synflux | PRE-FIGHT EVENT #1

PRE-FIGHT EVENT #1

PRE-FIGHT EVENT #1

CONTENT WARNINGS: natural disaster, PTSD, mind-control, psychological trauma, violence, delirium from heat, temporary blindness, hallucinations, dead bodies.

▶ 001. STORM CHASERS.

After weeks of searching for clues on the kaiju and missing people, the desert landscape begins to blend together. Didn’t you pass that cactus earlier today? That rock formation looks exactly like the one you passed the other day. It’s natural to loop back around when conducting a search but doesn’t it feel like everyone has been going in circles more frequently?

The heat isn’t helping either. Temperatures start to rise and continue to rise to all time highs. The sun is unrelenting and the only reliable shelter they have are their campers. Prolonged exposure outside will result in heat exhaustion, dehydration, and delirium.

Warnings will be sent to the Outsiders via their implants to keep them up to date with the weather as well as providing health tips such as reminders to stay hydrated or seek shelter during the hottest parts of the day. They will also receive warnings for sand storms and tornadoes called dust devils. The storms start of short and relatively weak but gradually begin to last longer and become more powerful. Pretty soon, Outsiders will not be able to see ahead from the dense sand and wind.

Outsiders will be told to chase after the storms and if they progress far enough, they will begin to find traces of people. They will find random belongings, articles of clothing, and occasionally, human remains in varying states of decomposition. Eventually, however, they will start to find survivors suffering from extreme fatigue and dehydration. They speak incoherently to themselves and as soon as they regain their strength, they try to run into storms while calling out to things that people can’t see.

Outsiders can wait for emergency caravans to arrive from Vegas to take survivors back to the city or they can take back the survivors themselves and use the opportunity to restock on supplies.

▶ 002. THE STORM CALLS.

The sandstorms increase and grow stronger until eventually, they last entire days. The sands shift, the grounds shake, and something thunderous can be heard in the dust. It becomes harder to see out in the desert and it’s almost like the storms are trying to hide something. At the edge of a storm, sharp eyed Outsiders may catch sight of a great shadowy serpent in the heart of the storm. Messages to their implants will urge them to get closer and investigate but be careful.

The storm grows stronger as they approach and the camper vans may slow down or get stuck in the shifting sands forcing some of them to proceed on foot to make visuals. Eventually, they will get close enough to finally establish clear visuals on their target: A giant sand worm. It’s size is not immediately clear due to the poor visibility and it being partially underground. However, the worm also sees them and when it does, it glows. The light catches on and reflects against the sand particles and that’s when it hits some of the Outsiders: A sudden splitting headache followed by an inability to look away.

Some outsiders may suddenly find themselves entranced by the worm; hypnotized. They will begin to see mirages and hear voices calling out to them in the storm. Captivated Outsiders will find themselves wanting to run into the storm to chase after the phantoms, some of them images and figures of people from their past and present back home. If anyone attempts to stop them, they will become irrational, violent, and turn on their friends and allies. Some Outsiders may begin to view their allies as enemies and attack, turning on one another in a gruesome frenzy. Some of the hypnotic beams will effect those still in their campers, turning on their friends and other Outsiders.

Outsiders will have to restrain each other to keep them from running into the desert or harming each other. In the chaos, the worm disappears into the storm. The psychic effects of the monster will weaken after the worm disappears and the storm dies down but it may leave some characters feeling overwhelmed and confused in the aftermath. Some will remain in an erratic state for several days, occasionally acting normal. In the insanity of all of this, Outsiders may have picked up another Outsider into their camper van for their protection or camper parties remain shuffled. It's up to the ones unaffected by the psychic attacks to watch over the others while retreating from the desert.

▶ 003. CITY OF DREAMS.

