STEP ONE (REVISED)
Leon visits an associate, Variel, a biological adaption specialist, about his upgrades. Leon realises his capacity for diving deeper and the urge to abandon The Real will be greater. They talk of his new memory, The Abstract and The Jade Rhino cult. Leon must return to Nort to help him test the capacity of his upgrades and prevent him from abandoning The Real.
Sequence One
Leon arrives at Variel’s shopfront to find an Abstract Junkie in the alley outside. Leon sees him with both compassion and concern. He knows the junkie’s struggle and if things do not work out for him, it is likely his own fate. Leon makes his way though Variel’s ‘shopfront’ - a collection of antique, iconinc rarities from the eighties onwards to his real, almost legal business - biological enhancements. He must talk to Variel, and find out about his implants and the new challenges he will likely face in accessing The Abstract.
CDQ
Will Leon discover the nature of his new upgrade and how it will affect his deep diving and addiction?
Sequence Two
Leon is greeted like a returning son and Leon feels the guilt of leaving so quickly last time. Variel presses Leon about the circumstances of his upgrades but Leon remains quiet. He trusts Variel, but he is not a member of the team. Variel is fascinated by Leon’s new memory. He offers to enhance the tendrils of his enhanced memory that seek out other memories to connect to. Leon hesitates, but agrees. He needs to find his memories. Variel’s initial test show little, apart from a fascinating enhancing of his central and peripheral nervous system. Variel insists on invasive analysis methods. Leon is reluctant, but he must agree to find out more.
Sequence Three
Variel extracts flesh samples from his nervous system and discovers he has an enhanced capacity to absorb more of The Abstract and will likely difficulty in maintaining a tether to The Real. Leon and Varel talk of the nature of The Abstract, creation, faith and Leon’s old diving partners, all of whom, apart from Nort, are dead. Leon realises that without Nort to help him establish a stronger tether, he will likely succumb to temptation and abandon The Real.
CDQ Answer
Yes, Leon finds out more about his upgrades, but realises with his increased capacity to dive will also mean he will find it harder to tether to The Real. He realises he must find Nort to help him.
Character Arc
Leon moves from reminiscent of his time with Variel, to compassionate for the junkie in the alleyway — to — hesitant about seeking out Nort, but resolved in it is his only way forward.
Moral Dilemma
He junkie reminds him of his own addiction and weakness, and likely his own end, but he knows he has to pursue The Abstract, in order to repay the team for his past mistakes.
Leon is unnerved by the Church of the Rhino, with its fringe philosophies of salvation though being consumed by the Jade Rhino, but he knows seeking Nort there is his only way to develop a stronger tether to The Real.
He is torn between doing more invasive testing and finding out more about his upgrades.
STEP FOUR
Leon arrives late, triggering the team’s memory of his previous failure. Leon manages to analyse the skin’s personality, but is distracted by his recent Abstract experience. He leaves Princess and the skin while Leon infiltrates the Skin’s apartment with Jemmy to absorb his living context. Leon insists Jemmy retrieve the Skin’s Abstract footprint herself. He doesn’t trust himself to dive without Nort, which raises her suspicions of his addiction. Leon must return to Nort to decipher the Skln’s Abstract footprint and find a way to regain control of himself in The Abstract.
Leon Sequence One
Leon is contacted by a worried Jem who is unable to contact Suunto. Leon tries to explain the changing terms of the job as he rushes though the city streets, while setting up his AI to enhance his capacity to analyse the ‘skin’s’ personality. Leon scrambles to organise Princess, Jem and Fix to run a scam on the skin, but all assume he has let them down again. He is late and needs to reach the skin before he leaves.
CDQ -
Will Leon make the interview on time and get the information he needs from the skin, and convince everyone he has not messed up again?
‘skin’ - the person Leon will pretend to be for the job
‘Abstract Imprint’ - like an internet search history, but for The Abstract.
Leon Sequence Two
Leon arrives as the skin is leaving. The skin refuses his short term work offers. Leon, Jem and Fix consult in his mind pocket in an attempt to arrange a solution, but have none. Jem and Fix squarely blame Leon’s tardiness. Leon’s AI is struggling and his observation skills are rusty. He needs to access more intimate information, by getting access to the Skin’s apartment and analysing his Abstract Imprint.
