recolle | CITY EVENT LOG

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CITY EVENT LOG

EVENT

The New Administration
Wait, what?
*[ooc: please be sure to read all mod notes at the bottom!]

The third is when everything seems to start with a bang. On the third day of February, several crashes and bangs are heard and the sound of creaky metal ripples through the air. Those who look outside will see a sight for sore eyes. The moon and the stars brighten the sky and the dome is nowhere to be seen.

Instead, anyone in Tisse will find yet another addition to the wonderful city of Recollé. At the very top of the Towers sits a penthouse with wide windows and an empty office building, soft lights glowing and illuminating the area.

The city goes silent after that, but at the top of the hour every single Retrospec user receives a text from a user named Zee Carlisle.

Nice city you've got here. They weren't kidding when they said I would fit right in. I've always wanted to live in a city like this. Jo, Maury and the rest of the team have given you a little bit of a breakdown in preparation for our little project, but they recruited me to step in. Seems like a lot of you want a more personal experience here with us at Retrospec. So let's talk. Get to know each other. I'll go first. Zee Carlisle, Hiring Manager. Nice to meet you, etc. I've been watching you for a while, Retrospecters. Kind of a unique group you've got going. I like it. Here's the thing. We've been experiencing some problems out of our control for a while now. The director's been trying to keep things under wraps for the last year, but HR and R&D finally convinced the higher ups that we need help. So. You want the whole story? Here's your story. The storms are getting worse. You might've noticed. Calls are down, mail's down, communication as a whole is down and isolating you into this teensy bubble of a city. It's why the dome went up, had to protect our resources and start isolating the sources. More areas and more people even outside of your little group here are being affected, but you guys are the only people who can help us. Some of you passed your assessments with flying colors and I've already sent messages. You'll leave for your assignments in the morning at 9am, congratulations. As for the rest of you, welllll…consider this an interview. You see...as a Hiring Manager, I'm looking for recruits for our new project. The Recollé Restoration Initiative (going forward known as the RRI) is a project we designed here to not only help us, but to help you help us help you. Make sense? Cool. You may ask, "Why should we trust you?" which is a completely fair question to ask. And hey, you don't have to trust me or trust them. But I think you might be interested to know that you and I have more in common than you think. As a user on the network, you can contact me via text, phone or email. I'll also have some office hours and more resources than you could ever dream of. But enough about me. Here's your first assignment.

I.

On the morning of the fourth, users going through their assessment period (i.e. those of you who are working inside the city) receive a diagram from Zee. In this diagram, a dot labelled "Recollé" sits in the center and in the four cardinal directions are different labelled dots. To the south is Pesgare. To the north is Magatus. To the east is Respatrum. And to the west is Bosuma.

Citizens will find that they are able to leave the city limits now and can explore the open areas leading to these four points. While they will not be able to visit them just yet, they will be instructed that they must work together to begin structuring paths, roads, or forms of transportation between the main city of Recollé and these four locations. Zee may take requests and provide items should users ask, but it's up to you to work together and start brainstorming the best ways to create maps and connect these points together.

But the best way to do that is to start exploring, right? Hit the road and grab a friend to begin getting a lay of the land. Southward leads residents to the beach while northward leads them through the forest, east and west giving way to desert and open field areas the further they travel. The expanse of directions seems endless, but eventually citizens will find that they will hit a point where they're unable to enter. An "ACCESS DENIED" notification will pop up on their phone, notifying them that they've reached the entry points of the special assignments volunteers have been sent on.

But even with restricted access, there's plenty to be done and plenty to take care of as part of the initiative. Flora in the area needs to be identified and the fauna may be a bit problematic if you aren't careful. Some of these plants and creatures may even look familiar to you, but many of them won't!

Off-roading and camping are encouraged and despite the fact it's February the weather seems to be amendable to these ventures. Clear as many of the monsters as possible to make way for the paths, report your findings to your hiring manager, and look out for each other as you start to shape the land.

II.

It's not just the outskirts of the city and open areas that need help. Some citizens who have lived here for a while may remember that February 3rd is traditionally known as Founder's Day, a holiday set up by the city to celebrate the foundation. In the days leading up to the third, banners, signs and all kinds of advertisements have gone up reminding everyone that this year is the 100th anniversary of the city's foundation. However, as the third approaches, Founder's Day comes and goes without any sort of large celebration. In fact, the annual parade is cancelled and instead citizens gather to discuss a more trying matter.

