You're probably woken up by the explosion first. A loud, deafening boom comes from behind the walls of the residential district. When you look outside your window towards the darker, more secretive area of the city, you might see the structure around it... crumbling, the land falling in on itself slowly but surely. That might be what wakes you up first. If it doesn't, you may be awoken instead by the sudden jerking feeling behind your navel pulling you from where you are to somewhere... else.
It's dark. The first thing you notice is that it's dark -- and then come the scrabbling sounds of creatures in the dark, like metal being dragged across metal, a chilling, sharp sound. The first thing that becomes clear, as your vision adjusts, is that you're on a rickety pathway, metal and rusting and frail, above what appears to be yawning blackness. Far, far below, there's the faint sound of rushing water, a ways away.
The second thing that becomes clear is that you are very much not alone. Something is out there with you, and from the screeching metallic noises that come ever closer, it seems to be stalking you.
Thankfully, you're not alone -- right?  ...
...........
................
:)
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PHASE I [ ??? ] It’s drafty here. You’re below ground, that’s for certain from the echoes of the wind in the darkness. If you continue on forwards along the rickety, metal railing that serves as a walkway, the skittering noises of creatures in the dark follow -- but they don’t appear.
It seems everyone has been dumped along this pathway at random; you may be with friends, with enemies or with someone you’ve never met before, but either way, it soon becomes clear. There are only two ways to go along this path: up or down.
If you choose to take the path that follows a gradual slope down, the sounds of water lapping against a surface increase bit by bit, the air growing heavier and danker, until finally, the metallic platform gives way very suddenly (watch your step!) to a muddy bank. Down here, everything is darker, and not far away there’s the water. It’s cold and frigid and there are unfriendly creatures that await if you choose to delve into it. However, if you brave those creatures, and dive deeply enough, there is a mask. It rests half-buried by silt and rocks, but it’s there, and can be found by any intrepid explorers.
Somehow, it feels a little familiar.
And if you carry on in the cave system underground, eventually you will come across what appears to be an altar. There is blood on it -- not fresh, but not more than a month old -- and pieces of trinkets. Old bits of cloth, locks of hair, and some of them may even be familiar. Any dropped character who has a reasonably large amount of spiritual or magical power may have left scraps, such as pieces of clothing, trinkets, hair, or the sort behind at the altar.
Maybe that's why they weren't in the Nexus Code.
PHASE II [ ??? ] If you go up, you will eventually make your way above ground. It takes some time, and some luck -- you’ll have to avoid rusty railing and pathways, the path crumbling under you and that creeping sensation that something is following and watching you -- and then you’ll suddenly be in fresh air.
Well. It’s not so fresh, really.
The landscape is broken down and crumbled. It may have once been part of the city of Cerealia, but now it is in utter disrepair and decay. Buildings have crumbled, and debris is everywhere. There are signs of the same level of technology that Cerealia has -- but it is all broken down and utterly inaccessible.
And you’re not alone.
It seems the technology and metal and broken down destruction has gained sentience over its time sitting alone, waiting. And it is not happy to be disturbed. The creatures are made of pieces of everything around them, and when cut down, they’ll just slowly rebuild themselves from the debris.
It might be time to run.
They aren't happy about being disturbed, and you're in their way.
PHASE III [ ??? ] Above ground, there are a lot of broken down buildings.
Some can’t be accessed at all; some are too broken, too reduced to rubble. For those looking for shelter, they'll be able to find buildings where the doors can be forced open and they can camp out on the inside to various degrees of stability. Though the ceiling may cave in or the floor fall out from under you at a moment's notice, it's better than being out there. Be careful, because none of the architecture here can be trusted anymore.
And other buildings... are even less trustworthy than that.
There is a series of buildings in the midst of the wasteland, somehow still standing. They stand there silently, towering over the rest of the rubble in their two-story glory, and if the doors are forced open, it soon becomes clear that the building itself is full of mirrors.
Once, the mirrors had perhaps covered the walls and ceiling. Once, this building might have been akin to something of a ballet studio, somewhere to express yourself creatively. But now the mirrors are shattered and broken into pieces and the building lacks the joy it might have once held. Shards of mirror cover the floor, some big, some not so big, but they still hang from the walls as well and everywhere you look, you can see yourself.
And then, the reflection changes. From one blink to the next, you see a memory playing in the mirrors. Your memory. You’ll see a glimpse of one of your most traumatic or life-changing moments, broken up but clear in the shards. Blink and look away, and it’s gone, only to show up again in the next mirror a few moments later. Surely it’s just a trick of the light, right?
