Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
modblob) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
redshiftlogs2019-06-30 09:07 pm
modblob) wrote in redshiftlogs2019-06-30 09:07 pm
Entry tags:
- !mod post: intro mingle,
- dragon age: cole,
- expanse: alex kamal,
- far cry 5: staci pratt,
- hunger games: annie cresta,
- hunger games: finnick odair,
- izombie: drake holloway,
- mcu: peter parker,
- mortal kombat: kabal,
- original: cho takahashi,
- poison: poison,
- umbrella academy: ben hargreeves,
- umbrella academy: diego hargreeves,
- umbrella academy: eudora patch,
- umbrella academy: klaus hargreeves,
- warm bodies: julie grigio
july 2019. welcome to the void.
Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: First Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of July 2019
Where: Around and outside the city.
Warnings: Please add any warnings in the subject lines.
A few hours after the first arrivals, odd noises start to filter up from the pavilion and park at the base of the city. Limp whistles, the gunfire pop of small fireworks, and music from what sounds like a broken kazoo. It seems as though the still-functioning robots of Anchor are trying to welcome their new human overlords, based on programming that hasn't been exercised in... uh, shall we say "a while"?
Three of them have formed a tiny off-key band playing unfamiliar tunes from crackling speakers. One of the three punctuates the music at odd moments by smashing together a pair of cymbals that seem to have been constructed from a flattened pot and a trash can lid. Two others man the refreshments table. Some of the food looks downright inedible, but there are piles of wild berries from the upper floors. Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries. Apples and cherries. Fruits that shouldn't be in season together but somehow still are. There's a strange and vaguely triangular pastry that tastes like hot cinnamon candy. There are piles of vegetables, too, though the only preparation they've had is to be washed and dumped in baskets.
One of the chef bots has put some work in, though, and there are a couple of stews and soups available for the adventurous. All of them are made with the raw ingredients available to eat on the tables. One of them even has meat in it, though that's best consumed by people with very hardy stomachs.
At the end of the refreshment table is a cluster of fresh-pressed juices and unlabeled alcohol bottles, with uneven stacks of cups stationed around them. (Careful, some of the cups are cracked.) Even the good old bar bot is doing his part, pouring out glasses of orange juice and straight shots of tequila. A very generous compromise in place of his usual tequila sunrises. Right? Right.
The most conspicuous robot is the one setting off fireworks. It’s already blown off one six-fingered hand, but by god that hasn’t stopped it. With every small cluster of colorful explosives, the thing throws back its chunky head and gives a sound that can only be described as a metallic cackle.
Might want to watch that guy.
In the wee hours of the morning after the robots' attempted welcome, the impacts against the dome overhead start. Meteorites, some of them as large as a person's head, bombard the shield and the area around for miles. The alarms that start throughout the colony are enough to wake anyone up, if the thunderous noise of the cosmic storm wasn't enough to do it.
And the alarms aren't for the meteorites. The red shift is rising up around the colony, that phenomenon that no one from the past had the foresight to give more than vague warnings about. New residents who have done some digging will know exactly what’s going on, but for those who’ve avoided even thinking about what’s happened to them, well. It could be a nasty surprise.
Anyone sensible would stay inside with all of that going on, but there's something else: life signs. The communication devices given to residents on arrival light up, indicating the presence of no less than five flecks of life out there in the wastes. Odds are good that at least a few of them are monsters from other worlds, or twisted radioactive creatures warped by the planet itself. But one of them is very human, and has been here for a very long time.
Should residents venture out to investigate these life signs, they’ll find the farthest one to be a man in protective gear, flickering like a badly received signal. As the red shift starts to fade, he solidifies, and as the shift finally dies away, he wrenches off his helmet with one hand and falls to his knees. He's as twisted as the creatures the planet has corrupted, one eye socket nothing but a depression sealed by flesh. His lips on that side curves sharply upward, barely hiding teeth too sharp and long for a human mouth. It's clear now while he pulled off his helmet with one hand--the other is a wreck, a blackened stony mass sealed to the cuff of his radiation suit.
He can hear you coming, if you're brave enough to approach. He can hear you coming, and will turn his one orange-irised eye to watch you until you speak.
Welcome to Anchor, where sometimes you're the only thing between you and the catastrophic failure of life support systems. After the red shift ends, the radioactivity warning alarms will at least fall silent. The cosmic storm has passed, and for a little while there's quiet under the dome.
