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Rapture

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April 30th 2014

 

Everyone is tired by the end of the day. Fair enough, after a day of lectures, work, or running around after your kids you would be tired, but looking back at it you would wonder just why it didn’t concern you at the time that everyone was tired. Even those who slept all day ready for a night shift woke up more tired than when they went to bed, barely able to keep their eyes open on the drive in to work – but then again, everyone can feel grumpy when they first wake up! And to be fair, you were tired as well. Maybe not the abnormal amount that plagued everybody else that day, but tired all the same.

 

Some went to bed early, exhausted after the day, and slept soundly through the night. Those who were on night shifts found themselves having a power nap in the early hours of the morning, jerking awake in the hope that the boss hadn’t caught you. Even the night owls who were normally on World of Warcraft until 3am ended up calling it quits not long after midnight, eyes heavy and full of grit, their beds the most inviting of embraces. No matter who you are or where you were, you found yourself sleeping that night even only for thirty minutes. But that was all it took…

 

A few people had an inkling something was coming, but what it was they couldn’t tell you until it was too late. Twenty-four hour news channels lost contact with their representatives in Asia, no updates from the Japanese stock exchange were piped through to London, wives in Australia didn’t make their usual Skype call to their husbands in America. If someone on the ISS had been monitoring transmissions they would have noticed a gradual loss of human activity advance across the globe, always just a few hours before sunrise local time. For those few who noticed, it was ascribed to being transmission disruptions, power outages, forgetfulness, oversleeping…nobody made the connection that something was happening. And why would they?

 

Under what possible circumstance could the whole human race suddenly disappear without warning?

 

Then the Rapture came…

 

The Story

 

The answer will begin in a small town in the East of England, a little place called Hawkingsthorne. It’s not well-known, it’s not prosperous, it really is nothing special. But it is here that a small band of survivors comes together and starts their journey, one that would end up with the answer to what happened in the early hours of May 1st 2014.The survivors are themselves nothing special; there is no common bond between them except, for whatever reason, they were spared. When they woke up, everyone had disappeared. There were no signs of a struggle, no signs of injury, nothing to indicate that people had been dragged from their homes or burned on the spot. It was as if every human being had just disappeared like a magic trick.

 

By nature humans are gregarious, and at first the goal is simple; find one another, console each other, and survive the emptiness of the new world. But that would never be enough, and as the survivors start to ask ‘why?’ they start to find answers.

 

The Characters

 

You are…well, a human. You are nothing special or unique, just another person going about their life. You could be anyone, from a high-flying lawyer to a deadbeat drug-dealer, a student stacking shelves at night to pay for her degree during the day, a house-husband… Whoever you are, whatever you once did, there is nothing that marked you as being different. For no reason you can fathom you have been spared the Rapture and left behind in an empty world.

 

[b]Username:[/b]
[b]Character name: [/b]
[b]Age: [/b]
[b]Profession: [/b]
[b]Appearance: [/b]
[b]Background: [/b]

 

Skills

 

As the aftermath of the Rapture unfolds, characters may discover that they possess skills and abilities that directly tie into the Rapture itself. How these abilities have come about - genetics, mutations, fate, God - is not clear, and the characters themselves are not even aware at first that they have these skills. It is only through odd events and chance encounters that characters will slowly discover what their skill is and how to use it.

 

Please note the following guidelines on skills:

 

a) Skills are assigned by the GM as he sees fit. While they may have some bearing on your character's background and personality they may also be randomly assigned.

b ) Characters do not wake up with the abilities fully-formed in mind and body; they are slowly discovered by chance as the story progresses.

c) If a skill is described as "Innate," this means the character does not actively have to concentrate on using their skill and instead is a continuous, passive ability. This is most commonly skills such as being immune to Step-sickness or involuntary Steps/Slips.

d) Other skills will generally require a character to concentrate/actively encourage their particular skill. How the character perceives the information from that skill is left up to the imagination of the writer.

 

If you have any questions, concerns or confusion over your character's skill then please PM the GM who is happy to clarify further.

 

The Worlds of the Rapture

 

Earth

Earth is Earth as we knew it in Spring 2014. There is no alternate history up until 30th April 2014 - so the Arab Spring happened, Obama is in his second term as President, and Britain was still part of the EU. Technology, medicine, science, are all exactly as we know and love it.

 

Terra

Could almost be mistaken for our own planet, if only it wasn't for the stars in the sky... A world that seems to have co-evolved with our own without the influence of Humanity, with animals almost identical to our own. A slight change of colouration here, slightly longer or shorter limbs there, most flora and fauna is comparable with our native Earth.

 

The Rules

 

1) No god-modding.

2) No flaming, spamming, or advertising.

3) You may only kill another person's character if they allow you to.

4) Please be active; one post a week minimum. If you are going to be absent more than a fortnight then please let me know roughly how long for.

5) Respect the other RPers.

6) Keep it PG-13, but romance is allowed.

7) Semi-lit please, four lines minimum a pass.

8) Forms must be formatted properly and PMed directly to me please.

9) Two characters per user maximum.

10) This RP is set in the modern world. It is exactly as you would expect it to be, so please maintain a sense of realism – injuries do not magically heal by stimpacks, food will go rotten, cars will run out of petrol.

 

As the RP progresses, information about the Rapture will be made available to you depending on the actions of your characters. Sometimes it will be a post I write and put up, sometimes I will PM information to individuals and it is then their choice as to how they put the information to the group. This can mean that your characters may develop skills/abilities as the game progresses.

 

The aim is to build up the story as we move along rather than know the final objective from the moment we start – but rest assured, I do have a plan!

 

user posted image

 

Last image from blogger ystarter’s webcam, which automatically uploaded onto his blog as part of a 24-hour photo-thon.

Edited by Kestra15

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Characters

 

Username: Avialae

Character name: Micah Shrader

Age: 21

Profession: Unemployed

 

Appearance: Stands at just under six feet, with dark brown hair cropped in a roughly-trimmed traditional haircut. A few stray freckles adorn a face that gives others the impression of being both rough and unrefined and extremely naive and childlike. The stare of his brown eyes seems blank, though few can pin down exactly why. He wears a pair of worn-out jeans with an old, dull-looking belt around the waist, a faded olive polo shirt with the areas around the seams looking noticeably threadbare, with a dirty-white T-shirt peeking out from under the collar.

