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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open
[Honestly, it was fairly obvious something terrible was going going to happen, because it inevitably always does. Fushimi has been lucky, if that's what it could be called, not to have already suffered a serious injury so far, but by the time he's made it aboveground, he's already sore and over the whole experience.
Not that things are much more promising now, but at least it's better than being below. Or, it seems to be, until the hulking residents(?) of this part of the city appear to be disturbed just by having others around. It's a great time to not be carrying any weapons, really, and he he doesn't even bother clicking his tongue, because it's obvious those things are out to destroy, and fighting them would be a terrible option. Great.]
phase III
[This shelter seems slightly better, but he's not going to get his hopes up. When all of the choices he could make about where to go are likely to end up being awful no matter what he chooses, Fushimi figures that at least a semi-standing building is worth investigating.
It's delicate, moving around and trying not to stomp right over all of the debris and broken glass, and he's both watching his surroundings and watching his steps. That is, of course, why he notices that the reflections don't look right; a half-seen glimpse of figures moving around in them that don't belong there.
What could that have been?]
wildcard
[I'm up for anything, so feel free to come up with something of your own!]
ii
luckily for fushimi, yata is on the scene, and he arrives jumping from somewhere high and drop kicking a giant hunk of junk, his whole body glowing red.
it sends the trashy monster down, but not for long... ]
Saruhiko! [ this guy doesn't have weapons either, but he has his aura. and he grabs a metal bar that came off from the creature's body. this should work.
he looks back at the creature, face flat on the ground, then at fushimi, an immense amount of worry in his expression. ]
You're not hurt, are you?
no subject
Worry about yourself, idiot. If you get hurt, who do you think is going to have to look after you?
[Which means that yes, he's fine for now, but neither of them are going to be if they stand around here talking about it. The creature is already shifting, apparently not too pleased to have been effectively stomped on.] Misaki, we're going.
[Going somewhere that's probably worse, but still. Better to leave before that thing gets up and decides that it's well and truly pissed off.]
no subject
fuck.
and even before yata could act on it, he's floating in midair, bar still in his hands, until the bar moves to shake yata off like a booger. (ew.) and he flies a few feet away, hitting a bunch of rubble.
and it hurts. ]
Shit...
no subject
He rushes over to where he landed, crouching down next to him and reaching out, grabbing his shoulder as gently as possible. He knows his friend is tough and can handle a fight, but being tossed like that...]
Misaki-- Misaki, did you hit your head? Can you move?
no subject
he lets out a groan before looking at fushimi. ]
I'm fine. Get out of here.
no subject
Come on then, we're wasting time. [They really are, because the creature is finished reassembling itself, and now it just seems pissed off and ready to do something about it.]
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phase ii
... Not that a sword and shield will do much against these, lol. ]
--Hey, are you okay? It's not safe to stand around with those.... w-what are those things?
no subject
He turns to look at Jaune, shaking his head.]
Doesn't matter-- [If he's okay, what those monsters are, whatever.] They'll kill us just the same. [But he's taking a few moments to gather up some of the debris on the ground. There's nothing big, just scraps or rocks that he can carry in one hand and throw. Ok, sure.]
no subject
[ Jaune watches the guy pick his scraps. It's smart. Something Rapunzel would do!
lol comparing them lol]...I mean, there's gotta be some way we can outsmart them, right? ...Got any ideas?
no subject
[The scraps are all a good size for throwing, if need be, and since he can only carry so much, Fushimi quickly has a good supply of projectiles for now. He turns to look at Jaune, shaking his head.]
If you mean distract them and get away, yes. Look at them; anything else is suicide.
no subject
[ Why are his weapons drawn for combat though? ]
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iii.
[The word is rasped out sharply, but Leon's seen too much in these mirrors. He's seen the images that are seared into his brain via nightmares, and he's trying very hard to make sure they both get out before Fushimi catches a single glimpse.]
Get out of this building.
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He has enough time to think that there's far too much water for anything while he's ignoring Leon's warning, stepping closer to him instead. He'll be damned if he's going to run away and leave someone behind in this kind of place.]