But those exploring the upper reaches of the city might hear new alarms, much softer and less insistent than the radiation alarms. They're coming from one of the survey rooms near the garage and the exits to the surface. It might take a little doing to pull up the screens triggering the alarms, but you'll be glad you put in the work. It turns out, those meteorites damaged several of the exterior sensors and one of the major radiation and light transfer panels that help keep anchor supplied with energy--and help keep the shield dome in good working order.
While the damage is easy to see and isn't too hard to fix for those with some technical know-how, there are life signs moving slowly closer to the colony. It's quite possible to fix the damage and get back inside before those life signs arrive, but there's also the risk of being caught in the open and facing down some of the planet's native creatures.
In this case, they're large, furry millipede-like creatures no less than seven feet long. They're perfectly harmless, if you don't count the fact that they seem intent on trying to eat the protective gear and tools you've brought out onto the surface with you. It's not their fault that your arms are inside those delicious radiation suits.
A few days of genuine quiet follow the fixing of the exterior damage. Time to explore, to get lost, to drink more than your doctor might recommend at the colony's only serviceable bar. Enough time to feel the weight of Anchor's emptiness.
The next time you walk into the bar, there's a see-through stranger at the pool table, smiling warmly in welcome. "Want a game?"
Get too close, and he disappears. But he was there--he was clearly there. The cue he was holding clatters to the ground and rolls over to rest at your feet.
Down in the pavilion, there are children playing in the park. Throwing balls, playing tag, their laughs echoing somehow in the open air. Invisible parents call for them to be careful or slow down. Now and then one of them will vanish midstep, only to appear again back where they were ten minutes ago and start their run through the park all over again. They can see you. One or two might even invite you to join their games, taking your hand in their own, leading you toward their fellows. And when they do, you can hear their parents' voices exclaiming in shock. A rush of shadows scoop up these phantom children and whisk them away into some invisible world where you can't follow, only hear the children crying in fear.
All around the colony, shades appear and vanish, some solid enough to touch, some just barely visible. Some are inexplicably aggressive, attacking anyone who tries to talk to them or get too close. Just as many run screaming or sobbing at the sight of you.
But there are others, too, who seem to recognize you. One of these is a young woman holding a gun like she has no idea how to use it. When approached, she almost starts to cry. "Oh, thank god. We have to get the kids to quarantine. We have to get them into lockdown. Those bastards-- Those sons of bitches-- The kids should at least have a chance."
She starts to turn, and a laser blast rips through her, lancing across the wall right where a deep score mark still exists, not in the least ghostly or unreal. If you touch it now, it feels warm.
What: First Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of July 2019
Where: Around and outside the city.
Warnings: Please add any warnings in the subject lines.
Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.
Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.
a. bot party.
A few hours after the first arrivals, odd noises start to filter up from the pavilion and park at the base of the city. Limp whistles, the gunfire pop of small fireworks, and music from what sounds like a broken kazoo. It seems as though the still-functioning robots of Anchor are trying to welcome their new human overlords, based on programming that hasn't been exercised in... uh, shall we say "a while"? Three of them have formed a tiny off-key band playing unfamiliar tunes from crackling speakers. One of the three punctuates the music at odd moments by smashing together a pair of cymbals that seem to have been constructed from a flattened pot and a trash can lid. Two others man the refreshments table. Some of the food looks downright inedible, but there are piles of wild berries from the upper floors. Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries. Apples and cherries. Fruits that shouldn't be in season together but somehow still are. There's a strange and vaguely triangular pastry that tastes like hot cinnamon candy. There are piles of vegetables, too, though the only preparation they've had is to be washed and dumped in baskets.
One of the chef bots has put some work in, though, and there are a couple of stews and soups available for the adventurous. All of them are made with the raw ingredients available to eat on the tables. One of them even has meat in it, though that's best consumed by people with very hardy stomachs.
At the end of the refreshment table is a cluster of fresh-pressed juices and unlabeled alcohol bottles, with uneven stacks of cups stationed around them. (Careful, some of the cups are cracked.) Even the good old bar bot is doing his part, pouring out glasses of orange juice and straight shots of tequila. A very generous compromise in place of his usual tequila sunrises. Right? Right.
The most conspicuous robot is the one setting off fireworks. It’s already blown off one six-fingered hand, but by god that hasn’t stopped it. With every small cluster of colorful explosives, the thing throws back its chunky head and gives a sound that can only be described as a metallic cackle.
Might want to watch that guy.
b. life signs in the wasteland.
