The Horizon Initiative | Discussion and Forms

[Wormgod]

A hundred years ago, strange events started happening all over the globe. Babies were born deformed or with odd powers, strange creatures fell from the sky and invaded Earth, and superpowered criminals ran rampant. The crime rate skyrocketed. People lived in fear of the next attack.

Five years later, the government proposed a plan: registration and training. Superpowered individuals would be registered and taken out of the public. Young or inexperienced individuals were sent to the Academy, and after graduation were put under the Horizon Initiative. Some people turned themselves in, all others were arrested or destroyed. The crime rate fell back to normal levels and life returned to normal. With the existence of superpowers, a new form of entertainment flourished. Books, movies, and TV shows based on actual Initiative members or on fake ones were all the rage.

In the present, life is safe again. No longer to random civilians need to worry about ending up in a match between two superpowered individuals. Supervillains are a rare thing nowadays, and any that pop up are arrested or destroyed by the Horizon Initiative. When they aren't fighting supervillains, these odd celebrities live on the Compound, a heavily guarded complex outside of the city. Occasionally the Horizon Initiative "donates" one of their members for a humanitarian mission like stopping a natural disaster or providing publicity for a government-approved charity. But other than that, these members don't leave, because they can't.

In reality, the Horizon Initiative has their superheroes under lock and key. Remember that registry? There is no third option: a superpowered person is either arrested or destroyed. All rebellion is quashed. They can try to hide, but very, very few people can escape the long arm of the law. On top of that, the Initiative has contingency plans for all their supers. Most members have control gauntlets that prevent their powers from being used until they are needed. Some of the more powerful of 'flighty' ones also have tracker implants that can remotely destroy an escaped member. Initiative supers may be beloved celebrities and live in luxury, but they are still prisoners.

We are members of the Horizon Initiative, having already graduated the Academy and been fitted with our contingencies. But we do not forget how we got here.

[Wormgod]

RP Rules

1 - No overpowered characters. I'll let you know what is too OP.

2 - Currently, the only characters we will play are heroes working in the Horizon Initiative: no vigilantes or villains.

3 - Characters age must be 18+ or equivalent for their species (aliens/paranormal/etc)

4 - This is a semi-literate roleplay, so a paragraph minimum.

5 - PM me for any questions!

Horizon Initiative Rules

1 - Do not fraternize with vigilantes.

2 - No secret identities. All names and faces must be kept public.

3 - Leaving the Compound without authorization is forbidden.

4 - Do as ordered in the field. Do not stray from the mission plan.

5 - Any talk of rebellion is to be reported immediately. If you fail to do so, you will also be punished.

[Wormgod]

The Compound

The Compound is a massive sprawling complex of two main buildings and a variety of trailers that come and go as needed. The main building, building 1000 or "The Super House", is where the Initiative members live. It consists of apartments, the rec room, a cafeteria, the training gym, and the sport gyms. The apartments, rec room, and cafeteria are on the ground floor, while the sport gyms are on the second through fourth floors. The training room is the basement. Each super is provided their own spacious apartment with a kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bathroom. Furniture, pets and the like are available upon request. Unusual or suspicious requests will be denied, and reprimands may be handed out. The training gym is a high-tech facility that can simulate a wide variety of battles and conditions. The rec room has all the oldest and newest electronic systems, from high-powered gaming computers to the new Xbox. The internet is monitored and all communication is reviewed manually for any information leaks. The sport gyms are massive full-sized fields for soccer, football, basketball, tennis court, bowling alleys, and an Olympic pool. On top of the Super House is a sprawling park and garden so the Supers can get some fresh air. It actually has a pond and trees, like an actual park! The park is surrounded by an invisible forcefield though, so don't get any ideas.

The second building, number 2000, is not as big as the Super House, but it's still massive. It consists of a five story office building that holds most Horizon Initiative staff. Of course, there are guards all around the Complex, but most staff work out of this building monitoring the supers and the public. Often Initiative staff come to the Super House to eat at the communal cafeteria.



Supers have a dress code. Most of your time will be spent in a grey jumpsuit. It is comfortable and functional and bugged to high heaven and serves its purpose. Athletic clothing like tank tops, t-shirts, yoga pants, etc are provided for exercise. Supers can choose their own superhero outfit, provided it is approved to fit Horizon Initiative standards.


Date and Time

May 15th, 20XX

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[Wormgod]

Feel free to add whatever you want, but don't subtract.

