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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Soldat scrubs a hand over their face. Definitely a different Steve. This one's from even further in the future of his world, and clearly not from any version of Earth where the Winter Soldier died in the helicarrier fight. "A. A lot more. Steve, I've been off... off of Earth. For two years. First in a world called Beacon, now on a. A space train?" (God, that sounds stupid when you say it out loud.) "The Voidtreckers the D-FORCE here are all up in arms about. That's me. And a bunch of other people stuck in the illusion, too." (I FUCKING KNEW IT! You thought the Voidtreckers were a publicity stunt yesterday, dumbass.)

That's the first revelation. They'll let Steve stomach that one first.

Yeah, that's... a lot to stomach. Mostly the off of Earth for two years bit. Because yeah, okay, it's been two years, but -

But this is Bucky. And he trusts Bucky. And hell, how much weirder is "on a different planet and then on a space train," really, from everything else that's happened to him - to them - so far? He's fought aliens, is on a team with an alien, so it's a lot to stomach, yeah, but Steve just nods, accepting it as truth and moving on.

And somehow he's also not surprised to find out there's some kind of serious mass brainwashing going on here. Not after everything else. "Okay," he finally says, running a hand through his hair. "Okay, so - is there actually a threat? Do you think there are actually people who live here, or is the whole thing a scam?"

The utter lack of questioning or even looks of shock throw them for a beat, but after a moment of blinking at Steve's entirely rational and plan-focused questions, they rally. "I. Don't know. The last three places something like this happened to, two of them had people, one of them only had robots. None of them were this advanced, though. All the illusions there were fleeting, individual. Not found any natives so far, though."

Which admittedly isn't saying much. It's really hard to tell when not everyone is getting memories back. "The thing behind it. We met it face to face once. And we. Pissed it off, chasing it off a world it wanted to take. Not sure what it is, side from a survivor of a destroyed world that it wants to recreate. That's what this is, I think. Its world. Recreated."

It's admittedly at least a little hard to just focus on the situation when Bucky is right here and okay and remembers him and apparently hasn't been on Earth for the past two years. But that's just how it is, Steve figures - reunions are going to have to wait. There are more important things, first.

He can at least appreciate that Bucky seems to have decent intel, because Steve sure as hell doesn't.

"Okay," he finally surmises. "So we've got... something that's probably angry and hurting, and powerful enough to mind-control a bunch of people all at once." Yeah, that sounds fun to deal with, but it's what they're gonna have to do. "I think we should at least assume everyone is some kind of victim until we see anything to the contrary." Which both makes things more complicated and less. "How did you chase it off last time?"

Frankly, Steve, staying mission focused is the only way Soldat is remotely functional right now. They don't know what they should tell Steve, how much, whether it's safe for him to know just how fucked up they are now, what might make him turn away like, last time-- (Hey. It was the train's fault, not. Not ours. Remember?) Sarge doesn't really believe that any more than Soldat does.

They shut their eyes briefly, then answer the question. "By defeating all of its illusions. It fled when we confronted it at the center of a. An illusion maze thing. Don't think that's gonna cut it this time. We might have to actually fight it." And they don't know how. They're a guy with a gun, not magic. Even with James helping with his metal manipulation, that's still just physical fighting. How do you fight something made out of light and color with a gun or a metal arm?

Steve does frown a little in thought, because yeah, that sounds... a bit complicated and hard to recreate. Although he does have to let out a small huff of laughter, because, "Well, good think fighting's what we're good at, right?" Even if they don't know how, they'll figure it out. They always do.

Especially if, "Was that - is Natasha actually here?" She's the only person from the fake life or whatever he was living that he still knows, now that he has his own mind back. And the powers she'd had were electricity based. Maybe she'll have some ideas.

They don't look particularly encouraged by the statement. Fighting things that aren't even human sized or shaped or even actually solid is not a thing they're necessarily experienced at. Soldat's had some practice on spirits, but they were physical spirits.

They move past it with only an uncomfortable look. "I think so. Some people got pulled in from other worlds, not from the train. That must be. What happened to you, and to her." And to Misty. "She might not remember yet. Even if she does, she might. See me as an enemy." They only have very vague memories of Natasha Romanoff, and most of it is of the certainty that she will kill them of they aren't careful.

Well, if anyone has never been particularly encouraged by Steve Rogers wanting to fight something, it's Bucky Barnes, so Steve isn't necessarily put out. He still thinks they'll be okay, though, if they do have to fight. Especially if they've got some backup.

"Yeah," Steve agrees, because it must be what happened to him. Not that he has any idea what's going to happen to him after the fact, but that's something to worry about later. "I mean... sure, you did kinda shoot her, but I think she'd understand," Steve points out. "I did."

