Post by Valencia Donahue on Jan 8, 2009 11:00:49 GMT 1
The Network
The Network is by no means a gang, but an organization at best if very loosely defined. Compared to the east coast, the west coast was better off under the rule of the System and in turn created bored students who had few means of keeping themselves entertained when they had so much teenage energy pent up in them. This especially applied to Hircine due to their reputation as one of the most successful schools in the nation. As a result, they devised means to pass the time verbally and nonverbally, aiming to strengthen social lives and do more than just sit around. Codes were created to keep up with busy schedules, activities were organized for the idle, and it wasn't long until a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend was somehow connected to the Network, for reasons minuscule or grand. Eventually this extended beyond Hircine and to nearby schools the more students socialized off-campus, strengthening the Network's expansion. It wasn't long until the strong of might and strong of intellect would catch on and use this non-electric Internet for their own means, so only the Network's members, of high or low standing, of old or recent, would be able to regulate this creation of many.
“You see… For a long while, Hircine has its fair enough share of peace to do a bunch of things to pass their time instead of fight… Like, studying… And talking about all sorts of things. And… You can only imagine what some of the less ‘stagnant-minded’ people would do to keep things interesting. It can get boring fast here sometimes. For as long as I’ve been at Hircine, there’s this complex ‘network’ of rumor mills, grapevines, and everything, complete with over hundreds of ways to talk to someone in the next room without getting caught… And each time someone cracks one code, another one gets developed. People are always talking to one another nonverbally, right under peoples’ noses… Usually to ‘no one in particular’ in hopes to strike up a conversation so to speak.
I mean… The school paper… You know those recipes they publish from Home Economics that hardly anyone actually uses? Some of them are codes… Those stab marks in chairs and tables are codes… Some bathroom stalls are used to leave notes… And… Any class with numbers in them? If some numbers don’t make sense, it’s probably a code too, down to those ‘go to page 114’, ‘go to page 32’, and so on things scribbled into the corners of textbook pages. Hardly anyone knows every single code. Some codes get recycled then trashed again as soon as the older teachers catch on to something that was used a few years ago. Whatever the case, people don’t usually know who leaves behind what unless something distinct is left behind too, like a signature… And if you know peoples’ habits. So it’s ‘safe’. If any of you access the ‘network’, they’ll just think of you as another random fella.”
Established Conventions
Since the Network isn't established in stone, its “rules” are centered around taboos, gut-feeling, hear-say, and just knowing was is or isn't allowed, even within the System's standards. These established conventions are regulated by the honor system and reputation, as breaking these norms may lead to extreme ostracism amongst peers or more direct punishment by the hands of more passionate Network members. The following are some of the more known established norms and conventions.
- No one is to reveal its functions to figures of authority who would damage the Network's expansion; refer to Reno v. ACLU (1997) for further elaboration
- It's been established that Captains, Pillars, school newspaper groups, office aides, and other students with ties to the administration have the most mobility in the Network, providing that they follow its established conventions
- Anyone can be a Network member the moment they access its functions, but their “influence” is determined by their awareness of such
- Codes can be left anywhere and everywhere in any shape or form, but its existence isn't the Network's responsibility
- Hardly anyone knows every single code, as this information is passed among students or solved independently to ensure there is a constant flow of new “members” of varying abilities
- For every code that gets cracked by the administration, another will take its place
- Codes are constantly being designed, if not recycled from years past
- The most common way for deals to be arranged is quid pro quo; something is given or received for something else; “you scratch my back, I scratch yours”
- Goods, information, services, and other such related things can be peddled among members
- Weapons, drugs, pornography, and other such illegal things aren't tolerated and those who peddle in these wares are turned in to the administration to keep the status quo; people still get caught, but most Network members go free
- If a Network member must be caught for some reason, it's emphasized that the deed should be small enough to ensure a small punishment and speedy release instead of a huge crime and a massive sentence
[li] Hircine High (Public)
[/li][li] Cartford (Private)
[/li][li] Kindlewood (Public)
[/li][li] Anglonox Academy (Private)
[/li][li] Paragon Institute (Public)[/li][/ul]
[li] Forty Thieves
[/li][li] Keys to the City
[/li][li] Genaht
[/li][li] Revelation[/li][/ul]
((OOC: This should go without saying, but for the sake of making it explicitly clear, try to avoid metagaming, LIKE MIND READING AND SOMEHOW KNOWING THINGS WITHOUT A GOOD REASON, so drama regarding godding doesn't come up.))