meadowlarklogs | ARRIVAL LOG 009

ARRIVAL LOG 009

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Tokyo
WHEN: October 10
WHAT: The ninth arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion and loss of autonomy. Further notes at end of log.

> ARRIVAL LOG #009

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 sharp, cold breeze that blisters your cheeks as you walk through a thick, cold snow. That soon fades, replaced with warmth. 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 heavy winter coats, water-resistant pants, and snow boots, hair recently cut but at various stages of growth and haphazardly tucked under warm winter hats. You're all 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, though due to the storm there's hardly any visibility through the 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, landing gingerly in the snow. 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, there's the sound of a high howling wind and that same blast of cold that signals at being somewhere else, combined with a sea of white as far as your eyes can see. 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, most of them climb back into the vehicle and close the doors. One stays behind, pointing you and whoever else is near you to one of the closest buildings. "In there," he orders, just before he interfaces with the doors and they slide open. "Stick around until your buddies come to find you. You'll know who they are."

Snow comes up to your knees on this city street, and you're left with no idea of where you are or why you've been brought here. But you'll feel compelled to move toward the building that the guard pointed at and step inside. In fact, you'll have no choice but to follow that order. Once you're in, he closes the doors behind you and hops back inside the vehicle. The engine powers up again, and then the large truck lifts up slowly and flies off.

Inside you'll find the lobby of what seems to be a corporate building. After taking note of the fact that there's a small group of other people dressed in similar clothes who are also confused about how they got to this place, you'll be able to warm up and try to figure out what's going on. For now, it's impossible to exit the building. The same door you came in won't open no matter what you try, so you're all stuck for now.

But don't worry, help is on the way.

◉ 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.

> WATANABE CORPORATE BUILDING

The message from El comes the same as usual: insistent, not waiting for any active attempt to open it. Scrolling within your vision as if being written while you're reading it.

I know you all were wondering what would happen if we had a batch of new arrivals while you're all out on your little field trip, but it turns out that they've all landed in New Tokyo too. They're holed up in the lobby of a corporate building, so make your way over and escort them to the PRESERVE dorms. Try for a warm welcome, okay?

At the lobby where the new arrivals have been dumped, they'll find that there's a check-in desk which is currently unmanned, and on the wall behind it there's a logo mounted which reads "Watanabe Corporation." There's no one to be found here and no one to greet them. The good news is that the building is heated, meaning that those heavy coats can probably come off for now. Further in on the ground floor, there's a set of six elevators that presumably lead up to the many floors of the skyscraper, but they're non-functional, and there don't seem to be any accessible stairs either.

For now, all the newcomers can do is make use of the comfortable chairs in the lobby and commiserate among themselves about what's going on. There's a water cooler and some cups to make use of as well, all of it made of biodegradable material, but there's only so much. Try to share.

The Displaced who received a message from El will have also received a GPS pin showing the location of the new arrivals. At this point, the promised supplies (which includes clothing appropriate for the harsh weather, along with additional foodstuffs to stock the dormitory kitchen) have come in compliments of PRESERVE. Everyone will be allowed to leave the dorms where they've been cooped up for the last two days to explore the city or go help out the newcomers.

Getting around a city covered in snow is a little more of a challenge. Going by foot is an option, although most of the streets haven't been shoveled yet and it will be slow-going. It's more feasible to make use of a hover bike. There's a garage connected to the dormitory that's stocked with twenty-some bikes. While they don't function perfectly well over snow and reckless driving with such poor visibility could easily lead to a cold and painful crash, it has to beat walking. If you don't how to drive, guess you'll have to find someone who does. (The bikes can seat two.)

> PRESERVE DORMS

With the help of the current Displaced, the new arrivals will be brought back to a dormitory building managed by PRESERVE. PRESERVE is a world-wide relief organization that focuses on environmental conservation and disaster relief. While a good number of Morningstar agents have joined up with PRESERVE thanks to their charitable activities and because they're UN sanctioned, it is not an organization that's affiliated with Morningstar. As a group, they are entirely pacifistic in their ideals – they believe the world can be saved through being conscientious.

The Displaced are here because they agreed to help PRESERVE with a very different disaster, but that's now a very severe and uncommon snowstorm. This is where they're all staying during the trip, so while this isn't anything close to home, it will have to do for now. A representative from PRESERVE by the name of Nico has been hanging around the dorms, ready to answer any questions from any of the Displaced, new or old. Nico is also a member of Morningstar, as well, though she'll be very hush hush about this fact when around her fellow PRESERVE members.

