meadowlarklogs | ARRIVAL LOG 004

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ARRIVAL LOG 004

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: Night of August 05
WHAT: The fourth arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion and loss of autonomy. Further notes at end of log.

> ARRIVAL LOG #004

Awareness comes to you in blurred snatches, cloudy fragments of sound and light, color, sensation. Hazy and difficult to grasp on to, but slowly aligning into focus. A series of regular, rhythmic beeps. A medicinal, astringent smell. The sensation of movement, a low hum and accompanying vibration under you. Your eyes are heavy, hard to keep open, but in the glimpses between slow, dark blinks you see four people in black body armor seated opposite you, as well as a man in dark gray scrubs.

You realize there are others next to you. All of you in white scrubs, hair recently cut but at various stages of growth, restrained by straps across your chests, arms, feet, holding you to the bench under you. To your left, an armored interior door, two more people visible, the movement of streets passing through a windshield. You try to open your mouth to speak, but it's as if your tongue is coated in tar, and you manage nothing more than an empty parting of lips.

The vehicle stops. The guard opposite you stands and comes to unbuckle you from the bench, helping you to your feet. Your limbs feel wooden and heavy, slow to move. One guard opens the back of the vehicle, bright sunshine and the rushing sound of a crowd flooding in, a heavy wave of warm air. The nurse moves to stand at the back, checking each passenger over one by one just before they're helped out of the vehicle, quick and methodical. He doesn't climb out after you, moving to sit as the last passenger is unloaded.

The guards keep their heads down. Their actions are quick, firm, but not entirely unkind. Once all the passengers are out, they climb back into the vehicle and close the doors. The engine powers up again, and then the bus is gone.

You're left alone in an alley, with no idea of where you are or why you've been brought here.

The sound of the crowd nearby carries on uninterrupted. Music, chatter and laughter, the occasional sound of a large splash into water. At the end of the alley opposite to where the van left you, the street opens out to a wide artificial river. Gathered on the banks, on several boats across the surface and in the water are hundreds of people: a giant pool party under the blazing summer sun.

◉ Though entirely capable of independent action and thought, new characters will find themselves completely, unquestioningly compliant to any verbal statement which could be taken as a command or request.

> THE PARTY

The message from El comes the same as previous: insistent, not waiting for any active attempt to open it. Scrolling within your vision as if being written while you're reading it.

Who's ready for bus #4? Looks like they want you to have some fun this time, they've dropped them off right on top of the river party.

Someone get down there and find them before they fall in, please.

The New Amsterdam River Party is a near annual event, scheduled for whenever the heat begins to really climb. Located roughly at the middle of the river's length, six large boats take anchor, blocking any water commute for the day. Smaller boats move between them and the river banks, taking any passengers who'd prefer not to get wet back and forth. The area is decorated for the occasion, with several huge palm tree and mermaid sculptures curving over the river, flashing in alternating neon colors. Curling strings of bright lights are strung between them, dangling low and promising a truly flamboyant light show when the sun goes down.

For the moment the the focus is fun under the sun. Colorful floats, balls and slides are strewn across the water and banks, with a wide array of water pistols, balloons and slings available at stalls. Beach umbrellas offer shade along the banks, and music blares from the boats, where food sellers have booths and tables to feed the crowd and provide plenty of cool drinks. Lifeguards take posts, watching everything with careful eyes, and large, marked stalls declare themselves to be skincare centers, handing out free sunscreen and reminding everyone to regularly reapply, especially if they've been in the water.

In all the colorful, skimpy swimwear and sunglasses, six bewildered people in white scrubs are sure to stand out. Hopefully the citizens are having too much fun to care, but with such attentive lifeguards and event security around, it would be best to find the new arrivals in the crowd as quickly as possible.

> THE SAFEHOUSE

Access to the safehouse is a hatch hidden behind stacks of empty storage shelves in the back of an abandoned supermarket in an outer district of the city. The immediate area is similarly abandoned, empty stores, flanked by several blocks of dive bars and clubs which cater to more niche tastes. A place where people can come and go unseen, or, if seen, not spoken of. A dark haired woman called Gaby is ready to greet the new arrivals and get them settled in, brusque and no-nonsense – she'll be open for in depth questions later, but will advise everyone to ask the people who brought them in for the beginning bits of information.

◉ The safe house is a large open space, filled with rows of basic cots set up to sleep a large amount of people. Basic, but outfitted with everything necessary for daily life. A few doors lead to back rooms for storage, medical care and a large communal bathroom, and past the long rows of cots there is a communal kitchen, fully stocked, and an eating area. Privacy is at a minimum.

