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meadowlarklogs2019-01-06 09:54 pm
- !arrival log,
- darker than black: hei,
- dc comics: dick grayson,
- dc comics: jason todd,
- detroit become human: markus,
- ffxiv: x'rhun tia,
- ffxv: noctis lucis caelum,
- marvel comics: thor,
- npc: gaby,
- re6: jake muller,
- starfighter: cain,
- the 100: clarke griffin,
- the silver case: sumio kodai,
- voltron: keith,
- westworld: maeve millay
ARRIVAL LOG 006
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: Night of September 3 to night of September 4
WHAT: The sixth arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion and loss of autonomy. Further notes at end of log.
Awareness comes to you in blurred snatches, cloudy fragments of sound and light, color, sensation. Hazy and difficult to grasp on to, but slowly aligning into focus. A series of regular, rhythmic beeps. A medicinal, astringent smell. The sensation of movement, a low hum and accompanying vibration under you. Your eyes are heavy, hard to keep open, but in the glimpses between slow, dark blinks you see four people in black body armor seated opposite you, as well as a man in dark gray scrubs.
You realize there are others next to you. All of you in white scrubs, hair recently cut but at various stages of growth, restrained by straps across your chests, arms, feet, holding you to the bench under you. To your left, an armored interior door, two more people visible, the movement of streets passing through a windshield. You try to open your mouth to speak, but it's as if your tongue is coated in tar, and you manage nothing more than an empty parting of lips.
The vehicle stops. The guard opposite you stands and comes to unbuckle you from the bench, helping you to your feet. Your limbs feel wooden and heavy, slow to move. One guard opens the back of the vehicle, and false, colored light, illuminating the streets in the distance will first alert your senses of being somewhere else, combined with warm air that's only cooled with the setting of the sun. The nurse moves to stand at the back, checking each passenger over one by one just before they're helped out of the vehicle, quick and methodical. He doesn't climb out after you, moving to sit as the last passenger is unloaded.
The guards keep their heads down. Their actions are quick, firm, but not entirely unkind. Once all the passengers are out, they climb back into the vehicle and close the doors. The engine powers up again, and then the bus is gone.
You're left alone in an alley, with no idea of where you are or why you've been brought here.
Around the corner of the alley, the streets are lined with bright orange, yellow, and red ball-shaped lights cluttered together overhead. Despite seeming rather tangible in nature, the balls themselves are merely well-designed projections. These lights illuminate the streets filled with people – some of which seem indifferent to the festivities, while others move in dense clusters toward a city square filled with countless trucks and tables. They disperse as they arrive – to trucks, to stations to have faces painted, to admire the wide array of sweet confections available. Numerous bits of signage announce various additional activities – but anyone new won't be able to interact, won't know what information is there.
◉ Though entirely capable of independent action and thought, new characters will find themselves completely, unquestioningly compliant to any verbal statement which could be taken as a command or request.
The message from El – no, wait. It's Gaby this time. Otherwise, it's the same as previous: insistent, not waiting for any active attempt to open it. Scrolling within your vision as if being written while you're reading it.
I'm on announcement duty this time. Bus #6, for anyone who's counting. The location? Well, the heart of the lantern festival. A short walk from the safehouse.
Like many of these festivities, the New Amsterdam Lantern Festival is an annual event, dating back decades as a means of celebrating the mish-mash of culture that influences New Amsterdam as it's seen today. Sponsored by Polarized – a known subsidiary of Pulsar – the lights go bright just as the sun begins to set late in the evening, spreading over the city, acting as a dense layer of luminescence for 24 hours. Even in the daytime hours, the lights remain, and the technology seems to make them seem just as bright – which acts as a sign that the lights themselves are not natural, projected outward by numerous devices set up throughout the city.
Most of the events are concentrated in a district square that was once known as the city's Chinatown. At the heart of this festival is a large gathering where numerous food trucks and restaurants come out to advertise their wares. Specializing in desserts and little else, these businesses flood the street every year in hopes of bolstering their business because they can't partake in the restaurant promotion throughout September. The festival concludes with a competition, with each chef revealing their unique lantern festival dessert. These are often rather impressive in nature: cake pops strung together like a dragon, ice creams that make people's mouths look like they're glowing, and large cakes, shaped and designed to celebrate New Amsterdam's arts and festival scene. Many of this year's offerings will both celebrate the year before and offer a somber reminder of the lives lost in the monster attack just months ago. Smaller, sample sizes of these desserts will be available for purchase, which also grants people access to one vote for their favorite dessert.
As the lantern festival comes to a close almost a full day later, the lights clear a path to the river, where countless people will be stretched out and looking skyward for this year's fireworks. Loud, symphonic music featuring some of New Amsterdam's most popular composers will play throughout the area, synced up with the bombastic explosions themselves.
