(july intro log) WELCOME TO THE CONTAINMENT ZONE! (for real this time.)

[vestigemods]

JULY INTRO LOG

► PROMPT 1 ► WAKING UP

Whenever you're from or wherever you were, you awaken now with the mildest of headaches in-... oh, this is new. For some people, you wake in a cabin - in a bed, on the floor, amidst boxes in the basement - and for others, you wake up somewhere else entirely. Off in the woods. Between aisles in a run-down gas station. Lying on a branch ten feet up a local tree. Perhaps even on a leaky boat out on the middle of a lake. It's mid-morning, and across the nine square miles of containment zone, a little under two-dozen people are waking up just as you are. I'm sure you'll run into some of them soon enough.

This might be your first time waking up where you don't expect to be. If it is, consider yourself lucky to have missed what came before. For those have been through a Loop or three (or five or twelve), you'll find that waking this time feels different. It's as though you've woken from a dream - and that's what those memories feel like, trapped in the semi-tangible realm between dream and reality, though if pressed you can probably discern that they were undeniably real. (Or perhaps you can't - or perhaps some of the memories are missing altogether. This is hardly a precise science.)

Somewhere in your vicinity (in your hand, in your pocket, on your chest) is a smartphone, if you're able to recognize it as such. The models tend to vary, but they all share the capacity to connect to what seems to be an overarching network, able to connect to others with similar devices via text, voice calls, or even video messages.

But the phone is likely the least of your concerns, at least for now. More pressing is where exactly it is that you've awoken and whether or not you've woken up alone.

PROMPT 2 ► THE CABINS + LAKE

As many as a dozen cabins sit in the general vicinity of the lake, some along the shore and some a bit farther back in the woods. Perhaps you awoke in one, or perhaps you're stumbling into one after dragging yourself out of the lake or through a couple of miles of woods. Either way, you're in perhaps the best place you might have ended up. The cabin's amenities are sketchy but functional, and the kitchen is stocked with food...

And let's not forget about the pamphlets.

On at least a couple of nearby tables or countertops sit a handful of them, fanned for display. They're vividly colored, depicting what you might recognize as the landscape outside, and the title reads: THE CONTAINMENT ZONE AND YOU! Within these pamphlets, a conversationally cavalier voice explains a bit about the Containment Zone, which (as it turns out) you're stuck in right at this very moment.


"THE CONTAINMENT ZONE AND YOU", summarized


• Where am I?
  Earth. Well - an Earth. Definitely not your Earth. if that creates more questions than it answers, glance to your left and right and ask any follow-up questions to whomsoever seems least confused.


• Why am I here?
  To feed the elder gods with your death and/or suffering in order to prevent any more of an apocalypse than we already had.


• Can I leave?
  Voluntarily? No. Involuntarily? Probably not.


• What do you mean, 'death'??
  Oh, calm down. You'll come back.


• I have very important shit to be doing/people to be saving/weed to be smoking back home!
  Lucky for you: If you go back, we'll put you back right where and when you left off. You won't miss a thing.


• Isn't that how you break time!? I'm pretty sure that's how you break time.
  Only if you remember this place and/or what you've learned here when you get back. Which you won't.


• Supplies?
  Cabins and gas station.


• Cabins?
  Yours. Pick one.


• Lake?
  Safe. (For now.)


• Moon?
  Haunted.


• Who even are you?
  Call us the Technicians. Individual identities don't matter. We may give you sweets and toys but we're not your friends.


• Do you at least negotiate?
  We'll consider it. Depends on what you're asking for. And, of course, on what you have to offer.


• Wait! I'm (insert emotions) and have more questions!
  How unfortunate. Expect your next pamphlet in 4-6 weeks.




Well, that certainly is... something. Lots to discuss, lots to consider. If you're the get-right-to-business sort, that could easily occupy you for a good long while.

Alternatively: It's a hot day, and you've just ever-so-conveniently learned that the lake is 'safe (for now)'. Why not go for a dip to clear your head? The water is actually impressively clear, offering visual reassurance of the lack of abject horrors lurking below.

Those who do swim find that the lake is, as promised, mostly innocuous. 'Mostly' being the key phrase, as anyone who swims out close to the center will find it getting more and more difficult to stay on the surface. As if you're getting heavier and heavier, or your limbs are getting weaker and weaker. It isn't enough to drown you (probably), but you certainly might find yourself considering how peaceful it might be if you let yourself sink.

These thoughts are simple enough to push away in much the same way you might push through the heaviness of your limbs. One could consider it more a warning than anything: Even that which is 'safe' should be treated with proper caution. (Quick and senseless deaths are junk food to the elder gods - tasty but unsatisfying.)

