Stage 1: Houston, Arc 2.4
Sunday, January 10th, 2010
I put Spider-Bong to sleep after I wake up. Might as well make that its official name, can I change it? Yep, rename button on Golem Status screen. I want to try an experiment today. How far away can I be from the Golem and still sense my connection to it? Before we leave, I'll wake him up and leave him at the house doing nothing. We'll be traveling far away so it will be a good test.
Actually, I shouldn't have put it to sleep yet, so I wake it up again. I'm up early, and should strive to always be gaining in some skill all the time. Keeping Spider-Bong awake, and taking double meds for Drug Resist, are the only skills I can gain while engaged in routine stuff when getting ready in the morning. I won't be able to keep it active all the time, but I have plenty of MP as a buffer. I just need to save enough for Observe when we get out of the house.
The Beckett's don't bother me this time, so I read through breakfast. No one was up for conversation. It seems out of place given that we'll be going to a funeral. I hide Spider-Bong in a bag under a bush in the alley. Just in case something weird happens while it's awake and I get further away, like if it would run to catch or up something, I don't want it to go careening through the house.
After a few minutes of driving I lose my connection to Spider-Bong. It feels the same as when it goes to sleep and I get a notification saying I've gone out of range. We're less than a quarter mile from the house. I note the street intersection so I can try to get a more precise idea of the exact range later. At least it's easier to meditate along the highway as opposed to the bus stopping and starting in city traffic. It takes over an hour to get there. There's not much to look at except plants and birds, so that's what I use Observe on. Plants and animals still cost 3 MP.
I observe Julia again. Last night's 'Pissed the Fuck Off' is now 'Angry' and 'Somber'. I grind Observe on as much as I can throughout the service. It's held at a tiny, rural Catholic church a block from the funeral home and cemetery. The priest is young and run ragged from the fallout of the attack still affecting things this far out into the South Texas rural area. Is Julia Catholic or is this just the most convenient place to use?
Despite the rushed organization, and the inexperience of the priest, the serenity and genuineness of the setting and his words are comforting. I mentally substitute my friends and parents, even though I can't remember them, as being laid to rest. I suppress another emotional breath; they're diminished compared to Julia's quiet sobs. I guess my power considers it cathartic enough, if a decent gain in stress points is indication. I hope the same is true for Julia, but Observe doesn't indicate a change in her Stressed status effect, only her emotions.
A young woman shows up late and attends the cemetery portion of the service. Abusing my volume settings let me eavesdrop as she interacts with Julia. Her name is Cindy and was Teresa's dorm roommate at UT. She brought a car full of clothes and boxes of Teresa's stuff from the dorm. I help load them into our car when the services end.
The drive back is just as silent. Julia does manage to eke out a quiet thanks to me, Rachel, and Mrs. Beckett for coming with her. She even hugged us; or she did to Rachel. The one she gives me is more like awkwardly leaning on my clothes than a proper hug. But it earns me another +1 relationship point. I'm still 4 shy of 100. I meditate again in the car, and use Observe via my camera as we drive home.
When we got back, I use stealth to verify Spider-Bong is still where I left it. I need to build up my MP to awaken it. I throw another Observe at Julia; she's on the phone again. Nothing has changed, so I read the science book until dinner.
"Do you think we'll have any classes together?" I ask Julia during dinner.
She pauses mid bite to look at me, and continues chewing before making a noncommittal shrug.
"We have the placement tests tomorrow, not sure if they'll take all day. Don't know what they'll do with us afterward if school isn't out yet." I say.
"Simon." Julia responds looking at me with tired eyes. "I have to meet with Mrs. Pearson tomorrow. I won't be at school."
"Oh" Well fuck, when am I going to get a chance to ask her alone about whether or not she is a Parahuman, and show her Spider-Bong? Or is it too soon? I hope I'm not already pushing too much. "Will you be at the counseling session tomorrow afternoon?"
"I don't know, maybe."
"I've gotten better at Spanish, I think I knew it before, and am remembering it now. I found some audio lessons that helped."
"I know, you forgot to delete them off my MP3 player."
"Oh, sorry. Thanks for the lesson-reminders earlier, maybe taking it as a class will help more, unless you want to give another lesson…when you feel up to it."
Julia shrugs and continues eating.
"I found some phone repair shops, but I don't know if I can visit them tomorrow with school and counseling, they'll probably be closed by the time all that is done."
"You won't be going out to any stores or shops Simon." Mr. Beckett announces diverting from his own side conversation and butting into ours. "We haven't forgotten you leaving without permission the other day."
"Is there going to be a time when you do give 'permission'? If not, then what's the point of asking?" I blurt out, my annoyance getting the better of me.
"We'll discuss that when it arises, right now you need to focus on getting settled into school next week." Mr. Beckett retorted.
