I Also Love Where This Thread Is Going
I need three or four volunteers for something similar to Mario's thread in the main forum, something set in modern times that I will reveal once we get started.
Please <I>nput your name and your profession, or let the <C>omputer decide for you. Nothing unrealistic, regular ol' run of the mill jobs that one might have in the city.
Anyone past the fourth person will be kept in consideration if things take a turn later... hee hee.
Please <I>nput your name and your profession, or let the <C>omputer decide for you. Nothing unrealistic, regular ol' run of the mill jobs that one might have in the city.
Anyone past the fourth person will be kept in consideration if things take a turn later... hee hee.
Comments
Hopefully I'll cause some sort of glitch by double and triple commanding, and end up with superpowers.
But seriously, I'll let the <C> choose my profession.
Name: Mario
Profession: High school science ("SCIENCE!"?) teacher
Name: illithid235
Profession: Owner of a moderately successful comic book and tabletop RPG store.
<I>nputing
Name: Amoeba Boy
Profession: Lowly lab intern
Profession: Cosmetology School Instructor
Name: rightclickscott ("RC" Scott, ReallyCleanSocks)
Profession: Low Budget Film Director
<I>nput Name: Matt
Profession: CompSci major at the local college / part time worker of various jobs (I'll let the computer choose this)
Profession: Prime Minister of the UK
Name: Geoko
Blood Type: A-
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Occupation: Illusionist Extraordinaire! (they're not magic tricks, they're illusions.)
Currently hiring for a sexy assistant. (paul?)
((PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS GONNA BE A ZOMBIE GAME!!!!))
Name: Palko
Blood Type: whisky
Race: Mountain Man
Gender: Male
Class: Boozemage
Occupation: drinker/treasure hunter
Name: Garnet
Profession: Antique Dealer
I figured somebody might need to know how operate old things and determine their value for a quick profit.
Edit: If the computer doesn't like my profession since the game's set in modern times, I'll go with Marathon Runner instead. Please let me know when the time comes.
Name: James
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Occupation: MMO gold/item farmer and power leveler.
The strange foreign men who stumbled out of shipping containers and off of cargo holds all over the country, looking deathly ill and begging for asylum were all rushed to local hospitals under quarantine, no one the wiser of their true condition.
One after another, within hours of each other, the foreign men died and were carted away to the morgues and autopsy labs. They say a nurse pushing a gurney carrying one of them was the first to get bitten, the first of many to contract the disease.
Before anyone knew what was going on, the condition spread like wildfire through most of the major US cities. Riots broke out, fires, looting, unthinkable acts. Martial law was declared but it did little to stem the tide of violence and chaos. Most of the military sent in was decimated in hours due to the double blow of bad intelligence and unpredictable rioters. The rest bunkered down to protect the government.
We were pretty much on our own within four days. The following day was the day the cable went out, the internet too, and the phones.
All we still seem to have is water and power.
Wahahahahahaha, you guys get a bonus.
Ok, here we go:
Day One, Morning
It's been a week since everything started, the four of us are still holed up in the apartment. The howls and groans are horrifying, cars and bodies are burning in the street, and yesterday a truck slammed into the front entrance of the building, blocking it off completely.
Welcome to Crisis Arms, a twelve story apartment building smack in the middle of the metro area. This is our three-room apartment on the corner of the 12th floor (#1207), the door has been locked and the sofa pushed up against it for nearly a week.
We're running out of food, thank god the water and power's still on, but who knows how long that'll last.
The thing is, we all know what's going on, but no one's said it yet...
We are:
- Hlavco: Graphic Artist (Intern)
- Takeru: Auto Mechanic (Apprentice)
- Mario: High School Science Teacher (Teacher's Assistant)
- Stephanie: Cosmetology School Instructor (Bumped because we needed a girl, so there -Jeff)
Last night you all sat down and decided it was time to get out into the apartment building and search for food, useful items, and survivors. It's still a madhouse outside, none of you dare to leave the building, and even if you wanted to, the main entrance is blocked off by a truck, the lowest window is on the second floor, and the fire escape is broken off below the third floor.
