(There doesn't seem to be a "written works" section, so here is about the only place I can think to drop this. )
Because of his unique cybernetic make-up, the memory centers of Shazbot's brain are connected directly to the computer in his head, which in turn is tied to his cognitive functions. (Allowing him to control his artificial limbs as though they were a part of his body.) This level of advanced mobian-machine interface comes with a side effect; whenever Shazbot is unconscious, his dreams are filled with stark reenactments of the events of his past. Every night, he relives certain moments of his life as though they only happened yesterday. What follows is his personal dream diary as he recollects the things that transpired to bring him to the place he is now...
First Dream...
Year: A.R. 2021
Day: Friday, October 12th
Time: 17:56
Shaz is standing in the center of a ruined factory. His muscles were aching, and his cybernetic joints creaked as he moved. He had been assigned to oversee the restoration of an old microchip production line. He and a couple dozen Legion worked the place over from sun-up to sun-down, cleaning floors, conveyor belts, and old machines while clearing out broken parts to make room for new ones. Although his orders had explicitly been to "oversee" the project, he saw many places where his unusual talents could be put to use, thus he spent the day working on the floor with his men.
The purpose of their activity was to bring the factory back into working order. They were contracted by a company that made medical equipment for hospitals and clinics. Because they worked faster, better, and cheaper than a standard contractor, when the Legion offered to fix it up the company could hardly refuse. Shaz wiped the grease from his hands onto a small rag, then ran the back of his hand accross his brow, leaving a dark crease. "Alright everyone, let's take a break. Fergus, get some lights on in here, we've got a few hours to go before this line is finished. I want to have this room ready for the engineers by tomorrow." A low chorus of "yes sir"s and "got it boss"s filled the dim room as the last light of sunset streamed in through the grimy windows.
Shazbot leaned back against a rusted motor. He'd only been working for two days, and already the first production floor was showing significant improvements. A few more weeks at this pace and the factory would be ready for action. He allowed himself a moment of pride as he imagined the look on Rimgar's face. The two had a bet going; if Shaz could restore the factory in 30 days, Rimgar would buy them both tickets to the next Dung Beetles concert. If he failed, then he'd have to be Rimgar's secretary for a week, signing all the forms and attending all the meetings that normally bogged down the leader's day. He decided the risk was worth it.
As he stood there relaxing, an oil can suddenly flew through the air toward Shazbot's head. Reflexively he swung his cyborg arm to catch it, snagging it out of the air as though he'd seen it coming. Absently he began dabbing oil in all his joints as he struck up a conversation with the pitcher. "So, how about that game last night?" A hedgehog with exceptionally long, straight spikes and dark green fur walked up and joined Shaz sitting on the motor. "Aw, you already know what I think. Totally bogus is what it is." Shaz nodded knowingly as he poured the oil into his elbow joint. "Yeah, WhiteFoxes remain undefeated, first time in three seasons. What are they, 7 and 0 now?"
"8 and 0." the hedgehog replied with a sigh. "I tell ya, I really thought the Yakkers could break 'em. They looked so strong this year." As he spoke, he reached into a pocket of his dark-hooded cloak and produced a soda. Popping the tab, he took a chug and leaned back with it resting on his forehead. "Getting to where you can't count on anybody, not even your heroes..."
Shaz crushed the empty oil can against his forehead and tossed it in a bin. Glancing over at the hedgehog, he asked "Hey Jax? I've been wondering this for a while now, but... what part of you is... you know, science-y?" The hedgehog named Jax slapped his chest. "When I was 12, I was out hiking when I fell on a tree branch. Got stabbed straight through my right lung. By the time we made it to the hospital, the lung had collapsed and it wouldn't re-inflate. I still had the left lung, but it was barely enough to keep me alive. The doctors told me I wouldn't be able to leave my bed, possibly for the rest of my life. Then someone suggested I join the dark legion, let them give me an iron lung. I've been with 'em ever since."
Shaz stared up at the ceiling. "Do you ever think of what it would be like if you hadn't had that accident? What sort of life you'd have led if you hadn't been forced to choose between life in a hospital bed and life in the Legion?"
Jax shrugged. "I'd probably have never joined, not if I had any real choice. To tell you the truth, cybernetics scares the crap outta me. I've never gone back for any upgrades or things like that. I just don't think I need it. However..." He sat up and took another sip of his soda. "When I think about the way things turned out, I figure it's not so bad. I mean, just look at what we're doing; fixing a factory that'll put heart monitors and all kinds of equipment in hospitals all over Knothole."
