"W.I.S.P."- Interest Check

[Shamitako]

*Giggles moronically* I think that's essentially been asked three times now. No specific answer yet, but I'm certain Strat will get to it. As of right now, it seems it's like Awakened, but restricted to [blank]kinesis. But again, Strat hasn't quite said *Goes back to pretending to sleep*

[Code: PIRULUK]

Oooooh interesting!!!!! I would totes join if I had the time, too bad I don't ><

Okay several things to take note:

-There are a LOT of things going on at one time. Gets quite confusing. I feel that the daisy cutter virus in particular is not particularly necessary and somewhat superfluous: If you can get the farmers to become depressed and stop their work, you can achieve the same effect. Even assuming technology has advanced to the point where agriculture is fully automated, the machines require maintenance and oversight, which are human and thus easily removable.

-If you lose all your memories when you get flung back, how do you know who your partner is? How do you know you're supposed partner up? More to the point, it is likely you will spend a ridiculous amount of time freaking out about your situation and about the fact that you can't interact with other people, which may cause characters to disregard the directive they are issued.

-As an add-on to the previous point, what form of memory loss are we talking about here? If we're talking about the loss of experiences and memories, then the characters might end up forgetting how to use their psycho-kinetic abilities, and you can't just handwave away the core knowledge of concepts required to utilise such powers. Furthermore, the explanation for memory loss is kind of asspull-ish and has a couple of holes. For one, Does the virus vanish from their psyche once they return to their bodies? How? If it doesn't, then wouldn't the resurgence of memories - and hence lines of emotional attachment - just cause the now-present virus to spread to their families anyway?

TL;DR: It's an interesting idea, but it seems like you tried to cram in a multitude of ideas to make this extremely epic. While it is indeed an adventure of epic proportions, the clusterfest of concepts and events results in a very messy setup. You may want to trim some of the superfluous chaff and instead further expound upon the core concepts of the plot, i.e. the LSV, the details of the metaphysical technology used to propel the psyche back into the past, the mechanics which allow immaterial thoughts (The Characters) to materialise and impact the past and the origin and purpose of the rifts, i.e. why are they "one-way", so to speak, and how are they formed; Are they dimensional rifts or temporal-spatial in nature? If the enemy was planning an invasion using a method as subtle as the LSV, why would they pick such a noticable fom of delivery? For what purpose is Earth being invaded?

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

P.S. I was getting to this, these were the next things I was ready to ask and talk about. I pretty much agree with Acqui on these points, she just got to it faster. SO feel free to talk to it as if both of us said it.

[Chim]

This looks really interesting. It's a lot to take in and I'm a bit confused about the abilities as well. But the people above me already asked all the questions I had ( abilities and memory loss). If I understand it more after your explanation, I might join.

[Sutoratosu]

Ah, okay, thanks. Also, Strat, were you going to list off different controllabubble elements, or would we pick one out of like anything and have to explain the exact mechanics?

yes, I will be listing the elements that can be manipulated

That was my assumption as well, but I wanted to make certain. So like you said, I'll wait for Strat owo ... One more thing and then I must sleep: The buttons, I'm slightly confused. Do you have to like hold them down and keep them active? Or is it more like a timed effect, giving a period of power use before wearing off?

From my understanding they are activated somehow, I think either by a simple press or through mind activation. I assume it is a press though. (keep in mind we have no need for weapons for the most part as they don't harm the Rifters. so having our hands free isn't needed.)

anything I say could totally be wrong, but I think I got what Start is saying. But he can set straight anythnig I butchered.

((also I know what Umbra means, because it is a word I contantly use in Graterras, and it is a name I once used for a ninja type character I did. Though he was Umbra Wolf.))

So long as the Buttons are equip on a character's person the sole activation they will require will be mentally.

This sounds interesting... Some parts are a bit confusing, but that's nothing wrong on your part. Just a lot to wrap my head around at once. I'm already in a lot of RPs and hosting two, but due to the relatively slow movement in most of them at the moment, I think I'll give this a shot. I would also like to ask about the abilities we may have though. Do we have as broad of a selection as in my RP, The Awakened, and Notus's RP, Under the Hill? Or is it more limited? (Which would actually make a lot of sense in this case, considering that the powers seem to be man-made.)

it will be more limited compared to The Awakened and Under the Hill, this will indeed be due to the fact that the abilities are man-made...

