modblob: (Default)
Mods ([personal profile] modblob) wrote in [community profile] redshiftlogs2019-11-01 09:49 pm

november 2019. welcome to the void.

Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: Fifth Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of November 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. outbreak.

There's a plague in the city.

What was an annoyance before, a bug that seemed to be passing, has erupted into a full-scale biomedical hazard. Onset is slow. It’s a near mystery who is infected and who isn't, who is immune and who isn't. Doors lock themselves seemingly at random to prevent people passing through. Is that person with you one of the sick? How do you know? Would they tell you if they were?

The city will do its best to isolate the ill, once again locking them out of communal areas and trying to force them down toward the MedBay for quarantine. All bots will be temporarily shifted to plague protocols, rounding up and caring for the ill as best they can. (Lucky you, you get your cough syrup with a mixer courtesy of the barbot.) But they might not always get things right, and what healthy person wants to be locked away in a ward full of the violently ill? How do the bots even know which is which?

The ill will slowly find themselves dizzy, lightheaded, with chills and fever. They may cough hard enough to spit blood from irritated throats, or sneeze so long and hard they give themselves bloody noses. The symptoms can vary wildly depending on body chemistry, species, and dozens of other factors, making it difficult to pin down a specific set that indicates a person is infected. All bodily fluids are dangerously infectious. Maybe you want to keep your distance from your friends if you start to feel the onset, to keep them safe. But you also want to keep your freedom, not get trapped in a room full of people who seem to be dying. And anyone who was exposed to the first outbreak will find themselves either completely immune to this new one through early exposure...or far more susceptible, their immune systems doing almost nothing to protect them, with extreme symptom sets that hit them much harder than the average infected.

And through all of this, that voice that cheerfully chirped out helpful hints during the item exchange, that giggled and sang songs in the crashed spaceship in the wasteland can be heard again - but this time it's different. This time, there's very little cheer left, and though the commentary is still sing-song, it's much harsher, more monotone and without much energy. 'Go on, hurry up to the MedBay. No breaking quarantine!' it says, or to those moving through the city with friends, 'You must not like those people much, are you sure you want to get them sick?' In the depths of the worst of it, in the third week of the month, people may start hearing more of those 'helpful' suggestions - 'Maybe it would be better if we just left them out in the wastelands, you know? For the greater good and all...'

Mod Note: An NPC post will be going up next weekend on [community profile] redshiftrp to supplement this prompt. Keep an eye out!

b. gone to shit.

With 90% of the city's bots repurposed to serve the ill (the matchmaking bot being the notable exception), things are starting to go downhill fast elsewhere. Didn’t realize how much work the bots were actually doing? You can't avoid knowing now.

Restaurants, slowly coming back online after the increased activity in the agricultural areas, are promptly shut down again with things starting to go bad in the fridges. The VR rooms have no attendants to help with glitches. The maintenance bots are prowling the halls looking for ill people to assist to the MedBay. The spa bots are all down in the lower levels helping keep people comfortable while they convalesce, leaving the spas to run themselves. Sometimes to overflowing. It's definitely going to be an adventure discovering what else the bots were doing to keep things running smoothly.

There's no bots manning the bar (make your own drinks while you can), but this also means there are no bots cleaning up the messes people leave behind in the bar either. The detritus of people living their lives starts to pile up - which means if you don’t want garbage filling up the most used common rooms, you're going to have to apply some good old elbow grease. Exactly what you wanted to do while everyone is violently ill, right?


c. dance of the moonlight jellies.

In spite of everything going on elsewhere in the colony, something magical is happening in the lakes and ponds of the park. Maybe your healthy or recovering character stumbles across it on their own. Maybe they see the glow from a higher levels and are drawn down to it. Maybe a persistent and super helpful voice, the same voice from the item exchange, the same voice that suggested throwing the sick out into the wasteland, suggests that you should go down and look at what's happening there.

However you ended up in the park, the place is filled with a silvery glow that emanates from the ponds, rivers, and lake. Fish have come up from the bottom, from where they were buried under the sand. They look almost like East Asian dragons, for those familiar with Earth. They're long, muscular, with two sets of fins trailing in the water like legs. Their heads are delicate, beautiful things that trail whiskers in the water along beside them.

And they're dancing.

