dead city ; a post-apocalyptic RPG.

[prey.]

{ i. } { ii. }{ iii. }{ iv. }

Years ago something happened to the world -- the universe -- that no one-man could believe. It wasn't that zombie apocalypse so-many teens grew to love; it wasn't a world-war III, and it wasn't an out-break of any disease -- What this devastating event was was an invasion from outer-space. But who invaded were not the black-eyed, wrinkled-green-skinned, friendly beings of good ole ET's race. No, they were made of metal and no soft-organs or bones could be found inside their bodies; wires were all that controlled them, other than an intelligent computing system contained within their exo-shell encrusted heads. They were synthetic beings, incapable of any emotions. They were monsters of destruction. And they were on a mission.



What these metal-lugging beasts wanted from earth was unknown in the first years they lived on the humans' planet. They simply marched around every street of every-town and city each morning at 4-AM, their heavy feet clunking a cadence against the ground. For many years, this seeming-ritual baffled the natural inhabitants of earth; they awoke one-morning to the sound of metal being plastered against the ground and a feeling of dizziness. When they looked out their window, all they saw was a seemingly-endless flow of six-foot, silver robots who marched in a uniform pattern, eyes glowing red and the low hum of their machine-insides. The occasional sound of a monotone, computer-formed voice could be heard by the one robot who lead the rest. He said one-time every hour a string of non-understandable letters, "Dep saey, ahnlava." The voice rang out to all of the other robots and they all stopped marching at the same-time to say the words, "Dayp saey, lanva-ahn." Over and over again for five minutes, the robots spoke those words. Disturbed humans stared in pure-terror at the robots, afraid to leave their houses.



For a time, to the on-lookers, the robots seemed innocent. But the humans' natural system of "fight-or-flight" prevented them from approaching the robots; most chose the flight path while some chose to fight. Armies of humans assembled in-font of the robots on the night of Christmas Eve, guns ready to exterminate the robots who invaded their world. When the commanders said go, their troops moved out and began to rage war against the invaders. Nothing seemed to penetrate their armor, however. The robots would fight back with one, simple beam of light that murdered the troops in an instant.



The world was ever becoming more agitated with the presence of these robots. By the tenth year, a whopping half of the population had been wiped-out by the invasion. The robots continued to march the streets every morning and repeat the same words for ten more years before leaving only a third of the population alive. December 24th, 2034, the robots assembled together and rose into the skies, leaving the planet in a massacre of bodies. The remaining humans had mostly gone insane, their brains not sure how to react to the situation. However, there were still a few competent humans left on the planet. They began to form groups that would fight to keep their race alive.



2040 marks the year that 100,000 competent citizens lived. That is this year.



While some are fighting for the better good, some are still fighting to tear the world down and to leave it in flames. It is conspired that these humans are inhabited by the robot race who had begun the apocalypse. Without any knowledge of how to tell a robot from a living, how are you to know who's your ally?



This very fact has caused great distress within the remaining numbers, most unable to look at another in the way they might have before. The apocalypse turned every adult into a protective machine, fighting to save their kin and children from what is to come.