 

Background: Micah is the third child and second son born to a pair of religious fundamentalists living in the American Midwest. As his parents believed that limiting one's family size was equal to a sin against God, he had nine younger brothers and sisters, who he spent his childhood helping his parents raise. He has been sheltered from the world from a very young age, with every toy, book, and piece of music available to him screened by his parents so they could be sure it was free of "unclean influences." Television, the internet, and radio were banned altogether, with the exception of occasional movies that were watched as a family and the e-mails that the children were allowed to write to their friends among the offspring of like-minded families on their joint internet account on the several-years-old household computer. With the family home being in a rural area with no neighbors close by, it was not hard for the two parents to keep their children from becoming interested in the things they were missing out on, as they homeschooled them with curriculum specifically designed to reinforce their own extreme religious beliefs, and the only regular contact Micah and his siblings had with the outside world was attending church with the family and occasional shopping trips with his mother.

 

At age seventeen, Micah "graduated" from the schooling given to him by his parents, which was largely without oversight due to the lenient laws of the state, and was put to work doing odd jobs for his father's small business. College was never an option for him due to his parents' belief that it corrupted young souls, and working without pay for his father meant there would be more money for his cash-strapped parents to spend on his younger brothers and sisters. His father promised Micah that he would eventually repay him by helping the young man start a small business of his own, but due to his financial state that day would be far off in coming.

 

And so time slowly passed for Micah without any sign of change on the horizon, until one day his father asked to speak with him privately. Apparently one of their more wealthy family friends had arranged for a few of their adult children to take a vacation to England so they could learn more about the Victorian Era-style culture of which their social circle was so fond. The two daughters for who this trip was for were each allowed to bring a female friend, and Micah's older sister Esther was the younger daughter's choice. Most of the cost of the trip would be covered by the other family, and Esther would likely not get another chance to go on a trip like this anytime soon. However, Micah's father would not allow her to go without a male chaperone. In order for her to go, Micah would have to go as well.

 

Micah had understood from a young age that even though his father might frame something as a request, it was really meant as an order, and he must always do as the man said. And so it was that, two months later, Micah, Esther, Esther's two female friends and their male chaperones arrived in England in the early afternoon. They took a cab to their hotel, got a quick bite to eat, unpacked a little of their luggage, and then, tired from the overnight flight and the change of time zones, went to bed for the night.

 

Early the next morning, the Rapture occurred.

 

Skill: 'Grounded' - cannot be Slipped/Stepped involuntarily, including soft spots. Innate skill.

 

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Username: Chicogal

Character name: Diana Vann

Age: 20

Profession: Electrician

Appearance: Diana stands at 5 foot 5 inches, with a slender, athletic frame. She has straight black hair to her shoulders, cut into a blunt bob. Her eyes are light blue, framed by dark eyelashes and often-raised eyebrows. She tends to be quite expressive, with a wide smile and dimples in her cheeks. It might be said that she looks cheeky, a girl who very well might sneak into that abandoned building or drive around dark corners at breakneck speed.

Background: Diana always had a taste for taking risks, despite the fact that she seemed to have terrible luck. She tumbled through her teens, and was brought back home drunk by exasperated police officers a couple of times. Her mother worried that she'd stray off the beaten path - but she never had any reason to fear. While Diana was an idiot of a teenager half the time, she knew her true rights from her true wrongs, and never did anything that would hurt others.

Electricity was the family business, and with not-so-great GCSE scores, Diana decided to take after her father, Peter. It was hard, thirsty work, but it gave her something to pour her boundless energy into. She had a brain for colours and wires, logic that didn't come out on paper (perhaps a type of ADHD, as her teachers had mentioned to her parents in previous years). She worked as his apprentice for two years, before recently taking on the full job under the supervision of one of her father's trusted helpers.

And then, the rapture came.

She fell onto soft, mossy ground in the middle of the night. Her parents were only a short way away from her - and they certainly weren't in Bristol anymore. They found neighbours and friends nearby, eventually realising that the areas that they'd landed up in were similar distances as they had been on Earth. Panic set in for some, and they had to work quickly to ensure that their group would survive. They started off as twenty.

There was no stream nearby.

As one of the strongest, Diana decided to scout ahead for water. By the time that she found it - not being a girls' scout, it had been trial and error - she was incredibly dehydrated. And then, with another pang of horror, she realised that she'd lost her way back. In her mildly addled state, she'd forgotten to mark the trees as she went along. She searched and searched, trying to find them, eventually making a trip, but... she never found them.

They might have died. They might have lived. They might think that she was dead. These thoughts tortured Diana as she made her home by the river, having the forethought to make a small weapon of a stick and a sharp rock, lest there was anything dangerous here. It was cold in her bunny-print pajama shorts and t-shirt, and there was hardly anything to eat, and she threw up more times than she could count, but she managed to survive by herself, by the river.

Barely.

Skill: Unassigned at present.

 

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Username: DragonSpirit

Character name: Emily McKentire

Age: 24

Profession: Au pair and part time waitress in a bar over weekends

Appearance: Emily

Background: Emily, a South African born and bred and the eldest of three, has been studying catering and au pair for the past few years. Her dream was to travel the world and she figured the best way to do so was being an au pair. With her application approved she arrived in England only a few weeks before the Rapture happened.

The family for who she started working for were rather wealthy and had two children, ages two and four. They paid well which gave Emily the opportunity to rent out her own flat only about two blocks away from the family’s home. During weekends Emily decided to take up an extra job mostly to get money for which she could send back home to her family.

 

Skill: 'Robust' - immune to Step/Slip sickness, and is sensitive to locating soft spots. Innate skill.

 

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Username: Fangirl05

Character: Erin Evans

Age: 19

Profession: Barista/aspiring detective

Appearance: Erin has brown hair and eyes and light olive skin. She usually keeps her hair in a twisted bun to keep it out of her face. She wears a sleeveless dark green turtleneck, dark wash skinny jeans and knee-high black boots. She needs contact lenses for astigmatism.