In the wee hours of the morning after the robots' attempted welcome, the impacts against the dome overhead start. Meteorites, some of them as large as a person's head, bombard the shield and the area around for miles. The alarms that start throughout the colony are enough to wake anyone up, if the thunderous noise of the cosmic storm wasn't enough to do it. And the alarms aren't for the meteorites. The red shift is rising up around the colony, that phenomenon that no one from the past had the foresight to give more than vague warnings about. New residents who have done some digging will know exactly what’s going on, but for those who’ve avoided even thinking about what’s happened to them, well. It could be a nasty surprise.
Anyone sensible would stay inside with all of that going on, but there's something else: life signs. The communication devices given to residents on arrival light up, indicating the presence of no less than five flecks of life out there in the wastes. Odds are good that at least a few of them are monsters from other worlds, or twisted radioactive creatures warped by the planet itself. But one of them is very human, and has been here for a very long time.
Should residents venture out to investigate these life signs, they’ll find the farthest one to be a man in protective gear, flickering like a badly received signal. As the red shift starts to fade, he solidifies, and as the shift finally dies away, he wrenches off his helmet with one hand and falls to his knees. He's as twisted as the creatures the planet has corrupted, one eye socket nothing but a depression sealed by flesh. His lips on that side curves sharply upward, barely hiding teeth too sharp and long for a human mouth. It's clear now while he pulled off his helmet with one hand--the other is a wreck, a blackened stony mass sealed to the cuff of his radiation suit.
He can hear you coming, if you're brave enough to approach. He can hear you coming, and will turn his one orange-irised eye to watch you until you speak.
c. hairy repairs.
Welcome to Anchor, where sometimes you're the only thing between you and the catastrophic failure of life support systems. After the red shift ends, the radioactivity warning alarms will at least fall silent. The cosmic storm has passed, and for a little while there's quiet under the dome. But those exploring the upper reaches of the city might hear new alarms, much softer and less insistent than the radiation alarms. They're coming from one of the survey rooms near the garage and the exits to the surface. It might take a little doing to pull up the screens triggering the alarms, but you'll be glad you put in the work. It turns out, those meteorites damaged several of the exterior sensors and one of the major radiation and light transfer panels that help keep anchor supplied with energy--and help keep the shield dome in good working order.
While the damage is easy to see and isn't too hard to fix for those with some technical know-how, there are life signs moving slowly closer to the colony. It's quite possible to fix the damage and get back inside before those life signs arrive, but there's also the risk of being caught in the open and facing down some of the planet's native creatures.
In this case, they're large, furry millipede-like creatures no less than seven feet long. They're perfectly harmless, if you don't count the fact that they seem intent on trying to eat the protective gear and tools you've brought out onto the surface with you. It's not their fault that your arms are inside those delicious radiation suits.
d. shadows of the past.
A few days of genuine quiet follow the fixing of the exterior damage. Time to explore, to get lost, to drink more than your doctor might recommend at the colony's only serviceable bar. Enough time to feel the weight of Anchor's emptiness. The next time you walk into the bar, there's a see-through stranger at the pool table, smiling warmly in welcome. "Want a game?"
Get too close, and he disappears. But he was there--he was clearly there. The cue he was holding clatters to the ground and rolls over to rest at your feet.
Down in the pavilion, there are children playing in the park. Throwing balls, playing tag, their laughs echoing somehow in the open air. Invisible parents call for them to be careful or slow down. Now and then one of them will vanish midstep, only to appear again back where they were ten minutes ago and start their run through the park all over again. They can see you. One or two might even invite you to join their games, taking your hand in their own, leading you toward their fellows. And when they do, you can hear their parents' voices exclaiming in shock. A rush of shadows scoop up these phantom children and whisk them away into some invisible world where you can't follow, only hear the children crying in fear.
All around the colony, shades appear and vanish, some solid enough to touch, some just barely visible. Some are inexplicably aggressive, attacking anyone who tries to talk to them or get too close. Just as many run screaming or sobbing at the sight of you.
But there are others, too, who seem to recognize you. One of these is a young woman holding a gun like she has no idea how to use it. When approached, she almost starts to cry. "Oh, thank god. We have to get the kids to quarantine. We have to get them into lockdown. Those bastards-- Those sons of bitches-- The kids should at least have a chance."
She starts to turn, and a laser blast rips through her, lancing across the wall right where a deep score mark still exists, not in the least ghostly or unreal. If you touch it now, it feels warm.
e. ping from the rubble.
