september 2019. welcome to the void.

[modblob]

Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: Third Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of September 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. turrets.

That power surge kicked off some sh... stuff, all right. It took a while for the systems to cycle back on, but two new areas of Anchor are now accessible and usable. One of them is nice and relaxing and safe, and we'll get to that one in a minute. The other one, addressed first, is not very nice and not very relaxing and definitely not safe.

The internal defense systems on the upper levels have come to life, and have targeted anyone within their range as a hostile entity. Get ready to run the gauntlet if you want to turn them off - you'll have to dodge lasers, bullets, and aggressive defense bots (that can be rewired and/or rebooted to assist characters instead of trying to murder them). The reward? Getting to the heavily protected (think many many murderbots and lasers) security control room. If you can make it, you'll be able to reboot the internal defenses, turning off the aggressive targeting and having access for the first time to surveillance of almost all of Anchor. Those areas your characters didn't know were there? Revealed. Those dense patches of jungle-like growth in the agricultural center? You've got a spotlight into their heart.

Though, huh, not all the cameras seem to be working. What's with those screens that show up from time to time that are nothing but static?

Oh well, doesn't really matter, does it?

b. hot springs episode.

One of the areas adjacent to the bar and intimacy lounge has been sputtering on and off ever since the power surge. One evening, with a loud crack and a humming sound that slowly dissipates, the lights come on and water starts flowing down the artificial waterfall into the fountain out front. The spa is back online!

The lobby is inviting and zen, with holographic walls that depict scenic locations (some of them very unlike Earth), with fountains splashing delicately on either side of the door. The attendants are slightly malfunctioning bots, but the most harm they'll do is bring you six towels when you ask for one, or a bucket of massage oil to work on those knots in your back with.

There are three areas in the spa, each of them fully-outfitted with towels, robes of all sizes, fuzzy slippers, the works. One has all the amenities of a Turkish bath, right down to the fantastically arched roofs and mosaics of Istanbul. One is designed not unlike a Japanese hot spring, though the spring is heated artificially rather than naturally. The springs are large enough to be communal in some areas and small enough to be private in others, varying in depth from deep enough to swim on one end and shallow enough to sit on the bottom on the other. All hot springs have a stone shelf around the edges where those who don't want to swim can sit. The last area is more Western, with steam rooms, saunas, massage tables, and mud baths for the adventurous.

One thing all of these areas have in common: the settings on virtually everything can be adjusted to taste. Not in the traditional way, either. The steams and waters can be tweaked to be soporific, can serve as muscle relaxants, can ease anxiety, and can even bolster moods. None of these effects are involuntary, and none of them are brought on by drugs - it's more an advanced mix of pheromones and harmless compounds that can affect a single person or a given pool or room. Also, the baths and hot springs have adjustable bubble settings. The water colors can change, some of them even allowing characters to dye their hair the color that's been selected for the tub without staining their skin. Bubbles of all kinds can rise up out of the water, from the foamy comfort of childhood bubble baths to hovering golden bubbles that chime when you pop them. Characters can choose from a variety of bath salts, scents, and oils - the spas were designed not just for relaxation, but for pure and simple fun.

c. joe's dirt.

So you've survived the security malfunction. You've washed off the dirt and anxiety at the spa. But the newly reactivated security stations throughout Anchor have revealed something odd. There's a blip in the power systems in one area of the agricultural level, like something is siphoning off power from the main lines. Tracking down the source in the deep tangle of underbrush won't be easy, and there may be a few mutated, fanged, clawed cattle that maneuver shockingly well between the trees, but eventually you'll come to a breach in Anchor's wall. At first it just looks like a crack, but it's large enough to squeeze through and there's the darkness of an open space behind it. A tunnel, leading down into the earth outside, well below surface level and thus largely safe.
Wires run along the roof and floor, though the tunnel itself is dark. Walk long enough and you'll come to a wider space, open enough for two or three people to move around comfortably at the same time. It's still dark, lit only by screens that show the same security feeds that are available at the stations throughout the city. And others. Angles on the surface that show Anchor from a distance, and other visuals that don't show Anchor at all, trained instead on massive structures or formations or lakes out on the surface somewhere. But there's something more disturbing: there are cameras set to record some people's rooms. And the only rooms that are shown are occupied.

Someone has been here, recently enough to track where new people have moved in.

On the floor in one corner, there's a crumpled photograph of a man some might recognize as Creepy Joe, happy and whole, with a little girl sitting on his shoulder. It looks like it's been stamped into the dirt.

Navigation.

Comments

Peter Parker | Open

[itsnotaonesie]

Turret Time

Peter is here for two reasons. One being pretty goddamn obvious. Lasers, bullets, and aggressive defense bots don't exactly make for a safe stroll through the upper levels, and there's kind of a lot of important shit up here. Though Peter fully intends to run this ridiculous gauntlet solo because he doesn't want to endanger anyone else, he won't say no to help. Because this is a little yikes, my dudes.

