Welcome, reader, to the latest Character Development Thread! These shared story exercises help budding writers develop their characters alongside the characters of other budding writers. No formal sign-up is necessary; one can simply jump right in. Just make sure to review the OP and the last few pages first.
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This particular thread focuses a bit more heavily on character interaction than usual. It is recommended, though not required, that your characters come with specific goals in mind.
Many thanks go to nrjxll, Killer Clowns, SolipSchism, Corvidae, electronic-tragedy, Darkblood Carnagefang, Strix Obscuro, Gault, Night, and gameknight102xx, among others, for helping to prepare the thread.
◊Somewhere in the vastness that is the multiverse, there lies a great city. Born from a mix of modern technologies and ancient magic, it has become a crossroads between many different realities, resulting in a wonderfully varied populace and a mostly near-futuristic cityscape.
This shining Capital prides itself on being a place of opportunity. It’s up to the inhabitants to make something of it.
- Current Time: Night (~10:00 PM)
- Current Weather: Cloudy
edited 12th Oct '15 12:20:03 PM by Yomegami
Laugh and grow dank!
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]
Angua nodded resolutely. "Aright, I think that's about as good as we're gonna get it. There shouldn't be many of them up there, so if we do this right, we can be in an' out like zip.
As she passed by Qrlil she shrugged, saying, "Far as plans go, I've heard worse. Wudn't be the first time I've had to improvise either." Then she offered a smile. "Wesley'll be fine."
yey
It's a bird.
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]
Garkin took a deep breath before giving an affirmative nod to the others.
"I guess it's settled then," he said. "And yeah, things could be worse. We'll get him out of there."
The situation was far from ideal, but he'd survived worse things than this, hadn't he? Compared to the Siege of Vernouris this would be relatively easy. Kren. Why did I remind myself of that?
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]
Qrlil returned the smile, but while it probably looked more convincing than an untrained person's would have under the same circumstances (particularly an untrained qrtxian's!), she still did not think it looked quite convincing.
"I hope he will," she said. Though it is not just him I am worried about.
She didn't say the second part out loud, worried it would sound selfish. But in truth, it was not just her... not just the people she knew that she felt some anxiety for. Her conversation with Commissar Roche had shown her certain flickers of something sympathetic, but in general she was inclined to maintain her views on the Commonwealth: its goals might be in some sense progressive or justifiable, but it was still determined to achieve them no matter how much death it took. Even - or particularly - among its own people. It was not an unfamiliar story in history.
But despite that, there was no particular reason to believe the individual Commonwealth guards at that safehouse were bad people, and she did not feel comfortable having them hurt or killed - not when she had originally hoped that any violence at all would be unnecessary. It did not help that they might actually have good reasons for thinking themselves to be in the right in this particular case, either.
What I need to do right now is focus on something else. She set herself to the task of finishing her meal quickly, while at the same time not eating too fast. Once done, she washed it down with water and looked at the others.
"So, then, what else do you need from me?"
It's a bird.
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]
"Well, you'll be our lookout," Garkin said, turning to Qrlil. "Keeping track of the guards and um, watching our backs."
The whole situation still felt... uneasy, and the recently resurfaced memories didn't exactly help. He had too stay focused though.
"I'll show you how it works," he continued, and moved over to the suite's computer terminal, tapping a key on his holograph. Behind him, Glitch whirred to life once again.
"I am certain that things will work out just fine," the drone said. "Though our chances would definitely have been higher if Rolph had been allowed to give me the combat hardware he requested."
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
Laugh and grow dank!
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]
"Yep! What he said," Angua called from her room. She spoke while standing in front of the cupboard, pulling on her day clothes. "You'll be our eyes and ears while we hit the apartment. Shouldn't be too hard- I think I did okay, and it was my first time working with that data projector thing."
