Reality Description
Mar. 4th, 2008 10:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
contract_starThis is also located in the app, but I figured I should give it its own post, for plot purposes and for simplicity's sake.
Reality Description: Ten years ago two chaotic territories appeared on Earth—Heaven’s Gate in South America and Hell’s Gate in Tokyo, Japan. At the same time, the true night sky disappeared, and all of the stars were replaced with false ones. The Gates defy all logic and physics—they can affect biological life on the atomic level, cause all manner of illusions, retaliate against those who try to enter, and generally warp reality itself. It’s not uncommon to experience auditory and visual hallucinations near the Gates, and it is said that the Gates are capable of returning that which is lost. Five years ago the Heaven’s Gate disappeared, along with everything in a 1500 kilometer radius around it.
The world is otherwise a normal, 2007 Earth, but global events inevitably have a global impact. The appearance of the Gates has affected the whole planet; nothing has been the same since the true skies disappeared. The effects of the Gates on the world at large are myriad and complicated, so I’ll outline the most important things in a list, for sanity’s sake.
Contractors: The Contractors appeared shortly after the skies vanished and are therefore believed to be connected to the Gates. These are people who have made a “Contract” that grants them special abilities. They are heartless, emotionless people without a conscience, able to distinguish right from wrong but simply apathetic. They value self-preservation above all else and are completely rational. The various governments of the world tries to keep them a secret, but the governments along with mysterious organizations such as the Syndicate all still use Contractors to do their dirty work. Therefore the majority of the world population doesn’t know of their existence or believes them to be a rumor—people who witness a Contractor often have their memories erased to keep the Contractors a secret.
Contracts come at a price, which arises in the form of an obeisance, or payment. The obeisance varies from Contractor to Contractor and is almost never the same for two people. The obeisance can be benign, harmful, or simply strange. Some examples include: eating something and then regurgitating it, writing poetry, smoking cigarettes, drinking hot milk, earmarking books, eating flowers, arranging stones in a rectangular pattern, and drinking the blood of children. In very rare cases, the obeisance can be paid in full, which is what happened to Mao because his original human body was killed, forcing him to now live in the body of a cat. Hei also seems to be the only Contractor who doesn’t have an obeisance.
The false skies are also connected to the Contractors. Each Contractor has a corresponding star, which reacts whenever the Contractor uses his or her ability. When a star falls, it means that somewhere a Contractor has died. They each have also been given a Messier code which also corresponds with their star. Hei’s Messier code is BK201.
Dolls: Similar to Contractors, Dolls also began appearing around the same time as the Gates as well. The name is rather self explanatory—they are silent, robotic people with no emotions or willpower. They do not have a Contract or an obeisance, but they operate as psychic mediums and are able to send “surveillance specters” to spy on others. The specters take the form of a ghost-like blue light with the semblance of eyes and a mouth. Dolls can only use a certain “medium” through which to send their specters, such as glass, electric wires or water. Yin is one of these Dolls, though she seems to have the shadow of emotions. She uses water as her medium and proves very helpful in tracking down targets.
Moratoria: Very rare people who are somewhere between Dolls and Contractors. A Moratorium does in fact have a Contract, but their robotic personalities give them virtually no control over them, making them unstable and extremely dangerous. They also do not have an obeisance.
The Syndicate: A mysterious organization that uses Contractors as assassins and to do otherwise unsavory work. They are after the Meteor Fragment for their own purposes.
Meteor Fragment: An indecipherable lens-shaped object found in both Gates, capable of amplifying Contractor abilities and the target of many groups.
PANDORA: Physicalantiquity Alternation Natural Deconstruction Organized Research Agency. A complicated name for a complicated facility. PANDORA is the leading authority on the Contractors and the Gates, and continually do research on both. They are the inventors of various technologies that utilize Gate substances, including the technology that can erase memories. The facility is located just next to Hell’s Gate.
The Astronomy Division: This is a group of researchers who utilize Dolls to track the movements of the Contractors. Their name is self-explanatory, as they “study” the false skies in order to learn more about the Contractors and keep an eye on them. They are the ones who assigned the Contractors their Messier codes. Their Dolls use surveillance specters to keep a close watch over Tokyo or find a targeted Contractor. The most important of these Dolls is Hoshi-sama, who is tapped into the stars themselves and thus can sense each and every Contractor. It is considered a bad omen if she speaks, as the only time she has ever spoken is just before the Heaven’s Gate catastrophe.
Tokyo Police, Foreign Affairs Section 4: A division of the Tokyo police force who specifically tackle cases with Contractors involved. The division is led by Misaki Kirihara, who has taken a special interest in BK201, as he has recently been linked with several Contractor-related homicides.
Evening Primrose: A terrorist group of Contractors, led by Amber, an old acquaintance of Hei’s who fought beside him during the South American campaign, and was there during the Gate catastrophe. The group is dedicated to preserving the rights of Contractors and has aligned itself against the Syndicate, though their ultimate goals remain unclear.