Hmm...

What's this? More questions?

Alriiiiiiight, as before, I came prepared!

-There are a LOT of things going on at one time. Gets quite confusing. I feel that the daisy cutter virus in particular is not particularly necessary and somewhat superfluous: If you can get the farmers to become depressed and stop their work, you can achieve the same effect. Even assuming technology has advanced to the point where agriculture is fully automated, the machines require maintenance and oversight, which are human and thus easily removable.

0.o I... I uh, didn't consider the simpler route by just having the farmers fall victim...

I see your point, the crop virus will be edited out later

-If you lose all your memories when you get flung back, how do you know who your partner is? How do you know you're supposed partner up? More to the point, it is likely you will spend a ridiculous amount of time freaking out about your situation and about the fact that you can't interact with other people, which may cause characters to disregard the directive they are issued.

-As an add-on to the previous point, what form of memory loss are we talking about here? If we're talking about the loss of experiences and memories, then the characters might end up forgetting how to use their psycho-kinetic abilities, and you can't just handwave away the core knowledge of concepts required to utilise such powers. Furthermore, the explanation for memory loss is kind of asspull-ish and has a couple of holes. For one, Does the virus vanish from their psyche once they return to their bodies? How? If it doesn't, then wouldn't the resurgence of memories - and hence lines of emotional attachment - just cause the now-present virus to spread to their families anyway?

The type of Memory loss we're talking about here is Amnesia. in other words, you won't be able to remember anything about your past, such as your mother's face, where you lived, when and where you were born, ETC., but you will still retain all the skills you learned and acquired from your training. you won't know how the hell you learned them, but you'll still have them. the actual skills you all acquired from training will be discussed later. to help ensure that panic and new interest do not undermine the mission, Mission Control will un-suppress certain memories when necessary, memories which will have been strategically reviewed and determined to not be likely to re-ignite past emotional attachments. certain parts of these memories may be tailored or otherwise altered by Mission comp to lessen the chances.

as for how you'll know who your partner is, The overseer's will tell you after you wake up... that and you'll be able to always sense where that certain person is.

as for whether or not the virus will vanish from one's psyche once they're pulled back to the foreground... I will not give the definitive answer for this due to spoilers... you all will have to trust me and find out as the story's plot progresses.

TL;DR: It's an interesting idea, but it seems like you tried to cram in a multitude of ideas to make this extremely epic. While it is indeed an adventure of epic proportions, the clusterfest of concepts and events results in a very messy setup. You may want to trim some of the superfluous chaff and instead further expound upon the core concepts of the plot, i.e. the LSV, the details of the metaphysical technology used to propel the psyche back into the past, the mechanics which allow immaterial thoughts (The Characters) to materialise and impact the past and the origin and purpose of the rifts, i.e. why are they "one-way", so to speak, and how are they formed; Are they dimensional rifts or temporal-spatial in nature? If the enemy was planning an invasion using a method as subtle as the LSV, why would they pick such a noticable fom of delivery? For what purpose is Earth being invaded?

I see your point, Acquiescence. the information all appears to be haphazard and somewhat disorganized in it's presentation because I've been spewing out information about the story as people ask questions relevant to it. in the OCC, it will be presented in a far more organized matter. the concepts that I stated in the OP were of just to state the various things that served as forms of inspiration for this, so don't worry on that account. most of them were only inspiration and won't have an actual active placement in the mechanics of the RP, and therefore will be cropped out by default. the two core concepts of the Plot will be Philotic Theory (Which will actually serve as a basis for the Meta-Physical field) and the LSV.

Well, now that those questions are answered, allow me to make something clear about how I do Interest checks, for future reference for those wondering why Ideas aren't fully fleshed out before being presented:

When I make Interest Check threads, they are for Ideas which, in a nutshell, proved so interesting to myself when they popped into my mind that I simply couldn't allow myself to pass them up without looking into it. for said ideas, I only do a limited amount of work on them, just enough to get them organized enough to where I can explain them on here without sounding like a mad man.

