Stern Algorithm

Arknights: 5S

@Nanolyte Hey, I just wanted to check in and see how you're doing?

Scion: The Prophecy of Anani

Sara, Daughter of Aliya

Ionna @Mcmolly, Irina @Obscene Symphony

During the debriefing, Sara tried to maintain a face of disciplined stoicism, though the criticisms cut deep. But when Irina got to the Templar's oath, Sara closed her eyes, as if in pain. She had betrayed her word to The Mother, but the worst part was that she didn't know if she abandoned Theobald because she was trying to follow his orders, because she trusted him to protect himself, or because her opinion of him had caused her to doubt his sanctity, to see him as undeserving of protection, which would be blasphemy. With a heavy heart, Sara left the ballroom when she was dismissed. When the squire offered her crystal back, Sara smiled sadly, and held up a hand to stop her. "Not yet," Sara said quietly, "My business with Dame Irina is not quite over."

While Irina debriefed Jannick, Sara stood at attention some distance down the hallway where the conversation was not audible to make it clear that she had no intention of eavesdropping. When he left in a furious huff, Sara gave him a polite nod, unsure if there was anything she could do to abate his anger. Upon re-entering the ballroom, Sara first saluted and then declared, "My Dame, I surrender myself for detainment and further questioning. I'm sure it is on everyone's lips, but it is likely that Kaudus is involved, in which case, my allegiance is suspect. Dame Ionna can confirm that we saw a helicopter escaping Southeast outside the venue, though I'm sure your intel is already aware of it. You cannot know with certainty that I did not abandon my Scion intentionally to leave him to the wolves, nor that I was not trying to lead Dame Ionna into an ambush, possibly to steal the technology encased within her arm. Additionally, during the fighting, I temporarily lost control of my powers." Sara held up her bandaged arms to show Irina the consequences of such a lapse. "This demonstrates that my mastery of fire magic is lacking. Therefore, it is my opinion that His Holiness Theobald, especially during such a crisis, would be better served by a more capable Templar; one with more magical skill, with better discipline and adherence to their oath, and whose loyalty cannot be called into question." She then held out her hands, palms up, wrists together, as if expecting to be handcuffed.

The Central Dogma of Xenoarcheology

I see. I'm pretty ambivalent about it since it shouldn't have a huge effect on the world at large. So I think for the sake of stream-lining character creation, since you're the only other player in this RP, I'll say it's whatever you want it to be, regarding the existence of super sentai shows.

The Central Dogma of Xenoarcheology

That's...a good question. I rarely think of the media of a world I create, so that's a good thing to consider. It really wouldn't make sense that a world in which something fantastical happens, said fantastical event is never portrayed in their media. But I think humans would fantasize about giant robots in any universe, or have modern media portrayals of monsters outside of mythology. I will say that an Ultraman-like story might be specific enough as to be feasibly not represented in this world.

So I'll say this, yes, kaiju and mecha genres exist, but a specifically Ultraman-style story/franchise doesn't.

Scion: The Prophecy of Anani

Sara, Daughter of Aliya

Ionna @Mcmolly, Theobald @Xiro Zean

Sara's moment of fervor was short-lived. With Ionna's help, they had quickly dispatched the two enemies waiting outside, but her detect heat spell was almost unnecessary as the quiet of the woods outside drew her attention immediately to the sky and loud, rhythmic thrum of the helicopter making its way southeast. Sara reached a hand towards the vehicle in a futile gesture, cursing herself for not having the courage to learn a ranged fire spell. Of course, even if she did, assuming Nadine was on the helicopter, she couldn't risk attacking it. And as the endorphins wore off, as the zeal slowly left her body, Sara felt suddenly very cold despite the heat emanating from her gauntlets. In dejection, Sara turned to Ionna, knowing it was impossible for the two of them to catch the helicopter. "We should...regroup with the others."