Name
Alias
Age
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History
Other

Code: Select all

[b]Name[/b]
[b]Alias[/b]
[b]Age[/b]
[b]Gender[/b]
[b]Contingency[/b]
[b]Powers[/b]
[b]Appearance[/b]
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[b]Other[/b]

Member List
Name | Alias | Age | Gender | Powers | Link to form

Phoebe Jones | Arachne | 24 | Female | Arachnid Physiology | X

Tatsuo Hashimoto | Duburu | 23 | Male | Duplication/Cyborg Physiology | X

Florence Blaidd | Magpie | 22 | Female | Material Tattoos/Enhanced Vision | X

Katarina | Matris Autem Aqua | 19 | Female | Waterbending/bloodbending | X

[Wormgod]

HOSTAGES AT SEA!

A returning cruise ship ten miles away from port suddenly stopped and sent a distress call! Other ships and the harbor receive the call, but it was cut short before they could get all the details.

All we know is this: a passenger aboard the cruise suddenly took the ship hostage and demanded all their valuables. He displayed some type of destructive technology or superpower to show he meant business. The ship’s crew and security force complied and he collected some valuables. Then he started to rant about his life—and cut the radio via unknown means.

His threat level is unknown. He may have technology or superpowers. All we know for sure is that he is violent, unstable, and a lot of lives are at risk. Be vigilant and swift. Disarm if capable. Keep him away from the civilians.

[Wormgod]

Name: Phoebe Jones

Alias: Arachne, after the Greek legend of how spiders came to be.

Age: 24

Gender: Female

Contingency: So far the only contingencies are of a Phoebe-specific kind: mass produced antivenom given to any Horizon Initiative personnel that will be working around her, just in case. Phoebe is not a candidate for dampeners (all they could do is dampen her Spider Talk, and that's not very useful) but they are prepared to give her a kill switch if she turns on them.

Appearance: Phoebe stands at 5’5” but appears to be bigger due to her extra legs. She is pale from years of hiding inside and only leaving at night. She is thin but muscular, with frizzy-curly dark brown hair and eight pairs of eyes. Her main pair—or “human pair”, as she dubs them—are blue. The other six pairs are solid black with equally black eyelids. The second largest pair sit above the main pair on her forehead, and the third two sit just above the bridge of her nose. Her third pair are half the size of the others, and the fourth are a quarter of that. Those last two pairs are rarely open, as Phoebe says they barely function for sight and only help to focus her spider-powers. Phoebe also possesses a pair of fangs that can excrete venom if needed. She keeps them hidden behind closed-mouth smiles.

Phoebe has four extra legs extending from her back. These legs look and function just like a spiders: longer than she is tall and jointed in five places. They are covered in what Phoebe calls “peach fuzz” but is more accurately termed “trichobothria”, fine hairs that function to sense vibrations. The legs and hair are black with red patches on each joint. Phoebe's lower arms, legs, feet, and back are covered in this same hair, which prevents her from wearing shoes, pants, or full shirts. Instead she wears specially designed soft shorts and backless shirts that don’t rub her fuzz the wrong way. Her feet are rough and calloused from a life without shoes.

Phoebe does possess spinnerets on her wrists. They look like small slits on a bulb, like a funny little pouch. She can control whether the silk that comes out is thick, thin, sticky, or smooth. She cannot shoot the webbing out without the help of specially designed high-pressure shooters. Without the shooters, the webbing is pulled out and placed by hand.

Abilities: Phoebe possesses a range of arachnid powers and weaknesses.

Superstrength - Phoebe is stronger than the average human. She can lift four times her weight by hand and can use her webbing to carry more. In a pinch, she can lift cars, but don’t expect her to be throwing any around.

Superspeed - Phoebe is fast, thanks to her extra limbs. However, she is built more for endurance running than sprinting. She can match Usain Bolt (30mph) but not the cheetah, and can easily run for two hours.

Wall-Crawling - Like her smaller counterparts, Phoebe can find a comfortable perch anywhere that can hold her weight.

Spinnerets - Phoebe produces natural silk from glands in her wrists. She can spin thick, thin, sticky, and non sticky webbing. This webbing is as durable as a spider’s silk. With the aid of her mechanical shooters on top of these glands, Phoebe can shoot them out. Making this web is hard work, however, and hours of constant production will leave her malnourished and dehydrated. Old webbing can be eaten to provide silk proteins for newer webbing. Phoebe mostly uses her webs to make her “nest” (a comfortable hammock on the ceiling of her room) and to make her own clothes.

Venom - Phoebe’s fangs contain a powerful neurotoxin that can paralyze and potentially kill. She has never bitten anyone (as a kid she bit stuffed animals and teething rings, though) but she keeps the antidote on her, in her room, and gives doses to Horizon Initiative just in case.

