PrezHallFanatic 03/12/2012 (Monday) 02:34:56 #94837564
If you've ever been to New Orleans, you would notice that everything is directly centered around Hurricane Katrina. The trauma is deep in the natives' heads. Most were alive during that time. The rest had stories regaled to them. Stories about the best and worst of humanity, and stories of things that aren't quite… human.
For context, let us talk cemeteries.
In most parts of the world, death is a topic not to be discussed. Cemeteries are spaces to not be infiltrated, and to not be visited save for funerals. In New Orleans, death is treated as a part of a cycle of life. This attitude is coupled with voodoo and black magic culture that often steers people away from New Orleans. Especially their burial practices.
Bodies are not buried beneath the ground, as is traditional. Nor are they cremated. Instead, they are buried in above-ground tombs. These are chiseled and decorated carefully. The soil beneath New Orleans is quite unstable and watery; coffins would get water-logged and the body wouldn't decompose properly.
Now, picture this:
Hurricane Katrina makes landfall. 140 mph winds batter the countryside. New Orleans is spared through sheer luck. But the storm carries water through, and the canals flood.
This was foreseen decades ago, but the Army Corps of Engineers built the levees and flood walls quite poorly. They were either too unstable or simply not high enough. The ground shifts under wind and water pressure, and at 6:30 AM on August 29th, 2005, the 17th Street Canal levee collapses.
Mid-City, Carrollton, Gentilly, and City Park are all flooded within hours. Soon, eighty percent of New Orleans is underwater. Crime runs rampant in those desperate days. People are killed and homes are robbed, all in the pretense of survival. But if you look closer, you'd notice something wrong.
About thirty percent of these crimes resulted in death or serious trauma to a person(s). But five percent of these crimes resulted in only death or trauma. Nothing was ever stolen. It happened in deserted places. No reason for murder or attack.
Let's go back to the cemeteries. Picture this:
You were buried above ground to avoid any water-related damage to you or the coffin. Then the levees collapse and water surrounds you. It seeps into your tomb, into your coffin, and your body is water-logged, bloated, crumbling into dust under the water pressure. It'll take weeks for them to drain New Orleans, and dead people aren't exactly their priority, right?
So why not leave your tomb? Why not take your anger out on the nearest person you saw?
After all, you were in that tomb for a horribly long time.
http://scp-sandbox-3.wikidot.com/canofsoup
First tab, labeled Parawatch.
First article in a while, just shaking off the cobwebs. Felt kind of short, but unsure if to keep it like that, also unsure how to beef it up. Mainly concerned about the general execution and grammatical errors. Thanks for the crit!
This was inspired by a trip to New Orleans coupled with some other things.
Word count: 443 words.
Outline:
Takes place in 2060, decades after the broken masquerade. Foundation-Detective Alan Blunt tracks a shipment of anomalous weapons heisted from Site-32 in the town of San Francisco. Anomalous-Detectives are a group of detectives, from the U.N, that were created for anomaly-related crimes.
PLAN:
Will be several cases Alan Blunt encounters while investigating the anomalous weapons taken from Site-32. Blunt is taking heat from Boswell, a lieutenant of the SFPD and Blunt's sometimes partner, for the murder of Emilia Ricoletti which was believed to have been orchestrated by Anomalous-Detectives.
First Case: Alan Blunt is visited by Theodore Lament, his Foundation informant. He hands him a thick file on the heist and asks him to investigate it. Magnus Arne, a former informant of another Anomaly-Detective (Arne murdered her), presumably has information on the anomalous weapons. Blunt tracks him down and interrogates him. Arne commits suicide, but heavily hints that a Mob soldier, named Frank Russo, knows about the heist.
Second Case: Blunt tracks down Russo in a bar and pays him for information. Russo says that he knows a man named The Bulldog, a smalltimes arm dealer, who may know something about the weapons. As Blunt leaves, Russo warns him that "this is a dangerous business."
