meadowlarklogs | EVENT LOG 005

EVENT LOG 005

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Huh, interesting. [These words are more a matter of his observation than anything else, things he passes along as she lowers herself to the ground slowly. He can still stick his landings stupidly well, but if he can't, he knows he has to be careful. Curaga isn't sitting in his back pocket as a cure all these days.]

There's a spell that we use to lift our enemies up and let them float. It does a little bit of damage, too. I thought you were using something like that. Of course, we don't have that much control. [Riku doesn't take care to specify the "we," but he means Sora.]

[ She assumes Sora, honestly. They're a unit. Romantic? Platonic? Unclear. ]

Make them float? I haven't tried that. Mostly, I hold them down. [ Keep them from moving. A more defensive strategy, sure, but effective. ] I can see how it would do damage. [ She studies the bike a minute, regarding it. Then she looks at some other, smaller pieces of metal debris.

Rey levitates it, trying to compress the gravity inward, but --

She can't. Not yet, anyway. Something new seems to happen, something she can't quite register, but it's not what she wants and she drops the metal pieces instead. She shakes her head. ] No luck. I'm trying to figure out if I have enough lift to get us up to the pyramid with it, but I think we're going to need cars.

[Riku turns and looks off in the distance of the pyramid. It's funny. When he got here for the first time and looked at it, looming off in the distance, he hadn't thought much of it. Sure, it was large and it stood out, but he took for granted the role that it had in this world. It seemed to be just a fixture of this world. And he's seen a lot of worlds with odd fixtures.

He shakes his head.]

It's a good idea, but I think that's too much to put on yourself. I understand the urge, don't get me wrong. But it's just ... [He looks thoughtful, and then back to Rey.] Save your energy. They're going to need you in more than one place. I'm not sure how these powers fully work yet, but they have limits. They're a part of us, and we can only do so much. Even when we're desperate and trying. You know?

[Riku isn't sure he's saying this right. But the point is: he gets it. He gets why she's trying.]

[ She looks at Riku, then at the metal pieces, and her shoulders sort of ... sag.

The Force hadn't been limitless by any means, but it had certainly been less confining than this. In part, she suspects, because this power seems to draw out of her, whereas the Force came from connecting with something greater. She's still trying to hold herself to her past abilities, striving constantly to get there—in part because of how much similarity there is in how it presents.

Doleful, she nods. ]

I'm used to being able to do more. [ It sounds like Riku is the same, if he's seen power like this before. A gravity spell? Presumably, he can't do that anymore. ]

So am I. [The lack of power messes with Riku's head, and he hates it. It threatens to take him to a bad place every single day, knowing precisely how useless he is. No, that feeling isn't a constant, not like it was when he was younger, but it's undeniable.]

My power here doesn't do much. [He reaches out, chest glowing, as his hand passes through some shadow. As it comes back out, he's holding a rock. It's not very impressive.]

Apparently I can turn shadows into elements, but I can't do much with them. It's just a handful either way. I can probably help out with water, but it's not like it's easy to dump it in a bucket if it's dependent on my hands. [He huffs.] Having it all back in the dreams doesn't make it any better now.

It does.

[ There's a spark of hope in the way she says it. Rey has been clinging to this, evidently. ]

It means it's only suppressed, not gone.

[ Which had just been a theory for her before, but as far as she's concerned, the dreams were confirmation. Somehow, the thing in their chest wasn't interfering there. Or at least, it wasn't interfering as much. ]

Huh. [There is a moment here where Riku looks at her after he makes the sound, eyes widening in understanding. Rey is one of those—someone who can find the good in the bad. Voicing his issues with his loss of power doesn't come easily, but he also meant it more ... flippantly. He had. Only her response makes him realize that wasn't the case.]

You can hold on to that? Even with what's going on around us?

It was hard at first.

[ she'll admit that. she felt more afraid than she'd ever felt in her life, waking up without the force. she'd known it was always there, passive, but she'd never realized how much she'd relied upon it in that way. it was like losing a limb or a sense. ]

But since the dreams, now that I know it's still there, not taken for good... I'm sure we'll get our old abilities back eventually.

