meadowlarklogs | EVENT #008 AFTERMATH LOG

WHO: The Displaced!
WHERE: Lots of places—potentially? Mostly New Amsterdam as the focus.
WHEN: March 4, 2512
WHAT: Unlocking of the gates and the game's fast travel network.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Uninvited visions.

> EVENT #008 AFTERMATH LOG

The vision itself is almost instantaneous once the last of the four gates activates, hitting the Displaced no matter where they are. It doesn't matter where that individual Displaced is: if they're in New Amsterdam, at one of the gates, or sleeping, they'll see the same vision. A flash of seven colors (red, blue, black, gold, orange, red, and white) followed by an image of a nomadic people heading up a long, stone bridge that appears to be naturally occurring. At the end of the bridge is an open, lit-up triangle that acts as a gateway, inviting them inside. Then there is another flash, followed by the nomads walking through the gate and ending up in a different, new location. And then another.

Any understanding of this vision isn't immediate. The answers won't be apparent until later, when there is an innate understanding of what they've learned and what they've unlocked for themselves. The world has opened up to the Displaced, and in some ways, it's there for them to access and even take for themselves if they so choose.

After the vision ends, any of the Displaced located at the four ruins will immediately begin to glow in all blue before they fade out of view and find themselves crammed into a new location. The relocation is immediate, and if anyone checks a map via their neural implant to see where they are geolocation wise, they'll be able to tell that they're underneath New Amsterdam. For anyone who's been in the underground cave system of New Amsterdam, they may think their surroundings are familiar, if not the same. After all, this area has been locked away for a very long time.

One more thing is apparent: they've landed on another form of gate that needs to be unlocked. After the numerous trials and puzzles the Displaced have faced, what's one more?

◉ The puzzle to solve is right beneath the feet of the Displaced on a bronze-colored mechanism. At the center of the mechanism are multiple overlapping triangles, and on the outside, there are five separated triangles that sit individually.

◉ Solving the puzzle involves connecting a daisychain of Displaced and having five key focal points step on the triangles at once.

◉ Once the puzzle unlocks, there will be another understanding: that what they saw in the vision belongs to them. Any of the Displaced outside of the caves will know what it means.

◉ With that work done, it's time to explore. The underground cave system of New Amsterdam is half-inhabited by the sprawling megacity, and half-uninhabited and untouched. This part of the cave system was locked away for centuries, and just like the other ruins, there are some relics and lost items from the past. The eras vary: some are early medieval burial sites with items like brittle, forgotten swords and shields, while others are crosses and manuscripts that refer to this location as the center of the Holy Roman Empire.

◉ The manuscripts are a mix of imagery from Catholicism and the same, omnipresent geometric imagery.

◉ The way out of the cave system involves touching a hand to a handprint alongside what appears to be a door. This print will only appear to the Displaced, so they will be able to move in and away from this location largely unobserved.

> ON THE JOB FROM 9 TO 5

Now that the gates trip is done and the Displaced have new answers—if potentially unhelpful ones, depending on their perspective—it's time to return to their lives. Surprisingly, New Amsterdam has no festivals going on, as if it's time to now be hungover from a February that involved nonstop partying. The city has been cleaned up and everyone's returning to their jobs as if the city around them is not in a constant state of revelry.

◉ Ah, it's time to return to work! No one is required to lose their jobs, but it might take a bit of groveling for the Displaced to return to where they were working before. (With the exception of the Red Wings bar. Poor Mister Doctor Stephen Strange.) El will have sent along any excuses to any bosses who might need an explanation. Ze's used to this gig by now.

◉ What about those cities left behind? No one planned on abandoning those gates at that exact moment. They will remain open to the Displaced. Anyone who had a hotel room in New Oslo or even kept stuff stored at New Beijing will find that they can just teleport back via this new fast travel system.

◉ Though for anyone who's been dealing with tampered food, maybe it's time to go take a break. You know where's a good place to do it? The Displaced-run Red Wings bar. Ah, poor Mister Doctor Strange, at least the people coming in out of nowhere are all Displaced looking for proper food and a drink. It's time to mingle, share notes, and see what's what. Might as well get to seeing where there's overlap—and what to do next.

◉ Or it's time to explore! The world is finally open and available to one and all. Well, to one Displaced and all.

◉ The information on these gates and what they do won't immediately be available to El and Gaby. It's up to the Displaced if they decide to share with their NPC friends. (Of course, if it's mentioned via the Morningstar network, then they'll know!)

