middleofsomewhere | So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

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So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

JUST Ā̸̛͇̹̈́͌͐͛̐̋͝Ǹ̵̠͍̲̘͈̮͈̺͔̤͙̳̓̔͑͌̒̓̃́̄̚͘Ớ̶̻̱̄̓͆͂̈́̄̔͋͌̽̀̕͘T̵͙͍͓̻̩͙̻͙̹͎̫̘͇̱̈́̌̓͝ͅH̶̭̻͇̰͈̯̦̹̦̗͐̒́Ẽ̵̡̡̘̳͉͇͚̼̗̣̩͎̞̏͒̈́̏͂̈͝Ř̴̠͋̐͘ NORMAL DAY

"Jinnjar citizens. Unfortunately, all train travel will be closed due to issues on the lines. Members of the Voidtrecker Express have been located around the city, and are deploying trickery to agitate and confuse us. We ask any volunteers at this time to help us locate any suspicious objects and people, and to restrain them.

For the f̴̘̯̰̦̺͖̔͌̋̃ũ̴̢̖̦͙̩̼̺̪͚͍̥͈̜̝͋̌̒̊̚ẗ̶̪̺͕̤̯̞̤͓̝́̑̄̎̊̕future of our city!"

A TL;DR notes version of days/prompts: (click to show)

EVENT BASICS:

DAYS 5 & 6:

By now, some people have broken out of their fake lives while some haven't. Tension is rising in the city as people are led to believe this is by the Voidtreckers, which some will believe due to illusions and messing with one's heads is believed to be one of their many tactics.
Some oddities are occurring with travel, and glimpses of how the city is made beginning to show. The streams of colour - the void - are getting brighter. Electronics are not working well. Some monster sightings are seen, but not to a large degree.
The prompts here are light to give characters and players time to ICly coordinate, as Voidtreckers are being more actively hunted. Some faces are known. You know who you are, troublemakers.

DAYS 7 & 8:

The world is really starting to go a bit wild now, with more things disappearing, animals on the loose and more monster sightings.
By the end of day eight most people have realised the truth though those who are very susceptible to mind control or very stubbornly wanting to believe in this world will still be trapped, believing this is the Voidtreckers doing.
There are monsters to fight, people to keep calm and a plan to make.

[ HOME SWEET...HOME? ] By day 5, the people of Jinnjar are in a state of anxiety more than before. There's those who realise they're not a part of this world, never were, while there's those who still cling onto this life. Health services say that the source of confusion comes from the colour trails that are brighter than ever in the sky, while the D-Force/Heroes have it confirmed - internally and publicly - that there are Voidtreckers amongst them.

The media shows pictures of potential suspects, some Voidtreckers, some not; a man with the same face as two others, one who made a show by creating ice in the middle of the street. Your face may be shown, but don't worry - they're asking people not to play vigilante.

That'll surely keep people behaved.

[ TRAVEL REVIEW. ] As if it couldn't get more frustrating, most of the trains are down. Air taxis are still available for short journeys, yet some people have the bizarre occurrence where they end up in the wrong spot, and even remember going in this wrong direction...but never say anything about it. Those using the tele-pads will also find themselves not always arriving where they should, or worse, suffering intense headaches, swirling colours behind their eyes, their thoughts jumbled for as long as ten minutes before it passes.

You might want to walk.

[ MAKING DO. ] Still, with all the chaos, many are trying to live. You have a life here, no matter what some other force is trying to make you believe,

For our HEROES: The cinema has rethought its showings due to the worrying happenings of the last few days. Clearly a boost in morale is needed and so they have pulled out some of the great films of the past. Action films that show heroes beating the bad guys, disaster films where the good guys beat the aliens, stop the natural disaster or thwart the secret agency looking to take down civilisation from the inside, at the last minute. Even the childrens films have taken on a pro-hero and triumphant air.

It's not quite distraction though, how could it be when every film has a warning before and after. REMEMBER TO REPORT ALL SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY TO DFORCE and WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE SHOW. REMEMBER TO WATCH YOUR SURROUNDINGS AS CAREFULLY AS YOU DID THE SCREEN.
Fun Park: It's for the kids, but one of the largest arcade parks has a special discount on everything to anyone who come visit. It's even advertised across the news: For half the price, get amazing fun and even better food! Kids younger than eight or from the orphanages get free access everywhere!

