EVENT LOG 002

[larkers]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: July 27
WHAT: New Amsterdam experiences a wave of unusual violence.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Violence, injury, death. Further notes at end of log.

> EVENT LOG #002

Flu season doesn't tend to hit during New Amsterdam's high summer, but the symptoms that sweep over numerous citizens over the city are similar enough to make people worry. Thanks to the high level of medical care and immunizations, sweeps of sickness like the one takes hold of the city on the morning of July 27th are uncommon. The occurrences are incidental, however – nothing to write home about, and nothing to go to the hospital for, not that the people in question are willing. Any suggestion that there may be something wrong could be easily taken as a slight – as if one wrong word could set them off. The first reports of the chaos begin come in waves around midday. Police blotters update to describe unusual acts of violence at all corners of the city. These stories begin with the bizarre. One man holds up a drug store with a haphazard set of weapons because the storekeepers offered him poor customer service. An arrest occurs in the financial district because a high-end gourmet commodities manager splashes a hot drink on her customer's face after they tap their foot impatiently. These incidents escalate before long – hovercars crash into one another in shocking displays of road rage, the vice president of sales at a Giles Bell pharmaceutical subsidiary demands that security shut down all exits to the building, insisting that everyone must remain inside to be searched. The cause for this search is unknown. Once again caught unaware by the wave of violence sweeping over the city, NAPD officers hit the streets to try to stymie the frequent occurrences. However, they're ill-prepared for what lies ahead of them. The offenders are difficult to identify ahead of time, prowling through the streets as if they're hunting their victims. Various businesses end up surrounded by teams of NAPD officers, trying to find a way to break through security to help the innocent people held inside. With how massive and overpopulated that New Amsterdam is, there aren't enough officers to stem the violence.

> THE SAFEHOUSE

As the day stretches on, local news reports advise all New Amsterdam citizens to return home or to somewhere they know to be safe. They have very little information about the cause for these events, and reporters are hesitant to draw any conclusions. Each reporter, however, offers a common refrain: it's a month to the day of the strange creature's attack on the city, and this bizarre onslaught is hitting it when it is at its weakest. They advise anyone to send tips to the NAPD about why this outbreak of violence has occurred, as well as any information on any incidents or offenders. Gaby had the day off when the news reports began to come in, and was nowhere near the safehouse when she got the call to come in. Getting to the safehouse is difficult, wearying, and she looks worse for wear when she gets inside. She has a gun holstered under a jacket, hidden away, and infrequently used. Anyone who comes in will be checked, passed over with a metal detector. No one gets in with a weapon. Everything is secure, because the safehouse is small, tight. Even if it's just the player characters living there now, it's likely less of a haven and more of a place that could present a number of risks. Gaby knows this, but like anyone in this – she's caught in a bit of a bind. For anyone who's present, she'll take stock of how they're doing. Without knowledge of the early symptoms being common knowledge, it will be difficult to pick any out. There is room for someone to lie about someone's behavior – Gaby has no way of knowing, no way of "curing" anyone to check if they're telling the truth. That's not to say she won't be on edge or prepared for any attacks to occur inside the safehouse. She will be ready to step in and restrain anyone who exhibit violent behavior against another person. Besides, anyone smart probably wouldn't come back to a limited, closed space with multiple other strangers. The safehouse isn't looking all that safe right now.

> THE CURE

How it first happens may be coincidence. A desperate grab to stop a fist making impact, or an attempt to restrain someone. Either way, skin to skin contact is made, and the effect is immediate: a burning sensation at the point of contact, and the now familiar blue glow. What it indicates isn't clear. The affected person shows no change in behavior, not to start. But as the burning gets worse, they seem to slowly calm. Eventually a sense of peace falls on both of you, one that flows into a deep, terrible wave of sadness, gone as soon as it came. The offender looks at you with clear eyes, clear-headed. They don't know what came over them, why they did what they did. They were so angry, so sure what they were doing was justified. But in the aftermath, all that's left is confusion and guilt. You look at your hands and realize you have the means to prevent more of them from doing anything terrible. But it could be at great risk to yourself – physically, and in being seen, being caught and found out to not be of this world. The reports of the attacks continue on the news, more hostage incidents where the NAPD are unable to reason with the hostage takers, attacks on the streets leaving people critically wounded, or worse. Is risking yourself worth it to try saving this city?

