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.

killedwithlove: (Lost Boy)

[personal profile] killedwithlove 2019-11-21 08:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Yes. Mortals are fragile and strong. I know when someone is dying, while they're dying. I can feel it, I can help, but I can't tell the future." He can't tell if someone will crash, or rally.

He keeps pace easily. He has long legs and he's used to walking and running everywhere.

"I had to wait until he was settled. Calm. I didn't want him to panic. I would like to get Onni, we might be able to heal, but Lalli doesn't want Onni. He was very adamant about that."
livingdeadgirl: (unsure 1)

[personal profile] livingdeadgirl 2019-11-21 08:03 am (UTC)(link)
Ami accepts the water, but she can't really drink it while lying down, so after a moment she grudgingly forces herself to sit up so she can take a sip. It's not exactly being sick that she's apologizing for, so much as the burden he's taken on in caring for her. Sometimes it feels like that's her job title around here. "Ami Aihara: Burden-In-Residence." But that's neither here nor there.

There's something on her mouth? Aw, hell, it's blood again, isn't it? Ami wipes her mouth off on the back of her hand, then finally opens her eyes to see what came off, but there's nothing, and she looks up at Onni and blinks slowly.

But her eyes are different, too. The whites have turned not just yellow, but bright yellow.

"Did I get it?" she asks.
tenuefarfalla: need raw (lost in the trees)

[personal profile] tenuefarfalla 2019-11-21 08:25 am (UTC)(link)
Well, that's good, right? If he knows when someone is dying, then Lalli is not dying. That's definitely something. Cho is running down the stairs three at a time now, at full speed, the full extension of her little legs, with the confidence of someone who is very certain of exactly where her feet are going to fall.

"That's good. You don't want to agitate someone with a high fever. When I've looked him over, we can call Onni, but if he doesn't want to see him, I think that it's best to listen to him."

She grabs the edge of the railing at the bottom of the flight of stairs and uses it as a pivot to throw herself around the corner and slam into the wall next to the med bay, her hand slapping the access panel and her whole body vibrating with anxious energy in the second it takes to open and admit her.

She moves around the space with utter certainty, no wasted movements or hesitation, gathering up what she knows she needs, what she thinks might be useful, and placing it in a large empty container. Once she has everything, she pushes it into Cole's hands. "Try to keep it as steady as you can." She has utter faith that he will be more adept at transporting it safely than she will. "You said water. Is he in the bathroom?" Cold bath. That's what she would have started with, and Cole is intuitive. Either way, she's running for the stairs again, because Cole didn't correct her when she said that she needed something from downstairs first, so she assumes the are headed back up.
killedwithlove: (Spirit powah)

[personal profile] killedwithlove 2019-11-21 08:31 am (UTC)(link)
"He was lying in the hallway, which seemed like a bad idea because a hallway is for moving, not lying. I picked him up and took him to a bathroom, because you can lie in a bath and be cool in a bath and I kept his head away from the taps so he shouldn't be able to drown himself. He was rubbing his face on the bath when I left."

He takes what he's given, holds it level and steady with very firm hands. "I didn't give him a cold bath because I knew I would have to leave him and he could drown. I used water on him, but not a bath."

Cole moves to lead her to the right place. He take three steps for every step, flickering forward in curls of smoke and hints of colour outside the human range. "Follow."
tenuefarfalla: (looking right at you)

[personal profile] tenuefarfalla 2019-11-21 08:40 am (UTC)(link)
Rubbing his face on the bath, trying to cool off. Once she and Cole are there together, and they can watch him, a proper bath might be best. He's aware enough to move, at least. "Good. That was good."

When Cole tells her to follow, she does. There's no point in talking, because she needs to see Lalli first before she knows the best course to take. First thing's first - the fever. Then they'll worry about the rest. Watching Cole flicker like smoke is surreal, and kind of amazing, and a little bit unsettling, but that's not what's important right now. Getting there quickly is important. So she just keeps up with him, heads to where he says she's needed.
killedwithlove: (Spirit powah)

[personal profile] killedwithlove 2019-11-21 08:44 am (UTC)(link)
Cole leads Cho and keeps the box as stable as he can. He takes her back to the bathroom, up to the door anyway, and waits for her to get there because he generally doesn't move through doors. Except when he does.
tenuefarfalla: (fauna in the flora)

[personal profile] tenuefarfalla 2019-11-21 08:54 am (UTC)(link)
Cho is right on Cole's heels the entire way, trusting him to not run her through something that would be dangerous for her, like uneven ground, or a wall. He's not human, but he knows that she is.

