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« 004 ⇢ INTERLUDE004.EXE »
Who: These suckers and E R R O R
When: OOC: 5/29, IC: 7/15
Where: CERES Research Tower and Beyond
What: It seems an old friend has decided the situation is progressing too slowly.
Rating/Warning: PG-13: Violence, injuries and inevitable deaths.
▶ ACTION.EXE | IC: 7/15
▶ RUN.EXE | MOD NOTES
When: OOC: 5/29, IC: 7/15
Where: CERES Research Tower and Beyond
What: It seems an old friend has decided the situation is progressing too slowly.
Rating/Warning: PG-13: Violence, injuries and inevitable deaths.
▶ ACTION.EXE | IC: 7/15
For those unlucky saps who disappear today, ranging from early in the morning towards the middle of the afternoon, well...they can't be reached by CereVice.
Any attempt to do so will bounce back the message User Currently Occupied.
It's an odd message, and one that's never been used by the CereVice. How strange. It's probably nothing though, right? No contact can be established between groups or from groups to outside people in Cerealia, whether by technology or magic. You're cut off from everyone but those in your groups, now.
Otherwise, all abilities will remain intact.
As for the people who do disappear, well... things get a little hairy really quickly.
▶ RUN.EXE | MOD NOTES
This is the event log for these sign-ups! Your groups have been sorted below; here are a few handy links for you:Group 01 | OOC plotting
Group 02 | OOC plotting
Group 03 | OOC plotting
Group 04 | OOC plotting
Group 05 | OOC plotting
Group 06 | OOC plotting
Group 07 | OOC plotting
Group 08 | OOC plotting
Group 09 | OOC plotting
Group 10 | OOC plotting
Group 11 | OOC plotting
Group 12 | OOC plotting
Group 13 | OOC plotting
Group 14 | OOC plotting
There is no tagging order, so feel free to tag in whatever way works best for you as a group.
The characters should not ICly be gone longer than 5 hours -- if they survive, of course. There will be mod involvement in each of the threads.
If there are any questions, feel free to ask them here. Please try to avoid asking hypothetical questions (such as "What will happen if my character does [action]?") as that's part of the fun and risk of the interlude! You are welcome to plot with your groupmates in this post. Thank you!
no subject
You're not gonna - [ Oh, but Neji did it. There's a moment of shock, there, that the other person who'd been so against touching the caskets was now burning one, but hey, he guessed that maybe since they were, from what they could see, empty... But then there's the screeching. Seems like they've definitely pissed something off, and while there's the inclination to cover his ears and protect them from the high pitched noise, the part of him still primed and ready for a fight reaches down toward his shoe. His face is screwed up, nose scrunched and clearly not enjoying however momentary a noise it is, but he'd got a switchblade in hand, and that's all that really matters.
He might prefer a gun, but, a street kid was always a street kid -
Who was now a slightly concussed street kid, a half shout leaving him along with the air in his lungs, but there's no woozy second for him to do anything other than breathe in before he's lashing back. His knife isn't too far away, but it's far enough that, in the moment, self-preservation declares that he doesn't need it more than his boots or his fists and hands. Duo may be small, but he's muscular, and even though he feels a bit back about hitting some girl he just met -
He's also pretty damn angry. ]
What the hell?! I didn't want to touch the fucking caskets! [ His boot swings for her gut, a fist going for her face nearly at the same time. And, in classic form, even in mid brawl he's screeching out questions, bellowing, almost. ]
Why don't you go after the ones who actually opened the shit!?
no subject
he's the one to take neji's torch when it's thrust into his hands - unfortunately, there isn't time to take in its warmth with the screech that soon follows. he and carbink clearly cringe, but it isn't enough to distract him from the fact that duo is getting attacked. ]
Carbink, restrain her!
[ there's no hesitation in the pokémon's response, despite the cold. its head crystal glows again, and its psychic energy will force jibril's hands behind her back and forcefully slam her against one of the dungeon walls. from there, she won't be able to move as long as carbink is focused. ]
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Despite his reflexes, everything moves a little too quickly. Neji sees the girl charge the other boy around his age- out of character despite what little he knew of her. That was an attack. From the spirit? He's weaving hand signs and then the --rock creature is glowing and
he doesn't know if the girl's fully subdued or not.
His attention is back on the burning casket and he can't let the idiotic wave of guilt drown him. Neji channels his chakra again (difficult, a mite, because of the damn cold) and preforms a simple water release technique, a stream of water dousing the casket as he blows at it.
Meaning-- Neji used water gun. Goodbye fire, goodbye warmth, and he can't really care because his blood's pumping too fucking quickly right now to worry about the temperature.
And also. Now he's been called out, and he is responsible and sorry and he can't not speak up.