"Besides, we only have two cars, and Richard uses his for work." Mrs. Beckett adds in. "There's only so much time that can be devoted to shuttling everyone in the house around for necessary activities."
"I know how to use the bus. I did so, and returned in time, without affecting anyone's schedules or making you use your minivan for anything. So talking about your limited taxi ability is not a valid argument." This is entirely derailing my attempt to talk to Julia. The dinner table is getting silent as some of the other kids watch the conflict rise.
"No, Simon." Mrs. Beckett goes on, but I interrupted again.
"Why can I not walk or use my own money to take a bus to a nearby location on my own free time outside of school hours, if I return at a reasonable time as well?"
"We're saying you need permission" Mrs. Beckett intones, annoyance creeping into his voice.
"Fine, do I have permission to go to a store on my own Tuesday or any other day this week after school?"
"No"
"Why?"
"Because we said so, finish your dinner." Mr. Beckett announced with finality.
Ah, I see. That's how it's going to be. Julia and a couple other kids have gotten up and slinked away. It's not like I'm the only argumentative one, the others have had their share, with the same responses and restrictions. As annoying as it is, I'm not being singled out. Whatever, if they're not going to let me I'll just have to do it anyway.
Julia disappears into the girl's room. With my progress in further conversation halted, I get on the computer to research cracking the combination locks I bought. Sure I know the code, but that's not the point. I type up some instructions into my interface notes so I can try them out tonight.
Nine PM rolls around and we're ushered into our rooms, the notes work well, especially in combination with cranking up my sound FX volume and putting my ear to the locks. I soon have them picked, and improve my Disable Device skill. But three hours of practice shows the signs of diminishing returns. Maybe I can exchange these again for something more complex? I meditate for a couple hours in the dark, and then wake up Spider-Bong.
Julia's Observe window is still up. I minimized it, but kept it up to keep track of it. It's only change is that she has the Condition 'Sleeping'. You know I had never really paid attention to that before. Parapedia is rather obvious, 'Sleeping' gives a negative effect to PER and improved regen rates for healing, stamina, and most of all, fatigue. No mention of Mana for her anywhere. I can't use Observe on my own sleep condition. Will her window stay open when I sleep? There's only one way to find out.
Monday, January 11th, 2010
Julia's Observe window didn't stay open. I put Spider-Bong back to sleep after getting ready, and get a new quest. 'Do well on assessment tests.' Reward: 250 XP. So should I study? I don't know what they're going to cover, but I only have the science book to use. I read it until it's time to leave on the school bus with the other high school kids from the house, except Julia. Don't know what she's doing with Mrs. Pearson today, I can ask later.
I grind meditation and Observe on the ride over. It's hard due to bumps and traffic, but easier than last time. I focus on observing kids and people, and look for anyone that costs 3 MP instead of 2, but don't find any. By the time I get to the office and get registered, I finally hit level 10.
You have unlocked the view bars block Observe feature.
You have unlocked the FRAPS interface feature (from Observe level 10)
'View Bar Blocks' means I can see people's HP, Stamina, MP, Stress, Hunger, Thirst, and Fatigue bar values when I observe them. I want to test that out but am at the 'Specialty Dilemma' again. If I want another specialty, I need to only use Observe on what I want the specialty in. That means testing it out on people or using Parapedia to gain more insights would have to wait. What specialties are left? Vehicles, plants and/or animals, and probably tinker-tech and Parahumans, but those are right out. I need to stick to my rule, go for the specialty when possible. I'll aim for vehicles. That's a minimum of 950 uses on unique vehicles, assuming max skill gain with each attempt, which I probably won't get. I could encounter that many in a day or two. Hell, the school's parking lot looks like it might have a hundred on its own.
People's HP bar is now included in their overhead tag info. So are their names, and class, even when I had no knowledge of that beforehand, not even with clues. That will have some interesting ramifications.
FRAPS is pretty cool. I try it out briefly while waiting for my assessment tests. Turning it on means I can literally record audio and video as if I had cameras for eyes. It works just as well with my free camera, but stays with whatever camera I'm using. I replay my recordings. That allows me a new use for 'Windowed Mode' now that I can have two windows for stuff like 'replay' and 'live.' Hell, I can do that for my text/note windows too.
Your Gamer's Interface skill has increased by 1
Excellent. Playing with new features for the first time always gives me a surge of gains in that, though the surges are smaller than previously. Damn, no new skill feature at level 20, maybe level 25?
Test time. Do well huh? The best way to do well is to be smarter. I don't want to use all my points, I might need them for an emergency, but I can round some stats out. I add +3 to INT and +2 to WIS. MP max immediately jumps up to 1750 and I gain the difference in MP as well. My regen is almost an even 1 MP per minute. Stress points, current and max jump by 50 points. I don't suddenly feel smarter or wiser, but maybe I need to wait more, and try it out like on the tests that I have to start.
