Intro

It's the year 2102, and a lot has changed for humanity. No, there are still no flying cars, jet packs, or teleportation powers... well, at least not in the real world.

But we've discovered a place where they can exist.

We've discovered a place where anything can exist, and lots of things - fantastic, unbelievable things - seem to go out of their way to do so.

Of course, we, as humans have to destroy those things. It's for the safety of the planet (and a cash reward). While there are those who are opposed to the destruction of that which we simply do not understand fully, most believe they are doing good by wiping out the 'errors' in our planet before they consume the whole thing.

Intro // Readme // Log: Data // Log: Ens and Circles // Log: En Hunting // Registration // Blog

c:\cpdata\readme.txt

Readme
Notes and Rules

OoC Link

Spoiler Alert!

This is a literate roleplay that is heavily inspired by a few sources. I'm going to credit as best I can without giving away the plot I have in mind, but this RP may contain major or minor spoilers from the following:

Haruhi Suzumiya no Yuutsu (anime)
Star Ocean: Till The End of Time (video game)
1984 (book)
.hack//sign (anime)
Phantasy Star Online
Shadow of the Colossus

Just to give you some warning, if you're in the midst of watching/reading/playing any of those.

Rules

1. Follow the ToS.
2. No Godmoding, Powerplaying, etc. You should know this basic stuff.
3. Be literate to advanced. I'm expecting about a paragraph per post, but I realise we all have off days. You don't have to be perfect, but please be readeable - and as a guideline, make sure every post you give is one you would like to get.
4. Yaoi and yuri are fine, but if someone asks you to stop pressuring them into joining a gay orgy... um, stop pressuring them into joining in on a gay orgy.

You know, I could have sworn I had some plot-specific rules in here. I'll add as they come back to me, I guess.

The World

Earth is pretty much the same, only with more pollution, and some cooler cybernetic stuff. Use your imagination. I'm setting the RP in a large city at first, and it's pretty slummy. I'll leave the rest to you, I don't really feel like I need to explain every little detail - sometimes it's fun to play by ear, too.

endfile

Intro // Readme // Log: Data // Log: Ens and Circles // Log: En Hunting // Registration // Blog

C:\cpinfo\log1-data.txt

Log 1.0: Data

"The laws of physics are very well written. "

Data is everywhere, and is just what it sounds like. It's information, a form of natural programming that orders the physical universe and can be read through technology. Unlike matter or energy, it can be created or destroyed and is at an alarming rate through physical action. If something is built, it's a new piece of data; if something is destroyed, its corresponding place in data is also dissolved. If someone could find a way control or manipulate this - tell a door where it is or isn't, give pigs wings or take away a bird's - they could control everything.

However, it is often accepted that this information only works one way. A door being where it is dictates what the data reads, not vice versa. But in places where the world works backwards, it's not too hard to figure out...

1.1 Closed Space

Closed spaces (also known as data spheres or en circles) have been showing up since 2055. They are lapses in terrain, knots speculated to have been caused indirectly by the failed attempts at manipulating data. They occur randomly, but tend to happen near large urban centers where the prototypes failed.

They are infinitely thin from the outside, totally invisible to the naked eye, and difficult to access without the proper technology. However, it is possible. Think of those vintage cartoons, where a character would pull a doorframe from nowhere and walk through it. You would expect them, normally, just to pass through to the other side. And most people do... but some, instead, disappear into it.

Once inside, the closed space seems to be a perfectly spherical dome that is almost a direct copy of the area near which it originated. By the perimeter, all seems to be normal, but as one approaches the epicenter, things become more and more twisted - the way in which things are perverted vary from sphere to sphere. Among the common methods are: the surroundings losing their colour, time appearing to slow or accelerate slightly, or things getting larger or smaller.

That is not the only strange thing to occur within closed space, however. In closed space, data can be manipulated in order to control physical objects or even a person's ability and appearance. This is called backwards manipulation, and more on this will be explained later.

