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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Okay and where are we going to go? In case you haven't noticed they're kinda everywhere.
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I have noticed that the ghosts are everywhere. However, hiding will get us nowhere. We're going to start logically, without letting fear and panic ruling us. Understood?
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He seems to know this isn't easy on Leia, either, but he's still digging his heels into the ground metaphorically and literally.]
Ghosts aren't logical. [But he takes a deep breath to try and calm down.] …where do we start? Got a base somewhere?
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But she's already seen his strength of will, so she knows that this is difficult for him.]
No, they rarely are logical, but that's why we have to be. As for a base, we can try my house or look in some of the shrines around the city. We're halfway to both at this point, so whichever would make you easier.
While we're on the move, try to think of a place Baymax is.
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The shrines might be a good start. We could ask any of them if they know how to stop this and make the ghosts less pissed off. [Them, of course, meaning Maris, Caeli, Ardeo and Occidi. He forces himself to shift to his knees and then to a crouch, ready to stand up.] Baymax might have gone back to the tech shop. That's where we've been the last couple of days. We can check there first and swing to whichever shrine is closest.
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Alright, we'll there first. Do you know which shrine is closest to the shop? [Please don't let it be Ardeo. He won't answer any damn questions.]
Have you tried to contact your brother or any of your friends with your CEREvice? I haven't had the chance yet.
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[The question causes him to shake his head.] Kinda? I've texted a couple of people to get in touch, and 'Dashi and I were together but I think he's dealing with his own ghosts. [He hopes. Tadashi please don't be launching yourself off of a bridge somewhere else. Though more calm now than he was, the fact that he used a shortened nickname of his brother's name is enough to tip off that he's still not fully convinced.] We can try to contact more people once we get to the shop, too.
[There we go. Up on his feet and ready to move.]
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I've talked to Ardeo. During our mass jungle trek. However, any answer he gives won't be worth the time it would take to get his help. If we go to the shrine, we'd only be using it as protection.
I think our best bet is to head to the shop to see if Baymax is there and then heading for any shrine.
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[And he's up and ready to go, taking one uncertain step forward.] If Baymax isn't there, I don't know what I'm going to do. [Even if he's not forced to be honest like some of the other people in the colony, the concept of being without Baymax is more than daunting.] He can't have gone that far. You've seen how big he is.
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[Which is to say not at all.]
But, you're right. The shop first and then Occidi's shrine. At least then we have a solid plan and we can try and find a few moments of reprieve so that we can regroup.
If Baymax is not at the shop, I'm certain we'll find him elsewhere. You're right in that he's not small. Plus, doesn't he have a battery unit that has to be charged?
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Regrouping's a good idea no matter where we can get it. [He rolls his eyes skyward though.] And he has a battery unit and an extra battery I made for him after what happened in the jungle that gives him an extra boost. I don't know how long it'll actually last. I haven't let it drain all the way yet. Never needed to before this.
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She approves of the fact that he's getting himself together. Falling apart was all well and good, but only when it's safe to do so. Otherwise, you wind up dead, and Leia's not about to let that happen to her or anyone she knows.
So, come along, kid. Tons of butt to kick yet.]
That was sound thinking on your part. I'm surprised you hadn't done so before then. [She's not judging, just stating.] I'm not sure that any of us expected anything that's happened here in the last few months.
I'm almost tempted to walk around with an emergency pack like I had before. It was extremely convenient.
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I never needed a reason to before. Baymax and I are usually not too far from his charging station so it just didn't occur to me to bother, plus the batteries he uses charge super fast. The thing about not expecting any of this also means we don't know what to expect in the future. That's the thing that worries me.
Convenient's one thing so long as it's not hindering you to actually carry the thing. How big is it?
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[She's so angry that she's only got a blaster pistol and her lightsaber. Having many more of the tricks she was used to having would have been nice then. Or her husband and his vibroknife. That would be great right now.
Because who doesn't need a vibroknife?]
No bigger than a backpack with a sleeping roll attached at the bottom. I carried one for a little over a week or so with no problems. It had food, water, a change of clothes and an extra blaster in it.
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That's not bad at all. Couldn't hurt to have it all the time just in case we get dragged off somewhere else without warning. I'm starting to prepare Baymax for that more and more every day, but not really myself. That's probably bad, isn't it?
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[Which is to say just about anything. And she doesn't want to deal with Sith. Nope.]
No, it was really convenient when Han and I were in Luceti for a time. It made treks in the forests around there much easier. And I would say that it's probably about time you focus on having yourself prepared to function without Baymax more, Hiro.
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Wordlessly he pauses and reaches into his utility belt, pulling out a cylindrical object out to show Leia. He doesn't activate the gunblade or anything, but he keeps a grip on it.] I've got a weapon that I can use without him, but I didn't think to do something to protect me from non-physical beings or whatever.