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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[ her wrists still tingle where he'd brushed against them, to check for a pulse it feels, and

his hands haven't withdrawn, the solidity of one against her cheek as her worry melts away into a more relieved, if concerned smile, and malkuth raises her own to rest against the back of it, cheek pressed more firmly into his dream-given palm, closing her eyes with a heavy sigh. ]

The one and only.

[ there's questions burning she doesn't know how to ask, and after a beat her eyes open again to stare up at him, chin lifting more. ]

Did you really think anyone else would be as stupid as me to pull a stunt like that, Yesod? I... Elijah was a special case. It wouldn't have mattered where those keys were put, she would have found a way in.

[ this, she knows for certain. ]

[ Hearing his name again grounds his consciousness further, extricating it from the mire of Gabriel's festering anguish tangled together with Elijah's fate, her suffering still clinging to his senses. Every moment has felt all too real, the taste of blood in his mouth, everything falling apart. A last flicker of hope crushed, Elijah left to die alone. Gabriel's ghost expects the warmth to bleed out of the skin pressed against his palm, expects the rest of it to peel away and expose bone, pieces of a corpse in his arms.

But Malkuth smiles, and Yesod feels it through his hand, here, like the steady beat of her pulse. Her cheek is warm, soft. His thumb shifts against its curve, as if to marvel at the discovery, as Malkuth's eyes close and the warmth of her hand covers his knuckles.

The contact is unexpectedly calming. He doesn't pull away. ]

...If it were a matter of stupidity or insufficient safety measures, the solution would have been simple.

[ Meeting Malkuth's gaze, Yesod shakes his head. ]

Elijah was determined. She made that quite clear. What I... what Gabriel said and did... [ What he told himself and the others to drown out what he knew. ] Of course none of it could make a difference.

[ Neither for those already lost, nor for anyone else. ]

Of course not, Yesod. But if it was that much harder for it to happen in the future, then at least you could say you tried. At that point, it isn't on you -- you did everything you could, and it still happened anyway.

[ even if it wasn't going to help anything in the end. she thinks of gebura's memories with kali, the end of it all, and feels thankful she hadn't seen gabriel's body, hadn't seen giovanni or michelle among them all.

sure, it left her to wonder what happened to them instead -- but at least they hadn't been torn apart by Abnormalities and Arbiters. malkuth squeezes his hand, then gently pulls it from her cheek to hold (welcome as it'd been, strange as it hadn't). it's calming and nice, moments not afforded in the very hallways they stand within. the quiet isn't so heavy, isn't so suffocating. ]

But... you know now it's nothing to... to atone for, I guess, right? It wasn't Gabriel's fault, and it wasn't like Ayin handed her the keys himself either. Even though he could've given her a good word now and then.

[ not entirely blameless. but not entirely his fault either.

... would it have mattered if other people had complimented her? had praised and thanked her without a second remark in the wings? she doesn't know. ]

[ Malkuth may be willing to absolve Gabriel and Ayin of all culpability, but Yesod can't agree with her stance, can't forget what he witnessed as though the memory had transformed him into Elijah. While no one handed her the keys directly, would she have made her fateful decision without frustrated desperation driving her to do so? Who was it that caused her to feel shut down, inept, ever relegated to the role of a bystander?

There are other choices that Gabriel could have (should have) made, even if they meant abandoning the pursuit of objectivity, admitting to the weight of his thoughts and feelings, before it was far too late.

It was never about keys or doors or chemicals. None of that resolved anything, and ultimately, Gabriel clearly failed to prevent anyone's death, all of it as meaningless as the remainder of his existence and its quietly messy end. ]

...Elijah believed that she was useless, a burden. She died thinking such thoughts. I recall criticizing Ayin's impassive behavior, a long time ago... but I doubt that my own actions were any better.

[ Malkuth's touch lingers while they are here, its warmth does. It might be permissible to take comfort in it, allowing what remains of Gabriel some peace, if Elijah receives the same. Learning from the past shouldn't keep them fettered to regret — that accomplishes nothing, either.

Yesod's fingers clasp Malkuth's. ]

...How do you see yourself now, Malkuth?

[ she did die thinking such thoughts. that nothing she did had mattered, would ever matter, that they -- that she -- would never be good enough for anything or anyone.

it doesn't influence her entirely now. only a little, shy in her confidence when it comes to others' opinions. it took so long to understand and accept she might be liked, wanted, enjoyed as company -- that someone might look at her and choose her first, or choose her at all. for anything. some people here are so open. so obvious and direct. it's terrifying, but at the same time relieving, to be able to ask someone if they do or why they do and get a frank response.

how does she see herself now, he asks. malkuth's lips turn up into a small smile. ]

Someone worth looking at whether I've done something deserving of it or not. I've made a lot of people smile just by existing, and I'm not a burden at all -- but you know, even if I was, it wouldn't matter, because there's people who love me anyway. [ she grins, though it's a little sheepish. ] I'm still clumsy and I have to work harder than most to keep up, but... I know as long as I don't throw in the towel, I'll eventually be rewarded! Even if it takes longer than I'd like!