When they reach the door, and he stops, she slows, but she doesn't have to be told to walk through it, to head right for the tub and the little bit of colour she can see emerging just over the edge, which ends up being the bright edge of a heavy tunic. "Lalli? My name is Cho. Can you hear me? Cole brought me to help. You're very hot right now, and we really need to cool you down. I'm going to take your temperature, all right?" She looks back, and motions for Cole to give her the container full of supplies.
lallipop: (pic#13516239)

[personal profile] lallipop 2019-11-21 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Great. More people here to talk to him when he's just trying to sleep. He has an awful headache and absolutely nobody here is respecting that, he's been up all night and he doesn't want to go outside where it's freezing. They can manage for a few hours without him. Tuuri needs to leave him alone.

He lets out a miserable little whine and tries to turn over, only to realize that he's lying in water and can't remember how he got there. Then he finally cracks open an eye and realizes the face swimming in front of him isn't Tuuri at all, but a stranger.

Tuuri couldn't be there anyway. Tuuri is dead.

He doesn't know why this suddenly hits him as fresh as if it had happened yesterday, but his breath catches and tears leak out of his eyes before he can stop himself.

What she's saying doesn't even parse.
lallipop: (pic#13514195)

[personal profile] lallipop 2019-11-21 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[The cloak immediately gets assimilated into Lalli's growing tangle of blankets. He's starting to resemble a fluffy hedgehog. At least it's a sign he appreciates it, as much as Lalli appreciates anything.]

Mmnh.

[Water would be nice, but it would also require sitting up, which is absolutely not appealing right now. After a few moments of shifting around, though, he manages it, his head finally popping out of his impromptu nest. His hair is a mess and his eyes are bloodshot, but at least he's feeling well enough to be grumpy.

And at least he takes the water, though he mostly just sips at it petulantly.]
hersay: (smonkin)

[personal profile] hersay 2019-11-21 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ allison gives a tiny snort. ]

Yeah, maybe don't touch them. Wouldn't want to get poisoned or hallucinate or whatever.

[ because if allison is sure of one thing, it's that this place can conjure up some awfully vivid ghosts. allison thinks of claire, and the apparition of claire she saw when she first arrived. allison's gut twists a little. ]

What else has happened here?

[ julie seems too cynical to have been through nothing but hallucinations. if there are more dangers in anchor, allison would rather be safe than sorry. ]
hersay: (soft)

[personal profile] hersay 2019-11-21 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[ allison just grins in response. she likes sassy ben. she loved that side of him growing up, and still does. back then, of course, she didn't fully appreciate why he wasn't like that all the time. and then, of course, everything horrifically changed. allison regrets deeply that she never really understood that side of ben until it was too late. but now, they get a second chance, and it makes that small, teasing statement all the more special. ]

Let's do shower and sauna.

[ what's the point of going straight back to the dormitory? there, allison would just lie there cooped up, worried about whether or not she'll get sick. no thanks. ]

Lead the way?

[ allison's smile becomes a little gentler, a little more encouraging. ben is a part of her past, but he's a better part of her past. he's not a reminder of the narcissistic liar allison thinks she once was. there's the survivor's guilt, of course, that she associates with him, but she imagines her other siblings feel this way. but it's different than the guilt she feels about vanya, and easier to manage.

if anything, part of allison is amazed that ben would want to hang out with her. he knew the rumor, a manipulator, one of reginald's tools. allison's opinion of her past self is low enough that it's hard for her to imagine anyone wanting to spend time with her, if that was the only version of allison they knew. ]
killedwithlove: (Wistful)

[personal profile] killedwithlove 2019-11-22 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
Cole hands over the supplies and moves to near Lalli's head, fingers resuming their soft stroking and soothing. "Shh, she's gone, but she still lives while you remember her, carry her in your heart. She is always with you so long as you remember. Lalli, I need you to think about how you feel for her, how she makes you feel better. I think I can make you feel better if you can do that for me."

