Futuristic 4055: Rebirth

[Verena]

Year 2094. Human population has grown to such an extent that countries are on the brink of yet another worldwide war for resources. The ever-growing number of people has pushed scientists, engineers and astronomers to think outside Earth, to develop better technologies faster. Mars is the first planet outside Earth to be settled. The red planet is quickly overtaken by advanced, 3D-printed, hive-like structures. From there, advanced fusion-powered spacecrafts are developed, able to reach FTL speeds and travel the universe.

Year 4055. Humans have now reached many distant planets and have discovered all sorts of otherworldly alien life forms that had up until then only existed in their wildest imaginations. They have settled on many of these new planets, spreading quickly due to high birth rates and taking over less advanced races. A composite race and a composite language, now simply called common, has replaced diversity. Racism is no longer directed towards people of colour and instead other alien races.

Robots and AI now serve humanity in every imaginable way, able to replace almost any job, sparking both anger and praise. Many have swapped out healthy limbs for bionics and cybernetics. Despite or more likely due to all their technological advancements and amazing discoveries, humans are still divided by status and wealth, still greedy, still fighting for riches, land and power. The main currency is now the cryptocurrency Credit.

***

Players start out on Gehenna, a distant planet from Earth, characterized by extremes. More specifically, you start out on a mine, only a few kilometres away from the outskirts of the capital city, Vlofstin. You’ve been bagged and dragged from your home against your own will, all records with your name on them erased. You are dead to the world, theoretically nonexistent. Your new life – to dig up precious ore on an unfamiliar world, all to fill another rich man’s pockets. Your past or whether you’re innocent or not, completely irrelevant to a cruel master of puppets.

Surrounded by hundreds of others hurting just like you, you ask yourself again and again – How could this have happened? Had you been framed? Had a competitor found a clever way to get rid of you once and for all? Had you been a criminal waiting for your sentence? A desperate man or a woman living on the streets that had been offered a promising job? Or perhaps a Gehennian, captured and sold during one of many raids against smaller settlements? Whatever has led up to this, now, there’s a single thought hammering in your mind – escape and live or stay and die.

Whether you want justice or just want your freedom, is up to you. Whether you join the rebellion or remain a refugee, too, is up to you. You only know that you can never go back. This is only the beginning, the start of a new life. You are reborn…

 

[Verena]

A single loud ring echoes through the mine's long and dark tunnel systems, marking the end of a gruelling 12-hour shift. Hundreds of every imaginable race of prisoners collectively produce a gladdened sigh of relief as they lower heavy pickaxes, sledgehammers, chisels, and shovels. Despite all technological advancements made over the years, old-fashioned tools still reigned supreme in places where electricity was a precious commodity, while forced labour was not.

Extracted ore is loaded onto carts that then carry it up to the upper level using elevators powered by counterweights. There, it is quickly unloaded and prepared for sorting and melting – work that would be done by the next shift. The furnaces could never grow cold.

Finally, inmates line up to receive their third meal of the day and return to barracks carved directly out of the rock. At the entrance, the second shift of workers is already reluctantly awaiting the arrival of the first, then escorted by a handful of armed and armoured guardsmen. Like the first, they would be pitilessly worked for 12 hours, with only a short lunch break in between, then be allowed to rest for another 12.

Famished and exhausted miners gulp down a tasteless stew as they plop down on stone-hard beds lined with straw. Bioluminescent moss and fungi grow on the walls of the barracks, spending a dim blueish green light. Fresh air is delivered through cleverly and carefully drilled vents in the ceiling. A small stream channelled into a fountain provides a constant supply of drinkable groundwater.

At first glance, one might almost assume the conditions weren’t as hellish as people who had never set foot on Gehenna believed them to be. Companies and the human government told their consumers only what they liked to hear – that their supply of Kasorrite, a relatively lightweight but incredibly strong metal used to make everything from medical prosthetics to armoured exosuits, was extracted by fair trade, by well-paid personnel working no more than 5 days a week and 8 hours a day, using only the most modern of mining tools. That the rebellion aimed to bring the whole operation down and expose their lies was in fact an act of terrorism.

However, the name humans had given the planet easily betrayed reality – Hell. Just by looking at the miners and especially the humans, one could easily estimate the time they had spent underground and at what level. Those working on extracting the ore were covered entirely in a thick layer of dust, their hands plastered with blisters and sores. Those working in the foundry were instead covered in soot and burns. Only a few months of working in almost complete darkness stripped humans and other sun-loving people of their olive skin, turning it into a ghostly pale.

