EVENT #010

[larkers]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam and any other megacity the Displaced happen to be in/travel to!
WHEN: May 28, 2512
WHAT: Golden-eyed monsters stream into New Amsterdam and other megacities the world over.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Violence, death, body horror, mind control, and transformation.

> EVENT #010

It starts in the middle of the night, when most everyone should be fast asleep in their beds, whether they're still taking up a cot in the safehouse or staying in their own apartment. One moment it's quiet, with most of the rest of the city having also turned in for the night, and then in the next? It isn't.

There will be mass confusion as the scope of the situation becomes clear. Monsters stream out onto the streets, thundering up the stairs of a train station, skittering out of construction sites, or climbing up the walls. Some of them fly. Others slither. Others run, loping forward with only one goal in mind: to find something to sink their teeth or claws into and to leave destruction in their wake at every turn. They are a horde, a swarm, a teeming mass of creatures that have no intention of stopping. All of them have eyes or bodies that shine gold and wherever they go, they seem to leave decay. Concrete turns black and porous where they step; plants wither and die.

There is no real preparing for an attack of this scale. New Amsterdam will awaken as the sound of these monsters crashing down on cars or bursting through storefronts or into homes forces people to run screaming from their dwellings or places of work. There is no discrimination in who these beasts might target, and no discernable pattern in where they go.

All that one can really tell is that they seem to want to spread out. They're constantly on the move, leaping from victim to victim, and they're relentless. No one knows why they've come, where they're come from, or what will make them stop. At least for now, the only option seems to be to cut down their numbers. It's time to fight the horde.

The first night will be utter chaos as everyone reacts to the monsters' sudden appearance, but by the morning hours news reports will start streaming in. This is not only happening in New Amsterdam, or wherever else a Displaced might be staying, but seemingly everywhere. Some cities seem harder hit than others, but practically every megacity is overrun with the creatures.

With no way of knowing who might have unleashed the monsters, all of these cities have essentially been turned into battlefields. Not many civilians are prepared to fight for their lives, and it will take a mobilization effort from the police, Morningstar, the Displaced, and anyone else who's willing to take up arms in order to survive.

◉ As a note, this attack starts simultaneously in multiple cities. While it's the middle of the night in New Amsterdam, the monsters will appear at other times of the day in other parts of the world depending on the timezone!

> BESTIARY

So as to not make this post overly long, we have compiled all of the monster descriptions into a Google doc here for everyone's reference!

> (NOT SO) SAFEHOUSE

For those Displaced who stay at (or spend any time in) the safehouse under the hoverbike shop or the Red Wings bar, they may become aware of the presence of the monsters sooner than others, due to the fact that at least a few of the giant mole monsters will end up burrowing up through the concrete basements to wreak havoc. The screeching noise of steel claws tearing through the floor will be sure to wake up even the deepest of sleepers.

This won't just be an occurrence on the first night of the attack, either. Unless something is done to deter them, tunnels leading straight into the safehouses will continue to be created, allowing even other types of monsters to find their way through (the smaller ones, that is). Where exactly they're coming from won't be entirely clear, though it's a safe bet to assume that they must have originated in the cave system somehow.

Suffice to say that El won't be happy about the safehouse being compromised in this way, though this isn't a possibility that ze or anyone else could have really prepared for. While ze can't do much to physically help with containing the invasion of the monsters, ze will offer whatever resources ze can—though Morningstar is going to be busy in plenty of other locations, as well, and they only have so many resources.

The Red Wings, being a Displaced-operated location, will also be in need of assistance, especially if it's meant to be a point of safety and a hub for handing out supplies. Speaking of—

> RED WINGS HQ

As things begin to deteriorate, Clarke Griffin and Stephen Strange sink their resources into Red Wings, adapting it into a base of operations for the Displaced. Clarke also called in PRESERVE to set up a checkpoint here, too, and anyone—from the Displaced to civilians—will be able to seek aid here. (Of course, Red Wings will be just one of a few locations throughout the city where they attempt to set up shop, but Red Wings may prove to be more fortified thanks to the talents of the Displaced.) Civilians will not have access to Red Wings' safehouse, however. That's still something that Clarke and Stephen want to keep under wraps, for now.

