RyuShura

New Campton

"Hey, you're out earlier than usual!" called a familiar voice.

The redhead now had a large pair of vintage shades resting upon her rosy nose and wore a large sun hat that encircled her head. She seemed to embody a more organic and earthy fashion, not overly simplistic but not too flashy either. Just enough to be tasteful. If this was her way of blending in, it seemed sort of counterproductive, but somehow she managed to be deflect any sort of suspicion with her bright smile. She was holding a fresh cup, blowing the steam away while watching something on her phone, but upon noticing Freya, quickly set the device aside and began excitedly waving the young doctor over. After their encounter, Isabelle had camped herself at a little cafe overlooking the office buildings, having found a corner table in the parlor outside. This sort of thing was expected when approaching a more high-profile target, but even with that said, she didn't enjoy being brushed off so coldly. Especially when she thought she was being nice. There were certainly times when she showed a darker side of herself.

She waited for Freya to sit before speaking, "Don't you think you were little harsh earlier? Yeah, I'm a Purist... but I'm not unreasonable like some of us are. Hmm. Maybe I was a little unclear, but I just wanted to extend an offer of partnership. Let me be frank..." leaning in closer, "You see, I'm tired of all of this. As much as you are. The way things are going... well, I've heard some terrible rumors. I want to stop all this conflict. Above how much I dislike the augments."

...

New Campton

A figure waited before her building, sitting beneath one of the trees in the courtyard checking their painted fingernails. She was a colorful and daring sight, as though wearing clothes that accented her femininity to the absolute maximum. She wasn't curvy or anything, a modest girl by conventional standards, but she was able to reveal just enough and highlight just the right places in order to gain this effect.

"My, my, you've quite the following..." speaking in a light tone, "It took quite some convincing to get all those pesky reporters to go away. Fortunately for the both of us, much like those without true ambition, they are like mindless fish who'll bite on any lead. It doesn't matter how implausible it is, so long as it has the right bait. And that would be you, Doctor Rutherford. I mean, I can't blame them for their excitement though. After all, you're the one who managed to make a break-through on stem-cell research in her measly college years, something senior heads and whole sectors have been pulling their hair out for years trying to accomplish. Then after becoming a world-acclaimed genius, whose talents are sought after all across the globe, she still finds time in her busy corporate schedule to go out of her way to heal the disabled... quite the touching story." putting out a hand as she spoke in mocking announcement, "I can see it now, plastered all over news articles and websites, 'Woman who founded augmentation reveals she also has a heart of metal; Gold'!" scoffing to herself, "Or something corny like that. Bleh. And all for what? Views? Attention? Coverage? To spread awareness and bring insight to the populous? No, for money. I really can't stand such distasteful things..."

The young woman muttered, finally looking up, her sky blue eyes shining in the sunlight, "But I'm not here to talk about that. I seek the greater truth in all this..."

The redhead stepped up from her seat and moved forward with a grin, heels clicking on the tiled pavement. Though the expression felt contrast to what it was supposed to be, laying on her face in a cold disdain, "I'm sure you keep count of those you help, but do you know how many people you've killed in the past 24 hours? Though not by your own hands, doctor..." looking down, "Of course, how could such innocent little things? At least one of them. But there is a certain... person who keeps coming up in my cases, a figurehead of sorts. From the incident of the 'Stanley Parable', to the 'Electronic Fallout' in downtown Los Angeles. It all ties to a..." her voice now becoming a whisper.

"Mister Crawford."

...

New Campton

Name: Isabelle Alstior



Age: 22
Height: 176 cm.

History:

Isabelle was always a cheery girl, taking life one step at a time with a smile. Even when things were hard, she never complained or felt angry at anyone. When she was born into a small family with an older brother, Wilhelm, who looked after her. It was a hard life and sometimes they wouldn't be able to afford even the simplest things, but they were happy all together at the least. But all of that changed when her mother was diagnosed with a rare strain of brain cancer. The treatment was expensive and her father worked extra jobs in order to pay for the medication. Even her brother sought out work, though only a teen. She would worry about him, but he always reassured her that it was worth anything to see their family together again. But it all came crashing down when a new trend started taking over many companies, whom outsourced labor for something much cheaper and easily sustainable. Machines. Their father was made jobless.

Unable to afford the costly drugs anymore, as they could barely even meals to begin with, she could only watch as her precious family was ripped apart by stress and frustration. What were once happy stories exchanged over supper, were now painful arguments between father and son, whom resorted to mental subsidies to relieve himself. Their mother would spend her last years locked in her room, withering away, kept barely conscious as the world fell around her. Wilhelm, once bright and inviting, would seclude himself from his friends and even his family, coldly deflecting any attempts of Isabelle's appeasement and comfort. Eventually he dropped out of school and left the house without word. He would be found a few months later, stabbed to death, his body wired with clunky, illegal augments, having made a new name for himself as a criminal and terrorist. This was not the only family this happened to. She couldn't even look at her father anymore, a husk of the man he used to be. The Purist movement would soon take shape as these angry souls gathered to find something to blame for their loss and suffering.

Becoming a sort of poster child for the campaign, she goes out of her way to expose augmentation for the wrongs it has done to herself and others, working as an internet celebrity and journalist. She is renown for acquiring secret files or information of important figures relating to augments in order to find proof of illegal and immoral intention to expose them to the public.

...

://Crown of Eden [High-Casual]

I will wait for Cyrania and Mag Lev to post before making my own. No rush to either of you, of course, just take it easy after all of that testing and stressful business. XD

://Crown of Eden [High-Casual]

@ravenDivinity @Cyrania

May I get an update on your statuses?

://Crown of Eden [High-Casual]

The Caretaker smiled at this remark, giggling softly, "My, what a cute thing naivety can be... Oh, I wish all of you would stay this way forever, my dear children..."

