Yaneznayo

The Infected

Daniel sighed as he carefully rolled up the blueprint, secreting it back into its hiding place. He had to keep them safe, at least long enough for the ideas they contains to be shared and spread. He contemplated, as he often did, what might happen should one of these blueprints fall into the wrong hands. Ideas were wonderful yet extremely dangerous things, and once unleashed take on a life of their own.

Thinking back to his meager schooling back at what he called "the compound", he remembered a few of the lessons he had learned with a new perspective gained through experience. One of the older men named James had always taught him and his classmates never to underestimate the power of a man who truly believed in an idea. A man who had the spark of an idea in his mind was a man who had the potential to ignite his heart and the hearts of countless others to rally behind his cause. With careful stoking of the flames, the idea would sweep countless hearts like an inferno consuming all in its path. Every idea had this potential, but needed only one successful implementation.

More often than not an idea would spark that fire in the man's heart, spreading to others of like mind, influencing the lives of all those it touched, and gathering more and more support until it became so ingrained in that society's lives that it became the norm. Such was the case with religion. Ideas of fate, God, or the attainment of enlightenment spread like wildfire through the hearts of those who were willing to believe.

Another such idea was the idea of quantities and being able to label quantities by a system of numbers. Dollars, yen, euros, pounds, and countless other systems of currency were implemented in order to quantify the value of a service or a product. The entire idea of currency seemed a bit strange to Daniel. A slip of paper or a coin of a specific shape and size or with distinctive markings that people used to call money was all that human life revolved around. Those with more of this currency could do more of what they wanted. There were even special slips which could have a quantity written on them in order to transfer a specified amount of funds from one person to another. In the end these were only simple slips of paper and small bits of shaped metal that humans manufactured as a physical representation of the idea of currency. Through this idea, they were able to quantify the power that they had to make others do their bidding.

Such was the sad truth of human nature. We had taken the one universally excepted system, numbers, and found a way to gain more power, but only for those with means to use it.

And that, however, was the other part of the lesson. Ideas are only as powerful as the minds who choose to accept them. A madman would take the idea that a man could fly and jump off a building, while an intelligent man would wonder how this is possible and take steps to understand how such a feat might be accomplished. Other times it required a collective conscious to ponder the idea. This collective conscious made of intelligent minds from many areas of study would be able to collaborate and expand on because this knowledge of their unique expertise. A physicist would be able to explain the forces behind's a birds flight to help them understand what was needed to achieve flight itself. An engineer would be able to take that information and design something capable of providing all necessary elements of flight. A team of builders would be able to complete the engineer's design.

As of right now, that was all he was here for. An idea. So far, the idea had five minds with this spark. Five sparks waiting for the chance to ignite themselves. Walking over to the table, he stood by Cristi's chair next to Eveleyn. Shifting his bag to a more comfortable position on his shoulder, he recognized Sean, a construction worker who was physically the strongest man he'd ever met, though mentally was a bit... Subpar. Still though, it was good to see someone of considerable strength in the group. He didn't know much about the woman standing at his side, but he figured he'd learn more about her as time went on. It appeared she had been a part of the group who found the beer everyone was enjoying. He never took a liking to alcohol, so had none. Instead, his thoughts turned to what else she would be able to scavenge.

Pulling up a seat, he sat at the table, putting his bag full of canned foods next to his chair. He didn't know how soon whatever was going to happen was to occur, but it was always a good thing to be prepared.

The Infected

I think the point is to weed out the ones who won't be dedicated to the plan by making them come to her instead of the other way around?

The Infected

Finally finished with the blueprint, he sat back in his chair and reviewed his work. It was only theoretical of course, but if it was accomplished, Daniel would be able to unlock a source of energy readily available but inaccessible since before the invasion. His illustration measured about 12 inches across and 4 inches high. In truth it was only a hundredth, a thousandth of the scale he imagined it to be. Angling each of hundreds of reflective surface just so, he would be able to concentrate light to a focal point, thus allowing a solar panel in that focal point to produce electricity.

He checked and rechecked the positions of each mirror, the angle each had to be held at down to the thousandth of a degree at various locations on the curvature of the earth and the time of day. He wasn’t completely sure of the accuracy of his calculations, but he was confident that the logic behind the design was sound. When he was a child, he had been working out in the open for an entire day, and though it was always cloudy, his skin became painful and reddened. One of the older men, a teacher, explained to him that although he couldn’t see it, the sun was past those clouds and was always sending its energy to them. In this case, it was obvious that his skin absorbed a little too much of that energy.

