Post-Apocalypse [Archive] - TheHolo.Net Forums

Dasquian Belargic

Jun 28th, 2009, 12:21:50 PM

Some of us have been 'world building' for this scenario and this is what we have come up with so far...

New York City. The world has been affected by a virus of unknown origin. Everyone was affected, except unborn children. It has been 18 years since the virus hit. Since then, many older members of the population have been killed off by the virus. Others show various signs of fatigue and detioration.

NYC itself has become a city divided into little 'nations' inhabited by the various surviving communities, some of whom are more tribal/aggressive than others. Some ideas we tossed around: a group of feral, Lord of the Flies style kids living in Central Park; a biker road toll gang, in charge of the bridges leaving the city. Of course, not everyone will have adapted well to the collapse of civilisation as we know it - but the smart ones realise that survival is no longer a certainty.

What lies beyond NYC? No one knows. There is no global media, no communication with the outside world - except perhaps some mysterious automated distress signals that can be picked up by intrepid radio-users - and seemingly no hope.

***

So, character options would be something along the lines of...

* The Chosen (aged 18 and under) - the children who were born after the virus hit and are immune to its affects. Some may have been orphaned immeadiately, others may have been raised amongst infected families as their parents and elder siblings perished.

* The Infected (aged 18 and older) - whether newly born or already well into their lives, these people are not immune to the virus and will likely die before they reach 50.

Some may have taken the virus as an opportunity to become reckless law-breakers, looting and causing chaos. Some may have receded into a state of catatonic depression, whilst others roam the streets preaching the evil of the world and how the virus was a punishment from God.

Xavier Synik

Jun 28th, 2009, 01:38:20 PM

What are the symptoms of the virus? Like we talking a plague virus, or simply a shorten your life virus?

Can people reproduce?

Boss Jah

Jun 28th, 2009, 01:47:10 PM

Mainly just life shortening I think. Nothing ghastly unless people want certain symptoms.

And yes, the infected can reproduce and have children. Something happens in the womb that for some reason makes the children immune to the virus.

Dasquian Belargic

Jun 28th, 2009, 01:48:07 PM

Symptoms.. slow, painful death, I guess? It could vary from person to person, so long as they die prematurely.

Only 'chosen' people can reproduce, I think. The remaining infected are probably rendered infertile by the virus. That way, the 'chosen' women are all.. precious like, since they are the only way of continuing the species!

Lilaena De'Ville

Jun 28th, 2009, 03:09:10 PM

I'm interested... :uhoh

Tear

Jun 29th, 2009, 02:27:49 AM

Emelie Shadowstar

Jun 29th, 2009, 08:17:57 AM

Reflecting the initial year or two of panic and mayhem before it's fully understood? I think so ;)

Yuichi

Jun 29th, 2009, 10:50:24 AM

Okay, some thoughts on 'breeding':

Infected male + infected female = infected baby
Infected male + chosen female = chosen baby
Chosen male + infected female = infected baby
Chosen male + chosen female = chosen baby

Each subsequent generation of infected kids would have shorter lifespans / greater mutations / quicker on-set of symptoms / more painful deaths (etc) as the virus mutates through generations. For instance, the feral kids in Central Park might have a lot of second generation infected.

Thoughts? :)

Autumn

Jun 29th, 2009, 01:24:19 PM

^^ I kinda proposed that...Jenny was just awesome and threw it up for me. :P

Anyway...I know this is kinda like "well...what about the original chosen?" I'm thinking this whole situation with the breeding thing is a slightly newer development. A mutation in the virus. I'm guessing there was a time every single child born was a chosen...but over time it's starting to change. Assuming there was probably a good like "aftershock" freakout when that first infected baby was born.

Also allows for some sort of hierarchy among the feral children "ha ha I'm chosen and you're not" sort of thing.

Annddd...also delays/causes issues with the thought that just kept on coming to me in that... if every child resulted in a chosen, then it's not really "end of the world" so much as "give it a few generations and we're all fine again."

Mandy with an I

Jun 29th, 2009, 02:33:37 PM

I would think you'd run out of Chosen people to have sex with, considering it would only be a small-ish population? I mean, if people are dying, they wouldn't be thinking of having kids :ohno

I'm interested, but I'd like to hear more about the back-story/virus/whatevs before I make up a character. It'd be cool to the Infected look different in some slight way IMO.

