Re: Zip

by **Sparky** Sat Mar 12, 2011 11:57 pm

This was originally going to be done as an RP, but it never garnered enough interest. But I still like the idea enough to want to actually write it. I mostly need a bit of input on who would have been the party and a few side characters.

Data transfer complete. Program selected. Initializing Knowledge: Personal Journal

As you’re no doubt aware and in fact helping to prove by reading this, there is a natural tendency for humans to seek out knowledge. In most cases, they plan to use this. In some cases, it’s honing a skill that they may never need due to a casual interest or a deep-seated paranoia.

And, until ten years ago, this was the best option.

In 2021, two graduate students whose names and locations have been withheld for their safety combined their degrees in neuroscience and computer programming to create the prototypical technology that has become a part of our daily lives. They developed an implant that allows humans to store and directly access data for spare knowledge and specific muscle memory, essentially making some aspects of The Matrix real. However, there was a limited amount of data the human mind could be altered to accept, and they were at a loss for a humane way to allow people to store this data. After some thought, they came upon the idea of piercings. They were bought off by then-athletic wear company Terpsichore. It surprised us, too. Then they got a surprise when Synecdoche started making products specifically to complement their programs and got a big enough chunk of the pie to be considered a threat.

So yeah. We can now download all manner of abilities into piercings and swap them out as needed. For the most part, this works out pretty well. Most of the kinks have been worked out – no one’s gone mad from a download for years. But I know something ain’t right. And I plan to do something about it while I still can.

2031.14.3

by **Sparky** Sat Mar 12, 2011 11:58 pm

Technology***
Programs
Artificial memory capacity: 10 Mental Units (MU)
Average program size:

Foreign language fluency: 1MU
Expert woodworking: .75 MU
Master-level karate: 2 MU

Purely mental things and mere technical skill are smaller than wholly physical – a weapons file will always be bigger than an interpersonal skill. The hard sciences, which run on unalterable principles, are likewise smaller than the softer sciences and the arts which have as many exceptions as rules.
A common tactic is to carry two piercings – one with a physical build and one with a mental. They can be swapped in a matter of seconds – faster with practice – and maximize abilities on the run.

Program Storage
All piercings contain a tiny data chip encased in metal. It receives its information wirelessly but has a small range, diameter one foot. To prevent hacking, each chip has a passcode that is loaded into the subconscious when worn; it locks after the first use and must be unlocked with the code before any files are altered. In size, they range from containing one program each to the full 10MU. If a person were to wear more than 10MU, the last programs added would be disabled to prevent brain overload.
Earrings are the most popular format, as they can be easily multiple-pierced and reached to swap out in an emergency and are the least conspicuous to nosy bystanders.

Communication
Little has changed from the present day. Cell phones are now a necessity rather than the norm, and they have become more like miniature computers than simple phones. As such, they average out to roughly the size of a Palm Pilot. It’s standard for them to have internet access, and most manufactured in the past three years are equipped with a port for a standard-size earring, allowing downloads on the go. Most people will back up their phones to a desktop or laptop.
Synecdoche has, in the last two years, become the primary manufacturer of both phones and piercings.

***I am a liberal arts major. The science works because it does.

by **Sparky** Sat Mar 12, 2011 11:59 pm

Eikon

Eikon is a nice slice of urban American life and an overall nice place to live. In summer. A good sized city in the northern Midwest, the snow hits it pretty hard come winter. This has made athletic downloads incredibly popular to allow the citizenry to compensate for the snowdrifts and icy sidewalks.
Public transportation is prevalent and used often.
The poverty level is surprisingly low. There isn’t a big gang problem, though this is more due to a heavy police presence and the existence of a highly organized criminal underground than any lofty moral standards. Crime happens. It’s just smarter than you’d like.

