Hey guys. You may know me around as an avid roleplayer, and I manage a roleplay thread myself called Viral Beasts. I thought I'd add a lot more back story to it, but too much to fit into the OP. So, I thought I would create a separate thread, and write it up from there. However, there are a couple things I'd like to go over first.
First of all, yes, this is fan art. Early on there aren't very many minecraft elements, but they appear more and more early on.
Secondly, this is going to be the first draft as I write it out. There will probably be many grammar mistakes, but don't rag on me about it.
Finally, the prologue will be a bit of a 'flash forward' for the roleplay, explaining a bit of my character discovered how the virus started.
Thanks, and I hope you enjoy the read.
Prologue
So, the world is finally back on track. A safe haven has been established, and we've found a cure for the virus. Most animals are back to their old, harmless selves. Everyone made it out alive. We're building the world anew, making it good again. Less death, less injuries. People are actually smiling now. Now that our adventure is at an end, I couldn't help but wonder how the outbreak had happened. How I, Lester, led a group to rebuild the earth.
You see, a man came to me the other day. He told me he was one of the scientists that worked on the virus, as he was kidnapped. He said he recognized me. I looked at him oddly. He seemed malnourished, and tired. He was tall and thin, with short gray hair and a closely shaved beard. I was surprised. Things like this didn't happen everyday, and I asked him to describe. Instead, he handed me a small journal, wrapped in leather. All the notes about the Virus, all the notes about the terrorists who wanted to make it... And all the notes about the other scientists. I took the book gladly, and I shook the mans hand. He walked away slowly.
The next time I saw him, he was a mangled body. He jumped off the top of a building, leaving a single note saying that he couldn't live with the guilt, and he could finally let the guilt off in death, and leaving his story in another mans hands. That person, I guess, would be me.
So I'm sitting in my torn up living room, with a couple people from the original group. My dearest friends. Together we'll read this. Damn, I just hope one of the creepers don't come walking in now. I'm joking, of course. Our city is perfectly secure.
My group of friends sat around, coffee in hand, I opened the book. We were surprised at how well kept it was, as well as the quality of the hand writing. Thus, we wasted even more time by discussing why this man had such fancy style. To be honest, I think we were all scared to open it. I decided to be the one who sucked it up, and opened up the first page past the introduction.
I flipped through the book. There were lots of torn pages, probably from this mans everyday life he didn't need anybody to know. Laying in front of him, was the first entry. I laid back, and began to read.
Entry One
I'm... Surprised, to say the least. The brainwashing procedures didn't work on me. I managed to make through the abductions while perfectly retaining my memories. I'm old and frail, so I think they went easier on me. Perhaps I can snap some other fellow scientists out of it, and perhaps we can escape. But knowing these men, they are ruthless terrorists and wouldn't let us go anywhere. I should probably stay low, and do my job as told until I find a way to escape, or cause a ruse.
They want us to develop a virus of sorts, that would affect the brain cells of lesser-developed creatures. So, humans should be safe from it, but most animals would mutate horrendously. The only other animal that would have a chance of being able to survive this virus would be dolphins, as they have the second highest intelligence in the animal kingdom, only lower than humans themselves. Their brain should be able to resist the mutating virus.
Now, it seems they chose some highly-acclaimed scientist, including myself, for this job. Most of us are biologists, but others, like me, are physicists. Perhaps they think we can capture new ideas and think of a quicker way to warp the beasts bodies? Quite frankly, I don't know. I am going to have to ask around. I'll just have to act clueless instead of suspicious.
These terrorists are brutal. I ask them one question, and they beat me and tell me to get back to work. Perhaps I will have to cause a rise sooner than later. Either that, or just keep my mouth shut and work. I just hope this virus doesn't get released. It could be devastating to civilizations.
I've decided to take in the location instead of just rambling on and getting myself hurt. It seems to be an oddly clean laboratory, with certain subsections. I find myself in the dubbed 'brainstorming room' where I do all my calculations and thinking. A couple of other physicists joke around, throwing an idea around if humans got infected. One person joked they would run around, hugging people, and would explode.
