Plotting

(2000s voice) Plotbunnies.

Chronology

• Thinking a major apocalyptic event, and this is the aftermath where they've rebuilt over several decades.
• They've rebuilt things somewhat, such that things appear modern and functional, but the population is a lot smaller than what it was before
• They don't have an efficient energy source because fossil fuels and nuclear energy are no longer viable options (hence the adoption of a power generator that runs on a mass extinction event) does this make sense?? Wind/water/solar energy is not as efficient and a lot of the structures were previously destroyed, need rebuilding
• Areas outside of cities are considered dangerous for travel on foot (unstable geography, increased paranormal activity, suggested lawlessness)
• There are some ruins of buildings here and there still, no longer important for recovering resources (if they ever were), typically entry is forbidden due to the instability of decaying structures
• Before things went down there was already some work done on the generator (Ambient Electromagnetic Wave Funnel or something cheesy like that), so they basically completed it as soon as possible after other energy sources started failing, and it became the primary energy generator for the city, appealing because it was eco-friendly, quiet and cheap
• The rest of the city built up around it, so it's a fairly new city and not one that was rebuilt
• A large amount of weird incidents (strange sightings, mysterious disappearances, etc.) were reported after the adoption of this new energy generator but written off as a combination of increased crime rates/wacky stuff like an increase in hauntings due to the apocalyptic death toll.
• The scientists involved in the science of the AEWF recognised it to be a side effect of the funnel's operation and urged, with difficulty (they only got funding once the bosses got convinced that such "natural disasters" impeded the march of capitalism), for a paranormal task force to be formed.
• The realisation that ghosts were best fought by ghosts took a while, and the technology for finding and caging willing souls took even longer still to develop. However, the bosses were on board with the idea of hiring people with no rights and minimal pay.
• Somehow this was kept very much under wraps. It may have leaked but it was too wild and unverifiable to most people to be more than a conspiracy theory.
• The present is 100-200 years later.
• Rev tech is still making leaps and bounds in improvement. The generator's company is looking to expand and set up generators elsewhere.
• The Rev team is somewhat battered due to more recent events. They've gone through several generations of Revs at this point.
• Internal dissent among newer Revs in particular about how they're being used/treated as disposable soldiers.
• The issue of whether there are enough souls to go around indefinitely is also starting to be talked about.

Dynamics

Bosses

• The organisation's bosses fund the Revs' housing and technological development, but is particularly stingy on resources for Revs
• They have a vague understanding of the Revs being fully sentient, ghosts of people, but also don't believe they need to be treated like humans
• Honestly can't care about the dangers that supernatural occurrences pose to people, but they have profits to make...
• Clustering ectoplasm means less ectoplasm makes it into the generator means less profits
• The public facing explanation for Revs is that they are created to tame wild clusters of ambient electromagnetism, much like the invisible workers who maintain a functioning train system
• That is, they're mostly robots, with a touch of ambient electromagnetism, which allows them to function autonomously. However, they are implied to have only basic instincts.

Professor

• The Professor answers to the bosses, is the head of R&D
• She treats the Revs like people because she is aware they retain their full human faculties and knows them more intimately than anyone else, save for the Revs themselves
• Due to the nature of her work she cannot leave, and she doesn't really want to either because she feels responsibility for the Revs.
• To some extent she's afraid that anyone who would replace her would not care for the Revs' welfare, and yet her presence is a major reason the system continues to exist...

General public

• Does not know that the generator runs on literal ghosts, old and new
• To their knowledge, it runs on "ambient electromagnetism"
• "Ambient electromagnetism" is associated with "distorted perception of reality". People with basic science education know that excessive ambient electromagnetism causes perceptions to warp, causing them to perceive their environment wrongly and potentially harm themselves and others.
• To repeat: they believe that any hurt caused to themselves and others in the presence of strong ambient electromagnetic fields is due to themselves. This cannot truly be proven as the electromagnetism causes modern cameras and recording equipment to fail or produce a distorted feed.
• Of course, it's hard to stay calm in that kind of situation and think "it's just electromagnetism", so the people are divided on the topic of "have we solved ghosts yet" still. But generally speaking "this has all been explained by modern science" is common knowledge.
• They do not associate ambient electromagnetism with the souls of their loved ones - it's just a bunch of vibrating electrons in the air that do not contain any further information
• They believe that they're better off with the generator in place - without the generator, extra ambient electromagnetism would not be sucked up, and put to a good use
• They live with a fear of supernatural events, more so than the baseline standard of humans on Earth. Most people will have tales to tell - mostly benign, but unpredictable. People are somewhat superstitious and shy away from things that look even mildly likely to summon a spirit, deaths from supernatural causes are often reported (person went missing, people found dead, etc.)
• They don't have a baseline standard for what not living in fear of supernatural things looks like, so this is part and parcel of life
• The general public treats Revs with suspicion/mild fear, generally do not interfere (save for some with the audacity) and worry that the Revs may lose control in the same way that AI may lose control

Revs

• They're told that their job is to protect the public by dispersing ectoplasm
• In exchange they're allowed to pursue their regrets (basically, the organisation will attempt to grant them one wish within reason), as long as it does not involve coming into contact with people in their past life - e.g., they may ask for a donation to their family, but the donation will be presented as anonymously as possible, as much like a stroke of luck as possible
• They are framed as underdogs, secret heroes, and not allowed to talk to the living (who aren't working at the organisation). They're aware of the public stereotype of the Revs and are bound by contract to uphold it
• The fact that complete souls are being ground up for the generator, and that they are still complete themselves, does turn away potential candidates, but acceptance of the contract means that they have to keep it a secret. They see it as a thing that happens when people with money want more money and they discuss it a lot.
• However a lot of them prioritise the fulfilment of their wish, and know that the contract will be terminated/they will be decommissioned if they step out of line
• They're not aware that the generator causes ectoplasm to cluster and increase the rate of supernatural events occurring. They haven't seen what it's like when there's no generator - when there's no generator, ectoplasm just diffuses more evenly and fewer events occur.
• Only a few Revs know this - primarily Synth (due to proximity to the Professor) and Iris

Iris

• Part of a group of Revs that discovered the truth, thought it was time for a revolution, and then the bosses had them set up to be violently decommissioned
• It did not completely work.
• Iris is something of a taboo subject in Rev company...some do suspect their elimination was intentional, others see it as an unfortunate accident, sometimes they tell the newbies about the incident to spook them
• Iris has decided that it's useless to try and convince the company to stop, so their plan is to destroy the system by taking out every last Rev, leaving it near impossible to assemble a new team (since Revs are needed to find new Revs), causing a spike in supernatural incidents, meaning the generator has to be stopped immediately to reduce casualties
• And then the generator cannot be started again, because now everyone will know that the generator causes these things to happen
• On top of them there will probably be a touch of mechanical sabotage because why not