The Player
Name/nickname: Carrie/Platy
Age: older than the hills
Pronouns: female
Contact: AIM, PM, email, what have you
Experience: I am all over this business.
Currently played characters: Daine, Sunshine, Jodie/Aiden, Jennifer, and a host of dream-crashers.
The Character
DW account:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
all_the_gifts
Name: Melanie
Alias: none
Age/Birthdate: approximately ten years old, birthdate unknown
Species: generally human with a fair amount of Ophiocordyceps thrown in for laughs. In her world's terms, a 'hungry.'
Canon: The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey
Canon point: post-novel
Played By: Dakota Fanning
Icon:
History:
For as long as she could remember, Melanie's life had followed a strict schedule. Every day, she was securely strapped into a wheelchair at wrists, ankles, and neck, while at least one soldier held her at gunpoint. From there, she and twenty other children were wheeled to other rooms in the underground base they shared. Once a week, they'd be fed a bowl of live, wiggling grubs, which they ate mechanically, without enjoyment or disgust. They also were given chemical showers, which Melanie didn't much like because of the way the stuff stung her eyes. But that was life, and she saw no need to question it.
Every day, they were all wheeled into a classroom, where a rotating group of teachers gave them lessons on math, history, science, art and literature. Sometimes, one of their hands would be released so they could write. Miss Justineau was Melanie's favorite teacher; she read the children stories, and seemed less wary around them than the others. Once, she even stroked Melanie's hair, which was pretty much the best thing that had ever happened to her.
The children were also taught about the menace of the hungries - creatures that were human once, but were infected by a fungus and became monsters who ate anyone foolish enough to go outside unprotected, and the subsequent Breakdown of society. They also learn of Beacon, an oasis of safety amidst the hungry-riddled countryside.
Melanie doesn't object to the guns or the wheelchair, though she doesn't particularly like Sergeant Parks, the man in charge, or Dr. Caldwell, who occasionally observes the children and takes copious notes. She is disturbed when some children fail to appear at class the day after Dr. Caldwell requested having them brought to her lab, and Melanie's worst fears are realized when Dr. Caldwell eventually calls for her.
Said lab is full of jars containing human body parts, many of which have fungus growing out of them. Melanie is strapped to a table, stripped, and has her head shaved and disinfected - all in preparation for the removal of her brain for study. Fortunately for Melanie, Miss Justineau bursts into the lab with a fire extinguisher in an attempt to rescue her favorite student, to whom she has become unwisely attached. Moments later, the entire base is overrun with a sudden wave of hungries driven by junkers, the humans who attempt to eke out a living outside the safety of Beacon.
In the chaos, only five people escape: Sergeant Parks, a young soldier named Gallagher, Dr. Caldwell, Miss Justineau, and Melanie. The only reason Miss Justineau survives is because Melanie attacks two junkers who were threatening her, tearing into them with her teeth and realizing with mingled horror and elation that she likes it, that she wants to devour them - that she is a hungry, herself.
The attempted journey back to Beacon is fraught with tension. Their vehicle breaks down, forcing them to journey the broken landscape on foot. Both Miss Justineau and Dr. Caldwell are invested in Melanie's survival, at least temporarily - Justineau because she cares for the girl, and Caldwell because Melanie is her last remaining test subject - and they clash with Parks, who thinks it would be far safer to cut the kid loose. Melanie does not want to leave Justineau, but recognizes the threat she poses, and agrees to be handcuffed, muzzled, and leashed for everyone's collective safety.
Melanie is hardly the only threat. Dr. Caldwell was wounded in the first attack and is slowly dying of sepsis, and the ravaged towns between them and Beacon are full of hungries. When not triggered by sound, scent, or sudden movements, the hungries remain still, standing wherever they happen to find themselves. It's possible to sneak past them if you're careful, and if you can mask your scent. At first, they have enough e-blocker to pull it off, but they begin to run low. Melanie compensates both by putting more distance between herself and the others, and eventually by learning to control her own appetite well enough that she no longer poses as much of a threat.
