1. codyco

    codyco New Member

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    Multiple Life Sentences

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by codyco, Mar 2, 2008.

    Bascially I have an idea for a novel that would kinda go like this . . .

    You know how sometimes they sentence people to multiple life sentences? Well the plot is that the American government has found a way to track poeple's essence or soul throughout time, like reincarnation, and now when someone is sentenced to more than one life term that is actually what happens. The basic idea is that people who committ murders are always the same people just in different bodies. Are you following?

    My questions are:

    Do you think it is too complicated?

    How would they track people's essences?

    Should it be in the near or far future?

    Thanks for the help guys
     
  2. Its_Chase

    Its_Chase New Member

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    Wow. I actually love this idea. I think it has the potential to turn out amazing.

    Too complicated? I don't think so.

    How would they track people's essences? I have no idea.

    Near or far future? Maybe somewhere in between. =)

    You should definitely let me know where you go with this. I'd love to read it.
     
  3. Lawfire

    Lawfire Member

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    Sounds like an interesting idea, and could turn out to be a great story.

    No, not if it was written well.

    That's a key point. :) Maybe some advanced DNA sampling.

    Fairly far future, IMO.

    Good luck!
     
  4. Kit

    Kit Contributor Contributor

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    I have to agree this is a fantastic idea, and would love to see how it does turn out. I'd set it far enough into the future that you could believe technology might advance by that time, but not so far into the future that its hundreds of years away from us.

    As for how they'd track the essence... I guess thats up to you ;) Although the advanced DNA sampling idea is probably a good enough one.
     
  5. Heather Louise

    Heather Louise Contributor Contributor

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    This sounds like a cool idea, Cpdyco, but it is going to need a lot of planning. Do you actually have an idea about what you want to write, ot just what you have told here. Because although this is a good idea, you actually need a story to go with it.

    If the novel is in the view of the person who is serving the life sentences them perhaps you do not need to know much about how they manage to keep track of the souls, maybe it is comething only government officials know about so it makes things easier for you.
     
  6. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    dna won't do any good, since their 'essence' [that i call 'intellessence'] would be in a new body altogether, with its own dna... they'd have to track the soul/mind, which has no dna... and you can design any way you want for them to do that, as you're the writer/creator, right?

    it's an interesting idea, but if the premise is that the person be incarcerated for 'life' or lives, then the new body would have to be tracked down and thrown into the clink at birth, or as an infant/child/teen, when they're found... the main glitch will be whether to have the hapless reincarnated person know who s/he was in the earlier life, or not... in the most widely accepted theory of reincarnation, the new ones have no memory of their former selves...
     
  7. Lawfire

    Lawfire Member

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    With Sci-Fi, one has to "think outside of the box." The DNA was just a starting point idea. Perhaps in the writer's version of the future, man would have found an advanced form of molecular substance that is carried over with the soul. Perhaps, the formula is imprinted on the soul and no matter what body it enters, that body produces this substance.
     
  8. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Talk about having to pay for the sins of the father, though!

    I personally don't find the premise all that interesting or plausible, but that is merely my own perspective. Who knows? If it's well enough written, I might change my mind.
     
  9. codyco

    codyco New Member

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    Ok first of all you guys are amazing thanks bunches. It is really just an idea that I have been milling around for a while. I think it is going to be set in the far future where the world has basically gone down the drain. A "V for Vendetta" sort of vibe, it will add the idea of taking the people away which, yes, would be done at birth. That answers a majority of my questions, if you guys have anything else to add that would be amazing
    thanks : )
     
  10. xxpaperwriterxx

    xxpaperwriterxx New Member

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    perhaps they've found a way to track the dna in a database and when every child is born, their dna is tested immediately and if the child is a recarnate of a multiple lifer, they are taken away... or maybe watched if the life sentances are already done (since they are supposed to be the same people)?

    anyways, hope that helped.. good luck!
     
  11. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    dna would only be the same if they were clones, and not reincarnated into new bodies, which is what the poster wants...

    the major problem i see is that the society would be caring for and raising huge numbers of newborns, keeping them incarcerated till they die a natural death, which makes no sense at all, cost-wise, or any other way...
     
  12. codyco

    codyco New Member

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    meh good point . . . well i really wanna make it work so I don't know I'll think of something but you guys have helped a lot and brought up issues I definitely never would have thought of

    Again anything else you would like to add is welcome

    Thanks again

    ETA: ok I think I figured it out, they implant like a unique series of numbers as a memory which is dormant until it is extracted at birth if that makes any sense at all
     
  13. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    don't see how it could, since a newborn wouldn't be able to speak, so how could those numbers be 'extracted'?... imo, you'll have to invent some kind of 'soul-identifier' or whatever, that can be waved over every single newborn as it emerges from the womb, to see if they're harboring a convicted soul, or not...

    but even with that roadblock hurdled, you still have the problem of what to do with a huge bunch of squalling babies that need to be fed and diapered and reared for their lifetime by the state, costing a ridiculous fortune that no government could afford...
     
  14. codyco

    codyco New Member

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    Well I meant they would extract the memory by other means like hypnotizing or something. Also, it would not necessarily be a lot of babies just ones that had murdered somebody in a past life.
     
  15. Alice in Wonderland

    Alice in Wonderland New Member

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    How about mediums in the police force(or whatever) that can tell the essencual footprints of murderers? D=

    If that makes any sense.
     
  16. codyco

    codyco New Member

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    Hmmm that makes perfect sense lol. I think my mind is to science oriented, yep that's a definite possibility. Thanks a bunches . . .

    ETA: also, not sure if this should be in here or another thread but at any rate, there are 2 spies trapped together on an elevator how would they find out about each other's real identities?
     
  17. Alice in Wonderland

    Alice in Wonderland New Member

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    I think your idea about a memory code is a good one. ^^ Perhaps a string of static pictures that make no cognitive sense, as that's what most people view memory as. xD Picture I mean. P=
     
  18. codyco

    codyco New Member

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    Haha I don't know it's becoming increasingly confusing. I'm thinking about junking it, or making it into a short story so I don't have to have all those messy details : )
     
  19. Alice in Wonderland

    Alice in Wonderland New Member

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    You could always try it as a short story and see how it goes. ^^ you can get feedback and see if there is enough interest to expand on it. I'll definately give it a good reading! =D
     
  20. codyco

    codyco New Member

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    I might . . . sometime between school and work and going to the doctor and taking care of my dog and homework and whatnot lol
     
  21. Alice in Wonderland

    Alice in Wonderland New Member

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    I hear that! xD
     
  22. codyco

    codyco New Member

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    Yeah but about the spies I was thinking that both of the peole who sent them on the mission could find out and then call them both while there on the elevator but i'm not sure, it sounds like it might be better as a script rather than a novel.
     
  23. Alice in Wonderland

    Alice in Wonderland New Member

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    Sounds like something Tarentino would come up with. xD I like!
     
  24. codyco

    codyco New Member

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    yeah i'm thinking romantic comedy , , , with spies

    italian spies lol
     
  25. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    you'd still be dealing with newborns, so how could hypnosis work?
     

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