Following the disaster of the first sighting, LILITH will order characters to return to Vegas so they can assess what happened. En route to Vegas, some Outsiders may notice some side effects from the prolonged exposure to the sandstorm. They may experience shortness of breath and coughing as a result of breathing in so much dust. Furthermore, they may experience a splitting headache or pain behind their eyes. Their implants may lag, glitch, or go completely offline which will render them temporarily blind in one or both eyes. It seems that the fine sand and dust combined with whatever psychic damage the worm did may have messed with their implants and crossed some sensors which is all the more reason to return to Vegas for treatment.

Outsiders may become lethargic and experience vivid daydreams while they are awake or regular dreams while sleeping. In these dreams, they may relive memories. Some of these memories may be pleasant but others may be traumatic or things characters would rather keep secret. Unfortunately, being in close proximity to someone suffering from these effects will force a link through a glitch in their implants and drag other characters into the dream.

These links will function similarly to how simulation training works. The dreams they visit appear to be very realistic and characters can experience pain and be hurt within the memory. They will be able to interact with the memories. While in these memories, they can try to wake up the memory holder to bring them back to reality. Who knows, maybe helping each other understand what is real and a dream may even make them more resilient to the worm’s attacks the next time they go into the desert...

▶ 004. REST & RECOVERY

As characters recover from the psychic effects and implant glitches, LILITH will try to assess everyone’s biometrics to understand what happened. Characters who need therapy or counseling after reliving some horrible memories of theirs will be provided sessions via their implants. They now understand that the worm has some sort of psychic mind control power that it can use on victims. It is currently too dangerous to go back into the desert until they can come up with a proper defense against it.

Outsiders will be ordered to stay in Vegas and focus on recovery, given two queen side bed hotel rooms again OR if they would prefer to stay in the camper vans, that is also fine, with their same room mates or new ones. They are confident that they can fix the implants with the right upgrade but they aren’t sure what to do to stop people from following the call of the desert and making them act erratically. What is important is that LILITH sticks together.

In the meantime, those who have recovered, and even those who are experiencing these issues are ordered to remain close to one another; a buddy system of sorts. Each Outsider will be given designated groups to keep tight watch over one another while in Vegas. They will be responsible for physically checking on those in their groups and making sure one another’s whereabouts are properly tracked in order to avoid losing anyone to the desert.

LILITH encourages Outsiders to hang tight and wait for instructions before adventuring back out into the desert.

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

In light of the results of the scheduling poll, here is our first event with a preview of the kaiju. All side effects from either the sandstorms or the worm kaiju can last for as short or as long as players would like.

For the daydreams/memory share, players can decide how they would like characters to experience the memories, whether it plays out in front of them like a movie or if they're reliving it by acting out the scene all over again or a mix of both. We encourage you guys to have fun with it and use whatever format feels most comfortable.

As always, feel free to leave questions under the QUESTIONS thread. All tags on this log are worth 2 points and will count towards June AC.

EVENT BREAKDOWN (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. STORM CHASERS: Outsiders, still in the now expanded Mojave Desert, face problems with heat and sandstorms, resulting in dehydration and delirium. Still, LILITH encourages them to press onward in their camper vans and desert approved attire. Many dead bodies are found, but those that survive, Outsiders can keep an eye on survivors until emergency care can come pick them up.

2. STORM CALLS: A glimpse of the creature causing the problems is seen beneath the sands surface: a giant sandworm. It attacks LILITH recruits with psychological damage, causing Outsiders to hallucinate memories of their past, act erratic and violent and turn on LILITH crew. Outsiders are tasked to wrangle in one another and retreat back to Las Vegas to recover.

3. CITY OF DREAMS: Seeking refuge back in Las Vegas, character's implants go haywire from the psychic attacks, causing a memory share between characters that are close enough to one another.

4. REST & RECOVERY: Outsiders are placed in hotels again, or if they prefer to stay in the camper vans. They are tasked to keep an eye out on one another and sit tight for further instructions while LILITH assesses their data and next move to wrangle in the sandworm. Outsiders are to wait until given instructions.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Yikes, this smells like Not Outside in the Sunshine, so she automatically doesn't like it. But not liking it doesn't mean she can just instantly exit, so unfortunately, March has to put up with it and proceed down a rather nondescript and dimly lit path.