None of this has any recorded effect on the world of which it is a copy. They seem to pose no danger to the "real world", but the government offers rewards for their destruction nevertheless as they /could/ pose a threat. Some people greatly oppose the dissolution of closed space, but that is generally not the stance of the majority of civilians.

It is much harder to get out of closed space than it is to get in. There is an invisible barrier from which one can observe the outside world but not be seen or even contacted via any means; the average radius of this barrier is ten kilometers, but it expands at a slow rate. The easiest known method of escaping closed space is destroying it... and that is done by getting to the center.

At the very center of the closed space is the manifestation and direct cause of the circle: the en.

Log 1.2: Ens

The origin or purpose of ens has yet to be discovered. They take on a variety of different forms, varying in size and shape so sharply that it seems the only thing they have in common is the intent of destruction. Some are more direct and brutal, smashing buildings and generally breaking things, while others are smaller, more sophisticated and almost human-like in their use of tools and tactics. They may even appear as multiples, such as a pack of wolves, but there is always one sentience per circle, no more and no less.

The strength of an en often corresponds to the size of the circle that it inhabits. Larger circles mean more powerful ens (and a better reward).

Ens are not affected by normal weapons or even conventional physical harm. They are only wounded by weapons that have been made to wound them, and those weapons can only exist in data spheres because of data manipulation.

Once the en is destroyed, the closed space goes with it, crumbling and leaving all remaining creatures inside roughly where they entered it in the first place.

endfile

Intro // Readme // Log: Data // Log: En Hunting // Registration // Blog

C:\cpinfo\log2-hunting.txt

Log 2.0: En Hunting - Overview

In 2060, the American government could no longer send its soldiers to destroy the closed spaces because of understaffing, and thus began the freelance profession of en-hunting. It is a dangerous profession, but can bring glamour and money to those who are good enough - or showy enough.

It is not unheard of for groups of hunters to become famous, often through being featured on television defeating an en. It is similar to the archaiac television show "The Crocodile Hunter", only with more explosions.

Log 2.1: En Hunting - Group Construction

Generally, a group consists of at least two core members (with an average of four), with other hired help (freelancers) as necessary.

Tekkers

The tekkers are the silent backbone of the group, and do very little of the physical fighting or exploration - but they are the ones who enable it. They often have formal training in computer/data sciences, and are almost always the ones with the most coding experience within a faction, usually considered the leader. They do most of their work before entering the en circle by programming in advance for manipulation.

Once inside, however, things tend to get more tense. The tekker must override the natural order of the space by hacking it and bringing it under their own "data jurisdiction", which can be difficult for beginners (there is no set standard on this, so each space must be done individually: once again, the larger the area, the more difficult this becomes). After that, they are freely able to manipulate just about anything within the sphere if they know how.

Weapons, armour, even physical enhancements of their hunters are possible if the tekker can code it correctly.

However, there is a limit. Data changes made to physical, biological forms can have averse side effects if the tekker goes too far too fast. People must build up a gradual immunity to being altered; otherwise, the results could be lethal.

They usually remain in the group's main vehicle, performing operations as a sort of "home base" figure and updating the other members on information gathered through the equipment within. Some highly skilled tekkers are able to code fast enough to get coordinates form the other members and manipulate data for that area (for example, removing a wall) when asked.

Hunters

These are the people who get the glory of the hunt, and actually go searching for the en. They are generally physically able and have some knowledge of weapons-based fighting, but not necessarily of coding.

Experience makes these hunters exponentially more powerful, if they are with a good tekker. Not only do they get more savvy and stronger, as experience will do to anyone, but their ability to spring back from alterations becomes greater and gives the tekker more freedom. Some people have even been flexible enough to take on completely different physical appearances.


