(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

Fran Bow | Fran Bow

[keeperofkeys]

i. arrival

When Fran awakens, the first thing she does is check around her for Mister Midnight. After everything that's happened, he's still the first one she looks for; she'd rather not risk losing him again.

But the black cat is there, curled up on the end of the bed and sleeping soundly. Fran breathes a sigh of relief.

Now that she knows Mister Midnight is with her, the strangeness of the place she's in starts to settle in. A cabin, it seems. She wanders, opening all the cabinets to see what's inside -- food! "Whoever brought us here has been very generous to us, dear," she says over her shoulder as Mister Midnight blinks awake.

Then the door creaks open, startling them both. But being curious as she is, she can't help but go to investigate...


ii. the gas station

What a fun place to explore! There are snacks a plenty, it seems. And there doesn't seem to be anyone at the register, even though she's called out a few times. Which means you can simply take things, right?

So anyone stopping by to gather resources will find Fran nibbling on a chocolate bar, looking through the shirts for something fun.


iii. wildcard
[hit me!]

Gas Station!

[singularwidower]

Exploration has thus far netted Daemon very little intelligence about the place that he's been deposited, but he--and even in the privacy of his own mind, the thought is very, very dry--lives in hope that it might. As such, he's at the gas station, pushing in through the door to the tune of the little bell that announces his presence. Past the threshold, however, he halts, bemused. This is, ah, a culture he had not experienced before; from the technology that powers the lights to the type of packaging, nothing is familiar. He'd had an inkling from the cabin's amenities, but.

Ah well.

Upon discovering that there is no attendant, he pokes around the glassed-in cool storage until he finds a beverage that is not a lurid shade of orange or green, and opens it up to drink while he investigates the rest of the space. He doesn't get far, not when the rustle of fabric draws his attention.

"Hello there," he greets the person shuffling through shirts. His eyebrows rise toward his hairline at the text splashed across some of the shirts, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. With genuine curiosity, he asks, "Have you found anything appealing enough to wear?"

[keeperofkeys]

"They're all a bit silly, aren't they?" She has a few tanktops and shirts draped over her arm, some with the names of states splashed across them, all in lurid colours, comparable to some of the sodas Daemon may have found. "I found a pair of jeans that are a few sizes too big in the back of one of the closets in my cabin, but I figure if I can find a knife or a sharp rock I can cut up my leggings and use them as a belt. I might get a few blisters from my shoes, but I'd rather that than have my jeans fall down.

Would you like some chocolate?" she asks, when her ramble comes to an end, breaking a piece off from the end she hasn't bitten into and offering it up.

[singularwidower]

"Silly is one word for it," Daemon agrees, taking a sip of his sparkling spring water. He casually flipped through a couple of shirts himself, pursing his lips at the vulgarity the second. He couldn't say he'd never seen such a thing, but perhaps not so blatant. Nor in so ugly a script. "I might say hideous, myself. I am hoping that the slightly more sensible clothing I found in my cabin might prove durable enough that I can put off wearing some of these. At least for a while."

With a light tsk, he then offers a smile. "Ah, yes, thank you." His nails are long and lacquered black, and he makes a show of flattening his palm to accept the chocolate.

"I'd suggest, if I were you, using one of these less elegant choices for you belting needs. If your leggings prevent you from blisters, that is."

[keeperofkeys]

"Oh your nails are lovely!" She happily drops the chocolate into his palm and breaks off another piece for herself, letting it melt on her tongue.

"I couldn't wear the pants and the leggings, that would be too hot. But I could cut the leggings off at the feet to make socks, that would work nicely! You see? Sometimes you have to think of things in a few ways before you get to the right solution.

My name is Fran, by the way."

[singularwidower]

"Daemon Sadi, you may call me Daemon, or Sadi, to your preference." He nibbles on the chocolate with a hum. With a totally deadpan graciousness, he dips his head to accept the compliment to his nails. "And thank you, it's been my preferred style for centuries."