These people are sick. Perhaps it is just the brainwashing, but the idea of creating living bombs is just disturbing to me.
Entry Two
It is quite clear at this point that I am the only sane, non-brainwashed one here. Some of the other men are affected more than others, almost acting like terrorists. However, most are just quiet and stick to their jobs. I pretend to be the latter, to blend in more. However, I think I am doing my job too well, as one of the terrorists have taken me in to question me about what I've been doing. They liked one of my ideas, and wanted me to elaborate on it. They liked my idea of making animals gain traits instead of just getting larger and stronger, such as venom and skin with enhanced toughness. I slowly agreed, hating myself. I didn't want these bastards to get away with their plan.
I slowed my work rate down, telling them I was exhausted and it was hard to wrap my head around this new topic I had to deal with. My excuse worked well, and I was able to practically sit back in my 'office' and think about ways to escape. I try not to loaf around too much, because of rumors that have been going around.
One of the louder, more obnoxious biologists snapped earlier today, and the terrorists took him away. Much later in the day, we all heard gunshots. Rumor has it is that they are killing people who are unco-operative. It's troublesome, so I'll have to stay on my toes. I just hope they keep following my bluff. If not, I'm as good as dead.
It's late now, and the terrorists are doing their rounds. I should get some sleep. I didn't sleep at all last night, I was far too worried about my family, my friends, and the overall fate of the world.
Entry Three
There's a new scientist in the group. A biologist. A marine biologist, if you need to get even more specific. He seems tense, and confused. I think he wasn't affected by the brainwashing, but, like me, was trying to hide it. It seemed he was terrible at it, though. He was constantly shaking.
I approached him the other day, sending him a small note with a 'translator' on it, too write a quick secret notes to each other. He looked at me and nodded. We were the only two sane people in this building, it would seem. I just hope nobody catches us.
It turns out his name is Lester Johnson. He's a university teacher, and doesn't know how he got here, just that he woke up on a chair with people beating him, and attempting to brainwash him. I introduced myself as Casey English. He says he's worried about his family and simply wants them safe, but he doesn't know if they will be if he tries to escape. He's almost thinking about giving up, and handing himself in, but I'm heavily against that. I'm sure we can make it out of this.
Present Day
Lester looked towards Kane* with a raised eyebrow, and then towards the group. He shrugged slightly, but was curious.
"I didn't even remember this. Maybe it was another man named Lester... Who is a marine biologist... Who works at a university." He bit his lip, that was extremely unlikely.
Kane sipped his coffee, and adjusted his glasses. He seemed unfazed, but it was probably he was just covering his thoughts.
Markus* rose to his feet, however. "That's some different **** there, eh? Who knew Lester was an evil mastermind." He chuckled slightly, but dismissed it. "I kid, of course."
Lester shrugged, and re-opened the book to where it was previously. He re-read the page, making sure he didn't misread or miss anything. He didn't. "Huh," He mumbled. "Curious." It was really strange, how his memory was so clean stitched together that there weren't any gaps. It's as if it never happened. Maybe this whole damn journal was a fake, but he didn't want to take the change. He sighed, and leaned back.
"So, how the hell are we going to figure out if this is true or not? The guy is dead now, after all." He asked the group. Everyone just shrugged.
Entry Four
This Lester man has his own dreams of the future, the exact opposite of what the terrorists want. A 'virus' that does more good than harm. A virus that would make all animals ignore humans, and allows for easier hunting and less attacks. Problems would arise with that plan, though. House pets would be unobtainable. Instead, he started thinking of a virus that would tamper their mind to make all pets tameable. Of course, a lot of pets would have to be restricted, as they could be used as weapons or accidents could simply arise. He has these plans stored away at home, and only wished he could work on it.
It's strange, me and him have a lot in common. We are of two completely different fields of expertise, and I am quite older than him, but we have the same mindset on fixing problems for the greater good, and we both hate ourselves for even thinking about helping. Perhaps our strong views are what prevented us from being brainwashed? I wouldn't be surprised. A determined mind is hard to brainwash, as they are hard to distract from their goal. Basic psychology, I suppose.