As though the presence of past residents sets it off, a persistent signal begins to broadcast from the collapsed library. It turns out there's a section not buried quite as deeply as the rest. A row of broken terminals, ending with the one sending the signal. A warning signal about the structural integrity of the library complex and the need to back up crucial data. Too little, too late, but with time and patience some of the partial files on the terminal could be reconstructed....
For those less versed in computers, there's a mysterious door just past the terminals, partially blocked off by rubble. If that can be cleared, the door leads into a dusty room with more broken terminals, but beyond that, there's a small library of real hardcover and paperback books, with comfortable chairs (some of them needing TLC), low tables, and lights (currently broken). The books are in a variety of languages, both Earth-based and alien. A flickering "skylight" at the top of the room shows a blue sky flanked by swaying trees, or a thunderstorm, or other, stranger but still friendly skies. It blinks off, sometimes, but seems determined to keep playing its peaceful scenes for those below. With some cleaning up, this could be a good retreat from the sometimes oppressive emptiness of Anchor.
For those less versed in computers, there's a mysterious door just past the terminals, partially blocked off by rubble. If that can be cleared, the door leads into a dusty room with more broken terminals, but beyond that, there's a small library of real hardcover and paperback books, with comfortable chairs (some of them needing TLC), low tables, and lights (currently broken). The books are in a variety of languages, both Earth-based and alien. A flickering "skylight" at the top of the room shows a blue sky flanked by swaying trees, or a thunderstorm, or other, stranger but still friendly skies. It blinks off, sometimes, but seems determined to keep playing its peaceful scenes for those below. With some cleaning up, this could be a good retreat from the sometimes oppressive emptiness of Anchor.
no subject
"Sir, it looks like you've been through a lot, and I really don't wanna hound you, but this sounds really bad. I need you to be as specific as you can be, okay? What do you mean by poison? Was there a radiation leak somewhere, did something come through the portal that wasn't supposed to? What happened?"
no subject
"You're young. Young. That's a shame." To Drake, he says, "Isn't that a shame?"
no subject
"...Peter, get behind me." Peter's actually much sturdier than him now that he's human again, but he's still going to be protective.
Then, to the stranger, "Why's it a shame? What happened to you?"
no subject
He leans forward, baring his teeth in Peter's face, jaw opening wider than it has any right to. "Might hurt you, me, might be a threat, me." He turns and spits, phlegm hitting the ground near Drake. "But oh, I'll just tell you everything you want to know after you insult me."
no subject
"Drake, it's fine, okay? Chill, it's fine."
Whether or not Drake is, in fact, chilling, Peter turns his attention back to Captain Creepy and tries his absolute best not to look like he's super creeped out.
"Sir, I'm sorry about that. Just- we're all a little on edge, you know?"
no subject
He scans the horizon, seeming to stare straight through them for a moment, and for a moment, they can see right through him.
"I ran when they did it. To this day, I don't know if--how long has it been? I don't know how long it's been."
no subject
"He's right, and I'm sorry," he echoes Peter, slowly crouching down to be on the stranger's level as well. It's just a gesture, but it's all he's got at the moment. "I think you've been out here for awhile, the city is completely abandoned... we came out to see if you needed help, that's all. Are you hurt? What were you running from?"
no subject
"I don't want to go back. Not to that place, not to that hole. We tried it once and it was good, but all good things. All good things...." His attention fixes on Peter again. "The young ones didn't deserve it."
no subject
It's becoming apparent that they're not going to get as straight an answer out of this guy as they'd like. Peter's making mental notes about stuff to research later, there has to be records or surveillance footage or something tucked away somewhere that he can gain access to. Something to look into when they get back. Right now there's all this to worry about, like the fact that this guy would rather stay out here in a deadly, radioactive wasteland than return to Anchor. That's just a bit concerning.
"You-- you don't have to come back if you don't want to. I just, uh, don't know that there's a lot we can do for you if you stay out here."
Almost as an afterthought, he juuust a bit hesitantly holds a hand out to the man. He's a little spooked but he's still trying to be polite.
"Um, I'm Peter, by the way ...I mean, Drake already said it, you knew that." Smooth, Peter, real smooth. "I uh, I don't think we caught your name?"
no subject
He stares at Peter's hand for a moment. He can't remember what he's supposed to do with it. He can't remember. But slowly, following muscle memory, he reaches out and clasps his one good hand around Peter's suit glove.
