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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[ hey......... physical touch isn't something she's used to in any life, but it doesn't illicit a poor response -- just a disgruntled noise as her shiny hopeful eyes are put back down. her hand raises to try and swat at him. ]

It doesn't sound like an experiment, mister... just research.

[ but they go hand in hand. the way he says it sounds nefarious; elijah doesn't believe there's anything bad in what carmen says though, how she says it. there's a sincerity that's earned her the ire of some of the more time-starved people that pass, but carmen doesn't display desperation in trying to catch their attention. it's a project she'll see to completion, she's only hoping others might step forward and see it done with her.

elijah opens her mouth again

and the scene changes. this time, yuwon is purely an observer; the house he's in is ordinary by all standards. the same sepia as the outside. a kitchen, a living area, stairs to a second floor. decorations are minimal: a tick-tocking clock, shelves with books, comfortable chairs for reading in. a table to eat at, so on. nothing special, nothing that differ it from any other house you'd find in a video game. real NPC hours.

at the table, though, is elijah and two shadowed figures. there's no detail on their faces, their voices changing as if unable to decide who, what they might be. but it's clear enough that this... is a family. ]

"Have decided on a Wing to work under, Elijah?"

[ one starts, and the other chimes in: ]

"Since you seem against T Corp., for whatever reason."

[ the grip on her spoon tightens and while yuwon might not be privvy to her thoughts, it's obvious that it isn't for "whatever reason" in elijah's eyes. but she doesn't say so, just inhales and sits back in her seat. ]

Um... Actually, I'm... not planning on sending out any other applications.

[ ...

the atmosphere is stifling. only the tick-tock remains. from beside yuwon comes another voice, ]

They were really mad.

[ malkuth. hi. she's here this time. for now. ]

[ when she raises her hands to swat at his, he brings his hand back to his side as tempting as it is to give her a hard time. it's a brief consideration he has, before he concentrates on her words. "just research." maybe he's biased, but all "research" that he's ever known in the tower ended up at the expense of using the bodies of players, or other equally questionable means. he thinks of childe, the chimera creator, and realizes he was probably thinking of it all wrong.

but, before he could think of a reply, the scene changes. was this her family? he's not sure why he's never thought of it before. "t corp," "whatever reason,"— there seems to be hidden implications behind the words, but when malkuth (elijah??) reappears, his eyes widen slightly, before he faces her. ]

Is this where you explain to me what this scene is? [ where did she actually end up applying? did she choose to work under that woman from before, carmen? they're all thoughts on his mind that he doesn't explicitly say, if just because he isn't sure how much he was allowed to ask when this is her memory. ]

You're quick. Yeah, I guess so. I've been told that I talk about this part of my life like she's someone else anyway.

[ like it didn't happen to her, even if they were practically twins. only difference is the slightly more youthful roundness of elijah's decisive face and the hair length. but malkuth looks at herself fondly, the way someone might a younger sibling, before continuing as apologetically as elijah feels for disappointing her parents. ]

... I came home that day and told them I'd ended up joining Carmen's research group -- there was no pay in it, no guarantee of a secure future, and... it was a silly notion to consider. That the City could change, that it needed to change. You can escape the life you were born into as long as you're willing to use others to do it, what's wrong with that?

[ isn't it natural? what's broken about it? it does the job it's supposed to, isn't it? as long as you let go of childish ideas and hopeless dreams... ]

But just because it's impossible to avoid it doesn't mean it should be a necessary step.

You've done this before...? [ ???

he sighs. he shouldn't be surprised if just because everything he knows of their city and lives seemed terribly ... complicated to put it lightly. at least this helped piece of who "elijah" could be in reference to malkuth. it's not a complete picture, but "i"—

that single word lingers in the air and stays on his mind. ] I see. Well, it's your life and your decision. [ if she wanted to live a different life than what her family expected of her (or the rest of those who dwell in their city), he can't refute the feelings behind that. the desire not to use people just because you simply could is one that ... he couldn't exactly relate to, if just because of the importance he put on his objective over everything else, but it didn't mean it was intrinsically wrong.

no, maybe it showed a part of her that was genuine and sincere.

however, he supposed that's where the concept of potential consequences and risks come in. or so he presumes. his silence probably speaks loud enough, and yet: ]

Would you still make the same choice?

[ this is. a nicer dreamemory than she's had. it's the first time she's had someone walk with her on the streets of Nest T, to see carmen with her, but it's nicer. it doesn't show her at a low. it doesn't show her in a poor light. but those are also parts of her, things and experiences that make her the person she is now.

... malkuth prefers watching scenes to being in them, she thinks. as far as it goes with having someone else there. maybe speaking of elijah that way had helped differ it for this. she doesn't answer his first question, rhetorical as she takes it, but she does the second. ]

Always, every time. Where and who I am right now was worth every single thing that came from this moment, both good and bad. [ she doesn't regret it. she'd choose it again.

she'd choose it every time, without a single thought otherwise. ] I can't imagine a life without color in it anymore, Yuwon. This was my first step to seeing it in the first place, where so many others didn't even think that there might be anything beyond what you see now.