Tightly fitted tracking collars sit heavily on everyone’s necks. Silently, they monitor the base vitals of the wearer, letting out a short beep upon death and notifying the guards. As workers lay down to rest, many wonder if, today, they would hear any.

SpazTheButcher Nero_Cardia Black_Sun mito Shadow101 Teh Frixz

 

[Shadow101]

Charles was going through processing. They started to run a scanner over his body in seem to shut off his augments or at least dilute them. He didn't like it made him feel at all. Almost like he was human again. "You think your the first droid to come through here pretty boy" The guard said with a laugh and a smirk. Then they put the device around his neck and shoved him through the line. Charles started looking around to see if he saw anyone familiar.

The scan didn't disturb his targeting systems. He was able to pull files and records on people. Charles was pushed by the guard " I said move it pretty boy"

 

[mito]

Hisako​

Sounds signfying other people were heard. Suddenly the rag over her head was removed as flashlights were aimed at their faces.

As guards where handed documents, they scanned and inspected the workers. With annoyed expressions they glared at all the new workers.

“Another weakling” a passing guard says as he inspects his papers and makes notes.
What looks like an electronic neck cuff was put on her.

“You’ll work in the kitchen”.
She gets pulled out of the line with one other woman, while hisako Almost tripped.

Set apart by the guards passing a lot of people much older than her hisako rubs her eyes. Not having a soft bed and always getting spontaneously waked when she had to get relocated, didn’t leave her with a well rested appearance.

Held apart from the big groups she and the other woman moved down the escalator to the second floor.
Walking of the platform she caught glimpses of exhausted and angry faces around her. most filled with despair.

The environment around them changed in appearance, hallways were getting darker and little light remained down here. The air felt thick and heavy, you could smell remains of industrial gasses as well as what seemed like the smell of fire.

As they where escorted trough the complex she watched people up and about walking around, transporting equipment and raw ores. The rooms and hallways looked old and worn down, not as well maintained as the other places she travelled trough before.

escorted to her workplace and
Dropped of in the kitchen the two where explained their duties. They were told to cook aswell as clean up around the facility.

The mess hall and the rooms where they were sleeping all looked beyond neglected.

The frail workers all got assigned kitchen duty because they wouldn’t be able to withstand the heavy labour for a single week. as to still gain some use out of these people, they were tasked to provide meals for the other workers. preparing the exact same meal served every single day.

Hisako refused to even procces the situation she was in and what her new life would look like down here.

 

[Verena]

Charles and Hisako, as well as a whole group of other unfortunate souls, arrive in the mine in chains and with burlap sacks over their heads. All that to block their view of the entrance to the mine, as well as their surroundings. Someone pulls on the heavy and cold chains around your wrist, pulling you forward.

The prisoners can only hear the engine of the spaceship, the scraping and rolling sounds of its cargo hold being loaded and of heavy steel doors being opened. They can hear the muffled whimpering of the others, the rustling of tall grass. The ground below your feet feels sandy at first, then transitions into hard and solid stone. A gate is shut and locked tight behind you. Then, the sacks and chains are removed.

A pair of guards hold each prisoner at gunpoint as a flashlight illuminates their face, a sudden contrast to the almost complete darkness that blinds them. A description, assignment and number are written down in a book as a tracking collar is placed around their neck and tightened to fit securely. The odd apparatus, combined with the strangely pungent, smoky and dusty air of the mine feel suffocating.

Those with augmentations or prosthetics are observed more closely, their electronic features turned off, then noted. Upon death, these would be harvested and sold. Thus, the guards were almost looking forward to it.

Finally, the whole group is split into three. Charles, as well as a handful of others, receive a pickaxe and are shoved in line for extraction of ore on the lowest level of the mine. Another group is given a shovel and sent to the foundry to smelt and form ingots, on the second level of the mine.

"You lazy bastards are lucky there're only 4 hours left to your shift.", a guard curses as he leads the way to the others workers.

A final group consisting of two females, including Hisako, are sent to the kitchens on the second level to cook and clean up, a task which also encompassed dragging out deceased miners – an almost daily occurrence. The bodies were dragged to the exit, examined and looted, then thrown out like yesterday’s trash to be devoured by the various carnivorous creatures that roamed the area. Unless they were a beast race of some sort, as sometimes, these landed in the meat soup.