In the bar proper, there will be medical aid, supplies, and even weapons for those who can use them. During rare moments of downtime, the gang at Red Wings will also work on reconnaissance missions to find safe spots throughout the city to provide much needed protection and safety for the people of New Amsterdam. This task may be much easier said than done. Gathering intel on the monsters is a high priority, too, and for anyone who tries to capture a monster to learn more about them, the basement might be a good place to hold them. If the Displaced are going to be able to fight back, they need to know exactly what it is they're fighting.

However, the truth of the matter is that this attack happened quickly, and in the middle of the night to boot. As much as the group at Red Wings tries, resources are stretched thin, and they didn't have time to prepare as much as they wanted to. Supplies need to be rationed, bandages and stitches used for wounds that really need them, and if you're not a great shot, it might be best to let someone with more training take that gun you're eyeing.

More than anything, despite the difficulty, this is a way for the Displaced to help out as many people as they can, and a way for them to cement their humanitarian efforts and affect the population's opinion of them. The citizens of New Amsterdam are sick of this cycle of destruction, and are just waiting to be empowered. Now's the time to teach them to fight back and help them protect their city.

Red Wings' safehouse underground will be damaged by burrowing monsters as well, and will need protection. The bar itself will escape relatively unscathed.

> INVESTIGATING / GATES

Maybe the best way of dealing with the monsters isn't violence at all. Maybe there's a more strategic way to deal with this.

The monsters will be moving from city to city via the gates, just like the Displaced do. There might be a way to keep them from spreading, or at least slow them down, by shutting down the gate network. Of course, with the mag trains shutting down, getting back home could be an issue. One option is the delivery network of hover trucks. They'll still be running to get supplies from city to city, but their batteries don't run indefinitely, so these will be relatively local trips only. No getting from New Tokyo back to New Amsterdam with this method, unfortunately, and convincing a driver to let you hitch a ride might be a challenge, but it's doable.

Of course, there's also the question of where these things are coming from. Intrepid characters might be able to track them back to their nests, which are tucked away in wildly different places depending on the city. In New Amsterdam, they might be in the caves below the city. In other places, they might not be in the city proper at all, but just outside of it. It's important to keep in mind that the nests are far away from any of the action taking place elsewhere. Tracking these origin points may provide some answers, but the cost would be less involvement in the crisis taking place.

And then there's the matter of the monsters themselves. How can you fight an enemy you know nothing about? For those determined or crafty enough, capturing them might be an option, although this will take some creativity. Once these creatures are captured, they'll need to be kept contained, and kept alive. Just because they're monstrous doesn't mean they don't have to eat, after all, and some will need special environmental considerations as well, such as the mind control slugs.

What happens after that is up to the Displaced. Is dissecting them the best bet? Their internal anatomy won't be wildly different from most "normal" animals, with the exception of some creatures who have strange appendages or the like. Still, this might give the Displaced a better idea of how they operate and what their weak spots are. Sending samples to a lab is another possibility, if the Displaced can figure out how to safely store those samples. After all, the world is in a crisis, and no one is running tests at the moment.

All monsters, though, seem drawn to the blue light. When a Displaced uses a power or activates the empathy bond, the creatures will lock onto it, utterly transfixed, and if this is done enough times, that gold glow of theirs will intensify. What does it all mean? Maybe figuring that out will be a pathway to stopping their attacks.

> PITCHING IN

While all of this is going on, it certainly won't be just the Displaced who are heading out into the streets to try and stem the flow of the monster attack. These creatures are certainly not holding back, and no matter how much work might be put in, their numbers are overwhelming. Plenty of people will end up dead as a result, ripped to shreds or dragged off somewhere to be eaten. Yet, for some reason, these monsters are not as vicious toward the Displaced. They'll engage them in a fight and injure them, but they never go so far as dealing a fatal blow.

Seeing how that's not the case for the rest of the populace throughout the world, however, some groups and organizations will be rising up to do their part.