I'm done early, and use my free camera to view the parking lot and street to observe all the cars. We break for lunch three hours later. Rachel has been doing assessment tests also, Janet isn't but I’m not sure why, she's a senior already, that may have something to do with it. A lot of kids are taking assessments. There are a lot of transfers from Galveston survivors. I wasn't alone in the room.
I find Rachel during lunch and sit down beside her. "Hey."
"Hey"
"Don't see the other kids from the house, or Janet."
"They're probably in other lunch periods."
"You know why Julia didn't do assessment tests today? I know she's meeting with Mrs. Pearson, but that's all. She didn't seem to care much at the idea of school."
"It's school. School sucks. Otherwise, I'm not sure."
"Oh, okay, was just hoping someone might know more, the Beckett's wrecked my attempt to talk to her last night."
"Man, you're jonesing after her pretty hard. I think she was talking with her Grandmother last night. Just don't get your hopes up"
"What's that supposed to mean?" I want to use Observe again to see what Rachel is feeling but...
"You like her."
"I'm trying to be her friend."
"Yeah, sure."
"No really, I am."
"What's that Star Wars thing? There is no try, just be."
"I didn't know you were a Star Wars fan."
"My brother was a geek, it bled over."
"Nothing wrong with that; release your inner geek Rachel, it compels you."
"You're a weird dude Simon, but you're alright."
"Thanks? I guess. It doesn't answer my earlier question though. What do you mean when you say I shouldn't get my hopes up?"
"Just that us kids come and go out of foster care. We get moved, we run away. We return to or get taken away again from parents or relatives. Especially teenagers like us. It's not reliable. I know, I had cousins in the system."
"You don't think she is going to run away do you?"
"No, but I bet it's crossed her mind, yours too."
She has me there, I have thought about it, if it weren't for what I suspected about Julia and a simple quest to be her friend and help her, I probably would have.
"And yours?"
"Yeah sure, everyone does. I act tough, but I know what the results of that are more than most."
"I don't think you merely act tough. Care to elaborate?"
"Not really. Just the world is fucked up, people are fucked up and so are we. That doesn't make it easy to get all feely with people."
"Yeah I get your perspective. The world shat on us. We're still trying to swim out of it, and the shore is just the dried up leftovers from the last time it shat on somebody else. But that's also the kind of situation where having a friend, despite the difficulties, is most beneficial."
"Yeah I guess…"
All my focus doesn't need to stay on Julia does it? I've ignored the others just to pursue my quests and grind my stats and skills. I should change that. "So, what did you think of those stupid assessment tests? You know what electives you might try and take?..."
After lunch, the transfers get shuffled into the auditorium, I sit next to Rachel again and we continue with idle talk. It's some kind of incredibly boring orientation, a combination of meeting the administrators and guidance counselor pep talk. After all we're a bunch of refugees from an Endbringer attack, which comes with a certain amount of baggage. Then we just wait, I guess someone finally finishes grading my test because I get a notice of quest completion and gain 250 XP. We get called up one at a time to figure out our schedules. The whole thing takes two hours.
For A day classes, I have Spanish, shared with Rachel, Art, English and Geometry, also shared with Rachel. I know Geometry according to my skills. So what gives? For freshmen it's an honors class?
According to Mr. Mondale, that teacher I met in Galveston, and my 'get to know yourself' quest info. I was a poor student. Now I qualify for honors classes, or at least some of them? I'm still stuck in regular English and History cause that's all the room they had even if I could have done honors. There's a lot less control over my schedule than I hoped. I only get to pick two electives from a limited list, which is Spanish and Art. Computer Science isn't compatible with the schedule of required classes I got put into.
‘B’ day classes, I have Biology, History, Health and PE. Today is an ‘A’ day class, but we won't be going. School is from 8am to 3:10pm, 4 periods, with 35 minute rotating lunches during 3rd period. At least PE is at the end of the day, small blessings.
Now it's time to get back on the bus and go home. More meditation, and lots of Observing vehicles, including construction vehicles and boats. I snag an Observe on a locomotive while we wait for a train. Do trailers or bicycles count as vehicles? Not worth risking it to find out.
We get home and have to get ready to go to counseling again. More meditation and Observe use on the way. The session's as fruitful as the prior ones, but my gains are losing steam. At my one on one, I talk about how to overcome the PTSD induced aqua-phobia, and other triggering stuff with better exposure therapy. That means easing into attempts at swimming, despite the idea still freaking me out. It took some convincing, but I get an actual written recommendation for it this time. I watch some short videos of Leviathan during my one-on-one. I know it's going to grind Gamer's Mind, and it does, but it's still nerve wracking, but a lot easier than the last time I saw the fucker.