Cole isn't sure. He can't do magic. But Lalli can, and Cole can fuel that magic if Lalli calls on his power to make himself a little better.
tenuefarfalla: (looking right at you)

[personal profile] tenuefarfalla 2019-11-22 12:29 am (UTC)(link)
Cho is obviously not the she Cole is talking about, which means that that part doesn't concern her. Beyond one point. "He's not even seeing me, is he?"

Right. All right. Cho pulls out a few things, fitting a protective sleeve on an instant read thermometer. "I need to take his temperature. Turn his head so I can see his ear, and then hold him still, all right?" She adjusts her crouch at the side of the tub so that she's able to lean over them both a little more. "Lalli? I'm going to take your temperature. You're going to feel a little pressure in your ear. It won't hurt. Try to hold still for me. Can you do that?"
lallipop: (pic#13516247)

[personal profile] lallipop 2019-11-22 12:46 am (UTC)(link)
Now that he's awake, he's a little more aware of what's going on, and what is going on is a couple of strangers are invading his personal space. They're talking, and one of them keeps touching his face, and he still feels horrible and he doesn't want any of this to be happening. He doesn't want to think about Tuuri, he doesn't want his temperature taken, and he wants them both to stop pawing at him.

It is very hard to get Lalli to cooperate when he's in a mood, and he's sure in a mood now. Unfortunately, he's also too weak to move much, or say much, and they're trying to do things to him regardless, so he takes the only escape route available to him, which is...

Taking as deep a breath as he can and sinking into the tub. Try to hold onto him now.
killedwithlove: (Pout)

[personal profile] killedwithlove 2019-11-22 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
"He can see you, but it's not the face he wants to see." Cole watches Lalli slip in, is aware of what he wants, he wants them to stop touching him and Cole wants to oblige him, but Cho says he needs his temperature taken. "He has a fever, does the number really matter? It's higher than it should be, but lower than deadly."

He looks into the tub again. "He doesn't like being touched. And he doesn't really understand how sick he is. What do you need me to do to make him better?"
justbeingknife: (majima-kun)

[personal profile] justbeingknife 2019-11-22 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
Can't say I'm too familiar. But as long as I can see where the issue is, I oughta be able to do somethin' about it.

[ Probably better to resolve this sooner than later, then; Majima didn't know much about how the place was put together, but sci-fi station + big old water leak didn't sound like a winning combination. He waded forward through the shallow water, tracing the current of the flow backward towards one of the themed baths. ]

Once this place's fixed, I might drop in for a visit.
scowlish: (tired)

[personal profile] scowlish 2019-11-22 08:23 am (UTC)(link)
[There is, at least, some signs of movement and something resembling coherence from his cousin. He seems to appreciate the cloak, considering how he curls up underneath it with the sort of purring grumble that's so familiar from Lalli. A distress noise, but at least a noise, which means he's conscious and reacting.

A little of the worry settles, as much as it ever does, and Onni carefully helps support the weight of the cup while Lalli sips from it, ignoring any glares he might get for it. He's endured his fair share of Lalli's glares, and so he's mostly immune to their effect. While Lalli drinks, he tucks his other hand underneath the hem of his own shirt to warm it up so that when Lalli finishes his sulky drinking, it's less likely to make him shiver again.

His cousin's forehead is sticky with sweat, and so Onni carefully slides his fingers under Lalli's hair where it's stuck to it, pulling the lank strands away from his skin and tucking it back, watching for any signs of discomfort at the touch. Lalli, as he knows, isn't the biggest fan of touch, particularly not when he's overwhelmed and feeling miserable, so it's a difficult line to walk, trying to comfort him this way. It's a careful test to see if it's going to help Lalli right now, or just make him worse.]
livingdeadgirl: (smile 12)

[personal profile] livingdeadgirl 2019-11-22 03:43 pm (UTC)(link)
hmm how about
a tale of derring do and high adventure!
with bonus points for a supernatural twist
normally im big into ghost stories too but
i dont really feel like those right now
livingdeadgirl: (frown 7)

[personal profile] livingdeadgirl 2019-11-22 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Well yeah, no shit Kieran, you're blindfolded, Ami thinks about saying. But clearly, this is no time for goofs. He wouldn't be in here with bandaged eyes if something wasn't terribly wrong.