Dear lord, something terrible has happened today.
Lester and I were working with the virus, when a terrorist walked in, his face burning. He started tearing up, and his skin changed colors. A scientist behind him was looking on horror, with a broken vial on the floor in front of him. All of us were wearing bright yellow radiation suits, but the terrorist wasn't. The prototype disease had mutated him, changed him - into something monstrous. It was terrible! The disease wasn't supposed to target humans. But... What happened next, I think, will encourage the terrorists to keep developing that one scientists prototype.
The man - or, what was left of a man, had lost his arms. Well, I wouldn't say that. It seemed like his skin melted, dropping his arms down beside his legs. He was a hominid, four legged, freak. He dove to the other terrorist beside him, and...
I can't bring myself to write it. The blood was everywhere, the panic was terrible, and the hole in the building let the snow in. Well, I guess that explains our situation. We were somewhere in the arctic, presumably. That made escape much harder, as the conditions were terrible and civilization was far away. I'm starting to lose hope - but Lester seems unfazed, or maybe even more determined. To him, the death of the terrorist meant one less terrorist in the way. His escape would happen, or he said he would throw every prototype in the room on the floor, ruining all progress and getting himself killed.
Mmmm. Short. It's fairly hard to get long chapters out with this set-up. I don't plan on it being very long, but just to clear up some possible confusion with the RP.
Mmmm. Short. It's fairly hard to get long chapters out with this set-up. I don't plan on it being very long, but just to clear up some possible confusion with the RP.
To the players? Or it's like a story which tells of what's going on for guests?
Yes, he is. I'm trying to confirm with people as I encounter them in OOC if they know 100% if they'll be sticking around. I do plan on using names later on the story. :wink.gif:
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Pretty good. Definitively interesting read. One little thing though.. And I know it's something that would be changed if it happened but... " We all made it out alive. " Well.. that remains to be seen, hah.
Showed up after the trailer, but wouldn't mind being one of the characters in the after story. Whether I'm just referenced or with the group gathered around Lester. I can assure you I won't be dropping out of the RP. Infact, RPs usually die before I ever leave.
But yeah, like I said. Great read. One of the few stories here I've actually taken the time to read. Will continue to do so as you add to it.
Hey guys. You may know me around as an avid roleplayer, and I manage a roleplay thread myself called Viral Beasts. I thought I'd add a lot more back story to it, but too much to fit into the OP. So, I thought I would create a separate thread, and write it up from there. However, there are a couple things I'd like to go over first.
First of all, yes, this is fan art. Early on there aren't very many minecraft elements, but they appear more and more early on.
Secondly, this is going to be the first draft as I write it out. There will probably be many grammar mistakes, but don't rag on me about it.
Finally, the prologue will be a bit of a 'flash forward' for the roleplay, explaining a bit of my character discovered how the virus started.
Thanks, and I hope you enjoy the read.
So, the world is finally back on track. A safe haven has been established, and we've found a cure for the virus. Most animals are back to their old, harmless selves. Everyone made it out alive. We're building the world anew, making it good again. Less death, less injuries. People are actually smiling now. Now that our adventure is at an end, I couldn't help but wonder how the outbreak had happened. How I, Lester, led a group to rebuild the earth.
You see, a man came to me the other day. He told me he was one of the scientists that worked on the virus, as he was kidnapped. He said he recognized me. I looked at him oddly. He seemed malnourished, and tired. He was tall and thin, with short gray hair and a closely shaved beard. I was surprised. Things like this didn't happen everyday, and I asked him to describe. Instead, he handed me a small journal, wrapped in leather. All the notes about the Virus, all the notes about the terrorists who wanted to make it... And all the notes about the other scientists. I took the book gladly, and I shook the mans hand. He walked away slowly.
The next time I saw him, he was a mangled body. He jumped off the top of a building, leaving a single note saying that he couldn't live with the guilt, and he could finally let the guilt off in death, and leaving his story in another mans hands. That person, I guess, would be me.
