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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[ The students around him jolt at the exclamation, looking up at him with wide eyes, and then down at the proctor with something akin to fear. Said proctor reacts almost immediately, head jerking up to the source of the exclamation and posture shifting to something less relaxed. ]

Just what do you think you're doing? Sit down and remain silent. This is your only warning.

Oh, yeah? And what if I don't? You gonna throw a stick of chalk at me?

( time to test the limitations of this dreamscape, or what he's still assuming is one.

flesh he now may be, a servant like himself is aware that the soul can pull people into it... even if he doesn't fully understand it or realize it's due to the implant glitching. )

[ 'Ooooh nooooo,' one of the students says quietly as the interaction continues, looking like Izou has just signed his death sentence. More than half the students have stopped paying attention to their exam and have opted to watch the exchange between Izou and the proctor with alarm in their eyes.

Said proctor does not pull out a piece of chalk. Instead, he reaches a hand out to the tablet on the podium in front of him, tapping on it to mark Izou's exam as a fail, and to make an additional note about his disruptive behaviour. Weirdly, he remains silent as he does so, seemingly ignoring Izou now.

When the proctor doesn't react, the students realize what they should really be focusing on and return back to their exams, although some continue to eye Izou every once in a while. Silence stretches on. It doesn't seem like the proctor intends on saying anything further, and because of the alabaster head covering his face, it's not clear if he's even paying attention to Izou anymore. But for someone like Izou, the tension is clear in the proctor's body: he's waiting to see how the man will react to being ignored. ]

( ... funny, because this is exactly the best way to handle him. to get under izou's skin and rattle him to his core.

the simple act of being ignored, that is.

my, how quickly the mighty have fallen. the tension of the silence stretches, izou trying to puzzle out in his mind how those jeers didn't work when his mind wasn't too keen on puzzling in the first place, the dreamscape itself moving on without him. the failing mark glares brightly in front of him, a reminder that this was of his own doing, and... he really ought to be used to feeling insignificant in the quiet by now. but he wasn't.

it breaks him, and he eventually stammers to himself: )

I was gonna find a way out of here anyhow, so... so this doesn't matter.

( and his chair clatters loudly as he turns to leave. )

[ In honesty, Ratio had only kept silent because he'd long found that silence is very effective against troublemakers who would often expect him to retaliate. In this particular environment, with students taking exams, he also did not want to cause a bigger fuss than necessary, which would have been the case had he thrown chalk.

The proctor doesn't say anything, only turning his head to follow Izou as he leaves the room. Perhaps that too is also unnerving, considering it is an unmoving, unfeeling stone-like head watching.

Anyway, once Izou exits the room, he'll find himself... in another classroom! This time, there's the noise of chatter as students seem to be settling into their seats while chatting with friends, going over assignments and course material, and waiting for their professor to appear. Listening into the students' conversations will reveal that the class is on biology or medicine, as the students chatter on about the compositions of pharmaceutical drugs and their interactions with the human body.

You ain't out of school yet, son. ]

Edited 2024-06-07 07:46 (UTC)

( i can't believe this grown-ass man is exactly like a problematic student ( i can )

when he discovers his revolving fate, the very same landscape of tablets and chairs laid out before him, izou can only exclaim his disbelief in an extremely loud manner, best listened to with the volume down: )

Th-The hell IIIIS this?!

( the material pertains to him about as much as the previous session's did, and he swallows, throat dry, over his current predicament. is this some sort of joke, or what? there's gotta be a...

... fine. what if he just, takes a seat and starts answering questions at random? pretends to take the exam? izou being the sort to believe that most answers on a multiple-choice test can be solved by filling in the c bubble. )

Edited 2024-06-09 19:40 (UTC)

[ All of the chatter ceases instantly at his exclamation, and all the students in the room stare at him. None approach, however, and the din of conversation quickly resumes once the students realize there will be no further outbursts.

If Izou decides to wait and try the exam, eventually, that same proctor with the alabaster head will enter the room. Silence falls over all the students immediately, all of them prepared for the exam to come.

