My First Meeting With an Opener

Her name was Julie. Her hair was dyed a sort of auburn red kind of color. I remember thinking I'd have found that very attractive as a younger man.

I don't know why she chose to confide in me. By that time most of the area was abandoned. People were moving into the cities or out into the farmlands, and the suburbs, those symbols of the world that was still choking on it own blood, were getting like ghost towns. She might have confided in me just because we were among the few who didn't want to leave.

She came up to me and whispered, "I can do what He does." She looked terrified. She hadn't slept. She was unhealthily thin. I took her to my apartment, turned on every light in a vain attempt to minimize shadows, and asked her what she meant.

She said it again, a little more confidently. "I can do what He does." And then she tipped a lamp so it cast a big shadow on the wall, and she gestured at it. And it Opened.

Of course I'd seen the Between. It's not uncommon for shadows to open seemingly at random, and for Them to glance out, looking for insurrection. But to see it so close was terrifying. The Between isn't empty. It isn't silent. They are in there, and the Between is Their home, Their hive, Their nest.

But as terrifying as it was, I was elated. Maybe she could help us fight back! Maybe she could turn the tables. And if she could do it, maybe there were others!

I turned away, wanting to get my glasses, to look at her, to watch her do it again, maybe. I don't know. It's moot. When I turned around, she was gone. One of her shoes hung half in, half out of the open shadow on my wall. And then it closed, and the shoe was cut neatly in half, and she was gone. She never made a sound. I didn't hear Them take her.

She thought she could do what He does. She was only half right. She could Open the shadows, yes, but as it turns out, that's only the first step. Once you're in the Between, you need a way to deal with Them. For whatever reason, He can control Them. The rest of us just have try and find a safe passage through the Between.

Those of us that are stupid enough to go there at all, that is.

Tune in Tomorrow.

curse the darkness

Terror

Of course we had recordings. The whole world listened to what he'd said. We tried to make some sense of it all.

It was hard to get anything worthwhile, though. Most of the world was convinced it was the Apocalypse. Religions that didn't have an "end of the world" scenario made them up. Bible verses were reinterpreted, ancient prophecies "discovered," and folks made their signs and walked around with them.

I remember some cynic saying that the world was so far gone that we didn't know how to do anything except stage meaningless protests. But really, what were we going to do? We didn't have anyone to turn to. Government was gone. Every single member of Congress was dead. The President, the Vice-President...everyone on down the chain of command. The British Prime Minister. Heads of state the world over. All gone.

But He didn't stop there. We didn't find out until a little later, but generals and other top brass in armies all over the world disappeared. Not just the official armies, either. I don't remember how long after Jerusalem - maybe three or four weeks, couldn't have been much more than that - we found out that al-Qaeda was gone. A soldier in the Middle East somewhere put footage on the 'net of sixteen gutted bodies. The faces were intact, and the press wasted no time in identifying them as the terrorist masterminds that the US and its allies had been hunting for since 2001. The War on Terror was over.

Well, sort of. You could say that He was a kind of terrorist. It fits, I guess. The choice He's always given the world is the same one that terrorists did: Comply or die. His methods are similar. His minions can strike at literally any time and from anywhere. The only difference between Them and suicide bombers is that They don't die in the process of an attack. So, sure, He's a lot like a terrorist.

But I have a hard time thinking of Him that way. When I saw Jerusalem fall, or when the news cameras showed the rubble that used to be Saint Peter's Basilica, I didn't feel the same thing as I did when the towers went down.

Those terrorists hated us. And "us" meant "Americans" or "Christians" or something. It meant me. It was personal. I didn't feel that when He began His takeover. After His first speech, when He warned us about Jerusalem, I got the sense that it wasn't personal. He didn't have that same kind of hatred. He wasn't a zealot. He just knew that, as a species, we were regularly killing each other and starving each other to death and date-raping the world and all of the people in it for nothing. For what He saw as nothing, anyway. And he just happened to have the power to do something about it.

I seriously doubt He was the first Opener. The power to open shadows isn't unique, and I can't believe that no one ever did it before He came along. I do think, though, that He was the first one who could control Them.

I've never met another Opener who could. In fact, They usually kill Openers first.

Tune in Tomorrow.

curse the darkness

...And Salted The Earth

The helicopter cameras showed it, but we didn't know what we were looking at. I recorded some of the feed. It's not illegal to own it, despite what people think. He's not that kind of dictator. He doesn't care what you say about Him, and He takes full ownership of everything He did. He just thinks it was right.

Anyway.