Jax stood up and stretched. "I don't think it's so bad, being part of a group that works so hard to give people second chances. It makes you feel as though your gift means something, don't it?"
Shaz rose to his feet, joints noticeably less creaky than before. "I guess so..." He swung his arm in a circle, stretching it out. "At any rate, let's get busy. I've got concert tickets riding on this restoration, and I'm not about to let lazy bums like you take 'em away from me!"
Jax chuckled. "Very well then, lead the way, oh magnificent leader..."
...End.
Second Dream...
Year: A.R. 2020
Day: Wednesday, August 2nd
Time: 04:00
Filled with anticipation and dread, Shaz’Rael stood inside a cold, dark laboratory room. His bandages tugged at his limbs as he tried to walk, their linen restraint causing great labor to his movements. His feet were misshapen, barely able to support his weight as he balanced awkwardly upon the casts that enclosed them. He felt his way around the room, blind in the pitch-blackness. He reached his hand out for what looked like a light source, but his grasp fell short. One eye was wrapped in linens; as a result his depth perception was shot. He tried to extend his other arm to steady himself, but the bandages stopped at the wrist; he had no other hand to grip things with. Slowly, he began to lose his balance, falling to his knees before slamming into the floor with a resounding “thud!”
Suddenly the lights all switch themselves on as a cloaked figure strides into the room, holding a clipboard in one hand and a syringe in the other. He stood above Shaz’Rael’s prone form, his face unflinching. Shaz tried to turn his head to look up, but the bandages, along with his own weakness, prevented him from looking at anything but the floor.
The cloaked figure placed the clipboard on a table and began to flick the syringe. “You know very well that you’re not supposed to be out of bed.” From the floor, Shaz looked as though he were trying to speak, but only a rattling wheeze issued from his throat. The cloaked figure sighed. “Your new vocal components are not finished calibrating. Even if they were, you are in no fit state to undergo that stage of the operation… yet.” The echidna on the floor reached out with his only good hand, grasping pitifully at the hem of the mobian’s cloak. In response he inserted the needle into the helpless one’s arm, injecting a strange-colored liquid. Immediately Shaz’Rael began to convulse in pain.
The cloaked figure patted his head reassuringly. “We went over this before we started; I cannot give you any painkillers. They will dull the senses and interfere with the nerve connections. You must be alert and of a sound mind for this procedure to take.” Slowly he lifted Shaz’s panting form from the floor, and with him supported on his shoulder guided him back to the bed. “Calm yourself. This will all be over soon…”
The cloaked figure left, switching the lights off behind him. Once again Shaz’Rael was laying in the dark, unable to think about anything except the incredible pain from his numerous injections. He felt the latest one creeping up his arm, twisting his flesh as readily as it mended it.
He began to wonder if living was worth the trouble…
…End.
It's really interesting how you have all of these little scenes from your character's life, to show how he became what he is today. I never really do that with my own characters, and tend to just paint in broad strokes in backstories. Did you write these just to post here or did you have them already written out before this?
One thing though: It's a good idea to start a new paragraph every time a new character gets the focus of the scene. This makes it much easier to follow along whenever two characters are having a conversation.
(01-26-2014 03:21 PM)Nail Strafer Wrote: [ -> ]It's really interesting how you have all of these little scenes from your character's life, to show how he became what he is today. I never really do that with my own characters, and tend to just paint in broad strokes in backstories. Did you write these just to post here or did you have them already written out before this?
Yeah, I actually starting writing these due to my frustration at being unable to be online on a regular basis. That, and this is finally the backstory I've always wanted to write for Shazbot, so I wanted to flesh out as much detail as I could. I was also going to use this to drop hints about upcoming characters, tying their own backstories into the narrative. It's been pretty fun so far.
(01-26-2014 03:21 PM)Nail Strafer Wrote: [ -> ]One thing though: It's a good idea to start a new paragraph every time a new character gets the focus of the scene. This makes it much easier to follow along whenever two characters are having a conversation.
I'll keep that in mind when I post the next one. I can't post them all the time because I need a computer to do it, (I am on my tablet right now) and I can't always find time to get my laptop over to my friend's place.
Expect more in the future!
Third Dream
Year: 2020
Saturday, May 6th
16:34
The afternoon sun beat down on Shaz’Rael as he stood in line, jostled by the enormous crowd as they all waited impatiently to see the main attraction. Everyone was standing outside the Knothole Institute of Technology, each one having been sent a special invitation from the royal palace to attend. Sadly, Queen Acorn herself would be unable to attend, having been called away to some urgent business overseas. In her place, a trusted member of her entourage would oversee the unveiling of the institute’s newest creation.