Your knowledge of the apartment building is limited,.having lived there less than a month, you know the building is ten stories high with eight apartments a floor, save the ground level that has none (aside from the leasing office), and the fifth floor where an apartment is taken up by the maintenance office and custodial storage is on the fifth floor, the leasing office is off the lobby on the first floor. There's also a basement.
(Apartment numbers go from 201-208...1201-1208, leasing office is 100, maintenance office is 504)
The stairwell is solid and the doors are heavy and latch shut (they don't lock though).
The only other tenant you're familiar with is Mr. Harmon in 807, a war veteran who always offers you a beer if he shares the elevator with you. He seems a bit shell-shocked, but is fairly cordial. You think he might own a gun.
There are no sounds from the 12th floor corridor, taking a careful glance out, one of you notices half the lights are out, all the doors are closed (presumably locked) and there are blood stains on the wall (but no bodies).
The following things of import are in the apartment (aside from general apartmenty things:
- 3 days worth of food (perishable)
- 1 gallon container of water.
- Hairdresser's kit
- SCIENCE! brand chemistry set
- Adjustable Spanner
- Swiss Army Knife
Notably absent is duct tape and rope. No radio either. Or Alcohol. The rest of Tak's tools are in his truck in the parking garage a few blocks away.
The only weapon you could scrounge is a large knife from the kitchen, but it's not very big and very dull. Maybe if you had a way of sharpening it... Or something in the apartment you could jury-rig into a weapon.
Power: ON
Water: ON
Elevator: ON
Cable: OFF
The following Actions are available to everyone, if multiple people pick the same option, they can go together (the buddy system is important!):
<U>se something in the apartment to some useful end, please be sure to elaborate.
<S>earch floor <#> for unlocked apartments and items. Without some way to open locked doors, locked apartments are off limits.
Check on Mr. <H>armon in 807. Maybe he's still around and has some booze handy, god knows you could use a drink. You'll also search the 8th floor.
Go to the <R>oof.
Go to the <L>obby.
<DR>ink UNAVAILABLE
No person-specific options are available at this time. Please state what items you will be carrying each time you leave the apartment. Items I didn't list may be available in the apartment.
You undo the chain on the door...
Name: Deku
Profession: Semi-successful novelist
((EDIT: Career change!))
I silently wish the professor was here. He was always able to explain away the unknown with a perfectly rational scientific explanation. I think he lives across town somewhere, but I don't recall where.
We couldn't be in much worse of a place than the top floor of this building. Well, unless we went to the roof, like Hlavco just did. No way I'm going to trap myself up there if the terrorists knock down our front door.
For a moment I think of that Harmon guy on the eighth floor, but I worry that his already, shall we say "eccentric" mannerisms are only going to be exacerbated in a time of war. I remember that there's a maintenance office somewhere on the fifth floor; I thought I remembered seeing the janitor carrying a radio around once. I decide to go <S> earch floor <5> for useful tidbits, but I definitely shouldn't go unarmed.
The chemistry kit, though it has always served me well during lessons in the classroom, is not going to be terribly convenient to wield outside of the apartment. I'll come back for it if the need ever arises. I go to the kitchen and fetch one of the emergency flashlights, telling the other tenants about my plan to check the fifth floor, in case anyone wants to come along. While no one's looking, I quietly slip the Swiss Army knife into my back jeans pocket and make my way to the stairwell (with the lights in only a partial state of functionality, I worry about the building losing power, and I definitely don't wanna be stuck in an elevator car right now).
((Oh, come on, two directors? )=))
Of course, Scott found himself holed up in his apartment, #704. He had all of the equipment, the cameras, the editing computer, and the props still in his appartment from the last short film they made. Unfortunately, with the cable out, he wasn't able to upload that video onto the internet, only because of the cable modem he had. Damn Comcast, their equipment is not zombie proof! Ah well.
For the last 4 days, he found himself recording footage of the zombies shuffling about outside the apartment from the roof, and through the windows. If he was going to get out of this, he was going to make plenty of money out of it! He didn't dare go out into the streets just yet. After all, he had seen enough Zombie movies to know what was going on. Not to mention, he did make "Z-Day, The Undead Roam," another short film about the topic at hand.
He didn't dare call the rest of his team, either. After all, he couldn't live knowing the Abby, Chad, Bryan, and everyone else was dead, er, undead. Once his documentary was done, a nice, small dedication would be made for them, and then he'd get a new team!
