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

( It is not his dream. He knows that much instinctively. His have a certain taste to them that he can't escape, like every single rotten thing he's ever ingested comes out to coat the inside of his skull in sleep. There is no sickly awareness here, there is no subtle sensation of illness. Geto's feelings are outside of him, barely able to touch him. And so even asleep he knows something strange is happening, though panic feels far off. Bizarre happenings are not all that unusual, even in this second life.

Especially in it.

The classroom is unfamiliar though, and the children unknown. Geto watches the whole scene unfold before him, arms crossed across his chest. He's not wearing LILITH's usual attire, another point in favour of this being a dream, instead his gojo-kesa is a dark splash of colour in the brightness of the classroom, though no darker than the expression on his face as one of the boys sends a little girl with horns careening to the ground. )

Is that what you meant when you asked me about horns? ( Voice low, melodic, as he lifts his gaze to the older version of the girl. The boy calls her oxen and something in his expression twitches. ) As if he had any right to say that of you. Filthy monkey. They're all the same.

[ Really, what is LILITH up to? Her dreams of the past plague her plenty already, but now there are others joining in? She doesn't have the strength to stop it or try to lucid dream her way out of it. Instead, she glances at Geto from behind the thick curtain of her fringe before nodding once, slowly. ]

They're disgusting, I've been told. So much that my father threw me into the woods to die after seeing them.

[ Her voice is startlingly dispassionate. It stopped being so shocking years ago, as did the betrayal of the girl she watches help her clean her book bag. In the moment, she's so kind, but...

It's strange to hear someone who looks so human call another one a monkey. But she won't deny that a part of her is relieved to hear it. That it's upsetting for someone else to treat her this way.

When the dream ambles along, it follows a path mottled with silt and blurs. The same lunchroom, the same classrooms, the forest outside, but the forest along the mountainside seems brighter even in the evening. The only time these days so muddied with misery have any shine, and all because of a dog responding so sweetly with yaps and playfulness to her pets, to her words, to what meager food she can give it while they sit under an old, old tree. ]

I thought I could be alright with just one friend. Just one. That's all I needed.

Edited 2024-06-01 20:11 (UTC)

( Perhaps it is her tone, or maybe it's the words. Either way Geto has the sense that the sweet images of a girl and her animal companion will not last all that much longer. He hums in response, noncommittal, trying to focus his attention less on what's happening before him and more on the feeling of the space around them. Is it a dream? Is it a memory? A little of both? How did he end up here? Even so there is a small tendril of sympathy somewhere in him, the tale sad even from the beginning. It doesn't take him long to think of two other little girls locked in a cell, human's fright turned to cruelty. Some of his malevolence drops, as though he's purposefully trying to come across as less a usual threat as the shape his body takes. )

You believe him?

( Mildly curious. The scene changes again though, an orphanage bedroom. He hears another little girl promise not to tell, and so he turns back to the other watcher, thoughtful again. Geto exhales. )

I don't even need to guess. Do you want to try and get out of here?

( If she's being forced to relive something awful then surely he should try and help her not. )

[ Slowly, Lucy raises her arms until her hands can press the heels of their palms against her temples. The vision distorts like an old CRT television placed near a strong magnet. They don't have to see the horrors that come next, but the yelps and whines of a beloved pet don't need any accompanying gruesome imagery. ]

I usually just let them play out. They don't hurt as much anymore.

[ For one who hates liars as strongly as she does, she resorts to their tricks at the first convenience. But, if she can sell a lie like this to herself, surely it'll stop hurting? Isn't that how it works? ]

Where would I even go?

Hm.

( If press x for doubt was a vocal tone, Geto Suguru would have it down perfectly. His lips purse, but he gives her a thoughtful onceover before he lets his gaze drift back to the scene unfolding before them. )

Is this where it started? ( Before them a girl promises not to tell. He already knows how this one ends, can hear the false nature underpinning his words. Humans are all the same, they can never be trusted. ) You said you understood where I was coming from, when we last spoke.

