Dark Times is a post-apocalyptic psychic sci-fi samurai epic. This document contains information about the characters, and summaries of the existing chapters. In other words, it contains spoilers. You have been warned.
Chapter 0 opens when Reiko goes to the Hebi-Koshi, a bar, to find Jiro attempting to drown his sorrows. It seems that Jiro's parents were recently killed by warriors of the Landers, under the command of the Councillor Majin. Some Landers in the bar overhear Jiro's complaints and take offense. A fight breaks out, during which Reiko is badly beaten, but suddenly there is a huge explosion...and next we see Jiro in the home/workroom of Dr. Belker, who is treating the still-unconscious Reiko's injuries. Reiko wakes up and Dr. Belker reveals that Jiro is a Latent, with psychic powers. Upon hearing this, Reiko tries to recruit Jiro to a resistance effort to combat the Landers. Jiro is reluctant, but then Baachan, an old spiritualist woman, appears and tells him that if he does not learn to control his powers, they could cause more destruction. Jiro finally agrees to training under Baachan. After they leave, Dr. Belker gives Reiko a message, which she reads and then immediately destroys. He then introduces Reiko to GEISHA, an AI he found while poking about in the remnants of the Net. Next we go to two minor Landers, Noshi and Mori, who notice a stranger coming to town dressed as a samurai. After some samurai trash talk, Noshi and the stranger duel. Both have the character for "spirit" tattooed on their forehead, meaning that both had been Enhanced for the Last War, giving them improved physical powers. However, it turns out that the stranger was also given Longevity treatments, as denoted by 'LV' marked on his chest, and thus he has a century's worth of fighting experience to draw on and defeat Noshi. After Mori flees, Reiko appears, revealing that she knows the samurai's name is Jichoh, and that she wants him to fight with the resistance. Meanwhile, Seiji, one of the Landers from the Hebi-Koshi, is lost in a dust storm, and meets Sunaro and Shinkei, two of the Lander Councillors. Shinkei recruits Seiji as his agent, and Seiji is given a patch with the Councillor's symbol. In the final scene, Dr. Belker tests a time acceleration harness, and GEISHA has proven her worth by finding a list of the Lander Councillors...which can be found at the end of the Character Descriptions section of this page.
Chapter 1 summary coming soon.
Chapter 2 opens with Seiji facing off against Shin, the mysterious Lander. Seiji is able to fend Shin off, and in the process reveals that he doesn't know why Shin is upset. Shin leaves, vowing revenge once Seiji understands what happened. Next we see a strange ceremony, where cowering peasants are led in worship of the Landers, specifically Majin. A song is sung by the beautiful Lady Marigold. Reiko looks in on the ceremony then skulks off, only to be stopped by two Lander thugs who demand to know why she isn't participating. Reiko bluffs them by displaying a Technician card and saying that she has to work on some repairs. After this we look in on Jiro, being trained/tormented by Baachan. Under pressure, Jiro finally recreates the blast of energy from Chapter 0. Finally, a man in black with a patch displaying a wasp symbol searches through the ruins of the Hebi-Koshi.
Chapter 3 opens with Jiro reliving his guilt over losing control of his powers. Fortunately Baachan is unharmed, and in fact she is quite pleased at Jiro's display of his abilities. She speculates that Jiro's psychic powers are oriented on producing energy, most commonly light. She then continues the intensive training. Meanwhile, Reiko meets with several people in a secret location. Among them are Mera, a frail woman who suffers from an unknown afflication, and Keichi, a gruff bruiser. Two others are present in the room, and the five study a detailed plan of something or other. Back at the Lander compound, Seiji breaks into an office to search for documents. He looks out the window and watches Lander auditions taking place, reflecting that physical ability isn't the toughest requirement for becoming a Lander. Finally, GEISHA shares some of the information she's found with Dr. Belker. Apparently the Councillors work through division of labor rather than division of geographic territory. GEISHA also mentions a female hacker she has "met" over the net.
The Landers
The Landers apparently consist of a number of Councillors, that make up the Council of Lands, and the Councillors' subordinates. The symbol of the Council of Lands is a dead tree, and all Landers wear, at the very least, a patch with this symbol. The Council apparently rules over a large area of Japan (or more?) in an oppressive oligarchy system. The list of Councillors found by GEISHA is reproduced below, with what little information is available at the moment, along with a few other Landers.
The world of Dark Times is your basic post-apocalyptic world. ...Or is it? Some quotes from Chapter 0 to think about:
Dust, blocking the sun...but moderate temperatures. And food from somewhere...even enough to brew alcohol.
Something to think about.
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