TDM #6

[apocalypsehowmods]

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➥ Arrival

(cw: potential for severe disorientation/vertigo, claustrophobia, arachnophobia, body horror)

It happens in the blink of an eye. You may have been asleep. You may not have. You may have stepped through a door or turned a corner. You may have seen a flicker of something at the corner of your vision and turned to look. Or maybe you didn't.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that you find yourself somewhere entirely new and entirely unfamiliar. The arrival point is not always the same. (If you're lucky, it might be a canteen or an open office. If you're not, well... you aren't claustrophobic, are you? Or arachnophobic. These ducts do seem to be a bit cobwebby.) There is no one waiting for you but you don’t seem to be alone, either. Even in a janitor’s closet or the bathroom, you’ll find at least one person who seems to be just as out of place as you are.

If characters have arrived in a location devoid of NPCs, they may want to work together to figure out what is going on... or to avoid their 'kidnappers.' If you’ve arrived in the middle of the entry foyer or the gym, there may well be a few people who startle a bit at your arrival and try to approach (or discreetly leave the room... where are they going?). Will you cooperate or fight? Do you even understand what they're saying? You might need to find a translator, if you’re not immediately willing to follow a stranger.

After characters follow their new hosts (or are forcibly taken in) there will be a limited tour and the chance to settle in at the ADI-provided housing. (Do you enjoy living with strangers? Well. It's a new situation to navigate, anyway.)

➥ Widowmaker

(cw: body horror; existential horror; animal death; potential for severe injury; being eaten; skin loss)

Weird things happen in Dogtown, everyone knows it. The Apocalypse Disruption Initiative (ADI) is not above taking advantage of that to test out the waters for its newest arrivals. They're not looking to send anyone to their death, though, especially not with recent events that have transpired surrounding Dogtown. An employee gives you a number to call if anything truly dangerous happens and you've been left with another person at the trailhead. Maybe they're a new arrival, as well, or a more seasoned 'veteran.' Either way, you're together for the next while and you've been asked to find and record any paranormal activity in the park. You have your phones and any other equipment you might have brought with you. Those who succeed in documenting anything peculiar will receive a $100 reward to be used as they see fit.

This month the forest seems to press in on the trails that run through it. Looming. Waiting. Ravenous. Tree branches snag at passersby or fall suddenly across the path to block the way and force hikers off the trail and into the woods. The undergrowth has grown thick, the gnarled branches of trees and bushes so much more alive than they should be this time of year, leaf-bare limbs all but thrumming with energy and anticipation. Peek through the snare of bark and wood and you might spot the carcass of an animal on the forest floor, fur and skin eaten away to reveal the raw, naked, bloody truth of the meat that lies within all the pitiful creatures of this world that ever dared think themselves to be more.

Step off the path and step out of your place at the top of the food chain; it wants you. This is something so much bigger than you and it will swallow you down. The ground is soft muck into which your feet sink and the trees are waiting to drop heavy branches that will pin you down, stop you from running. Fairy rings have sprung up all over these woods, too, and stepping into one invites mushrooms that quickly spread over your feet and up your legs, eating away at shoes and flesh, digesting whatever they can reach. Eating you.

You are fertilizer. It was hubris to think otherwise.

➥ Hermy the Wormy

(cw: worms, decay, altered mental states/compulsion, emotional corruption, potential for violence, theft)

un: pamoramicview
Hi, everyone! If we haven't spoken just yet, my name is Pam. I'm here to help off-worlders however I can at ADI. And one thing I'd really like to do more of is some icebreakers for our newest arrivals.

Now, I've uploaded a new app to everyone's device. It's this cute little game I found called Hermy the Wormy. Do you know the song?

"Sitting on a fence post, chewing my bubblegum! Chomp, chomp, chomp!
Playing with my yo-yo! Woo woo!
When along came Hermy the Wormy, and he was This Big!"

It's something to help little ones learn to count and how eating makes you grow bigger. My kids loved it when they were toddlers. I think it's just a modified version of Snake, if anyone remembers that. But we can set up a company-based league. Try it out and see if you can make the high score. The top three at the end of the week are getting a gift basket of Halloween and Thanksgiving treats.

Seeing as my Halloween gift baskets didn't get much use.

For reasons.

But I'll make sure to make our Holiday Party in December the best you've ever seen! We will have a good holiday party. I will make this happen!!!

- Pam

Anyone who checks their ADI-issued devices will find that a snake-type game has, in fact, been added to their phones. It's a worm this time instead of a snake, though, and he's eating colorful pieces of fruit that seem to become more and more decayed as the game goes on. It is, in fact, hard to resist opening the app, most will find. Almost as if there's something compelling you toward clicking on it. And once you're in? Well, you have to at least try once.

Those who begin playing will find themselves getting sucked into the game, deeply invested in winning to the point that maybe… maybe it would be a good idea to start sabotaging the competition. Just little things. Stealing a phone here. Surprising them while they're playing. Breaking a few fingers… Little things.

The (overly-)competitive spirit sweeps the halls of ADI and Bonnie's Flophouse, and once you score high, well, time to let everyone know. They should be aware of who you are, shouldn't they? You need to be acknowledged, appreciated, loved. Don't you deserve that?

➥ Writhe and Squirmy

(cw: altered mental states/compulsion, emotional corruption, toxic relationships, body horror, mold, potential for amputation)

The next mass network message goes out several days later and is from Reyes Amador, the person in charge of managing the visitors from other worlds.

un: sunreyes
¡¡¡HIGH PRIORITY!!!