PROMPT 3 ► THE GAS STATION

At the south end of the containment zone sits an old gas station, run-down and overgrown at first sight. It sits alongside a cracked asphalt road, one which (as you might discover) bisects the containment zone from the east wall to the west without a single other building in sight.

You may have woken up here, or perhaps you found it at the pamphlet's behest. Either way, it's a discovery that you'll thank yourself for many a time as throughout the next few months here, for reasons that become apparent the moment you step inside.

In sharp contrast with the outside, the inside of the gas station looks... well, like a functional gas station should. Floors and surfaces seem recently-wiped, shelves seem stocked and organized... It's enough that if you're familiar with gas stations as a concept, you might find yourself reflexively glancing around for an attendant.

But no attendant seems to be present. Just shelves and shelves of goods - perishables and nonperishables, first aid supplies and whatever else one might expect to find at such an out-of-the-way pit stop, all ready for the taking. You might even find an extra surprise. Oh, and let's not forget a nice array of THE CONTAINMENT ZONE AND YOU! pamphlets on the check-out counter, in case you missed them back at the cabins.

Maybe you encounter someone here - are they friend, or foe? Maybe they're as lost and confused as you are. Maybe they're reaching for that last fucking can of Spaghetti-Os and you're serious about your fucking Spaghetti-Os. At least one person is definitely waking up in a gas station fridge... Maybe you're lucky(?) individual who spots them and has to decide whether or not you've discovered a corpse where the soda should be. The world (or, at least, the gas station) is your oyster.

PROMPT 4 ► THE WOODS + BARRIER

The vast majority of the containment zone is covered in evergreen forest, populated with wildlife that look and act disarmingly normal. It may, in fact, be a nice quiet place to stroll in order to clear your head. While large swathes of the woods are moderately dense, there are a number of paths to make your way along should you choose to. Birds sing overhead, deer occasionally bound across the path ahead... If you didn't know any better, you might be able to forget that this isn't a normal stretch of woods somewhere not far from home.

But nothing in the containment zone is truly harmless. The blackberry bushes that line many a cabin (you remember, the ones that make your mouth and tongue go numb?) are out in force in the woods, and out here they're even more of an infernal menace: While the cabin variety only cause havoc when ingested, so much as a scratch from the woods variety's thorns will induce a tingling numb in the affected area that lasts for the better part of an hour.

And let's not forget the lovely field of "wildflowers" that definitely aren't not infested with poison ivy. It's a shame, really. The flowers themselves are quite pretty, an array of pastel blues and pinks and oranges. It's almost like a painting, if touching that painting happened to make you itch, burn, and blister for one-to-two weeks.

But why are we talking about flowers? What you're truly interested in is the containment zone barrier, aren't you? That's fine, you're bound to encounter it out there somewhere. It's invisible until you touch it, at which point a honeycomb pattern ripples out from the point of contact. As a general rule, the barrier gives back what it gets: Place your palm on it and you'll receive a faint uncomfortable buzz. Run headlong into it, and it will ricochet you multiple yards back into the woods.

The barrier stretches all the way around the containment zone without a single break or point of yielding. No further buildings can be seen beyond the barrier, nor any real sign of civilization at all save for the gas station's road stretching past the barriers and out of sight. The only thing of passable interest is the somewhat concerning tree sitting at the far end of the field across the street from saud gas station, at least two-hundred yards past the barrier. At this distance, it's a bit tricky to make out what flocks in the tree's branches. Those have to be birds... right?

► MOD NOTES ►

• This log takes place from July 4th onward, arguably through whenever the event goes up - though you're welcome to toss up your own logs in the meantime. I'm gonna troubleshoot the HTML to leave a space for IC dates, but I didn't want to waste any more time on that right now.
  
• Vestige is now open for business! You're welcome to post logs + network posts of your own, post memes on vestigechat, whatever you want.
  
• This log is functionally intended to be a tour of the containment zone for new characters and players, with dashes of mild horror or discomfort along the way. Don't worry: The actual horror is rolling in later this month. (I'm tagging this under 'event' anyway, just to keep track of it.)
  
• You can literally have your character wake up wherever you want within the containment zone, even if I didn't list it. Go nuts.
  
• It's worth noting: None of the cabins are recognizable as the precise one from the TDM loop, nor is the forest fog still present. The forest is recognizably the same flora/fauna, but that's about it.
  
• You're welcome to include a network post with your top-level (or to put it up on vestigenet as per usual) - but don't forget to consult the NETWORK: USERNAMES ARE FUCKY drop-down of July's Infopost before you do!
  
• Direct any and all questions at Trace on plurk/discord or (for slightly slower answers) this top-level.
  
