Collabrative story chatter thread.

[muttSRT]

I edited my earlier post, but I believe all the characters so far now have names:

Hiro- Harley rider
Ella Montgomery- the girl
Gabriel- survivor in the city

 

[whynotvap]

Okay done for now. I hope I haven't strayed too far from Mutt's concept with it. I didn't think he'd be one to overlook the obvious changes, or to let them go unchallenged... and everyone thought I could only write smut! Not only, I'm just better at the lighter stuff. I'll probably go back and clean up/fluff the descriptions but I didn't want to hold anyone else back from writing.

 

[muttSRT]

you did fine...my only "concept" was to try and keep it wide open for the next person. you did a great job.

Thats why I never said how Gabriel knew Ella. There were plenty of ways they could know each other and Mac did a fine job.


I think we are doing the hardest part now, which is coming up with the characters. Once all of them are created, it should be easy to move the story along.

 

[muttSRT]

I hope i didnt just screw up the story

 

[CES]

I'm liking the back story. The theme is similar to what i was thinking.

 

[technovapir]

OK, after some late night inspiration I added to the present day story, attempting to tie in Mutt's earlier story line (hopefully).
I'm not a proud writer, so feel free to delete/edit/alter anything that screws up the story. I decided to work out some dialog since that is very challenging for me, and give me a reason to talk to myself outloud at the computer without feeling like a nut...

 

[CES]

Nicely done. Things are moving right along

 

[muttSRT]

Yes, they are moving along nicely...We still need to try and figure out what a "battery operated anti-personnel de-locater" is, but other than that, I think the characters are coming together pretty well.

 

[whynotvap]

Well, I spent a few hours thinking on that last night but don't feel compelled to accept it based on that.
Anti-personnel de-locater: anti-personnel is self explanitory but what would de-locater mean? Location would suggest a fixed point of reference for an item or group of items: The books are in the library. Books are the items and the location would be inside the library. To de-locate them, you would have to remove them from the fixed collection point and return them to a point of reference occurring prior to their current state.

I was thinking that this could could be 'engineer-ese' for returning a person back into their elemental compounds/elements...
I was struggling with the genetic research that could turn her eyes green, give her psionic powers, and somehow be related to the shamblers but I couldn't anything that covers all the bases yet 'scientifically'... until now. HA! I think I found a potential link, it's a stretch but is 'possible' in a sci-fi/horror kind of way.
Dermatologic Manifestations of Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome: eMedicine Dermatology
Skip all the stuff that isn't in basic english and you find out it's a type of albinism with one type being almost common (1 in 2000) in Puerto Rico (no travel restrictions with the U.S.A.), where there is common organ failure and near hemophilia associated with it! Hmmm, what would be good things to prevent happening that could relate? Good thing she (and Gabriel) were both researching albinism prior to their current pursuits. Oh, I guess I need to explain how albinism could be linked with zombies too . Well, Prion based diseases like 'mad cow disease' are a type of folded protein, melatonin is an amino acid (by-product of proteins) that not only controls your skin tone but your eye color as well... How do you make blue eyes green? Add pigment....





He shoots, he scooooorrrreess!!!!!!
Whew! I told you we can find a way to connect just about anything.

 

[muttSRT]

I am lost...are you talking about the ella back story?

 

[whynotvap]

With the Albinism/zombie theory? Yes. I'm thinking that since she lost her gov't funding and was looking for some test subjects, she could fall back on her previous work in Albinism treatment. It's actually a pretty common study for geneticist since it's a recessive trait. Puerto Rico seems to work well for a ground zero due to both the Albinism and the non-restricted travel with the U.S. With the test rats having their internal organs turning into goo and that type of Albinism also suffering from organ failure, it seemed like a perfect mesh for her to develop something with regenerative properties, protein based delivery (since we can't exactly create the zombies one at a time in a lab), nearly instant blood clotting, and that could also affect pigmentation. Given to someone with that specific type of Albinism= possible cure. Give to the other 99% of the population... abnormal regeneration, lack of bleeding, altered pigmentation... I mentioned the mad-cow prions because they're almost impossible to destroy. They don't 'die' when the host dies, the meat is still infected. Now imagine that it had regenerative abilities for the support system but the brain continued to degrade. Zombie cow! Lactoferrin can be found in saliva and is both a protein and part of the immune system so it's possible for it to be a carrier of the infection.

