january 2020. welcome to the void.

[modblob]

Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: Seventh Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of January 2020
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. champagne supernova.

Normally, the changes in the sky are subtle, happening between glances or over the course of days.

That's not the case now, when the bright sky with its three suns is wiped away in an explosion of blue light, right at sunrise on the morning of January 1st. The light pulses across the sky in uneven blazes, sending out lattices of what might be lightning or something worse. There's no moon. No brightness. Just this lightning-storm brilliance in space, shedding little light on the world below.

And the suns don't come back on. As the day wears on, the supernova brightness in the sky starts to fade out and no new light appears. The sky is static and black, with no stars, no moons, no suns. The mild rolling blackouts that started with the opening of the relaxation room intensify with the sudden loss of solar power, as the backup systems try to compensate for the increased use of power.

For a moment, power goes out in Anchor entirely, leaving the place plunged into darkness.

The darkness doesn't last. Thanks to those generators everyone worked so hard to sort out, the backup systems struggle back to life, keeping the lights on and the bar, kitchen, and agricultural supports open, but there are some things that the limited power just can't cover.

b. tower of babelfish.

The first, and perhaps the most noticeable system to start failing, are the auto-translation programs. While not affecting every area in Anchor equally, communication between those who speak different languages is going to be a lot more difficult. The effects are spotty, coming and going, sometimes completely failing, leaving only people's naturally-spoken languages available. Sometimes it just struggles, making conversations sound a lot more like babelfish translations than recognizable speech. People themselves seem to be affected differently by the translation struggles, depending on who and where they are. There's no rhyme or reason to when and how it fails. But the problem persists through most of the month.

c. the hidden passage.

The second system failure is harder to spot.

At the end of what seemed to be a maintenance hallway, a set of doors have appeared from behind what used to be a shielded hologram of a dead end. The doors stick out from their surroundings: thick metal, barred heavily from the outside. A clear attempt to keep something locked away inside, not to keep people from entering.

For those adventurous enough, or foolish enough, to wrestle the locks open, a problem will reveal itself. A short flight of stairs, leading down into an area flooded by murky water. It's hard to see more than branching halls down below.

Those who choose to brave the water will find a hallway lined with bulkheads and sealed doorways, all guarding rooms that could be accessed with the right combination of smarts and brute force. It's the question of what would be ruined by the water if the doors are opened that might give people pause. What kind of secrets could be wiped out or destroyed if the doors are forced and the water passes through the bulkheads? Can the water be drained? How?

But there is one room open, or mostly open, where the bulkhead doors didn't quite manage to seal when the area flooded. It'll be a squeeze, for bigger characters, but the flooded room beyond contains artifacts preserved behind glass - strange medallions, strings of glowing beads, broken sceptres, arrows fletched with feathers from creatures no one has ever seen before.

Only one object isn't sealed away. It's a handful of small orbs, with shifting colors, held in place by a shield array that still seems to function, for the most part. They can be touched, can even be removed from the stand with the right know-how or a willingness to smash stuff.

But once an orb is touched, the colors start to spin more rapidly. The more it's handled, the brighter and faster the colors shift. Whether it takes hold immediately or not is up to you, but those who handled the orb will find the bright colors start to glow under the surface of their skin, in the shape of veins, glowing bright for a few minutes before fading. And those people bring a different kind of contagion back with them to the surface. Memory loss, communicated from one person to the next via contact. It can be partial or complete, or not happen to your character at all - they can be an unwitting "carrier" of the effects, passing it on without experiencing the losses themselves. The loss can last from hours to weeks, with carriers being "infected" for the duration of that time.

It also leaves behind magical traces, ones that don't fade after memories return. The cleverest might start to wonder if it wasn't a kind of inoculation, though against what, it remains to be seen.

Navigation.

Comments

Poison | OTA

[writtendestiny]

i. a champagne supernova

[Her first reaction to those flashes of light, as she walks through one of the upper levels of Anchor, is to flinch and put her arm up to shield her eyes. It looks like lightning, but not like lightning, and she quickly fumbles her sketchpad out of her coat to sketch out what she saw before it fades from behind her eyelids.

Then, she looks up again with a sharp exhale of breath and blinks the spots out of her eyes.]

Oh... spirits. [She whispers.

