Comatose

Whew caught up. Sorry I don’t have much internet access this week. @Sazedezas [Admin Voice]: I’m going to have to veto your proposed signature for Karabiner. I get the significance it’s just not the type of thing we can have displayed on the site. Please remove it from your post and don’t use it going forward. He’s with a Brandon. Read Brandon’s first post and he’s there. I am a little worried about this plot line as well, and personally would prefer if the groups he persecuted weren’t exactly the ones hitler did, mostly because I’d be worried about someone reading that out of context or someone with a lived experience of racism or anti-semitism being hurt by what is written. I’d be game to share the reckoners, and I definitely like the idea of them finding out about upgrade and trying to eliminate both him and Nicro.

Also just because people aren’t thinking about looking for him doesn’t mean people aren’t looking for him. If his existence is rumoured I could see Notley trying to find him just to eliminate the threat he represents. It’s not her most pressing concern so she’s not gonna think about it unless it comes up, but she probably has operatives out there searching. I think she probably would just to say “hey we caught one of your operatives stealing from our facility. If you want to collaborate on a mission we would be happy to work out the terms of such an endeavour and thought you should know what one of your agents is up to” EDIT: also Upgrade is mine and has been introduced

I just caught up reading so no haha. Im confused though. I’m not sure who you mean by “common” people but most people know the difference between provincial and federal governments. It’s like the state and the feds in the states.

@Hemalurgic Headshot I’m tagging you because I saw it in your post, but I’ve seen it elsewhere too. The Alberta’s Government was provincial, so they can’t really be called the “Feds” (which would be the federal government of Canada and probably don’t exist anymore). We probably need a different nickname for them.

What’s the idea? I’m gonna try catching up now

If you have some out of canon stuff I’d definitely be down to have it posted. @winter devotion I like how you set out your points. Interesting thoughts. I don’t 100% agree but totally understand where you are coming from and I liked reading it. On the point of teleporters and meta powers, I know originally we tried to keep meta powers limited (after we learned they existed because before that we just didn’t use them) and we tried to cut back on teleporters after Book 3 came out, but we already had a lot. I agree that teleportation and meta powers are fun, but I also think finding creative ways of working within the rules set by the books is part of the fun of these sorts of projects for me, so personally I kind of like limits. I definitely agree that the RP has managed to take the world in fun new directions not explored by the books and that is all kinds of fun.

@Drake Marshall - Just so you know, I'm not sure if you had a healing epic in mind or not for helping Taya, but Skinsaver's abilities should be able to help her out, and he's coming to Edmonton. It would also be a reason for our characters to bump into each other.

Thanks @ladymxdnight! And I love that point about Vin and Goradel!

Anyone want to make a minor epic who can do this?:

The tagging system might work good for that purpose. Helps a lot with searching too.

It was a good post and good to see some growth in Red. Calamity knows she needs it!

Glad to see the enthusiasm folks! Some quick clarifications: (1) I actually just spoke with BitBio - to avoid spamming and bumping old topics, I would prefer if people just PM @Voidus or I, or use the Report Feature to report if a thread is in the wrong place. This includes threads that may have been moved by mistake (moving 60+ threads, that is bound to have happened at least once). EDIT - You can also paste links to threads in this topic. That works too. (2) Thank the whole staff. I'm just carrying out the group decision. (3) Anyone who wants to be added as a leader can take it up with @Voidus. I think he just gave me a couple of names off the top of his head, so there wasn't any sort of formal selection. I think in the end I just wanted to choose somebody, so I wouldn't take 'leader' status as anything recognizing or ignoring an individuals contribution to the RP, just people who know what is going on who can answer questions.

It looked like Alleyverse to me. If it is not, please let me know, and I will move it back.

Due to its popularity, the longstanding social group and role play experience known as the "Alleyverse" now has it's own sub-forum. Check it out, and please post any Alleyverse related threads there going forward. Old threads will be moved over eventually, but due to the volume, it may take a little bit of time, so please bear with us. Enjoy

Hello All! Due to it's popularity, we are pleased to announce the Alleyverse now has its own sub-forum! Please post all Alleyverse related threads here. Bear with us as we move old threads over, and enjoy.