Police departments will be mobilizing in every megacity to put the monsters down, and while they are armed, it's not on the same level as the UNA. They also don't have any sort of training that's prepared them to fight monsters, but they'll still be putting their lives on the line to put a dent in the monsters' onslaught. When it comes to enforcing regular law and order, they certainly won't have the bandwidth for anything like that. Then again, most people won't be in any position to take advantage and commit crimes either, given the chaos that will be a constant everywhere.

Morningstar will also be jumping into action around the world. The New Amsterdam branch will be most likely to work alongside the Displaced and share some of their resources, particularly with those who are signed up as official agents or those who've supported them in the past. In cities like New Prague and New Beijing where the Displaced have made some contact with Morningstar before, they'll also be open to working with the Displaced. However, their resources are by no means robust. Morningstar is an organized rebel group, but they're hardly an official army in any sense of the word. They might be able to hand out a weapon here or there and they have a safehouse set up in almost every city, but beyond that, they'll mainly be getting boots on the ground to help with the fighting.

UNA soldiers who have been left without any sort of purpose or guidance will now have an opportunity to put some of that training to use. Their involvement will be much more scattered, though in some cases small groups of these soldiers who used to work in units together will reconnect in their effort to fight off the horde. However, having been cut off from the UNA in an official capacity, they won't have much in the way of gear or weapons. They're still formidable fighters, though, and now might be the perfect time to reach out and make a connection with some of them.

Mercenaries belonging to various different outfits, depending on what city they're based in, will also be joining the cause. Whether they're acting out of a basic desire to survive the attacks or if they're actually being paid by someone to go out there and risk their lives will be less clear, but they're some of the best-equipped fighters (other than the police). They also won't really find much reason to protest any of the Displaced pitching in to fight with them. The more firepower, the better, right?

A group of regulars from the New Amsterdam fighting rings will be rising up to add their fuel to the monster-fighting fire, as encouraged by Hawke and whoever else might know them well enough to reach out. Given that some of these people have illegal mods to enhance their strength or cybernetic attachments that can do impressive amounts of damage, some of them might hold their own against the monsters. Hell, some of them might even ask the Displaced to demonstrate some of their powers if they end up fighting together, as word of their abilities has become more known among their ranks. Either way, they'll be jumping into the fray with quite a bit of gusto.

PRESERVE will be involved on the other end of these efforts and will be doing their best to tend to the wounded and the dead, along with finding shelter and safe spots for people to barricade themselves from the attacks. It's not like the grand majority of civilians could stand a chance against these monsters, after all, yet not all of them can rely on their homes to be safe enough to stay in. They'll be quick to accept an offer of Displaced help, as they'll be doing their best to try and drag the recently dead to hospitals to get them put into medi-units before they're too late. Along with what's set up at Red Wings, they'll also be cobbling together other relief spots throughout the city for taking care of wounded and offering up what supplies they have (food and water, medical supplies, etc).

And what are the corporations doing in all of this? Well, suffice to say, mainly just panicking. Unsurprisingly, they're not much help during a crisis like this, with most of the super-rich opting to hide away in whatever highly secure bunkers they might have. Too bad that these bunkers might not prove so secure in the face of these attacks. Could that prove to be an opportunity if someone went looking?

> FINAL OOC NOES

Please refer to the OOC EVENT POST for all OOC info, including suggestions for directions on how to engage with the event. Given the spread out nature of this event, as well as the amount of additional details provided here, please direct all questions to our QUESTIONS thread below. This is, naturally, a huge event in terms of scale, and so we're certain there are aspects of it we haven't covered and questions that have yet to be answered. We do encourage that all of our players use the event planning post for any additional ideas and for touching base!

Please do not begin to thread out any aftermath until AUGUST 8, 2020, which is when we will put up the aftermath log and OOC post. If this date changes, we will provide a gamewide update as needed! As a note, the August calendar will be posted alongside the aftermath!

As a reminder, there is one power level up available for this event, granted for a thread of at least 5 log/action comments containing your character utilizing their power in some way during the event itself. They will need to reach the 5 comments required by SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 to be eligible. Submission will be handled on the wrap up post.

