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.

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She meant the mob and security forces, but even if she knew what Alice was thinking - what would one more thing be, now? One more misunderstanding, one more negative thing.

Just data to be dealt with, this way. And, in that mode, she interprets things through her own paradigm, carrying over into other, even more dangerous territory.

"No, it was...ideal. A state this unit has wished to achieve, and should have known better than to accept as real. There were layers of impossibility."

This is just not a good situation to talk about any of this, Alice realises. Not when everything here is chaos, not when they could be hunted down any moment now.

Not when Guri seems to have shut down absolutely everything, leaving her with nothing but cold reason - the one thing Alice can't use right now when she feels so confused and conflicted, when everything just hurts.

"Look, we can.. We can talk about this later."

But not right now. Alice already feels like she's falling to pieces as-is, her mind still fragile from trying to recover itself after being snapped out of the illusion. It feels like one wrong brush against it could make her collapse entirely.

"Just.. don't do anything that would only get you killed, no matter how much it might seem like the most optimal course of action to you."

"Instruction received and accepted," she replied after a moment.

"Priority should be shelter, food, and rest. You will require some of them shortly, I believe."

Accepted. Thank god. Alice can't even pretend to herself that she's not letting out a sigh of relief at those words. This really isn't the sort of opportunity where she could argue with Guri over the need to keep herself safe, but it seems like Guri is willing to listen to her despite her current state.

"Yes, especially the latter," she admits. Her heart feels like it's going to explode any time now, honestly. "But.. that isn't possible yet. Matters have to be wrapped up here before we are able to go back to the train."

She nodded.

"What are your instructions, then?"

It might or might not occur to Alice that it meant something that even with half her personality - more, really - just gone, she still put her trust in Alice's decisions. That she would trust her enough to accept instructions.

Somewhere, deep in the core of Guri's mind, the basic statement 'Alice is special' had etched itself.

That sentence makes her stare at Guri.

After all.. She does get that impression. That she really must be nestled deep somewhere in Guri, for the other to ask her that now. And while it is touching, in a way, it's also conflicting. Because Guri had spoken before of the last person gave her orders. And while Alice is nowhere near as awful of a person as that person was - or so she likes to think, anyway - she's not sure if she deserves to do something like this.

Guri's free will had meant so much to her.

"Don't you.. want to decide for yourself?" Alice asks, unsure.

"My choices run contradictory to your wish that I be preserved," she replied, after a moment.

"Logically, working in tandem will produce a better result. Further, you are a trusted entity."

Ask her that another time, Alice, what she thinks of you. What her honesty had meant. How she would never put her within a million miles of Xizor and his despicable ways. It is a good thing that is left unspoken - and she hasn't the emotions active to respond fully to it.

She ponders the words for a moment, turning their meaning over in her head. Not even really that last part, since that's an entire ballpark of its own, but what Guri says before that - it does sound like she doesn't mind, right?

Alice figures this is the closest she can get right now. And if Guri does end up hating it, then Alice will just profusely apologize to her later, she thinks.

"Alright. In that case.." She goes quiet for a moment, trying to think of what would be best here. Something that will keep Guri relatively safe, but also won't make her feel useless. "I don't think those forces here are our true enemy." Not the D-Force. If anything, they're just as brainwashed as any of them were under the illusion. "There is something else. Perhaps some of us are already tackling that problem, so.. perhaps you could help with evacuating people who might be stuck under all the rubble. That way you don't have to be any further in any line of fire."

She considers it for a long moment.

"My strength is intact - I can work through rubble well. It would also avoid active engagement."

Another pause.

"Accepted - but what about you?"

Exactly. The 'avoiding active engagement' part is exactly why Alice suggested that, and she's glad the other picks up on the idea. As long as she can keep Guri out of further hands of the D-Force without making her feel like she's totally useless, Alice figures she's at least doing a decent enough job.

"I.." She starts, then lets out a sigh. "I'm not sure."

She feels so tired. Her head feels like a jumbled up mess, to a point where she's not too sure she can function at all right now, let alone function properly.

"I suppose I should keep myself out of too much danger as well."

"You have suffered exhaustion and mental trauma. You will require rest, as a matter of priority."

It is, again, a statement rather than a question.

Alice knows Guri is right. Yet at the same time something gnaws at the back of her head. Some sort of guilt, due to her hero complex. Just abandoning people in need, only because she needs some rest, doesn't feel right.

"I can rest when this is over," she says, though Alice can't help but cough as she shakes her head. "We have to first make sure this place is safe for everyone we leave behind."

