(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

[lethechained]

[ Strictly speaking, Naminé is dangerous, and tremendously so. Or powers like hers are, in any case - except that the very nature of her personality renders that largely irrelevant. The fact that she can crush someone's heart to bits with a thought doesn't mean she wants to; looking at her now, it's not hard to see she'd have much preferred not to be noticed at all.

Case in point, the way she tenses just a little when he takes a step. It's subtle but not invisible, and when she realizes his intent is to move toward something other than her, it seems to soothe her back into her careful observation. ]

No, [ she responds thoughtfully, only a beat late. ] When I woke up, I was in a boat on the lake. And before that, a cabin.

[ After a few times in the loop, she's pretty confident he won't remember much more, either. No one else did. After a brief hesitation and a subtle, uncertain tightening of her hands around each other, ]

It-- is pretty strange - how clean this store is. [ If she's owning up to hiding from him, she might as well admit to the eavesdropping, too. She at least has the decency to look a smidgeon bashful about it. ] This place doesn't seem like any of the other buildings I've seen here.

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ No, he remembers very little. In fact, he only has a feeling of deja vu, a sense of being here before that he'd largely brushed aside. At Naminé words, however, he considers the idea that maybe he actually was here.

He definitely doesn't like the idea that someone might have tampered with his memories.

All of this is ... intentional, that much is very obvious. The only place that is clean is the one that will provide them with food and tools, and he imagines there's a risk that it'll run out if they don't ration. The cabins they're actually supposed to stay in, meanwhile, are run down. This is definitely not meant to be a pleasant vacation. Not that that wasn't clear from the little information letter they were given. ]

Got to wonder who cleaned it.

[ And he still wonders why even bother. Unless they wanted to drive the point home that the cabins are shit.

He turns the flashlight over in his hand, trying to understand how it works. It has the word 'light' in it, so it has to be like a torch or something. Right? But where does the light come from? Is it magic somehow? ]

[lethechained]

[ Naminé's not any happier about the possibility of memories being altered than he might be. To her, the prospect could even be worse; she's a memory witch, for crying out loud. Pride doesn't factor into it for a girl like her, but her keen awareness of how much damage can be done with that sort of control over another's mind does. And if someone has the capacity to steal memories from her, goodness only knows what else they can do.

Bemused though she is, her eyes follow Geralt's movements as he examines the flashlight. Her thoughts, however, are turned inward, and it doesn't even occur to her immediately that he might not be aware how to use the object he's fiddling with. ]

I don't think it was one of us. No one seems to have been here long enough.

[ Not in this part of the containment zone, anyway. The cabin hardly counts. ]

So... it was probably them, wasn't it? [ Eyes shifting back up, she looks rather grim about the whole matter. ] The ones who brought us to this place, and told us we should look here. If they were powerful enough to do that, and to keep us locked in, then I don't think that this would happen without them knowing about it.

[ Or that anything would, really - but perhaps that's just past experience talking, what with Castle Oblivion's crystal ball setup. Cameras work just as well, anyway. ]

I think, maybe... [ She's sounded pretty sure about the rest of it (surprisingly so, even, considering her overall cautious behavior) yet here she hesitates. It's all speculation at this point, isn't it? ] Maybe they want us to feel... like this place isn't dangerous.

[ Going by her tone of voice, she's not the type of optimistic, happy-go-lucky teenager who thinks that's a good sign. If anything, it seems to her more like evidence of the contrary. ]

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ He snorts, but it's not derisive so much as it's ... tired. ]

Think they want to make us uneasy.

[ With the message they left, then this? They couldn't possibly expect people to be lulled into any false sense of security. ]

[lethechained]

Uneasy...

[ She tries out the word. It only takes a beat and a brief glance at the clean, well-stocked, and echoingly empty store to agree, ]

It could be that, I suppose. The paper did say that they...

[ Wanted everyone to suffer. And to die, too, but that's a whole suitcase and a half to unpack and Naminé's not ready to start on that at the moment. She shakes her head, then adds, ]

It might be too early to know what they're planning with all of this.

[ Perhaps they'll find out sooner or later, with enough experience. (She's not looking forward to gaining it.) ]

But they don't seem to be trying as hard as they could be to hurt us. [ Which, you know, she's glad about, even if she looks approximately as non-thrilled about all of this as before. ] At least, not yet.

[coolmotivestillevil]

Why rush it? They locked us in here.

[ His frown has been steadily deepening in thought at the flashlight, trying to work it out. The shape of it looks vaguely like a torch. It's very … sleek, but it has something sticking out.

Tilting his head slightly, he runs his thumb over the on switch once before he tries pressing it. And while he might have expected something to happen, he still starts - if only barely - when the light turns on. ]

[lethechained]

Mm. [ The girl gives her soft noise of assent, brow knitted as she turns the situation over in her mind. ] I guess if they want us to live long enough for whatever they intend to do with us, they have to let us have some things that aren't harmful.