All ADI personnel will uninstall the Hermy the Wormy application from their communications devices immediately or surrender these devices to the ADI IT team so that we can do this manually or destroy your device and replace it.

Do not play this game. Do not look at this game.

Check all parts of the body for a purple, fuzzy mold. If found on the body, report to medical immediately for removal. Amputations may be required if mold has spread. DO NOT WAIT.

- Reyes Amador

Unfortunately, at this point, the Hermy the Wormy 'virus,' as it were, has already spread. Even those who did not play the game may find themselves affected. People will find themselves compelled to begin acting upon their worst impulses. Perhaps they decide that now is the time to admit a crush and make that person they fancy love them. Or make that friend they want spend time with them. Why heed these new orders when you're perfectly fine? Everyone else might be acting strange, but not you. You're as you should be… aren't you?

Those infected will find that they have a patch of fuzzy purple mold on them somewhere. Whether it's somewhere easy to see or completely obscured, it's there. It starts out very small, just the size of a freckle, but it has the chance to grow and spread to others if accidentally touched. Those who go to medical, as ordered, and have the mold removed will find that their minds return to them. Removal may be as simple as scraping it off like it's a scab, or require full amputation of affected areas. Those who don't report… will find their negative impulses only growing stronger as the mold takes a deeper root in them, corrupting them from the inside out. Anyone who hasn't reported to medical or had friends drag them there by the 13th will be forcibly rounded up by ADI's Security Team and taken to Medical to be cured.

➥ Mod Notes

• ARRIVAL (Dec 1 - 16): Two people will always arrive in the same general location together. Arrivals occur throughout the early month, not all on the same day or in the same place. Arrivals are not naturally fluent in English/other languages immediately upon arrival. Characters may attempt to evade capture, but they will eventually be snagged before they can leave the building. PC's already in-game are more than welcome to interact with and try to guide new PC's to get them oriented. Please refer to the Arrival page for details regarding the arrival and onboarding process.
  
  
• Widowmaker (Dec 1 - 31): While characters will not feel compelled to leave the trails, the forest will seem to do everything in its power to get them off the trail and ensnare them so they can be digested. The mushrooms will quickly digest shoes, clothing, and flesh; characters will need to escape (or be helped to escape!) quickly to avoid injury and death. Any major injuries, including limb loss, will be relatively permanent: ADI medical will do their best to heal characters, but will not be able to help characters regenerate lost toes or limbs (they can get characters advanced prosthetics if needed). Please note that any character killed and eaten by the forest is permanently dead. A different version who doesn't have TDM memories may be apped in their place.
  
  
• Hermy the Wormy (Dec 1 - 7): Characters will feel compelled to play the Hermy the Wormy game, but it's possible to resist that impulse. Those who play will find themselves overtaken by a sense of competition and may find themselves acting in ways they wouldn't normally. Becoming irritable or obsessive about their ranking, checking the leader board and wanting to confront those who may have a higher score than them in the game. Shouting matches or physical altercations may ensue. It's not just PCs affected by all of this, either. Characters might see NPCs at ADI fighting with each other, even people who seemed to be close friends.
  
  
• Writhe and Squirmy (Dec 8 - 10): Characters will feel compelled to act on negative impulses to a greater or lesser degree, whatever that might mean for them. They will also experience a need for attention and love/praise, whatever the cost of those things. If your character did not play the game and has not touched someone affected by the mold, they might escape from any effects from it and just be able to assist in getting people to Medical to have the mold removed. You may have as much or as little mold on your character, as you'd like. Please note that amputations will be relatively permanent. ADI can get characters advanced prosthetics if the amputation is significant enough, but limbs will not be regrown/replaced by NPCs. Characters may also work to remove the mold themselves. Once the mold is off, the mental effects will cease completely. Playing the Hermy the Wormy game may cause additional infections.
  
  Those on the ADI IT team will be asked to go through the code for the game application, and while it will all seem fairly standard, they will find one bit of code that doesn't actually do anything except to generate a binary code when clipped and run separately. If they do that, they will decode the following message:
  
  hi jim
  i am a big fan
  i have a special film for you
  it is real
  promise promise
  more to come
  =:)ocoocoocooc
  
  griffmejim69
  
  Further investigation for this particular plotline will be available during the December game event.
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Comments

QUESTIONS

[apocalypsehowmods]

Re: QUESTIONS

[marmoron]

Are there any indications either explicit or implicit of whether or not Pam was aware there was something off about the worm game prior to telling people to play? Or is the message from Reyes the only bit of official communication characters get from ADI for now? Not sure if this will come up later in the month, but I figured I would ask!

Rena Ryugu | Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (Gou)

[growingblueflame]

Arrival

(( CW: full Higu spoilers (B), minor Gou spoilers ))

A. [ Rena wakes with a start as if coming out of a bad dream, but looking around, she thinks she’s still in one at first. She’s laying on one of the couches in the Entry Foyer, and slowly she picks herself up to up again. She feels dizzy as she does, clutching her head and forcing her eyes to close for a moment. She tries to recall what she had been doing before this…

That’s right. They were taking Mion’s van to meet up with her sister Angel Mort. So… how did Rena end up here? Where even is here?

Slowly, she reopens her eyes, and that’s when she first notices someone else waking up on the couch next to her. Her mouth feels so dry when she tries to speak, but after a moment, she manages to find her voice. ]

H-Hello? What's going on…?

