<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Summary 1</strong></span><br/><br/>These things happened over the course of time before William ever came to the Socinian Institute.<br/><br/>William believes the Universe is alive and sentient. He meditates to try to hear it since he doesn't believe it could be silent.<br/><br/>The Universe hums and sings to itself, in multiple keys and many voices at the same time. Sometimes it forms beautiful harmonies, but most of the time it's at least a little discordant and disturbing, and sometimes it's catastrophic and atonal. William sometimes hears the faint, distorted echoes of human speech behind the music, but he can never make out the words.<br/><br/>William makes sure he has multiple escape routes ready, and reaches out. "Hello? Who is this?"<br/><br/>William's interpretation of the ways the music reacts: Surprise. Panic. Calling for help. William's physical surroundings grow cold, then hot. He's suddenly dizzy. He flees! But he can't pull his mind loose from the music, not completely. It's still audible as he staggers away toward one of his escape routes. Gravity is unsteady—the dizziness isn't just in William's head. Things are rattling as if in an earthquake.<br/><br/>William hears the human voice speaking to the music. He still can't make out the words, but the tone is soothing. Reality stabilizes. The music slowly settles back toward its normal slight discord.<br/><br/>He now believes the Universe…or the Earth, really is alive…but it is being held captive. So he will try to guess a place where the universe might be strong. There are two ways to look at this…one is someplace geologically old, like Death Valley, the other is a place held in great belief by people; a hard point of reality…he picks a place that he believes to be both…e.g. the redwood forest or Yellowstone National Park, so long as they are not overrun.<br/><br/>Sensible people don't go far from civilization, because it's good to be able to dial 911 when the monsters show up. William isn't that kind of sensible.<br/><br/>This is before William arrived at Holy Question Mark, he's just turned 14, and he's a ward of the state; a vacation to somewhere like that is impossible for him to arrange legally. He could certainly disappear from foster care, hike and hitch-hike across country, and wind up in Yellowstone. Which is a place that people<em>just don't go.</em>Who knows how many monsters might be hiding in the wilderness?<br/><br/>Quite a few, as it turns out, though William can evade them pretty easily. There are colonies of werewolves, hundreds per colony, and William notices something interesting: there are no small animals near where the werewolves camp during their non-wolfy phase. The vegetation looks funny, and the air tastes slightly metallic. If he doesn't immediately backtrack when he runs across such a phenomenon—and I'm guessing he wouldn't, necessarily, the first time—his (presumably stolen) GPS locks up and then shuts down. It reboots once he gets far enough away.<br/><br/>Sunset, Midsummer Eve, 2014. Miles from anything, including werewolf encampments. The humming is tranquil and melodious.<br/><br/>He will then try again. "I AM HERE TO SERVE. WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO?"<br/><br/>Trepidation. A little shudder in reality as the music shifts away from its calm. Not outright panic this time, though.<br/><br/>William is suddenly aware of being watched from a direction that defies description. The voice—it's male, and recognizable as the same one that talked to the music before, the one whose words he could never make out—speaks directly to him: "I've been waiting for you to try again. You're the first one to make contact. Next time, try somewhere with fewer monsters, I'm sure the Hive is homing on this signal already. Go home. Go to school. You can trust—<em>shit!</em>"<br/><br/>The voice is gone, and William loses his connection to the music of the world. His survival instincts tell him he's in extreme danger. There was nothing for miles around as far as he knew, but now there's something hostile nearby, moving through the trees, doing a damn good job of stealth. Almost certainly a Bug.<br/><br/>He G's TFO immediately and survives to make it back to civilization, though it's a harrowing trip: he has multiple close encounters with Bugs leading patrols of werewolves. None of them manage to sting or bite him, though. On more than one occasion, they probably could have killed him, but they seemed intent on capturing or turning him instead, to the point of letting him escape.<br/><br/>He is now firmly convinced that there are multiple realities here; these THINGS are changing it. That's the only explanation for the conflicting laws. He will not try contacting again until he is in school. That's what he was instructed, though he thinks that it was an ally of the Universe. He's REALLY more interested in talking to the music itself but will try both on his third night of school.<br/><br/>"Oh, good, you're at the school," the voice says. "I can't talk long—with all of you so close together it takes everything we've got to shield you from the Hive's scryers. Trust Dr. Balthazar, he's on our side. We're depending on you, all nine of you. If anyone can get us away from the Hive, it's you.<br/><br/>"Last time you asked what I wanted from you. Practice. Hone your talents. Help the others hone theirs.<em>Avoid detection as long as you can.</em>You'll probably only get one shot before they give up and wipe the construct.<br/><br/>"Here, take this." William feels something small and solid materialize in his palm. A signet ring. "If things go completely south, you can use it to call me; just focus on it and let your mind go. Don't let the artists get a close look at it.<br/><br/>"Any questions? Make it quick.<br/><br/>"By the way, my name's Martin."<br/><br/>He would like to say, "Pleased to meet you Martin. What the hell is going on Martin? What artists Martin?" (He hadn't met the two girls yet). He did none of those things.<br/><br/>"What attracts the bugs, and what are their weaknesses?" he asks instead.<br/><br/>"The bugs are looking for you. For all of you, not just you,—what's your name? William, right. We keep them guessing where you really are.<br/><br/>"Weaknesses—they don't like reality in here, how it is now. They try to change it. Don't let them. Maybe you can leverage it?<br/><br/>"Must go. Stay frosty." And he's gone, though the music is still there. William doesn't hear from Martin again for the nearly 3 years before play starts.<br/><br/>He keeps the ring hidden inside a pendant on a chain that he had customized to his exact specifications. The outside looks like the Flying Spaghetti Monster so that he could keep it with him literally at all times as a representation of his faith. It is made of titanium, with the inside of the hollow meatball that contains the ring painted in a mixture of lead and his own blood. He doesn't have any idea what the abilities of the artists are, but if lead is good enough for Superman or the ethereal plane in Dungeons & Dragons then it's good enough for him.<br/><br/><strong>EDIT:</strong>Worth noting that that pendant is hella huge, like 90's rapper huge. Probably 9" across for one of the meatballs to be big enough to hold a ring. It's lumpy and shows through his clothes. He's been wearing it since day 1, though, so everyone's used to it by now.