◉ New characters will be asked to pick their beds, and provided with a change of (second-hand, mismatched and somewhat threadbare) clothes and basic toiletries.

◉ While there were previously also NPC occupants of the safehouse, natives to New Amsterdam, these people have now been moved on to somewhere safer. A few of their belongings remain, discarded or accidentally abandoned.

◉ Gaby will make it clear to all new arrivals that if they have any requests or queries, they should contact her or El.

◉ The drugs making new characters compliant will remain in their systems for a few hours after their arrival at the safehouse before finally beginning to fade. They will be gone entirely after a night's rest. In the meantime, they may want to be careful of what others say to them.

◉ New characters will be given rudimentary access to the network on arrival in the safehouse, but will not have their ID set up yet. They will be able to make posts and replies, but their messages will be anonymous and they do not have inboxes yet.

◉ New characters will not be allowed to leave the safehouse until AUGUST 09. These 4 days are for them to adjust, learn about the world they've arrived in from their fellows, and for El to speak with them and work on setting up their IDs.

> FINAL OOC NOTES

Welcome to Meadowlark, newbies! You're now free to post to the network and logs comms. To reiterate, your characters will have no IDs or inboxes, nor be allowed out of the safehouse until August 9 (November 16). At that point it's expected they'll have gotten a good idea of their new situation from their fellow characters, and will have discussed their background and job potentials with El in order for their false IDs to be set up.

If you have any questions or ideas about how you'd like to get your character involved in the world, or if they'd like to join Morningstar, please head over to the plot engagement post and drop us a comment! For questions specific to this log, there is a thread below.

Please check out our November calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month.

As a reminder, AC for new characters will be 10 comments across 2-4 threads, while current characters will need to provide the full AC of 20 comments across 2-4 threads. AC will be posted on November 20 and close on November 27. If you do not reply to AC, you will be considered idled and dropped from the game. We will not post a warning list.

> NAVIGATION

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[ There's no mistaking that voice, the low timbre edged with an undeniably Russian accent, and Gaby rises to her feet slowly without turning around first, only pivoting on one heel once she's fully standing again and looking up — and up and up, further still, until Illya comes into full view. Even his frown is a welcome sight, though he appears more confused at the sight of her here than anything else.

She tosses the bag of chips onto the counter, a few spilling out in her haste to free her hands, and crosses the kitchen in quick strides to throw her arms around his middle, hugging him tightly for a few beats, not saying anything at all. The only thing she's feeling right now is sheer relief at the knowledge that she has someone here, amidst all the uncertainty. ]

[ this...is not the reaction he expected. he certainly had not hugged solo when he had discovered the other man but gaby is standing here, in the middle of everyone, hugging him and his hands are at his sides, an expression of confusion on his face.

eventually, he does bring one hand up to awkwardly pat her back. comfort was never going to be his strong suit if it wasn't already terribly evident. ]

Are you all right?

[ In any normal circumstance, she likely would not have been so brazen, so bold in her need to reach out. They've had enough interrupted moments that almost were something already, but it's less about the curiosity to be close, to touch him now, and more about all of the emotions that have been building up in her since she arrived: confusion, fear, anger, desperation, loneliness. It all comes flooding out of her in a rush and she turns her cheek against his chest, inhaling shakily and then releasing it all in a slow breath. ]

Do I look all right?

[ The words are half-muffled against his torso; she hasn't pried herself away from him yet or lifted her head to be heard. Surely he's already seen the hacked-off state of her hair, the ill-fitting clothes she'd had to make do with. ]

No, you look like you are hugging me.

[ which isn't terrible, he has to admit, but unexpected. but perhaps it should not be especially if she has just arrived and is still trying to figure out what has happened. he frowns down at the top of her head and sighs. ]

Are you injured at all? Do you feel dizzy? Sick? Do I need to call a doctor?

[ She's already letting go of him before he finishes his round of questions, shaking her head firmly. She's steadier now, still uncertain about much but less overwhelmed than she might have been feeling before — and definitely feeling less inclined to keep looking for that vodka or something similar.

Gaby draws in one more breath and when she finally speaks her voice is calm, even, confident in a way she doesn't quite feel yet but is quickly heading towards, and then she lifts her gaze to his. ]

No. I'm fine. I — are you all right?

