redstringtheories

➥ 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.)

➥ Sticks and Stones

(cw: hallucination, potential mind-control)

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. That's far too much paperwork, you'd been assured with a wink from the employee who'd directed you to the park trailhead. You've been left with another person. 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, there seems to be something odd afoot with the stones around the park. Instead of the questionably useful advice they offer, there is, instead, something embarrassingly or horrifically true about you carved into the stone. Trying to show your companion or gauge their reaction will net nothing; they will simply see their own truth. It's only when you admit to what's on the stone that it seems to become visible to others or any camera in your possession.

Take a picture. The least you deserve for the trouble is some money.

➥ I Will Survive

"We'll have others with you, but all of you will be out on your own for missions, so to speak," the ADI employee who had led you down to the underground training facility explained. "You'll need to have some basic skills. Even if you're not going out soon or ever… it's safer to know these things."

Basic skills, in this case, appear to mean survival and weapons training. The room you've been brought to on Floor B3 below ADI Headquarters is a massive, underground gym, and there are sections set up for various skills practice. One side of the gym is dedicated to fighting: bare-knuckles, wrestling, knives, and tasers are all out on display. There are also a few guns, but those are reserved for people who can prove they can manage the other weapons first. The other side has areas for fire-making, building a shelter, navigating without a phone, supply preparation, cooking, and basic first-aid. Through a side door, there's also a small pool where people are being taught the basics of swimming.

Any or all of these skills would be useful in a dangerous situation, and there aren't enough native ADI employees to cover training for all of them. If you show that you're proficient with something, you'll be asked to man one of the areas to assist in training others. If you're at a loss and looking lost, you will be pushed toward whatever skills practice area is physically closest to you, whether you wanted to learn anything about that or not. Best make the most of it… and try not to kill anyone or burn anything down.

Even those who have refused ADI Housing and taken themselves to Bonnie's Flophouse will find that they're welcome for this training under the strict understanding that no supernatural abilities will be used. Bonnie will have informed them of it and helped them get to ADI to ensure they learn some of the things they might need to survive... and also just to bond with the people they'll be working with for the foreseeable future.

➥ Shifting Perspective

(cw: body horror, implication of near-drowning, violence, potential for blood, gore, drowning, death)

The beaches around Gloucester are numerous and varied with reported supernatural activity at many, if not most of them. For those working with ADI, they'll receive the direction in a mass email from Reyes Amador, the assistant to the Head of ADI. For those not technically working at ADI, Bonnie will provide the same information.

All,

We have received reports of strange noises and sightings at Coffin Beach. Please take at least one other person and investigate. A $300 bonus will be offered to those who bring back evidence of the source of these reports.

Take Care of Yourselves,
Reyes

Those who head to Coffin Beach will find that the sand beneath their feet squeaks softly with each step, like the faint sound of a poorly-maintained hinge protesting their movements. It makes stealth especially difficult, and those who wish to maintain their cover would do well to stay farther up into the vegetation and off the beach, itself. There aren't any houses out this way, just coastal marshes, the beach, and some higher ground with low-growing shrubs, tall grasses, and thin trees.

For the patient, those who wait for night to fall, they will be rewarded when they hear the sound of someone crying. Searching the beach, they will be able to spot a young person who appears to have washed up in a kayak on the beach. The young person is visibly injured in some way with blood coming out of them. Those who approach cautiously may get the sense that there is something not quite right about this person. Man or woman, their face is too long, their angles too sharp.

There is something wrong. It's not the injury.

There is something very wrong with what this person is.

They will not respond to any calls or move from where they lie, half-submerged in the surf. Anyone who approaches within a few feet will discover they're not nearly as helpless as they seem to be, though. The person will burst from the water with a powerful thrust, attempting to tackle anyone nearby and bite them. The person's face transforms into a long, fanged maw, trying to rip and tear and drag their prey into the ocean with them, away from any safety.

➥ Mod Notes

ARRIVAL: 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. Please refer to the Arrival page for details regarding the arrival and onboarding process.
STICKS AND STONES: If so desired, to facilitate CR, characters may feel themselves compelled to ask about the stones when they see their truth written on it. Resisting the compulsion will become more and more difficult as time goes on.
I WILL SURVIVE: Characters may be students or trainers in this scenario. They might be able to get away with small displays of supernatural abilities if they want to risk it and if they find themselves with the necessary reserves of power. Anything significant will have them immediately removed and asked not to return to ADI for a few days.
SHIFTING PERSPECTIVE: Characters may fight off, capture, or kill the creature. If they successfully capture it and bring it back to ADI (or call for someone to come and do that for them), they will receive a significant monetary bonus beyond the promised $300 for their work. If characters successfully kill and document the kill, they will also receive the bonus and instructions to push the body out to sea. If a character is taken by the creature, they will be killed. Please bear in mind that if a character dies in the TDM prompt, they are dead. A different version who doesn't have TDM memories may be apped in their place.
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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Help us, you mean. How the hell did we get here, and who the fuck are you?" The voice comes from right beside Sid, the words enunciated sharply enough to cut, as Meredith realizes she's one of two girls in the closet right now.

Sid screams, reeling back up against the wall on instinct and fumbling for a broom to hold out in front of her.

"Back off, back off, just back off-"

She says, holding the broom like she intends on using it. The kid looks young, she's lucky if she's 18 yet, and she looks terrified, the whites of her eyes shining like a scared animal even in the low light.

Meredith presses herself back into the shelves of toner and office supplies, holding her free hand up. "There's not much 'off' to back in here, if you hadn't noticed."

Sidney's knuckles are white on the broom handle, and now that she has the chance to get a better look at who she's stuck in here with, she pauses for a moment, catching her breath. This lady... looks harmless enough? She was at least giving her some space, and while it was nobody she recognized, this also wasn't anyone she recognized. Small blessings, maybe.

"Sorry," she says after a moment, letting the broom drop a little. Her voice sounds hoarse, and she looks... kind of fucked up, the drying blood on her face is tacky and slightly shiny in the light, and some of her clothes are torn.

"You just startled me."

"You look like shit, by the way. Is, ahm. Is that your own blood you're wearing?"

Meredith doesn't know what to make of this. Prank gone wrong? Teleportation hero (or villain) fucking with her boss?

"Yeah, I know. It's- it's mostly mine, I've had a really... long night."

Sid carefully felt at her shoulder, wincing a little, but not as bad as it had been. Looked like the EMTs had managed to patch her up before she got taken to... wherever the hell this was.

"Do you know where this is? The last thing I remember was being in an ambulance."

"No clue. But we should get out of here so someone can look at you." Meredith lifts her cane, rapping the brass handle against the door loudly. "Hello? Somebody? Get us out of here!"

"Anyone!"

Sid added her voice, thumping her fist on the door again. Was that... movement, outside?

The door unlocks and opens, and there's a person in business casual attire looking oddly unsurprised to find people in the closet--though there's immediate concern for Sid's...everything.

"Right, we need to get you to the medics. Or maybe the healer."

It's a weird reaction, and Meredith squints, already suspicious.

There's that gut feeling again. Something about their lack of a surprised reaction makes her jumpy, and Sid gives the woman a sidelong look. It's a question, whether or not they ought to go along with them.

"You're not taking her anywhere without me." Meredith effects the self-important persona of the ultimate Karen, projecting an aura of prickliness. While she's slow and not really a fighter, another person for support is another person for support.

The ADI employee rolls their eyes. "Fine, if you insist."

Sid gives the stranger a slightly relieved half-smile. They at least were on the same side, relatively speaking, both confused and new.
She follows a couple of steps behind the person in the suit when she's told to come along, and she leans in to introduce herself to the stranger-

"I'm Sidney, by the way. Thanks for coming with."

"Meredith. Nice to meet you." It comes out automatically, even though Meredith's not certain of anything at this point, what's nice and what's dangerous, and who might be a friend. "I'll stick with you here, until we know what's going on."

"Sounds good," she affirms, "they kinda look like government types to me, they should tell us what's going on soon."

Sid carefully left the 'I hope' part out of that sentence. No point in making Meredith nervous.

TDM #1

Arrival

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