PHASE I [ 9 00 ] The peace of the morning in the Residential District shatters just as the wall caves through. It’s a small segment of wall -- no more than five feet across at most. And yet the crash and groan of the metal being stretched is ominously accompanied by the distinct piercing screech of metal and another sound. A raucous noise, a combination of ungodly wailing and sharp, victorious laughter spills forth from the hole left in the wall as a myriad of ghosts and spirits erupt from the newly created exit. Characters with any type of spiritual sense will find themselves nearly overwhelmed by the amount of negative ghostly energy that suddenly floods Cerealia and characters with no sense of preservation will find any attempt to enter the hole blocked by the fiercest of ghosts, met with deadly force if they try to pass, as the ghosts won’t hesitate to do things such as reach straight into your body to try to stop your heart.
These ghosts are out for blood, and they don’t seem to stop no matter how you try to talk to them -- they just hiss out, over and over again, “Murderersmurderersmurderers.”
From there, the ghosts move on. Their true target, after all, is CERES… but to them, there’s no difference between the character players and CERES. They’ll go for whoever gets in their way, phasing through walls and becoming tangible long enough to reach for characters before fading away again. Characters with special abilities will find themselves in a similar state. Their abilities may increase and decrease in power sporadically, or be completely gone. They may attempt to cast a spell only to find that the wrong spell is cast instead, or an attempt at healing may end up a more dangerous spell. Be careful with your own magical skills!
Those with items or powers specifically intended to ward off spirits will still fulfill their intended purposes when used – unless malicious spiritual energy gets to them first.
PHASE II [ 1400 ] It seems the ghosts have more tricks up their sleeves. It seems that a not-so-friendly ghost has decided to play a game with you. It doesn't matter where you are, or what you're doing, because a moment later a voice calls out -- Hey. Can you see me? -- and once you turn your head, you’ll come face to face with a surprise.
Who is it in this world (or your world, or any world) that you have managed to disappoint the most? A family member? A friend? Yourself? They face you now, eyes full of sadness, and they say, “I need you to do something for me.” Without another word, they’ll turn away and begin to walk. Your vision grows foggy, focused solely on the need to do whatever this person wants – they need you, after all. Your legs move to follow them, unless you manage to somehow resist.
But you apparently don’t seem to notice that you’re the only one who can see this person – or that they’re leading you stray toward that monorail track with the sound of the train coming closer, or that busy intersection, or right off the sky bridge.
PHASE III [ 600 ] Other ghosts don’t feel like borrowing faces in order to inflict damage. No, they’ll inflict their damage on a far more personal level. They manifest suddenly and without warning – then all it takes is a simple touch. A ghostly hand reaches out to you and it feels like the cold wraps around your heart, and your vision skews, and then... they leave just as suddenly as they came.
Those who have been around for awhile may very well recognize the ghosts, at that.
But the damage has already been done. Depending on a character’s assigned sense, they will feel one of the following changes:
Sight: Hopefully you aren’t in the habit of bending the truth. Dead men tell no tales, they say. But what happens to a living person unable to tell lies? Any attempt at telling any lie or falsehood will cause the character to feel as though their throat has closed off, and they can do nothing more than choke.
Smell: The cold passes, but in some way that it never really leaves. And then everything seems perfectly normal. Nothing has changed, right? You're fine -- except that in a short period of time with how crazy things are, it becomes apparent that you're unable to feel pain. The damage to your body is the same as ever, but dangerously, you can't feel a thing.
Taste: It would appear as though the ghosts have a sense of humor. From those who rest in eternal slumber, try a few days of being unable to sleep. Everything seems fine at first... but slowly but surely, that lack of sleep will start to take its toll.
Hearing: Most others would feel relief once the ghosts left, finally a moment of peace. But you? You don’t feel anything – nothing kind, anyway. Rather, you have been left unable to feel joy. Everything seems either bleak or as though it simply has no emotional impact at all.
Touch: How many deaths have been caused in the name of heroics? Apparently in an attempt to keep future casualties down (or perhaps for their own laughter), the ghosts have left you unable to be brave. Suddenly, a situation you'd face fearlessly is one that has sent you running, panic sharp in your chest.
These effects will last throughout the event, if a character is caught by them.