Enhanced Vibration Sensitivity - Phoebe was blessed and cursed with enhanced senses. Thanks to her “peach fuzz”, Phoebe can sense even the tiny movements of insects near her. This sense spreads to anything she touches, so she can sense even far away vibrations through walls or webs. This also means she has never been to a concert, a movie theater, hates crowds, and keeps all music at a low level. Loud noises physically hurt.

Spider Talk - Phoebe can talk and control spiders. Phoebe really doesn’t like controlling them, because she claims spiders possess feelings and personalities like people and controlling them is no better than mind control, so she sticks to talking to them. Most spiders are freaked out by the Giant Spider trying to strike up a conversation, especially as nearly all spiders are not social, but the colony species are friendly. The ones that do talk revere her like some type of god or supernatural entity.

Cold Sensitivity - Thanks to her “peach fuzz” and extra legs, Phoebe is stuck to wearing shorts and open backed shirts. This means she stays inside all winter instead of suffering through the cold or wearing uncomfortable winter clothes.

Molting - Not so much an ability more than a thing that happens. Phoebe does not grow like humans. Instead, she molts. As a kid she molted a lot, but now she only does it following a severe injury and once every year. Molting starts with being incredibly hungry for a few days, then a loss of appetite for another few, and then the actual molt. Molting takes a few hours and feels awful and gross like growing pains all over. The next day her skin is incredibly sensitive and lacks any scars that the old skin had. The old molt is then taken to a bio-hazard incinerator, like the ones in hospitals.

Personality: Friendly, energetic and full of dry humor, Phoebe wears her heart on her sleeve. She pretends the mean comments don’t get to her, but she’s incredibly defensive when people are shocked or afraid of her. This has resulted in many arguments with civilians and the media. Despite her shame, Phoebe continues to be the face of the Horizon Initiative's "visibly mutated community". Phoebe does lots of interviews, videos, commentaries, and is active on (carefully monitored) social media to reduce the stigma around "ugly" or "frightening" supers. The Horizon Initiative's social media team love her for being a volunteer and for making them look so good. And despite the absolute lack of privacy and autonomy, Phoebe is willing to forgive the Initiative for it, because their PR campaign is working! Phoebe and other scary-looking supers are bullied a lot less and often treated like normal people.

Background: Phoebe was born to parents that fiercely love her but not each other. She was an accident, and neither family knew they were carriers for a "superpower gene" until Phoebe’s ultrasound. Thanks to her extra legs, it was rather obvious she was not normal. Still, her parents love her to death and kept her.

From birth Phoebe was hidden from the world by her mother who feared the horror and hate of strangers, especially from the government. Her father, adamant that Phoebe needed social contact and “I spit on anyone who says she isn’t perfect just the way she is!” took her out anyway. Phoebe had half her doctor’s appointments at home and half at the clinic, depending on which parent was home that day.

Just before she turned 4, the Horizon Initiative knocked on her parent's door. Her mother answered and at first lied, saying "I don't know what you mean? My daughter looks perfectly normal." but they dropped the polite facade and took out their guns and said they would arrest her parents if they don't cooperate. And so Phoebe was "collected" for the Academy. Contact to her parents was allowed, but only in carefully monitored video calls as a child and then, later, monitored and censored letters twice weekly.

Phoebe has learned that the Horizon Initiative is corrupt, but compared to her oldest memories of strangers (lots of screaming and "oh God don't let it eat me!") and comments on social media, she is entirely willing to obey, only to remove the stigma surrounding visibly mutated people like herself. For now, at least...

Other: Phoebe has a bit of a weak stomach, but in the oddest of ways. She can eat basically any meat no matter how tough or poorly cooked, but fibrous vegetables like corn and celery give her stomach pains. She still requires a normal human's nutrients though, and takes multivitamins to supplement. She jokes that she's a "natural carnivore".

Often when eating tough meat, Phoebe's fangs will instinctively leak. Phoebe can swallow her own venom with no problems. She says it makes the meat taste better.