Background: Erin was raised without a father, and has only recently made peace with the fact that she is probably illegitimate. She has a younger sister named Lori who probably has a different father than her. She grew up in a large suburb about an hour away from New York City. Because her mother spent most of Erin's childhood working to provide for her children, she was mostly raised by the aunt and two uncles that live with them. She feels very guilty about it, but feels like they are more like parents to her than her own birth mother. She grew up a solitary kid and often butted heads with her sister. Although their relationship is difficult and she and her mother are a little estranged, she loves them very much.

 

She was vacationing in England with her mother and sister on her own advice when the Rapture occurred.

 

Skill: 'Tracker' - ' is aware of the general direction, geographic and Stepwise, of those she has a strong bond with. Erin must actively be concentrating for this skill to work.

 

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Username: Fortune86

Character Name: James Ladro

Age: 20

Profession: Blackmarket Fence/Trader

Appearance: Link

Background:

James lived a pretty regular childhood until he left school at sixteen and decided to join his two older brothers, Theodore and Edward, in their 'business ventures'. He was quite an adequte thief but he soon proved to be far better in dealings and trades and later became a a fence and contact for his brothers instead.

Several years younger than his brothers James was always treated as the baby of the family. He has never been left to deal things on his own and has always enjoyed the protection of his brothers.

The brothers' mother and father died when James was only four, so as well as being the eldest brother Theo also took on the role of parent. While he does not remember either of them James is often told he looks just like his father, but that he has his mother's soft heart.

 

Skill: 'Sixth sense' - can perceive Slippers/Steppers about to Slip/Step into his world within a certain radius. Innate skill.

 

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Username: kestra15

Character name: Makenzai ‘Mak’ Wakefield

Age: 24yrs

Profession: Unemployed

Appearance: Standing at 5’10 with deep brown hair just long enough to gel into a mess, lighter brown eyes and what seems like permanent five o’clock shadow, Mak is rather unassuming. His years in martial arts has left his body well-honed, but he prefers to hide it under walking trousers and baggy t-shirts in earthy colours, a well-worn dark blue jumper thrown over the top to keep him warm. He prefers his worn trainers when slouching to and from the shops, but has a sturdy pair of Scarpa hiking boots that he uses for anything more.

Background: Mak is a drifter who finds it almost impossible to settle down. Having managed to survive the foster-care system long enough make some good grades, Mak left the last of his orphanages and never looked back, moving straight to a small village on the outskirts of Cambridge with good intentions of going to university there. However once out in the wide world he found it hard to commit to the application process, and instead took a string of temporary jobs for the next two years – temp agencies, bookies, corner shops, GP secretaries, at some point or another all had the young man turn up for a few months, and drifted between part-time jobs after he finally got accepted into university (and always careful not to let the university know!). Even after graduating with a first class degree in Physical Sciences Mak could not find a graduate-level job that interested him.

 

The move to Hawkingsthorne had been just another whim, a hope that he might find something to make of his life other than his Shotokan karate, the only constant in the last six years of his life. Still without a job that interests him and having just resigned his latest temp post (administrative staff at the small local hospital) Mak spends his days ploughing through books, from novels to self-taught courses in whatever took his fancy that day.

 

Skill: 'Third Option' - Sensitive to locating soft spots.

 

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Username: Mistress of Whispers

Character name: Wisperlee (real name: Lee-Anne Mayland)

Age: 21

Profession: Student / Hacker

 

Appearance: Wisperlee is a little shorter than average (1.63m or 5'4") with a lithe, athletic build (she jogs every morning and plays on the university dodgeball team). Her beach blond hair is styled in a choppy, uneven bob which is cut shorter in the back and longer in the front. Her bangs, dyed bright blue, fall from the right of her forehead to the left of her chin. Her eyes are a very dark blue, bordering on dark violet, and while she keeps the rest of her make-up neutral, she emphasizes her eyes. Her nails are painted to match the blue in her hair. She usually wears faded jeans (both blue and black) with a tight t-shirt and a faux-leather jacket decorated with a host of buttons that range from simple smilies and logos, to slogans like 'Save the whales!' and 'Free Tibet!' (Picture)

 

Background:

Combining an innate talent for uncovering secrets with a budding skill at hacking computers and websites, Lee-Anne Jones ran an anonymous gossip blog about her high school peers. Her information was never wrong and between the blog's insane popularity and ad revenue Lee-Anne made a tidy profit. Highly intelligent, she went on to study Engineering and Technology, with a specialty in Cryptography, at Cambridge University. With her hacking skills more finely honed and wanting to move beyond mere gossip (both for the challenge and greater profits) she started hacking companies and selling the information to their rivals. At this time, she started to go by her hacker alias 'Wisperlee'.

Wisperlee's career in corporate espionage out small with personnel files and such, but in a few years she was moving onto company secrets. Predictably, at one point she stole information from the wrong people (or maybe she sold it to them; Wisperlee is not sure whether the people tracking her were her victims or her clients). Once she realized the van parked outside her building at all hours and following her around was NOT the government, she decided it would be best to leave Cambridge for a while. Since traveling randomly would be the best way to throw off pursuers, she boarded trains and buses as they came across her path and finally ended up in Hawkingsthorne just last night.

 

Other (Equipment):

Wisperlee carries an off-the-shoulder bag, modified from an old UK Mail post bag, containing her phone, laptop, several USB sticks, photo- and video camera, small carry-on toolkit, flashlight, bottle of water, spare clothes, three tattered paperbacks (Catcher in the Rye, a Star Trek novel and The Wasteland), packet of gummibears and keys to her student dorm room. She keeps a small wallet (containing cash, credit card, driver's license, student ID, a guitar plectrum and an expired all-week pass to a paintball hall) and 13-tool Swiss knife (large blade, small blade, LED light, saw, scissors, screwdriver, slotted driver, bottle opener, can opener, corkscrew, file, awl and leather puncher) on a chain in her pants' pocket.

 

Skill: 'Sixth sight' - can perceive general geography of Stepwise worlds within a certain radius. Has to concentrate to use this skill, but becomes innate when near a soft spot.

 

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Username: Quhanta

Character name: Ezmerelda "Ez" Steeves (C.S.I.S. Code Name: Shawshank)

Age: 25

Profession: C.S.I.S. field agent.

