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

Ken didn't have his Evoker on him, but that didn't mean he couldn't fight. He'd already found a knife - a kitchen knife, not a switchblade - and he recognized Lea's voice as he passed by. He ran towards it and skidded to a stop next to Lea. He jerked his head to the side as he looked at the group.

"Get out of here! Now!"

They didn't need much encouragement to run.

Lea shot Ken a quick grin as the people ran off. Good; without any random civilians around, he wouldn't have to hold back. "Nice to see ya," he said. "You good for this?" Not that he didn't think Ken was capable, but a kid with a kitchen knife against a monster was... not the greatest of matches.

"I know how to stab." It wasn't as if he hadn't worked with worse before. "I'm not scared."

He lifted his foot and kicked a small pebble at the monster, hitting it in the... head? Whatever appendage it was, its attention was now on the pair of them.

"Let's go." Without waiting for an answer, Ken rushed towards the thing to try to slice it in the side as he ran past.

Not scared, huh? That... might actually be a problem. Because Lea was reasonably certain that Ken was not only telling the truth, but that he would have done this even without any form of backup. Which was that same level of crazy as what Lea himself would have done as a kid.

Still, nothing he could do about it right now. Lea charged in himself, lashing out at the monster's other side to keep it from focusing too much on Ken. He was forced to dodge as the creature suddenly sprouted what looked like an elephant's trunk and tried to grab him with it. "Whoa!" he said. "Watch out for the trunk, however long it lasts!"

Ken glanced over at the trunk and dropped into a baseball slide, scooting under it and slashing as he did. A large maw suddenly formed and snapped at him, and he kicked it roughly, frustrated at the thing.

"Will you just die? It'd be easier on everyone?"

Kicking near the maw was probably a bad idea, as while it didn't catch on flesh, it did snag Ken's pants leg, making a tear a couple inches long near the cuff before the maw itself melted away into what looked like a toucan's beak and lost its grip. Lea frowned slightly. If Ken was going to do things like that, they should probably try and finish this quickly.

Lea summoned a decent-sized fireball in his free hand. "Stand back!", he called to Ken hoping he'd listen. "This guy's about to get too hot to handle!"

"Oh come on, not again!"

He glanced over at the fireball and rolled out of the way, putting plenty of distance between him and the monster.

Glad that Ken at least knew when to get out of the line of- literal- fire, Lea hurled the fireball at the creature. He almost wished he hadn't, as the pained noise that emerged from the creature's ever shifting throat was bizarre and downright disturbing; bellow, a squawk, a roar, a screech all melting into each other and overlapping. It didn't even stop shifting when burned, and it collapsed to the ground, a charred paw shifting to a charred wing, to part of a charred head, to a section of burned, scaley hide...

Lea summoned a chakram and used it to put the creature out of its misery. He didn't want to use his Keyblade for that. "OK, remind me not to do that again, if we run into any more of these things," he said as he dismissed the chakram. "That was freaking disturbing."

Ken watched the thing die impassively, not seeming to be disturbed by it all that much. Internally... yes, he cringed. But it really wasn't all that bad.

"Could always be worse. Somehow. I don't know how, but it always could be." He shook his head and nudged it to make sure it wasn't moving. Thankfully, it stayed still. "Can't believe I gotta ask the spider lady to fix my pants again..."

"Could always be worse," Lea said, echoing Ken's words. "It could've been your actual leg that thing got a piece of." Which would be a far worse problem than some torn pants. "Either way, the trick is to avoid the big pointy teeth; you'll have less torn clothes and more time with all your limbs intact."

"I could have just been basically killed like when that demon threw me. ... Vexen'd put a spell on me that brought me back up." It was difficult to think o that, but he was getting the feeling Lea was trying to lecture him. So fine, lecture him.

"Gee, I didn't think of avoiding the pointy ends."

Lea actually gave an impressed whistle at the mention of the spell. "Wow, I didn't know Vexen knew Auto-Life," he said. "That's a really hard spell to master, from what I understand, but if anyone from back home knew it, figures it'd be our resident genius. Still, it's not a spell you wanna rely on too much; handy to have in a pinch, definitely, but it's better to avoid needing it if you can."

He sighed at Ken's tone though. "I know, I know... Still wouldn't hurt to be a bit more careful, you know? Or at least try to avoid doing anything I would have done as a kid."

"I didn't know you as a kid, so I can't promise that. ... I'm not afraid, though. Of getting hurt. If it's to protect the people I care about rather than... than hurt them." He tensed up, the images of bodies on the ground flashing into his mind again. "I swore I'd defend them."

"Remind me to give you some examples of me at my dumbest sometime, then," Lea said. "Because lemme tell you, I did some seriously stupid crap as a kid, and would have done more if not for Isa. And I usually didn't even have the excuse of protecting anyone."

"And not being afraid is part of the problem," he said. "I'm not saying you should run and hide or anything, just... don't charge into serious danger without backup. Especially if you don't have access to your powers, like now. Got it memorized?"

"... I get what you're saying. I'm still not going to just run if there's something I can do." His voice is firm, even as he avoids Lea's gaze. "I can't just... not help.:

"I know," Lea said. "Like I said, I don't want you to run, necessarily, I just want you to think instead of just.... doing stuff like charging at a crazy shape-shifting monster with nothing but a kitchen knife. Which I know is easier said than done, but..." He sighed a bit. "Just... try not to give Vexen a heart attack, OK? He's only got part of one to work with right now as it is."

So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

Day 7

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