Log 2.2 - En Hunting - Payment

The bounty on closed space destruction is about $25 per square kilometer (or $40 per square mile). Because most circles have a radius of about ten kilometers (or sixteen miles), that translates to roughly eight thousand dollars per circle destroyed.

endfile

Intro // Readme // Log: Data // Log: En Hunting // Registration // Blog

run c:\cpinfo\registraton.exe
file not found
"Oh, for God's sake--"
run c:\cpinfo\registration.exe

Registration Wizard ver1.2

Currently, automatic registration is disabled. In order to submit a profile to the database, you will need to fill out the required fields and send it to Kiss via personal message.

RPer:  You.
Name:  Name.
Alias:  Your character's "username", a unique tag that identifies them.  Most hunters have one. 
Position: Tekker, Hunter.
Appearance:  Looks.
Personality:  Acts.

By submitting a registration to the hunter database, you agree to terms and conditions in the "readme" file and waive any right to dignity or sanity. Your profile needn't be a novel (I don't like writing them either).

You can access the hunter database at this address:
(Link to OoC goes here)

(Registration Wizard is copyright R&P Company Ltd.)

Intro // Readme // Log: Data // Log: En Hunting // Registration // Blog

Blog

Accessing... (OoC link)

This post will be dedicated to keeping up with the goings-on of the RP, all the information found here can also be found in the OoC thread.

Intro // Readme // Log: Data // Log: En Hunting // Registration // Blog

A clipboard in one hand, a coffee in the other, sporting a loose white buttoned shirt and black pair of trousers... Ky was the very epitome of casual Friday.

She glanced at the names on her sign-up sheet and took the last swig of her coffee, tossing the paper cup into a trash bin. Today, there would be a group of a few hopefuls coming in, and Ky had about five minutes before they were to arrive. She sighed and leaned back against a nearby desk, letting her dark eyes trace out patterns in the pinpricks on the ceiling.

The auditions - although it wasn't for any acting or public role, that was still how she thought of it - hadn't gone spectacularly so far. Nothing had gone horribly wrong, but Ky hadn't seen anything promising in particular, either... and today was the last day. The research giant EnCo wanted to hire a new group of Hunter-Researchers (the last group had met with a tragic accident months prior), and it looked as if the position was going to be left open.

If Ky took the brunt of the blame, then there would be more than just that position left open.

She sighed and glanced around at the room. The walls were sterile and white, the tile floor keeping the room cooler despite the massive amount of machinery running. The wall behind Ky was occupied by a series of computers, all in standby; in front of her was an intimidating machine designed to create instances of closed space. It was recent technology, within the past three years - the company managed to develop the machine, despite there being controversy at the time. A double benefit of the obvious research opportunity was that it made for easy evaluation of candidates.

Kai sighed again, tapping her foot impatiently. She was ready a few minutes ahead of schedule - checked and double-checked everything. As much as she hated wasting time, there was nothing left to do but wait.

Krey sat upright in the vaguely green tweed chair of the cream colored EnCo waiting room. He had arrived twenty minutes early and found the facility all but empty. Now as the scheduled audition time drew near a small slew of candidates were steadily streaming in. The tattooed punks with bizarre haircuts with even stranger hair colors and wiry youths dressed in all black hiding their faces behind dark glasses stood out in stark contrast to the gaunt old man in military dress.

Had Krey known his own waiting was coinciding with the waiting of the examiner in the next room he would have cursed the inefficiency and likely walked out of the building. Luckily, he was unaware of this when a young woman in a white polo bearing the EnCo logo in staunch black stitching invited him to face his audition.

Entering the sterile room, he walked towards the center. Pausing directly in front of Ky, he turned sharply on his heel and faced towards her. His polished boots worn heel squeaked on the tile as he turned. He stood there, in mock military position, his back and legs straight, feet together, arms rigid at his side. His mind took in the surroundings, noting the location of doors and machinery, "Why did it have to be a white room?" He thought, very aware of how raggedly gray and faded his uniform looked in contrast to the sterile white walls surrounding him. After suppressing this thought he looked towards Ky and spoke, loud and harshly, "Retired General Kreyopresny Dirac, reporting ma'am"