Appearance: She has straight hair that is mostly natural brown with bits of natural blonde and red. Her hair falls to her hips when down, but Ez keeps her hair in a tight bun. Her eyes are a greenish grey, her lips are medium-full and her eyes are big and roundish, but she wears an accidentally permanent hate-look. Ezmerelda is 5'7" and strong, but not in appearance. She looks as though sh'e a petite woman, but she is quite wiry. She has reasonably large thighs and averaged sized everything else. When Ezmerelda fell asleep, she was wearing a red and black plaid button up blouse with a black tank-top on underneath. She wore black tight, but thick jeans and red and black Nike sneakers with the flat bottoms. She had some gear and a few changes of clothing in her duffel bag and backpack in the back seat of her black matted Dodge Charger.

Background: With her home life being hell, she joined the military as soon as she could, illegally joining at 16. When she was 19, Ez was selected to be a part of the C.S.I.S. (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) and quickly climbed the ranks. Ezmerelda was on an extraction mission in Hawkingsthorne. a rogue C.I.A. agent had gone into hiding there because of how unheard of and unassuming it was. There was a large bounty for the company or service that found and captured Augustus Ramirez alive, returning him to the C.I.A. so she was sent to get him. Ez wasn't the best agent, but she was in the top five. When she was on a stake-out of Mr. Ramirez's house, she fell asleep in her car.

 

Skill: 'Sixth sense' - can perceive Slippers/Steppers about to Slip/Step into his world within a certain radius. Innate skill.

 

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Username: Quhanta

Character name: Arwen

Age: 8

Profession: Elementary Student

 

Appearance: A maroon and black plaid jumper (similar to this: Jumper), white long sleeved shirt, knee-high, white socks, and black shoes that have a snap buckle across the top of the foot to secure it. It's what her parents send her to school in. She has collar-bone length, chestnut, wavy hair. She has a thin, purple jacket with a hood with seven small mint candies in her pocket.

 

Background: Arwen was waiting in the hospital because her grandmother was sick. When her grandmother died, she was taken away from the room. Her mother told her to stay in the room and try to get some sleep as it was very late, she'd explain what happened to her granny later. Since Arwen's mother was so upset, she listened and curled up in the bed they took her grandmother from. She didn't think that she was going to sleep, but she couldn't seem to keep herself awake. When she did, Arwen waited for her mother to return to the room. She was told to stay and wait, but no one came back for her. After being hungry and thirsty for a day or so, she went down to the cafeteria. She couldn't find anyone, so she took a couple salads and a few juice boxes and ran back to the room. Just before making it back, she dropped one of the juice boxes outside of her room. Too afraid to go back into the hall, Arwen left it.

 

Skill: 'Robust' - immune to Step/Slip sickness. Innate skill.

 

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Username: Salix

Character: Petra Vouden

Age: 26

Profession: Mother/Shop Assistant

Appearance: At 5’6 in height Petra has a reasonably athletic figure, chasing around after her twins boys has served to keep her fit and on her toes. Her curly dark hair is kept short; kohl lined deep green eyes sparkle mischievously behind a pair of dark rimmed glasses. Her fashion sense exceeds no further than jeans and t-shirts and comfortable shoes.

Background: Petra’s parents are very religious, after a subdued, studious childhood Petra rebelled during her later teenage years, culminating in her becoming pregnant at the age of 17, and giving birth to Josh and Thomas. The boy’s father, Martin, wanted nothing to do with Petra or his children upon learning about Petra’s pregnancy, and promptly joined the Army. Martin’s parents however have been very supportive to Petra, and have become an important and loving part in their grandchildren’s lives. Unfortunately Petra’s own parents have been less caring; instead they have disowned her, proclaiming that she is a ‘sinful, immoral, fallen woman, who will burn in hell for her sins’.

 

Determined to provide the loving and happy childhood that was denied her, Petra lives for her boys. While Josh and Thomas are at school Petra works part time at the local Morrison’s supermarket. The work is not terribly challenging or fulfilling, but it does enable her to earn enough to support and look after the boys and herself.

 

Skill: 'Tracker' - ' is aware of the general direction, geographic and Stepwise, of those she has a strong bond with. Petra must actively be concentrating for this skill to work.

 

 

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Edited by Kestra15

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GM's Notepad

 

May 1st, 0800hrs - All services normal; electricity, network coverage, internet connections, running water, etc. No updates to websites since the previous night.

 

City Map North

 

City Map South

 

May 1st, 1000hrs - Hawkingsthorne Hospital, a single-floor 100-bed hospital that serves the local area. No specialty, limited A&E/Critical Care facilities (Area 2), limited inpatient bedspaces (Area 5 predominantly), multiple out-patient facilities (Area 3 & 4). Many patients who require long-term/high-intensity care are sent to large facilities such as Addenbrooke's in Cambridge.

 

May 1st, 1030hrs - A fire has started at Bowyer's Ave. Also... "There's a new girl with the main group who's shaping up to have some issues with Emily, and there's a street tough at the supermarket with a psychotic man-child and his pet praying mantis." - Fangirl05

 

May 1st, 1300hrs - Stanleytone, a small crossroads village, abandoned and ripe for the picking of the small group that have arrived by motorbikes and ambulance.

 

May 2nd, 0800hrs - Power seems to be holding. A dark cloud sits on the horizon where Hawkingsthorne would be, but a bright sunny sky stands in stark contrast to the grey clouds of the previous day.

 

May 2nd, 1200hrs - An explosion at a local brewery has put another fireball in the sky; unfortunately the convey was driving by at the time and the group are currently dealing with the immediate after-effects.

 

May 3rd, 0800hrs - Having finally arrived in Oakington and met up with Ez the night before, the survivors have made it through their first night without strangling anyone and are now preparing for several small search-and-scavenge expeditions. Electricity has already failed in the local area and Internet/telephone connections were last seen to be spotty at best across the country.

 

Floor plan of the building

 

May 3rd, 1400hrs - James, Ez, Micah and Erin are scavenging in Cambridge with the ambu-taxi, gathering a diversity of supplies from stab-proof vests to Lynx aftershave. In Birmingham Petra and Wisperlee have expanded the Rapture family by three more souls. And back near base Emily has been working hard to make sure the local farm is still viable, while Mak and Jaune have a generator ready to roll back to their new home.

 

May 3rd, 1900hrs - Mak, Emily and Jaune await for the two groups to return with their new friends and supplies, with limited electricity now available for the building.