I hit level 4 in Psychology and Empathy. They have specialties and stop at 0%, but are passive. They're harder to target specialties for. I have to think how to gain new ones, and mentally shut down so I don't 'contaminate' further gains. Fortunately, my psychologist lets me talk and ask about whatever and is a good source of information. He tells me about the different types of Empathy and various fields and specialties in Psychology. I have FRAPS record the whole thing so I can research it later.
We pile back into the car. Julia at least had been to the counseling sessions again. I resist the urge to use Observe on her again.
"You always mumble that word a lot. Why?" Julia asks, sliding into the seat next to me.
Startled, I turn toward her and our arms touch. "Ow! Damn." I yell as a static shock hits my arm with an audible pop.
"Shit, sorry...dry air"
What the fuck? "I didn't think anyone could even hear due to Rachel and Janet arguing."
"Some kind of mantra or something? You seem different, a bit."
"Well I meditate sometimes, mostly after lights off before sleeping. Maybe it's more just a reminder to pay attention. Little good it did with you startling me, and literally shocking me with your presence." I seem different? How, what did she notice?
"How was school and the test stuff?"
"Boring, took forever, talked with Rachel over lunch though, and finally got a schedule at the end of it."
"She mentioned that."
"That all she mentioned?"
"Um, yeah?"
Damn, why am I nervous? Still can't ask her what I really want, not here. "Will I see you in school eventually?"
Julia looks forlorn and sighs. "I don't know. Not sure what is going to happen yet."
"Legal stuff?"
"No, that's supposedly over with now."
"Then..." What had Rachel said? Kids come and go, but even if Julia had thought of running off, that would not have prevented normal school registration. "Rachel said you spoke with your Grandmother? Are you.."
"Maybe? I don't know. Contacting family that's what CPS does. Lita Maria, my paternal grandmother, lives in Mexico, but doesn't really have the capacity to care for herself let alone someone else. She…didn't even understand what had happened. Not that it matters, 'It's not Texas CPS policy to send a charge out of the country.' My other grandmother, I haven't seen her but once when I was four or five. She and my mother weren't close."
Is she leaving? Registering for school would be pointless if she was. "So was that what you were discussing with Mrs. Pearson?"
"Sorta. They found my mom's car."
"…Oh."
"Scuba divers were taking photos of license plates. They hit a match out of thousands. I was lucky it was visible and legible at all. They're all buried too deep in the silt to retrieve."
"I'm sorry."
"Hey at least the fucking insurance company has evidence of loss now." She says with a pained fake smile. "They won't do crap about my dad's truck, cause it's perfectly fine. Just have to convince the Navy to remove it off a condemned island, or wait for a new bridge to be built, which will probably be never."
I don't know what to say to that, so we sit in silence for a while and I observe the passing cars.
"How's counseling going?" I ask, Julia only shrugs in response. What defines helping her over her trauma? I'm surprised I didn't get a quest to retrieve her dad's truck. And no, you troll. I don't want a quest to do that. "I ramped up my exposure therapy today, trying to overcome those PTSD triggers. Had to watch videos of ol' aquatic Chupacabra, it's helping I guess, even if it's… you know."
"Yeah…I've done some, not ready for that much."
"Simon, you have chores tonight and need to help with Dinner." Mrs. Beckett announces as we pull into the house and I groan.
****
Julia helps with a portion of the chores, and we talk about mundane stuff. She isn't going to be at school tomorrow due to another meeting with Mrs. Pearson. I have one coming later this week. I want to buy the phone off her if I can get it repaired, but don't know if I can afford it without visiting the shop. It was closed when we got back so I can't call. I'll have to skip the bus home tomorrow, and go by myself tomorrow afternoon.
I want to push the exposure therapy more. I research more of it on the computer based on my psychologist's recommendations. Today's session got me nearly to the next Gamer's Mind level, a bit more can get me the rest of the way, so time to experiment. I take a full tub bath despite aqua-phobia, the shower water coming down on me, and I replay the videos in my interface window that I recorded on FRAPS. It works. I got to the next level and a ways into the level after that, even though my heart feels like it's going to explore out of my chest. I'm gaining Gamer's Mind and Psychology out of it, weird but I'll take it. I'll try another round tomorrow morning.
I spent the rest of the evening reading the Earth science textbook. Homework will start soon enough and take more time away. Best to get it finished early. I play with the combo-locks until I stop getting gains. Then use my free camera on all the vehicles in the neighborhood within my radius. I should swing by the mall or the Costco parking lot tomorrow. Observing a passing car and leaving the window up, it will auto-close if the car goes out of range. I don't know what that range is, that's something else to figure out later. It's time to wake up Spider-Bong and go to sleep.
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
I endure another round of 'Exposure Therapy' this morning identical to last nights. I get useful gains but not a full level. After a quick breakfast it's off to school again. I wave to Julia as she eats another gigantic bowl of cereal, on the way out. I sit next to Rachel on the bus. She also notices my weird mutterings and absent stares as I use Observe on vehicles and try meditation on the bus ride.