Captain Untouchable

Jun 29th, 2009, 06:02:34 PM

Is it still possible to be infected by the virus? Would someone who arrived from outside NYC (or who managed to escape infection in the first place) be safe from infection later, or would they be at risk from the second they arrived? What stops the Chosen from catching it - are they naturally immune? How is the virus transmitted: is it some sort of genetic mutation (a cancer drug gone wrong), or is it actually an infectious disease? In the water? Airborne?

Since I'm such an epic plan of stealing ideas from others... would there be any space for a sorta fusion between Will Smith in I Am Legend, and Eyes-Only from Dark Angel? Maybe some sort of research scientist or doctor type person who is holed up in a clean room: someone who escaped the initial infection, and is working on a cure / innoculation / whatever.

Mandy with an I

Jun 29th, 2009, 06:15:05 PM

Since I'm such an epic plan of stealing ideas from others... would there be any space for a sorta fusion between Will Smith in I Am Legend, and Eyes-Only from Dark Angel? Maybe some sort of research scientist or doctor type person who is holed up in a clean room: someone who escaped the initial infection, and is working on a cure / innoculation / whatever.

Make it more like "Day of the Dead", with an entire compound underground. XD

Droo

Jun 29th, 2009, 07:07:08 PM

I was thinking very much along the same lines as the good Captain, except mine was more solidly inspired by the the character from the I Am Legend book itself. And I would say yes, there's definately room for such a character type being holed up somewhere.

Boss Jah

Jun 29th, 2009, 09:22:00 PM

I think we're being too complicated with the virus. I think making it generally an issue of any children conceived after outbreak to be chosen would keep it simple and make it easy to understand. Having the rest of the population die off is most certainly reason enough to cause society to fall into a near terminal nosedive. I'm not against doing a stratification if that's what we all want, but I don't think it's super important. The virus should really be less the story and play second fiddle to the whole destruction of our old society and the formation and evolution of a new one.

Charlie Kippin

Jun 30th, 2009, 12:41:15 AM

My stance on the virus is just like ^ Charley's: keep it simple. What is the cause? We don't know! Maybe we will find out, maybe we won't. How did it spread initially? We don't know that either! Did it spread outside of NYC? Presumably, but since we have no transportation out side of the city and our only communication is sporadic radio broadcasts from the President reminding us that everything is a-okay, we can't know for certain.

That being said, I think it should be genetic, hence why infected have infected babies but a chosen woman can pop out a chosen baby. Having it airborne or whatever would mean that the chosen would catch it, which we don't want.

Symptoms? As people get older, they get pale and sweaty and then die? As the virus progresses through generations, the symptoms become more obvious and people die faster. Maybe some individuals have freakish reactions, but on the whole (as Emelie and I discussed) it might be more scary if infected couldn't be identified (initially) from just looking at them. That way, some people could live in ignorance of their status as infected or chosen!

Lilaena De'Ville

Jun 30th, 2009, 02:29:49 PM

Are we trying for a society made up of mostly young people (the Chosen)? This reminds me of Jeremiah (tv show).

If people don't die off fairly quickly from the virus, then society wouldn't collapse quite as completely as you want, I think. And then after a generation or so it would not be a factor anymore - it would have died out leaving those born after with the remnants of society but no idea what to do.

You might consider something like the 'grey water' in Flash Gordon, that creates mutations in those that drink it (progressively worse in each generation, the first infected look normal but their kids have some mutations and THEIR kids have worse mutations, etc etc etc...) To make that work in this structure it would be...

First gen after infection are 'chosen' and uninfected/mutated.
Chosen women can bear unmutated kids (Who will all be 18 or younger, which is interesting)
Chosen men don't pass on immunity, the immunity is in the X chromosone obviously, not the Y
There may be some unchosen (older folks born before the breakout) who are not immune but have not been infected...yet?
Infected pass on the mutation to their kids (except for the first Chosen generation) unless an infected man and a chosen gal have a baby.
We'll need two levels of initial infection - some die immediately (leading to societal collapse), others live but pass on mutations to subsequent generations (all 18 or younger at this point, so not much of a factor yet, but first mutations are appearing).That's my idea anyway.