In loops and whirls, over and under each other, diving deep and then rising up again to create patterns of light and shadow. Anyone who watches for more than a minute can start to feel relief moving through them, calm, the sense that things will be okay. Watching the dance is almost like meditation. Probably, for some, a much-needed break.

braidmage: (:| bout to start trouble)

[personal profile] braidmage 2019-11-13 06:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[ If it weren't abundantly clear that Lalli is sick right now, Reynir would've already yanked the blankets off him. He'd dumped Lalli out of his bed once before and he will do it again. Reynir's sweet, but he's not that sweet.

... but Lalli's voice sounds pretty bad and the little of his face that Reynir can see is flushed like he has a fever. So Reynir's patience is fractionally more flexible. For now. ]


Do you know what room you're in?

[ If Lalli acts like a child, Reynir will treat him like one. ]
braidmage: (:) tuna boy)

[personal profile] braidmage 2019-11-13 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Reynir giggles at that, delighted by Peter's gratitude and the exaggeration. He admits, fairly: ]

I didn't cook it. I just brought some extra with me in case I ran into anyone hungry and overworking themselves.

[ A description he can tell suits this boy completely. It's good to see him tucking in; Reynir makes a note to himself to check again tomorrow with some more food to make sure he doesn't go so long again without anything. Going without food for that long sucks and Reynir knows that well. ]

It's better than nothing, I guess? But not the best.

[ He holds his hand up for Peter to shake; introducing himself: ]

Reynir Árnason. I've seen you around a lot the last couple days. Trying to put out too many fires?

[ He may be gently teasing Peter about how busy he's been, but he's been a little busy and overworked, himself. There's a camaraderie to it, two people who are both overworked complaining about how overworked they are. A time-honored tradition. ]
writtendestiny: (021)

[personal profile] writtendestiny 2019-11-13 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay... [She mutters quietly, and her head lolls in towards her chest when he breaks into a run.

It's only by sheer force of will that she keeps herself sitting up when he puts her down, though it doesn't last long. The side of her head hits the thin pillow before she's even aware of falling.

However, still conscious, she manages a faintly surprised-sounding 'oh'.
]
hersay: (smonkin)

[personal profile] hersay 2019-11-13 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Did you have a really awful cough?

[ allison is super worried she's going to get sick, and her body cannot handle a cough right now. ]
hersay: (side eye)

[personal profile] hersay 2019-11-13 09:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Well they're definitely not letting me leave, but no one else here is really trying to leave, so. Unclear. I think they think I'm sick, but I'm not.

[ she adds, so ben doesn't just get trapped in here with her: ]

Maybe knock before you come in? And/or bring a crowbar?
redwinekindofgirl: (044)

[personal profile] redwinekindofgirl 2019-11-13 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[She does notice, but doesn't put two and two together over just what it might be. Her lips purse for a moment then she pushes herself up to join the other woman, sitting down beside her with a fraction more grace than she had managed when she first arrived.]

Thanks. [Julie hums out, drawing her legs up and wrapping her arms around her knees, resting her chin against one of them. The dancing lights is soothing, in its way, and she feels some of the tension ease out of her.]

You're new here, right? [She says eventually, tilting her head towards her companion.] Not seen you before. I'm Julie.
itsnotaonesie: (crime fighting spider)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-11-13 10:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Of course there have been pancake complaints.

Like a plague or a turbo space flu or whatever, I don't know. It's bad.
hersay: (drank)

[personal profile] hersay 2019-11-13 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ allison nods affirmatively. she's only been in anchor for a few crazy days, and isn't quite sure to make of it. being reunited with ben has been wonderful, but the illness and hallucinations? not so much.

that's about all the introducing allison can do without resorting to text, so she pulls out her phone. ]


I'm Allison.

Beautiful, isn't it?


[ she tilts her head a little towards the dance. ]
itsnotaonesie: (ooooooooooooookay then)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-11-13 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh yeah, I was hacking all this nasty stuff up.

