SpoilerJonas Bentham Jr. (online handle Culture-Scorch), age 20, is rich. Filthy rich. The kind of rich that you can smell with your /eyeballs/, that's how rich he is. Rich enough to buy a small island and declare himself the dictator of a small island nation, or bribe half of any government he wants into obeying his every command, or build a death ray on the moon...

...Or engineer and build a theoretical geothermal power plant with a planned city around it, instead of all those other ghastly things.

You see, Mr. Bentham Jr. had no intention of hoarding his money or fighting tooth and nail with other corporations for even more money to hoard- unlike his father, Jonas Bentham Sr., CEO of a wildly successful weapons manufacturing company which was responsible in its heyday for provoking quite a few little skirmishes and ethnic cleansings to make an extra buck or billion.

Jonas, naturally, loathed his father in every way. After Bentham Sr. died, Jonas decided that wasting all of his newly inherited capital on a venture to revolutionize and provide renewable energy to the world at no personal profit was both a good way of redeeming the Bentham name /and/ a good way to snub his father's ghost from beyond the grave. And it worked, too- the planned city of Vesuvius is absolutely /thriving/, run by a team of engineers and experts of administration of all kinds, paid with the excess energy produced by the geothermal plant that could be exported to the ever energy-hungry outside world.

Yes, everything was going great in Jonas Bentham Jr.'s life. Nothing to worry about, no ruthless father driving him to succeed in the mathematics and statistics he oh so loathed. Just chatting online with friends, reading the latest critique of altruist ethics and scoffing, and playing the occasional virtual-reality video game in a while.

Say, there's that one game that he was really hyped for, wasn't there? Palace of Caprice, or something?

SpoilerZachary Baker is a very lucky boy.

When he was three, a gas main rupture caused his house to burn down. Zach was found huddled in the front yard, latched to his teddy bear. He was assured that he'd be able to go back home real soon.

When he was six, his father was entered into the Witness Protection Program, and later died when their new home was set on fire in an unprovably-related accident. He was assured that Dad had just gone away for a while, and he'd be back once things settled down.

When he was ten, faulty wiring in their new apartment caused yet another fire, which led to the collapse of part of the building. Zach and his sister were sent to an orphanage, where they were assured that their mother was in a better place, and they'd find a new family real soon.

When he was eleven, he was assured by the firefighters next door that the orphanage couldn't possibly burn down, what with the fire department right next door. When he was thirteen, rioters set fire to the fire department, which spread to the orphanage (and over a quarter of the city besides). He doesn't know what happened to his sister.

This time, Zach ran away before anyone could assure him of anything.

Reconstruction of the city goes slowly; only a little over half the burnt-out ruins have been cleared and restored in the five years since the fire. A smattering of drifters populate the debris, our hero among them. Zachary, now eighteen, is a pale, malnourished and disheveled child, cursed with an abundance of nerves, imagination, and curiosity. He lives alone in an abandoned, partly-collapsed subway station on the city limits. It's not a super great existence, generally speaking.

Living away from society has significantly reduced his exposure to fire and bullshit, though. So there's that, at least.

The Subway isn't so bad an abode if you don't mind the dark, damp or cold. Someone was even thoughtful enough to abandon a pair of train cars there! Technically the whole train is there, but most of it falls within the "partly collapsed" portion of the station. Still, the seats make a serviceable bed, and the engine car is great for pretending to be able to escape this shitty universe.

Zach doesn't have much to his name, most of his possessions having burned down repeatedly. What little cash he has he gets doing odd jobs around the nearby city, and all the stuff he has on him now was acquired on a budget of next-to-nothing. Of note: a mid-size shoulder bag, an artist's notebook, a solar-rechargeable flashlight, a comb, and a smartphone.

The smartphone isn't to keep, but to be pawned off as with previous acquisitions. Look, it's faster cash than odd jobs, okay? Being a homeless orphan is hard.

Theodore remains a constant companion and friend, and Zach will often relate his adventures to the scruffy thing in a misguided attempt to keep sane.


Zachary Baker is a very lucky boy, but he'll be the first to remind you that quality and quantity are not one and the same.

SpoilerBilly is twelve years old.

He lives in a mid-size suburban home with his parents, elder sister, and younger brother. A "difficult child," who "would excel at his studies if he only applied himself," most of his time is spent playin' vidjagames or doodling. He gets frustrated when people try to shut down his creative outlets, and as a result avoids the issue by burrowing deeper into them. Vicious cycle ensues.

Billy might not have so many people on his case if his hobby time didn't so often overlap with his school time. He's argued that it's the school's fault for not being interesting enough, but nobody listens to him 'cause he's just a kid. Whatever.

<TKBebop> began a career in Let's Plays about a year ago when he realized Gettin' Mad At Vidjagames was both appreciated by the internet at large and a thing he already did in private. He enjoys mild popularity, but isn't really doing it for the subscribers.

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OOC: Okay I've never really roleplayed before. This seems interesting, may as well take a shot. I should develop my creative writing style now too. Also, my personality is really different from Delia. This'll be interesting. I'd much appreciate feedback!