"If you wish to help people, you should rest prior. This unit will stand watch, and there is an abandoned apartment nearby that will be suitable."

Her exhaustion, mental and physical, were obvious.

It is obvious.

After all, even right as Guri says that, Alice rubs a tired hand across her face.

".. Are you sure you don't mind?"

After all, Alice is sure that Guri would like to be out there, protecting people, rather than just guarding one person only.

Her answer, at first, is just to offer a hand to help her stand up.

"It is the logical set of actions," she replied. 'Mind' would be a tricky word, right about now.

Logical.

Alice isn't too sure of that part either, but then again, maybe her own mind is slightly biased against her. How could she view herself as important enough that it'd be logical to protect her under these circumstances, when many different lives could instead be saved?

But since Guri isn't saying she does mind, Alice doesn't further protest.

She's too tired for it, anyway.

So she just moves to take that hand, allowing the other to help her up.

"Let's go to that safe spot then."

It takes the better part of half an hour to make it, between dodging security patrols and some of the escaped creatures. And what Alice will see, even more than usual, is just how little sound Guri makes, when she wants to. Her movements around the train are practically clomping by comparison.

When she needs to, she moves with speed far greater than that of a human, making use of every cover and shadow, motioning Alice forward.

Finally, she shoulders open the door to a building.

"Up the stairs," she says, "first door on the left."

What's up there is an apartment that, generously, would have been termed a 'rat trap' - the living room is open to the air now, half a wall gone. But there's a bedroom, and it's intact. And warm enough when burrowed beneath blankets.

"When you awake," she says, gesturing towards the room, "I will venture out for some water and what food I can find."

There's two good things going on here. The first is the fact that Guri is able to be so stealthy right now. Not that Alice is totally bad at that sort of thing. She doesn't like having to do it, but she can do it when she tries.

It's just that she's way too tired to try it now. Her mind is too much of a mess, so she just lets Guri lead the way. Following the other as best as she can without weighing her down.

The second good thing is that living circumstances back in London were so bad that it practically makes this run down, half-destroyed place look like home. Which means there's absolutely no complaint about the state of the apartment when they enter. Instead Alice just drags her legs over to the bed before letting her body drop on there. She already feels like she's half-drifting off to sleep, even without having pulled the blankets over herself yet.

".. What are you going to do while I sleep?" She asks, though in her current state, it's a little mumbled.

It is the first moment where the old Guri wants to pop up. To turn back on the emotions so she'd know what to do, what to say. To stroke Alice's hair, and tell her everything will be fine. But she also knows the weight that comes with that simple expression of warmth - the part of her that had a shared world with Alice, in which this could have been an important moment; a gentle time to share, to truly feel warmth and romance.

And that's ashes now.

So they remain off, but she does adjust the blankets over her. That much is common sense.

"I will stand watch," she says, quietly, moving to shut the door.

"You won't get bored?" Alice says. Instinctively, without thinking, because her heart aches when she thinks about Guri doing all of this for her sake.

But she then realises. With how everything has changed, with the way Guri is acting right now - there's no way she's going to think of boredom as even the slightest concern.

So Alice shuts her eyes for a moment, slowly breathing out before trying again.

"I mean.. I feel slightly guilty just making you stay here for my sake, not doing anything or being able to rest yourself.."

"In my current state, no. I will complete my task."

That's all there is to say, really, but she knows humans require more placation than that.

"It will be useful self-repair time."

Please, Guri. Don't start about your current state. That just reminds Alice more and more of just exactly what's wrong with the other - both the physical injuries, and the mental damage of this entire situation.

She releases another sigh. How does she fix this? Especially when her mind feels so.. so bloated, so sluggish. It's making it hard to even think.

"Guri," Alice speaks up again, her voice softer this time. "If you are staying either way.. can you come sit here next to me and hold my hand while I sleep?"

The silence lingers as the request is considered. Were the emotions turned on, the response would have been an automatic no.

As it stands, she nods, sitting carefully on the edge of the bed and extending her hand. It will be a bit cooler than usual - not warming it as she does for her usual contacts, these days. But it will warm, with contact and time.

"Very well," she replies.

Alice doesn't seem to mind the cold anyway.

Mostly since she doesn't make a sound the moment she touches the cold hand. She just takes it in her own, trying to not think too hard about this. Or about anything at all.

Instead the girl just closes her eyes, allowing sleep to claim her for now.

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So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

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(Argh, DW dropped this notif, sorry!)

it's ok, it happens! c:

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