[App] tushanshu

[97_percent]

Player Information:
Name: Aubrey
Age: 24
Contact: mortalcity
Game Cast: Rikki Barnes (withoutaworld), Natasha Romanoff (tendnottoweep), Olivia Dunham (nolimiation); last AC

Character Information:
Name: Georgia Mason
Canon: Newsflesh
Canon Point: Blackout, in the middle of making her escape from the CDC facility, before running into Shaun
Age: 23 or 24, depending on whether you count that yearish she spent... dead...
Reference: Author's website; Feed & Deadline wiki pages (...Blackout doesn't have one for some reason :c)

Setting:

In 2014, the world ended.

That is to say, in 2014, two manmade viruses were released into the world. The Kellis flu was designed as the cure to the common cold, and Marburg Amberlee as the cure for cancer. Both did exactly what they were meant to, but when they combined in the human body and formed a new virus, Kellis-Amberlee, there was an unexpected side effect: the dead started to rise.

People were hit by cars, or had heart attacks, or fell off ladders, and then they got back up again and started biting people. And the people they bit soon started to do the same, and before long you had a global outbreak. Entire cities and nations fell, and over thirty percent of the world's population was killed in one summer - and for days while people died, governments and news networks all denied that it was happening.

It was exactly like every zombie movie ever made, and it could have ended the same way, except for one thing: plenty of people had actually seen those movies, and already knew how to fight back. Aim for the head, don't get bitten or let them bleed on you, and generally behave like a human in possession of a functioning brain, because that's the one thing the other side doesn't have - that and bullets. Those who found ways of fighting and killing them spread their knowledge over the internet, through blogs and Youtube videos and any way they could find, too fast and too widespread to be silenced. In the time it took for governments, the CDC and WHO, and mainstream news to get their acts together, the world could have ended - but it didn't, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to both George Romero and the bloggers of the world for that.

The world gradually returned to a semblance of normalcy - which isn't to say nothing changed. These days, frequent blood tests are a part of life, required to do things as simple as get in a car or enter a building. Most people don't leave the house if they can help it at all; those that do usually do it armed. Most buildings resemble small fortresses, hospitals aren't that far off from prisons, and travel outside of cities - or even in some parts of cities not adequately secured - is considered taking your life into your own hands. Because all mammals over forty pounds are capable of amplifying, few people keep dogs or horses or any large animals anymore - those that do, do so under strict regulations, far outside of cities, and are usually regarded as a little bit crazy and/or suicidal. For the same reason, it's not safe to eat any meat from mammals, and though bird and fish are still safe, many people are simply vegetarians anyway.

And, of course, internet journalism rose to a position of prominence and respectability. After the Rising, many people no longer trusted mainstream news organizations, and so turned to blogs for their news - over time, internet journalism became a licensed profession, and developed its own particular specialities and distinctions. Newsies like Georgia attempt to report the news, as devoid of opinion as they can manage, while Stewarts offer opinions based in fact. Irwins, including Georgia's brother, poke zombies with sticks for the entertainment of the masses, Aunties offer recipes, homemaking tips and stories of their lives, and Fictionals do exactly what you'd expect, with a hundred subcategories that don't mean a damn thing to anyone who's not a Fictional.

Three years after the Rising, two children were born, about six weeks apart. Both were orphaned by zombies, adopted by two bloggers attempting to put their lives back together, and named Shaun and Georgia Mason. The Masons lost their biological son, Phillip Mason, in the Rising - the first confirmed case of animal-to-human transmission of Kellis-Amberlee - and never quite got over that loss.

From the outside, they looked like a happy family, raising their children in the closest thing to a normal life possible post-Rising. The reality was that they were raised as props for photo opportunities - chasing ratings was safer, for their parents, than actually caring about their children. However, the effort of raising Shaun and Georgia as "citizens of the world, not citizens of fear", as their father once put it, meant they got things few children of their generation ever saw - trips to the zoo or the movies, the ability to play outdoors (in adequately secured areas), pets too small for full viral amplification... Being brought up that way, Georgia and Shaun never really had a chance when it came to having safe, sane, or what most people post-Rising would call normal lives. They got their journalist licenses as soon as they were old enough, and worked as bloggers - which includes going out in the field and poking zombies with sticks - since then.