So I'm sitting in my torn up living room, with a couple people from the original group. My dearest friends. Together we'll read this. Damn, I just hope one of the creepers don't come walking in now. I'm joking, of course. Our city is perfectly secure.
My group of friends sat around, coffee in hand, I opened the book. We were surprised at how well kept it was, as well as the quality of the hand writing. Thus, we wasted even more time by discussing why this man had such fancy style. To be honest, I think we were all scared to open it. I decided to be the one who sucked it up, and opened up the first page past the introduction.
I flipped through the book. There were lots of torn pages, probably from this mans everyday life he didn't need anybody to know. Laying in front of him, was the first entry. I laid back, and began to read.
I'm... Surprised, to say the least. The brainwashing procedures didn't work on me. I managed to make through the abductions while perfectly retaining my memories. I'm old and frail, so I think they went easier on me. Perhaps I can snap some other fellow scientists out of it, and perhaps we can escape. But knowing these men, they are ruthless terrorists and wouldn't let us go anywhere. I should probably stay low, and do my job as told until I find a way to escape, or cause a ruse.
They want us to develop a virus of sorts, that would affect the brain cells of lesser-developed creatures. So, humans should be safe from it, but most animals would mutate horrendously. The only other animal that would have a chance of being able to survive this virus would be dolphins, as they have the second highest intelligence in the animal kingdom, only lower than humans themselves. Their brain should be able to resist the mutating virus.
Now, it seems they chose some highly-acclaimed scientist, including myself, for this job. Most of us are biologists, but others, like me, are physicists. Perhaps they think we can capture new ideas and think of a quicker way to warp the beasts bodies? Quite frankly, I don't know. I am going to have to ask around. I'll just have to act clueless instead of suspicious.
These terrorists are brutal. I ask them one question, and they beat me and tell me to get back to work. Perhaps I will have to cause a rise sooner than later. Either that, or just keep my mouth shut and work. I just hope this virus doesn't get released. It could be devastating to civilizations.
I've decided to take in the location instead of just rambling on and getting myself hurt. It seems to be an oddly clean laboratory, with certain subsections. I find myself in the dubbed 'brainstorming room' where I do all my calculations and thinking. A couple of other physicists joke around, throwing an idea around if humans got infected. One person joked they would run around, hugging people, and would explode.
These people are sick. Perhaps it is just the brainwashing, but the idea of creating living bombs is just disturbing to me.
It is quite clear at this point that I am the only sane, non-brainwashed one here. Some of the other men are affected more than others, almost acting like terrorists. However, most are just quiet and stick to their jobs. I pretend to be the latter, to blend in more. However, I think I am doing my job too well, as one of the terrorists have taken me in to question me about what I've been doing. They liked one of my ideas, and wanted me to elaborate on it. They liked my idea of making animals gain traits instead of just getting larger and stronger, such as venom and skin with enhanced toughness. I slowly agreed, hating myself. I didn't want these bastards to get away with their plan.
I slowed my work rate down, telling them I was exhausted and it was hard to wrap my head around this new topic I had to deal with. My excuse worked well, and I was able to practically sit back in my 'office' and think about ways to escape. I try not to loaf around too much, because of rumors that have been going around.
One of the louder, more obnoxious biologists snapped earlier today, and the terrorists took him away. Much later in the day, we all heard gunshots. Rumor has it is that they are killing people who are unco-operative. It's troublesome, so I'll have to stay on my toes. I just hope they keep following my bluff. If not, I'm as good as dead.
It's late now, and the terrorists are doing their rounds. I should get some sleep. I didn't sleep at all last night, I was far too worried about my family, my friends, and the overall fate of the world.
There's a new scientist in the group. A biologist. A marine biologist, if you need to get even more specific. He seems tense, and confused. I think he wasn't affected by the brainwashing, but, like me, was trying to hide it. It seemed he was terrible at it, though. He was constantly shaking.