Leon Sequence Three
Leon and Jem break into the skin’s apartment as Princess distracts him. Leon insists Jem copy the skin’s Abstract Imprint, which raises her suspicions about his addiction. Leon manages to absorb some of the skin’s living context in The Real and calls the skin to make a new offer, which he accepts. Princess tells them to get out before he can finish and they narrowly escape. Leon knows he does not know enough of the skin to impersonate him and must return to Nort and use The Abstract to develop the skin.
Leon CDQ Answer
Yes. Leon makes his meeting, but being late has made it difficult to ascertain the required information. The team still have doubts about his ability to prioritise The Real over The Abstract.
Character Arc
Leon moves from panicked and stressed — to — slightly concerned over having to go back to The Abstract so soon, but pleased he has a way to quickly develop the skin.
Moral Dilemma
Leon has to decide between checking on Suunto and defending himself against accusations of failing the team and making the meeting with the skin.
Ms Penumbra: Sequence One
Ms. Penumbra returns to The Real. Rats scurry from her. Her past and present merge in pieces, but she has enough sense to realise she is exposed. She uses a recent medical procedure as an excuse. Hamelin says the rats detect more than dementia - a parasite is ‘eating’ her mind. Internally, she is enraged by her trust in him, more than his betrayal. She leaves Suunto, knowing she has given up more than she wanted. Feeling compromised, she must to Variel, despite knowing she is pushing her already faltering mind by doing so.
Ms. Penumbra CDQ
Can Ms. Penumbra find out who has poisoned her mind from Variel?
Ms. Penumbra: Sequence Two.
Ms. Penumbra is exhausted and angry. She finds Variel in his church and they muse over God and forgiveness, before she reveals she knows he was unintentionally responsible for his wife’s death, and blames him for the parasite in her mind. He says he was silenced, he tried to help her and he suspects it was the Catholics. She is surprised. She thought it was an ImpCorp Executive. She kills Variel and isolates him from The Abstract. Ms. Penumbra must now counter a Catholic plot, while executing her plan to get Leon into ImpCorp.
Ms. Penumbra CDQ
No. But she has established Variel’s betrayal and knows she has a new enemy looking to destroy her.
Character Arc
Ms. Penumbra moves from the bliss of her memory, to feeling incredibly compromised — to — surprised, concerned and intrigued by the Catholic plot against her.
Moral Dilemma
Telling Suunto the truth now that her dementia is exposed or trying to deflect and deny in order to conceal her weakness. She feels the remnants of her faith niggle at her when she making the decision to kill Variel.
STEP THREE
Leon deep dives with Nort in his apartment. They ruminate on his new capacity and what it reveals about the nature of The Abstract and Leon struggles to remain tethered to The Real. Leon and Nort dive into The Abstract and find what remains of one of Nort’s devotees. His memories have been devoured by The Jade Rhino: Leon feels his salvation. Leon is confused by The Jade Rhino. His rational mind fears it, but his addiction pulls him to the oblivion it offers. He knows he must find a way to remain tethered to The Real, resist the pull and focus on absorbing the Mark.
Sequence One
Suunto leaves without talking and Leon finds Nort in his church conducting a service. Afterwards, they talk of dead diving partners, Leon’s upgrade, and his fear of The Jade Rhino. They saw her the last time they entered The Abstract together. Leon fears succumbing to her and losing himself to The Abstract without first recovering his memories. Nort wants his acolytes involved but Leon refuses. He has only a few days before he has to do this alone. He must find a way to maintain his tether to The Real with Nort’s assistance and avoid The Jade Rhino.
CDQ
Will Leon be able to maintain a tether to the Real whilst avoiding The Jade Rhino?
Ms. Penumbra: Sequence One
Ms. Penubra scans Variel’s ‘computer’ and chastises herself. She had no idea Leon was there and thought Suunto’s intrustion was the Executive coming for her. Variel returns and reveals: the upgrade he performed on Leon integrated beautifully; he has repressed the tendrils of Leon’s new Abstract stimulated memory; and Ms. Penumbra’s dementia is accelerating. She purges more memory, but cherishes those of Emmit, her dead lover. Variel offers an illegal biological adaption to enhance her capacity, but shorten her life. She agrees without reservation. Everything depends on getting Leon into the ImpCorp. And for that, she needs Suunto on side.