Thankfully, the rustling alerts her to the presence of Something before she goes aimlessly ambling down an otherwise pointless hallway instead and she frowns, heading for the noise. She comes to a quick stop before the boxes, not wanting to just immediately go behind there. ]

Hello...?

[ At the sound of her voice, the rustling immediately stops. Unfortunately, while whoever's behind that suspicious pile of boxes can cease movement of their limbs and torso, they can't quite stop the breaths that circulate through their body, soft sounds that still manage to echo through the air.

Buuuut they don't seem to be coming out any time soon, which means March is going to have to go in and investigate. (Or she can just turn around and leave, that's an option too.) But if she does choose to press forward she will find....a boy! Of around 15-16, dressed in an oversized pair of overalls, eyes wide as he stares at her.

Though there's something familiar about that particular shade of grey-blue, as well as the way his black hair curls over his face, partially obscuring his eyes. ]

[ There's no answer but there is breathing! And, like. Not hostile, "ready to kill you" breathing, from the sound of it. She's pretty sure that would be a lot louder.

March presses forward, eyes widening in surprise as she catches sight of the boy and hands automatically lifted to show him she doesn't have any kind of weapon on her right now. ]

Hey--are you okay? Why are you hiding?

[ Give her a minute, she's not quite making the Connection. ]

[ The question of why this random kid is here behind this random stash of supply boxes makes itself known shortly afterwards. A murmur of voices rises into the air, propelling Wriothesley (age 15) into action. He grabs March's sleeve and tugs her into the little alcove alongside him, shaking his head vigorously as if to say be quiet.

Beyond their little hideyhole, the voices grow louder, raucous and biting as they echo against the metallic piping. In between the jeers and insults are the sounds of flesh being struck - with fists, feet, miscellaneous blunt objects - and the cries of a person in pain. Throughout it all, Wriothesley keeps a hand on March's arm, fingers curled tight around her.

Eventually, the louder voices die off, leaving behind only the sound of quiet sobbing. ]

[ Thankfully (for once), March listens without having to listen; it's obvious enough this isn't a place one should just traipse around, made even more apparent by the sounds that follow and paint an extremely gruesome picture.

She doesn't even realize she's trembling until she glances down at herself and her hands, curled tightly into fists. As the noises die down, except for the sobbing, she releases a shaky exhale. ]

... Can we help them?

[ There's another shake of his head but slower this time, sadder. ]

Not unless you want to end up like them.

[ It's a fact he'd learned all too quickly after his arrival in the Fortress, that standing up for anyone and helping anyone only painted a target on your own back. ]

Sigewinne will take care of them.

[ If they make it that far, but the words don't leave his mouth. Instead, he switches tack, finally letting go of March and stepping carefully to the edge of their hideaway. His movements are small and careful. ]

They shouldn't come back this way again, but if you're worried you can stay here.

[ ... Oh. She's not sure why it only properly registers now, that this boy isn't just some unfortunate kid hiding behind a pile of boxes, but someone she knows.

This is Wriothesley, isn't it?

Meaning there really was no way to help out someone at this point, so she quietly follows him. ]

It's okay, I can defend myself if I have to. If you're heading out, I'll go with you.

[ She's bad at doing things on her own, either way. ]

[ There's a brief flicker of surprise in his eyes at those words as his head swivels around to stare at her. In this dream, in this younger form, he both recognizes her and doesn't. Her name escapes him but the comfort of her presence remains the same. Someone he likes, someone he can—

—

The dream changes, dark hallways and boxes vanishing. They're in a cafeteria now (the Coupon Cafeteria, though she certainly wouldn't know it by name), sitting at one of the tables for lunch (which happens to be an unappetizing dish of some sad wilted vegetables and a charred strip of something that may have once been meat). Scattered groups sit all around the open space, the seating arrangement not dissimilar to what a high school cafeteria hierarchy might look like.