First period Biology is, 'meh'. No new skills or gains. I try using the camera to spy on the parking lot, but it makes me very inattentive. I'm already a semester behind so the teacher doesn't like it. What's the point if I'm not gaining skills? Then I get my new biology textbook and get a 'Know of Life' quest identical to the others for +300 XP, plus some minor quests for doing biology homework. I get extra to help me catch up. So even though I don't see any gains during class, the promise of XP gain at the end is more motivating. History though? Fuck history, no gains, no textbook quest, and only minor quests for the extra load of catch-up homework; and its worth less than the biology homework.
At least there's no catch-up in Health. It's only a semester long; this is its first day. But why am I gaining minute percentages in Basic Academics? Why not for the other classes? At least that's progress. I get another textbook quest, 'Know your Body'. Come on, you trolling-power, really? That's the name you choose? Lunch is during the 3rd period. The only person I see is Thomas, who tells me to fuck off when I try to sit with him. Whatever, asshole is in one of his moods..
In PE my broken arm gets me out of a lot, but the coach still makes me run. I get athletics gains, but that fucks up my specialty exploit strategy. Not important now because I was going to fuck it up anyway by going to the gym later. Today's the last day to use my free pass. But, not being in control of my own exercise training is going to be a problem in the future.
****
Your Stealth skill has increased by 1
At least I can practice it while walking between bus-stops and to the store. I can't run and use stealth at the same time, not much of a surprise. Most video games don't let you do that. I use Observe on a passing 1985 Red El Camino, that was the last one I needed.
You have gained the 'Vehicle Enthusiast' Observe specialty
At least the repair store has the part I need to fix the phone, it's expensive though. I need a battery too. Getting both will cost over $100, and leave me with little to buy the phone from Julia with, let alone a prepaid account. I have them order the part, but it won't arrive until later in the week.
At the gym my goal is to train Gamer's Body, my stats and finish off that 'Shortest Path to the Cheese' quest. I can get an extra 50 XP if my max simultaneously trained skills go up to seven. That's possible by activating Spider-Bong. Same deal as last time, but wake up Spider-Bong and leave it in my backpack. I took some pain pills earlier, so now, I run on the treadmill, listen to Spanish, and use Observe on my interface, +50 XP. I don't know how I'll top more than seven though.
The harder task is training three stats simultaneously. I hope it doesn't mean upping whole points at the same time. That might be impossible. I find a weighted vest and wrist straps to use while running, but so far this is taking too long. I've wiped out my stamina and finish off half my water, and the quest hasn't triggered. What the hell is going on? Fuck it, Parapedia, Observe stats.
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Strength (56.68% towards next point)
Affects Melee & throwing damage, Health and carrying capacity. A strength score of zero results in infirmity.
Agility (76.87% towards next point)
Affects defense, dodge, movement speeds, and stamina. An agility score of 0 results in immobilized incapacitation.
Constitution (96.42% towards next point)
Affects Health, Stamina, resistances and recovery. A CON score of 0 results in death.
Intelligence (58.93% towards next point)
Affects memory, Skills, Mana, Stress, and decision variety. An intelligence score of 0 results in brain death.
Perception (37.85% towards next point)
Affects your intuition and observations of the world and others. A perception score of 0 results in complete sensory failure.
Wisdom (73.22% towards next point)
Affects common sense, Mana, Stress, and making good choices. A wisdom score of 0 results in severe impulse control problems and chronically poor decision making.
Charisma (18.34% towards next point)
Affects relationships, Allure, reputation, social interactions and how others perceive you. A charisma score of 0 results in severely impaired social ability.
Luck (20.96% towards next point)
Affects critical strikes, failures, and successes, random events, quest opportunities, and minor mundane things in the world. A luck score of 0 results in a shitty life of suffering.
Fuck I can see progress on those? Since when? Why isn't that on my main stats page? STR and CON are going up, AGI is sitting there. I need a break. Why isn't it going up? What did it say the last time I got a point in it? 'For practicing your whole-body reflexes you have gained 1 AGI' Whole-body? I was barely able to maintain a slow jog, damn. Spanish isn't driving up INT? I can barely pay attention to it right now anyway. Actually I gained a level in it, and it stopped rising? I turn the MP3 player off, get up and try again, fiddling with my volume controls to listen in and use my third party camera to perceive the side class behind me…maybe, just maybe, I can eek a few percentage points out of PER.
Quest: Find the shortest path to the cheese! completed.
Success: Part 1 & 2 Achieved.
Bonus Condition: +50 XP for each simultaneous skill trained above 5. Current Best: 7
Bonus Condition: +100 XP for each stat simultaneously trained above 3.