The 'copters saw the city swallowed. Every shadow opened. Every single one. The buildings crumbles and fell into a billion tiny sinkholes. The people, the ones that They hadn't killed, just vanished into the Between. The 'copters kept their lights and their cameras on it. About five seconds in, they killed the sound feed.

It was bad enough we had to see it. No one wanted to hear it.

I've heard that some of the crew jumped from the copters. I've heard one of the copters crashed when the pilot had a heart attack - or maybe he put the copter down on purpose. Who wants to live in this world?, I've heard, is what came over the radio, but I know that's not true, because I was listening, and there was no sound. Just the Holy City vanishing into the Between.

When the dust settled, there was nothing but black. The shadows hadn't closed, they'd joined like mercury. Nothing below the copters but a puddle of blackness. And then every shadow in the world opened. The shadows in the room with me opened. We all heard the voice, again speaking English in that weird, stilted, not-quite-accented voice that we would come to know as His.

This is the end of your world. This is what will become of ideology. How many lives lost over the centuries for this place, which you now see is so impermanent? No more lives lost for Jerusalem, not after tonight, not ever again.

Have your riots. Convene your armies. Launch your missiles. Rant, rail, gnash your teeth. I will allow you that, for you need time to grieve your world. But when I speak to you again, know that it will be as your authority. You will do what I say to do, or They will come for you from the Between.

There is no question. There is no debate. There is no compromise. There is only the world and the whole of humanity.

Much of the world didn't know what to make of it. Hell, much of the world didn't understand it. But the Internet was still global at the time, and translations - a lot of them inaccurate, a lot of them with Biblical or Qu'ran quotes appended - starting making the rounds. While He never addressed them, I can't help but feel like they proved His point by doing that.

Some folks did analyze exactly what was going on. They started combing historical archives, Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Apocrypha, conspiracy theories, anything, anything, for a hint of what was happening. What was the Between? Was it Mictlan? The Underworld? Hell? Heaven? Was He an angel? God? Satan? The Antichrist?

The short answer: No. The longer answer: It's 10 years later, and we still don't know exactly who or what He is. But I've heard some good theories.

Tune in Tomorrow.

curse the darkness

What I Saw That Day

The voice from the shadows told us - told everyone, all over the world - to watch Jerusalem in three hours. It was 5:05PM local time for me when it started.

We saw it through cameras on the ground, and then from helicopters. We saw Them for the first time. They had come through before, of course, but always under cover of night, always striking quickly and efficiently, tearing down walls, yanking people through shadows. They had never been given free rein before.

That night, He let slip the leashes. He opened the shadows, pointed toward Jerusalem, and said, "Go."

And They came. They came out of the shadows underneath cars. They came from the shadows cast by the cooling buildings. They came from the shadows people cast walking home that night, or fleeing the city in terror. They boiled out of the shadows like fire ants on the warpath, and They destroyed everything They touched.

They caught the people first, of course. They didn't carry them away. They tore them into pieces. I remember watching one of Their massive hands closing over a camera lens, and the feed stayed on long enough for us to hear the screaming stop, the desperate gasping breaths, and then snapping. No biting. No chewing. They don't eat people. They don't eat.

The cameras on the ground died off, and the feed went black. And I sat there in my apartment watching the feed. I had my desktop, my laptop, my spare laptop and my TV all running different newsfeeds, and they all went black. And the day around me was quiet. I heard crying from outside the window, but no traffic. There was no movement. There was nothing we could do but watch.

And then someone had the presence of the mind to switch to one of the helicopter cameras, and we realized just how bad it really was.

Tune in Tomorrow.

curse the darkness

Graffiti on a wall in Chicago, a week after Jerusalem

I lost my aunt my uncle three cousins and my father
Where was the UN where was the USA where was anyone?

The answer, of course, was that they were all already dead. But we didn't know that then.

We all had questions.

Tune in tomorrow.

curse the darkness

Here's What Happened

Everyone remembers where they were when the Vatican fell. Or when the Dome of the Rock was pulled down. Or when Parliment and Congress were simultaneously invaded from the inside. Any one of the attacks, we know where we were.

But where were you when you found out about Him? That it was all connected?

So many crazy stories before the truth came out. Honestly, if the Internet had survived, those crazy stories would have, too, I'm sure. You don't remember because you're too young, but the Internet was a place where any insanity could thrive. You could spout any story you wanted and not only be heard, but be believed. The ubiquitous "they" that said mankind never landed on the moon, that Catherine the Great died having sex with a horse, that the late President Obama was a Kenyan-born Muslim - "they" found their voice and their pulpit on the Internet.

When you think about it, what He does isn't so different than the 'net. He opens a gate, and out they come. The gates are everywhere on Earth, because they're nowhere. They just open, and he knows them. A server, a website, a router... Hell, never mind. Like I said, you're too young.