Smiling wistfully, he closed his eyes, remembering those more innocent days. His mind brought him back to the past, when he was free to tinker and learn as he pleased, only being forced to do something when they were in fear of being discovered or attacked. His thoughts drifted to Cara. Her smile. Her eyes. Her last words. He opened his eyes again, the moment of reminiscence gone. His right hand came up to his left arm, finding the precious piece of cloth and running the pad of his finger along it. Sighing, he remembered what she asked of him with her dying breath. The memory haunted him.

Ten months. He had spent the last ten months in this place. He had tried to keep to himself as much as he could, but one particularly persistent coworker had picked his way through his shields. Cristi had through no small effort managed to get Daniel to open up a little, and bit by bit got him to share much of his life story. Daniel hadn’t stayed very clueless about Cristi’s life, either. Often, when they spent time together working with the mechanics and construction teams, Cristi would talk about what was on his mind, and Daniel was more than willing to listen.

Cristi’s most recent problem presented itself in what was reported by his roommate as a faulty design. Poring over it again, he couldn’t understand what went wrong. All the calculations were correct, every power level carefully levelled. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he gave up finding something wrong with the schematic. It was because of this he had doubted the accuracy of his own work, and went to triple check his solar generator schematic. Satisfied that nothing was wrong with it, he rolled both up and packed his most important blueprints along with Cristi’s in a cylindrical container, easily passing for a thermos. He proceeded to collect some cans of food he had stowed away around his part of the room and put them in a bag along with the “thermos”.

He planned to find Cristi tonight. Knowing him, he was at The Social, drinking away his stresses. That was fine with him, too, because there was someone he needed to meet there. There were certain rumors spreading about a group leaving the community. He had to see if it was true. Donning a hooded jacket and shouldering his bag, he set out toward The Social.

Upon arrival, he pushed back his hood and scanned the room. He found Cristi finishing a conversation with the bartender and walked over. As he approached the bar, he waved a greeting to the bartender, who returned the wave with a pleasant smile. Turning to Cristi, he smiled and lightly punched his arm.

“So I’ve been running over the numbers, and it just doesn’t make sense. What happened should not have been possible unless someone tampered with the safety mechanisms and applied almost triple the power it was meant to have…”

He paused, tracing Cristi’s line of sight to the beautiful woman sitting at a table.

“Ah.”, He said knowingly. “I suppose you haven’t exactly made up then?”

Not waiting for a reply, he reached into his bag, taking out the blueprint from the thermos, making sure nobody could see what he was doing. He jotted down a few quick notes that highlighted the safety restraints and power levels.

“Take this and show it to her. It should show her that your original design simply would not allow for that extent of damage to Kuyper’s hand. Maybe that would calm her down a little, seeing that you never meant for him to get hurt… Well, at least not to the extent he was.”

The Infected

I'll just go with engineer then. The man figured out how a gas engine worked by taking it apart and putting it back together so he's got a gift for it.

The Infected

I meant for Daniel to be a versatile character who liked to tinker and figure out how things worked from the inside out. He could fit in the role of a hunter, an engineer, a mechanic or even a teacher, but he loves to create. I think he'll work well alongside Cristi who already knows the applied mechanics and physics of the machines while Daniel can improvise and is great at using limited resources to substitute for the the usual materials.

The Infected

Daniel “Longshot” Webster

Weapon: Bow and arrow, hand to hand combat.

early to Mid 40s

Category 2A

Daniel has a warm personality, but rarely shows it. Preferring to avoid getting too close to anyone, he pointedly ignores most people he comes across unless his needs require the interaction. His first reaction is always towards settling a conflict without injury or death, but once something starts, he is not averse to using extreme violence. He carries a strip of cloth about 18 inches long and 2 inches wide wrapped around his left arm and is extremely protective of it, going so far as to beat a man nearly to death who tried to take it from him.

Background

For the first few years of his life, Daniel Webster lived in a small community called Woodhaven which was based around a well hidden bunker in the mountains. This small community was comprised of three families; the Sherman’s, the Cypher’s, and the Webster’s. The three families made an efficient group, the oldest staying near the base and improving where they could and the youngest being taught how to survive in the barren husk of Earth. The rest did what they could to provide food and find ways to make their lives sustainable. Everyone taught what he or she knew, especially how to fight whether it be with a weapon or with nothing but your hands. His earliest memories were of hiding at a moment’s notice, always silently. There was no horn or signal of when to hide, because that would give them away. It began getting better after a few years. There were less of those alien things flying by and bit by bit they were able to do more in the daytime, starting their life anew.