[ Do you speak Japanese? If not, it might be hard to understand what she’s saying. ]

B. [ Once she manages to get herself together better, Rena’s more in a panic about waking up in the place. Her immediate thought goes back to the Mountain Dogs, a rouge government agency she and her friends managed to defeat five years ago. Is this somehow connected to that? She’s not planning on sticking around to find out.

A few of the employees try to approach her, but Rena’s already running before they can take her anywhere. They try to be helpful, but she can’t understand them yet. It does make her think it’s probably not the Mountain Dogs, but even still, she’s not planning on cooperating with kidnappers.

She may notice another arrival, and if they’re obviously not an employee, she may try to take their hand to run with her. But again, she can only speak in Japanese right now. ]

We need to get out of here!

[ The employees have already blocked the entrance, so she’s running further into the building. It’s not a great plan, but there has to be another way out of here. ]

C. [ Eventually, Rena can’t avoid capture forever, and she’s brought down to the basement against her will. But she’s much calmer once she’s ready over the paper and has a better understanding of what's going on. It’s not an ideal situation, but it at least seems she wasn’t brought here by anyone maliciously.

That doesn’t mean the whole situation isn’t very overwhelming, though. The talk of the supernatural is very strange to her, and she doesn’t know what to make of it at all yet. Even more so, the technology is so much more advanced than what she’s used to already, being from the 80’s. The computers alone make her go wide eyed as she is taken around the building.

Eventually she’s given her ID, and despite how many times she reads it, Rena can’t seem to let it all sink in. When she speaks, it’s to herself in a quiet voice, but it’s possible to hear her if you’re close enough. ]

I-It’s too much… it’s too much for Rena…

Widowmaker

(( CW’s: Mod listed.
Note: while I do not plan on having anything happen to Rena (except maybe being in minor danger), if you want her to help your character escape danger, I'm open to any of the CW's listed! ))

[ A few days after arriving in this world, and Rena’s been called to work already. It sounds interesting, but her nerves are at edge as soon as she arrives on the path. She’s used to exploring thick mountain woods and swamp land since she grew up in them. There’s… something really wrong about this place. It feels alive in a way that makes her sick to her stomach.

She does her best to push that down, though, when her partner arrives. She greets them with a small smile and a wave, doing her best to be polite. ]

Are you the one helping me out with this? My name is Rena; it’s nice to meet you!

Hermy the Wormy/Writhe and Squirmy

(( CW’s: Mod listed, self harm (scratching), blood mention, physical assault ))

[ Rena is still really adjusting to the new technology, but thankfully she’s pretty clever and picks up some things easily. Unfortunately, there’s only some things that experience can truly teach you. So when the Wormy app arrives, she’s a very easy target for it thanks to her lack of internet knowledge.

At first, it’s very fun. It feels so advanced to anything she’s ever played before! She cannot get enough of it! To the point where she’s staying up late… and not eating… and generally not taking care of herself…

Maybe someone around her notices or saw the announcement about getting rid of devices, but Rena has promptly ignored it herself. She wants to get the top score so badly! Nothing is going to get in her way until she does! Striving for victory is a club rule after all!

When someone tries to stop her, whether it be your character or an NPC employee, she’ll snatch their hand tightly, gripping it so tightly she could break it. ]

Don’t try to stop Rena… she’s going to win! She will! For the Games Club! No, for all of Hinamizawa!

[ A closer look at her will reveal the mold has been growing on her neck. What’s even more alarming, is that she’s clearly been scratching at it. To the point of breaking skin and minorly bleeding, and she’s clearly done nothing to treat it.

Rena needs help… and fast. ]

Wildcard

(( If none of these prompts are working, feel free to DM me or contact me at sekoshi! ))

Widowmaker

[aelwyn_aberration]

[Aelwyn approaches with a polite wave. At least this one doesn't seem like a child. Incremental progress from the last one she was asked to escort on one of these.]

I'm Aelwyn, Aelwyn Abernant. It's a pleasure to meet you, Rena. [She offers her hand to shake.]

How much warning have they given you about this place?

[Aelwyn came prepared. She has a gun strapped to the inside of her coat. The question is if they armed the new girl, or if they just dropped her in Dogtown to see if she'd sink or swim.]

Arrival - B

[raynos]

[Rena couldn't have come at a better time. Jamie's surrounded by people in business casual and the odd guy in a suit, and while they're speaking to him in measured tones he has no idea what they're actually saying or what they want. Rena doesn't seem to want to be here any more than Jamie does, so when she grabs his wrist he more than willingly bolts after her deeper into the building. The fact that he can't understand her either escapes his notice, for the time being.

They turn a corner, out of sight of the staff members pursuing them, and are confronted with another stretch of hallway straight ahead and a door to one side. Beside the door is a sign that he can't read, of course, but it's accompanied by the universal symbol indicating that it leads to stairs. Getting off this floor might be a good idea, but then again there might be people waiting to catch them above or below, too. Jamie fidgets in indecision.]

Which way should we go? The stairs, or down the hall?

[...good luck understanding him, though. Maybe the nervous twitching will translate, if nothing else.]

Arrival A

[septieme]

[Luckily (?), the bespectacled blue-haired woman in leggings and a black coat befitting of late fall who just stepped in from the ADI front doors into the lobby does speak Japanese, and is crouched over at Rena's side with open concern once it's apparent that she's come across yet another new face too young to be plucked into some apocalypse prevention agency from a different world entirely. Whatever force is out at play here...]

--Yes! Are you okay, miss? Please take your time if you're not feeling well, there's no rush here...