Except if someone else is with you, they’ll see it too -- and you might end up seeing a bit of their own past as well. Hope you're fond of sharing.
PHASE IV [ ??? ] If you survive the monsters, the crumbling landscape and the untrustworthy buildings, you may eventually find a terminal. It is buried deep among the rubble. One turn around a corner, one stumble into a hole, and you will find it. It sits there, out in the middle of nowhere; the building in which it used to be housed is apparently long gone, reduced to nothing but rubble.
And if you turn it on, there is a brief message.
Transmission Broadcasting.
Transmission Connected.
And then, there is a face.
BONUS [ ??? ] For those who have been wearing their masks a little too much, they might also start to notice that there are some strange effects attached, which worsen the more they’ve been wearing said masks. How badly they worsen is up to your discretion.
➝ Broken Mask: An intense feeling of paranoia, focused on whoever your character is with. They might also begin to remember fabricated memories of being betrayed by those people.
➝ Barcode Mask: Everything will begin to have value to them. There will be whispers in the back of their mind of the worth of their friends, the worth of a monster, the worth of everything around them. An intense need to own and consume as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
➝ Dripping Blood Mask: An intense lack of self-worth, a hollow feeling and thoughts of being weak and empty. Feeling as disposable as possible and an intense listless along with it.
➝ :( Mask: A need to prove yourself, to show everyone how strong you are as quickly as possible. You can do things, you can be of worth to everyone around you. Why won't they see that? Why?
➝ Ivy Mask: A choking sort of terror from all things metal and technology based, and a need to lash out against it. An intense distrust for anything that they feel is against the laws of nature.
➝ Grey Mask: More personable than normal, more emotional, more empathetic. An intense feeling of kindness and gratitude to those around you and a renewed love of life.
➝ Feather Mask: A dulled, lack of emotion. A detached feeling to everything around you. A sort of bland curiosity towards things without any empathetic reaction.
➝ Bloody Fingerprints Mask: They'll feel absolutely fine. No change.
The effects of the broken mask can stack on top of the others, if they chose to break their mask after the other effects began to appear. No other effects can be stacked, as no other changes can be stacked.
PENALTY [ ??? ] For characters who die while in the dark parts of the city, things will get... a little strange. They will die as normal, but they will wake up almost immediately after their death -- in the Nexus Code. They will have a few surreal moments to be there, to see their friends who have left Cerealia hanging lifelessly from odd, glimmering strands (though there are some faces, of course, that are missing, anyone who was spiritual, or magical, seems strangely absent) and then --
They’re back to being dead.
When characters revive in Cerealia, anywhere from one IC day to three or four IC days later, they will find that things are… not quite right with their code. They’re glitching, for a lack of a better word. Sometimes, their fingers will phase right through an object, their own limbs registering as cold and lifeless. Sometimes, they will see a face watching them -- but when they turn around to try to see who it is, the face will be gone.
These effects will last an IC week, before slowly things go back to normal.
That was strange.
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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atsushi;
[it's hard to tell if that response doesn't faze stahn because he genuinely doesn't see any issue with it, or because he's just a little too shaken to care—but it probably doesn't matter all that much right now.
his head jerks when the mirrors shatter, more because he's just on edge than anything else. but what atsushi says gets his attention enough to jerk him a little closer to reality.]
You heard someone calling for me? [that's not something he expected to hear at all, for some reason.]
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[ And surely talking swords aren't a thing, right... Atsushi is so ignorant. He wonders if he's hearing things now on top of seeing things (except for the simple fact that what he's seeing is real), and he slaps his hands on his face to snap himself out of it. What a mess. ]
S, sorry. I should really shape up— [ Shaking his head out like a cat, he offers Stahn his hand again. ] If you're having trouble... please, let me help you?
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of course, he'd be a little more aware normally, but this time around, it doesn't occur to him at all. maybe partially because he hadn't even noticed the fact that dymlos had been calling for him at all.]
It's just us, I think... [dymlos will talk about this more later. for now, though...]
Do you remember the way out of here? [stahn's a bit turned around, so the best thing atsushi can do is... help him get away from these looping bad memories that threaten to distract him again.]
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He tells himself that it's his nerves speaking, and so he goes to do something more tangible, which is...
...to grab the end of Stahn's cape. As if they're kindergartners who need some sort of handholding to get out of here, someone help Atsushi from himself. ]
Ah, okay— I think I do, so...