In the mornings, prisoners received a gritty gruel mixed with water. For lunch and dinner, they were given either meat soup or a vegetable stew, all prepared with scraps and leftovers. The guards received the lion’s share and it showed. They were enjoying the local produce and fresh meat, looked both healthy and in good shape. In addition, they were clad in body armour, equipped with night-vision goggles and carrying pulse rifles at all times. Every hour or so, they would patrol the whole mine and beat up the workers that were catching their breath or not making enough progress.

 

[Nero_Cardia]

~Ignisarha~

Listening to the sound of a hundred and more pickaxes breaking rocks for three months would drive a normal person insane and make them wish that they were deaf. If one listens closely, however, they could almost feel a rhythm and melody, somewhere in the cacophony of metal striking the cold hard earth. This was her way of dealing with the situation she found herself in.

The life of a bounty hunter is tough. Several years of traveling and hunting down scum around the local star systems had hardened her to most everything. The twelve-hour shifts of swinging something that barely resembles a weapon into ore did not tire her as much as they would most of the other prisoners. It was the lack of her freedom that troubled her more than anything else.

Ignisarha did everything in her power to remain focused on getting out. She viewed the forced labor as a way of keeping her body fit to fight, although she'd prefer a vibroblade in her hand than a tool. She sought out ore veins that were at least chest-high so she could learn the intricacies of how to swing the pickaxe for a killing blow. During rests, she practiced throwing rocks at the same height to knock out or at least stun opponents. Whenever she could, she would also walk around the caverns with her eyes closed in an attempt to learn them "by heart", as the human saying goes. Zabrak have two hearts, so she imagined she'd have better memory than humans.

She also tried her best to convert whatever part of her clothes had become unusable into a pouch or pocket for rocks or other objects. Her belts were mostly intact, so she at least had where to hang them. The pouches were particularly useful for hiding food, but the most important item she had hidden in them was a piece of ore that luckily broke off the rocks in the raw shape of a shiv. In the extremely rare moments where she found herself alone, she worked on shaping the ore into a weapon. The trickiest part was finding a place to hide it away, as carrying it on her person was not an option. She had to always move it to a new place to reduce the chances of it being found.

She felt ready. All that was left was to wait for the guards to make a mistake. And that was only a matter of time.

---

Ignisarha always took a peak when the guards brought in new workers. She liked to be aware of her surroundings and the people in them. She hoped she'd be able to make a friend or at least an ally but she was also wary, as people generally could not be trusted. Especially in a place like this, where everyone is struggling just to survive.

A new group was thrown into the mine at around two-thirds of the shift. Most of them seemed weak and would probably last no more than a week, however, one of them appeared to have augmentations. Most of them were probably disabled, save for any prosthetics, but this one looked promising enough for her to give it a go.

She forcefully swung the pickaxe to break off a large piece of ore from the wall and picked it up to bring it to the nearby cart. After that, she moved next to the augmented human and spoke as resumed mining:

-Welcome to "Hell", as you humans call it! You can call me Sarha, though I'd prefer "Ignis". How did someone like you end up as a miner?

Interactions: Shadow101

 

[Black_Sun]

The Company's anti-radiation drugs were badly made. They caused rashes, clogged the kidneys, and after prolonged use, you could say goodbye to your endocrine system. In addition, they did not protect enough from the accumulation of radioactive substances in the liver and bone marrow. Official radiation drugs were rubbish for a number of reasons. First, good drugs cost money. Excess money, according to the heads of the Company. Second, the officially measured radiation in the mine met the standards for safe work - that is, there was no need to take enhanced occupational safety measures.

Naturally, if the radiation background corresponded to the levels stated by the company, automatic machines with precise and fragile electronics would dig here. But the robots could not withstand the combination of radiation, microscopically fine abrasive dust and aggressive mould. For this, the Company relied on "bio-robots" equipped with picks, levers and primitive pneumatic mechanisms.

These bio-robots were extremely profitable for the Company. They reproduced on their own, and some of them had complex education of engineers, chemists, mechanics, programmers, etc. The only complication came from the fact that bio-robots had the ability to deceive themselves. For example, that the right to freedom guaranteed to them by some legal systems is objective and inherent in the universe. The company was quick to show them the error of these beliefs.