Current Best: 3
This open quest may now be canceled, but doing so will prevent future XP gains from active bonus conditions.
Video games with third party cameras let you mostly watch your own character's ass. I watch mine fall off a running treadmill and tumble into an empty machine behind it. Glad I tripled my meds earlier. I clear out my notifications.
Your Athletics skill has increased by 1
Your Drug & Poison Resistance skill has increased by 1
Your Language-Spanish skill has increased by 1
Your Gamer's Body skill has increased by 1
For testing the limits of your endurance and vitality, you have gained 1 CON
****
My body aches and is sore, I'm still numb from the meds, hopefully dinner and breakfast tomorrow will recover the HP I lost from falling off the treadmill and slamming into the elliptical behind it. Well, if I want to train AGI I need to engage in a lot more movement than mere jogging.
Since I've gone back to regular uses of Observe, I can start using it on people again. As before, I could see name and class in overhead tags without getting prior clues. I used Observe on a nearby bus passenger to check for new info.
I can see fully modified STR, and base scores for AGI, CON and CHA now? Also, I can see exact HP and Stamina. Still can't see the rest of the stats or exact stress point values. Observing other passengers confirms it, before I ran low on mana. I'll have to collect data again, to see what the average stat values are. I can tell already my physical stats still suck badly.
****
At 7pm I get back from the bus stop, I stealthed my way up at first. My stamina is still recovering. Then I see the Beckett's, Julia, and a cop car out front. Julia is putting a suitcase into the Beckett's Minivan. WTF?
"Observe, Observe, Observe…"
I ignore the Observe windows on the Beckett's and the cop as Julia's presents me with my final confirmation.
Name: Julia Catherine Mendez
Level: 15
Alias: None
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Ethnicity: Hispanic, Spanish, French
Race: Human (Parahuman)
Class: Foster Kid / Delinquent
Faction: None
STR: 13 (+0.0) 13
AGI: 18 (??) ??
CON: 16 (??) ??
INT: ?? (??) ??
PER: ?? (??) ??
WIS: ?? (??) ??
CHA: 16 (??) ??
LUC: ?? (??) ??
Allure: 5.5
Armor: ??
Speed: ??
Attack: ??
Dodge: ??
Health: 288/290
Stamina: 340/340
Stress: ??/??
H/T/F: ...
Summary Description:
Born 9/24/1994, Julia is a 15 year old fellow survivor from the Galveston 2009 Leviathan attack in which she lost her family and home. A brief resident of the state foster care system, she has endured grief, hardship, and legal problems. She has a significant distrust of authority and a strong desire for independence. She has experienced great difficulty in adjusting to recent events and changes in her life. That same mistrust and stubbornness makes it hard for her to seek help. Counseling and recent confidence and understanding of her own abilities and mental state has begun to mitigate the trauma she has endured. After only brief stability, her life has been turned upside down once again due to being forced to move in with a distant relative she barely knows.
...
She has straight, dark reddish brown hair with the hints of leftover red hair dye, brown eyes and light skin. She is 5'9" tall, and weighs around 180 lbs. She appears to be relatively fit and athletic. Although of mixed descent she considers herself Hispanic but is frequently mistaken for Caucasian due to her European ancestry.
Her left lower leg bears electrical burn scars. Her left cheek is scarred.
Currently Feeling: Depressed, Reckless, Traumatized, Grieving, Very Stressed, Confused, Annoyed, Hopeful
Known Status Effects:
Mental: Depression, Adjustment Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Aqua-phobia, Very Stressed, Conflict Seeking
Physical: Scarred, Tense.
And fuck me, is she leaving? Did I wait too long? Is something else going on?
"Record On"
"Simon! Where the hell have you been?" Mrs. Beckett shouts. "We called the cops because we thought you ran off. Get in the house now, you're grounded."
I ignore the screeching banshee and walk up to Julia. "Julia? What's going on, are you leaving?"
"Yeah, I have to live with my Grandmother in New Hampshire. They sprang this on me today. I knew it was a possibility, but I didn't know it would happen this soon. I thought I would have more choice in the matter."
"I take it this is the child that you reported missing?" The cop says to Mrs. Beckett.
"Yes. Simon! Get inside the house now."
"Fuck off Mrs. B. I am trying to talk to my friend." As soon as I say it new notifications appear.
"Richard!!" She yells.
Don't try, just be. "You know I am your friend right? Even if you don't think of me the same way, I'll treat you as such anyway. Though, I certainly hope..."
"Thanks, Simon. That means a lot to me. Yes, I do consider you a friend."
Another mass of notifications counters go up. I don't have time to look at them. Is it that simple? Could I have just asked outright earlier and avoided this?
"Do you have everything in hand here? Since the child isn't missing I can be on my way, unless you need me to stay a moment?" The cop speaks up again.
"Yes, wait here a moment more please." Mrs. B responds.
