Post-Traumatic Tech Disorder

Inevitably, you’ll encounter one of those moments where it feels like Gravity reaches up and tugs at your “sleepy, collapse into a coma” strings.  Pulling you down into that cozy chair or inviting floor as your energy and vigor slip, slip away.  And this event could occur during even the most mundane of activities… meetings, the Super Bowl, blind dates, waiting in line at Disney.

But there are ways to counter the Sandman’s curse…

1. Engage your fight-or-flight instincts. It’s a touch more difficult to drift off when your body’s priming for an epic battle… or hasty retreat.  I know what you’re thinking, “How do I pick the right target to fight?  Someone small… preferably genetically engineered with Nerf hands.”  Well, that’s not the (only) way to enable this pick-me-up… you could also tap into the power of visualization.  Picture yourself in combat (or engaged in a combat-like sport… foosball doesn’t count) or facing your greatest fear (again, foosball doesn’t count).  Just the act of mentally “putting yourself in harm’s way” can stimulate enough adrenaline to help get you through the moment.  Bonus: running around the room shouting, “The zombie spiders are crawling on my nards!” will act as a good deed in keeping others awake during a boring status meeting.
2. Move it or snooze it. This one’s easy.  Get up and get moving.  Do some push-ups  or jumping jacks or shadow boxing or dance moves from the 80s.  Do something that gets that heart pumping blood quickly through the body.  This does two things for you… makes you more attractive to vampires and pushes oxygenated blood out to the body to give you that alert O2 bar buzz.  Well, not quite (the scenery’s often better at the O2 bars), but it does get the heart pushing out energy.
3. Cut your losses. Just give in to the forces of the universe commanding you to sleep.  Down a few shots of caffeine and then take a nap before your heart explodes.  Give this “nap” twenty minutes to help get the full effects of the caffeine.  It’ll almost feel like a full night’s sleep… just don’t forget to get real sleep later because it’s just illusionary sleep.  This one might be tricky to implement in some places, but if the boss asks why you’ve brought a folding cot to the meeting, tell him there’s room to share.
4. Shatter some senses. You can stimulate the body to stimulate the mind, so I guess this would be the next best thing to thinning out the blood circulating in your caffeine system.  Scents like peppermint and citrus can do the trick, but I hear smoke and fire can also get the job done (see “engage your fight-or-flight instincts” above).  Besides the nasally senses, you can also get use out of that sense of touch.  Apply some pressure (or thumb tacks point-side-up) to the tips of your fingers and drive that touch center in the brain crazy, “OMGWTFKFC!  Something’s wrong with the hands!  Do something, brain… we need those for… uhh… social networking.”

Well, you had to expect we’d still be working on characters with an ensemble cast story.  So, let’s get to the next one…

Name: Geoffery Black (writing pseudonym) aka too old to care who he really was 
Gender: Male
Marital Status: single and not looking

Physical Appearance: Tall, athletic build of an ultimate fighting champion in his prime.  Fairly goth in appearance now as far as clothes go… dark with a hint of "don’t mess with me or I’ll rain hail and lightning bolts of misery down on your sunny day".  These are mostly to keep people at a distance.

Core Personality Traits: Recluse by choice.  He spent so many years mindlessly hurting others that he retreated from it all.  He appears all doom-and-gloom, but he’s found peace with himself over the years and tried to pass that lesson along to a younger generation with a series of popular young adult novels.

Flaws:  After being released from his years of slavery at the hands of a mystical fight manager, he vowed never to fight again, so he’s become a devout pacifist.

Advantages: His body was mystically preserved at the prime of his physical capabilities and will maintain those physical attributes until the end of days.  Since his body will always revert to that state, he heals quickly from injury and is practically immortal.

Background: The youngest of five boys, "Black" (short for "black-n-blue") found himself entrenched in a world of rough-housing and rassling at an early age.  At a serious disadvantage, he convinced his dad to let him study martial arts, and he took to it as a natural.  But even though he was gifted, he worked at it and eventually grew up to compete in international tournaments.

As his career began to flourish, a world-renowned fight manager approached him and signed him under his collection of elite fighters from around the world.  If there was championship for any kind of fighting–boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, ultimate fighting–this guy managed the people who won those championships on a regular basis.  And he knew all the tricks to keeping them in fighting shape for years-and-years.

As he found out, it turned out to be all a trick.  Once Black reached the top of his fighting form… when he peaked and hit his prime, the manager took him out to celebrate.  The manager poisoned him during the celebration and took his body to a secret "training" facility where he used dark magic to bring the boy back as another of his undead servants.  The ritual that brought him back made him forever a slave to the manager who had him win fight after fight after fight.  No slowing down.  No remorse for opponents injured.  No time to cope mentally.  No vacations.  No social life.  His life boiled down to battling, training, and making money for the manager.

