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All hyperlinked phrases show visual aids, should you have difficulty describing places or people. Feel free to scan, double-check, and be paranoid about them, but they're just the direct url for the image I located.
Read ALL of the OOC, if possible. There are scraps of story in each of the sections that you'll need.
CONTENTS:
~IC Introduction
~Summary
~DreamTime Ltd.
~Anomalies
~Powers
~Sera
~Rules
~Character Sheet
You've been having trouble sleeping, recently.
At first, you thought it was nothing; perhaps it's that new year that's got you all hyped up, or you're feeling the winter's cold whenever you toss and turn, but you keep having the same dream every night and it's kind of irritating. The worst part is, by far, the fact that you're lucid in them. You never were a lucid dreamer, so this kind of thing is a completely new field and not part of your normal lifestyle.
Every BLOODY night. It's the same thing! You wake up wherever; a chilly mountain peak, some sort of desert oasis, standing on the roof of a skyscraper...all over the place. A different location every time, but that's not the point! Every single time you go to sleep, you see...her.
Brown hair, green eyes, white dress. You've been talking to her for days, weeks even. She just sits there and asks about your day, asks if you can remember any of the previous conversations, tells you to do stuff like "Jump over to that rock there, would you?" or "See if you can count the fingers on your hand." - all these random things. And then she'll ask you "Are you ready yet?" and BAM, you're awake, sweating like a pig, shaking like a leaf and out of breath like it was the scariest damn thing you've ever been asked.
But tonight, you're going to do it. You're going to tell that girl you're ready for whatever, and get it over with. Maybe that's what is stopping you from having a decent sleep, all because you're too scared to do something for a girl who doesn't even exist outside of your head!
And then it all went horribly wrong.
---###--SUMMARY--###---
You are a normal citizen, in the new year of 2014, from anywhere on Planet Earth. The technology, however, will be slightly more sci-fi than usual with faster, easier means of transport. For two weeks - ever since the 31st December 2013 - your sleep patterns have started becoming erratic, and a constant dream has been occurring. You're meeting up with this strange girl each and every night, where she tells you to do meaningless tasks like raising your left arm, jumping on your right foot. And every time, the dream is interrupted when she asks the phrase "Are you ready?"
The IC starts on the evening when you plan to state to the girl that you are ready, in the hopes that you'll gain some closure and, eventually, rest easily in the evenings. However - as you're soon to find out - things go south when you wake up on a bed that isn't yours, in a dormitory belonging to some strange laboratory...
---###--DREAMTIME LTD.--###---
The company owning the laboratory are called "DreamTime Ltd." - on the outside, a commercial company that researches into dreaming and sleep patterns to make products for insomniacs. They are the ones who supplied you with your pillows, your bed sheets, your duvets, your blankets...at some point, your character bought and is currently using one of the DreamTime Ltd. Products. This is what ties you all together; The DreamTime Ltd. Company is actually focused on locating, apprehending and training Anomalies.
Of course, DreamTime isn't the only company to know about Anomalies. But they're so secure, so under the radar, that they'll be able to keep you a secret from the rest of the government agencies out there. Anomalies are few and far between, the oldest records dating back to Mayan "shamans" who used to summon storms using the "gift of creation". To find AND secure a whole bunch of them (you lot, again) in one go is like striking a diamond the size of a mini cooper. It's a lot of power, a lot of responsibility, and despite their best efforts to keep it as hushed as possible, EVERYONE will know that ONE Company has a large group of Anomalies at their disposal.
That's going to put a lot of politicians of lots of different countries -really- on edge, isn't it?
They are neutral in the ways of the modern world, their secret purposes unknown to anyone besides MI6. Their base is in an unknown location. They are one of the few groups in the world to own and safely use teleportation pods.
---###--ANOMALIES--###---
That's you. Yes, you! Your character, of course, is labelled as an "Anomaly". They (you) have this hidden potential to conjure items from your own imagination, make your will into matter; Think of them as 'powers' if you will, the most common of which being conjuring or creating objects.