It might be a little awkward, but if you're worried about getting sick it might not be a bad idea to grab one of the radiation suits.
braidmage: (:? uhhhhh)

the laundry chair: a constant in all universes

[personal profile] braidmage 2019-11-13 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Reynir walks over to meet Onni halfway, his feet dragging slightly as he does. He's still got a cheerful expression, but it's clear from the way he's moving that he's bone-tired and doing his best to push through it. When Onni asks if he wants company, Reynir opens his mouth to answer and is delayed in doing so by a huge yawn, one that brings tears to the corners of his eyes and takes a good long while to get through. ]

Sorry. No, I don't-

[ He'd been about to finish with something simple about not needing company and Onni should get some rest, but the truth is, he wants company. So, abruptly: ]

Actually, yeah. If you don't mind. Or I might fall asleep on one of the machines by accident.

[ Honestly curling up on top of a washing machine doesn't sound half bad right now. Maybe that says something. But Reynir wants to get this one last thing done today. ]

You sure you don't mind?

[ Onni must be just as worn out as him, if not moreso. Reynir doesn't want to be a burden, just because he prefers being with Onni to being alone. ]
benhargreeves: (! that went well)

[personal profile] benhargreeves 2019-11-13 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay how's this:
Wait right by the door.
I'll text you right before I open it and you can get out before any of them stop you.
If any of them try, I'll just punch them.


[ Ben has no beef with the robots here but he can't just let them lock up his sister like that just because they're wrong about her being sick. And Ben believes Allison, that she's really not ill. He might not believe Klaus in the same position but Allison wouldn't lie and put other people in danger just to get out of a quarantine. ]
itsnotaonesie: movieconnoisseur (im not saying it's aliens)

@Spides

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-11-14 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
No, this isn't normal
like people were getting sick about a month ago but I thought everyone as starting to get better
aaand now it seems like it's just getting worse?
The lock down thing is new
justbeingknife: (Default)

[personal profile] justbeingknife 2019-11-14 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
Great.

Without those robots around, things're falling apart even faster.


[ He had a half-ruined suit that said as much. But it made sense, right? Big station, lots of maintenance. Not enough people to do it. ]

But you're fine so far?
itsnotaonesie: (sure this might as well happen)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-11-14 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
Well now I have two heroes. Like seriously, high five whoever made this, it's really good.

[And there's BREAD, TOO. God he needed this, he already feels like he has so much more energy. Now if only he could learn how to fucking sleep right.]

Peter Parker. [He takes Reynir's hand, gives it a shake,] I'm trying to put out every fire. Sometimes literally. Wasn't so bad before the robots all up and abandoned their posts.
sleepyhollowed: (nervy feller)

[personal profile] sleepyhollowed 2019-11-14 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
[He can feel the weird look. He can also feel that pity. He's not a fan of the latter, honestly, and even though his eyes don't exactly work, he can't fight the instinct to 'look' away from Peter.]

Y-Yeah. Thanks. Me too.

[Jokes only do so much to fight the sad!!!!!]

So, uh, w-what brings you here?
itsnotaonesie: movieconnoisseur (please no Deadpool crossover)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-11-14 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
[oooOOOOH GOD okay, Peter's figured out how to deal with this. Probably. She's flopped over onto the bed, so he doesn't panic too much and takes a second to focuses on gathering the supplies he's going to need. Once he has everything, he rushes over to her, laying the stuff he's gathered out on the bed.]

Oh my God, okay, uh, I'm gonna be sticking things up your nose and it's gonna be weird and it's probably gonna hurt and I'm sorry. [While he's doing his terrified little ramble he repositions Poison a bit and grabs a clean cloth to clean her up. He does the best he can with that, and then starts grabbing tools to very gently take a look up her nose. Mostly in an effort to keep himself calm, he starts talking himself through the steps that he'd read up on, spraying a local anesthetic into her nose and hoping it's really fast acting because UHHHH she's still bleeding so there's not exactly a lot of time to let it numb her up.]

Okay, okay. I'm gonna have to hold your head real still, I'm so sorry if I'm too rough, I just-- I cant have you moving around right now. [And grip her head he does, gently but firmly, while he suuuper carefully uses the equipment he'd grabbed to cauterize the tiny nose wound. Mannn he isn't even sure if she's awake right now but he is apologizing so much.]
itsnotaonesie: movieconnoisseur (you are The Worst)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-11-14 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
oh man believe me, I know

[he knows how it goes man, he's trying to do the work of ten people all on his own]

I'm fine right now. I was sick with this once before, but I think I've built up some sort of immunity or something because I feel perfectly fine now.
itsnotaonesie: movieconnoisseur (god he looks 12)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-11-14 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
[That's too fucking BAD because Peter's only coping mechanism for the sads is jokes!!!]

