Chesterfield Act Registry of the Expressive Database
File #08 Aug 2018 01:41
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 Martin Sensmeier |
In 2011, the news was filled with reports of people being relocated. Terrorist Attacks. Presidents revealing all manner of hidden talents. Death, destruction, fear, and overall chaos. I remember reading this news and being called home as my Mother and my Father stood up with the other half of my soul, my twin Sister Dani, and others from their tribes, fully supported the tribal leaders and declared that no relocation of their citizens or anyone on their lands would be allowed and that they were closing their borders. Registration and Relocation were met with resistance. And so they sent bots with gas to defy the spirits and the earth and the gifts they provided its people. They sent soldiers. We stood firm.
When war broke out, people thought we had been reduced to third world survivors on damaged and deserted reservations running cheap casinos and selling stereotypical trinkets telling the story of ghosts of the people who were the original inhabitants of this land. During the war? We defended our lands, maintained our legacy, and have returned to the roots of being one with the land. All of this, and the world has passed us by without even knowing. United, my people form the Independent Coalition of Native People.
Food shortages. We have access to what we need. Oil shortages, there are tribes that have regained their lands and sit upon that as well. This land that was new to so many, over colonized and over seeded with the fruit of greed and ever changing intolerance has always been good to us. I grew up learning and loving the natural bounty from coastal regions of Louisiana and Mississippi and being taught hard lessons in endurance and appreciation from the ranches and woods of Texas and Oklahoma. I don’t envy my parents the difficulties in raising a child to live off of the land while the world around them is reaching for the stars. Skint knees and filthy hands from hours being spent on a fishing boat…calloused hands and bloody clothing from hours being spent hunting with weaponry considered primitive by most.
My father? Sold pottery and elegantly carved ‘artifacts’ and such in various gift shops in Louisiana. He co-owned a fishing tackle store in New Orleans with his cousin. But he had controlling shares in Silvercreek Farms, tracks of land in Mississippi owned by several generations of his family. Cotton, Tobacco, and Corn. Born to it. And although William Silvercreek was known as a soft spoken, friendly mixture of Louisiana Cajun and Native Caddo…laid back and laconic, he was a shrewd and opportunistic businessman. Frugal in such a way that I never had an allowance, but when I started to earn money delivering produce or selling stuff in the market places? I already had an investment account and there was no splurging on things that would not help me succeed. My hands were no strangers to hard work, because visiting ‘family’ in Mississippi always translated to working the fields and learning about the crops and the business of what went into all of that nonsense.
My mother? She was the fire to my father’s calm. His second wife, after the first one passed she was older than him and she came from strong and brave Comanche stock. She was a ranch hand, a female ranch hand growing up and a game warden. Tough as nails, she had served in the military for a few years doing things that she never spoke of. While my father preferred firm yet gentle ways of teaching me a work ethic? My mother had me on horseback, in forests, and spending hours in the hot sun in the summer tending to cattle. I once thought the monster from a folktale was sneaking around outside my window and my mother made my grab my quiver and bow and follow her outside as she brandished a rifle and do a full perimeter sweep. I was 6. She made me spend time with her brothers and her uncles learning my history and how to utilize primitive weapons and how to dance traditional dances.
My sister? She is my twin, the one that I love and the one that I have always had to protect. I was born first, and within the womb, her cord wrapped around her neck and her birth was not without a high cost. My father told me, that I owed her a great debt because she gave me more of her soul to make sure I would have the strength to face what life has in store for me. Some people think she is simple, but she is the best shot I have ever met and her gift for dealing with animals is unlike any other. I work as hard as I do to make sure she stays safe and protected. She is my only sibling, and part of the work I do is to help build a better world for her as well.
I grew up in this land, watching people squander and take for granted the gifts from the earth. I watched as focus and attention was given to feelings, thoughts, and emotions but no one was watching the skies or listening to the earth give its warning of the dark times to come. But my people, my family…we did. When the government attempted to enforce its prejudicial laws and regulations about the ‘Evolved’, my people wanted to no part in this. So we closed our borders and we enforced our rights as people, as a nation to have no parts in this. We embraced those within our families that were blessed by the eclipse because in our long histories…this was nothing to fear. It was natural.