What am I doing here? Brandon looked out at the Oregonian refugees around him, making up stories in his head about where they came from, what their dreams were, and how they had all survived the absolute terror of what happened in Oregon. In his mind, his fellow survivors became political leaders with the ability to inspire crowds and lead in tough situations, soldiers with incredible determination and physical prowess, or scientific geniuses whose ideas represented small rays of hope shining into the darkness that was slowly consuming humanity. Only in Oregon's case, the destruction hadn't been slow at all. It made sense that the few people Brandon had come to know during and since his escape from Oregon had survived. Each of them had skills and gifts that supported a predisposition for survival in uncertain circumstances. Ian, the unofficial leader of Brandon's group, was survival skills expert and a travelling lorist, with a catalogue-like level of knowledge of Epics and their powers. Grant was unremarkable in a way that made him difficult to notice, allowing him to escape the attentions of epics. Despite his small stature and the fact he was well into middle age, Grant had proven himself to have an impressive level of endurance, and his casual demeanor had a way of putting people at ease, even when he was mocking them with his sharp wit. Brandon, on the other hand, had no survival skills, no knowledge of epics or their powers, no innate ability to fade into the background, and no natural ability to diffuse situations. What right did he have to still be drawing breath, and not only that, to be in relatively good circumstances, with competent allies on his way to a place of relative safety, when so many more worthy individuals were dead in the ground. "Don't feel guilty for being born lucky, B. So what if things come easier for you? That's not your fault. Just remember to pay it forward now and then, okay?" Brandon shook his head at the memory. I'm sorry Lewis. You should have made it here instead of me. Lewis, at least, would have known what to do. Brandon's last plan for survival had been to pretend to be in love with a maniacal epic shape-shifter and pop star, and he had barely escaped with his life. High cheekbones, a handsome jawline, pillow-like lips, and moderate acting abilities shouldn't have been enough to get Brandon to where he was today. And yet, here he was. "Hey B, come over here a minute," Brandon frowned at Ian's casual use of his old nickname, but kept quiet. Ian couldn't know what the name meant to him. Brandon stepped over, and took Ian's binoculars, easily finding Edmonton, or Olympia Polaris as it was now called, in the distance. "Finally. And it's still standing. After Calgary, I was growing worried." Ian took back the binoculars and replaced them in his pack. "I have a lorist friend there who should be able to put us up once we get into the city. As much as I love living in the roughs, it'll be good to have a shower and get clean again. And you, my friend, need a shave. Not so pretty now that your stubble is becoming a full fledged beard." Brandon stepped back, taking mock offence. "You're calling my beard bad, with that tangled mess on your face? How dare you sir!" "I'm a woodsman. This is my natural state. Something tells me that mug wouldn't be as welcome at fashion week as it normally would be." Brandon ran his hands over jaw. With Radiance, and then with Taylor, it had always been important that he kept up his appearance. Even before that, between auditions and dating, he'd never really let himself go like he had the last few months. It was partly freeing and partly terrifying. After being the "incredibly attractive guy" for so long, who was he if he didn't have a mug fit for a magazine? "Well, looks like the group is moving again. We still have a ways to go, and I want to split off early enough to choose a less visible entrance. According to my contact, Edmonton has done fairly well for itself, but it's still a dangerous place, especially in certain parts. Actually, before we get there, there's something I should tell y- . . . Hey Grant!" Ian turned, and Brandon found himself momentarily jealous to have Ian's attention divided, "You ready to go?" "Yup! Sorry, I was just finishing up with fixing your camera." Ian took the camera, and took a few practice shots. "Wow Grant! Your a lifesaver. Glad to have someone around who knows how to handle technology. I swear I'm cursed. You know," Ian paused, scrunching his brow slightly like he always did when thinking, "I actually think these pictures look better than they did before it was broken." Grant seemed to grow bashful for a moment. "I. . . uh. . . swapped out the lense. I had a couple spares kicking around in my bag and one of them fit." "Neat," Ian put the camera away, though it seemed to Brandon that he had wanted to say more. "Well guys, we've almost made. Let's see what Olympia Polaris has in store." ***** After trying, and failing, to participate in a conversation about mountain climbing with Ian and Grant, Brandon fell back a little. Before Calamity, and up until he had left Vancouver, Brandon's primary form of exercise had been the kind you did in a gym, and there was only so much interest he could fake in stories about climbing different mountains that all sounded the same. "Hi Brandon!" Brandon turned to see Charlene, another refugee, waving and hurrying to join him. Leila, one of Charlene's travelling companions, followed after, more hesitantly. "Oh, Hi Char. Ian says we