Touch: Tragedy of Childhood

[Wryneck]

RP Information | Rules | General Setting | Character List | Character Sheet

Touch

An ability humans all take for granted. The soft feeling of a warm blanket. The rough feeling of scratchy sandpaper. The loving embrace of another human. These are all things most can't dream of living without. But what that ability was snatched away from you? What if the endearing touch of another human wasn't a luxury afforded to you?

The Children

For a group of children living in an isolated research facility, being unable to make physical contact with anyone but each other is a reality. They're inflicted with a newly discovered autoimmune disease named Touch, based on the fact that it can be transmitted simply thorough touching someone inflicted with it. All they know is their toy-filled rooms, the walls that keep separated at all times other than when it's time to eat or undergo testing, and the researchers that experiment on them in claimed hopes of finding a cure for their illness. Their ages range from six to sixteen, and there's at least one hundred of them here. Some thirst for a taste of what it's like to live a normal life, while others have already succumbed to apathy.

Null

Null is a suppressant drug that the children are given once or twice a day, depending on necessity. It weakens the immune system so that the rate at which Touch kills them decreases, but it also leaves them open to other illnesses that they may come in contact with. Without administration of Null, any given child would be guaranteed to die within a week. Null isn't manufactured or used outside of the facility, so there's no access to it in the outside world.

The Researchers

The researchers are those who continuously experiment upon their child subjects. Most of the children were given up willingly by single fathers whose wives gave birth to infants inflicted with Touch. Such a birth always resulted in the mother dying, due to the lack of a cure. Researchers are tested before beginning work at the facility, to determine how long they'd live if they were to contract Touch. Because of their stronger immune systems, most of them wouldn't survive more than a week or so max, even with applications of Null. For safety reasons, they always work in full body suits that leave no part of the body to the open. Some of them treat the kids with kindness, and sympathize with them, while others simply view them as tools for finding a solution to a much greater problem.

You

You are but one of a group of seven children that are all connected to each other in some way, be it by blood, friendship, or rivalry. Whether you hate your situation or have grown accustomed to it, what you decide to do is up to you. Will you try to escape from this monotonous life, or will you seek out your own life? The choice is yours.

[Subject to Further Editing]​

 

[Wryneck]

No, they can feel things. Touch is just an autoimmune disease that's contagious through touch (hence the name). They just can't touch other humans or animals because they'll give the disease to them.

 

[Cwolf0615]

Corin

8 years old - Male - ID #134

Birthdate
November 17th

Life Expectancy:
29 weeks

Other Conditions:
N/A

Appearance:
A fragile, sickly looking child, Corin's pasty white skin and scrawny build are an obvious and outward sign of the disease that has wracked his small body since birth. He has brown hair, and dull greyish blue eyes, which are often ringed by deep dark circles. Weak and easily damaged, he is almost always covered in bruises.

Family:
As could be expected because of his Touch, Corin's mother died during his birth. Being single, and with no one quite sure who the father was, it only made sense that he was immediately taken to the facility. Little is known about the rest of his family, other than that he has an uncle who has worked as a researcher since before he was conceived. He keeps his distance from the child, fearing he'll become attached, or see his sister in the boy's face.

Feelings about Situation:
In some ways, Corin is acutely aware of his situation, in a manner that is unusual for most children his age. He not only understands that he is going to die, he understands that he is going to die soon. This is a fact which terrifies him. In other ways, he is more oblivious. While he knows that his life within the facility is not normal, he doesn't actually understand what about it is odd.

Short Bio:
Since his early years, Corin has always been a somewhat mischievous and disagreeable child. Despite occasional fights with the other children, and bouts of disobedience, he was, however, always a relatively sweet boy. While he always knew he was going to die, it wasn't until he was older that he began to understand just exactly what this meant. With each day, as his life expectancy grew shorter, and he watched more and more of the other subjects succumb to Touch, he began to fear for his own end. This led to a sudden surge in bad behavior, which has stuck with him for the last year or so. He is more stubborn than ever, and prone to fits of anger unbecoming of a child his age. He is very curious, especially about more morbid topics, and will often pester the researchers with question after question. He seems to like being around the other children, even if he has a tendency to act argumentative towards them.

Character Theme:
The Mortal Boy King

Other:
Corin fears sleep, worrying that one day he won't wake up. While he is able to fall asleep with relatively little issues on some nights, he is struck by overwhelming anxiety and even panic attacks on others.​

 

[Wryneck]

Accepted!