middleofsomewhere | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Its Growmon now!" Takato calls down. He was holding tightly onto the horn on Growmon's head with one hand to stay in place, while clutching a white device in his hand with the other.

Raising one arm, Growmon concentrates on the blade projecting from his elbow. As it starts to glow he brings it down on the creature.

"His name changes?"

No, evolution still didn't quite mean anything to him, but he spares Takato and Growmon a glance before he's darting in with that same traffic cone, shoving it into the crab-like claw flailing closest to him. He spins to the side before Growmon brings down his elbow and its attached blade, the creature struck dead centre—a gash across its shell manifesting, the creature slamming into the ground with a sort of pbffpt sound paired with its thud.

The traffic cone goes flying, too, knocked right out of its grasp. Jingyi scoops it up with his tail, tossing it airborne to catch it again. Rearmed.

"Keep it pinned down!"

"Growmon!" Takato calls.

Knowing exactly what his partner was thinking, Growmon drops the arm blade attack and charges forward to grapple with the creature, doing his best to pin it down.

He'd stopped a speeding train before. He could manage this, if barely.

Still holding on, Takato pulls a card out of his pocket and slides it through the device.

"Power Plug-in S!" he calls out, naming the power up for his partner.

Growmon growls as he feels the strength boost from the card and he uses it to hold the creature in place.

The whole card system and odd calls out while Growmon and Takato fought in tandem were a question for another time, though Jingyi's expression flickers between bemusement and confusion before he re-enters the brawl, such as it is.

(He really wishes he had his sword right now.)

Instead, while the creature is pinned down and even still trying to change form, he darts forward and throws out a line of qi, the binding (or bonding) that Wei Wuxian had designed years ago. Setting himself best as he can, he pulls back, exposing the throat of the creature while it tries to pull its head back into its shell.

"I'll try to hook this around that pole—" He nods his head toward a partially intact lamppost. "Keep it from getting away!"

He's not going to ask either of them to do what he's about to do, once he gets the other end of his binding qi affixed to the pole. He really, really wishes he had his sword.

To Takato this seemed like a lot of work, when Guilmon could have hit it with another powered up flame attack. But he trusted that Jingyi had a plan.

"We've got it!" he calls back.

Jingyi's plan was: tether the creature between Growmon's weight and the qi rope, darting back toward them too fast to be seen and forming a wind seal with his fingers. The arc of compressed air shot forward, carefully aimed to cut into the creature's neck and avoid coming into contact with Growmon at all.

One downside: he doesn't make it all the way through the creature's neck, but enough to sever something important.

The more obvious downside: whatever it is, it presently still bleeds a whole bunch. Everywhere. As it attempts to thrash in death throes.

Takato knew that this had to be done, but even so, there was no need to let it suffer. He calls out to his friend, and Growmon uses a powered up fire attack to finish it.

Under the fire, it doesn't thrash so much as melt into a puddle of... something colourful, shifting, that likewise stays inert, no longer moving. There's also the sound of incoming feet pounding ground, someone or something running their direction but out of sight beyond the slowly dissolving buildings.

"Wait," he says, looking between Takato and Growmon, "How are we going to hide you? Ugh, whatever, let's move!"

Leaving the puddle that still sparks some with fire behind, if he's followed, and heading down another not so narrow alley between buildings.

Takato scrambles up to sit on Growmon's head as the two of them follow. He definitely seemed like he had a better idea of what to do next than they did.

"Last time we hid in an old reservoir tunnel," Takato calls down. "Or Growmon pretended to be playground equipment!"

Edited 2021-07-25 02:06 (UTC)

Vague recollections from when the illusion had hold on him inform him on what at least playground is, though he can make guesses for reservoir tunnel, and how that won't be as useful here. There's no large bodies of water nearby, and any tunnel he's seen has been with a small entrance, but...

"Growmon! Are you good at pretending to sleep?"

He has an idea, and from the alleyway's far end, pauses to look both directions. People are present to both sides of the street, but not in a way that matters for them: they're distracted elsewise, and he waves them all on as he darts diagonally for the next alley that looks wide enough. This way heads toward the central-ish park.

"Growmon can try!" the digimon calls down.

He pauses a moment at the edge of the alley, before charging quickly across, Takato still clinging onto his head.

It was a pattern to continue like this, all in efforts to arrive at the park: which takes longer, waiting for people to clear out enough to the peripherals that he can bring them both back across that street into the taller trees in the wooded section of the park. There's an open section that he leads them toward, because he'd noticed it when on delivery.

That's right. Most his knowledge of the city is from his fake-life's job for earning money.

"Here, if you can curl up here, just sleep. There's a few statues that move and make sounds in another park near here, if we pretend you're one of those, it could work!"

Statues that moved? Back home that meant being filled with spiritual energy and gaining its own awareness, but here it was a matter of construction. Technological construction.

So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

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