The Promised Expansion

This is a continuation from Wednesday, in a way, but you don't need to read the previous post if you don't want to. You're not missing anything. But, if you are new here (and welcome!), then you need to know that on Wednesday, I used a humourous flow-chart generator to come up with three sci-fi-ish stories, and that I threatened promised to expand on one of them today.

I've picked The Psychopoli. Here's my "summary" from Wednesday:

In a metaphorical Japan, a young schlub with mild OCD stumbles across a talking fish which spurs him into conflict with murderous robots with the help of a cherubic girl with pigtails and spunk and her closet full of assault rifles, culminating in a false victory with the promise of future danger.

Now, to elaborate…

Setting: a metaphorical Japan - Let's make it a blend of traditional and modern, to fit the theme of clichés. We have high-tech, skyscraper cities with a cyberpunk feel, and a tranquil, pastoral countryside full of cherry trees, mountains, and small villages of rice farmers and fishermen. The samurai lords rule both, though the urban samurai have exchanged swords for computer viruses and high-powered guns.

Protagonist: a young schlub with mild OCD - Got that image in your mind? Good. Let's make him the worst samurai apprentice in a hundred years. Let's call him Hiro, for ironic good measure. Hiro really doesn't like blood.

Antagonist: murderous robots* - Doesn't the metallic version look perfect? Let's leave it as is. No skin, no clothes.

Secondary Character A (love interest): a cherubic girl with pigtails, spunk, and assault rifles** (Okay, not quite assault rifles, but certainly cool, and I bet she has this too.) She'll be the daughter of an urban samurai lord.

Prop: a talking fish - For the sake of continuity with the robotic antagonists, pick a fish from here. The koi, perhaps?


Plot: As punishment for missing sword practice for the eleventh time, Hiro must deliver a message and gift from his rural lord to a powerful urban lord. He is awed and terrified by the city, but makes it through to the samurai compound—but barely. As he's waiting in a courtyard to be escorted in, a robotic surveillance koi in the courtyard pond tries to shoot him, because he's not wearing the frequency band that identifies "safe" people. Hiro dives behind a tree, and exchanges words with the fish, which, to his surprise, talks back, in the voice of the samurai's daughter, the security chief. The "fish" is cryptic, in a bouncy anime way, but manages to convey to Hiro that he's in danger if he stays, because the message he's delivering is that age-old "here's a boy for you to kill" deal. He's to run to the closest gate, which will be unlocked, and she'll get him to a safe house. Of course, when her father finds out she's helped Hiro, he unleashes his robot army…


Yeah, I think this generator could be useful. That story sounds fun—and I bet it's not all we can do with the core elements. *hinthint*

* Gizmodo
** Boing Boing