So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

[voidtreckermods]

---

JUST Ā̸̛͇̹̈́͌͐͛̐̋͝Ǹ̵̠͍̲̘͈̮͈̺͔̤͙̳̓̔͑͌̒̓̃́̄̚͘Ớ̶̻̱̄̓͆͂̈́̄̔͋͌̽̀̕͘T̵͙͍͓̻̩͙̻͙̹͎̫̘͇̱̈́̌̓͝ͅH̶̭̻͇̰͈̯̦̹̦̗͐̒́Ẽ̵̡̡̘̳͉͇͚̼̗̣̩͎̞̏͒̈́̏͂̈͝Ř̴̠͋̐͘ NORMAL DAY

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"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!"

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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.

Comments

Tidus ; OTA!

[blitzcheer]

[ 1. knock knock (w/ option of Inigo flatteries) ]

They have to get people to their right senses. That's what Tidus thinks - the more people out of this brainwashing, the more help they'll have on their side. And what's the best way of doing that than going to people's homes and winging it?!

He can ring their doorbell and be along, meeting the people who answer it with a sheepish smile, a "Hey! Sorry to bother you, but can I borrow your phone? I got really turned around", or looking more desperate with a fist squeezing. "Heyy, sorry, can I use your bathroom!? This is an emergency!"

[ 1.5 ] Or he can be in company with this guy, dressed in white shirts and trousers and holding clipboards, trying their best to look Respectable.

There's the option of a survey - "Hey there, can you help us out with a quick survey?" Tidus says, earnest and quickly- "I swear, five minutes!" - or a requested interview - "It's for our school newspaper, about what everyone's been feeling lately," he explains (thanks Renge, sorry Renge) - for normal door-knocking.

Or there's the one where it's just Inigo at the door, looking decidedly nervous - acted or not? - as he keeps glancing at something behind him in the distance. By the time he turns back to you, he practically sounds like he’s pleading as he’s saying, “P-Please, my friend needs help!” If you bother to look, it seems like his friend indeed needs help, considering the other guy is seated against a tree with blood on his leg.

[ 2. night/day-time trouble ]

He's not trying to stay out late for any particular reason (though, the freedom to do so is nice). They need to stay under the radar, and staying in the apartment he was appointed doesn't seem safe, if in a paranoid way. What if he's already been picking up attention!? He doesn't want the fuzz after him!

That's what leads him into situations with the monsters. Does he find your character already engaged with one? Or do you find him, taking on one? One could drop suddenly close to your character, using the buildings to sprint across, when this lands with a hissing tongue, either its attention on Tidus, or on you.

Or there's an NPC another character in need, a scream that leads them running into the sight of this approaching the poor individual. They try to turn and run, but the monster gives chase.

[ 3. needing to rest ]

But everyone needs to take down-time. Tidus isn't making it a habit of being too out in the open, but for those who recognise him - out of their own delusions or not sure he is - he will always take a second look at them, wherever it is.

Or he might be found tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, a diner, rubbing his face. He's been using those extra powers to get around quietly, and whether he's alone, or you and him are already speaking, he seems dazed. Blinking at you, an uncertain dip to his brow, taken out of whatever conversation they were in the middle of.

[ ooc: These can happen over whichever days/nights you like! If you'd like to do any plotting, I have a post here! Tidus can help with any plans. Am also okay NPCing NPCs (npcs npcs npcs--) if you want to do 'helping break people out of illusions' threads. ]

2

[black_magic_cat]

As the monster with a weird tongue lands, Tidus will find that there's a blast of fire that shoots over his shoulder and makes direct contact with the vile thing. The thing looks between Tidus and the person behind him, who speaks up.

"Do you... uh. Mind taking the front line? I need time to cast and I'm not an up-close fighter." He could change, but in the middle of combat probably isn't the best time for that.

[blitzcheer]

It's on instinct that ugly creature = out comes the blade, and so his Brotherhood sword appears with a golden sheen in his grip -- fortunately, someone from behind acting much quicker than him.

The creature croaks as it's knocked, giving Nara'a the time for his request, raising itself again on long limbs. Only enough time however for Tidus to call, "--Tell me when to dodge!" when he leaps forward with his blade slashing vertical. Water slices with it, knocking the tongue back that was ready to meet him for a moment, but Tidus needs to sprint to the side before the tongue comes crashing down where he is, sending off a large spark of light.

Which does make Tidus flinch where he is, the dots being burnt into his vision. Ugh-!

[black_magic_cat]

"Got it!" He darts towards the side to get around to the back, just to make sure he's not in range of that tongue. He's been licked by enough monsters to want to avoid more. There's a slash of purple-pink energy that misses Tidus by a mile but impacts on the creature's side.

While Tidus has it distracted though he glows for a moment, starting to build up power. "Now!" He thrusts his staff forward and lets a huge fireball drop onto the creature. He can't do a lot more of those, but a good Fire IV takes care of a lot, in his experience.