It's time not to think too hard, and to ignore the trouble! Play laser tag, racing cars or get a high score on the dance mat!
Encroaching Dangers: Something new is beginning to happen, as the city continues to shift. It starts at night, those that stay out past when the streets go quiet might see a shadow, might hear a growl.

Rumours and reports start to spread about monsters on the street.

DAY SIX: HELP FROM INSIDE

[ AID. ] DIAGNET is full of videos but one that has started doing the rounds is of a small droid and a cat. It's not hard to see why it has gone viral, the cat and cleaning droid are chasing each other around an apartment, caught on a home security footage. The cat tries to catch the droid but every time it gets close the droid turns to chase it and the cat runs away. It has been uploaded with stirring orchestral music, which adds to the madness.

But... For those Voidtreckers who have already regained their memories that little droid seems familiar indeed. As do the sounds that punctuate the music.

beep beep beep boop | boop

boop boop beep | boop boop boop

boop boop | boop boop boop | boop boop boop | boop beep | boop beep beep | beep beep boop | beep beep beep | boop

boop beep boop beep | beep boop | beep beep boop beep | beep

boop boop boop | beep boop beep | boop beep beepp | beep | beep boop beep

boop beep | beep beep boop | boop | beep boop beep | beep beep | boop | beep | beep boop

Of course it might not be anything, just weird droid sounds that haven't been fully edited out of the video.

[ MOONDUST CAFÉ. ] It might be that they figured out the message or, it might be that a friend is dragging them to the cafe. But for those that make their way there, they will find the Moondust Cafe is a bustling cafe on the edge of a park, near local transport links.

For those that say the right words, a slightly bored looking teenager manning the counter waves them to a side door. "Best sit downstairs, service will be quicker."

Downstairs has a fair number of tables and booths and is lit by coloured lighting making everything look a little obscure. There's soft music playing, not loud enough to make it impossible to hear each other but enough to make it a little harder for evesdroppers.

Mingle, discuss. This is probably the closest to a safe space there is.

[ LOST & LOST. ] You may have spotted it already - that is, spotted what's missing. There's been the pets, the birds in the sky, a pen or apple or wrench from the garage. But now, with every single bad thing going on, more is starting to disappear. Machines stop working, from air conditioning, freezers, your Jinnjar MP3 player, to TVs and more.

And in some business buildings, even entire rooms are gone, their floors empty of more than the door you opened to find this out. Even the heroes seem worried and they quickly clear any affected areas, chasing away bystanders and sealing off whole wings of office blocks.

None of them have answers though, except that this must be the Voidtreckers doing. After all who else but that group could have power enough to do such damage?

DAY SEVEN & EIGHT: UNRAVELLING

[ OVEREXPOSURE. ] Everything is starting to escalate. The headaches are getting regular the more you're outside, buildings are starting to go missing around the outskirts. People see parts of the city flickering, and when they reach certain sections of the city, they find they can't go beyond it.

Life tries to go on, but as more areas of the city begin to be sealed off and considered dangerous, even those who are most stubborn about pretending everything is normal can see that is is not.

[ LET LOOSE. ] The breaking down of the city has caused a lot of chaos, but one of the biggest problems are that parts of the zoo have vanished. Walls, fences, enclosure roofs. Meaning that the animals inside are no longer confined and are now prowling the city streets. Real birds now fill the sky that the fakes left empty.

And they aren't all that's there. Twisted creatures are becoming more common on the streets of Diagad. Creatures that look almost like animals but warp and twist between them, one moment a bear the next it has horns and then it is a wolf. But no matter how they look those claws and teeth are bad news for everyone.

[ CRUMBLING, CRUMBLING. ] By day eight whole streets are disappearing. homes, houses. people need to be moved in closer around the congress sector. Colours crackle through the sky like lightning and the world shakes often.

It's not just the infrastructure but the memories of those in the city. Dreams have come realities and all but the most stubborn have begun to realise that this world is not their own. They are from another place. What is going on? Why are they in this city? Who are these people who are their 'family'?