• My deepest most heartfelt apologies for the lateness, I failed to factor in my own godforsaken attention span.
  

Comments

[enflame]

❰ naminé is a familiar enough face to emil -- not someone he goes out of his way to see or think about, but her existence was more noticeable than a lot of people in asgard, at least in his view. it's certainly interesting to see how many people are here from asgard, actually, and softens his mood as he moves over to her next to the glass doors. ❱

It's all free, as far as I know. Might as well take what you want. ❰ truthfully, he's also excited by the concept of ice cream being here, but if she gets what she wants...he's next in line. ❱

[lethechained]

[ His movement attracts her attention before he speaks - but probably after she should have noticed him to begin with, preoccupied as she was. The girl turns, looking over at him; her expression falters in the midst of her surprise as he addresses her. Is he another of those people who knows her? She only wonders because she's had that experience a few times already, but she elects not to assume. He might just be friendly.

In any case, Naminé has met enough other people in this place - in the loop, at least - not to be as suspicious of a stranger as she otherwise might be. Swallowing, she hesitates only one moment longer before nodding, hands folding together as she turns back to regard the ice cream. (The instinct to draw into herself is there, but she fights it.) ]

I suppose they wouldn't have told us about this place if they didn't want us to use anything that was here.

[ Even if she does still feel rather nervous about taking the advice on those pamphlets, considering they seemed to be from the ones who brought them here. The reserved little line of her mouth lowers slightly at the corners, though it's actually because she's considering the ice cream now, and, ]

But I've never tried any of these flavors before. Most of them aren't even ones I've heard of. [ Which presents its own problem. (The sad part is that vanilla and chocolate are included in at least one of those lists since, you know, she's never actually eaten ice cream. Not this version of her, anyhow.) Somewhere between shy and cautious, she angles her face his way again to ask, ] Do you know which ones are... supposed to be good?

[enflame]

❰ perhaps if he was more polite, or not as self-focused, emil would think more about the potential moral repercussions of just looting a place with no real knowledge of whether or not it's theft. but no one is here, no one is yelling at him, and that's great -- might as well take her down with that ship.

the more important thing to consider here is ice cream, which emil isn't particularly used to, but that just makes it all the more exciting. he finally has access to it, and goodness is there a variety to select from. he has no real formed opinion on any specific flavor, but he can intuit which ones should be good based on some context clues. ❱

Chocolate and vanilla can't be bad. Anything with fruit -- well, I suppose it depends on whether or not you like the fruit or not. Anything that sounds like another dessert. ❰ one of his knuckles taps the glass right over one entitled "cookies and cream," which he has no qualms taking if she doesn't. he might do it anyway; first come, first serve...but she was here first, so scratch that. he'll figure out his argument if it comes to it. ❱ Some of them I can't imagine how they taste, like whatever a pistachio ❰ though not at all pronounced correctly ❱ might be. I'd stay away from things like that, unless you want to take a risk.

[lethechained]

[ Naminé has considered the moral implications - but she's been in the store enough to know that there's not exactly anyone on duty to purchase anything from. Since the pamphlets directed them here (and she's not exactly accustomed to things like economies and law enforcement in the first place) she can only assume they're all expected to take what they need. The cabin from the loop was well enough stocked, after all, and it was clearly intentional for them to be stuck there, just as it is that they're here. ]

I like fruit, [ she chimes in quietly, because that's true in a general sense. She's never had much chance to worry about the specifics, since in her experience acquiring sustenance has usually been a thoroughly binary decision between a, eat what you're given, or b, starve. Her lips purse a little at that word; 'pistachio' isn't exactly in her vocabulary, either, and she gives a slight shake of her head to indicate her agreement with as much when he comments on it. ]

I don't, [ she decides after a moment, then realizes she probably ought to clarify. ] Want to take a risk, that is. Maybe...

[ Her eyes flick over the selections again before she takes a step closer to the freezer, carefully outstretching her hand for the door. She could have stood there waffling a while longer and possibly even talked herself out of taking the ice cream at all if she were alone, but Emil's presence prompts her to make a decision more quickly. (For the better, probably; she really needs to learn to let herself have nice things.) Of course, he might not be excited about where she's reaching, because her hand's awfully close to the cookies and cream--

No, wait, she grabbed the peach ice cream next to it instead. It's got pictures of fruit on it, not just in the name, so. Obvious choice there, really. Hesitation colors her expression and her movements, but nobody jumps out of the back of the freezer to castigate them for presuming to take the food they were directed toward, and that seems to boost her confidence enough to make a step back with her prize in hand. ]

I'll try this one. [ There's a hint of wistfulness as she adds, more quietly and half to herself, ] Since they don't have sea salt.