Last year, they got the opportunity of a lifetime, a job following Senator Ryman on the campaign trail for the presidency. The job was big enough on its own, the kind of thing that would make or break their careers, but Georgia and her team managed to dig up a conspiracy - one that led right back to Ryman's running mate, Governer Tate, and the CDC. Over the course of the campaign, a lot of good people had died because of that conspiracy, including Ryman's daughter and Shaun and George's teammate and closest friend, Buffy Meisonnier. When they finally got the evidence Tate was involved, and just who was paying him for it, they were geared up to blow the whole thing open and plaster the story all over the internet where no one - even the most powerful organization in the world - would be able to shut it down.

Before they could, their trailers were blown up in an attack that narrowly missed killing them, and as they ran for safety, Georgia was hit with a dart full of live Kellis-Amberlee - enough to kill hundreds or thousands of people, all in one tiny needle. She amplified, typing up one last post to let people know what they'd found, and then her brother shot her in the spine. That should have been where the story ended: instead she woke up in a CDC facility with none of her old scars, no retinal KA, and no explanation as to what the hell happened. She's been working on that last part.

Personality:

Georgia is a natural journalist - smart, determined, and a born cynic. She makes a point of projecting a particular image to the world at large. She's the hard-hitting reporter of the team, the one who doesn't pull any punches, is absolutely devoted to the truth, and if she has a sense of humor, it's nothing but dry, biting sarcasm. There's a common perception among certain members of the press corps that she sucked up the entire supply of "jaded and cranky" between her and her brother, and now spends her time glowering from behind her sunglasses, gathering facts with which to ruin anyone who might annoy her, and possibly plotting the downfall of the western world. It's not true - mostly - but that kind of a reputation has its uses, so she doesn't really mind.

As a rule, Georgia is not terribly friendly. To anyone. It's not that she doesn't make friends, but if you're not used to her, it might take a while to recognize the relationship as friendship, at least on her end. All her friendships double as working relationships - probably a result of her warped childhood, if you want to look at it that closely (she doesn't) - and she tends to focus on the professional side of the relationship more often than not. Buffy's a "decent friend and a great techie"; Mahir, probably her best friend besides Shaun, is more likely to be regarded as her second in command than as a friend at all; and the highest praise and most affection she tends to show is in telling a friend they did well at their job.

Even when she does get close to someone, she retains a healthy awareness of their faults and weaknesses as well as their good points, and there's always a sense she's keeping them at arm's length - and that's because she is. Georgia's an extremely private person, who doesn't like to show emotion and doesn't even seem to have a personal life because that would mean opening up more than she's comfortable with. The only person who gets past that carefully constructed defense is her brother... and even then, she's more likely to express her affection for him by telling him she hates him and threatening to leave him for the zombies than in any normal fashion.

It's easy to think Georgia doesn't like people, but that's not what it is. Rather, she just has a fairly cynical outlook on human nature - people tend to accept the first easy answer given to them, and act on fear before reason - and she is not particularly surprised when people act according to it. That doesn't mean it doesn't annoy her when people don't bother to look for the right answer, or settle for entertainment value and what's comfortable to hear over the truth. She takes comfort in the fact that she and the people she cares about are smarter than that, and she has a tendency to get judgmental and sometimes just plain bitchy when she thinks someone's being stupid, especially willfully so. On the flipside, it tends to be somewhat of a surprise to her when people do use their brains, so that plus not being a horrible human being can sometimes be enough to earn you a little goodwill from Georgia.

Georgia's a leader almost as naturally as she is a journalist. She's happiest when she can delegate and trust people to handle their jobs without her worrying too much about them, but there's a reason she ended up as administrative head of After the End Times, and a reason that when she gives orders, people listen. She's practical and pragmatic, and very good at organization, with a head for facts and a talent for seeing the bigger picture. What's more, she doesn't panic in a crisis - she just goes cold and rational, expects the worst and plans for it.

Georgia and Shaun were raised to a faith of "tell the truth, know the escape routes, and always carry extra ammunition". That sort of thing is kind of bound to happen with parents like theirs. Knowing the escape routes and carrying extra ammunition are kind of background noise for her - she never forgets, but as far as conscious, active concerns go, she mostly leaves that sort of thing for Shaun to worry about. The part about telling the truth, though, she took to heart maybe more than even her parents intended. She's not really religious in any way, shape, or form, but her devotion to the truth comes damn close.

