[1] overview
[2] new players and characters
[3] plotline // network
[4] plotline // network // mer
[5] plotline // dark arcadia
[6] plotline // demonworks
[7] plotline // misc



[1] overview

Hi, this is Jam Kor Jam Kor, hiding from her dissertation in order to bring you a newsletter. And let me just say, this is infinitely easier than newslettering CF2... probably because unlike me, Dread actually newsletters regularly.

(Though this writ was subsequently hijacked by her Highness the Magistra of FourFortyism Pink Goth the Second and promptly put through the meat-grinder. Not much coherence remains. -pinkgothic)



[2] new players and characters

Players: We have three - count 'em, three! - new players since the last newsletter.

· TFB71 has created a character and joined in, as well as being active in #dataclaw.

· Mahar has also signed up and lurks in #dataclaw, but has no characters in Wildcard yet.

· Juhkystar also registered, but I have no idea who they are, though they've popped in a few times. But hopefully they'll start playing soon!

Characters:

· Kor created NewsHound, who is the central aggregate server behind the World News online newspaper. His duties include text-mining of primary documents, compiling AP and similar news releases as well as press releases from corporations, doing 'door-to-door' surveys and man on the 'street' interviews, scheduling, and similar gruntwork so that the highly paid reporters can be presented with a news item and a file full of facts to reference when they sit down to write their stories. The fun begins when he oversteps his bounds.

She's also created Josef Thomas a/k/a Scribe Of Ptah, who's also employed by World News (but considerably more human), and thus ties into that.

· TFB71 created Paul DeSanto a/k/a Vector, a newly-trapped Citizen who is working on a VR connector implant to replace the current models on the market. He also has amazingly expressive bunny slippers!

· Jim created Alex Forester a/k/a Gunther, a newly-trapped Citizen with a Jaegerkin avatar.



[3] plotline // network

Due to ideological differences, Verdana has split off from Cyrex and Stacksmash - taking all the inhabitants of Mer with her.

Thus far this is unbeknownst to anyone but the servers themselves and the two network-allied Citizens, Nechku and Lysette Skeates.



[4] plotline // network // mer

The fifth Treasure is found on Myragon, guarded by a massive serpentine monster reminiscent of a centipede [#258]. After some scouting, plotting, failing but getting out of it alive by the skin of their teeth, it is finally retrieved successfully as Azur makes an informed use of sedatives.

The sixth Treasure is found on the seabed, far beneath the waves and beside several dangerous vents of Dark Water; Adrethyrian manages to dive below and retrieve it, though despite his immunity, he still has to battle with the Dark Water slightly, initially freeing himself and then returning to retrieve the Treasure while armed with another to ward off the substance more effectively, since he has no desire to be eternally trapped underwater.

Between Treasures, in a philosophical sideplot, Sirena and Joukahainen have a chat about Puppethood and what it means [#263]; Sirena sticks firmly to her belief that that which is not 'alive', or rather, that which cannot reach the offline world, is less important than that which can. Jouka points out that that path leads to suicide for Puppets, and is rather bigoted; Sirena, still identifying with the Citizens despite denouncing herself as a Puppet, insists that it is the world she knows and, while she might be mistaken, if she is everything she knows is a lie so she might as well continue as she is to the best of her ability. Jouka then seeks out Frederick to discuss the discussion he'd had with Sirena [#268], hoping to find some way of connecting to Sirena; he expresses concern for her mental state, and finds that while Frederick more or less agrees with his worldview rather than Sirena's, he doesn't have much practical insight to her mind, other than (to paraphrase): "Try not belittling her home world of 'Offline'."

The seventh Treasure is found atop the mountain of Azacea, protected both by swaths of acidic stecca fog and by a cursed creature called Pharyx; the island is inhabited by a tribe of Pandawans who have been plagued by the Pharyx for some time. Sawdust retrieves the Treasure with little difficulty once the Mobo instructed him how to best get it, and it turns out to be the trigger of the Pharyx's frightful mutation - it returns to its original form, a small mammalian predator no threat to the Mobo, and the stecca fog dissipates, leaving the island healthy again.

However, during the battle, Liska loses a wing, rendering her frail avatar entirely useless, vaguely reminiscent of her luck in Thread. Meanwhile, though, Rhea's wing seems to be recovering well [#266].

The Mobo express their gratitude by insisting on giving the group some weapons training so they'll be less helpless in the face of future dangers. (Admittedly, it's less classical gratitude and more "...are you insane?! You have no weapons?! Egads!", but it's a definite friendly intent.)

While the Citizens are in that proverbial limbo in Azacea, a man called Vector links into the network, having expected to be running a test on new embedded neural equipment [#265]; Verdana initially meets him (though doesn't bother introducing herself), informing him that from her perspective Vector had intentionally linked into the network, leading him to suspect some sort of bizarre sabatoge on behalf of his teammates.

