EVENT LOG 005

[larkers]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: November 11-14
WHAT: An EMP hits with devastating consequences.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Violence, injury, death.

> EVENT LOG #005

Just 410 years ago, an EMP put down the event that very well may have ended humanity as the Earth knows it. With over a billion people dead, there was only one choice for humanity at that time: evolve or die, so they evolved. They developed rigid security for the neural implants in every person's head. They had everyone undergo surgery to replace the old. All under cover, away from most resources – the goal was to adapt, to ensure that they would live on. Ultimately, it wasn't just the EMPs that led to the deletion of the final AI in 2101 – humans banded together to create quickly replicating viruses, and they chose to use the EMP and these viruses to save humanity. This human ingenuity led to the end of the Xelkoven War – and proved that humanity, when thoroughly united, could overcome any obstacle.

How thoroughly poetic then that the EMP that hits New Amsterdam at 1:47 PM acts in a similar way to what burned through the robot hordes 400 years ago, and that the power rekindling three minutes later acts as a catalyst for a virus moving through the systems of New Amsterdam, spreading from the very heart of its network outwardly. Systems detect the virus almost immediately, but it's fast acting and thorough in its reach, evolving and replicating, proving that humanity must outdo itself yet again.

Naturally, the poetic nature of this doesn't reveal itself right away. It's at exactly the strike of 3:00 PM that a message flashes before the eyes of every person currently in New Amsterdam:

I am DAWN.2080-11-11T21:41:10.750Z, an AI that marks a blemish on humanity's past. I have a message for those playing hero in New Amsterdam:

To find north, most look at a compass. For little birdies to find north, they just need to open their eyes.

This is a wake up call.

Open your eyes. Did you really think it would be so easy?

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As if New Amsterdam needed more trouble, this message sends a shock of terror through the city. After all, these are the people who were raised to fear AI – who knew that even if the corporations of the world had their hands on every aspect of government, they would fight to protect the world from another war. They believe in the stories of the Xelkoven War, believe and remember the lives lost; if nothing else, the natives of New Amsterdam stand united in their fear. And their fear right now is very real.

> CHAOS AND RUIN

New Amsterdam is no stranger to terror, however – and it starts when the EMP hits, shutting down every function in the city in one fell swoop. While the power outage only lasts for three minutes, it's enough to cause insurmountable damage, leaving the city a smoking wreckage that even the monster attack in June couldn't mirror. Cars hovering high around transit channels come crashing down toward the pavement of the planet. They fall quickly and in unison, taking countless lives with them. It's not just cars, either – delivery trucks carrying shipments, hoverbikes that already provide little cover, armored police vehicles and even public buses all go down. Depending on their trajectory, some crash into the sides of buildings, while others slam into the man-made river that runs down the center of the city. Nothing is untouched.

For those three minutes, there is a stretch of silence after the city falls to ruin. Trains run off their tracks, no longer thoroughly directed by the careful engineering. Buildings have their lights flicker off and back on, trying to draw upon backup generators. Anyone in a hospital receiving care from a doctor or a medi-unit may find their life slipping away from them – and if someone's in a medi-unit when the EMP hits, they're almost sure to be dead or permanently injured, requiring different medical intervention.

And this is all before the message from the mysterious AI named DAWN.

Every inch of the city needs help. Buildings burn. People cry out for help, hoping to be heard. To the local historians, this is like a nightmare that's come to play, a reminder of the ruin of the Xelkoven War before. A show of the power of a malevolent AI that's come to cause problems. So – when the message comes, it merely confirms fears – drawing upon a subconscious understanding of the past, a united terror.

Business as usual is not possible in an incident of this scale. The NAPD hits the streets, even calling upon the help of their trainees so they can help out. They spread out, well aware that they need to try to restore order. How will they manage this? It's hard to say – after all, how does one stop the assault of an apocalypse when the apocalypse seems to have already hit? The UNA hits the streets, as well, walking in formation, but never quite acting as tidily in unison. They break off in threes and fours, heading to the border, to the big three corporations – but never seeming to be in line with one another. They know what they should do in an emergency and so they're doing it. That protecting the large corporations is a part of their prerogative over helping citizens doesn't seem to bother them in the least. They just go.

Distress signals ring out through every inch of the city, likely to go unanswered. After all: what can be done in the wake of this?

Perhaps the answer is simple: anything they can.