( Because he did some digging, he can put two plus two together. )

Is this why?

[ She doesn't respond right away but instead stares dully out into the mess of static and blurs as the laughter of the children and the cries of the girl who "didn't mean to tell" mesh together into pure noise. She didn't think it possible for her head to hurt in a dream. And yet, the sound of her own voice shrieking in rage is the final nail digging on chalkboard.

"The worthless animals are all of you!"

The silence that follows the rain of blood and viscera in what should otherwise be a cheery classroom is louder than the taunting laughter of the children that once were. Once upon a time, long ago, the scene felt justified to her. Now, it burns her eyes to see it all again. A massacre she felt was deserved yet still pains her to think back on.

Especially knowing it was just the beginning. ]

It's just one reason why.

( The silence stretches, Geto's gaze unblinking on the carnage before him. But then he shrugs, one slight lift of a shoulder, the fabric of his robes rustling. There is something decidedly calm about him, the unbothered way he steps around the memory, sandaled feet avoiding the blood. )

They deserved it.

( It doesn't matter that they were children. He has killed children. It matters that they were cruel, and they tried bringing down something more powerful than themselves. He glances over at the figure still left, mouth twisting. She might not be a jujutsu sorcerer, but she's no mere monkey either. A little bit more respect can be afforded now. )

And you were right. They were worthless. I wouldn't beat yourself up about it. Had you left them to live they would have grown only crueller. There's no helping a monkey like that.

[ "They deserved it." She'd heard a Voice say that to her before. It was a comfort for so long to be told none of this was her fault, that she was justified. It rings so hollow now after following that Voice all the way to her own destruction.

It's a dream. Only a dream of long ago. Yet her face is drawn as she considers him, exhausted. ]

Is your world lonely too? For those who are different?

( He pauses, expression going vacant for a moment. Loneliness is a good word for it, but he doesn't quite think it fits. Not truly. He hadn't felt it for more of his summered youth, it was only after -.

After Riko, after nobody helped them. )

It doesn't let us live long enough to be lonely.

( It's steady, unaffected. There is a cold in his gaze. )

Humans like that little brat create monsters, and no matter how hard we fight to protect them it never changes. So why do it in the first place? Why care, when they are as rotten as each other.

[ That...is true. There never were many of them out there, were there? Horned people or sorcerers or whatever else, they were lucky if their mutations didn't get them killed. She's lucky to have survived infancy. ]

Because there are some of them who need protecting from the others. Because the miserable are always seeking those more miserable, and it's a neverending loop.

If it's never-ending then why would you hope to break it?

( He has long since stopped worrying about humans. They'll meet their end at some point. He had hoped to be the one to deal the blow, the years of planning, blood-soaked and stretched beyond him, but they'd all come to naught in the end. Now Geto is left scrambling to find a new way of life. He can't exactly continue it here.

Apparently that means just not giving a fuck about anyone he ever meets. It's working wonderfully. )

Have they been kind to you?

[ Break it...that's not right, she thinks. She doesn't want to break the loop. She just wants to escape it. Let the primates argue and murder each other to their hearts' content. Just leave her out of it. Give them one less common enemy to rally against. ]

No one here has treated me poorly. Nothing worthy of being killed, anyway.

You mean among LILITH's party?

( He's not exactly disagreeing, nobody he's come across seems particularly unpleasant. But that doesn't mean anything to him. He knows that people often hide their true natures behind a smile. It's what he does, isn't it? )

Extenuating circumstances. We've all been forced into this life together, we have to get along. ( He trusts these monkeys only a fraction more than the ones back home, and that is only because as far as he can see they cannot make curses. That doesn't mean he cannot continue to hate them. )

Is that any different from how it is anywhere else? [ She laughs, but the sound is more like a cough. ] Humans formed societies because they had a higher chance of surviving if they played by rules they all agreed to. We get a higher chance of surviving in a world we don't know if we do what LILITH says, even if we're thrown into danger.