In other words, the Interest check threads I make serve as "Trial by fire" for any RP idea I conjure up. to me, it makes no sense to go off for months working on something night and day, pouring blood, sweat, tears, and imagination into it, only to find out at the end of the day that no one wants it when you're finally at the finished product. so to follow my own philosophy and save myself a lot of grief (And frustration), I will never allow myself to world build beyond a certain preliminary point unless I have made an Interest thread and the idea has passed with flying colors, like "Project Sky Slayer" did the second time around (Though, to be clear, that was a bit different of a case....)

to summarize:

These types of threads determine whether I take an idea and run with it and give it full life, or abandon it to die alone in the recesses of my mind. I don't have time to waste. and I sure as hell don't have enough patience to put up with the fact that something might be wasted on my part. so 9/10 times, you're only gonna see Ideas from me that have only been fleshed out to the point where I can give you all the basic gist of what it's about. as such, I split these things into two parts:

The Primary Interest check, which, as stated before, serves as the trial by fire to decide it's fate

and then the Final Interest Check if it passes the primary, this one's purpose will be to present the idea in it's finished form and let everyone see how it's developed and what has changed in it.

Now then, that said, I'd like to take the time to thank everyone who has shown interest in this idea, and especially thank Aquie and Sensai Hukuna for their gauntlet of extensive questions. whether you all know it or not, you play a large part in my process, answering all your inquiries provides opportunities for me to further develop the worlds in question, as well as improve myself as a writer, and for that, I truly thank you.

That said, I've arrived at my Verdict for "WISP"....

...

...

...

...

???

???

*Random guy in the audience: "Say it already, damn it!"*

I hereby find this RP idea worthy of full life.

Well... time to pull this bad boy back and finish the work on it. I honestly can't give you all an exact estimated time of completion for it, but know that it probably won't be anywhere as long as my other RP "Project Sky Slayer" which took like, three or four months

hmmm...

For now... I'd say it'll take a month? a month in a half maybe? nothing set in stone.

Edited July 18, 2014 by Stratos

[Shamitako]

Hrrm, alright, makes things a bit harder. I'll just avoid letting Delilah use her power until your further along. And a month sounds wondrous to me owo Plenty of dreams to work with

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

If you need any help man just shoot me a PM, would be glad to even just look over stuff for you so you have a fresh pair of eyes on the project. Anyway, good luck with this man, you got a lot on your plate already, so I would like to see you succeed on this. Hukuna Sensei over and out~

[Sutoratosu]

Hmm...

Um...well, guess might as well just say this.

So, last night, I'm feeling like a boss, right? cause I think I got this all figured out in my crazy little head... well, come time to get some sleep, and I end up just lying there, tossing and turning... because something is wrong. I KNOW something is wrong, but at that point, I don't know what the hell it is... I start going through things in my mind... and my thoughts drift to Philotic theory and time-travel. I can't sleep, and It feels like they might be the things bugging me... so I say "What the hell" and get up and turn on the lamp and begin reading over the materials I have for the two subjects...after reading over em two or three times... the feeling that something is wrong is still there, still keeping me from sleeping... so I again start going over things in my mind... and I come to the story, everything about it, all the details...

And that's when I realize...

that THAT'S whats keeping me from sleeping. the feeling is hard to describe, but it just felt in the back of my mind... That this can not possibly work in it's then current form. That's when I remembered what Aquie said yesterday in her batch of questions for me:

TL;DR: It's an interesting idea, but it seems like you tried to cram in a multitude of ideas to make this extremely epic. While it is indeed an adventure of epic proportions, the clusterfest of concepts and events results in a very messy setup. You may want to trim some of the superfluous chaff and instead further expound upon the core concepts of the plot, i.e. the LSV,

and that's when it hit me. She was right on the money with that. at the time, a sense of rampant ambition gave me a sense of false confidence, made me think I had this all covered, then when I tried to sleep, I'm guessing the ambition was gone for the day... and I tried thinking over it, and realized just how much of a Cluster-fuck this would all turn into if I actually tried it. there were just too many damn concepts, two many details from the plots of other people's stories. what I had made WAS NOT TRULY MY OWN story, it was just a monstrosity cobbled together from parts of other's. it was like Frankenstein's monster... and so it was that while thinking at 12:50AM last night, that I decided:

the monster will not live. It must simply die.