Our Activity Check will be posted AUGUST 1 at 12 AM UTC. It will run for seven days and close on AUGUST 8 at 12 AM UTC.

Have fun and fight some monsters! Or … whatever else you might do with them. 😉😏 Your secret's safe with us. 😙

> NAVIGATION

Comments

[strove]

No.

[Maybe if she had met Madi before she met Rey, she'd see the similarities there. The naïve hopefulness that drives both of them. The need to do good and believe in it, even if it might cost them their lives. The extremes they'd go to, and the path they took to get where they are.

The similarities are there, but Clarke as she exists now can't see them. She's blind. Madi is Madi and Rey is Rey.]

I've known her for a while now. I knew her before I even knew a Madi could exist. [And Clarke hasn't seen the darkness that could overtake Madi in her loss of Clarke, so she can't process that for Madi in the same way she's seen it for Rey.] She's from a world with a lot of problems, but she doesn't process them in the same way. And having to deal with that—I don't know. I can see it hurting her. Doing what I did there was easy enough.

[coalitions]

You sounded parental. Or familial. Protective, concerned.

[ Lexa doesn't know what parental looks like herself, so she only guesses at timems. Anya had her moments where she was a mother or sister figure to Lexa. Older, wiser, respectful of the Nightblood under her care. Titus was more a mentor than a father, and Aden was her protege, not her son.]

I understand what you mean by what we never had. [ Innocent was not in either of their vocabularies. ] What's done is done. Murphy will live and Julian is here for medical support.[ That's the logical side. It's covered. Her expression softens and she looks down.]

I'm not used to being so .... [ She pauses, thinking of a word she can stomach. ] Concerned. I should have been here with you. [ She left Costia alone once and she was abducted. ]

[strove]

You can't keep me from making mistakes. [The answer comes swift, almost as if it's pointed.

But then she shuffles, thinking it over. It's not concern, is it? Clarke can recognize where like is seeking like here. It's not concern. It's a matter of control. Trying to have a way of dominating the unknown elements. Keeping them all within reach.]

Thinking you can will only cause you more pain. This is because of what you lost by arriving here, isn't it? [Of course, this is a conversation better had when Clarke isn't part monster and speaking via text, but Clarke has never been one to wait for the Right Time.]

[coalitions]

I've rarely been able to keep you from doing anything you want.

[ Lexa replies dryly although with genuine affection too. That is true of both of them. They are born leaders with strong wills and different views of the world, different histories that led them to that view. While they won at least one battle of wills each, it was never guaranteed for the next one.

Clarke is right. This is about control. Lexa is used to having control. Now all she can control is herself, and she's failing at that when her emotions are not as locked up. She is not surprised Clarke plans on pushing on a conversation despite her monstrous form. She is a dog with a bone sometimes. ]

Without my people and my power, I am not Heda.

[ She is nothing. ]

[strove]

You told me once that I was a leader. That I was born into this. Here, I am a leader to these people even if they have no reason to see me that way. I do what I must during crises, even if it hurts myself. I don't need to see them as mine to act. A leader shouldn't only be a leader when they know people will listen.

[And Clarke had been afraid of bringing her style of leadership to this world. For the longest time, she had marked Markus as someone who could lead in her stead. Not only could Markus help others, but she could help him. And when she suggested something unfavorable to him, he was the type of man who would push back. Always push back.]

Lexa is a leader. Heda doesn't have to mean anything for that to be true.

[coalitions]

You are a born leader, Clarke. Years passing and other worlds hasn't changed that about you.

[ Not that she suspected it would! Clarke is a powerful presence. Lexa was typically considered the strongest personality in a room until Clarke stepped into it and something started to balance between them. Sometimes leaning one way or the other, but there was a shift. Titus saw that as a threat. Lexa saw it as an opportunity.

Lexa sighs and relaxes her shoulders, no longer in a proper meditation pose.]

I'm not saying I give up, but I'm trying to adjust my strategy. I have to learn how to talk to people, not in orders or declarations or as a leader, but as a person they want to listen to.