> FINAL OOC NOTES

This is meant primarily as a laid back, return to life log for the Displaced after their exciting trips around the world (and trips-to-be, most likely). Any questions about the aftermath should be directed to our aftermath questions thread!

Our CR meme will be posted on February 14th (Happy Valentine's Day!), and our arrival log for all newbies will be going up on February 15th.

Thanks again for making this a great event!

> NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

And there are times, when it should be seen differently. But, there are countless others where the hard decisions must be made.

It's not like that with me. [Clarke wishes that it were. That it would just be a matter of one way or another.]

I've made mistakes because of what I've told myself is the right way. I don't know if I should be glad to hear that you're able to stand by everything you've done without doubt, knowing you'd do it again, or worried. I've seen where my thinking and actions bring me if I keep it up for too long, or fall back into it. I know that doesn't need to be true for you. But it is for me.

It is true for me as well. I've lived a long life, Clarke. I have learned of the benefit in trusting others, trusting family, and not simply taking what I need. I backslide like anyone else. And there are techniques and avenues I will always fall back on. What's right is not always what is effective.

I see.

[He had kept insisting, and some part of her twisted and turned unhappily.

Clarke had told herself it was always just one way. Always.]

I'm sorry. I didn't understand what you were saying.

There is no need for an apology here, Clarke. We are sharing - philosophies, let's call them. And drinks.

What did it take you to learn?

[That's well enough, then. If he's willing to share, maybe he'll say more. Clarke will always test her limits either way.]

Who says I ever did.

( Really. Actually. Has he changed? Is it his daughter's influence? Is it wanting to be better? Is it not having a choice now? Is it having even less power? )

What would you prefer to think?

[It sounds like it comes down to that in the end. Did Klaus learn? Has he changed? How has he managed it?

Perhaps it's a place where someone can never be satisfied, and if they are, then they haven't learned at all.]

Do you want me to tell you I've changed. That I've learned my lessons and that I would do everything differently? I'd be more welcome and diplomatic? Less selfish.

( everyone tries to change him, tries to see how he can redeem himself. cami was attracted to his darkness, but she knew the good he could do. in truth, if hope were not in the mix here, who knows how he'd be doing. even if she were to remain, would he change? )

Clarke, I wouldn't do anything differently. I stand by every decision I ever made. I wouldn't be here without them. I wouldn't have Hope. You and I, we are friends but if you expect me to have reached a measurement of enlightenment and better decisions, you will be sorely disappointed. To protect my friends and family I will do anything and being less powered, less strong will not stop me from those ends.

[What his response tells her is that he's had a similar conversation before. The difference is that he's been in her shoes, been in her position, and had his decisions questioned and reconsidered over and over again. It tells her that he's both had to face his mistakes, but stand by them time and time again. Of course, it helps that he's considerably older than her. Her mistakes haven't taken up lifetimes, at least in comparison.]

I'm not trying to do that. [Her words are decisive. She means it.

When she was with Lexa, she pushed and pulled her, in part because she could see the value in it. She worked with Bellamy through his grief and guilt, and he's done the same for her. But it hasn't always been like that. Sometimes it's better to be singularly focused on herself or her daughter, or to work for a greater whole, rather than to try to alter someone like he's suggesting.]

I need to do better for myself, for my daughter, and for my people so that I'm not instrumental in turning this world into the Earth that I've left behind. I'm capable of doing that much damage, so it's what I need. I'm not asking you to do the same, and it's wrong of me to imply otherwise.

[Though she did, it was still a selfish notion, one still focused almost entirely on her and her interpretation of his words.

Who's to say she knows better than him about anything? That, too, is something she needs to improve about herself.]

No, it isn't. But, if you worry I'll make this world in my own image, or that you will, yours. Clarke, from what you've described, your world was not your doing.

Not my part alone, no. But my planet is dead and I was instrumental in what led to that. [There were many mistakes made along the way. Some were by Octavia. Some were by her. Some were even done by Kane. But they were mistakes, and she knows her part.]

The issue, you see, is that I do want to shape this world. I believe that we can, and I don't know if it's fair that I want to do that in the first place.

I think it depends on how. And in what form you wish to shape everything. And, how far and widespread you believe this shaping can take place. Then and only then will you see it as fair. Or, the opposite.

I don't want to take choice from people's hands here. [That's her hard line. Clarke doesn't believe in deciding for them. She barely understands this world's checks and balances.]

But the problem is—what if they don't see</i their choice?

EVENT #008 AFTERMATH LOG

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