...Hold on...? [ He says, as he looks at his own hand. Is he telling himself to hold on?? He's not even sure anymore. ]
—Th, that's to say...! You can depend on me, Stahn-san!
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he's a bit surprised when he feels the slight tug at his cape from atsushi grabbing it, but it's not a bad thing in the least. it's almost like a reminder of their tangibility; that what's in the mirrors is only a glimpse of the past and not what's real in this moment. atsushi's here with him, atsushi's trying to help him—he can't be a burden at a time like this.
so even if maybe the gesture is a bit strange, it comes as a strange form of relief for stahn, and some of the tension drains from his shoulders. he gives as small, weak smile to atsushi and nods his head.]
I'll be counting on you, Atsushi... Let's go. [he can trust atsushi with this, he's sure of it.]
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He's not sure how much his comfort is even needed here, if it'll even assuage things any. But this place is so consistently heartless— there should be reminders that it's fine to feel things, shouldn't there?
Once they're back out into the open, Atsushi finally lets go and takes a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. ]
Ah... haha, what an ordeal...
[ His legs feel weak, and he curls his hands into fists to keep them from shaking. ]
I'm... sorry. I don't even have anything productive to say... [ a shake of the head. ] But if you want me to keep quiet about what I saw... I will.
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even once they're away from those painful sights and sounds, it takes him a minute to get his bearings. he's hardly on the verge of collapse, but he's definitely a bit pale in the face—reliving something that painful again has that sort of effect on him. but stahn doesn't want to cause any more trouble for atsushi; he's already done a lot more than stahn would have expected.]
You don't have anything to be sorry for. I don't think anyone could be ready for something like this. [he swallows hard, drawing in a quiet breath. at least he is getting his composure back. being away from all that imagery definitely helps a lot. stahn listens thoughtfully to the rest of what atsushi says, and when he's done...
well, that's when stahn will address the part of this he finds most important.]
I don't know if you've ever met Leon. But... if you do... don't tell him you saw that. [and then he adds after a short pause:] And please don't treat him any differently than you would have before.
[stahn doesn't really want leon to know that people are seeing those memories, that people will know what leon did, and have an inkling to what sort of fate befell him. but he also doesn't want anyone to treat leon with pity or be nice to him just because of that, either.
he knows leon can be a hard person to get along with. he knows sometimes people need to be harsh with leon rather than let his rude behavior slide—so the last thing he'd want is for anyone to be nice to him just because he'd sacrificed his life for others.]
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It's a conundrum, and as fair as he wants to be to Stahn, he can only be honest for now. ]
I... do know Leon-san, yeah. He's a really nice person, isn't he?
[ That much, he can say with conviction. What follows is a bit harder, and he looks down at his feet and shuffles them lightly, as if to preemptively apologize for the rest. ]
I definitely won't mention what I just saw to him. That's not for me to talk to him about, but...
...I don't know if I can treat him the same way as I did before.
[ THAT SOUNDS... BAD, he knows that. So he puts up both hands to try to elaborate. ]
It's—! It's not pity, or anything like that. He doesn't seem like the kind of person that wants anyone to feel sorry for him, right...? It's just— [ he trips over his own words, trying to think of the right things to say. ] —before, it was just a feeling. That Leon-san cares a lot about people.
Now I really know, so... he might think it's a little strange. That I respect him a lot, maybe without an obvious reason.
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and honestly, those words bring a small, sad smile to stahn's lips. he's appreciative of the sentiment, though it does take him some time to respond in the best way he can.]
He is... Leon's a good person. He doesn't show it well, but... he does care a lot. [stahn closes his eyes for a moment, sucking in another quiet breath.]
I know you'll mean it if you're nice to him, Atsushi. And if you respect him, too. But you're right, he wouldn't want anyone to feel sorry for him. Things like pity... he hates them the most. [hearing this is important to stahn in ways he can't really put into words. leon is his best friend, and he's used to people misunderstanding him or thinking his some kind of pitiful kid.
but atsushi's different in that way, and stahn can tell that he means what he says.] I respect him a lot too... he's probably one of the people I respect most from anyone I've ever met.
[there's probably no doubt how much stahn cares about him, and also how relieved he is to hear that despite what they'd seen, atsushi won't do some kind of heel-face turn and act like he's some pitiful kid who threw his life away and died tragically by himself. it's important to him in ways he can't explain, so some of the tension that comes with sharing these circumstances even a little bit drains from him. it's exhausting, but... stahn is truly appreciative of the fact that there's someone else leon knows who will treat him so kindly.]
