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mens rea | a sci-fi psychological crime thriller
written May 7, 2020 23:20:21 GMT
pharaoh leap, navigator, and 5 more like this
spectrum
New Member
the edgelord
SO, THIS IS A LONG SHOT bc i am not blind to the reality that i have eclectic interests . . . but y’know . . . the game would be about political mind games conducted in the same manner as inception, with a focus on espionage and spying aided by virtual reality. dream theft, implanting thoughts or cognitions to influence future actions, paranoid fears about reality (or your own fellow agents changing your perception of reality), government intrigue, betrayals, double agents, buy-offs, conspiracies and similar plots. characters can't remember at least the last ten years prior to a political catastrophe dubbed zero-day. outside of memory loss, some could have more averse neurological effects. in order to orchestrate intelligence operations, agents (either rogue or government-based) act in partnerships where one designs the virtual simulation and the other infiltrates. can include more than two agents, but operations are typically small to avoid compromising sensitive information or the infiltrator’s current status. by association, this creates opportunities to explore plots with anyone your character might be paired with. i am specifically trying to gauge if anyone would find this interesting? does it seem too complex? what strikes your fancy about this kind of storyline? constructive criticism or brainstorming? i’ve toyed with it for about five years so it’s something i really love, but then: i am a huge super-ass nerd who is captivated by tech stuff. it’d be good to know if it doesn’t have any traction before i put the effort in. ------ genres: sci-fi, political intrigue, psychological thriller, crime thriller, spy fiction, action influences: paprika, inception, ghost in the shell, black mirror, animatrix/the matrix, eden of the east, p5, code geass, the watchmen themes: setting: all major cities in the world featuring a sci-fi, heavily technological, and ai-enabled spin similar to black mirror. most threads will be event threads OR there will always be at least one active major mission thread. technology level: high. smart systems, ai systems, brain/neurological/biosystems interfaces, virtual reality, automated healthcare and government systems, internet of things systems, androids. (note: if you did play an android, they wouldn't be aware that they were an android, and there's a high likelihood that they would be a government or academic experiment. “true” ai is rare, although a hologram virtual assistant with human behavior is not for reference.) systems: event participation will allow members to unlock redacted information about the events of zero-day, the terrorist UDJAT, the origin of mens rea and the i.a.c.c., and other missing gaps that will encourage them to iterate on their character histories. if allied with a specific country, agents and terrorists can organize plots that impact the politics of that nation (e.g., steal national confidential info, influence political decisions, whistleblowing or sell out agents) as well as put them at odds with other agents. event threads will be dictated by time skips and aim for one to two-month duration. premise & member groups behind the spoiler!cut: MENS REA  ( the parting words of UDJAT, a cyber terrorist operating in israel, egypt, and iran who disappeared twelve years prior to present day. ) On June 27, ----, a nexus of blockchain networks collapsed in response to a massive system outage originating somewhere between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. This immediate impact, later termed the Zero-Day Threat ("Zero-Day") due to its media connotations, produced over three trillion USD in damages; global markets plummeted as transactions virtually ceased, private information was exposed, and major cities suffered crippling blackouts. Considered an international tragedy, Zero-Day overwrote a secondary government program codenamed the NEURAL. Serving a critical role in the health care system, the NEURAL network acted as a convenient method to store and retrieve memory or biological data. Termed the first brain-technology interface device of its kind, the NEURAL was introduced in ----. The failure of the NEURAL left nearly seventy percent of the urban global population suffering from significant impairment, neurological disorders, unusual thinking, and memory loss. Although no formal terrorist group came forward to claim the cyber-attack, conspiratory rumors threaded the darknet regarding the legitimacy of the system failure and its likely ties to incestuous government intelligence deals. In the wake of severe criticism, the U.N. called for a global response to civil unrest and an eruption of organized protests asking for accountability on data privacy, agency, and ownership, as well as compensation in response to Zero-Day. In turn, the international community convened to fund a developing cyberintelligence agency: the International Agency of Cybersecurity and Cyberintelligence (I.A.C.C.). Tasked with protecting the NEURAL network, the agency contributes to major breakthroughs in tactical espionage through innovations in virtual reality, biometric experimentation, neuroscience and oneirology. - Nicolai J. Wojciech, Under the Influence: America’s Hidden History of Psychotropic Drugs, Intelligence, and Cybersecurity member groups: THE MENS REA - black hat hackers, or anti-establishment and rogue members of the I.A.C.C. who in-game decide to break away from the agency. called to action after discovering a hidden data file that asserted: "what if the world you remember is a falsity?" have close connections with the I.A.C.C. but are suspicious of the holes in their memories and beholden to greater paranoia. cyber terrorists with very loose sense of unification. have difficulty trusting both UDJAT or the I.A.C.C.; might have more severe effects brought on by the zero-day. THE I.A.C.C. - white hat hackers, or government contracted operatives and civil servants or diplomats. ethical and generally above-board because of their sense of commitment to their respective nations, but prone to doing things in the name of science and/or because "that was the order." given the closeness of I.A.C.C. operatives, as well as their shared histories, they generally are interested in negotiation and convincing rogue agents to return to the government. highly evidence based. trade huge sums of money to buy back rogue members as well, in at least the millions or greater. loyal to their cause and their own, but nationalistic. usually leadership/superiors who scout agents. |