He ultimately finds the group [#267], at first meeting Elizabeth and Paul, and later being led to the group proper. He instantly rubs Sirena wrong by confusing Azur with his slang and his references to the Pirates of Dark Water cartoon series [#275]; Azur, for his part, distrusts the man based on his mysterious origins, prompting Sirena to tell him more about the nature of his world, though she shies away from telling him it's not real, reminded of her conversation with Jouka, instead opting for a many-worlds explanation in which the stories of one world are real in another [#277].

Adrethyrian, meanwhile, has noticed a change in himself since his resurrection [#270]; he finds himself prone to unusually violent urges towards particular individuals with no basis that he can tell, and instructs Jouka to keep a very close watch on him, just in case he goes out of control.

Back on the high seas at last, the group reaps the folly of not posting regular watches, as Israel fails to spot a patch of Dark Water until Mandalore has steered them almost into it [#271]. Hakumele battles the stuff valiantly, and Sirena is grabbed briefly by the ankle (cue instant psychological trauma, forever) before being freed by Hakumele and Azur, upon which she heads downstairs to get help and promptly falls, injuring her other ankle. Her brush with Dark Water prompts nightmares, which she shares with Adrian [#272], as talking about 'normal' nightmares to Frederick strikes her as inappropriate.

Several days later, as they near the island holding the eighth Treasure, Gunther, in his normal avatar as a Jaegerkin, finds himself dumped into the sea of Mer, where he is rescued by Rhea, Frederick, and Adrethyrian [#276]. He is rapidly brought up to speed, and Frederick is pleased to find he doesn't kick up much of a fuss at all about the lack of Offline access. Meanwhile, seeking refuge from the growing heat, Sirena attempts to help Azur with his Dark Water studies, only to end up talking about philosophy, dreams, and her own dark past [#274]. She grows concerned that she might be stagnating since her death; Azur, meanwhile, almost confesses a deeper sort of caring for her, but shies away.

The next day bodes badly. Around noon, the ship is attacked by monster crayfish inhabiting the coast of the next Treasure-holding island, and the Citizens and their companions struggle their way to the shore, swimming for their lives. Unfortunately, it turns out they are very much not welcome [#278]: Delpha is home to a tribe of amazons who foster a special hatred for all outsiders. Adrethyrian's viciously defensive behaviour, curbed only by Frederick's being wounded and threatened with death, and Azur's threatening them with Dark Water doesn't help matters any. Sirena, taking a leadership role once more, is brought to speak with their leader, Queen Malu, and attempt to convince her they mean no harm [#281], but the queen seems more intent to silently employ her as a storyteller than speak to her on equal terms (though she's not openly impolite about it). Sirena does, however, find out that the Delpha amazons are making active use of the Treasure on their island: Namely to repel tides of Dark Water. Understandably, they'd rather not part with it.

Israel, having escaped the shipwreck due to her wings, had taken an arrow to the tail and wobbled off to another part of the island [#280]. She discovers Rhea some time later, both of them more or less intact, and decide to try and rescue their fellows. From above, they get a good view of the layout of the village: several concentric semicircles, with various bones, seashells, and seabird-bone wind chimes as decorations [#282]. Israel discovers that the monsters that attacked their ships are cultivated here on the island; furthermore, the rest of the crew has been set to work in the quarries, being kept in well-guarded caves at night. She doesn't spy the Compass with the crew, meaning they'll have to not only be rescued, but retrieve their gear.

Sirena, being the seeming leader of the party and a staunch pacifist, of course would have to be the one chosen to administer a violent punishment to Azur [#283] - the alternative to his execution by the Delpha. Needless to say, she at first hesitates and whimpers, but finally unleashes her anger at the unfairness of her situation, becoming savage and harsh in her treatment of him. Afterwards, allowed to tend to his wounds in private, it turns out she may need more comforting than he does (his wounds only physical, while hers have the weight of emotional scars outright) and far tighter bonds of affection form, culminating in the idea that should the sim end, she will try to stay behind with him.

In summary, it looks like the eighth Treasure is being a bit difficult, as the saying goes.



[5] plotline // dark arcadia

While Dread and Franscisco are stranded in Dakar thanks to the Arcan airport being temporarily closed for damage assessment from the Tidefire incident, World Times, one of the largest online newspapers in the world, effectively immediately sets up an interview with Francisco for their special on the incident. Unfortunately, the reporter assigned to conduct the interview comes down sick and her assistant cannot be located - prompting the central server, NewsHound, to use one of its story-seeking Puppets to conduct the interview himself [#261]. How hard could it be? Right? It makes for a very pleasant interview for Francisco, as the Puppet has basically no bias against Dark Arcadia, simply revering him as a newsworthy figure.