The proctor looks over the class and nods approvingly. ]

Good. You've done this many times now, so you should know the drill. No implements, clear water bottles only. Backpacks are to be set under the desk, on top of the anti-tamper sensor, which will be active during the exam period. Tripping the sensor will net you an instant fail. You are not permitted to leave the room until the exam is over, even if you finish early.

The time is five past nine. The exam will conclude in two system hours. You may begin.

[ The tablet in front of Izou flickers to life, sitting on the front page of the exam. A timer ticks down slowly in the corner of the screen. ]

( tripping the sensor, huh...

he listens well enough to the instructions after taking a seat, a coarse hand waving over a tablet like he knows what he's doing.

odd, how what clearly feels tangibly like a peek into someone's soul during their travels is so on point with the digital nature of tokyo now. and while izou may have grown used to fiddling with technology, it's not as if he likes it.

whatever. time to fill in a bunch of bullshit answers and see if that works. )

[ He's more than welcome to trip the sensor if he's curious. The only thing that will happen is that the exam on his screen will be replaced with a failure notification and he'll be made to sit there and wait until the period is up.

But if he doesn't do that, then... he'll find the exam is a mix of all types of questions. Multiple choice, but all the answers are incredibly similar and you're asked to pick the best correct answer out of the bunch, short answers, essay style questions that expect a whole page or two as the answer... the whole lot. And they are all very specific, very discerning questions, all of them requiring critical thinking, application of abstract concepts and the like. Whoever made the exam is quite intent on ensuring the students thoroughly understood the course content.

If Izou looks around, he'll find the faces of the students surrounding him to be very anxious and distressed, like even they don't know how to answer the exam. Yeah, this ain't an easy one.

Once the counter in the corner of the screen hits zero, the proctor shuts the book he was reading with a loud snap, deafening in the silence of the room. Exactly on the dot, like he's some sort of robot with his accuracy. In front of Izou, the tablet will become unresponsive as the exam automatically closes and informs him that the exam period is over. ]

Time's up. The sensor has been deactivated. You may all leave.

[ He doesn't move, and remains seated at the podium, tapping at the tablet situated on it. Some students hesitantly approach him to ask what happens if they fail, when they could expect results, and other similar questions, to which he answers calmly. Izou is free to leave now, it seems, but the dream doesn't show any sign of stopping. ]

( mans really said:

as stated earlier, izou's education didn't extend past his early teens. he wasn't the sort to sit still and listen to lecture, quick to discover that he couldn't really focus on things that didn't hold his interest. and so he left, as a child, and set out to do things he thought mattered more: to learn the proper way to grip a wooden sword, and to learn the proper way to strike hard enough to knock one out of his opponent's hands. no one argued when it came to him leaving, either—not the poorly paid professor teaching piecemeal bits of confucian literature to children that could hardly sit still, and not his father, too busy working and tilling the fields to support his family.

that's why, despite sitting down to attempt to "do" the exam, izou doesn't get the formatting of the questions... and most of all, doesn't get why it cuts off early. there's probably some instruction he already forgot, and the frustration comes bubbling back to the forefront of his consciousness. why was this so...

... ah. there's one thing he hasn't tried yet, and it's such an obvious solution that it has him smirking brutishly. of course. he should've just done that shit at the start, and so after a crowd of students attempts to converse with the proctor, izou saunters away from his desk and up behind them...

and then lunges in an attempt to sock the professor in the midst of his own ego. )

[ Ratio's reflexes aren't the quickest, but he manages to react to Izou's lunge, barely jerking out of the way to avoid the attack. He sweeps a hand at the students, an unvoiced command to leave, and they scatter, some of them stammering that they'll call for security as they leave. ]

What do you think you're doing?

[ A codex manifests in his hand as he takes a few more steps backwards, trying to put distance between himself and Izou. ]

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PRE-FIGHT EVENT #1

▶ 001. STORM CHASERS.

▶ 002. THE STORM CALLS.

▶ 003. CITY OF DREAMS.

▶ 004. REST & RECOVERY

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

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