 

May 4th, 1200hrs - Spread out across Cambridge, Micah and new arrival Alistair are looking for a radio station, Emily and James are caught out by a leopard while tending their new farm, and Mak, Erin and Ez are evading...something in the local hospital while Jaune waits in the van. Across the country Petra and Wisperlee mourn the disappearance of the three new members already, and prepare to return to the chaos unfolding in East England.

 

May 4th, 1900hrs - Regrouping at their Cambridgeshire house, the group start coming to terms with the continued disappearances of their own band and those few survivors that keep vanishing. Well-stocked and well-provisioned with a new, younger mouth to feed, the team settle in for the evening.

 

May 5th, 0330hrs - Awoken by a scream, the group scramble to defend their house from...something.

 

May 5th, 0900hrs - Preparing to defend their new home from the creatures of the Rapture, the team move out to build, scavenge and fortify their acreage.

 

user posted image

 

May 5th, 1800hrs - After spending the day setting up their defenses, an unexpected guest sadly dies in their midst - only to be followed by his wife, appearing in an equally mysterious way.

 

May 6th, 0700hrs - The first secret of the Rapture is revealed.

Edited by Kestra15

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This sounds like a good RP! Is it okay if I sign up now and send in a character when this gets near approval?

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Sure, not a problem.

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Since I'm interested in joining this RP and therefore have a stake in getting it approved, I thought I'd offer some critique. After that, I recommend sending a PM to Sockpuppet and asking her to give an official critique – that will be quicker than waiting.

 

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(April 30th 2014)

 

Everyone is tired by the end of the day. → 'at the end'

 

Fair enough, after a day of lectures or work or running around after your kids you would be tired, but looking back at it you would wonder just why it didn’t concern you at the time that everyone was tired. → 'lectures, or work, or running around after your kids, you would …' & 'looking back, you wonder just …'

 

Even those who slept all day ready for a night shift woke up more tired than when they went to bed and could barely keep their eyes open on the drive in to work – then again, everyone feels grumpy when they wake up! → 'slept all day, getting ready for …' & 'on the drive to work …' & 'but then again ...'

 

And to be fair to yourselves, you were tired as well. Maybe not the abnormal amount that plagued everybody else that day, but tired all the same. → 'to be fair to you …' or simply 'to be fair'

 

Some went to bed early, exhausted after the day, and slept soundly through the night.→ 'some people went to …'

 

Those who were on night shifts found themselves having a power nap in the early hours of the morning, jerking awake in the hope that the boss hadn’t caught you. → 'hadn't caught them.'

 

Even the night owls who were normally on World of Warcraft until 3am ended up calling it quits not long after midnight, eyes heavy and full of grit, their beds the most inviting of embraces.→ 'of grit; their beds …'

 

No matter who you are or where you were, you found yourself sleeping that night even only for thirty minutes. → change thirty minutes to half an hour?

 

A few people had an inkling something was coming, but what it was they couldn’t tell you until it was too late. → 'but they couldn't tell you what it was until it was too late.' Also: elaborate? How did this inkling manifest?

 

Twenty-four hour news channels lost contact with their representatives in Asia, no updates from the Japanese stock exchange were piped through to London, wives in Australia didn’t make their usual Skype call to their husbands in America.→ No stock-exchange updates is a pretty big things. You can bet that it would have been all over the news and would have been MUCH more than an 'inkling'. Maybe change it so it happed all over the globe at once, rather than per timezone? Unless the timing of it is crucial, in which case I can pretty much guarantee that any stock exchange falling silent would cause a huge uproar. So then maybe gloss over that bit and not mention it? The same goes for newspapers losing contact with their overseas reporters.

 

If someone on the ISS had been monitoring transmissions they would have noticed a gradual loss of all signs of human activity advance across the globe, always just a few hours before sunrise local time. → 'the gradual loss of human activity …' Also, what happened to people on airplanes traveling ahead of the sunrise?

 

For those few who noticed, it was ascribed to being transmission disruptions → Is it crucial to your plot that hardly anyone notices? Because the world today is simply too connected to not notice something like this. Perhaps change it to people *did* notice, but there simply wasn't enough time to investigate or something?

 

In what possible circumstance could the whole human race suddenly disappear from existence without warning? → 'Under what possible circumstances … ' & 'disappear without warning'.

 

Then the Rapture came… → Isn't the disappearance of people the rapture? If so, it already happened and you could delete this sentence.

 

(The Story)

 

The answer will begin in a small town in the East of England, → The answer to …? Perhaps change to 'Our story will …'

 

But it is here that a small band of survivors come together and start their journey together, a journey that would end up with the answer to what happened in the early hours of May 1st 2014. → a band is singular, so 'comes together' and 'starts its journey' & 'a journey that will end with ...'

 

It was as if every human had just disappeared like a magic trick. → 'every human being ...'

 

(The Characters)

 

You could be anyone, from a high-flying lawyer to a dead-beat drug-dealer, a student stacking shelves at night to pay for your degree during the day, a house-husband… → dead-beat = deadbeat & 'to pay for her degree'

 

Charactersheet → Maybe add an option for Personality?

 

(The Rules)

 

4) Please be active; one post a fortnight minimum. If you are going to be absent then please let us know roughly how long for. → Once a fortnight (14 days) isn't active by any stretch of the imagination and people who post so sparingly will inevitably stall the roleplay. Consider making it once every 2-3 days. & “be absent, then please …'

 

7) Semi-lit please, four lines minimum a pass → forgot the period at the end.

 

8) Forms must be formatted properly to be approved and PMed directly to me. → 'to be approved' isn't necessary here.

 

10) This RP is sent in the modern world. It is exactly as you would expect it to be, so please keep a sense of realism → 'set in the modern world' & 'please maintain a sense ...'

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Thanks for the critique, I've made some adaptations. Also to answer a few points raised:

 

- Stock market blackouts, media outages, communication losses are big concerns especially in the 21st Century - but it isn't always something instantly acted on. Stock exchange silence is indeed a big issue but, initially, only in the right circles. There have been stock market crashes due to computer bugs/viruses/downtimes etc that send shockwaves through the economy - but that isn't an instantaneous event, and isn't something an everyman would worry about 24/7. All stock markets have regular opening and closing hours that are staggered, and a delay in information transmission isn't normal and is a concern, but not unheard of. But without people there to reply to the question, and with those who would deal with it slowly disappearing, it's hard to raise an uproar - especially when the news would break when most of the country is in bed asleep.

