Earth of Two Suns

[Buio Banned]

So here are some notes on the only writing I ever got paid for. This was going to be used for the narrative of a now defunct video game project under the working title 'An Earth of Two Suns'. The project was going to be a small indie game centering on a group of astronauts being sent to a mission on the moon which quickly leads to existential dread and the discovery of inhuman ruins hidden just beneath the lunar surface.

I'm not sure exactly in which order I'll be uploading all my notes on the project (for which i was the sole writer), or if I'll eventually touch up/complete the narrative structure I wrote out. But I wanted to share this work at least somewhere, and it reminds me of when i liked to write and challenge myself.

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Danna

Danna Murakami was born on the evening of June 30th 1988, to a Japanese father by the name of Haruki Murakami (or Murakami Haruki in his homeland), and an American mother by the name of Scarlet Murakami (née Jensen).

Her father was a native Osakan who had graduated from the University of Tokyo with a degree in Cultural Anthropology, and once had been a respected member of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. In fact, he had worked for them as a Hawaiian liaison—examining the social and cultural impact of Japanese immigration in the Hawai'i isles both on the natives and on the immigrant population itself. His research had the primary aims of exploring the ways in which Japanese history and culture could best be presented to foreign eyes and new generations, as well as how to best communicate new ideas and scientific discoveries to the japanese people.

It was during this research project that he had met Scarlet, whom at the time was a History and Economics student completing her thesis: arguing that the recent influx of largely ill-researched Japanese investments in residential and resort properties in hawaii (particularly in Honolulu),  would ultimately lead to several negative socioeconomic impacts on the Hawaiian islands.

While the studies of the two academics had them observe the jappanese-american cultural exchange from different and at times opposing viewpoints, sparks quickly flew between the couple. So much so, that four short years after meeting one another, Scarlet would follow her by-then fiancé back to his home country when an anthropological opportunity of a lifetime brought him there for work. While the fate of that particular project would leave Haruki’s academic reputation in embarrassment in his homeland, the couple were ultimately happy to return to the Scarlet’s home city of San Francisco together, and sought full immigration for Haruki as they got married and brought Danna into the world that same year.

Danna’s infancy and childhood were in many ways unremarkable, which is not to say unhappy. Her mother continued her academic career, becoming a leading economist and trend analyst. Through savvy investments, a handful of best selling books, and (as a result of the former) fairly generous grants for her academic research, she was able to support her family’s finances—allowing Haruki to stay at home and take care of their daughter.

A reserved child—she didn’t make many friends while growing up, and even indulged in the fantasy of an imaginary friend whenever she was alone. Curious and creative by nature, the girl found herself fascinated by the world around her and loved to learn, especially through her father’s stories and explanations, but was under-stimulated by school when she entered the classroom—causing her to lack the attention to perform well on tests. This creativity was instead funneled into her imaginary friend, who became her constant companion as she filled her mind with the wonders that captured her attention—from different animals, to the constellations, to kinds of pretty rocks, to learning songs on her recorder, to whatever new thing she may have learned that week.

Her father took note of this abounding creativity she displayed. While never the most spiritual man himself, he had remarked before that his daughter’s birthday fell on the first day of the summer festival which celebrated the god of actors, musicians, and entertainers in his home city. Taking this as inspiration, he had been the one to suggest enrolling the young Danna into extra music classes when she was 7, thinking that the creative outlet might leave her with more focus for her main schooling.

While the plan did little to inspire more interest for the classroom in the child, she did find herself adoring the act of learning how to play more music and instruments enough that the lessons continued regardless of continued middling school results.

It was unfortunately so, however, that this hobby to which she took with such passion and in which her successes made her parents so proud, would also prove instrumental in destroying this simplicity of life when she was but 12.

The tragedy began when her uncle Eden, the man whom had gifted her her own violin when she was 9, came to visit Haruki with news of a ‘groundbreaking find’.

Note: Danna's path into researching the prime salt emerald was started by Eden Rust presenting it to her either just before or just after graduating highschool, causing her to break with her father when he tried to defend her from working on anything involving his past research.

