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This entry is intended for Narrators who would like some additional context on the scene in entry 131. It is not required for understanding of the story, and may be skipped!
Scene Overview
The scene plays out as you might expect:
- Jineko is given/loaned a Focus because the device has recognized her condition, but will not reveal that condition to other characters.
- The Focus does not need IASO present to make this diagnosis. While the Focus database of medical conditions is small, her condition is as recognizable to the Focus as a broken limb might be.
- The Focus requests her to attach a sensor pad to her lower back to gather more data.
- Once this data is collected, her condition is diagnosed as neurological in nature, and she is asked whether she’d like to try a treatment which might return her mobility. This is when she exclaims “Yes, of course!”.
- She is instructed to attach an additional sensor pad on each leg. The Focus explains that this will allow the sensor pads to work in concert to bypass the struggling nerve clusters. It is explained to her that this cannot heal her condition, which will continue to deteriorate biologically over time, but that as a temporary measure this should restore her mobility for a few years at least, until other options can be found.
To be clear: by the end of the story module, Jineko will have a more permanent solution. This non-permanent solution is intended to provide a narrative impetus for Jineko to join the party in the following scenes, and to show her as having the strength and determination to try new things and keep moving forward. However, if any players might find this to feel like “bait and switch”, it’s just as viable to say that the sensor pad solution will likely work for decades without concern of reduced functionality. The intent here is to provide an arc for character growth, not to traumatize the players with ableist inspiration porn.
Background Details
Jineko’s exact condition is intentionally vague: “a motor neuron condition affecting the use of her legs”. This is intended to allow maximum flexibility for tailoring the details to the player group.
Some potential explanations of the cause of her condition might include:
- An inherited genetic condition which was seen in a grandparent but skipped a parent.
- A novel genetic condition.
- Nerve damage sustained in a machine attack.
- A childhood injury.
In the story as written, Jineko won’t offer details and would change the subject if asked. The details of her condition are not critical to the narrative provided here, so Narrators should feel free to modify and embellish as is appropriate for the players.
The visible effects of her condition are also intentionally vague. Narrators may choose to present her as having minor or major motor control issues, recent or longstanding symptoms, an entire lifetime or only weeks getting used to the condition, or whatever makes sense for the table.
With the sensor pad treatment in place, the story as written implies a few days to get used to her altered state. This is not necessarily realistic, and in a modern setting would likely require extensive physical therapy to get used to — especially if her condition had been explained as being long-term. However, epic training montages aside, this wouldn’t make for a very dramatic introductory module for the world of Skyline. Narrators are encouraged to hand-wave an explanation akin to “maintenance of the muscle tone in her legs through regular application of the same herbs Grethe uses to heal the wounds of Braves”.
Tensions
Jineko is conflicted. She has lived her life in a society which accepts her with her disability, but would, she believes, react extremely negatively to a sudden change in that state due to the technology of the Old Ones. They might even cut her off from her family and eject her from Nora lands.
She’s seeing changes in the attitudes of the Nora, but she’s also sitting in Mother’s Watch, a place that was recently literally burned to the ground by the machines made by those same Old Ones. It would be very difficult for her to make a clear and unencumbered decision to just start walking around and damn the consequences.
Obviously, however, no one wants to live a lie.
In the story as written, Jineko makes up her mind that the following order of events makes the most sense:
- Take some time to see if the Focus and sensor pads can deliver on their promise.
- Go down into the ruins to see what else is down there, and if there’s anything else which might be of use. She holds out hope she might uncover something she could bring back to help our her parents, or her people in general, which she might use as leverage for acceptance.
- Reveal her new state to her parents, soon but not immediately, and seek their advice about what to do next.
The main story only hints at this rationale. Narrators should feel free to modify or embellish as desired.