 

The timing of the disappearances and the location of the RP also plays a part as well; over half the stock exchanges would have been closed early hours of the morning in the UK, and those that would be open are only an hour or two off. Yes, global stock exchange blackout would be big, big news and have huge ramifications to any and every country, but it's not something that would cause people to sound the air sirens at 2am in the morning. Other countries may react differently, depending on where they are in comparison to the Rapture, and if characters want to (and are able to!) explore it...well, that's up to you guys smile.gif But for where the story starts it is feasible that, unless your character is someone who is in that loop, you wouldn't know about such things. And if you were in the loop - well, there's that power-nap you took...

 

As for the inkling? The ones who start to join the dots would have had an inkling something major was amiss, but to get the evidence and raise the alarm and be taken seriously that, apparently, humanity is disappearing - all before the Rapture takes you - tall order indeed. I have enough of a trouble trying to get my college to convince me that off-site access was denied to staff for 48hrs!

 

- Systematic disappearance is part of the story - spoilers wink.gif

 

- What did happen to the planes? Or the ISS crew? Or ferries, trains, etc crossing timezones? If characters want to look into it...

 

- My only hesitation with 'Personality' is that personalities are fluid and can change over time, especially in extreme scenarios. I would prefer writers have the freedom to shape their character (or characters take their own shape) as the RP progresses and define their characters as we go along. Background, however is fixed - can be expanded, but it still fixed and anchors the character.

 

- I think 2 weeks is reasonable enough, and certainly those who have already expressed firm interest in joining are regular enough to keep it flowing - and we can work around kinks if they develop. My concern with expressing a short time-frame is that it can alienate people; some of us don't come on at weekends, some of us can be working 48hrs in 3-4 days, so I don't want writers to stress about this on top of everything else and regularly post absences. I do think we'll see more activity than 1/14 days from people, but it also gives them space for those long weekends or bad days. Think 1/week would still be reasonable?

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- My only hesitation with 'Personality' is that personalities are fluid and can change over time, especially in extreme scenarios. I would prefer writers have the freedom to shape their character (or characters take their own shape) as the RP progresses and define their characters as we go along. Background, however is fixed - can be expanded, but it still fixed and anchors the character.

((This. This so much. I usually get turned off from joining RPs that have a 'Personality' field because I know that no matter how much thought I try and put into my character their entire personality can quickly change. It's hard to stay loyal to a 'set' persona and have them realistically react to events around them, especially if it is something pretty fantastical.))

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Seems like you have everything well thought-out smile.gif. I really look forward to starting this!

 

As to your last question - yes, I think 1/week is reasonable.

 

Do you want to PM Sockpuppet and ask her for an official critique? She said in the approvers thread that people could poke her.

 

Edit: This was Sock's post where she said to poke her, but she edited since so perhaps that means she's swamped? I'm sure she'll let you know if that's the case though smile.gif.

Edited by Mistress of Whispers

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Can I join once this is a bit closer to approval as well? smile.gif

 

This sounds like some kind of Stephen King novel honestly biggrin.gif

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No worries Mak *grumbles about how that's his chara's name...*

 

I'll PM Sockie early next week out of courtesy, and also since I'm babysitting my niece all weekend so even if it got approved I wouldn't be able to sort it out until at least Monday evening! But if people would like to come up with charas and start PMing sheets over I don't mind.

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That works beautifully for me because I'm actually in the process of restarting my own RP, and a science project that counts for 50% of my final grade xd.png

 

Thanks for making this!

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This is better than a lot of RPs I've seen in a long time--and unique too. There aren't any mistakes I can pick out from the first read through and if there are, they're most likely minor enough that it doesn't matter. I'm going to just approve this one on the spot. Have fun roleplaying! laugh.gif

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Awesome, Dauntingale!

 

Kestra, is my character Wisperlee accepted? I sent my sheet via pm sometime at the beginning of this weekend?

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...fantastic, didn't expect us to be started so soon!

 

I'm back home, so the next day or two I would like to get us off the ground with the first post smile.gif Chara applications are open.

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OOOOOOOhhhhhhh..... You didn't read the rules did you? XP

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Kerstra, do you have a bigger pic of Hawkingsthorne by any chance? I'm having problems reading the names of streets and buildings. Magnifying it makes the words fuzzier as well as larger, so that doesn't help xd.png.

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Kerstra, do you have a bigger pic of Hawkingsthorne by any chance? I'm having problems reading the names of streets and buildings. Magnifying it makes the words fuzzier as well as larger, so that doesn't help xd.png.

Let me know if these are any good:

 

City Map North

 

City Map South

 

Do we PM them to you or post them here?

Please PM applications to me smile.gif

Edited by Kestra15

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((OOC: There is no need for you guys to add time-stamps to your posts; I will only occasionally put them up so that you guys have a sense of day/time etc. Feel free to begin, any further OOC qns please PM me. -KM))

 

1st May 2014 – 0800hrs

 

Consciousness came slowly to Mak, who was grateful for the gentle drop from dream back into reality. The blinds were doing their job, giving the room a soft hint of sunlight that allowed him to pick out detail – even read a book, if he strained his eyes a bit – but not enough to wake him until he was ready to do so. Lying in his boxers under the thin duvet he blearily stared at the ceiling and let his mind drift for a while, enjoying the half-wake state. Blinking he took stock of his studio flat, the small dwelling the same mess that he had left it in the night before – including the empty bottle of wine sat innocuously on his desk. A good red wine, five years old, smooth and a good accompaniment to cheese dishes, it was one of his favourites. It had also taken only a couple of hours to finish.

 

Swinging his legs out of bed Mak was also grateful that he could hold his drink just well enough to enjoy a bottle of wine, feel light-headed, drift to sleep with ease, and wake up with nothing more than a dry mouth the next day (provided, of course, he got a good ten hours in bed). He had managed to peel himself out of the habit of indulging in that pleasure three or four times a week and now treated himself to a bottle once a fortnight, and for that he and his liver were grateful. He had been at that tipping point between alcoholic and functional member of society, and with luck he had managed to fall the right way.