[ See her strategic mind knows that's how she has to do it. She has to win them over in a personal way, not by simply being the born leader or the strongest of the clans. Lexa isn't put off by hard work and effort, she thrives on it, but she isn't someone who sits at a bar and makes small talk. ]

[strove]

You did something like that before, didn't you? To meet Kane and Jaha. [Jaha's manic messaging upon returning had been terrible and unclear, so it's hard for Clarke to completely parse it out. At the time, he was unhinged and ready to look for salvation anywhere that would let him find peace from the loss of his son. But she knows Lexa's capable of it.]

Though I wouldn't risk looking weak to these people. Just have good ideas. The rest follows.

[She trusts that Lexa has good ideas, even if she doesn't always like those ideas. But Clarke also doesn't show weakness in the face of ideas she feels uncertain about, so ... it goes around and around.]

[coalitions]

I did. [ She confirms. ] I knew what they wanted to see. For Kane, an innocent girl to save. For Jaha, a tool to save them.

[ Lexa couldn't trust asking them directly. It was impossible to get a clear answer that way. Instead she tested them. It worked. She is always paying attention to people around her, at home and here. She's quiet in Red Wings but she knows every inch of it now. Every corner, all the workers, all the regulars. ]

I think it needs to be the opposite. [ She says slowly. ] I need to be strong. I need to make a mark on these people, on our situation. I'll figure out a way.

[ Lexa does not mean strong the precise way she did back home; she does not plan to stab anyone with a spear here. Strength can be in a presence too. She clasps her hands together in her lap. ]

This city was ill-prepared for this. It's alarming how weak they are. [ Most of her people do know at least the basics of self-defense, or they're encouraged to. It's a harsh world. ]

[strove]

Learn this world. Learn the strategies involved. If you come up with a plan that keeps us all safe, all the better. [Unknowingly, Clarke is appointing Lexa to what would later be her task: explore the city, map out more of it, and help protect people. Clarke isn't a military strategist in any way. She can think of leadership choices and even take them on, but left to her own devices, she goes through the most straightforward route every time.]

And treat them like the novitiates. Not as children. But as your future equals.

[For her part, Clarke hasn't always succeeded at that, either. She can do kindness. She can care. But she's actually much harsher than Lexa on any given day thanks to how she carries herself in a conflict. She's a blunt instrument. When Lexa had turned her into Wanheda, she already had the makings of it. All that was needed at the time was for the pieces to fall into place.

And they did.]

As for the rest ... think of the UN like the people of Mount Weather. Think of how they viewed your people for half a century. That is what the UN's done to this world. We've only started to change it.

[coalitions]

[ Clarke is good at seeing where others' strengths lie. Lexa may be made for war in many ways, but she is a leader in truth. And one that worked hard to gain peace, to think about her people and not about herself. Having a purpose and something to focus on is a healthy way to get through the situation here. It will give her drive, if not inner peace.

She is not allowed to see Clarke still, in the form she's in, but Lexa smiles and Clarke can hear it in her voice even if she can't see it. ]

This is why I love you, Clarke.

[ That one time she almost said it to her, before they made love for the first time, it was in a similar mindset. The way Clarke's mind works, her devotion as a leader and strength of personality, it's what draws Lexa to her. She says it now with more ease than it should be, but she is free from Titus and everything holding her back. Clarke knows how she feels. There is no reason to hide from it.

Her face does fall at the next part and her expression hardens when she thinks about these people being treated the way hers was. Lexa is very defensive of the Mountain Men looking down on her people, as if they were better, and it is the right button to push.]

The UN has not saved them from this, but we are. We can take that dependence from them.

[strove]

[It helps to focus her attention on Lexa, rather than the unnatural feeling that she has right now. Every inch of her feels wrong.

Part of how she had managed six years without her loved ones was something like this. Clarke isn't very good at caring for herself: she believes herself to be in charge of managing that for others. Doing what she can for others. It's how she'll survive today. Being herself, for better or worse.

There is no way to vocalize acknowledgement of her words. But it's still a relief to hear it, rather than to know it's been muffled by years of training to be something else to her people.]

