❧ Wind of Change
[things around town and within the open areas of the spacestation have been quiet lately. very quiet. the townspeople continue to go about their routines and most sites of past destruction have all been repaired to how they were before the destructive forces of the residents got their hands on them. all except for the stone and Neptune sundials. some effort has been made to repair them, but like Humpty after his terrible fall, they can't be put back together again, not completely. Neptune is bent, warped, and missing pieces like his fingers and trident whereas the reconstructed stone sundial in the park looks like a child's feeble attempt to put together a broken vase. (the spacestation hasn't been touched, however, so all wrappers and stuff remain how it they have been left unless one of the residents has taken it upon themselves to clean.)
eventually, the somewhat idyllic peace is broken--at least for those in the spacestation--by an automated voice with a somewhat friendly tone. many will recognize this voice sounding almost exactly like Verita. unfortunately, those inside the town will not hear this announcement:]
Greetings and thank you for visiting the site of the Luminsiti Research Labs! Every day at Luministi, we strive to find the best solution and method so anyone struck with the grief and pain of losing a loved one may finally find some peace. Many advances have been made in recent years thanks to donations and funding from people like you. Currently, we are in the process of researching a live test, and once we have gathered enough data, we will release our--hopefully!--successful findings to you and eventually the public. Please wait here in the observation deck for the next available lab assistant for your free tour of our facilities.
[and as soon as the automated message ends, the young man from this video appears suddenly right where Lab #3 should be. there is nothing wholly special about his appearance; aside from the fact that he just appeared out of thin air, he looks like a regular young man with brown hair in his very early twenties, except his dark eyes... something about them seems off. that's not the only thing, though. a pained look immediately crosses his features, his hand shooting out to brace himself against the wall. his body flickers for a second, going translucent before it solidifies again]
No...! Damnit, I should've known... [his fist clenches] They shouldn't still be here.
[he closes his eyes, falling silent. his brow furrows, jaw clenching after a moment, then he turns suddenly to face anyone who happens to be there. as he starts to talk, his voice strained and struggling to remain calm, his free hand fumbles for something in his pocket] Hey, it's taking a great deal of effort to even be here right now, but you gotta listen to me. You can call me Nathan. I'm a friend of Audrey's. You were supposed to be home by now and I can take a couple guesses why you aren't. Everything in this place has been changed around. It must have happened after she helped you guys out. Unfortunately, someone's sudden fascination with feng shui and kidnapping my friends has made my job of getting you all outta here even more difficult than it already was.
[a small beeping noise sounds from the device he now holds in his hand. it looks similar to a CAT, and every scan and inspection will say that it is a CAT, but it's something more. he glances down at it, muttering a soft, "...Shit," under his breath] Always running out of time in this damn place... I'm going to do what I can to open up this place up, but I can't visit for long. You've got to understand that I cannot be found here. If I am--[he closes his mouth, waving an impatient hand as he flickers again]--just trust me, I can't be! When I've caught him, I'll explain everything, but for now my priority is getting you home, not telling you stories. In the meantime, you have to continue on as you have so far. Play along with what the this place throws you and above all, you need to stay calm and safe. It's very important that none of you allow your emotions to get the better of you.
[he closes his eyes for a second again and finally, slowly, pushes away from the wall and fights to keep himself from wobbling] I'm going to leave this here. Don't worry; it can't be traced. But don't hold onto it for too long. Keep passing it amongst yourselves and keep it hidden. Just because it can't be traced doesn't mean they can't see it once it leaves this precise location. You'll need it so I can pass you information and...other things when I can't be here, so you can't just leave it in this spot. I absolutely need this in someone's possession at all times.
[he drops to his knees suddenly, but plays it off as something he meant to do as he purposefully sets the device on the ground.] But please, since I can only do so much, I need everyone to search for Audrey and Lab #3 for me. Though I fear the worst... [he starts to flicker again, and he lets out a sigh as he fully disappears this time.]
[just as he does, the locked and bloodied door at the very end of the observation deck clicks and slowly slides open.]