Breaking news hits the airwaves that Mayor Mayer, the entire city council, the head of police, the fire chief and other prominent figures of the city have disappeared overnight. As newscasters record TV footage in front of City Hall and the police station, Retrospec users will receive a new message.

Uh. Well, that was unexpected. I wasn't really counting on something like this coming up but let's roll with it and count it as part of your assessment. You want your city to keep running the way it did? Find your mayor and the others. But hey...it's your city. What if you didn't?

Under your feet, blue pulses of light run under the streets and the sidewalks, energy thrumming beneath you as all lights lead back to the subway tunnels again. Will you be a hero and follow the lights to rescue these people? Or will you be a face of change and leave them to perish and redesign the city?

Those who do enter the tunnels will find that a new route has opened, a mouth to the left of the main entrance from the city. Unlike the other dirt-filled vine-and-rat-infested tunnels, this one is a sterile and bright silver path with floor to ceiling panels on one side of the tracks and floor to ceiling mirrors on the other. The path seems to stretch miles and miles under the city and the further you walk, the narrower the path becomes. The sound of wild animals echo through the tunnels from the other sides of the panels, and the mirrors to your left reflect skeletal forms of both people and animals alike. The closer you get to the end though, the louder the sounds grow and the panels to the right slide open to release several chimera-esque creatures who will do everything they can to guard the silver door at the end of the tunnel. These creatures can be defeated by normal means, and they will not hesitate to attack anyone who gets close.

Is it worth fighting to save these people? You decide. Those who defeat the creatures and find themselves at the silver door will receive yet another message.

Hang tight, I am grouping you with some of the others to finish this thing.

III.
Later on the fourth, no matter where you are, you may find something heavy resting in your pocket. A small colored stone shaped like a heart appears and even while tucked away safely it burns brightly. Holding it, the heart feels as though it's pulsating and you're flooded with an overwhelming sense of love for something special whether that's a person, an item, or an ideal. All users find themselves in possession of a stone, and soon another text comes through.

If you're anything like me, you're probably wondering what's up with the rocks. Had the techs run some tests on these. Don't freak out, but you might want to be careful with them? They're working as fast as they can but bits of your soul energy are tied directly to those stones. You break it or make it lose its shine, well, hard to say WHAT might happen.

Users who keep their stones on their person in their pockets or in a bag will find that whatever emotions they're dealing with will transfer to whomever they encounter. Feeling happy that the sun's back? Everyone around you will wear a smile. Stressed out that your loved ones volunteered for a mission and they're out who-knows-where? Everyone around you will pick up that same nervous energy. The stone's color will fade if you ignore these feelings and even worse, fissures may start to form if they continue to be ignored.

And though you may not know it yet, shattering the heart is the worst thing you could do: if the stone breaks, the thing that you love disappears from your mind completely. All memories and emotions associated with this heart will vanish without a second thought.

IV.
What's that smell in the air? Is it love? Close, it's cherry blossoms. It's a sickeningly sweet scent that occasionally blows through with the wind, strongest in the city and more faint the further you travel. However, citizens beware as invisible assailants appear to be on the prowl. Without warning, you may feel the prick of Cupid's arrow from behind. Though the effects only last two hours maximum, they're fairly inconvenient while on assignment. These effects include:

-Heart-shaped pupils
-A violent whirlwind of rose petals appearing any time you make eye contact with someone new
-Your emotions are intensified
-Your emotions are flipped. People you have a fondness for may now disgust you, or people you normally argue with may become your best friend

Inconvenient, yet manageable, right?

On February 14th though things become a bit harder. Yet another message comes through.

Hope you've been having an easier time with the residual effects than I am. You know what makes everything easier? Teamwork. And that's what today's assignment is all about. Happy Valentine's Day.

The first person that you see on this day may be a friend or a stranger, but soon you will find that a strangely magnetic force binds the two of you together. For the next 24 hours, you and your partner will be stuck together and must work together. Whether this is working on the road construction assignment, the rescue mission or just going about your everyday lives you'll have a built-in companion for the day. Who knows? You may even find yourself stuck with up to two additional people, too.