[ Such as a nice clean convenience store. As bemused as she is by the possibilities, she's nevertheless beginning to pick up on the way he's examining the device. Her eyes linger on his face a moment, then flick down toward his hands and back again. The gears start turning in her head, her brow relaxing in something akin to surprise as her keen attention catches his jump. Her mouth rounds slightly, like a flattened 'o'. Considering how varied the levels of technological advancement are just in the worlds she's familiar with, she has her suspicions. ]

Like a flashlight, [ she observes belatedly, studying him with a different tone than before. ] Those are usually pretty good to have around, if you can't use Fire.

[coolmotivestillevil]

I can see why.

[ It was pretty obvious without her explaining it, but telling her so just seems ... rude, when she's being nice. And it's not that he necessarily cares about being rude, just. In this case, the words won't come out.

He turns it off again, and puts it back on the shelf. He'll be fine without it for now, but maybe he'll grab one later, if no one else seems to need it. ]

[lethechained]

[ Her head tilts as he returns the flashlight whence it came. Perhaps he doesn't have issues making illumination of his own, she supposes - and for a moment her eyes are drawn to his sword. They've been there before, but they linger this time. He seems to have come into this situation more prepared than some of the others, like herself. ]

… What's your name?

[ It's a little bemused, out of the blue and softly curious. Naminé is so accustomed to already knowing everyone long before they meet her that it occurs to her late and abruptly that she doesn't have anything to call him, even in her own head. (Titling him anything that involves a comparison to Ansem or Xemnas doesn't seem right for a variety of reasons, not least because it would be rather unflattering.)

She only seems to realize how sudden the question was a beat later, when her head lifts and her eyes snap back up toward his face, searching for any displeased reaction. He may not be fussed over rudeness, but she seems to be. With sheepishness creeping into her expression, she curls her hands a little more tightly together. ]

If you don't mind me asking you that, [ she tacks on, in the tone of an apology. ] I know we've only just met.

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ It hadn't even hit him that they hadn't introduced themselves. He does introduce himself to people, usually when it's about a job, because he expects people will want to know. This is a different kind of situation. He hadn't considered it. ]

Geralt. What's yours?

[lethechained]

[ Her head lifts slightly, a subtle hint of relief in her expression after the unfussed answer. ]

Naminé.

[ It's probably the most pared down introduction she's either received or given, but she finds she doesn't mind. Her shoulders sink, expression growing placid as she lets out a quiet exhale. She still keeps her distance, but now that he's proven he doesn't have any immediate inclination to cause her trouble, she sets about trying to figure out what she should expect. It only makes sense, if they're going to be stuck in the same place. After a briefly thoughtful look, ]

Are you a mercenary, Geralt? [ She doesn't sound particularly attached to that possibility, nor to, ] Or a knight?

[ Those are just the reasons for having such a weapon that first come to her mind. Truthfully, she's far more interested in hearing it from him than guessing correctly; it's hard to place the vibe he's got going on when she's not familiar with the world he's from. ]

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ Hm.

She doesn't know? Usually, people take one look at his eyes and they know just what he is and they've usually already decided what they think of it. Is she not from the Continent? This is only getting more and more strange and confusing. And he doesn't like it. ]

Neither. Witcher.

[ It's a bit of a test. Does she really not know what he is? ]

[lethechained]

[ Her eyelids flutter in a quick pair of blinks. Confusion and surprise vie for space in her expression, both equally sincere, and she straightens - just enough to suggest concern alongside them. She wasn't expecting to hear anything with that kind of word in it, much less, ]

A... witcher?

[ She makes a funny shape with her mouth, the fingers of one hand coming to curl against it thoughtfully. In all the memories she's seen, she's never encountered such a title - although she's certainly been called a witch often enough. In the back of her mind, she can't help thinking the connection there might not be a good one. With a little shake of her head as her hand falls, ]

I'm sorry. I don't think I've ever heard that name before.

[ But now she's really got to wonder about it. ]

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ There's surprise on his face, even if it's very subtle. He raises his eyebrows slightly, and for a few moments, he doesn't say anything. Never heard it? She has to be from very far away. ]

Monster hunters.

[ A gross simplification, really, but it's what they do most of the time. ]

[lethechained]

[ The girl regards him with a small but growing look of uncertainty as he pauses. Whether or not she ought to feel foolish about her ignorance of that career is up in the air, to her; it's not as if she's had much of a chance to learn what normal really is outside of the minds of certain individuals.

She's a mix of relieved and intrigued when she finally gets an answer, and as she perks she urges her shoulders back down from where they were starting to rise in self-consciousness. ]

Oh...! That's lucky.

[ But she seems to rethink the pronouncement almost immediately thereafter, and is quick to amend. ]

Not-- that any of us are lucky to be here. What I mean is, it's good that you know how to fight monsters, since there are bound to be more around.

