[K5pbem] Story Idea Forming In My Brain

[William Jordan]

Here's a few thoughts
   
  We haven't covered the West Coast very much in our overall picture of the K5 universe. Since they wind up being chased around town, this is a good chance to insert some observations. No need to digress and make this a travelogue, but maybe something to whet the reader's interest while Ling Ling and Marta are there? 
   
  Most people are familiar enough with what San Francisco is like in our collective "picture" culturally. I have some practical experience with the place (admitedly over a decade old). Mix the old with the new. 
   
  Cable Cars should still exist. (And in a running chase scene should be ESSENTIAL, as obstacles to cars or as a means of escape. Fighting on one?) Many of the buildings of downtown should still be there (interspersed with a few arcologies) The locals will have taken pains to preserve some things like the Golden Gate bridge and Coit tower. There's more of an oriental influence there now, right? Japantown might have expanded. 
   
  Alcatraz... The place is crumbling already. The prison is historic. But it's doomed. I think some corporation might see an opportunity in a property that's isolated, yet relatively close to so much via water. 
   
  Similarly, the old Alameda Naval yard (where the Highway chase from Matrix Reloaded was filmed and where Mythbusters does a lot of their work) is in a similar state. In the aftermath of a federal breakup, I can see the Bear Flag republic either acquiring the land for its own use or selling it to a Corporation. (It's a LARGE area. Check it out on Google satillite maps. You may still be able to see the Matrix Reloaded highway there.)
   
  Speaking of water - Did we ever make a choise in regards to whether the sea levels had risen in K5 or not? Neo York was problematic in terms of how to protect it (several miles of harbor and channel entrances to the city to be diked/bermed/seawalled.) but it was doable.
   
  The Bay area may actually in some ways be easier to handle. You have ONE major connection to the sea to block and that's all. If there's a seawall to be built, you can build it out beyond the Golden Gate about half a mile out. The Western side of San Francisco (where Golden Gate park abuts the sea) will need a large berm/dike. The mountains of the Marin headlands protect that side. You'd need a large lock to let in boats. I think the shipping would suffer. Or move. Yeah, I could see the dock areas of Oakland drying up and going away. The dock areas of SF are almost gone already IRL. Maybe move all dock operations to the Western side of SF? Extend the sea wall to cover that as an artificial harbor maybe? Or - going more extreme - make the giant sea wall itself into a port facility! A giant arcology in it's own right! I could also see the Seawall as a source of Hydroelectric power if done right. 
   
  And never EVER forget that this is a City on a set of Hills! Especially in a chase sequence, this can make things exciting. Remember Bullit and the car chase? 
   
  And still, sometimes the sea fog rolls in sometimes and covers everything.
   
  Sounds - Cable car bells. Ships horns. Music from a bar or in a car. Cars themselves. Some mostly silent (electric). The sound of breakers on the pilings of the Golden gate bridge.
   
  Random smells: Alcohol from the cars. The smell of the sea air. What else? (Hmm)

  Mind, you don't (can't!) use all of these details. But a passing mention will help set the scene. 
  
Mike Surbrook <susano at guisarme.net> wrote:
  On Wed, 1 Nov 2006, William Jordan wrote:

> I'd be willing to proof drafts and provide feedback.

Okay. Any comments or suggestions for the inital idea? Anything you'd 
like to see?

> Mike Surbrook wrote: I've been considering writing the sequence describing how Marta & Ling
> Ling first met. Ling Ling flew to San Francisco to broker a deal and had
> hired Marta as a bodyguard in advance. The deal ended up some sort of
> doublecross in which various entities (Yakuza, Triads, and what not) all
> wanted the same item(s), and Ling Ling was cought in the middle. In true
> action movie fashion, the pair spend some time being chased around SF,
> fighting it out with the badguys, and eventually falling for each other.
>
> Anyone have any suggestions? Or want to assist?
>
>

-- 
Michael Surbrook
susano at guisarme . net http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/
The Phoenicians were not great philosophers... they pondered the simpler
questions, like "If I stick this spear in you, can I take your stuff?",
"Do you have relatives that would be mad if I took your stuff?", and
"Can my relatives beat up your relatives?"

Doug Robarchek
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