In the Absence of Luck

[spoiler]Sage cried out as the sunlight flooded her eyes. She felt them begin to water, but Sage embraced the feeling. At long last, freedom awaited her! There would be no more sitting hour after hour in her dark cell, praying for any movement to break the monotony. There would be no more tripping over every bump on the floor, getting sick at every meal, hitting her head on the ceiling, endless nights of insomnia, or anything that her life in the prison held.

The prison guards guided her into the hovercar. Real tears dripped down her cheeks as the vehicle rumbled to life. She was free!

Sage felt like laughing, something she had not done for years. She felt like singing her joy out into the heavens. One of the two prison guard watched her suspiciously as he snapped her handcuffs onto a ring on the hovercar’s wall.

"You are not out of the woods yet, you know..." he said scathingly. Sage looked at him, confused. The other guard turned away from the hovercar's controls for a moment. He laughed at the look on Sage's face.

"Did you really think you could skip back to your old life?" he taunted. "Not likely! You need to go through rehabilitation before you have any amount of freedom."

Sage stared at him, her moment's worth of euphoria melting away instantly. She gritted her teeth. The guards were playing with her again, holding back just enough information to make Sage ask the inevitable question...

"Rehabilitation?"

The guard next to her gave a short bark of laughter. "We will be seeing you back with us soon enough."

Sage growled at him. "What makes you so sure?"

The guard at the wheel smirked at Sage through the mirror. "Hardly anyone makes it through rehabilitation. Most of them end up insane. Not that I blame them. There is only so much filth you can stand in a building. Ten luckless convicts under one roof? I’d rather die!”

“That can be arranged,” spat Sage quickly. “What do you mean ten luckless convicts under one roof? It was like that in the prison!”

“But none of you ever saw one another, did you? No. As long as you convicts are nice and isolated, you play nice.”

Sage gritted her teeth. “This is a trap,” she spat furiously. “A trap to keep us from ever getting out of the system.”

The guards shared a chuckle. “Why would you think that?” sneered one.

Sage gave a furious cry as she lunged toward the guard. Her handcuffs jerked her back, sending her crashing into the hovercar wall. The guard laughed harder. He wiggled a finger in her face.

“Naughty, naughty… You’ll not last long away from us if you keep acting like that… [/spoiler]

THE SETTING

You live in the year 2897. The government has found a way to create luck itself. People now need only to wish for something to appear on their doorstep for it to appear. Any type of work or career is purely recreational. No one has any obligations other than to themselves. With their boosted artificial luck levels, the people are kept safe, happy, and healthy.

Save a few.

There are a few people in the world who still feel the urge to do wrong. Some people do so out of spite, others out of self defense. Either way, the punishment is swift and harsh. Law enforcement will catch up to them quickly, because no one can constantly wish not to get caught. And the police have employed ‘Wishers’ whose only job is to wish that a specific convict is caught by a specific police squad.

The convict’s artificial luck levels are immediately deleted, and they are put back into a holding cell for any given amount of time, depending on the crime committed. Once their sentence is served, the convicts are put back into their old life, with their luck partially restored.

The only exceptions to that general prison system are labeled ‘Special Cases’. For these criminals, the punishment is much longer and much harsher.

THE PLOT

You are all Special Case convicts or Rehabilitation staff.

If You Are A Convict: For one reason or another, it was deemed that you spend an unusually long amount of time in the prison for your crimes. And now, at long last, your sentence is over. But there is more to your punishment that meets the eye. It comes in the form of ‘Rehabilitation’. You are furious about this added punishment of having to prove yourself as ‘changed’ by dealing with others of your kind. To top it off, the government has not yet given back your luck, so you will be subjected to humiliation in front of your fellow convicts. As your Rehabilitation progresses, you begin to feel even more rebellious against the system.

If You Are A Staff Member: You can be an intern, a specialist, a guard, or any occupation that you think would work at Rehabilitation. Your personalities can vary, but you all have one thing in common: Luck. You are used to getting what you want, how you want it. Other than that, you are given pretty much a free reign in all of your beliefs. The only thing I do not want you to be is rebellious against the established system in the BEGINNING. If your character becomes good friends with a convict through the story’s progression, and starts to resent what the government has done, that is fine.