Places

KNDL building – radio station
Mesmer Corp building – home office of a Midwestern-centric talent agency/entertainment resource; some shooting is done here. They’re who you talk to if you’re looking to get into acting or trying to book a stage magician.
Terpsichore building – home office for the athleticwear/tech development company
Synecdoche Industries – Northern office for the phone and piercing manufacturing company
Starmart – local supermarket/all-purpose store
Wok the Dragon – Chinese restaurant
Eikonograph Building – newspaper publishing
Mornin’ Kick – coffeeshop and internet café
Eikon Public Library Northern Branch
Crichton High School

by **Sparky** Sat Mar 12, 2011 11:59 pm

People - NPC

Adrian Notariano – crime lord of Eikon. Has contacts in all manner of local businesses and people in the implant tech business. Head of Mesmer Corp and owner of the radio station KNDL.
Patrick Avila – police lieutenant, frequently found interfering with Notariano’s underlings
Elise Trenton – partnered with Avila
Robin Norris – police detective
Kylie Argall – VP of Terpsichore
Cameron Priddy – CEO and majority shareholder of Terpsichore
Travis Baxter – owner of Mornin’ Kick, local coffeeshop
Zachary Ellis – marketing head of Synecdoche
Ingrid Farrell – “crazy old bat,” incredibly wealthy widow
Lina Lee – owner of Wok the Dragon
Jay Hale – librarian
Kyle “Kingster” King – KNDL DJ
Bill Barry – Eikonograph columnist
Stan Kirby - Eikonograph cartoonist
Gabriel Bane – principal of Crichton High

by **Sparky** Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:02 am

People - Main Cast

Vic Ballard - actor, Terpsichore spokesman
Matilda Houtman -
Leander Carmichael - actor, colleague of Ballard
Arthur Quincy - adrenaline junkie, petty thief
Tom Belmonte -
Dia Kokinos - teacher, third grade
Silvestry Franklin -

by **Oblivion** Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:44 am

I should probably be sleeping but suggestions for characters:

> A teacher. A student seems a bit predictable (and one would presume the schools would limit the use of the tech at least a little).
> A cop or detective. I get the mental picture of an exhausted woman who's trying very hard to do a job that politics won't let her.
> A criminal, or at least someone on the less-than-legal side of things.

by **Sparky** Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:49 am

Basic plot
Vic Ballard, television actor and local celebrity spokesman for the Terpsichore corporation, is enjoying a quiet evening at home. Preparing for a new role, he is downloading a new skill set when an interruption arrives...in the form of a bullet to the head by an unknown gunman. The download interrupted, his consciousness is uploaded to the server, where it is accidentally downloaded in the form of a virus by an unsuspecting innocent across town. Confined to his new "friend's" palm computer, Vic must work to guide his new companions to help him seek answers to his own murder.

by **Sparky** Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:50 am

I like the teacher and criminal ideas. Cops...have too many things about which I don't know too well and would probably be better suited to side characters.

by **Sparky** Thu Mar 17, 2011 9:28 am

Wow, completely glossed over your point before about limiting the tech. Yes. You have to be 18 for most downloads, and since the tech is actually physically linked to your body, it's a little trickier to lie about your age (so a lot of kids con weak-willed parents into getting things for them and putting it on an earring).

Additionally, my only qualm about a teacher main character is that it seems to be becoming a trend of mine, putting educators in the line of fire. Feel free to interpret that as either positive, giving teachers a role in things, or negative, as a sign of subconscious self-hatred for my chosen path. =P

by **MessiahForHire** Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:24 am

Maybe it's more of a desire to litter everything you do with shameless self-inserts? :DDD

by **Sparky** Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:30 am

Heh, maybe. Though I really only have one other teacher main character (the werewolf in my urban fantasy =P).

by **Oblivion** Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:40 am

Sparky wrote:Additionally, my only qualm about a teacher main character is that it seems to be becoming a trend of mine, putting educators in the line of fire. Feel free to interpret that as either positive, giving teachers a role in things, or negative, as a sign of subconscious self-hatred for my chosen path. =P

I have a similar pattern, about 75% of my stories involve military people as major characters.

by **MessiahForHire** Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:44 am

Sparky wrote:Heh, maybe. Though I really only have one other teacher main character (the werewolf in my urban fantasy =P).

Doesn't necessarily have to just be "they're a teacher."

I mean, you showed it to manifest in Eris.

Who also has complaints about being short.

by **Sparky** Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:50 am

Yeah, I know. Everyone does that to some degree.

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