Whew, done! Almost done with the first act. Yayyy.
[-]The mornings once again begin to blur together into the rituals of discipline, training, and Scholarly endeavors. The workload, you notice, is twice as much as previously. After-class work burns away any free-time you might have had. The second day back, the teachers announce that a paper is due at the end of your time with the Academy. Luckily, it doesn't require that much work, but the formatting itself is the most challenging part, as well as determining which Scholar's Tongue to use while writing it. There's a strict set of guidelines involved with what language you can use for disseminating information. It ranges from something that's barely above the conversational dialect of the region to a nearly indecipherable code of references and cross-references. You must translate a non-Scholarly work of considerable length into the latter. Emma has to help you, as writing the paper -literally- gives you a nosebleed.
You can only really spend time with Emma on your one free day, after service, but the two of you spend as much time together as possible, even if it's just eating together. You have a brief quarrel over something she said, and after the two of you got over yourselves, you apologized and she started calling you [angel] instead.
[take 15]You arrange to start receiving Newspapers from the Holy City through Brother Hop. The subscription is relatively inexpensive, but Hop charges you extra for the delivery. The papers list sedate things like festivals and joyous events. There is scarcely anything mentioned about the West past the River Grey. But you can piece together about what's happening through collating the scarce data you gather.
-[.30 credits] in local currency.
Brother Hop lets you read the paper while you give him your weekly debrief, and encourages you to write your grandmother, even if its nothing important. That surprises you, but the letters you get back seem less and less hostile as time goes on. Some even speak of how proud she is of you. Not her grand-daughter, of you. You wonder if this is the Brother's doing. When you question him about the situation, he explains in a clear diatribe, "I haven't seen behavior to worry her about. You use your powers responsibly and without letting others notice. You hide your heritage and seek to actually better the Great Work. You're a faithful friend and respectful student, even when I'm harsh. I wish you were more [hellish]."
The west is going through a crisis. The Outlander clans there are pushing in towards the Holy City once more, but more frenzied than ever before. The wild insect herds have all vanished from that region, replaced by a larger and more territorial species. Local Hunters are dying in droves, unable to deal with this new threat. Cattle and tame insect herds grazing on the wrong side of the river vanish overnight.
There have been a few towns that have vanished as well, and you only know this because there are rare route cancellations posted in the travel section. Travel to outlander towns is infrequent, however, so there isn't much effect on the general populace.
The Crusaders are building up a more substantial military presence, requiring even more resources from the Autonomous Regions than the daily tithes. Debt slaves have been being moved around to strategic locations, including the regions responsible for bio-plastic, guns, and steel.
Letters from home confirm your theory-- the workload at the Number 9 mines is becoming crippling. Literally. Other Eric's father died in a mineshaft cave-in, and Quincy's mother lost a leg in the same.
The local 'Families' have to provide more monetary and material support. Emma shows you a letter from home, describing how the Thornton family has to volunteer their scientists and military trainers, as well as pay higher taxes. You notice it's in an ingenious cipher-- it doesn't mention any positions within the family, just names and how they've moved and how bad taxes are this year.
...SEED is a great presence, a holy filling spirit that guides humanity through its darkest times and its brightest. Clad within its holy coat, it protects the growing might that will change the world and bring about Utopia for all who have followed it's Holy Words. Rejoice.
The Coat of SEED provides the great foundations for the center of learning and holy thought, the Holy City, SEED's rest...
...through SEED, man learned fire, and how to tame the Wild of the world...
...in its darkest histories, the Crusades, SEED has spoken directly to the lucky populace of the Holy City. It has given advice, given warnings, and announced edicts. Many cannot understand SEED's words, requiring the Scholars to translate it for the masses...
...truly, the love SEED has for humanity that it ripped out its wings and [gender-neutral reproductive organs], devouring them to give life to humanity...
[1]You cannot find much more information than this about SEED.
The days drag on, through long-winded lectures, boring sermons, and intense physical training. Live fire training begins, and several of the young Scholars nearly kill themselves and others. Every night as extra work, you must disassemble a las-rifle, clean it, and reassemble it, adding to the already crippling amount of work in your free time. Your classmates look exhausted, and a few of your friends wonder how lousy being a debt-slave is.
