Monday 23th, March 2019 -
Return of the First Born
Carter spent his nineteenth birthday being tortured. For almost four months Carter had been a prisoner in some nameless hell. A place where people went to be forgotten by the world. There tortures were inflicted upon him. His body torn and his mind pulled apart by curious scientists trying to figure out what Imperator had done to the children born under his reign to make them different. A month ago the prison was assaulted. One of his saviors was a twelve year old girl with freckles and blonde pigtails. She wore a flak jacket and carried a sword and submachinegun. The girl should have been playing video games and gossiping about cute boys with her friends. Not conducting commando raids on illegal black sites. Before Carter could thank her, the back of her head exploded as a high velocity metal slug blasted through her. Not many of her compatriots survived, and both rescuers and escaping prisoners made a hasty retreat that Carter got lost in.
Carter climbed his way out of one hell and into another. The place he had been held was located somewhere in the Under City. It wasn't the budding underground metropolis Imperator's people were steadily building. Not any more. It had turned into a lightless maze of collapsed tunnels and unstable architecture. There were toxic smells in some areas. Poisonous. There were bodies that showed signs of radiation poisoning in other areas. The damage done by the war had wounded this place deeply. Many areas were unsafe and there was no warning. Then there was the human element. Tunnels that appeared safe were littered with traps and stalked by cannibalistic gangs of murderers. Madness reigned in the Under City.
There were communities still in the Under City though. Downtrodden and destitute, but they were surviving. People from one such group pointed Carter to the hospital where he found Dr. Sokolov operating out of. No longer 'Praetor' Sokolov. The past week Carter had spent recovering from his ordeal and beginning the process of acclimating to the state of affairs in the world. Imperator was gone, presumed dead. The war had been lost. Hadron City was a battered and beaten city, now occupied by a mercenary force. There was some kind of disease in the wider world, that turned people into monsters. It felt like everything was on a downward spiral the day Imperator disappeared. As though he had somehow been holding the world, everything, together.
Now Carter stood in a laboratory out of a science fiction story. It was like a glimpse into a distant future. Everything was clean and smooth with rounded edges. Nothing had visible moving parts. Tables had holographic screens and interfaces on them in place of physical computers.
Seated atop one such table, with her legs dangling over the edge, was an Asian teenage girl. Her feet were adorned in scuffed up and well worn combat boots. Demin jeans with nicks and tears covered her lower body. Over her flat chest was a black t-shirt with 'Nerf This!' printed in pink italic font, and a cut up and battered black leather jacket was worn over it. She had high, sharp, cheek bones, and angular eyes, but the rest of her facial features were rounded, though the edges were accented with make up. His lips were painted black and there was some heavy black liner around her eyes. The girl's black hair had pale blue highlights, it was cut shot and had jagged uneven edges to it. Her lips were curved downward into a frown and she had an angry look about her.
Dr. Sokolov was there as well. Standing at the center of the room, with his hand weaving through air as though conducting an orchestral performance. He was working at some task in augmented reality. AR, a digital world of interactivity overlaid atop the physical, had been common place in Hadron City before the war. Now it was largely inaccessible. The former Praetor, despite his accomplishments and abilities, looked rather unassuming. He looked very much the average Caucasian male. Moderate height and weight. Middle aged. Brown hair. He wore a pair of black horn rimmed glasses. Behind which were steely grey eyes that had an intensity them that could make a person question the otherwise mundane appearance of the man. Gray slacks, a white button down shirt, and a white lab coat were the dominate features of his attire.
This was the second meeting Carter had with Dr. Sokolov since arriving. The first was the day he arrived. The doctor had been working then as well. Today Carter had been given a packet with his new, falsified, identification which would allow him to move about the city without undue scrutiny, so long as he did not draw attention to himself. The packet also had keys to a storage locker in the city that held his vehicles. It was paid for until the end of the month. While Carter sorted through these things Dr. Sokolov was speaking. He had just finished briefing the young man on the operation in Ward 3 being lead by Diego Gonzalez and Iona, and expressed his desire that Carter lend his aid to them.
"
I need someone to look out for Iona. She's brilliant, but my creation is only a month old, and I did not have time to groom her properly before she was needed outside the lab. She has started to refuse my orders and has become prone to ... excessive empathy. Which has compromised her judgement."
Dr. Sokolov spoke of this 'excessive empathy' with a note of distaste in his voice. Though he worked as some invisible task while speaking, he did not sound distracted or unfocused.
"
Separately, I have taken measures to guide the group towards an old project of mine which I would like to retain sole ownership of: Viridi Mater, an algae meant to provide an abundance of food. When they learn of it, encourage them to pursue it's recovery. If you are able to convince them of the merit of delivering it to me, or should they fail to retrieve it and the biotechnology find it's way into my care without their knowing, I will be appreciative. "
OOC wrote:In our PM discussion I said the oldest First Generation would be 18, that is incorrect. I forgot we had advanced to 2019 in game. So he'd be 19.
During the briefing you can assume that Carter is up to date on the basics of the PC's operation and who they are. Though details (such as the abilities and backgrounds) would not be covered. Diego is an Ascendant, a transhuman being, and Iona is an android. John wouldn't be covered as he has only been around for one day at this point. Base and mission details wouldn't be covered.
Dr. Sokolov is also giving Carter an optional mission: deliver the Viridi Mater to him. If John manages to do so, he and Iona (collectively) will gain 1 Favor with Dr. Sokolov.
) and Carter, being one of the eldest, would've felt it the most keenly...