[Event] NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS: A CITY CONSUMED

[khuimods]

Characters: Any signed up for the scouting mission here
Date: August 25-September 13
Location: The triple-tower shunt
Situation: It's a Shunt! Grab what you can and get out.
Warnings/Rating: In individual threads - please remember to warn!



The shunt, when it appears, is immediately obvious. There are silver towers, reaching skyward and glinting brightly in the sun – where the rays can reach them, through the thick twining cover of green vines and branches. Closer it is evident there are three, all interconnected, and a smattering of smaller buildings spreading out beside – some few of these have been bisected in their arrival.

To certain Dreamfolk, it will be very obvious that these are skyscrapers, not simply any tower. But overgrown ones; these have clearly not seen the touch of people, or pruners, in tens of years at least.

A scouting mission is immediately arranged to track the bounds of the shunt, and assess the potential. Shortly after, word goes out for volunteers for a recovery mission…

Running the volunteer show is a relatively short Muin man with a kind smile but a brisk voice. He doesn't have a lot of time to spare – once people come to him he points them at a tower. "Go with a buddy, grab easy to carry things that aren't nailed down and look likely. If you're not sure, a shine or a glow or anything with joints is a good bet."

There's a bustle of people around the bases of the towers. Some are trying to deal with various door problems; more have spread out to canvass the environs, scouting through the smaller and less likely buildings for anything that sticks out. Largely, they return disappointed. There are abandoned vehicles overgrown with vines, now rusted out and useless, which get largely ignored except for seating value. Samples of plants are taken, from leaves to root segments, and secured for transport into a foreign environment. One enterprising crew is scaling the outside of the southernmost tower with ropes and grappling hooks, two strong-armed friends singing some old shanty below as they belay.

Motion is constant all around, hurried but not rushed. Most notably at the moment, everyone at the base of the towers seems comfortable, not alarmed. There's been no sign of dangerous wildlife, which means – at least for now – that it's free salvage, and all anyone has to do is get to it before the shunt fades.


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OOC Notes:

Mods will begin threads with descriptive headers to present the situation, obstacle, and some suggestion on easily visible courses of action.

After that, it's your country. However, we'll be keeping an eye on things, of course! Expect some intermittent input on low-risk threads, and more regular input on high-risk threads. Remember you may back out at any time if you find it necessary.

Below, you will find headers for the entrances to all three towers. Please split up accordingly. In the case of Tower 3, please keep to separate threads per group, despite the similar starting locale.

Once you have progressed far enough – four comments per character – even if you are not finished, you may tag into the Plans header with your group's determined course of action. You will receive a confirmation of your choices, as well as an assessment of the level of risk present as your group presses on, and the next stage will be provided for you. You do not need to stop tagging the old one; it is simply to keep things moving.

If you have questions, please direct them here and we will be happy to clarify as we can.

Comments

GROUP A

[khuimods]

In between meeting rooms and cubicles littered with old, junky pieces of circuitry, the halls are surprisingly clear, if dim. Some cubicles still have name tags on them, though the writing is mostly illegible by now.

A survey of cubicles won't reveal much usable -- old personal effects, scattered pens and screwdrivers, technology that won't power on and is either rusted out or simply bricked.

Except:

Clipped to one sagging cubicle wall is a dome about fist-sized, which whirs creakily at the first motion near it. A green button of a light flicks on. And, further down the hall in a cubicle not seen yet, something small starts to scrape and scuttle, metal against tile.

[psituational]

There was a time in X's life when he'd never seen skyscrapers before. It's difficult to remember, faced with them now; he's spent at least as long living with a view of skyscrapers from his window as he has living in the woods. All three of the towers are more overgrown than they have any right to be, but the one he and his team go to investigate seems the most untouched.

He shatters the glass of the struggling door with a touch, but then lets the others go inside first. Nothing unexpected in the lobby, and the only unexpected thing further in is that the motion-activated lighting still works.

"It looks like something from Earth," X murmurs as they pick their way through the tiny walled spaces between larger rooms. "An office building. Do you think it was this run-down before the Dreaming took it here?"

[afoolsgold]

"...Do you think it was this run-down before the Dreaming took it here?"

"I can only hazard a guess, but no." The Fool's wry response only partly veils how unsettled he is by all that surrounds them; how timely this shunt's appearance coincides with his ill-fated venture to the turtle's head this month. It is impossible for him not to dwell on what he had gleaned through the continent turtle's otherwise vast and unknowable presence in his mind; the shifting shadows, the unsettled Dreaming--how could these things not be connected?

He follows closely behind X lest they grow separated from each other, then pauses when he hears that rustling sound further down the hall. Abruptly, he grabs hold of X's sleeve to still him, and, rather like a deer watching attentively for any sign of the wolf, lowers his voice to a whisper: "Did you hear that?"

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene nods when the Fool asks. "Yes," he says quietly. "I can check it out." He's perfectly capable of doing so with the rings and the armor at his disposal. He doesn't know what his companions can do, but he suspects that he'll be the 'tank' in this situation.

