Welcome to my Apocalypse Challenge blog! This is my first playthrough, and I'm taking a slight storytelling approach but I am still scoring. This is why I've made a few errors such as giving Mark a pickup when he'll be going home from Uni with a Sloppy Jalopy -- that was an error in understanding the rules on my part, and I picked the Vorn for flavor's sake as Mark is from the American South. Anyway, stats: Mark is Inappropriate Loner Charismatic Evil Dog Lover and I intend him to gain Genius upon graduation. Bella is Lazy Piggy Loyal Challenges and Handicaps: Higher Education -5 How Much Time -10 Big Backpacks -5 Privileged Family -10 Loose Floorboard -5 Knights of Genetic Purity I See Dead People +5 Moral Standards +5 Trust No One +5 Fear The Reaper +15 Overqualified +5  |
| Our hero is Mark Hix. He's a bit of a megalomaniac and a legend in his own mind: evil, insane, charismatic, and a loner. He also loves his min pin, Bella, more than anything. He's traveling to the university campus to complete an intensive study program right now, though, and they won't allow dogs in the dorm. Mark is a scientist at heart, and wants to research medicine, which is why he's going to Landry A&M University to get his degree. |
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| Mark doesn't know this, yet, but his beloved pickup truck won't make the journey back to the home neighborhood with him. |
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| When Mark first arrives he greets his roommates, noticing in particular that several of the girls are kinda cute. This one in the molecule shirt is nice enough, but not immediately attractive to Mark. |
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| Asala has really interesting facial features, but she has kind of a reputation and also has commitment issues. |
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| Apparently this girl likes Mark enough to discuss him while he's still talking to his other roommate? |
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| Mark really gets along with Patty Hong who is also majoring in Science/Medicine, and they become fast friends. She keeps dating other people, though. |
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| Mark can't stop thinking about his pupper even when heading to class. "I hope my friend is taking care of her!" |
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| Sitting next to his bestie Patty in a med chem lecture. This day, when Patty had an upset stomach in class and it had to be dismissed early, is what Mark will look back on in later years as the first moment he could pinpoint that something seemed a little off. |
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| There seems to be an element of tension in the air on campus, which Mark notices shortly before midterms -- people will crowd doorways, and fights break out over the strangest things. |
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| TFW when you're just trying to do anatomy on the lawn of the science building and then someone starts a fire. Was that really necessary? Was this normal college hijinks, or something more sinister? Was someone acting erratically, or trying to destroy evidence, that day? |
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| And Mark knows he's definitely seen some strange individuals at this university -- some just seem to have persistent flu-like symptoms, but others, like this fellow, are unnaturally pale and move far too quickly, and he thinks he might've seen some other dermatological symptoms. He's heard there's a research project in the microbiology department, so he asks around. |
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| For paranoia's sake, he also starts working out and jogging. |
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| One of his biochemistry TAs lets him know who to talk to to look at the progress so far. Someone is working on a thesis on tuberculosis, it looks like, and someone else is trying to develop a vaccine for the common cold. A third, doctoral thesis appears to describe a previously undiscovered lyssavirus. It's fascinating stuff. |