THE RULES

*GRAMMER! Please, please please use spell check! It is your friend, and wants to help you.
*Make your posts a good length. I don’t want any ones that look like this:

Sam walked into the corner. “What are we going to do?”

*No sex, please. No one wants to hear it.
*For most cursing, stick to “Fred cursed violently.” Or “Billy swore loudly.” But, of course, I will allow a few well-placed minor words…


Profiles For Convicts:

Name:
Age: (18 at the very youngest. Please take into consideration the age of your character when he/she commit the crime.)
Gender:
Appearance: (Pictures are fine, descriptions are fine too)
Crime: (You are a Special Case… This won’t be a “I robbed the convenience store and got 20 years.”)
Sentence: (7+ years… You decide)
Personality:
History:
Other:

Profiles For Staff:

Name:
Age: (18 at the very youngest)
Gender:
Appearance: (Pictures are fine, descriptions are fine too)
Position in Rehabilitation: (Intern, doctor, guard, etc. Be creative.)
Personality:
History:
Other:


***MY CHARACTER***

Name: Sage Fleming

Age: 33

Gender: Female

Appearance: http://melora.deviantart.com/art/The-Elephant-and-the-Thief-32751846

Crime: Murder of an old man and evasion of authorities

Sentence: 10 years

Personality: Sage has the remnants of the woman she used to be, but they are very faint. She is stiff and impassive mostly, but every once and a while she will dream of her old life. She is defensive and sarcastic, but will usually avoid conversation or human contact. She is very susceptible to jibes and other types of insults, and lashes out at whoever issued them.

History: Sage was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. She decided to take the shortcut to her home one night, and was attacked by a man in an alleyway behind a row of old shops. Mindlessly, Sage fought back tooth and nail, wishing desperately that she would get away. But the man was obviously wishing the same thing on his side, and when two wishes collide, they are both canceled out. So Sage remained locked in battle with the man. Finally, her wish seemed to get an edge on his, and she was able to knock him unconscious. The old man ran out of his shop screaming for the authorities. Terrified of being arrested and still pumped full of adrenaline, Sage attacked the man to silence him. Sage ran as soon as the man went silent. She didn’t know until later that he had been killed.

Still, Sage ran from the police at every turn. She didn’t sleep for days, her mind busy wishing not to get caught. But exhaustion caught up with her, and Sage dozed off. When she awoke, police had her surrounded and handcuffed.

Other: Up for love.

Name: Gabriel Stone

Age: 30

Gender: Male

Appearance: 5'11" 175 lbs. Light brown hair, grey eyes, pale. Generally looks aloof.

Crime: Burglary and forgery of many expensive artifacts and heirlooms.

Sentence: 7 years

Personality: In prison, he's resentful and withdrawn. When someone tries to get a rise out of him, which happens frequently, he meets it with a sneer and a sarcastic remark. This has gotten him in trouble a few times with the guards. Outside of prison, he was polite and difficult to read. One thing's for sure, he's intelligent.

History: Gabriel started off his criminal career at a fairly young age. As far as anyone knew, he was a quiet young man who spent most of his time making models of things. The truth was he was tired of having a life in which he could get anything he wanted without having to work for it; he needed a challenge. For five years he broke into bigger and bigger houses, stealing anything that presented him with the challenge he longed for and replacing them with detailed replicas. Eventually he moved on to museums, banks, and offices.

Then one day the police came to his apartment because his roommate's luck was being glitchy and causing a disturbance. One of them stumbled into Gabriel's room and was surprised to find several artifacts Gabriel had stolen the night before. He was promptly arrested.

Other: Up for love if you can get through to him. Be prepared to put up with a lot of catty remarks from this one.

Name: Waverly Rolfs

Age: 19
Gender: Female

Appearance: Her Face
Her outfit

Crime: Murdered a young woman for stealing her purse and accidental death of her mother (she was blamed of course) also attempted murder of her father.