But the day goes on, with wary looks cast upwards now and then when the suns refuse to reappear and the sky just keeps getting darker. Then, when the lights finally go out, Poison is near the medibay as she lets out a startled little scream.]

ii. tower of babelfish.

[She's in the park with the cats, and doesn't notice when the words coming out of her mouth are no longer able to be understood by the people around her.

The language of the people of the Realm of Man is a slightly harsh-sounding thing weighted a little too heavily with glottal stops and not enough vowels, and she talks to the cat with four legs as she bobs a hand-made toy in front of him while the one sporting eight bunches up in her lap and purrs.]

Go on, jump higher, you can get it. [She teases with a chuckle. The cats pay little mind to the change, if they hear it at all.]

If you catch it, you can have a treat.

iii. the hidden passage.

[Poison stands at the end of the hallway with her heart in her throat, Joe's warnings echoing in her head. Don't go down there, don't go, and one might think that someone so foolhardy as to approach Joe himself entirely alone would have no issue with a flooded hallway.

They would be incorrect in that assumption.]

I need some better shoes, first. [She mutters to herself. A weak excuse, but it pulls her away from the doors in time to pass the next person going to check on the new addition to their environment.]

-- Be careful. [The words fall out quickly from behind a curtain of dark hair.]

Some doors are locked for a good reason.

iii

[0thingsonmymind]

*He's been back and forth between the doorway and elsewhere a few times, uncertain if he really wants to go down there. This time someone else is there, so he hesitates. At her words he nods, then words appear in the air before the strange masked man.*

but some times itis
best
to know that
rea son

[writtendestiny]

[Strange, but Poison is so used to strange now that how he looks barely fazes her. What does prompt her curiosity is the way he communicates.]

How are you doing that?

[0thingsonmymind]

magic

iwish ed

*At least he assumes its magic. Magic seemed to cover a lot of weird things he didn't understand.*

[writtendestiny]

Oh.

[Magic. Poison is familiar with magic. She reaches a hand up as if to touch the letters.]

Could you always do this?

[0thingsonmymind]

*He shakes his head.*

igot
where iwas
be fore
zephyr

[writtendestiny]

You were somewhere else? Me too.

[And more than half the people here, she thinks.]

Can't you talk?

[0thingsonmymind]

*He shakes his head. He CAN talk but he doesn't. Because Reasons.*

ithink there mustbe
ma ny
plac es like
this

*By which he means places that pull people from their worlds.*

[writtendestiny]

[But Poison smiles, because she doesn't mind. She's dealt with people who don't (or can't) speak, though the last one was deaf as well.]

I think so, too. I've been in two other places, but not everyone here was there with me.

i

[enumerator]

[ arya is just as surprised as poison when the lights shut off. arya doesn't scream, however -- that's not her instinct anymore. if there's a danger, screaming will just give you away, and besides, fear cuts deeper than swords. being visibly afraid doesn't do anyone any good.

but this girl, it seems, doesn't get that. arya turns towards the sound. ]

Be quiet!

[ arya whispers, practically hissing. then she adds, kinder this time: ]

I'm used to the dark. There is no need to worry. But it's not smart to give us away like that, when we do not know what exactly is happening.

[writtendestiny]

I'm not worried. [Poison replies waspishly, immediately bristling at the hissed out order. And the rest of it.] It's just a power outage.

[They've happened before, they will no doubt happen again, and only the abruptness of being plunged into utter darkness like that had startled her. Ah, and she's just a little embarrassed about that. More than a little.]

But this isn't right. Not for another red shift. [She looks up, barely silhouetted by what light remains outside.] It's too dark.

ii

[borntohurt]

[ He's not sure he's ever heard a language like that before. It sounds familiar, but not at the same time. But he does realize from context that she's speaking to the cats, and who knows? Maybe it's a tongue they understand.

He keeps his distance, lest the cats decide they don't like the smell of him -- decidedly canine -- crouching down to watch before perking an eyebrow at Poison. ]

Where did you find them?

[ And maybe his words are too slurred, too mumbled to come through clearly, or in a way that can be readily understood. ]

[writtendestiny]

[The cats, while they notice him immediately, don't seem to mind what he smells of. It could be argued that the one on her lap - the one with too many legs - may not even recognise the scent. The more ordinary-looking black one pauses mid-play to stare at him, then pounces at the toy again.