This doesn't mean that the moment we unlock this potential you can summon forth Cthulu and end the world, or throw all manners of hellfire onto all of your foes. You're still 100% free range human civilian, probably a plumber or a librarian before you were..."relocated". You would've had absolutely NO training on how to use your powers, intentional or otherwise. That's the point with hidden potential, see? You can't use it. As clarification - if anyone has anything about how they accidentally conjured a fireball or spilt a carton of milk with their minds PRIOR to being kidnapped by DreamTime, it's going to have to be changed ASAP.
---###--POWERS--###---
The easiest way to think of your power is like training yourself to become lucid (self aware) in your dreams. It's difficult, it takes time and practice, and it's difficult to maintain. And, just like lucid dreaming (or any dream, for that matter) there's going to be one, fatal flaw in your powers - any shock, any surprise, anything that would jolt you out of a sleep or make you lose focus WILL cause your spells to just disappear. That samurai you were using to make sushi out of soldiers WILL go up in a puff of smoke. As time progresses, you'll get better - things will be easier, you won't be shocked out of your "zone" so quickly.
DreamTime Ltd. have the facilities to train you, as do other companies that you'll learn about later on in the IC. For these examples, I'm going to use the ability to control fire as an example. The 'stages' you'll progress while gaining power go as follows:
~Minor power in a Controlled Environment: EG - able to make a candle flame or a few sparks while rigged up to testing equipment designed to boost your power. This is the STARTING STAGE. No exceptions! It'll progress to Major powers with testing equipment rather quickly.
~Major power in a Controlled Environment/Minor power in a Safe Environment: Those fireballs have grown, my friend. With the help of the machines, you're able to cause some serious damage and won't get shocked out so easily. But take those things off, and you're back to square 1. Without those sweet, sweet machines to boost your skills to jets of flame and juggling fireballs, you'll find that you're able to do what you started out to do without all of the wires and gadgets - so long as you're in a quiet room, and there's nothing about to rip your face off or similar. Here, you can sneak a few spells in the dorm room if that's what you want to do. But it's not nearly as impressive if you try to threaten someone while angrily brandishing a candle flame in your hand.
~Major power in a Safe Environment/Minor power in a Real Environment: Once everyone's hit this power stage, we'd be heading out of DreamTime in the near, near future. If you focus really hard and don't hear or feel anything, you'd be able to break a lot of stuff - but you can easily get disrupted at this time. DreamTime will gently hurl you into missions around this point, where the hustle and bustle of the normal world will reduce those massive firey tornadoes back into that piddly little candle flame. It's difficult to focus when you're in the middle of a street, after all.
~Major power in a Real Environment/Minor power in a Dangerous Environment: We're back to the powers that you're actually supposed to have, here. Sure, you can do those firey jets again but remember that normal folk aren't used to seeing others shoot fire out of their hands. There will be screaming, running, and then most likely shooting all directed at you. But at least this time you won't be completely defenseless - you'll have that candle-flame-level of power while getting shot at!
That's the FINAL stage of the IC power. Now it'll all depend on focus and willpower, and weapons. Ponder over weapons, since you sure as hell won't be able to use just magic against bullets.
---###--SERA--###---
"Shh. I don't think they can see me, can they?"
Sera is an enigma forced into a mystery, locked up in a puzzle. For some reason, only Anomalies can see Sera - or as you know her, "That Girl Who You Kept Seeing In Your Dreams For Two Damn Weeks". As an OOC purpose, she's there to give advice to shove people into the storyline should we start to stray away from it. But ICly, there's a lot more to her than just a helper NPC.
From what you can figure out from her, Sera is like a ghost from the dream plane. She can interact with objects in the real world if she wants to, but can also walk through walls and objects and people. She's probably got powers for herself, but she hasn't shown them yet. In terms of personality, she's quite childish and fussy and irritating. She's got a thing for games, and find it hilarious when waking people try to talk to her because they just look like complete and utter psychos. On the flip-side, she can also be very serious and scared if she needs to be. She's probably the only person you'd really be able to trust in this world, now.
---###--RULES--###---
1. Read all of the OOC. Not all in one go, goodness no, but just...read through it before making your CS. Really helpful.
2. Activity is important. We've got a lot to get through (and I might just timeskip if things get dull) but it'll start with your lab training and then we get to some spy-esque missions. If we have to wait for people, then we'll be leaving people behind.