Sara and Ionna were the last to arrive at Stern Hill. Sara quickly scanned the group, making sure that all besides the lightning pair were present, until her eyes fell on the hostile and disappointed frame of Theobald. She approached him, initially to make sure that he had not come to harm, but it soon became such that she approached him to receive her punishment. Was he going to kill her like he threatened? Probably not, not with this many people watching. But whatever it was, Sara felt she deserved it. She was already disappointed in herself for failing to save Nadine, so this would only add injury to insult. Sara looked up at Theobald with determination and defiance in her eyes. She had tried her best in an impossible situation, but she was ready to face her responsibility regardless. Though the slap rocked her, turning her head and upper body to the side, Sara stood her ground until Theobald turned away from her, after which she followed him through the rock face illusion and onto the train in silence. Throughout the ride, Sara did not dismiss her armor, not because she was still worried that they would be attacked, but because she did not want to reveal her fresh burns, knowing that such a hideous sight may be too much for the more sensitive among them to stomach. Yet the pain in her arms was catching up to her as the color left her face. Sara felt herself swallowing repeatedly to suppress a visceral disgust but couldn't tell whether this was from the disappointment of her failure or the fever that she was beginning to develop that left her body cold. Throughout the train ride, Sara sat upright, emptying her thoughts and trying to maintain composure, though she hoped in her mind that there was a medical facility at the end of the tunnel.

Duchess Bachmeier's introduction came and went like a blur as Sara realized that her fever was beginning to incite delirium. Afterwards, she shuffled off wordlessly to the medical team to get her arms treated. Only behind the privacy of a medical curtain did Sara finally dismiss her armor, allowing the medic to inspect her injuries. Seeing the severity of her burns, the medic offered a special procedure involving a salve and the use of casts that would allow the burns to heal with little to no scarring though the healing process would take significantly longer, so Sara insisted that he use the simple burn cream and bandage her arms; after all there was still work to be done. And a part of Sara felt that she should be 'branded' for her failure. She did however pop a few fever reducers before leaving.

Afterwards, Sara made her way to the ballroom, where she handed in her crystal without a fuss. She would understand if they never gave it back to her. Not only had she abandoned her duty to protect Theobald, she had failed to save Nadine and disobeyed Irina's orders to retreat. If her title of templar was revoked, perhaps it would be for the best. Theobald could have a new templar he could be proud of, and Sara could return to the orphanage and resume her life as a humble sister of the church.

The Central Dogma of Xenoarcheology

Happy New year. What did you need help with as far as backstory?

The Central Dogma of Xenoarcheology

I can help you brainstorm if you want

The Central Dogma of Xenoarcheology

Now that you have some more context of the world, come up with a backstory for Ryuuto. For example, was he originally part of Project Myrmidon in which case he'll be familiar with some of the CETM personnel already and Major General Tsukamoto would have been his former superior officer. Or maybe he's a complete newcomer from the actual JSDF or even the US military, possibly with secret orders to spy on CETM. Let me know if you need more setting info, I'm happy to help brainstorm.

As a pilot, Dr. McCulloch will be Ryuuto's direct superior. Your mech will also be directly linked to the supercomputer, Omniac, who will provide technical support.

Feel free also to suggest your mech's (referred to as a 'Colossus') load out and provide an image if you would like.

The Central Dogma of Xenoarcheology

Glossary of Terms:

• CETM - The Committee for Extraterrestrial Threat Management, created to combat the impending alien threat through the establishment of four branches/projects.
• First Branch: Project Olympian - The CETM project utilizing Hyperians.
• Second Branch: Project Colossus - The CETM project utilizing giant piloted robots.
• Third Branch: Project Titan - The CETM project utilizing space monsters.
• Fourth Branch: Project Myrmidon - The CETM project utilizing existing military, intended to support the other projects.
• Space Monsters - Alternately known as 'kaiju', 'aliens', or simply 'monsters'. Refers to the gigantic extraterrestrial entities that have begun attacking Earth. Conventional force does little against them, and the repeated use of nuclear weapons is not a viable strategy.
• Hyperians - A species of seemingly benevolent space monsters. So far, two have been encountered, dubbed Hyper Man and Hyper Man X. The first Hyperian, Hyper Man, has defended Earth from space monsters, giving humanity time to prepare our own defenses. Hyper Man X arrived later to continue Hyper Man's mission.
• The Central Dogma of Xenoarcheology - ██████████████████

Public Timeline of Major Events Concerning CETM:

• 2095 C.E. - An enormous alien vessel is discovered, hidden deep within the Mariana Trench. Research on it begins immediately as mankind attempts to reverse engineer the technology and decipher the language. The aliens to which the vessel belongs are named 'Hyperians' by the researchers. A preliminary study reveals that Hyperians seek out budding civilizations in order to protect them from 'ravenous' threats, and that this vessel and its 'inhabitant' were sent to Earth thousands of years ago to protect us.
• 2100 C.E. - At the turn of the century, a sealed chamber within the vessel is finally opened. Inside, the inhabitant, Hyper Man, is discovered, having locked himself in the chamber alongside a 'space monster', the Vega Alien, to prevent its escape. Surprised at the chamber door opening, Hyper Man is dealt a mortal blow by the monster, who proceeds to leave the vessel and head eastward, wreaking havoc on the surface. Weakened, Hyper Man explains that he requires the life force of a 'pure-hearted' human in order to reinvigorate himself and finally end the Vega Alien once and for all. One of the children of the research team, Shigeru Kawakami, volunteers and merges with Hyper Man. Hyper Man leaves the vessel and destroys the Vega Alien but not before it has devastated two United States' cities, Los Angeles and San Diego.
• 2101 C.E. - In the aftermath of the first extraterrestrial incident, CETM is founded. With the knowledge and guidance of Hyper Man, the Hyperian Vessel is relocated to Tokyo, Japan.
• 2115 C.E. - In the intervening years, space monsters begin to attack regularly. Hyper Man explains that, during its escape, the Vega Alien destroyed the 'Civilization Dampener', a device in the Hyperian vessel that hides the presence of young civilizations from monsters, and that the device can no longer be repaired. Fortunately, the invading monsters are aware of Hyper Man's presence and are drawn to him, allowing humanity to choose where Hyper Man is to engage these creatures. With this knowledge, Tokyo is transformed into the fortress of Meta-Tokyo, the site of extraterrestrial research, the headquarters of CETM, and the battleground for all subsequent fights with space monsters.
• 2116 C.E. - The second Hyperian, Hyper Man X, arrives on Earth to check on the status of Hyper Man's mission. The Hyperians have a secret meeting in the vessel and Hyper Man X agrees to swap places with Hyper Man, allowing Hyper Man to return to their 'home' to recuperate.
• 2123 C.E., Present Day - Hyper Man X has protected Earth since, but CETM is finally ready to unveil the fruits of their research.

The Central Dogma of Xenoarcheology

Important NPCs

CETM Command

Oleander, Margaret

Name: Secretary Oleander, Margaret
Position: Director of CETM
Gender: Female
Age: 67
Personality:

Professional, rational, cold. Secretary Oleander is calm, commanding, and sometimes intimidating. She is not afraid to take risks and is always weighing the pros and cons, always considering whether the expedient approach or the long-term plan is better. Some say she is too cutthroat, too willing to sacrifice the few for the many, but the way she sees it, she will do anything to ensure that mankind survives. Secretary Oleander was an unassuming, but efficient aide to the United States Defense Secretary. After the Defense Secretary's untimely death during the first extraterrestrial incident, Oleander assumed the position briefly before she was nominated for her current post. Oleander oversaw the founding of CETM and the Four Projects, showing enormous success during subsequent extraterrestrial incidents. Not one to sit on her laurels, and with the foresight to anticipate more dangerous incidents to come, Oleander plans to build on her success and innovate the Projects even further.

Ning, Nicole

Name: Ensign Ning, Nicole
Position: CETM Command Center Communications Officer
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Personality:

Kind, earnest, detail-oriented. Nicole doesn't speak very much, mainly due to shyness, but she likes to help others. She likes to bake, which she picked up from her father who runs a bakery, and loves stuffed animals shaped like desserts. Has horrible, horrible aim. Nicole was enamored with the concept of CETM, so she studied and worked hard until she was granted the option to transfer to CETM.

Project Olympian

Kawakami, Manaka

Name: Dr. Kawakami, Manaka
Position: Olympian Project Lead, Chair of the Department of Sociology
Gender: Female
Age: 40
Personality:

Empathic, cheerful, observant. Manaka is one of the few humans privy to the Hyperian social theory known as the central dogma of xenoarcheology, and though her primary interest is learning how Hyperian civilization developed as a way to forecast how human civilization might also develop, the space monsters also intrigue her.

Kawakami, Shinobu

Hyper Man X

Name: Kawakami, Shinobu
Position: Hyper Man X's human host
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Personality:

Shinobu is a gentle soul burdened with the responsibility of protecting humanity. Haunted by dark secrets of the universe, Shinobu tries his best to live up to expectations. Shinobu keeps others at arm's length out of fear of divulging confidential knowledge.

