If you keep whining about the tacos, you're not going to get any!

I'm confused. I thought that this game used a THACO mechanic for dice rolls, not a taco mechanic to run for the border.

What am I missing? And why does it smell like swamp muck in here????

I' m in if you still have room. As long as we wear the cool ponchos and our wranglers, it's on!

I am in, if you will have me.

The Players:

Charlesx

St Dumas

Char-Vell

Space Jawa

EmperorNorton

wintremute

aqhoffman

Norym

That's 8 players, so we can get started.

I've used random.org to pick the players for the first round. They are:

St. Dumas

EmpererNorton


Here's the title and blurb:

"Death from a Test Tube!"

Cyborg Ben Franklin and his young protege Susie Einstein are stalked by a genetic experiment run amuck!


You must come up with a story synopsis with a coherent plot that fits this title and blurb. You needn't actually write the story out unless you choose to--you may simply provide a brief synopsis of your story idea, but it must be a complete story idea with a beginning, middle and end.


When you have your story synopsis, PM it to me. I will post both together without identifying who each story belongs to. The remaining six players will then vote on the winner.

I'll make the deadline this Monday by Noon Eastern time. I realize, though, that this is a game that requires a little thought, so let me know if you think you may need more time.

Could you possibly post a sample of the kind of structure you're looking for, just so we have something to work from?

Well, for instance:

Henry Fleming is a young soldier with the Union Army, uncertain how he'll perform in combat but unwilling to admit his fears to his fellow soldiers. In his first battle, he panics and runs.

He falls in with some wounded stragglers, but his shame causes him to eventually find and rejoin his unit, where he claims he was separated from them during the confusion of battle. They go back into battle. Henry fights well this time, having faced and overcome his fears.


You can be more detailed than this in hopes of earning more votes, but something like that is all that's required: a short description of the story that has a beginning, middle and end. It's your choice whether to add an origin story for Cyborg Ben and Susie or just jump right into an adventure with them.

Very helpful, thanks. Just one other question - where do the tacos come into the story? Or are they just a general metaphor for man's inhumanity against man?

The Tacos are a subtle commentary on human/Autobot relations.

Kal- You should do more with that Henry Fleming Civil War synopsis. I think that could end up being something big someday!

And EVERYbody with any literary pedigree knows the tacos were all about the Catholic church and its tyranny in the Dark Ages. Come on, I mean really.

I'm still waiting for my tacos!

Here are the plot submissions from St. Dumas and EmperorNorton. I've simply labeled them Plot #1 and Plot #2, using random.org to decide the order in which to post them.

Plot #1:

Cyborg Ben Franklin and his young protégé Susie Einstein, genetically engineered using genetic material from Albert Einstein and Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, feel lonely in the secret government facility they were created in, so they try to revive a mind brilliant enough to match their own, Nikola Tesla.

When through no fault of their own lightning strikes the kite used to channel the power required for the process not once but twice, things go awry. Nikola Tesla is revived, but his brain was damaged and he comes back not as a man devoted to science. He is bent on world domination.

Franklin’s and Einstein’s only hope is a test tube with a supervirus kept at the same facility that will kill Tesla, but he soon finds out about the virus himself and wants it to blackmail the government. The resulting race for the test tube can only be described as the ultimate battle of wits.


Plot #2

Benjamin Franklin invented the bifocals, the odometer, and the library, but the work he would become most famous for was the harnessing of electricity. Lesser known is work in the application of electricity. As he approached death in 1790, Franklin began work on his greatest creation: immortality. By modifying his body with machinery, Franklin was able to extend his life, and survived through the centuries as an adviser to the United States Shadow Government. Tomorrow, he lives on as an explorer and adventurer as...CYBORG BEN FRANKLIN.

Susie Einsten, a direct descendant of Albert Einstein, grew up in Neu Switzerland in the 27th century. At age seventeen, she joined the Time Traveler's Union, and in her customized spaceship, the Science Rider, she hops around the time-stream, including the recruitment of Cyborg Ben as her partner and friend. Together, they explore the strangest moments of human history and, on occasion, save the world. They are the Riders, and these are their stories.

In this week's feature, "Death from a Test Tube!", Ben and Susie land in the year 2239, at a secret genetics experiment being conducted in Under-Berlin. There, the dreaded Neon-Nazis, led by the phantom Ghost Hitler and hyper-evolved turkey Josef Gobbles, hope to create their new Perfect Man. The resulting creation breaks free, running amok of Lab Number Pi and escaping to the surface, where Ben and Susie track it in the Rider. Eventually, they find the creature, who simply wishes to know his purpose in this crazy mixed-up world. Ben and Susie answer by taking him along as one of their, and thus does Team Rider go from two to three. But can the perfect man be trusted? And just what are the NN planning? Find out next week: Same science time, same science channel!

The remaining six players must all vote on which plot they like best. The deadline for voting will be Thursday by Noon eastern time, though I will post final results and move on to the next round as soon as all votes are in.

I shall vote for option #1.

It's not as good as MINE, but I'll vote #2

I prefer #1