[Law]: On Hiatus

[Law] is a text adventure highly focused around queolchrost. The first character will be a queolchrost on Alphim-Queol as will many others. It will vary in timescale to deal with events. For example, exploring a warehouse would be done in a scale of action to action, while a time of average work will be less in depth and more of a management phase regarding things such as funds. Information in this post has been broken into spoiler boxes to save space and quite literally act as a spoiler box in the case of the Compendium.

Disclaimer:

An Important Note:Show

Portrayals of the universe will not always be accurate and strength, methodology, and many other things will be modified to fit the 'system'. Or in summary, this is just an adventure and not everything in it applies to queolchrost. While much of it may, some parts will be embellished for effect. Some parts will be fabricated if required to fill a role lost to something else. It will depend on how events unfold. They do say that Law is often an example of living documents.

How Voting Will Work:

Overseer's Note and Explanation of VotingShow

Welcome. I am glad to serve as your Overseer and Narrator for this experience. To begin, a note. Votes will be taken for actions and the majority will often be chosen. However, if an option close to the majority appears to make more 'sense' or there is good reason to reject the option sometimes this will not be the case. After 3 rejections on a voting time, a different action will be selected, even outside of votes. Note that rejections will likely only occur for actions that are highly likely to cause harm, such as jumping into a volcano. Minor shifts to a choice that was quite similar to the majority will likely be more common, but as they are minor will not be of much effect. Like walking into the room slowly instead of just walking into the room. Moderate shifts would likely only occur if there was a good reason not to do something and another option had decent support. Such as walking into a left door without warning signs as opposed to a door labeled with 'High Risk of Death: Radiation'. Providing reasoning behind a vote significantly helps. Notice: It is important to Note 'Not a Vote' or 'NaV' if your response is not a vote. Otherwise it will be counted as a vote. Words in spoilers can be used to ask questions to your overseer. Note that the overseer is likely to only provide information on mechanics in most scenarios.

The First Vote Required:

The Universe: The First VoteShow

One of the first orders of business is choosing a 'universe difficulty'. You are allowed to know of the following options. In these available settings, danger scales to density and will be more common in higher difficulties.

Alone: The queolchrost species is truly alone in the universe. The outside will be barren. Least dangerous.

Sparse: The universe is barren to a degree. It may be possible that the universe is not barren, but if life exists it is sparse. Minor danger.

Medium: Life is rare in the universe and valuable materials exist in many locations. Moderate danger.

Dense: Many intelligent species exist in the universe. Many resources exist and danger is high. Locked: Unlock by completing at least one universe.

It is highly recommended to choose Alone or Sparse for the first universe.

A guide that will update as more is discovered and/or relevant.

CompendiumShow

Information on mechanics and other important affairs will be gathered in the Compendium.

MechanicsShow

Information on mechanics are found here.

Voting and Talking to the OverseerShow

All posts will be considered votes unless a vote is not open; 'Not a Vote', 'NaV, or similar indication is given in the post, the post is clearly not a vote (Please include a 'Not a Vote' notation regardless), or the post is made in a spoiler box. Portions of post may be divided into Overseer speech or 'Not a Vote' if for some reason the need arises. To do so, simply follow normal procedure for those categories.

Rejection or Substitution: While most of the time, the most picked vote will often be what is chosen, in cases where there is good reasoning to choose a similar but slightly different option, that will occur. When there is a moderate reason against taking the most chosen answer, another answer might be chosen such is in the case of a clear hazard. A rejection occurs when all options suggested are clearly harmful and avoidable such as jumping onto lava when it would be reasonable to walk away. 3 rejections for one action (This is unlikely to occur, I would presume) causes an 'auto-choose' in which the overseer handpicks a vote or another answer.

You may ask questions or otherwise talk to the overseer in spoilers, but you will likely only receive mechanic information in regards to gameplay.

Beginning Universes:Show

A universe must start by choosing a 'universe difficulty'. You are allowed to know of the following difficulties. In these available settings, danger scales to density and will be more common in higher difficulties.

Alone: The queolchrost species is alone in the universe. The outside will be barren. Least dangerous.

Sparse: The universe is barren to a degree. It may be possible that the universe is not barren, but if life exists it is sparse. Minor danger.

Medium: Life is rare in the universe and valuable materials exist in many locations. Moderate danger.

Dense: Many intelligent species exist in the universe. Many resources exist and danger is high. Locked: Unlock by completing at least on universe.