"Joseph. Joe. People called me Joe." He looks at Drake, still holding Peter's hand. "I was the only one who made it out, but I didn't really, did I?"
no subject
"Nice to meet you, Joe. You made it, you're talking to us now, right? And we haven't found anyone else in there... if you're worried about something the people in Anchor did, they're gone. Are you really okay out here?"
no subject
He looks skyward again, staring unflinchingly into one of the suns. "When I got here there were four. Watch them, see they don't change on you, because they will. That's how I know, see, that's how I tell the time."
no subject
"What happens if they do change?"
no subject
no subject
He doesn't get to ask anything else before Joe doubles over, obviously hurting and seemingly on the verge of blinking out of existence. Drake reaches out instinctively and catches his shoulder as if that'll tether him because what the fuck.
Everything about this is alarming.
"Hey, Joe? What's going on?" Is he connected to the storms somehow? Drake frowns worriedly, looking around to see if the shift seems to be coming back. "We don't want to just leave you out here, buddy."
no subject
"You can't take me back. I belong here. I chose, this is what I chose." He twists around abruptly, seizing Drake's wrist, manic and frighteningly strong. "This, the coming and going, the shifts, the shifts--"
no subject
"We won't make you go anywhere you don't wanna go, okay? Relax."
no subject
Then the arm, or Joe, or some combination of the two, strikes like a viper to try and seize Peter's face.
no subject
He trusts Peter to let go and dodge as he stands up and yanks his own arm back hard, the sharp movement designed to pull Joe off balance and throw off his aim. Or rather, his arm's aim, because Joe doesn't even seem to be focused enough on Peter to grab his face and yet. It's like something else is controlling the ruined limb.
"Hey, don't!" If Joe doesn't respond or if that grasping black hand makes contact, he's going to get kicked back with as much force as Drake can manage, but he'd rather not have to attack... your move, Joe.
no subject
Joe grabs at his other arm, trying in vain to get a grip on its oozing wrist. His focus has left Drake and Peter entirely. He's screaming, eye wide and mouth opening farther than it should as the words slur out in a shriek.
"I'll kill you! I'll rip you off! I'll bleed out on the sand!"
no subject
"Come on, we're going!"
He doesn't need a spider sense to tell him that shit is gettin' fucked, son.
no subject
The flesh covering his useless eye socket swells, then outright bulges, then bursts, spilling blood and fiber-thin tentacles onto the sand. The tentacles reach toward Peter and Drake, opening like the petals of some twisted flower.
no subject
He looks from his friend trying to drag him away to the gore exploding from Joe's face, and resists for just a moment longer, lifting his device and trying to navigate back to the camera. It's not respectful, but they should get some kind of proof before they run. Unfortunately, the communicator doesn't respond.
"Fuck," Drake curses under his breath, frustrated and disturbed. That's it, then. They're out. He lets Peter's urgent tugging guide him as they book it, not fully looking away from Joe until they're what he deems a safe distance to turn his back. They run the whole way back to Anchor and straight into decontamination, and Drake slams the button to seal the doors and start the protocols.
It feels like his heart is going to pound out of his chest, a sensation he still hasn't gotten reaccustomed to despite it happening plenty during the final Null invasion. He does his best to keep his breathing even, staring at the closed security doors.
"...we're sorry, Joe." And then he's turning to Peter, looking him over worriedly. "You're okay, right Peter?"
Physically, he means. They might both be having nightmares after that scene.
no subject
Peter isn't out of breath by the time they get back, because spiders, but he's definitely on the verge of some kind of freak out. The only thing keeping him from actually doing the freaking out is the fact that this isn't the worst thing he's ever witnessed, but it's totally not going to be doing his mental state any favors in the long run.
After a few "holy shit"s, Peter seems to calm down a little and starts pulling off his protective gear.
"Shit. Yeah. I'm fine. That got weird. That got really weird. Holy shit..."
Okay so maybe he is freaking out, shut up.
no subject
Freaking out is absolutely a valid life choice here, it's okay Peter. Drake may be reaching for calm for his younger friend's sake, but he's definitely just as disturbed.
"I thought I was used to body horror, but that was on another level, yeah. Poor Joe. Whatever happened to him..." Drake actually shudders, then, and tries to cover it by peeling back the thick material of his suit. He doesn't want to think about it, but he has to. "I think he was holding back whatever was inside him, so we could get away."
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)