Sequence Two
Leon and Nort bind themselves through blood and contemplates the nature of The Abstract as they prepare. They dive. Leon is overwhelmed by his new capacity and struggles to maintain a connection to The Real. He senses endless creation and he yearns for it. Nort manages to barely hold on and Leon knows he must find a way to hold on to The Real and resist the pull of giving himself to oblivion.
Ms Penumbra: Sequence Two
Ms. Penumbra arrives at Suunto’s apartment with a bottle of Yamazaki whisky. Suunto is resistant to her until she reveals the job they blame Leon for destroying was actually her. She could not allow them to be caught as she needed them for this job. It is getting late, but she knows she needs Suunto to be on side and it appears to be working. She hears the sound of laughter and her mind follows it. She is caught in a memory of her past - Emmit is there, she is young and they are in a bar, talking of the future.
Sequence Three
Leon’s link is tenuous. He reaches deeper, and senses an old diving partner, Bayer, who recently detached. She is barely recognisable: her memories mostly devoured, a discarded remnant of what she was, yet Leon feels her salvation, and desires it. Bayer’s feels rapture and tells them The Jade Rhino is returns. Leon hesitates. The Jade Rhino calls to him. Nort drags him back to The Real to find a panicked acolyte. Leon is late for his meeting with the ‘Skin’ and must find a way to get the job back on track.
CDQ Answer
Yes, however, his tether is fragile and he has to rely on Nort. He does avoid The Jade Rhino, but she senses him.
Character Arc
Leon moves from concerned about Suunto, and overwhelmed by the timeline — to — fascinated and horrified by Bayer and fearful of The Jade Rhino and worried he has repeated his mistake that ruined his last job.
Moral Dilemma
Leon losing himself to The Abstract and remaining connected to The Real.
His moments of longing having salvation, like Bayer, and returning you The Real to repay his debt to the team.
Overcoming his fear of The Jade Rhino to test his capacity for The Team.
Resisting the urge to succumb to the oblivion of The Abstract.
- Choice: stay in The Abstract, at the source, with his mother and her memories of him? Return to free her and return her to The Real? His memories are in ImpCorp and without memories, will The Abstract be the same? He cannot live in his mother’s memories of him. They are not his own, but then again, are our memories just versions of stories that we were part of? Is it between staying and living someone else’s memories of him, and returning to find his own? He hopes that finding his own will make his life make sense. Who he is and how he became who he is. He will be able to return. The Jade Rhino can make it through, but it is a one way trip. Her memories lock her in here. Leon, however, does not have any to hold him and should be able to return, if he moves quickly. Will he return to free his mother and return to The Real? Or is the bond to Suunto so much that he is willing to risk it all to repay them? - that does not seem a strong enough reason to return, and is off theme.
The founders stabilise the ImpVerse. They hold it in place with their consciousness. She is one of the founders, betrayed by ImpCorp in the early days. They were locked in to the machine, their minds used to stabilise The ImpVerse. They are the conduit between the worlds. They were angry at first, but time does not exist for them. They can see that they exist as no others do and that their sacrifice, although it was not their decision, was for the betterment of humanity. They exist here, nine of them now, remaining to stabilise the souls of humanity. The rest, have gone already. They are merged with The Abstract.
Leon was hooked up to her when the betrayed them. When she realised what was happening, she tried to push him from the remote connection, but Leon held on so tightly. It sucked your childhood from you. You exist here too, as a child, but that does not explain why you cannot remember. You must have been six, maybe eight at the time, I’m… not sure… numbers and time do not mean much anymore. It has been a long time since I thought in linear ways. Time does not exist here. It is something else. It represents what we really are - a mix of past, present and future in our thoughts, all existing in a body that insists on living a linear existence. The binary nature of our existence on Earth is really quite fascinating, and cruel as well. She does not know why he does not have any other memories after though. It is quite fascinating from a scientific point of view. Memories are just echoes of the past that form the basis of stories we tell ourselves to justify our lives. Why you have not imprint of those moments, she does not know. Biologically, you should not have changed.
He is unsettling the nature of the ImpVerse by being here, which is fine, as he is now one of ten. His lack of memory has most definitely helped to counter his influence on the ImpVerse, but he must come to a balance if he is to exist here. He must come to a resolution to be here, and accept his life lost, his debts paid, his emotions in check. Any taint in him will permeate through The Abstract, to the ImpVerse. The stronger the taint, the more the ImpVerse will be tainted. Even though they did not ask for this responsibility, it is something they must support. There are billions of them now, and they must nurture them.