I played sports in school, competed in rodeos doing roping, competed in archery to get my scholarship funds, played lacrosse and even played basketball and football recreationally with my ‘friends’ off the reservation. But when I began to change, when we all did…I was pursuing a college degree. I was studying hoping to get a Masters in Plant Genetics and Breeding. I had taken a shine to the agricultural side of my family’s businesses and when my gift began to develop. When plants began to speak to me, I knew I had to learn what I could to properly tend to them. My sister…began to speak to the horses. And as a people, we began to set more in store.
They sent robots. Although many fell, we just became stronger. They sent people to talk. We have no record of those people ever coming in. They waged a war based on ideals and hatred in the poison of their ignorance polluted the lands they fought to claim. We were touched by all of this, we let them think we were suffering like the rest. But, we provided refuge for those fighting for the light. We smuggled supplies to people who had earned our trust to give to others in need. Then when the dust settled on the disaster scene driven by pride and greed and hate? Our children, families, and loved ones did not go without. And when others started to speak of their needs…we have certain monopolies.
My mother was one of those touched by the war. She can no longer walk, yet she refuses healing. 75 of her body is burnt. And yet, she still works just as hard to guard the borders of the lands her people own. She has horses, and livestock and she is a strong business mind. Her people are not going without. She’s also trained the enforcers to make sure…that our assets stay safe and that we are paid what we our owed.
My father, has grown old…and he has called upon me to be the representative, the face who finally brings to the rest of the world the opportunity to rebuild alliances and treaties that have been long betrayed. Dequan ‘Running Stag’ Silvercreek, I represent the interests of my native peoples. You have your tired, your poor, and your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. We see these, the homeless and the tempest tossed. So, now I am hanging out the lamp to show our golden door. Let’s make a deal.
Dequan is a cool, collected dude with a silver tongue and an easy going swagger. He has an excellent poker face allowing emotions like grief and anger to simmer under the surface of quiet sort of southern charm. He is not quick to anger, but when angered he is prone to physical and verbal reactions that are often brutal as all the rest of the emotions he represses surge to the surface. While he can be caring, there's a distance that he puts between himself and anyone who isn't family or from the coalition he represents. Not quick to judge, he will always be looking out for the best interest of whoever he is representing and those who have wormed their way into his circle of 'giving a damn'.
When it comes to business however? There is no trust, he wants to see facts and figures and has been known to be cutthroat to get what he wants. There has been many a negociation where his southern manners remain in place but there is little to no warmth left in his tone as he brokers a deal.
Overall, he has alot of pent up anger and disgust for people who have squandered natural resources or made decisions that screwed over large groups of people, and little patience for people who excuse such things. He does his best to hide it all through soft chuckles and tasteful idioms but occasionally the mask he wears cracks. This is why sometimes it seems like he has more affection for his plants than he does for people.
Introduction
Agrokinesis is the ability to manipulate plant-life. This manifested within Dequan in the form of low-level plant empathy, where it felt like he had knowings about certain saplings just needing more light or struggling plants just needing more water. His agrokinesis however, manifests in a natural plant empathy and the ability to augment and grow existing plants. He must have physical contact with the seed or plant and he keeps himself at such peak physical condition because his augmentation of plants and such, drains his own physical energy as though he is the one exerting the effort to grow and/or bloom. The more mature the plant, the less of a strain on his system, unless it is a dead plant or dying plant and trying to stimulate it triples the energy being leeched from his body as it is attempting to drain his own energy even if it is doing no good at all.
Stage 1
From Seed to Sprout/Seedling- Stage 1 - Rate of 1 Second = 1 Day/1 Minute = 60 days.
Burn Ratio: Low, even though 1 Hour = 9 yrs of growth. It only takes a maximum of 3 weeks of ?growth? for a Seed to transition into a sprout and break the surface.
Example: Corn takes on average 10 days to break the surface. So that would be 10 seconds of exertion. An oak tree, could take up to 4 weeks to germinate. That?s 30 seconds of exertion.
Limitations: Dequan must be very sensitive to making sure he does not maintain a connection with the plant past this stage of germination, or he?s entering Stage 2 and the energy demands will kick in. After using his abilities to stimulate this growth repetitively for a collective hour, he often starts to experience light headaches from the strain and early stages of dehydration. So he must keep hydrated, 6-8 oz of water every 15-20 minutes he is working.