3

[mynameisallen]

Allen was having a whale of a time being able to avoid those who might be after him and staying hidden. Out of all the things Cross did, being able to not get caught was perhaps a blessing is disguise that Allen never expected until things like this.

No one knows when he came into the cafe, but he found himself sitting down at the table right next to him, hood up for the time being.

He couldn't help but notice his friend seemed a bit out of it, so even though this could cause them to react he moved on over to wave a hand right in front of his face.

"Hello, earth to Tidus. You don't seem at all okay."

[blitzcheer]

It takes a moment for Tidus to even back away from the hand that's appeared in front of him, puzzlement etched into his face - first for the limb, then looking beyond it to the guy owning it. His brow is furrowed, and - he's seen this face, he knows. No, he has to, doesn't he?

He opens his mouth to speak, though it's slow, Tidus first shaking his head.

"Uh, sorry... what did you say? I got distracted."

[mynameisallen]

"I was going to say you seem out of it a bit? Is everything okay?" Allen has decided to basically not keep up with an act that well... didn't work and also because he was one of the people who had been outted as well so why did he need to?

"I mean you probably aren't okay, but still good to ask."

2

[melodiouspacifist]

"Well that's terrifying." Demyx quipped seeing that tentacle monster thing just dangling down in front of Tidus.

Hey buddy, what's up?

"Need a hand?"

[blitzcheer]

Dangling, hanging around, with Tidus's brotherhood blade currently wrapped up around that tongue, with its light-bulb end attempting to wiggle in his leaned away face.

"SMASH IR!" comes Tidus very eloquent response. PLEASE. IT WANTS TO MAKE OUT WITH HIM.

[melodiouspacifist]

A very hard, heavy whomp could be heard as Demyx did in fact, smash it with his sitar.

No one was going to make out with Tidus today if he could help it!

"Let go!" He said, raising his instrument to whack it again.

3

[flatteries]

It's not exactly like going around together is all that safe - let alone when they're doing the kind of activities they've been at all day. No matter how much they try to cover it up through acts, there's no way no one has noticed the two guys going from door to door to help snap people out of the illusion together.

The only reason they got this far is through a combination of their illusion-given powers. Tidus rendering himself invisible, Inigo attempting to charm people into not paying attention to them. But with how unreliable Inigo's power is, it's mostly just been a combination of Tidus's power and a whole lot of running on Inigo's part.

Still, him having been less the power user here leaves Inigo a lot less bleary when they're sitting there at their diner table, and frowns a little when he spots the expression on his friend's face, realising Tidus hasn't listened to one word of the entire story Inigo just told.

".. hey, are you alright? Repeat the last line I just said before that."

[blitzcheer]

"Huh?" There's a shift of tone in the voice talking, his chin lifting some off the hand it rests against. Tidus blinks, and sees a face -- Inigo, the structure of the café around them. Have they ever gone to this one before? He can't recall it, but he doesn't let it drag his attention away, giving Inigo a sheepish chuckle under his breath.

"What? I was listening. ...okay," okay, "I dozed a lil'. Everything's just been crazy lately; it must be getting to my head." That's it, that's all. But this, this is normal: the pair of them hanging out, talking about whatever. The threat of a headache behind his eyes, he might be able to shake it off.

"Why don't you repeat it?"

[flatteries]

Usually Inigo would easily have complied with that request. He just would have repeated it before continuing his story.

But right now he doesn't. Instead he just keeps on staring at the other, holding Tidus's gaze as long as the other keeps looking at him as well. There's a slight frown to Inigo's eyebrows, a worried look in his eyes as it almost seems like he's studying Tidus's face for a moment, for some signs of.. something.

Then he glances over at the rest of the diner. It's quiet - perhaps because of everything going on, really, and the main reason this even seemed like a place to rest for a moment because of it. Even the person standing behind the counter seems to have gone to the back for a moment to grab something.

It's then that Inigo leans a little towards Tidus over the table.

"Are you just tired?" It feels like something a little more. Something about the other's words feels off.

3

[longforgottenpromise]

"Tidus?"

Taiki has been helping, helping try and talk to people, to bring them back to themselves. Helping people get away from crumbling areas of the city, towards safety.

He's mostly managed to avoid the monsters, which is a good thing. He hurried over to Tidus when he saw him curled up in a corner.

"Are you alright?"

[blitzcheer]

"Huh? Taiki."

He says his name between relief and surprise, and - fortunately - recognition. Moving his hand away from his forehead, ruffling it through his hair as he leans back, a mixed expression between a sheepish grimace twisting on his face.

"I think I went a wrong way somewhere-- might've looked at that sky for too long." Haha- "Were we supposed to meet up? My head's a mess!"