[Does she need a drink? So close to the entrance too, she may catch cold with the drift if she stays here also. At least this isn't a closet or an air duct, she supposes. Small blessings...]

Jamie Hemeros | Zoids New Century /0

[raynos]

[ooc note: I'm fine with the majority of the CW listed in the post, just pls don't permanantly maim or kill my boy here. :V]

I. Arrival
[Wire shelves stacked with reams of paper. Wide laminate countertops with plenty of room to collate and staple. Cupboards stocked with notepads, pens, paperclips and other stationery supplies. An all-in-one copier the size of a subcompact car. Jamie's in a pretty standard office copy room, that much is obvious.

Less obvious is how he got here. Jamie stands dumbly for a few seconds, blinking in bewilderment as he tries and fails to come up with some rationalization for what's going on. Slowly he turns, taking in his surroundings - and that's when he notices he's not alone. Jamie recoils, startled, and then takes a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.]

S-sorry, uh - could you maybe tell me where the exit is? [All right, good effort. A perfectly reasonable question that belies none of the weirdness of the situation he's currently in and doesn't make him look totally insane. The only problem is that he's not speaking English. Or German, or Spanish, or Japanese, or any language spoken on Earth.

Coming here from a planet on the other side of the galaxy might pose a few difficulties.]


II. Widowmaker
[cw: bugs and dead animals]
[One thing Jamie's figured out since he arrived here is that Earth is really, distressingly weird.  It's not quite as noticeable when he's inside the ADI building, but being outdoors and away from man-made artifacts makes it inescapably plain just how far away from home he is and how different this place is from Zi.  The air smells funny, the shapes and colors of the trees and plants aren't quite right, and it's so cold.  Bundled up in a heavy coat over a sweatshirt and jeans, he can still feel the damp coastal air seeping into his bones.  He hates everything about this.

It might be pretty obvious from his demeanor that he's uncomfortable and out of his element, but he doesn't complain out loud much if at all, and after he and his partner set off down the trail he applies himself to their assigned task dutifully enough. The problem is that he doesn't really have a good baseline for what constitutes "unusual" in their current surroundings; there are a lot of fallen branches, and plant growth everywhere, but for all he knows that's as normal for Earth as only having one moon. Pushing gingerly past a dangling clump of moss, extricating himself for the umpteenth time from scraggly branches that claw at his clothes and hair, he glances to the ground, spotting the tiny carcass of a mouse being swarmed by ants. He wrinkles his nose, revolted, but leans forward just a little to get a better view.]

That's not weird, right? It's gross, but it's not weird.


III. Hermy the Wormy
[There you are, worming away, really racking up the points - maybe even about to beat your own personal high score - when there comes what feels like a very deliberate shove from behind. It's certainly not forceful enough to do more than break your concentration, but that's damage enough.]

Oops.

[Behind you stands Jamie, who does not look remotely sorry. He does look pretty punchable at the moment, though, probably.]


IV. Wildcard
[hmu with anything you'd like, or PM this journal to discuss something!]

oh wormy?

[killerlineage]

[Guillermo had, in fact, been about to surpass his high score when he’d been unceremoniously shoved. With a gasp, he watches Hermy crash into his own tail.

Typically he’d do no more than toss a Look(tm) at the offender and walk away. But Hermy is doing things to Guillermo. When he finds the offender, he gives him a shove right back.]

Thanks for the help, kid. I lost my score.

[As his head starts to tilt for emphasis, he shakes his head.] No. I shouldn’t have—you shouldn’t have either, but I shouldn’t have pushed you. I’m sorry. …But you should be sorry too. I mean, for real.

III

[septieme]

...Yes, may I help you?

[The bespectacled woman poring over her phone he's just not-so-subtly interrupted is frowning back at him slightly, but does not seem particularly angry. Maybe he manages to catch a glimpse of the reason before she's fully turned around; what's on her screen is not Hermy the Wormy, rather some lines of text on grids. A website or the calendar app, perhaps? Either is likely, but she's quickly pocketing her smartphone after his intervention. She may not have dropped it, thankfully, but the shove was too strong and specific to be an accident one could excuse through "oops sorry for bumping into you". Especially when she wasn't walking around without watching where she was going, but rather seated on a plastic chair by a table in the break area. Thus the question: did he want 'help' for something?]

Lucien | Critical Role

[neineyed]

[ ooc: note that all all the prompts contain spoilers for campaign 2 of critical role! ]

ARRIVAL

[ Lucien has found himself in… a slight predicament, shall we say.

To be precise, there are three problems with the situation he’s found himself in. He has no idea where he is. No threshold crests. Oh, and his powers? They're not working. Meaning, among other worrying things, he has no way of getting back. ]

Fuck!! [ He suddenly yells, kicking a shelf hard enough to make a loud bang. He’d been so close! Even that group – the Mighty Nein – while an... unexpected obstacle, had proven easy enough for him to handle. They were useful, even, for a time.

But this... this is a big problem. A big problem. It’s not like he’s on a time limit or anything, but to be so close to achieving what he’d been aiming towards for so long, only to have victory snatched from his grasp... it’s frustrating beyond words.

But it’s fine. Lucien takes a deep breath, calming himself, before taking a look around him. He’s in some kind of small room meant for storage, it seems. This is just a minor setback. He’s waited a long time to fulfill his purpose, and he can wait a little longer. Though truth be told... the lack of his abilities is leaving him more unsettled than he can remember feeling in a long time...