Most of the six newcomers will have hopefully been gathered long before the fireworks go off – but anyone else is free to enjoy them and the festivities leading up to that final conclusion. The festivities vary in nature, from a place for someone to claim a lantern of their own with a wish, to using UV paint to legally cover the ground in unique symbols and lights, to joining competitions where people place chess and checkers for a wider audience. Each of these activities is monetized, so don't expect anything to be for free.
There will be several new and persistent additions along the most likely path to the festival from the safehouse: small, man-made shrines that have appeared just hours before the dense layer of lights settled over the city. Depending upon their makeup, these shrines vary in structure, size, and design, but have several unique, persistent similarities between them.
Some of the shrines are fully formed, with candles lying underneath them, and cloth blankets acting as an overhang for the art within. At the heart of each of these shrines is an image of a person, with a large, upside down triangle projecting from their chest – blue and noticeable – with their arms spread wide. Some of these triangles project from the chest as if a piece of a 3D pop-up structure, while others are simply a part of the image itself, a flat, smooth surface. Beneath them, there will be a scene from a familiar event for anyone who's been here for a while: a car flying into a monster's mouth, a person healing someone else, bright blue eyes and fingertips, showing the artist's personal interpretation in motion. Any of the cloth is covered in geometric symbols, intersecting circles and triangles, many of them in specific and particular patterns.
Other shrines are two dimensional in nature – painted, to be more specific, on the walls themselves – both hidden bits of scenery meant to blend in with the surroundings, or large and spread out, splashing wide arrays of colors and symbols. Whoever set up many of these artistic displays had a special paint and familiarity with the lantern festival lighting, as it draws special attention to the blue light that pours out of the people featured, whether it comes from their eyes, mouths, or the traditional chests. Silver and gold geometric symbols stretch around these images, framing the scene portrayed.
These additions aren't only located near the safehouse, but that's where they're concentrated for now. Within days, they'll be elsewhere: on walls in oft-frequented public restrooms, behind popular nightclubs and bars, and just about anywhere else – popping up and coming down as people tire of their presence – or are simply bothered that they're there at all.
Access to the safehouse is a hatch hidden behind stacks of empty storage shelves in the back of an abandoned supermarket in an outer district of the city. The immediate area is similarly abandoned, empty stores, flanked by several blocks of dive bars and clubs which cater to more niche tastes. A place where people can come and go unseen, or, if seen, not spoken of. A dark haired woman called Gaby is ready to greet the new arrivals and get them settled in, brusque and no-nonsense – she'll be open for in depth questions later, but will advise everyone to ask the people who brought them in for the beginning bits of information.
◉ The safe house is a large open space, filled with rows of basic cots set up to sleep a large amount of people. Basic, but outfitted with everything necessary for daily life. A few doors lead to back rooms for storage, medical care and a large communal bathroom, and past the long rows of cots there is a communal kitchen, fully stocked, and an eating area. Privacy is at a minimum.
◉ New characters will be asked to pick their beds, and provided with a change of (second-hand, mismatched and somewhat threadbare) clothes and basic toiletries.
◉ While there were previously also NPC occupants of the safehouse, natives to New Amsterdam, these people have now been moved on to somewhere safer. A few of their belongings remain, discarded or accidentally abandoned.
◉ Gaby will make it clear to all new arrivals that if they have any requests or queries, they should contact her or El.
◉ The drugs making new characters compliant will remain in their systems for a few hours after their arrival at the safehouse before finally beginning to fade. They will be gone entirely after a night's rest. In the meantime, they may want to be careful of what others say to them.
◉ New characters will be given rudimentary access to the network on arrival in the safehouse, but will not have their ID set up yet. They will be able to make posts and replies, but their messages will be anonymous and they do not have inboxes yet.
◉ New characters will not be allowed to leave the safehouse until SEPTEMBER 7. These 4 days are for them to adjust, learn about the world they've arrived in from their fellows, and for El to speak with them and work on setting up their IDs.
Welcome to Meadowlark, newbies! You're now free to post to the network and logs comms. To reiterate, your characters will have no IDs or inboxes, nor be allowed out of the safehouse until September 7 (January 14). At that point it's expected they'll have gotten a good idea of their new situation from their fellow characters, and will have discussed their background and job potentials with El in order for their false IDs to be set up.
If you have any questions or ideas about how you'd like to get your character involved in the world, or if they'd like to join Morningstar, please head over to the plot engagement post and drop us a comment! For questions specific to this log, there is a thread below.
Please check out our January calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month.