Project Colossus

McCulloch, Helen

Name: Dr. McCulloch, Helen
Position: Colossus Project Lead, Chair of the Department of Physics
Gender: Female
Age: 45
Personality:

Sullen, callous, alienating. Helen is a workaholic who expects the same commitment from her peers and underlings. A purist, she is skeptical of employing Hyperians and monsters for protection, and worries about what horrors that space monster-based research may bring, and therefore feels that her position as a naysayer within CETM is crucial to keep things from getting out of hand.

Project Myrmidon

Tsukamoto, Yuu

Name: Major General Tsukamoto, Yuu
Position: Project Myrmidon Lead, Major General of the Japan Self-Defense Force
Gender: Female
Age: 31
Personality:

Strict, disciplined, scrutinizing. Meta-Tokyo is protected by a branch of the JSDF under Yuu's command. It is not only her duty to ensure that the city defenses aid the CETM Projects in their tasks, but also to subdue them should they ever turn on the humans. She does not know if her small army is up to such a task.

Project Titan

Park, Raymond

Name: Dr. Park, Raymond
Position: Titan Project Lead, Chair of the Department of Biology
Gender: Male
Age: 38
Personality:

Laidback, easygoing, genius. Raymond is surprisingly young for a man in his position. To many, he may appear lazy, but most of his greatest ideas come to him when he is relaxing, making him more of a 'creative' and 'inspired' scientist than others who tend to 'brute force' their way to scientific progress. Unfortunately, Raymond's proclivity towards less-than-ethical scientific practices has gotten him censured in the past, but his intellect earned him a place at CETM.

Ryeong, Mu Myeong

Vega Titan

Name: Ryeong, Mu Myeong
Position: First Titan
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Personality:

Mysterious, clingy, agitated. Mu Myeong has known only CETM for her whole life and views its members like an unstable family. She finds it difficult to gauge social distance, wanting emotionally to be part of something greater, while being forced to maintain professional distance due to what she is and her role.

Tokyo University Faculty

Yunus, Selim

Name: Dr. Yunus, Selim
Position: Chair of the Department of Engineering
Gender: Male
Age: 74
Personality:

Jovial, curious, philosophical. Selim is an accommodating man who collaborates closely with Meta-Tokyo's defensive infrastructure. The existence of extraterrestrial life challenges his beliefs, but that has only led him to be more welcoming of aliens than many of his peers, as he wishes to ask them about their beliefs in an attempt to find some common, higher, metaphysical truth.

Nihei, Iori

Name: Dr. Nihei, Iori
Position: Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Chemistry Liaison to CETM
Gender: Nonbinary
Age: 27
Personality:

Calm, practical, level-headed. The actual chair of the chemistry department refused to work with CETM, and offloaded his responsibilities onto one of his postdocs, Iori, who has done an excellent job so far despite being under tremendous inter-departmental pressure. Iori recognizes the dangers that empowering space monsters can pose, and cautiously weighs the benefits against the risks, while being cognizant of what safety precautions may or may not be in place. They recognize that CETM plays fast and loose when it comes to risky experiments, but understands that such loosening of standards is for confronting the looming crisis.

Sekigahara, Manabu

Name: Dr. Sekigahara, Manabu
Position: Chair of the Department of Psychology
Gender: Male
Age: 43
Personality:

Reluctant, non-committal, overwhelmed. Manabu has been tasked with psychologically profiling and providing emotional support to the CETM combatants, a seemingly monumental and absurd task, which he will tackle as part of his job, but his belief of his odds of success can be plainly seen on his face. Given that some space monsters have displayed the ability to control minds, he worries that he will be the first to be manipulated.

Omniac

Name: Omniac
Position: Chair of the Department of Computer Science, Meta-Tokyo Information Network's SSS-Class Artificial Intelligence Administrator
Gender: Non-gender, Male
Age: 50
Personality:

Utilitarian, pedantic, restricted. Development of the city-wide supercomputer known as Omniac began long before the arrival of Hyper Man, but has been commandeered by CETM to run the city of Meta-Tokyo. Over time, it has developed a human-like sentience, and has been given a physical, mechanical but human-like body with which to interface with humans. When the previous chair of the CS department retired, Omniac was appointed to the position. Though he does not do his own research, his high-level administrative capabilities have secured him the position term after term. Though Omniac has massive control over the city, he worries what will happen to him if he makes a mistake or oversteps his authority