Once enslaved, living intelligent creatures were a cheap and completely replaceable resource. Their flesh kept itself in working order, and after its final failure turned into corpses and fertilizer. The guards dumped the corpses on the underground outskirts of the mine, where all kinds of animals and plants ate from them. Some of the local forms - with proper processing - became the raw material for much better medicines than those provided by the Company.

Of course, someone had to collect the necessary ingredients. However, the guards did not want to come face to face with various predators or collect highly contagious spores of carcass fungi. Even less did they allow good equipment for the mortals sent to do this work. And not at all - the doomed types in question to carry weapons even for self-defence against dangerous creatures and plants.

Officially, of course. Unofficially, supervisors valued their own health more than adhering to Company policy. For this reason, the bastards closed their eyes when the doomed collectors made hand-to-hand weapons, improvised medieval armor, anti-spore masks, and even whole gas masks. The jailers turned a blind eye to the existence of workshops where doomed gatherers turned various bile, thyroid, skin or tubers into vital potions against radiation or local infections.
To be a doomed collector meant to be doomed. The average life expectancy of a collector was less than that of ordinary slaves. Asp was beginning to realize this, dragging the corpse of his former comrade. In fact, of his last comrade-collector.

He was alone. Either the guards would kill him because he couldn't supply them with the potions they needed, or the next trip to the natural dungeons of this planet would wipe him out. Walking through these caves alone could be tantamount to deliberate suicide. He urgently needed someone capable of surviving at least as much as he did.

Asp was beginning to realize that he would be dead tomorrow or at the latest. Shot by guards for refusing to go on a tour or simply eaten by a local predator. There was no way he could find a creature capable of becoming a doomed collector.

And just then, as he carried his last comrade on his back and walked to the supposedly illegal collector's workshop, he came across what he needed. At first, he almost passed by. Then his keen eye caught those elusive signs that differentiated ordinary creatures from born killers. A girl. Lean and flexible, with smooth red skin and symmetrical black stripes on the face, resembling Rorschach spots. Short black hair below the ears. Big black eyes, in which equal parts of curiosity, thirst for life and thirst for death blazed.

 

[Shadow101]

As Charles made his way through the holding facility he began to walk into the mine he noticed a change. It when from cool and dry nice and clean almost polished into the mine. Which was hot humid and almost damp. He heard a big crash he immediately found the area due to his hearing and walked over to Ignisarha. "You can call me Charles at least for now" he said trying to get a read of his surroundings.

 

[Nero_Cardia]

-You must not want to talk much right now, I suppose. - she said with a deep understanding in her voice. - The first few days are the hardest, and speaking of, you should get to work. The warden likes to... "Motivate those who take unnecessary breaks".

After she delivered her warning, Ignisarha continued swinging the pickaxe. In a few precise hits in the same spot, she broke off a large chunk of ore and dropped the axe so she could pick it up and throw it in the nearby cart. Just as she released the amalgam of rock and ore in the cart, her eyes met the gaze of another human - one wearing what appeared to be primitive armor and carrying a corpse. Even though the miners were used to death by now, a corpse will always trigger some kind of reaction, which probably meant that no one else had noticed the man just yet. It was as if he was sizing her up. She didn't know him but he appeared like he was in the mines for a while now. Was she caught?

She decided it was best to get back to work - if she was indeed caught, she'd find out soon enough. She grabbed the pickaxe and moved back next to Charles.

-Whenever you feel like you want to talk... - she said to him between swings. - I can help make your time here a bit less of a pain.

Interactions: Shadow101 Black_Sun

 

[Teh Frixz]

Str’nni

This was not the place to be. Str’nni was very unhappy with their current lot in life but was still coming to terms with what had been a series of bad luckcompounded by poor choices. It was bad luck that their freighter, The Surly Doc, had been captured and most of her fellow crew had been sold off.

It was the poor choice of deciding to remain undiscovered that had gotten them captured in the first place and was continuing to hamper escape efforts. And it was likely an extremely poor choice to keep up the charade of being a human, but right now it was still the right decision. Taking action too early is what got others like them killed. A guard could be consumed and assimilated but their equipment and sensors could not.

If they couldn’t be absorbed before backup came running, they’d find a half absorbed guard and a fully exposed Str’nni. No, playing it safe was the smart option. Even breaking apart was foolish, the smaller forms incapable of the intelligence needed to stay away from the guards and their equipment. We’d be hunted down and burned to ash.