are almost there. How's the walk?" "Oh, not bad. Well, actually, it's awful. My feet were killing me. Honestly, I thought heels were bad some days, but I'd take that kind of pain over this any day. Plus, my butt looked way cuter." Brandon laughed, but he couldn't help but notice how his reaction made Charlene's smile widen slightly. "I always forget. Things were pretty normal in Corvallis, weren't they?" Charlene shared a glance with Leila. There's something she's worried about telling me? While she was often silent, Leila seemed to be the unofficial leader of her and Charlene's group from Corvallis, much the same as Ian was for Brandon and Grant. The two women shared an almost uncanny resemblance, aside from Leila's lighter hair, and freckled complexion, but swore they were not related. "Pretty normal, yeah. I mean, I had an office job, which you don't find most places these days. But on the other hand, my boss was a flying, shining, dictator who could control the weather, so we had our share of excitement too." "Right, the 'Queen of Corvallis'. Rainbringer, or something like that, right? What ever happened to her?" "Rainmaker." Charlene glanced over at Leila again, as if asking for permission to continue. "It was all so chaotic at the end, I don't really know. I think she helped destroy the city in the end. Either the power finally got to her, or maybe, after all the insurrection she felt it was better to wipe away her mistakes. No one's really heard about her doing anything for the last year or so, so most people assume some other epic must have defeated her when everything went to hell at the end there." "Hey Zach," Leila broke her silence to call over her shoulder. Her tone was crisp and professional, and Brandon found himself involuntarily straightening his posture at the sound of her voice. "You want to join us? Drink some water, you look thirsty." Zach, who, with his carefully styled hair and hipster-style clothing looked almost as out of his element as Brandon felt, seemed to sigh as he slunk over. Though Brandon didn't know the group from Corvallis very well, it wasn't hard to tell that Zach was a kind of outcast. Brandon got the feeling that the guy didn't particularly like travelling with the others, and followed along more out of convenience more than anything else. "Anyways" Charlene continued, seemingly eager to recapture Brandon's attention. "You were in the Dalles when it fell, right? That must have been crazy." "Yeah, it really was. I actually came there hoping to get away from all the insanity, and thought a settlement controlled by regular people would be the place to do it. Thing was, I actually think it was crazier there than some of the epic-controlled cities I've been to. Epics might be driven to extremes, but regular people can be too, if the circumstances are right. . . or wrong, I guess." Leila returned the water she had shared with Zach to her bag, and straightened her glasses, frowning as she took in Brandon's words. She'd actually be kind of pretty, if she took off those glasses, let her hair down, and smiled a little. "Were there really epics who served the Vanillas. . . or, I guess the word is 'Maples' now that we are in Canada." "Yeah, kind of. They all had their own motives and objectives though. There was this telepath there, Reader, who would say the cruelest of things even to his superiors, just to show how indispensable he was. I think he would have been willing to burn the whole city to ground if it meant he could say "I told you I was the best" at the end. Some, like him, only served the government in the Dalles because it gave them positions of comfort and power. Some might have been more altruistic, but for the most part, they were all regular epics." Worrying he had been talking too much, Brandon decided to shift the focus of the conversation. "Ian was telling me that in Corvallis, you had an epic who could make people happy all the time. What was that like?" "Oh, nice enough, I guess." Charlene's response came short and clipped. Ian had described how it had felt realizing his memories and emotions had been tampered with after leaving Corvallis. Brandon guessed that Charlene must still be figuring out what she thought about it all, and wasn't quite ready to talk about it yet. "You guys excited to get to Olympia Polaris?" "I'm just looking forward to the chance to shower, honestly. And I hear the Albertan Government is still functioning, so maybe I can get a job with them? If not, we've heard that Epoch's area of the city is supposed to be fairly organized, so I might try to find something there. How about you?" "Ian says he has some lorist friend who we can stay with to start, and then I don't know." Brandon had grown almost, comfortable, travelling this last while with Ian and Grant. Thinking about what separate paths they would take once they were settled was one more terror to add to the list. "Ian is a lorist?" Leila seemed to perk up, her interest obviously piqued. "Kind of, I guess." Brandon felt panic rising in his chest. He hadn't realized that Ian being a lorist might be a secret. Had Ian told him to keep it quiet? Why couldn't he remember? "He's like a, sort of, field researcher, I guess? I don't think he knows much about the organization as a whole, but he does research and stuff, I think. What did you do back in Corvallis, Leila?" Leila, after expressing the closest thing to genuine emotion Brandon had seen from her, retreated back behind her mask. What is she hiding? "Office job. Same building as Char."