Confusion and anger are growing in the streets and it is perhaps time for the Voidtreckers to come out of the shadows.

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Chat was on the look out for danger and seeing small, dark things flitting about was always high on his list of things to investigate. Akumas, feather, pigeons, bees....

The small, dark creatures were....something else. But they seem to be going for a source and-

Well, that seemed very familiar to what he was used to. He could hear her speaking and, well, this needed to be dealt with.

Whatever this was.

"Well, well, well. I would say I'm purrleased to see someone who appurreciates destruction, but you seem to be taking it a bit too furr," he said as he landed on the roof across from her.

((OOC: Nothing like CRAU confusion.))

Chat glanced back. Oh.

He grins and salutes. "Always a purrleasure to meet a Parisian citizen!" He called because that made the most sense. He at least knew most faces in Nautilus. Probably. At least those who talked to Chat. But maybe some recognized him that he didn't, it was possible.

But Paris seemed more likely.

He looked back, seeing the monster again and extended his baton to a staff and swung hard to bat the monster away and he turned to the kid, rushing forward to scoop him up and head to the rooftops.

Civilians safe, then beat up monster. Especially when its a kid.

"And currently protecting the people in a very strange circumstances. I'm afraid this Cheshire Cat is blind to this Wonderland's mysteries."

She spun to face him, her dress and darkness both flaring about her dramatically as she did.

"Another so-called hero? Don't make me laugh."

She tilted her head, causing the hair to shift to show off the scar on her face to advantage. Her free hand drew forth a large knife.

"Leave, or I shall finish you first before moving on to him."

It's more than just the voidtreckers. He's figured that out already. It's not just them stuck in this illusion but everyone. It's not a surprise, they've seen this entity get stronger and stronger over the last months as they have chased it through the void.

But how to convince people just living their lives that there is something missing, that they've forgotten something. He is no stranger to that, having spent six years stuck on a world that wasn't his, having forgotten who he was, what he was and why he even existed in the first place. But it's hard to help strangers.

Then the unicorn appears in front of him. She doesn't look like a kirin, no she looks more like Jonouchi's pokemon than one of his own kind. But that tactic. That had been how Renrin broke through to him in the end.

"That's a brilliant idea." He smiled at her and then, after a gust of wind there was another unicorn.

Yondu finds Wangji in the middle of caging one of those animals. He glances over him quickly, carefully, and asks a- "No offense but I cain't tell which one you are right now."

His roommate/other lead? Not his roommate? He's just... It's a day, it's just a real bad day. He's been out trying to find other blue team folks and it's a little harder what with cell phone towers disappearing along with everything else and all hell having thoroughly broken loose.

Probably more to come but isn't there always more of that?

"I'll give ya a hand." He moves to pick the cage up. "Where did thisn' get loose from or do you know?"

Apparently the illusion has well and truly gotten a hold on Madoka. Even as some slight things were starting to seem more and more off, she kept believing in it, just going through the days hoping for things to get better.

But they didn't get better. Everything is getting more and more strange, and even Madoka can't deny that there's something very wrong at this point, even if her mind isn't sure what is wrong or why any of this is happening. Why is sometimes seems like buildings disappear or flicker.

It leaves her wandering the streets in fear and confusion.. though that might be the exact wrong move to make, considering the situation.

Because it doesn't take long for one of the warped creatures to start hunting her. At least Madoka does try running from it, but there's only so much one teenage girl can do in the middle of a dangerously twisting city. After a while she ends up in the dead end of an alleyway, her back pressed against the wall as the creature - that shifts from the shape of an odd, monstrous goat to a lion - slowly approaches her.

"You sure they are real? Sanzo's son?" After all she had seen a lot of people in Kamakan, in that maze who had not been real at all. This seems different though, something more.

And this man in front of him, he seems real. Despite not being a Voidtrecker. "System #401837400141, known as Diagad was destroyed... Recently. Within the last year, probably more like four or five months ago. From the little I could find about the world this place seems to be a pretty decent copy, a little idealised perhaps."