--look, he doesn't know Jibril's name, alright, despite barking out an order at her. This was a textbook possession. That he had no idea how to handle but gods he had to do something--] We meant no disrespect; we didn't know we were in the company of spirits. We do not know why we are here. Leave our comrade alone and we will leave. That is all we wanted to do.
[There's some irony here. Dead guy yells at ghosts. Neji falters. Fuck-] It was I who harmed you. If I hadn't been brought to this world I would be one of you. I will pay for what I must but please, do not attack.
no subject
Neji doesn't get a verbal response, and poor Jibril's body is going to take all of those attacks, because it also doesn't care what happens to her. But it's a spirit, and it doesn't have to stay there. As soon as she's restrained and slammed against the wall, it leaves -- she'll be able to regain control of her body, though even for her there will be a lingering feeling of extreme cold. (As a note, from her attempts at figuring out how it worked, she'll know that the spirit was male, fire-aligned and very, very unhappy.)
And then he possesses Carbink.
The Pokemon is as susceptible as people are, and Carbink will take Neji's offer up quite literally.
Carbink's psychic will lift the now empty stone casket, and slam it into Neji, squashing him between it and the wall. Thank you for your service, Neji.
He'll wake up 3 IC days later in a store selling spirits because Cerealia's got that sort of terrible sense of humor. ]
no subject
[The famous questioning phrase but Jibril is quite confused. Plus she's mad that she didn't get what she wanted. All she did get was some pain, which she wasn't happy about, a feeling displayed by rubbing her head since she was suddenly free. And the creature that caused the most of it was looking to be out of control.]
....perhaps that one should be removed.
[At least she's polite enough to throw out threats while recovering from her short expedition into being controlled plus getting knocked around a bit.]
no subject
[ So now he's not only cold, but his head in throbbing and, possibly, has a broken rib or two. Duo takes a moment to pant, where he is on the floor, trying to catch his wits about him at least for a second before he has to move to stand. At least for the moment he isn't really feeling the cold, blood pumping well now that he'd gotten a bit knocked around. He didn't really have time to have a splitting headache or a concussion, right about now, but at lest his head doesn't feel like it's bleeding (spoiler, it is, he's just a little too numb to a lot of things to notice.
He's fast to gather his knife up, refolding it as Neji puts out the fire. His mouth set in a clearly pained line as he stands and tries to assess his damages. It's probably a good thing, though, that he's not really in the mood to talk, lest whoever may be watching that video later see Duo completely off of his rocker. And, here he'd thought that they might have a chance to just go along their way - until the rock .. thing starts to look a little funny, but he's got the wind knocked out of him too bad, with the frigid air, to bring it up - -
And then Neji's squished against the wall and Duo is looking away, breathing out a quiet, heated string of curse words better left to the walls of this place. The gundam pilot puts his knife away in his pocket, not seeming too fussed about what's just happened in front of him, for the moment, reminding himself that they still had to survive themselves. He nods, jerkily, in agreement to Jibril's assessment, sparing a look to the pokemon himself that's utterly wary. ]
Your.. Carbink, didn't you call it? Should maybe go away, for a minute.. [ Then he stands, straightens himself, seems to gather his wits - He'll pretend he's completely fine for as long as he can. ]
The spirit's already pretty pissed off, and rightfully so, just - [ He stops, grimaces as his side twinges, and then continues. ] - No more squishing. I can't bring anything back for... his friends.. already.
Is there anything we can do to.. make it up to you? Or a way we can free you to go and be at peace or something?
[ Talking to ghosts is not.. exactly Duo's forte. But he's trying. Mainly by watching his language. He's freezing, he'll work with anything right now, even if it's talking to a ghost. ]
no subject
He shoves his knuckles in his mouth, teeth against frozen skin and he can taste blood. It's all he can do to keep from screaming. He only just keeps a grip on the CereVice in his other hand, but he's forgotten it's recording.
Why don't you go after the ones who actually opened the shit?! And maybe Duo's right. Maybe none of this would have happened if it weren't for him insisting they open one of the caskets. Maybe no one would have died.
- But he would have to deal with his conscience later. He steels himself, not approaching Carbink, but moving to face him so he can at least meet the creature's eyes. It's not the first time he's talked to ghosts.
It's not the first time he's stared death in the face, either. ]
Please, listen to us. I know you're upset. I know you're...probably scared, too, right? I've met others like you. They wanted revenge on CERES. But we're not like them. If you're from the old city, then we're just like you.
[ A leap of faith based off a hunch. He could be completely wrong. But the ghosts that had attacked the colony came out of the wall, and behind the wall was the ruined city, and there... ]
Please. Let us help you. We might be your only chance to find peace.
no subject
a hand moves to cover his mouth, but that does nothing to hide the shock in his eyes. he's both overwhelmed with guilt and terrified for carbink's well-being. his hand trembles when he takes its poké ball in hand, knuckles white as he grips the capsule. if there's another attack, he'll return it without another moment passing. if he speaks out of turn, he could have a deceased partner on his hands. ]
You have my sincerest apologies about this. About everything.