So, everyone, bassically what I'm saying here is this:

the story, as it was yesterday when I typed up those answers, no longer exists; I have hit the kill switch for it.

BUT

this doesn't mean I'm killing the basic Idea itself. at 1:00AM last night, I took a hard look at all the inspiration and details, decided what I was going to focus on, and cropped everything else. These are the three core plot elements I have decided upon:

I.S.P:

WISP has been changed and shortened to ISP. where it once stood for "World Ignition Salvation Project" it now simply stands for "International Salvation Project", often referred to simply as "The Coalition" by anyone outside it. formed and given complete global sovereignty and authority by the signing of the Human Preservation Charter at the UN Peril Council in Paris, France, on January 22,2027. The organization in a sense, has near infinite resources in most regards, and is assembled by operatives hailing from every corner of the earth. They are the sole reason LSV has not ended the human race. ISP has three missions which it pursues:(In order of priority)

1. To find the Cure for the Lost Souls virus or to stop the spread of it indefinitely

2. To contain the spread of Lost Souls Virus until the objective of finding the cure is achieved

3. To further advance and understand the field of Meta-Physics, and the "Preter-Natural Sciences"

LOST SOULS VIRUS

First reported case occurred on March 28, 2026. currently classified as a "Meta-Virus" It is unlike any known pathogen Man has faced before, as it... is not only apparently intelligent,able to adapt at will to prolong it's existence, a trait of it which has made efforts to develop an anti-viral or vaccine for it impossible so far...but that is not the strangest part; this virus does not travel by Vectors, Direct Contact, or Bodily Fluids as all others ever discovered in the history of man do. It seems to spread along lines of strong emotional attachment, or, "Fully-fledged Auiac Bonds" as such were called following the adoption of "Philotic web theory" as Scientific Fact (Though the majority of the rest of Philotic theory has yet to be varified)... it does not pass from an infected man to a co-worker he high fives a job well down, it does not pass from a young child who happened to cough in their hand and then touch something that someone else later comes along and touches...

but it does pass, from a mother to her grown child, even if the two are literally separated by thousands of miles of land and ocean, and vica-versa from Child to Mother. It does pass from one friend to another friend whom they've known for years and have complete trust in. It is passed... solely through strong attachment to others.

Stages of Symptoms that have been recorded since the initial outbreak:(In progression from beginning to final symptoms)

First stage-Slight, semi-raspy Coughing fits that occur and end suddenly

Second stage- Slight Fatigue/ difficulty sleeping

Third stage-Difficulty concentrating on routine task

Forth stage-Clinical Depression

Know the four signs. know them and report any who display the symptoms: CIDD

C-Cough

I-Insomnia

D-Distraction

D-Depression in the Clinical degree

individuals infected in cases occurring before the Lost Souls Containment Purge commonly died from suicide due to severe, un-treatable depression. Individuals infected after were either neutralized or eliminated, depending on the extent of their Auiac web connections, with ones who has many attachments with others, who therefore bare a far higher risk of transmission, being eliminated, and those with more moderate amounts of connections, who therefore pose lesser threats of transmission, simply being neutralized by having:

A.the Direct Method: Their Auiac connections forcefully severed by ISP officers

B. the Indirect Method: Having their conscious cognition suppressed, resulting in amnesia, which has the same ultimate effect as Method A, but is less emotionally stressful on those connected to the individual

it is unknown whether there is a stage of infection beyond the forth. sadly, though the spread can be contained, all those infected still eventually commit suicide due to their affliction.

It has been discovered that it is only during the forth and apparently final stage that the virus is transmitted by the individual.

There is no none cure, Vaccine, or Suppressant anti-viral for the disease in existence. ISP is currently researching around the clock trying to find a way to put an end to the pandemic. They will stop at nothing to find it.