[ she's impatient in new ways. she still spirals. she's still clumsy and slow, oblivious and untalented... but that doesn't mean anything bad to her now. malkuth squeezes yesod's hands. ]

Don't worry, I know my worth now. I learned a lot in the Library, and more from the people here. Just like I hope you and Netzach do.

[ Listening, looking at Malkuth, Yesod takes in the way her smile changes as she answers. The future is significantly better, then, and Malkuth's experiences here have been as well. His gaze lowers to their hands, pensive. ]

It didn't matter back then, either. Gabriel scolded Elijah, but he didn't dislike her. On the contrary... Her absence felt wrong.

[ She wasn't invisible, nor was her existence dismissed, discarded and forgotten as soon as she was gone, though it would have seemed as though they acknowledged her only in death to further the experiments, one more callous and despicable thing.

He doesn't know whether it means anything now, to say any of this, whether it would have meant much at the time. Nevertheless, he will be honest with Malkuth.

In his own way, he was clumsy himself, he supposes, unaccustomed to interacting with others beyond their work. It still isn't effortless. ]

I don't think any of us ever thought to say so... However, I was glad that we met. That hasn't changed.

[ no, it doesn't matter much now. but it does feel nice to hear. of course malkuth has the benefit of hindsight, of knowing yesod now and seeing that gabriel hadn't meant anything ill with his chidings, but-- ]

Elijah would've been so relieved to hear that he didn't hate her the way she thought he must've, but that might've just made her worse! She'd bother him so much if she knew it wasn't entirely unwelcome...

[ seeing how she might be able to help him, if no one else. maybe she really would've become hated then. but what-ifs aren't meant to be dwelt on, and malkuth tilts her head into yesod's view. ]

That aside, you should look at others when you tell them stuff like that! There's no point in being shy now! You saw me at my absolute worst, right before I died! It's not like the feeling isn't mutual, you know, I can't imagine a life where you [ and the others ] aren't in it.

[ Yesod blinks, eyes focusing on Malkuth. ]

Ah... My apologies. I feel a little disoriented.

[ Which isn't untrue; the vestiges of the past are like cobwebs, sticking to him.

If only Gabriel had spoken up to address that misconception, at the very least. It's no excuse that he didn't specifically target Elijah to scold her more than he did anyone else, simply noticing her because he was conscious of her presence. Relief... What might have changed, with just that difference? ]

Elijah's company wasn't unwelcome, just as yours isn't.

[ And Malkuth knows that now, describing the sentiment as mutual. None of them expected any sort of second chance. ]

And fortunately, it seems that all of our lives will remain intertwined.

Yeah, until...

[ ... until sometime. she wonders if they'd all woken up again after being moved to the outskirts, or if they slumbered once the Light had dissipated as intended. it's malkuth's turn to look down at their hands, uncertain.

until... until when? ]

... Until they aren't, but I hope that isn't too soon. But let's work on waking up -- close your eyes and focus on one thing, it doesn't matter what. We'll breathe together, and then I'll ask you what I want to a little later.

[ she doesn't want to ask him what happened after she died while they're still here, frankly. the little sliver was concerning enough to see -- she wants to hear it from him, without interruption... just like she'd like to tell others her own story, without it being out of her control. ]

We'll inhale, hold it for three, and then exhale. Okay?

[ Until they aren't. That remark combined with Malkuth averting her gaze is cause to conclude that there must be something else that she knows, things that she hasn't mentioned. By the sound of it, until they aren't hasn't come to pass, but Malkuth is braced for it. Yesod wants to ask her to look at him, too, and to express these thoughts on her mind, but he leaves it for now.

They should continue this elsewhere, away from the what-ifs that he can't help but dwell on, wrapped in their cobwebs. ]

...Very well. I have questions of my own, and I'll answer yours, Malkuth.

[ And so, closing his eyes, he keeps his focus on Malkuth, real and alive. Adjusting one hand's position slightly, he focuses on the tempo of her pulse beneath his thumb once more, the ticking of a clock not out of time. The metronome of her breaths — inhale, hold it for three heartbeats, exhale — while he is capable of this recalled breathing. The sensations made possible here.

His body will remember each moment, he imagines, though it's already changing, mechanical again before long, behind the cloaking that conceals it. ]

[ ... from flesh to the illusion of it, feeling the same to her but not to him. she adjusts her grip slightly, knowing where those grippers are and wanting it to be that much more comfortable for yesod's returned form.

malkuth opens her eyes with a soft exhale, relieved at their wakeful state. ]

... Hi, Yesod. [ fond of her coworkers as ever.

but. ] Let's... leave it until we get back, okay?

[ it's a pipe dream that he'll have forgotten it by then but-- ]

[ He hears Malkuth breathe out, and he opens his eyes to meet hers. The input that his sensors receive, even if the cloaking technology might enhance it to ensure natural responses, is not comparable to possessing a human body's senses. The thought does cross his mind — can Malkuth feel the difference as well, the moment the dream ends entirely?

It's strange that it registers as a sense of loss. He was never someone who touched others unless it was necessary, and there was undeniably a time when it became something that he deliberately avoided.

But he has newer memories, not unpleasant, and he feels strange himself, somehow hollow. Though he isn't breathing any longer, his avatar simulates the rise and fall of his chest for the sake of blending in. ]

...That may take a while longer than a little later.

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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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