After licking the last of the chocolate from the pad of this thumb, he pulls out a particularly stunning example of a tank-top and blinks at it in amusement. "I might need this." He turns it to show her the text. He hums as he does, and adds, "You're a problem-solver, I take it, Lady Fran?"

[keeperofkeys]

"Oh I see! It's funny because you're very handsome," she laughs, shaking her head a little. She loves a good joke. It's always nice when adults can be silly along with her, instead of scolding her and telling her to act her age.

"You know, I don't think anyone has ever called me Lady Fran. But I don't mind it, if that's what you want to call me. And I do, very much. I like to solve puzzles and riddles and things. If there's a problem in front of me, I'll work at it until it's fixed."

[singularwidower]

"Ah, I am glad you think so," Daemon says about being handsome, like he's agreeing with a statement about the weather. "I can only imagine people's faces if I were to wear this about the lake. I do believe in taking amusement where one can."

He tips his head, then, and considers the young woman like she's the puzzle. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"

[keeperofkeys]

"I just turned eighteen recently." Though she looks a little younger, in her yellow dress and striped stockings, the former a still damp from an earlier swim.

"Why do you ask?"

[singularwidower]

Daemon doesn't reply immediately, only closes his eyes. Eighteen wasn't even the age of majority among the short-lived. He had noted that she was a young woman, yes, but been distracted by the clothing they were sorting through.

Though that's an excuse. Now that he's looking, he can see the physical signs of just how abominably young she is. There's no way that he can explain without insult that he had to ask because she sounded so young that it had set off his protective instincts. And now, knowing her age, he's appalled. Eighteen. Mother Night.

After a fortifying breath, he spins up his most charming smile and offers, "I was curious. My wife was a puzzle-solver as well, and it started early for her, too. She found nothing better than when she could work her way through something tricky." Though he cannot help but worry, and so he continues, "Speaking of puzzles, you seem cheerful enough to be in this odd puzzles of a cage we've been dumped in."

[keeperofkeys]

"Was?" But Daemon seems to move on rather quickly from that, so Fran follows to answer his question. Or rather, his observation.

"To be rather honest, I've been in stranger places and worse situations. And this time, I've got my kitty with me -- he's back in the cabin. I didn't want him getting lost in the woods. But I've solved bigger riddles than this, and this time I'll have the help of all of you here! So I'm not too entirely worried."

[singularwidower]

Daemon levels a thoughtful look at Fran. That was...blindingly optimistic, and it takes him off-guard enough that he pauses, answering her question while he processes. "My wife passed several years ago," he says, like it doesn't just kill him to say. His deliberate nonchalance is a little strained, but he's well aware that he's an idiot. He did this to himself, mention of her tripping from his tongue the instant he wasn't minding it. "Much reminds me of her."

[keeperofkeys]

"I'm so sorry to hear that." And she means it, sincerely. The tone of her voice and the expression on her face betray her own sadness. "I lost my parents. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of them."

[singularwidower]

Managing a small quirk of a smile--this young woman was really too sweet to be trapped in this horror of a cage--he hums. "Thank you. And I am sorry for your loss as well."

He runs his fingers over the fabric of his ridiculous shirt, and considers her. "What did you mean by 'bigger riddles'?" Because from where he stands, this sort of trapped is...concerningly big. Especially because it has trapped him.

[keeperofkeys]

"What I mean, Mister Sadi, is that I've been trapped in strange places before, without a way to get home. But I did get home, in the end. It took me a very long time, and help from some new friends, but I did it.

It's all about solving the riddle of a place, you know? Looking for clues. You have to learn how to ask the right questions and collect the right things. Once you have it all put together, it's easy enough to solve."

[singularwidower]

"How optimistic," Daemon says, and he cannot help but be amused. "I believe that I will attempt to be as optimistic, then. Though I do see what you mean about thinking of a place like a riddle, or a puzzle. If you don't mind, may I assist you? Since you have experience, that is."