Cellular Civilization/Meta

This page is for making plans about how to help improve Cellular Civilization. Feel free to fix errors and make additions to the basic story that already exists.

Be sure to make use of the Chapter map at Category:Cellular Civilization, the List of characters and the Glossary.

Introduction
This story takes place in the "Exodemic Fictional Universe". Aliens from far beyond Earth have long ago visited our world. For the most part, those aliens allow life on Earth to develop without interference and, in fact, the aliens do not appear in this story. However, the aliens have in the past taken some humans from Earth into outer space and there is an underground city on the Moon where humans with advanced technologies live, hidden from Earth humans. Sometimes a few of these technologically advanced humans from the Moon visit Earth and interfere with the course of events on Earth (see Interventionists). In Cellular Civilization, some humans from the Moon try to help an Earth human develop new internet technologies, but blatant interference in the course of events on Earth is frowned upon by the aliens. Other humans from the Moon function as Overseers, a kind of police force that tries to find Interventionists and prevent them from working on Earth.

Time line
The story is not exactly a linear narrative. The perspectives of multiple characters are provided, so there are points in the story where parallel events are happening at the same time in different chapters. The entire story takes place during one week, from Sunday to Saturday. The story mostly takes place on or near a college campus. The original idea was that each chapter describe events from the perspective of a single character, but some compromises and departures from that formula have been made. Still, each chapter is named after the character who dominates that chapter.

Cellular Civilization
This page is intended to be similar to the cover of a novel, providing a short introduction to the story.

CrystalCarbon
For convenience, the first section of this chapter is a "teaser" that takes place on Sunday. "CrystalCarbon" is a computer screen name used by Stefiz al-Arabid. The first page section is not from the perspective of Stefiz (she is not even present). This section introduces the idea of nanites being in use on Earth and introduces several of the main characters. In particular, the couple shown having just arrived at the airport are not conventional residents of Earth. One is a robot (Alfred) and the woman (Dexamene) is from the Moon. The unidentified man (the "young man") in this page section is only later identified as Thomas.

Most of this chapter takes place from shortly before 8:00 am on a Monday until later that same day and is told from the perspective of Stefiz al-Arabid, a computer science student. Stefiz receives a strange phone call from a cyber-stalker, screen name: PAlbert. After her morning classes, Stefiz has a late lunch with her friend Charlie then meets her friend Jenny at the library.

PAlbert
From the perspective of Dexamene Gregores, also known as PAlbert. From the end of her conversation with Stefiz shortly before 8:00 am on Monday and on into the night. Dexamene Gregores has moved into a dormitory room across the street from Stefiz and is monitoring her activities. That afternoon, Dexamene sends an email to Stefiz then meets Charlie at the library. Charlie and Dexamene (as Lanora) have dinner together.

Gradually, the reader learns that Dexamene is an Interventionist.

Charlie
Monday afternoon and on through Tuesday and into early Wednesday from the perspective of Charlie, a pre-med student and friend of Stefiz. Lanora drives Charlie home after dinner. Charlie calls Stefiz and learns that she is mad at him for being with Lanora. Charlie calls Lanora and they arrange to meet for breakfast. After classes are over Lanora takes Charlie across town to her house. Charlie meets Lanora's "Uncle" Andresklo and spends the night at her house. Charlie and Lanora start making plans to invite Stefiz to a party on Saturday.

Mary
Late Tuesday from the perspective of Marisa ("Mary") Bercovich. Mary reports to Campus Security that a strange woman has been snooping around the dorm room of Dexamene Gregores. Mary tells Dexamene about the intruder and Dexamene departs, never to return.

Jenny
About 8:00 am on Wednesday. Jennifer Van Coak, a computer science student and friend of Stefiz has worked through the night on the computing club's Virtual Campus. Stefiz arrives at the computer club's office and is worried about Charlie. Jennifer helps Stefiz use the Virtual Campus to search for Charlie.

Stefi
Wednesday afternoon from the perspective of Stefiz. PAlbert visits Stefiz and invites her to join a secret technology development project. Charlie calls Stefiz and invites her to the party at Lanora's house on Saturday.

Cathy
Thursday morning, Catherine O’Neil confronts the strange woman who has been looking for Dexamene.

Lincoln
From the perspective of a robot using the name "Alfred Lincoln": Thursday afternoon. Receives word through police channels about the physical assault on Catherine O’Neil. Lincoln relays a warning to "Uncle" Andresklo. Friday, Lincoln and Dexamene set a trap for the Overseer who is hunting Dexamene.

Andresklo
From the perspective of Andresklo: Thursday. Getting Charlie ready to be moved off Earth. Andresklo is another robot working with Dexemene.

