forum Against the Clock // 4/4 // Closed

Started May 03, 2020 by @Mojack group

tune

Welcome. You are receiving this message because you, (FirstName) (LastName) have been chosen for a special program. As you are well aware, five years ago, a species of advanced organisms appeared on Earth. The common population knows this species under many names, Invaders being one of them, others being Burrowers due to their underground nature. Although we have held off their kind for these years, a frightening - and fatal development has revealed itself.

Our defences may have held strong, but the Burrowers are constantly counterattacking. As of September 5th, 2058, a new strain of Burrower breached the West Coast Defence Line of North America. Although only one specimen has been observed and captured so far, there could be hundreds hiding amongst our population. We call this new strain the Mimic.
The Mimic is an incredibly interesting specimen, originating as some type of parasitic worm. How it gets into the host is unknown, but it is capable of controlling the host via the brain, and mimicking its host down to near perfection.
We have captured a Mimic and are currently holding it in the Plane of which you’ll be working on. You’ll be provided all of the needed gear to complete your mission.
Your new mission takes priority. The Mimic might be the first of many strains to come into view - the Invaders may topple our world sooner than we think, unless we take a jump.

You will be working with on team with 3 others. Do try to play nice. The plane has enough room for all of you, it also comes with a laboratory and drones if needed, as well as two four seated vehicles if you so wish to come on land again. The plane itself is piloted by an AI. But you can control it manually should you need to. You will also be given a file of each of your teammates. Please read them.
The Mission Statement: Find the weaknesses of the Invaders. Use their biology - against them, to develop a new weapon if possible. Humanity will prevail.
Meet at the airport - the coordinates are in this message.

So this is a group RP I’ll be starting. Please ask before joining. Here are the rules.

1. Grammar, grammar, grammar! I can tolerate mistakes here and there, but I’d prefer as little as possible.
2. For violence, there will be a time for it as is blood. Cussing is allowed.
3. I WILL BE ASKING for a WRITING SAMPLE. Just PM me it.
4. If you need any clarifications, feel free to ask.
5. Try to be okay with mature stuff.
6. I want character arcs and relationships going on here! Drama, love, hate, whatever.
7. Hate the character, not the person.
8. If you have any ideas PM me.
9. Semi lit into literate. Would prefer this to be longer term.
10. Subject to change.

Template PERSONNEL FILES

Name:
Age: (above twenty)
Gender:
Sexuality:
Home country:
Speciality: (what field do they specifically specialize in? Science? Machinery? Etc etc. Be creative!)
Quote: (something this character would’ve put in while filling out this file. It is mandatory. Curses are automatically censored out for your quotes…for certain reasons….)

Personality: (how they generally act)
Appearance:
Clothing:
Background: (short or as long as you want.)
Skills: (different from your specialty. Stuff they’re considered good with.)
Hobbies: (different from skills. Stuff they like to do, but may or may not be good at.)
Other: (additional information, such as facts or even health issues go here.)

Name: Tyler (Ty) Grey
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Sexuality: (think I might leave this tbd)
Home country: England
Speciality: Biochemistry
Quote: “I’m not insane, I promise. I’m just on a higher… brain level than you are. It’s normal, don’t question it.”

Personality: That neurotic sort of mad scientist that you can still be friends with. He’s extremely sarcastic and totally book-smart, though he’s sort of lacking in common sense and social skills. You either love him or you hate him, there’s no true in-between. He doesn’t give a single care about what people think of him, and some have to admit, he’s quite the genius. He can be cocky, but he normally deserves the right to be.
Appearance: Bright blue eyes complimenting his light mocha skin. He has short spiked bleached white hair that he keeps anything but styled, and it’s normally pushed back by safety goggles on his forehead. He stands at about 5’10 and is very lithe, many people saying he’s underweight. He doesn’t seem to be too convinced, although his diet consists of just… coffee.
Clothing: Mostly a lab coat and whatever else he can find, including slacks and a t-shirt. He basically spends his life in the laboratory— the place he feels most comfortable.
Background: Dropped out of traditional schooling at age 14, then taught himself everything he knows about biological chemistry. (How he got to be part of this team I think I’ll leave tbd, if that’s ok)
Skills: Ty’s insanely good at cooking, and he’s not sure how. He just is. He’s also amazing with animals, mostly because he tends to enjoy them more so than humans.
Hobbies: He enjoys sketching out complex ideas for help with further biological studies, and really likes learning about quantum physics. He’s also obsessed with the concept of dark matter, and rarely shuts up about it.
Other: He’s bilingual, able to speak both Scottish Gaelic and English from spending so much time in Scotland as a child. Many of his notes are written in Scottish, as to preserve their contents from past co-workers.