[ Which... would imply that she's seen one already. ]

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ Interesting. He can't recall seeing or sensing any, but considering that he didn't feel being moved here by the Technicians or recall anything strange, that doesn't mean there aren't any monsters or that he hasn't already encountered them. ]

Mm. Seen monsters around?

[lethechained]

[ Naminé nods almost immediately, lips pulling into a frown. ]

Yes - one.

[ Although there are some who might say that she counts herself, being a Nobody. ]

But it wasn't any kind I'd seen or even heard of before. It was like a bat, but-- angry, and much bigger. If I hadn't had help...

[ Well, she probably wouldn't be around to tell about it. (Respawning aside, of course.) ]

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ Like a bat. A vampire? ]

Assume it attacked you. What did it do?

[lethechained]

Mm-hm.

[ She confirms it with her mouth still firmly pressed into a pout, half from concentration as she focuses on the memory and half because it's obviously not a pleasant one. ]

Well, first it tried to jump on me from the rafters. I noticed it in time and went through a door, but - when I closed it behind me, the creature started to break through. It-- was even able to turn the knob.

[ Which is more that can be said for a lot of Heartless. The kind of monster without basic intelligence is considerably more familiar to her than one that can plan. ]

After that, we ran into the woods... [ The recollection grows gradually more obscure thereafter, which prompts her expression to scrunch even further as she hunts down the details. ] It followed us, but once it got hurt it ran off somewhere. And I don't-- remember what happened after that.

[ Which she doesn't particularly like having to finish with, if her expression is any indication. ]

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ Witness accounts are usual vague and unclear, so it's not surprising that hers is too. Doesn't mean it's not annoying. Sounds like it was a fairly intelligent creature, though, capable of turning knobs and aware of when it might not be worth the chase. Could be a katakan.

Or, given he doesn't know where he is, it could be something he's not familiar with. Something from very far away. ]

Intelligent, then. Good to know.

[lethechained]

It seemed to be.

[ She looks rather preoccupied as she runs back over the memory again, quicker this time. It's fuzzy in a way she's unused to, a way she doesn't like; her expression sours a little further, and she sets the issue aside. ]

But I haven't seen it since then, and that was a while ago, in that strange cabin. It could be anywhere by now if it's still on the loose.

[ Which is yet one more unpleasant thought on top of a lot of other rather concerning aspects of this situation. Lifting her head a little as her eyes raise toward him, she considers what more she can do to assist. Top of mind is-- ]

Would you like me to draw it for you?

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ His eyebrows rise in genuine surprise. From the vague details, he'd assumed she didn't get a good luck at it. If she feels confident enough to draw it, though, that's ... great. ]

Yes.

[ He could say please or thank you or, like, anything nice and pleasant. But no. ]

[lethechained]

[ Naminé doesn't seem to notice his surprise overmuch, her mind already on the task at hand. ]

All right.

[ Head turning, she briefly scans the counters, but it's clear she's already made note of where to find what she's after. A few steps bring her close enough to take up a pen and locate a small pad of sticky notes, which she sets to scribbling on the front page of. The memories are already fresh in her mind after her recalling them aloud, and it doesn't seem to take her long to get started.

And maybe someone else would struggle with the details, but for her it's as easy as tugging her own memories into the light the same way she did with Sora's. Her sketch quickly takes shape, and presently she holds it up for Geralt to inspect.

It's considerably more developed than the drawing she found in that creepy basement. This illustration, despite the fact that it's made in a simple, almost caricatured style, has an uncanny sense of truth to it; the real thing would be quite recognizable from such an image. ]

It looked like this. And-- oh.

[ She falters for a second, then pulls the drawing back to add to it. When she holds it up again, there's a similarly simple figure next to the creature - only this one is Naminé herself. For some reason, her eyes are shut in the drawing. ]

That's me. So you can tell how big it was...!

[ Compared to her not exactly impressive stature, that is. ]

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ The expression on his face is something close to disappointment, but hopefully she doesn't think it's directed at her. He'd just been hoping that the creature would be familiar, and while it looks not too unlike a vampire, it also doesn't look like one at all. Could it be related to them? Or it might just be something else alltogether.

Either way, it's clearly not from the continent.

Then, he reaches out a hand. ]

Mind if I take that?

[lethechained]

[ The girl doesn't know quite what to make of the look on his face, given how little she knows of him. Uncertainty begins to sneak into her expression as she regards him, eyes somewhere between curious and self-conscious. But at least he asks for the drawing, and that's suggestion enough that it might serve its purpose. ]

Not at all.

[ She gives a narrow shake of her head, then glances down at the pad of notes. Although she can tell it's made up of separate papers, she still gives it a briefly surprised look as the front paper comes off with one sticky edge. Her preferred medium is usually your standard paper - but it's not an overly alarming thing to learn on the fly and she wastes little time in taking a careful step or two so that she can hand the drawing over to him, now that it's been separated from the pad. ]

Here. I hope it helps. [ Or rather-- ] Although it might be better if it turns out that you don't need it.