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

[ unfortunately, you weren't going to be able to maintain your secrecy for too long, cassian. not with as many men as have grouped up. illya can handle a lot of them but even someone with his level of power isn't going to be able to do it all.

still, he can feel the extra strength coursing through him, the anger flowing and energizing and he grabs the neck of one man who'd been coming at him with a pipe and slams him back against the wall hard enough to hear something crack. skull? back? he doesn't know, he doesn't care. ]

All I wanted was information.

[ the man spits in his face. illya slams him back once more and then drops him, ignoring the gurgling and moaning that comes from the downed gang member.

they were making a scene but he wasn't just going to let a group of low level thugs ambush him and his friend. roommate? no, friend works better. ]

[ he tries as long as he can!! but it's true, the secrecy ends virtually as soon as he knocks out the second man, and some of the other gang members point him out in the distance. ]

[ cassian suspects he's seeing illya's power in action, confirms it with the faint glow he catches coming from the other man's chest, because while the man has always been strong, what he's witnessing is another level of strength. ]

[ he finally steps out, no point in hiding, and one of the men charges at him. cassian doesn't use his power this time, just side steps and knocks him over to the ground. hand-to-hand is not his forte, but he's not bad at it. ]

[ a second man starts rushing over, but cassian lifts up a cascade of chipped cement and pebbles, sending it all flying in his direction and stopping him dead in his tracks while he cries out from the impact. ]

[ illya really hadn't wanted to cause a scene, to draw attention but with the amount of noise they're making and the amount of men that seem to be around, it's going impossible to keep this quiet.

someone jumps on on his back while he's thinking about this and illya wastes no time in grabbing for the arm around his neck and flipping him over. he lands on his back and illya puts a foot on his throat, threatening to push down.

someone flies at him from the side and manages to knock him off balance but illya responds by breaking his nose for his trouble. ]

[ hopefully this fight will just be brushed off as a typical gang skirmish. the sooner it's over, the better, though that's cassian's mantra for most battles and fights. with a little nudge from his hand, cassian hits a rock into the man on the ground's head, knocking out yet another before this one can climb back to his feet and attack illya again. ]

[ the next man comes at him with a fist, and cassian sidesteps, ducking his head before he swings his own arm. this blow lands without any help from the earth; cassian just hits him solidly in the spine, then kicks him over. not unconscious, but definitely down for the count. ]

[ fortunately by now the numbers are dwindling. ]

[ what men aren't lying on the ground regroup and try and form a united front. it would be easy for cassian to bowl them over with a well placed rock. but, that would take all the fun away from illya so he grabs two of them by the neck and lifts them, gritting his teeth as he slams them back against the wall.

they choke and squirm, kicking uselessly at him but illya just tightens his grip more and more until the men pass out. once that's done, he lets them drop uselessly to the ground and turns back around to see if cassian's been able to deal with the other men or if he's going to need assistance. ]

[ it's not just one rock. cassian lifts up a handful, scattering them up in the air above the rest of the men's heads. they hover briefly, before he lets them all go and they rain down in a rush. it's not as forceful, so it doesn't knock all of them out, so the last two scatter and bail, abandoning their unconscious friends and deserting the alley. ]

[ cassian takes a deep breath, but he listens carefully for a long few seconds in the quiet that follows. ]

What do you think? Should we let them go? [ because he can probably make use of one more rock. ]

[ his instinct is to say no. that they should take them all out to tie up any messy loose ends. but, most of the remaining men are injured and unable to defend themselves.

it wouldn't be a fair fight. ]

Yes.

[ but illya does step closer and puts a foot on the chest of one of the men that remains alive and awake. ]

Go home. Now. Don't waste this mercy we are both having on you.

[ he considers knocking them out anyway, but it's too close now. in the middle of the fight it might be easier to pretend he wasn't throwing rocks around, but it's too obvious with them standing up victorious. ]

[ the man struggles to climb to his feet, barely saying a word as he limps off, only sparing a single glance back before he disappears too. ]

[ cassian takes another cursory look around the area. clean sweep! it's not his fault they tried to kill illya. ]

We should not linger here either.

Agreed.

[ he gives the area one last look, checking to make sure they haven't left anything telling before nodding and stepping past cassian to lead him away from the scene. ]

Are you injured at all?

No. Nothing significant. [ if he is, it's so superficial that it doesn't even register, or maybe his pain tolerance has simply gone off the charts after the broken back incident. ]

[ he follows illya, barely giving another look to the men left in their wake. ]

Are you?

