This is sounding really good guy's thumbs up to you. :wink_smile:

Yeah, im suprised how its working. People have different ideas, though we all seem to be accepting eachothers ideas, i thought that people would reject the idea of the main character being an engineer, though people accepted it. Also the writing style seems quite consistant throughout the entries, everyone has a different writing style but we all accepted the style that was started. Its good

Day 54 I took some days off of writing to spend time with Brittany (The teacher I've been dating, y'know I never mentioned her name, strange isn't it?), shes been a delight to have around and the kids seem happy whenever shes around. We took the kids to some theatre, well atleast thats what the guys at work have been calling it, the guys on stage were doing a show about that book I picked up so long ago called "Of Mice and Men", I laughed when Brittany said the name of the show, I even got to understand the parts that were missing in the book. We also ended up going to this fancy museum of the past world (as they have been calling it), I didn't really care all that much about the exhibition but Brittany was explaining every little detail about what we saw, shes alittle too smart for me, sometimes I can't catch up with what shes saying.

When I wasn't with Brittany, the kids, or even working at the factory, I was trying sometime the Bug calling parkour, when I asked if it was also called free-running, he explained the differences between the two. Anyway, I tried practicing every evening or so, I'm not that great actually, I got cut up pretty badly when I misjudged a jump and ended up smashing my chin off the side of a bungalow. Now, I've got stitches on my right cheek, and bandages all over my face, I look terrible but the guys at work say I look like that Egyptian corpse... the Mummy they are calling me. Oh god, I realized how stupid that sounds, but they say it only reasonable since I'm buddies with people like "The Bug".

I was actually trying out the Buffed Caesar revolver at the range when I saw something that caught my attention, the Bug was walking in the streets when I approached him him threw me over his shoulders and starting running, when I got up I noticed my Caesar was missing, so I sprinted in the direction he was heading I had almost lost him when I saw him running above the streets over the bungalows in the area, I climbed up and followed him again, I actually ended up getting pretty damn close until he climbed up into a crane and onto the arm of it. He looked in my direction then aimed the gun into the streets and pulled the trigger... I heard a scream and looked down into the streets to see a well-dressed elderly gentleman lying in the streets, I looked back in the Bug's direction to see the hooded figure standing there. He dropped the gun, and jumped over to the other side of the street. I looked back down to see several familiar faces standing over the gentleman administrating CPR and syringes. I headed down to see a man with a empty syringe in his hand say the elderly man would be okay, but he needed to be rushed to the hospital.

I assist the group with the escorting of this well-dressed man would was being called "Simon Colpus", when we got there they thanked me and then ask if I knew what happened, I wanted to explain but I thought I should tell the Bug at work instead. So I headed home, and went to bed, thinking "Why does everything happen to me?" Rebecca getting sick, Zeke questioning me (and then getting killed), Getting fired from work in Container City, having to deal with constant stress... I don't think I can do this anymore...

Off topic (kind of): Okay. I know I am breaking pretty much every single rule for this thread by making an off-topic comment while not adding to the story, but I am very confused by what just happened on day 54. Did he lose the Caeser pistol? Did Bug shoot the man? Did the hooded figure shoot the man? I know I really do not have much of a say in it as I have not added to the story, but could all of you spend just a little bit of extra time reviewing what you have written before you post it? I LOVE this story, but it gets confusing when the wrong word is used or punctuation is misplaced (or simply not there at all). Regardless, this story is what is keeping me alive until Brink actually comes out. Keep up the awesome work everyone!!

"The Bug" ran into our Engineer and jacked his revolver to make an assassination attempt on the guy. It was really an Operative Anger in disguise.

The bug was descibed as Lt. Col. in the day 42 entry, in the last entry a man named simon colpus was shot. Just wondering if simon colpus was Lt. Col.'s (the bugs) father.

P.S Sorry about not posting an entry seeing as it says that you need to every time you post or something like that, but i wanted to get it cleared up before i posted something that was not correct because of the characters.

Lt. Col. is Lieutenant Colonel. Col is not Bug's last name.