Of course I am all right. [ he was always all right and she hadn't been here for the worst of his anger and confusion. she also hadn't been here to see him flustered, spitting out a fake job that he sorely regrets. ]

What is the last thing you remember before your arrival? [ he figures he ought to see what she knows before he tells her more about this place and about solo's departure.

the lucky bastard. ]

[ He says it almost too quickly for her to fully believe it, and while she's tempted to give him a more scrutinizing look in an attempt to convince him to share more she chooses not to for now. Granted, they've fallen into a certain pattern of withholding information from each other lately; she wouldn't entirely fault him for leaving out specific details. ]

All of us out on the roof, getting our next assignment from Waverly. The two of you seemed less than thrilled about it.

[ Not that she'd been exhilarated by the news, either, but she'd sensed more of an outward disliking of the idea from the others. ]

Because I was not. [ because he'd had to work with solo and solo was a giant pain in the neck. but, at least she remembers the same things he does. he will not have to worry about things being different. ]

Solo was here. He is no longer here. I do not know what happened to him. [ and he hasn't gotten much time to check into things either. he doesn't want to admit that he doesn't know where to start looking. technology is not his strength. ]

I remember the same thing but it is of no mind here. This place -- I don't understand it.

[ Much as either of them like to pretend they don't work well together, don't complement one another, she's seen the signs to know better. Waverly had, too, otherwise he wouldn't have tapped them for this latest interagency effort, but sometimes there's no reasoning with two men who would rather bristle and bicker.

They'd set aside their differences long enough to come for her, that much is true.

She frowns visibly at the mention of their third, mouth twisting, but there are many other important factors to consider. ] They say it is... over five hundred years since the last time we remember. How is that possible?

I do not know. [ which rankles him still. ] But, I have no reason to not believe them. It is not just one person saying that but all of them and I have seen some things that do not exist where you and I are from.

[ he was still trying to get the hang of those things. it did not always go well. ]

There is a man who, I think, might know a little more but his explanations are confusing. [ it was hard to keep up with someone as smart as fitz. ] I am just trying that I am not dead and this is not the afterlife.

Things that don't exist. [ Her echo of his voice is a little fainter, more reflective; her eyes widen shortly after she starts to recall everything she's seen, bits and pieces of information she's heard within the fog that had started to lift from her previously drugged state. She's a more keen observer than she's often given credit for, her diminutive status making her an unassuming player. ] Like the — these implants.

[ She reaches a hand to the back of her neck, feels around for the raised scar she's seen on others. It's apparently there now, whether she wants it to be or not, and Gaby lets her arm fall to her side with an audible slap. ]

Unless you and I have both died and this is some divine attempt at irony, I sincerely doubt that.

[ yes, he doubts it too but it was better than thinking that some sort of time travel had taken place. something that should not exist but apparently does and has left him completely off balance and on his back foot, a very uncomfortable place for someone like him to be. ]

Like the implants, yes. And other things. I have been out in this city. It is not like anything you have ever seen. You will need to be careful. Not that they will let you leave for awhile but when you are able...

[ he gives her a stern, pointed look. no causing trouble, gaby. ]

[ She can tell he's bothered by it, that dislike simmering underneath his tone; he's always been made uncomfortable by information he's not privy to or things he doesn't understand, and that feeling must be multiplied tenfold now. And yet if he's already been out while she is still not permitted to, that indicates another possibility that she needs to know for certain. ]

How long has it been since you arrived?

[ She gives him a look in return, pressing her lips together and tilting her head defiantly. As if he's ever been able to stop her from doing exactly what she likes, even if he seems to be under the impression that he can do otherwise. ]

Weeks.

[ though at times it has seemed like longer. he has woken up plenty of times, expecting to look out onto a familiar landscape and when he doesn't see it, everything comes flooding back. he frowns back at her and shakes his head. ]

You cannot leave this building for awhile anyway. [ so there. he'd suffered through it so you would too, gaby. ] I will bring you what you need within reason.

[ he was such a nice guy, wasn't he? ] This place is not like anything you have ever been exposed to.

Weeks?

[ She doesn't intend on sounding like an echo but it's a little impossible to believe, at least before she looks a little closer and sees the truth of it in his eyes, the combination of resignation and frustration alike. It's a frustration that's mirrored in her demeanor, especially once he reminds her that she won't be able to leave any time soon.

She sighs, not too heavily, but audible enough to be heard by his ears. ] I'm sure I'll be able to cope as well as you have. There might be something that would truly help, though.

[ Booze. She means booze. ]

[ it has been weeks but illya has not yet resigned himself that he cannot leave. he still searches for a way to exit, still asks around for information from others but so far, everything has come up empty. it is frustrating and defeating but he cannot let it beat him. he cannot just lay down and die. that is what his --

well, he is not going to do that. ]

I do not know how good of an idea it is to drink while you're still recovering. [ his eyes move over her head, checking to see if he could spot where the implant had been inserted. it makes him inwardly wince just to think like that. ]

You cannot leave this building for some time just as I couldn't. It is annoying but it will give me time to prepare you, at least. What is out there is not what you and I have known.

