[Play by Post] Better Angels - No Soul Left Behind

You people are too good at the writing. I can’t narrate stuff that well! :P

So, I guess I was balking at what to write because I’m having trouble deciding what Brad should do for 3 weeks. It’s a little harder to get into character when it’s long breaks between “action” moments. This is definitely a lot different than in-person gaming, where I am usually one of the more active people. In fact, usually it’s pretty hard to get me to shut up.

I’ll update this again with what I think Brad should do. The sergeant’s name is going to be Sergeant Briscoe, obviously. :)

Just checking in to say that I’m around and attentive but need to hear from Brad, Jose and Alex about their ‘vacation’ before we move forward.

Yeah, sorry. I have 15% of a plan but been distracted by some RL stuff

Sorry for the delay. I’ve had some stuff going on and figured I would put someone together after others did, but since the others didn’t post either, I’ve PM’d Juan to ask for help with something. So, hope to have something in the next day or two re: post-attack goings on.

I was honestly just about to call things altogether.

Well, I will leave that to you to decide, but if we continue, I should be able to keep up more reliably.

I feel like a bad person right now. :(

I mean, if we can get back on track I’d be happy to do so, I just figured that probably wasn’t going to happen after two weeks. And it’s not a big deal. Honestly, I’ve never had a play by post game actually reach the natural fictional conclusion. I’ve seen a few 5+ year ongoing threads over on Something Awful so it must happen occasionally but I think it’s the exception rather than the rule. I’m just happy we completed an adventure. (One of ten, but hey.)

I’ve been in one that I think lasted over a year, a long time ago (fantastic Earthdawn game) but more often than not they collapse before they even start.

I’m certainly up for continuing if you guys want. I’m liking this a lot, and I think it’s ok and understandable to make concessions to RL once in a while.

Don’t know if we are continuing, but here is the post regardless. Thanks to Juan for the assist.


Alex and the Leecher

Alex raked his hands down his face in frustration. It had been days since the attack and between dodging questions and trying to figure out what was wrong with Sarah, there hadn’t been much time to think about the attack itself. She’d finally stabilized before, he knew it. The treatment should have lasted longer than that. Something had changed, but what?

He’d run every test, considered every theory. There weren’t changes in blood chemistry or organ function, yet she was clearly growing weaker by the day, like something was draining the life from her.

And he knew an expert on draining life, didn’t he? He yelled at the empty lab around him, “Why can’t you do something useful and actually help me?”

A WASTED LIFE IS WASTED POWER. POWER BREEDS POWER. DRINK HER POWER AND TAKE AWAY HER LIFE.

Alex scoffed. “Power? Look at her. She’s being kept alive by those machines. She has no power to give.” He kicked at a garbage can, sending it flying across the room. “Why do you have to be so useless!”

DESPAIR IS FOR THE WEAK. WE ARE NOT WEAK. THE WOMAN IS WEAK, YET SHE IS TOUCHED BY ONE OF US. ITS POWER HOLDS HER STILL. LET HER BECOME STRONG WITHIN US AND FADE OUTSIDE US. MAKE HER POWER OURS AND LEAVE HER REST ONCE AND FOR ALL.

“What? What did you say?” The Leecher did not answer, perhaps sensing a rhetorical question, but the words echoed in Alex’s head:

She is touched by one of us. It’s power holds her still.

Touched? But how could that be? That seemed…impossible, and yet it made sense given Sarah’s decline started after the attack. What had changed since then? He looked down at his chest where the lanyard had been. This demon or whatever the Leecher was…that had changed.

Alex didn’t know exactly how all this worked, but he instinctively knew that the Leecher wasn’t directly responsible for Sarah. Yet the correlation, what the Leecher had said, and the lack of any other leads were too strong to ignore.

He now had a working hypothesis, that Sarah had been tainted somehow. But how to prove it? Maybe these creatures like the Leecher were metaphysical in origin, but there had to be some physical manifestation, something he could measure.

He walked to the sink then splashed some water on his face. It was time to get to work.

Brad Stevens

A gun! A gun is just fine. A taser and a headlock. A stern word for a shy kid. A boot to the groin for a drug user. A call to the station for a dealer who was getting out of hand. Brad had plenty of options for projecting power into the school and neighborhood to keep everyone safe. The last thing Brad needed were nigh-invincible douchebags running around and a crazy person’s voice in his head. It was nice to have that power, but he’d seen how power corrupts people and was wary. Not to mention just how evil that voice sounded. There. In his head. In his fuckin’ head.