The Bulldog resides in a dilapidated suburban home, where Blunt enters to negotiate a deal, where in return for information, he is cleared of several charges against him. The Bulldog agrees, but after Blunt reveals that he's apart of the Anomalous Detectives, the Bulldog lashes out, revealing that Ricoletti was a friend to him. After a close fight, Blunt kills the Bulldog and searches his files, finding that a woman named Sadie Armas held the weapons.
Third Case: Half-way to Armas' base, he recieves a call that Armas should be arrested. When he gets there, he offers the opportunity to an immunity deal, and she refuses, saying: "The Foundation should be wiped out." Armas' guards attack him, and she escapes.
Fourth: Paul Boswell, a lieutenant of the SFPD, digs through files that are related to Ricoletti and organizes the arrest of two Anomaly-Detectives. Blunt shows up after the arrest and talks to him about Ricoletti, saying that she had a friend in with the Mob and a brother in the Foundation. The brother, John Ricoletti, was discharged from a task force and now lives in a luxurious apartment.
Apparently, there is some speculation that John Ricoletti is now apart of the mob. When Boswell mentions that he's been called a Consigliere, Blunt realizes that, from the Bulldog's files, that he may have been involved with the handling of the anomalous weapons. While they're talking, a Foundation agent, who goes by Theodore Lament, advises them to stay out of it.
Five: Boswell and Blunt track down John Ricoletti, where they find out that he's the new Consigliere of the Armani crime family. After a brief talk, of which John threatens to kill Blunt if he sees him again, they get thrown out of the restaurant. Boswell reveals that during the altercation, he managed to stick a tracker on the inside on John's coat.
Six: They find John Ricoletti heading to an abandoned warehouse, and they follow him there. They witness a conversation where John talks to Sadie Armas, who reveals that the anomalous weapons are in the warehouse itself. Suddenly, several guards find Boswell and Blunt, and they're forced to fight. After they finish, they realize that Armas and John are missing.
Seven: They find that the tracker has been disabled, but they find several signs that mean that Armas and John escaped through a dock door. They run out onto the boardwalk, where Armas is held hostage by John- using a gun. Suddenly, John shoots Armas and manages to escape after a brief fight with Blunt.
Eight: After leaving behind Boswell to save Armas, Blunt pursues John. After cornering him, and after a long fist fight, Blunt interrogates John, and he reveals that the Foundation had him pose as an agent in order to get into the Mob- and gain more power, using the weapons. Suddenly, Lament appears and shoots John.
While holding Blunt at gunpoint, Lament explains, although they're friends, their organization comes first, and if this ever was revealed to the public, the Foundation would be ruined forever. The Foundation essentially set up the heist themselves in order to sell a batch of anomalous weapons to the mafia, as they needed the money, but they couldn't sell it without the government knowing, hence the supposed heist. Lament gave the file to Blunt as a way to show the public that it was being investigated, and Lament did not expect Blunt to figure it out.
But, when Lament is just about to kill him, he receives a phone call. After several seconds, he puts the gun down and says that they'll meet another time. Lament leaves.
1
"Well, you look like shit."
The words cut through the fog that was filling Alto Clef's head. He looked up and a man in a stunningly white suit was staring at him, with a blue hat tucked under his shoulder.
[[/div]]
It is quite possibly one of the worst crime scenes Alan Blunt has ever laid eyes on.
At first glance, it could be assumed that the room was painted red. But the body parts strewn about suggest otherwise. "From one of the caches- experimental dismemberment tech," a Foundation Junior Researcher says. His glasses are smudged and it looks like he has not slept in weeks.
"Why was the Foundation experimenting in… dismemberment?" Alan asks. After all, the Foundation was being kept on a tight leash by the GOC. Much to their chagrin.
"For the GOC."
"Ah," Alan says. "The GOC sure do love their toys." With the Foundation under U.N. control, the GOC quickly exerted its influence over the experimental tech departments, headed by Draven Kondraki. Last Blunt had heard, Draven was in quite the fight to keep control of his department. Now it seemed he had finally decided to cooperate.
Alan tries to avoid body parts and surrenders to stepping on the blood. Jesus Christ, how do humans even have this much blood?
