middleofsomewhere | So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

JUST Ā̸̛͇̹̈́͌͐͛̐̋͝Ǹ̵̠͍̲̘͈̮͈̺͔̤͙̳̓̔͑͌̒̓̃́̄̚͘Ớ̶̻̱̄̓͆͂̈́̄̔͋͌̽̀̕͘T̵͙͍͓̻̩͙̻͙̹͎̫̘͇̱̈́̌̓͝ͅH̶̭̻͇̰͈̯̦̹̦̗͐̒́Ẽ̵̡̡̘̳͉͇͚̼̗̣̩͎̞̏͒̈́̏͂̈͝Ř̴̠͋̐͘ NORMAL DAY

"Jinnjar citizens. Unfortunately, all train travel will be closed due to issues on the lines. Members of the Voidtrecker Express have been located around the city, and are deploying trickery to agitate and confuse us. We ask any volunteers at this time to help us locate any suspicious objects and people, and to restrain them.

For the f̴̘̯̰̦̺͖̔͌̋̃ũ̴̢̖̦͙̩̼̺̪͚͍̥͈̜̝͋̌̒̊̚ẗ̶̪̺͕̤̯̞̤͓̝́̑̄̎̊̕future of our city!"

A TL;DR notes version of days/prompts: (click to show)

EVENT BASICS:

DAYS 5 & 6:

By now, some people have broken out of their fake lives while some haven't. Tension is rising in the city as people are led to believe this is by the Voidtreckers, which some will believe due to illusions and messing with one's heads is believed to be one of their many tactics.
Some oddities are occurring with travel, and glimpses of how the city is made beginning to show. The streams of colour - the void - are getting brighter. Electronics are not working well. Some monster sightings are seen, but not to a large degree.
The prompts here are light to give characters and players time to ICly coordinate, as Voidtreckers are being more actively hunted. Some faces are known. You know who you are, troublemakers.

DAYS 7 & 8:

The world is really starting to go a bit wild now, with more things disappearing, animals on the loose and more monster sightings.
By the end of day eight most people have realised the truth though those who are very susceptible to mind control or very stubbornly wanting to believe in this world will still be trapped, believing this is the Voidtreckers doing.
There are monsters to fight, people to keep calm and a plan to make.

[ HOME SWEET...HOME? ] By day 5, the people of Jinnjar are in a state of anxiety more than before. There's those who realise they're not a part of this world, never were, while there's those who still cling onto this life. Health services say that the source of confusion comes from the colour trails that are brighter than ever in the sky, while the D-Force/Heroes have it confirmed - internally and publicly - that there are Voidtreckers amongst them.

The media shows pictures of potential suspects, some Voidtreckers, some not; a man with the same face as two others, one who made a show by creating ice in the middle of the street. Your face may be shown, but don't worry - they're asking people not to play vigilante.

That'll surely keep people behaved.

[ TRAVEL REVIEW. ] As if it couldn't get more frustrating, most of the trains are down. Air taxis are still available for short journeys, yet some people have the bizarre occurrence where they end up in the wrong spot, and even remember going in this wrong direction...but never say anything about it. Those using the tele-pads will also find themselves not always arriving where they should, or worse, suffering intense headaches, swirling colours behind their eyes, their thoughts jumbled for as long as ten minutes before it passes.

You might want to walk.

[ MAKING DO. ] Still, with all the chaos, many are trying to live. You have a life here, no matter what some other force is trying to make you believe,

For our HEROES: The cinema has rethought its showings due to the worrying happenings of the last few days. Clearly a boost in morale is needed and so they have pulled out some of the great films of the past. Action films that show heroes beating the bad guys, disaster films where the good guys beat the aliens, stop the natural disaster or thwart the secret agency looking to take down civilisation from the inside, at the last minute. Even the childrens films have taken on a pro-hero and triumphant air.

It's not quite distraction though, how could it be when every film has a warning before and after. REMEMBER TO REPORT ALL SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY TO DFORCE and WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE SHOW. REMEMBER TO WATCH YOUR SURROUNDINGS AS CAREFULLY AS YOU DID THE SCREEN.
Fun Park: It's for the kids, but one of the largest arcade parks has a special discount on everything to anyone who come visit. It's even advertised across the news: For half the price, get amazing fun and even better food! Kids younger than eight or from the orphanages get free access everywhere!

