I have the story mostly plotted out, but here are some Characters (it's looking to be a Teen-class story, too). There are supposed to be 8 but I only have 7 just yet.
T. Walter Garrand - main character. Never tells what the T stands for, but he prefers "T.G." to "Walter". The only person on the _Mary Proctor_ with AR (Armored Researcher) experience, having tested them as a summer job. Geology background, but hired for his AR skills. Generally in good spirits and tenacious. Curious about the GeoPhantoms. Rides the Mirage Hound AR, and is the best rider of the _MP_ staff. Believes the GeoPhantoms to be the planet lashing out at undeserving humans.
Matt "Doc" Hu - medic and biologist on the _MP_. Doesn't hold a doctorate - the nickname is an obvious joke. A deskwork sort of guy, but rides the Observer Cougar when necessary. Believes the GeoPhantoms to be a spontaneous mutation of Life (doesn't believe in "God" - believes in "Life"), and thus not particularly willing to attack one. Good relations with Acey.
A.C. "Acey" Stoll - Animal psychologist, which generally doesn't get used. Cooks and rides the Surging Bear on the _MP_. The most athletic person of the 8, and leads the others in morning warmups. Originally believed the GPs to be animals running on instinct, and wanted to investgate them as such, but this is disproved on their first assignment. Agnostic Christian. Good relations with Doc.
Bess "Lady" Duncan - Pilot and commander of the _MP_, and is charged with making sure that a) everyone is alive at the end of an assignment and b) the _MP_ is usable - in that order. Formerly a supply officer in the military - which is somewhat incongruous with her current position - but forced to leave after an unspecified incident, and picked up by GESSeR. Generally outspoken and blunt. Consciously does not think about the GPs unless it is necessary, and considers them targets then.
Will Johnson - Copilot of the _MP_, and the relay between it and GESSeR HQ. Has more affinity for the sciences than Lady, but lacks her authority. Files reports regularly, but still has to ask the staff for better data. Actually the highest-ranking member in GESSeR on the _MP_, and often ends up acting in a managerial capacity. Tends to see the GPs in a second-source sort of way, as words on a sheet and images on a monitor.
Phillip Coats - Reporter for Conglomerated News, installed on the _MP_ in exchange for a sizable donation to GESSeR. Has some Anthropology training for some reason, but is first and foremost a reporter. Somehow gets drafted into working as an operator (as GESSeR is a private company and not the military, they are allowed to do so) and doing odd jobs. Though the _MP_ staff is essentially on-call the whole time, he still manages to get in some private interviews (which are slipped into the book as in-between chapters). Ambivalent towards the GPs - almost objective.
Jenifer "Spike" Doorman - Engineer/Programmer/Tech Geek assigned to the _MP_, and apparently involved in every step of its construction. (Something along the lines of ST's Scotty and Xabungle's Kotosetto.) Basically in charge of making sure everything runs the way it should, and has no problem with customizing things until they run better. Curious about the engineering side of GPs, and would like to reverse-engineer it given the chance. Nickname comes from her personality and habit of carrying around rubber spanners to throw at people (and a mishearing of her name). When she needs to ride an AR, she kicks Acey out of the Surging Bear.
Showing posts with label Story Idea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Story Idea. Show all posts
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Kinda Story - (unnamed) 1
I'm at the UW right now, and I forgot my USB stick at home, so I'm going to type some stuff here.
A strange anticapatory hush fell over the crowd, a thankful change from the nervous chatter of a few minutes ago, as the HR executive manager stepped up to the podium.
"Congratulations . Now I'd like to say that you were all accepted, but that'd be a cruel joke. And we're all about cruel at HR, so..." Nervous laughter from the already shaking applicants. "But one of you made it. One of you has the chops to join our newest project. The rest of you came close, very close - the only reason we chose the person we did is because he happened to have some Ei-Ar experience. Otherwise, you are all very qualified, and you've all demonstrated yourselves very nicely - come find me or my flunkies afterwards and we'll make sure to be the 'good word' for your next interview, and I have no doubt that you'll get another job. That said, Walter Edwards, please stand up. You are the newest member of the Mary Proctor."
The 30 or so people in the room clapped out of relief as a youngish man in a red and white jacket stood up.
This is going to be the first part of a story I'm working on. It'll have monsters and giant robots. Ei-Ar refers to AR - Armored Researcher; I'm playing with the idea that there are very few giant robot series in which they actual realize that a 20-meter tall behemoth (1) is a big target (2) has to be concerned about how much it can carry (3) and is not likely to be very agile for its size and weight as the Gundam series would have you believe. So, the military uses the weapons it uses now (tanks, machine guns, helicopters, jets, ground troops, etc.), but GESSeR (Geo-Emergency Special Search and Research, pronounced "Guesser") Inc. will use ARs to allow its staff to safely investigate the emergence of GeoPhantoms.
