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

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."

Yeah, there's definite tensing at the new name, because that's not a name, it's -

But Bucky - Soldat - tries to explain. And the thing is... the thing is, how can Steve be unhappy with him for choosing something for himself? There are still a lot of complicated emotions swirling under the surface, but above it all, he understands, and he shakes his head, because, "No, if your name's Soldat now, then I'm not gonna call you something else. That's just rude."

In a way, Bucky was just a childhood nickname he never quite outgrew or sloughed off, right? Maybe now, it's just like that's what he's done.

Because he's changed, yeah, but - he's grown. Steve can already see that. And he can feel guilty and angry at himself on his own time. Right now, he still feels happy to see his friend again, and stupidly proud of him for clearly handling himself amazingly under the most extenuating circumstances Steve can imagine. "It's nice to meet you, Soldat," he offers, feeling a little dumb for saying it, but it still feels like the right thing to say.

They have to shut their eyes tight for a moment, against the burning threat of tears. They're not sure if it's right or not, but-- it's their name. And Steve's saying it. Even the... the other Steve tried to avoid saying it. Which was fine, they understood. It was hard. It's probably hard now, too, for this Steve.

But there it is again. They manage a strangled sort of, "Hi, Steve." Then: "Come sit down, I'm gonna crane my neck lookin' at you." There's plenty of couch left.

Steve lets out a soft laugh. "I mean, only fair, I spent most of my life craning my neck up at you."

But he does actually shuffle over and sit down next to Bu- Soldat. Yeah, that's... gonna be a little weird. A little hard. But he'll try.

It's strange, sitting down next to this man under a completely different context than he believed he had been for an entire lifetime. They've spent a life together - and days together? - and a different life together and it's... a lot. It's got to be a lot for Soldat, too.

Steve drops his weight not quite close enough to touch, but close enough to be close. "So, this is... a situation," he finally decides, because what do you even say to all of this? "Someone should write it down, make a million bucks."

"God. Nobody'd believe it," Soldat says, a lot of attention focused on that strip of not-touching space. Part of them wants to lean in; part of them wants to lean away; the rest is frozen in something like terror but not quite as terrible as that. "None of it. It'd get laughed out of the bookstore. Too unrealistic."

"Maybe," Steve can't help but chuckle, because when life gets this crazy, really, what else can you do? Go crazy, probably, but that's seriously overrated.

"So. What do we do now?" he asks, softly. Although he guesses he already knows: "You said fight... I guess we fight, if that's what we've gotta do."

He sounds almost reluctant, though. He... is, in a way. Because he just met this man, and he wants to know more, wants to spend time with him, wants to bask in this. And he knows he can't.

But it doesn't mean he maybe doesn't want to. For a second, this feels out of time. But then he wonders if every moment, every day, spent here is passing back home without him. He doesn't know. He doesn't know anything.

You might get that chance, after all, Steve. Because until their backup gets here, there's not a lot they can really do. "Right now? We wait. We've. We've called in back-up," Soldat explains. "We don't even know exactly where this entity is. Or how to contain it. But the Voidtrecker scouts do. We just gotta. Gotta hold down the fort until they get here, keep people on the streets safe."

They wince, and add, "Keep the entity from dumping us all back into the illusion again." Because that is a fear. Their second-worst one. (The first worst one being that Steve and Misty aren't really real, that this is all fake too.)

Steve nods, because he doesn't love the idea of waiting, but if Bu- Soldat says there are scouts and help coming, then he trusts that. No questions asked. "We can do that," he says, nodding a little, even if the first part sounds much easier than the second, if only because he doesn't know how he got into any illusion in the first place, so fighting it might not be so simple.

But they've also broken out of it once. Which means they can do it again.

He glances over at Soldat, feeling torn, wanting to sit here and ask more, learn more, spend time with him, but knowing that if there's a job to do, they shouldn't put it off. "Should we get out there, then? Start taking stock?" Patrolling is familiar, at least, even if that last time he did it with this man, or someone like him, was seventy years ago.