Newbies will be allowed to pick out additional clothes and gear from a cache of supplies (there's coats, thermal underwear, boots, scarves, hats, gloves, and anything else that would be needed to survive the intense cold), and they'll also need to figure out which of the rooms has an opening where they can sleep. It's four people to a room, with the use of two sets of bunk beds, and space was already limited before the newcomers got added to the mix. Hopefully peace can be maintained and there won't be too much fighting over who gets top bunk.

Other than the rooms, the dorm building has a kitchen, a large common area with comfortable couches and chairs, communal bathrooms, and a small, modestly stocked infirmary. There's also a viewing room which is a large space furnished with bean bag chairs and other comfortable things to lounge on, and a large blank wall that's meant to be used for group viewings of movies, shows, etc. This requires one character to "throw out" their feed from their neural implant onto the wall, and anyone who wanted to watch with them would need to sync up with their ID to watch along. Anyone not synced would just see a blank wall – and unfortunately, that does include anyone new.

There are other PRESERVE volunteers staying in this dormitory and milling about. Many of them already had supplies, so they've been in and out since the Displaced arrived.

◉ The drugs making new characters compliant will remain in their systems for a few hours after their arrival at the dorms 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 to the dorms, 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.

◉ Normally, new characters are confined to a safehouse for 4 days before they can leave and explore the city. Given that these newbies have arrived under unorthodox circumstances, that won't be the case for them. They'll be able to come and go from the dorms, but given that it's a frozen tundra outside, they'll at least want to prep first. At some point during this adjustment period, you can assume that El will contact them and work on setting up their IDs. There is no law enforcement around in these conditions, so anyone wanting to head out can.

◉ New characters won't be able to abscond to somewhere else in the world, as a lack of ID means no tickets or travel papers.

◉ While most businesses in New Tokyo are shuttered, a few convenience shops remain open near PRESERVE's dormitories because they know they can make money off volunteers. New characters won't have any means of paying, as they don't have a registered ID. They'll have to see if a kind soul will spot them the credits if they want something.

> RELIEF EFFORTS

With the new arrivals successfully recovered and supplies delivered to keep everyone warm in the harsh conditions, it's time to set out and fulfill the reason for everyone being here: to offer support and relief to the population affected by the harrowing storm. Nico will provide the Displaced with the information they need to get their boots on the ground and make a difference. There are a number of ways that she'll suggest to help out.

◉ First, she'll deliver a word of caution. While New Tokyo is a large, entirely steel city that runs deep underwater, most of its citizens have evacuated to the upper levels and are huddling down in various locations hoping for some relief. Heading deeper in the large city structure could prove dangerous. In this emergency, heating is centralized on the upper levels of the entire man-made metal city structure, while the lower levels are frigid and dangerous at this time. The only heating revolves around the trains coming and going, and their schedules have been largely delayed thanks to the storm.

◉ Delivering food, clothing, and medical supplies. With power cut off from most homes and all of the citizens having been cautioned to stay indoors and conserve warmth, there are a lot of people running low on food stores. Those who live in impoverished areas are even worse off, with little insulation in their homes. The threat of some people freezing to death is real, so getting the needed supplies to those people could allow them to hold out until power is restored or the storm has passed. Nico encourages people to travel to these neighborhoods in pairs for safety reasons, and again, the hover bikes will come in handy here. Supplies can be carried in heavy-duty backpacks or in a side-car attached to the bike, and all of this is provided by PRESERVE.

◉ Shoveling snow. For those of the Displaced who aren't opposed to grueling manual labor, one of the largest concerns is getting the major streets cleared of snow so that transportation is easier. The train lines also need to be cleared off so public transit can eventually be reinstated, so assuming they're not afraid of heights, the Displaced will get access onto the train tracks that crisscross above the city to clear the snow off. Some homes are also completely snowed in, trapping the residents inside, so those will also need to be cleared. There's no shortage of work to be done. PRESERVE will provide the snow shovels, and they have access to a single snow plow that can be used in shifts by anyone who's got a driver's license (also found in the garage). Nico will also hand out hot packs. Everyone should be bundling up, but in the event that someone takes a fall or ends up with too much snow-to-skin contact, the hot packs will help stave off the cold and prevent frostbite.