He held his hand over his eyes as he scanned the crowd. Since they didn’t often visit the big city, his parents had wanted to do a little shopping while they were there. Shaz didn’t want to be bothered, and instead went on ahead to hold their place in line. That was over three hours ago.
Bored, he pulled out his cell phone and started playing a game. He hadn’t been playing long when someone brushed past him, tripping on his leg and causing them both to drop what they were holding. “Hey! Watch it!” As he bent to retrieve his phone, another echidna in a white lab coat was running his hands across the ground, searching frantically for something. Over by someone’s foot was a silver diskette, shining in the afternoon sun. Shaz grabbed it and held it up to the echidna in the lab coat. “Hey, did you drop this?”
The echidna stood up straight and pushed his glasses higher up on his nose. “Ah, yes, thank you very much. You have no idea what kind of trouble you just saved me, mr….?”
“Shaz’Rael.” He replied, handing the disk over. As he did, he noticed the lab echidna’s glove had slipped down, revealing an unusual metallic glint around the wrist. The echidna followed Shaz’s stare, then quickly fixed his glove.
“Anyway, I gotta go.” He snatched the disk from Shaz and continued pushing his way through the crowd. Puzzled, Shaz watched after him as he made his way to the front door, where he was waved through by the security guards. He decided not to give it much thought as he returned to his game.
A few minutes later, he glanced up and saw his parents pushing their way through the crowd, his father carrying several bags of what Shaz assumed to be designer clothing. He waved them over, and the three of them waited patiently for the doors to open…
...End.
Fourth Dream
Year: 2021
Tuesday, April 10th
Time: 0200
Shazbot jumped out of his bed, sheets flying as an alarm blared through the halls. Immediately his systems booted up, and he tried to enter combat mode. Unfortunately, the OS was still being developed, so the best he could manage was a basic targeting system. Even his friend-or-foe I.D. program was buggy, identifying the refrigerator as a level one priority target. He chuckled to himself, then disabled the feature; this was no time for games. Carefully he approached his apartment door, then stood off to the side and eased it open. His apartment was on the third floor of the building, which was five stories tall. Around him members of the Dark Legion had also begun to stir, roused by the sudden ruckus. He slipped out the door and made a dash for the floor manager’s office. Along the way a rabbit with metal ears and his robe on backwards called after him. “Hey! What’s going on? Is this some kind of drill?”
Normally they staged emergency drills for fires, viral outbreaks, etc. a couple of times a year. This alarm, however, they had never used. It was an old klaxon, installed decades ago during a human terrorist uprising. Everyone knew they were for emergencies of a wartime nature, but no one ever expected to hear them go off. Eventually Shaz arrived at a large wooden door next to the stairs, wherein he could hear the floor manager, shouting and cursing. He pushed the door open to the sight of a tall, heavily-muscled human with an iron jaw, yelling into the phone as though the receiver had said something nasty about his mother.
“-I HAVEN’T WAITED UP ALL NIGHT JUST SO YOU COULD TELL ME IT WAS ANOTHER GAT-DAMN FALSE ALARM! YOU’RE THE HEAD OF SECURITY! SECURE THE DAMN BUILDING, BEFORE I SECURE YOUR HEAD IN YOUR OWN METAL DETECTOR!”
With that he slammed the phone down. Kicking his chair aside, he stooped over his desk, staring at a set of security monitors. Nervously Shaz cleared his throat, and the man raised his head. “What do you want, cyber-rat? Can’t you see I’m busy?”
Shaz stood at attention. “Excuse the intrusion, Mr. Barabas sir! I heard the alarms, and I followed combat protocol. What’s going on? Are we under attack?”
Mr. Barabas groaned. “Of all the flea-bitten… Shaz, you would be the one to follow protocol.” He turned and pointed his thumb at the monitor. “You see these screens? Notice anything fishy?”
Shaz stepped forward and looked at the monitors. They all showed various halls and common areas on the floor. None of them showed any activity. “No sir, I don’t see anything- hey, wait a minute…”
Mr. Barabas nodded. “So you noticed? We’re getting a feed loop. Someone sliced into our security system and doesn’t want us to see what they’re up to. I was about to reboot the system when security called, told me to stand down and turn off the alarm.”
Shaz nodded. “Hold on, let me try something first.”