I remember where I was when I learned the truth. I was in a big box store buying supplies. No riots that day, but the police were out from watching the store; it was one of the few in the city that had anything left. I had turned off my radio. I just couldn't listen to death tolls and speculations and fanatics anymore. And then the lights flicked, and the TVs in the back of the store went dark. And I turned on my radio, and I heard what everyone else heard.

It's over. What you knew is over. Ideology is over.

Ideology is the poison at the soul of the privileged. In the First World, people talk ideology over full bellies. In the Third World, people have been trained to kill and die for ideology over and above their own survival.

Some of our greatest heroes have said this, though never in so many words. They have said that to make any meaningful change in the world, we must let go of the chains of religion, politics, economics, and all of the other systems of beliefs that interrupt the real and true cycles of life. The hungry must eat. The cold must be given shelter. The world must be saved, and as long as ideology - any ideology - festers at the heart of the leaders, no salvation is possible.

Now it is possible. Now the shadows are open. Now the world has a savior.

From this moment on, ideology is forbidden. Any idol at which you worship - be it mythical figure, figment of economics, ephemeral political position - is shattered as of now. You have seen what I can do when I open the shadows. And now you will see it again. Turn your eyes, world, to Jerusalem in three hours' time.

And we stood there, not knowing quite what to make of it. I heard people crying. I heard a man near me say that he had family in Israel. And all I could think was, "He's going to nuke it."

I wasn't wrong. The effect was much the same.

Tune in tomorrow!

curse the darkness

Character Creation: Eclipse Phase

In the future, everyone will have whatever sleeves they want. That might be dirty or not, depending on what you think of when you hear "sleeve."

Anyway.

The Game: Eclipse Phase
The Publisher: Posthuman Studios, at least this edition
Degree of Familiarity: Not much. I was, at one point, tapped to freelance, never did, but I read it before it was published. Played in a rather unimpressive game of it at Arisia, but that wasn't the game's fault.
Books Required: Just the shiny core book. 

 

So, Eclipse Phase is this nifty sci-fi transhumanist horror game in which you can resleeve if you die. That is, your body ("morph") is just a shell holding your memories and thoughts and all. That can be put into any sort of morph - robot, fleshy, even an octopus.

Wait, what?

Yeah, you can evidently play an "uplifted" animal. But I ain't gonna, this not being Blue Planet. Let's us check in with Michelle to see where she's at in this process?

OK, she's ready to go. Rosie, however, is asleep. We'll check in with her later.

OK, so Michelle and I have a concept. She's doing an uplifted dog (not specifically allowed by the book, but fuck the book, if fucking birds can be uplifted, dogs sure as hell should be). I'm doing the dog's former master. So, we decide we're from (hang on) Earth, and I take the Fall Evacuee Background.

Talking about it, we decide that Michelle's character was a genetically engineered doggie - smarter than most, but still a dog. And then the Fall happened, and I got resleeved off-planet, and when I woke up, my doggie was uplifted. That's gotta be a kick in the head. Think about some of the things our dogs see us doing? Yow. Anyway, as an Earth Evacuee, I get +10 Pilot Groundcraft, +10 Networking in a Field of my choice, and +1 Moxie. However, I start with less money.

For Faction, I choose Socialite. I see this guy as someone who comes from money and whose family was able to buy its way out of trouble. This economy is different; it's based on reputation, not scarcity, because it's so darned easy to fabricate stuff. My character isn't used to that, he's used to being able to spread cash around and fix whatever he's done, and it just doesn't work that way anymore. His doggie, therefore, has to watch out for him and make sure he doesn't offend the pack. Socialite gives me +10 Persuasion, +10 Protocol, +20 Networking (Media). There are some morphs I can't start with, but I'll get to that when I do morph.

Next: Free points. 105 for Aptitudes. Which are: Cognition, Coordination, Intuition, Reflexes, Savvy, Somatics and Willpower. 15 is average, each has to get 5, nothing higher than 30.

Well, Cognition is problem-solving and analysis. I don't see this guy being much about average here, so 15 points.

Coordination deals with syncing with your morph, and I figure that's handy, so I'll put 20 here.

Intuition is following gut instinct and evaluating on the fly, which I figure my character is kind of pants at. 10 points.

Reflexes is thinking fast, acting quickly, and the like. Also not a strong point. 10 points.

Savvy is social intuition, which you'd think I'd be good at, but again, he's having trouble. 15 points for now.

Somatics is pushing one's morph to the best of its physical ability, which I figure my guy's good at, because screw it, he can just get another one anyway. 25 here.