◉ Missing persons. There have been multiple reports of missing persons sent into PRESERVE, and the Displaced will be assigned particular people to go look for, if they let Nico know they're interested in this task. She'll give them the description of the missing person and their last known location. This could be anywhere within the city of New Tokyo -- a shopping district, a residential area, a park, etc. If they manage to find the missing person, they'll be instructed to take them to the closest PRESERVE relief center so they can receive medical attention and be reunited with their families.

◉ Restoring power. Turbines are jammed due to ice build-up past any conceivable norm, and need to be carefully thawed and given a jump from a backup battery pack. This is a highly dangerous, but necessary endeavor. The turbines are located offshore due to the fact that New Tokyo primarily generates energy through tidal power. When working correctly, these offshore turbines then feed energy into local sources within the city. For those who have any sort of experience with electrical work, they'll be directed toward areas in the city where covered electrical boards interconnected with the city's branched power source have been buried. They'll need to be cleared of snow, checked, reconnected, and made ready for when the turbines begin to flow again.

While the new arrivals are welcome to help out with these relief efforts if they wish, it certainly won't be expected, given that they're still getting adjusted to everything that's going on. They're allowed to stay in the warm confines of the dormitory building until everyone returns to New Amsterdam, if that's what they would prefer. As for the rest of the Displaced, there will be some expectation that they're going to contribute. That's the whole reason they came all this way, isn't it? And it's not like Nico knows that some of them didn't actually sign up for this.

> FINAL OOC NOTES

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 until October 14th (OOCly, April 25th). All posts they make on the network until that point will be anonymous. During this time 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, 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 April/May calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month, as well as some additional notes from the mods.

As a reminder, AC for new characters accepted in April 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 May 1 and close on May 8 at midnight UTC. If you do not reply to AC, you will be considered idled and dropped from the game. We will not post a warning list.

> NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( trust is a luxury that damon doesn't have the resources to expend on. somewhere in the back of his mind, he realizes he has to be pragmatic about all of this. he needs to be making allies instead of enemies and learning as much as he possibly can, preferably from someone that's been here a lot longer than he has. he doesn't bother apologizing to stop the rumors from circulating. why? they should be angry. they should all be ready to riot, not sitting on their hands like this is acceptable.

he separates from the main group of arrivals as much as he can, wandering farther into the lobby, not presently pacing but he seems like he wants to. he stops when a young woman approaches him and assesses her calculatingly. his gaze lingers on the jacket, prior to extending a hand and taking the offered garment. he doesn't need it but that's not the point. )

Thanks. ( quiet, thoughtful but not gritted out. see? progress. ) I'm Damon.

( a coat's hardly enough incentive to get him to go anywhere with her, yet he's tempted by the allure of information. )

Where else did you have in mind? At this rate, anywhere's better than here. ( even out into the blizzard. )

You're not the only one to show up like this.

[ She's drawing some assumptions in saying that. To Rey, 'this' means lost, confused, maybe even a little afraid. Stranded, that's for sure. But she hasn't met anyone else yet who doesn't feel the same powerless panic upon arriving here, even if they are sedated. ]

There's a dormitory with an organization called PRESERVE where the rest of us are staying. We came here to help offer relief for the blizzard.

[ And as far as she is concerned, helping the new displaced is a part of that mission. She gestures to the jacket, as if her explanation of their purpose gives it more context, justifies its place here. ]

We can give you a bed. Warm clothes. Food. And as many answers as we have.

Mm. ( comes his vague agreement, somewhat embarrassed. ) Does that mean you heard about the spectacle I made?

( "like this" is such a generalized, sweeping statement that he can't bristle. of course he's frightened. his memory is impeccable and he's lost an unknown portion of it from that last phone call in the woods with his brother to practically being shoved out of a drop vehicle. vehemence is easier; the desire for revenge fits better than the jacket she gifted him with but he slides it on, one arm at a time, and has the decency to appear grateful.

preserve—isn't that a little on the nose?

there's not much to consider really. stay here alone with the heating or go to the dormitory where he's promised answers ( and where he might even run into someone from home ). no contest. ) I don't need convincing, Rey. I've seen the stash here. There seems to be enough supplies to hold us over but other than the roof over our head, it doesn't look like the right place to bunker down. When do we leave?

Most of us have made our share of spectacle at some point. [ Rey, who has been getting comments on her social media account about fighting the monsters, certainly remembers that most of all. Not to mention the time she was almost arrested for fighting with Kylo Ren in public. ] You didn't hurt anyone. [ That's the important thing, as far as she is concerned.