Poison looks up, too, though her expression is one of subtle confusion. Maybe she just wasn't paying attention, but she's sure she didn't understand a word the man just said.]

I'm sorry?

[borntohurt]

The...cats.

[ He pauses, motioning towards the cats. He didn't understand whatever she just said, so maybe speaking isn't going to be as helpful.

But pointing should get the message across. He's interested in the little creatures, including the one that seems to have a few too many limbs. You heard about that, sometimes. Snakes born with two heads, calves with one limb too many. Maybe this is something like that. ]

[writtendestiny]

Oh...

[There's something familiar in the words she's hearing, but as she reaches for it the meaning pulls away from her. The connection between signifier and signified wobbles and doesn't hold.

The small black cat decides that Charles is interesting, and saunters over to investigate him.]

They came with me. [She replies, and points to herself.] From before here.

[borntohurt]

[ The cats were hers. That's what he takes the gesture to mean. He nods, deciding to abandon speech for the time being. Clearly it wasn't doing either of them much good, if they couldn't understand one another.

He crouches down, taking to a knee and offering a hand up for the curious animal to sniff. If it's decided to take an interest. The cats definitely can't understand what they're saying, but there's more than one way to say hello. ]

[writtendestiny]

[It does occur to her that she can't understand what he's saying... and to find that a little concerning. Maybe it's just weary experience that chalks it up to Anchor being difficult again, but she doesn't worry about it.

The cats have no objection to Charles' presence, and the one approaching him takes the opportunity to first sniff, then rub against the offered hand. Poison smiles faintly in approval.]

He likes you.

[borntohurt]

[ The syllables sound strange to his ear, though it's clear she's pleased with the interaction. Smiles aren't hard to suss out.

He just smiles back, a quiet, reserved curl of the lips, before nodding and reaching to gently rub the animal's ears.

Good kitty. ]

iii

[hyperthermic]

[ Chronos is making his way back from the surface area with one of the radiation suits. Something airtight with its own oxygen supply sounded like a good idea, when it comes to traversing underwater tunnels. He's never been the best at holding his breath.

When the girl speaks to him, he stops, looking down at her. ]

Keeping people away from the good stuff is also a reason. You got a face, kid?

[writtendestiny]

[She looks up at him immediately, stopping in her tracks. Sharp, large violet eyes in a pale, oval shaped face, a high forehead and the nose a fraction too long in the bridge. There's defiance in those eyes, settled there like a well-worn garment.]

I'm not a child.

[Blunt. Unoffended, but pointed in her tone.]

There, now you know what I look like. Is that better?

[hyperthermic]

[ He smiles a little. ] Feisty. I appreciate that in a person. So, not a child. What are you then?

[ Other than in need of some sun. He looks from her back down the hall, toward the flooded area. ] You believe Seaweed Face, huh?

[writtendestiny]

If you don't know the life stage that comes after childhood, I can't help you. [Feisty. Yes. Flippant, too.

She folds her arms loosely, defensively, her chin tipped up.]

Yes, I believe him. Enough to think we need another way to see what's behind those doors. One that isn't just breaking through them.

[Do you want an outbreak of some horrible contagious disease? Because that's how you get an outbreak of some horrible contagious disease.]

[hyperthermic]

[ That actually gets a chuckle out of him. ] I like you, kid. What's your name?

[ He shifts the helmet under his arm to hold it more comfortably, grunting. ] Any ideas? Because if no one's got a better plan, my vote is still for cracking them open.

[writtendestiny]

There will be something. This place is full of technology. Some of us have magic. Blasting through the door is just lazy.

[Lazy, and stupid, because once you put a hole in a door it's often quite difficult to stop whatever is behind it from getting out.

Her eyes narrow slightly.]

And my name is Poison. What's yours?

[hyperthermic]

[ And now she gets an outright grin. ] What can I say. I'm a lazy guy.

[ He gives her a long look over, and realizes for the first time that 'Chronos' is probably a meaningless title here. It won't strike fear in anyone, he's got no reputation.

It's weird, but so's life. ]

Chronos. Poison's a pretty badass name for a pocket-sized person. You an assassin?