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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ai thao kha
athena
... I don't have parents. So I didn't grow up really knowing what a family was like. I wasn't like you or anyone else here who might have had a family.
... But you know what? I think I know what it's like now. Because of you and everyone I've met here.
no subject
which ends up being a failure because she loses her money, but eh. details.
once they're out, athena immediately sits down on the ground, not even caring if some debris cut into her skin or if her clothes are even dirtier now. seriously, who cares. ]
Thank you... for thinking of me as family.
[ she'll show a bit more emotion soon. ]
no subject
She nods in reply to what Athena said, staring off into the distance before speaking up again.]
I have a twin... Well, someone who was made at the same time as me. And someone who I called "bà ngoại." Grandmother. But it's not the same... Everyone here and you have given me so much.
So no matter what happens... I'll be on your side.
[Ai glances at Athena.]
And we'll make it out of here too.
no subject
We will.
[ and she makes way to hold ai's hand, and she grasps it tightly. ]
Don't lose hope, alright?
hiro
... Hiro??
Did you... You saw everything?
[Why does her heart have to drop at the prospect, why was it so hard to talk about in the first place, if she could have talked about it at another time and not a place like this, not this, not this...
Her head's in a whirl and she feels ashamed and yet here he is... Her hands reach up to touch his arms and she takes a deep breath, exhausted from her cries.]
no subject
[There were plenty of things that Hiro wanted to ask, wanted to say... But for now, Ai's safety was first and foremost priority. He'll be standing up and helping Ai up along. And as usual, he'll be doing his best to sound lighthearted... Though it's pretty forced.]
Let's blow this popsicle stand first. A House of Mirrors is pretty overrated.
no subject
[She stands up, steadily this time without shaking. The eyes around them blink in and out until they disappear leaving only their reflections.]
I'm... Never mind.
[What is there to say after seeing all of that? There isn't a right thing to say and Ai wonders how she'll even find the words to express herself over something like this.
But with Hiro's remark, she feels a little lightened. He always seems to do that. She swallows back her tears and glances around pointing in one direction.]
Looks like we can go through there for now... Let's not get lost, okay?
no subject
[And noticing the direction, he'll be taking Ai's hand without any question. Similar to that day that they were at the prom together... Who knew how easy it was to get lost in this building? Hiro is taking the lead and walking rather quickly, though.
But among some of the mirrors will be the sight of a subway, the sounds of rumbling and that's followed by scratching metal and stone falling apart. Some of the fragments shows the corpses of dead bodies around Hiro, Daichi and Io. Then the biggest mirror shows the sight of a train car falling on them with the sounds of their screams.
The Hiro holding Ai's hand doesn't react at all to this sight. But he definitely remembered that day when everything changed.
The mirrors turn black as pure darkness surrounds them and the Hiro in the mirror is lying face first with his cellphone off to the side in that dark abyss. And a demon has his back turned in front of him. A unusually cheerful voice speaks up from his cellphone.
"So, yeah... This is how you're gonna die. If you wanna live, that "demon summoning app" is gonna be a big help!" He knew. This was a memory from the first world... "Whatcha gonna do? Are you gonna give up?"]
... Don't be ridiculous.
[The exact answer he gave Tico.]
no subject
"Are you gonna give up?"
After Ai glances at that reflection she looks at Hiro whose hand is around hers and she wonders. She wonders why he kept smiling, why he kept joking with others, why he could keep going even after all he had been through and probably more than what she just saw.
She realizes that it wasn't as if he wasn't in pain the whole time.]
... Hiro?
[Her fingers intertwines with his.]
no subject
[He wasn't exactly lying, but Hiro was certainly playing it down more than he had to be. While he couldn't call himself a perfect liar at times, he was pretty good at making things more lighter than seemed. For better or worst, it was a skill that got him through the Trials of both worlds.
Most importantly, he didn't want to make Ai worry. She had to be a bundle of nerves in this situation.]
I should introduce you to Tico! She's a little off kilter, but a really cute friend of mine!
no subject
What can I do?
Admittedly, Ai felt like she could do nothing. She felt like she was rendered useless by having to confront her own memories that attacked her guilt and took advantage of her mental and physical exhaustion. And yet when Hiro came for her...
What can I do?
She's silent for another moment, but then she stops so that she's behind Hiro and then rests her forehead on the back of his shoulder, her hand still in his.
She doesn't say anything. She just rests there.]
no subject
[Lying to everyone including himself was one way that he forced himself to get by.
Hiro continues to walk, but with Ai resting like that... Well, he decides to slow his pace for a bit. It would've been rude to push Ai considering that she's been through the emotional wringer. Meanwhile, he was hoping that other memories of his wouldn't show up.
But those thoughts betray him. As there's another set of mirrors that show Hiro and his friends going through some battles against various enemies that were larger than life. Mizar, Merak and Phecda respectively. Each of them were alien beings with various amounts of abilities... While Hiro would've played off the battles as "easy pickings" whenever everything ended, he'd be lying if he said that they didn't affect him deeply.
These were memories from the first world, so they were the strongest. Hiro shuts his eyes as the mirrors play things out... Though he doesn't realize that his hand was shaking.]
1/2
He was so much braver than she was.]
no subject
[Her hand tightens around his.]
Thank you.
[She takes a step back to start pulling him along so that they can continue on their way out.]
Thank you for living. Thank you for being alive.
[Even if Ai Thao can't do anything for herself, she still wanted to give something, anything. Anything for this person who was precious to her.]
no subject
[The pulling definitely helps as Hiro snaps himself out of it. He felt like he was in a trance-like state before Ai's words woke him up. Her kindness was always one of her defining traits, yet also a dangerous one.
This was Ai. As heartfelt as her words were, Hiro knew that she'd say this to anyone who was in trouble. There was no need to think any deeper on it.]
Don't be an idiot. I should be thanking you for the cupcakes. They were delicious.
no subject
Were they that good? I'm glad.
[There's finally an exit up ahead and Ai points towards it.]
We're finally out! Let's take a breather outside.
no subject
Whoo hoo! Let's get a-move on! Fresh outdoors awaiiiit!
[Fragmented mirrors will show Hiro and Saiduq floating in what seems to be space. Saiduq's voice speaks out...
"Shining One, you will now rise to the Heavenly Throne, thus becoming Administrator of Earth and all the resides in this world."
"Once this is done, you will no longer be able to exist amongst humans as a single entity... ever again."
"You will not be able to share the same time as them, nor speak to those you love and care for."
"Are you sure this is what you want?"]
no subject
Ai isn't sure what those mean. She doesn't know him at all even when she tries to be close and closer and now...
Does that mean they've only grown farther away?
But they're outside now and those thoughts will have to come up as long as they get out alive first.]