After assessing the room for a while, he walks out of it with just a slight hint of caution. He doesn’t want to run into any traps, and he’s not stupid, but he’s confident enough in his own fighting prowess to feel safe enough to wander, even without the powers he's grown so used to. He still has his scimitars, at least - and more importantly, he can't just stay in one place forever.

When he finally runs into someone, he gives them an unpleasant smile. It seems innocuous enough, but if you’re paying attention, you might catch a hint of the threat in his eyes. ]

Ah. I don’t suppose you have something to do with this, do you?

[ And if he recognizes you- ]

Well. Fancy seeing you here, in a place like this.

WIDOWMAKER

[ Perhaps it’s surprising that Lucien’s agreed to work with the ADI at all. But while he has no interest in protecting this world from whatever powers that might seek to consume it… He’s well aware that the ADI have far more information than he does about everything that’s happening here.

So if he’s to stand a chance of going back to Exandria, he might as well go along with it. It’ll be just like old times, doing odd work here and there for others, waiting for a chance at something greater… Even so - that doesn’t mean that he’ll be following their rules.

The forest looks deeply unpleasant, to say the least. He’s not foolish enough to step off the path – the way that the forest tries to force him outside it makes it obvious that leaving would be a bad idea. But Lucien’s no stranger to dangerous situations, so it doesn’t particularly bother him.

Still – when the tree branch falls suddenly before his feet, blocking the path forward, Lucien sighs. Turning towards his “partner”, he says- ]

Well, something’s awfully eager to have a go at us, don’t you think?

HERMY THE WORMY.

[ When he receives the network message, Lucien scoffs. He has no interest in such a childish-sounding game, and there are better things for him to be doing with his time.

...At least, that's what he thinks at first. But as the day goes on, for whatever reason, the game remains stuck in his head. And he quickly discovers that it isn’t feasible for him to spend every waking moment in this place looking for information – there’s a limit to how much he can find in a day, after all. That leaves him with nothing much to do, when he’s reached the limits of his investigations and has no job to pursue. So when he opens up the app, it’s mostly out of boredom, and a desire for something to entertain himself with.

Twenty minutes later, he’s still playing the game. It’s surprisingly addictive, for reasons he can’t quite figure out, and... something feels wrong about that fact – but not wrong enough to stop him from playing. He’s too absorbed in the thought of winning to focus on that niggling sensation at the back of his mind, and there really is nothing better for him to do, so it can’t hurt to play for a little longer, right? It’s just a distraction – something to put his mind to. Nothing more than that.

Yet when someone suddenly decides to interrupt him, he looks up at them sharply, a glare in his eyes. And he’s quickly overcome with a foreign sense of anger, his voice irritable when he asks- ]

What?

WILDCARD.

[ Feel free to throw anything at Lucien here! This is my first time writing him/I'm still voicetesting him, so apologies if it takes a little while to get his characterization quite right. I'm also available at Rivenix if you'd like to plot! ]

Widowmaker

[raynos]

[The racket caused by the falling branch is no longer startling, it's happened often enough, but Jamie's unnerved by the way they've been landing - a little too precisely, too tactically. He'd initially thought that was just the way forests were, trees dropping branches at random, but this feels almost like there's thought behind it. He jams his hands into his coat pockets, peering around Lucien at the branch.]

It does seem kinda...premeditated, yeah. What d'you think's doing it?

[He glances half skeptically, half fearfully at the canopy of bare branches overhead, as though the culprit is perched up there, waiting to throw more nature at them. He's neither creative nor educated when it comes to supernatural entities, and the list of possible suspects, in his mind, is vanishingly slim.]

...you think it's ghosts or something?

[He just kind of. Throws that out there. He guesses he's probably wrong and that this horned purple goat-man will have a better idea of what they're facing, because surely he would, wouldn't he?]

arrival :v

[lesbeau]

[Despite being here for a couple of months now, Beau still isn't quite used to the 'people can just show up at any time' sort of gambit. Thus far it hasn't been anything odd- some confused people wandering around the ADI, one or two looking panicked. But none of that properly prepared her for rounding a corner and seeing him.

At first, there's a rush of recognition, a moment of hope-- and then he speaks and it's all dashed. Her eyes narrow, fists clench, and she takes on a much more closed off stance like she's ready to throw down.]

That one's supposed to be my line. What the hell are you doing here?

guillermo de la cruz | wwdits

[killerlineage]

arrival

[Once again, Guillermo wakes up in a dark, cramped box. Nothing out of the ordinary. Everything is right where he left it: his glasses, in his breast pocket, since he doesn't need them on his face at the moment; his cross necklace, around his neck, tucked into his sweater; his guilt and loneliness, both weighing heavily on his soul; his Oreos and Pedialyte—where the fuck are his Oreos and Pedialyte.

In fact, those aren't the only things missing. The coffin doesn't have a top or a bottom anymore. And it's not lined in satin and velvet anymore. And the constant wave of the ocean is gone.

He's in a fucking air duct.

Upon realization he lets out a blood-curdling scream, but only for a literal half a second. His instinct kicks in after he allows himself this moment of panic, and he wills himself to swivel around and into a crawl so that he can get himself the fuck out of there and figure out where the hell he is. Hopefully whoever has done this to him will let him go free after a thorough Threat To Their Life. Or show him to the shower.

Eventually, Guillermo makes his exit into... whatever room your character would be in! Just a guy punching himself out of an air duct, possibly ready to fight, no big deal.]


writhe and squirmy

I knew that app was a fucking virus, it was so obvious.