[Buio Banned]

MAIN CAST

Chief Science Officer

Name: Dr. Danna Murakami

Age: 29 

Gender: Female

Ethnicity: paternally japanese, maternally american (danish descent)

 

Appearance: Fair complexion, facial structure is recognizably asiatic due to more rounded features, triangular chin, and slightly almond-shaped eyes, though scandinavian heritage shows through the subject’s high cheekbones. Uncommonly, hair is jet black but irises are a sharp blue—indicating mixed paternal heritage. Hair is kept neat and at ear length (usually brushed behind) so as to not  distract during work.

 

Stature is somewhat on the short side, standing at 4'11" (150 cm), figure is predictably lithe considering heritage, though athletic from professional occupation. Subject weighs in at 112lbs (51kg).

 

Disposition is often described as sour, although lack of hostile or passive aggressive interactions suggest that subject suffers from unfortunate case of 'resting bitch face'.

 

Bio: Born on US soil, subject lived in San Francisco for most of her childhood before moving to Tokyo with her father at the age of 12. Subject received excellent grades during highschool and succeeded entering in Tokyo University's medical program, minoring in anthropological studies and information technologies alongside. Subject transferred from Tokyo U to UCLA at 24 to complete the last two years of her study in their neurological department. It was at UCLA that the subject met and befriended Dr Leona Delgado, who at the time was also completing her Major in psychology.
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*Father was an archeologist, discovered some of, and had interactions with, artifacts containing essence of Eldritch
*Mother disappeared mysteriously after Danna had interaction with [REDACTED] which she cannot recall, prompting her father to take her abroad
*Father knows what happened to Danna’s mother but never spoke of it before dying a few years ago. She always felt like he blamed her for her mother’s disappearance though
*Had middling academic scores before exposure to [REDACTED]
*While she succeeded academically in Japan, she did not adjust very well to Japanese modern culture, especially the presence of the ‘public gaze’ that dictated so much of the actions of those brought up in said culture, and how her own blue eyes and notable complexion marked her as a foreigner among her peers. Social life was mostly barren until return to the US.
*Social anxiety likely accentuated by her troublesome home life post-translocation, as well as the background presence of Eldritch infection in her mind.

Philosophy: Knowledge is power. Humanity can conquer anything as long as it can first understand it, and it can understand anything if it can first study it.

Ability: Sortie Scan - WhileFor the time Danna is with the player, she will provide a boost to his scanning abilities. This will passively be displayed as highlighting points of interest in their outmission, directing the player where to go during the largely linear intro, and providing a mini-map for him. Should the player choose to backtrack towards the beginning and explore the few side areas they have access to, they can scan characters, objects, and/or environmental features in order to gain a few data entries for their Captain's Log (codex) without sanity cost. Overall, however, her mechanical contributions will be minimal as she is [REDACTED] immediately replaced by [REDACTED].
 

[Buio Banned]

Engineering Officer

Name: Dmitriy Petrovich

Age: 37

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Russian (American Immigrant)

Appearance: Subject sports a shining, clean shaven dome contrasting a scraggy, recently graying, dark brown moustache and goatee which sits on the opposite end of his oblong visage. Unideal former dietary lifestyles have caused the subject’s skin to lose luster and elasticity relatively early, skewing their appearance to seem slightly more aged. Combined with sunken-in brown eyes marked by semi-permanent dark bags, the subject offers the very picture of Russo-masculine grit and stoicism—likely at least partially by their own intention.

Subject is of average masculine stature, standing at 5’8.5” (174cm). Build is stockier and predictably top-heavy from subject’s considerable work with machinery. The hair banished from the subject’s scalp seems to have found comfortable residence upon his forearms. Weight and general health are otherwise fully within demanded parameters for mission requirements.

