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

Someone at a shadowy table near the entrance recognizes him. Sort of.

"Do you have a twin sister?"

Danny might recognize Loki, too, from the warnings about a suspected bomber at large.

Danny squints a little at the guy. He looked a little familiar, maybe? But not from the train.

"Uh, not that I know of? I have sisters, but none of them are twins."

Jazz was older, and Razzy looked several years younger.

He's not the best at gauging ages. "Do either of them look like they could be you, but for the age and sex?"

"How do you know Razzy?"

Danny has to pause a moment to think before he gives the name. He was so used to thinking about her as Dani with an I. But if she'd found a name of her own she was happy with, he was determined to support that.

There also might have been a slightly overprotective tone. He was a Fenton, it was practically genetic.

"I met her on the day the sky changed. I advised her not to worry about it, which I now hope she ignored." He shakes his head ruefully, thinking of how fervently he'd tried to uphold the illusion then.

"I never did get her name. At the time, she was just another civilian, watching a likely dangerous phenomenon, in a place where she could come to harm if she lost herself."

Danny relaxes a little at that information.

"Yeah.... I think its safe to say that we both thoroughly ignored any warnings about the sky."

A frown. "But since you're asking, I'm guessing you changed your mind about this place too?"

He was pretty sure he'd never met this guy before. There were enough people on the train that it was possible that they just hadn't met. But it was also possible that he was like Razzy. Someone who had been pulled into this from another world.

"I would still recommend not looking at it overmuch if it causes headaches, until we know why it causes them, but I do not consider it a threat by the Voidtrecker menace. If it is their doing, it is likely a warning or a way to wake us up. But more likely it is related to the illusion falling apart."

He gives a wan smile. "I had to be shocked out of it, but yes. I have quite thoroughly changed my mind about the benevolence of this place. You may have heard of my... reaction."

Danny squints at him again.

"Wait... are you the ice guy?" He claps his hands together loudly. "Hey, I should thank you for that. It means dropping ice on the streets makes a great distraction right now. I left an ice boulder on the other end of the city, and you would not believe how fast DForce started showing up."

Danny... had not paid very close attention to the news. But at least he was getting closer to the right identity?

Edited 2021-07-18 03:29 (UTC)

"Ah, no... Actually, I reported him as suspicious." Loki looks a little embarrassed. "He will likely find the irony amusing, should we meet again. No, I am the one who 'bombed' a park. Though of course that is not actually what happened."

"Oh, sorry about that." He frowns. "So what did happen in the park? I'm guessing it wasn't actually a bomb."

Danny was very familiar with how quickly the media could spin things, when there was a government determined to paint you as the villain. That was how he'd ended up as Public Ghost Enemy #1 for a while after all.

He spreads his hands disarmingly. "A simple, albeit very powerful, disillusionment spell. It erased everything that was an illusion it came across. But as everything here seems to be an illusion, other than us..."

"...Got it. Missing illusion equals sudden reputation as a bomber."

And that would be super easy to spin.

"Do you need any help staying away from DForce?"

If there was one thing Danny could be said to be an expert in, it was how to function as a hero in a world where everyone thought you were a villain.

"Exactly. The odd thing is that the blankness left by the spell started to be repaired, all on its own. But I suppose I did too much damage, and whoever controls the city decided to turn it into destruction rather than repair it wholly." He conjures an illusion of the park as he saw it to illustrate. There's a furrow of nothingness running through it, but the grass and paths push into the edges on their own, as if trying to close the wound.

"I have become used to being a fugitive over the past few years, and I am full of tricks," he starts to dismiss the offer. "However, I have never been confined to a single city that is under the control of the enemy hunting me. If you have experience and advice for that, I would be quite interested in hearing it.

"Huh. And they conveniently decided there was an easy scapegoat. I wonder how much of that was planned?"

It would be nice to know the level of mastermind they were up against here.

Danny considers this. "Invisibility and secret identities help. Its easier to be hunted by everyone if you can disguise yourself as something no one would expect."

"I do not think it was planned until after I had unleashed my spell. This thing seems protective of its realm and would rather have its captives be content in ignorance."

Loki gives a grin. "Secret identities, hm? Like this?" He shimmers and turns into an exact double of Danny. "Or maybe this would be better?" Shimmer, and he's now a muscle-bound blond man. "Why choose just one?" He flashes between several appearances, male, female, old and young, some not even human, but all with the same grin.

Danny was, perhaps, a bit less surprised than he was expecting. He merely hums thoughtfully.

"Shapeshifter, huh?" A sudden grin. "You're a lot less annoying than the last one of those I ran into. Sounds like you don't need my help after all."

So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

Day 6

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