[He's raising his voice at his phone, hoping to attract the attention of whoever happens to be sat by him in the canteen. Guillermo had been right, as he always is. And he needs everyone around him to know it, as he always does. So he continues mumbling (except, is it really mumbling if he wants everyone to hear him?):] No offense to Pam or anything, but with everything else going on around here, you'd think to be a little more careful...

[He deletes the app.

No, no, no, he doesn't. His finger hovers over the delete button, but he cancels the operation.

One more game. Then he'll delete the app.]


wildcard

[Hit me up on plurk at aldigrocery if you have anything to throw at me!]

arrival

[champagnefueled]

[This is not the Carte Blanche. This is not space. This isn't even a room construction she immediately recognizes, which is somewhat unusual. When you've been to so many planets to rob them blind for one thing or another, you tend to pick up the styles. This looks... old. Ancient, really. And they apparently have very large rats in their vents.

Buddy glances up from her seat at the desk she's made herself home at in the short few, disorienting minutes she's been here and grabs a pair of scissors off the desk. And then a man punches through the vent. She cocks her head at him, words quick and clipped, expression mild. She's dressed in an elaborate white wedding dress.]

Good to know I won't be enjoying this kidnapping on my own, darling, but let's save your fists any further damage and keep quiet in here while we figure out our options beyond 'vent-based travel.' Buddy. And you are?

arrival;

[ratjesus]

[ The fact that someone in the vents isn't a new thing is about as grating as mornings, if mot more so, just because of the connotation that Kugrah has been here long enough for something like 'noise from the vent insinuating new arrival' is relatively normal. It's annoying. Kugrash is annoyed.

Kugrash is almost always annoyed, though, usually at himself. But there's definitely someone in the vent--the scream definitely confirms that--and Kug is about to squeeze right up there to coax him out when he hears the person beginning to move.

Woah. Normally they just sorta wriggle a little and start screaming. This guy--guy?-- is pretty resourceful. Kugrash'll follow the sounds, annoyance quickly fading into curiousity, waiting for the new arrival to drop down.

When the new arrival does turn the corner, he's greeted by a two foot tall rat man. To Kugrash's credit he's bathed even if he looks like he lives in the sewers, and he does try to smile, it's just that all of his smiles tend to look somewhat menancing. It's the rat teeth. ]

Hey.

[ He looks down at his mug, realizes he hasn't had a drink from it yet, and offers it to the guy wearing glasses. ]

Vent, huh? That sucks, bud. [ Good morning, new ADI sucker. ]

writhe and squirmy

[carmesi]

[the canteen is empty but for herself and this one guy who keeps raising his voice to say something. wanda actually, briefly, strays her attention away from the soup she's having and glancing around to see if there is anyone he may be actually talking to.

nope, there's no one else.

sure—the name "hermy the wormy" should have clued them in on the fact that it was a fucking virus. however, some things they are compelled to do and it is extremely hard to break away from their otherwise insidious spell.

she looks up at him. for as much as he is going on about how he knew better, being a little more careful, he seems incredibly engrossed in it. wait—if he has it installed still, doesn't that mean...?]

You're not supposed to be playing it anymore, you know.

arrival :V

[lowficharm]

[Martin's beginning to get the distinct feeling whatever being is calling them into this world, it finds a lot of humor in stuffing decently big guys in air ducts. He had to fumble his way out of those, once, and he really very much did not like it. On top of that, he's almost getting so accustomed to the sound of something banging in there he doesn't recognize it's probably a person for the first, oh, three seconds.

Then there's a scream, and maybe thirty seconds later, a man coming tumbling out of the fucking wall. As one would expect, this cues another, similar scream from one (1) Martin Blackwood, who was simply in one of the lounges trying to have a simple cup of tea. He's skittered backwards from the chair he was in, but starts approaching one or two cautious steps when he can tell yes, it's a person.]

Uhm... are you alright, there?

squirmy... hello..

[frankzappa]

<sub>[ There was no reason for him to even bother going to the canteen, so if one who knew his species would question what he was doing there, he would be straight up honest and admit that he simply liked the acoustics in here. It would make for a great karaoke all-nighter if he had a say in it. Destroy the kitchen and build a stage. That's what he would do. Since his arrival here, he sometimes liked to sit and listen to people. But only when there were few people in here. Too many of them made him ornery.

Nandor doesn't look great; somehow it was possible to look worse even when you were and undead creature of the night, and he was aching from not being properly fed here (the last blood drive was three days ago) and it's taking every ounce of energy he has left over to not kill anyone who looks at him funny. The worm game was probably the only thing keeping people alive at this rate.

Yes. The worm game. He had become quite addicted to it right away and it was a great distraction from everything else going on in his eternal life right now. Nandor was convinced this worm was his only friend. The warning message about it had gone ignored... ever since the chainmail curse, Nandor had been sceptical of any message that popped up on the small light box he had been given. It's fine. Nothing else mattered besides the worm. ]</sub>

Fuck!

_{[ Oh. Those are great acoustics across the room indeed. Another round lost and an another last bit of patience wasted. Just because he was addicted to the worm game doesn't mean he was particularly.. good at it. There's a hiss, followed by a threat (this isn't how apps work, bro..) ]}

You will eat all the fruit I command you to, or I will slit your stomach and suck out your entrails! Is this how you always treat your superior? You disobey?