❧ Plot Details: Wind of Change
eventually, the somewhat idyllic peace is broken--at least for those in the spacestation--by an automated voice with a somewhat friendly tone. many will recognize this voice sounding almost exactly like Verita. unfortunately, those inside the town will not hear this announcement:]
Greetings and thank you for visiting the site of the Luminsiti Research Labs! Every day at Luministi, we strive to find the best solution and method so anyone struck with the grief and pain of losing a loved one may finally find some peace. Many advances have been made in recent years thanks to donations and funding from people like you. Currently, we are in the process of researching a live test, and once we have gathered enough data, we will release our--hopefully!--successful findings to you and eventually the public. Please wait here in the observation deck for the next available lab assistant for your free tour of our facilities.
[and as soon as the automated message ends, the young man from this video appears suddenly right where Lab #3 should be. there is nothing wholly special about his appearance; aside from the fact that he just appeared out of thin air, he looks like a regular young man with brown hair in his very early twenties, except his dark eyes... something about them seems off. that's not the only thing, though. a pained look immediately crosses his features, his hand shooting out to brace himself against the wall. his body flickers for a second, going translucent before it solidifies again]
No...! Damnit, I should've known... [his fist clenches] They shouldn't still be here.
[he closes his eyes, falling silent. his brow furrows, jaw clenching after a moment, then he turns suddenly to face anyone who happens to be there. as he starts to talk, his voice strained and struggling to remain calm, his free hand fumbles for something in his pocket] Hey, it's taking a great deal of effort to even be here right now, but you gotta listen to me. You can call me Nathan. I'm a friend of Audrey's. You were supposed to be home by now and I can take a couple guesses why you aren't. Everything in this place has been changed around. It must have happened after she helped you guys out. Unfortunately, someone's sudden fascination with feng shui and kidnapping my friends has made my job of getting you all outta here even more difficult than it already was.
[a small beeping noise sounds from the device he now holds in his hand. it looks similar to a CAT, and every scan and inspection will say that it is a CAT, but it's something more. he glances down at it, muttering a soft, "...Shit," under his breath] Always running out of time in this damn place... I'm going to do what I can to open up this place up, but I can't visit for long. You've got to understand that I cannot be found here. If I am--[he closes his mouth, waving an impatient hand as he flickers again]--just trust me, I can't be! When I've caught him, I'll explain everything, but for now my priority is getting you home, not telling you stories. In the meantime, you have to continue on as you have so far. Play along with what the this place throws you and above all, you need to stay calm and safe. It's very important that none of you allow your emotions to get the better of you.
[he closes his eyes for a second again and finally, slowly, pushes away from the wall and fights to keep himself from wobbling] I'm going to leave this here. Don't worry; it can't be traced. But don't hold onto it for too long. Keep passing it amongst yourselves and keep it hidden. Just because it can't be traced doesn't mean they can't see it once it leaves this precise location. You'll need it so I can pass you information and...other things when I can't be here, so you can't just leave it in this spot. I absolutely need this in someone's possession at all times.
[he drops to his knees suddenly, but plays it off as something he meant to do as he purposefully sets the device on the ground.] But please, since I can only do so much, I need everyone to search for Audrey and Lab #3 for me. Though I fear the worst... [he starts to flicker again, and he lets out a sigh as he fully disappears this time.]
[just as he does, the locked and bloodied door at the very end of the observation deck clicks and slowly slides open.]
❧ Plot Details: Wind of Change
- And now we have officially met Nathan! If he could have, he would have spoken to all of the residents, but I'm going to leave it up to you to decide whether you were in the spacestation to hear him speak. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to answer questions, but those who pick up the device he left behind will see that he has set up a voicemail feature so people can ask him quick questions or relay information to him as it's found. He won't be able to answer them all, not yet.
So who is Nathan and how did he appear there like that? Those questions and more will be addressed soon or eventually! But for now, your job is to keep an eye out for Audrey and find the missing Lab #3. No one can go home until Lab #3 is found, after all...
Two things have happened since Nathan's departure! One is somewhat obvious: the opening of the bloodied door. The lights in the hallway there will light up now to show that it is an exact match to the other hallway leading into the observation deck from the Mayor's House--except that the doors within all have names written on them. On the right side, from A1-B16 are the East residents and on the left in the same exact manner are the West residents. Anyone who goes through their own door will find themselves with a handy shortcut back to their townhomes thanks to a secret door in their walk-in closets! That same door can be used to come back into the spacestation, so those who were getting a little tired trekking up through the Mayor's house all the time can have a shorter journey.