It's because I love you that I don't want to see you struggle. The people here have been tricked, forced to believe in superstitions without any basis in reality. You know what it's like. In time, you'll be able to share your stories, too. It's what we did when we were trapped in a simulation. It's how we helped garner hope for others.

[coalitions]

[ Lexa knows she is giving Clarke a distraction. She needs to focus on other people sometimes to put aside her own struggles. It isn't always healthy, but she's gone through a horrific ordeal. Lexa has not opened up like this since arriving. She knows Clarke would listen and understand, but she processes these things with time. Her instincts may cut in to react quick in times of crisis, but now she has the time to work through her mind, her loss. ]

They weren't all superstitions. [ She disagrees quietly. ] But I understand what you mean.

[ The superstitions waere her culture, her people. She won't discard them all for having flaws. It is how they survived. But Lexa was able to go against the rules more than once, before Clarke arrived and after. She pushed them when the status quo wasn't enough. She will do it again. ]

I've always held it as a point of pride that my people survived and then thrived on the ground. They picked themselves up from nothing and created a new society in a short time.

[ And yes to some it is backward or superstitious, but it was still a feat. ]

I owe it to them to adapt here in preparation and to show we have that in us.

[strove]

I didn't mean your faith, [she clarifies, if only because it feels important. Clarke has learned a lot about disrespecting faith throughout the years. It's a lesson she has to remember time and time again because she doesn't connect with it personally, but she knows what it means to others.] I meant how Mount Weather used you. Tricked you into not taking up arms. They observed you to know how to make you respond accordingly. That is a much closer parallel, because the people of this world don't have much to hope for. They survive, believing that it may be enough.

[And for people from their world, it might be. It could be.

But Clarke knows that these people should be doing more than surviving. Many work jobs and live lives that are perfectly fine. But they don't know how to fight. Or believe they can have more.]

[coalitions]

[ Clarke's clarification helps because Lexa does feel defensive of her society. She tries not to put her hackles up with people here, waiting on them to start commenting on the Grounders the way the Mountain Men would, or the way the Sky People did. She understands it's different. It is a reminder of how the Mountain manipulated them all, especially her, and she does not take offense. It's the truth. ]

I understand. They need to be stronger. They need to know how to fight for themselves.

[ Her people may be many things, but fighters they are for certain, down to their very core. If anything this place is proving the opposite, and she can frown at them over that, or she can try to fix it. Helpless is not an emotion she understands and it is something she never wanted her people to feel all the same. These people are not weak just because they never learned how to fight. ]

You think they will have the will power for it? The drive to? It must be their choice.

[strove]

Yes. As long as they have reason to believe there's hope in it, they'll fight. They know that they were abandoned to the simulation and that the government was, once and for all, proven to be powerless to help them. So, they worked and tried to burn down the system that Judas created in there. I don't know what good it did in the end, but the important part was that they did it. Judas could torture them and capture them and change the outcome of the simulation at the drop of a hat, and he didn't stop this. Maybe he couldn't.

[Maybe the knowledge of the approach on the outside meant that Judas was cornered. Clarke isn't certain about that, but it still stands.]

These people haven't been allowed to envision themselves as warriors. And they don't need to be, either. They just have to know that they can have a different, better way.

[coalitions]

And I suspect you were a part of them rising up and doing that in the simulation. You have always been inspirational in your own right.

[ Powerful. Confident. A born leader. Time has not changed that in the least, except perhaps settled her more into the role. Lexa is deeply drawn to that sort of strength. She would be ashamed that she is needing it now, when floundering and weak, but Clarke is her partner. She is not Titus, who will shower her in disdain and disappointment for not having it all together right away. Clarke gives her a cause instead. ]

We may not make them into warriors, but we will make them true survivors. They've survived this accidentally, but next time it will be more purposefully.

[ Hopefully. That is the plan forming in her mind. She cannot teach them to be like one of her clan, but they've been training civilians in their people for decades. Not everyone can hold a blade, but everyone can know how to hide, how to run. Lexa understands why Clarke is giving it to her though. ]

But we will need to help you before we can help them, Clarke.