[19+3]You encourage them to bear with it, that this difficulty will pass in time. You do well in your intention to motivate your fellow Academians, supporting them with prayers and meditation sessions. The occasional fiery words about suffer not the [demon] to live also help, especially the more aggressive ones. It doesn't hurt as much as you thought it would to lie to them.
[14]You submit your year-end paper, and receive a passing grade. Several of your references were wrong, but you passed with an acceptable margin of points. You receive the top marks in your physical, in firearm handling and breakdown, and slightly less stellar marks in aiming. Eric comes next, followed by McGee and James. Johnathan received the highest praise for his aim, but received average marks for physical endurance and weapon breakdown.
Mathematics took you a while to grasp, but they come intuitively to you, you realize. You do well in that as well. However, some of the more complicated math problems still make you have an aching headache. Physics and Chemistry, you also do well in, but the life sciences allude your understanding on a fundamental level. Something about [carbon] bonding so much is difficult to pick up on. If you study harder, you might be able to understand more.
By the end of the week, you receive a very slim envelope in your room. Your heart sinks. Maybe you didn't do well on the test like you originally thought-- everyone else received a massive envelope. But yours is different, you realize as you prise it open. It contains two documents, a list of jobs with pay, and a map. Benefits remain roughly the same, room and board in a mixed-gender dormitory, prepared foods, healthcare, uniforms, dress outfit, etc, but that's to be expected early on in your Scholarly Career. You receive an extra day of free time during the week for non-Crusader postings.
Crusader General Infantry(Only Defensive Line Districts): [.1 credits]
Crusader Junior Officer(Only Defensive Line Districts): [.16 credits]
Crusader Security Officer: [.11 credits]
Entry Level Crusader Security Officer Management: [.11 credits]
Entry Level Hydrogen Refinery Technician (Only In Refinery District): [.12 credits]
Entry Level Fusion Reactor Maintenance Officer: [.12 credits]
Dear Pheobe Gainer,
We hope that you are your grandmother's granddaughter, but understand if you decide to blaze your own path. Regardless of what you do, you will be a valuable asset to SEED and the Great Work.
Your's Faithfully,
Crusader General Thomas Harrdy
You have a week to decide.
You are Pheobȩ́҉̮̣ Gainer.
Local Time: 8:00 am 1/1/2011
You are constantly peckish.
Around Neck:
A mesh of grey kevlar. Over Body:
A grey, armored duster, marked with symbols. Torso:
A fitted grey shirt with long, tight sleeves. (hidden)
Lower Body:
Grey semi-formal, military style pants.Hands:
A pair of leather gloves. Feet:
Woolen socks(hidden)
Feet:
A pair of fur-trimmed leather boots.
In Holster: A clean, grey las-pistol 250/250
In locker: Two 'Ballistic' Auto-Syringes, a reusable flaregun with one flare.
With Brother Hop: A military-grade, worn, armored vest, a las-gun assault rifle, two las-gun assault rifle clips
[1.35 credits] in local bills
Overload: Amateur.
Healing Factor: Amateur.
-
Endurance Boost: Beginner.
You are under contract with The Brotherhood of Scholars for twenty-four years. Grandmother(adopted): Mother Nicole Gainer, (Cordial),
--Contactable through Mail, Tyler Hop
--High Influence with Scholars, Crusaders, the Thornton Family
--Current lawful ruler of Steelworks 9 Region (Crusader Supported)
Organization: The Thornton Family
--Contactable through Mail, Emma
--High Influence within Steelworks 9 Region
--Allied with Nicole Gainer, you
Contact, Threat: William Thornton
--Contactable through Mail, Emma
--High influence within The Thornton Family
--Feared within Steelworks 9 Region
--Allied with Nicole Gainer, you
Contact, Military Trainer: Tyler Hop (Cordial)
Girlfriend: Emma Thornton (Happy)
--Low influence within The Thornton Family
Friends:
-McGee Foster
-James Foster
-Johnathan Shellton
-Jesse Hardhouse
-Erica Hail
-Amanda Silversmith
-'Other' Eric Armstrong
-John Frost
-Quincy Black
The orange dot is your general location.
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Topic: McCreary's Planet -- (FINISHED) (Read 253244 times)