The words become a noose, suspending themselves in the hot, thick, humid air.
Rating: mature
Category: gen, f/m
Relationships: original female character/kisuke urahara
Warnings: graphic depictions of violence, major character death
Tags: action, mystery, suspense, angst, hurt/comfort, trauma, healing, redemption, tragedy, canon compliant, canon related, pre-canon, pre-tbtp, canon typical violence, original character-centric, original female character, original male characters, slowburn, major character death, grief/mourning, additional tags to be added
[link]
Synopsis:
"This is the story of how I died."
Wracked with grief and guilt, Senka has become something she never wanted to be: a lingering, lost soul, condemned to never know peace. Until one day, she meets a strange man clad in all black.
A Soul Reaper.
One who is searching for his missing partner. One who changes the trajectory of her afterlife forever.
From a tentative alliance to trusted companions, Senka discovers a new sense of purpose—a way that would right her wrongs. But the past is rarely forgiving. And there is a conspiracy unravelling in front of her. Soon, Senka finds herself collecting consequences like a long-overdue debt.
And with the millstone of fate turning, Senka must prepare to lose anything and everything in order to make amends. But will she be ready to pay that price?
He wasn’t hungry. He wasn’t sick or dead. His head still hurt. He was standing by a fence and he didn’t know why. His hand was clear in front of him, dark brown fingers curled around the loops of the plastic fence, its colors bright against the drab gray of the rest of everything. Beyond, the static was thicker, but there was movement.
Run.
He didn’t run.
He didn’t know why.
And there was a person there. A small person. A child. A bright holo-glimmer on their clothes. Hair tied up in puff-balls like he’d had once. Mouth open in some kind of expression he no longer understood.
I keep forgetting that sharing snippets is just a thing that I can do. I'll try to share a Cold Iron one later this week, but for now I'm really enjoying writing Za'Niyah, so have something from TDATS:
Za’Niyah hesitated at the top, looking down the steep and dizzying steps, real stone imported from Earth and trimmed in real gold. No railing to break up the sweeping lines.
As a child, she had been so afraid of falling down here that her father had carried her down every morning before school until she was 10. As a teenager she had managed by clinging to one of her parents for family outings, or looking carefully around and then scooting on her ass when she was alone.
One side of the stairs looked out over the open air between walkways and the fluffy clouds below, nothing at all separating her world and and the hundreds of feet to the upper levels of the surface. That was an illusion, of course; the invisible force-nets would catch her if she fell over the side, pulling her tight against the stone edge of the walkway, perfectly safe.
But she would hang there until the authorities came for her, because the only people who fell over the edge needed to be evaluated to see if they required prison, detox, or the institute. She had slipped once at 19, and though she was clearly both terrified and sober, she suspected they really only let her go because she looked even younger, like a wayward and foolish child.
She was beyond that mistake now, so she carefully hugged the smooth wall on the other side, shot through with glittering veins of pink and gold. There was no texture even to keep a hold of, but it was something to lean on so that she couldn’t overbalance each time she raised her foot to move it down a step.
The path beyond that grew easier again; within several feet, railings appeared, required here since the nets weren’t strong enough to catch some of the vehicles used at night to move imports and other merchandise into the shops.
It was an unofficial rule of the spires that you couldn’t walk in any direction for five minutes without encountering a cafe, a holospace, and at least one glossy church flier preaching at you about refreshing your soul on this planet of sinners. Luckily, Za’Niyah’s friends were at the first cafe she came to.
Wracked with grief and guilt, Senka has become something she never wanted to be: a lingering, lost soul, condemned to never know peace. Until one day, she meets a strange man clad in all black.
A Soul Reaper.
One who is searching for his missing partner. One who changes the trajectory of her afterlife forever.
From a tentative alliance to trusted companions, Senka discovers a new sense of purpose—a way that would right her wrongs. But the past is rarely forgiving. And there is a conspiracy unravelling in front of her. Soon, Senka finds herself collecting consequences like a long-overdue debt.
