a storm approaches.This log is for everyone who signed up for The Storm investigation. Feel free to use the here to plot further on how you plan on approaching The Storm, and the issue. The mod questions thread is also open, if you have anything you would like to run by us.
the investigation.It takes a day of preparation, and a day of discussion, before you are led further down into the tunnels. It's pitch black, but one of the BGs who you have become familiar enough with turns on a low light and continues further. You walk for ten, fifteen, twenty minutes, and then turn a corner into a large, open cavern. The BG explains that at one time, this had been an underground transportation system - old and unused for centuries, now, but still in working order.
They file each of you onto a single car - it seems to be large enough to fit nearly a hundred, possibly more, bodies - so everyone has a space. The BG explains that they have already input the coordinates into the system, and that once they close the door, you will be transported to the last known location. The car will be programmed to wait for 72 hours, and then will return to this location. There is food and water supplied, and already packed, in the car. If you are not back in the car by that time, it will leave you behind. They then give their farewells, thank you for your help and readiness, and step away from the door - letting it close behind them. The car travels down a pitch black tunnel, and while the inside is dimly lit enough for the Circle Members to see each other and move around without hinderance, you can see nothing through the windows. It continues for a few hours at this rate - nothing to see, no idea where you are going. That is, until it seems to break through the surface, the track running through buildings and another, unknown area of the city.
The streets and buildings are abandoned, the tech old and outdated, windows broken out and dust filling the street. The sky, like back in the city you knew before, is cloudy and grey. But these clouds are different - these clouds are dark in a way you haven't seen before. You travel for another half hour above ground before the cart comes to a stop, and during this time it happens twice. A low rumble, seeming to come from everywhere at once, and then a few heartbeats after, a disasterous flash of lighting - miles away, yes, but threatening and gigantic, brighter and more violent than you've ever seen lightning before. The crash shakes the ground under you, and the damage is immense.
But the buildings are abandoned, the streets empty save for crates, old mechanical bits, dusty remnants of a society long forgotten by the Struxta you came from just a couple of days prior.
This is The Storm you've been warned about. the storm.You have been asked to find out information that will help the BG's, and Struxta, to stop The Storm.
From what you can gather, it does seem to be a naturally occurring weather phenomenon, as far as weather systems seem to work on this planet. However, rather than scattered thunder and lightning strikes, it seems to almost recharge and strike with epic proportions. It can damage, or destroy, buildings. It shorts out any and all items (and people) who depend on electricity in any form to function (Sorry Daylight and Conner, sorry to anyone who brought along technology) within a three mile radius.
The 'darkness' the BGs were talking about does follow this storm, but they seem to have been referring to this electrical shortage that comes from the storm and it's strikes. If this storm does reach any of the still-occupied areas of the city, it will shut down the entire grid, as well as any of the robots, androids, or electrically based figures that exist there - essentially ending the life of every Struxta citizen that is effected.
Plot, plan, theorize, and see if you can find a way to stop The Storm. If not, be back on the train car in 72 hours time, to return to the BGs and report what you have found.PROMPT IDEAS
1.) Discussions on the train - do you have any ideas for what to prepare? Any discussions you may want to have? You and your fellow Circle Members are caught here together for a few hours, driving into a situation you know very little about. What do you want to make sure you're prepared to handle?
2.) Scouting missions - the heart of The Storm is very much in the distance, and it is not moving quickly, giving Circle Members plenty of time to set out and check out the surrounding city. What you will find won't be much - this is a robotic ghost town in every turn of the phrase. Buildings have been abandoned for hundreds of years, covered in dust and left entirely undisturbed, except for the breeze that now seems to flit through this entire area. There are stores, warehouses, apartments, and buildings you can't even tell what they were used for, cleared out. Whenever, or whoever, lived in this part of Struxta had evacuated, quickly but efficiently.
3.) The Storm - The Storm is still a distance away from where the cart has dropped you off, enough that when your 72 hours are up, the heart of the storm and the lightning strikes shouldn't reach the car, or the track. This does mean that to do any closer investigation, you will need to go to The Storm itself. But be careful - the electrical output from these lightning strikes are dangerous, and can have all sorts of effects on both natural and mechanical beings. The wind, the closer you get to The Storm, will also pick up - making any kind of flying or air travel impossible.