I approached him the other day, sending him a small note with a 'translator' on it, too write a quick secret notes to each other. He looked at me and nodded. We were the only two sane people in this building, it would seem. I just hope nobody catches us.
It turns out his name is Lester Johnson. He's a university teacher, and doesn't know how he got here, just that he woke up on a chair with people beating him, and attempting to brainwash him. I introduced myself as Casey English. He says he's worried about his family and simply wants them safe, but he doesn't know if they will be if he tries to escape. He's almost thinking about giving up, and handing himself in, but I'm heavily against that. I'm sure we can make it out of this.
Present Day
Lester looked towards Kane* with a raised eyebrow, and then towards the group. He shrugged slightly, but was curious.
"I didn't even remember this. Maybe it was another man named Lester... Who is a marine biologist... Who works at a university." He bit his lip, that was extremely unlikely.
Kane sipped his coffee, and adjusted his glasses. He seemed unfazed, but it was probably he was just covering his thoughts.
Markus* rose to his feet, however. "That's some different **** there, eh? Who knew Lester was an evil mastermind." He chuckled slightly, but dismissed it. "I kid, of course."
Lester shrugged, and re-opened the book to where it was previously. He re-read the page, making sure he didn't misread or miss anything. He didn't. "Huh," He mumbled. "Curious." It was really strange, how his memory was so clean stitched together that there weren't any gaps. It's as if it never happened. Maybe this whole damn journal was a fake, but he didn't want to take the change. He sighed, and leaned back.
"So, how the hell are we going to figure out if this is true or not? The guy is dead now, after all." He asked the group. Everyone just shrugged.
This Lester man has his own dreams of the future, the exact opposite of what the terrorists want. A 'virus' that does more good than harm. A virus that would make all animals ignore humans, and allows for easier hunting and less attacks. Problems would arise with that plan, though. House pets would be unobtainable. Instead, he started thinking of a virus that would tamper their mind to make all pets tameable. Of course, a lot of pets would have to be restricted, as they could be used as weapons or accidents could simply arise. He has these plans stored away at home, and only wished he could work on it.
It's strange, me and him have a lot in common. We are of two completely different fields of expertise, and I am quite older than him, but we have the same mindset on fixing problems for the greater good, and we both hate ourselves for even thinking about helping. Perhaps our strong views are what prevented us from being brainwashed? I wouldn't be surprised. A determined mind is hard to brainwash, as they are hard to distract from their goal. Basic psychology, I suppose.
Dear lord, something terrible has happened today.
Lester and I were working with the virus, when a terrorist walked in, his face burning. He started tearing up, and his skin changed colors. A scientist behind him was looking on horror, with a broken vial on the floor in front of him. All of us were wearing bright yellow radiation suits, but the terrorist wasn't. The prototype disease had mutated him, changed him - into something monstrous. It was terrible! The disease wasn't supposed to target humans. But... What happened next, I think, will encourage the terrorists to keep developing that one scientists prototype.
The man - or, what was left of a man, had lost his arms. Well, I wouldn't say that. It seemed like his skin melted, dropping his arms down beside his legs. He was a hominid, four legged, freak. He dove to the other terrorist beside him, and...
I can't bring myself to write it. The blood was everywhere, the panic was terrible, and the hole in the building let the snow in. Well, I guess that explains our situation. We were somewhere in the arctic, presumably. That made escape much harder, as the conditions were terrible and civilization was far away. I'm starting to lose hope - but Lester seems unfazed, or maybe even more determined. To him, the death of the terrorist meant one less terrorist in the way. His escape would happen, or he said he would throw every prototype in the room on the floor, ruining all progress and getting himself killed.
Alas, I wish I was as brave as this man.
*Names are subject to change.
I like it, though.
Good, I guess.
To the players? Or it's like a story which tells of what's going on for guests?
Interesting, I guess it's easier than read the pages.
[BTW, I prefer to think Markus is one of the group in the beginning ;D]
But yeah, like I said. Great read. One of the few stories here I've actually taken the time to read. Will continue to do so as you add to it.