Day 55:

I woke up after having a full night of my mind running through the scene of Simon Colpus being shot. My sub-concious was anolysing every detail. I came to the conclusion that the man in the hood, The Anger had disguised himself as the bug. Though there was still a few questions i had left in my mind. Who is Simon Colpus? Why was it him that was shot? What is really going on between the resistance and the security? Some people think that everything is under control, that the securtiy is just having trouble with a few outlaws here and there. But the gunfire is present each night, i saw for myself what was happening on the refugee side of the ark. Not only the nightly gunfire, but assassinations, bombings of hospitals and a hooded man popping up all around the place. And what about Ivan? he dissapeared twice and i was questioned about him, i was even bugged for information on him.

By the time i had reached work after dropping Jack and Rebecca of at school i had only one thing on my mind. to get to The Bug and find the answers that i needed. when i got to work i began to look around the room to find The Bug, though he called out to me before i could find where he was. He was signaling me over and directing me into a room away from the main area of the warehouse. there were two chairs with a desk in between them in the room. As i entered the bug shut the door and gestured for me to sit in one of the two seats. He them reached to his belt and pulled my Buffed Caesar from it and handed it to me. He told me that he had found it underneath the crane where the shot that his Mr. Colpus was taken. He then asked my to recount what had happened yesterday when Mr. Colpus was shot. I told him it all, from me being flung to the ground, to me chasing the hooded man who was disguised as the bug and then me escourting Mr. Colpus to the hospitol. The Bug didnt say anything for a while after i had told him what happened, i guess he was thinking about everything he was told though i couldnt read his expression behind his mask. Eventually he spoke, telling me that Simon Colpus was one of the head doctors at the hospital on the founders side and that he was probably attacked as revenge for what Zeke did to the container city hospital. After that i asked him the questions i had going through my mind, he told me that the ark was on the brink of a civil war, that the resistance are being kept under control, for now atleast, he said everynow and then a few resistance soldiers will cause a bit more trouble than others, an example would be the hooded man that is popping up all over the founders part of the ark and also Ivan, who has not been seen much for a while. I asked him more about Ivan, Bug said that the security didn't know as much as they would like to. That he does a lot of damage during the gunfights that go on at night and that he used to take a small group of resistance into the founders side during day times and start gunfights with the security. though they didnt know where he was now or any background information on him. the Bug then told me that i could take the day off seeing as i had been through a lot lately and i would probably only be distracted due to recent events.

I went straight back home, sat in a chair nearby and thought about everything i had learnt. I sat there for about an hour or two before looking at my watch to see i still had a few hours before i had to pick up jack and rebecca. I decided to spend the few hours practicing parkour, trying to perfect my vaults, making them smoother and faster before practicing climbing up higher things. The bug and the anger made it look so easy and effortless. They could climb up things almost double their height while i struggled to climb things a little bit over my height.

The parkour had made me forget about the fact that i had to pick up my children. I had just reached the height goal i had set myself when i remembered i had to pick up my kids and looked down at my watch. Jack and Rebecca would be let out in a few minutes, i would have to hurry to be their on time. I began to rush to the school, there were obstacles im my way though i began to use the parkour skills i had just learn naturally, i didnt even have to think about how fast i should run at things, i just did it. I was smoothly vaulting, sliding, rolling and climbing, and in the proccess saving a lot of time, getting to the school just a minute or two late. When i got to the school i saw Jack, Rebecca and Brittany looking around for me. I spoke to Brittany for about 20 mins today, I also asked her to another date, we arranged to meet at 8.

I felt happy about some of the things that had happened today. I had arranged another date, my kids seemed happy about it and i had improved my parkour skills. I decided to turn in early before i began thinking about the bad things like the approaching civil war.

Day 56

I woke up the next day, the kids staring right at me through my door way all dressed and ready to go, they look at me and both say simultaneously "wake dad, time to go to school." i got up groaning, put on my clothes, which the kids noticed all of the cuts and scars. they look at me with a worried look, i told them it was from playing around like bug and they laughed. Grabbed my coffee and proceeded to walk the kids to the school, still looking like crap, the kids tell me to fix my hair and my clothes. I am starting to wonder am I taking care of my kids or are they taking care of me?