As they pass through London, they make two discoveries. One is the Rosalind Franklin (or 'Rosie'), a heavily armored mobile lab that was built shortly after the Breakdown and then lost on its first mission to study the fungal plague. The generator is broken, but there are plenty of tools and spare parts on board, and Parks is sure he can get it running. The lab is full of state of the art equipment, there's plenty of fuel, and it's solid protection from the hungries.
The other discovery is a pack of wild children that are similar to Melanie, capable of functioning to a degree that most hungries cannot. They are active even when they aren't hunting, and demonstrate intelligence and self-awareness. It's Melanie who discovers the hungry children - the Sergeant has come to trust her enough to let her off-leash to do reconnaissance (hungries have no interest in her) - and she knows that if she tells the others, Dr. Caldwell will want to make them test subjects like her. So she makes up a junker threat in the hopes of scaring everyone along.
It backfires; Gallagher ends up running away in terror, and while Parks, Justineau and Melanie try to track him down, Caldwell locks herself in the lab and sets a trap for Melanie upon her return, hoping to harvest her brain for study. She's convinced the hungry children contain the promise of a cure or a vaccine against the cordyceps, and is determined to complete her work before she dies.
Gallagher is ambushed by the hungry children and killed. In the time it takes the other three to find him, the children have moved on to Rosie. Caldwell manages to capture one in the trap she set for Melanie, but the others are swarming the vehicle. In a panic, Caldwell tears off, driving Rosie through a few neighborhoods and eventually fetching up against a large, grey wall of fungus that has engulfed a substantial portion of the city.
It takes some time, but Melanie is able to lead Justineau and Parks to Rosie's new location. There, Melanie interrogates the dying Caldwell, who has discovered that there is no cure for the fungus. The reason Melanie and children like her exist is not because they have a natural immunity, but because they are born to infected parents. The fungus, as it turns out, does not shut down all brain activity as had been thought, and sometimes enough humanity is left for hungries to carry out certain activities they would have in life - including reproduction. Children born to infected parents have a more symbiotic relationship with the fungus, allowing them to retain higher brain function.
Melanie takes the information in, and reaches the conclusion that humanity as it once existed is doomed. The hungry children are the best hope for the future, but there's no doubt in Melanie's mind that humans will wipe out the hungry children if they can. Given that, there's only one right thing to do.
She had already discovered, in her search for a way around the fungus, that the grey mass is full of mature stalks that are covered in pods full of spores, awaiting some kind of trigger to release them. And Melanie remembers lessons about certain trees whose pinecones will only open during a forest fire.
Melanie shuts Miss Justineau inside the airtight lab, where she will be safe. Then, she convinces Parks to use the roof-mounted flame-throwers to set the large mass of fungus ablaze. The heat of the fire releases spores into the air that will encircle the globe, infecting the remaining human population and leaving the hungry children to continue living. When Parks realizes what they've done, he asks Melanie to shoot him. She complies.
And she spares Miss Justineau, her favorite teacher and the woman she loves best in the world, to teach the hungry children how to be human.
Abilities:
Mentally speaking, Melanie possess a genius-level IQ, memorizes things with ease, and is generally quick on the uptake. Physically speaking, she's much faster and stronger than her size would suggest, can see well in the dark, and has a particularly keen sense of smell - all geared towards hunting. Should she allow her fungal instincts to take over, she would be able to take down an average human with brutal efficiency. She has a pretty good handle on her fungal urges, and the rift has probably given her a bit of a boost in that regard so she can better control herself.
While this isn't really a 'power' in the traditional sense, it's important to note that Melanie has the potential to be a bioweapon. Ophiocordyceps propagates in human blood and saliva, so if she bites or bleeds on any human characters, there will be a problem. In her universe, there is no cure, though there are enough highly powered characters in the game that anyone infected might have a decent chance of survival. But since Melanie's relationship with the fungus is symbiotic, there is no foreseeable cure for her.
Appearance:
Melanie is small and slight for her age, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and unnaturally white skin. She's lighter than she looks due to the symbiotic fungus that resides within her; a significant portion of her internal mass has been given over to feather-light grey fuzz. She feels cool to the touch, her body being about room temperature. She doesn't sweat, rarely salivates, and barely bleeds.