Maybe. Soldat eyes the door reluctantly. "Technically. We've both got work in about half an hour. James thinks he's worked out how to share, so. Control should be better today."

They shut their mouth. They hadn't told Steve yet about the others in their head, but-- maybe he wouldn't notice. They continue, "Could call out, I guess."

Yeah, Steve noticed that. He's not sure what to think about it, but he noticed it.

He maybe should let it slide, make a dumb joke about how bad his acting really is, but even as he opens his mouth to do just that, what ends up coming out is, "He - could show you how to control the... uh, the metal thing?"

He has, admittedly, not tried to do anything fire-related since he came back to himself.

Damn. Okay, fine. They've told him everything else and he hasn't rejected them yet; might as well go all the way. "Or just take over and do it." They wave the flesh hand vaguely at their head. "He's still in here. James is. With the others." They look down at their knees, bring the hand back down to clasp both together. "I told you. I'm pretty broken, Steve."

"Oh," is the soft reply - not judging, not worried, just... maybe a little surprised. It's not what he'd expected. It's not - how he feels, he thinks, although there is a thoughtful look that definitely crosses Steve's face, as he tries to figure out if the other him is still in here somewhere, just... hiding.

He doesn't think so? But hell. Who knows. Maybe he'll pop back up. Even if Steve isn't sure how he feels about that.

What he does know is, "You're not broken," he points out, firmly, if quietly, like someone might hear him if they talk too loudly. "You're - I mean. Frankly, that sounds like a tactical advantage."

In this situation, at least. Although - Although Bucky - dammit, Soldat - had said, "Others? Are there - is it because of the train? And what happens to you?" How many people does he have rattling around in there?

What if they don't always agree?

A short, not-quite-hysterical laugh makes it out. Tactical advantage. Literally, sometimes. But also the last thing the other Steve saw before he left, the last piece of Soldat they hadn't shown him yet, that maybe drove him away. (No. It's not your fault, Asset, I know. Hey, you did what none of the rest of us could. ~~If Steve could not handle it, that is Steve's problem.~~ Shut up.)

"No. No, it. Mostly happened before the train. In the last place I was in, Beacon. Started off with Sarge. He's. He's the most like you'd remember, I think. Chatty, Brooklyn, army memories and science fiction. Then the Asset, it's the violence, the fear, the. The protection. Then the Bottomless Pit, who just wants to eat all the time. We mostly get along. Make it work."

They scrub at their forehead wearily. "Now there's James. I don't know if he'll stay after the mission is over, but he's there now. And not happy about any of this."

Steve just listens quietly, nodding, taking it in. It sounds... yeah, okay. It sounds a little messed up. A little like Bucky hadn't known how to reconcile what had happened to him, had... split, somehow. Had decided that Bucky and the Asset were two different people sharing one body.

He's not sure about this Bottomless Pit, but... well. Steve gets wanting to eat all the time. The serum sure does that to a guy.

He's concerned, yeah. But - but really, he thinks about it for a long moment, and honestly? If this is how Bucky wants to deal with what happened to him? Then that's how he should fucking deal with it. It's not like there are self-help books or even professionals equipped to understand how to help him. The horrors he went through are Steve's fault, but Bucky's the one who went through them, and he's the one who's come out the other side.

"I - uh," Steve manages, laughing a little, almost helplessly. "I bet he's a little confused, yeah. But if he - if this is his home, right? Then he can help us. And we can help him."

He isn't sure if he's talking to James now, in there somewhere, or if his words get relayed, or what.

"I'm not really sure he appreciates that right now," Soldat admits wearily. "Right now he's more feeling like we stole his home. I can ask him what he wants. Or. Hell, you can."

(Do you want to talk to him? ... MAYBE. Come on, then. Sarge can show you how. Why are you volunteering me?)

But grumbling or not, Sarge does give James a kind of internal shove, and Soldat's tired, stressed expression gets less tired, more stressed, and much more open. There's trepidation, fear, and actual eye contact-- it's clear this is a different person, even if there are similarities. His hand comes out to grab Steve's shoulder, gripping tight. "Steve. Steve, you really don't-- you remember being someone other than my brother?"

So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

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