[ it's not gone for good. and she has learned to manage without it. ]

I see. [Riku's not the type of person to say that without meaning it. But he uses it as a verbal filler, sincere or not, as he tries to think through his feelings on it. Maybe he and Rey see their powers differently. It's hard for him to really know.]

I'm not used to coming to worlds like this and being stripped of all that stuff. I have to admit—the dreams don't make up for what I can't do now. Out here. With all these people hurt.

No amount of power could erase all the hurt in the galaxy. [ Rey offers this up simply. It sounds a little bleak, but-- ] It's a part of life. All we can do is be there, give our best when it happens. Balance it, as best we can. If we let ourselves get hung up on what we can't accomplish, it'll get in the way of what we can.

Huh. [That's something he's thought about before. Sora wants to erase hurt, but knows he can't. Riku can usually remain objective about it, but it's never that simple.

Hurt is something that is a constant.]

I guess it's easier for me to remember that when I can do more. Sora's the one whose heart gets messed up by this ... usually, anyway. I guess my heart isn't immune to it in the end.

It's hard not to be discouraged by the loss.

[ she admits this, canting her head to the side. for months, she'd been devastated. knowing that it's still there makes all the difference because it's impermanent, and that's hope. it's just like what luke had given to the resistance on crait. ]

But as long as we have hope that things can get better, then we have everything we need. [ that's what leia had said, anyway. she's holding onto it now. it resonates with her now. ]

I'll have to remember that. [The more Rey speaks, the more Riku is sure that she's someone who can connect hearts and deliver hope. He's better as support to someone like that. When it comes down to it, that's what he'll do.]

Thanks, Rey.

Of course.

[ A heartened nod affirms it. And then she looks at her efforts to levitate heavier objects higher and just ... sighs. ]

I need to steal a car.

[ What a proclamation. But if she can't levitate what she needs to levitate, then this is her only option. ]

... Do you want me to help find one? [Riku will need to steal a bike at some point for all that he wants to accomplish. Maybe he can learn something along the way.]

Wait, can you do that here? With the whole—[He waves at the back of his head, indicating the implant.]

Oh, sure.

[ Rey waves her hand. ]

You can bypass that. It's not hard. I worked in a garage for a bit when I first came. You can learn it if you spend enough time with them. Besides. [ She squints at the sky, covering her eyes as if she's measuring the heat by the sun. ] I was at lunch earlier, when it started. No one could pay. I think the implants are affected by what's going on.

[ She drops her hand. ]

If you'll help me find one, I can teach you.

I can help you find one. Not everyone was in the sky when it went down. [A beat. Riku sounds at ease with saying this, but in doing so, he realizes what it means.] That's a good thing. We got lucky overall. [But Riku doesn't know who got hurt along the way.]

I think there's a street not far from here with parking and charging stations. That sounds like a good bet.

We can worry about the people who were in the sky when things are more settled.

[ She hasn't forgotten them. But she can't fix every problem, and right now, the Pyramid is where she can do the most. One step at a time. She nods down the street, indicating for him to lead the way. ]

For now, let's start with the charging station.

Come to think of it, there'll probably be a bunch of cars sitting there. Everything got its charge removed, right? [Though Riku wonders why there isn't protection for that. Maybe it's because whatever caused this, whatever did this, knew that they only needed to hit some limits.

It's hard for him to say. He's had certain Heartless turn off his abilities before, and that's the closest he can get to it. But some can ground him, while others limit what abilities he has, stripping him of his magic. Maybe this is just as nuanced.]

It's definitely the place to go. [Soon enough, they do get there. The charging station isn't lit up like normal, drawing someone in, but it's clearly functioning. A few cars are charging as expected, though from the debris on their windshields, they were probably here before the EMP hit.]

Normally, you have to have a key to get the hood open. Or a tool—something to jimmy it with.