Her movements are quick when they need to be. At all other times, they are careful and deliberate. She is aware of the damage she could do, and has traveled with people who were justifiably frightened of her, so she's learned how to do what she can to put people at ease. While it won't take her long to realize that New Yorkers don't possess that inherent awareness of what a threat she might be, she'll still strive to demonstrate that she is in control of herself, physically speaking… as much to reassure herself as anyone else.
Should she lose that control - or start to - her movements will become twitchy and erratic as she fights to keep herself in check (and she will fight to keep herself in check). In the unlikely even that she should go into full feeding frenzy mode, she will be wholly focused on obtaining protein in any form. Though the fungus has a strong preference for human flesh and blood, it can feed on any kind of protein (including Melanie herself, in a pinch). Melanie does not particularly enjoy feeding on anything that isn't human, but she would much rather go for an animal than a person, and she generally has enough self-control to make that call.
Melanie has a muddled English accent that would be difficult to trace to any specific region. At times, her vocabulary takes a turn for the startlingly profane, thanks to Sergeant's influence and her own unawareness of how comparatively severe some words are.
Personality:
Melanie is a bright kid with a vivid imagination and strong moral center. What she knows of the world - or what the world used to be, before it fell apart - she learned from the stories Miss Justineau read to her in class. She likes Greek myths the best (especially Pandora), but also has a passing familiarity with fairy tales, certain Biblical passages, and assorted children's classics.
Her time outside the base and a few unpleasant revelations about her own nature have turned some of that uncomplicated morality to an intense, ruthless pragmatism. Her motives might still be childishly simple, like keeping her friends safe, or doing the right thing by a fallen soldier, but she will do whatever it takes to achieve those ends without hesitation or consideration of the nuances of the situation. She's not unfeeling, but can appear unsentimental in her efforts to do the Right Thing.
She has a detailed and comprehensive understanding of her own biology thanks to a few late-term breakthroughs by Dr. Caldwell. Upon realizing that this new universe has never been exposed to Ophiocordyceps, Melanie will be intent on making sure things stay that way regardless of her personal comfort (and quite possibly her own life). She may be the first rifty to absolutely insist on a high-security ROMAC cell.
Given the opportunity, she is capable of forming very strong attachments to individuals who treat her kindly. That said, she doesn't begrudge anyone their fear of her, and saves her true hatred for those who behave cruelly.
Writing Sample:
There is so much here.
When Melanie first arrived, the lights and the sounds and the hurry-scurry of the place had overwhelmed her, and all she could do for a few minutes was sit there, eyes wide, and let it crash over her, into her, like a wave. It had to be a dream; that was the only logical explanation for this vivid swirl of old humanity, these buildings tall and strong and shining, as if they were built just yesterday.
And the smells.
There were familiar ones: brick and mortar (though minus the rot), asphalt, tar, the acrid, oily smells of cars and trucks. Far more plentiful were the ones she couldn't identify - maybe she knew the words for them, but she'd never been able to match the words to anything tangible before. It's a rich, strange bouquet, and she wanted to sift through it more, but then that other part of her, the hungry part, seized on the only smell it cared about.
Humans. None of those people were hungries, or hybrids like her. They were all like the Sergeant, or Miss Justineau: completely human, and none of them were wearing e-blockers or anything. It had made her throat spasm and her jaw ache, and she didn't have time to properly consider the wider implications of it all. She'd only had time to run.
There is too much here. It can't be Beacon. It can't be anywhere. It's impossible.
It hadn't taken long for ROMAC to find her. No hungries here, no one who can move as fast as she can, so she'd stood out. It had almost been a relief - they knew some of what was going on, enough to tell her about the rift - but they didn't know enough. They knew nothing about hungries, about Ophiocordyceps, about any of it. It hasn't happened here.
It had taken some explaining. In retrospect, she's a little surprised by how much they believed her. They hadn't taken much convincing that she was dangerous - or that she could be - even if they had seem surprised at how willingly she gave up that information. But there was nothing to be gained by lying, and an awful lot to be lost.
It had been easy to make her peace with finishing the plague. But what excuse could she possibly make for starting it? No. Better to be locked up tight, like hope in Pandora's box.