[ She sighs through her nose. ]

You're not wrong, but between there and here, I'd rather be here where people like you exist.

I wouldn't be so quick with that. I'm not exactly the kind of person you should want to be around.

( It's a little bitter, but there's a definite edge of tension to him. Her memory has clearly upset something in him, unsettling his balance. She'd been a child, and they had been a cruel to her. A different kind of child, but one nonetheless. )

I suppose that is where we're different. I would rather be alone. It is easier that way.

( He turns, meaning to put the whole affair behind him, but then the surrounding area shifts again. He half expects another one of Lucy's memories, is certainly not ready for the sight before him. A little ways off, before a massive tree, two figures stand. Geto's gaze instantly locks in on Riko Armanai as if pulled there, his whole body freezing. He can hear his own voice, carefully explaining.

He feels a little sick. )

Can you see this?

[ Alone. Lonely. You can be alone but not lonely. Yet she can't imagine that statement applies to him any more than it does to her.

She freezes at the memory before her. An unfamiliar place, two figures but only one is familiar. ]

Who is that?

Her name's Riko Amanai. ( There is a curious void now in Geto's voice, something gone hollow. He doesn't even look at the younger version of himself, he doesn't need to see that. Instead he watches the girl, his own words lifting in the background. "We are the strongest," the other him says, and Geto scoffs, low and angry. The older version's tone sharpens as he turns on his heel, towards where Toji Fushiguro had come from. ) She was a mission.

( Riko's voice pulls him back. Either way he cannot change this. Both versions of himself soften a little when she talks about being special, her tearful wish. He watches with detached horror as his younger self smiles, reaches out a hand, tells her he can take her home. He does not flinch as the bullet comes, gaze on his younger self all of a sudden, the way it takes far too long for the teenaged him to react, colour draining. Geto takes a step closer, ignoring the mirror of himself, the man looming out of the shadows. Instead he steps up to the corpse. )

This is where it started. This is when I realised just how wrong I had been. That I was protecting the wrong people.

( In the background, his younger self demands answers, hears the news that Gojo Satoru is dead. Geto knows that will not last. But something shifts in his face regardless. It is a wound that never healed right, he knows that now. )

[ Lucy is quiet as she watches. Deathly quiet and pale. Her body starts forward on reflex before the shot, her hand held out, but the echoing boom and acrid stench of gundpowder make her jerk to a halt. Her hands are shaking as Riko's body crumples, shaking as she lifts them up, shaking as she holds her head in her hands, eyes locked on the girl's corpse.

That guy, the killer. She knows him, doesn't she? He did this? That guy? Why would he... why...

A girl in a uniform.
Just a little girl.
Covered in blood.
Blood, blood, blood, a gunshot.
She didn't do anything wrong.
She just wanted to live.
She just wanted to be happy.

Just like-

"There's no place for you in this world."

Her breathing quickens and all sounds fog over. Geto's voice is hundreds of miles away, entire years away, and replaced with the piercing keening tone as her ears ring. ]

...no. No, no no no no...

Edited 2024-07-25 03:28 (UTC)

( Her panic is quick to draw him from his own dark thoughts. He turns where he is crouched, watching the way her eyes go blank in a way he recognises, breath coming quick. It does not take him all that much time to rise to his feet, to reach her, but when he does he pauses, ill-equipped. )

Lucy?

( Voice quiet, low and concerned. She is clearly on the edge of a panic attack, he has seen it more than enough time with his girls. But it has been a while, and he is rusty, slow with the memory of Riko Amanai behind him. ) Can you hear me, Lucy? I need you to remember to breathe for me.

( He reaches out one hand, fingertips light against her forearm. )

[ That keening, long beep. It's the only noise clear to her as she keeps her eyes locked on the blooded girl. Her hair's a little longer, maybe she's a little taller, and her uniform is a different color. But that's her, right? It's her. The one she couldn't-

She starts at his touch as if jolted by a live wire, sucking in a small gasp of desperately needed air. Even if it's just his fingertips, it's cold water down her back during a heatwave. Yanking her by the scruff out of a mire that's all too familiar and all too dreaded. Her hands inch down from her face as she turns toward Geto with a sheen of sweat matting her hair to her forehead.