As a reminder, AC for new characters accepted in December and January will be 10 comments across 2-4 threads, while current characters will need to provide the full AC of 20 comments across 2-4 threads. AC will be posted on January 20 and close on January 27. If you do not reply to AC, you will be considered idled and dropped from the game. We will not post a warning list.
no subject
time to "short it out".
except when he tries, it feels like instant karma striking him in the chest. it starts as an odd tightness, making him wince and push himself further, but the more he attempts to use his sister-given ability, the more his heart feels like it's caught in a painful vice grip. then the burning kicks in and hei has to take a knee, palm slamming angrily into the metal of the door.)
Damnit. (breathy, having felt this before and not too long ago — months without use of his electricity.) I can't get us in. Smash it, you can do it.
(his eyes cut to the left, then up, indicating the door with a tilt of his head.)
Like it or not, you're in this. If we don't get it open, we'll be sitting ducks while that guy down there gets carted off to the hospital.
no subject
Did you just try to use a power? [He's never seen that before. Calls to mind a conversation, Loki's opaque riddles, the portal in the chest. All of it is just too weird.
Commanded to smash the lock, Cain gives his head a rapid shake.] No, I - think I got a better idea.
[He moves forward again. One hand raised, thoughts concentrated into a tunnel (not that different from how he feels in the seat of a cockpit), Cain focuses on the lock. His chest glows that eerie blue. As Kara taught him to, like tapping into some deep and mysterious recess - he closes his fingers - the lock vanishes, immediately reappearing in midair... directly over Hei's foot. It clatters on top of his toes. The door clicks open, no longer barred with the lock quite literally ripped off.]
Dunno if that triggered anything, but... safer than busting it.
no subject
instead of demanding an answer, hei watches. cain stands before the door like he'll pray the lock away, but he knows better than to think that after facing countless soldiers with the ability to blast holes through six inches of solid steel, turn elastic bands into beams of energy, make bubbles blown from soap explode. in one moment the pad is there and the next it's not, landing on his foot that makes him jerk back in surprise.
it's impressive. highly. alarm or not, it's gotten them an escape route and cain's saved his ass again.
but which is it? a cutting power? rejection of an idea? matter displacement? any one of them could account for this, but he doesn't want to stick around to find out which it is. his logical half takes over, bolting for the other side of the building with his heels planted against the barrier keeping him from falling off.)
Safer, huh? Tell me how you just did that — (pointing past him to the open door.) — and why I can't.
no subject
Dunno. Maybe you're just not special.
[A sharp reply, and not one he fully means. Evidently everyone will have a power. Hei can find it out for himself.]
Whatever you could do before doesn't matter. Right here? [Lifting a hand, Cain taps at the middle of his own sternum, feeling bone... nothing else to signify the ambiguous blue glow somewhere deep below.] That's the reason. So don't bother trying.
[The glance turned toward that open door is one of anxiety, best translated into agitation.] Shouldn't we go?
i hate this tag
I see. So my abilities are being suppressed by something in our chests? (fairly normal start to his breakdown of what's happening, which turns out to be a stunning precursor to the worst thing anyone's ever said to someone else jfc.) Don't you want to crack me open first? See what's inside?
(that's what he'd do, if he had the proper tools and a medical kit. with something thin like the tip of a dagger, not deep enough to kill himself but deep enough to strike something that might be rattling around in there. getting this implant out of the back of his neck is high on his list of priorities, too.
but cain makes a good point. they should be leaving. hei gestures to the door with an open hand, raising his chin.) Go on. I don't trust you; I'll follow.
i love it enough for both of us
That makes two of us, asshole.
[Trust isn't something extended easily. And not after the violence he'd witnessed down in the street. It's clear this isn't an ordinary man, given whatever he'd tried on the lock - but Cain's beginning to realize so many of them aren't. Is that the reason behind their multidimensional kidnapping?
He reaches to pry open the heavy rooftop door and peer into the darkness of an empty stairwell. There's no light; they'll have to be careful. Cain takes a few first steps down, gloved fingers following the handrail.]
Anyway, somebody already tried that. To get into our chests. [He glances back briefly to see the silhouette of Hei framed by outside light.] Didn't work. There's no hardware in there.
no subject
no shirt, it's cooler inside. hei rolls his shoulders and tries to ignore it, footsteps almost silent behind cain.)
Sounds like those drugs did more than make us obedient dogs.
(whatever. they can fill him with poison, but the emotional connections are irritating. putting it lightly.)
That's the third time you've called me an asshole now, do you want to make it an even four? (surprisingly sounds like banter, stilted but it helps hei get a better idea of him.) I'm doing what I need to to survive. What would you have done different in this scenario?
no subject
[Yeah, let's go ahead and make it four. Banter's returned with a sharp edge, always down to bitch at people. Especially one who's turned into a nightmare of an event.]
