors from there and that Dr. Chauncey has taken a liking to her, she might almost think of her as a teachers pet of sorts. Iris would have to change her mind on that. Still though it might be a fun thing to explore! She would probably also help sway her mind about the Corp not being a good place.

[SilverPaw]

Meanwhile, I just wanted to try and make something snake-esque. I'll finish the backstory tomorrow.

Jess

Project File: Project "Medusa" - Subject 6555XB9

Name
Jessica Levine
Answers both to "Jess" and "B9" but never refers to herself by her code

Gender
Female

Age
20

Date of Birth
12th of April, 2000.

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Background

Appearance image

Additional appearance notes
The subject's scales are readily apparent and clearly discernible over the whole of its body. Its irises are a yellowish-green, its pupils slit. It has a long, forked tongue, its parotid/venom glands seem slightly swollen to the touch. Its mandibular canines and all of its incisor are smaller and sharper than a human's, while its maxillary canines are approx. an inch long hollow retractable fangs. The subject possesses faint scarring around its mouth, especially its lower lips, chin, and alongside its cheeks - the latter resembles a Glasgow smile. Subject wears a restraining mask to prevent unrestricted usage of its sight, venom or acid, but its vocalizations will be passed through normally.

Backstory
I still sometimes see vague and blurred glimpses of the parents that raised me, of my older brother, and my pet dog within my mind, but I can never recognize any of them. I think I loved them, but why have I forgotten them?

I think the doctors here took me in to cure a persistent and dangerous cancer...they did manage that, but they did other things too. They changed me into a freak. I wish I could forget their experiments. I wish they never fed me living animals again. I'm not fond of the human corpses they give me, but it's the better alternative. Could someone like me even live normally?

Sometimes...sometimes I can't decide if I hate them more or myself.

There are some good things, though. If I behave, I get to do what I like. They let me learn what kids my age would typically learn and they let me play the way normal people might play. Well. Except that I'm always under supervision. Everything and anything, they test me on. Even games, and I really get sick of that. Can't I just have some time to myself? I wish...Oh, I know it's pointless.

Those other freaks, um...subject...People? I've met some. I'm not sure what to make of them. But I think I like them more than the doctors and the scientists and the researchers. Cruel or kind, there's always an agenda. I know I'm not a human anymore, but to them, I was never even a person.

I have learned not to defy them. Compliance is rewarded. At least...at least that's a way for me to get some of the things I like.

Personality
Quiet, timid, shy; rarely initiates social interactions. Prefers animals to humans. However, she does participate in conversations when initiated by others, and always articulates carefully - perhaps indicating a desire for attention and/or understanding. Tends to act out when stressed, afraid or frustrated. Seems to enjoy physical affection with known, trusted persons (or pets), but has grown too paranoid to hold any close relations any longer.

Procedure
October, 2015: The project fondly referred to as "Medusa" (code RA919-EM34) carefully introduced several genetic changes and mutagens to subject 6555XB9 (henceforth referred to as B9), causing it to gain several desired characteristics of reptiles, mainly snakes. Subject underwent changes for several weeks, first noticeable in its skin; it shed its former human one, scratching at itself furiously, crying and shouting rather shrilly all the while, squirming as the worm it was transforming to be. B9 soon revealed its new green scaled appearance, and initially it showed signs of great distress at its new appearance.

February, 2016: The tongue it had managed to bite off at one point and the teeth we were forced to rip out for security reasons grew back with surprising speed, the new versions obviously less human (see appearance notes for details). We further tested its regenerative capabilities, discovering that even a break in the neck healed with minimal negative consequences (minor memory loss, temporary age regression). Unfortunately, however, even after isolating B9's healing agent, the substance was proven unsafe to transfer to any other organisms (note: causing tumors, cancerous growth, or general health failure).

July, 2016: As B9's eyes, although mutated, did not possess the desired abilities, we had to dedicate a significant effort to craft new organic ones, switching them with B9's original ones. We subjected B9 to a lengthy regime, consisting of enhancing and stimulating its adrenal and pituitary glands as well as its hypothalamus and the visual cortex. The subject developed the "paralyzing gaze" effect, and although we trained its successful use, B9 has proven to be able to hypnotize only one person at a time. Nonetheless, B9's sight was henceforth restricted with a visor unless under strict supervision. Additional side-effect of this treatment granted the subject a faster metabolism. Note: B9 can comfortably dispose of a human-sized corpse within a month - it prefers this to consuming domesticated animals, so we might as well use it to dispose of the risk-free failed and deceased subjects.

April, 2017: B9 threw quite the tantrum (due to not caring for its birthday, according to what it managed to garble at us), spitting a glob of almost lethal acid at one of our researchers. The following subjugation of the subject left B9 with most of its bones broken. To further encourage its cooperation, we switched its usual visor for a full-helmet, which entirely restricted its other senses (excepting touch). So it would not starve, we opened up its stomach (not that simple of a procedure with B9's hyper-regeneration) and manually inserted a month's quantity of food in it. The subject experienced pain, but was sufficiently restricted that it could not open itself back up in an attempt to alleviate its surfeit. We believe such negative reinforcement to be necessary after its violent display of contrariness.

March, 2018: Attempts to graft living snakes to subject's head and make them part of B9's body have been unsuccessful. Equally unsuccessful were attempts to make B9 capable of communicating with and directing snakes or other reptiles in any way. Surprisingly, the subject retains a fondness for snakes despite several negative experiences with them, e.g. the use of reptiles to enhance the range of effects of B9's venom and resistances to various poisons. Note: We suggest to proceed purely with observation of B9 until we can resolve the issues we encountered when attempting to further improve the subject.

Modifications
Poisonous: can inject a fast-acting venom through her fangs, capable of severely damaging or killing a living organism (depending on her intentions and the organism in question). With willful concentration, she can gather and strengthen her stomach acid, spitting it at a desired target withing 2 to 3 meters, poisoning them (causing strong skin irritation, esp. effective against eyes and if ingested by target). The procedures granting Jess her own venom generation have also made her develop a resistance and immunity to certain venoms.

Enhanced smell: Jess has fully-functional infrared-sensitive receptors within her nose and mouth, and is thus capable of orienting herself rather well even when blinded.

Super-regeneration: she can recover from most damage over time. However, broken bones may heal incorrectly and will have to be removed so a new ones will grow - the latter being one of the lengthier healing processes. Brain damage is still lasting and/or lethal, and her spinal cord is also more vulnerable.

Powerful muscles: she can easily dislocate her own jaw to feed. Similarly, she can fit through anything head-sized by dislocating her limbs and squeezing them through - it's painful, but possible. On the occasion that left her with most of her bones broken, she discovered she could still slither around mainly by muscle movement alone.

Paralyzing gaze: This name is rather misleading, as Jess's ability is actually the production and secretion of target-specific pheromones (she can intuitively create these in accordance with the target's own scent). As soon as the target inhales the pheromones, the substance acts similar to a drug and/or hypnosis; putting them in a trance, wherein they are both docile and incredibly suggestible. Due to her procedures, Jess must first visually perceive the person to be able to create the pheromones (which will affect solely that one person). The targeted person must of course also be close enough and capable of detecting the pheromones she releases. The trance is temporary, lasting at most 10 minutes; any suggestions made to the target will be most effective if made calmly, quietly, and clearly.

Talents

• B9 was known to have trained gymnastics from age 9 to 15 before capture.
• Attempts to mentally stimulate the subject revealed its enjoyment of puzzles (including jigsaws, Rubik's cube, as well as video games with elements of adventure and detective work).
• Subject has a fondness for various handicraft activities (making small figurines from clay or plasticine, sewing, wood carving).

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Looking Deeper

What do you value most? What (or who) are you most afraid to lose?
Ssss-ssani..hss..ty.

What was your favorite thing to do, before you were taken?
Phhhhlay...wisssh [Interviewer note: subject became agitated and had to be sedated]

What do you want?
Pea-hisss. Jussss leafhhh hs.

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Other

Theme song

[thedman]

@Serendipity I doubt Jared would have a positive opinion of anyone who supports Daedalus, considering he sees them as "the assholes that kidnapped me and tried to kidnap my brother". He'd probably try to sway her to his side, if he got the chance. There's also the fact that she grew up with a decent childhood compared to Jared, who never met his biological parents and lived on the streets for several years.

[Serendipity]

@NorthernKraken Great! She is likely to be unpersuadable as far as Dr Chauncey goes, but I can absolutely see the rare opportunities for a private conversation with him helping to guide her from doubts to actual desire to escape. Sure they saved her life, but is this, now, a life worth living? And strengthening their friendship as well.

@thedman That makes perfect sense, good to have a connection that’s not exactly enmity, but not especially friendly either. Escape will change lots of things and probably bring them closer together (Freaks against the world!)

@Ever That also makes perfect sense, particularly given Alice’s own experiences with Doctors taking a special interest in someone. I’m actually cool with that perception (and it’s probably fair), so we have Iris looking at Alice as a sometimes-fascinating sometimes-deadly vipe. And Alice absolutely judging Iris for her attitude to her own place at Daedalus. Plenty of plot fodder!

[GingerBoi123]

@SerendipityThat would make sense. Jason is for the most part normal, if not a bit quiet at times. Really he's an issue if and when his control module is activated. But here's hoping he can find a way to stop that from happening

[Ever]

@thedman I have a feeling our characters would probably get along.

[GingerBoi123]

@OxenfreeQuick thought, what Jason be used as when he's not training or being studied? Would he be put on guard duty cuz he's so combat capable and controllable?

[thedman]

@Ever I'd imagine he would feel pretty bad for her, considering what she went through. It would give him more reasons to want to break out.

[Serendipity]

[@TheGrundleSnark] and @Hellion, for different reasons I think Iris wouldn't really know what to do with your less orthodox appearances. Prejudiced as anything and I hope she grows past that in the course of the roleplay, but before we start I think she'd maintain a certain separation insofar as she has control of that sort of thing.

Actually that's a good question for one and all (and especially Oxenfree): What do we think Daedalus does in terms of training and exercising their case subjects?

I mean, are they trying to train us together to operate as a team, or setting us against each other with an intention of selling us individually to the highest bidder (criminal, corporate, nation state...) or something else entirely?

@Naive1 I don't know if you agree, but reviewing our different profiles I think Iris would probably find Olivia her closest friend in the institution. Neither of them are particularly happy with the experimentation they're undergoing, but neither is violently objecting or trying to fight their captors (at least not before the story begins). What do you think. Friends?

[Naive1]

@Serendipity

Sure! Especially if Iris can handle very outdated memes and dark humor. Other than that yea, I get the feeling they might stick together.

[NorthernKraken]

Actually that's a good question for one and all (and especially Oxenfree): What do we think Daedalus does in terms of training and exercising their case subjects?

I mean, are they trying to train us together to operate as a team, or setting us against each other with an intention of selling us individually to the highest bidder (criminal, corporate, nation state...) or something else entirely?

@Serendipity

So, my two cents...

That seems like something which would probably depend on individuals. Some might be earlier stages of ongoing projects (so, for an example from my own CS would be the earlier subjects the scientists used in pilot trials to develop the procedure). They'd most likely have contracts with different armed groups - maybe large organised crime groups, or even governments. An interesting (and absolute horrifying) real world case of something similar would be the Japanese Unit 734 in WW2. For anyone who doesn't know, they committed attrocities in the name of 'research'- and frequently conducted vivisections on their victims, who they infected with deadly diseases. Honestly, it made me feel pretty ill just reading about it. Anyway, despite the disgusting acts that were carried out, the US (at first at least, not sure if this is still the case) made a deal not to put people before a war crimes tribunal in exchange for their research. So... yeah, it wouldn't be too far from reality for governments, even western governments, to look the other way if Daedalus was producing good results, especially if this was a universe where some kind of war was going on.

[Naive1]

Also, 'training' would very heavily depend on the subject. Olivia would have little more than gene therapy to try and balance out the drawbacks she has and add more to what she could do. All in all training would involve improving their strengths and trying to lessen the weaknesses. Not ALL subjects would get combat training, makes no sense. Such training would be reserved for subjects showing such capabilities with their powers, and being loyal enough to 'control'

[NorthernKraken]

Also, 'training' would very heavily depend on the subject. Olivia would have little more than gene therapy to try and balance out the drawbacks she has and add more to what she could do. All in all training would involve improving their strengths and trying to lessen the weaknesses. Not ALL subjects would get combat training, makes no sense. Such training would be reserved for subjects showing such capabilities with their powers, and being loyal enough to 'control'

@Naive1

Combat training for Kieran -

Kieran: "It's okay, we don't have to fight if you don't want-"

*Promptly gets pummelled*

[GingerBoi123]

@Naive1@NorthernKraken Oh man what if anyone was forced to spar with Jason cuz Daedelus wanted to be dicks?