Ah well, it seemed like it was finally time for him to take some more footage. So, he threw on a snazzy suit jacket, and picked up his hi8 camera with a nifty 100x zoom for situations like this, and a tripod to keep it up. After that, he unlocked his door, and headed for the elevator. Next stop, the <r>oof.
<I>nput
Name: Professor MacJake
Profession: Professor at City University
The Wilbur Whately Distinguished Service Professor of Comparative Alchemy and Forensic Theology
Chair, Department of Occultology and Metaphysical Philosophy
EDIT:...or, if this violates the "unrealistic" quality, then I'll let the <c> decide what my cocentration is. I did enjoy making this one up, though.
I think part of the thing that killed Mario's thread was that he had so much to keep track of.))
Day One, Morning
Stef, Mario and Hlavco creep out of apartment, leaving Tak behind to guard the place. He promply puts the chain on the door, but leaves it cracked open.
Hlavco finds the stairs to the roof access and ascends them. The door to the roof sticks, but with a good push it swings open and the way is clear.
It is an overcast day, the sun is obscured by gray clouds. The wind is blowing. Sounds waft up from the street now and then. There are piles of rubbish lying around in the corners of the roof, as well as what looks to be a small greenhouse. The door to the greenhouse is closed, and the silhouette of plants can be seen through the opaque plastic walls. The fire escape peeks over the south side of the building.
Stef searches the 12th floor, she finds the following:
A Blood stain on the wall, looks dried.
Rooms 1201-1205 are all locked, as is 1208. 1206 is unlocked, but only swings open an inch or two as the chain is set. (You might want to keep track of this independently of me, but I'll have it all written down.)
There is a WELCOME mat on the ground in front of 1202.
The window at the end of the hall is broken, a breeze drifts in that smells of ash. A single largish glass shard remains in the window frame with a bit of blood on it. The rest of the glass seems to have been busted outside.
There is a radiator on the wall, it looks to be broken.
Mario heads for the stairs and heads downward to the fifth floor. After a few minutes he comes to a door labeled "5" and pushes it open. The fifth floor is dark, one light on the ceiling remains flickering and the window seems to be obscured. Gingerly, he looks around.
The smell is awful, the walls look to be coated in blood. It glimmers in the flickering light. Making a beeline for the maintenance office (504), Mario rattles the handle. Locked, it's never that easy, is it?
Suddenly, a guttural groan from the darkness makes Mario start. One of the apartment doors (502) down the hall lie open and a low moan emanates from it. All the other doors are locked, but the sound from the open door has interrupted searching for objects.
Scott passes Mario going up the building in the elevator. Hitting the top floor, he strolls out and up the stairs to the roof, somehow both not noticing Stef and avoiding her attention as well. He opens the door and sees Hlavco looking off into the distance, unaware of his presence.
Current Actions
Hlavco:
Investigate the <G>reenhouse.
Search through the <R>ubbish.
Check out the <F>ire Escape.
Stef:
Look out the <W>indow.
<I>nspect radiator.
Look at <B>lood stain.
Mario:
Investigate room <502>.
<S>earch for items.
Scott:
(In addition to Hlavco's options)
Take a <P>icture.
Approach <Hlavco>.
Tak:
Nothing specific.
Global Commands: (Available to all, certain commands will abandon current actions to fulfill, some may be unavailable considering current situations):
Return to the <A>partment.
<T>ake <ITEM> (please define, if available)
<U>se <ITEM> to some useful end, please be sure to elaborate fully.
<S>earch floor <#> for unlocked apartments and items.
Check on Mr. <H>armon in 807.
Go to the <R>oof.
Go to the <L>obby.
<DR>ink STILL UNAVAILABLE.
Current status:
No change, everyone's ok.
I nearly drop my flashlight in surprise at the sound of the groan down the hall.
"Hello?" I call out to the unknown occupant of Apartment <502>. "Is someone there?"
I hear no reply I can recognize as human speech. Perhaps someone has been injured? That might explain all the blood. Perhaps the enemy has infiltrated the building! In that case, there might be a way out. I walk up to the door and slowly push it open with one hand, shining the flashlight into the dark room with the other. "Are you all right? Do you need medical assistance?"