Anything else?
Name/nickname: Carrie/Platy
Age: older than the hills
Pronouns: female
Contact: AIM, PM, email, what have you
Experience: I am all over this business.
Currently played characters: Daine, Sunshine, Jodie/Aiden, Jennifer, and a host of dream-crashers.
The Character
DW account:
all_the_giftsName: Melanie
Alias: none
Age/Birthdate: approximately ten years old, birthdate unknown
Species: generally human with a fair amount of Ophiocordyceps thrown in for laughs. In her world's terms, a 'hungry.'
Canon: The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey
Canon point: post-novel
Played By: Dakota Fanning
Icon:
History:
For as long as she could remember, Melanie's life had followed a strict schedule. Every day, she was securely strapped into a wheelchair at wrists, ankles, and neck, while at least one soldier held her at gunpoint. From there, she and twenty other children were wheeled to other rooms in the underground base they shared. Once a week, they'd be fed a bowl of live, wiggling grubs, which they ate mechanically, without enjoyment or disgust. They also were given chemical showers, which Melanie didn't much like because of the way the stuff stung her eyes. But that was life, and she saw no need to question it.
Every day, they were all wheeled into a classroom, where a rotating group of teachers gave them lessons on math, history, science, art and literature. Sometimes, one of their hands would be released so they could write. Miss Justineau was Melanie's favorite teacher; she read the children stories, and seemed less wary around them than the others. Once, she even stroked Melanie's hair, which was pretty much the best thing that had ever happened to her.
The children were also taught about the menace of the hungries - creatures that were human once, but were infected by a fungus and became monsters who ate anyone foolish enough to go outside unprotected, and the subsequent Breakdown of society. They also learn of Beacon, an oasis of safety amidst the hungry-riddled countryside.
Melanie doesn't object to the guns or the wheelchair, though she doesn't particularly like Sergeant Parks, the man in charge, or Dr. Caldwell, who occasionally observes the children and takes copious notes. She is disturbed when some children fail to appear at class the day after Dr. Caldwell requested having them brought to her lab, and Melanie's worst fears are realized when Dr. Caldwell eventually calls for her.
Said lab is full of jars containing human body parts, many of which have fungus growing out of them. Melanie is strapped to a table, stripped, and has her head shaved and disinfected - all in preparation for the removal of her brain for study. Fortunately for Melanie, Miss Justineau bursts into the lab with a fire extinguisher in an attempt to rescue her favorite student, to whom she has become unwisely attached. Moments later, the entire base is overrun with a sudden wave of hungries driven by junkers, the humans who attempt to eke out a living outside the safety of Beacon.
In the chaos, only five people escape: Sergeant Parks, a young soldier named Gallagher, Dr. Caldwell, Miss Justineau, and Melanie. The only reason Miss Justineau survives is because Melanie attacks two junkers who were threatening her, tearing into them with her teeth and realizing with mingled horror and elation that she likes it, that she wants to devour them - that she is a hungry, herself.
The attempted journey back to Beacon is fraught with tension. Their vehicle breaks down, forcing them to journey the broken landscape on foot. Both Miss Justineau and Dr. Caldwell are invested in Melanie's survival, at least temporarily - Justineau because she cares for the girl, and Caldwell because Melanie is her last remaining test subject - and they clash with Parks, who thinks it would be far safer to cut the kid loose. Melanie does not want to leave Justineau, but recognizes the threat she poses, and agrees to be handcuffed, muzzled, and leashed for everyone's collective safety.
Melanie is hardly the only threat. Dr. Caldwell was wounded in the first attack and is slowly dying of sepsis, and the ravaged towns between them and Beacon are full of hungries. When not triggered by sound, scent, or sudden movements, the hungries remain still, standing wherever they happen to find themselves. It's possible to sneak past them if you're careful, and if you can mask your scent. At first, they have enough e-blocker to pull it off, but they begin to run low. Melanie compensates both by putting more distance between herself and the others, and eventually by learning to control her own appetite well enough that she no longer poses as much of a threat.