Reason number two is his armor, which he's finally managed to stitch back together with the help of some reprogrammed nano-machines, and it's come time to slap this armor on and test it out. Good timing, glitchy-ass defense systems!

Before Peter activates his armor's mask and launches himself right into turret hell, he's taking some time to record some notes with his phone while he looks himself over.

"Ooookay, here we go. Iron Spider suit repair field test number one, uuuh... pre-test observations. Still got some stiffness in the left elbow, upper left mechanical leg still has difficulty deploying. Can't test the effectiveness of the air filtration system just yet, web shooters..." He pauses to sling some webs at the wall. So, now there's web on the wall, "uh... functional. Suit is fitting a little loose, I think? Take new measurements. End notes."

Sooo that's what he's doing. It'll be exciting once there's some laser dodging going on.

Hot Spring Episode

Of course Peter's not actually here for the hot springs or the Turkish baths or the massage tables, you think this guy knows how to relax? Psh, girl. No, Peter's here testing the water and inspecting all of the equipment and ignoring all of the half naked spa visitors while he makes sure the robots are functioning correctly.

So okay, maybe he's just being paranoid? Just because something new happens doesn't mean it's automatically bad. In his defense, there was the whole thing with the nano-machines and then the thing with the turrets. But no this fool needs to chill, please make him chill he is so tired.

Joe's Dirt

Found something weird in agriculture. I want to go check it out but I figured I shouldn't go alone, so I guess this is me asking for backup. If you do come, come armed. The animals in here are kind of the worst.
-Peter

And that would be Peter firing off a text to the network while he hangs around on the agricultural level. Once people start showing up he can be found fiddling with his communicator, trying to pinpoint the exact point of origin of the blip in the power system. Something sucking power from Anchor is serious business, okay.

( hot spring episode )

[dothelokimotion]

[ appearing out of nowhere and peering over peter's shoulder, loki blithely replies. ]

That code is wrong. It needs to have a conditional loop.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter refrains from firing back with some kind of dumb smartass teenager comment like "you need to have a conditional loop", and instead just glances up at Loki all skeptical-like. He has been pretty out of it lately though, so he just double checks the code anyway. Sure enough, Loki's right. Good job Loki, you did it. Peter makes a thoughtful little noise and starts fixing his coding goof.]

Good catch. You do a lot of programming?

[dothelokimotion]

[ his nose wrinkles at that. programming. how . . . primitive. ]

I suppose you can say that.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Get a load of this guy over here, being all judgmental and superior. Peter rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to his work, but as much as he wants to ignore Loki and just focus on what he's doing, he's too goddamn polite for his own good.

Soooo it's time for another Awkward Peter Parker Chat. Heeeere we go.]

Well what is it, then? If it's not programming, what do you use?

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki purses his lips, mulling it over. ]

Programming limits thinking to systems, specifically electronic-based ones. Our idea of "programming" extend to the mind, the soul. We can fix ills and create wonders without needing to tap into . . . metal and wiring.

Magic, I suppose, is a form of that.

turret time

[superposition]

[ By now, Qubit's had some time to set up a safe(-ish) zone around the arrival room, with at least one robot reprogrammed to guard it. While taking a breather, he spots Peter a little ways off - and that must be the power armor! Interesting.

He wipes his grease-stained hands on a towel as he makes his way over, not saying anything just yet. It sounds like he's running tests, and far be it from Qubit to interrupt. If anything goes wrong, he'll of course provide backup, but for now...

Let's see what you can do. ]

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter's in the ZONE, man. He doesn't realize that anyone else is nearby, it's just him and the lasers and turrets and killer robots. His favorite way to spend an evening, aside from doing science shit.

Which he's technically also doing, but shh. After finding a safe spot to leave his phone, he activates his suit's mask, assesses the situation for a few more seconds, and then charges head first into the kill zone. Though it's less charging and more doing sick flips, bouncing from wall to wall, and slinging webs at the turrets and the robots to gum up their shooty-works. His aim is to cause as little damage as possible so he has less shit to fix later, though he does end up crunching one or two of the robots pretty thoroughly. He just has a thing about being shot at by robots, it's a Hadriel thing.

He makes it most of the way to his destination without incident, but he's also running this test on like, NO SLEEP, so mistakes are bound to happen. His spider sense doesn't quite catch everything, he gets popped by a stray laser, and suddenly his rhythm is all out of whack. He's still making progress, still webbing up the turrets, but he's taking more and more damage.