[ She offers this commentary as she approaches one of the charging cars, glancing around casually to check if there's anyone nearby who hasn't evacuated to somewhere safer. It looks like they're clear. The station has been abandoned. She puts a hand under the edge of the hood to fiddle with the clasp, then uses her power to turn the locking mechanism with a 'click.' The only indicator that something unusual happened is the blue glow in her chest.

Rey lifts the hood. ]

You can do this from inside the car too, if you open up the dashboard. But if you can get the hood open, the easier way is to just force the engine to turn over, like the owner's ID would. The rest kicks in after ignition, and it'll keep going until you shut it down. [ She walks around to the driver's side of the car and starts picking through circuitry. ] You basically have to make it think it's receiving the signal from the right ID. That means bypassing the receiver.

So, it's about sending a signal to make sure it's being met in the middle. [Riku bends over the engine beside her. He takes note of the different wiring. Everything is precise and tidy, likely to make it so that there isn't anything that can get messed up. Despite being electrical, it's also obvious this car hasn't been run in a couple days. There isn't any heat being given off from near-recent use.]

Once everything is back online, that bypassing won't work the same way, will it? They'll be able to find it because it gives off a signal? [That's what he thinks, anyway. To him, it makes the most sense.]

Most vehicles have geo-tracking. [ Rey nods. ] Like ... a footprint. They're registered. I think it helps deal with crime.

[ That's the best she's been able to figure out, at least. It would never work in a galaxy as big as her own, but Earth seems happy with it as it exists presently. It serves a function, for them. Maybe on Coruscant, they have a similar practice.

She points out a smooth metal dongle, circular. It's wedged between two different colored cables. ] This works like a breaker in an electrical circuit. [ Just like physics! They've learned the basics for this. ] When it receives the right signal, it flips from an open circuit to a closed circuit, allowing the current through. That means when you try to turn the engine over, it'll work. So we just need to flip the switch manually. [ She pops open the metal casing. ]

[If there is anything that Rey has learned about Riku by now, it's that he's a quick learner. That's one of his many annoying features. Stupid (but not stupid) jock. Quick on the uptake. Overly observant. Thinking all the time, but cocky and abrasive when he feels like it.

So, he follows her instructions. He's taking pictures, too, with his neural implant. Filing away important information for reference. Hopefully no one hacks his head or anything. That would be annoying. But then, how would they know it wasn't his car? So ... that's fine. Probably.]

Do most engines look like this? I assume the ones inside of a hoverbike are similar, but smaller. Is that right?

Yeah. Hoverbikes are smaller. They have a single intake, instead of double. And fewer cylinders. Less power since they're lighter and don't need as much lift.

[ Rey rattles this off casually, comfortably reciting the differences. Over the part few months, she has learned the technical aspects of this world much faster than the social and cultural parts. Inside the casing, the wires wind over a receiver that's only vaguely reminiscent of old microchip technology.

She pulls the receiver out and hands it to Riku so he can examine it, then pulls the wires loose from their nested pattern in the casing. She pinches with her nails to peel away the wire insulation and expose the metal, then twines them together. ]

That easy. [ At least, when the implants are on the fritz and the infrastructure is destroyed, it's that easy. Most anti-crime measures revolve around deterring the act in the first place, not making it especially difficult. Getting away with it is the hardest part, and most people wouldn't do that math. Besides. She had cheated at getting inside a hood that usually would require implant access or licensure. ]

You've definitely got this stuff figured out. [The good news is that Riku can absorb what she's saying, though he'll make a note to double check some of the terminology later. That will make it easier for him to understand, and it won't put Rey in the position of having to play teacher. It's too bad that he can't look that up now, but that's fine. He'll remember—probably, anyway.]

Did you do a lot with this before you came here? And who taught you?

[It's not necessarily an interrogation. He's curious. Rey isn't much older than him, he figures, so the fact that she's as good as Chip and Dale and Cid is something. He wonders if she could make a gummiphone. Maybe? Or maybe that's a different skillset. Not really the time to ask either way.]

EVENT LOG 005

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