Let me know if he works! I can change up anything you’d like.

(I got low-key carried away with her since I was really pumped to write a character like this, and the character vibe I got as inspo seemed cool. Let me know if I should fix or change anything! Also, thank you for letting me join.)
Name: Katie Eleanor Stewart
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Pansexual
Home country: Canada
Speciality: Genetic engineering
Quote: “If no one else is going to be the ray of sunshine in my life, then I’ll just be my own. I mean this in the sense that as a living organism, I depend upon the sun. As well as the philosophical way. That being said, if you can’t be useful, just be a good person.”
Personality: Katie’s got one of those ‘teacher-esque’ personalities, in the sense where she always wants to help others develop and grow. She’ll try to see the potential everyone she meets has and bring it out, since she wants to have some kind of impact on a person’s life. Her thinking and decision-making is more based off her heart, but when it matters, she uses her mind over her heart. She’s got plenty of passion to give out, and enough charisma to sell you a brick of butter at the price of a well-made shoe(okay, maybe not that much … but still). Her sunshiny and bright qualities attract most people, and luckily she’s not overbearingly annoying. More of a perfect summer day, turned into a person. Most of everything is hard to affect her, and she doesn’t take a lot to heart(criticism wise). Though, if you manage to anger or annoy her, you will understand the cold of a summer night.
Appearance: Katie is pretty tall, though she’s more leg than anything else so it gives the illusion of her being taller than she really is. She doesn’t really have a need to build up a lot of muscle, so her form is still pretty plain. Her strength is more focused in her hands and feet, her skills and hobbies impacting these things. You could probably pass her off as a model. Her skin is an ivory tone, with random beauty marks across her body. Katie’s hair was originally a black, now dyed and highlighted more of a dark lavender blue, and cut in a stylish bob. Her eyes are a cornflower blue. Tattooed behind her right ear is a pair of carnations.
Clothing: Any kind of dress from the 1940’s she probably has. She quite likes the vintage clothing, and it spreads across her wardrobe. You’ll likely find her with a lace parasol, cloche hat, kitten heels, lace gloves, and a maybe a swing dance dress. She still owns a few bits of modern clothing and modern variations of the vintage dresses, but she just prefers the older fashion.
Background: Katie had your standard, happy childhood and was given plenty of creative freedom. She grew up in a nice neighbourhood, didn’t have to experience anything overly traumatizing, and keeps in contact with her family and a few childhood friends. What she does now are things she chose on her own, minus some encouragement from her family. She has a younger sister, Seraphina, who looks up to her. Getting into genetic engineering wasn’t exactly planned, but it looked cool enough to Katie(who at the time, just wanted to learn about something new).
Skills: Fencing and hat-making. She took up fencing because it interested her as a child and her family encouraged her to do something other than sit around all day, and now will ‘regularly’ practice. Due to her interest in vintage fashion, she looked into hat-making and began going to workshops and such until she was able to make a proper hat. Most of her hats now are one-of-a-kind, that she made for herself.
Hobbies: Her main hobbies are embroidery, singing, and reading. She enjoyed the … aesthetic of the combination between her fashion style and singing, though no one knows if she’s any good or bad. Before she took up fencing and while she looked into hat-making, she was taught by her mother how to embroider. Though, she rarely embroiders much on her hats. Reading was the reason she was encouraged to take up fencing, since she spent all day doing that.
Other: She has base knowledge in Cytology and in the treatment of wounds, and probably some random things that she’s read about.
Her family and all of its members(without fail) has a history of asthma and other assorted respiratory problems, though most of it(attacks etc. occur more commonly) is during childhood. She can be caught every once in a while, trying to cover up a fit(it seems, to make up for the occurrence of the asthma attack, it simply substitutes with the severity).

Name: Felix Liu
Age: 23
Gender: male (trans ftm)
Sexuality: Bisexual
Home country: United States (His dad is first gen Chinese American, and his mother is from China)
Speciality: Mechanical stuff; very good at repairs, welding, but he has more of a creative unconventional side that sets him apart
Quote: "There's really no greater joy than making something and being able to step back and say 'I did that.' You don't have to be amazing at what you do. Just resourceful. In fact, you never know when what looks like trash in your eyes may actually have been a stroke of genius. It's just a matter of finding a way to put it to use- even if not in the way you originally intended."