[Wormgod]

Bump

[Ploegy]

name; tatsuo hashimoto
alias; daburu (taken from the japanese word for double)
age; 23
gender; male
sexuality; bisexual
crush; none / open
nationality; japanese
species; cyborg

appearance; tatsuo is an average built japanese man that stand around 5'7. he has messy, black hair that he spikes up everyday, but it is rather short to keep out of his face. his eyes are a soft brown color but are accented by his rather thing eyebrows above them. he has a rather slim face with a rather small nose. however, he does have several scars across his face from his previous accident. these scars appear across the rest of his human body as well, severing as reminders of his own failure. the worst of these can be found on his lower abdomen near where his cybernetic legs are now connected. he often hides these from everyone in hopes that nobody brings up his past. given his status as a cyborg, tatsuo does have parts of his body that are made from a substance similar to metal although it is much lighter making it easy for him to use. these parts include both his legs and his right shoulder / arm. unlike his usual pale complexion, these parts of him are a light silvery color and stand out when not covered up. clothing wise, when he can choose what he wears, tatsou prefers to live in comfort; lose fitting shirts (especially bro tanks), sweatpants and anything with a more athletic fit.

contingency; in the case that tatsuo turns against them, the horizon initiative have created a program that can easily override his cybernetic body and shut him down. making him immobile may not stop his powers directly, but it makes it easier to catch him. they told him that his monitoring system they put into his new body was purely to monitor his well being a nothing else. another contingency is current in the works for a taser-like weapon that would short circuit tatsuo in case the program itself failed, but it has yet to be finished or given to anyone that works around him as a safety measure. before his accident, a special dart was being made to stop his duplication from working, but with this new one in place they had vaulted this for the time being. it still exists, but they think it would be less effective now.

powers; due to unfortunate circumstances, tatsuo has two sets of abilities; first being the power he was born with and second being the ones he is capable of given his status as a cyborg.

duplication - this is the power tatsuo was born with. his gift is rather self explanatory. he is able to create duplicates of himself, maxing out at five before it begins to strain on his body. this used to be greater in number, but due to the accident that put him at death's doorstep, he was given a partial cybernetic body which does not withstand using his power like his natural body had. of course he can exceed this number, but at risk for his own well being. overusing his power usually causes the cybernetic parts of his body to overheat and malfunction, which in turn render him immobile. as for the effect it has on his human body, he is prone to migraines that cause him to quickly lose focus. the duplicates of himself are usually imperfect copies and depict him with a normal human body rather than the one he current has. when pushing his limits other abnormalities are bound to occur like missing limbs or limbs in the wrong location. while he has decent mastery over this ability, these are things he has never been able to control. he also cannot duplicate anything other than his own body so weapons on his body will not appear on his duplicates.

enhanced speed - due to his cybernetic body, tatsuo's speed has been enhanced. this allows him to move faster than the average human although not at superhuman speeds

enhanced durability - once again thanks to his cybernetic body, tatsuo has enhanced durability in those areas that have been replaced, specifically his legs and right arm / shoulder. his human body still takes damage normally though making it the ideal areas to target when fighting against him

weapons; although he doesn't truly need weapons, on missions tatsuo carries a katana with him in case he needs to defend himself up close or he has become immobile and cannot defend himself any other way. it is difficult for him to wield with one arm if his right arm were to short circuit, but in training his has found ways to make it easier. it is still very much a work in progress though.
superhero outfit; when it comes to his superhero outfit, tatsou didn't stray much from the gray jumpsuit he usually was forced to wear around base. instead of gray however, he has opted for a white one with an orange scarf and light green accents on the shoulders and waist area. he also wears a katana holster on his back with the sash of it coming across his chest. the blade is securely locked in place so it will not fall when he moves about.

personality; tatsuo once had been a rather energetic and optimistic man, but has since become far more reserved. he tends to keep to himself and come off as distant due to him not feeling entirely comfortable with himself. he struggles to find peace with who he is. this was present before his accident, but only amplified after it. while he had never feared to put himself out there before, he has grown to dislike any appearances to the public that he must do. at one time he lived for the spotlight and even enjoyed it, but now he hates having eyes on him because of his own failure. he always feels as if he's being judged by those around him and that mentality has torn him down from the man he once had been. however, he does still bare some of his old self. while he may not show it often, but he is still a cocky man who is confident in his own abilities. he is always pushing himself and trying to go past his own limits even if it means risking his own well being. such a trait was what had gotten him into trouble in the past, but he still sticks to it. his determination, albeit diminished, still is quite strong. he may not desire to return to the spotlight in the same manner that he once had, but he wants to prove himself once again, tatsuo wants to prove his strength though he has his doubts that he will ever be able to do such. towards the other powered people, tatsou feels far more comfortable, even after his accident. he feels at peace around them for the most part and feels as if he cane related to them. he often shows kindness towards them although he does avoid those who he thinks would still shame him for his failure.