No, I am fine.

[ he's at a bit of a loss as to what to do now but he's fine. ]

Come on. We can walk back to the apartment and see if it's decided to allow us inside.

[ damn emp blast. ]

[ that counts as fine! probably. ]

Some of our neighbors keep throwing fits every time they are locked out.

[ and as frustrating as it is for himself, watching rich people lose their minds does almost make it worth it. they're so entitled, it's hilarious. ]

Their routines are being interrupted and they expect the world to bend to their will.

[ basically, they're pretentious jackasses. ]

They might have to sleep in the corridor. Perish the thought.

[ there's a pause. ]

I would consider paying money to see that.

[ imagining some of them sleeping on the floor might be one of the best things today and now he's going to be disappointed when it doesn't happen. ]

At least our building is still standing with minimal damage. They should be grateful for that much. [ but they aren't, because they're assholes. ]

They won't be.

[ because they're assholes. ]

They will be the ones thinking they need the assistance in the aftermath of all this. Not the people who are suffering in the streets.

I have already seen that first hand. [ they're so DEMANDING it's awful? every day with these people reminds him he hates rich people. ]

Our building has more than one generator. They could honestly stand to spare some. [ a beat. ] I have thought about liberating one or two, but they are too heavy to carry off quietly.

[ illya considers that for a moment as they walk before he says: ]

This might be the prime opportunity to take one. There is a lot of noise and confusion. I bet they would not be noticed as missing until it is far too late.

[ crime! ]

And you know they would not miss it too long after. It would be replaced within a day once someone finally noticed it was gone.

[ money! talks! even though that money could be used on the needy instead!! so really, this is sounding more and more like a good idea. ]

I do not suppose you could use that surprise strength of yours on it? [ oh yeah, he noticed that. ]

Edited 2019-07-11 05:12 (UTC)

It is not exactly something I'm keeping a secret.

[ the strength, at least. there are other secrets he is keeping, ones that he should probably confess especially after that. ]

I can most likely tap into it. [ easy to be angry today. ] Did you expect a fashion consultant to fight like that?

[ no? him either. ]

Then it is something we can try to genuinely plan, if you are interested.

[ crime time!! cassian is always down to fuck up rich people. ]

No. Not if you were only a fashion consultant, but I have to admit Daisy did already give that notion up too. [ not that he... wasn't already suspicious, but! ]

I'm interested. These people are going to get little help elsewhere.

[ so count him in for some crime.]

Did she?

[ dang daisy, you blabbermouth. ]

Did she tell you what I actually do?

[ go hard or go home when you're spilling the beans, daisy. ]

Once we get back to the building, we can look into the mechanics of it. [ IT'S GOING DOWN. ]

[ cassian looks vaguely apologetic, but at the same time not at all. ] No. She did not give any direct information, just that we both knew you were not really a fashion consultant. [ which he sounds amused describing. ]

And in her defense, I was already suspicious about the truth of that. But it was not my business. I have not been upfront about myself either. [ clearly! this fight has been a revealing one. ]

She might have suspected but someone actually told her what I actually do before I got the chance to do it myself. [ thanks, gaby. not that it changed anything but still. ]

Anyway, for the majority of my life I have worked for the KGB. [ which he knows will mean nothing to cassian so he moves to elaborate. ] I was and still am a spy.

[ was that the actual first person he'd said those words to in new amsterdam? he thinks so. ]

[ correct! cassian has no idea what the kgb is or means, but the follow up allows him to make assumptions about it. illya is a spy. ]

[ it makes sense. he picked up on the cues because he displays so many similar ones. ]

It is very important for spies to be up to date on the fashion sense of a world, so I suppose it is not the worst cover you could have picked. [ one last comment about that!! he pauses. ] I have been against the Empire since I was a child, but my path went similarly. I was an intelligence officer.

[ sAME HAT SAME HAT. he never hid the fact he was a soldier, but the spy part is always difficult to bring up. ]

It was a spur of the moment answer when someone asked me what I do. [ he hadn't expected to need to figure out a cover in some strange, futuristic city. those were usually planned out beforehand and given to him. ]

I think I did quite well at maintaining it throughout my time here. [ people might have suspected but he'd never confirmed. ]

Intelligence officer. [ another name for a similar job. ] Hard to use that particular skill set here because of the...

[ he trails off and gestures to his chest where the blue glow would be if he were using his powers. ]

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