(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

lakeside duet, i fucking guess

[mannerless]

From within one of the cabins, Wei Wuxian hears the melody. Slow, powerful but not quite mournful, and with a crispness to each note that rings of no instrument he has ever heard. It draws him out of the cabin almost without thought, sharp eyes falling briefly on the lake's rippling surface before lifting to eye the source of the music. A woman sitting on the shore, holding an instrument near her face as one does with a flute or a xiao but instead dragging what looks like a stick across strings.

He watches a few moments longer - listens a few moments longer, feeling the song inexplicably resonate within his chest. Then he draws his flute from his belt, lifts it to his mouth, and begins to play at a counterpart. It's much less crisp or technically-refined than her own melody, and the notes have a hollow sound that betrays the jet-black flute as wooden rather than silver as she might be used to, but at the very least his counter-melody matches well enough against her own.

[misplayedmelody]

When she focuses using her powers, Vanya tends to block out all other sound but the one she is attempting to amplify or, in this case, is trying to redirect from the painful reminder of a gunshot, loneliness, and desolation. However, thanks to her many years in the orchestra, she's trained to listen for other instruments as they enter, and the music from the flute cuts through her concentration.

Her fingers on the bow falter in surprise, but the distraction doesn't last more than a moment. The song has kind of gotten away from her and needs to be finished. (At least this time, nothing is going to blow up at the end. She hopes.) The flute accompaniment is beautiful, and she closes her eyes to really listen to it as she plays. She can see the direction the new music is coming from in her mind's eye, but the player would remain a mystery until the song's conclusion.

When it does end, Vanya leaves her eyes closed for a long moment before she looks over in the flute player's direction. "That melody was beautiful."

[mannerless]

Her long moment's pause give Wei Wuxian, in turn, a moment to start to close a bit of the distance between them. Her eyes find him when he's about ten yards away, at which point he slows from his brisk walk to something a bit more leisurely, lips curling into a greeting sort of smile, both hands politely wrapped around his flute just below the small of his back.

'That melody was beautiful.' His grin goes a little sheepish, gaze dropping off to the side as he huffs out a laugh-breath. "I always have played a bit better with string accompaniment, I suppose." Granted a whole different form of string instrument, usually - but what can he say? He was inspired.

Which reminds him. He glances off toward the water, now smooth along the surface. "Yours, though, that was-... Gripping, is that the word? I was thoroughly gripped." He sounds foolish, a fact that only broadens his grin, and he shakes his head a little. "I play music but rarely have cause to discuss it, you'll have to forgive me."

[misplayedmelody]

Vanya grins a little shyly in return. "Thank you. I memorized that one when I was a kid. It's one of my favorite songs to play when I need to clear my head." And she hastens to add, "You play beautifully, too."

His glace towards the water causes Vanya to stiffen a little. What had he seen? And what could he possibly have thought of whatever she had caused? 'Gripping' sounds like a compliment and not an accusation, so she begins to relax again.

His smile makes her smile widen in return, shaking her head a little. "I only get to get to discuss music when I'm giving violin lessons, and even then it's mostly just instruction. No need to ask any forgiveness. I'm really happy you liked it and decided to join. It was fun." She cradles the white violin against her left arm, holding it reverently.

"I've never played a duet like that before. Usually either solo or with a whole orchestra. What sort of flute is it? It does complement strings really well." Since his hands are behind his back, she hasn't had the opportunity to examine it yet. She's very curious, the topic of music brushing away some of her usual shyness.

[mannerless]

Mm, she gives lessons? Wei Wuxian isn't sure he'd have the patience for that, seeing as he doesn't really have a structured understanding of how he himself plays. He hasn't yet tried to actually read music, like from a page, and if the notes have names they're beyond him.

He's about to say as much (about giving lessons, that is) when she asks about Chenqing, which he draws out from behind his back now to hold in front of him for her to see. She may note that despite his friendliness and distinct outgoing nature, he's careful not to offer it out far enough that she might think to take hold of it for a closer look.

"It's bamboo. I think they technically call it a 'dizi'?" A flute is a flute, to Wei Ying. "Chenqing is its name. Does yours have one?" It seemed very much like her instrument is a spiritual tool like his own, what with the rippling water and such, so it stands to reason that it might have a name.