Sentence: 7 years

Personality: She has a quick temper and is not a fan of people. She's very private. She doesn't like other people like her, so she hates being in jail. She is a bit crazy, but it's more of a dark, evil crazy than a insane crazy.

History: She has only ever loved one person. Her mother. She was convicted when she was 12. She is now 19 and is so happy that she gets out but is so angry that she has more punishment and that she has to interact with other people. Sometimes she just wants to be left alone in a place where no one can get to her.

((If after a day or so we have no staff members, I'd be willing to take one on as a second character. That is, if you don't mind.))

Thanks, Buggy! That would be just fine..

Name: Faye Hendricks

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Appearance: Quite a strange case to be in a prison, for she is quite beautiful. She has long cascading brown hair with remnants of red coloring, and large deep green eyes. She is also has curves that kill.

Crime: One of the best con artists out there but the prison has made her a little more truthful. She conned a big mob boss and he framed her for the murder of two young men. Being the best con artist and "killing" made her a special case.

Sentence: 10 years.

Personality: Since prison has mellowed her out she likes to talk. Half the time she is either laughing or joking and the next minute she is dead serious and about to strangle someone. She can get anyone to do most anything for her.

History: She grew up in a normal house hold but discovered lieing at a young age. As she grew up she learned that most people are suckers for most anything and life is so much funner living on the edge.

Other: Up for love?

Okay, everyone! We need staff members!!

Name: Katie Wu

Age: 38

Gender: female

Appearance: 5'3", plump and matronly. Korean descent. Dark hair is greying and usually up in a bun. Usually smiling.

Position in Rehabilitation: Head doctor

Personality: Don't be fooled. Katie may be kind and cheerful, but underneath it all she's one tough lady. She doesn't tolerate whining from patients, is extremely practical, and has seen so many gruesome wounds on the inmates that it's impossible to shock her. Generally, she doesn't use wishing when she's checking up on her patients unless it's absolutely necessary, thinking it takes away from the experience.

History: Katie's been working at the prison since she was 25, and she sincerely enjoys her work. Otherwise why would she be doing it?

Other: She's married, so don't even think about it. XD

Name: Dr. James Fields
Age: 32
Gender: male
Appearance: (Pictures are fine, descriptions are fine too)
Position in Rehabilitation: Creator of the Rehabilitation program (if that's okay). Does some doctor/research duties and mostly is conducting new research for other programs and his own personal enjoyment. He is well convinced he is doing the world and the convicts a great favor.
Personality: Bright and charismatic. James is a well respected man and loves what he does. Despite his seemingly good personality, James can be quite demented. He takes his research very seriously and often takes things too far.
History: Thought up the program ten years ago and it took him five to get it off the ground. Now things are going well, though hardly any convicts make it through Rehabilitation.
Other: Currently working on a few seperate projects, and often tests his experiments on those convicts that show no promise of ever being released. His experiments range from things related to the Rehabilitation center, to things completely opposite.

((EEE! Another staffer! ^^))

((More people join this PLEASE! I want to get this sucker started!))

Okay, great - I think that if we can get one or two more people for each a convict and a staff member we will be able to start... And if the staff member happened to be a guard?? (Hinthint)

Really, though, just a couple more people and we will start! Thanks for your enthusiasm, Buggy!

Okay - I am going to give the 'go ahead' to start posting now, if you wish. (No pun intended.) I will probably post for Sage some time tomorrow or the next day.

But, I will repeat myself. WE ARE STILL OPEN IF NEW CHRACTERS WANT TO JOIN! But, really, guys, we need staff members now, not convicts. There need to be a good ratio between the two.

((Hmm... I think I'll do this thread in first person if no one minds...))

Gabriel Stone

"You aren't taking me home, are you?" It was a simple enough question, but the guard next to me tensed as though I'd asked what the combination to my manacles was.

"What makes you ask that?" The guard was young, a bit younger than I was actually, and he seemed extremely nervous.