As we walk up to the school I look up and see Brittney, looking beautiful as ever, she kind of chuckles when she sees me, 5 o'clock shadow, somewhat bed head. the kids run over to her, hugging her then storming off to the classroom. She approaches me "So, are you ready for tonight?" I then instinctively say "Whenever you are babe.", which then i catch myself again, she laughs and says "Okay, so do you have a place in mind" I replied "I am thinking Italian unless you feel like eating something else?" Brittney smiled and said "I think Asian food will be good tonight." The bell rings and as she leaves she gives me a quick peck on the cheek, I blushed a bit, then i looked over and i see the kids looking out the door spying on us, laughing to their hearts content. she heads to class, i wave to her goodbye and head to the armory.

I was kind of amazed at the numerous amount of weapons, i walk up to the counter, the vendor sizes me up, then says "You must be the Lt.Col.'s friend aye'?" I respond "you mean Bug?" he laughs and says "If that is what he prefers to call himself that slick bastard.." I laugh, and the vendor then says I got a major discount on any of the weapons of my choosing with a single buff applied. I look around and think to myself what i could carry, then the vendor replies "Ya don't look too hefty so i recommend the rifles..." i glanced over and see the many types and I ask "what does the other guys use?" Vendor replies "Well the new guys like the Rhett and the Rokstedi, cause they are newer. But I like the Gorund and the M4 (since no one knows the name yet) cause they are the old faithfuls." Before i could say anything he says "I tried to get the Ruskies but the higher ups don't like the politics from em." I look at him with a puzzled look saying "Ruskie?" which he replies "the Kalashnikov, the choppa, the 47, the AK, The poor man's rifle." he slams his hand on the table "I got my hands on one before I got here and I dread the day i didn't bring it..." I asked to see the Rokstedi, he hands me the rifle, surprisingly it was fairly light and the vendor tells me "plastic bugger, no weight to help with the kick, but it is very accurate." I look over and ask about the Gorund, i hand the vendor the Rokstedi and he gives me the Gorund, I grab it, and it almost pulled me to the ground, he laughs and explains "Select Fire, high power, good weight, perfect for a soldier." I hoist it up, and peer through the sights, which was hard and I asked about a scope of some kind, the vendor points at the kiosk which shows videos of the different models, he replies "since your Bug's friend i'll give it to ya, as long as you don't tell anyone i am doing this." i liked the COAG but the Yeo-Tek is good for me as i don't see myself as a Sniper, i chose the Yeo-Tek, put on the Gorund and felt very comfortable with it.

I left to my house to put the rifle away, which the vendor gave me a couple magazines and some ammo. I put my stuff in my room, then I head back to the school to pick up the kids, as I was walking I bump into a big burly man, decked out in gear, he looks at me and asked "where ye goin?" I reply "to the school, picking up the kids." he looks at me and replies "My kids go there, good place, nice piece of ass teaching them." I gave him a look of disgust and say "You mean Miss Erikson?" He looks at me and laughs, "No, she is pretty but I was talking about my Wife, she is a teacher there too." I laughed "Oh, I thought you were talking about Brittney." He looks at me and says "Why would I talk about my sister?" I look at him "Your her brother?!" He says "Yeah I am, you must be the guy dating her huh, she told me about you.." I started to shake, "I hope it is all good things" He then chuckles and says "Only good things my friend, good things, better keep it that way bub." I said "I will" He pats me on the back and I part ways with him, as I got maybe 5 yards from him, he turns and yells "Hey Tell Brit that Jesse said HI!" I yelled back "I will!".

I reach the school and the kids rush out hugging me, Brittney laughs and grabs my hand, we walk back to my place to drop the kids off, then we head to hers. I look at her and say "I don't know if i should look like this when I go out" She replied, "don't worry you look good." I smiled and we walked into her house. She went upstairs to change and I walked around looking at her pictures and there I see a picture of her and her family, with Jesse really standing out. I yell out "Oh yeah, Jesse wanted me to tell you HI" She quickly runs down stairs in her underwear, Which surprised me, and she says "You met my younger Brother?!, Did he hurt you or anything?" I said "no, he was very nice, and this is what you look like under those layers.." She blushes and runs back upstairs, yelling "you weren't supposed to see that" We both laugh, and she comes back down stairs in a beautiful dress, My jaw dropped, she then replied "need a bib?" she laughs as I wipe my face, we eventually get to the restaurant.