Str’nni paused, shovel in hand. It had come upon an idea. While the guards and those in control saw Str’nni as a resource to be exploited, the others could see Str’nni as an ally that could be treated fairly.

Turning on heel, Str’nni made a show of carrying equipment to the main tunnels, looking about eagerly for any assistance.

 

[Shadow101]

"So they don't tell you, your just supposed to know what to do" ? Charles asked as he picked up a nearby axe. "As he took a swing his arm was moving weird he had been in this weakened state since they cut off most of his augments. He totally missed the wall. " Well this sucks ~Ignisarha~ Normally I could take this wall down by myself, how am I supposed to mine if I can't swing my damn arms"? Charles called out. He could only hope the augments would cut back on or he would at least get used to it. He moved closer and closer missed swing after missed swing he was almost on the wall he took a huge swing and knocked off a small chunk. He started to swing a little harder and a little faster as he did a little bit of a smaller piece came off. " So this is what it's like to feel human again ~Ignisarha~"? he called out He almost forgot what it felt like you could tell by the look in his face.

 

[Shadow101]

bump

 

[mito]

Hisako​

Over on the second floor, the two new workers were showed around the kitchen.
A lady explained them ins and outs of the different tasks that cooking the meals consisted of.

Hisako quietly confirmed when prompted if she understood what the kitchen lady was explaining
“Yes I understand”. She said in a somber manner.
being alone for so long Made it hard not to get flustered when suddenly seeing such a large amount of people.
the longer she was here, the more she started to take note of things around here. Takeing everything in with big eyes.

Along with Hisako, another woman was also there. A newcomer just like her.
Since they arrived there, and during their introduction tour hisako caught glimpses of the woman. She was a dark skinned lady with a spiky hairstyle.
Maybe she was the though kind of person.
Later she also noticed that her left hand was different. All that was there, was a thumb and an index finger.
“caused by an accident perhaps?”.

deep inside Hisako hoped the woman could be someone to talk to and could maybe give her some answers to what was going on.
Unfortunately she did not have the confidence or determination to speak to her. all of the past events made her timid and shy, even though she always used to be so cheerful and gullible.

 

[Verena]

The kitchens were flooded with steam, the loud clatter of cookware, the sizzling of fat. Nearest to the ovens, which were nothing more than the hot impurities separated from the sought-after Kasorrite, the heat was almost unbearable. The food prepared there was almost always slightly burned and carried a smoky, irony flavor.

Cooks wore makeshift rag masks over their nose and mouth to prevent the smoke and steam from entering and choking them. The eyes of the alien species that didn’t possess a nictitating membrane or another natural protection were constantly stinging, dry and red.

The kitchen lady gave both Hisako and the other new girl a short nod and a soft smile, which was indecipherable from under the mask. Despite all the death the older woman had seen over the years, she couldn’t really stop feeling sorry for the young girls that were brought to her. “Quickly now, you two. Get to work before the guards show up.”, she ushered them in the direction of the nearest oven, then began tending to her own duties.

“You heard the woman. Let’s get to it.”, the other girl chirped in and gave Hisako a light nudge before grabbing the nearest pot and a sack of assorted vegetables. “Couldn’t help but notice you noticing me. My name is Alu. What do I call you?”, she introduced herself and began peeling a deep red root similar to kohlrabi. The cooks were only allowed to use knives, saws and other sharp utensils under surveillance of the guards. Thus, they had to use their nails or claws to split the produce into chunks rather than chopping them.

Alu worked seemingly unbothered by the heat or the lack of three of the fingers on her left hand. There was an old scar there, which had healed smoothly over the years. Now that the two were standing close to one another, Hisako could examine her better.

Alu’s apparent dark skin was covered in light-coloured vitiligo spots, as well as tiny scales that glistened in the semidarkness. What initially resembled a spiky pixie haircut now revealed a different truth. On closer inspection, one could see that Alu’s hair was in fact made up of many needle-thin spikes that continued down her spine. Her ears were pointed, her pupils slit, her teeth sharp. The fingers on her hands ended in long and only slightly curved nails. Despite their similarities, neither of her features were as pronounced as those of a typical Gehennian. Alu still walked on plantigrade legs and was missing the unique tail of the species. Her alien race was entirely unknown and one could only guess.



mito