 

Morning ablutions completed, the young man turned the kettle on and went about making breakfast, flicking his laptop on in the process. It was reasonable, had lasted him his degree and the year afterwards, but wasn’t going to win prizes for excellence. That suited Mak, who primarily used it to check Facebook, send job applications and listen to Youtube music – computer games had never been his thing. Tea in hand he checked his Facebook feed – a few notifications from friends, a friend request from a girl he met at work last week (he debated outright rejection, but decided to leave it pending instead), nothing more. It looked like nobody had so much as changed their status that morning. Shrugging, Mak switched to his Youtube selection list, hit play, and opened the blinds to the rousing “The Avengers,” making the simple act that much more grandiose.

 

It was a decent enough day outside; a light grey cloud cover that sunlight managed to push through, a slight breeze rippling the trees. His first floor flat had been a lucky find, just close enough to the centre of town to reach all the facilities, but in a quiet corner where he couldn’t hear traffic, schoolchildren or dogs. It was a little secret paradise, which suited the near-recluse well. As the ‘Avengers Assemble’ soundtrack rumbled on he picked up the latest novel booked out of the library (Dean Koontz’s ‘Icebound’) and delved in as he sipped his tea, ignoring the mess of clothes, empty wine bottle, and most importantly the recent rejection e-mails undoubtedly sitting in his inbox. Those could wait until the afternoon; after his cup of tea he’d need to go shopping.

 

OFF.

Edited by Kestra15

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The alarm was making a noise loud enough to wake the neighbours, if they had any. A hand reached out from under the covers and hit the snooze button. "Just nine more mnme......" Lydia slowly fell asleep again as the silence embraced her. But way too soon did the alarm start again. She reached out again but this time she actually looked at the clock. With sleepy eyes did she look at the clock and it took her a moment to realize. "Ah.... CRAP!!!" She sat straight up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "I'm late!!" Scrambling out of bed she looked for her clothes and almost tripped over the many clothes lying on the floor. Quickly she brushed her bird nest of hair and went downstairs, picking up clothes on the way. "MOOOOM!!!! Why didn't you wake me?!" Almost running she went trough the house, gathering stuff and cleaning herself up. She had no other thoughts than getting herself ready for work.

 

All cleaned up did Lydia barge into the kitchen. "MOM!! For the last ti....." Her mother wasn't there. Notmally she would have made breakfast. Lydia was a lazy kid so her mother often made her breakfast and lunch. "Is she at another job again?" She realized she was wasting time and looked at the clock. Relief washed over her as she saw that it was still early. She started grumbling to herself. "Alarm went off at the wrong time, mom isn't here...." She paused her thought train for a moment as she grabbed a cereal bowl, today no warm breakfast. Pouring the cereal in the bowl she tought of her dad. "DAAAAAAD!!!" A moment of waiting and still no anwser. "Dad also isn't here, he never is in the morning." At least she could take it easy now that she knew that she wasn't late.

 

She landed herself on the couch with a full cereal bowl in the hand and spoon in her mouth. "Let'sh shee newsh..." The news wasn't something she really liked but it had become a habit to watch. Just as talking to herself had become a habit. She turned on the tv after finding the remote and got greeted by a static screen. For a moment she sat there watching the tv as it made a horrible noise. "Great!" Lightly she trew the remote on the couch. "Tv is also broken. Great start of the day." In a grumpy mood she ate her cereal while watching the static snow on the tv.

Edited by loviebeest

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Wisperlee was running through a darkened hallway. A faint, far-off light cast violet twilight shadows on the floor, which twitched and turned until they became men. Tall and faceless, they clawed at her as she passed by. The shadows swirled further, entangling her feet and slowing her down while the men continued to press in from all sides. In the distance, Wisperlee could see a fleck of light, but it was retreating further and further away from her. A bird soared overhead, cawing in the twilight sky. "Kee, kee, kee" it shrieked.

 

Groaning, Wisperlee struggled to regain wakefulness. More on instinct than conscious though, her hand reached for the smartphone lying on the bedside table. 'Kee, kee, kee' the alarm sounded. Gods, she thought to herself, I've got to change that tone. She shuddered as she recalled the terror of her dream, then forced herself to get up. It was too early for her liking, but she knew she needed to move on as quickly as possible.

 

Pulling open the curtains to let in the daylight, Wisperlee surveyed the room. She hadn't gotten a good look at it yesterday, since she had arrived late and exhausted. In fact, Mrs Jenkins' had been the only B&B still open and even then she's caught the old landlady on the act of locking up for the night. Now, in the light of day, Wisperlee saw that the heavy curtains were of a mossy-green colour with yellow flowers on them, whilst the wallpaper was a pale yellow with similarly pale pink flowers and the bed covers were of a dusty rose colour decorated with flowery green vines. The entire effect was far too flowery for Wisperlee's taste, but at least between the colours and the flower-motifs, the room came full circle.

 

She checked her phone for new messages and made her way over to the en-suite. To be fair, it was more akin to a shower cubicle than a proper en-suite, but, accustomed to student dorms, Wisperlee didn't mind. Plus, it was blessedly free of flowers. Satisfied that there were no urgent messages - she'd check the rest of her social media later - she turned on the shower faucet. It looked like Mrs Jenkins had provided sample-sized soap, shampoo and conditioner to go with the bathroom. Carefully smelling the soap, Wisperlee was pleased to see that whilst it was floral - no surprise there - it was very subdued. These will do, she thought to herself.

 

(....)

 

A little while later, bright blue hair still dark and damp with water, Wisperlee bounded down the stairs. She stopped when she came to the dining room, then checked her phone again. 8:32. Mrs Jenkins had been very specific that breakfast was served between 8 and 9, yet the dining room was completely empty. None of the small tables was set, nor did any show signs of previous occupants and the long table placed against the wall - which Wisperlee assumed normally held the breakfast buffet - was empty. Huh, that's odd.

 

"Mrs. Jenkins?" she called out. "Hello? Mrs. Jenkins."

 

Wisperlee stood for a moment as her voice echoed down the empty hallway. No reply came. Great. She briefly pondered her options, then decided that the room came with breakfast. A quick bit of scouting around located the kitchen and, once there, it was easy enough to find breakfast supplies. She really wanted eggs and toast, but didn't feel comfortable mucking around with frying pans and toasters in a stranger's kitchen. Instead, she settled on cereal and minute maid orange juice. The cereal, she was saddened to see, was of the wholesome and healthy variety - while Wisperlee kept in shape through sports, her diet was decidedly sugary. Still, there were no fruity loops or chocolate-covered rice to be found, so the plain, whole-grain flakes would have to do.