But what if you stray too far from your partner(s)? No worries. A red string will bind your hands together and ensure you're always connected, simply falling away once the 24 hours are up.

THE FUTURE.
So this is life now, isn't it? A year's gone by since Retrospec's impacted so many lives and it may feel as though you're nowhere closer to answering questions. Perhaps you're just starting your journey with the restoration company. Either way, your help is most appreciated and acknowledged. As you work toward the goals assigned to you, you will be rewarded. For an excellent show of teamwork, at the end of your assessment you will find yourself on the receiving end of a brand new memory or vision of a life lost. Some of you may also receive a ticket in the mail to pick up an item at the Retrospec mailbox by Wiffle-Waffle. A message will be sent not long after.

Congrats, you passed. Come to my office in March if you're ready for harder assignments.

Welcome to

recolle's February event!

Please read these notes carefully!

Prompt I may be played with however you want! There is really no right or wrong answer, and as mentioned Zee can be reached at his inbox to provide you with any tools your character may ask for to connect the four points to the city. You are free to make up plant names and what effects they have on the eco systems as well and report these back to the NPC if you wish. As of right now, the only monsters roaming the grounds are those in the above bestiary though other earthly wildlife may be found.

Prompt II will require some coordination! If you complete a thread with someone in which you defeat the monsters and get to the silver door before 2/16 at 9pm EST, please hit up Zee's inbox! ICly (and oocly) your character will be put in contact with the small group of others who have worked toward this endeavor and given the next step to save these important NPCs.

Prompt III will have set consequences! If your character breaks their heart, they will lose memories and feelings associated with something they love. Breaking the stone is entirely optional, and there will possibly be a way to regain these memories later down the line as a reward for the future, but please keep this in mind!

The Future will only be applicable once you've met your freebie requirements for this log! Remember, the requirements for one free memory are 15 comments spread across at least two threads (min. 5 consecutive comments each) using these prompts. For the free 10-20 point item, one of these threads must be with a character you haven't threaded with before!

A mod-posted Retrospec post may go up if necessary to connect city players with group players, dependent on player action!

As always, you may also create your own logs or inbox threads based on these prompts. Any questions you have regarding this event may be directed to the mod comment here.

Happy anniversary, Recollé!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Eleanor kept lobbing fireballs past the persona, sometimes hitting the creature, sometimes not. It was a slow process, but it was working. Beyond the monster, the hallway split at a t-junction, which gave them two options for where to go and what to do with the creature. Hm.]

Maybe we should-

[Her suggestion to pick a direction was cut off as another of the creatures emerged from the left tunnel, just beyond the the first. It was a bit bigger also, and it let out another three-mouthed roar when it saw what was happening.]

Never mind.

I guess we have to keep fighting harder.

[Yukiko draws herself back some, taking a deep breath and filling her lungs. Slowly letting it out, using it as a means to keep calm, she holds up both hands. The Persona mirrors the gesture, and enormous balls of fire start forming. The glow gets brighter and brighter, and she's relying more on Eleanor to keep up the smaller barrage.]

I'm going to try and get rid of the little one in one shot. I just need a minute to get it ready, if you can cover me.

[Eleanor couldn't help but grin ruefully at that request, even as she watched the fire building up in the air, her own fireballs rather paltry in comparison.]

Oh sure, take your time.

[She joked, even as she focused on the monsters. Her fireballs weren't doing as much as she might have liked, especially compared to what Yukiko could muster. She tried her telekinesis, arms outstretched, knives dropping to the floor, but there were too many and they were too strong to just grab onto. Hrm.]

[She dropped the field and sucked in a breath. There was another way to drive them back, really. They were animals right? It wasn't hard to surprise animals, scare them...she flexed her fingers, and two of her knives hopped back off the ground into her waiting palms.]

[All those memories of the other Eleanor fighting...maybe she had to stop ignoring them, at least a little.]

Gonna try something stupid!

[She called out even as she suddenly rushed forward, towards the closest creature, the one she'd stuck earlier. It didn't seem to be expecting that, and slowed it's charge...and then stopped it completely with a startled yelping-roar as Eleanor rolled forward to stab one knife up into it's upper jaw and the other into the left eye of it's lower face.]

[It stumbled back with a roar of pain, swinging at her blindly and catching her just as she tried to dive out of the way, sending her sprawling backwards with own yelp of pain, her knives left buried in the creature.]