Eventually, the manager passed away of old age and when he died, the fighters found themselves freed at long last.  The manager did keep his bargain and kept bank accounts for them where they received their share of the money earned, so the fighters all had money they’d never spent all those years.  They all took their riches went their separate ways to make new lives for themselves in the world of the living.

Black hermited himself away to a nice house and land on a small island estate where he began writing to help get the guilt and sorrow and malaise out of his system.  He eventually became adept at it and authored a series of popular books that allowed him to share his feelings with others and help guide younger kids in a better direction.

You always wonder what you’d do if you received a decent chunk of money all at once (like a payment you forgot about or a bonus or a smaller lottery win).  Well, I have some extra money of this sort on its way… and it’s tough deciding what to use the money for.

1. Buy all the components to build a new (upgraded) computer system.
1. Pros: less waiting on computer slowdowns, computer will be stout enough to handle DCUO and Diablo III, more energy savings than my 9-year old beast of a computer, future-proof enough to support games and high-end apps (graphic rendering, movie editing, etc) for another 6-8 years.
2. Cons: time sink (since computer will be stout enough to handle DCUO and Diablo III), need to reinstall all my current programs (and upgrade a few).
2. Hire an artist to draw a comic book or webcomic.
1. Pros: more samples of my writing available, more content to share with readers, able to keep showing everyone "I’m still out there producing".
2. Cons: couldn’t afford a full graphic novel or mini-series run (close, but not quite), webcomic would only have about 4-5 months to establish itself (not an easy task), would still have to build up a pool of money for promoting the book/webcomic.
3. Take a vacation.
1. Pros: I need a vacation, more family memories.
2. Cons: not sure I’d come back fully refreshed and recharged, might not want to come back
4. Pay tuition for a class to enhance some skills.
1. Pros: definitely some things I’d like to learn, additional creative skills to add to the resume/portfolio (investment towards a new career), forced deadlines and productivity.
2. Cons: deciding on what to learn, finding the time to learn (and might have to settle for an online class since random weeks of travel is always possible with my day job).

And I have more thoughts on it than just that, but those definitely sit comfortably at the top of the list.  And weighing out the good and the bad didn’t help with the decision-making process that much.  I might have to roll dice for it… or I could have them battle it out in a death match.

You should know… I usually agonize for days building characters (with profiles/backgrounds twice as long as what I’ve been doing here).  These 15 (to 30) minutes posts have been fun and allow me to just let go with things.  And sometimes you come up with some crazy ideas that turn out fun. 

With the last character, I sat there watching the clock tick down as I thought about what role Spook played in the underworld.  I wanted something with a measure of reach and influence but not a position that would normally be considered a threat.  I finally hit a point where I said to myself, "The first thing that pops into your brain jellies in the next 5 seconds."  Craft services king.  And well, it kinda works, so I ran with it.

But the great thing about burning through it like that?  You have something you can play with.  It may not be perfect, but it’s enough to get the job done.  Besides, most characters adapt and develop further as you write their stories, so I always need to remember not to sweat over the small details now.  And with that, on to the next character…

Name: Caprice aka Jana Robinson
Gender: Female
Marital Status: single but willing

Physical Appearance: The tall, athletic body of a well-trained demon assassin.  Nearly 7 feet tall, wiry strong muscles and red skin (but a little on the pale side).  Small but sharp horn-like protrusions stick out from her forehead, forearms and shins to give her a more demonic appearance (and some nasty natural weaponry).

Core Personality Traits: Introverted.  Shy and a bit clumsy.  Smart and well-read, but every bit the reclusive geek/gamer girl with a self-esteem problem… who hasn’t quite adjusted to being cool on two fronts–a fierce, awe-inspiring demon and a ninja.

Flaws:  Even though she has this powerful demon body, she’s still just an awkward, geeky teenager at heart and is still "growing into" the body and still encountering your typical clumsiness a la growing pains.  The other factor that plays into this is that a demon’s power and strength derive from fierceness and confidence, which is why she’s unable to tap into the full potential of this body.  She could have developed that confidence by now, but her self-image gets tampered with on a regular basis by the voice of the original owner of this body chattering in the back of her brain when she’s under duress.  If she ever loses enough confidence and "gives up", the original demon could take back control of the body.