So she nods her head towards the door and pulls her hood up. ]

It's a bit of a hike in the snow. We can talk while we walk.

( true enough in any life. the longer the existence, the more opportunities for things to get messy. he zips up the coat while she offers him what he imagines is meant to be consolation. he leans towards honesty. telling people what they want to hear is more his style when it comes to winning them over but he's not entirely in the mood. )

No, ( he confesses. ) But I wanted to. Whatever they did to me—to us—it's unforgivable. How is everyone so calm about this?

( regardless of what he feels, he follows rey without reluctance, even going so far as to gesture for her to lead the way. he won't hold her up with his objections to the idea they they can assimilate and everything will be hunky-dory. damon can be a team player. what she reveals to him on the hike may be enough to get him on board. he has his reservations. he can't picture a world in which he doesn't have doubts but maybe she came in that way as well. )

We're not calm.

[ She says this very resolutely, stopping even as they step outside, forgetting her own aversion to the cold, and meeting his eyes. Her expression is hard. ]

Don't think that we've forgiven anything. We just found different walls to hit.

[ They're not trapped in the Watanabe building -- they're trapped on this planet, and they have just as little to work with in terms of finding where they'd come from. ]

( damon nods, prompt and decisive, reassessing her. her resolution is precisely what he needs to hear. people aren't rolling over. he's volatile and unpredictable at best but getting the chance to direct it at something will keep him in check. he exhales, debating what to say next when ultimately, there's only one question he really has. )

Is this a good place to talk about those walls? ( he casts a skeptical look around. they're outside, sure, and that generally means words can't be tracked but while these conditions won't catch up to him, they will potentially get to her. ) Because I can pack quite the right hook.

[ Rey sighs, and nods for them to keep walking, stuffing her hands into her jacket pockets and leading the way through a very roughly cleared path through the snow. ]

I wish it were that easy. [ She looks around. Luckily, almost no one is out right now. The ability of anyone to observe them is pretty minimal. And besides, Rey isn't particularly good at being subtle anyway. ] We've been trying to figure out who did this, but all we have is loose leads. Once we get you to the dormitories, I can set you up with the guide we've put together to bring new drop-offs up to speed.

We know a lot, but next to what we need to find out, it feels like nothing.

( he falls into step beside her, matching her pace. the visibility isn't great outside, luckily for him. when the storm stops completely, he's going to have problems that start with f and end in ire. the faster they get to the dormitories she's speaking of, the better. he rubs absently at the empty spot on his middle finger where his daylight ring should be and looks skyward with minimal apprehension. he's tense, it's understandable. )

Does that guide of yours include how long it's been since the first group showed up here? ( looking for a needle in a haystack is par for the course the last two years of his life and longer than that, if he adds in how long he'd searched for a way to uncover the truth about katherine. he can play the long game. he wants a general timeframe is all. knowing how long it's been since the first person was abducted to the present helps him gauge how hopeless the situation is. )

It should.

[ She isn't sure that it does, come to think of it. She hadn't reviewed it too carefully after the first time, realizing she had little to add because she feels so out of her depth without the Force, in a new galaxy. But she builds herself up to what she can offer, which is-- ]

Four months. [ A pause, and then, ] I was one of them.

You’ve been stuck here for four months? ( he echoes right on back like a broken record. four months? months? he can’t be isolated here in this crappy snowglobe of a town for that long. he has things to do, amends to make, and a doppelgänger to save. that news inspires an erratic energy in him once more, gaze flicking back and forth, searching rey’s face for a flinch or some kind of tell.

he doesn’t find one and so he has no alternative but to keep going. )

Does it say anything about the people we know who aren't here?

No. But ...

[ Rey is so ready to share her conspiracy theory which has zero support as if it were confirmed fact. ]

They're here somewhere, in whatever facility we were being held in, pumped full of drugs. They have to be. [ She looks over at him, gaining momentum. There's something fervid and emphatic about her countenance now. Wild and charged with almost religious intensity. ] I was on my ship with other people the last thing I remember before waking up here. They couldn't have taken me alone. And two of my friends, they were here! They arrived just like this.

[ But she slumps her shoulders. ]

They both disappeared after. They must have been found and collected again. But one of them came back with no memories. I'm positive. They must have taken everyone I was with, and anyone you were with too. They're just being held somewhere, and if we can find out where, we can find them. Clarke is working on tracking the drug that's in people's systems.

