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

[coordination]

Hey—!

[ One hand still on his shoulder from trying to hold him back, Yzak takes a step forward and puts his other arm out in front of Aventurine, ready to steady him if needed if he sways any harder and loses his balance. Or, if the headache gets any works and he needs to kneel down, Yzak can make sure he doesn't just collapse.

He doesn't yell (small blessings), but he does keep his voice firm, authoritative, which comes all too easily to him. Because he knows from experience that this ... influence is powerful, and trying to confront it nicely or softly isn't going to cut it. ]

I saw someone, too. He wasn't real.

They aren't real. Whoever they are. Just think about it - you'd have known, they would have woken up the same way we have. They wouldn't just appear like this! That monster out there is making us hallucinate!

[stonehearts]

( He knows Yzak is right. His brain is screaming at him, both the part that wants him to follow his family back into the storm and the other part that reminds him they're dead. They're not going to be here, why would this place bring back the dead just to haunt Aventurine?

He groans again, pained, but manages to stay on his feet. The words that he manages to grit out are at least a step in the positive direction: )

Get me out of here.

( Because his feet won't work in the way he wants them to, digging into the sand in a preemptive effort to make it difficult for Yzak. )

[coordination]

Affirmative.

[ A promising thing to hear, even though he can tell the pull on Aventurine is still strong, clinging, trying to hang on as long and as hard as it can. It took him a few moments to really shake it off ... and he still worries that some part of it still lingers in him, even if nothing's happened to cause that particular fear. ]

Hang on to me. [ That outstretched arm remains for him to use to steady himself and eventually move at whatever pace he likes. A little more help on Aventurine's end would be nice, but luckily Yzak is more than good for this job. He's tall, he's strong - not just from the enhanced genes that naturally puts him at a higher level than a normal human, but years of training as a soldier means he could throw someone twice his size over his shoulder if he wanted.

Which he doesn't do now. But he could if the other man doesn't seem like he can make much use of his legs on his own. But he'd like to not immediately jump to that if only to let him have his dignity. ]

Who else are you staying with? I'll get you back to them.

[stonehearts]

( Aventurine's grip is strong, his brow furrowed as he takes the offered arm. He hates this, feeling like he's not in control of his own body, his own mind, and it's clear on his normally beautiful face -- twisted and tight. Every step back is met with resistance, but he is trying, slowly and with great reluctance, but he is. )

Ratio. Yuji. Raidou. Choso--

( Any will do, but he has his preference: Ratio. Who he won't have to explain anything to, though he's getting the feeling that the other three aren't in the habit of asking too many prying questions either. )

[coordination]

Got it.

[ He says that, and then frowns. ]

Things are still pretty hectic - odds are they might be ... preoccupied, with their own shit. [ Whether said shit is getting mind controlled or helping their fellow Outsiders. ] So I'll get you to your van, and then we'll see what we can do from there. Just specify which one is yours.

[ If Yzak can at least drop him off and let him rest ... as well as get a brief respite himself in the process, that would feel pretty good after all of this. ]

[stonehearts]

( He's probably right, though Aventurine wants to argue that Ratio would help him no matter what. Because it's Ratio. Still that's not the question that's being asked here, and Aventurine struggles to pick out which one is his for a long moment before pointing at one, not the furthest away, but no small walk, either. )

I'm sure Ratio will be, at the very least. He's a doctor. ( Eight times over. But anyway. ) That one, there.

[coordination]

[ He steers the both of them toward the campervan in question. ]

You said them ... I'm not asking you to speak about it if you'd rather not. But does that mean you 'saw' more than one person out there?

[ Yzak steps up first to pull open the door, scooting back to hold it open for Aventurine to head in first. ]

[stonehearts]

( There's no point in lying, is there? He doesn't have to say who -- the father he's never known, the mother he only remembers by her words, the sister who was everything to him. It might even be useful, so Aventurine grits his teeth as he forces himself to take a step inside the caravan. )

My family.

( Saying it gets a hollow, empty bark of laughter from him. His family, what a joke. )

[coordination]

[ The empty laugh causes Yzak to pause, and he gives Aventurine a look. Somewhat concerned! But it's ... understandable, because were Yzak the type he'd do the same in this situation. Part of him still wants to, after all that. ]

So it can be more than one person...

If that's the case, we should be that much more careful. We might feel like we've snapped out of it now, but who knows what else that fucking thing can do?

[ Since the campervan layouts are all roughly the same, Yzak takes it upon himself to raid the fridge in here so he can grab a couple of waters, passing one back over his shoulder to Aventurine. ]

Let me know if you start seeing ... or hearing anything odd again. And I'll do the same.

[stonehearts]

( Yzak's words for the most part just roll off of Aventurine's back, though he makes note of it. His hands flex, curling into fists, and it's not Yzak's fault that he wishes Ratio were here instead of him -- at least Ratio would understand why that's such a shock to Aventurine.

Ugh. )

Nothing good. I'll like it more when it's dead.

( Goddess he hates this, it's like Penacony, and he thought he left that behind when he died. )

Right. Anything in particular you think you'll suffer from?

[coordination]

I intend to do my due diligence making that a reality once we properly regroup and reorganize our plans.

[ Revenge isn't something new to Yzak - but he has let it engulf him in the worst ways imaginable. He's much better about it now, because he's grown and he's gotten so many more responsibilities to not want to fuck up and make a stupid mistake due to his feelings, since many of those responsibilities are lives that hang on his decisions. Still, he does feel that kindling of wanting to strike back and take that kaiju down inside of him because he's so mad at how painfully and precisely it struck at one of his weakest areas.

Twisting open the top of his own water bottle, Yzak takes a seat on the nearest chair or bed with a huff of a sigh, before he answers, somber. ]

... There's nobody by the name of Nicol, here. So should I bring him up, something's going wrong again.