Falk Gatt (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nanocerancowboy) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
mayfield_rpg2012-06-05 11:20 pm
nanocerancowboy) wrote in mayfield_rpg2012-06-05 11:20 pm
Entry tags:
Chapter 11: A Fork in the Road of Time
[One choice can make all the difference of a lifetime.]
[Gat might still be an android, but the change Friday brought to the minds within Mayfield have tampered with him considerably. He doesn't remember a thing about his life in the Gurhal system, or serving aboard Pioneer 2 and exploring the haunted world of Ragol. In fact, he doesn't remember Coral at all, either.]
[Gat's memories come from a life that might have been, had he never chosen to join the Pioneer colonization project. Instead he continued his work as a freelance Ranger for the various warring nations of the dying planet. Decades, maybe centuries passed—Gat will never know for sure, for the Great Blank forced all of Coral's androids offline, sent the Numans seemingly into extinction, and left humanity on the verge of following their child races into oblivion.]
[All Gat remembers is being recovered by an expedition party in the remains of the city of Paru, roughly a hundred years agter the Great Blank, with no memories left to him save for his name and what had survived in his body's sub-memory systems. By then, Coral was a very different place—most of the planet was now inhospitable, with toxins of unknown origin threatening to kill any human who wandered too far from the safer areas on the planet. Most of the wildlife that competed for space in these havens were openly hostile to sentient creatures, making both travel and communication between human settlements difficult—and life was difficult enough, with the once high-tech civilization of Coral reduced to something akin to the American Wild West, imbued with fragments of the previous age.]
[So, since Friday, Gat's been coping with the awkwardness of this CAST body built with technology very different from those from Coral at the time of the Great Blank. Dakki Sigal was never a co-worker or friend—and given her own memory corruption, they only barely manage to get along. Gat's personality has changed some, too—he's a little more blunt and serious than usual, and more of a loner.]
[ACTION - A (In and Around 458 Stone, Morning, HOUSEMATES)]
[Gat's busy taking care of house chores. Much as he'd rather be outside the house doing things other than being here with this woman who sees him as an arch-nemesis, this house was a shared living space. There's Chen to think about, and the drone human kids, too. He's got some responsibility to keep house.]
[ACTION - B (Mayfield Firehouse, Afternoon, OPEN TO ALL)]
[Where the technology of Mayfield's era once left Gat a little awkward due to its relative primitiveness compared to that of Gurhal and Coral's, he's now more confounded by it because much if it is actually more advanced than the technology Coralian civilization is capable of producing after the Great Blank.]
[This isn't exactly a good switch-up when you're trying to check the fire engine's ... engine ... for problems.]
[Are you a fellow firefighter? Or just passing by the firehouse? Feel free to bug the RAcast!]
[ACTION - C (Shooting Range, Evening, OPEN TO ALL)]
[When you're living with a woman who thinks you're her arch-nemesis and is more than ready to kill you to satisfy her deep-seated grudges, it pays to keep your own fighting skills at top notch. Which is why, while Dakki's out spending time training or exercising her skills as a Hunter, Gat's doing the same as a Ranger. Even though he has a strange mechgun that was sent to him for Christmas last year, Gat's preferring to train with whatever weapons are at hand—mostly shotguns and hunting rifles. As might be expected of an android, he's not a bad shot—but it looks like he's working on his timing and speed more than his aim.]
[ACTION - D (Anywhere in Mayfield, Evening/Night, OPEN TO ALL)]
[Rather than go home, Gat's decided to take some time to explore the town. Not necessarily to get a feel for the lay of the land—he'd already done that a few times, especially after he got this strange non-Coralian CAST body. It's mostly exploring for the sake of exploring—and the closest thing he'll get in a town such as this to the lifestyle he led in the post-Great Blank world, drifting from one town to the next.]
[Given the increase in violence in the town recently, though (to say nothing of Dakki's behavior), he's not letting his guard down.]
[Gat might still be an android, but the change Friday brought to the minds within Mayfield have tampered with him considerably. He doesn't remember a thing about his life in the Gurhal system, or serving aboard Pioneer 2 and exploring the haunted world of Ragol. In fact, he doesn't remember Coral at all, either.]
[Gat's memories come from a life that might have been, had he never chosen to join the Pioneer colonization project. Instead he continued his work as a freelance Ranger for the various warring nations of the dying planet. Decades, maybe centuries passed—Gat will never know for sure, for the Great Blank forced all of Coral's androids offline, sent the Numans seemingly into extinction, and left humanity on the verge of following their child races into oblivion.]
[All Gat remembers is being recovered by an expedition party in the remains of the city of Paru, roughly a hundred years agter the Great Blank, with no memories left to him save for his name and what had survived in his body's sub-memory systems. By then, Coral was a very different place—most of the planet was now inhospitable, with toxins of unknown origin threatening to kill any human who wandered too far from the safer areas on the planet. Most of the wildlife that competed for space in these havens were openly hostile to sentient creatures, making both travel and communication between human settlements difficult—and life was difficult enough, with the once high-tech civilization of Coral reduced to something akin to the American Wild West, imbued with fragments of the previous age.]
[So, since Friday, Gat's been coping with the awkwardness of this CAST body built with technology very different from those from Coral at the time of the Great Blank. Dakki Sigal was never a co-worker or friend—and given her own memory corruption, they only barely manage to get along. Gat's personality has changed some, too—he's a little more blunt and serious than usual, and more of a loner.]
[Gat's busy taking care of house chores. Much as he'd rather be outside the house doing things other than being here with this woman who sees him as an arch-nemesis, this house was a shared living space. There's Chen to think about, and the drone human kids, too. He's got some responsibility to keep house.]
