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

[inherited]

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.]

[forcevisions]

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. ]

[inherited]

[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?

[forcevisions]

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. ]

[inherited]

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.]

[forcevisions]

I sort of taught myself. [ She looks down into the humming engine, then shuts the hood and brushes her hand across it. ] Uh, holo-vids for training purposes stayed operational in the starships on Jakku. The whole planet is like a desert graveyard filled with ships from the last battle of the civil war.

[ Rey smiles at him. ]

I scavenged parts from them. Finding the ones that were valuable meant figuring out how the systems worked and what each component was responsible for, and how to know if it was safe or intact or ... [ She gestures vaguely. All that good stuff. ]

[inherited]

Wow. Here I thought I was special because I taught myself to fight. [Riku ducks his head, smiling. Sora would claim some involvement in that. Sora wouldn't be wrong.] Well, Sora and I worked together. We always challenged each other. [There were times when Sora beat him easily, but it just made Riku focus on getting better. Being stronger.

(And it influenced him in other, darker ways, but that doesn't ... hold now. Not anymore.)]

Fighting is a lot less complicated than all of this. [Obviously.]

[forcevisions]

It's not that hard. [ Teaching herself to fight had been harder. It involved getting her ass kicked. ] It's all a system. Once you know how the parts work together, you have the whole thing.

[ At least, that's how she thinks of it. Saying it now, it sounds an awful lot like the Force, and Rey has to wonder how much of her knack for picking it up quickly had been necessity (a grim conversation point—she doesn't offer it) and how much had been preternatural. ]

[inherited]

If it wasn't that hard, that just makes you one of the smartest people I know. It's not a system to me, not yet. But the way you explain it—it sounds like it all comes together neatly for you. That's really impressive. [It's more praise, but that comes easily. It's not just the praise, though, that drives him. Riku thinks about how he goes about life. Where he's struggled has been with his own thoughts, his own poor actions. Fighting, magic, any of that—once he got his hands on it, he was dangerous. Unstoppable.

Becoming street wise had been easy.

He just never learned to short circuit anything. Riku always found another way.]

[forcevisions]

[ To the surprise of even herself, Rey reddens with the compliment. A wide, goofy smile spreads across her face, though, to pair with it, and she has to look away from him in an effort to hide the way it scrunches her nose. She isn't used to taking compliments. Rey understands her skills, knows them in and out, but she doesn't see herself as exceptional. And she certainly isn't used to people recognizing it.

It doesn't help that everything in her life is overshadowed by the glaring awareness that no matter how skilled she is, no matter how smart, she hadn't been enough to keep her parents around. History is a heavy burden to shrug off.

After some shy avoidance, clearly appreciative but unable to voice it, Rey clears her throat and looks back at him, sheepish from under her eyelashes. ] I have to go. To the pyramid. I can help more from up there.

[ She doesn't want to leave on this note. But the wreckage of the city — the planet, in fact — needs to be more important than the wonders his company is doing for salving the wounds of her past. ]

[inherited]

Right. Good luck up there. This city needs you right now. [The whole red-faced deal doesn't even seem to faze him (or he thinks it's the heat getting to her—though Riku is aware enough to know that he paid her a compliment, and won't write off that it likely made her feel good to hear it). He bobs his head forward, shortened strands of silver hair bouncing over his forehead at the same time.

He reaches out and grips her shoulder.]

I'd say let me know if you need anything out there, but I don't know that it'll work out that well.

[forcevisions]

I'll keep the offer in mind all the same.

[ Who knows. He might know someone who could get there. She gives a nod of affirmation, one that reassures him silently that she'll do alright, and then she turns to get into the driver's side of the car. Which she doesn't know how to drive. We're doing it live, folks. ]