Personality: Generally very amiable, but also insecure and sensitive at times, and it can be easy to strike a nerve. He's not usually one to lash out; instead when he gets upset it manifests more in passive aggression or him being oddly quiet and distant. He can be meek at times, but he also does what he wants- of course, as long as it's not at the expense of others. He cares a lot about what others think about him. Maybe a little more than is healthy. He doesn't like to be approached with advice or other people trying to help his problems, as he thinks it makes him seem weaker, but in reality he does ultimately benefit when he has strong bonds with others and there is mutual helping.
Appearance: 5'7, 137 lbs, long straight sleek black hair pulled back into a low ponytail, black-brown angular eyes, light tan skin tone, thin and agile build with light muscle, A few burn scars on his hands and arms, and one prominent scar on his thigh
Clothing: Loose-fitting overalls, white button-up with rolled-up sleeves, brown lace-up boots
Background: He grew up in a family of 4. His mom died of cancer when he was 16, and he was left with his dad and older brother, who he didn't have as strong of a bond with. However, his proficiency in mechanics can be attributed to working with his dad and brother all the time; his dad ran a company, and his brother was set up to inherit it one day. His crafting abilities and creativity are clearly something he picked up from working with his mother when he was younger.
Skills: Sewing, embroidery, painting and drawing,
Hobbies: Basically loves anything crafting-related. He's tried his hand at knitting and crochet, and while he has fun, he's not great at them.
Other: Multilingual; speaks English, Mandarin, and Spanish.
(Is he okay?)

Name: Enzo Boulet
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Heterosexual. Romantically, though? It’s hard to tell.
Home country: Canada
Speciality: Weaponry, specifically of the type that makes big explosions.
Quote: “Really? You’re trusting me, even though you know what happened before? It’s either your mistake, or maybe a miracle..depends on how you look at it, I suppose? We’ll see how it goes.”

Personality: Enzo tends to not like to reveal details about himself. The same cannot be said when he wants to get to know others, though. While not extremely extroverted, Enzo still tends to ask a lot of questions. He needs the answers, as much as information he can get. Enzo’s pretty protective of his stuff or anything to do with him. I’d imagine he wouldn’t take too kindly to anyone looking through his room on the plane. Despite his secretive nature, Enzo understands the importance of teamwork, even if he may not be that good at it himself.
Appearance: For whatever reason, Enzo doesn’t really want to say (or show) what he fully looks like. This could be him just being shy, but Enzo was never really much of a shy person. It could also be, that maybe there are certain people who shouldn’t know what he looks like. Who knows.

Enzo looks to be of around 6’2”, with a pretty sturdy build. Well muscled, but not bodybuilder body type. He’s got pale-ish skin, porcelain skin tone. His eyes are more of a sapphire blue, and his hair has been shown to be a dark auburn colour. He rarely ever styles his hair, only keeps it brushed and trimmed. It’s not close cropped, but it is short hair. Whatever happened in his past clearly left scars, although most of them seem to be minor and even faint, implying that they were from a while ago. They seem to just be on his torso, with a few on his legs.

Clothing: Enzo does not dress too casually. To catch him in his casual clothing is a rare sight. I’ll start out with what he typically dresses up in. His clothing is clearly designed to be protective, for whatever reason. Specifically against bullets. It won’t hold off a barrage or an Invader, but it does provide protection to his vitals, for the most part. Coloured black, with an urban camo design. He wears a jacket typically, has pockets on both outside and inside. Either wears boots or shoes; typically the former for outdoors and the latter for inside. Sometimes doesn’t bother switching.

Wears something (like some sort of mask? I wouldn’t call it full face..can be adjusted to cover the lower part of his face (which it is guaranteed to most of the time around people) or cover the top of his head or both. Could probably act like a scarf, too.
Background: A good portion of his history seems to be blocked out. What isn’t though, details about how Enzo was born in Canada, lived there for almost all of his life, trained in work and had some brief ties to the military (doesn’t state if he was directly in or not), left for ‘work reasons’. And the rest of it is blurred out, classified if you will. Enzo himself knows his own background of course, but it depends on if he’ll speak about it or not. (In other words, TBD via RP). He is known to have a younger sister, although has yet to disclose her name or any details of her. Same for the rest of the family. His childhood, as described by Enzo himself was normal and had its ups and downs, just like any other person.

