middleofsomewhere | So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

Entry tags:

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

If there was ever a moment where Inigo was glad that he snapped out of the illusion with some help, it's this very moment.

After all, there's no way he would have thought of the octopus of anything but weird if he would have seen it through the eyes of the guy stuck in the illusion. But right now? He recognizes it. There's only one person on the train who changes into sealife, as far as Inigo knows.

So he quickly moves to where he sees it, trying to step in front of her so she's a bit less visible. Look, he doesn't want to cause a scene here, okay. That last part may be the reason why he keeps his voice down a little as he says, "Hey!"

Unfortunately for Mimi, she is fighting it and is straddling the line between embracing the fiction and recognizing the reality. That makes her current situation all the more vexing, and Inigo a welcome sight.

"Inigo! Help me!" She said in a voice that was both shaking and bewildered . "I don't know what's happening to me... I was trying to catch a Voidtrekker... and, and, and--!!" And so many things, all of the things that had alarmed her over the last week came tumbling into mind all at once. It didn't make sense. None of this made sense.

That terrified Mimi.

"Alright, alright," he says, trying his best to calm himself down here as well. Inigo feels more unsure about all of this than he'd like to show on the outside, after all. He doesn't want to make the other panic even more by revealing too quickly that he knows a little more than her here.

So he at first tries what comes naturally to him. Being sympathetic, understanding. He sinks to his knees so he's on a more even level with her.

"It's alright. I'm here." He smiles. It's a bit unsteady, but genuine all the same. "Don't worry, alright? We'll figure this out together. Just give me your.."

.. ah.

"Um, well, not your hand.. A t-tentacle, I suppose?" He's holding out his own hand either way!

With a haste that surprised even her, Mimi's tentacles propelled herself up to Inigo's chest. There's a light splat as the slimy thing begins to fall back to the ground.

She'll have to apologize for that later.

.. well.

That wasn't quite what Inigo expected. And for a moment he's frozen in shock, right as the tentacles start to fall, but then he's already reaching out to try and catch her and scoop her up into a hug. If he can, anyway, considering she is most likely very, very slippery by now. But he's trying his best. It's probably the only way to try and comfort her in this moment, considering the tentacle holding isn't exactly ideal.

"Come on, there's nothing to worry about.. I'm right here, you see? I'm not worried."

(He is worried, but he's pretty good at hiding it at this point, right about now.)

Two of her tentacles wrap around his arms for grip, but the rest of her bundles close to him for safety. She's shaken and confused but so, so glad that he's here to help her though this.

"Thank you, Inigo. Thank you." The shaking begins to cease. She trusts him to keep her safe and... to bring her where she needs to go. The one place where she thinks she could find answers: home.

"No need to thank me. It's what friends do."

Because it's what they are. Friends. Inigo is rather glad to know that they were still friends even in the illusion, even as they assumed they were living entirely different lives.. But he knows they're friends even outside of that.

So he's determined to keep Eight safe now with all he's got, which means quickly making his way over to an alleyway before he can get odd looks or people getting suspicious over him carrying an octopus in his arms.

"Are you alright? I mean-- Aside from.. everything." Suddenly turning into something different must have been weird to her, especially if she's still caught up in the illusion. "You aren't hurt?"

For a moment Mimi stops shaking and just embraces the warmth of her friend caring for her. The moment is broken when he speaks again, bringing her back to reality. "...yeah... its strange but I feel like this is normal..." She tsks at the downside of that. "But I don't seem to move very well..." As for being hurt. "You know, you would think it would hurt more, but I'm actually not in any pain at all. Do octopuses not have nerves or something?" She wishes she remembered that after studying marine biology.

Inigo lets out a breath - it almost sounds like a laugh. Probably would have been a full out laugh, if they were caught in any scenario other than this one. "I think you're asking exactly the wrong person."

Inigo's knowledge about ocotpuses is basically zero, after all. But even as he's speaking, he keeps cradling her close, protectively.

"But.. you know, I think you might know a bit more about them than I do. Have you tried to think about it?"

It's his subtle way of trying to nudge her along. Trying to see if he can make her remember without having to tell her what's going on himself, considering it might just make her freak out more.

"Huh..." For some reason, she felt a twinge that she should know something about octopuses. There's a moment and a flash of inspiration. "Octopuses have an extensive nervous system, with a majority of its nervous system. Their arms are so articulate that some people think that each arm has their own brain."

The octopus blinks. "How did I know that?"

This is good. They're not getting there all the way yet - but it's something. It's a sign that the girl is able to look through her fake memories to take a peek at the real ones that lay underneath it, and that's all Inigo can hope for as he continues to hold the octopus in his arms.

"Yeah, it's.. strange, isn't it? I don't know anything about octopuses."

Neither does the general populace. And yet she does - and he knows why.

"I mean.. Doesn't it maybe feel kind of natural to you? Being in this form?" Maybe she didn't notice at first, since the change must have been so utterly surprising, but perhaps now she's getting used to it..

"Its felt that way since coming here. But I also feel like a fish out of water... or, an octopus, I guess...." But she also notices something else happening.

"You're used to me being like this, Inigo? You don't seem bothered at all." Were it not for the fact that they were close childhood friends she would be more upset, she's perturbed, but open to hearing his side of the story.