_{[ um.... he's talking to the device.. yeah. Did he have some mold on him? He sure did. Was he aware of it? Absolutely not. Where was it at? It's a mystery. ]}

ellie | the last of us

[badlanguage]

ARRIVAL; (cw: potential injury)

[ whether you were passing through the corridors on the way to your cubicle like a good little rodent in the rat race we call life, heading to get a cup of joe, or taking a trip to the john - your morning is about to get livelier.

a girl whips around the corner ahead real hard, and unless you're real quick on your feet or got crazy good reflexes - a fourteen year old Ellie is going to be barreling right into you. whoa--! hope you weren't carrying anything delicate or hot and caffeinated. that sure would be unfortunate. nothing's quite as sad as spilled bean juice first thing in the morning. ]

Whoa, shit!

[ but instead of looking upset or apologetic, the troublemaker is scrambling backwards to toss an urgent glance between you (sus, you're totally sus, bro) and where she's fled from, brandishing a switchblade with little hesitation. is there blood on that sucker...? ]

Fuck, are you kidding me? How many of you guys are there?!

WIDOWMAKER;

[ heading out into the trails is much more familiar territory than like... everything else in Gloucester by a long shot. despite growing up in nearby Boston, she feels like some kind of weirdo alien to this whole pre-Cordyceps world; things she had only read about or seen in movies were suddenly real life experiences. people actually unironically wore uggs and tried to eat Tide Pods for the internet. electricity was a commodity. buildings were heated and running water was everywhere; hot showers? amazing. she could get a meal anytime - day or night - for a swipe of her cash card. it's wild, crazy, super cool, and... super intimidating.

turns out? taking a hike is a nice breather. so, Ellie is in good spirits as she hefts her pack a little higher on her shoulder as she approaches the trailhead alongside her partner, walking backwards and giving them - you - a smile. ]

Soooo... icebreaker time. You know what kinda tree fits in your hand?

WILDCARD;

[ bring your own or PM me for a personalized starter! ]

[champagnefueled]

Well, that would have to be a palm tree, wouldn't it, darling?

[The woman she's with is on the late side of middle-aged, dark-skinned with flaming red locks, and wearing some bargain-bin clothes. While Buddy likes the wedding dress she'd arrived in, it's not the sort of thing one goes traipsing around the forest in. Or traipsing anywhere, really.

She's curious about old Earth. She'd only ever read stories of the place. Fascinating. And it's always good to scope out new surroundings, particularly when it seems she's stuck here for the time being.]

Now, here's one for you: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Arrival

[aelwyn_aberration]

[Huh... this girl's new. Aelwyn is a bit annoyed about the spilled coffee, but fine. She does know how disorientating this is. She looks flatly at the girl who is – yep, that's a knife. A sigh escapes her as she pinches the bridge of her nose.]

I wouldn't recommend that, darling. You're vastly outnumbered and vastly outgunned. Not to mention not in any danger.

[Oh hey, there's a bit of coffee left! She takes a sip.]

widowmaker

[raynos]

[Jamie gives this some actual thought. Is it a joke? A trick question? Actual information about Earth flora??? Jamie is not well-versed in biology, humor or interacting with strangers, and he suspects he's going to look stupid regardless of his answer.]

Well, trees come from seeds, so...all of them...?

anthony janthony crowley | good omens

[demonicmiracle]

arrival

[The man-shaped being that suddenly appears in the library is looking a little worse for wear, with ash on his face, his clothes burned in places, and his glasses missing, revealing very yellow eyes. That last point is something he automatically tries to fix with a snap of his fingers, only to realise it doesn't work.

That's unfortunate, but it only serves to add fuel to the currently somewhat panicked fire, which has Crowley rounding on the closest person with the intent to grab them and give them a good shake.]

What the fuck is this?

[Sorry he can't help your apocalypse, he has his own to get back to.]

widowmaker

[This continues to be the last place in the universe that Crowley wants to be, but until he gets his powers back and can snap himself home, he's deciding to play whatever game these people have cooked up. (All this nonsense about entities and the apocalypse is ridiculous; he would've known, surely, if something like this was out there in the universe.)

Which leaves him on a trail, with someone he doesn't know, traipsing through a forest that clearly doesn't want them to be here. It reminds him far too much of Wessex, except at least back there the forests were only damp and miserable, not actively malicious.

A tree branch cracks overhead and Crowley reacts without thinking, grabbing his current companion by the back of their shirt to haul them out of the way.

It's not that he cares or anything, he just isn't hauling someone all the way back to safety and assumes that these ADI bastards would frown on that.]

Watch yourself.

[These are probably the first words he's spoken since entering the forest.

Sorry that he's like this.]

writhe and squirmy

[It starts off relatively innocuously; items missing from people's rooms, shoelaces tied together, charging cables cut in half. The sorts of things that could be dismissed as a prank, if someone was so inclined, but it escalates eventually.

A loose screw results in a chair collapsing under someone. A doorknob breaks off after the door has already been locked, trapping someone inside. A glass shatters in hand, and really, you probably should've noticed that hairline crack before you picked it up. Those missing items turn up in someone else's room, because clearly that's who stole them in the first place, and maybe you should give them a piece of your mind so they know better than to do it again.

And there's Crowley, waiting for the moment someone gets frustrated or upset about what happened, ready to offer advice for how they should exact their revenge, or take out their annoyance on another person.

If there's mold spreading across his arm, that's no one's business.]

wildcard

[fuck dude idk!!! he's more chill when he isn't being compelled to torment people, or stressed out because of the oncoming apocalypse (his own, not this one), and can be found poking around the library, or the offices, or just laying down somewhere because it turns out doing things without powers is exhausting. let him rest.]

writhe and squirmy

[champagnefueled]

[Video games have never been much to Buddy's interest. Too distracting when she has speeches and snappy one-liners to be practicing or maps to be memorizing. Or people and things to be observing...