PHASE IV [ 1000 ] While chaos erupts throughout the city, some of the more misguided ghosts (but still bloodthirsty, so very bloodthirsty) just happened to run into the wrong part of town and don’t know how to give a proper scaring. One ghost seems to think that it was a great idea to possess a masseusebot from the Spa. You’re grabbed suddenly! You fight for your life but can’t seem to get yourself out of its metal grip! With expert precision that only a robot can mange, it finds your pressure points – and releases all that tension from this Incredibly Bad Day. The ghost inside the robot is confused, distressed -- why is this human suddenly so relaxed? It only wants to murder. But the only illegal thing happening here is how good this massage makes you feel.
Maybe later you’ll walk down the street and get stopped by the ghost that possessed a balloon dispenser. Perhaps a ghost has possessed the friendly McCERES mascot, and is now handing out coupons with murderous intent. And of course, there are always the hug bots...
Look, they tried really hard, okay.
Of course... they might end up possessing technology a little closer to home as well, at which point it's not so funny.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Hopefully you have friends who have ghost-fighting skills. Or ghost-taming skills. Or ghost-bellydancing skills, who knows, we won't judge them if you don't. But what of those poor people who come from worlds where the supernatural is some weird television show?
Worry not, poor souls, for CERES is here to provide! Some time after the ruckus begins, characters will find what looks to be a hand-held vacuum cleaner situated innocuously in their rooms (only one per person, you greedy gus). The logo on the side will helpfully inform you that this is of CERES make, because the paper pamphlet beside your new device? Well, it's more like a picture book. Observe Stick-Man Sully as he uses his vacuum cleaner to capture ghosts! Learn from his stellar example! Do not stick the hose in your mouth or attempt to give the vacuum CPR, there's a big X over that picture. Also of the one where Stick-Man Sully sets his captive ghosts free once more, we don't want that, do we?
Your new ghost vacuum should prove effective against any ghastly ghoul that shoots your way, but beware! Should you capture a ghost and not turn in your vacuum to CERES for weekly ghost disposal, your ghost will serenade you in the wee hours of the morning with its song of choice. If you capture a whole horde of ghosts, well, congratulations. You have a boy band living in your vacuum.
[ 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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two!
[When he sees a woman at the edge of the bridge, the spell shatters like glass over his vision.]
[He reaches to grab her - it's almost reflex at this point, seeing her standing at the edge of the bridge and juxtaposing it with the image of Mayuri he'd seen the moment before. (He can almost see her fall, in his mind's eye.) The minute he touches her shoulder, she will in turn see this memory; she will see the blood seeping from Mayuri's wounds, nearly feel the electricity of the time leap machine through his scalp as time warps around his consciousness.]
[And he stands there for a moment when he's dropped from the suicidal memory, eyes wide and visibly nervous. How many times he had thought of that, in the aftermath of--]
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She can't say she understands all of what she saw--a dead girl she--no not she, this man--cared for a lot. Dead. Leap? Time-- Time travel?
Ow, her head hurt. Her eyes dart to the familiar (unfamiliar, familiar only because she was in his mind for that short time) man and then away.] I... I'm sorry... [She doesn't know what else to say. Sorry that that happened, whatever it was. Sorry that she entered his mind like that. Sorry he had to see her own secrets? Maybe all of it, even if 'sorry' seemed too small a word to encompass all she wanted to say.]
no subject
[And if he saw her memory, if he was in her shoes teetering at the edge like that, logically she must have seen... Something of his.]
[That means they have some Things to talk about... But first, they need to get away from here. He can't stop seeing Mayuri in her eyes, Mayuri about to fall from the platform, Mayuri's blood on his floor. With a sigh, he continues:] ... It's alright. Let's get away from here, first.
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She takes a deep breath and rubs her arms, moving from the ledge and towards the doors that lead inside. Her movements feel sluggish to her, body numb and going through the motions as her mind recovers. Distantly she thinks she has to learn to recover more swiftly if things like this are going to be happening to her often enough.
Once inside though she takes a deep breath and slowly exhales, trying to regain control of the situation.]
...Again, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-- This place is... Doing something to my abilities. I'm not so irresponsible, I swear.
no subject
[He settles down into a chair - somewhere inconspicuous, so they don't seem like two suspicious people, even though Okabe seems like a weirdo by default with the lab-coat - and motions to the couch for her to sit.] It's alright. [She'll be alright, at least.] If it's an innate ability of yours, that makes things easier to understand.