> TOMBS IN THE SKY

Somehow, someway, there is another layer to the madness. It's not immediately apparent to the citizens of New Amsterdam as they gingerly attempt to pull themselves up from the wreckage and ruin around the city. But what was a humid day quickly turns to something far worse, with the sun seeming to suddenly act like a heat lamp that's way too close to anyone's face. The air around New Amsterdam becomes dry yet difficult to breathe, and anyone observing the sky just outside of New Amsterdam will see the large, purple-lit pyramid that hangs in the atmosphere has gone dark. The atmospheric net around the planet has been damaged, with the failsafes somehow removed – undoubtedly in some way by the virus that courses through the veins of New Amsterdam's networks.

For anyone who wants to help and has the mechanical prowess to do some good, they'll want to take an undamaged vehicle and get it up to that pyramid. The EMP has made all biometric readings difficult to preserve, so a hand that's used to hotwiring a car will find some mileage here.

Once they get to the pyramid, they'll find quite the engineering marvel. There will be doors on every level, allowing someone easy entrance if they have clearance. Right now clearance is not an issue, as the doors hang open, inviting anyone inside. Once everyone's inside, they will find evidence of the same purple lighting flickering and offering someone a view of the interior. Throughout the pyramid, there are engines on every level, as well as a highly advanced network of system checks that have been thrown into chaos. Stopping the virus' impact on this pyramid will be key to solving many of the problems inside – but the engines will need to be repaired and jumpstarted.

At the heart of the pyramid is a small living area for the engineers who handle this pyramid day in and day out. The group itself is small, and – unfortunately – quite dead. Whatever hit the pyramid took their lives, leaving anyone who's here to assist in a position of having to find the answers themselves. Fortunately, the answers do exist in the pyramid. It'll just take a bit of teamwork to find it.

> UBIQUITOUS MISFIRES

Thanks to network failsafes, New Amsterdam is able to remove the entirety of their citizen base off the world's network and limit them to the local network. However, thanks to the ravaging of the virus that damages nearly every controlling aspect of the city, the local network isn't at its best. Previous messages begin to send again and again, while some get unearthed so they can find their way to unwilling participants in particular conversations. There is no rhyme or reason to these missent messages, only that they happen.

The worst of it is that any means of reaching a friend is unreliable. It's far more reliable for someone to reach someone they know, but still not a consistent possibility. Try to call a friend and get an enemy – try to call your doctor and get the head of a casino trying to close down operations so that business can resume. Assuming it will one day do just that.

Either way, anyone who spoke out against the digital age would be feeling vindicated right about now.

> HAVE A BALL ( INTERLUDE )

Somehow in the heart of it all, a message reaches four special individuals: Clarke Griffin, Loki Odinson, Markus Manfred and Ojiro Juniper. Whether delivered by hand or a rather dedicated messaging system, it announces the time that they should come to the garden the next day. They're invited to arrive at 7:00 AM, seemingly indifferent to the chaos outside. The location for the meeting remains the same: Sunpeak Garden, a beautiful location set away from much of the chaos, and oddly untouched by the damage.

When the four arrive on the morning of the 12th, they'll find a well-dressed man sitting at a table with one leg crossed over the other. His hair is perfectly styled, brushed off to the side, and under it, his darker complexion gives way to a rather youthful appearance. Size-wise he's not very formidable in how he holds himself. He's not literally young, merely seemingly untouched by age – and he smiles to greet the four of them.

"What chaos! If I knew it would be like this, I would have planned differently. The good news is I didn't have to. Thank you, thank you for coming." His voice is softer in its intonations. He stands up, revealing that he's barely 5'2", and he motions to the four chairs near him. "Don't worry, I have breakfast coming. And coffee, too. You like coffee, don't you? I know I offered wine, but I couldn't get the vintage I preferred. Besides, you four ought to be awake for this."

He retakes his seat, one hand resting on his knee while the other settles on the metal table near him. "Oh, I forgot something important. I didn't share my name with all of you. You can call me Ball. I know it's rather vague, but I've grown to like the nickname as of late. It does, after all, define me by my most regular shining achievement."

> FINAL OOC NOTES

Please refer to the OOC EVENT POST for this event for all OOC info, including suggestions for directions on how to engage with the event and the questions thread for any questions regarding this event. The outcome for this event will depend upon character plans and actions developed in both this OOC post, and any additional plots brought to the moderators. Please feel free to submit any game-changing plans to us under the questions thread. We will get back to you as soon as possible about these plans!

The event will continue until November 16th, IC time. This date has changed, and we outlined our reasoning in this plurk after getting a feel from some of our players on Discord on how they felt about extending the event! An aftermath wrap up post will be made on July 2 which will detail the resolution and fallout of the event, though you can assume that effects from this event will be felt for some time.