"You wanted to be like someone you admired. And your love of him was enough that he was used to lead you to your true self," Sunset said. "Having complicated feelings isn't a bad thing. Especially when someone is using magic on you. Part of you still wanted the truth too."

She leans against him. "I think he'd be proud of you."

"Hi Senku, Masumi." She smiled at them both and the other woman who she didn't yet know, giving her a welcoming smile.

"I think Masumi Sera is right." She frowned, "It seems to be the same entity we have encountered before. My thought would be some being from Diagad. The original Diagad at least."

She turned to the other woman. "It is unknown, but the world is ruins, just a husk. I've never seen destruction on that scale before." She looks a little ill just thinking about it.

"As for the life forms... I would think the people here. This place doesn't have a system number, that might just mean it hasn't been void-explored yet. What was it like before the entity got here. Who are the people here? Are they other void travellers? Have you met anyone native to the place that has broken out of the control?"

She looked around them all.

"No." She frowned, having never heard of the Aurora, though she can pick apart the word, was it another word for the void? In some other world?

"Though do you mean to tell me the Voidtrecker Express is not the only operation that takes unwilling participants into the void?"

This is a separate issue than the issue they have on this world, but incredibly worrying.

"Yes. Destroyed it seems."

She shook her head. "So I am not sure what this place, what it was before whoever is behind this got here."

"I must say there hasn't been much to... reason with." She frowned, "We didn't even know there was one entity behind this until recently, before that they very much worked through others. But Tidus is right. This entity thinks nothing of killing whole population centres."

She looked at the man and the girl, the only two at the table she didn't recognise. "Am I right in believing you two are not Voidtreckers? Where do you come from? How did you get here?"

This, it seemed, was more complicated than she had first thought when she put that call out. But she has known the voidtreckers for a few months now, nothing is ever simple.

Parisian? Oh Paris. Yes that was where Adrien was from! Romeo doesn't have time to correct him, it's very complicated! And there's a monster and now they are heading up to the rooftops.

"It's all a bit new to me too! But I got borderlines so I can help stop the bad monsters!"

"Damn... Della said a while back they saw some illusions on the train. Wish I could ask her exactly how long that was," he mutters, just thinking to himself. Then continues. "Sanzo said his boy's age was off. He wasn't a kid, he was a teenager. Grown up an' changed in ways he wouldn't have expected. Asch seemed pretty sure. And I don't believe I could imagine up the stink-eye this fella gives to people what act dumb around 'im."

He refers to Wash there. They'd only interacted for a few days and part of that time was Yondu trying to frantically regain his bearings. But he'd seen him enough to know that his mannerisms were that of a genuinely unimagined soul.

"Someone real powerful an' I suspect real young must of made it away. Sounded real young when they was pickin' at us on the last mission, anyway." Then, to explain to Wash, he continues. "This thing, it decided to start tryin' out tricks on different levels of this real shithole of a city. One level all places, one animals, one was controllin' people's minds an' emotions with illusions, an' one was takin' 'em over through electronics. Just knockin' 'em clean out. Once we started makin' headway it walked ever'body out into this fatal wasteland. We had to follow an' it set up a maze for us, full of stuff we dug out of our own heads."

Stuff he doesn't care to remember, but if this poor guy's been caught up in it, it's best that he knows.

"Includin' people we cared about. I saw my old team leader in there. Just tryin' to lure me in and keep me put." And how much he cared for that person he'll keep to himself. "So that's why she's wonderin'."

Wash laughed at that. "God no. There are. So many. I've been to three separate ones and heard of several more," he said dryly. "There are so many things trying to destroy universes and there are a lot of operations to hold it together. Involved in killing one, subduing another, and Roxy's I'm pretty sure is just a life cycle thing of universes so probably fine."

Well.

That is unfortunate.

"What? Not even the slightest big of recognition?" Chat asked, turning around and leaning on his baton. "Come on, DJ, I have to be at least a little furrmiliar," he said with a wide grin.

Like A Fish Out Of...

Mimi wasn't sure what happened. One moment she was fighting a strange girl in a sailor outfit before getting swung against a wall. When she finally came too... she was... this? Just what happened to her? The easiest explanation, and the one the illusion exploited, was that the girl used some of her magic to make her into an octopus, but there was too many things that didn't add up.