After figuring out how to use the chopsticks, we had a great time, learned more about her and her family. I ordered a bottle of wine, which she decided the brand, we drank majority of the bottle then left the restaurant and headed back to her place. We started to talk, but it didn't last long till we started to kiss then it lead to her room...

Day 5 /

Page illegible.


(Come on, someone had to do it once...its an RPG Diary for crying out loud)

Day 57

After my very eventful time with Brittany, I had went home and strait to sleep. I did get a decent amount of sleep for what had happened only a few hours earlier. I woke up early and started to think about things. How life was before the ARK and how it was now. How it would have been if we had never come to the ARK in the first place. I hadn't really seen The Bug in a while, I wondered what he was up to.

When it was time to take my kids to school, they did not hesitate to get up and all ready. I said hello to Brittany. She responded with a smile, and said "I'll talk to you later." I left the school, walked back to the house. The rest of the day was very uneventful. It basically consisted of more thinking about what was happening, and what could have happened. I started to practice up on my parkour a bit. I tried to climb to the top of the building, and almost made it twice, but before I got to the top I fell. I then realized it was time to pick up my kids from school. When I arrived my kids were doing small jittery jumps and smiling. They both said at the same time "Can we please sleep over at our friends house tonight? Please can we. Please dad." Which I replied "I don't if that is such a good idea." Thats is when The mother of the child they wanted to sleep over came and talked to me. She said "It will be just a small little sleep over. I have a daughter and son too. We will be playing some games and stuff, nothing to major." Finally I said "Alright." They shouted yay, and went with the other lady.

I went home and practiced my parkour until it was nearly pitch black out and went inside. It was about 10:30 PM, and I was staring out side the window, sort of at the moon. When all of the sudden on one of the roofs on the other side of the street, a shadow obscured some of the moon from my vision. It looked like a person....with a hood! It was that same guy, what did they call him The Anger. I was staring at him and it looked as though he was staring back at me. I started to see a kind of small red light. It flashed in my eye and I blinked and turned my head a bit. Then I saw the light was now on my chest, I then realized what it was. I could almost hear my self breath very deeply, I could hear my heartbeat and time seemed to slow. I saw a flash of light from the rooftop. I closed my eyes, then jumped out of the view of the window. CRASH! The entire window shattered. A single bullet hole in the back wall. The Anger lowered the rifle and started to run along the roof tops. I jumped out the window and followed. I followed him for a while, and eventually he came to two buildings that were really spaced apart. He jumped and barley made it to the side of the building, as he was trying to pull himself up I thought 'This is my chance to try and get up there to stop him' I started to climb the fire escape. When I got up to the roof, The Anger had pulled himself up. He bolted across the roof, and I followed. I saw something bright emerge from his hand. It hit the ground in front of me. Just as I had jumped the ground caught on fire, I landed on he other side of it and looked at it and though' that was close' I turned to see The Anger jump off the roof. I ran to the edge and looked down. He was gone......

just wondering what happened to the main characters job, did he quit or is he just taking a few days off? doesnt say anywhere

He's still working. Just odd days I suppose.

I probably should have mentioned that somewhere.

I like your writing, but it's REALLY hard to take it seriously when in the corner of my eye I see T-bagging

DAY 58

Thank GOD the kids were not home, I don't know what I would have done if something would have happened to them... That man, "The Anger", who is he and what did I do? Man, ever sense I got to the Founder's side, all of Container City seems to be after me (or at least, wants to be). I have to get this mess cleaned up before the kids get home and I head to work...Good thing I let them say over at their friends home...They must NEVER know about this, I don't want them to panic. I have to talk to The Bug.

At work now, and I can't seem to find The Bug. Shift is about to start, maybe he'll show up later...

Ahh Lunch break, still no Bug, but we are ahead of schedule maybe I'll head to the range and try out my new "toy". And later I'll practice my parkour(I seem to be getting better and better, though my limbs really are sore).

About to head out for the day, and still no Bug...I guess I understand but, I really needed him to tell about what happened...