Autumn

Jun 30th, 2009, 03:22:34 PM

^ That's really in line with what I was thinking.

Lilaena De'Ville

Jun 30th, 2009, 03:52:58 PM

;) Great minds

Captain Untouchable

Jun 30th, 2009, 04:48:50 PM

I like the idea of it being something that has infected the water supply, and continues to affect it. That means that avoiding infection among those without an immunity could be as simple as boiling the water before you drink it... but it also means that a simple mistake (not boiling water long enough, falling into a river/pond/fountain, getting sprayed by infected water, etc) is enough to cause infection. That kind of thing still means that practically *everyone* would get infected, but doesn't have any of the downsides of it being airborne.

Regulus Varo

Jun 30th, 2009, 09:22:40 PM

I like this idea also

/charley

Dasquian Belargic

Jul 1st, 2009, 12:43:27 AM

If you guys want to go with it being transferred by water, that's fine by me. I just thought having it genetic, or non-specific, would make it a little more... mystical I guess and in keeping with the slightly surreal feel all of this had has, when we've been talking about it.

Would someone just hammer out a summary of the virus then so we can start writing? I would but I am for the most part not interested in what the science is behind it, I just want to get writing :ohno

Lilaena De'Ville

Jul 1st, 2009, 01:21:27 AM

I'm interested in a bit more world building before we dive in, as in New York and how things work there now. I'm sure everyone has something in mind they want to do, but it might get a little crazy if we just go at it with no planning. ;)

Like, there should be some way to get food into the city/grow it and sell/trade for it. Is there electricity? Gasoline for cars and or generators? How long did government last before everything went kaput?

New York City. The world has been affected by a virus of unknown origin. Everyone was affected, except unborn children. It has been 18 years since the virus hit. Since then, many older members of the population have been killed off by the virus. Others show various signs of fatigue and deterioration.

NYC itself has become a city divided into little 'nations' inhabited by the various surviving communities, some of whom are more tribal/aggressive than others. Some ideas we tossed around: a group of feral, Lord of the Flies style kids living in Central Park; a biker road toll gang, in charge of the bridges leaving the city. Of course, not everyone will have adapted well to the collapse of civilization as we know it - but the smart ones realize that survival is no longer a certainty.

What lies beyond NYC? No one knows. There is no global media, no communication with the outside world - except perhaps some mysterious automated distress signals that can be picked up by intrepid radio-users - and seemingly no hope.

I want to play someone coming in from outside the City. :D

Anyway... are we talking Long Island, or the City as a whole with its suburban areas as well? You'd need somewhere for food to be grown to supply people - central park would work, but also any razed lots or plowed up streets would work fine. And meat, we gots to have a way to get meat other than 'city' meat like rats and pigeons. Or not?

Feral kids in the subway tunnels would be cool too. I am thinking there would be several 'gangs' of kids, what with all the parents kicking the bucket early due to virus and other illnesses and no proper medical care.

Sigmund Landers

Jul 1st, 2009, 11:26:49 AM

And meat, we gots to have a way to get meat other than 'city' meat like rats and pigeons. Or not?

It's called the zoo ;) omnomnomnom!

I'll probably revamp this account to fit and make him a kiddie gang-member :)

Lilaena De'Ville

Jul 1st, 2009, 12:25:45 PM

The zoo! :mischief That solves that, pretty much. :) All zoos have petting zoos in them too so as long as people don't eat all the domesticated animals right off the bat (i.e. someone actually plans and takes care of them and breeds them) then there should be at least some beef around.

Anyway I was doing some writing last night to find my character's voice and I came up with some stuff you guys can think about. My char. is coming from Outside, and I figure that things in the City are fairly insular and cut off from everything else, as Jenny described.

So. I have her at 18, traveling with her 6 yr old half sister from who knows where to the City, because its rumored that the City has fresh water and a cure for the mutations. Which isn't true, but then, its a rumor. That's how rumors are. Anyway she's been constantly on the move since she was 11, meandering around trying to find the City, and I'm pretty sure she's about to finally find it.