TimescaleShow

The scale of time for events will vary depending on the current actions. Exploring a building is done in much smaller increments than working and managing funds.

• Day's Events: Goes along a day in an action by action method.
  
• Monthly: A monthly management mode that stops midway through months when action is needed.
  
• Monthly Progression Until X: A monthly progression that auto-continues until a major event or X, with X being any event of a signified stop.
  

Position GroupsShow

These are the positions you are currently permitted to know about. Four groups are unlocked.

-General Work: Encompasses work such as factory work, basic research, and most work aside from military/police, bureaucracy, politicians, and such.

-Specialized Work: Work on systems such as Infrastructure. These are only given to highly trusted individuals. Locked: Become a Specialized Worker to unlock that particular job in the group.

-Basic Military/Police: Low level military/police.

-Military Specialized Work/Command: Specialized or higher ranking military. Locked: Become a Specialized Military role or Military Officer to unlock that particular job in the group.

-Self-Employed Merchant: One of the few endeavors not in direct employ of the government. Note that in the beginning, there will be little need of shopkeeps other than government shopkeeps. While certain hobby or homemade goods can be sold, more dedicated trade and travel will require connections to be established with somewhere else. Taxes are still paid to the government.

-Low Level Bureaucrat: A low ranking/starting bureaucrat. Could work in any number of departments.

Elevated Bureaucrat: Higher Ranking Positions in the Bureaucracy. Locked: Reach a level in an agency to unlock the particular position.

-Intelligence Agent: Espionage and similar tasks (unlocked by reaching the respective agency/position)

• Internal Affairs/Secret Police
  

Parliamentary: An Elected Official Locked: Get elected to unlock.

Presidential: This position will not shift personage without extreme conditions, but Leyler Erdel can become playable. Locked: Have Leyler Erdel exit hiding by a method such as 'killing' him or otherwise.

Note that some locked position groups are not shown.

ChanceShow

Some outcomes are based on chance. There is also a chance of events of note happening that are not directly related to your actions.

Entities:Show

Statistics and Information Known about important people and entities.

The Overseer/The NarratorShow

Effectively a method to ask questions about mechanics to a degree and the entity narrating this story. No other information currently available.

Illegal OrganizationsShow

Pre-'War' Religious Groups: Illegal, presumed to be housed below the surface in cleared out subterranean areas that have yet to be officially built in.

Imperial Cult: Illegal, presumed to be housed below the surface in cleared out subterranean areas that have yet to be officially built in.

Background Info:Show

History:Show

150 After Liberation:Show

-"The planet is stable. Infrastructure is thriving. Industry is doing fine. Minerals are running low from what came before. A new program has been created to work on colonizing the moon of a nearby gas giant. The cloak is active. A cloak is being developed for transports and the new colony. The radio probe protocol is being maintained. Police, Military, and Society have been organized Post-'War'. Everything is calm. Mostly. There is one issue. Some reports of worship of Pre-'War' religion and reports of an Imperial cult, based underground, have surfaced. Such activity is illegal. Books on the Pre-'War' era have been outlawed. You are not to speak of the Pre-'War' era if you know of it."

Please submit your votes.

Edit: Notice: I'm putting [Law] on hiatus to write some other stuff and work on some Cosmosdex entries.

Color me curious.

We can start with Sparse if that is alright.

Sparse, because then it'll be m0re interesting.

Yeah, sure, let's go with Sparse!

Sparse has been selected.

However, another vote is required.
There are a few position groups available.

Position GroupsShow

These are the positions you are currently permitted to know about. Four groups are unlocked.

-General Work: Encompasses work such as factory work, basic research, and most work aside from military/police, bureaucracy, politicians, and such.

-Specialized Work: Work on systems such as Infrastructure. These are only given to highly trusted individuals. Locked: Become a Specialized Worker to unlock that particular job in the group.

-Basic Military/Police: Low level military/police.

-Military Specialized Work/Command: Specialized or higher ranking military. Locked: Become a Specialized Military role or Military Officer to unlock that particular job in the group.

-Self-Employed Merchant: One of the few endeavors not in direct employ of the government. Note that in the beginning, there will be little need of shopkeeps other than government shopkeeps. While certain hobby or homemade goods can be sold, more dedicated trade and travel will require connections to be established with somewhere else. Taxes are still paid to the government.

-Low Level Bureaucrat: A low ranking/starting bureaucrat. Could work in any number of departments.

Elevated Bureaucrat: Higher Ranking Positions in the Bureaucracy. Locked: Reach a level in an agency to unlock the particular position.

Parliamentary: An Elected Official Locked: Get elected to unlock.

Presidential: This position will not shift personage without extreme conditions, but Leyler Erdel can become playable. Locked: Have Leyler Erdel exit hiding by a method such as 'killing' him or otherwise.

Note that some locked position groups are not shown.

General W0rk.

I say Military work! Basic military/police. We are Law and all!

general work!! general work!!!

Given that the side with less votes gave good reasoning and was only off by one, the decision has been moved to a coinflip. Heads is dedicated to the side with more votes as they are a'head'. Heads was flipped. (EDIT: I metaphorically cannot type and had to correct a typo.)

General Work has been selected.

Given the wide expanse of careers under general work please select any career that is NOT one of the following (If I have forgotten a position and need to add more to the list, I will inform you of such. However, I believe I covered all of the bases.):

• The presidency, member of parliament, bureaucrat
  
• Military/Police positions
  
• Supervisory positions
  
• Positions in communications, media, security, or infrastructure fields
  
• Espionage
  

Pharmaceutical. let have t0 deal with pe0ple trying t0 say they kn0w a id br0ken in half is a valid id t0 get a western uni0n when its 0bvi0usly n0t and him saying his dad runs the c0mpany when the c0mpany is shared by several 0rganizati0ns, call him a ray 0f sunshine when he insults us, and get a death threat s0 we can g0 h0me early.

... is this a bit much?

Note:Show

Almost all queolchrost are employed by the government fairly directly. That means pretty much any place of work is working for the government. Also ID is going to literally be in the fin and forging that would be a crime...which would likely be found as they need ID for many things. So pharmaceuticals would be a bit more inactive than you're thinking. Death threats would also be illegal. Also queolchrost are synthetic so. No biological parents. Creation is controlled by the government and children tend to be cared and educated in a somewhat 'bland way'. Thus, that portion of life is 'skipped'. Control of them starts with them being new-ish as a worker.Pharmaceuticals is a valid option but the addendum to it won't be accepted due to reasons outlined above. I am presuming you mean pharmacist and not pharmaceutical research as well given that you referenced checking ID.

When I have time, I will be adding some commentary to explain aspects that need clarification. As I have just done above.

n0te t0 self: study species bef0re i say anything ab0ut them.
Als0 im chnging my v0te t0 mehanic

Mechanic has been accepted
However, that career does require one extra bit of selection:
What type of mechanic? Vehicular? Appliances? Computronics?
After that, it can begin.

Sidenote:Show

Not everything about queolchrost society has been written out. Part of this adventure is so that I have a chance to cover some of the more mundane things. Don't worry about if a few details require me to explain them. If you have basic questions that you want clarification on, feel free to ask them.

Vehicular

Vehicular

This works out!

Vehicular has been accepted
Settings:

• Universe Setting: Sparse
  
• Career Group: General Work
  
• Job: Vehicular Mechanics
  
• Special Options: N/A
  

And thus it begins.
Temporally speaking, the story takes place approximately 150 years Post-'War'. The planet is stable. Infrastructure is thriving. Industry is doing fine. Minerals are running low from what came before. A new program has been created to work on colonizing the moon of a nearby gas giant. The cloak is active. A cloak is being developed for transports and the new colony. The radio probe protocol is being maintained. Police, Military, and Society have been organized Post-'War'. Everything is calm. Mostly. There is one issue. Some reports of worship of Pre-'War' religion and reports of an Imperial cult, based underground, have surfaced. Such activity is illegal. Books on the Pre-'War' era have been outlawed. You are not to speak of the Pre-'War' era if you know of it. You are not in an illegal organization. You were not in the Pre-'War' era.

You have finished your education programs. Your adolescence has been uneventful like countless others. You did as required and were taught the basics of subjects, the importance of society and loyalty. Later, you were taught your field, which you were able to select quite easily as it needs more to prepare for the upcoming colonization. Or rather, they'll need ones here to replace the ones leaving. You just recently joined as a mechanic into the government's wonderful workforce. You aren't quite in the right range to apply for the colony yet. Perhaps you will be one day. Perhaps you will be something else.

But as of now. You need to work. It is the First of Twelve Months. The Year is 150 AL. It is six hours into the 'morning'. Time doesn't mean much with artificial lighting covering when the sun isn't shining. You have approximately 250 units of currency in your account. Blackout curtains are a wonder. You have about two hours before you are due at work, which is walkable in about twenty-five minutes.

