how things fit

the three characters described in previous posts are intended to be the main characters in a story my friend and i are making. (i hesitate to use the word protagonists, as it's not clear now what direction any of them will take.)

the story is set in the 1950's and follows three characters as they begin a mystic quest on behalf of a mysterious organization, in the hopes of filling a void in their lives. they don't know the ultimate goal of this organization, nor the consequences of their success.

harriot is the "main" main character; oscar and buzz are important, but most of the time (all of the time?) the pov is harriot's. the organization believes that there is one person destined to complete the quest, but they don't know who. so they just tap any person showing signs of "power". they go through literally hundreds a year, with everyone ultimately dying. these three are the first to last so long, and have a serious chance of completing the quest. due to external pressures (of some unknown, mystic nature), the organization is forced to certify one of the three as "the one". conflict comes from the quest and harriot's interactions with oscar, buzz, other questers, and the organization.

the nature of "power" in this world is base on perception. those with "power", whom i'll call power-users, are able to interact with their perceptions in two distinct ways: observation and actuation. furthermore, there are different levels to which a power-user can take this interaction: involuntary(weakest), reflexive, intentional(strongest). this is not to say that power-users interact with all they perceive; they only have access to some well defined aspect of their perception. those who have strong aptitude for observation tend to be weak with respect to actuation, and vice-versa. everyone is capable of learning to use their power intentionally.

much of the story is inspired by an anime call "the law of ueki". there 100 middle schoolers are entered into a tournament representing 100 "god candidates". the next god will be the candidate whose champion wins the tournement. each candidate has bestowed a power on their champion. in this world, the nature of these powers also obey specific rules; all powers turn one specific thing into another. for example, one character can turn towels into steel, another can turn water into fire, and so on. the main character, ueki kouske, seems to have the weakest power (he can turn trash into trees), but his creativity and sense of justice repeatedly carries him to victory.

i know, i know, but my story is only loosely inspired by the anime. anyway, i'm currently compiling a list of books harriot may have read, for initial research.