At the next table over, two prisoners murmur to themselves in hushed tones. ]

"Did you hear, about the Vision holder?"

"Apparently they found his body in one of the drainage pipes after the last cleaning day. What a mess."

"Poor guy. But he really shouldn't have been flaunting it like that for everyone to see."

[ There's an almost imperceptible flinch from Wriothesley seated nearby, and a momentary lift of one hand towards his shirt before he forces it back down. ]

[ ... This is a bit like whiplash. Thankfully, though, March has some experience with scenes shifting abruptly in a memory and isn't thrown off all that much by the change in scenery. Instead, she glances down at the vegetables with a faint crinkling of her nose and then looks over at Wriothesley.

... Did he just flinch? ]

Is it bad, to be a Vision holder?

[ He doesn't answer for a long while, staring down at his untouched plate of dubious food. The chatter around them continues and if March listens in, she'll hear various snippets about the Pankration ring and its current champion, the fight that broke out last week, two more missing bodies, a woman willing to dole out Coupons for the right favor.

Finally, in a low voice, barely audible: ]

Anything that gives you an advantage in here makes you a target. People will do anything for power.

[ Including hurt, maim, kill. He doesn't have time to say anything further. A shadow falls over March; a bulky man and his cronies, all of whom leer down at her. ]

Hey, why don't you stop wasting time with this kid and come hang out with us. We'll show you where the real fun is.

[ ......Yeah, she's getting hit on, sorry March. ]

[ On the one hand, she can't really blame them. She's a very pretty girl, after all. Why wouldn't they hit on her?

On the other hand, it's all about the methodology here, and theirs is terrible, so March rewards them with a flat, unimpressed look and scoots closer to Wriothesley out of sheer defiance. ]

Gonna have to pass on that. I'm pretty sure I'm right where I want to be.

[ Alas for March, her straightforward rejection is met with only a bark of laughter and the cluster of men stepping closer. They also probably haven't bathed in three days? Gross. ]

Now that's just 'cause you haven't seen all that we have to offer. [ Said with a wink. (Even grosser.) ] C'mon, we promise it'll be a good time.

[ Some of the nearby chatter has died down, more and more eyes swiveling towards March and her new admirers. But no one moves or says anything, all of them too fearful to step out of their lanes. ]

[ Oh, she's starting to bristle now.

But also she's not budging. ]

Maybe the reason why you're so lonely is because you don't know how to take no for an answer? I already said I'm not going.

[ A few things happen near simultaneously right after March snaps out her second rejection.

The man in the front reaches out one hand to grab her roughly by the wrist, sweaty fingers clamping down hard. His cronies circle in even closer, one of them shoving at her shoulder. ]

Too bad, 'cause I wasn't asking—

[ Wriothesley (age ??) bolts upright, the scrape of his chair drowning out the beginnings of his protest, light eyes flashing with anger. ]

—eave her alone.

[ And then the scene cuts again to another flash of memory, much more brief this time. There's a ring, with two figures inside it, bodies littered with bruises and still-bleeding cuts, fists swinging in sharp jabs towards each other. It's not a particularly long fight, stretching out only a few more seconds before the larger man goes down with a well-placed hook. The young man still standing wipes sweat off his forehead. He isn't quite as filled out as he should be, his hair a little shaggier from neglect, but there's no mistaking who he is.

And then it all goes...dark? But it isn't over just yet. There's the sensation of sheets underneath her cheek, the feeling that she's lying down with her eyes closed, the rustle of fabric (bandages?) nearby and a conversation held at normal volume. ]

I told you to be careful the next time you go inside the ring, didn't I? You're still young now but your body won't be able to keep up if you keep treating it the way you do.

[ A sweet voice, melodious, lightly chastising but mostly worried. ]

I know, I know. I'll be more careful next time, Sigewinne.