"Simon, you need to get in the house, empty your pockets too, and turn your money over, you're not running off to any stores again." Mr. Beckett bellows from the front door as he exits and begins walking toward me.
Fuck, will I ever get any privacy? I pull a wad of cash out, give some to Julia, and palm the rest into my underwear. "It's Julia money. I bought her phone from her, you know the one I said I needed to check repair shops for to get fixed, which is what I was doing today." I whisper to Julia, "That's all I can afford."
Julia takes it quickly and nods. "Yes, that's right he did." More notifications fire off.
"Why is your face bruised kid?" The cop asks me. I put on my best nervous face and look between the cop and the Beckett's, "I..uh…fell down some stairs, officer."
"Alright, Simon, right? I'll want to ask you a few questions."
"Julia we have to leave now, if we are going to make your flight."
"Sure officer, just let me say goodbye to my friend first."
I spread my good arm out in the gesture of a hug. Mr. Beckett and the cop were mere feet away from us. Mrs. Beckett is even closer hovering over us like a hawk. Julia is hesitant at first but then embraces me. I whisper into her ear. "I know about…" Julia pulls away before I can finish.
She quirks an eyebrow at me. "You know about what, Simon?" she asks quietly.
I open my mouth to speak, "You know, and so am…" She puts her index finger on the dimple of my upper lip, gives me a tiny static shock and says 'Shhhh...', like she was scolding me in a library. Then she climbs into the front seat of the minivan.
I'm stunned, that's not how I expected this to unfold. None of this is. Does that mean she knew I knew? Did she know I was? I'm confused, and the chance to clear anything up now is gone. I have to keep in touch with her somehow. "You're going to email me right? Since we don't have phone numbers yet?"
"Yeah, sure."
"You have all your stuff?"
"Yeah all packed..."
"All of your stuff?" I make a gun gesture with my hand.
Julia frowns. "No, I can't take it on the plane. Still locked up at the CPS office, probably won't ever see it again."
"Damn. I hope I'll see you again sometime."
"I do too Simon. Take care."
From the sidewalk, I watch as Mrs. Beckett drives down the street and turns out of sight. Julia's Observe window is still up. I bring it back into view and look it over as more notifications fire. Hopeful? Happy? Depression now says Mild Depression instead, and then it auto closes on me.
"So fell down the stairs huh? Is there anything going on you want to let me know about?" The cop asks me quietly. I see Mr. Beckett standing on the porch watching us.
I read my Observe window of the cop. He's calm, and nothing looks unusual. "Sorry, I just said that to make them squirm and lay off. You want to know if they have been abusive?" The cop, John Roman, is his name, nods. "Well they've been assholes lately, but they haven't been abusive, not like that anyway, or to anyone I know of. Unless grounding me for things I didn't do is a crime."
"So how did you really get the bruises?"
"Fell off a treadmill at the gym while doing something stupid."
"So you were at the gym and a phone repair store? They mentioned something about that."
"Yeah."
"Am I going to get called out here again?"
"Not because I ran off. I'm not stupid. I have little money and no place to stay. I'm not interested in sleeping on the streets. But because they don't trust me to let me do some simple things like go to a store on my own? Maybe, but if I wanted to be gone I wouldn't have come back."
"I've walked this beat a while. This has been a group home for all that time. The Beckett's have been here a few years and a lot of kids have come and gone, plenty with issues that have made them run. And some of those kids… Well things didn't turn out well after they ran. It's just what they have experienced in the past, and take precautions about. Give them a chance."
I shrugged. "Well that goes both ways, doesn't feel like I have been given much of one."
"Compared to some of the places you could be instead? I think you've been given one hell of a chance, but I get it. Try to stay out of trouble kid, okay?" John gets in his squad car and starts the engine.
"Heh, No promises." I smirk at him and he drives off.
Mr. Beckett scowls at me, arms crossed as I walk up to the house. "You have some explaining to do."
"No I don't actually, and arguing with you isn't a productive use of my time. So, I'm gonna grab some dinner, go to my room and do my homework. After all that was what you're gonna tell me to do anyway isn't it?"
"No, you're going to empty your pockets so I can make sure you haven't brought back anything you aren't supposed to. You're grounded; no TV, no music, no phones, no computer, and you make sure you are on the bus home after school."
He finds nothing, but the fucker did take Julia's, now mine, broken phone and put it in the safe. He even made me turn down my waistband, but wasn't willing to search my underwear. "You know that doesn't work yet right? I can't actually use the thing until I get it fixed. And you better put it on my inventory sheet. Having a working phone would certainly make it easier to keep you advised of where I might be now wouldn't it?"
"Where you should be is in your room doing homework."
"Yeah, I believe I said that already. Also, I'll need to actually use the computer for homework."