Two of the men figured out how to make crude weapons and simple machines from their limited resources, at times stripping the ruins of houses for usable lumber or other materials. These contraptions and inventions included bows and arrows, stone axes, weighted maces, crude but effective flails, manual generators and pumps, and other makeshift constructs that allowed for more convenience. At one point they even got a gas powered engine from a car running, but that made too much noise so it was for emergency use only. The community slowly became more and more livable, though their circumstances never quite reached “comfortable”.

By the time he was 16 years old, he had been trained in the use of many of these rudimentary weapons, but took to the bow and close up fighting above all else. He went out to shoot almost every day, and consistently came back with an arrow or two split down the middle by the next shot. He spent the rest of his free time tinkering, connecting this tube to this container and figuring out ways to create new machines and contraptions through logic and a rudimentary knowledge of physics. It was around this time he was sent out with a hunting party to bring back anything they could while thinning out the greys in the area. Another new hunter joined them, who stumbled upon three greys. His scream as they tore into him had attracted all the infected in the area.

He should have been back by now.

Daniel was starting to get worried about his friend, Mark. They had stumbled upon what looked to be an abandoned shed on the edge of the ruined town. It was barely a shed anymore, with only three of its rusted walls left standing and its roof collapsed into it. Scanning the buildings, he saw no sign of movement. Maybe he had gone farther into the town, hoping to find something better than what the shed could offer.

It was supposed to be a quick, simple scouting. It should have taken a few minutes at most, but still, silence was the only thing he heard. It was strange to think that this place was once bustling with activity, with working cars, electricity, and people just walking the streets on their way to wherever their lives dictated they had to be. He briefly imagined how it must have been for the people here when the ET’s started their hostile takeover. He could almost see the chaos as people ran for their lives, cars rocketing down roads and crashing, tires screeching. The scene played out in his mind, overlapping with his sight of the wrecks that dotted the road.

“HELP MEEE!!!”

Mark came rushing from the road, arms flailing almost cartoon like. Sighing with relief, he almost called out, thinking he was playing another of his jokes. The smile died on his face when he saw three greys in close pursuit, with movement beginning to show in various other buildings near him. His eyes widened as he readied his bow. He took one through the right eye and in the process the now lifeless corpse fell in the path of one of the others, making it trip. He nocked the next arrow, pulling it back, but it was too late. The last Grey managed to grab his ankle and they both fell to the ground. After a struggle, Mark gained the other hand, but the other grey had already caught up. As Mark stabbed the one on the ground through its throat, severing its spine, the last had grabbed him and sank its teeth into his shoulder.

Mark’s eyes rolled to the back of his head from the pain and began convulsing, letting out a chilling scream. Daniel froze from fear and watched it all unfold. Mark was thrashing on the ground now, twisting this way and that, flailing his limbs everywhere at unnatural angles. All at once he became still. The newly turned grey snapped into a
sitting position, its eyes locked on Daniel’s location. He stood up and began walking towards Daniel, then breaking into a dead run down the road.

From there, the Grey Mark chased him all the way to the small community in the mountains. He told them what happened. They all knew they still had very little food and water, so they decided they would make a last stand, and if too many of them fell they would beat a retreat to the bunker. He and one other teenage girl were the only survivors. They locked themselves in the bunker again, impenetrable by the Greys.

Later on, they fell in love. Almost a decade later they had moved, had a son, and started another small community. They were attacked by Looters and his wife was raped, tortured, mutilated, and finally left to bleed to death slowly, all while he and his son watched. Their son, Jacob was “conscripted” by the looters, as they called it, and he was left tied to the chair to starve. With her dying breaths, she untied a small piece of cloth from her arm and kept it in her palm. After a few hours he was finally able to free himself and took that piece of cloth to remember her by.

After months of living on his own, hunting and gathering for food, he found a larger community called barrowside and took up work designing things to improve people's homes or increase the efficacy of production of goods.

Misc: Daniel has a knack for figuring out how things work and even reverse engineered a gasoline powered engine with nothing but trial and error.

Let me know if anything needs to be changed.

City of the dead (crossover)

I'm interested. Where should I send my character sheet?

Medieval rp info and discussion (Men/women/gay/straight)

I'd like to join this, possibly as a bailiff. Is the position still open?