Background - 2029: Automatic Writers

Revised 2-26-2012

Automatic Writers

            General

Automatic writers get messages from spirits, daemons, & seemingly,  from the Universe itself.  When they get a message, they have to write. No matter what else they are doing, they're compelled to write. They will write with whatever they can find on whatever there is to write on.  When writing a message, for as long as they're writing, an AW is completely absorbed in their writing & cannot be drawn away from it.  Sometimes they remember how they got the message. Sometimes, not so much.

If you put a question to an AW, you'll often get an answer, if there's one to be had.  Though, sometimes not.  And, the timing of the answer is always in doubt. It can be a year later or 5 seconds later.  Just depends.  AW's have no control over that.  They just receive the answers.  Many times the messages make no sense to them, but, since they're not usually meant for them, this isn't their deal.

Automatic Writers have their powers on, all the time. Though they go 'off line' when they sleep and are more receptive to messages at certain times and under certain conditions than they are at others.

            Language

Automatic writers are often referred to simply as AW's.  A common nickname for them is "automatics" or "autos".  Another common nickname is "scribes". 

            Powers

AW's have no control over their power at all.  They receive messages when they receive them.  They will be waken out of a coma or a deep sleep when a message comes in.  Some strong AW's learn to pause the message & give them some time to pull over & get situated but they can never not receive a message, as long as they are alive & their brains intact.

No matter what language the message is in, they will write it down, even if they don't know the language they are writing or it's in a totally different script than any they've written in before.

Many AW's save messages they get forever.  When you're dealing with the paranormal & the supernatural, well, you never know.

Easily pick up telepathic communications & can often hear "cross-channel" talk that a nearby telepath is having without even trying.

Some messages come through as "for your eyes only".  These messages can't be read by "normal" humans.  Humans who try to read them will see a blank paper or just gibberish.

Many AW's will feel an aura, an all-over body tingling precede a message's arrival.  Sometimes though, they just come right out of the blue.

AW's get the messages they get when they get the messages.  They have no control over the process.  They can't be made to get a message.  In fact, stress & emotional problems are thought to have the opposite effect & slow down the receiving of messages. 

If a message is incredibly long it may be sent to an AW in "packets".  Each "packet" is tagged in a way to let the AW know that the message is incomplete & more will be forthcoming.  As always, the when & where of all of that is never told to the AW. 

Messages for other entities can be given to an AW in any form.  Just telling them something that a departed spirit, for instance, might want to know, instantly communicates that information to the spirit.  Their job is mostly that of receiver of messages though, not so much sender. 

An AW who's writing can't be affected by any mind control.  Also, anything physically done to them will only happen to them after the message they're receiving is received.  For instance, if you threw a punch at an AW while they were receiving a message you couldn't hit them until the message was fully received.  Time would slow down for as long as necessary for all that to happen. If the AW were a strong AW and had messages queued up, time would slow down even more for him/her to receive the messages they could receive right then.

           

            Weaknesses & Limitations

Weak AW's seem to only be able to receive shorter, simpler messages.  It's almost as if they're not trusted with bigger things.  Average & strong AW's don't have that problem, often receiving long detailed messages.  Strong AW's can build up a queue of messages waiting to be "downloaded" by them & sometimes will write themselves into a fit of exhaustion, after which they have to sleep.  If their queue has any waiting messages upon waking, however, they will go right back to copying them down. 

Wearing tin foil or aluminum foil on their heads will keep them from receiving messages.  Lead lined rooms & homes with tin roofs also interfere with messages being received. For strong AW's this can be bad because the minute they are free from these interferences they may be bombarded with messages that have queued up waiting for them.  Weaker AW's are not usually affected this way, as, it seems, the message gets rerouted elsewhere after a certain period of time.

Neural implants can often help an AW stop receiving messages if they can be calibrated to the right frequency.  

Destroying a message is bad.  Having a message get lost or destroyed.  Bad.  Bad things seem to happen to AW's who lose, destroy or fail to give messages when the intended recipient has sought them out.

                       

            Lifestyle

Some AW's have very difficult lives & feel unable to commit to anything or try & do anything, feeling they are a slave to their abilities.  For those AW's it's hard to go out & do anything for fear of a message coming through.  Anticipatory anxiety may wind up controlling their lives.

Many AW's are never without a pad & paper.  Ever.  Some are very anal about filing & storing their messages.  A few will try & seek out who the message was for but experience has taught most that the message's intended recipient will somehow come to them, if they can.  Eventually. 

Many AW's find it impossible to live with others, unless those others are also AW's or are neutralizers.  Therefore, many AW's are lonely, solitary beings.

            Many AW's work for themselves.  Quite a few have home businesses. 

Religiously, AW's seem as varied on the subject as pretty much any & everyone else.

           

            Legal

There are no laws against being an automatic writer but, so far, courts have not looked kindly on automatic writing being used as a defense in accidents.  Communications of a paranormal type are, for the most part, never allowed in legal proceedings.

            Side Effects

Besides anxiety issues, already noted above, many AW's grapple with depression.  Though they almost never see the force or being giving them the message they receive, they often get flashes & glimpses of images related to the message.  For some messages these flashes can be very disturbing & the impact of seeing them, long lasting.

No medicines have been found to help AW's keep from getting messages.  However, a prefrontal lobotomy usually stops the messages from coming through for good.  Some desperate & distraught AW's will elect that over continuing to get the messages.

            Substance abuse issues seem to coincide very strongly with this power.

            Many AW's also show strong obsessive compulsive issues.

            Other Paras

Other paranormals generally respect automatic writers & leave them alone. In fact, it's been said that some sort of universal magic protects all AW's in the immediate aftermath of giving a message.  It seems true, based on what little evidence there is. It seems that no matter how bad the message given, the messenger, the AW, in this case, is protected from immediate harm. 

Borrowers don't' seem to bother them much, apparently not wanting to deal with the power.

            Cannibals don't seem to prey on AW's often either. 

Mediums are a frequent customer.  Psychics can be as well. All three paras seem to relate to be able to relate to one another.

Though considered a 'minor' power, most Paranormals, Others, Undead, Daemons and Ghosts consider AWs important enough to be thought of as 'protected'. 

Copyright M.R. McCaffery, 2012. All rights reserved.