"Oh, just a feeling." The truth was that I had memorized the turns they'd taken when they had first carted me off to that dank hole of a prison; I could tell that we'd turned the opposite way of the processing center regardless of the lack of windows. What can I say? I was gifted with a very good memory.

The guard at the wheel, a coarse swarthy fellow, barked out a laugh. "Far from it, Poindexter. You're gettin' put in rehab." He looked back at me and snickered. "You look a little pale there. What's the matter? You scared they're gonna try and fix you?"

I didn't answer. I had read up on Dr. Fields's program before I was caught seven years ago, and the ratio of reformed prisoners to those who had gone mad or were still caught up in the system after a decade of work wasn't comforting.

The driver leered. "Aw, don't worry. I'm sure they'll get you a nice padded cell after you crack. You won't last a month."

My eyes narrowed. "Assuming the place can hold me for a month."

He rolled his eyes, but the younger guard looked a little taken aback. "Y-you couldn't possibly... I mean, you have no luck, why would you even think-"

I shrugged. "Perhaps I've already cracked then," I said lightly. I was pleased to see the young guard edge away from me apprehensively.

It was about a quarter of an hour later when my handcuffs were unhooked from the ring in the car's wall. The guards each took me by an arm (as though that were necessary) and escorted me through the front doors of the dreary institution.

After being thoroughly searched for weapons, they allowed me to sit and wait in a room for the other new 'special cases' to arrive. They said that afterwards we'd be given physicals by a Dr. Wu.

Feeling a bit more anxious than I'd like to admit, I sat quietly in wait of the other new arrivals.

Faye~~

Faye's laughter echoed throughout the dreary halls of the prison, her eyes dancing like wild fire. She had convinced the guard she was safe enough to be let out of the chains, she then uppercutted him then sprinted out on the passed out guard. She was now skipping at hyper speed while being chased down by a gang of officers.

"No way," she whispered as she tripped and tumbled, "No fair!"

"Alls fair in luck," One of the officers replied smoothly while the others cuffed her hands again.

"That used to be an oxymoron," The dark haired girl commented, flirtatiously smiling with the guard. She was led down the corridor and stuffed in a room.

"Nice day ain't it?" She said to the girl sitting in one of the many chairs.

bSage

"Nice day, ain't it?"

Sage glanced up from her feet. A young woman was looking back at Sage expectantly. Sage stared at her.

"... Nice?"

The woman laughed. Sage's eyebrow rose. "Who are you?" Sage demanded once the woman's laughter died down.

Now the woman's eyebrow raised. "Not the cheerful one, are you? The name's Faye. You?"

Sage remained stubbornly silent for a moment. "Sage."

"Mm-hm," mused the woman, this 'Faye'. "So, Sage, who are you?"

Sage's eyebrows furrowed. She blinked irritably before replying. "I told you already. Sage."

Faye blinked at her, then smiled. "Yes, but that's not who you are. Sage is only a name. Who are you?"

Sage glared at her for a moment, then looked away. "I'm not here to spill my life's story to a stranger."

"Considering that we will be here together for a while," Faye responded lightly. "We might as well start now..."

Sage rolled her eyes. She glanced across the room to stare at the only other occupant. A man, perhaps in his thirties, sat on the opposite end of the room, staring at the two women. Sage glared at him icily.

"What?" Sage snapped at him. The man folded his arms across his chest.

"'What'? That is very unspecific. What what, may I ask?"

"What are you staring at me for?!" snarled Sage. She couldn't believe she was having to sit through this. There was no middle ground with these people! One the one hand, Sage had Faye, who seemed all-to-friendly and happy about their situation. On the other, Sage hand this man, who seemed to only want to stare and not answer questions!

The man looked around the room theatrically before his eyes once again settled one Sage.

"Do you see anything else that is interesting to look at?" he asked innocently. The man paused, inspecting Sage from head to toe. "Not that I find you particularly interesting. Only that there is a decided lack of that which one would look at."

Sage gave a low growl, moving to sit at the edge of her seat. If the need aroused, Sage would be up and across the room in a second, waiting to land a well-aimed punch in the man's gut.