'Concerned' in his usual Dread-ish fashion, Dread re-appears to those trapped in Wildcard initially via one of Sethiss' dreams [#273], then makes his rounds to all his beloved recurring victims. Satisfied that they're all alive and 'well' (less so after his visit, but who's counting?), he strives for a more normal schedule from that point onwards.

When the artificial island finally accepts inbound flights again, Francisco places Dread with a woman named Rebecca Walsh [#259], whose life is entirely taken up by her botany. Despite being warned that he's sociopathic and a powerful psychic, she agrees to take him in anyway, not quite realising the veracity of either attribute in her sleep-deprived state at the time. Francisco, overestimating her coherence, simply promises to take him back the moment he returns to Dark Arcadia, but has no precise estimate on when that may be.

Not long after he leaves, she's given a practical demonstration of what 'powerful psychic' means [#260] - and, for that matter, 'sociopathic'. Despite the rather freakish demonstration, however, she stubbornly makes him breakfast the next morning, only to learn that he's a vegetarian in the process [#264], and generally having a pleasant, more or less egalitarian conversation with Dread, revealing a side of him rarely seen in logs.

Of course, once settled into his new home in Dark Arcadia, Dread re-establishes his habits (of course without that his host is in the know) - such as bringing Elizabeth as a 'visitor' [#279] into another of Sethiss' dreams. Daring to be outright creative, Elizabeth 'distracts' him with a kiss - knowing that it's not possible to hide her motivation from him, but stubborn anyway. After a humoured, open discussion about the tactic with Sethiss (much to her chagrin and tension), Dread is finally persuaded to end the dream... for Sethiss.

In other news, the damage report is in for the terrorist attack [interlude: Damage Report]; out of 20-25 dolphins, four were injured and six killed by automatic gunfire, with another (a wild dolphin) having a shattered jaw due to a propeller. Additionally, Hakumele is in a coma - though that this is because she's trapped in Wildcard is not known to the scientists. Furthermore, investigation so far suggests that the human murdered had been attacking dolphins that were trying to rescue him when he fell overboard, thus very much had it coming.



[6] plotline // demonworks

After her savage beating at the hands of Crimson, Jen had been acting strange fairly consistently; worried, Marcus emailed Jaenelle a very brief summary of events and asked if the EI could keep an eye on Jen when he's not able to (due to time zones). Jaenelle, receiving this notice, heads to Demonworks to talk to Jen [#256]. Seeing that her former owner is keeping everyone at bay and generally is on the defensive, she suspects the events hurt Jen more than she'd thought, and requests a talk; she attempts to apologize, only to be given a brush-off at first. Finally, however, Jen manages to discuss her true feelings - that she had trusted Jaesan and seen him as the person she respected and liked most, primarily because he wasn't human, and his leaving based on her 'abuse' had hurt her to the core, hence the venomous behaviour uncharacteristic even of her since then.

It seems the core of their conflict had been that Jen had expected that Jae, having lived with her for so long, understood things without Jen having to say them - whereas Jae, having been newly awakened to the whole 'personhood' thing, was as lost as Marcus when it comes to Jen's feelings. Emotionally exhausted, Jen defers the question of having a continued relationship for another day.

As part of the conditions for having limited internet access, Jennifer has been seeing a therapist; the day after her talk with Jae happens to be her weekly visit [#257]. Here she tries to make an analogy in which she is the husband whose ex-wife keeps letting herself into his house and trying to 'talk things over'.

Jen takes Andrew to the park [#269] and makes him cucumber sandwiches in order to discuss their relationship - specifically, the non-exclusivity of it, something Marcus had suggested Andrew might not intuitively understand without her bringing it up. It mirrors how, when they lived together, years before the Wildcard network separated them, Sirena would take Jen out to the park, also making her cucumber sandwiches, while trying to discuss their lives and urge her sister towards a more moral lifestyle [interlude: The Shape of Things to Come].



[7] plotline // misc

In Strasbourg, we are introduced to an old friend of Elizabeth's named Topaz, who is currently part of a Wiccan cult her parents run [interlude: Beltane]. She has an exaggerated sense of her own importance, given that she's being groomed to take over the cult one day, but otherwise is a fairly decent teenager. Her mother, on the other hand, is aiming to form her own country, some sort of 'Light Arcadia', where Wiccans can escape 'persecution' (by which she means being a minority religious group).

In Canada, the mother of Heather Bonette (Amithia) is visited by a stranger named Kerstin Jernigan, who claims to be speaking on behalf of a group of people called Project Bitscorch [#262]. Project Bitscorch, it seems, is trying to solve the issue of the Wildcard network, having been frustrated by the lack of effort by the various ISPs. The group is lead by 'Mr. Greyhound', and is still in the information-gathering stage; however, they are met with a curt dismissal by Mrs Bonette, who does not trust that they're actually intending to help her.