That question makes Inigo hesitate.

He doesn't want to lie to the other. Regardless of the fact that they're not actually childhood friends - far from it, considering they only met on the train - Inigo still trusts Eight. He still cares about her. He doesn't want to lie to her, even in a situation like this.

But telling the truth here could compromise everything they've got going on, so he bites his lip for a moment as he thinks.

"I can answer that, but.. you have to trust me when I do, okay?"

The octopus is quiet for a while, weighing over the information she can consider so far. There was more going on, and Inigo knew of it. The way he made it sound was like he knew more about her than she did. A part of her was worried, too, that the information would change the nature of everything, even their rleationship.

But she wasn't about to run away from the truth. Even if it was a heartbreaking truth, that truth would be something to build off of than a happy lie.

She wanted to press that a little. See what came out. "Of course I trust you, Inigo. We've been friends since kids."

.. she just had to unintentionally rub that in, huh. It makes his resolve waver for a moment - but only a moment. Inigo knows that he has to do this. That there's no way around this, when it comes down to it. He can't leave her in the illusion, not when it seems things are starting to become more and more dangerous.

So he swallows thickly before speaking up again.

"What you look like right now.. That is normal for you. I've seen you turn into that form multiple times now." He knows that the thought might be overwhelming, but he tries to say it as plainly and simply as he can, just presenting it as the fact that it is. Even if it may be a mindblowing fact. "We've.. actually not lived here for as long as we think we have. Someone messed with our memories. These lives aren't ours."

Were he to try to reach out and tell her that just an hour or so ago, she would not have believed him. She would have been hurt that he would even have the audacity to even suggest that what they were living was a lie. Even as close as they were, she was willing to fight him to hold onto this reality.

Which was how she got to this state in the first place.

There was no denying that something weird was happening and that the world itself wasn't working. A lesson she remembers from class was something like 'a scientist must be willing to abandon their current theory if confronted with evidence that goes against it.'

She's silent a long time before voicing her conclusion. "That's something the girl I was trying to catch -- the Voidtrekker -- was saying. I didn't believe her. And now here I am." She took a moment more to consider, her tone lowering and becoming... hurt, rather than angry. "...how long have you known that? How long have you been lying to me about being my childhood friend?"

"I only found out after I last saw you."

It's not a lie, though he's glad that it's the truth. Inigo isn't too sure if he would have been able to take the hurt in her tone if he knew it was really her fault. But hadn't snapped out of the illusion himself until yesterday or so - and since then he had spent time with Tidus, mostly, trying to go around and snap people out of it. Too busy to see his friend.

"I-- I don't think any of us have known for long." Or at least, Inigo hasn't met a single person who snapped out of it right upon arriving in this place, so he's assuming it's more of a recent thing. Especially with things seeming to get more and more chaotic. "But it's not.. like we're not friends. You are my friend, regardless of who we really are. I'm here to help you because I care about you."

And that emotion, at least, shines through clearly in the look in Inigo's eyes.

Mm... though she doesn't voice it, she's glad to hear that confirmation. Even accepting that they were not childhood friends, the sense of connection that they shared felt so right that it would have hurt far more if that too was false.

That crisis averted, that also leads to another concern... "...so, if what you are saying is true, then that mean Caleb and Essek..." Weren't her real dads? The thought is so painful to even consider that she wants to avoid it, to run away. But, no, the illusion was starting to break, but her will was both pushing against and pulling towards it.

She wasn't ready for that direction of thought. Not yet. Instead... "...so you're saying we reallya re Voidtrekkers, then? Enemies of Diagad?" It was clear that while she was trusting him, the illusion held close to her like a blanket.

Inigo doesn't audibly answer her first question. Mostly since he can imagine it must be painful for her - being so close to people, and then realising they're not your parents at all. It's disorienting, but it can also be hurtful.

So he just lets out a small hum, like a confirmation, and then leaves it at that for a moment. As if to give the girl to chance to process that information by herself.

It's not until that last question that he speaks up again.

"We're not this place's enemies. I.. I don't know why they're saying that." Of course there's the implication in his answer that yes, they are Voidtreckers. They're the people everyone has been talking about all this time - they just didn't know. "Don't you remember, somewhere deep down..? We've been to so many worlds, trying to save them. It's why we came here too, in the first place."

Mimi's eyes lowers. "I... don't know... I trust you... but as I think more its like... two songs singing at the same time. And one is so very... sad..." And considering that the more she thinks about her dads not being her dads, the more she is pretty sure which is which.

"Voidtrekkers... save worlds...?" That clashes with the sky breaking and the animals disappearing. "...we're not doing a very good job..."

"Yeah, don't remind me," he replies to the last part with a slight sigh.

They're doing awful. He hates it. But that's exactly why he's trying to turn things around here. Why he's trying to help snap people out of it, before they can get hurt just because they have no idea what's going on here.

".. I'm sorry though. I know it's sad." It's awful to have to leaves things behind. Inigo knows all about it. He sucks at it. "And I know things probably seem really strange and scary at the moment."

Especially since she's even stuck in a form that she has to remember.

"But.. we are here to protect this place. And I'm-- I am here to protect you too. So as long as it's still confusing.. Just leave everything up to me. I'm not going to let anyone do anything bad to you now."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

and this one got away from me ;;

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject