(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

lalli hotakainen, open!

[skittering]

█ three (looting the gas station)

( in the gas station today, we have a noodle boy on a quest. emil is somewhere around here, but lalli has split off to scour the shelves for items of his own choosing. medical supplies. a couple of knives, you can never have too many of those. chemicals for cleaning, because of course emil's going to want to scour whichever cabin they end up taking over.

others in the store go largely ignored (they seem, by his assessment, benign) - but maybe he reaches for the same item you do. if so, his hand recoils slightly, and he glances from the person to the item. ) Yours, ( he decides, moving on down the aisle to find something else.

or maybe you've caught him at the end of his time in the gas station. he stays a bit longer than one might expect, if only because this hooded noodle boy is on a fucking mission. a discarded pint of ice cream lies melting on the floor by the freezers, the label showing a picture of a mustard container (no wonder he didn't recognize it, he has never encountered it in bottles before), and lalli can be found in the condiments aisle with a bucket, scooping every single bottle of the offensive yellow sauce it furiously into the bucket with one arm. give him enough time and he'll even be marching the bucket outside to the middle of the road and stepping back from it, eyes closing, hands extended, chanting what sounds very much like some sort of incantation in finnish. please, intercept him before he finishes, because otherwise there's going to be a flaming bucket full of mustard bottles in the middle of the asphault. )

█ four (scouting the barrier)

( it took very little time at all for lalli to set to work scouting the barrier - a few hours at most, as long as it took to establish that things were stable enough here to leave emil and klaus unattended without immediate risk of dying.

now anyone out in the woods might spot a slim hooded figure picking his way through the trees at a brisk jog, nimbly hopping over shrubbery or tree roots. one hand hovers a couple of feet out to his side as he runs, and a honeycomb glow pattern seems to emit from his hand and ripple out into the air. (those who have already interacted with the barrier will most certainly recognize what it is that's actually happening: he's following their invisible fence). he'll stop if called out to or intercepted in any way, but otherwise not much can interrupt him.

unless, of course, you're standing along the barrier yourself. if someone happens to be standing in his path, he pulls up short to eye them, half assessing (did they run headlong into it? it seems to ricochet those that do) and half impatient (they're in his way - he'll go around if he has to, but that doesn't change that they're in his way). )

( four )

[enflame]

❰ emil has spent most of his time venturing further into the gas station, scoping out the small kitchen supply area first before stumbling upon the holy grail -- the back cooler. he spends an eternity in there, both appreciating the temperature and feeling as though he has his pick of the best selection. the things in the cooler must be somehow better and colder than the ones simply hiding behind the glass doors.

he's got a large assortment of bottles and snacks bagged when he finally goes looking for lalli, suddenly absent from the store. he wanders, so that's not at all strange. what is perhaps a little weird is that he's finally found outside, dragging what appears to be a rather large bucket of mustard, performing some kind of mage spell over it. he only knows through context, and who knows what kind of curse he can set upon such a foul--

oh. well that answers that question. he's not the only one in this relationship who can set things aflame, good to know.

when lalli finally finishes and heads back, he'll see emil standing just outside the gas station doors, wide-eyed and questioning. ❱

Was that really necessary? ❰ not that he minds setting things on fire at all, but this mustard loathing is getting extreme. ❱

[skittering]

( lalli, for his part, is entirely unfazed by the staring. he is resolute in his conviction that the act he just committed was entirely justified.

to which end, the question from emil earns no reply... at least not aloud. instead, he takes firm hold of the swede's sleeve, leading him in no uncertain terms back toward the freezers. upon arrival, he points an accusing finger at the tub of mustard-flavored ice cream laying on its side on the tiles, melting slightly into an unappetizing yellow ooze. )

[enflame]

❰ the curiosity is killing him, as he's pulled back into and through the gas station. an eyebrow is raised at the goop that he's introduced to, but it clicks soon enough. ❱

Ew. ❰ his nose scrunches at the idea -- he's not a mustard-hater like lalli is, but there are certain ways that he can imagine it shouldn't be consumed. this is one of them. cold...isn't ice cream supposed to be sweet? he hasn't had any, but he's sure that was the description that klaus gave to them.

setting the bags down, he crouches over to where the offended ice cream is melting, smell not potent enough to be immediately noticeable. he pokes at the half-solid mass, staring at just how yellow it is. he sniffs before making a face. ❱ I don't see how anyone could ever think this was a good idea.

[skittering]

( and lalli gives the swede as much time as he needs to identify and poke at the abomination melting on the floor, largely satisfied with the appropriate level of horror that emil is feeling about the entire concept of this awful yellow 'ice cream'. ) Should've at least written 'mustard' on it, ( he agrees, nose wrinkled a little.

then his eyes turn on emil. ) Still think it wasn't necessary?

[enflame]

❰ emil offers him a shrug that basically communicates 'maybe it was a little extra, but i get what you were going for.' setting all the mustard bottles on fire is a little extreme, but this is a betrayal deserving of reprimand.

he stands up, flinging the melted ice cream off his finger with disdain. but let's look on the positive side of things: there is indeed actual ice cream, easily accessible, in this gas station. ❱

All the flavors can't be that bad, though! Did you look at the rest of them? ❰ stepping over the offending mass on the floor, he opens the closest freezer door to examine the rows, immediately happy again to have the chill in his face. and there's tons of free dessert basically inches from him. ❱ There's just chocolate...you can't go wrong with that...

❰ there's some pushing around of the options as emil goes through the variety before him, almost on his tip-toes to reach into the back. one immediately catches his eye as he pulls it out, showing off his find. ❱

This one has to be a winner.

[skittering]

( though he has already developed an irrational and inherent mistrust in ice cream as a general concept, the enthusiasm with which emil seizes this carton in particular undeniably grabs lalli's interest. he sidles in beside emil to peer down at the words (this one has words, unlike the mustard betrayal), and that says 'cookie'.

and then right after cookie, it says cake.

without so much as a glance at emil, he's taking the carton from the swede and cracking open the lid. a two-fingered scoop of this cookie-cake ice cream is stolen from one end of the carton (they're sharing, he knows better than to rudely take from the middle - maybe he's not feral after all) and immediately delivered into lalli's mouth.

his eyes widen slightly with a throat-noise of delighted surprise, and then he's foisting it back into emil's hands to urge him to - ) Try it.

[enflame]

❰ ah yes, this truly is a mark of love -- lalli has been offered a very glorious dessert and is still willing to share.

while he'd vastly prefer to use a spoon, emil awkwardly takes back the carton and scoops some out, taking a solo-finger swipe across the opposite rim. it's cold enough that he eats it quickly, instantly pleasantly surprised by how sweet and soft it is. the texture of the small piece of cake he got isn't unpleasant and adds a richness to it...goodness.his face betrays how much he likes it before he can swallow and say anything. ❱

No wonder Klaus built this stuff up so much. ❰ emil hands the ice cream back to lalli; he does enjoy it but this is lalli's gift. not to mention there's so much more. ❱ I hope the mustard variety is in the minority. Once we find the good kinds, we can have as much as we want.

[skittering]

( lalli, for his part, stares momentarily at the tub now being offered back into his hands, as if considering something vital. then he curls one arm around it, heading off down the aisle. )

Spoon, ( he explains over his shoulder, and he'll be passing up and down each aisle until he finds what turns out to be a mixing spoon - but it's the first he finds, so it's his now.

he returns to emil, scooping ice cream into his mouth with this overlarge spoon, only now peering up at the swede like 'where to now?' with his mouth too full of frigid cake mush to ask it aloud. )

gas station;

[channellings]

[hearing lalli chanting things in finnish isn't all that unusual. however, watching him do it over a bucket of fluorescent yellow bottles might take the cake right about now in this weird new horrortown they've stumbled into. (been brought into? whichever it is, they're here, so might as well make the best of it.)]

What the hell are you doing over here, Lalli?

[the closer he gets, the easier it becomes to see— mustard bottles?] No fucking way, are you on this again? You really gotta give it a rest, pal. And hey, what if other people want mustard?

[skittering]

Don't care. ( the words come without lifting his eyes away from the fire, if only to watch long enough to make sure the flames don't die out.

a handful of seconds pass, then he turns to head back for the gas station, grabbing klaus's sleeve on the way by. in this way he pulls him all the way to the freezer aisle before pointing accusingly at the melting tub of yellow ice cream lying on its side on the gas station floor. on the label is a bottle of mustard, stylized with no identifying words.

eyes turn back to klaus now, like do you see this offense they've committed?? )

[channellings]

But of course you don't. [from what he can tell, the bottles are burning just fine. should he put them out? ...yeah, probably, but he's more than content to let the ridiculous highlighter-yellow condiment burn. (there are better mustards out there anyway!)

without hesitation, klaus follows when lalli grabs his sleeve, eyebrows raised curiously with wonder as to what he's being led to. oh, he can only imagine what terrible (maybe wonderful? yeah, right—) thing the finn's gonna show him. there, on the floor of the freezer section, is goddamn mustard ice cream and for a split second, the disgust coming across klaus's face is visceral.]

Wow, who thought that was a good idea? You gotta be a real demented motherfucker to make mustard icecream.

[skittering]

( the disgust on his face is honestly pretty satisfying for lalli. vindicating, after klaus tried to tell him to 'give it a rest' as if mustard deserved a rest. )

Papers said 'suffering', ( he says, a little dryly. he means the pamphlets, of course. the ones that told them they were trapped and probably going to die, but had plenty of food and a place to live in the meantime. )

[channellings]

[sandwich condiments are one thing but when you go and mess up something decent like icecream with it— well, that's just a step too damn far.]

That's some straight-up suffering if I've ever seen it. Look at how sad it is. [klaus shuffles over to the tub, stretches a leg out and nudges it with the toe of his sneaker, nose wrinkling disapprovingly at the melting mess spreading across the floor.] Nasty, [then with a quick twist, he cocks his leg back and boots the container down the aisle.]

[skittering]

Deserves to be sad. ( spoken with utter conviction as he eyes the carton with continued disdain.

that is, of course, when klaus kicks it, and lalli's eyes widen in something like horrified wonder as it sails down the aisle, splattering melted bits along the floor and shelves along the way. that may or may not be a smile budding at the edges of his lips. if it is, he doesn't seem to realize it. )

[channellings]

You can say that again. [because seriously, whoever created mustard icecream? you're a goddamn monster.

as the container goes soaring in the opposite direction, klaus raises a hand, cups it against his forehead and squeezes his left eye shut, watches it go until the thing finally hits a store mannequin with a disgusting splat. then he tosses both arms into the air, enthusiastically yells,] Nailed it! [and when he glances toward lalli again, can't help full-on grinning at the sight of his friend's smile.] Alright, what's next on the agenda?

[skittering]

( what's next on the agenda?

hmm. he already burned the mustard. they kicked the ice cream...

lalli shrugs. ) Up to you.

Gas station

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ Maybe it would only be sensible to tell someone to not mess around with what food they've been given, but the image of it is so peculiar that Geralt can't resist just ... watching to see what happens. When Lalli goes outside, he stalks after him, and leans back against the wall of the station.

The incantation is unlike anything he's ever heard before, and that's way more interesting to him than this very volatile display towards whatever is in those bottles.

The fire smells wrong somehow. What's in those bottles? What are they made of? ]

What language was that?

[skittering]

( lalli pointedly ignores being followed (that's what he tends to do with things he's not sure what to do with, he pointedly ignores them), ignores being watched as he burns the mustard, ignores right up until the point at which the man speaks.

then lalli casts the man a sideways glance, almost assessing. )

Finnish, ( he says, the faint finnish accent lingering even as he speaks the common tongue. his gaze lingers a couple of moments longer, a sort of 'what of it?' that he doesn't bother to voice. )

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ A blink.

That's not a real language. ]

Where is it spoken?

[skittering]

Finland. ( it comes off a bit defensively, if only because he recognizes disbelieving judgment when he sees it. usually he gets it from foreigners regarding the existence of magic as a concept, which he has no problem letting them doubt, but this is different somehow. )

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ That's not a real country either.

At least not one he's ever heard of. That said, he knows he's hardly seen the whole world, because he may travel a lot but he never strays too far from Kaer Morhen. So despite the doubtful crease to his brow, he doesn't question it further. ]

What did the bottles do to you?

[ That's so much anger for something that seems so insignificant. Are you okay. ]

[skittering]

( he doesn't have to answer to this man, this stranger who doesn't believe in finland - but after a mutinous stare that lasts a good three or four seconds, he stalks past the man and into the gas station.

not long after, he returns holding a limp carton between disdainful fingertips, discarding it with utmost distaste at geralt's feet. it appears to be ice cream, mostly melted by now, with a bottle just like the one he's burning pictured on the front. )

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ Geralt raises an eyebrow when Lalli walks past him without a word. How is he supposed to interpret that, when it was preceded by that stare? Is he going to get an answer or not?

The man moves with purpose, so he stays put to wait and see what happens. The ice cream pack unceremoniously dropped at his feet doesn't really provide much of an answer by itself, but he bends down to pick it up and sniff it. Is that ... sugar and mustard? A lot of sugar.

He'll have a taste, too, and scrunches his nose slightly at it. All right, it's a frankly gross combination of tastes, but ... ]

That's why you burned them.

[ Seems ... kind of overkill. ]

[skittering]

( don't mind lalli, looking abjectly horrified that even after sniffing it this man has decided to put some in his mouth. and even still he asks if that's why the mustard's burning. )

Yes? ( he doesn't understand why this is so difficult to grasp. )