[ it's both an apology to carbink, the people around him who are still living, and to the spirit, too. his voice is quiet - he's afraid. but still, he'll kneel down to the pokémon's level, just as he would if he were speaking to a non-posessed carbink. he might be risking his life, but at this point, that might not be much to lose. ]
I'll do whatever I can to assist you. Please, just... don't harm Carbink.
no subject
At least it's listening and nobody else is dead, though it doesn't seem to have its mind made up just yet either way -- Carbink will remain possessed. ]
no subject
And they'd burned one away.
Dipper kneels down, too, bowing his head in a complete show of surrender. ]
You've probably been down here for a long time. And even before being stuck down here, you probably went through some awful, horrible things. [ We have, too. ] This world is...cruel, and we never asked to come here. But we can change that. We can fix this, so you can finally be at rest. We can fix this, so no one else has to ever go through what you've been through.
We can make things right, but if you kill us now, we probably won't ever be able to find this place again. We were brought here for a reason, and now I believe that reason...was to help you.
[ There's tears at the corners of his eyes, crystallizing. His pleading is real. For his sake, for this group's sake, for these ghosts' sake. ]
no subject
he stays knelt low to the ground, slowly outstretching a hand to it (both in hopes of being gentle and because the cold is beginning to set into his core). it's an offer of goodwill, and steven tries to picture it as if he's dealing with a timid pokémon. he's done it in the past; he can only hope that the same kind of sincerity will be effective.
seeing dipper kneel down actually makes him smile as well - the young man had wise words. ]
I couldn't have said it better. We acted in haste... I think all of us are a little scared. If you'll allow it, perhaps we can work together.
[ no one else has to die or suffer. ]
no subject
But if it could be placated, she did want her chance to speak with the spirit, mostly to see how it could do what it did. Wouldn't that be the peak of amazing?
Yes, if you ask her.]
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[ Duo watches everything around him develop warily. Sure, they were kneeling and all the respectful junk now, but considering how cut throat the spirit possessing Carbink had been with the dark haired kid? He wasn't looking to be too close to it anytime soon. And would continue to be wary of it, if only because of how powerful it seemed to be.
Powerful things needed to be handled carefully, after all.
The long haired teen wasn't going to be getting any closer, that much was for sure. He was still freezing - the tips of his ears were so numb at this point that they hurt, and he'd had enough medical lessons to know what that meant. They needed to get moving, and fast. The cold was making him stiff, too, but he knew better than to think he'd feel a lot of his injuries until he was out of here. ]
Of all the times it might've paid off to pay attention to a priest.. [ Duo mutters, half under his breath. Granted, he'd been very young, then, but this might've been helpful. Having Quatre here, or Relena, to talk this thing down might've been useful, too...
He was the type to act first and act civilly later - for now, he'd leave this to the other two. Besides, he wasn't sure he would even be able to get his thoughts straight between his knocked head and how damn cold he was. ]
no subject
Either way, one thing's for sure: it hasn't forgiven them, and it definitely isn't happy about the thought of working with them.
Because when it leaves, leaving Carbink as itself again, the temperature is going to plummet again, and this time, it's dangerous. As a non-human, Jibril might survive it, but the others definitely won't. They're probably already in danger of frostbite by now, but it won't take much longer than a few more minutes for the humans of the party to fall unconscious, and from there it's too late. If Steven is able to bring Carbink back into its Pokeball despite frostbitten fingers, it will suffer only minor damage, and will otherwise be okay. All three of them will wake up 3 IC days later in a pile of bodies on top of a random roof in the Residential District, and will find it hard to feel warm for another IC day after that before things go back to normal.
If Jibril finds a way out within the next 5 or 6 minutes, she might survive. Maybe. But she still has to find one. ]
no subject
Probably.
Goin up seems to be the only way out so the halo on Jibril's head suddenly grows in size and a large laser penetrates upward. All she needs is a view of an open area, that's it. Once she has it, she can teleport upwards, leaving all these dead bodies behind.
And true to her beliefs, she's also dedicated a single small explosion per coffin, just as revenge for the spirit's control over her body. Oh well if any frozen bodies get detonated in the meantime. Jibril means business.]
no subject
It'll take her two and a half if she follows the right direction, and she'll be able to slide her way right back into the colony as if nothing ever happened, just a little worse for wear.
If she picks any of the wrong directions, well, she'll die out there due to a lack of being able to withstand the atmosphere, and then come back in 3 IC days, reviving in the Cerealia church. Good luck, Jibril! ]