Telling the truth isn't just important to Georgia, it's her driving purpose in life. That doesn't mean that she's incapable of keeping a secret, or that she's tactless (though you might not know it from her habit of using the truth as a weapon when annoyed), but when it's important enough, there's not a thing in the world that can stop her from making sure the truth gets heard. She believes, above all, people should be allowed to make their own choices and form their own opinions, and doing that requires knowing all the facts. Knowing the whole truth means you don't have to be afraid of what you don't know. Given that, hiding the truth from people, or warping the truth until it's impossible to separate fact from opinion, and forcing people to live in fear is the closest thing to evil she can think of.

The only thing that matters to Georgia as much as the truth is Shaun. Growing up after the Rising means it's not safe to really trust many people - unless you know their personality so intimately that you can tell immediately when something's off, and know for sure they'll tell you if they know something's wrong, trusting other people means gambling with your life every single time, and Georgia's too attached to survival to do that if she can help it. This narrows most people's circle of trust to immediate family, significant others, and, on very rare occasion, extremely close friends. And with Georgia's parents being mostly interested in their children as props for ratings, the only person she really trusts is her brother.

In another time and place, their relationship would be described as unhealthily codependent - as it is, it's a survival mechanism, though still regarded by some people as a little creepy and questionable, even in their world. She can't sleep when he's not at least in the next room, preferably with the door open so she can hear him. She relies on him to run interference when she can't deal with people, and vice versa, and while she's perfectly capable of handling herself in field situations without him, she's happiest when Shaun's around and watching her back. Shaun being who he is, a part of her has accepted that she's going to lose him - probably some day sooner than either of them is ready for. The rest of her is certain that she won't survive all that long once he's gone, and doesn't want to. In the meantime, all she really wants is to keep reporting the news, telling the truth as best she can, and to be around her brother for as long as she can possibly keep him.

Like most people of her generation, she's got a bundle of issues any sane person is bound to develop in a world where zombies are a constant threat. She's deeply uncomfortable in crowds (which, for her, begins at maybe eight people in one room), though she's much better about that than most people her age, who tend to run screaming from crowds if you can even get them close enough to that many people. Animals over forty pounds - that is, big enough to amplify - are something she regards as potential threats, no matter how well-trained and controlled, and if she can avoid even being in the same general area as animals that big, she will very happily do so. She really dislikes physical contact from just about anyone but Shaun, and she very quickly gets tense and nervous in open spaces, anywhere without clear lines of sight, or any building that's not adequately secured and doesn't require blood tests to get into. Oh, and she believes that a person having obvious open wounds of any kind - even just a scratch - or acting strangely is a valid reason to point a gun at them until they get a blood test. That shouldn't be a problem or anything, right?

Though Georgia doesn't much believe in alternate universes and magic and (ironically) life after death, she does tend to believe the evidence in front of her eyes, which means she's not going to spend much time in Tu Shanshu worrying about whether it's real and possible or not - she'll address the situation she finds herself in with straightforward pragmatism and leave the speculating to other people. First, she'll try to deal with the consequences of releasing a zombie virus on a previously uninfected population - hopefully in a way that doesn't get her killed for being a plague carrier - and then she'll dive into figuring out just what brought them here and why, and finding a way back home, with the same singleminded determination she applied to ferreting out the conspiracy during the campaign, or finding her way out of the CDC facility. This may be a slightly bigger challenge, but she's hardly daunted by it.

Appearance:

• Average height (5'4" or 5'5"?)
• At a healthy weight, she's around 125-130 lbs; now, she's considerably thinner without her usual muscle weight due to being recently cloned
• Short brown hair - she prefers it short enough that she doesn't have to do more than run a comb through it, and if it starts to curl, it is way too long for her. She prefers to keep it dyed to her natural color (due to the frequent bleach showers in her universe), but as she hasn't been allowed to do that lately, it's streaked with various shades of blonde at the moment.
• Coppery brown eyes, and a somewhat unnerving habit of staring unblinkingly at people like she can see everything they're thinking. It was a lot more unnerving when she still had retinal KA, a fact she finds somewhat disappointing and disorienting, but what can you do?
• Pale skin that has literally never seen the sun, with no scars or identifying marks anywhere.

Abilities:

• She's a blogger heading a major news site, which means she's pretty tech savvy, a damn good writer, and talented at sifting through a lot of information to find the bigger picture.
• Trained with most firearms - primarily handguns, but give her a shotgun or rifle or even a crossbow and she'll probably be able to keep herself alive with it. And in her world, "keeping yourself alive" generally means being able to manage headshots from a reasonable distance.
• While she doesn't have her brother's head for tactics, she is pretty damn good at finding defensible locations or exit routes in a hurry without really thinking about it. Again, it's a matter of survival where she comes from.
• Something of a natural leader, and very good at reacting calmly and rationally in a crisis.