This boy is dumb and exhausted, plz rescue. :( ]

[superposition]

[ And he's off! Qubit watches him with a practiced eye, evaluating his technique as much as his raw ability. Peter's all over the place, pinballing from target to target almost as fast as the guns can track him. Favors the agile approach over brute force, then. And he can tell he's trying to limit his damage (for the most part), which Qubit appreciates. Those web-shooters of his are impressively versatile, too...

But toward the end of the gauntlet, Peter starts flagging. Qubit spots it at the exact moment he loses his rhythm, and tosses the towel aside to go join him, vaulting over the fallen bots with - not superhuman agility, but more of it than you might expect from a nerd his age.

One of the turrets' big weaknesses is, they can only point at one target at a time. And with Peter occupying their attention, only the nearest one to Qubit swivels toward him as he approaches. Qubit doesn't even look at it. With a casual wave of his hand, it stutters and powers down. ]

Peter! Take cover, I'll deal with the rest.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter is somewhat startled by Qubit's sudden arrival, but he manages to keep his focus on dodging lasers and shit. He's about to protest just bailing, but then he realizes that Qubit's just magic-ing the turrets off, so fuck it. He's tired and lasers hurt.]

On it!

[He does web up one more turret, but then he's off to find cover. He doesn't have to go far, there's a pretty large air vent nearby in the ceiling that he hops himself up to, pulls the grate off of, and slides up into. Of course he's mentally kicking himself for beefing it to the point that someone else had to step in and save his ass, but he can whine about that later.]

[superposition]

[ WOW EXCUSE YOU, HE'S SCIENCEING THEM OFF TYVM. "magicking them off" jfc never been so insulted in his life grumble grumble

Qubit keeps half an eye on Peter as he's getting into the vent - which he hadn't even noticed up there, huh. Well, good, that's him out of harm's way. It does mean Qubit's the only remaining target, of course, but by the time the turrets actually realize that, he's already knocked out all but two.

It takes some ducking and weaving to get close enough to those. Qubit has emphatically average speed and reflexes, but he's dodged a fair few lasers in his day, and makes it into range with only a few close shaves. The last two he shuts down at the same time, and then... all is quiet.

Even that brief fight took more out of him than it should have. He's too out of breath, his palms are tingling, pressure between his eyes... But that, he files away for later. For now, he's fine. After a second, he straightens up and calls to Peter - ]

All clear.

[ Granted, there's been ample time for Peter to work that out on his own. ]

joe dirt

[benhargreeves]

You definitely shouldn't go alone. I'll be there in half an hour.

[ He does not, in fact, arrive armed. Or, well, not with weapons anyone would be able to see. But this is one of the advantages to the awful incident with that swarm of nightmare-reading nanobots: Peter knows that Ben doesn't need to bring anything other than himself.

Which doesn't mean he's empty-handed. He has some basic supplies that might be useful - foldable shovel, flashlight, food, water, rope, a small knife, a pen, a lighter, an extra pair of socks. 'Cause you never know. ]

So. Something weird's happening in the Anchor? Alert the media.

[ But he's smiling as he says it; always willing to make the best of a bad situation. ]

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter texts back a :) because of course he does.

Peter's got a backpack full of similar items. He's not so sure they're going to need much of it, but it never hurts to be prepared YA KNOW???]

Psh, right? At this point I think I'd be worried if something wasn't going wrong.

[That's about all the energy he's got for jokes right now, though. He takes a minute to double check his bag while he hits Ben with some ffffacts.]

So, here's what's going on. Something in roughly this area-ish is sucking power from the main lines and sending it... somewhere in here. It's a mystery and we're gonna like, solve it. There's a lot of animals in here, so just keep your guard up. You good to go?

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben picks up on the fact that, compared to other times, Peter seems to mean business. He's not being chatty, and so Ben keeps it brief, doesn't ask how Peter detected the power loss or traced it. He wouldn't understand the explanation most likely and it isn't knowledge that, practically, he is going to need. He trusts Peter's skills enough to just believe him, nod, and say: ]

Good to go. If anything comes at us... well, you know the drill.

[ The two of them had actually worked fairly well together, fighting that nanite version of Ben. If they get attacked, he won't have to explain to Peter the dangers of his powers or warn him about them. And now that he knows some of what Peter is capable of in combat, he can factor that in.

Ben tightens the straps of his backpack and looks to Peter to lead the way, a serious expression on his face, looking around now and then for any signs of unwanted company. ]

[itsnotaonesie]

Peter is all business right now, my dude. Aside from the fingerguns he shoots at Ben. Fine, Peter's mostly business.]

Yes, yes I do. Let's get this show on the road.

[Aaaadventure tiiiime. Peter takes point, leading the way into the thick underbrush, being super careful not to let branches swing back to smack Ben in the fact or something. Occasionally he takes his communicator out to check their progress. The good news is that they seem to be on the right track. The less good news is that they're definitely not alone in them thar woods, and he makes a few stops along the way to listen for wildlife. Like how he's doing RIGHT NOW.]