Ah, yes, that's right. This guy. The monk. Or fake monk. Whatever he is. This is his memory, isn't it? That's where they were before... ]

Why...why is she just like...

[ Where did her voice go? Has it always been a mere whisper? She can't remember. ]

( He hadn't had chance to deal with the grief back then, he'd been too focused on Toji, on the belief that Gojo had been killed, on his own inept, ridiculous failure. He feels it a little now, lapping at the edges no matter how much he tries to hold it back.

He focuses on Lucy instead. )

Look at me. It's not real. This is not happening now. ( Is he telling her this or himself? Does it matter? ) LILITH is doing something to us. But it will be over soon.

( In the background the younger version of himself fights Toji Fushiguro like he has something to prove. Maybe he does. Maybe nothing else mattered at this point. Geto doesn't look anywhere else but at the very real, living girl before him. ) Don't look anywhere else, all right?

[ She forces her ears to listen and pick out what he's saying. It still sounds like he's a hundred miles away, trying to speak through water, and her head still feels fuzzy. But focus on him she does, and she nods, slowly. ]

Why...it's just like that time...again. I couldn't do...anything.

[ The memory of his blurs and mixes, melting in places, and the backdrop is nowhere near Tengen's domain. A department store? Something like that. With shelves and dolls. And two girls holding each other tightly as a rain of bullets scatter away from them by an unseen shield.

"I told you, didn't I? I'm a magician. There's nothing I can't do."

No, it's not real. That's what he said, right? It sounded like what he said. That moment is long ago, gone, smeared by so many other memories and tears. ]

Not real. Right? Illusions...

( LILITH continues to plummet down in his estimations. Geto isn't sure what the purpose of any of this is, beyond torturing the people doing the work for you. Frustration rises as the memory shifts, his gaze snagged away before it resolutely returns to Lucy. His hand flattens against her arm when she doesn't shrug him off, a link. )

A trick, at best. Showing us something that's already happened, something we cannot change. But we can stop it from hurting us again.

( He knows it's a fool's game, he certainly will not forget this for a long while. The panicked sweat between his shoulder blades refuses to leave, the sickness in his stomach. ) It will be over at some point.

[ His voice keeps fading in and out, but the more she focuses on it, the clearer it becomes. So much so that the gunshot and her own scream from that day so long ago sound so distant. The only thing that still rings out clear as a bell is Kurama's despicably calm voice.

"There's no place for you in this world."

Again it mocks her. Even long gone by distance and year, that horrible man mocks her suffering. Her teeth grit against each other, her jaw sets, and she reaches out to hold Geto's sleeve so tightly that her knuckles and finger joints crackle. ]

Okay...okay.

[ She breathes deeply and nods while trying hard to block off the rest of that horrible memory. Both hers and his alike. ]

It's not real.

Edited 2024-08-12 03:56 (UTC)

Nobody gets to tell you where you belong.

( Because he heard that, and it's so similar to the things he tells himself that he has to bare his teeth against it. One hand comes up to cover the one curled around his sleeve, squeezing despite Geto's usual aversion to touch. ) Just because you are different doesn't mean you are wrong. People like that have no say in what you do. And if you think there's not a place then you make one.

( It's what he tried to do. But hopefully Lucy is not like him. She might survive it. )

Keep breathing, whatever's happening cannot hold for much longer.

PRE-FIGHT EVENT #1

▶ 001. STORM CHASERS.

▶ 002. THE STORM CALLS.

▶ 003. CITY OF DREAMS.

▶ 004. REST & RECOVERY

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

dreams!

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cw: blood, gore

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I'm sorry this is so late 🫠

oh absolutely no worries

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