Observation #1: My, but people here do get obsessed about their holo-games. Or what passes for them. She'd thought Rita could get sucked in, but she'd never seen the other woman quite so single-minded on beating everyone else. Beating her own score? Yes. Others? Less likely.

Observation #2: People are getting hurt. In small ways mostly, from what she's seen, but noticeably. Fights are breaking out. Battle lines are being drawn everywhere. A little conflict amongst family can be a good thing. Less so among coworkers with this many people to wrangle.

Observation #3: This man has been around rather a lot of the action, hasn't he?

She slides over next to him, watching a pair of cubicle mates starting to bicker for a few seconds.]

I know I'm ready to bite someone's head off without my morning coffee. Shame the one in the breakroom near here seems to be broken. Everyone's very on edge, wouldn't you say?

Giriko | Soul Eater

[failsaw]

arrival
[Sprawled somewhere uncomfortable? Yeah. Any memory of where she is or how she got there? No. Hungover? Surprisingly, no. Nice.

She cracks open one eye and takes stock of her surroundings. A public bathroom. This isn't the first time she's woken up somewhere like this.

It takes a second for Giriko to process the fact that the last thing she remembers, she wasn't anywhere near somewhere with a public bathroom. She stands, yawning and dragging a gloved hand through her tangled ponytail.

There's someone lying on the floor. She kicks them, a casual move with one heavy workboot.]

Hey. You dead? [At least Giriko speaks English.]

widowmaker
[A hundred bucks is a hundred bucks, but she's starting to think this was a mistake.

Giriko's got a camera in her hands and a scowl on her face as she stares down the path.]

That looks like bullshit. [She says, to her companion. It's not that she's scared, but she's seen enough things that go bump in the night to know when something's wrong. This is setting off all her danger instincts.]

writhe and squirmy
[Giriko didn't even play the game. And she's not supposed to mold, if anything at all she should be rusting, metal crumbling through her skin and flaking into dust. Instead, there's something soft and fuzzy spreading in patches across flesh, scattered patches up one arm under the heavy leather of her glove and-- yeah, she's choosing not to think about it right now.

What she is choosing to think about is picking a fight. She bumps into someone on the street, roughly passing by them and striking her arm against theirs.]

Hey! [She says, when they take a step away without instantly apologizing.] Watch where you're going, asshole! You trying to start something?

[It's the oldest "start a fight with a total stranger" trick in the book, but there's nothing wrong with old tricks.]

wildcard
[[ooc: you know how this works. make something up, or contact me at hydok! ("hydok", you say, "i am slightly familiar with soul eater and wasn't giriko [?????]" "yeah but sometimes canonpoints are An Adventure")]]

Widowmaker

[champagnefueled]

What? You've never wanted to walk down an ominous path with the trees looming on all sides, darling?

[Buddy's here to make money and potential new allies. She's not here to die, and her every instinct is telling her there's something wrong here. the fact that her companion agrees is good. It's not just her unfamiliarity with Earth nipping at her heels.]

Well, I suppose we'll have to make a go of it, anyway. I'm not leaving without our video evidence. [She steps forward, but it's a slow stroll, her gaze wandering around the trees. At least she has a few knives strapped to her thigh beneath her skirt if she needs them for... something. A blaster would have been better, but that hadn't arrived with her.]

Rachel King | House of Ashes

[thekingbitch]

• arrival

[ One minute, she's walking out into the sunlight after the eclipse. The next, she's walking into a rough concrete wall in a dark and, from the way the sound of that impact felt, small space. ]

Fuck.

[ A sharp whisper that confirms this is indeed a small space. Rachel inhales slowly, more pissed off than scared, and runs her hand along the wall to gauge the size of the room. Without knowing if there's anything flammable in here, using Nick's lighter is a terrible idea.

It takes maybe five seconds before she bumps into a body. Rachel flinches back and hits the wall. Damn, this is a really small space, and she's sharing it with someone.

Hopefully an alive and not vampiric someone. ]

I'm armed.

[ Because a firm and unsubtle threat is how you make friends when All That Shit turns into All This Shit, right? Right.

Also, she's not armed, really. She'd got a gun, but it's out of bullets. Still good to clobber someone with, though. ]



• widowmaker

At least we're above ground.

[ It's equal parts sarcastic and sincere as Rachel and her partner manage to evade getting trapped under a big, long branch. She's dealt with vampires, but sentient fucking trees? Because they have to be sentient, right? None of this is cool. ]

What do you think: torch it and run?

[ She holds up Nick's lighter, eyebrows raised, half serious. Arson isn't really her thing, but... it's not like this is her US of A, so really... ]



• wildcard

[ Throw a thing at me! Just not feeling up to writing about amputations right now. Hmu here or via pm or at punnyinpink if you want! ]

Widowmaker

[graveyounglady]

[Mercy's heart is pounding hard after the near-miss. But the suggestion is...]

W-what? No. You tend a fire, you don't run from it. You'll set the forest blazing, that kind of thing.

[And, well, maybe if the forest is actually alive and trying to kill them, it will have deserved it, but that seems unlikely, for all the odd things she's seen here.]

We just need to head out. I don't think the trees is feeling welcoming right now.

[Except the way back looks significantly more sinister than it had walking up here.]