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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lop.
[She doesn't like that expression on his face, even if he squashes it quickly--the best she can do is try to interject some cheer into the situation.]
But I'm sure we'll find our way out! And I mean... we can't be too far from Cerealia. There's too much metal, that's totally a Cerealia thing.
no subject
Of course. If there's a way in, there has to be a way out. Maybe we'll be able to find the way out if we look around carefully.
[ his ears flick once more, one side first, then the other, as he cants his head. ]
... you're definitely right about there being a lot of metal. The echoes make it a little hard to pinpoint where noises are coming from. I'm not sure if I could find an exit just by listening.
no subject
That's okay. We'll figure it out! We'll have to find it eventually.
[...]
Can you see in the dark at all?
[Ruby sure can't, but maybe he can better...?]
no subject
[ it's pretty murky down here, but if he squints he can make out most shapes and structures; anything moving's bound to stand out more. a pause before he touches at the left side of his face. ]
But um, I can't really see out of this side. So if there's something in that direction, I might be a little slower to notice.
[ another brief pause before he adds a little more anxiously: ]
... are they usually any monsters in places like this? Outside of that game?
no subject
[Don't say that so cheerfully, Ruby... But she really is glad to have a companion who is more on top of things than she is.]
And yeah, there are. I mean--usually they live outside of the city walls, but they definitely exist. So don't count them out just yet.
no subject
[ at least he knows what's coming, this time. lop breathes in deeply, exhales slowly, then gives a firm nod. alright. this time, he'll stay calm. ]
Then -- I guess we'll have to cooperate? I'll be the eyes and ears. So I can count on you to be a brilliant huntress if we run into any of the monsters?
no subject
[That sounds like a grade A deal to her--she likes fighting monsters anyway, and he's flattering about how he puts it, too (she wants to be a brilliant Huntress), and she likes him anyway. This can only be a good thing.]
You just tell me if you see or hear anything sketchy or questionable, and I'll make sure nothing gets us!
[Thumbs up!!]
Teamwork!
no subject
[ he sheepishly returns the thumbs up. ]
Although I guess I'd prefer we avoid anything questionable in the first place ...
[ a weak laugh before he casts around, tilting his head as he listens carefully. ]
Um. That way -- [ pointing off into the darkness ] -- I think I hear wind? It's a little hard to tell, but I don't hear anything suspicious in that direction, at least. Maybe we can start heading there and I'll course-correct if anything changes?
no subject
[She's probably a little too trusting, but it's just how she is; either way, she peers into the darkness in the way he indicated, before shrugging and making sure she has her weapon close at hand. It's still folded up, of course; there really isn't a lot of room for a giant scythe down here.
But she feels better to have it.]
Soooo... what's it like to have hearing like that? What sorts of things can you hear?
no subject
Mm? Well ... I guess I just hear things that are farther away, and I'm a bit better at guessing what direction they're coming from. I'm supposed to be able to hear higher-pitched noises too, but I don't hear any of those right now. Mostly just creaking noises, and something moving around ... and water? Although it sounds like it's coming from below us ...
[ he settles into a thoughtful silence for a moment before pulling out of it. ]
Does that sound kind of like what your, um, Faunus? Are capable of?
no subject
[She nods thoughtfully; she can't hear the water, though sometimes she hears the shuffling and creaking noises. She certainly can't pinpoint them, but--]
I wish some of them were here, they could probably explain things better. But they're supposed to have really good eyesight in the dark, and good hearing, and things like that!
[Ruby is pure and sheltered and has no issues with them, unlike many people in her world.]
And they have animal ears or tails like you! Honestly, even though you're not a Faunus, being around you kind of reminds me of home a little.
no subject
[ it's also a little odd to think that he might remind someone else of their home, just by virtue of what he is. but -- that's a good thing, right? ruby sounds like she's been here a while, and a reminder of more familiar territory must be a good thing. lop gives a brief, thoughtful hum, keeping his voice light as he continues. ]
Ears or tails. I only have the ears, but I do know someone who's the other way around -- he doesn't have ears, but he has an amazing tail. He's part cheetah, so it helps him navigate at high speeds, but it's really long. His daughter's the same, but she's very young, so she still sometimes trips over it. So I guess we have some payoffs for our abilities.
[ it's a little lame when he laughs, but talking about familiar things helps him stay calm, too. ]
no subject
Oh no... I bet it'd be easy to trip over something like that! I used to trip over my cloak too when I was younger. [Ruby you're still young.]
But I bet she'll be really fast when she gets used to using it, right?