.Money and man power is no object. Everyone, even the Project heads, are expendable if necessary to further the path to the cure

PHILOTIC WEB THEORY

Basic Explaination

an aspect of Philotic Theory, The Philotic Web is a philosophical and metaphysical construct of the "Ender's Game" quartet by Orson Scott Card. The philosophy of philotes and the philotic web they create first appeared in "Xenocide", the third book of the series. It describes the interconnection of not only all the aiuas in the universe, but also the lesser-intelligent philotes.These connections never touch each other in the truer sense of the word "web," but every being can be linked to every other being by their interconnected philotes. These philotic connections are not static, and can be strengthened or weakened over time. For example, Si Wang-Mu and Peter Wiggin begin their journey together having only a small philotic connection. As they spend more time together and grow increasingly more affectionate and emotionally attached to each other, their connection grows stronger and stronger.

Historical Significance:

while originally thought to be nothing more than an interesting Fictional physics theory by the Scientific community prior to the Lost Souls outbreak, Philotic theory was seriously explored following the Pandemic's beginning, and the Philotic Web theory was found to be an actually likely explanation for how the virus could possibly transmit along lines of emotional attachment. it was soon accepted as Meta-physical scientific fact, and became the ground work on which was build the current fields of Meta-Physics and the preternatural sciences. ISP has adopted policies and developed procedures and training to forcefully sever a person's most powerful Auiac bonds, as well as technology capable of memory suppression, which they use to subsequently contain the spread of Lost Souls virus currently.

Change Log:

Things that have been removed and are unlikely to return:

-Time Travel

-The Button combat system

- New World Ignition project

- Stream Theory

Things that are currently stuck in limbo:

the new prologue:

6 months ago, ISP Officers discovered what appears to be an inter-dimensional Rift in the ruins of the abandoned New York subway system, which had been made obsolete years prior with the installment of Mag-Lev Trains in the city, while pursuing a suspected Infected individual who had fled on foot. Reports were filed, and ISP Launched an investigation, thinking that It may be related somehow to the Virus. A team of six Former Navy Seals then in the employ of ISP were equip and sent into the portal...

of the six that were dispatched, all communication was lost for three. two were confirmed to have been killed in action by some strange force. only one returned through the rift. she described a ruined, crumpling and overgrown city that resembled new york in lay-out, yet was apparently devoid of human inhabitants...

and she also described strange beings, apparently composed of energy... seven to ten feet in height standing... vagely resembling pure white human silhouettes, though the arms, legs, and torso were notably elongated... she also described how not a single weapon she and her team members had had been able to inflict harm on them.

the investigation continues on, though no more teams are sent through. a new development, an implant capable of unlocking more of the human brain's mental capacity, is theorized to allow Kinetic abilities to be possible to manifest in certain individuals with the correct Genome. it is theorized that these abilities could prove effective against these unknown entities. several Wisp Officers are selected on a volunteer basis and outfitted with the implants based on those who pass the genetic marker testing. two months after the initial investigation squad was dispatched beyond the rift, another team, this one assembled from ISP officers who have been outfitted and trained in the use of Kinetic Abilities... the hypothesis is proven correct, it is confirmed that Psycho-Kinetic abilities are indeed capable of harming the unknown entities.... however, soon after the hypothesis is confirmed, All contact between mission control and the Officers is lost, bringing the number of individuals missing beyond the rift to nine people total...

But progress has been made, that much is undeniable. The Chairman of ISP, Zackory Mitchels, orders for the investigation to continue and for another group of officers to be outfitted and trained with the Psycho-Kinetic implants... and so the volunteers come forward again...

...

*Crackle* "Welcome to the Rift, soldier... looks like you all are the fresh crop... just follow the advice of Mission comp and we'll try to get you all out of there alive if something goes wrong..." *Crackle* *electronic beeping* *Silence*

So, folks. just know that everything I put before this here post, is now invalidated. this is the story now...

Are you all still interested?