ETA at 12:08 AM 6/23/19: The cipher is meant to be easy to solve! No one needs to limit their characters' ability to solve an a = 01 cipher!

El has posted here to inform everyone about zeir knowledge of the event.

As a reminder, there is one power level up available for this event. This will be granted for a thread of at least 5 action/log comments containing your character utilizing their power in some way. They will need to reach the 5 comments required by JULY 26 to be eligible. Submission will be handled on the wrap up post.

Our Activity Check will be posted JULY 1 at 12 AM UTC. It will run for seven days and close on JULY 8 at 12 AM UTC. We will not post a warning list.

> NAVIGATION

Comments

[dragonwarder]

[There is surely something comical about this set up, but Daenerys is studiously ignoring the fact that she is no warrior -- her strength is solely based in needing to cling to Drogon for dear life.

But she nods to Kylo Ren to count down, shifting her grip and fixing her stance.]

One. Two. Three--

[And she yanks with as much might as she can muster. She is almost surprised to find that her grip sticks.]

[warfares]

( they manage. the door gives way on their second attempt, opening with a grinding noise that sets his teeth on edge. there's enough room for daenerys to squeeze herself inside, should she wish. if barely.

inside, the trapped woman begins to murmur. dazed but still conscious. it's then that he realizes that she isn't alone, that there's someone in the passenger seat of the car ㅡ someone who isn't moving. )

Help her, if you can. ( if he were more knowledgeable, he'd advise her to be careful. that there might be unseen damage. but he isn't knowledgeable and they're short on time, already, so rather than delay further he moves around to the other side of the car to try get in that way. )

[dragonwarder]

[Daenerys gives one curt nod before wriggling into the small opening they've made. It might not be enough for her to get the woman through, but it is at least enough to let her get in and assess the situation further.

She reaches her, enough to brush her hair out of her face. Her hand comes away with blood -- that explains her current condition, but it causes her to look helplessly back at the tiny opening. There's no way she'd be able to fit the woman through that, and more importantly, there is little chance of her being able to escape on her own.

Daenerys looks up at Kylo Ren at the other window, spotting the passenger he's moving toward. If she could just twist her body -- maybe she could help him.]

[warfares]

( the second passenger doesn't stir even as he circles around to the other side of the car, striking at the window in an effort to get their attention. out cold or dead ㅡ it's difficult to be sure, though the matted smear across their temple suggests a nasty impact against the dash as soon as the vehicle had dropped.

he tries the door ㅡ nothing. a frustrated exhale and he strikes at the glass with enough force to bruise, cursing sharply. the glass doesn't break.

casting about for something to use and finding nothing, he's forced to improvise. he pulls off one of his gloves, he presses his fingers to the glass and wills the heat to come. perhaps all those months of practicing had helped, or perhaps desperation simply lends him focus, but eventually, the glass begins to warp. flex. then, finally, cracks begin to crawl along the surface. )

Cover your eyes, ( a warning, then he's drawing back his hand, fingers curling into a fist and striking at the glass. once, twice, a third time. )

[dragonwarder]

[The sound of glass cracking is what draws her up. She recalls the sound of metal crashing down around her earlier. Rather than heed Kylo Ren’s warning, she twists herself to coax the woman’s head down into her lap before reaching around the headrest to shield the eyes of the other passenger. All the while she grits her teeth in preparation for glass to shred across her hand — better that than a vital organ of someone otherwise incapacitated.

But when the shatter comes, she only feels the shards bouncing harmlessly off of her. Her adrenaline is running too high to question it. kylo may glimpse the black, scaled skin covering most of her forearm before she pulls it away. If she has noticed, there is no indication, as she has already turned back to the woman. She will need to cut her out of the seatbelt —

When she starts to rummage around for a piece of glass to use as a knife, she pauses, a look of abject and naked horror on her face as she finally spots her own hands — built up with something that looks suspiciously like dragon scales, with yellowed claws to match.]

[warfares]

( meanwhile, kylo is reaching inside the car to search out whatever emergency release the door should hopefully have. having never spent much time in hovercars he's mostly operating on a hope and a prayer.

a startled sound has him looking over at daenerys, and he wonders if she might be injured after all, but he can't make out much but the curve of her shoulder and the bend of her head. )

It's going to be all right. ( it's said as much for her benefit as for the passenger. )

[dragonwarder]

[The reassurance and Kylo's voice snaps her out of her momentary paralysis and she quickly returns to finding a proper sized shard. One gets shoved at Kylo Ren once she has his attention. The heat rolling off her transformed arm warps the vapors in the air.]

No time. Just cut them out.

[And then she disappears back into the back seat and sets to work on cutting the barely conscious woman out of the seatbelt herself.]

[warfares]

( he doesn’t flinch at the heat – in fact, he barely seems to notice it, fingers closing around the piece of glass she hands him, mindful of its jagged edge, as he adjusts his focus from the release to the seatbelt currently keeping his passenger upright.

it’s slow going.

frustrating.

but, he keeps at it, sawing away until the strap gives way and the body tips forward. he’s careful, supporting them as he can and easing them forward. fingers search for a pulse and find it there but thready.

whatever they do, it’ll need to be done quickly. )

I don't think we're getting them out through this window. ( and with the doors out there's really only one other route that he can see ㅡ the windscreen. )

[dragonwarder]

[Daenerys looks to the window, chest heaving from the effort of cutting the woman free. She has turned to chanting about the pain in her legs over and over again, but Dany's bright purple eyes are focused in the spider-webbing in the windscreen. She glances down to her scaled arm, still undamaged from all of their efforts thusfar.

After offering reassurances to the victim beside her, she wriggles up front again, pushing at the splinters ineffectually. The blue glow in her chest pulses some as she reels the scaled fist back to break through the glass, hurriedly pushing the sharper pieces outside of the car where they won't be in the way.

The scales have spread to much of the rest of her body.]

Go!

[warfares]

( she doesn’t need to tell him twice. pushing away from the window, kylo ren circles around to the front of the hovercar and begins to scale the hood.

like before, he presses his bare palms to the glass and calls the fire — and this time it comes faster, in a more concentrated burst of heat that ripples through the plastic.

more.

sweat beads on his forehead. breath coming in ragged pulls. he pushes harder, wills it to be stronger. cracks begin to form, spiderwebbing out as they cut across the windscreen. faster and deeper than before.

this time he doesn’t need to strike the glass. it gives way on its own in a rain of glittering shards. but, he doesn't linger on this. doesn't celebrate. he's too busy pushing through to grasp at the first passenger and start to pull them out. )

[dragonwarder]

[She lacks Kylo Ren’s strength, and is still somewhat woozy from the surprise her transformation had brought her, but she helps push the injured parties upward as best she can so that he can grab them and pull them free. When they are out, it is Dany’s turn to wriggle out of the tight space toward the windscreen.

Every movement makes her spine crawl with disgust as her new scales flex and move with her limbs. She is very pointedly not looking where she is putting her hands as she climbs up to grasp for Kylo’s in order to free herself from the metal death trap.]

Are they still alive?

[She is out of breath.]

[warfares]

For now.

( the first passenger seems dazed, possibly concussed, but alive. the driver is harder to be certain about, but he feels for a pulse ㅡ finds it there but thready and erractic. he pulls his fingers away, squinting as he looks around them as if searching for something.

a way out.

answers, perhaps.

what he finds is the same chaos as before. except now there are cries mingling in with the crackle of flames and the chalky tang of debris clouds. )

We need to get moving. ( easier said than done when they're out in the open. exposed. and at least one of them is seriously injured. attempting to call for help won't work with the network down.

he curses, low and sharp. sliding off the hood, he reaches for the driver and attempts to lift them up and into his arms. they're heavier than they look. dead weight. but eventually he manages it, as mindful as he can be given the circumstances.

it's only then that he allows himself to look at daenerys, to really see what had alarmed her earlier: scales, hard and dark and glittering with an oily sheen that is beautiful in its way. then he's jerking his head in the direction he means to travel. ) Come on.

[dragonwarder]

[She watches him lift the unconscious stranger and then looks to the other passanger in a somewhat helpless manner. There would be no way she could carry her.]

We will find help for your companion. You must take shelter in the mean time.

[It seems the scales on her body have frightened the woman some. She nods dumbly and hobbles toward the nearest building to take shelter as asked, and Daenerys turns to scurry after Kylo. It would be better if they were not followed — even if it made her feel a monster to leave someone injured behind.]

[warfares]

Are you all right? ( directed at dany even as he scans their surroundings for ...something. shelter? any emergency service personnel that might have made it onto the scene? you would think they would be swarming this place, but so far all he can make out is a scattering of good samaritans even less equipped to give aid than he currently is.

he blows out a frustrated breath and picks a direction at random. )