I storm off into the boy's room and slam the door in cliché teenage fashion. "Record Off" I say as I sit at the desk and finally look over all my unread notifications.
Andrea Beckett has gone from stranger to annoyance
Julia Mendez has gone from acquaintance to friend
Quest 'Don't be alone in this world' has been completed. Gained +500 XP
For gaining your first friend your CHA has increased by 1
You have gained a level! You are now level 8.
Your Gamer's Mind skill has increased by 1
Your Gamer's Interface skill has increased by 1
Your Gamer's Body skill has increased by 1
Quest 'Help Julia recover from her trauma' has been completed. Gained +250 XP
You have gained the 'Cognitive' Empathy specialty.
John Roman has gone from stranger to acquaintance.
Richard Beckett has gone from stranger to annoyance
Mr. Beckett brings me a plate of cold meatloaf and vegetables later. I really did do homework and study the Earth science textbook until lights out. As I lay there in my nightly meditation, it hits me that my main reason for staying here and putting up with this crap is gone, on a plane, flying off to somewhere in New Hampshire. So what the hell am I going to do about it?
Follow Your Multi-Trigger Mate.
Multi-triggers should interact good or bad, and that means staying close. Leave this area behind and follow Julia to better leveling grounds.
Time Limit: 3 months
Success: 3000 XP, ???, Excitement! Progress!
Failure: Dragging things out even further, increased annoyance from those who have taken an interest in the currently pathetic story of your life.
What the fuck? That failure message doesn't even make any sense. Sure fine, I am all for leaving this dump. I can't just up and run away though, not yet. I have to plan and prepare for this.
You have learned a new thing about yourself: You prefer meticulously planning things out and being organized.
That apparently isn't my only new quest.
Charisma 'Skill' Challenge.
Make 10 friends. Currently achieved 1 of 10.
Time Limit: 1 year
Success: 500 XP, More friends, +1 CHA.
Failure: Being a clingy loser to too few friends until they get annoyed and unfriend you.
I reach under my bed and reach into my backpack, touch Spider-bong and wake him up for the night.
Simon's character sheet:
Name: Simon Clarence Anderson
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Race: Parahuman
Class: Foster Kid / Deceptive Snit
Faction: None
Money: $49.71
Title: Vermin Stomper
Level: 8 (19.37%)
XP: 5175
Primary Attributes
STR: 7 (-0.50) 6.50 (60.56%)
AGI: 5 (-1.00) 4.00 (76.87%)
CON: 11 (-0.25) 10.75 (1.84%)
INT: 20 (-0.70) 19.30 (66.74%)
PER: 11 (0.00) 11.00 (38.43%)
WIS: 20 (-0.70) 19.30 (73.58%)
CHA: 12 (-0.14) 11.86 (18.34%)
LUC: 10 (0.00) 10.00 (20.96%)
Unspent Points: 19
Secondary Attributes
Health Pool: 220/222
Stamina Pool: 190/190
Mana Pool: 491/2000
Stress Pool: 271/400
Attack: 6.25
Speed: 2.63
Dodge: 8.76
Armor: 0.20
Carry: 65.00
Allure: 2.50
Skills
Max Slots: 38
Free Skill Slots: 10
Artistry: 5 (46.76%)
Athletics: 3 (17.64%)
Basic Academics: 9 (2.34%)
Computers: 6 (10.44%)
Crafting (Stone & Pottery): 5 (56.63%)
Create Mana Golem: 3 (66.46%)
Disable Device: 7 (44.57%)
Disease Resistance: 4 (0.86%)
Drug & Poison Resistance: 6 (76.96%)
Empathy: 4 (0.00%)
Firearms: 1 (0.00%)
Gamer's Body: 12 (25.54%)
Gamer's Interface: 21 (26.89%)
Gamer's Mind: 18 (20.56%)
Language-English: MAX (0.00%)
Language-Spanish: 3 (0.00%)
Mathematics: 1 (0.00%)
Meditation: 8 (28.01%)
Null Resistance: 3 (13.69%)
Observe: 10 (6.97%)
Parahuman Lore: 6 (2.45%)
Programming: 2 (67.45%)
Psychology: 4 (33.56%)
Speech: 5 (0.00%)
Stealth: 2 (22.07%)
Strategy: 1 (0.00%)
Vehicle Operations: 3 (0.00%)
Video Games: 26 (5.87%)
Unspent Skill Points: 9
Perks
Free Perk Slots: 0
Gaia's Blessing: Mana Pool and Mana Skill access
Gaia's Attunement: Elemental Affinity access
Light Sleeper: Need only 5 hours to get fully rested
Mana Reserve: Bonus MP per level increased by 25%
Flaws
Selective Amnesia: We had to make room for stuff in your head
A Bit of a Troll: Sometimes you just can't help yourself
Unnatural Curiosity: Can't always resist the urge to find stuff out