All right time to punch out...Oh there is The Bug... HEY BUG.. OVER HERE I NEED TO TALK....Hey wait, you not Bug...Hey GET OFF OF ME! LET GO!!!
Hold still...GRAB HIM!
GET OFF!!!
Just knock him out and put the bag over him! WE HAVE TO GO!!!
JACK...REBECCA....BRITTNEY!!!!!
Hey, what's this?
Grab it...It may have info we need

Thanks and sorry

The next several pages appear to be light layers of wallpaper taped to the journal. Apparently after "The Mummy", was kidnapped.

Day 12 in room

I've been held up in this cell for several days... I don't know, what is going on, all I remember seeing was... the bug... and then I was tackled to the ground, and this group of what appeared to be civilians put a bag on my head, and knocked me out. I've been scanning this room for days, they haven't questioned me, or beat me, they just locked me in this room, and fed me once a day. I'm breaking down I just know it. I have been using pieces of wallpaper to write down what has been happening, All thats in this room is me, the bag (which has a strange smile on it), and a bucket.

Day 13 in room

They seem to be fine with me writing these notes, they look in on me after hour or so, and just kind of mumble something. I don't really know what they are planning I guess I'm just going to have to wait it out...

Day 14 in room

They finally decided to talk to me, but I had the "Grin" mask as I've been calling it.... my god, I'm going insane. Anyway, they had asked me several questions like:
"Do you know why you're here?"
"What do you know of Simon Colpus?"
"Where did you learn to build armor and turrets?"

I answer to the best of my abilities:
"No... sir"
"He was shot by the... the anger... sir"
"My Father before he died in the floods"

They proceeded to ask more questions less important questions, which I answered to the best of my abilities again. When they were done with their questions, they picked me up and put me back in the room, when they removed the mask they covered my eyes... but not fast enough for me to see one of their faces, it was the large man who was in my old boss's office when he fired me from the Container city factory. I recognized him, in fact when they finally threw me into the room, and locked the door, I was laughing and even started trying to talk to them through the door. I heard mumbling, and the door was kicked open and I saw the large man again, he wore armor like a security soldier but it looked more used and he wore a paintball mask and a helmet. He tried to intimidate me , but I said I wanted to talk to my old boss, the large man built like a fortress looked into my eyes and said calmly "Hes dead, thats why you're here, you're the only suspect we believe to connected to his death." I looked behind him to look into the next room and scan my environment more clearly, I saw what looked to be several screens, with more people in small rooms, but my room wasn't showing up on any screens, cause there was no cameras. I noticed on one of the screens there was a hooded figure in the corner of a room. The large man saw me scanning the next room, and picked me up, he called out to the other room "We need to walk this one more closely!", he proceeded to throw me into another small room, when I looked up I saw the hooded man looking down at me, I knew he was smiling behind that mask. I won't lie, I was scared for my life.

OTT: When did our engineer get a Grin mask?

Day 15 in room

The fear is killing me. Fear for my life, fear for my kids, fear for the aftermath if I ever do actually escape.

The door to this rusty cell finally opens. Two guys are here. One is the Security-like fortress of a man. The other is a skinny soldier with a fur-collared jacket. Both are holding pretty massive weapons. I'm not liking any of this.
"He's the one? Doesn't match our little dossier here." The jacketed punk gives me a deep stare.
The paintball mask guy doesn't respond. It's obviously a redundant statement. As the punk walks in, he closes the door. I get the feeling this isn't going to be some ordinary trial, like yesterday.

"Never thought we'd find an ex-refugee." The punk cracks his knuckles. "Even harder to find one with the nerve to murder his old boss."
"I didn--" Before I finished what I was trying to say, his fist makes friends with my cheek. I drop to the floor in an instant.
"I never asked you to speak. I don't care what you think. I really, really don't." He begins to roll his neck. "The evidence points otherwise anyways."
Evidence?

"Reports of a buffed Caesar shot? Those are hard to come by. Especially almost pristine ones." He begins to circle around me as I lay on the floor, still stunned by the punch. As I give him a confused look, he decides to also make arrangements with my chest and his boot. "Caesars are discontinued. It's obvious you'd only get something that good from the Security. And don't get me started on your mask anyways."

He hoists me up by my collar, then slams me against the wall multiple times, each with greater force. No one this small could pull this off.