Bio:
*Immigrated to America as a child
*Proud of Russian heritage but disassociates with the political climate of modern day Russia
*Father was a lazy drunkard and divorced by Dmitriy’s mother when he was young (no older than 10-11), she never remarried.
*Drinks as well, but only on occasion.
*Secretly deathly afraid of spiders, part of the reason why he likes space so much.
*Had to handle a lot of responsibility while growing up, learned how to solve problems but had little in the way of significant early social development with peers.
*Watched a lot of recorded Russian programing while growing up, mother found it important to let him remember where his roots were as he grew up in a new land.
*Became interested in mechanical engineering during early teens, setting him on the path to eventually discover a passion for propulsion engines and rocket science.
*Personally helped design the rocket that takes the team to the moon, as well as the air jet system on the captain’s exploration suit.
**Undecided city of residence or place of study. Considering this as point of tangential relation with Eden Rust

Philosophy: The success of a collaborative society depends first and foremost on the self-actualization of the specialized individual. “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link” so no individual may allow themselves to be lazy.

Ability: General Air Thrusters - The Main character’s initial transportation ability, and the mechanic that—during the early missions of the game immediately succeeding the death of Danna—will sooner force the player character to return to home base than he otherwise would need to for sanity management reasons alone, especially if they have been using their Charms (see Leona’s section) intelligently. The Thrusters can be used to lengthen the distance of horizontal jumps at no sanity cost, but through a limited supply of nitrogen gas, as well as being limited by structural integrity that rapidly decays when the player takes environmental damage. Upon Dmitriy’s death, the player will have one final tank of nitrogen gas and one final health bar for the equipment (assuming they weren’t somehow spent during the boss encounter), and then the thrusters are gone for the rest of the game (I suggest placing an important data drop in an area of the late game that requires the usage of both Alien Blast and Thrusters to get to, rewarding skilled players who could make these last useful resources last all the way to the end of the game).

Sortie Drill Operator - Dmitry is the only one capable of operating the excavation equipment that the crew has brought along with them, Dmitry will need to be brought along on exploration missions if the player wishes to break through heavy blockage that is barring his way.

[Buio Banned]

Co-captain and Mental Health Officer

Name: Dr. Leona Delgado

Age: 28

Gender: Female

Ethnicity: Hispanic American (Puerto Rican descent)

Appearance: At 5’5.5” (169cm), subject stands tall for a female, a fact she is acutely aware of. However, a curvaceous figure and well coiffed, long hair preserves a balanced aesthetic within the subject. The subjects’ skin tone is sandy white, hair is dark mahogany brown, and eyes are a striking green often accentuated with mascara, though subject otherwise refrains from the usage of makeup save to cover blemishes. Her facial structure is distinctly hispanic, possessing a sharp jaw along with a prominent chin and cheek bones.

Bio:
*self conscious about her height
*raised on strong communal values in a tight knit, traditional catholic family.
*terrified of being alone
*graduated with a bachelor’s in biological science and a master’s in psychology.
*repressed lesbian
*too scared of being alone, both metaphorically and literally alone out on the moon, to confront Phil about Danna’s death or how it’s left her feeling (or how much of it may have been his fault)
*Skill in psychology allows her to hide the fact that her own mental state is deteriorating until it is too late for anyone to do anything about it
*Once she reaches [REDACTED] and sees [REDACTED], she isn’t [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] them with maternal affection

Philosophy: In all things, cooperation is Humanity’s greatest strength.

Ability: Safe and sound - therapy sessions back on the ship work both as saving mechanic  and as the best way to recover sanity levels (second best way is through relationship charm, which is also recharged upon saving). I also suggest that these therapy sessions provide subtle insights into Leona’s own unraveling psyche as the mission continues.

[Buio Banned]

Captain, Exploration Officer

Name: Squarejaw McAmerica (Phil Howardson)

Age: 30

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Whitebread

Appearance: 

Spoiler

 

blond with blue eyes. 5’7.4” (171cm) tall. Facial structure is essentially dean winchester. Personal appearance is influenced by his [REDACTION] having necessitated [REDACTION] as a sacrifice.

Bio: [Negative Space]

Philosophy: A hero is not what he wants to be, but what the world needs him to be. (with great power comes great responsibility, basically)

Ability: Being an actually playable character.