Skills: Enzo knows how to fly certain types of planes. He’s not big on the ‘bigger planes’ aka the one that we’ll be flying in, but can he pilot it? Most certainly, if needed. He’s good with a variety of different types of combat, from both training and experience.
Hobbies: Enzo enjoys creating stuff, particularly mechanical things, although he’s generally picky about what he builds (meaning he doesn’t enjoy being told what to do.) It’s more of a hobby than a job and Enzo hopes to keep it that way. In addition to that, he likes to collect souvenirs. Souvenirs is a broad term for Enzo, though. Enjoys spraypainting, surprisingly enough. Enzo doesn’t come off as one to enjoy art…so yeah.
Other: Formerly (and still linked to her) associated with a woman by the name of Heidi Granson. Any searches for Heidi come up as a woman who works as a scientist studying the origin of the Invaders. Has some minor sleep issues, but nothing major. Speaks English, French and a bit of Persian.

Enzo had not expected the message.

It was one thing for Enzo to have been considered for the team, but another thing for them to have sent the message. From Enzo’s perspective, he saw that as..foolish? He couldn’t think of the right word at the moment. Only that they’ve given him a second chance, and that was one chance too many. Although, Heidi seemed interested, and had encouraged him to go. Enzo had though that the scientist would be a better fit instead of him, but apparently not.

It was early morning when Enzo set out to the airport, which was a little ways away from the city. Still within the safe zone of the continent, though. He’d brought what he’d needed with him, and that was that. He considered the message again. From what he recalled, he’d be working with at least three others. He hadn’t actually read too much of their files, just barely skimmed over them. Oh well. He was sure he could get another chance to in the meantime.
The airport was not that active anymore. For the most part, things were on lockdown. Flights were emergency only. So that’s why it was easy to see the plane that presumably, his team would be flying in. A big thing. If they were staying in it, it probably had a lot of rooms in it. Almost like a house. Just fitted into a plane, though.

Getting out from the vehicle, Enzo glanced behind him as it drove away. Seemed as though he was the first one here. He looked up at the plane, and as he walked closer, he realized how big it was.
A bigger target too, a voice said in his mind, but he brushed it aside. For now, Enzo decided that all there was to do was to wait and see who his teammates were. He’d never met any of them before. This would be…interesting.

Katie had been surprised when she received the message. Though she was glad that she was given such an opportunity.
There were probably a few head scientists that would be of more use, but it could make some kind of sense to send her instead. Since this team wouldn’t be researching humans, having only solid knowledge of manipulating human and some animal cells might not be the best. So Katie could use what she knew, along with experimentation, to further her learning of the cells of the Mimic.
She made sure to closely study everything in the message and all the files along with it, not wanting to be underprepared. Each of the team members seemed very interesting and had bountiful potential, which would make working with them a lot of fun. She was a bit worried that they were understaffed, but there were no human patients in this research and the team didn’t seem like ones who would breach protocol.
She had planned out lists of the things she’d bring and a schedule that would insure a good start and plenty of time. She had gotten stuck in local traffic on her way to the airport, slightly throwing off her schedule. So, she had ended up walking the last stretch. Lace parasol in hand, and a final check to make sure she was in the right place, Katie made it to the airport.

When Felix got the message, he was ecstatic. At the time, he was sitting at the counter with his brother, andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer), drinking coffee and sharing a meal. He spilled a bit of the hot drink on his leg when he first saw the message.
"My god, it's them," Felix muttered.
andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer) looked over his shoulder and tilted his head.
"And?" he asked, "Don't get your hopes up. You're good at what you do, but there had to be so many other applicant-"
"I'm in," Felix replied, almost breathless, "Look, I gotta go pack my bags. I think they need me sooner rather than later."
"Felix, are you not going to wait for Dad to get home?"
"No time. He'll understand."
Felix quickly threw together two bags: one with clothes and other necessities, and a backpack with supplies and other things he might need to lug around.
andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer) offered to drive Felix to the airport, and the younger brother took him up on the offer. They said their goodbyes, but Felix was rushed and barely said a word to his brother otherwise. He left with a "be careful," resonating through his mind, from andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer).

He stepped out and saw the massive plane, assuming that was the one he'd be boarding in a bit. Standing out near the plane, Felix started to read the files; he had been running a bit behind- not to mention how far he lived from the airport. He had started reading through some of the files in the car, but they were quite dense, especially for someone who did so much better working with his hands than with books. He looked around, trying to figure out who his teammates were.

Tyler lived close to the airport. Mostly because the apartments facing the field were cheap, and many people disliked the constant noise, so no one was around.
And no one could hear the loud cursing at 3am when an experiment failed, or when he accidentally mixed up a sample. One or the other, guessing both wouldn't be far off.
However, in this case, it was mostly cussing because he had ran out of coffee packs to put into the machine, leaving him caffeine-less. Sure, he had already had three cups, but he was positive that with one more, he could get through the day. Now, he wasn’t so convinced.
Groggily he carried out the rest of his morning, and it wasn’t until his watch beeped that he actually remembered the message about the team.
Then again, big opportunities were nothing new. And, he lived right next to the airport, so he could take a little more time… right?
Completely wrong.
He ended up being a little later than planned, carrying his heavy backpack across the street and to the port roughly ten minutes after he should have been present.

When the message had come through, if Ty was honest, he had just scanned it over briefly. He didn’t read over any of the files, but the man standing before him definitely seemed to fit his name. Enzo, a tall and well-built man. Seeming even more well-built when Tyler stumbled up beside him, noticeably disheveled. The skinny man looked like a noodle next to the other, and his almost mischievous smile of greeting did nothing to hide the almost weasel-like demeanor.
His blue eyes flicked from Enzo to the plane, then back around the field to take note of any other teammates. Not that he would have recognized them, of course. No one’s name sounded familiar whatsoever. Finally, his eyes rested back on the man.
“You’re a chosen member, if I’m correct?” Ty asked, his voice much more melodic and calm than he seemed. “If so, pleased to meet you. I’m Tyler. Tyler Grey.”

Enzo had been waiting for some time. Sometimes, it was hard, when you had the habit of tending to arrive a lot earlier. In Enzo’s view, it was a good habit, although maybe he was lying to himself a bit upon saying that.
Enzo had looked over upon Tyler the moment he’d come up to him. Even though he was in a safe environment, you never could be too alert - Enzo looked up everything that moved in his field of vision.

“You are correct.” Enzo had to tilt his head down to make eye contact. “Enzo Boulet.” Boulet was spoken as some sort of French last name, implying that he had French origins, and considering that he’d come from Canada, it wasn’t too unlikely.
Enzo seemed to be the type of keep things professional guy. His voice showed that, along with his stature. He had turned to look at Tyler, although looked at the other people who had entered the airport, too.
“Are our other two teammates here as well?” Enzo murmured, looking out across the field. Maybe he should’ve taken a better look at those files, at the appearances more.

Felix looked at the pictures attached to the files as he stood, loitering. He frowned as he realized the two standing a little ways away were his teammates; he had likely made a bit of a fool of himself.
Gathering up a little courage, Felix approached Tyler and Enzo.
"Um, hi. Are you two in the program as well?" he asked, keeping a sizeable gap between himself at the others in case he needed to withdraw from the interaction for whatever reason.

Katie liked listening to her heels click against the pavement as she finally reached her destination. She was a bit disappointed to find that she was the last one there and that the other members had started to associate themselves with one another. It couldn’t be helped though.
She took a moment to admire the plane, as mentioned in the message. She’d never experience something like this ever again. Then, knowing she’d board it soon enough and she could admire it longer, she began her approach to the other members. Her heart racing with excitement.
The main thing Katie was worried about was time. The message didn’t say anything about a deadline or how fast they expected to receive results. It was a good thing she understood what they’d be doing, but without knowing how fast and broadly she’d need to work- how could she plan properly. Of course they’d need to write reports, but it was results that were necessary.
She brushed off the thoughts, just wanting to do one thing at a time before she settled in. Her focus should be on associating with her team members, not that she cared about first impressions, but she’d have to work with these people on a very important mission.

“Yes, we’re part of the program,” Tyler replied, giving a small nod to the man who had approached. Process of elimination, this man must have been Felix. He was assuming, at least, unless that was the woman’s name. In which case, he would only silently judge.
Tyler gave a sort of loopy smile, holding out a hand and offering a shake to Felix. He wasn’t the best at interacting socially, and would have rather been offering a hand to a microscope that he could research cell fragments with in a cozy lab instead.
Still, he guessed he would try. After all, this would be his team for the next god-knows-how-long. He guessed he’d make friends now so he wouldn’t have enemies later.
“Nice to meet you,” he responded, his expression giving off the sort of feel that seemed as though he could care less, but his voice seemingly inclusive. “I’m Tyler, but you must have known that.”