It's time not to think too hard, and to ignore the trouble! Play laser tag, racing cars or get a high score on the dance mat!
Encroaching Dangers: Something new is beginning to happen, as the city continues to shift. It starts at night, those that stay out past when the streets go quiet might see a shadow, might hear a growl.

Rumours and reports start to spread about monsters on the street.

DAY SIX: HELP FROM INSIDE

[ AID. ] DIAGNET is full of videos but one that has started doing the rounds is of a small droid and a cat. It's not hard to see why it has gone viral, the cat and cleaning droid are chasing each other around an apartment, caught on a home security footage. The cat tries to catch the droid but every time it gets close the droid turns to chase it and the cat runs away. It has been uploaded with stirring orchestral music, which adds to the madness.

But... For those Voidtreckers who have already regained their memories that little droid seems familiar indeed. As do the sounds that punctuate the music.

beep beep beep boop | boop

boop boop beep | boop boop boop

boop boop | boop boop boop | boop boop boop | boop beep | boop beep beep | beep beep boop | beep beep beep | boop

boop beep boop beep | beep boop | beep beep boop beep | beep

boop boop boop | beep boop beep | boop beep beepp | beep | beep boop beep

boop beep | beep beep boop | boop | beep boop beep | beep beep | boop | beep | beep boop

Of course it might not be anything, just weird droid sounds that haven't been fully edited out of the video.

[ MOONDUST CAFÉ. ] It might be that they figured out the message or, it might be that a friend is dragging them to the cafe. But for those that make their way there, they will find the Moondust Cafe is a bustling cafe on the edge of a park, near local transport links.

For those that say the right words, a slightly bored looking teenager manning the counter waves them to a side door. "Best sit downstairs, service will be quicker."

Downstairs has a fair number of tables and booths and is lit by coloured lighting making everything look a little obscure. There's soft music playing, not loud enough to make it impossible to hear each other but enough to make it a little harder for evesdroppers.

Mingle, discuss. This is probably the closest to a safe space there is.

[ LOST & LOST. ] You may have spotted it already - that is, spotted what's missing. There's been the pets, the birds in the sky, a pen or apple or wrench from the garage. But now, with every single bad thing going on, more is starting to disappear. Machines stop working, from air conditioning, freezers, your Jinnjar MP3 player, to TVs and more.

And in some business buildings, even entire rooms are gone, their floors empty of more than the door you opened to find this out. Even the heroes seem worried and they quickly clear any affected areas, chasing away bystanders and sealing off whole wings of office blocks.

None of them have answers though, except that this must be the Voidtreckers doing. After all who else but that group could have power enough to do such damage?

DAY SEVEN & EIGHT: UNRAVELLING

[ OVEREXPOSURE. ] Everything is starting to escalate. The headaches are getting regular the more you're outside, buildings are starting to go missing around the outskirts. People see parts of the city flickering, and when they reach certain sections of the city, they find they can't go beyond it.

Life tries to go on, but as more areas of the city begin to be sealed off and considered dangerous, even those who are most stubborn about pretending everything is normal can see that is is not.

[ LET LOOSE. ] The breaking down of the city has caused a lot of chaos, but one of the biggest problems are that parts of the zoo have vanished. Walls, fences, enclosure roofs. Meaning that the animals inside are no longer confined and are now prowling the city streets. Real birds now fill the sky that the fakes left empty.

And they aren't all that's there. Twisted creatures are becoming more common on the streets of Diagad. Creatures that look almost like animals but warp and twist between them, one moment a bear the next it has horns and then it is a wolf. But no matter how they look those claws and teeth are bad news for everyone.

[ CRUMBLING, CRUMBLING. ] By day eight whole streets are disappearing. homes, houses. people need to be moved in closer around the congress sector. Colours crackle through the sky like lightning and the world shakes often.

It's not just the infrastructure but the memories of those in the city. Dreams have come realities and all but the most stubborn have begun to realise that this world is not their own. They are from another place. What is going on? Why are they in this city? Who are these people who are their 'family'?