Now, if a memory transfer occurred, and I saw something of yours, you must have seen something of mine. What did you see?
no subject
If I see it, usually the person whose memory it is will see it too. [Or maybe he's hoping she didn't see that particular one, or...something. There are a million reasons he could be asking her to describe it herself.] I saw what you saw, of my memory, I mean. [Yuri winces slightly because it's all rather embarrassing, but she figures she owes him an actual answer anyhow.]
...There was a girl. Mayuri. She... was killed, I think? There were a few other women; a woman with a gun, a girl with braids who fought her. A red-haired girl. You... were trying to time travel? At the end. I couldn't make sense of all of it.
no subject
[He's not alone right now, with the burden of that memory - perhaps with the knowledge of what it means, but not the memory itself. That makes it worse.]
And you know what I saw already. [Okabe doesn't know what to say to it, not remotely. Knowing she was that close to death, but not why - it hurts him, somewhere, makes him want to know more and calm her. (He's not a man devoid of empathy, despite what he'd have people think.) He stays quiet for a second, thinking...]
[But he looks up and ] Okabe Rintaro, by the way. --That's my name. And yes, it was time travel.
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[She glances to him quietly, resisting the urge to respond with 'I know'; she'd heard the name 'Okabe' being shouted enough times in the memory, at least. Instead she bows her head to be polite] Kozukata Yuri. I'd say I'm pleased to meet you, but it doesn't seem right given what's happened.
Time travel... If it wasn't for this place, I don't know if I could believe it. Did it work?
back from holiday hell!! sorry!!
[Did it work, though... Oh, yes, it did. Who knows what pieces of his mind might have been torn out and lost forever in the process, but he trusts Kurisu, and he trusts his own work, and it sure as hell worked. He'll forever be thankful to it, but he'll forever believe it should not have existed.] It worked, but it wasn't proper time travel yet. Only my consciousness was transferred, as the machine was designed. [A wry smile.] And we humans are pretty bad at knowing the contents of our own minds - but as an observer, I'd say it worked.
it's okay!
[Her tone is neutral, however--simply an observation. It's fascinating though and she considers the possibilities. It could be something great... or terrible, in the wrong hands. Or clumsy hands. What was that saying, about a butterfly beating its wings?]
I can't say I really understand-- it sounds so.. Sci-fi to me. [But then she pauses and her expression turns sardonic.] I suppose I can't really say that, given everything that's been happening here so far. [You know ALIENS BLOWING UP THEIR WORLDS AND SHIT. Weird. So weird. Who knew there'd be a day she considered suicidal ghosts haunting her "normal"
And then, to address the elephant in the room, she continues softly] Did you save her?
no subject
[Hell, all of this happened because the world wasn't content to merely observe Time. No, they had to entangle themselves with it, thread their fingers through the fibers of its ever-stretching yarn. No, he's not detached; nobody is.]
[Instead of saying all of that - he's just met this woman, after all, no matter how circumstance has pulled them into this situation - he just chuckles.] Well, the idea of a spontaneous memory transfer is sci-fi to me, too. So is all of this. Er. Most of this. [The minds as data thing, meanwhile, is perfectly believable.]
[He knew the question about Mayuri would come, but it's not any easier to answer; the memories it brings to the surface are no less heavy. He sighs, and his voice grows quieter, softer - less the sure-of-himself Hououin Kyouma and more the nervous Okabe Rintaro.] I did. It took countless repetitions, just the same thing over and over and over, and it took great trade-offs, but I did.
no subject
She watches him carefully and bows her head in a light nod.] ...I'm glad. It was painful, I'm sure, but even so... If it's what you wanted, I'm glad.
[There's a moment of silence as she tries to figure out where to go next with this conversation before she sighs.] And you saw... my first suicide attempt, right? [First...]
no subject
[But this Kozukata girl talks so calmly about it-- Shit, he has no social script for this. What do you say to that??]
[He tries his best, though:] For what it's worth, I'm glad you're still alive. But... First? Were you attempting again, back there?
no subject
No, ah... Not exactly. I thought I saw-- [Yuri pauses and twists her fingers in the hem of her shirt a little.] ...I thought I saw Hisoka. She led me up there, but once I was up there I knew it couldn't be her. Hisoka... saved me once before from that. She wouldn't lead me to that again.
[She knows that much to be true, if nothing else.] I'm sorry you were forced to see it. I think I mentioned it before, but this place has been making my powers go crazy at times. When things like this happen-- [Here she gestures towards the city as if to say 'all this bullshit'] it's probably best to not get too close to me.