As if his penchant for forgiveness is at all shared by Natasha. (It's not.) But still, she does understand. He knows she does. And he just assumes she's his Natasha, like he assumes this is his Bucky.

"You are biased as all hell," Soldat points out. "And let me hit you in the face repeatedly."

It's only sort of important. They'll deal with Natasha when they have to. For now, they're still torn on how much to tell Steve. "Steve. We'll try to get you back where you came from," they start with. "Once we've beat this thing. You got. You got shit that needs doing back there, I bet."

"What are best friends for," Steve murmurs, which doesn't really explain anything, and yet is the best explanation he has.

He certainly can't deny that he needs to get back, but the thing is - "Sure, but what about you? If you can get me home... you can come with me, right?" He frowns. Isn't that sort of the point?

Two years, Bucky had said. "Did you - want to be out here? Doing... whatever you're doing?"

There's something in his eyes, his stance, that immediately says, If you do, then I want to be out here, too.

Edited 2021-07-29 02:00 (UTC)

"Steve, I'm. I'm tethered to the train, now. Even if I wasn't, I can't go with you," Soldat says haltingly. "I'm not. There's." Ugh, this is so hard, especially when the last time they tried to explain this to Steve, it hadn't gone well.

They pull away and go drop onto the couch. "Steve. I'm not. Your Bucky." The goddamn name is still hard to say, all of this is hard to say, but they make themselves do it. He deserves to know. To make his own choices. "I'm not him. I died in the helicarrier. There's some other Bucky you need to get back to, who didn't die."

Steve's already frowning, trailing after - although he doesn't sit - and about to ask what the hell tethered to the train means and how they cut that tie, because that's what they're gonna do, clearly, when Bucky goes on and -

And that, finally, is a lot to swallow. More than the gone in outer space for two years bit, because that had seemed straightforward. This... is a little twistier.

"But you're not dead," is the first part of that that seems worth parsing. "I mean, unless I am, too, and this is a really, really weird version of, I don't know. Limbo."

"No, I. I actually am. Technically I'm some sort of magic-tech clone? Snatched from Earth at the time of my death and given a new body, one that could live on a dead world. If we were. If this were normal, if we were on the train, I could show you my lantern, which has my. My life force in it. Soul. Whatever." They're actually kind of disturbed that the illusion world has somehow hidden it, or turned it into something else, because it is clearly not here, hanging off their shoulder on its strap, like it normally would be. They've spent two years attached to that lantern, and not having it there is like not having their arm.

"There's. There's multiple universes, Steve," they explain. "Multiple versions of me. Multiple versions of you. There was another one of you on the train a month ago." And he left them. Not his fault, they don't blame him really. Maybe not even a decision he made. But still. Even more important: "There was another one of me a year ago."

None of that... sounds overly comforting.

Multiple universes, okay. He can understand that. Sure, it sounds like science fiction, but literally so does most of his life. Multiple versions of people is a little weirder, but it follows from multiple universes. But the whole dead-not-dead clone who's tethered to a train, with a soul in a lantern - it's believable, but it's not something that sits well with Steve at all. It sounds a lot like captivity trussed up to look like salvation.

"Okay," he says, quietly, after a moment. "So - how do I get you out?"

That's... not what they expected. Soldat blinks at him for a long minute, then gives a weary little laugh that maybe sounds more like a weak sob, instead. It's sweet, though. It's more than they expected.

"Steve, you don't need two of me in your universe," they say. "And I can't go back to mine. It's been too long." And unless they could somehow go back to the moment of their death, and save their Steve, they don't want to. An Earth with no Steve in it isn't worth returning to, especially when it's entirely possible HYDRA could catch them again. "It's fine. I'm okay, I promise. I'm doing good work here. And HYDRA can't ever get me here."

"Hey, the more the merrier," is Steve's lame-ass reply, because no, he hasn't really thought farther than the idea that he needs to get Bucky out of whatever's going on here. Whatever this limbo is that he doesn't deserve, but Steve can't entirely hate because it means Bucky - this Bucky - isn't dead.

So he seems dissatisfied with the explanation, unhappy but he doesn't argue - partly because he doesn't have a good argument against it. Doing good things, safe from HYDRA... those are good things. They just still seem like they're born of captivity, of compulsion, and that's the part he doesn't like.

That, and, "I don't want to just leave you here. Can you die again? What if something happens to that lantern?" To his soul?