Mr. Barabas shrugged. “Be my guest. I’m gonna go secure the floor, see if security has seen fit to grace us with their presence yet.”
Shaz gave the man a nod as he walked out, slamming the door behind him. Glancing over the console again, he found the computer terminal. Carefully he removed the box and pulled some of the chords out of the back. Then he reached up to his metal dreadlocks and extracted a long, thin wire. This was something he’d been meaning to try, but had only run simulations for. In theory, he should be able to dive into the network and trace the hack to its source. Of course, he could also trip a circuit breaker and overload his brain. It was a hit-or-miss operation. “Well, here goes…” He slipped the end of the wire underneath the plastic encasing the network cable, making metal-on-metal contact as his eyes grew hazy and out of focus.
No sooner said than done, he was riding the information freeway. (Not quite the super-highway of the open internet, since it was an isolated system) He flew past firewalls and antivirus programs as he flashed his access codes, gaining instant access to the system. He was about to start his search when he suddenly ran into a massive block of counter-intrusion software. It was foreign to this system, so his access codes didn’t even faze it as it tried to eradicate the intruding presence. Shaz threw up firewalls to defend himself, but the software was overwhelmingly strong, and it smashed right through them. Focusing all the CPU power he had, he generated a block of pure iron, holding back the monstrous construct as it gnashed its digital teeth, trying to get a bite out of Shaz’s bandwidth. Setting his multitasker to overload, he targeted several points on the beast’s massive bulk, letting loose a barrage of worm missiles. Most of them detonated with little effect, but a few of them seemed to cause it great pain as it staggered backward.
Seeing his chance, Shaz activated a Trojan virus, then charged straight at the creature, allowing himself to be swallowed within its gaping jaws. At first the program was confused, searching all over for its lost quarry. Finally it gave up and began to withdraw from whence it came, carrying Shaz inside its belly as it returned to its master. As soon as it went dormant, Shaz fired up his memory bug, giving it all he had. With a great burst of light and showering pixels the beast exploded, leaving Shaz standing in a digital crater. “Whew! That wasn’t so hard! Now, where am I…?”
He glanced around, but it seemed he wasn’t actually on the network anymore. In fact, he didn’t recognize the system at all. He dropped a tracer program, then began backtracking his way back toward the apartment system. Almost immediately the digital landscape began to writhe and squirm before his eyes, with several more of the massive counter-intrusion beasts taking shape. Apparently he’d tripped a security line.
“...RUNNING TIME NOW!”
He logged out with all haste, a swarm of monstrous security programs trailing in his wake, their massive jaws snapping at his heels. He zipped through the security network, bouncing through firewalls in an effort to slow his pursuers. All but one of the monsters split off, and he was just nanoseconds away from being devoured. He zipped back into his own head, the beast hot on his heels, and instantly locked down that part of his system, isolating the monstrous program inside his own head.
His cyber-escapades now over he awakened, fully alert and with adrenaline pumping though his system. “That was TOO close!” He glanced over the counter-intrusion software he’d captured, which was now snarling and gnashing its digital teeth at his screen. “That is one nasty piece of work. Could come in handy.” He took the program and installed it in his own cyber-security suite, adding it to his arsenal of cyber-warfare scripts. Then he brought up his tracer program, isolating the source of the original hack. Just then Mr. Barabas came bursting in, tailed by two tough-looking echidnas.
“Well, after talking with these bozos, we’ve FINALLY come up with a plan of action. We’ll need everyone to go back to their rooms while we sweep the floor.” The two echidnas glared at Mr. Barabas, who returned the glare with a self-satisfied smile. “With them under my command, we’ll find this guy in no time!”
Shaz held up a hand. “No need. I know where he is.”
Mr. Barabas looked stunned. “Wait, don’t tell me, you did your little robot-brain mumbo jumbo. Isn’t there some sort of rule against that?”
Shaz shrugged. “Anyway, he’s not on this floor. We’ll find him up on the fifth floor.”
The apartment was segregated, with all the staff inhabiting the first floor, the males taking up the second and third floors, and the females living on the fourth and fifth floors. Quickly Shaz led the small hunting party upstairs, to a room at the corner of the fifth floor. He pointed to one of the rooms, and a security officer swiped his keycard, gaining entry. Instantly they burst through the door, leveling their weapons. “Security! Hands in the air!”
In a bed in the far corner of the room, a male rat sat bolt upright next to a sleeping female squirrel. Next to the bed was a wireless laptop computer, with the security feed still up on its screen. Apparently, he’d been too preoccupied to notice the security squad marching down the hall. He stuck his hands in the air as the girl next to him stirred. “Whatsa matter baby?” She glanced up and saw the people standing in her doorway, causing her to sit bolt upright, covering herself with her bed sheets.