Thomas
Thomas is a computer science student and a member of the computer club. He has been in classes with Jenny and Cathy and likes both of them, but he is struggling to deal with his "mental health problems" which arise from the fact that during his whole life he has "seen visions" that nobody else can see. He now partially accepts what his doctors have told him: that he has a mental illness and that he should learn to ignore his "visions". During the party at Lanora's house, he is suspicious of Lanora; he thinks she is a spy who is gathering information about university students for unknown reasons, or even worst: she will abduct someone, possibly Stefi or Charlie. This chapter describes how he has come to think about events in his life according to this type of paranoid logic. Thomas has an unusual brain that acts as a "trap" for stray and defective nanites. What he has actually seen in his "visions" is created by nanites in his brain that are in partial contact with the Overseer, Observer and Interventionist communications networks on Earth, but he has no knowledge about nanites and does not understand what he has seen.

Thomas is first introduced in a short scene at the start of Cellular Civilization. Dexamene is in the airport returning from a quick emergency side-trip to Japan. Alfred got in trouble in Japan and is at risk of being capture by Overseers. Dexamene brings Alfred back from Japan in order to protect him. Thomas is returning to campus from a visit to his doctor in his home town, and he notices Dexamene and recognizes her from a dream vision. He excitedly approaches her. She thinks he is insane. Their meeting at the airport has two consequences:

1) Thomas touches Dexamene and inadvertently carries some of her cells to a nanite probe "sniffer" that is located in the airport. The Observers routinely maintain nanite probe scanning systems in all of the world's airports which are used by the Overseers to watch for Interventionist agents who are on Earth illegally. The Overseers constantly monitor data from nanite probe "sniffers" on Earth and they notice two correspondences between the locations of Dexamene's genetic pattern and Alfred's nanorobotic brain siignature; one in Japan and one in the airport near the university. This triggers a special police action by the Overseers and they send an Overseer agent from the Moon to Earth in order to hunt for a suspected Interventionist cell. The Overseer is able to track Dexamene to the university.

2) Dexamene later sees Thomas at the university. She studies him and learns about his special brain. Dexamene decides to make use of Thomas for her plan about how to sacrifice Lanora and Alfred to the Overseer. Dexamene uses nanite probes to plant the idea in Thomas that Alfred is a robot. The unusual brain of Thomas traps some of Dexamene's memory-modifier nanites in his brain. These nanites will later attract the attention of the Overseer.

All goes according to Dexamene's plans until the party. Thomas "looks" (he actually makes use the nanites trapped in his brain) into a locked bedroom and sees Dexamene and Tess together, both "looking like Dexamene". Later, the Overseer captures Alfred and also learns from a quick scan of Thomas' brain and nanites that there are two Interventionist clones on Earth. This disrupts Dexamene's original plans and new choices must be made under emergency conditions during the party. In particular, rather than just make it look like Charlie dies in the tanker truck crash, it must look like one of the two Interventionist clones also dies (Lanora).

Lani
Friday and Saturday, from the perspective of Lanora. Friday evening, Lanora becomes the target of the Overseer. After the party, it is made to appear that Lanora and Charlie are killed in a spectacular accident, but in reality they are taken off Earth along with Alfred. Alfred and another clone of Dexamene (Tess)are sacrificed to the Overseer and go to the Moon as prisoners.

Tess
Friday and Saturday, from the perspective of Tess. Tess arrives on Earth, adopts the role of "Dexamene" and is captured by the Overseer.

Amelia
The Overseer who come to Earth in order to capture Dexamene's Interventionist cell. This chapter includes scenes from across the entire week during which the story occurs.

Dexamene
Saturday, Dexamene sacrifices her sister and Alfred to the Overseer.

The last page section (Robot in black) is a kind of epilog. It is mostly from the perspective of the robot that had received Alfred's downloaded memories (Raul), but it includes a conversation with Dexamene.

The End?
The chapters described above tell the basic story, but there is room for modifications and additions. Feel free to make improvements to existing content. Also, there are many opportunities for additions and for extensions. Where does Dexamene go next? What happens to Stefi? What new planet becomes the home for Lanora and Charlie? What is the story of Andresklo, the "ancient" robot?

The original wikistory concept allows for "branch points" where "different stories" begin. Maybe the the story of a new life for Lanora and Charlie on some other world could be such a "branch". Alternatively, you could make a branch point where a "different story" starts half way through the current story....for example, what if in Cellular Civilization: Stefi, Stefi decided she did not want to work with PAlbert and refused to think about the idea of abandoning Charlie to the care of the Interventionists?

Ideas for branching:


 * Stefi refusing PAlbert proposal.
 * Thomas discovering all the plot and getting in the way of both Interventionists and Overseers, being a threat to their mission on Earth.
 * Thomas being a spy for some foreign government which wants to make a deal with the Moon people.



Illustration project
The story takes place during one week in the late Autumn. I had pictured some nice images of the story locations showing colored tree leaves....many already on the ground. If anyone can find such images that would be great. (see also: Novelas:Media Project)

Alternative: make all the locations be tropical (with palm trees, etc). Done.