[ A male voice this time, a little rebellious, not quite as deep as March probably remembers. ]

[ She's a little dizzy with all of this happening so quickly, from Wriothesley standing up to defend her honor or something, to two people fighting in the ring, to finding herself... in a bed? It feels like a clinic, with how stiff the sheets feel, and she listens to the conversation before slowly pushing herself up. So he's been fighting more often, putting himself out there instead of hiding. Is the fighting for rights? Authority?

Why was she laying down here in the first place? ]

Wriothesley....?

[ They both snap to attention as soon as March calls out, Wriothesley stiffening in his chair while the smaller figure dressed in blues and pinks - Sigewinne - smiles brightly. ]

You're finally awake!

[ She chirps the words happily, quick to finish wrapping the bandages around Wriothesley's arm before tip-tapping over to where March lays on her cot. ]

How are you feeling? Do you still haev that tummyache from before? I can go get you some medicine if it still feels upset.

Oh... no, I...

[ This is Sigewinne? She's so cute and March wants to befriend her immediately--but she kind of laughs first, a little sheepishly. ]

All good now! No pain whatsoever, but thanks for letting me rest up!

[ It's a good thing that Sigewinne - the real Sigewinne - would want exactly the same thing. As it stands, dream Sigewinne does her best to remain friendly and cheerful, reaching one small gloved hand hand to take hold of March's while the other pats it gently on the back. ]

Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. It's always better seeing everyone's bright smiles instead of looks of pain, and yours is no exception. Make sure to keep yourself healthy, and if you start feeling bad again you can always come back to the infirmary any time, got it?

[ She glances back over at Wriothesley. ]

Don't be like him and wait until the last second, okay?

[ Wriothesley rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything. ]

[ March laughs a little, under her breath, and rests her free hand on top of Sigewinne's. ]

Don't worry, I'm only stubborn in the good ways. How's he doing, though? I know he's been fighting hard...

[ According to these memories, at least!! ]

[ Sigewinne seems more than content to have her hands held by a cute girl - who wouldn't, honestly? - and hums softly before answering. ]

He's surprisingly strong. You wouldn't think it from how small he looks, but he took out the fan favorite in the ring last week. Not without a lot of effort, of course, but that's still pretty impressive, don't you think?

[ Here she sighs sadly, tiny shoulders drooping. ]

I do wish he would be more careful though, especially since he never lets me give him any painkillers. Even when I have to give him stitches, he always says no. If he didn't get hurt as much then I wouldn't have to worry as much. Everyone in the Fortress is one of my dear patients, after all.

[ She looks up at March, eyes wide and pleading. ]

Maybe you can try and convince him.

... Well! I can try!

[ So she'll release Sigewinne's hand, moving out of the bed properly to go over to this guy who's just as stubborn. And-- ]

You know you've got people who care a lot about you, right?

[ Looks at his recent lore drop and grimaces. Imagine accepting that people could possibly love and care for you.

The Wriothesley in front of her looks highkey doubtful of her words, distrust evident in his eyes. He flexes his fingers and then grimaces, another flare of pain shooting up his arm. ]

You know caring for people in prison is dangerous, right?

[ They disappear without warning, or serve their sentences and leave. Or worse yet, they take that care for granted and twist it until it's a weapon instead of a gift freely given. ]

For me or for you?

[ Mildly. She sees the distrust, but there's no reason to sigh about how unfair it is that he doubts her words. Like this, he hardly knows her anyway. She can't exactly blame him. ]

[ The answer comes quick, hot on the heels of her question. ]

Both. [ He seems confident in that answer, at least. ] If you want to make friends, you should try Sigewinne instead. No one will hurt her.

[ In the background, Sigewinne lets out a long-suffering sigh. ]

I can protect people too, you know... Not that I don't want to be Sigewinne's friend!

[ PERISH THE THOUGHT ]

▶ 001. STORM CHASERS.

▶ 002. THE STORM CALLS.

▶ 003. CITY OF DREAMS.

▶ 004. REST & RECOVERY

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

hella!

belatedly adds a cw for general violence and prison life

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wow i really fucked up that link so bad

it worked, though!!

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