Risks: Manipulating plants from the seed stage is delicate work, something that requires focus and dedication. Again, its a process that often doesn?t take very long but if pushed past this stage, he runs the chance of triggering a mutation via stage 2 that he was not attempting to do in the first place.
Stage 2
From Seedling/Sapling to Vegetative- Stage 2 - Rate of 2 Second = 1 Day/1 Minute=30 days
Burn Ratio: Medium-High. 1 Hour = 4 yrs of growth. However, at this stage daily rate of growth has to be factored in, which takes more exertion in the form of a minute?s worth of energy per inch. 6-8 oz of water must be consumed every 15-20 minutes to avoid the chance of dehydration. Like going for a jog or a run, on average with his pace of a 6-7 minute mile, he is expending up to 1257 calories per hour at a rate of 8.5-9.5 miles per hour. He has to have a replacement of up to 375 or so calories every hour or so, to avoid negative side effects to using his gift. For every 2 hours of energy spent, he requires 4 hours of sleep to recover.
Example: Corn on average takes 8 weeks to grow through is vegetative stages. That is 56 days. That is a rounded up minute of exertion for the growth + 12 feet. If Dequan attempts to sustain a connection with the plant to get it to its full growth and maturation? He?s spending 1 minute touching a plant and exerting over 2 hours worth of energy. That is just one plant. This would require him to eat, drink, and sleep for at least 4 hours before he?d be prepared to do it again.
Limitations: 6-8 Oz of water must be replaced per 15-20 minutes of exertion, before dehydration can become an issue. 375 calories must be replaced every hour or so, before he becomes light headed, displays signs of hunger, and wooziness. A marathon is 26 or so miles, and he has conditioned his body to endure such things by eating a certain amount of calories, working out vigorously. Not replacing water or calories as he works can lead to severe dehydration, signs of starvation, and blackouts as he?s expending more energy than his body can handle.
Risks: He can expedite the growth of the seedling through the vegetative state. However, tampering with the plants in this stage can trigger a mutation to the genetic structure of the plant resulting in unknown outcomes. For instance, a poisonous blueberry or pink potato. He experiments often, using his educational background as well to work on isolating specific genetic markers. Once again, once it enters a new stage past the ?sapling?, the strain from this can be detrimental to Dequan as he is literally channeling his own energy into the process. Net-new efforts would need to be started after a decent recovery period. It's like running a marathon and then trying to run another one right after that.
Stage 3
From Vegetative/Budding to Flowering/Ripening - Stage 3 - Rate of 3 second = 1 day/1 minute=20 Days
Burn Ration: Low-Medium. 1 Hour = 3 years of growth, but when flowering/ripening a plant, the plant has to already be at the maturation to flower/fruit ripen.
Example: Corn is ready to harvest about 20 days after the silk appears. Dequan isn?t needing to make the plant grow anymore, just focusing on the corn, so that?s 1 minute of exertion. If a flower is budding, and it takes 5 days for it to bloom. That?s 15 seconds of exertion. If an apple is 2 days from being ripe. That?s 6 seconds of exertion.
Limitation: The fruit or flower however, must still have life in it. The longer a flower or fruit is separate from its plant, tree, or bush…the less effective his ability happens to be. If its completely dead, he can sense that there?s no life to nurture in the plant.
Risks: If he uses his gift on a plant that is dead, or a piece of fruit or flower in water that is dying…the rate of energy he expends triples. If he is exerting more than 15-20 minutes on a plant that is fully mature in an effort to ripen/flower it, his ability starts to leech from his own energy to make up for the lack of life in the plant. That is why he must gauge the life and the life state of each stage so carefully.
If he maintains a connection with a dead plant, there is the risk of rapid weight loss in so much as a 8 ounces, or half a pound of weight per 5 minutes of contact. It's a dangerous thing. Because it also taps into his Stage 2 set of agrokinesis. Per inch of plant that is trying to rejuvenate itself, its a full minute of exertion from his system. The plant becomes a vampire basically, and he is the tasty treat.
"I represent the interests of my native peoples. You have your tired, your poor, and your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. We see these, the homeless and the tempest tossed. So, now I am hanging out the lamp to show our golden door. Let’s make a deal."