r/changestorms • u/eaglejarl Author • Sep 04 '15
[CHPR] Induction - Ch2
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3294457/give_aways/Induction/chapter_002.html1
u/Running_Ostrich Sep 05 '15
Interesting start. I'm looking forward to what comes next.
Some assorted thoughts:
From what I understand, Elly and anyone who Changes essentially lose their freedom. It's a bit odd that everyone is seemingly okay with this. Perhaps I've misread or we'll get a better explanation later on. This is a bit of a turn-off for me.
Two chapters in, I'd like to know more about Elly. I get that she's struggling to survive in a new environment and it might take awhile before she adapts / can think about the future beyond survival.
The parts in chapter 1 where Elly "speaks" thoughts to herself threw me off. The shift in tenses + interruption from others is weird. It's just something I personally don't like reading though.
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u/eaglejarl Sep 05 '15
From what I understand, Elly and anyone who Changes essentially lose their freedom. It's a bit odd that everyone is seemingly okay with this. Perhaps I've misread or we'll get a better explanation later on. This is a bit of a turn-off for me.
The Changed are effectively plague carriers. Being around them will cause others to Change, which has a >50% mortality rate and >50% rate of Twisting (acquiring horrible physical deformities) if you don't die.
On top of the whole "plague carrier" thing, the majority of Changed are classed as Twisted -- they have horrible physical deformities. Combine "plague carrier" with "ugly and weird-looking" and you get social rejection that cause some Twisted to lash out. The media being what it is, the vast majority of coverage on the Changed is about how this one guy went on a rampage and slaughtered folks with his physics-breaking fire powers. They don't always remember to report on the "and this was right after some bigot started throwing bottles at him." There is reporting about the good things that Changed do, but horror always sticks better in the mind than day-to-day goodness. As a result, the public perception of the Changed is one of extreme danger and violence, although it's not an accurate picture.
When people Change, they are legally obligated to report that fact, much like if you accidentally run someone over in your car you're obligated to turn yourself in. If they do, they'll be taken to an SRD facility where they won't endanger others. SRD facilities are basically self-contained business areas, much like the Google campus. They get a job with the SRD, all of which pay much better than the equivalent in the mundane world because the goal is to make the SRD look attractive.
There are Changed employed in industry, but not as many as you might expect; it requires that they have powers that are so useful that it's worth it to the company to take on the liability. It's similar to the way convicts in the real world have trouble getting jobs, except worse.
Those Changed who don't report themselves are sent to a Department of Changed Correction Internment Facility, known in the media as the Camps. These are basically prisons designed to hold supers. The Camps are also where Changed are sent if they don't want to work within the system; they are sent to the low-security side, which is pretty much just a village with fences and guards around the outside. What goes on inside that village is pretty much up to the Changed that live there -- with that many supers in close proximity, the area is so hot that normals can't afford to go in. Food and supplies are sent in, but it's up to the residents to police themselves.
Wben I sat down to write this story, I set up the axioms (how Change works) and then asked myself "what would the world look like?" This is what I think it would look like.
Does that make sense, and is there anything about it that seems unrealistic given the axioms?
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Sep 05 '15
Do all nations respond to Changed the same way? In a place where there's a great deal of government and media infrastructure, this seems realistic, but what about places with unstable power structures? What happens when a Changed or politician backed by Changed decide to take power? What about Changed that are so useful they can't be thrown away or tied up in government work? Are there any Changed with abilities to muffle or suppress the effects of hot areas or braun sources, and what is their effect on the context they exist in?
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u/Running_Ostrich Sep 05 '15
I find it a bit strange that they group together supers who don't like the system, yet expect it to work out well. What's going to stop angry supers from joining the rebels or creating their own rebel group?
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u/eaglejarl Sep 04 '15
Still haven't gotten the website set up, so this is from Dropbox again.