PRE-FIGHT EVENT #1

[synfluxmods]

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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Comments

netzach meltdown wildcard

[penaltypoints]

[ This dream might have been yet another day in the facility, a day like any other, a familiar waking nightmare. There is, as always, the quota to meet — no matter what obstacles today presents. For now, the Abnormalities are as dormant as they can be within their containment units, but that has never been a sign that even a single day would end with no casualties.

What differs from the norm is connected to one more incident to join a pattern, and this time, its source is the Safety Team's department. One of the Information Team screens displays it: a being that resembles a gnarled tree, twisted branches winding upward. Its green eye is dull, blinking and dimming to nothing from time to time. It leaks rivulets of green, too; its entire form is stained with it.

Once again, the facility's operations are disrupted. Two-way communication with the manager ceases, and this time, the regenerators no longer function as they should. Still, the employees have their tasks to complete, directed to work as though nothing has changed.

What triggered today's transformation, and what lies on the other side? Flashes of similar ones surface: Malkuth, Hod, Yesod himself. To tell you the truth, it's just that I did not want to witness any more deaths. Realizations and recollections, the truth of what they are unlocked. I tried to pretend that everything was fine, but in reality, it never was. I was dying on the inside...

There is more than enough reason for it, here and because of the past that links them all. ]

[enkefailin]

...Yesod?

[that's all that netzach can manage at first, faced with all of this. with the being on the screen, the unsettling feeling that he is, perhaps, seeing himself. he knows that green eye, after all, knows exactly how enkephalin looks, but he doesn't... remember this. nothing like this ever happened in the facility. not to him, or malkuth, or hod, or yesod.

this isn't his first dream. they're beginning to blend together a little, the confusion of his hazy former memories leaving him struggling to see all of it clearly whenever something new comes up, but he can still remember--

this wasn't always him, was it? but he doesn't know how he got here. why he exists.]

[penaltypoints]

[ Netzach's voice, in its quiet confusion, brings the memory to a standstill while he now exists in two places at once, his current consciousness and the manifestation of his despair. No doubt it doesn't seem to reflect any possible reality, events that Netzach as he is here hasn't experienced himself, and as Yesod turns to face his colleague, the reminder mutes their surroundings further. After all, this isn't a dream, not quite. ]

...Netzach.

[ On the other side, returned to his usual form, Netzach must have begun to remember more and more of his first life as well. But he was in need of maintenance then in particular, Yesod recalls.

These are not the same circumstances, unpredictable, and he focuses on Netzach's reaction. ]

Are you all right?

[enkefailin]

I don't know.

[he can admit this, at least. how is he supposed to tell if he's all right or not, when he's still trying to figure out what's happening?]

That's... me, isn't it.

[penaltypoints]

It is.

[ Netzach, Yesod knows, is not someone who conceals his thoughts and emotions, his opinions. "I don't know" is sufficient as an answer, right now, and so is his seeking confirmation of his conclusions — it indicates that he has the presence of mind to respond. Being confronted with an incomprehensible sight hasn't prompted anything beyond an effort to process it, then. ]

...You didn't remain in that form, however. None of us did.

[ The Netzach on the screen resumes bleeding Enkephalin, branch-like appendages twitching. ]

[enkefailin]

[his own voice echoes from the monitors. 'the moment i woke up again here, i met you. you, who i never wanted to see ever again.'

'i never asked for this. not once.']

Did I... forget this, too?

[that, at least, should help clue yesod in. he at least knows he's been forgetting-- presumably, he has things he remembers. but this...

he knows his own desires. he knows he didn't want to exist. but he can't recall it reaching this kind of breaking point.]

[penaltypoints]

[ This awareness is new, Netzach acknowledging that there were things to forget, rather than dismissing them as impossible. Truthfully, the remarks voiced by the memory give Yesod himself pause — what happened between Giovanni and Ayin? Both were reserved, albeit in different ways.

Studying Netzach, he ventures a little further. ]

...What do you recall?

[ More than the occasional flicker of something unexplained? ]

It's unlikely that newer memories were suppressed.

[enkefailin]

Before we got dragged away? Everything in the facility was normal. New manager's been running for a month or so.

[then maybe this is, rather than something he's forgotten, just-- something he's yet to experience.

it makes sense. how long can anyone live in that place and under those circumstances for long without being driven to the very edge? netzach may not understand this manifestation, but the laments of that weird form of his-- those, he gets.]

[penaltypoints]

[ Did Netzach and the others feel any relief, afterwards? The question crosses Yesod's mind as more words not directed at them filter through for them to hear nonetheless: "You weren't the person I put my trust in." ]

And your own thoughts at the time? You must have had a number of conversations with him.

[ That, Yesod thinks, would be relevant to retrace. He remembers dwelling on the things that weighed on him with increasing frequency, even as he attempted to keep them buried, revealing too much of himself beneath the surface with each exchange, until all of it spilled over. ]

[enkefailin]

Does it matter? I didn't care about him and his position, or whatever.

['you, who i never wanted to see--'

he didn't want this.]

I wasn't here to praise him or anything for doing his job. He could manage to keep everyone alive, so why didn't he until I made him do it? Was that the same reason he-- he never even asked if we--

[i never asked for this. never. never.]

[penaltypoints]

[ He watches Netzach, quiet for some moments. Perhaps, instead of pressing for more while Netzach has his own questions, unanswered and unanswerable, he should elaborate on his thinking. ]

...The reason why I ask is that I found myself less and less able to contain the anger that I felt, the more that he and I spoke. I admitted to the questions that plagued me, and I lost my temper with him on several occasions. All of us had our reasons for harboring these painful emotions that eventually erupted... By the sound of it, yours are connected to him, in particular.

[ From elsewhere, Netzach's voice seems to corroborate that: "Just leave me alone, it's what you're best at."

Was it because of Carmen? ]

[enkefailin]

I don't think that it was anger, for me. I mean... I'm mad at him, sure. I don't mind saying whatever I think to his face. But I just... want him to leave me alone.

[to let him rest. leave him be. this wasn't for him, none of it was for him, he can't stand hearing malkuth talk about how he kept on giving them purpose when-]

...I think... Gabriel was already gone. He needed a subject to be able to keep the experiments going, to... have a chance at bringing Carmen back.

So I did it. But it wasn't for his sake.

[penaltypoints]

The experiments...

[ The revelation meets with shock, eclipsing the confirmation that Netzach has begun to recall parts of his first life. Yesod's tone takes on a sharper edge, though he knows full well that feeling horrified, upset, angry all over again is as pointless a reaction now as all of Gabriel's actions were before the end, as meaningless as the desperate wish that no one else would die. The emotions well up all the same, familiar.

Gebura mentioning that a few of the remaining members of the research team died around the same time didn't prepare him for this... And yet, it isn't surprising, in a way, that Giovanni volunteered as a test subject for Carmen's sake, whether or not he believed Ayin's lie. ]

My own memories of the past may be unreliable, but I doubt that Cogito suddenly became perfectly safe to administer to humans. The fact that he chose to deceive you—

[ It's difficult not to find it appalling. ]