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

"Alright, I'm Yondu." He says with a quick nod. No time to salute formally, he's picking up the cage.

"You got a way of tellin' which ones are real or fake right off? Some of 'em I really can't tell if they're supposed to be like that until they change." A lot seem very similar to Terran animals.

But he'll take them that way. Hopefully the whole damn zoo won't have disappeared. "Might have to take 'em towards the city center or somethin'."

"Most of them." Lan Wangji has very little issue with the illusions. He brought out of the one he was under very early. He has the little crystal to support him but he hardly needs its support in something like this. He has been training his mind since an early age.

"I destroy the fakes." Which means everything caged is already confirmed to be real and ready to be returned. He will collect a couple more cages and follow Yondu with them. He just wants to make sure they can't get out and hurt anyone, can't get hurt themselves, and no one else has to try and work through if these are real or fake.

"It ain't like back in the demon city. There I could use my fin and tell the difference between somethin' real an' fake. Here the illusions are solid. Sorta a pain when none of your senses are magic, just space an light and the normal sort."

Oh, critter, please stop wigglin'. He adjusts his grip. At least some experience with the other WangJi's rabbits has given him some practice in dealing with them.

Lan Wangji isn't familiar with the demon city but he has heard about it from other passengers. It seems to have left a lasting impression on a lot of them. "It is why we were to practice on the last world. The train knew this was coming."

His voice is low. even if they are both Voidtreckers, the people around them might not be. And so it wouldn't be good to alert them to their presence.

"Pretty sure it did, considerin' the three missions before seemed to be to stop this thing from reachin'" He gestures around them, "Whatever level this is. But seems like it mighta build the whole thing from scratch rather than buildin' from some other city."

At least that's what he can gather.

Either way, it's way out of his league, and he doesn't know what the others are planning. The joys of being a guy that's not magic, just wits.

The animal in its cage starts wiggling and he has to put it down for a moment to readjust it's hold, acting as if it's panicked over something nearby.

He watches the animal in the cage and then looks off towards where it might be sensing the danger.

"Let's not go that way." Because if there is dangerous creatures then they would be putting these ones at risk. So until they can deposit these in a safe place he would rather not encounter anything much bigger. But he might not have much of a choice.

"Something is coming."

"Oh, good."

And his plant powers aren't here anymore. He's going to have to rely on his arrow in public. He quickly takes the animal in another direction, making sure his grip on the cage is steady.

"Really gonna need some kinda course on handlin' animals." He's not really had to interact with them at length but it's something he's gotta get used to. Seems like animals are a big part of this job.

"There are a lot of rabbits at...an apartment nearby." His apartment. Because this place has a strange sense of humor and decided that his roommates would be several white rabbits. He is not complaining...

But mostly he says it to imply that Yondu is welcome to practice on them, or they can try to add to the current animal population in that apartment by taking these there as well.

"I do not know if it is safe." Is there any where in this world that is currently safe from what is happening?

"That don't surprise me one bit. At least I got some experience with those." Thanks to Little Raddish and Little Carrot. Rabbits he's gotten figured out. That's doable.

But to be honest, it'd probably be best to get them closer to the safe zone.

"Alright. I guess we gotta look out for anyone with a zoo uniform on an' give this to them." That's his best bet.

He nods and continues in the direction that most of these animals seemed to be coming from. He takes a couple detours when he senses a little something off on the path they are walking. He doesn't want to try and use the power he was given. He doesn't trust it. Even if flying would be faster.

"They might not accept from us." Because if they don't trust the Voidtreckers then the people with uniforms might not be so willing to take the animals they have captured.

"I still got my leather on an' got a reputation as a vigilante. I say we play it cool an' they might not know no differ'nt. So long as I don't show my SCA or nothin'." And the sleeves on his coat were long enough to hide it.

"We'll see if we can make a quick dump an' pass it off as you helpin' me out."

He nods and settles into step just one behind Yondu. Since he is the helper it would be better to be following him in this plan. Lan Wangji is far too recognizable it seems, given he has two others with his own face and his rule against lying is very strong inside of him. So being the one to take the lead in any sort of deception would certainly end in failure.

So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

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