ARRIVAL LOG 004

[larkers]

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

Comments

[fessus]

[ The flinch, of course, is noticed and registered. And... even if he expects it, that stings a little too. How has he missed so much? He went through this process too, and he wasn't as jumpy or... or in possession of foreign memories. People here have mentioned the possibility that people can come from different points in the same timeline; is Prompto really from the future? But that would mean... ]

Yeah... yeah, this is a real. [ A month and a half ago. ]

What-- here, let me get your bandages; your wrist looks bad. [ There's a dark mark on it that he can make out with a quick glance, anyway, and what looks like a burn. It's only luck that keeps him from looking closer as he carefully pulls himself back up again to rummage for those items. ]

... what happened after the Vesperpool?

[mercurio]

[so much]

[so much happened.]

[prompto pushes his hands onto his lap, holding tightly onto his wrist. he won't pry his fingers off of it, no matter what.]

Could we not talk about it? [he adds quickly:] For now. It's... A lot's going on right now.

[he breathes in deeply]

I... thought I wouldn't see you again, Noct, and now you're... here, we're here. What about Iggy? Gladio?

[fessus]

[ He doesn't want to talk about it? That hangs heavy over his head, a large question mark he doesn't understand because he's heard just enough to confuse and even unsteady him, but now without context or reasons. If Prompto would share that, what does he want to avoid?

But... his best friend is hurting and pushing him when he's not ready won't yield anything for either of them. Just more of that hurt. ]

... yeah, sure. Take your time, Prompto. [ Bandages in hand, a roll of tape snatched up for both of them, he again squats down closer. ]

Here-- I could use a piece of that too, when you're done.

As far as I know right now it's just us. I've been here on my own for a few weeks now.

[mercurio]

You need them more than me. It's fine.

[it's kind of difficult to not want someone to look at his wrist when he's trying to bandage them up and the person is right there. but now that noctis is here, he can't imagine noctis going anywhere else.]

[he can't imagine wanting noctis to go anywhere else.]

A few weeks... What's this place like? Outside the safehouse, I mean.

[and the conversation remains awkward, stilted. it's hard to find their usual rhythm when they're running through different paths for the time being.]

[fessus]

Plenty for both of us. I just need some tape; mine got all messed up on the side is all...

[ Sure enough his bandage is coming unfurled near the outer edge, largely held in place by the pinch of the sling. It's... honestly easier to talk about that than this; at least with that there's a clear goal and no need for such an uncomfortable silence. ]

You saw a little of it. Tall buildings... taller than most of them in Insomnia. Everything's pretty clustered together too. Really rushed, really colorful. Dunno if I've ever seen that much neon before... Kinda' hurts my eyes, especially when I tried to sleep near a window.

[mercurio]

[prompto snorts at that, a small trudging through his otherwise downward expression.]

Figures your one complaint would be related to sleeping.

[it's... a safe and comfortable topic to pick apart, of noctis's sleeping habits and just how familiar the banter can become because of it. he realizes it's cheating, in a way, because he's going around a topic that he shouldn't be going around for--and yet, it's hard not to. he wants to forget niflheim ever happened at all.]

Guess I'll have to see it for myself one of these days... [and then his smile slowly fades out, and prompto decidedly removes his hand from his wrist (keeping it hidden from sight, though, the offending mark), and taking the roll of bandages with his left hand.] Not a chance that you got my camera with you, huh?

[...]

[he eyes the tape, and the bandage coming unfurled on noctis.]

Can I help you with that? [please say yes]

[fessus]

It's not about sleeping...

[ But there's of course no real fire in that protest, equally as ready as Prompto to accept it as a known factor. Something he's used to getting grief over, something that feels... homey. ]

Ah-- this? [ What else could he possibly be referring to? The angle is awkward with the straps of the sling partly in the way but he shifts his weight, wordlessly presenting the outside of his arm to his friend where that offending bit of bandage is starting to pull away. Permission granted. ]

Sorry, it's a no-go on the camera. Guess that's the weirdest part of being here... You can't access my magic, right? I can't use it either.

[mercurio]

[at least, the many hours out in the wild were an intensive crash course on camping, tracking prey, cooking with minimal resources, and first aid kit. sometimes they didn't have enough potions or gil to spare, so it wasn't unlikely that the older two from their retinue would force them to learn a little bit of hands-on care.]

[...not that this entails a lot of detailed medical procedure, but it's familiar in that sense.]

[prompto sets to work, allowing his nerves to ease off a second as his shaky hands (less by the second) start to work on removing any bit of dirt collected on the inside of the bandage and tape that is no longer sticky.]

Seriously? Thought it was the drugs or whatever I was put under.

[he doesn't know what it means, the fact that noctis can't access his magic. is it bad? for the better? he hums at that.]

You got nothing, then? [he unfurls some of the medical tape and starts fixing up the peeling bandage, setting it nice and sturdy onto his friend's skin.] ...sorry.

[is what he says, instead.]

I'm acting like a jerk. You're-- I'm just kinda messed up still, I guess.

