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redstringtheories2023-03-01 08:44 am
TDM #20
(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.) You might even arrive in a section of building that has been demolished, leaving a pit of rubble open to the sky–hope you're up on your tetanus shots! 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. The one exception is the demolition zone off what used to be one corner of the building: it seems the security teams are keeping a particularly close eye on that area to document new arrivals and bring them in quickly.
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.)
(cw: spiders; spider eggs; swarms; uncanny valley; loss of bodily autonomy; full encasement)
Beware the bus.
His name is Gus.
Don't shout.
Don't run.
Don't make a fuss.
Gus the bus.
Bus the Gus.
He's big and bright.
A mean old cuss.
The sing-song rhymes haunt the streets of Gloucester this month with young people, in particular, muttering to each other about a haunted bus that just has 'G1_15' fixed on its scrolling route sign. They've taken to calling it Gus, and regaling each other with tales of seeing it picking up and dropping off vagrants late and night when no one else is around to see it.
Enough sleuthing will uncover that these sightings, such as they are, seem to happen around 2 AM along Dory Road, where the Dogtown Trailhead existed before ADI and the local police force had the park shut down. Gus doesn't appear most nights, but for the lucky few who do spot him prowling, two things will become immediately clear:
1. He only seems to turn up when there are two or fewer people around; and
2. Gus is not a bus.
The hulking form that 'rolls' down the street does, indeed, look like a bus… head on. But catch him from the corner of your eyes and you will see that he skitters. The 'wheels' seem to extend in arachnid legs with two poking out from each well. His headlights are fractured, as well, with eight distinct lights winking away in the darkness.
Should one be foolish enough to remain at the single bus stop on this street or approach when they see him coming, they'll find their muscles locking up and, whether they want it or not, their body will move to board Gus. He'll settle down and let you in, should this happen. Welcome to a ride you won't soon forget.
The interior of the bus is filled with webbing and enormous white egg sacks. Try as you might, you can't seem to stop yourself from walking down the aisle and settling upon one of the sacks. You can speak. You can even scream, if you'd like. One of your fellow passengers may be doing so as small spiders swarm across them, slowly wrapping them in silk. But you can't get up, can't move to get off or fight the forces holding you. And as you sit, the swarm finds you and begins to wrap you in your own cocoon.
Once a person has been fully encased in the webbing, they will find themselves slowly losing consciousness. Instead of death on the other end, though, they'll awaken the next morning at the bus stop on Dory Road. somewhere on their person they'll be sporting a new tattoo… one that looks like spider webs.
It's probably fine.
(cw: altered perception; characters given cause to doubt their reality)
A single disturbance at a supermarket wouldn't have been enough to grab ADI's attention–Karens will be Karens, after all. But when two videos pop up on social media in one week featuring individuals in the produce aisle of two different Gloucester stores having what appear to be very similar mental breakdowns, it's worth at least a casual investigation. It's a bonus assignment, with ADI offering anyone who is willing to check out the grocery stores in the area a small payment for time and reimbursement for any related purchases.
For the majority of investigators, this little assignment is a big dead end. Local supermarkets, including the two with known events, are to all appearances ordinary grocery stores selling ordinary produce. Just a few people will see an odd sheen to the fruit that's heaped up in the produce bins. Upon closer inspection by those select individuals, the fruit in question appears to be made of wax. Touching it, weighing it in one's hand, smelling it, cutting it open, or even eating it just confirms what they see: it's wax through and through, too lightweight to be real, too smooth and brightly colored and false, a mouthful of lies.
To the people around them, though, obliviously picking out what they believe to be real food, the fruit remains as real and as heavy with juice as one would expect from real, solid food grown from the earth. For the majority of people, both local and interdimensional, the fruit is fruit by every measure, including taste. It's not especially perfect or delicious, not anything out of the ordinary in today's world of hothouse agriculture: it's simply fruit from the supermarket, as one would expect to buy on any ordinary day.
Food or wax? Are you digging your teeth into your next meal, or into a lump of inedible decor? Is perceiving the fruit as wax a delusion, or a hidden truth? Who can say?
(cw: compulsion)
There are many who would claim to hear a siren’s call to their local library. The lure of knowledge, escapism, or simply a quiet nook to help maintain focus, there’s an appeal to wandering the stacks for all kinds of people. Even if you’re not usually such a bookworm you might feel a bit of a draw when you happen past the unassuming building just West of Downtown. It’s ignorable, if gut feelings really aren’t your thing, but the curious might find themselves called closer.
As soon as your shoes touch the floor of the open main room, the call you’ve been hearing becomes a little louder, if only a little. There’s a whisper near your ear, like someone just a bit behind you speaking too low to hear. Someone familiar. Someone trusted.
Delve deeper. The voice gets more distinct, the words recognizable even if they never go over a whisper. It coils through your ears and your mind and your limbs, a sweet ribbon of promise. Come closer, don’t you want to hear? Don’t you want to know? Look harder.
Towards the back of the main room, near where a cluster of tables stands vigil, sits the history section. Local, State, Country, World, a wide manner of options present their spines proudly, though not a one seems to lay claim to the source of the whisper. Best just to listen, then, to your dear friend’s message.
Those who listen to the words will find information is their reward, information about them. Information about home. Is it the secrets in your past? The concerns of the present? Knowledge impossible to confirm from your future? Perhaps you should listen longer. Perhaps come back and check again. Or maybe just ask your friend nearby, they certainly seem to be listening keenly.
- ARRIVAL (March 1-31): Two people will almost 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 (or the rubble that used to be part of 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, as well as information about the state of ADI Headquarters.
- THE WHEELS ON THE BUS (March 1-15): Gus will only appear when there are two or fewer people on the street. There is no way to stop yourself from boarding Gus should you become trapped in his control, nor can characters physically fight against remaining where they are in the bus. Gus does not affect the thoughts of anyone he meets, merely controls their bodies. Those who wind up riding him and earning a spider web tattoo are free to decide where this tattoo is and what, precisely, it looks like. For the moment, there doesn't appear to be any ill effect from the tattoo. Maybe your new friends just want to make sure you remember. Characters may ride Gus more than once. They will acquire additional tattoos for each ride.
- WAX ON, WAX OFF (March 1-15): Any characters who see the fruit as wax will see wax regardless of which stores in Gloucester they visit; characters who see the fruit as fruit will see real fruit regardless of the store they visit. Almost all members of the general public see real fruit; a smaller majority of ADI investigators see real fruit.
- STORIED SUSURRATIONS (March 1-15): Characters who go to listen to the books whisper to them will, indeed, be told of some canon information relevant to them either from their past, present, or future! Any characters grouped up will hear the same message as those nearby, as the whispers carry on individually in the voice of someone the character trusts. The message doesn’t seem to change with new or prolonged visits, just the same message offered over and over again without a source.
no subject
Their next questions got another sigh, but she couldn't actually say they weren't the right ones to be asking. She'd wondered much the same kind of thing when she'd gotten here, and she was doing her best to bear in mind that Raine may well have just gotten here.
"Well... first thing's first, harpy mode is new. Well it's not that new for me but it was pretty new where it looks like you're from. When you're from. Titan I hate time magic." Eda grumbled that last part mostly to herself. She used to think the whole idea of time travel was fascinating—these days she just found it an ever-frustrating hassle.
Right. She was rambling. She should probably try to stop that.
"Long story short, I can turn into a harpy woman now. It's a good thing, promise." For better or worse, Eda apparently decided this would be a good time to tease them and hope that eased some of the tension. She briefly struck a pose, spreading her wings, arching her back and putting a hand on her hip before clicking her cheek and giving them a little wink.
The whole thing probably came off just a little forced, because she was trying not to show them just how upset she actually was by all of this.
"Anyway. How do you know I'm me?" She paused again, dropping back into a tired slouch and drumming the claws of one hand against her chin as she thought.
"Well. I know about the BATs and I know you remember them, too. I know you're working with Darius and Eberwolf... and I know you're changing Terra's tea and being an idiot and not telling me." She sounded more tired than angry, but she definitely wasn't hiding her frustration with them entirely.
(Raine is requesting that you stop flirting with them they're trying to be SERIOUS.)
Raine maintained the serious look to the best of their ability despite the dramatic pose, the wink, the smile... Eda made it incredibly hard to fake being mad at her.
Eda made it even harder when she answered their question of knowing her quite sucinctly. The surprise on their face was hard to hide, and pulled anxiously at the collar of their vest, breaking their eye contact with Eda.
"That—well—" They stumbled over their words, Raine tried to find something to deflect with.
"What about The Golden Guard— Hunter? The last I saw him he was loyal to the Emperor, but was upset with me when I had no clue he wasn't the Golden Guard anymore. And Rue—they seem to know me better than I know myself at times," They pause, and glanced back up at Eda. "I don't know these people. How can I trust that this isn't some... some thing that somebody's conjured to control me or—"
They stopped themself short, having realized that their heartrate had become exponentially faster. They felt dizzy as well, the more they thougt about everything. Raine ran a hand through their hair, holding themself with their other arm.
"Nothing here makes sense, Eda."
(Eda will take this request under consideration)
"Rainstorm..." Her tone was gentler, even if she definitely didn't sound happy.
"I know this is weird. And rough and... scary. It is for everyone." Eda didn't sound like she was teasing when it came to this; she'd been scared when she got here. She'd be a little concerned if someone wasn't to be perfectly honest. Though she might not admit it quite as easily to people who weren't Raine.
"But you're lucky if you ran into Hunter and Rue," she added, glad they found some friendly faces even if it had to be strange not remembering them. "It's a long story but... the kid's on our side these days. And Rue is a good friend of mine."
Eda knew the fact she had good friends here was probably one of the things that would be weird, but it was true. She was curious exactly what they meant with better than they knew themself but Rue was perceptive enough--and had been told enough--about Raine that she didn't necessarily doubt it.
"You can trust both of them... and you can trust me." Even if they didn't believe that yet.
"Look, just— just let me grab my stuff and we can go somewhere to talk, okay? I'll explain everything." With that, Eda turned to go and rifle quickly through a locker on a nearby wall. She did need her things, but it was also a chance to take a deep breath and try to keep herself together while they couldn't see her face.
As she grabbed her phone she checked it on a whim--and typed a quick, short, and frankly unhelpful reply to a message she'd apparently gotten from Hunter.
(They're trying their best)
Raine let Eda go, though, and their mind began to focus on little worries instead, like the concept of being around strangers after their body had decided to relive the horror they'd kept down of not remembering any of this. For some reason the lack of memory was more upsetting and alarming for Raine than the other people and things that were supposed to be familiar.
Maybe it was the guilt they felt over acting like they did. Eda didn't deserve to be lied to, and she certainly didn't deserve to be treated with anger. From the hug Raine suspected they'd reconnected, but.. Raine found that troubling. They worried about how that would hurt or help the more they learned about the Entities. Not that they really understood anything about them from their initial brief, anyways. They sounded big, though. And scary.
Raine finally tore their gaze from their shoes when Eda returned.
"Where?” Their initial return to Eda’s statement about going somewhere came out a little bit louder than they'd expected, and Raine flinched at themself.
“I'm not sure how comfortable being around a lot of.. strangers right now..”
They pause, hesitant.
“I'm just not sure I'd feel safe.”
no subject
Eda was a little startled by their tone when they asked where, but mostly she was just glad they didn't directly refuse to let her explain things.
It hurt to see them this nervous, though, even if she understood it.
"Well, I was gonna suggest a little cafe nearby. Usually pretty quiet… and less ADI folks," Eda said, shrugging a shoulder. She doubted Raine trusted the organization much yet.
"But we can just look for somewhere quiet on grounds, or you could come to Bonnie's with me…" Which also had strangers, but they could talk in their room. Well, her room.
"But wherever we go I'll keep you safe," she added, perhaps a little teasing but definitely sincere either way.
"Promise. I may not have magic, but…" To make a point she drew herself up to her full height in a way that was more imposing than flirty this time, and cracked her knuckles.
no subject
What made Raine's disposition change though was seeing Eda at full height. It made Raine's anxiety dull a small amount, and left them stuck almost, wide-eyed. It wasn't a bad feeling, despite still being anxious. They weren't scared of seeing Eda's unfamiliar new form at its full height. What Raine was experienced was more-so awe, shutting off the part of their mind that was terrified enough to allow them to focus on Eda. They wouldn't admit even to themself quite yet, but they admired how strong and beautiful Eda looked.
Raine's cheeks heated up a little, and they (after a few seconds) managed to pull their gaze from her, and moved their face to the side, eyes averted. Raine's fingers moved to fumble with their vest collar, before they covered their face with their hand.
"I'm fine with.. wherever you think is best," Raine paused. They struggled admittedly with knowing what to say next exactly, but they felt there was only one thing they could possibly say. Both because it was the truth, and because they felt like Eda needed to hear it. Raine laced their fingers together on their chest, and they looked back at Eda.
"I trust you, Eda."
no subject
For a very brief second, when Raine's eyes widened Eda worried that she'd made a mistake. The point behind showing off her strength was to make them feel more safe, not less, but they weren't used to this form.
But then they looked impressed and they blushed again and they said they trusted her and Eda relaxed, unable to hide a faint, relieved smile.
"That's more like it." While the choice of words was a bit snarky, it was clear that she really had needed to hear that from them.
"I'll find us somewhere quiet," she added, still wanting to take into account their anxiety. Maybe taking them out into Gloucester wouldn't be the best move right now. "Have they assigned you housing here?"
Either way, Eda reached out to offer them a hand. She wouldn't insist that they take it, but she wanted to give them a little bit of comfort, if they let her.
Wrap!!!
"I've been staying in someplace they gave me but I haven't spent much time in there.."
They trail off as Eda offers her hand. Raine stares at it for what feels like forever as their brain connects it to a long missed security from when they were kids. Raine broke the trance and takes Eda's hand. They gave it a light squeeze, ready to follow her wherever.
It was good to (sort of) have their best friend back.