As they pass through London, they make two discoveries. One is the Rosalind Franklin (or 'Rosie'), a heavily armored mobile lab that was built shortly after the Breakdown and then lost on its first mission to study the fungal plague. The generator is broken, but there are plenty of tools and spare parts on board, and Parks is sure he can get it running. The lab is full of state of the art equipment, there's plenty of fuel, and it's solid protection from the hungries.
The other discovery is a pack of wild children that are similar to Melanie, capable of functioning to a degree that most hungries cannot. They are active even when they aren't hunting, and demonstrate intelligence and self-awareness. It's Melanie who discovers the hungry children - the Sergeant has come to trust her enough to let her off-leash to do reconnaissance (hungries have no interest in her) - and she knows that if she tells the others, Dr. Caldwell will want to make them test subjects like her. So she makes up a junker threat in the hopes of scaring everyone along.
It backfires; Gallagher ends up running away in terror, and while Parks, Justineau and Melanie try to track him down, Caldwell locks herself in the lab and sets a trap for Melanie upon her return, hoping to harvest her brain for study. She's convinced the hungry children contain the promise of a cure or a vaccine against the cordyceps, and is determined to complete her work before she dies.
Gallagher is ambushed by the hungry children and killed. In the time it takes the other three to find him, the children have moved on to Rosie. Caldwell manages to capture one in the trap she set for Melanie, but the others are swarming the vehicle. In a panic, Caldwell tears off, driving Rosie through a few neighborhoods and eventually fetching up against a large, grey wall of fungus that has engulfed a substantial portion of the city.
It takes some time, but Melanie is able to lead Justineau and Parks to Rosie's new location. There, Melanie interrogates the dying Caldwell, who has discovered that there is no cure for the fungus. The reason Melanie and children like her exist is not because they have a natural immunity, but because they are born to infected parents. The fungus, as it turns out, does not shut down all brain activity as had been thought, and sometimes enough humanity is left for hungries to carry out certain activities they would have in life - including reproduction. Children born to infected parents have a more symbiotic relationship with the fungus, allowing them to retain higher brain function.
Melanie takes the information in, and reaches the conclusion that humanity as it once existed is doomed. The hungry children are the best hope for the future, but there's no doubt in Melanie's mind that humans will wipe out the hungry children if they can. Given that, there's only one right thing to do.
She had already discovered, in her search for a way around the fungus, that the grey mass is full of mature stalks that are covered in pods full of spores, awaiting some kind of trigger to release them. And Melanie remembers lessons about certain trees whose pinecones will only open during a forest fire.
Melanie shuts Miss Justineau inside the airtight lab, where she will be safe. Then, she convinces Parks to use the roof-mounted flame-throwers to set the large mass of fungus ablaze. The heat of the fire releases spores into the air that will encircle the globe, infecting the remaining human population and leaving the hungry children to continue living. When Parks realizes what they've done, he asks Melanie to shoot him. She complies.
And she spares Miss Justineau, her favorite teacher and the woman she loves best in the world, to teach the hungry children how to be human.
Abilities:
Mentally speaking, Melanie possess a genius-level IQ, memorizes things with ease, and is generally quick on the uptake. Physically speaking, she's much faster and stronger than her size would suggest, can see well in the dark, and has a particularly keen sense of smell - all geared towards hunting. Should she allow her fungal instincts to take over, she would be able to take down an average human with brutal efficiency. She has a pretty good handle on her fungal urges, and the rift has probably given her a bit of a boost in that regard so she can better control herself.
While this isn't really a 'power' in the traditional sense, it's important to note that Melanie has the potential to be a bioweapon. Ophiocordyceps propagates in human blood and saliva, so if she bites or bleeds on any human characters, there will be a problem. In her universe, there is no cure, though there are enough highly powered characters in the game that anyone infected might have a decent chance of survival. But since Melanie's relationship with the fungus is symbiotic, there is no foreseeable cure for her.
Appearance:
Melanie is small and slight for her age, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and unnaturally white skin. She's lighter than she looks due to the symbiotic fungus that resides within her; a significant portion of her internal mass has been given over to feather-light grey fuzz. She feels cool to the touch, her body being about room temperature. She doesn't sweat, rarely salivates, and barely bleeds.