> 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. Affected characters must have entered the burning building during our guided log earlier in the month, though it isn't necessary for you to have responded to the log to say your character did so! Any characters who did not enter the building will be unaffected, including all newcomers from the last arrival. The incidents will continue until July 30, IC time. An aftermath wrap up post will be made on October 26 which will detail the resolution and fallout 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 "curing" either another player character or an NPC. They will need to reach the 5 comments required by November 20 to be eligible. Submission will be handled on the wrap up post.

> NAVIGATION

Comments

[retravel]

[ THE WATER INTAKE... what a mundane thing to note, and yet fitz finds himself fascinated, taking notes all the while.

he has a personal interest in androids and the mechanics of passing round powers, like parcels at christmas. connor's current ability would been marked red in his registry. critical threat. ophelia would have wanted it, whatever the cost, and given its embeddedness in the person, it would have been painful to take — a thought that has his gaze flickering down to his drink, mouth thin. where the hell are they getting their powers from, if not inhuman carriers? ]

How much? [ asked immediately. ] How much can you suppress, I mean. [ it's still too clinical, not the question that someone better might ask, like are you okay or how much are you using it?. he recovers, tipping his head back to regard connor. ] Could test it on me, if you want.

[ what scientist would pass on the opportunity to puzzle something out? being the first to try it, too, is an exciting thing. micro-discoveries about their new circumstances are still, well, discoveries.]

[cyberlife]

No. (raising his head with a patient look down the length of his nose, connor stops that idea with an "uncharacteristic" finality before it gets too far out of hand.) I won't do that. I don't want any of what I've put aside to get passed to you, on the off chance it does work like that.

(but connor realizes something he only briefly considered once before. earlier, when they were pinning that man and stealing his suffering from him.

fitz is a man who takes risks in spite of his own well-being.)

I haven't tested the limits of it, either. What I do know is that it facilitated the aggressive behaviour I injured my friends with.

[retravel]

You mean your ability made it easier. [ his voice ticks up. it is a question, despite the phrasing. ] To compartmentalise anything that might have resisted the aggression.

[ the familiarity of that description strikes him at once, a fair assessment of his own cruel behaviour. sounds like the sort of man his father would be proud of, too. ]

Hm. [ a hum of acknowledgment, for his concerns. ] Only if it doesn't transfer hurt, and you could help people, but you don't know how...

[ dot dot dot. it's the same approach he took with ciri: what if someone needed you, and you weren't prepared to help? a bit manipulative, but not without merit, as a consideration. ]

[cyberlife]

I had to suppress the pain I was in at the time. There wasn't any room for the aggression too — another downside to it, I guess.

(but fitz's words, as "devil's advocate" as they are, leave him conflicted.

of course he wants to help, but if he learned to use it against others then what kind of damage could he cause if something like this outbreak happens again? if he loses control again, like so many times before? it's happened twice now, he'd be a fool to ignore a potential third.

fingers curl into a tight fist in plain sight. connor knows he should hide his frustration, but that'd be counterintuitive to what markus taught him. that sometimes these feelings are necessary; he can't ignore them forever.

and isn't that the very nature of his ability?)

I don't want to hurt anyone anymore.

[retravel]

[ Ah, there’s pushing and then there’s watching the person you pushed — a tip back, hand balled tight with the tension and distress of your implications. He thinks about how he handled Daisy, when he noticed the signifiers on inhumanity in her. First, a panicked question. Then, damage control.

Fitz realises he made the same mistake in approaching Connor’s powers indelicately. ]

Go easy on yourself now. [ a beat, as he finds the words. ] The sort of person who’d swoop in to rescue me out there doesn’t seem like the hurtful type — even if that’s a recent development.

[ They don’t know each other well enough for him to offer as much comfort as he offered his dear friend, but he reaches out to cover Connor’s hand, expression soft, the corners of his mouth quirked slightly in a gesture of optimism. A touch of calm, smoothed over the back of Connor’s hand, the same as when they were facing the afflicted (perhaps undercut by guilt over engendering Connor’s reaction in the first place), and he pulls away again. ]

I’ve known people with all manner of dangerous abilities, and they’ve figured out how to help, not hurt. Just gotta know how to use it, like anything else, yeah?