Willpower is, well, exactly that, and I've got 10 points left for it.

OK, moving on. I get Language (English) for free at 70, and I get one point of Moxie, +1 for my Background. I get 2500 Credits (again, less because of my Background), and then I get 50 points for Rep. I think I'll wait to do Rep until I know what the heck these all mean.

Now, Customization Points. I get...1000?!? Seriously? Jesus, it's like they want you to do math. Blah. Anyway, that's why computers have calculators.

OK, well, in fairness you buy everything with these. Skills, psionics, your morph, money, rep, etc. You know, I think I'm going to do rep now, and then spend my points. I need f-rep (fame), 10 in @-rep (because Michelle's character is known there, and so I should be) and 10 in e-rep (ditto).

Right, now on to the 1000 point thing. Jesus. I have to take 300 points of Knowledge and 400 of Active, so let's start there. Skills start at their linked Aptitude and are 1/1 from there (until you crest 60, at which point it doubles). Let's do Active first.

When all is said and done, my Active Skills look like this:

Animal Handling 30 (with a Dogs Specialization)
Climbing 50
Deception 55
Fray 50 (the book recommends you take this, which annoys me - if it's required, it should come standard)
Free Fall 40
Freerunning 51 (Parkour is awesome)
Impersonation 25 (I figure he's not very good at it, but he's got some natural skill)
Interfacing 50
Kinetic Weapons 55
Networking (Media) 50 (I had 30 free points here)
Persuasion 60 (10 free points here)
Protocol 60 (here as well)
Unarmed Combat 50 (lots of immersion games)

OK, on to Knowledge Skills, soon as Michelle's ready.

I figure my guy was involved in an asteroid processing concern at one point, but was never actually out there on the asteroid (that's dangerous!). So he's got some skills related to that, but nothing major.

Academics (Old Earth History) 55
Academics (Astrophysics) 30
Academics (Geology) 30
Interest (Celebrity Gossip) 60
Interest (Drug Dealers) 50
Language (English) 70 (free)
Language (Cantonese) 60
Profession (Asteroid Processing) 35
Profession (Social Engineering) 50
Profession (Viral Marketing) 50

Keen. We'll do Morph next, since that's kind of important. As a socialite, I can't have a flat, pod or synthetic morph. I take an Olympian Morph - probably would've taken Sylph, but I figure my dog wants me to stay physically fit and viable, and Olympians can still be pretty (plus, freerunning). Olympian costs me 40 points, but gives me some cool shit. I get +5 Coordination, +5 Reflexes, +10 Somatics and +5 to one of my choice. Hang on. I think Reflexes, since it's a weak area.

Now, Traits. I'll take Brave for 10 points, since I figure my guy is dumb enough to figure on being able to resleeve in most conditions. I'll take Exception Aptitude in Somatics, so I can actually use all of my bonus from my morph.

Those are the only traits I think I want (I had consider Psi, but eh). That leaves me 210 points yet. I shall buy MORE STUFF.

OK, my Aptitudes are low. They're also 10 points each. Yow. I'll up Intuition to 15, so at least I'm average. That costs 50. I'll buy 2 more points of Moxie for 30 points.

I think Skills are probably a good idea. I'll buy Impersonation to 60 (I know I said I wasn't good at it, but screw it, I've got the points). I'll buy Persuasion up to 75, which costs 30 because anything over 60 costs double. I'll spend 10 and get 10,000 Credits (which I would use to buy gear, but I'm totally not doing the step because I would like to eat dinner). I spend 50 to up my Savvy to 20, which causes a weird cascade in my skills that I'm not explaining here, but it results in a bunch of skills getting bumped up because the points need to work out and spending 5 more on to boost Protocol to 70. And finally, I spend 5 points giving myself 50 points of assorted Rep.

Now, Motivations. I'm in favor of Hedonism, Fame (mine) and Exploration - he still wants to see the universe, and sometimes he wishes he'd pursued that asteroid thing. I'll also say he's opposed to bioconservatism, because his best friend is a dog.

Derived traits, but I do those up and put 'em on the sheet real quick. Easy-peasy.

Final touches: My guy's name is Vic Johnson. In his Olympian morph, he's lithe, blond, blue eyes. He's graceful, and has a habit of tossing small bits of food up to catch in his mouth. He still catches himself scratching Rosie behind the ears and otherwise touching her to reassure her, which weird people out if they don't know the pair's odd history.

OK, I have the sheet, but I dunno how to make it show up as a pdf here, so y'all will just have to wait until I get home and can scan it in. The important thing is, we're done and can go cook foodstuff now.

Arf!