Yes, Code. It's because of all your great ideas I don't know where to take the story next!

Oh. Um. Oops?

Going back to Wilde's original complaint (and also an effort to get things moving along with the story).

Nikolai breaks far too easily, especially for the 'veteran' his character is.

Konn's suggestion is a good one, and www's explanation of Nikolai's debilitated physical condition is quite accurate.

Perhaps Jake offers Nikolai a drink of water as written? The water is refreshing but it's also laced with drugs, a hallucogenic designed as a less invasive truth serum.

It would make Jake's face meld and appear more like Damien's face (the only person that Nikolai had a serious passion for, right?!). Or in other words, it confuses Nikolai to the extent he 'thinks' it's Damien.

Then Jake could ask the same questions, gets the same answers as written and the integrity / characterisation of Nikolai is preserved and portrayed correctly.

I think Nikolai would be extremely angry with Jake at such deception, but he's MORE angry with himself if he gave away such critical information basis a bottle of vodka..

Having said that, half a bottle of red wine and I'm pretty much finished myself lol

Any chance of a mini-re-write to cater for the masses www?

*flutters eyelashes and pouts demurely*

ttfn

x

I promise that I'm not trying to be difficult here.

The idea is good (I watched Batman Begins over the weekend and it shows just how effective psychotropic drugs could be) but for one small problem. If Jake has access to this drug, and if the drug works, and if Jake wants the info, why didn't he use it on Konn in the first place? Why didn't he use it at all in the first place? While I understand that we don't want Nikolai to break easily, we also don't want Jake to come out looking like a sadist who tortures people just for fun.

Edit!!!

Unless... Kress had the drug but didn't want it used because he is a vicious bastard who likes watching prisoners break under intense physical distress. Since he won't be around if Talon breaks Nikolai, Kress might figure that physical torture is pointless and leave some serum or whatever for Jake to use. Hmmm... What do you think of that, ww2?

Edited by - Codename on 12/15/2005 3:32:02 AM

Because Jake knew he was being watched. And he knew his master Kress was a horrible, horrible man.

Therefore, as soon as he learnt Kress left, he resorted to less painful measures.

Good point though, Code. Continuity is important !!

I just can't help but feel that something is still missing though.

If the means to extract information were there, why not use it and torture the prisoners? Or use it and then torture the prisoners? Horrible though Kress may be, he is surely not the sort of person to forget his main goals (namely finding the artifacts and destroying all who oppose him) just so he can get his jollies.

Kress isn't well-defined right now. There could be many sides to him.

What do you propose as an alternative, Code? What I'm worried about (and Konn highlighted over e-mail) is that we're at an impasse.

Some events are critical to any follow-up posts and we need to have a clear route forwards, preferably one that Wilde, www and HK are content with

"Kress isn't well-defined right now. There could be many sides to him."

You mean that it could be al different? That he may not have any personal interest in the artifact? That he's just being given information that proved flase all the time?

If I should be honest, I don't like to see Kress as a bad guy. Sure, he may be greedy, but I wouldn't believe that he would torture a couple of people because he wants the artifact for some personal reason.

Maybe I'll just see how this evolves.

Indeed. Things are never what they seem, are they?

athena - Yes, we are indeed at an impasse. However I feel that a) Wilde isn't justified in complaining, and b) the complaints themselves are not valid. Thus it does not seem to me that asking ww2 to edit - and, let's face it, this isn't a small edit we're talking about here; it's a fundamental change - is entirely fair. Nevertheless, we do need something to which all parties can assent.

Additionally, while it is true that Kress is not well-defined, it seems most implausible that a person who was able to successfully construct a powerful secret organization and conduct operations with the aim of dominating all Sirius underneath Orillion's nose is the type of person who would "take his eyes off the prize" so he could have some fun with torture. It's not impossible, but you'd have a hard time showing that it's likely.

So. An alternative. What we could do is have somebody (HK or Wilde) write a post in which Nikolai explains to Konn that he passed some (not all) false information to Talon. We can say that Nikolai had moments of lucidity and was able to remember where he was and to whom he was speaking. In those moments he would have lied. This leaves Talon with some incorrect and misleading info though he does not know it. Ultimately none of the information will matter since Kress will return having discovered that Rob and Tanya are still alive (and perhaps with Rob as a prisoner), and Jake will be in deep enough trouble as it is.

Nederbörd - I would be very uncomfortable if thigs were as different as you suggest. What it would mean, essentially, is that everything the characters have been doing until now has been a colossal waste of time because the person everytone thought was the bad guy (Kress/The Abbot) actually isn't. Hopefully you can see why that might be a bit of a problem.

The way the story has evolved, we need somebody like Kress to play the role of evil mastermind. Mason and Juan both don't cut it. We need someone who is a member of The Order, and who is fairly high-up in the ranks. Kress is perfect for this role because of the connections we know he has amongst the Outcasts. He's also hardly in the FL storyline at all so he's good and malleable.

Ahh. Just like old times.

Wait! Is Kress really "The Abbot"? I must have missed something.

Yes, Kress is indeed the "Abbot". This just hasn't been included in the story yet.

Well, I'm just waiting on you to agree on something. I think Code is correct in saying that I don't need to edit, because I don't think Wilde's concerns are valid either. Let's just move on and continue the game, please.

Ok, I agree now. Kress can be the Abbot. He looks too suspicious ingame anyways. Might fit him.

Interesting, wonder what's happen next. May I guess Teleport?

I'm working on my next post, I don't think it'll be much action in it though. I'll still be going with the "daily life" for a while. I'm not sure where to start the action.

Anybody here?