Scott Barrister

Character Sheet

Your name is Scott Barrister. You grew up in Northern California. Your mother was a psychologist and your father was a history teacher at the local college. You had no siblings growing up and you had a fairly normal childhood. Your family was well-off, so you had all the cool toys and games, which helped you make friends when you were young.

In high school, you got interested in sports. You got onto the soccer team and did fairly well. You made friends with most of the team and you became fairly popular in the school. Your grades weren't great, but they weren't bad. You didn't really get science very well, but with your father's help you did pretty well in the humanities.

So when you began applying to colleges, you looked at a lot of liberal arts schools, but at the top of your list was Lashane College in Massachusetts. Your parents weren't so thrilled with the idea of you moving so far away from home, but you were so insistent that they had to give in.

Moving in was a little difficult without anyone to help, but you managed. When your roommate showed up, you were a little nervous about living with someone else, but he turned out to be a fun guy. He was an art history major named Michael Berman. He was from New York, and the two of you talked for a while about being away from home and music and things like that.

He was a good roommate, except he usually stayed up a lot later than you did, and you're a light sleeper. But that's not that bad as roommates go. You went in as a sociology major, and you liked your classes and your professor, but you didn't have that many friends. You knew Michael, and you eventually met the people on the soccer team, but you didn't become as popular as you were in high school. You weren't expecting to be, but it was a weird change.

Freshman year was a little tough; class was a lot harder than you thought it would be. You had to take some science classes, and you were never good at science. You managed to get most of your science classes out of the way, and second semester you started taking some history, psychology and sociology classes. You decided to try out all the classes you thought you'd be good at and then see which of them you liked.

That's how you became a sociology major. You weren't extremely happy with the sociology classes, but they were better than everything else that you were taking.

In your Sophomore year you moved into your new dorm room and met Darren. Darren was a journalism major. He was a good enough guy, kept clean, listened to good music, but he wasn't there very often. He spent a good chunk of his time over at his girlfriend, Jessica's place.

Jessica... The first time you met Jessica, you knew you liked her. She was beautiful and smart and, well, she wasn't nice, but you could get over that. Whenever you two interacted, she always ended up bickering with you about something or other. But you didn't really mind. At least she was talking to you. And you wouldn't make a move on her, not while she was going out with Darren. It wasn't long after this that Michael came to your room and talked you into joining his new band, TMRfOH (god, you can't remember what that stood for). Darren even got in on it, playing drums. You weren't very good at playing guitar, but everyone else was pretty good, and the music that Darren wrote was good enough that no one noticed.

The band played for a while, mostly in the campus coffeehouse and things like that. Most people thought you guys were quite good. It was because of this that Jessica, who had become the band's de facto groupie, suggested that you guys release an album, or play in some more public, paying venue. You thought it sounded like a good plan, but everyone else said that they wanted to continue with their studies and their lives, so you shut up.

The band broke up amicably a couple weeks later. You weren't upset about it. It was nice while it lasted, and you were still friends with all of them. And you still weren't that good at playing guitar. Michael was a good singer, though. You also couldn't help noticing how Jessica looked at him when he sang.

A few days later, you were walking back to your room from the student center when you ran into Jessica leaving. She was looking upset, on the verge of tears. So you walked her across campus to her room, talking about what happened. Apparently, Darren's green notebook where he kept all of his music had disappeared and he had accused her of stealing it. You tried to comfort her, and it seemed to do some good. She asked you in, and though it took all of your willpower, you said no. You didn't want to appear to do anything with Darren's girlfriend.

So things went along fairly uneventfully for the next two years. You hung out with Darren, and you became better and better friends with Jessica. You could tell that their relationship was getting a little shaky, but you were there to support them both... to a certain extent.

When all of you graduated, Darren moved back with his family in Chicago. You were looking for an apartment in the Boston area, like Jessica's apartment in Brighton. You had been looking at an apartment in the Alston area, but you needed a roommate. You talked to Jessica about it, and she said that Darren was also looking for a place to live in the area. So you talked to Darren and you two moved in together.

He quickly got a job at Nation Magazine. He wanted to write articles, but he started out just as a layout manager's assistant and copy boy. You, however, took a little longer to get a job. It took you a couple months, but you managed to snag a position as a filing clerk for an advertising firm in the area. It wasn't fun, and it wasn't interesting, but it paid well, so it didn't matter to you that much.

