november 2019. welcome to the void.

[modblob]

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 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.

Navigation.

Comments

[itsnotaonesie]

[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.

[sleepyhollowed]

[Oh good! That's something new for them to collectively worry about!]

I've heard all the coughin' from way over here.

You think you can help 'em out? I-Is there anythin' I can do?

[He's still useful, Peter. Let him be useful!!!]

[itsnotaonesie]

[HAHAHA HA aaaaah god we're all gonna die]

I-- um. I think we can. Just trying to figure out how. I'll let you know as soon as we've got some leads, okay?

[Peter doesn't know Kieran can help, he isn't even sure how he can help. Sorry, bro]

[sleepyhollowed]

O-Okay. Okay, sure. If anythin' comes up. I'll do wh-what I can.

[That's not a no! He'll take whatever good news he can get.]

[Kieran settles back down in his bed. He doesn't like the idea of staying there for too long, but since he's still getting used to losing one of his senses, it's most practical for him to stay as is.]

How're you feelin'?

[itsnotaonesie]

[It's not a no but it's also very much not a yes. Peter has no idea what to do with all this, man.

He takes a seat on the edge of Kieran's bed and rubs at his face, trying to decide just how he wants to answer that.]

Well, I'm not sick. As far as that goes, I'm feelin' pretty good.

[sleepyhollowed]

[When Kieran feels the pressure change along his bed, he scoots himself over a bit, just to make sure Peter has room. Then, he blinks a couple of times to get rid of that weird burning sensation that you get from keeping your eyes open for too long before keeping them shut. There's no point in keeping them open when he's not using them. That's just inviting extra, unneeded trouble.]

Glad ta hear it.

[Kieran smiles. That's some actual good news!]

Y-You eatin' okay? Gettin' enough rest? You sound tired.

[itsnotaonesie]

Definitely not eating enough, definitely not getting enough rest.

[He's not even going to bother lying about it at this point man, there's no way he can be convincing right now.]

There's just-- there's too much going on.

[sleepyhollowed]

[That’s not good news!!!]

There is, yeah, but that doesn’t mean you gotta be the one doin’ all of it.

Didja ask anyone for help? O-Or did anyone offer?

[itsnotaonesie]

[NO IT'S REALLY NOT]

I know that, and I do have help. Just not a lot. People are sick and most of the robots have left their posts to help here, in the medbay. It just can't be helped.

[sleepyhollowed]

[Kieran nods. He knows what it's like to be caught up in a maelstrom of things out of your control.]

[But maybe he can still help a bit? Maybe???]

H-Hold on a second. Stay right there.

[Kieran slides out of his bed and starts feeling around underneath it. A few seconds pass, but eventually he manages to find a box. It's a little beaten up, as if it's been squeezed and hit too many times, but it's still intact. He places it on the bed with a gentle plop.]

It's not much, b-but I've been askin' those robots to bring me some snacks. They don't s-seem to think much about goin' back and forth a bunch, s-so I got a lot in there.

[He pushes the box forward in what he assumes is Peter's direction. He's a bit off, but the gesture speaks for itself.]

G-Go ahead and take as much as you want. There's plenty in there, and I can always g-get more.

[itsnotaonesie]

[oh my goooood Kieran is such a good dude. Peter takes his arm and kind of guides him a little more in his direction so that Kieran's not waggling a box of snacks in the air.]

Aw, dude, that-- I don't wanna take your food, man, I'm-- [And just as he's about to utter his famous catch phrase, "I'm fine", his stomach growls. Loud.

He's silent for a moment before he sucks his teeth and starts rummaging around in that box.

I am absolutely gonna eat a thing. Thank you.

[sleepyhollowed]

[A smile slowly spreads across Kieran's face--not because Peter is hungry, that really sucks, but because he's actually going to eat a thing!]

Yer welcome.

[He feels around for the box once he gets back on the bed and sticks his hand inside. He lightly brushes his hand around everything inside of there, trying to figure out what's covered in foil, what has the shape that he's looking for, and what's just the right size. Once he finds exactly what he wants--a chocolate bar--he pulls it out and opens it before taking a bite.]

Now that you know where it is, f-feel free to come over and grab somethin' whenever yer hungry. Doesn't matter if I'm here or not.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter smiles, reaching over and giving Kieran's shoulder a gentle squeeze.]

Thanks, man. I really appreciate it. I promise I won't eat all the snacks when you're not around.

[But for now he's gonna grab this delicious space Twinkie and tear into it like he's never eaten food before.]

[sleepyhollowed]

Nah, seriously. Don't worry about it.

[He grins.]

I just t-tell the robots that I can't make it to the kitchen by myself. Guess they feel bad enough, 'cause they always bring me somethin' without me havin' to make much of a fuss.

[HE'S ALREADY WEAPONIZING HIS INJURIES LIKE AN ASSHOLE.]

[itsnotaonesie]

[Like an asshole I think you mean like a GENIUS]

Honestly, I say take full advantage of it. No reason not to, right?

[sleepyhollowed]

[IT’S MORE OF A BOTH/AND THAN AN EITHER/OR]

I agree.

[Clearly.]

I’m itchin’ to get the hell outta here, though. I ain’t cut out fer stayin’ cooped up like this. Not fer too long, at least.

[itsnotaonesie]

Yeah, I hear you. I think it would drive me nuts, too. Hell, just being stuck in Anchor is kind of driving me nuts.

[Man they are going to have to put up so many guard rails and get Kieran a seeing eye horse, poor Kieran.]

[sleepyhollowed]

[A wry smile spreads across Kieran's face at that.]

Really? I thought a city boy would be used to this kinda stuff.

[itsnotaonesie]

I'm used to a huge city with really tall buildings and nothing blocking the sky from me. Like sure, this place is big, but we're still just stuck in a hole in the ground when you get right down to it.

[He wants to climb buildings, Kieran, you don't understand!!!]

[sleepyhollowed]

Tall, huh?

[Kieran puts a hand to his chins, trying to think about the tallest building he knows of.]

[There aren't many (any) skyscrapers near him in his day, so he'll have to go with something from outside what he's seen in-person.]

Y-Y'mean somethin' like the Eiffel Tower?

[itsnotaonesie]

Oh yeah, even bigger than that, and there are tons of them. Like a-- like a forest of buildings.

[Does that make sense? That probably makes sense. Either way, he's making himself all homesick, uuugh.]

[sleepyhollowed]

[Kieran presses his lips together, his tone wry when he answers.]

I know what a city is, Peter. I ain’t that much of a country boy.

[But then he smiles and can’t help his chuckle.]

I think I get what yer sayin’ though. All the buildin’s in yer city are taller than anythin’ we’ve got where I’m from.

[itsnotaonesie]

I-- y-yeah, of course you do, I-- sorry.

[IDIOT PETER, dumbass idiot god why are you the worst at speaking???]

But yeah, they're way up there. I used to hang out on 'em all the time.

[And now he's all homesick uuugh this is the worst.]

[sleepyhollowed]

Relax, Peter. I'm kiddin' around with ya.

[PETER PLEASE BE THE ACTUAL CHILD YOU ARE!!!]

So, uh, you used to climb all the way up 'em? To the top?

[itsnotaonesie]

I-- yeah, yeah, I knew that.

[HE CAN'T HE DOESN'T HAVE TIME]

All the way to the top. Then I'd jump off and swing to the next one. That's how I got over my fear of heights.