4.) Planning - the car leaves everyone off at an old train station, which a large room attached. This room can be used as a kind of home base, as well as a meeting location. What do you plan on doing? Simply taking down information, or trying to take the storm head on? How do you plan on doing that? Will your abilities help? This room attached onto the train station is a safe location - no effects of The Storm will make it inside. Use as you would like! |
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acatalepsy_logs2018-07-29 11:52 pm
no subject
Her gait is unsteady as she does move, lacking the understated grace that had marked her all the times before. She weaves drunkenly, and once or twice she comes close to toppling over. Throughout this though, she manages not to drop Pod.]
Stupid. [This is said under her breath so viciously that it becomes clear she isn't talking about Nier, this time.] Shouldn't have bothered...
no subject
he hears her, if only because his senses are as sharp as a knife due the constant state of paranoia he'd adjusted to. he does not comment, however, instead noting how tightly she clutches pod to her chest. ]
Stay with me, [ he doesn't know...what pod is, and yet their relationship is akin to that of his and weiss' no less. it rouses his empathy in the strangest of ways. ] I won't let anything happen to either of you.
[ a pause, as though he's delivering a delayed response— ]
...It's okay.
no subject
She doesn't believe him, though it's no fault of his own.
She speaks up again, after a lull.]
Pod.
[It responds. Similarly to A2, the usual monotone, mechanical tones are interlaced with tinny static, breaking up on occasion.] Asses —ment: Still functional. Unit A2 sh—ould immediately leave range of electr— current. —Unsafe.
I know. Worry about yourself.
[She's quiet, for a little while. It's a bit of an awkward angle, to look up at Nier, and it seems to take her a bit to work up what she wants to ask next.]
I hit you. [I didn't mean to, is the implication left unsaid.] You should be upset.
no subject
wherever he is, he's at peace now. they both are.
he listens, knowing that.
nier takes a step back, and another, guiding A2 as he does. and then she meets his gaze — he doesn't quite expect it and instead opts to focus on inching away from the storm.
stoically, he both looks and replies: ]
It doesn't bother me.
[ few things do these days. ]
I caught you by surprise. It makes sense that you'd hit me.
[ and then a pause. ]
Walk with me. I'll hold onto you. Is it getting any easier?
It's okay if it isn't. I'm not going anywhere.
no subject
No. [The unerring flatness of her voice is to hide how inexplicably disappointed in herself at this, at the fact that she can't get her body to listen, that she doesn't have a better answer.] It could affec—
[Her voice skips like a scratched record.] —you too.
no subject
instead he pulls her back further — his movements are bit brutish, but there's a clear attempt at remaining controlled. ]
It's okay, [ how often has he he repeated that phrase in his lifetime, he wonders. ] I'll be fine. I promise.
[ it's getting to him.
he knows it just as much as she does.
the distance between them and the storm is growing, but there are a good few feet before they're homefree, before the electricity dulls. he tries to not fidget.
there's an elongated drag of the feet. ]
There has to be a better way to do this, [ nier's teeth gnash. ] I have to carry you.
no subject
I'm too heavy. [She sounds irritated even saying it, more like she usually does, but the roll of thunder in the distance makes her tense almost imperceptibly.]
no subject
[ his voice is the slightest bit strained as he says that...and here he goes, indeed attempting to heave her up.
wow.
she is, well, heavier than expected. in fact, her weight is akin to that of a bomb's.
ah.
nier grits his teeth. his jaw tightens, and slowly, surely, her feet rise off of the ground — unless she intervenes, that is.
if she doesn't, she's headed for the crook of his shoulder. ]
no subject
How.
She scrambles for purchase, and to keep Pod balanced, but she doesn't fight Nier. She's too thrown off to really fight at all.]
no subject
he shifts her onto his back, both arms bending backwards to keep her in place. his posture is failing. his knees are bent. he's practically crouching, skittering like a crab.
his breathing is labored. he feels like he's falling apart at the seams. ]
Urgghhh...
[ he's just.
going to attempt to bolt now.
you can see his ankle twist as his pace quickens. he shouldn't have done that, probably.
he's dying.
oh my god. ]
Urghhh...aghhhh...
no subject
[Her voice breaks off again, and they wobble in place awkwardly as Nier stubbornly attempts to apparently, crabwalk them to safety. Eventually even Pod speaks up, having unevenly floated to settle on Nier's shoulder before he made the ill-advised attempt to carry an extremely heavy, and extremely ungrateful, A2.]