Angua walked back into the suite's common area and dusted off her travel leathers. Her two volcanic glass daggers were snug in their sheaths, strapped across the small of her back. "'Kay," she said, turning to Zerrimus, "we gonna do this?"
yey
It's a bird.
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]
"There's no reason to wait any longer, I guess," Garkin responded, and hurried back to his bedroom to grab his chestplate and backpack.
"You've still got the gun, right?"
Laugh and grow dank!
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]
"Yeap!" Angua gave a nod, slipping the compact rectangular handgun out of her belt and checking it over. "Yeah, I'm good to go." She folded the weapon back into her belt, then hitched her travel pack over a shoulder. Then, turning to Qrlil, she said, "Wish us luck!"
yey
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]
"Good luck," Qrlil said obediently. In truth, she did not thinking saying it made any difference, but it could not hurt either. She had wondered if Angua had been hoping for something else there, but she could not think of what.
Moving to the terminal, she sat down and looked back at the drone. "Is there anything you can do to help, Glitch?" she asked.
Sorry, couldn't think of much to say here.
It's a bird.
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]
Garkin strapped his chestplate in place and swung his backpack onto his back, securing it between his wings. He took a deep breath before leaving the bedroom, briefly placing a hand on Qrlil's arm and giving her a reassuring nod before continuing towards the door.
"Alright," he said. "Here we go, I guess."
Meanwhile, Glitch hovered over towards Qrlil and the computer terminal, which lit up to display a simple render of the hotel suite, centered on a bright red blob that presumably represented Garkin.
"Yes, of course," the drone responded. "I will analyze the scan results and label the visual elements on the screen as what they are most likely to be."
A collection of labels and name tags appeared on the screen, identifying three colored blobs as "Qrlil, Angua and Garkin", a smaller one overlaid with blue shapes as "Glitch", and a group of blue symbols right next to Qrlil as "electronics", among other things.
"Feel free to ask me any questions you might have."
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
Laugh and grow dank!
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]
Angua was hovering by the door, gear packed and set to go. She seemed to be hanging around to see the conclusion of the present conversation, but had nothing to add to it herself.
edited 23rd Dec '15 11:53:02 PM by Gault
yey
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]
Qrlil nodded at Zerrimus, unsure whether she should trust herself to reply aloud. She was actually beginning to feel herself settling back into a certain state of calm (outward calm, at least) that she had felt during those times in the war. But still.
"I understand this well enough," she told Glitch, and it was true: she was still slightly unfamiliar with not having data linked directly into her brain, but the last year had familiarized her more with this type of thing. "But we will need overwatch of more than just the hotel suite."
Not much to say again, since I was actually waiting on the others to advance the plot. Not sure what they're waiting on Qrlil for.
It's a bird.
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite -> Outside]
Feeling no need to cause further delay, Garkin left the hotel suite, giving Qrlil a final wave on the way out, and stepped into the elevator. Since the images on Qrlil's screen were based on his holograph scans and centered on him, she would notice how they shifted slightly to reflect his movements.
Garkin stretched his wings a bit, and tried not to focus too much on the upcoming events.
Gault, feel free to skip some of the travel time if you want.
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]
Qrlil watched Zerrimus and Angua carrying their bowls to the kitchen area with a little surprise. She herself didn't feel very hungry at all anymore. Not that she had been all that hungry to begin with (which was why she had only gotten snack food), but now she also had nervousness as a factor.
Zerrimus is right. We are terribly unprepared for something such as this.
Still, there was nothing to be gained by simply dwelling on how bad the situation was. It was not as if they had much other choice under their time constraints - and she definitely did feel that time constraints were a problem, since sooner or later the Commonwealth would want more results from Angua.
"It sounds like a bad plan to me," she said out loud. "But I do not see what other options we have. I just wish that there was something more I could do to help."
She had wondered if maybe they should reject a break-in entirely in favor of some type of deception. That would fit much more with what she was used to doing. But they did not have enough information to make that a much safer proposal; if anything, it would probably be even riskier.