[Where the technology of Mayfield's era once left Gat a little awkward due to its relative primitiveness compared to that of Gurhal and Coral's, he's now more confounded by it because much if it is actually more advanced than the technology Coralian civilization is capable of producing after the Great Blank.]
[This isn't exactly a good switch-up when you're trying to check the fire engine's ... engine ... for problems.]
[Are you a fellow firefighter? Or just passing by the firehouse? Feel free to bug the RAcast!]
[When you're living with a woman who thinks you're her arch-nemesis and is more than ready to kill you to satisfy her deep-seated grudges, it pays to keep your own fighting skills at top notch. Which is why, while Dakki's out spending time training or exercising her skills as a Hunter, Gat's doing the same as a Ranger. Even though he has a strange mechgun that was sent to him for Christmas last year, Gat's preferring to train with whatever weapons are at hand—mostly shotguns and hunting rifles. As might be expected of an android, he's not a bad shot—but it looks like he's working on his timing and speed more than his aim.]
[Rather than go home, Gat's decided to take some time to explore the town. Not necessarily to get a feel for the lay of the land—he'd already done that a few times, especially after he got this strange non-Coralian CAST body. It's mostly exploring for the sake of exploring—and the closest thing he'll get in a town such as this to the lifestyle he led in the post-Great Blank world, drifting from one town to the next.]
[Given the increase in violence in the town recently, though (to say nothing of Dakki's behavior), he's not letting his guard down.]
Sorry for the delay!
[To punctuate his response, he locks the fresh magazine in place, then pushing the bolt forward and closing it.]
Slow and steady wins the race :)
[She turns away, and raises her revolver to take aim at her target.]
It wouldn't accomplish much. Killing is useless, here.
[And she's silent as she empties her clip.]
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[Gat looks to his rifle again, as if preparing to shoulder and aim it downrange.]
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[Down goes her arm, out go the bullet casings, in goes a reload... but she doesn't quite finish. She looks at Gat from the corner of her eye, frowning, watching closely.]
The same hardware doesn't imply the same software... does it?
[There's a look of conflicted confusion on her face, if he's making an effort to look and see.]
You've always said you're "not that man". I never asked you what man you are.
What man are you, then?
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This town's th' longest I've stayed in one place, ever since I woke up.
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A loner? You? The Falk Gatt I know is the leader of a wretched band of "cast aways".
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[Though why does it feel like "Falk" should be part of his name ... ?]
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[This is much more interesting than shooting, although she'd hate to have to admit it. She lowers her weapon, although she's still only side-eyeing him.]
Town to town, taking jobs. What, on Parum? Moatoob?
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None of those planets. We just call it th' earth. Far as I know it don't have a proper name beyond that.
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[Okay, now she's facing him.]
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I ain't lyin' here. Maybe it is th' same "Earth" as this here town's, but I've never seen a map of th' world I'm from, or th' world we're in now.
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...what's this earth of yours like?
[She'll humor him for a bit longer. A bit. The moment it becomes fully clear that he's mocking her, then the conversation is over and the violence starts.]
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[He looks forward again, as if thinking back.]
Technology level's lower'n th' this town. There's a number of cities, but I don't think many of 'em're bigger'n Mayfield.
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...what do you fight against?
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Hostile wildlife, malfunctionin' non-CAST machines in th' ruins of old cities. We jus' call 'em all Hostiles for short.
Th' varmints've got a strange obsession with attackin' anybody human or CAST.
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[Sounds apt for what he's describing. Which isn't at all familiar to her.]
And I imagine that "SEED" means nothing to you?
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'Fraid it don't, ma'am.
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She grits her teeth, turns about, and motions as though she's going to start taking shots at targets again. But she stops. Her gun is raised, but she's not firing.]
Falk Gatt is a member of the GUARDIANS. He's a leader of team of other Guardians with classified histories. They all hail from the planet Ragol, and the Pioneer Project. They fight the SEED. They struggle against the Illuminus, and the inevitable end of everything.
[And then she fires every last shot in her pistol into the target. There's little left of it but shreds, now. Still disgusted, still emotional, she throws her gun down. It only tumbles so far before her nano-storage claims it in a ripple of blue light... but still.]
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["The inevitable end of everything" really bothers him.]
Are you sayin' that's what th' earth was like before th' Great Blank?
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[She pauses, and narrows her eyes.]
What's "The Great Blank?"
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It's been a few years since I woke; team of scavengers found me in th' ruins of an old city.
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There was a planet called Coral. That's where I was originally built. It was at war. The environment was collapsing. Falk Gatt was from Coral, originally, too. He left, to join the Pioneer Project. He was on Pioneer 2. So was I. Thousands and thousands traveled through space, to a whole new world.
[She inclines her head slightly.]
Coral could be your "Earth". Possibly. I never knew what became of it. Ragol consumed me in every possible sense.
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[Gat looks away, toward his gun. He hadn't actually bothered to try and fire it, and his posture's slackened a little.]
[It's ... rather strange of her to say that a planet consumed her "in every sense," though. So, he looks back and—]
Jus' what do you mean by Ragol consumin' ya?
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[And of course he'd want clarification on that last bit.]
I was a HUcaseal. I was activated as part of the second wave of investigators into the problem of Ragol. It was meant to be colonized, but the first wave of colonists from Pioneer 1 unsealed something terrible. It infected the planet's native life, the colonist's machines, the colonists themselves...
Fighting on Ragol was all that I knew. When I finally fell, it was deep in the unsealed ruins beneath the planet.
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