He's trying to downplay it, the confusion, the hint of apprehension that holds his features in place. The hand on the table that can't keep still; curling, uncurling, resting knuckles against its surface.

[longforgottenpromise]

"You remember?" Just his name isn't quite enough, they had known each other in this city after all. Taiki clambered up to sit next to him, looking him over, worried. "Do you have a headache? Do you need to sleep?"

His mind felt clearer now, but that first day or so when he had first remembered had been hard, difficult to pin anything down at all.

2

[agoodsoul]

"Awake" now, this city and all the false memories, feel like a weird walking double nightmare. The monsters don't help! Dennis is riding on his hover bike when he hears the scream, sees a civilian being chased by monster number two and making a sharp turn he'll head towards it.

Catching up he'll reach out with one hand to put an energy shield around the person as he shifts his bike to the side and uses it to hit the monster. It won't kill it, but it'll knock it away and daze it long enough for him to hop down and run over to the civilian.

"Run, quick! Get outta here!" He motions for them to escape. Just enough time for him to look back and see that monster, ugly sonuvabitch, getting back up sounding very pissed off. Dennis has a thought that maybe this was a really bad idea as he doesn't have any weapons or powers that are meant for fighting, but he doesn't have more than a second to consider any of that before the monster is in his face trying to attack.

His energy shield comes up to protect him and he uses it to fight back as best he can, swinging at the thing, trying to get some space between them. The bad thing about this is it makes his shield weaker faster. Multiple arms claw and shove at Dennis, backing him against a wall as he has to hold onto the sharp spikes on either side of the things mouth to keep it from trying to bite his face off.

This is gonna be real bad, super quick if some very brave person doesn't help him soon!

[blitzcheer]

Is there such a person braver than our good lad Dennis? The scientists haven't gotten back to us yet, but people who know how to get into trouble - now that's a guy that happens to be around. The sound of screaming, the sound of metal hitting the ground. An accident, though Tidus's brain doesn't immediately figure it out for a second or so, and then he's bolting in the direction he heard the noise.

There's a distance between him and the pair, the person beneath more visible through the monster attacking them than much else. He doesn't have the time to get close, but he can make something else reach that distance faster, and builds in a hand as he runs a sphere of water, managing the size of a football.

A football that Tidus lets drop and kicks with a grunt, magic and speed slamming into the beast and throwing it across the ground. That's going to be painful, but it wouldn't be a monster if it was that easy to ruin its night. It's moving, squirming and likely to get back up soon as Tidus yells out, "Hey! Get up and run!"

If away or to him, whatever this guy wanted to do. All Tidus wants is them to get away from trouble!

[agoodsoul]

I don't know, there's a pretty brave guy named Tidus around here too!

Dennis is still struggling with the beast when it's hit by something and he's suddenly not being considered for a snack. A familiar voice yells at him and he finds the owner with a quick look around.

"Tidus!" And no he doesn't just remember him as the guy he murdered video game zombies with. That's his buddy, his pal! Taking his advice he does book it, towards Tidus, but turns to look back at the monster as it gets back up, not at all happy.

"You don't know how happy I am to see you, mate." He could kiss you, etc etc. Not really, but in theory.

1

[gathersnomoss]

"Phone? Yeah, that's fine." Zelgadis has taken a mental health day, because he's already in that state between 'not sure which set of memories is correct," and going to work feels like a bad idea.

[blitzcheer]

Oh, this is-? "Long time no see," Tidus says, knowing he can say that much. They met before! "You ever find that bird?"

[gathersnomoss]

"Bird?" It's only been a few days, but Zel's had a lot on his mind. "Oh, right. No. Didn't even find a pattern in this."

1.5!

[runicfeathers]

The knocking does aggravate a bit of a headache Willow's been nursing, bad enough for her to have taken the day off, but the moment she sees the boy she'd tended to days earlier with another person there just sets her doctor's instincts into gear. Headache be damned.

"Is your friend alright, what happened? Was he attacked by people accusing him of being a voidtrecker?"

[flatteries]

"Yes!" Inigo quickly answers. Is that the story he and Tidus agreed on? Did they even make up a story beyond 'there is someone bleeding over there'? It's a mystery, but regardless of the answer, Inigo will gladly go along with whatever story Willow is assuming is going on over here.

He makes sure to put on his most pleading face too. He has an amazing set of puppy eyes, you know.

"Could you please take a look at him? It seems like he's in terrible pain!"

Hint hint. Nudge nudge. Come on, Tidus, give away the performance of a lifetime, dude.

[blitzcheer]

Tidus sits on the curb of the street, leg bent and propped to show the entire world his bleeding leg under the knee. More than a flesh wound but nothing too dangerously deep, Tidus hears the lift of that last word and, on cue:

"AHHHH, SHIT!"

He shifts some in place, tilting his head this way and that in '''pain'''. Oh, if only he had a healer!! Please!!