[ she was an oddball, honestly. ]

[ there are times where people speak and yuwon instantly feels doubt. where he would have readily used his eyes to determine truth or lie, but these are not one of those moments. he can almost feel the conviction of her words, perhaps even more after going through these memories of hers. albeit, they've only been at the crossroads of her more positive moments. still, it solidified the idea in his mind, either way.

it's not often where he simply believes someone, and yet. ] So it was that important to you... [ seeing color. achieving her many goals... but, well, he'd say it would be more difficult to meet those that didn't have regrets.

so in that way, she truly was unique in every way, or so he thinks. ]

Honestly, I might have not considered it. [ lol. ] But, how was it seeing it for the first time?

Overwhelming. [ it was too much. ] There's so many out there, I couldn't stop looking! The sky alone goes through plenty of gradients...

[ ever shifting due to the light. she remembers staring up so much she'd tripped over her own feet; who had helped her then, she wonders. ]

Everywhere I looked was color. Even black and white became dear to me after a time. Going back to this...

[ ... this, this monochromatic sepia life. this, this one-toned existence... ]

... Would be miserable. It was like I knew what living was like for the first time, and I felt sorry for everyone who had scolded me for trying to find color where we weren't allowed. People come by every now and then if they're rich enough, sporting it -- but it isn't for us, the ones who make it by. There's only so many hours you have in a day, why waste it looking for something deemed unnecessary like color?

[ once more, it's a realization that he's never truly looked. he supposed after the tower's demise was eminent, the world was mostly dark and devoid of most living things, but that was different. the way malkuth describes it makes it obvious to him that there's probably a lot people take for granted in their daily lives. ]

They might have been onto something. [ he's not serious for the record. ] It's true that most people barely have time to even remember the sky, or what color their side dish was. I know a few guys who wouldn't care, either way. [ like hades choosing to dwell in "hell," but that was neither here nor there. the important takeaway here is how much it meant to her. ]

You can buy it with money? [ though, he supposed riches in any world...

could give you the abilities of a god in a sense. it was a popular saying in the tower, too. ]

Once you have a taste of something, you want more of it -- that's how I felt, seeing the sky. I wanted to see it forever, even if someone else might not care or have thought to look themselves.

[ insatiable, in a way. even now... she loves to look at the sky, the stars in this desert, to be blown away by the colors and difference from her home. her world. ]

You can buy the right of it... technically. The richer folks have lamps, or so I've heard, that can make the world as colorized as anything else. But most people buy the rights to having a bit of color on them, like a hat or pair of shoes. The richest might look like peacocks in comparison.

[ wanting to show off every last hue to the drab around them, whether it matched or not. ]

My family just wasn't richer than anyone else, so we lived like this. A well-off trio who made enough time to get by, who... might have pinning their hopes on their only daughter, and that daughter simply threw it away for her own beliefs.

[ ...

did they look for her, after a time? ask after her? did they cut all communication and disown her? she wonders, wonders, wonders, and doesn't recall. ]

[ the rich buying the rights to colors seem ridiculously garish, somehow. a clear show of wealth, and somehow he gets the inkling that it wasn't simply done in a pure desire to see color, either. he supposed in that sense, while it seemed like a strange concept, perhaps... that was just a more extreme version of what most societies were like.

but, what surprises him more than this concept is when malkuth describes her family. was there more to it than this? more to it than he sees or hears in what she explains? was it simply his own vision of a family that warped his perception of her words? more than that: ]

But, you've accepted that. [ it's more of a question than a statement, but he's unsure of what else she could add when she clearly would make the decision time and time again. ] Are you still part of this research team? [ she mentioned being a librarian, but he doesn't know how the two connect. ]

I have, and... in a way. The same people I worked with then are the same people I work with now, but it isn't one to one. The research team itself is gone. Forgotten, erased by time and the City -- but our work is.... unfortunately, still felt.

[ unfortunately is a odd choice of word to use, she knows. but she adds on the explanation after. ]

It wasn't completed the way it should've been, and ended up making the lives of the City worse. There's a lot of new problems that surfaced because of our dreams, but does that mean they weren't worth doing? Does that mean we shouldn't have tried? Are we stupid for wishing different?

[ this

is apparently not a rhetorical question, given the way she looks at him, but she isn't seeking to be swayed by his opinion either. just curious. ]

[ unfortunately. it's a word he doesn't miss when she says it. though, considering it was also paired up with forgotten and erased... he can't deny it gives him a weird feeling. though, he obviously doesn't know why.

at least, not until she says it.

when she finally explains, it makes him reflect back to when she said she would still make the same choices. he wonders if that comes from inevitability of the results, or that she simply saw something he doesn't. that he can't. after all, he doesn't know what it's like growing up in such a city. nor does he know the details of the life she's led.

he looks down at her. he doesn't know what answer she wants from him, but it's not like this would be the first time he says something contrary. ] I don't know. [ as blunt as always. ] I figure if you'd choose the same path, there had to be meaning in it for you at least.

I don't think it's foolish to have your own objectives. [ in a way, wasn't everyone the same in that regard? not that he thinks she actually needs that reminder, but he says it anyway. ] ... besides, you seem stubborn.

[ he can't imagine anyone or anything getting in the way of her and her drive. ]

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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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