(january catch-all) 2021 IS OFF TO A WEIRD START

[vestigemods]

JANUARY CATCH-ALL

► AT LEAST YOU FINALLY GET TO REST?

Though the new year starts off uneventful enough, with sunny skies and an inch or two of snow melting away with each new day, that good fortune lasts a whopping two whole days. At 5 AM on the 3rd, those slumbering fall into an even deeper sleep, and those still awake (or already awake, you overachievers) find themselves struck with an abrupt and insurmountable wave of exhaustion. It's all you can really do to lie down deliberately rather than collapse altogether, let alone making it to any sort of bed. And this is how the population of the containment zone remains for fourteen whole days, dead to the world (figuratively, of course) and to anything which may or may not be occurring around them.

Then, sometime throughout the 16th, you wake up - though the ambient ache in your neck, back, and joints may make you wish that you hadn't. It's almost as if you slept wrong, or... y'know, slept on the floor, apparently. (At the very least, those who were outside at maintenance time were moved indoors for the duration of it, though they were moved to the nearest available building so... have fun waking up in someone else's cabin, I guess.)

The first time you notice the date (on your phone, or maybe someone else breaks the news in their own confusion or panic), you probably struggle to believe it. Two weeks that you've been asleep. It doesn't feel like two weeks - you're clean, only mildly hungry or thirsty, with only a faint weakness in your muscles as you stand. It almost feels more likely that the Technicians adjusted the date overnight to alarm you. Perhaps you might even believe it, but for the evidence otherwise. The milk in your fridge has expired. The snow outside your door is fresh and untouched, with no sign of your passage supposedly yesterday. And the animals are gone, as well. Perhaps not a sign of how long you've slept, but certainly a sign that something isn't right.

If you expected an explanation, you aren't going to get one. Unless by 'explanation' you mean 'goddamn blizzard'.

A GODDAMN BLIZZARD

Because that's exactly what sets in on the 20th, a gale-force blizzard with increasingly limited visibility. Here's hoping you were smart enough to set out for home as soon as it began, because you aren't given more than a couple of hours before navigating outdoors is damn near impossible, between the visibility issue and the rapidly-deepening blanket of snow. As the afternoon fades to evening, it only seems to be getting worse. Those cabins with appropriately-slanted roofs find that the snow slides down to pile heavily against the cabin's exterior walls and door. Those cabins with a flat or gently-sloped roofs, on the other hand, are at strong risk of a part of their roof (and thus ceiling) collapsing under the weight of all that snow. As if having a blizzard outside the cabin wasn't bad enough.

And then things get just a little bit worse. Just before sunset, the cabins' electricity starts to flicker - just a little at first, but increasing in intensity until it finally goes out altogether a half hour later. This lasts through the night, and while it may seem promising that electricity within the town itself remains steady, that too goes into a blackout just before dawn.

This blackout lingers through the 21st and into the 22nd, cold seeping in through the windows and cracks as you huddle near the fire or generator-run space heater and hope for the best... But even the best isn't pleasant in the slightest. The lack of internal heat lets the doors and windows freeze shut, and snow piles high enough around the house's exterior that you'd have to climb out an upstairs window in order to exit. Not only is it cold as hell, but everyone's more-or-less trapped in it for now.

But not even the cold and the dark can last forever, and the blizzard lets up to a light dusting of snow mid-day on the 22nd. That evening, the power flickers back on as well, but some cabins/apartments/buildings may find that it's less consistent than others, continuing to flicker dangerously throughout the next day or so. But that doesn't mean the ordeal is over yet. The snow may have slowed to an almost laughable sprinkle and the sun may shine warm and bright in the rapidly-clearing sky, but that still leaves each cabin or building piled up with snow nearly as deep as you are tall (except you, Vivi - it's about twice your height). Might want to start digging yourself out, since it'll take nearly the rest of the month to melt down to reasonable levels if you don't.

► MOD NOTES

• This is the January Catch-All Log, for all log top-levels throughout the month. Large gatherings (parties, meetings, etc) are still encouraged to post their own logs for organizational purposes!
  
• This log also encompasses both Annual Maintenance (Jan 3rd - 16th) + Hey, Who Turned Out The Lights? (Jan 20th - 22nd), discussed at the bottom of the January Bulletin.
  
• Because this is a catch-all for everywhere + all month, try to remember to label your top-levels with identifying information like the IC date and location of each prompt (whether in the subject or in the prompt title within the comment), and be sure to clearly indicate event prompts.
  
• ( ! ) For the sake of organization, a top-level has been provided for all Annual Maintenance shenanigans and exclusively those. Please put any shared dream prompts under the top-level for the sake of organization, while any non-dream prompts should be posted as a regular top-level as normal.
  
• Cell phone signal does work during the blackout, but inconsistently! If you'd like to play with the trapped/isolated feelings, feel free to say they can't get a message out/in (or that it takes a long time to do so) even if others are able to more easily.
  
• Any questions can be directed to this top-level or, for a quicker response, to Trace on discord/plurk.

Comments

[deferences]

[something that frankly requires more focus to be fair. everybody else's christmas wishes, phone apps included, were probably either for their own gain or they benefit the other citizens of horrortown in some way. so, whatever quin needs a laboratory for, it can't be good, let's be real—

but sizhui has no idea about that or any ‘pet projects’ and is amicable as always, steadily scrolling through the filters until he finds it.]

Ah, here we go! [and the longer he looks between his phone and quin's pleased expression, the more he realizes how fitting his animal choice is.] Gosh, it really does suit you, doesn't it? Haha!

[kinkprofessor]

[ 'Good' is subjective anyway. He doesn't concern himself with moral labels much. While most would put him squarely in the 'evil' category, he thinks all the things people are afraid of are more interesting to research. ]

It does! I've always been fond of foxes. Clever creatures.

[ And it occurs to him then- ]

But forgive me, I don't think we've been formally introduced. Professor Aiuenobrist Quintalian, at your service.

[ Perhaps Sizhui had seen him here or there on the network. Or, even, mentioned by Nie Huaisang. It's unfortunate that he's gone but everyone seems to be making the best of the recent absences. ]

[deferences]

[lucky for quin, sizhui's not most people and definitely gives others the benefit of the doubt, even when there's a very likely chance they don't deserve it. given the situation at hand, however, he doesn't know quin in a personal manner, so how can he judge someone he knows nothing of?

he smiles, nods with affirmation, positions the phone just right so the filter is on both their faces then snaps a quick picture right after the man says ‘clever.’ fitting, both of them sporting cute fox ears and toothy grins.] They certainly are.

[cute too, but before he's able to mention that, quin is politely introducing himself, making sizhui perk initially, though once the name sinks in, it dawns on him: this is the same professor he'd heard uncle huaisang talk about here and there before he ended up disappearing. (where did he go? he's unsure, but people disappear all the time here, it seems.) nevertheless, he'll miss him a lot.

besides that, while he might've seen quin in passing on the network, he hasn't paid it that much mind, which is silly when considering the things he could learn. wariness tentatively set aside, he bows his head in greeting, expression having softened, although sizhui's no less respectful as he offers his name in kind,] Lan Sizhui. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Professor. [is that what he calls him? does he use a different part of his name? guess he'll wait and see if the man corrects him.]

[kinkprofessor]

[ Sizhui has reason to suspect Quin, actually, since it was his house the man could be traced to having been last. While he didn't actually do anything, he suspects his request for a job with The Technicians that was public and general behavior might be some cause for reasonable concern...

He wishes he knew more than everyone else did about the disappearances but, as it is, he doesn't. Perhaps he'll find out though once he has more potential inside information. ]

Likewise! Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem like you're from the same place as some of the others here.

[ Black hair, eyes, and interesting fashion choices. ]

[deferences]

[see, intuition would tell him to already be wary from quin's asking the techs for a job! alongside that and – regardless of where huaisang had actually been headed last – a fellow cultivator vanishing without a trace, he has good reason for suspicion. and yet, in spite of everything, here he still is, smiling all the while.

at least until quin inquires about the other people from his homeworld, but even then, his expression merely softens the faintest amount.

oh, and for what it's worth, his ‘fashion’ has been somewhat modified (???) at the moment to include a heavy woolen peacoat over the top of his clan robes. meaning it probably looks odd right now, those flowy layers only visible from the waist down.] If by that, you mean the others with long, long hair and the ability to use magic... then yes, I am from the same world.

[kinkprofessor]

[ Knowing the name of the game himself, he doesn't think much of it. Smile. Be polite. Charm them until they don't know what they're getting into; by then, it's too late for them to escape. While his end goals might be... different, the motions are the same. ]

Yes, I do. I wasn't aware of the magic, necessarily, but that's interesting. [ Eugh, magic. Whatever. ]

It must be nice, having friends to help support you here.

[deferences]

[let's be real here, smiling and being polite is an easy way to get sizhui, considering that's how he gets them, too. without ulterior motives though, being fair, so they thankfully haven't got that in common. nor magic, it seems? which is a bit new but not unheard of; he'd had a friend here at some point who was a completely normal human, after all! (had being the keyword.)]

Oh, [comes the remark of realization because maybe... he shouldn't have mentioned? he's never thought about keeping it a secret from anyone, given his cultivator status back home.

well, guess quin knows now, either way.] It is, yes, I'm glad to have so many of them here. Are there any people from your homeworld here?

[kinkprofessor]

[ He does. And it's fascinating to him in a questioning kind of way, more than anything. Why them? Their world? What makes the Technicians so interested in them? Assuming that the mysterious individuals are, in fact, why they are pulled here in the first place. ]

There is one, as far as I'm aware. One of the helper bots for Zenith Corporation, but- One of many so I've never personally met her. [ Judging from his flat tone, he has no interest in meeting her either. Just another AI in his eyes. ]

But that's fine. I've been having fun getting to know people from other worlds. Part of my job back home was seeking out new lifeforms so it's more familiar than not.

[deferences]

[who knows if that's the case with the technicians? maybe it's someone (or something?) else altogether and one day, there will be a big reveal where they're all made to look like fools. when that time comes, will it matter who's from what world after being stuck here for so long? probably not.

sizhui would normally continue asking questions about this ‘helper-bot,’ but considering the man's tone, it's likely better he keeps his curiosity to himself.] I see, [is what he simply offers instead.

then his lips quirk, enthusiasm overtaking sizhui's expression again as he tucks his phone away.] Was it really? Goodness, that sounds like an exciting occupation.

[kinkprofessor]

[ That's a fair assessment. Don't get Quin started on too much of the technical stuff, he'll never stop. And it's for everyone's best interests that he keeps himself somewhat in check. ]

Oh, it was! I miss it terribly. I'm considering this a... detour of sorts, I suppose. A way to keep me sharp and hone those survival instincts.

What did you do before coming here?