...Did you hear something? I thought I heard something.

[But his spider sense isn't picking anything up, so maybe it's nothing? (it's not nothing, it's never nothing.)]

[benhargreeves]

[ Fingerguns and serious business aren't mutually exclusive; any superhero worth his salt knows that.

Ben falls in behind Peter easily, following his lead. It wasn't generally that useful to him on their missions, but he's always been good at not making much noise. He keeps his eyes open for anything suspicious or any sudden movements, keeps his ears open for signs of danger. And he catches nothing at all of whatever has made Peter stop dead in his tracks.

Ben doesn't answer out loud, just gives a curt shake of his head, sets a hand on Peter's shoulder, indicating for him to stay put, and takes a few steps in front of him, peering hard through the underbrush, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. On the other side of the portal he could feel the creatures shifting. There is some interconnection, and they felt his adrenaline, thought there would be blood soon.

But he doesn't see anything. Yet... ]

What did you think you heard?

[ He whispers it, so quietly. ]

and also Joe's Dirt because what is self control | text; @Qubit

[superposition]

Be there in 10. What do you mean, "something weird"?

YOU AGAIN!!!!

[itsnotaonesie]

Something or someone is sucking juice from our main line and sending it to somewhere in agriculture. It's significant enough that I feel like it was deliberate, which could be pretty bad news. There's an overgrown area here that I think I've tracked it to. You should be able to track my location on your communicator. I'll be waiting.

YOU CAN'T GET RID OF ME

[superposition]

To agriculture? What in the world... I'm on my way.

[ He arrives a few minutes behind his estimate, but as requested, he comes armed. More specifically, he comes lugging one of the guns from the laser turrets on his shoulder, hastily modified to be triggerable by hand. It is every bit as comfortable as it sounds. ]

There you are. Any luck?

[ Does he seem out of breath? Cause he is. Damn it he has got to get these elevators working. ]

DANG

[itsnotaonesie]

[It's all good, Peter had some time to go over his supplies again. He slings his backpack over his shoulder when Qubit approaches, narrowing his eyes at that makeshift gun. On one had, that is badass. On the other hand, man that looks like it would be awkward as hell to use.

Well, Peter did say to come armed.]

I think I've got it narrowed down a bit, but whatever we're trying to find is gonna be in there. [He motions towards the thick foliage, and then pauses for a moment while he takes in Qubit's whole situation.] ...You gonna make it there, buddy?

[superposition]

[ Look.

Qubit is a genius, okay? He is constantly brimming with ideas. And many of those ideas are good! But also many of them are bad, and he sometimes does not think them through far enough to determine which is which. And by sometimes, I mean frequently. ]

Yeah. Yeah, I've got it.

[ He hefts the gun on his shoulder, trying to get it situated more comfortably. It doesn't work, and he sighs heavily. ]

In hindsight, the guns on the robots would have been more portable. But I've lugged it this far, might as well.

[ I mean. Getting it through the overgrowth miiight be a huge pain in the ass. But he's nothing if not a stubborn bastard, and he's already sunk a lot of cost into this fallacy, so FUCK IT, LET'S ROLL. ]

JOE'S DIRT???

[sleepyhollowed]

[Kieran never caught the network-wide text. It's not entirely useless in his possession, but the whole 'unable to read' thing kind of gets in the way. Thankfully, we have the power of coincidence on our side, and Kieran has a tendency to hang out in the agricultural levels, even after that stint with the weird fungus. It's the only place he can safely keep his horses, after all. Thankfully, they're not here with him.]

[When Kieran spots Peter, he greets him with a friendly wave and jogs over, all smiles.]

Hey, Peter!

What're you doin' out here? Workin' on somethin'?

[itsnotaonesie]

[Sorrrryyyy Kierraaaaan, one of these days someone will learn you a book.

Peter looks up from rummaging around in his back pack, and aaaah there's his shroom buddy. Looking waaay better without them shrooms.]

Oh, hey man! I'm actually looking for something, and I think it's somewhere in all that... uh, plants. Deep in there somewhere. You busy?

[sleepyhollowed]

[He's feeling way better without them shrooms, too. Go figure.]

[Kieran squats down so he's at Peter's eye level, glancing between the bag and the plants.]

I got time.

Did you need help lookin' for... whatever it is that yer lookin' for?

[itsnotaonesie]

[And suddenly Peter is acutely aware of how short he is. again. Sigh.

It's ok he likes this cowboy]

Help would be great, actually. I'm not entirely sure what exactly we're looking for? Just whatever seems out of place in an area like this. Like a... like a hidey hole. Or something.