My guess, they had us under for a long time in order to install all that tech, in our heads and... whatever the fuck, in our chest. And if I were you? Not beat that guy like - I don't know - I wanted to kill him as fast as possible.
[In the dimly lit stairwell, Cain glances back again, seems to realize that's unfair. Survival at any cost is something he can understand, if different from the influence of compulsion.]
You wanna tell me how you learned to fight like that?
no subject
(his self-preservation instincts kicked in after the first punch, carried him through to the second, third, tenth. cain will understand it eventually, that overwhelming fight or flight that takes control of the body and forces it to make the decision that'll protect it the most. if he doesn't already. seems scrappy enough, trained by the looks of him.)
I fight the way that I fight. It's no business of yours. (the vaguest possible answer.
hei's quick down the stairwell, only a couple of steps behind him at all times, loathing how tired the muscles in his legs feel already. how many storeys is this building? how many more floors to descend?)
Do you know anything more than I don't about the people who kidnapped us?
no subject
Hei's question comes periphery to his steady focus forward, watching his feet in the dimness as he skips down concrete steps at a quick pace.]
Nope. Get used to the disappointment. We don't know shit.
[The stairwell is lit by dull, red emergency lights which reflect off indicator panels labelling floors - the descent seems unless, until finally he sees a 3 on the wall, then 2, then 1...
They're met by a heavy firedoor, EXIT signage above in bright block letters. Cain stops to catch his breath in a few quick inhales.] Which side of the building does this face? We gonna walk right back into that alley? [It's something he should have considered up on the roof, but Cain's makes his decisions with little foresight, living in the momentum of one action to another.
He glances back at Hei, eying his suspicious state of undress as if to evaluate their luck making it past the officers.]
no subject
ah, hei didn't get his name.)
Your jacket... it'll do, if we don't want to draw attention. I'll return it when we're through here.
(slowing on the steps behind cain, well within arm's distance on the plateau of the first floor. ground level. he's right about the cops and he's not too sure which direction they're working with, but they have a one-in-four chance of hitting the worst one. the risk gets higher knowing his shitty luck.
gestures to his new best friend.)
Tell me your name while you're at it.
no subject
Tell me yours first. Or I'll just keeping calling you 'asshole'. Hey, maybe you're cool with that.
[It's petty, but he doesn't care, shucking off the sleeves of the jacket meanwhile to reveal bare skin underneath. Normally it's too hot to wear, but the packed crowd of the festival drove in a desire to cover up, lest he cross paths with someone capable of tuning into the empathy link.]
no subject
(ignoring cain's obvious irritation, he's waiting with an outstretched hand and waiting to grab it away from him. he expects some resistance, so there's a strong tug that goes along with it, a flap to shake the leather out, and an immediate hook of his arm into a sleeve.
jesus christ, it's warm.
the jacket looks so stupid with the white pants, but the last person who'd give a shit is hei who seems ready to go with a ziiiiiip, leaving the collar open wide at the neck.)
I won't be following you to your destination, so you don't have to complain about that too. Do I have to tell you to walk forward with confidence and avoid making eye contact with anyone who might stare?
no subject
[He says it to ingrain the memory, but the name feels sharp on his tongue, like a piece of metal. His fingers slacken as the jacket's snatched up - Cain looks after it as though wondering whether he'll see it again. Hopes so, because a tight budget doesn't mean much spending on nice clothing. It's a good jacket.
Leftover in a sleeveless muscle shirt, he feels bare if blessedly cooler.]
Don't gotta tell me anything, [said blunt and dismissive as he turns around to pry open the heavy firedoor, then steps aside.] Ladies first.
thisis the worst tag
and hei doesn't like to be found and caught. not as easily as he was the first time, despite having no recollection of his own kidnapping.
so he formulates a plan that'll shake his tail in the crowds of the lantern festival. it involves cain's invitation to head out first, wordlessly accepting the offer with a grunt of protest and a pointed stare if the man steps up too close behind him. he needs space, refusing to needlessly hurt his mysterious benefactor even if it'd be an acceptable loss if cain somehow got his fingers jammed in the exit door. because hei's quick to slam it closed the second he makes it onto the street, gritting his teeth with the effort it takes to hear the door click shut.
after that he strikes out at a walk, fast, stepping out onto the street. away from any police who might be watching the front of the apartment building, away from cain who may still be following him. the collar of the jacket's flipped up to shield his neck, ducking around a tray of desserts that wobble with his interference, and hei slips away into a cheering throng of people celebrating a new year and a new life.)