He's big enough that she can't pull him up without his help, but she doesn't let go of him, either... just taps him on the shoulder.

"Kieran, I'm over here."

(Okay maybe just one goof.)
substances: (bittersweet)

[personal profile] substances 2019-11-22 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, they're a lovely pair, aren't they?

Klaus can tell pretty much immediately that Julie's probably feeling like shit about as much as he is, which is super great, really. Just ideal. Klaus can handle feeling like this, sure, it's actually a few fractions better than being really dope sick off opiates, and he's dealt with that like, what, a dozen times?

Julie, on the other hand, deserves way better than this.

Pushing away from the door frame, he puts on a big goofy smile and sways on his feet for a moment, glad that he'd wiped away most of the blood around his nose and mouth from falling earlier and coughing and sneezing until his face leaked too many fluids.

"Gosh, how do you get prettier every single day, Julie Cabernet?" he says, pushing an elbow out to press against the doorframe so he doesn't sway anymore, "Can I come in?"
redwinekindofgirl: (128)

[personal profile] redwinekindofgirl 2019-11-22 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
She almost rolls her eyes at him, but she realises just beforehand that making the attempt would be painful. Having tried it earlier, and being worried for several moments that her eyes might detach from her retinas, she's not too eager to make another attempt.

Instead, she smiles again and nods once (gently), and gives him the lightest of shoves against his arm.

"Charmer," she says, stepping back and gesturing for him to come in. "You know, you don't have to ask to come in here. Mi casa es tu casa or what--"

There, she breaks off to cough. The sound rattles deep down into her chest as a wet, noisy thing and she covers her mouth with the back of her hand. She tries to be subtle in hiding the blood spots on her skin once it's done, using the other hand to usher Klaus in and shut the door behind him.

"This place is going to hell, huh? At least the robots aren't trying to kill us."
sleepyhollowed: (MORE REGRET)

[personal profile] sleepyhollowed 2019-11-22 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
He was slowly rising up to his instead feet when Ami tapped his shoulder, so Kieran pauses for a split second before turning again to face where it came from.

"O-Of course! Yeah, s-sorry about that. Guess somethin' else caught my attention fer a bit there."

He's totally not lying, Ami.

Totally.

Not lying.

He is entirely honest.
birdical: (💋 (that looks so unique))

[personal profile] birdical 2019-11-23 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
I would bring you one of mine, but I am afraid some might object to you reading such a book.

[Translation: there's sex in it.]

But I will find you something good, and then I will arrive.
Edited 2019-11-27 03:40 (UTC)
benhargreeves: (:) proud)

[personal profile] benhargreeves 2019-11-23 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ben had been skeptical about this place not all that long ago, but since he'd come with Cole he has the zealot of a convert. Plus, he knows for a fact that all the obnoxious attendant robots Klaus had always complained about are up in that medbay trapping poor non-sick people in their weird quarantine, so they will have some peace and quiet.

He also knows just which way to go to lead to the showers outside the sauna. They're luxurious, filled with all manner of soaps and hair products and other self-grooming goodies: Ben points her in the direction of one of those stalls, and then finds one for himself, and the two of them reunite on the other side.

Ben looks a lot different, having ditched his usual black-on-black-on-more-black ensemble for a big, floor-length fluffy white robe. As they get settled in the sauna room, he asks: ]


So is this place really nice, or am I just biased 'cause it's the first spa I've ever been to?

[ Allison must've been to some super glamorous places during her tenure as a Hollywood star. Maybe this place is really basic and he doesn't even know it... ]
superposition: (So what difference does it make?)

[personal profile] superposition 2019-11-23 05:55 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, all right. That'll be simpler. We can always draw a few samples at once, give one to Cho for analysis, put the others on ice till things start quieting down.

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