What's the idea for Peregrine? I'm working on a post he'll be in at the moment :).

I was just going to say, that's not too unusual where Red is concerned. Kind of her standard first impression lol.

Last Night (Will Change this once Time is Confirmed if Needed) Sapphire watched through binoculars as the two thieves fled Orbit's penthouse, and the bulbous epic crime lord rose above the building, searching for them. "Well, well, well," she said, turning to her two companions. "It seems like Orbit might be in need of our assistance, ladies." "Ooooooh, does that mean we get to do something fun?" Sangria's vapid expression shifted slightly, as some excitement began to take over. Sable rolled her eyes, but remained silent. "It means, we have a chance to get some influence with one of the players in this sorry excuse of a city. With Doubletake gone, there's a power vacuum, and someone is going to need to fill it. I have a decent amount of influence among her remaining followers, but acquiring Orbit's good graces should help to strengthen our position." Sangria cocked her head to the side, quizzically. "And then we'll rule over Doubletake's old area?" Sapphire smiled. "Then, we will finish Doubetake's work and assert our dominance over all of Olympia Polaris." Flames had started to spill out of the windows of Orbit's penthouse. Seeing her opportunity, Sapphire stepped forward, and reached out to the flames. The fires changed from orange to blue, becoming more intense for a moment. Then, Sapphire called the fire out of the penthouse. Vibrant blue flames spilled out of the windows, streaming towards her. Sensing she had removed the flames from the penthouse, Sapphire made a sharp gesture to either side. The blue flames flared out a flash explosion, and then vanished. Knowing she had Orbit's attention, Sapphire raised a hand wreathed in blue flame in salute. Then, taking out her mobile, she sent Orbit a text. You're welcome. If you are looking for allies to assist with this pesky problem, meet me at 1:00 PM tomorrow. Victoria Park Pavilion. "Get ready ladies, the game starts tonight."

I'd like to repeat my time question, as I think we have a slight synchronization issue. In Orbit's scene, it seems to be night, whereas the rest of the RP seems to be occuring during the day. This is easily fixed by adding a "Last Night" tag to Orbit's post ( @Bladestorm ), but we should probably confirm what time of day it is going forward and keep track of it.

The Alberta government aren't epics, but would definitely have agreed - they like epics to be neutral.

Rachel watched the video feed with a critical eye, observing as the cameras in a certain area were knocked out one by one. "You're sure he's a Circle of the Shield Agent, and not an impostor Dr. Moore?" "He had the insignia, and he seemed to know what he's talking about. As I said, it isn't unexpected that the Circle has sent someone for Karabiner." Rachel sat back, trying to think things through. Of course Margaret would be meddling. The woman couldn't keep her fingers out of anything. Why does it still feel like I'm juggling with only one arm? "Where are they now?" "My guards are searching all wings, but based on the missing footage, we believe is is in Storage Zone B, the low security zone." "Anything of value we should be worried about?" "There might be a few faulty motivators or linked items that seem to have lost their charge. We are checking on our high security storage, and those locks seem to be intact." Rachel turned to look at her desk, where mountains of reports and paperwork awaited her. She wished she could designate someone to handle things for her, but knowing the Circle of the Shield was looking into things made her nervous. This would need to be handled delicately if she wanted things to work out to the Government's advantage. "Let them run their course for now. But keep an eye on his pet epic. Have him run through are system, and see if we can turn up a name. When you get a chance, arrest the agent, and give me a call, and try to get rid of the epic. I would like to speak with him personally" Rachel nodded, and the secure line was disconnected. "All right Louise, let's get some of this out of the way before the next call comes in."

Also do we know what time of day we are starting? We should probably clarify that to time the dreamstorm properly.

@Hemalurgic Headshot and @winter devotion how do you feel about your duo being arrested? I feel like that’s where this is heading atm with the whole trespassing thing. After work I can post with Rachel being notified and giving the order.

I’m thinking it might be fun to have Sapphire and Co. try to get in with Orbit, maybe offer to clean up some messes for him? What do you think @Bladestorm?