Brother and sister? Thursday, 28 May 2009

The poll to decide whether Otto Dafé (book assassin and KBE agent – a bad guy) and Lyn (bookseller and member of secret society of bibliophiles Invisible Inc – a goodie) are siblings is still deadlocked at 50% “yes”, 50% “no”.

We need to finalise the story quickly and get working on the script and storyboards. So, here are a few more options, based on recent discussions, to try and get a decision:

1. Lyn is trying to extract Otto from the KBE so that they can team up (Kiwi‘s original idea.)

2. Lyn and Otto are both working for KBE. They’re pretending not to know each other so they can stay undercover, but it will turn out that Lyn’s also a baddie. (A great idea from Bookaddictus.)

3. Lyn and Otto are both working for Invisible Inc. They’re pretending not to know each other so they can stay undercover, but it will turn out that Otto’s also a goodie. (A lovely inversion from Lulu.)

4. Lyn and Otto are not related.

Vote now!

You can also keep voting to decide who is going to rescue Aileen. (Options are: Watson, Otto – having changed sides, or Lyn – transformed into her secret-society alter-ego Lynx, in an all-action rescue involving a helicopter).

The rescuers Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Another decision made: Professor Remi is also at Grazp Pharmaceuticals (61% of the vote) and has also been captured – a suggestion from Bibliomane. Remi and Aileen will be able to compare notes and make a plan.

This is great, because it means that Aileen should be able to find out everything she needs to put together the case against Beryl and Grazp. Also, she should be able to work out how to get the stolen expedition journal back. So, we’re nicely set up to resolve everything in episode 6 (Tom suggests that the police should turn up just in time to arrest everyone at the end, having been tipped off by Kyle).

Three big questions for you. The first is: who will rescue Aileen and Prof. Remi? To answer, vote in the sidebar poll to the right. The options are: Watson (ta ResQgeek), Otto – having changed sides (thanks, Kiwi) or Lyn – transformed into her secret-society alter-ego Lynx, in an all-action rescue involving a helicopter (also from Kiwi).

Second: are Lyn and Otto related? Let us know what you think in the sidebar poll. This is a great suggestion from Kiwi, who says:

Has anyone noticed that Lyn and Otto have similar facial shapes. Perhaps Otto is her brother that has been sucked into the cult of KBE and Lyn/Lynx has a side mission of trying to extract him from KBE.

And, last: any thoughts about the conversation between Aileen and Professor Remi? What sort of information might they be able to share? One thing you might want to consider – if there really is a “fountain of youth”, perhaps Aileen should think about hiding the secret so that no-one can misuse it? Or, perhaps the rejuvenation properties of the water aren’t as straightforward as Grazp thinks? (And, who’d know better than Remi?)

Company in captivity? Friday, 22 May 2009

We know why Aileen’s been captured by Beryl Potts – not simply because she heard too much, but because her cover’s been blown! (60% of the votes.)

One of the good ideas we’ve been discussing is that a member of Sally Challenger’s expedition might be at Grazp Pharmaceuticals. The options are: Ramón Pedilla is there – on Grazp Pharmaceutical’s side after he betrayed Sally (thanks Meg!); Professor Remi has also been captured by Grazp, so she and Aileen can compare notes and plan together (ta Bibliomane and Kiwi); or Sally Challenger is there, also a prisoner (thanks Di).

So, who’s it to be? Vote now in the sidebar poll to the right.

And, if you’ve got any ideas about how Aileen might escape, who might help her, and what might happen next, join the discussion.

Gunshot! Tuesday, 19 May 2009

The polls are closed and we now know who was shooting whom at the end of episode 4: Beryl Potts (49%) shot at Otto (33%) and missed (44%)!

We know that Aileen’s been captured because you, the storywriting team, voted for that. It’s possible she’ll be locked up, as Ana Gil suggests, in the workers’ cloakroom. But, who will help her? Will Watson have a part to play, as ResQgeek suggests? Or, will Otto switch sides once he realises how ruthless Beryl Potts is, as proposed by Kiwi? Or, is there a split within Grazp that means that some people will help Aileen? (Tom suggested this divide, while Siobhan thinks the Grazp renegades might be “Nerdy analytical chemists with surprising ju-jitsu moves”!) What about Lyn and Kyle – do they have a part to play?

We’ve also been talking about whether a character from Sally Challenger’s expedition might be found at Grazp – what do you think? Do you want to write in one of the expedition members? Who? What are they doing at Grazp? (Meg suggests Ramón Pedilla might be there, after he stole the Ikhata and headed for the Grazp camp in last week’s journal entry.) – Take a look at Company in captivity and vote now!

By the way, if you’re thinking of writing a microstory to continue Sally Challenger’s journal, we would all love to know what an Ikhata is. Kiwi suggests “a shallow bowl or carved figure that water is poured into” or Bibliomane thinks it might be “a piece of analytic or detector apparatus”.

And, why has Beryl captured Aileen? Is it simply because Aileen has overheard the conversation, or does Beryl realise who Aileen is, and knows that she’s investigating the missing book? Is her cover blown?! I’ll put up a poll for this as it’s a simple multiple-choice question – let us have your votes now.