He steps through an open doorway and finds the storage hall. Storage racks extend a hundred feet in the air. Curiously, some of the boxes are… blurred. Alan tilts his head, looks through the corners of his eyes- the boxes are blurred like
Magic System:
Amulets: Stores their energy (or others) into a specifically made amulet. With enough of it, they can charm objects (low scale reality bending.)
Rings: Can store more energy than amulets. With enough, they can start bending reality (although dependent on their energy levels).
Bloods: AKA, Reality Benders. They don't need any Ring or Amulet to bend reality (in their "blood")
Context:
Takes place in The Deep End canon.
"You want to meet with Eleven."
Dave Urey nods carelessly, a smile playing on his lips. "Will she meet with me?"
The man in front of him looks at him for a long moment, then shakes his head. "Listen, Dave, this is a member of the O5 council. They're not going to meet with you; they have better things to do. Am I wrong?"
"I have a proposition. At least try to arrange the meeting. Let's see how this works out."
"They'll probably kill you the moment you set foot into our Site."
"I doubt it. No one has killed me yet, right?"
The man grunts and slides the sheaf of paper across the oak-wood table. Dave mutters several lines from Much Ado About Nothing, and the papers vanish. He looks up at the man once again, and frowns.
"Modem, we've known each other for a while. Can't you, as a factorum to the person I want to meet, arrange a meeting? Is it really that hard?"
"We've known each other for two years, that only because you killed-"
"Two years is a long time."
"Not long enough for me to arrange such a meeting."
Dave falls silent. Suddenly, an idea strikes him and he sits straight up. "How about you relay my proposal to Eleven. Make sure that she hears it, and tell me if she says yes. Sounds good?"
There's a long silence. Modem shifts in his chair.
Finally, he speaks. "Fine." Abruptly, he stands, adjusting his jacket. "I'll talk to Eleven; but on the off chance that she does accept, you should know two things. One: Eleven isn't one to be messed with, and two: If I, or any member of the Foundation, finds out that you're slacking or fucking around, we will not hesitate to eliminate you. We have magicians of our own."
Dave stands as well, a cocky smile spreading across his face. "Whatever you say, Modem. Contact me when she says yes."
Then, without waiting for assent, he turns and leaves.
Dave sits out in the greenery.
It fascinates him that he's barely ten miles away from SCP-2000. Something that could erase time itself; a device so large that it takes up an entirety of a mountain; the last defense the world could have. He likes to muse about him sneaking in, maybe investigate some of the skips contained there. He only knows about it because of Lament; in fact, his future career in the Foundation is indirectly because of Lament.
A brown mug appears in his peripheral vision and he takes it. A second later, a man in a brown vest and white shirt appears in front of him, frowning. The man sighs as he sits in a chair, then looks at Dave.
"You have a lot of nerve, boy."
Dave shrugs. "Thanks."
"Has Eleven responded, then?"
"She'll say yes."
"Don't bet on that."
"Already have."
"Your recklessness will get the better of you."
To that, Dave has no answer, so he sips the tea, and nods appreciatively. "I've forgotten how good your tea was. Almost makes me miss this place."
"Almost?"
"I don't like bugs."
They lapse into silence. Dave sips his tea, aware that the man in front of him was actively appraising him, and getting up his nerve to do something. Dave twists the six-diamond ring on his finger, wary of an attack; although the man was an old friend, Dave wasn't stupid.
"I know why you're here. You're not the type of person to travel eight hundred miles just to engage in idle chit-chat." The man shifts in his chair and continues. "You want an apprentice of mine, right? And maybe your old contacts?"
"Who do you have?"
"Olivia. Seventeen, has an owl amulet."
"Amulets. I've never liked them- too fragile, can't store too much energy. Is she good?"
"Very good."
"Who else?"
"Marcus. He uses a ring, like you. Also uses verses to channel the energy. He's a smart kid, maybe smarter than you." At this, Dave snorts. The man continues. "He's fifteen, though. Much too young to send him into battle."
Dave shrugs and stands. "Alright. I'll take it."
"Take who?"