One thing is for certain, she couldn't stay out in the open. She needed help. She needed to go somewhere safe. Unfortunately, octopi aren't really built to travel on land and one may find a strange sight of a magenta octopus pulling itself from place to place, trying desperately to make it to her home.

Hopefully a sushi chef doesn't find her first...

Home Sweet... (locked to Essek and Caleb)

Though it takes her a while, she does eventually find a way to revert herself back to a human and go home. Once again, the illusion told her the magic wore off, but she couldn't help but notice the ease of which the shift happened. The process felt natural, like her body had done this many times before.

There were so many questions running in Mimi's head she felt like the room was spinning. Which, considering the chaos of what was going on outside, could very well be the case. Still, the moments that they had over the past few days highlighted something even a confused Mimi could not deny: she can trust her dads as people.

Hopefully they could help figure out what was going on. "...dad..." Her tone was low and serious. "We need to talk."

[ At least the one upside about this situation is that there's really no need to be subtle anymore. After all, who's going to be worried about arresting Voidtreckers when there are literal shifting monster animals in the streets?

.. though it seems that some people have already let the idea of being even remotely subtle loose before Inigo could do so, judging by Della roundhouse kicking creatures in the streets there. Talk about typical Della, Inigo thinks..

But he's not going to let her face all of that alone. He runs up to where she's fighting, his sword already appearing in his hand. ]

Della, I'm here! You take the wolf on the left, I'll take the bear on the right!

Nino raises an eyebrow. There is something familiar about him, but he can't put his finger on it. ...Crud, he's got nothing.

"...Not really. Even if your costume does stand out. Isn't it early for Halloween?"

Wayzz starts to peak out to see if it's safe or not since the monster's gone.

Edited 2021-07-15 08:45 (UTC)

There's relief in their numbers coming together, awakened after days of being kept under the thrall of illusion. The more minds the better. So whatever space offered in this corner of the café, Roland provides a little bit more. He'll move to one side, maybe a bit closer to Senku who sits by him, giving ample room for others to stay comfy as Anan holds their rapt attention.

Then again, there's no worry of having the attention to spare when it gets to the juicy part. He crosses his arms a bit tighter across his chest, thinking...Roland will look around some, across the faces who appear, searching for their responses without words. He'll be the first to offer his own, shaking his head.

"A couple of folks in the university are starting to get confused, but I haven't had a chance to give them an interview if that's what you're asking. I could try, though I'm not sure how pleasant that conversation's going to be." His brows furrow deeper. It might be safer to assume everyone on this planet - nameless, without a system - was kidnapped. Right?

But another thing is brought up that draws Roland's musings further in, turning to Masumi and Anan curiously. The same entity from three worlds past...but what if they were around for much longer, only that now, they've finally honed in on the Voidtreckers? He dares not to speak these thoughts yet, waiting for others to join in again and ask Anan more; thoughts formulating in wonder.

He leans into her, more heavily than he intends to. He's clearly now on the verge of collapse.

"I hope I get to tell him about this in person one day. But for now, we need to live and then free ourselves. Have you found any Treckers? They are likely to be our best allies."

"I think I've found a few. I'm pretty sure, there are Treckers lost in the illusion too. Others, not so much. I had one helping me break out," Sunset said.

"Does this place even have Halloween?" Chat said, tilting his head thoughtfully.

"I'm Chat Noir. Superhero of Paris. And You are Nino Lahiffe, DJ, amateur film director, and....well, sometimes superhero Carapace," he said.

Might as well see if Direct works.

He laughs absently. "Is anyone here not an outsider? That would be quite the farce.

"Can you take us to the one who knows who they are? Preferably before someone investigates-" he waves at the furrow of blankness going through the park.

(Either Fire or Subtlety, which ever approach he'd take with her.)

Kyoko trusted the heroes to figure out how to fix whatever was wrong with this place. All she could do is fix what she herself had done. Which meant looking for the people she had acted weird - even by her standards - to.

Shadow would get to spot her as she was turning, getting a split second head start on her. Because frankly her outfit was so painfully brightly pink that there was no way NOT to see it. Even from the corner of your eye.

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So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

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