# TP2 - S5 - Sequences
Leon is ripped from a dream about his mother and wakes to see Suunto pulling a needle from a port in his arm. He is disorientated, and the team are arguing, assuming he has lost his way, just like last time. Jemmy scans his body and reveals an enhanced neural pathway, limbic system and brain stem. Suunto is furious and insulted by Ms. Penumbra’s overreach of authority. Leon knows he should feel violated and angry, but Suunto’s stimulants have temporarily tampered his emotional capacity. He is more curious as to what the enhancements could do for his deep diving. He now understands the resources and reach of Ms. Penumbra. Despite this, he insists the job proceed. It is his only way to access The Abstract from within ImpCorp.
Sequence One
Leon wakes with Suunto pulling a needle from a new port, and stimulants flooding his system. The team think he has been deep diving again. He feels as though he has, although he is groggy. There is a new port in his arm. He has no recollection of getting one. Princess has her knife in her hand, muttering about collecting on her deal. Jemmy abuses Leon, assuming he has been deep diving. Leon realises how tenuous their trust of him is and is concerned he has no recollection of the port appearing in his arm. He must find out what has happened.
CDQ -
Will Leon be able to figure out what has happened to him?
Sequence Two
Suunto tries to calm everyone, although she appears to be angry. Hamelin suggests a ‘rat scan’, in his dry humour, and places rats on Leon’s port. He converses with them as rats roam Leon’s body, noting that Leon has a new biological alloy woven into his peripheral and central nervous system. Leon realises Ms. Penumbra has taken his lack of objection to her proposal of an upgrade as consent and feels a drug dampened sense of violation. He can see Suunto is livid, but trying to keep everyone calm. Leon realises the limitless potential for his deep diving and also dreads the possibility. How will he stop himself from diving too far?
Sequence Three
Jemmy is angry and insists she is not working with Leon again. His problem will be worse now. Princess is eager for him to dive, now. Suunto insists Ms. Penumbra is too dangerous. Despite feeling a numb sense of violation due to the stimulants, Leon asserts that if he is the victim and is dealing with it, so should they. Suunto shares the job details and the team discusses the impossibility, the risks Leon will take getting access and ideas on how to curb Ms. Penumbra’s influence. The payment buys the team’s compliance, but Leon knows that money does not buy trust. Suunto, although reluctant, agrees to seek more details from Ms. Penumbra. As the drugs retreat, Leon feels a deeper sense of disgust. He knows the upgrade was inevitable. His ‘choice’ was a self-delusion.
CDQ Answer
Yes, but they are concerned about Ms. Penumbra’s audacity.
Character Arc
Leon moves from slightly groggy and confused — to — disgust at his willingness to upgrade himself to feed his deep diving addiction.
Moral Dilemma
Leon needs to hide his desires to dive while convincing the team that it is not as big a problem as it is.
Ms. Penumbra Sequence One
Ms. Penumbra CDQ
Ms. Penumbra: Sequence Two.
Ms. Penumbra CDQ
Character Arc
Moral Dilemma
Telling Suunto the truth now that her dementia is exposed or trying to deflect and deny in order to conceal her weakness. She feels the remnants of her faith niggle at her when she making the decision to kill Variel.
Created:
Tags: #template #sequence
Links: Chasing The Rhino Masterlist
Leon and Suunto meet Ms. Penumbra, who proposes the team infiltrate ImpCorp and Leon agree to biological upgrades. Suunto agrees to nothing. Suunto tells Leon to seek the team’s forgiveness. Jemmy and Fix are hesitant and forges a gruesome agreement with Princess.
New Step Two Sequence Four:
Leon is enticed by Nort to enter the Church of the Rhino and they talk of Nort’s new perspective of The Jade Rhino as angel rather than devil. Leon is unnerved by the inconography and the admiration of the junkies who refer to him as Jade’s Chosen, after Nort and Leon’s close encounter with The Jade Rhino during their last dive together. Suunto calls, and warns Leon not to dive with Nort. The team will not be impressed if he does., so he backs out, knowing he needs to regain their trust.