Dave smiles. "I'll take both. And my contacts." Dave turns to leave, but almost immediately turns around again. "Where can I meet them?"
"At the house."
Dave nods. "Thanks."
After Dave explains his proposal, the two had different reactions.
"I'm in!" Marcus proclaims immediately. Olivia is a little more subdued. Her hand drifts to the owl amulet hanging around her neck. After a few seconds, she shakes her head. "No. And you're not taking Marcus, either. He's twelve."
"Fifteen."
"When I was fifteen, I-"
"Yes, you killed three other magicians in fifteen seconds. He," Olivia says, jabbing a thumb to outside where the old man sat, "likes to talk about it. Might be his most favorite thing to do. You were like his prized pupil."
Oddly touched, Dave pauses for a moment. Marcus smiles.
"I'm very ready for a job. I think it'd be fun. Especially for the Foundation- I'd love to get some of that information on my hands… all those SCP files…" Marcus' eyes adopts a greedy look, and he stares off into space while Olivia shakes her head.
"Answer is no, Dave. Marcus is a little too young to run into combat."
"And you?" Dave challenges.
"I value my life a little too much." Her mouth quirks, and as she stands to leave- also raising Marcus up by the shoulder -he makes one last desperate ploy. "And your family? What would they say for you turning down five million dollars?"
Olivia pauses. "F-Five million dollars?"
"Five million for you, five million for Marcus, and five million for me. And for some other magicians I'm recruiting. Probably more, since we'll have access to all sorts of information that we can sell- all for a reasonable price."
Marcus looks at Dave, as though he is reevaluating his opinion on him. "You're… planning on double-crossing the Foundation?"
"They've done a lot of magicians wrong. Time to settle the score, right, Olivia?" Dave, of course, knew that she had a reality bender brother. The old man had told him- not knowing that this would be the information that'd convince her.
"Yes… they have…" Olivia says breathlessly. A moment goes by, and she snaps her head to look at Dave once-more. "Fine. When do we start? And where?"
Dave grins. "How about tomorrow? Perhaps in Italy?"
"Rizwan."
"Dave."
They stand, Dave in the doorway and Rizwan- having just risen out of an armchair -next to the fireplace. It's tense; Rizwan's face contorts to an expression of anger, then to one of cool, undisturbed calm. He wears a silver chain around his neck, which gleams in the firelight.
"I didn't think I'd see you after what happened two years ago in India. I thought you were locked up in some GOC black-site."
Dave shrugs and steps in, closing the door. "I struck a deal."
Rizwan smiles humorlessly. "The same one you made with MC&D? You sold out me, Sam, Abdul, Srikanth, Mary-"
"I know."
"I should kill you right here, then. Do you not have any shame?"
"Killing me won't help you get what you want."
"I want to kill you."
"You had a brother, right?"
A beat. Rizwan stares at Dave so intensely that Dave nearly takes a step back. Rizwan
Timeline:
2022 - Beginning of WW3
2027 - End of WW3.
The Eastern Bloc, or "Bloc", consisted of all Latin American Countries except for Cuba, Guyana, and Uruguay, who pleaded neutral, majority of African countries, and Russia.
Allies: All NATO countries, minority Africa countries, the Asian subcontinent, and Australia/New Zealand.
The war ended with the complete (and accidental) destruction of the neutral country of Italy (including Vatican City) (although there's suspicion this was orchestrated by the Allies in order to escape the war), which sparked world-wide backlash and spawned a hasty and unlikely to last truce. Negotiated between the Bloc and Allies by Trevor Mandela and Henrique Becker.
2029 - The Latin American Union is started, to the chagrin of Europe and Northern America. The pooling of their resources makes them an economic and military superpower. Aggression to NA likely - invasion.
2035 - After eight years of rising tensions between the working class and bureaucrats, the Second Chinese Civil War began.
2037 - After the coordinated assassination of seventy-five of China's top political influencers, the Gōngrén rebels took over the state and established a brutal dictatorship due to the leader of the Gōngrén rebels being assassinated, and the successor being a dark-horse candidate.