[cyberlife]

(communicating through significant touch is already familiar to him, when androids interlink to share far more than feelings. they share entire pieces of themselves, their memories, and their code with every probe. while nowhere near the same, it haunts him just the same — fitz is suggesting he force his pain through their connection.

it brings him back. sitting in a room with carlos ortiz's android, trying to extract a confession. forcing him the same way.

why the hell did he do that?)

Wait— (connor catches fitz's wrist before he can pull his arm too far away for him to reach.) Wait, I'll do it. Just don't try to withstand it, Fitz, you have to tell me to stop if it works. Got it?

(the hold is firm, but one fitz could easily dislodge at the first fearful opportunity, trapping him in their proximity for the duration of the test. the glow of his chest is visible beneath his chin as his activated ability sheds its subtle light. not nearly enough to tip off the patrons sitting around them.)

Do you feel anything?

(he won't, connor's power hasn't developed past self-application.

and he never planned to shuck his pain off on fitz to start. a bit of an unfair feint, a lie tailored to test his own restraint and the budding trust of his new relationship. it's an opportunity to build more between them, without doing much of anything at all.)

[retravel]

[ the glow isn't enough to tip anyone off, no, but their bizarre behaviour turns a few heads, and fitz stills, thrown by connor grabbing his wrist. his pulse pounds in his ears as something tell him to twist connor's arm, for daring to grab at him — but his instincts remain blunted by the experience of empathy, particularly connor's earnestness bleeding through the bond.

it's only then that it occurs to him how playing with other people's abilities might be dangerous, with potential damage beyond the obvious physical complications. he's not really the fitz who helped daisy anymore, is he?

even breaths. the warmth of his former reassurances cools. this is a trust exercise, isn't it? one he can't afford to blow, after initiating the damn thing. ]

Got it. [ but would he, really? if connor managed to manipulate fitz's experience of pain, to lessen it, of course he'd say something, but if connor was able to transfer hurt, well — for a long moment, they wait. fitz flexes his fingers, releasing the tension in his muscles, eying the easy curve of his own hand, no further discomfort or release to be found. his emotions pick up again, flowing back from a compartmentalisation that had nothing to do with connor. ]

[ finally, a sideways glance at his new friend, brows knit and frown tight, as if he might deliver the bad news. ] Feel your freezin' hand.

[ one corner of his mouth hooking into a smile. that's a negative on the superpower front, partner. ]

[cyberlife]

(bond link squeezed between palm and wrist, their moment of tension slips away until all he's able to pick up from fitz is a patient calm. he doesn't have to sit here and do this, but he does all the same, risking a painful experience to help him.

(a human helping an android? it's still surreal, despite his positive relationship with hank. so many others believe they can shut their eyes and cope with the changing world instead of fleeing it or trying to fit in — it reminds him of gavin reed, knowing how he'll reject the new order with stubborn vehemence, an almost impressive trait if it weren't so alienating. they have thick skin to be able to weather that, humans, but even thicker skulls.)

connor switches his grip, runs his knuckles along the table to scoop fitz's hand off of it.)

Sorry about that. (sheepishly. he bows his head, glancing to their drinks, then the lingering eyes around them that has him loosening his hold on fitz altogether. oops.) ... I'm thankful it only works on me. The harder I train, the more useful it'll become. It won't hurt anyone anymore. Including myself.

Meeting you today provided me with a perspective I needed.

good to wrap up or end here!!

[retravel]

[ his response comes immediately, instinctively reassuring. when they separate their hands, he knocks a fist against connor's lightly again. best to offer something casual, putting the required distance between them. ]

Good. That's all that matters.

[ well, it matters that no one is hurt unintentionally, but weaponising is a later pursuit. looking after oneself makes for an invaluable start.

only connor's latter statement catches him off-guard, a balm to his rarely acknowledged insecurities. see, fitz wants to be of use, to make headway in this hopeless situation. assisting another person (providing a means of viewing another angle, even if it isn't the right one) might seem like a small thing, but little moments add up.

he forces his smile to widen, steadying despite his misgivings about how he handled this encounter. ]

Reckon you did the same for me, Connor. [ lifting his beer. ] Cheers.