 

She made her way back to the dining room and settled in at a small table near the window. Munching on her cereal, she whipped out her phone and began checking her messages in earnest.

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His tea was cold. That always happened when Mak got dragged into reading – pretty much any reading at that. He’d been late more than once in his life because he was so engrossed in the latest piece of literature he’d acquired – textbooks teaching him Italian, novellas posted on the Internet, a favourite Terry Prachett. Looking up from his book Mak glanced at the near-empty mug with slight disgust and returned both book and mug to his desk. The Avengers was still adding an air of grandiose to his tiny flat so he hadn’t been caught up for too long in the story of scientists trapped on an iceberg, so he marked his place with a dogged leather bookmark and stood. He would have plenty of time to finish the book later; what he really needed was breakfast.

 

Changing out of his towel and dressing gown into something more socially acceptable, he shut down his laptop and turned on his iPod instead, letting the portable music system load as he stuffed his jumper into his backpack along with his wallet and old Nokia mobile. Suited and booted he put his earphones in and shouldered his bag, leaving the messy flat behind as he began to forage for food. He had plenty of food for evening and midday meals, but the last drops of milk had gone into that cup of tea and he’d forgotten to pick up something for breakfast during his shop the previous day. Perhaps he’d treat himself to crumpets? Stepping out of his block of flats Mak took a moment to appreciate the weather, almost perfect for everything but sunbathing or skiing. He would enjoy his little meander through town.

 

Monks Orchard, he figured, was a good place to live. Although it was close to the ring-road which defined the majority of Hawkingsthorne (with the exception of the school and new housing estate to the north, and the well-to-do country houses south along the Beeches) it was surprisingly private and quiet up at the end of the street. Only on the busiest of days would he hear a suggestion of traffic running along the B-road, but he couldn’t hear any that morning. Cutting through the alleyway to North Crofts, it wouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes to reach the Morrisons at the south edge of town, and the pleasant weather would make his excursion worth-while. As he walked he debated whether he’d got out to the bookshop that day to find any new treasures in the second-hand section, and use the walk as a good reason to drop by the agency and see if any new jobs piqued his interest.

 

Hands in pockets, cool breeze refreshing on his bared arms, Mak was lost in a world of music as he made his way through the little town.

 

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The bowl of too-healthy cereal stood pushed, ignored and forgotten, to the side of the small table. Wisperlee was typing furiously on her laptop, having retrieved it from her room after her mobile phone had gotten, well, nothing.

 

There were no new emails, no new facebook messages or status updates, no new tweets or tumblr pictures. Thinking that there might be some strange social media blackout, Wisperlee had then turned to BBC News, CNN, NBC News, the Huffington Post and even Fox News. None of them had any news updates since last night. For a moment she wondered of maybe there was some sort of Earth Day, where people were offline for a day instead of an hour. But no, she was too well-connected not to know about something like that beforehand. She would have known of a scheduled internet black-out.

 

The hacker's fingers flew over the keyboard as she delved into the online world. Internet servers: fine. Internet backbone: fine. Push services: fine. All automated systems were working, there just wasn't any new input. On a whim, she signed into her favourite MMO and iimmediately found herself in familiar surroundings. She was greeted by bounty hunters, assassins and thugs as usual - and all of them were AI's. Checking the global message logs, she saw the same as she had on every other site: no activity since last day. She logged out and went back to the 'net. Sinking into the hidden internet, she found a few messages from other people in her line of work commenting on the sudden absence of new content. All of them were from last night. She felt hopeful when she found a more recent picture from ystarter's photo-marathon, but it was all-black and didn't show anything.

 

What the frak is going on?

 

She scanned the empty room, feeling more than a little anxious by now, and saw a small tv sit on a cabinet table in the corner. A small black remote lay next to it. Fumbling for a moment with the unfamiliar settings, Wisperlee began flipping through channels. A few networks were airing re-runs or morning infomercials and cartoons. The live broadcasts, including the breakfast and news shows, were suspiciously absent. Wisperlee didn't watch much television as she got all her shows online, but her roommate Tammy was a big fan of The Big Breakfast. Flipping to Channel 4, which she knew should be broadcasting TBB, Wisperlee encountered nothing but static.

 

Okay, now I'm worried.

 

Wisperlee contemplated going outside. Perhaps someone could tell her what was going on. She hesitated, then ran back upstairs to get her bag. She sent out a system-wide 'poke me' to her many contacts, then stuffed her laptop into the old mail bag with one hand, even as the other hand was downloading a map of Hawkingsthorne on her smartphone. Town Hall or the local church would be a good place to look for people, so she set out in that direction.

Edited by Mistress of Whispers

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The empty cereal bowl was placed on the counter and Lydia stared at it contemplating if she should wash it. She shrugged and went upstairs again, her mother would do it when she got home. When she openend her door to her room she was greeted with a mess of clothes. I really should clean up... But first, laptop. She avoided the mess in her room skillfully and opened up her laptop that was laying on the bed. The night before she had fallen asleep while browsing the net, it explained the painfull bruise she now had. Let's see no tv but there should be something on the internet. She browsed over several sites, no updates. Wich was normal for her, facebook wasn't her thing so she was always on slowly updating sites. She closed her laptop and grabbed her phone, nothing new either. Concern wasn't really neccesary since she only got new messages when she asked for anwsers.

 

Bored she put her phone in her pocket, grabbed the car keys on the sidetable and looked one last time at the clock. I can't believe I woke up so early. I needed my sleep for the evening shift. She stood up grabbed some few things to put in her bag and went downstairs again. More unnecessary stairwalking, yagh. Getting enough of that everywhere else. In her boredom and too much free time she had decided to go shopping. She grabbed her wallet, wich was for some reason on the floor next to the door and went outside locking the door behind her. Wonder why we live so apart from civilisation She looked up suprised by her own thoughts when she unlocked the car door. I should wonder more why I have all these thoughts suddenly. Shaking the thought from her she stepped into the car and ignited it. She drove out of the driveway onto the road. The roadtrip would be on the long side but the thought of being rewarded with something made it barable.

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