[he recognizes that he flinched away from noctis, pulled away from him. he knows the expression he saw on the other's face. and he feels like shit for it.]

[fessus]

[ Blue eyes lower to watch Prompto's fingers at work, seeming to remember only belatedly to reach for his sleeve and yank it just a little higher in case he needs it out of the way. An unnecessary help, maybe, but he feels useless just sitting here. His arm aches, too; every day is a new struggle as something else slowly knits itself back together, muscle fibers torn through and blood vessels ruptured. Sure, he'd been given some pills, but it's like they hardly make a dent.

But he trusts Prompto with this, and to be careful. He always does.

That gaze lifts abruptly when he apologizes, however, expression one of questioning. ]

Hah--?

Don't be stupid... [ Half under his breath. ] Things are weird when you first show up here. I get it. I went through it and all. And yeah, I don't have anything right now, but that won't stop me trying just in case. Just hurts when I push it too hard.

[mercurio]

[prompto frowns at that--in concentration and in general unpleasantness. he lets noctis's words prelude to silence, fixing up the bandage to the best of his ability before being satisfied with his work. he sets the tape down and gives a light tap at his friend's shoulder, pulling away and then reaching out for the bandage for himself.]

You're all set.

[it feels urgent, needing to wrap his wrist with the proffered bandages, so he sets to work, trying to be as covert about it as possible.]

...how did you get hurt like that? Did you get into a fight and realize you couldn't use your magic?

[fessus]

Thanks, Prompto.

[ He cranes his neck to get a good look at his work, affirming that it's good -- seems like he really was paying attention during Gladio's demonstration. Good, because Noctis barely was. Changing this bandage out the first time was a real pain in his ass. ]

Oh. Ah... Something happened here before you showed up. People were acting weird, getting really mad and out of control. We were able to cure them, but one of the guys here needed extra help and ended up shooting at me when I came to talk to him.

... wonder if you trying to use magic would hurt me or you... [ Let's Not Find Out. ]

[mercurio]

To think we've taken quite the fire from the Imperial infantry without much of a scratch before...

[it helped that noctis could evade with his warp-magic, that they had the right type of protective gear and curatives at hand. prompto winces as noctis retells what happens, and part of him feels... like noctis shouldn't throw himself around at danger so needlessly like that.]

[he seems to worry about this for a moment, before speaking up.] Gladio would have chewed your head off for that, and Iggy... Well. [he finishes bandaging up, looking up at noctis.] Be more careful, Noct.

[it sounds stupid the moment it leaves his mouth, and he knows it.]

Let's... not find out.

[he fixes how he's sitting, leaning against a cupboard.]

So. [awkward pause] What video game would you compare this to?

[fessus]

I don't regret it.

[ Those words come in a quick return, for some reason feeling the need to emphasize that singular point before he goes on. ]

There's... maybe not a ton I can do here yet while I'm figuring out all this power stuff and if I can tap back into my magic, but he needed my help. I'm not gonna' promise I wouldn't do it again, even if getting shot was maybe a little sloppy on my part. Figured he'd still be up to handling things with words. [ It had certainly seemed that way, anyhow.

Noctis readjusts his weight, finding a more comfortable spot on that otherwise uncomfortable floor, without choosing to acknowledge how ridiculous they must both look. His gaze is lowering to Prompto's wrist again instead, frown deepening momentarily as he worries at the inside of his cheek. ]

... Medical Trials: Clinical Salvation? You're the doctor in this case.

[mercurio]

[of course he doesn't. prompto's quick to smile at that, even as his friend decides to explain his words and actions.]

[in the end? noctis is the absolute nicest person prompto has ever met, despite the cool facade he puts up and the layers of indifference he feigns quite expertly. prompto can't fault the other for doing what he did; it's just how noctis lucis caelum is.]

Yeah... Sounds like you.

I suck at that game. [he lifts his gaze up at noctis, conversation going towards more comfortable and familiar topics.] Can't promise that bandage is gonna be set for too long, sorry.

[there are worse fates though, right?]

[he breathes out a choked kind of laugh despite himself.]

It's really good to see you, Noct. You have no idea.

[and isn't that just hot and cold, from the initial response? but there's a difference. before, prompto had been fed the idea (lies) that noctis purposely wanted to be rid of him, but now there's reassurance in the shape that noctis has said he doesn't hate prompto.]

[fessus]

Prompto--

Geeze... you don't have to tell me you suck at that game; I watched you try and get a million game-overs. [ Why does a simple memory like that make him feel emotional? Especially after Prompto just chided him in a way so wholly unlike him and Noctis had stood by the line he himself had drawn. Disagreeing isn't something they do often, but even now when they have they find things in common and admire in each other -- Prompto just wants him to keep safe, right?

Can he blame him, when Prompto seems so much like he'd needed someone? No... not just someone.

He'd needed to hear what Noctis has to say, just like Noctis needs to hear this. ]

I... [ A pause, for a steadying breath. ] I dunno, I have some idea. Things have been pretty crazy here and it's just been me.