But she's Chosen, and she's got to dodge Chosen hunters (probably needs a cooler name ;)) who'll want to catch her and put in a camp or something to repopulate the earth (or do experiments or ???). Her sister is not Chosen but has a slight mutation, so they also have to dodge Cleansers, who want to just kill all the muties to purge the species.

Also you could be born with a mutation and not be sick with the virus (that sickens and killsssssss).

Also also, if NYC is divided into different 'countries' then what people make up doesn't matter too much because they could just be in a different country. :p But perhaps we should get a map of the City and plot out rough boundaries.

Mandy with an I

Jul 1st, 2009, 12:30:10 PM

I was thinking about eating elephants and stuff but your idea works too.

We could always have Central Park be like something I read from a Batman storyline about poison ivy - a "mother" figure taking care of children in a Eden-esque place with gardens/animals or whatever. But like, with more adults.

I don't think it should be "countries" per say, but more of a gang-turf war thing. Different groups have territories. Actually, all of this is reminding me Freak Angels. (http://www.freakangels.com/)

Dasquian Belargic

Jul 1st, 2009, 12:33:37 PM

When myself, Charley, Droo and Emelie were discussing this all in the Omega chat, we picked out the following section of map: http://www.sw-fans.net/wiki/index.php?title=Image:NYCmap.jpg

It's not a huge area, but it's enough that we can have divisions whilst at the same time increasing the likelihood of random encounters. We came up with some of those already, which I added brief/non-serious descriptions of onto: http://www.sw-fans.net/wiki/index.php?title=Rubicon#Setting

What we discussed was the appeal of the City as an enclosed space, where people are effectively trapped by other people. For example, to the North of that map you have Central Park. Here, we suggested there could be a kind of 'Lord of the Flies' set up, with gangs of kids in power, kind of like the barbarians of the North!

On the bridges leaving the City, there would be toll gangs, who make a living by exploiting anyone trying to come and go to and from the City. They would also probably be a big contributor to the rumours on what lies Outside, as they might be able to profit more from making people believe that Outside is even more of a wasteland than the City.

So, that covers North, East and West. To the South you have... water!

Tionne Thanewulf

Jul 1st, 2009, 01:07:54 PM

So yeah, I'm a scientist IRL, so I can give you a few ideas about the virus... Generally, Lilaena's suggestions are great. So here's my input.

The virus was developed for military purposes, mainly to fight terrorism back in the Middle-East. Deep in its RNA structure, it had a ''genetic program'' embedded, kind of like a protocol it was supposed to run when it infects people. So yeah, kind of a smart virus. However, it got out of the lab(via some mysterious channels) and was released among the populace. At first, it did what it was supposed to do - kill. Later on...it started to mutate, subsequently mutating the host. It's behaviour became erratic and unpredictable, like it had a will of its own. But by the time it happened, it wiped out 98% of the population of the world. At that stage, it was transferred via bodily fluids or touch. So even how it is transferred changes over time.

Given the severity of the situation, the government had some time to react but I would say they lasted a year maximum. Why? Nobody knew what's happening with the virus, they were unsure how its transferred and why some people showed resistance/immunity...

So yes, that genetic stuff Lil suggested works. You can have remnants of the government, fanatic religious groups, feral kids... anything works.
I'd imagine there is electricity since most of the energy generation is automated anyways, however I don't think there is gasoline any more. Or at least its rare. Maybe horses? :lol

I already have an idea for a character...but you are not going to like it. :lol

Lilaena De'Ville

Jul 1st, 2009, 01:31:32 PM

Awesome. :)

I imagine in the City there are those horse drawn carriages around Central Park and that will help for some transport. :)

...gotta find a pic for my char now...

Autumn

Jul 1st, 2009, 03:20:33 PM

Anyway I was doing some writing last night to find my character's voice...

:ohno Somewhere on google-docs is about two posts worth of stuff already for this girl. I...I couldn't help it.

Lilaena De'Ville

Jul 1st, 2009, 03:40:41 PM

I posted ^_^; I'm also uploading a post icon to use to mark the RPs, but we can replace it with something different when/if someone comes up with something.

Charlie Kippin

Jul 1st, 2009, 03:42:46 PM

^ Cooools.