Bar. Now.

If that day was a dream then the following morning was a new day. Only Brad was hungover to shit. But Brad was used to it. He followed his routine, more or less, and got out the door late. 10AM or so. And so the three weeks off began.

Hurt but not out. Brad followed the doctor’s recommended orders on his hand wound and it recovered quickly over the next few weeks. Brad spent that time split between the police station, gathering as much info as he could on the supervillain group Triskaidekaphobia. He also drilled other cops for any information they had on their first or second hand experiences with supers (villains or heroes). He started carrying around his investigation notebook, the kind he used when he was walking the beat. Every detail was written down, and he followed up on as many leads as he could, provided he thought they would go anywhere. Unfortunately, there were very few that he thought would yield anything. The internet was probably his best resource for information on those 13 weirdos, except maybe for that voice…

No, no voices again. I won’t bring that demon back. Players note: perhaps demon is not literal if Brad isn't aware of the provenance of said voice

Maybe our characters met up a few times to swap stories and info during the 3 weeks off? It only makes sense to me that we would if possible.

He also spent time talking to the other… special people… from the school. The superintendent was a busy body, but at least that took some pressure off. The teacher was charming but obviously hadn’t dealt with anything this serious before. He doubted she had the constitution for all of this, and was worried about her.

Brad visited the school every few days to talk to whatever officer was stationed there to stay current on news and leads. Unfortunately, nothing really stood out to speak of. Sergeant Briscoe was as surly as ever.

“Go the fuck home, Brad. Get some damn rest.”

Brad knew when all of his leads had run dry, and this was one of those times. Only the voice, and maybe the scissor head, could help him now. He decided to wait it out and try to get back into the swing of things after the school reopened, where it was easier to coordinate with his new friends. The voice could come later, if at all.

Shut it out, Brad. Shut it out.

I’m ok with our characters having met to talk about the experience (sort of a secret “survivor’s group”) as long as at least Brad and Thomas are there.

By the way, just waiting on @Madmarcus at this point.

Sorry, I’m still alive and will get back into the swing of things later today.

This is embarrassing.

I’m interested in staying in the game but I’ve been staying away from both Qt3 and OO for the past month or so due to my duties as an FRC mentor/coach. Our season is almost over so I hope I can get back into the swing of things.

Off to reading the thread to catch up.

Before I respond in character I’d like to put in a good word for the game. It was, even before the month break, going a little slower than some other online games I’ve been in but that’s not a big deal. I’m interested in seeing it continue. I should have warned people ahead of time that from Feb 18th through March 18th I"m often worth very little.

Jose

The first few days after the incident pass quickly with some teenage sleeping in, futbol and hanging out with friends, and reading up on people with powers on the Internet. But after that Jose gets anxious. The explosion was clearly a surprise to the Avenger. Plus there had been a picture in his head of wings. Weird shit is going on but how can you pass up wing?

The first thing is to keep everyone off his back. Saying he need to use the library to study away from distractions keeps Mom and Dad happy enough while giving him time to think about things and plan how to get in to the school to test out this retrocognition. A quick visit to the school shows that the police are keeping a close watch on the sight. Which makes a night visit seem safer. Afterall, surely they wouldn’t shoot first?

Before the second weekend he’s managed to scrounge together what he might need; Dark gray long sleeved t-shirt and gray jeans from Goodwill, a black do rag, and a pair of black colored safety goggles meant for motor bikes or go karting. The goggles aren’t cheap but they might be enough to keep people from recognizing his face. Now it was a matter of waiting til everyone was asleep to see about talking to this voice in his head.

Hey Lou? How about a test flight?

I'm stopping there to wait for my demon.

I’m going to bump this thread. I realize that it somewhat ironic as I might well be the person who killed the game with delay but I know that the thread gets lost if it’s not near the top.

@malkav11, @juan_Raigada, @arrendek, @Misguided, @CraigM

Lou the Punctilious

“Yes. Fly. Feel the wind. I am here for you. All you needed to do was ask. This might be a tad uncomfortable… just relax.”

It almost feels like there’s an invisible hand on Jose’s shoulder for a moment.

To malkav and MM: Are we going to do like body horror stuff here with wings ripping out through the skin or just a magical * poof *?

Up to you two. They should be sinister in some way though.