[ Which. Doesn't sound like a good flavor, but her tone of voice suggests that'd be her first choice. ]

[enflame]

❰ ironically enough, this is emil's first thought: ❱

Would...you want something to taste like sea salt? That sounds awful.

❰ he's scrunched up his nose, but now turns to look at what she's actually chosen. there are quite a few fruit that emil is familiar with, and he can acknowledge that this looks like one. but is he directly sure of what a peach is? not really. it only sparks a lightbulb in his head as a pet-name and a picture he saw once upon a time. ❱

This looks like a good choice, though. ❰ he's not going to tell her any of his thoughts, though, instead confirming that she's made a nice selection. ❱ Probably better than salt, anyway.

[lethechained]

[ It seems she fully understands his reaction, because her own features pinch slightly, as though she's tasted something unpleasant just by talking about it. ]

Uh-uh, [ she concedes, with a narrow shake of her head. Then, to clarify, ] It does sound pretty strange, but sea salt ice cream doesn't actually taste like salt. Not entirely, at least. They say it's sweet, too. There are... a lot of people who like it where I come from, but I've never been able to try any for myself.

[ That might explain why she looks a little melancholy toward the end, there. But Emil's approval of her choice coaxes the ghost of a smile out of her, brief though it might be. ]

I hope so. [ It should almost definitely be better than actual salt, regardless. It's just a small carton, one probably meant to be eaten solo, but after a moment she still thinks to offer, ] Do you want to try some...?

[enflame]

❰ he raises an eyebrow at the description that she gives. emil has been told that ice cream is a dessert, and desserts should be sweet. conclusion: all ice cream should be sweet. but the title 'sea salt' doesn't really offer up that clue. and if it only minimally tastes like salt...what does it taste like? the ocean? some kind of fish?

there's just no way it could be enjoyable, but he's also not going to rain on her parade. ❱

If you're offering. ❰ someone more immediately thoughtful would probably turn her down, but. that's just not emil. ❱ There's a little counter with spoons and the like on the opposite wall.

[lethechained]

[ Naminé has the decency to appear very slightly sheepish in the wake of her description and his subsequent eyebrow raise, but it's minimal; she knows full well how difficult it is to imagine that sea salt ice cream will be any good without the real experience. (Or a memory of it, anyway.) He doesn't need to say what he's thinking, and it seems she doesn't blame him for it either, because her shoulders lift in the barest suggestion of a shrug before she lets them relax again. It's not as though either of them can inform the inventor that there's issue to be taken with the choice of names.

To his if you're offering she responds with a nod, because she is offering. Not entirely for the sake of being polite, either, since she's got thoughtfulness enough for both of them. ]

Ah - that's convenient. I was just starting to wonder how we'd eat it.

[ She recollects having seen the counter in question in a vague kind of way, and immediately sets about pulling the memory back up to the forefront of her mind. After a moment's thought she turns, then begins to walk in the proper direction, ice cream still held carefully between both hands. Except, as she comments contemplatively a moment later-- ]

It's awfully cold...!

[ And she's not exactly in practice holding chilly stuff, so there might be a lot more palm going on there than there should be. ]

[enflame]

❰ emil follows her, and she appears to know the right way to go. it's not a very big gas station -- if you turn down one wrong aisle, it's not like there's many more guesses you can take as to where something might be.

she remarks about the temperature, and emil is nice enough to offer his service, ❱ I'll hold it for you. ❰ with no ill intent, honestly. he's scandinavian -- holding something cold, frozen, is basically a typical occurrence for him. he takes a few quick steps to turn slightly in front of her. then there's an immediate sheepishness, hoping it doesn't come across as too forceful or eager. ❱

If you'd like, anyway.

[lethechained]

[ For all that she's often wary of strangers, she doesn't imagine any ill intent behind his offer; it'd hardly benefit him to steal the ice cream for himself when there are so many others available, after all, and poison doesn't really cross her mind. His physical forwardness does seem to give her pause, however, as she slows to an abrupt stop with a startled expression as he steps in front of her. It's not entirely unlike a flinch, since to her it doesn't feel so long ago that sudden movements were a bad sign about what the next few moments would hold.

But that's an old habit. So is taking in everything she can about the people near her, which means that his sheepishness prompts her to untense almost immediately. Her expression grows briefly sympathetic. ]

I'd really appreciate it, [ she responds, only a beat late. Her delicate arms outstretch, holding the ice cream for him to take from her careful grasp. Apologetically, ] Although it - might hurt your fingers a little bit.

[ It's been hurting hers, anyhow. ]