So you can stay here, with whatever the hell this is? No-- let's go, you're not staying either.
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So he doesn't really have the time to argue or be fussy right now, weirdly enough. Instead, he just shakes his head shortly.]
... Fine-- I'll follow you. Just go!
[And maybe...maybe it helps. To have someone to follow, someone real and alive to focus on, instead of thoughts of his death and the remembered feeling of giving up and inhaling cold water.]
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He's making sure to keep his pace in check, not walking so quickly that it seems that he's trying to leave Leon behind, but obviously not slowing down and taking his time either.]
It's ridiculous... [He starts out muttering to himself, but raises his voice so that he can be heard more clearly.] The effort they go to just to mess with people. As if it's anybody's business what someone might have gone through before. Like it's a montage in a bad movie, unbelievable.
[Not that he's expecting a response, and he knows it's pointless to rail against their situation. But talking, refusing to directly acknowledge what's happening, for the moment at least, means having something to fill the space in between all of the visions.]
no subject
He doesn't want to, but some things just can't be entirely avoided. Which means that it must be the same for Fushimi too.
And it's something he knows will be on his mind later, when they're less focused on getting out of here.
...What right does this place have to put their private lives on display like this, almost as if in mockery of them? So he follows Fushimi with his head down and his eyes narrowed, expression grim.]
... The exit is that way. We're nearly there.
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III;
The foot steps catch his attention and he glances over his shoulder to see what it could have been. ]
Elizabeth—?
[ His voice is soft and curious.. this was the person he was looking for right now.
if Fushimi decides to approach him, he might see the tears in his eyes. ]
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The unfamiliar name catches him off guard; of all the possible things that Katsura could have said, he honestly wasn't expecting a woman's name. Fushimi does get closer, because it's not safe for anyone to wander around alone, and because he's unsure of what else to do.]
No, I don't-- [He stops and shuffles his feet when he gets close enough to see that Katsura is teary-eyed. That's never a good sign for anyone even on a normal day.] You shouldn't be in here. It's not... right.
no subject
Such as a big, empty house— a lot of darkness— a child crying softly.
He'll see a war taking place, of course. A lot of wounded humans and a lot of wounded aliens.
He'll see a man with long, brown hair being bounded by the wrists— a sword kissing the back of his neck and his head rolling across the grassy floor, blood splattering on a figure cloaked in all white with tears streaming down his face.
Katsura is sentimental. It's a painful way to see his teacher, but the only way he can see his teacher now.
He places his finger tips on his chin, looking at one of the shards on the floor. ]
Ah.. I was looking for my companion, but I got distracted by these memories.
It has been so long since I have seen him..
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He's sure that there's nothing pleasant being shown on his own behalf either, a man with red hair engulfed in flames the color of blood, or a much younger Fushimi hiding in a closet and peering out through a crack in the doors.
This isn't easy, not for anyone, so he keeps his voice as level as possible when he speaks, easing even closer and shaking his head just slightly.] There's nobody else here so... you'll have to look for them elsewhere.
[He glances down at the shifting images in the shards, and away again, looking at Katsura's face.] Away from. All of this. Memories aren't going to help with anything in here.
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[ And then being put to death, but Katsura is mainly here for the alive part. ]
Isn't it hard to leave when sometimes all you want to do is remember?
[ Why are you still in here then, Fushimi? ]
ii
Other than these things being a major pain, there's more room up here and it's less suffocating. You just have to be wary of the ground. ]
Are you armed?
[ It's clear that he doesn't trust the ground they're stepping on with how cautiously he moves. If these things strike, he's not sure if all the parts of this will hold either. ]
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He's not ignorant of how dangerous this all is, but he's not about to panic either. Instead, he clicks his tongue, picking up some of the smaller bits of debris laying at his feet and shifting them around in his grip.]
I can take care of myself. [Which he seems to be determined to prove, judging by the faint blue glow the pulses briefly in his hands.]
nah
Unless juggling is going to help you with this?