Mr. Barabas groaned. “Oh fer the love of…”
Shaz chuckled as the security officers dragged the rat out, leaving a disciplinary notice for the poor confused squirrel. Apparently, Shaz wasn’t the only one who had read the combat emergency protocols. Whenever a floor goes on alert, the rest of the building goes on lockdown until the intruder is caught. The rat thought he could trick everyone into a combat alert, drawing all the security to the third floor while he snuck up to the fifth floor to spend the whole night with his lady friend. He left the security system on the third floor in an endless loop while he strategically looped the cameras in his path to the squirrel’s room, giving everyone a giant red herring while he covered his tracks. It might have worked too, if not for a certain meddling echidna.
Later that night, after the alarms had died down and everyone had gone back to bed, Mr. Barabas walked Shaz back to his room. As the echidna was about to swipe his key, the towering human gave him a massive slap on the back. “Aw heck, I might as well say it. You done good, shorty! I’ve been watching that feed loop every night for the past week, and no one ever listened to me. If you hadn’t stepped in, I mighta gone another week before I worked out what was goin’ on. Thanks.”
Shaz rubbed his shoulder as he held out a hand. “Hey, any time.”
Stoically Mr. Barabas reached down and took the echidna’s hand, the two of them grasping for a moment before the human broke the silence. “Don’t think this means I like you or anything. Far as I’m concerned you mobians are still a buncha pansies.”
Shaz nodded nervously. “I’ll keep that in mind…”
…End.
Year A.R. 2018
Monday, May 14
Time 02:00
Shaz’rael was in the throes of a horrible nightmare…
He was sitting on a strange cot in the middle of a gigantic room. In the corner, he could hear a small clock ticking off the seconds, sometimes on time, sometimes too fast or too slow. The dissonant rhythm was about to drive him crazy, when suddenly an enormous silver snake appeared from beneath the bed, sinking its wicked fangs into his arm and coiling around him. He screamed and struggled, but the snake only squeezed tighter. All the time the strange clock was ticking louder and louder, never on a beat and now accompanied by the grinding of gears, as though the mechanism were about to break.
His breathing ragged, Shaz continued to struggle in vain, fearing the snake would devour him. Suddenly a door appeared, and standing in front of it were his parents, their backs turned, oblivious to their son’s peril. Someone outside the door was pounding on it, twisting the knob and trying to force their way in, but no one would open it. Shaz thought he heard a familiar voice; the voice of his sister, shouting and cursing his name as she vowed to take vengeance upon him for some unknown crime. Still the clock ticked on, each individual beat now a strained rasp of warping metal and grinding gears. The noise, as well as the snake, both threatened to swallow Shaz as he felt his chest contract beyond mortal limits.
Suddenly, there was a crash as the clock shattered into a million pieces. Where it once stood, a peculiar gem was floating in midair, growing brighter and brighter. The light enveloped his parents and the door, vaporizing them in a puff of ash. The heat was so intense; Shaz thought he could feel his arms and legs melting beneath the inferno. Still the snake clung to him, adamantly striving to kill him until the very end…
Shaz awoke, beads of sweat running down his face. He was in his room, and it was the middle of the night. Everything was dark, and from his bed he could see a light flashing on his computer. Not really feeling like returning to sleep after that harrowing experience, he decided to check his email before continuing his slumber. He hopped up and switched on his monitor, bringing the machine out of sleep mode. He connected to the web, then brought up his email.
Since he’d powered it down that evening, he had received two emails. One was from the Mobian Institute of Technology, the other was from a user whose name was a garbled mass of letters. Curious, he ran a virus scan on the latter, and, finding nothing suspicious, opened it. Inside it was the same garbled mass of complete gibberish, with the exception of one line all the way at the very end:
“Behold, the wings of a new frontier spread before you, and the raptor will devour the lodestones of the universe.”
Suddenly Shaz felt a splitting headache cut into his senses, and for one brief instant he was somewhere else, looking across the horizon of a world he did not recognize. His hand was strange, metallic, and he couldn’t feel it.
Just as suddenly he was back, the feeling passed. He shook his head, then promptly deleted the email, writing it off as someone’s idea of a prank. Hoping for something a little more interesting, he opening the other email, skimming the contents as he felt his eyelids grow heavy.
Maybe he’ll read this in the morning…
…END