She looked down at Geno with this adoring look for a while before turning back to the others, "But alas, as much as I would like to care for you all until the ends of time, we all have a duty that must be fulfilled. I'm afraid to say that none of you were part of the council, hence your late waking. But that does not mean you are not special." her eyes suddenly dulled as she looked upwards to the darkness of the vessel, "It seems to be a roll fate. Most of the others sleeping now... their memories have fared worse than yours. They probably don't even remember their own names, nor where they are. They would be helpless, truly like babies emerging from cradles. But all of you still have pieces of yourselves. I, and the Oracle, could hear it in your dreams. Which is why I chose you out of them. That alone allows you to do something the others cannot."

Her smile shifted once again, as though wanting to tell them something further, but instead scooted ahead with one last comment on the matter, "But I will not lie, you are not the first either. Others had been chosen too... for this task..."

The party was nearing the end of the grand hall now, the foreign presence of light almost blinding to the newly awoken, whom have been accustomed to the dark for so long. Glimmering shapes can be distinguished within the brilliant rays, but nothing short of silhouettes. Daresso gasped at the beauty it created, finding something familiar about this source of light that he cannot put a name to. It felt important to him somehow, and this feeling resided at the back of his mind, as though it tried to swim around in his lost memories. Was this tied in some way to some of them? His feet quickened as he seemed to be reeled toward it, driven by his personal curiosity.

...

://Crown of Eden [High-Casual]

@Light If Geno is the type of character who would value his own perception above what is told to him, then most certainly. The Caretaker has been quite vague anyway, so some things can be constrewed. He might think that he is part of the council given what he has seen, such as how many others are still sleeping and her politeness towards them thus far. In the end, what your character does and how they develop is up to you.

I hope that helps!:^D

://Crown of Eden [High-Casual]

Oh, I see, then let me offer up an explanation. As you said, what she has described in that excerpt is mostly in past tense, that much should be enough, I thought. Another detail that I think was overlooked a bit, is in how she says she cannot act on her own, even in the case of what can be assumed extreme danger to Eden, and must seek new orders from the council before anything else. With this, and since it seems to hold this 'Oracle' above herself, even though she is such an important figure in how things aboard Eden operate, it can be safe to assume that this person is part of this 'council'. Of course, not all people would care have this kind of rigged, deductive thinking, as this is still casual, so I can't expect anyone to want to dig this deep into dialogue. In the vein of the Souls series, I allowed it very much to be up to how anyone may interpret these things.

TLDR; I over-complicate things too much. Whether your character may misinterpret this information is fully up to you.

://Crown of Eden [High-Casual]

@Light You're right, my apologies for not making it clear. Thanks for pointing out the mistake, I wouldn't have noticed it otherwise. I don't like the excuse that I wrote it late at night and it affected my writing, but that probably didn't help. I'll fix it.

://Crown of Eden [High-Casual]

"It is my pleasure to serve, as it will always be, dear children..."

The Caretaker hummed happily as watched the group move along her direted path, bowing her head down to look at each face. The others appeared like 'children' compared to her towering size, truly like what she so lovingly called them, herself like a giant porcelain doll, the lights reflecting off her skin in a sheen, what little of it her conservative outfit allowed anyone to see. This close to her, anyone would be able to tell her cheeks were glassy and hardened, only resembling skin from afar. She smiled at Elizabeth as she waited for all of them to leave the cradling chamber, turning her gaze down at the girl.

"Are you perhaps looking for someone? Did your memories compel you to this? Powerful feelings they encapture, so I've been told. I can look in the archives for a name if you have any, but I wouldn't count on that chance. Many have been lost..." her voice lowering a bit, "But I will try, little Elizabeth."

The Caretaker smiled once more before starting out into the hallway, the massive doors sliding close behind them. Daresso remained quiet as he followed his companions, glancing back at the previous room with a hint of worry. What peace they had was gone now, wasn't it? Again, they were welcomed by a foreign place that flowed with as much shadow as it did air. Of the faint yellow light all the way down at the end of the hall, and the few sparse light posts, of the hundreds there were, that were glowing alive with pale energy, this did little to provide the weary party clear vision to their surroundings. Even so, it was leagues more luminous than where they left. From what they can tell, the outside environment added a fresh touch of rust to the coat of dust. But nonetheless, it seemed Eden had retained much of the original beauty across the years. Sleek archways paved the way down, the little light bouncing across the smooth metal, and above, the ceiling rose high into the hull to darkness, no doubt hiding more chambers such as this one. It appeared the Caretaker has done as well a job as she could for but a single person tasked to such a tremendous place.

When the question of the previous plans were brought up, the large woman tilted her head in thought. A moment passed as she mused, but the Caretaker finally spoke.

"It was supposed to be that way, young Gwendolyn, but alas, no plan is foolproof..." she said, her smile fading somewhat as she addressed the topic with a sterness to her voice, "The initial calculations made years ago, prior to all of your slumber, had been wrong. The cataclysmic storms lasted longer than anyone had expected. Much longer. The other Perennials and I tried our best to lengthen the supply of power, as I have explained, but we can only cede so much before all that is left is to simply wait and hope. And waited long we all have..." she muttered, "Eventually, the Architect discovered a complication with the core that we could no longer overlook. As per protocol 'A-13' of the programmed statutes inscribed into my mind; in the event of a Class-5 emergency, I must override any previous master protocol I had been assigned and awake the council in priority to ascertain new orders. As for what transpired from that point on... Well, that explanation is better heard from the mouth of the Oracle herself."

She turned her head, "Sorry if I am not too clear, but this topic is not my prerogative. Please, I want to be of service. I will do my best to answer other questions any of you may have."

...