Once I'm gasping for breath, he slams me one last time. "Change of plans, I'll talk anyways. There's only one other guy with that mask, and he's. Not. Dead." Every time he stops, I get a few additional punches to the gut. "And for the record," he yells as he pulls me close to his face, "he works for us." He reinforces this point by throwing me against the wall.

There's a few open cuts on my face, and I'm coughing pretty badly. The guy just laughs. "Pathetic. Have I said that yet? Thinking you could serve for the Security by assassinating your former employer. You did a terrible job about it all. That's pathetic."

I'm rewarded with another boot to the face before he hoists me up by my hair. Tears well up in my eyes because of the intense pain. "We don't take kindly to what crap the Security calls 'justice' here," he begins in a quiet voice. "But, if that's your ruleset, we'll play by it. After all, it was 'justice' to you. You're just getting your... well... just desserts."

He shrugs before headbutting me, and I slam to the floor hard. His laughing rings in my ears. I hear the locking and loading of a big gun, and the barrel is awfully close to my forehead.

"I hope the safety's on," he jokes.

This is it. I'm done. I squeeze my eyes closed and expect a shot.



It happens.



And I'm not dead.

I open my eyes. A haze of smoke is everywhere. I see a red, white and gray thing emptying a storm of bullets into the fur-coated punk. It turns around and looks at me, or at least I think it does. The creature has four black spots on its face.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," it tells me.
"...who--"
"District's been on high alert since you've been extracted. Guess your disappearance was the catalyst for the invasion." I see a very faint outline of what appears to be a hand, and I grab it. It pulls me up. As I get up, I cough out some blood, and the room shakes.
"You should probably have this." I feel an intense pain in my left arm, but I get the feeling that it's an epi-pen because I'm not dead.
"Where am--"
"Resistance outpost. It's a jail of sorts, except with everyone dead in their cells." The room shakes again, and I hear the clanging of sheet metal. "They've started the invasion. We have a boat that'll extract us. Grab the SMG and let's head out. That is, if you can move."
"I'm fine, I'm fine." I do as the thing says.

It's dawn when we exit the facility. I thought I'd never see Container City again. I was wrong. I was also wrong when I thought I would never see Container City any worse than it already is. As we get out, remnants of exploded containers surround whatever land is still intact. There's a boat parked near some railings a distance aways.

"Move, ASAP!" I hear from the boat as gunfire erupts. I make a mad stumble for the boat, but the explosions around me make everything a blur. The next thing I know, I'm being hoisted into the boat with a smoking gun and the creature behind me. The boat tilts back as the powerful motor sends us rushing back to the mainlands.
"Operation status report?" I hear a familiar deep voice question.
"It's a complete failure, is all," the thing says. My vision is improving because I make it out to be a mask.
"Well, well, well," says another voice. I see a massive trooper in this tank-like suit walk out. "Command didn't have high hopes either."

I don't honestly know what happened next. The last thing I saw was the sun illuminating the white spires of the mainlands with an eerie golden glow.

The Resistance put it on him when he was abducted

I'm noticing the Security being the good guys, and the Resistance the bad guys. Remember that our little Engie here is supposed to be the fine line in between.

Plus I've planned a trully fitting way to end this some time in the near future, and that largely depends on his neutrality.

you have to remeber that in the story he is living in the security side of the ark. the founders see the resistance as terrorists, and because he lives there too, he sees them as terrorists. Even though the devs have made it that both sides in the actual game think of themself as the good guys and they both are neither good or bad, they will always think of the opposing side as evil. This is how our character is to, when he was working with the resistance the security looked evil through zeke, now that he is livng on the founders side of the ark he is seeing the bad that the resistane do without the good, and so he believes the resistance are evil.

...derp. I think I used it incorrectly then.


It also is about bias. I have a Security bias myself, but I attempted to depict the Resistance as "good" guys as well. There were circumstances nearing the end of the Engineer's stint with the Resistance, though, that made it seem as if the Resistance weren't "good". That hasn't happened yet in his time as a Security guy... though this will probably change soon.

You'd need Blaven's approval to end the story. Unless he has already given it to you.

Also, what are the rules for the rules for writing style? The last few installments have been super exciting, but they stopped being in the past-tense. Nice job Blaven for bringing it back to the original style, but I just wanted to point that out to everybody. The journal style makes it much more real somehow, and it would be cool if we stuck with it.