Her movements are quick when they need to be. At all other times, they are careful and deliberate. She is aware of the damage she could do, and has traveled with people who were justifiably frightened of her, so she's learned how to do what she can to put people at ease. While it won't take her long to realize that New Yorkers don't possess that inherent awareness of what a threat she might be, she'll still strive to demonstrate that she is in control of herself, physically speaking… as much to reassure herself as anyone else.
Should she lose that control - or start to - her movements will become twitchy and erratic as she fights to keep herself in check (and she will fight to keep herself in check). In the unlikely even that she should go into full feeding frenzy mode, she will be wholly focused on obtaining protein in any form. Though the fungus has a strong preference for human flesh and blood, it can feed on any kind of protein (including Melanie herself, in a pinch). Melanie does not particularly enjoy feeding on anything that isn't human, but she would much rather go for an animal than a person, and she generally has enough self-control to make that call.
Melanie has a muddled English accent that would be difficult to trace to any specific region. At times, her vocabulary takes a turn for the startlingly profane, thanks to Sergeant's influence and her own unawareness of how comparatively severe some words are.
Personality:
Melanie is a bright kid with a vivid imagination and strong moral center. What she knows of the world - or what the world used to be, before it fell apart - she learned from the stories Miss Justineau read to her in class. She likes Greek myths the best (especially Pandora), but also has a passing familiarity with fairy tales, certain Biblical passages, and assorted children's classics.
Her time outside the base and a few unpleasant revelations about her own nature have turned some of that uncomplicated morality to an intense, ruthless pragmatism. Her motives might still be childishly simple, like keeping her friends safe, or doing the right thing by a fallen soldier, but she will do whatever it takes to achieve those ends without hesitation or consideration of the nuances of the situation. She's not unfeeling, but can appear unsentimental in her efforts to do the Right Thing.
She has a detailed and comprehensive understanding of her own biology thanks to a few late-term breakthroughs by Dr. Caldwell. Upon realizing that this new universe has never been exposed to Ophiocordyceps, Melanie will be intent on making sure things stay that way regardless of her personal comfort (and quite possibly her own life). She may be the first rifty to absolutely insist on a high-security ROMAC cell.
Given the opportunity, she is capable of forming very strong attachments to individuals who treat her kindly. That said, she doesn't begrudge anyone their fear of her, and saves her true hatred for those who behave cruelly.
Writing Sample:
There is so much here.
When Melanie first arrived, the lights and the sounds and the hurry-scurry of the place had overwhelmed her, and all she could do for a few minutes was sit there, eyes wide, and let it crash over her, into her, like a wave. It had to be a dream; that was the only logical explanation for this vivid swirl of old humanity, these buildings tall and strong and shining, as if they were built just yesterday.
And the smells.
There were familiar ones: brick and mortar (though minus the rot), asphalt, tar, the acrid, oily smells of cars and trucks. Far more plentiful were the ones she couldn't identify - maybe she knew the words for them, but she'd never been able to match the words to anything tangible before. It's a rich, strange bouquet, and she wanted to sift through it more, but then that other part of her, the hungry part, seized on the only smell it cared about.
Humans. None of those people were hungries, or hybrids like her. They were all like the Sergeant, or Miss Justineau: completely human, and none of them were wearing e-blockers or anything. It had made her throat spasm and her jaw ache, and she didn't have time to properly consider the wider implications of it all. She'd only had time to run.
There is too much here. It can't be Beacon. It can't be anywhere. It's impossible.
It hadn't taken long for ROMAC to find her. No hungries here, no one who can move as fast as she can, so she'd stood out. It had almost been a relief - they knew some of what was going on, enough to tell her about the rift - but they didn't know enough. They knew nothing about hungries, about Ophiocordyceps, about any of it. It hasn't happened here.
It had taken some explaining. In retrospect, she's a little surprised by how much they believed her. They hadn't taken much convincing that she was dangerous - or that she could be - even if they had seem surprised at how willingly she gave up that information. But there was nothing to be gained by lying, and an awful lot to be lost.
It had been easy to make her peace with finishing the plague. But what excuse could she possibly make for starting it? No. Better to be locked up tight, like hope in Pandora's box.
Anything else?