( her theory gives him a slew of imagery that he’s unprepared for. elena hooked up to a series of tubes and monitors, somewhere out there, with her eyes closed like she’s asleep from a dream she can’t wake from. and worse, the potential outcome of never seeing his brother again because he’s locked up much in the same fashion. his mind jumps frantically from one scenario to the next as rey goes on with the kind of conviction of a person that truly and wholeheartedly believes what they’re saying.

the more he entertains it, the deeper his scowl gets and the more prominent the downturn of his mouth becomes. )

Slow down. Who’s Clarke? A doctor? Some kind of scientist? ( details are how damon processes the emotions he's driven by. he can't shape them into a weapon if he doesn't know where to aim them. he supposes he can see how tracking a drug can narrow down a location, perhaps down to the businesses that purchase those particular chemicals. ) How do you know all of this? What kind of proof do you have?

( on the one hand, he wants it to be true. he can imagine why should would want it to be. if it's more than a hypothesis, it's hope. it means tracking down the culprits and a reunion, all in one go. on the other, being a prisoner that's routinely experimented on is no kind of life. )

I was in the woods with three other people before I woke up here. I just got off the phone with my brother. If any of them are here, I have to know.

The proof of the drugs is in our blood. Clarke, who's training to be a doctor, identified them. Her and Stephen Strange, a doctor, have both done work trying to analyze where the drugs came from, but it's slow work.

[ She starts there. It's the most obvious place, and she realizes that she's overwhelming him. Once piece at a time. ]

And I told you how I know the rest. The last thing I remember, I was with all of the Resistance. When I arrived here, it was just me. But others from my ship were released eventually too. When they disappeared again, only one came back, and he was the same as any other being dropped off. Which means they were both scooped back up by the people who took us, and they must have been held in the same place.

We had to have been there for a while, so there must be some kind of facility. My hair was already starting to grow out from how they shaved it to put an implant in when I woke up.

( the drugs he believes without convincing. how else would they capture this many people? it’s an underhanded tactic that can be performed behind someone’s back and even the strongest supernatural being will go down with the right dosage. he meant what proof does she have of people being held there long-term, that when they’ve left they haven’t returned home. damon’s not sure which he thinks is better: the horrifying concept that his friends are imprisoned or that they’re facing the worse odds that are waiting for them back in mystic falls without him to do what needs to be done. )

But how do you know that? How do you know they’re being held indefinitely? Have you been back to the facility? Have you seen them with your own eyes? Has anyone?

( he doesn’t mean to jump down her throat but he wants the receipts. the hard copies. if they’re being scooped right back up and held, is there even a way out of this place? it’s disturbing, really, no matter which road he follows. )

I’m sorry. I’m just trying to wrap my head around everything. I know you don’t have all the answers. ( empathy isn’t his specialty but damon makes an effort and it isn’t a total lie to appear concerned. he is but not about being pushy when it comes to the truth. )

I -- [ She frowns. ] No.

[ But she's clearly very convinced of her interpretation, and frustrated that this person who just showed up is questioning it just as others have. ]

No, you haven't been back to the facility? No, you haven't seen them? ( empty answers for $500, etc. he's not trying to undermine rey but he doesn't know her and while she most likely doesn't have a reason to lie to him, not knowing her means he can't blindly put faith in her explanation. ) Or just—no?

I haven't seen them. [ It's like pulling teeth, getting her to admit this, and Rey is ultimately convinced that he's doing it on purpose to belittle her hope. It's easier than accepting that they're equally lost. ] I haven't ... seen any facility. No one has.

( there it is. the answer to his million dollar question. when he's in an untenable mood, his target is to tear people down. since he doesn't know her and he doesn't blame her, it isn't about that. it's about the truth, something that's left a bitter taste in his mouth for as long as he can remember. it's apparently no different here. )

It doesn't mean you're wrong, ( he offers, extending an olive branch. ) It just means you can't prove it yet.

( and if he leans into her theory even marginally, it's because he wants to believe his brother is within reach. )

How much farther to these dormitories?

[ She searches his face for pity. But he's not patronizing her, and he's not digging his heels in like Clarke had. So there's that. She has to hold onto it because she has to hold onto something. She nods faintly, silent and grateful that he's left it as a firm possibility.

Then she points up ahead. ]

Around this corner, then about half a block.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

ARRIVAL LOG 009

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