"Then the train brings me back. I wake up in the luggage car a day later. It's already happened once. Happened back in the place I got the lantern twice, before that." (What even is our life? CLEARLY MORE CRAZY THAN EVEN I THOUGHT. Yeah, I know. It's a little nuts.)

They shake their head. "I'm. I'm touched you wanna save me, Steve. I really am." More than he can know, really, after the last version of him here. "But you've got your own Bucky to save. And I don't think there's anything you can do for me, here."

The luggage car. Talk about adding insult to injury. Steve doesn't look happy, even if he is glad that it sounds like Bucky doesn't just vanish forever, his soul gone, or any of the myriad horrible things Steve might have been imagining.

But he does also realize that if it's happened several times... that sounds pretty horrible, too.

Just like the sound of I don't think there's anything you can do for me is horrible. Because he can't just leave like nothing's wrong. This Bucky might be from somewhere different, but he's still Bucky. He's still a person who should have a choice. "You're asking me to abandon you," he says quietly, unhappily. "I don't like the idea of that at all. How many people are on this train, in the first place?"

"Almost a hundred and fifty of us." It sounds like a lot when they say it out loud. They're not exactly used to how crowded it is on the train, but they're not as uncomfortable as they used to be, they think. Going back after having a proper bathtub and their own room might be harder than it used to be, but still. It's closer to home than it used to be. "I'm not gonna be alone when you go back to your Bucky, Steve. I've got people here."

They give a small, lop-sided smile. "You might not like this me as much, anyway. I'm not quite like how you remember."

That is a lot, yeah. Steve looks like he's not sure whether to be angry, dismayed, or horrified. A hundred and fifty people, going through this?

The mention of other people, though, support, does give him pause. He looks like he wants to argue, is just barely holding himself back, and almost feels bad about it, all at once.

But he does know that, "What would that have to do with whether or not I like you? I can't possibly expect you to be the same, after - "

After all that shit happened. After Steve failed him. After he'd apparently died, and woken up here.

He would never expect anyone to be the same, after even a fraction of that. "I'm sure I'm not like how you remember. Whatever you remember," he adds, quietly.

"I've got a lot back," Soldat says quietly. "Not everything. But a lot. You're part of most of the good bits. But I'm. I've got a whole new name, now, because hearing my old one hurt too much. And my head's pretty broken." And the last Steve didn't know how to handle any of that, they think. It's the most obvious explanation for the avoidance.

They're not holding out hope for this Steve being able to handle it any better, especially on top of all the mission memory shit going on.

It's selfishly good to hear, that Bucky's got most of it back. At least some of the good bits, too, because he can't help but admit, "Yeah, well - you're part of most of the good bits from my end, too." It's true. And something in him says he ought to say it out loud.

Then his brain catches up with the rest of it, and - "A new name?"

Because hearing my old one hurt too much. And there's a sudden, sharp curl of horror, of anger, deep in his gut. His fingers clench on nothing, fists low at his sides because there's nothing to punch except the knowledge, the surety, that HYDRA had won some victory, here. Had taken something from Bucky that he can't reclaim.

They wince a little, and hurry to say, to hopefully stave off anger that has literally nowhere to go, "It's not so bad anymore, I'm used to it now. It just-- isn't me. I think I grew into someone else, while I was working on getting better."

And it sounds horrible, they know it does. They look up, eyes on his face, moving from feature to feature; it turns into eye contact at last when they say, "You're still. You're still so important to me, Steve, but I spent a year and a half knowing I'd killed you."

Steve's not mad. Not at Bucky, at least - or whatever he wants to be called, Steve doesn't know, and maybe that sudden realization, along with the wince, along with the way he tries to immediately placate Steve... All of that doesn't exactly wipe the fury he feels at HYDRA away. Nothing will, nothing can. But it makes him realize that he's not reacting right, and he immediately inhales sharply, takes a step back, tries to force his fingers to relax.

He can't pretend that hearing how important he is doesn't twist up his insides in a completely different way; but there's still something about it that doesn't feel right, not when it feels like Bucky is afraid. He shouldn't ever be afraid of Steve.

So Steve swallows, and tries to make his voice soft and gentle when he asks, "What - uh. What's your name now? So I don't - call you the old one?"

There's no wrong reaction here. Soldat expects a lot worse than a little anger with no proper outlet. Tamping himself down is one of many possibly reactions, and not even the best one. "You can if you want, it doesn't. It doesn't bother me. But I go by Soldat now."

And. Steve probably knows exactly what that word means, actually, a thought that makes them wince, and explain weakly, "I know it's not much of a name, but it's what I chose, back when I didn't really know better. Just needed something to tell civilians so they wouldn't get upset. And now it's really mine."

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