Thanks.
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It isn't so surprising to him, all things considered, that Stahns's the kind of person people would struggle to preserve. Maybe not the best thing to say right now (definitely not the right thing to say right now), but he tucks it into the back of his mind for later: "Stahn-san probably gave a lot of people a lot of things." ]
Ah... no, that's not— I didn't really do anything.
[ His subsequent laugh borders on nervous, maybe bashful. When he shakes his head, he also bows it too, in light apology. ]
Leon-san's already saved me a bunch of times, so... it's only natural. And he always says that he doesn't do it for anyone's sake? That's really amazing, I think...
[ Leon fan moments with Atsushi: he's babbling, he knows that. ]
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He says that a lot, doesn't he? But I think at the end of it all, he really doesn't want to see anyone get hurt.
[okay, so maybe that's overestimating leon a bit and giving him the benefit of the doubt in ways he shouldn't. leon still can be very ruthless and honest to the point of hurtfulness. and he had betrayed stahn and their other friends, much as stahn himself refuses to see it in that light.]
I know no matter what he says... or how he acts, that he's a good person. He's strong and he's smart... eheheh... I think he's pretty amazing. [okay stahn, you can probably chill your leon boner for like, three seconds here.]
Even if things are tough right now, I'm happy there's someone else who thinks that way about Leon.
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But as subdued as Atsushi is about this whole thing, and as much as it'll continue to hurt him like a dull ache (it isn't fair, he still doesn't think it's right at all), he knows how little it helps to be treated like a child of misfortune.
So, again: he's glad that Leon has Stahn, and he says as much. ]
Mm, well— my opinion doesn't count for much. But I'm definitely sure yours does.
[ He's only spoken to Leon a handful of times, after all. Despite that slightly self-deprecating comment, Atsushi quirks a crooked little smile, nods his head in strange conviction.
BUT WAIT, as if he's just realizing something, he appends: ]
Ah, but... it must be hard for you, Stahn-san. You seem like a really kind person, so...
...if it becomes too difficult to carry everything that you have on your shoulders, let me treat you to food or something, sometime?
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for a moment though, stahn's eyes widen with surprise at atsushi's words. he's so used to hearing the opposite; that he's too nice, that it's a weakness for him to have such strong feelings about the people around him, that he needs to suck up even the worst of his pain because other people need him.
so someone saying to him the very same thing he needs to hear—the thing he would undoubtedly tell someone else in his position—it's surprising. his expression relaxes into a small smile...
though it's what he needs to hear and it makes him feel a lot better in some ways, he can't just accept it as it is.]
I'll be okay, Atsushi. There are a lot of things I still have to do, so I won't let it break me. [even though things are hard. he has a duty as a swordian master and so many people counting on him—his friends, his family, the entire world—so he can't crumble for too long.] But getting something to eat together still sounds like it would be fun.
As friends, not just because things get tough sometimes.
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How humbling, that someone so kind can weather so many storms from so many directions.
Atsushi doesn't have a fraction of that sort of strength, he fancies, but it might be a bit contagious regardless; his expression becomes more neutral, the tension in his shoulders and neck less noticeable. ]
I'd... like that.
[ A nod, his words a bit slow to come. ]
B-but still! Please don't overdo it. [ His last bit of stubbornness before he'll back out and leave this well enough alone... for now. ] You're allowed to be selfish too, you know...
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[he gives a small nod—it'll be hard for him to stop himself from overdoing things, but he can at least try and assauge atsushi's concerns about it a bit. stahn's sure that he's already alarmed his new friend enough by way of what they saw in the mirrors, and his reaction to them. there's really not much he can do though; lying isn't really in the cards...
so all stahn can find himself doing is being honest.]
I've been selfish before, but... [it ended poorly. it ended in him being with so much tunnel-vision for avenging leon that he lost sight of the people around him. and when he let himself fall into those selfish cycles again, he had to be reminded pretty explicitly how much other people needed him.
it's not exactly the healthiest state of mind, but it's one that stahn has committed himself to out of necessity. he has no time for those things, because other people need him. dymlos had said it, rutee had said it, leon had more or less said the very same thing when they arrived here—and if the people he trusts most say that, he has no reason to believe it should be otherwise.]
I can worry about that later, right? Right now, I think it's better for me to do the things I know I have to do.