Reality Description: Ten years ago two chaotic territories appeared on Earth—Heaven’s Gate in South America and Hell’s Gate in Tokyo, Japan. At the same time, the true night sky disappeared, and all of the stars were replaced with false ones. The Gates defy all logic and physics—they can affect biological life on the atomic level, cause all manner of illusions, retaliate against those who try to enter, and generally warp reality itself. It’s not uncommon to experience auditory and visual hallucinations near the Gates, and it is said that the Gates are capable of returning that which is lost. Five years ago the Heaven’s Gate disappeared, along with everything in a 1500 kilometer radius around it.
The world is otherwise a normal, 2007 Earth, but global events inevitably have a global impact. The appearance of the Gates has affected the whole planet; nothing has been the same since the true skies disappeared. The effects of the Gates on the world at large are myriad and complicated, so I’ll outline the most important things in a list, for sanity’s sake.
Contractors: The Contractors appeared shortly after the skies vanished and are therefore believed to be connected to the Gates. These are people who have made a “Contract” that grants them special abilities. They are heartless, emotionless people without a conscience, able to distinguish right from wrong but simply apathetic. They value self-preservation above all else and are completely rational. The various governments of the world tries to keep them a secret, but the governments along with mysterious organizations such as the Syndicate all still use Contractors to do their dirty work. Therefore the majority of the world population doesn’t know of their existence or believes them to be a rumor—people who witness a Contractor often have their memories erased to keep the Contractors a secret.
Contracts come at a price, which arises in the form of an obeisance, or payment. The obeisance varies from Contractor to Contractor and is almost never the same for two people. The obeisance can be benign, harmful, or simply strange. Some examples include: eating something and then regurgitating it, writing poetry, smoking cigarettes, drinking hot milk, earmarking books, eating flowers, arranging stones in a rectangular pattern, and drinking the blood of children. In very rare cases, the obeisance can be paid in full, which is what happened to Mao because his original human body was killed, forcing him to now live in the body of a cat. Hei also seems to be the only Contractor who doesn’t have an obeisance.
The false skies are also connected to the Contractors. Each Contractor has a corresponding star, which reacts whenever the Contractor uses his or her ability. When a star falls, it means that somewhere a Contractor has died. They each have also been given a Messier code which also corresponds with their star. Hei’s Messier code is BK201.
Dolls: Similar to Contractors, Dolls also began appearing around the same time as the Gates as well. The name is rather self explanatory—they are silent, robotic people with no emotions or willpower. They do not have a Contract or an obeisance, but they operate as psychic mediums and are able to send “surveillance specters” to spy on others. The specters take the form of a ghost-like blue light with the semblance of eyes and a mouth. Dolls can only use a certain “medium” through which to send their specters, such as glass, electric wires or water. Yin is one of these Dolls, though she seems to have the shadow of emotions. She uses water as her medium and proves very helpful in tracking down targets.
Moratoria: Very rare people who are somewhere between Dolls and Contractors. A Moratorium does in fact have a Contract, but their robotic personalities give them virtually no control over them, making them unstable and extremely dangerous. They also do not have an obeisance.
The Syndicate: A mysterious organization that uses Contractors as assassins and to do otherwise unsavory work. They are after the Meteor Fragment for their own purposes.
Meteor Fragment: An indecipherable lens-shaped object found in both Gates, capable of amplifying Contractor abilities and the target of many groups.
PANDORA: Physicalantiquity Alternation Natural Deconstruction Organized Research Agency. A complicated name for a complicated facility. PANDORA is the leading authority on the Contractors and the Gates, and continually do research on both. They are the inventors of various technologies that utilize Gate substances, including the technology that can erase memories. The facility is located just next to Hell’s Gate.
The Astronomy Division: This is a group of researchers who utilize Dolls to track the movements of the Contractors. Their name is self-explanatory, as they “study” the false skies in order to learn more about the Contractors and keep an eye on them. They are the ones who assigned the Contractors their Messier codes. Their Dolls use surveillance specters to keep a close watch over Tokyo or find a targeted Contractor. The most important of these Dolls is Hoshi-sama, who is tapped into the stars themselves and thus can sense each and every Contractor. It is considered a bad omen if she speaks, as the only time she has ever spoken is just before the Heaven’s Gate catastrophe.
Tokyo Police, Foreign Affairs Section 4: A division of the Tokyo police force who specifically tackle cases with Contractors involved. The division is led by Misaki Kirihara, who has taken a special interest in BK201, as he has recently been linked with several Contractor-related homicides.
Evening Primrose: A terrorist group of Contractors, led by Amber, an old acquaintance of Hei’s who fought beside him during the South American campaign, and was there during the Gate catastrophe. The group is dedicated to preserving the rights of Contractors and has aligned itself against the Syndicate, though their ultimate goals remain unclear.