Advantages: Demon.  Ninja.  Enhanced strength, agility, speed and senses.  Innate martial skill imprinted into the body from years of training.  Capable of surrounding herself with an aura that prevents all detection–sight, sound, smell, heat sensors, motion detectors, etc.

Background: As a child, Jana grew up in the middle of nowhere with no television and a stack of hardcover friends from the likes of Verne, Tolkien, Lewis, and more.  When she finally got the chance to go to school, she soured on sociality rather quickly as she buried her nose in books to escape the teasing she wasn’t used to.  But she found it easy enough to avoid the rest of the kids attending a small town school.

She never really broke out of her shell and when she first arrived on campus for college, she discovered a brand new feeling… panic attacks.  She avoided crowds and ate when the cafeteria wasn’t busy.  She spent a lot of time in the library meeting new paperback friends she’d never knew existed.

Then one night as she experienced the crowded library with finals approaching, she decided to walk to the public library in town hoping it would be quieter.  It turned out to be nearly barren of people.  The perfect place for her to escape the hours.  She stayed until closing and made the long walk back at night with more new books to keep her company over the coming days.

But her walk brought her into the middle of a battle between a vigilant human sect and demon warriors that had been waging a secret war on this planet for centuries.  The forces were battling over a mystical item known as a merging stone.  With it, either side could merge their best warriors into a single warrior with all the combined strength, agility and skills on the ones being merged.

As one of the human warriors ran from the battle with the prize evading an invisible assassin chasing him down, he stumbled into Jana and fell into the street where he was hit by a passing car.  The gem shattered on impact and embedded into Jana’s body and merged her with the nearest creature at the time… the demon assassin.

In pain and confused, Jana sprinted back to her dorm room… faster than she’d ever run before.  In her room, she spotted herself in the mirror and saw the exotic demon/human hybrid body standing there.

Let’s continue on with developing characters here.  Next, we take a look at Marq’s parter-in-hunting, Spook.  This little cat appears to be just a cute, purr-y sidekick for the monster hunter, but he does have a much larger role in the story (and in potential future storylines)…

Name: Spook
Gender: Male Cat
Marital Status: none (that we know of)

Physical Appearance: cat with soft grey and white fur.  Innocent looking.

Core Personality Traits: Arrogance.  He used to be a minor devil lord but wound up being banished to the world of man due to treasonous acts.  Even though he’s trapped in the appearance of a cat, he still has the attitude of a devil and merely "plays the part" at time to manipulate others to further his plans.

Flaws: Arrogance.  Having once been a powerful creature, he still acts like one… without the power and minions to back up that attitude, he’ll find plenty of reasons to regret insulting the wrong person at the wrong time.

Advantages: Even though he trapped himself in the form of a cat, he did invest a measure of his devilish power into the making of this disguise to keep it from dying.  The body will regenerate and be healthy again within minutes of fatal harm.  The magicks used to create the cat "vessel" also keep it hidden from other devils.  Being a devil at the core, Spook can detect other devils, their magicks and other creatures of a supernatural nature and can still perform ritualized magic if needed as long as it draws from other sources of power and not his (former) inherent devilish power.

Background: As a minor lord of devils, Spook (as he’s now known)commanded a services division within the unholy realms.  Decorators, caterers, entertainers, escorts, throne-bearers, and the like.  As such, he wielded a certain amount of influence since most devils wouldn’t agree to attend a gathering or function hosted by other devils unless it was catered by a third party with no ties or affiliations.  He was the neutral party to hold this honor within the realms.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t without ambitions, and his neutrality gave him access to all the lords that ranked above him.  It would just take one perfectly planned party with just the right guest list for him to take them all down and rise in power.

Unfortunately, someone else came up with the same idea and sabotaged a dinner he catered, which killed a number of lords… not enough for him to rise in power to a level where he was above punishment for the actions he was framed for (but the saboteur did gain enough to make sure Spook paid for the atrocities).

He was stripped of his powers and sent to the mortal realm where he would be hunted, tortured and released to be hunted again until the end of his days.  But being overly ambitious does mean being prepared in case the plan fails, so he magicked bodies on various realms he could hide in where his presence couldn’t be detected by other devils.

He activated the body and wandered across Marq and his family.  A family that’s always on the move made a good choice to keep from the devils hunting him, but Spook found out there was a flaw to his disguise.  If the body died and the magicks resurrected him, it pulsed with a spike of devilish energies that sent up a big flare to those hunting him.

After being gravely injured while wandering from the family’s RV one day, the magicks brought him back and that night, the devils attacked the RV.  Spook managed to escape with Marq’s help, and with Marq’s quest to avenge his family’s deaths, Spook saw opportunity… a means for ambitions to live again.