Confusion and anger are growing in the streets and it is perhaps time for the Voidtreckers to come out of the shadows.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Simulation with us tucked up in some sort of containment units. A very strong bit of illusion magic. A separated demiplane situation, with us having no memory o being dragged through. ... I'd blame the Arcana, but they wouldn't pull something like this."

Naoya leans back and stretches. "Whatever the case, it seems to have pulled people from several places - which means its power is not to be underestimated. Do we know if there's a place where the illusion seems to be the strongest?"

Somehow, Lea isn't surprised that the real Diagad is no more. Sad, yes, but not surprised.

"The city center where the schools, government buildings, and stuff are seems to be having the fewest problems, if that's what you mean," he said. "But if you mean on the 'messing with your head' front, it's hard to tell."

"I don't know how any of us got to this place, even those of us who are from the Voidtrecker. This mission didn't start like a normal one; that is, the train didn't land and drop us off, we just kinda read the mission info- which in itself was weird, since it didn't give team goals like it usually does- and then suddenly... we were waking up here, thinking we were other people. We don't even know where the train is." Which... could be a problem.

"I've got mine too but I can't reach any of my crewmates. I don't know if that means they are here somewhere or if they are still on the craft."

She shook her head. "Is there any pattern to those pulled from elsewhere, those who are not voidtreckers? Do you have any firm numbers of how many of your crew are missing?"

Perhaps not, she knew their numbers were fluid at the best of times.

Errr...

"...Well, we probably technically know who it is..." he acknowledges, thinking of the voice at the last planet. "They attacked with two things- one was strong illusion magic, but they could also work through a sort of...viral system on technology. Something containing us, or holding us in a separate plane could definitely make sense between those..." Containment would lend itself to the technology, the separate planes... ...well actually if he thinks about that one, that could be both.

Regardless. Emporio shakes his head. "...The problem is that even though some of us have been able to find other crew-members, it had only been a few days since we left the platform. So...unless someone memorized the new roster, there's not really a way to know without looking for an SCA." Which sucks.

"It feels like people from similar homeworlds are coming in most though- so that might be part of the pattern?"

"Possibly. I was awakened by someone who - well, we're not from the same world, but I'm going to go to her world once our business with the Arcana is done. She seems to have been here for a while however, which doesn't line up with the last time I saw her. As for the sudden influx of people... I've seen it happen in the last place I was in when someone broke something with reality, but I don't know how it works here."

Jules didn't somehow break reality here, he's pretty sure. He would have heard the yelling.

"Yeah the comm system that usually turns on for missions isn't working on ours either," Lea said. "I don't know whether the signal is being jammed somehow or if they're actually broken. I'm hoping it's the former, since that'd probably be easier to fix; take out or turn off whatever's jamming them and you're good. If this thing can actually break them though..." Yeah, that wouldn't bode well for their chances, immediate or future.

"As for who's missing and who all was brought here from other worlds... that's hard to tell. I can tell you which people from the train I've seen here, but just because we haven't run into someone or they haven't found us yet doesn't mean they're not here. And for all we know, every single person in the city could have been brought here from another world, and that's a lot of people."

"It's pretty hard to break a SCA." She told Lea but then added. "Of course, all of this is not easy." She gestured at the world. "So perhaps..."

She nodded and looked at Naoya. "And the person who woke you, is she a voidtrecker? Like Emporio and Lea here?"

Her voice is gentle enough, this was weird enough for people used to the void, never mind those dragged in.

"Right. Even what we knew before coming here seemed to be considered 'out of the ordinary'. The train made note of the fact that there should have been some record of the place we were going to- this place, if it's the same- but there wasn't."

Not for five...somethings, anyway.

"Yeah," Lea said. "I mean they look like they're all in one piece, and all the other basic stuff like the light seems to work, but with our friend the psycho rainbow involved, what you see is definitely not what you get."

And Emporio had a point too. According to the train, the world they were on shouldn't exist. If they were even on that world, and not... randomly floating in a bubble in the middle of space or something, just thinking that they were walking around and doing things.

"Yes, I picked up the same strange readings. This place, whatever it is has not been found by void travellers before."

And that was unusual nowadays.

So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

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