3. No posting order, but try not to take up 3 pages in a conversation about your pyjamas with some other dude.
4. Try to put in as much as possible in response to situations. For example - if I post about how the ground shook, then opened up, and we all fell in - DON'T make a post about how the ground shook, you fell over, and passed out and proceed to make another post about how you wake up and THEN fall in. May seem a bit like rushing, but you'll get through a lot more of the story this way.
5. The usual. God-emoting, anything too lewd and sexy-times, meta-gaming...all not allowed. Some decent grammar and English language would be nice too. At least 2 paragraphs per post.
6. I get the final word in arguments, and reserve the right to ask you to correct things that are simply too far-fetched like summoning Cthulu.
---###--CHARACTER SHEET--###---
[IMAGE goes here. Anime or real, I don't mind. Avoid GIFs, though, they take an age to load.]
[QUOTE goes here. Sum up your character in one line, a bit like how Sera did it.]
Name: (Full name.)
Age: (20+. I don't want any kiddies going on the front-lines of battle, it's unrealistic and kind of sickening when you think about it. Exceptions CAN be made, but I'll be very, very strict on what passes and what doesn't.)
Job: (Can be unemployed, try to think of a normal job. I'm not allowing any military jobs here, sorry.)
Appearance: (Oh, I'm so mean...At least two short paragraphs on what your character looks like. Try any interesting physical features like scars, tattoos, that odd birthmark on your left bumcheek.)
Personality: (Describe it. 2+ Paragraphs.)
History: (You've got at least 20 years of life to explain, go wild on it or just sum it up. 2+ Paragraphs.)
Power: (Just name it, like "Fire Manipulation".)
Description: (You'll want to describe Minor powers, major powers, but NOT any finishing moves.)
Ultimate move: (Alright. Imagine you've got free reign. Sudden god-mode enabled, you're very calm, and this is the BEST you can do. Remember, it doesn't have to be an attack.)
Stuck for ideas? Need some inspiration, or just not too sure what's accepted and what's not? Click here for the CS list, where accepted characters and their CS sheets are listed.
---###--DREAMTECH--###---
So, we just went through the powers, and the the Character Sheet...but I think I should also point out that, despite how BADLY I've tried to put down your powers, you'll still be pretty powerful compared to...a bunch of scientists and innocent researchers. And they don't know what you're like, and if you'll use your powers for evil. So clearly, a lot of work would've gone into stopping Anomalies for EVERY company able to get a hold of some, or in threat of being attacked by some.
Thus, the idea of DreamTech was born.
There's three staples to DreamTech. All three of them are going to be complete and utter pains in the backside for the Anomalies, but they're an IC solution to an OOC problem; How would a bunch of humans capture a bunch of dream-powered super-humans?
So, going in order from most common to "Dire Situation" mode:
Dream Shackles Science's answer to anything that moves. These nasty pieces of work are basically wrist tasers; every three seconds, an electric shock interupts your focus. The number on the bracelet is the 'level' of shock - 1 being a static shock, 5 being an "Ouch that really hurt ;-;" sort of shock, and 10 being a straight-up "collapse-to-the-floor-muscle-spasm" kind of shock. (Note how good I am at describing things. It's glorious.)
Nightmare Fuel No, not actual nightmares. It's composed of two chemicals - when seperate, they're transparent but the moment you mix them together they turn pitch black. Light just stops at that stuff. It's one of the most powerful knockout serums this world's got to offer, and it's got an...odd effect on you while you're out, too. When you'd normally be having those dreams with Sera, this stuff is actively trying to rip those dreams apart; and once it manages to do so, you're in for a dreamless sleep.
The Lucid Lockdown One of the most devious and largest ways to hold back an Anomaly. Completely aware of your surroundings, but unable to move, and very difficult to focus; Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am talking about the same feeling that you get on those nights when you need to sleep, but your brain pipes up with the strangest comments it can muster while half-awake. Good luck making an escape plan in that thing.
The good news is that, at some point, we'll be encountering these little devils and Sera will be able to help you out of them. Eventually.
---###--TO BE ADDED--###---
Post your CS and questions below!