GeoPhantoms are born of GeoPlasm (a real term, apparently, but I haven't pinned down the meaning yet), which appear somehow from faultlines that, in this reality, have begun to spontaneously appear going 10 years back - so the world is constantly wracked by small earthquakes (<3.0 magnitude). At first, the GeoPhantoms were small, just above human size (initially mistaken for Sasquatch and such), and attacked nearby humans without provocation, but turned out to be weak to proportionally-sized firearms. 5 years prior, they grew large enough to require tank fire to destroy, and have stayed at this size, though they have gained the ability to dodge tank rounds somewhat. For insurance purposes, they have been considered natural disasters (if large) or animal attacks (if smaller). They almost never appear in cities, but in more outlying areas where nature and urbanization meet.
GESSeR Inc. was formed as a contractor to the government (I'm not going to use a specific country unless I need to...) to specifically research the origins and possibilities of GeoPlasm - a recent discovery was the confirmation that GeoPlasm is a natural product, but is only formed with the strange faultlines - the idea for the first part of the story is that they (the crew of the Mary Proctor) find out what causes it to rapidly form together and attempt to deal with it along with their own theories as to what it is.
I think this story has some merit to it. I can paint a picture of the society in the background, and bring up various theories about the environment, as well as force me to improve my characterization-ing (if you, solitary reader, scroll down, you'll note that my last story is in first-person, and is basically me rambling).
A strange anticapatory hush fell over the crowd, a thankful change from the nervous chatter of a few minutes ago, as the HR executive manager stepped up to the podium.
"Congratulations . Now I'd like to say that you were all accepted, but that'd be a cruel joke. And we're all about cruel at HR, so..." Nervous laughter from the already shaking applicants. "But one of you made it. One of you has the chops to join our newest project. The rest of you came close, very close - the only reason we chose the person we did is because he happened to have some Ei-Ar experience. Otherwise, you are all very qualified, and you've all demonstrated yourselves very nicely - come find me or my flunkies afterwards and we'll make sure to be the 'good word' for your next interview, and I have no doubt that you'll get another job. That said, Walter Edwards, please stand up. You are the newest member of the Mary Proctor."
The 30 or so people in the room clapped out of relief as a youngish man in a red and white jacket stood up.
This is going to be the first part of a story I'm working on. It'll have monsters and giant robots. Ei-Ar refers to AR - Armored Researcher; I'm playing with the idea that there are very few giant robot series in which they actual realize that a 20-meter tall behemoth (1) is a big target (2) has to be concerned about how much it can carry (3) and is not likely to be very agile for its size and weight as the Gundam series would have you believe. So, the military uses the weapons it uses now (tanks, machine guns, helicopters, jets, ground troops, etc.), but GESSeR (Geo-Emergency Special Search and Research, pronounced "Guesser") Inc. will use ARs to allow its staff to safely investigate the emergence of GeoPhantoms.
GeoPhantoms are born of GeoPlasm (a real term, apparently, but I haven't pinned down the meaning yet), which appear somehow from faultlines that, in this reality, have begun to spontaneously appear going 10 years back - so the world is constantly wracked by small earthquakes (<3.0 magnitude). At first, the GeoPhantoms were small, just above human size (initially mistaken for Sasquatch and such), and attacked nearby humans without provocation, but turned out to be weak to proportionally-sized firearms. 5 years prior, they grew large enough to require tank fire to destroy, and have stayed at this size, though they have gained the ability to dodge tank rounds somewhat. For insurance purposes, they have been considered natural disasters (if large) or animal attacks (if smaller). They almost never appear in cities, but in more outlying areas where nature and urbanization meet.
GESSeR Inc. was formed as a contractor to the government (I'm not going to use a specific country unless I need to...) to specifically research the origins and possibilities of GeoPlasm - a recent discovery was the confirmation that GeoPlasm is a natural product, but is only formed with the strange faultlines - the idea for the first part of the story is that they (the crew of the Mary Proctor) find out what causes it to rapidly form together and attempt to deal with it along with their own theories as to what it is.
I think this story has some merit to it. I can paint a picture of the society in the background, and bring up various theories about the environment, as well as force me to improve my characterization-ing (if you, solitary reader, scroll down, you'll note that my last story is in first-person, and is basically me rambling).
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