It's a warped, twisted mind I've been gifted with. I can make connective leaps that are occasionally useful in problem solving.

 

[muttSRT]

sweet...sounds like you got the next part

the whole reason for the regeneration, at least one of the avenues i was trying to open, is the possibility for Mac to have his beloved tentacles down the road. It's cool that you did actual research and are bringing a real world feel to it...i was just reaching, lol

 

[whynotvap]

There has to be some sort of regeneration to get the re-animation Part of the research (Prions) was done by Jonathan Maberry for his z-book Patient Zero (a good read) with the pigmentation research done by me. Lactoferrin i(in saliva) nteracts with dna and even if I hadn't heard of it before should be a staple for almost every viral zombie story but I don't think 'I' was the first to discover it.

Give me a little while to ponder how to work everything up and how Gabriel got access to it (or if the bottle is something else like a counter-agent to shamblers or to her condition) and if it's the reason there aren't any shamblers around his hide-out. So many possibilities, so little sleep! I'll call dibs on the flashback to Puerto Rico up to the point where one of her success stories escapes containment and makes a run for the cont. U.S. but everyone else should feel free to write up anything else like how he obtained it or if he's been testing it on the 'locals' and to what effect. The P.R. section is going to be a big enough chunk for now!

 

[CES]

you don't have to go so far as albinism- you can stick with regeneration, and keep all the other side effects. Different levels of pigment do change eye color...In early, early nervous system brain development (and yes this is way oversimplified- Ill find a diagram for you in a bit) brain cells and pigment producing cells come from the same original pool of progenitor cells. Anything that has the potential to cause regeneration/stem cell induction has the possibility of having effects on the brain, central nervous system AND pigmentation.

or another figure showing the same thing- but with some text http://dev.biologists.org/content/131/19/4637/F7.expansion.html

 

[Mac]

maybe...more likely just throwing another monkey wrench into the works...

I do see an issue with continuity but can easily correct it by editing out the part where Hiro retrieves keys from the biker. (Which I will do now.) Keys in bike = win!

Nice writing!

 

[Mac]

It's locked from me editing. Whynot can edit it still. Currently reads:

He checked around back and sure enough there was a big badass harley parked there. Nervously he ran back into the store and fished the keys out of the bikers pocket. Dashing around the building he heard that awful wail again but saw no source for it. He figured it must have been his lucky day because the bike's tank was full, it started right up and he found a glock 40 with 6 spare clips in the saddle bag. As he cranked the bike up and sped away, he looked back and saw what appeared to be a woman wearing a medical gown standing on the rooftop of the store laughing at him....

Should read:

Nervously he ran around the building. He heard that awful wail again, but saw no source for it. Fortunately, there was a big badass harley parked there. He figured it must have been his lucky day because the bike's tank was full, it started right up and he found a glock 40 with 6 spare clips in the saddle bag. As he cranked the bike up and sped away, he looked back and saw what appeared to be a woman wearing a medical gown standing on the rooftop of the store laughing at him....

Can you fix it for me Whynot?

 

[Mac]

I gotta say guys: Other then the small edit on my original post this is just perfect so far. Every post from each autor is loaded with win! I was only half serious when I posted this initially but now I cannot wait to see what happens next with each post!

Great work everybody!

 

[CES]

Sorry about that- i guess my brain blanked on fishing the keys from the dead biker zombies pocket- and I tried so hard to maintain continuity.

 

[Mac]

Sorry about that- i guess my brain blanked on fishing the keys from the dead biker zombies pocket- and I tried so hard to maintain continuity.

It was worth the editing. Bike being hers was a great idea! No apology needed! I am loving this!

 

[Mac]

Time for a villain to enter. Next post is all me baby, yeah.