Checking on people, mostly. A lot of people are really sick right now, and I wanna make sure the equipment is all working properly for them.
kaballin: (You gonna fight me?)

[personal profile] kaballin 2019-11-14 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
Look some of us have better priorities than the good of mankind.

Gross. How does the place know to lock it down? We getting probed in our sleep?
livingdeadgirl: (frown 9)

Ami Aihara (Aradia Megido) | ota

[personal profile] livingdeadgirl 2019-11-14 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ Prose or brackets welcome! ]

> Time to get sicknasty.
Ami got off easy during the first round of space flu. This time around, she's not so lucky. Though a lot of people are gradually feeling iffy, Ami's one of the earlier patients to fall unambiguously ill. What really sells it is the one morning at breakfast when, mid-conversation, she starts sneezing and just cannot stop. Well, this is a problem.

She ends up allowing the robots to escort her to the Medbay, where she continues to get sicker and sicker for a few days, until she finally sort of stabilizes. That is, she stops getting worse. She's still very, very sick.

But the Medbay doesn't have infinite space, and the more people the robots herd inside, the more crowded and chaotic it gets. Some people are getting quarantined even though they're not sick - they're bound to get sick now, though, she supposes...
> Go into solitary.
By the second week or so, the Medbay's no longer a good place to convalesce. So, through some shenanigans or other, Ami manages to transfer herself (or be transferred) back to her own room.

It's better, but it's still boring and lonely, and she still feels like crap. She's likely to spend the remainder of her illness more or less confined to this room, occupying her time with reading, or playing games on her phone, or texting her friends, or (mostly) sleeping. If anybody's well enough to visit or check in on her, she'll be happy for the company.

But fair warning: as of 11/14, she'll look a little different. Her lips are now naturally black, the sclera of her eyes are bright yellow, and her blood (when it happens to escape her body, which sadly is pretty common right now) is much deeper red than human blood ought to be.

But Spider-Man's helped her deep-clean the crazy scribbles off her walls by this point, so at least the room looks normal again. That's something!
> Pester your chums. (text; @aa)
[ At various points during the month, Ami will be reaching out to her friends individually to check on them (and chat because she's sick and bored), but she also tosses a quick open thing onto the network late one night: ]

ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[ ......... yeah, that's it. ]
itsnotaonesie: (eating spiders???)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-11-14 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
Has anyone ever told you that you're exhausting to talk to

I doubt it but also I don't know how deep of a sleeper you are, but I think that would wake me up.
kaballin: (Default)

[personal profile] kaballin 2019-11-14 05:01 am (UTC)(link)
Nope. Sounds like a YOU problem.

Yeah fine.

Alright, I'll bite. The fuck are we supposed to do about this?

itsnotaonesie: (74)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2019-11-14 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
I got 99 problems and you're 98 of them

Sorry, I don't know. I'm still trying to figure that part out.
birdical: (💋 (am i a poison))

[text; un: bearly.bewitched]

[personal profile] birdical 2019-11-14 08:50 am (UTC)(link)
What is wrong, Ami? How may I help you?

[It's late at night, but hey, Elleru does not turn down a text featuring what she assumes is an expression of discontent.]
fishermansweater: (Darling darling doesn't have a problem)

moonlight

[personal profile] fishermansweater 2019-11-14 12:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Finnick already knows what he'll find when he follows the glow into the park. He'd seen them the night before, and he and Annie had spent hours staring into the water, enraptured, then trying to engage with the strange fish, poking a stick into the water to see if it changed their dance.

It was hard to tell, but they'd still stayed there deep into the early morning hours, marveling at the little spot of beauty in a place that's so run-down and abandoned, where the caretakers seem to go wrong occasionally and have been implementing such arbitrary quarantines.

The glowing, dancing fish had been peaceful, bringing Finnick the sort of ease he only really finds in and around the water. So when he couldn't sleep tonight, he'd decided to come down here, drawn back by the memory of that magic.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" he says as he approaches, while he's still far enough away that he hopefully won't startle the stranger too much. He's not interested in that game tonight.

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