Darren often spent nights in his office, working on the upcoming issue of the magazine, so you got more time to spend hanging out with Jessica. She often came over for dinner and a movie when Darren was out all night working. You got closer as the months went by.

One night, you invited her over, you had some dinner, some wine and sat for a movie. You might have had a glass too much wine and when you sat on the couch together, you looked at her and the next thing you knew you were kissing her. You were about to apologize when she started kissing you back.

One thing led to another, and you two ended up in bed together. Thankfully, Darren didn't find out. It was the best sex you had ever had and although you felt guilty about doing this to Darren, you had been waiting to be with Jessica ever since you met her.

Things kept going like this for a while; she would continue to go out with Darren and then sleep with you when Darren wasn't around. You just continued to feel guilty about it. It only got worse when your rent ran out and Darren and Jessica decided to start living together.

You still saw each other, and many of your rendezvouses ended up with the two of you sleeping together. She eventually told you that she thought that Darren had found out that she was cheating on him. This scared you, but she then told you that she was sure Darren didn't know with whom she was sleeping. She told you that she was going to break it off with Darren soon.

But she didn't get a chance to do so--Darren died a few days later. The police said that for reasons unknown, he had fallen onto the train tracks of a Red Line train.

That was about a year ago. You've since moved into Jessica's apartment. You've also become Jessica's official boyfriend. Things have been seemingly okay between you two, but you're not so sure. Things were 'seemingly okay' between her and Darren too. She's been seeming a bit distant. You'd just gotten a promotion recently and it seems like she's just wanted to spend your money and sleep with you. You haven't spent much time together just being together like you used to. You wish you knew if she liked you as much as she liked you. You're not sure and you're worried that you're going to end up like Darren... well, maybe not the dead thing.

So you're out on one of her shopping trips again. She's been spending a lot of your paychecks on clothes and such, but you don't mind much, as you get to spend time with her. You wish you could feel more fulfilled with your relationship, though.

Last Thoughts Before Game Start

You're tired, and you kind of wish you could go home. You did not want to spend your day off from work on this shopping trip with Jessica. And you hate traveling on the T. It smells and it reminds you of how Darren died.

And hey, apparently half of the people living in your apartment building decided to take the T at the exact same time. There's Christopher, who's a bit quiet, and his roommate. You don't know his roommate's name, and he's a bit too intense for you to approach him about it.

Also, the conductor... doesn't she live downstairs? Even that homeless guy who sleeps out on the street in front of the building is here.

There are a lot of people here that you actually know, at least a little. Even Michael, your college roommate, before he became a famous rock star. It's a little weird. It's a small world, this is bound to happen some time.

Who You Know on the Train

01. Jessica Hawthorne – Your girlfriend, who brought you along on her shopping trip. You first met her in college when she was dating your friend Darren, but after he passed away the two you reconnected, and you’ve been dating ever since. At least, that's the official story.

03. Louis Dalton – You vaguely remember her as Darren’s best friend from high school. In the few times you’d met her, she struck you as being kind of weird.

04. - That guy looks like he should be in some old film noir movie. He's either a detective, or more likely, just wants to be one.

05. - Oh god, that's got to be one of those call-in psychics like the one that Jessica spends way too much money on. What was her name? Madame Zima? You can't believe she wastes her money on those things.

06. - This guy seems like he belongs in one of those hippie coffe shops reading poetry or something. He looks well put together, but a little artsy.

07. - She looks familiar. You know you met her at some point in college. You don't think she went to Lashane, though.

08. - Isn't that the guy who lives down the hall? He's kinda quiet and awkward, but that's better than his roommate.

09. - Speak of the devil, it's quiet awkward guy's roommate, creepy probably-a-drug-dealer guy.

10. - Mike Jones – That’s him, everyone knows Mike Jones. He’s a world-famous rock star now, but you used to play in a band with him in college. You were pretty good friends back then. Wonder how he managed to make it.

11. - This guy just screams thug. Something about him puts you off, but you're not sure what.

12. - Phillip Zabrensky – He went to college with you too. You always liked him, he was an all right guy, quiet but nice.

13. - This guy looks too well dressed and wealthy to be riding the T. What's up with that?

14. - And to balance it out, there's a hobo. Huh. Isn't that the guy who sometimes sleeps outside the apartment building?

15. Terry Shipton – Another person you could swear went to college with you. Is she a train conductor now?