Oh yes, I should mention the blood on the floor. The blood spatter isn't too bad; most of it got onto the door, and seeing it with the lights on and stuff, the amount of blood there isn't much. By now, it has coagulated and turned brown, and the blood drops do seem to stop a few feet in, but head to the other end of the hallway. There are a few more drops of blood on the ground, but open that door and they disappear entirely. What lies beyond this door is a mess hall! Not any ordinary mess hall, mind. This was a facility belonging to a very rich research lab, after all, so all the scientists ate well.
And the residents still will, as a matter of fact!--except they have free reign to the kitchen and will have to prepare all meals themselves. If you're the lazy type or don't know your way around the kitchen (or if for the survival of everyone, you should be forbidden from ever entering a kitchen), there are several vending machines in the nice mess hall (wooden tables, wooden chairs, comfy booths along the walls)--or you can head back into town to one of the fine restaurants there.
Of course...that is if your favorite restaurant still exists.
This leads to the second thing that has happened! See...since no one can go home just yet, home has decided to come to you. Don't get too excited, though. Home might not be your literal home, like the Doctor might not walk into the bakery and find himself back in the console room of the TARDIS. He could very well open that same door and walk straight what looks like an unoccupied corridor of a Dalek mothership. That's just one possibility! Everyone will have one thing appear in town related directly to them and their universe in some way and it doesn't have to be through one of the shops in town. The central console from his TARDIS could randomly turn up in the park, or shell of a non-functional Dalek. It can be anything so long as it isn't alive (or rather, alive in the sense that it can think on its own and need to be NPC'd. So pets and other people are off limits, unfortunately.) To avoid overlap, please comment on where you'd like your part of home to be in town or in the open areas of the spacestation and what it is. Please also note if it's going to take over any of the shops (as listed here if you need any suggestions!). All other main buildings can't be overtaken, like the library and town hall. They can, however, have objects appear near, on top of, or inside them!
Now, don't think you have to be restricted to some place safe. If you were from the Star Wars universe and wanted to bring the giant trash compactor that nearly squishes Luke and co. in the first movie, you can definitely do that! Of course, if you were from the Indiana Jones universe, you could have giant rocks chasing you down a street if you moved something off a pedestal, or some other type of booby trap, and if you were from the Willy Wonka universe, there could be a chocolate river running around town now! (Sadly, no one is.) The sky is the limit! Just tell us that's what that room/object will do. And if you're unsure whether something will be allowed, etc, definitely ask!
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Before I wrap things up, just a few quick business notes. First of all, I wanted to apologize for this late plot update. I've had company in from out of town coupled with my brother's birthday, so real life things did get in the way of me both tagging and writing a plot post. Also, I wanted the time to check over details for the remainder of the season and beyond and I just didn't have that time until now. I can definitely say that we are on track for plot updates to return to their original update days (so next Saturday).
What hasn't helped in the last plot was the near-weekly downage of LJ during the DDoS attacks. I know some people were able to get in tags here and there whenever LJ was functional during that time, but it definitely didn't help matters or make things easier for people to meet the requirements of the next Activity Check on the 14th. So! Because of that, I'm going to push it back to the 24th. At this time, I'm undecided whether I'll change the actual AC requirements or not. Whether I do will depend on the number of entries we get up until the 24th. Also, because I am changing the date so much, everyone will have to check in (unless you're on hiatus at the time, of course).
Oh! In regards to what Nathan said about people having the device on them at all times, I will need a few volunteers for this! Mainly, it's so I know who might have it at that time. Just know that if I get a lot of volunteers, I might not be able to get to you; we only have so many weeks left in the second season! But I'm going to try! Nonetheless, this won't be first come, first served. To be fair, you'll have until Monday to volunteer, and from there, I'll be choosing at random via AIM dice, and you'll only be used once! I'll contact you through PM to let you know I chose you and what we'll do from there. Chances are, you might not have to do anything since I'll be doing these for plot updates, but I do plan on throwing some fun things in between that time~ So please be on the look out! (And let's hope LJ doesn't eat the PM notifs because that'd really suck. If it does, I know how to contact you guys otherwise!)
If anyone has questions, comments, concerns, etc, please don't be afraid to leave them here! Or contact me through the usual means.
Have fun everyone! ♥