Though he'd never admit it, the entire situation creeps him out just a little. The abandoned buildings, reclaimed by jungle, are eerie, and remind him in some odd way of how he'd been partially responsible for the destruction of lower Manhattan.

Don't think about that. At least that was getting fixed. At least that would never end up like this.

[psituational]

X, in contrast to the other two, isn't wary or creeped out -- not at first. The combination of greenery and gleaming metal makes him feel more at home, and exploring abandoned buildings for the potential to use them as housing is old hat to him.

Then comes the noise, something small and scuttling, and suddenly the atmosphere becomes something a little more sinister.

X gestures to the green light on the dome near them. "It's automated," he says. "It might be harmless." He pauses, decides how much he believes that for himself, and shakes his head. "But better safe than sorry."

That is: investigate away, Gene. Have fun. They've got your back.

[afoolsgold]

"...It might be harmless."

In response to this, the Fool merely gives X a look. Thankfully, before he has to give voice to his skepticism, his friend beats him there: "But better safe than sorry."

"Indeed," he agrees dryly, then looks towards Gene with some concern at his offer. The Fool is hardly the most proficient combatant to have at one's back in circumstances like these. "Be careful," he says, frowning. "We have no way of knowing what has been left behind in this place." Or what may have taken up residence instead.

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene steps to the front of the group, ready to fight if need be. He's extremely well-trained in hand-to-hand, but he'd left his sword back in his apartment. The armor would be more useful here, he'd thought, and he's probably not wrong.

"No, we don't," he says, "but staying here fretting about it will tell us nothing. Come on." He proceeds down the hall towards the noise, unconsciously clenching and unclenching his fists. He's learned well that just because something's automated, it's not necessarily harmless.

[khuimods]

Around the corner, skittering in the hall, there is a small robotic beetle. It has a translucent carapace like a solar panel over sleek silver lines, and a glowing focus point at the front that seems to settle on the first person around the corner.

Its tiny beetley claws click loudly.

It will still for a moment or five; however, once someone moves more than a foot or two toward it, it will flash brightly blue once, and then start skittering off. Whether or not it's a good idea to let it... that's another problem.

[psituational]

It's... a beetle.

It is, X has to say, a spectacularly pretty beetle.

True to his implied word, he hangs well back, staying within easy reach of the Fool and letting Gene handle whatever the metallic insect might decide to do next. X is no stranger to metal pets, but he's never seen one with antennae before, and -- like the Fool said -- they have no way of knowing what got left behind in the abandoned building, or what it may have been programmed to do.

A thought occurs, and X fumbles for his yimo. "Wait," he says, "let me see if I can get a photo --"

[afoolsgold]

Thankfully the Fool's extended stay in Aifaran has rather immunized them to peculiar technologies--but even so, this one is bizarre enough to give them pause. They stare at the strange beetle incredulously, at least until X speaks.

"A good idea," he agrees distractedly. Already he seems to have forgotten his earlier caution, taking a few steps after the retreating insect.

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene nods and walks forwards, his tread soft. He's learned to be quiet over the years, to fade into the background; a survival tactic as much as something learned from self-defense. He doesn't want to spook it, whatever it is. It's like stalking a creature, or hunting it.

And if it's a sentry, he doesn't want it to report the intruders back to whoever, or whatever, it's scouting on behalf of.

"Or we could get the real thing," he murmurs, continuing to advance.

[psituational]

"Can you catch it?" X asks, finally fumbling the yimo the right way and holding it up to take the picture. "Beetles are fast."

And easy to scare,, he'd add, if it isn't obvious Gene knows already; he's advancing as softly as it's possible to walk on a tiled floor. Before Gene can get too close, X snaps the photo, and then takes a few more, just to be safe. Hopefully one of them caught a good angle.

"I wonder if there's more of them," X murmurs, a little ominously for those with more paranoid dispositions.

[afoolsgold]

The Fool stays off to one side while X snaps those photos and Gene creeps forward like a particularly sneaky cat about to pounce on his prey. There's little here that he can do to contribute to the situation, save contemplatively examine the beetle from a safe distance--

--yet it seems that whatever senses the thing possesses, it is well equipped to note changes in its environment. Abruptly, it flashes blue and begins to scurry away. The Fool startles, eyes widening, and darts after it.

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene spits out a particularly foul curse in Mandarin and lunges after it, but the beetle's too speedy for a human. It zigzags down the hall, Gene rushing after it, before he decides to bring out the big guns.

He summons his armor.

There's a flash of bright light and he's taller, clad in frightening black-and-gold armor, and the beetle appears in his hand in a flash of light. "Gotcha." When he speaks, his voice is modulated to be much deeper, adding to his sinister appearance.

Not letting this thing go was well worth potentially frightening his fellow adventurers. Besides, it's not like it's exactly a secret anymore. Not in Keeliai, anyway, and hiding it in Aifaran would only make him feel too much like he felt back on Earth - hunted. He is what he is, and what he is is the Mandarin. For better or worse.