I made a few of those yesterday actually, but whether people want to use them.. I don't mind :)

Lilaena De'Ville

Jul 1st, 2009, 03:51:06 PM

Ooh I like them. :D Will put them up.

Also, just because some people think the virus was spread through the water supply doesn't mean that it was. ;)

Autumn

Jul 1st, 2009, 03:52:58 PM

I rather like the idea that maybe it's still not 100% known where the hell the virus came from or why the "chosen" are immune to it. Maybe someone knows... but I'd say the general screwed up populace doesn't.

Lilaena De'Ville

Jul 1st, 2009, 04:04:14 PM

I'm sure there are some scientists who know, perhaps those responsible (a la Will Smith in I am Legend) but generally the survivors are living off rumors.

Charlie Kippin

Jul 1st, 2009, 04:06:33 PM

Maybe someone knows, maybe they don't. I like to think that is something we can explore as we develop the story :)

Lilaena De'Ville

Jul 1st, 2009, 04:16:40 PM

By the way, if 98% of the population of the US (as of 2008) was killed off it leaves only 6.08 million people.

Similarly NYC is left with 165 thousand people.

And then we're sitting at the year 2023?

Autumn

Jul 1st, 2009, 04:19:23 PM

Think we're in 2027? 18 years after...I guess now?

And NYC with only 165 thousand I think sounds perfect, but that may just be me.

Lilaena De'Ville

Jul 1st, 2009, 04:38:00 PM

2027 yeah I can't count. :p

Sigmund Landers

Jul 1st, 2009, 07:00:10 PM

Is it possible to get a synopsis/short background for us people who weren't in the brainstorming sessions? I have a vague idea of what I want to do, but it'd help to have a definite paragraph to set the stage. :)

e: or add stuff from this thread to the wiki so I only have one page to read, cos that would rule and I would love you forever TIA

e2: also Rubicon makes me think of this http://www.rubiconexotic.com/

Genesis

Jul 1st, 2009, 10:20:38 PM

I did what I could for ya in the wiki.

Sigmund Landers

Jul 1st, 2009, 10:45:43 PM

Thank you.

I've had a few ideas for what I want to do - a reclusive germaphobe with an unknown virus status. :)

Boss Jah

Jul 1st, 2009, 11:18:19 PM

The public at large not knowing exactly what caused the virus works perfectly for me. It allows crazies like Boss Jah to say pretty much whatever he wants and have desperate people believe him.

Dasquian Belargic

Jul 2nd, 2009, 12:30:58 AM

I got the name Rubicon from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Rubicon btw :)

Sigmund Landers

Jul 2nd, 2009, 12:34:41 AM

Yeah, I know. But imagine rivers of fruit juice wiping out NYC! :ohno It would be sweet and delicious sticky death!

Lilaena De'Ville

Jul 2nd, 2009, 12:35:49 AM

I renamed the page to The City ^_^; But you can change it back if you want. It was just never explained and didn't make sense. :ohno

Dasquian Belargic

Jul 2nd, 2009, 12:39:52 AM

I don't really care what it's called. I just used Rubicon initially because I didn't want to call it just "Apocalypse" or whatever. It does make sense, and the 'Crossing the Rubicon' meaning is the origin of the word Rubicon - but The City is fine with me.

I see also that the wiki page has that the virus was a government project. I thought we had decided it wasn't 100% known where it came from?

Lilaena De'Ville

Jul 2nd, 2009, 12:46:31 AM

Well no one knooooooows that's where it came from. But Tionne is playing one of the scientists, and we talked about it on AIM today.

It does need an origin, whether anyone knows it IC or not, nu?

Dasquian Belargic

Jul 2nd, 2009, 12:52:38 AM

But that completely removes the mystery of people trying to discover what it's origin is? :(

Lilaena De'Ville

Jul 2nd, 2009, 01:02:33 AM

Uh.... Well I don't know? :uhoh I mean just because we know OOC doesn't mean a character can't be baffled and trying to piece it together? If you want to solve a mystery then there needs to be something decided that is the end point.... right?

I was just trying to be helpful.

http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19823

President Sanders

Jul 2nd, 2009, 10:34:16 AM

There's no need to fret, America - your government is in con- con- cccccccccshhhhhh-<object width="425" height="344"></object>
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