I feel kinda dumb asking a question like that. I'm no doctor, and wouldn't know what to do for anything beyond the most minor of injuries, but it seemed like the right thing to say. I hold my position at the doorway awaiting a reply, ready to run at the first sign of trouble.
God, <i>Just</i> my luck to get marooned in this crap building with what-- a welcome mat? A radiator? Well hell, as long as I'm here I might as well <i>nspect the radiator. Nothing better to do.
Hlavco steps into the greenhouse before Scott can do anything. There are a few small beds of plants that you don't recognize, along with a few vegetables. Aside from the unfamiliar plants it doesn't seem that there's more than a day or two worth of food here, but it's something. Something looks freshly buried in the dirt by the unfamiliar plants.
Furthermore,
There is a watering can and some fertilizer in a corner on the ground.
There is a severed human arm in the opposite corner in a small pool of blood.
There is a length of hose coiled on a hook above the watering can.
There is a pair of plant clippers on top of one of the beds.
Mario steps into room 502 and shines the flashlight around. The lights are off but a small glow emanates from static on the television. The smell is almost unbearable.
A ragged woman is crouched over the prone body of a man. Her shoulders are drooped and bony, the dress hanging loosely off of her is ragged and torn.
She slowly turns to face towards the door. A scrap of flesh hangs from her mouth. She begins to stand, bones creaking, turning towards Mario. Her eyes are glazed and pale. The handle of a knife is sticking out of her chest, around where the heart should be.
Mario is FRIGHTENED.
Stef inspects the radiator. It's not even connected, it's only sitting next to the wall! It seems someone cut the pipe next to the emergency shut-off valve (which is obviously closed).
The cut pipe runs about three feet across under the radiator to where it connects to a large nut. The cut end looks sharp.
Nothing else is of note.
Takeru takes the elevator down to the 8th floor. As he steps out he nearly retches. There are at least six corpses strewn about the hallway, many with bullet wounds. Covering his nose, he carefully steps over the bodies and goes straight for room 807.
Harmon's door is notable as it's the only one on the floor made of reinforced steel. Tak knocks and a gruff voice, muffled by the wall, shouts.
"Who the hell is it?"
Tak responds. A series of clicks is heard from inside and the door flies open.
"For god's sake boy, what are you doing wandering around!" Harmon grabs Tak by the shoulders and pulls him into the apartment, gun cocked.
Harmon looks Tak over and lowers his pistol.
"Alright... what do you want, kid?"
Harmon's apartment is... a little bit scary. Trophy heads of animals are mounted on the walls, a display case on one wall showcases various trinkets and medals from his time in 'Nam.
There are a lot of items here, at a very quick glance you see the following items of note:
There is a huge gun case in the corner with a difficult looking lock on it.
There is a HAM Radio on the coffee table spitting out static, along with a box of bullets.
There is an open, half-empty fifth of gin sitting on the chair next to Harmon's recliner.
((Bear with me, I'm still figuring out these action things.))
Character Actions:
Hlavco:
Check out the<M>ound of dirt.
Look at the <P>lants in greater detail.
Mario:
<R>un.
<H>old your ground.
Stef:
Same as before.
Tak:
<C>hat with Harmon.
Ask for a <DR>ink.
Scott:
Same as before.
Global Commands: (Available to all, certain commands will abandon current actions to fulfill, some may be unavailable considering current situations):
Return to the <A>partment.
<T>ake <ITEM(s)> (please define, if available)
<L>ook at <OBJECT>.
<U>se <ITEM> to some useful end, please be sure to elaborate fully.
<S>earch Floor/Room <#>.
Go to the <R>oof.
Go to the <L>obby.
<DR>ink. GOOD LUCK.
((Don't forget about <ITEM> commands! I'm not going to hold your hand with that stuff, there'll be too much for me to think of each time, and I want some sense of puzzle solving, yaknow?
LATERAL THINKING, yes?))
Current Status:
Hlavco: OK
Mario: FRIGHTENED
Stef: OK
Tak: OK
Scott: OK
Crisis Arms Status:
Power: ON
Water: ON
Elevator: ON
Cable: OFF
"Hey, Harmon, I'm gonna need some defense if I'm gonna go out again, think you could spare a gun or two?"
((Oops...didn't see that. I'll change mine, then.))