Edited July 19, 2014 by Stratos

[Flux]

Yep. You did a nice job cleaning that up, as I had no trouble understanding everything this time. I'm a bit sad to see a few aspects leave, but I agree that it is definitely a cleaner RP now. Well done.

[Notus]

Yep, still interested for sure. As Flux said, it looks much better organized now.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

I am still in for this. But one question.

How profound does the connection between 2 people have to be for it to pass between them? Like I know acquaintances or Strangers aren't enough. (Basically, what I need to know, is if we are working in a team, pairs etc or whatever now, won't we become attached to the people we work with? Is this enough for the virus to pass through us to the rest of the party? Like maybe this won' be a concern early but it might down the road, why I am asking.)

[Shamitako]

Did you drop the pairing system? I did quite like that. I'm still interested without it, but it would have been quite enjoyabubble

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Yea that was something I couldn't tell if it was gone or not, it wasn't in the removed section, yet it wasn't mentioned. That is pariturly why I asked the above question. It was my concern with the Partner thing before, since espicially Partners would get attached. They are the people you rely on, and you have to have some sort of strong connection to them or it just won't work.

[Snap Crackle Pop]

Yeah, it's a lot cleaner now :3 I am still participating

[Sutoratosu]

I am still in for this. But one question.

How profound does the connection between 2 people have to be for it to pass between them? Like I know acquaintances or Strangers aren't enough. (Basically, what I need to know, is if we are working in a team, pairs etc or whatever now, won't we become attached to the people we work with? Is this enough for the virus to pass through us to the rest of the party? Like maybe this won' be a concern early but it might down the road, why I am asking.)

relax. I've scrapped the partner system, so no worries in that regard.

as for if you can contract the virus while on the mission...

contracting the virus itself won't be a concern at any point for you all

You all will be safe from LSV while your Beyond the rift. there's honestly no real way to contract it from in the place you all will be going, as there are no signs of human inhabitants anywhere, and the Entities inside do not carry it/ are not capable of giving the virus.

In addition to that, you all get prime benefits as ISP officers:

you and all members of your family and any friends you have are all subject to testing to check for the virus regularly. and you all know what happens to those who are found to be infected. in other words, all of you and those close to you are clean. so yeah, no need to tremble in fear of coming down with it...

Now then, as to answer the partner's question, The Partner and Nueral Link system have been cropped out of this RP, though there may be instances when you all might have to split up in pairs at random in order to accomplish certain task/ if you get cut off from the party

Anyways, good to see that there's still interest.

This trial by fire is over, I'm going to let this thing live. the one month ETC from before still stands

Edited July 19, 2014 by Stratos

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Yep, and my offer does like always. Just contact me if you need any of my wisdom. Otherwise, good luck Strat, looking forward to this when you got it up to snuff.

[Shamitako]

Ah, that is somewhat disappointing. I would have very much enjoyed that ...

When you're writing, mind throwing in a section on some of the requirements for being an ISP officer? Specifically appearance-wise, because I might have to tone Delilah down a bit owo

I'm also loosely interested in whether or not there will be a ranking system and what it would be like (the term officer implies one, but IDK how you'd work something like that in an RP) ...

*Squeals* A month suddenly seems so long ^^

[Code: PIRULUK]

Good job^^

This is much neater now, congrats. Anyway, I still am unable to participate, but here's wishing you good luck^^

[Tacos]

I'm still highly interested in this whole thing. One thing I want to ask though. Say someone were to have committed suicide after the depression induced from LSV. If a distantly emotionally-linked person were to hear of the news and suddenly realize how much greater their bond was/could have been, would they then become susceptible to LSV?

[Sutoratosu]

^No. the transmission happens in burst. it spreads from one person to, say, the five people they care about most, then from those people it spreads to those they care about most, and so and and so forth. it's not a huge issue if it's tightly managed by severing the bonds, but if it were to go unchecked, it would result in an ever growing ripple effect that would eventually end the human race

but yeah, something like what you asked above would not occur.

and the LSV won't even be an active threat to you all while inside the world beyond the rift.

[K_H]

I'm definitely interested in this RP. it was OK before you neatened it up, and it got much better after you cleaned the Story.