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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no subject
The look on his face goes from grief and despair to offense. He's mad! This is a personal memory that has nothing to do with any of those guys. Nothing! And a part of him thinks, of course, you know that now. )
What're you doing here?
( Really. Why you. )
no subject
I'm here for the same reason everyone else is. [ coldly ] Unless you're about to tell me that you weren't brought here against your will.
[ He means 'here' as in the entire weird-ass place they've been in, but maybe the building filled with mirrors was similarly hypnotic? That would explain all the people Souji's seen wandering around so far. His eyes flick to the side, sees the blood still splattered against the glass, and quickly moves back to Mutsu. Staring at Mutsu meant that he wouldn't try to comprehend the memories he just saw; the symbol, the candle, and the blood remaining separate puzzle pieces instead of clicking together. ]
no subject
He's not whining. He's not playing around. He isn't being difficult. He's actually bitter. )
Like I wanna be here with you! ( He can't stand these guys, he remembers. He can't stand them at all. ) This isn't any of your business.
( Literally. His hand moves to the hilt of his sword and holds onto it tightly, trying to ground himself right now. )
'S got nothing to do with you guys so just go away.
( And in the mirror, there's a flicker of a bloody hand reaching for a sword with a shatterd sheathe on a floor covered in blood. )
no subject
Us guys?
[ It doesn’t take long for Souji to reach a conclusion. He meant the Shinsengumi, hadn’t he? They seemed to be some sort of constant sticking point for Mutsu, for reasons Souji still didn’t quite understand. He should leave now. It’s really none of his business. But Souji finds himself fixed to the floor, bristling at the sound of Mutsu’s bitter tone. Bristling, then watching that hand creep towards a sword on a bloody floor. A sword, Souji realizes a half beat too late, because his mouth is already opening to form a retort. ]
You're not being very subtle. If you mean the Shinsengumi, then just say it out loud.
[ The bloodied hand wasn't Mutsu's. It was the sword — ]
no subject
Us guys? You guys. Mutsu feels himself on edge when he sees Souji going for his own sword. He really can't stand them. He can't stand these guys. The swords? He can get along with them but the actual members of the Shinsengumi? They're supposed to be dead. He was never supposed to deal with any of them ever again. Even back home, if they were to go to a time when that was a possibility, they were to avoid each other. But Cerealia is cruel, bringing old ghosts to life like some sort of cruel joke.
He isn't one to take orders from someone in the Shinsengumi but he can't help it now, )
Shinsengumi.
( His voice is dripping with vitriol. )
It's got nothing to do with the Shinsengumi so keep it that way and get outta here.
ESKI WHY
[ Souji's gaze slips back to Mutsu when he spits out those words, but it's like he's not registering the moment. He's too surprised by his own realization of what this memory really is. The sword is Mutsu. The man's hand belongs to... ]
...Saitani Umetarou.
[ But the memory's too dark and blood-stained at the moment for Souji to see anything further. He looks back at Mutsu, face tilted to the side, as if saying "right?" ]
UGH ARE YOU READY
There's something like a scoff and Mutsu jeers, )
Sakamoto Ryouma.
( It's his pride and anger that gets the best of him right now. )
You guys couldn't catch him, even in the end.
YES
[ And yet, the reveal doesn’t stoke Souji’s temper. It doesn’t set him on edge with his teeth bared, nor does it encourage him to unsheathe his sword. The death of Sakamoto was still recent to Souji, barring the weeks he spent in CERES after Itou Kashitora’s assassination. By all counts, Souji remembered Sakamoto as a dead man. Dead men weren’t enemies. ]
Sakamoto Ryouma, huh?
[ In contrast, Souji’s voice is impassive. What had he said back then when he found out? If Sakamoto was going to die, then he might as well have died by Souji’s hand? But no, Sakamoto and Itou-san had died while Souji remained in bed, barely able to breath much less wield a sword. ]
You’re right. We didn’t catch him. [ or kill him ] We were ordered to back off. [ Who had killed him? They spoke of it briefly, but he and Inoue-san and Sano-san and Shinpachi-san had moved on to discuss of matters like Sannan and the rasetsu, already embroiled in plans for an assassination of their own. ]
Not like that made a difference, I guess. That guy made himself unpopular with a lot of folks.
i'm not...
( Specifically, you. Even back then, there had been vague rumors about the first captain's whereabouts. It was a careful secret that the Shinsengumi protected but even the Satsuma and Choshuu spies could notice Okita missing from his patrols. Did they know it was consumption? No. A man like Okita couldn't be defeated by disease. Or so they thought.
And then there's something twisting in his stomach-- a rotten sort of emotion that climbs up and clenches his heart. A mixture of grief and guilt and sorrow. )
I know! ( Now. What he doesn't know is who after all these years and he hates it. ) I know, I know!
Just shut up, okay? You don't get to talk about him! None of you do!
ugh save it for a rainy day
[ Pity. ]
[ Pity not for the loss of a great master or even a loved one, but for the emptiness that must have consumed Mutsu’s life, the loss of meaning from everything in his life that must have come after. Not living, but merely existing. It wasn’t watching the rest of the world move on without you, it was not having anything in the world to tether you to a purpose. looks at Mutsu’s memory and only sees a what-if. ]
...Are you done?
[ Whatever fear and pity now masked by cold indifference. ]
Yell as much as you like. I’m only interested if you decide to unsheathe your blade. If not...
[ His gaze drops down to Mutsu’s hand on his sword then flicks away. ]
Then there’s no reason for us to be around each other.