history; tatsuo was a child that had gone under the radar for several years due to his ability manifesting on the later side. neither of his parents were aware that they had carried the gene nor had they known their son had been born with powers until one day that ability kicked in out of nowhere. as a child he was unable to control such a thing and thus ended up in the hospital for overuse of it. for several days he was left unable to move and became rather scared. however, it wasn't long after his release that his family was asked to turn him over peacefully. even though they hated to see their only child go, they knew they had no choice and tatsou was brought into custody at the age of eight. despite these circumstances, the boy seemed to make the most of it. of course he was aware that he was not a free man, but he knew there was no point in trying to rebel. he instead took the opportunity to hone his skills and make himself better. his mindset shifted to becoming a hero rather quickly and that caused him to grow immensely. he was thankful for the training and schooling her received while in custody, but he knew one day he wished to be his own free man and to be a hero that wasn't told what to do. this mentality was what ultimately lead to his accident. shortly after graduating the academy, tatsuo was deployed to deal with a rogue superpowered individual that refused to turn themself in. while he was full of confidence, the battle told another story. to his own dismay, his own weapon has been used against him and critically injured him. at the time, some thought it might be best to let him die given how badly he had been injured, but a group came forward and suggested he be saved and fitted with a cybernetic body. they said that a fallen hero trying to rise backup would make for a great story and the general public would eat that up. as such, tatsuo was saved for just that reason. while the rogue had also been caught when he was rescued, it was no thanks to him and he has since had to live with his own failure. over the years, he has also figured out the plan that was placed upon him. for now he lives with it, but there is no telling when he might think of turning simply to prove himself.

other; tatsou can speak fluent japanese as well as english and even though he has not been home in quite some time, he still has retained a light accent when he does speak the latter.

tatsou also tends to drink coffee far too often which causes him to be a bit of a night owl. it isn't rare for him to oversleep and miss morning activities.

if one of tatsuo's cybernetic limbs were to become broken or in need of replacement, it is entirely possible although it may take days before they are finished making it difficult for him to do anything.

[Wormgod]

Accepted!

[Lemon Tea Rain]

Name Florence Blaidd
Alias Magpie
Age 22
Gender Female
Contingency In order to prevent Florence from holding on to and hiding everything she comes across, her jumpsuit is tailored in a way that her sleeves can't be rolled up past her elbows and her legs can't be rolled up past her knees. They hope that this will discourage her from trying to keep ahold of the things she comes across, but as an added measure most of the things that come in to her possession are coated with a substance that makes her incapable of using her power on it. There's a small device in her jumpsuit that takes note of each item Florence is using her power on, and if she tries to take an unauthorized item anywhere it will alert a staff member.
Powers Florence has two notable powers:

- Material tattoos. Florence is able to take any object and store it within her skin as a material tattoo. The tattoo is always a life sized, black silhouette of what she has stored and will be exactly where she pressed it against her skin. She can physically feel the weight of what she stores, so there is a limit to the size and how much she can carry at one time reasonably. The item has to be in direct contact with her skin when she wants to store it, and it can't overlap with another tattoo. Only she is capable of removing the item from herself, but enough of a shock to her system would be enough to forcefully eject an item from tattoo form in to item form again.

Enhanced vision - Florence has very sharp eyesight and can see for remarkable distances. She is very easily distracted, however, and is more often looking for things to hoard than what she should really be looking for.
Appearance Florence is a 5 foot 4 woman with piercing grey eyes. She has wavy, shiny black hair that comes to around her shoulders and she spends a lot of time looking after it. Her skin is consistently littered with small tattoos, although they never stay for long - she's usually forced to hand them in whenever she wants to go anywhere. She has fair skin that contrasts greatly with her hair and tattooos.
Personality Florence is a very easily distracted individual, who spends her time living in the here and now. She's very friendly and excitable, and enjoys spending time with other people whenever possible. Unfortunately, she's also somewhat of a kleptomaniac - anything shiny that catches her eye is automatically something she wants, and she doesn't have much concept of things belonging to people. That is, things belonging to other people - she can be extremely protective over the things she tries to hoard. She can be very talkative and often goes out of her way to include people in her conversation, even if they don't always want to be.
History Florence developed her powers very early in her life, storing items in her skin as young as two years old, and although her parents didn't mind having a super as a baby they were very torn about what they should do. Her parents had viewed the horizon initiative as a positive for a long time, but believed handing in their daughter when she was old enough would be a cruel thing to do. It wasn't until she was older and began stealing things that her parents got the idea in their heads the horizon initiative might not be so cruel after all. They figured that if they kept their daughter at home, she would grow in to some sort of thief - some sort of criminal. And so, when the horizons initiative came knocking, they handed Florence over willingly.
Other She has a small hoard of marbles she's allowed to keep as a comfort item. She takes any opportunity she gets to add to her hoard.