Dormant Star

DORMANT STAR is an interactive fiction story set in a superhero-filled world in the year 2030. You play as an investigative TV news reporter balancing a career with the responsibilities of raising your teenage child.

SAN JUSTO, CA has cultivated a reputation for being a magnet for the anomalous.

Magic, extraterrestrials, failed experiments, and infernal incursions found their way to the city. Fortunately, the city is not without its defenders: sanctioned golden heroes and, of course, on occasion, a handful of canny brooding vigilantes (who, funnily enough, are character models for those spicy young adult novels).

You built your career in pursuit of reporting on the extraordinary. Meticulous to a fault and relentlessly annoyingly persistent, you made a profession from doubt and the unknown; you deliver stories and facts live on TV; everyone’s watching you… even your neighbor’s cat.

Four years ago, you lost your spouse, leaving the responsibility of raising your teenage child alone. The two of you became a team, learning (although imperfectly) to rotate the way the Earth turns through the darkness and light, building stability despite the loss.

But this is San Justo. And what would you expect in an unordinary city?

Lately, your attention has been consumed by the city’s newest rookie superhero who appeared out of nowhere, known as Pulsar. The public is enamored with this young (really young) hero, but you can’t help but find them somewhat… familiar. Weird.

At the same time, a more immediate concern has begun to take shape in your own home. Your child has changed. Unusually absent-minded and muzzy, gaps in their schedule that don't line up with anything they tell you, and coming home at odd hours—behaviors that are wholly out of their character.

You attempt to rationalize it. After all, adolescence is inherently unstable with the rising hormones taking place (you should know since you’ve been through that song and dance before).

Yet, you can’t help but feel that something is off.

You have spent your life discerning when stories fail to be consistent. That instinct, honed through years of work, is now turning inward, now directed at your own life. You are too close to the subject to remain objective.

Whatever has been lying dormant is beginning to ignite.

☆TUMBLR