And with the millstone of fate turning, Senka must prepare to lose anything and everything in order to make amends. But will she be ready to pay that price?
Age: 31
Gender: none
Status: POV
Origin: Mars underworld
Disabilities: autism (nonverbal), ADHD
Mods: none (sensory reasons)
Personality: excitable, fond of tactile input, easily distractable, shy
Motivation: largely happy with their routine, but would definitely like to have better shelter, better food, and better tech to play with
Lore: orphaned at about 6 in a factory mishap, was raised by their brother and taught by their neighbors to tinker with mods, which became their favorite thing to play with besides diagrams of mods. Has a business of illicitly fixing or designing or improving the mods of locals, which would be incredibly lucrative if anyone had much money to spare
Inciting Incident: saw their brother grabbed and tried to protect him, ending up being taken as well
Wire Gai
Age: 39
Gender: man
Status: side character
Origin: Mars underworld
Disabilities: double arm amputation at elbows
Mods: basic technically-illegal set up gotten for cheap
Personality: silly, loud, opinionated, protective of his younger sibling
Motivation: has long since given up on anything resembling a better life and does his best to make the most of each day so he doesn't spiral
Lore: like most underworld factory kids, he never went to school and spent his early years scavenging for scrap to feed for coins to the bots that used it for new factory material. Was 14 when his parents died and after that had to work in the factory to support Pixel, hopping around and staying with older guys who looked out for them for the first few years. About a decade ago, he was in a factory mishap that cost him his arms, which cost him his job, so that they now rely on his sales skills and Pixel's modding skills to buy bits of food. They live in a lean-to by the cavern walls, since they can't rent an actual apartment
Inciting Incident: in the wrong place at the wrong time and grabbed for the offered reward
Ri Laoye
Age: 22
Gender: man
Status: POV character
Origin: Mars surface
Disabilities: mod-malfunction affecting brain activity, memory, cognitive function, and intermittent seizures
Mods: serious black-market ones, once incredibly beneficial, but the last batch was done wrong and broke his brain so that they are now a toss-up of usefulness or misery
Personality: grouchy, confused, serious, but incredibly loyal
Motivation: both physically and situationally unable to think beyond the next meal and place to sleep, sometimes just wants Wolfy's company and sometimes just wants her to shut up
Lore: used to be really into gaming and black market mods and lived with his brother, Du, who was a straight-laced teacher while Ri worked the docks where no one cared about a little law breaking. But he made a dumb mistake, went for a mod that was hard to find based on a rec from a coworker, and it scrambled his brain. Du tried to take care of him, but he eventually ended up homeless. The only reason he didn't starve was that Wolfy started hanging around, making her the closest thing he has to a friend
Inciting Incident: lured in with the promise of free food and chosen out of bad luck
Wolfy Jones
Age: 53
Gender: woman
Status: side character
Origin: Mars surface
Disabilities: schizophrenia and chronic cough
Mods: none (paranoia reasons)
Personality: unpredictable, suspicious, angry, but suddenly warm and kind too
Motivation: doesn't really have one except when she's cold and hungry; has been homeless and drifting for so long she lives only in the moment
Lore: was always eccentric and odd but was also a promising student studying to be an engineer when she first got sick and lost her friends and family and support system before ending up on the streets. She struggled but was still clever and cunning and avoided ever being caught and sent below ground, where it would be harder to beg and scavenge for food. She had occasional friends who always vanished one day, and the current one is Ri. She does occasionally, during good streaks, manage to get some dock work and buy food or clothes
Inciting Incident: lured in with food and chosen when it seemed she would make a loud fuss if Ri was taken without her
Tzipporah "Zippy" Lehr
Age: 26
Gender: woman
Status: side character
Origin: Mars surface
Disabilities: undiagnosed chronic illness (fatigue, chronic pain, brainfog, etc)