Observation: —weight is beyond capacity for you to car— alternative methods are advised.
no subject
Shut up!
[ oops, sorry a2. and pod. he is hellbent on resigning himself to death, but hey, the distance between our merry party and the storm is growing by the second. his pace quickens once more, and at this point he sounds as though he's on the verge of wheezing. his head is spinning and his spine is going to split apart any second now but they've officially made it.
he's still crabwalking.
why is he still going.
oh my god.
he skitters until his legs wobble, and he really, truly is crouched. like a car that's been parked. ]
You can..get...get off...
Please...get off.
[ he doesn't even know where they are but god is it far from camp.
he's dying. ]
ljdskjl
The journey is laborious. A2 is jostled every few steps and she is all but certain she'll be dropped unceremoniously, like discarded trash, when Nier's arms and legs finally give out. She isn't, though. Instead this sad journey continues up until he speaks, and A2 kind of...rolls off of him onto the ground, her legs not steady enough to keep her balanced right away. Pod follows suit, weaving in the air to land near her.
She sits up, with effort. The camp is way, way off in the distance, but the rumbles of thunder seem further away, now.
She looks over to Nier. Sighs.]
Can you move?
1/2 i'm sorry
instead, he is on the ground, doing this for a good 2 minutes. ]
no subject
Yeah.
[ gradually, he sits up, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. ]
Sorry for telling you to shut up.
[ another pause. ]
What about you? Are you okay?
no subject
It's fine.
[She's told him to shut up approximately a million times.]
I can move.
[It's not really "okay," but it's a start. Her voice still has the staticy edge to it, but she seems to at least be able to stand after a moment, wobbly and off-balance still.]
no subject
I'm glad you're alright.
[ it's an earnest statement. ]
Pod...is that your name? [ he inclines his head to take a closer look at the aforementioned machine. ] I hope you're okay too.
[ idly, nier rests his head against his knees. ]
You should rest a little before you head back. I'm going to stay here for the night, but I can escort you if you'd like.
no subject
Affirmative. This Pod's designation number is 042, assigned to Unit A2.
[A2, meanwhile, keeps her gaze steadily on Nier. She still looks perplexed, as if he's a puzzle she's trying to work out.]
You're staying out here?
no subject
[ there's a little wave.
anyhow. ]
I'll regroup with the others later...but maybe it's for the better that I stay here.
What are you going to do now?
no subject
[A2, however, is less appeased.]
I don't know.
[...]
Why would you stay here?
no subject
Yay.
[ why did he just say that.
disregarding that, the light in his eyes dim. there's a weariness present in his features.
his fingers smooth along his katana, before he lays his head against the handle. ]
They shouldn't be around someone like me.
[ or maybe... ]
I'm not supposed to be here.
I'm not supposed to be anywhere.
[ a silence lingers. ]
You should go back. They're kind people. They need you.
no subject
...
Why is she so sad, looking at this human? He was strange, and unnerving in a way she could not place. He intruded on her despite her efforts to get away from him. He had helped her at great risk to himself, and now sits here, alone by choice. She stares at him for a long time, puzzling it out. She wants to hate humanity. For leaving all of them like this, orphaned, fighting their battle for them. She does hate them. But she loves them, too.
A2 does not say this. She does not have the words to express this, and would not even if she did know what to say. Instead, she settles next to him.
...
She says nothing at first. Then, at the moment where it seems she will never speak:]
I'll rest before I go.
[vague hope/cold rain]
no subject
she really is kind, isn't she?
just like her.
his shock melts into warmth. tiredly, and yet genuinely, he smiles.
the people here were different. they had homes to return to. they had people they loved, and who loved them in turn. they had hope and above all, something to live for.
he's gone. he will never see the baby he raised as a young boy, the little girl who gave him a reason to keep moving, a reason to keep thinking of the next morning. so much was lost for that will. he hopes that in his dreams tonight, he will see her, feet swinging as she sits on her bed and recounts her dreams to him. weiss will reprimand him, and kaine will swipe his meal from right underneath his nose, and emil will giggle brightly and infectiously enough to raise his spirits. the masked people will welcome them with open arms, and popola and devola will sing in the town square.
...
how pointless, he thinks. how pointless when he doesn't dream anymore to start with.
still— ]
...Thank you.
[ this is enough for now. ]