Inventory:

• One set of CDC-issue white scrubs
• A pair of borrowed high heels
• A ceramic pistol, fully loaded (presumably with ceramic/plastic bullets as well)

Suite:

Earth Sector, one floor. The solidity of the Earth Sector will appeal to her - it's not really her idea of properly defensive construction, but it's the closest she's likely to get - and she'll get along well with the locals there. Georgia doesn't need much space, just privacy and a console to work on.

In-Character Samples:
Third Person:

There's something about Kentucky that seems determined to drive them all insane. They're barely more than halfway through the state, and this is the third time the convoy's broken down for one reason or another. The first couple times, it was amusing enough to just wander around the trailers, letting Shaun chat with the security staff while Georgia got a feeling for the mood of the camp - especially once Ryman started using distinctly unpresidential language, not that anyone could blame him.

By now, though, the slow progress is grating on her nerves, and she's starting to feel like they're going to be stuck in the middle of nowhere forever. She'd suspect sabotage, but that seems a little paranoid even for her, given that nothing's come of the breakdowns so far except for delays and a lot of frayed tempers. It's nothing more than bad luck - that, or the whole damn state just hates them.

Shaun's out of the trailer almost the moment they get the confirmation that yes, they really are stopped for repairs, again. Georgia weighs the temptation to follow him just for a chance to stretch her legs against the desperate desire to be alone for a little while - Shaun gets obnoxious when he's stuck in one place for any period of time, and that includes travelling - and quickly comes down firmly on the side of solitude.

She sighs in relief and gets up to pull down the few window shades they'd left open for the sake of the view and (more importantly) Shaun's sanity. Georgia isn't interested in the view anymore, considering it hasn't changed for a couple days now - lots of trees and hills, and lots of zombies outside the fences lining the highway, some of which Shaun is doubtless going to poke at now. She assumes he'll call her if there's anything out there she should be paying attention to.

In the comfortable half-light leaking through the shades, Georgia takes off her sunglasses, pinches the bridge of her nose, and lets herself fall backwards onto the small bed at the back of the trailer. Outside, she can hear Shaun's voice among the chatter, helping the security guys set up a perimeter - she can't hear anything they're saying, but the voices are comforting in themselves, a reassurance that Shaun's still nearby, that there's no crisis as long as no one's screaming.

Georgia closes her eyes and lets it all fade into background noise, so indistinct it might as well be silence. She's never been much better at sitting still and doing nothing than Shaun, but as long as they're stuck here, probably for hours, she might as well take a moment to enjoy the quiet. If the past few days have been any indication, it's going to be a long campaign - and that's exactly the way she prefers it.

Network:

[anonymous, because Georgia is paranoid as hell]
First, I'll be honest and say I'm still not positive this isn't some disturbingly elaborate test the CDC's springing on me. Then again, if it is, I already failed before we got to the insane virtual reality part of our tour, so I guess it's best if I assume this is actually happening and go from there.

Second, contrary to popular belief, I'm not especially fond of being the bearer of bad news, but it seems to be my place in life, so brace yourselves. That little zombie outbreak you guys had a couple weeks ago? Consider it a dress rehearsal for what could happen in your near future.

When I arrived here, I carried a virus with me. It's called Kellis-Amberlee, it is airborne and highly contagious, and it nearly ended my world twenty years ago. I'm sorry. Honestly I am.

I suppose the noble thing to do would be to raise my hand publicly and let myself be sacrificed for the greater good, but I've been trying way too hard to stay alive lately to give up now, so I guess I'm sorry for being selfish as well. If it helps, there's no real guarantee getting rid of me would solve your problem anyway. I've been on the street, spoken to people, been breathing out virus particles the whole time I've been here. The virus is out there, it's probably spreading, and there's no way around it.

The good thing is, 1) you've got someone whose parents fought this war and won, and 2) I'm not sure it's contagious to the locals, and I'm hoping not, because that could be what keeps this from becoming an epidemic. I've attached a file detailing what I can remember off the top of my head about the virus, what it does, and the means of combating both it and the infected. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have and help in any way that doesn't get me shot in the head, but first I am going to go and take a long nap. Maybe it turns out this isn't real after all.

[ Attached is a file containing this basic information, but in a hell of a lot more detail. Replies to responses here will come ~12 hours later and from another anonymous console at another location in the city. Georgia wasn't kidding about that nap. ]