Character Name[]
- Blue Pill Name: Richard Hewer
- Personality: Friendly, a bit quirky
- Liberated Since: approx. July 05
- Faction: Apocalypse Federation
- Crew: Horsemen (Captain)
- Alignment: Zion
- Background and awakening:
Dissever, known before his awakening as Richard Hewer, always had an inquisitive mind. His natural curiosity for his surroundings let him to follow the path of science. He worked as a molecular biologist at the Wright Research building in Vauxton, having become interested in protein interactions towards the end of his education. He enjoyed studying human function at a molecular level, was aware that the molecules were comprised of atoms, and his limited knowledge of physics told him that these atoms were further comprised of subatomic particles. Of course now he knew that this was all just code; the machines had been very thorough in their programming. During his working life he had suffered frustrations as a result of inconsistent experiments. How could it work one day and fail the next, when the same procedure was used? His frustrations left him feeling incomplete, and once he got home from work he immersed himself in research into all elements of the world around him, focusing on other inconsistencies evident in research conducted by his peers. Some areas did not seem to follow 'laws' that the world of science had defined. Reports of certain buildings where the laws of gravity were not consistent with current understanding. A small region where sound was conveyed as a flash of coloured light, yellow when clapping hands for instance. His search gave him the reputation of a scientist gone mad, and his frustrations mounted. Late one night, while he was at work in the lab, his desk phone rang. It was a scientist like himself, who had heard of his plight, and had recently begun to share his frame of mind. They talked for many minutes, exchanging notes, and the guy on the other end of the line nodded to himself and voiced his concurrence. He introduced himself as James Carter, and left his number, explaining that he had to get back to his experiments. The two kept frequent contact and together honed their findings down to a narrow edge. They were at the site of an occurance soon after its appearance, but always were left with no clues to an explanation. Richard, sat in his study at his Baldwin Heights apartment one evening, found a lead after an extensive internet search. He picked up his phone and called James at his home number. Waiting for 10 rings, he got a bit concerned. James was usually home at this time. There was no answer from his cellphone either; something was up. He grabbed his keys and headed out the door, taking the elevator to the ground and walking to his car. A 10 minute drive found him at James' apartment, to which the door was slightly ajar. He called out and after a brief pause, entered the apartment. Everything was in its usual place, as far as he could tell. A sound from the bathroom heightened his suspicions. There he discovered a running bath, the tap on slow and the water just about to run over the brim. Richard turned off the tap, and made his way back to the main hall. James must have been here recently, but now he was nowhere to be found. A week passed and he called every day, but no response was given. The police were launching an active enquiry and had so far come across no leads. Early one Sunday, Richard stumbled from his bedroom to his study in a half-asleep, bleary-eyed morning trance. Switching on his computer and going through the usual motions of checking his regular sources, he found a message, undoubtedly left for him, on the Skeptical Science bulletin board. Its message was cryptic but to him, it was clear: a meeting, today, in Center Park. No time was given. Taken aback by this sudden lead, he was not sure what to do. Should he call the police and inform them? But he had no evidence to suggest anything. He was somewhat fearful of showing up, suspecting that the meeting may be an effort to tie up 'loose ends'. If James had gone missing, why not him also? He spent the morning ambling around the apartment in deep thought, weighing his fears against his curiosities. But with Richard, curiosity always won out in the end, even in situations of impending doom, and he found himself driving towards Center Park. Not knowing where to begin, or even what time he should arrive, he figured that the southern end of the park was as good a place as any to start. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the park. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary; an elderly couple were talking a walk, the man grumbling about his back and his wife telling him to grin and bear it. A woman was jogging with her dog, her music player in her hand. Scanning his surroundings, he was not able to identify the person he was to meet. He sighed and headed towards the north end of the park, letting the world roll around him, lost in his own thoughts. Nearing the northern end, he was beginning to doubt the meaning of the message. Perhaps he had interpreted it wrong, or that someone was playing with him. His thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind him, causing him to visibly start. "Hello, Richard. Oh, do not be startled" Turning around, he came face to face with a thin man, who was wearing a brown trench coat, open at the front, with shorts and a t-shirt under it. He was easily identifiable as one of the "redpills" mentioned in the paper, although Richard had only ever seen a few of these himself. "Are you a Skeptical Scientist?" he asked the man. "I am not. But I did leave the message. I am glad you have come", the man replied. A look of concern came to his face. "I understand that you are searching for a friend of yours, James Carter?" "Maybe I am". The question was not entirely unexpected, but he was disturbed by the situation nevertheless. "Do you have information?" he countered. "Your friend has been seized by the authorities. No, before you mention the police" he added, seeing the expression on Richard's face, "These are not the kind of authorities who are monitored by public bodies of government" "Then where is he being held?" "In truth, I believe that he no longer exists". A pause followed that statement, allowing the full depth to sink in to Richard's head. "So what are you saying, he is dead?" "You have noticed the inconsistencies abberant in this world, I do not doubt. You were searching for the reason, the conspiracy behind it all. Your friend must have got too close to the answer. They got to him first, but I have found you". Another pause. "What have you uncovered in your findings?" he asked. "Well, there is no unequivocal outcome, but I have found many such inconsistencies. Something just doesn't add up", Richard responded. "You know why, don't you? Tell me." The man took a small silver case from his pocket, and flipped open the lid. He turned it around to show me. Nestled inside a foam mould were two pills, one red and one blue. "Ah, no, I don't do drugs", Richard stated, and turned to walk away. The man grabbed his shoulder, turning him back. "If you don't trust me, don't take this now, they will find you. Like they did James Carter". Seeing Richard visibly relax, he went on "The red pill will open your mind to the world around you". "And the blue one?" "The blue pill will put you back to sleep." Well, the blue pill sounded dangerous. He knew already that his curiosity was leading him to the red pill. Its just another experiment, after all. Still hesitant, he reached forward and took the red pill from the case. He held it up to look at it in the light, wondering. "What does it contain?" The man thought for a minute, and replied "It contains a neural antagonist. It will block your neural synapses" Richard quickly replaced the red pill to its case, saying "That will kill me!" At that point, the man's cellphone rang. He excused himself and answered it. A look of fear and disdain crossed his face, which he seemed to convert to determination. "I understand", he said, and hung up. Looking Richard in the eyes, he said "Agents are coming. There is no time for hesitation. If you do not take one of these pills, they will catch you." "Fine", Richard said flatly, picking up the red pill and downing it. The man pulled a small device from his trench coat pocket and started tapping away into it. Looking around, Richard could see flickering, a distortion in his vision. A red glow was emitting from the device in the man's hand, which seemed to be narrowing its focus on him. The now laser beam line, pointing to his chest, became green, and shortly afterwards that world disappeared.