[ Much as she loathes to admit it, it'll be a good idea for her to stay clear-headed. She needs to be awake, alert, in possession of her faculties so that she can watch and observe and listen and learn, if they'll have any hopes of finding a way to leave.

Even if drinking would be a much preferable way to pass the time while she has to stay here. Gaby glances up at him again, still not fully backed out of his space. It's easier for them to speak quietly without running the risk of being overheard while they're standing this close, at least; that's the reason she'll employ if asked about it. ]

So you'll be here? Unless you have somewhere else to stay.

[ She hardly expects him to babysit her, though she can't say she'd object to the sight of a familiar face throughout this. ]

I no longer have to stay here. I was staying with Solo but -- [ well, that wasn't happening anymore. he was gone and though illya's done some searching, he's pretty sure solo has somehow gotten back home and that makes him resent the man.

even if it's not his fault, the resentment still lays heavy like a stone. ]

I will visit, though. [ as often as he can. ] And there will be other people here to help but I will come when I am able.

[ he'd been busy trying to find a job that fits him and doesn't make him want to crush every single person in his wake. ]

[ He doesn't have to complete his thought; she releases a small sigh at the knowledge that the third part of their team has since disappeared, either back to where they were taken from or somewhere else entirely. It's an uneasy feeling, to say the least, and Illya's been wrestling with it for much longer than she has. ]

I — I would appreciate that. [ She does not need to remind him that he's the only person she knows well here, and that's mostly a result of them having been thrown together in the most intense of circumstances, complete with fake engagement.

But it's also significant that she even hints at maybe enjoying his company, much less depending on it to achieve some semblance of normalcy. The silence that falls shortly after her remark hovers in the remaining space between them, and Gaby draws in a soft breath. ]

The best possible thing that you could do would be to recover from what has happened. From being taken and having something --- implanted in your head. You do not need to do anything else.

[ but she probably would because she was stubborn as a mule. he sighs. ]

There will time for you to explore and time for you to question every single person that crosses your path. I think you should rest right now.

[ the please goes unsaid but it's implied. ]

[ There's a challenging remark on her tongue, a comment she wants to ask him about how long he waited to recover before trying to do something, because if there's one thing she suspects it's that he's likely been trying to find a way out of here since the first day he arrived.

In other words: it takes one to know one.

But he sighs, and she bites her tongue, because it's not the time or place for her to argue with him or protest too greatly. Instead, she nods, still gnawing on the inside of her cheek, weighing over whether or not to ask him something else. ]

Would you stay?

[ She hardly expects him to carry her to her cot, as he did that night when she'd had too much to drink, but she doesn't want to fall asleep alone. ]

All right.

[ it would be so much easier if he could just take her to his home. there is plenty of space since solo's departure and while he does not mind the silence, he wouldn't mind her presence. but, he knows that is not possible and he knows going against these people would not be wise.

he is one man and while sometimes he is angry enough to try, he knows that it would end badly for him. he needs more time to surveil and plan before going after anyone. ]

Have you eaten? Had some water to drink? They helped me when I first got here.

Yes.

[ Though as soon as he'd made the suggestion for her to rest it had almost triggered the sensation of tiredness in her limbs, made her fully aware of how exhausted she feels — not sleepy, necessarily, but that sort of bone-tired feeling that makes her want to curl up on a cot and sleep without concern for an alarm.

Gaby quietly finds his hand with one of her own, nudging the ridges of her knuckles in against his palm. ]

I — I think I should lie down.

[ his eyes flick down to where her fingers have tucked into his. he blinks a few times but doesn't pull away. instead, he uses the grip to lead her over to the array of cots before nodding at one that was away from other people, giving her space and quiet. ]

Go ahead.

[ he takes a seat on the cot nearby, elbows on his knees while he watches her. he doesn't plan on doing that the entire time because even he realizes that's creepy but he can stay until she's deeply asleep. ]

[ He doesn't say anything at all when her hand slips into his, and she's grateful, not because she expects him to respond but because she half-anticipates he might pull away, and when he doesn't, she releases a breath she hasn't realized she's been holding.

The cots are small, but she curls in on her side, drawing her knees up towards her body. He's there, watching; she knows he likely won't be there when she wakes up but she's momentarily calmed in the knowledge that she has something familiar close by until she can finally drift off to sleep — and once she finally does, it's dreamless and peaceful. ]

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ARRIVAL LOG 004

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