Mods: none (money reasons), but uses the cheaper alternative of a single-side HUD that does most of the basics
Personality: quiet, polite, empathetic
Motivation: wanted to be a researcher before her health got in the way, and hopes to again if it improves someday
Lore: lives with her mom (a chef), younger sister (in construction), and niece (still in school). Used to go to university part-time and work in the import store, but is no longer well enough to do either and now spends her better days out with friends or reading and her worse days sleeping in bed
Inciting Incident: has been casually made to feel like a burden her entire life and takes a shady chance for decent money
Za'Niyah Leann Gobena
Age: 29
Gender: woman
Status: POV character
Origin: Mars spires
Disabilities: genetically-linked ataxia as a side effect of artificial gene manipulation
Mods: a set of very expensive and fashionable high-end ones
Personality: quiet, bookish, often cheerful but sometimes has dark moods
Motivation: to live independently and make her own decisions
Lore: was born during a craze among the wealthy on Mars of "customs," completely personalized lab-built babies. Unlike many of the artsy or white supremacy-based children born, Za'Niyah's parents just wanted a perfect child. The problem was that this process very often caused unexpected genetic disabilities, and so as an adult she still relies on her parents to take care of her. They adore her but also still treat her like a child and are always looking for a chance to cure her to normal
Inciting Incident: tbh I'm still figuring this one out
Twig Villagrana Flores
Age: 41
Gender: man (I think)
Status: side character
Origin: Mars spires
Disabilities: a combination of neurological and mental health issues that mean he has trouble caring for himself
Mods: a high-end set, but slightly edgier ones with less common uses
Personality: upbeat and caring, but with sudden bursts of anger at the unexpected
Motivation: to get the fuck out of here and rebuild a life down on the surface
Lore: has been in and out of the fanciest and most expensive Centers (totally not asylums) all his life as his family can't or won't deal with him as he is and solve their problems by throwing money at them. He has several friends he meets repeatedly during these periods, but it doesn't make up for the isolation, humiliation, and mistreatment. He's been here for over a year this time and is desperate to "run away" (he's a fully grown adult, that label is silly)
Inciting Incident: he's so desperate he agrees to sign his life away without knowing the details
Peppermint
Age: 12 (developmentally 22)
Gender: nonbinary
Status: POV character
Origin: Deimos lab
Disabilities: none except for existing in a world not built for them
Mods: was not allowed any, but has a fancy and high-storage HUD
Personality: curious, bright, outgoing, very trusting
Motivation: wants a real life for themself and Void where they can live the way they want
Lore: was part of an experiment begun some decades ago when there were military tensions between Earth and Mars, of making human-animal hybrids intended for war. Most of them died horribly as children. Only Peppermint survived to adulthood, and they weren't even particularly aggressive. They are a sentient being so it is illegal to kill them, but as property of the lab they are subjected to experiments and unable to leave, so they spend much of their time on trivia and games
Inciting Incident: sold off by the main scientist
Void
Age: 19
Gender: agender
Status: side character
Origin: Deimos lab
Disabilities: starting to break down and glitch
Mods: not totally relevant, but does have a network connection
Personality: excitable, loves to share information, more practical than Peppermint
Motivation: wants any life outside the lab
Lore: an early successful experiment into sentient AI, but after many failed experiments was put into a cheat casing not built to last. Now outdated by newer models, but unable to be killed, it was tucked away in the lab and used like google. But it befriended Peppermint as a child and they often play trivia together
Inciting Incident: sold off by the lead scientist
Acorn
Age: 15
Gender: woman
Status: side character
Origin: unknown
Disabilities: ADHD
Mods: beautiful and amazingly crafted black-market models
Personality: mysterious, surly, isolated
Motivation: unknown
Lore: mostly unknown, until she arrived on Mars on a shuttle one day
Inciting Incident: a stranger with no associations, was easy to take