VOTE: Set Timescale to Day's events or Monthly.
Day's Events will go through today. (Active Mode)
Monthly will go through the month. (Management Mode)

Note:Show

As of the moment, Day's Events will be quite small due to the insignificance of an average day. Monthly mode will take you by month, stopping part way if a major event requires input.

Additionally, you make pair a time vote with a command such as:

• Day's Events: Let's go to work. No dawdling.
  
• Day's Events: Let's look around the house.
  
• Monthly: Go to work and perform life as normal
  
• Monthly: Go to work as normal, then go to the store near the end of the month.

lets go with monthly for the time being!

Seconding the monthly suggestion for now. Try to work extra hard this month- show up a little early and stay a little late. After all, it never hurts to try to make a nice impression on your superiors and basically one-upping your peers will certainly win you all of the friends. Clearly.

Monthly Timescale: Go to work. Work efficiently. Try to outperform others at the workplace.
Some events will be up to chance. Some will be influenced by chance. When you are attempting something you lack the skills for, the result often goes to chance.
Chance can create events of note that are not directly related to your own choices.

However, working hard is not up to chance...
...but working better than your seniors is to a degree.
You do not work better than the most senior mechanics. Though, you have been signing up for optional extra hours. Comparatively speaking, you are performing near the top of the civilian vehicular mechanic wing you serve at with all factors but seniority considered. You are doing well. Keep this up and it will likely be noticed. Nothing else of note happens at work.

You earn 125 units of currency this month. As you partake in average housing, and rarely use utilities beyond necessity, and currently consume plain food and water those do not cost additional fees. Nothing particular of note happens residentially.

No particularly unique news stories about planetside affairs.
Nor about the colonial effort.
You notice there's been a lot more unintelligible broadcasts on some previously unused channels though. Strange things like numbers being broadcast over a channel. You think it is probably a test of some public safety systems.

Vote: (Switch to Day's Events for 'January 29th'?, Maintain actions, or Change Actions) Do you wish to take any special actions like visiting a store at the end of the month? Or continue to the next continuing the action with this one?

Continue on monthly. Go to the store at the beginning of the month and try to pick up some recording equipment; those numbers could be important. Record the numbers while at work. Go in for work early in the morning but devote some time after work to trying to derive some meaning out of the numbers.

Buy a recording setup to take note of the strange signal. Try to decipher it in free time.
Also, continue monthly hard work with earliness and such.

You purchase a setup of a computer and other peripherals to record the station for 150 units. You have trouble making sense of or deciphering it. Perhaps you would need a codebook, some sort of advanced computational device, or the message is filler? You are unsure. It is unlikely you have clearance to know the message, if it does exist. You should probably leave it alone. A basic computer, broadcast equipment, and a journal can be easily repurposed though.

You are doing wonders at work. You seem to have a knack for this, doing as well as the best in the shop. It seems listening, research, and such is starting to pay off. While nothing else of note happens, you have a feeling that in some months you might get noticed for this.

You lose a total of 25 units overall this month as you purchased items that cost over your monthly pay. Nothing out of the ordinary happens at home.

Planetside and colonial affairs have no major news. The broadcasting continues as it was, with no significant changes aside from the normal variation in numbers and such.

(Vote to continue current options, change plan, or do a 'moment' act like going to a store before the end of the 28th of this second month)

Continue on monthly and going in in the mornings to work extra hard. Keep at recording the numbers; devote time in the afternoon to trying to notice any patterns in the numbers and trying to decrypt some meaning from them.

i agree with ab0ve statement

Repeat
You decide it is probably a cipher, but fail to find the exact meaning of messages, but the beginning tends to have approximately the same amount of characters each time. It seems it starts a series with a 'timestamp' followed by a 'note'. You probably won't be able to actually decipher it without knowing what causes the dynamic nature of the cipher.

You work fine at work. About the same as before.

You gain 125 units from work and nothing of note happens in the home.

There is no major news.

A quiet month.

475 total units

(Vote on whether to continue current actions, change monthly actions, do a realtime action prior to the 31st of the 3rd month, etc.)

Try decoding the numbers as if each were lined up with its corresponding letter in the alphabet (1 = A, 2 = B, 3 = C...) and see if this yields readable results. It looks like we may have stumbled upon someone's private communications. Otherwise continue as normal.