[That is extremely stupid, Eleanor, but Yukiko can't react. She's stuck, rooted, building up the fireball and getting ready to blast one of the creatures into oblivion. She had intended to target the one that wasn't engaged with Eleanor...but that one hits her partner.

And Yukiko Sees Red.

With a wrathful snarl, she holds out both hands and lobs the gigantic Agidyne and the other two she'd been building up right at the attacker, striking it squarely in the face. The blast ripples along it's skin and sends it careening backwards. The roar is nothing short of deafening, and when the smoke clears all that's left is a glassy, blackened husk.]

Are you okay?!

[She's already running towards Eleanor while the other chimera seems to hesitate.
Wonder why.]

[Eleanor the smack tossed Eleanor far enough that she hit the wall with a grunt, falling down on her side, briefly seeing stars. Which cleared just in time for her to see the chimera that had hit her vanish into a ball of fire that would've made a sun god jealous.]

[Jesus. She had known Yukiko was powerful but...]

[She sat up, pressing her hand to her forehead just as Yukiko ran over to her, and she gave a nod as she started to stand, her other hand on the wall.]

Yes. Uh...thanks. [A beat, looking over at the smoldering corpse.]

I don't imagine I'm getting my knives back, am I?

[A little attempt at a joke.]

[Healing magic floods down Yukiko's hand, the strongest spell she knew, undoing any aches and pains that Eleanor might have. There's no overhealing meter on this raid.]

Probably not...

[Whoops.]

I wanted to make sure it stayed dead.

[Eleanor sucked in a breath as the healing energy ran through her, feeling the bruises and bump on her head from a moment earlier fading away. She actually laughed as the sensation faded away.]

Wow. I need you to do that to me all the time.

[She actually blushed faintly as she said it, then focused on spotting her third knife on the ground behind them and calling it over to herself.[

[Behind the smoldering corpse, the other monsters were still holding back, though who knew how long that would last.]

...I think it's very dead, yes. I don't suppose you can do that again?

I can.

[Both the healing and the fire, but another display like that is probably going to take it out of her.

However, the other chimera seems to be backing off when she looks at it, nervously whinnying and slinking back into the tunnels.]

But I don't think I need to. If it's going to stay out of our way, then we're okay. We can keep going.

[Eleanor wasn't entirely convinced, but she had to admit, the creature certainly looked terrified. If it was going to stay that way as they got closer, that would certainly be a plus.]

Okay. Well let's find out, shall we?

[She grinned, flipping her knife into her opposite hand and then reaching out to catch Yukiko's hand with her now-free one, before turning to walk further down the hall. Maybe it really would just let them pass...]

Absolutely.

[Yukiko moved ahead, her Persona drifting along beside her. As they near the chimera, it scurries backwards, deeper into a side tunnel, letting out an uncomfortable yowl.]

I guess that worked. Stupid creatures.

Oh I don't know, after what you did back there, he seems awfully smart. I wouldn't want to get on your bad side either.

[She was clearly teasing, but she was also still impressed. Yukiko was a lot more powerful than Eleanor had realized.]

Think there are any more down here?

[She asked as she continue down the main tunnel with her.]

[She's been pouring points into things for months, Eleanor...]

Maybe. We'll find out when we get further. I hope not, though. I'd hate to have accidentally doomed a species by killing half of it.

[That'd be kind of a bummer, honestly.]

[Well that was a cheery thought.]

I doubt that the ones down here are the only ones anywhere.

[She said, hoping to be reassuring.]

But if they are, I doubt they're happy, so we should hurry.

[Lightly pulling the other along as she hurried up. At least there didn't seem to be too many twists and turns to this part.]

[Yukiko moves along quickly too, and blessedly, the fleeing chimera seems to have actually warned others because there's no more aggression. There are the sounds of scuttling claws moving along the passages ahead of them, though.

Lucky.]

What do you think we'll find?

[Eleanor chuckled at the sound of retreating claws.]

Your legend proceeds you.

[She let her eyes wander the walls as she thought over the question.]

Well, so far this all feels like something akin to a sterile laboratory hall. Maybe something along those lines? An operating suite or lab?

[Eleanor they are here to rescue people that is a terrible suggestion.]

Maybe.

[She had heard from Souji about a lab. But this feels different. Very different.

Rounding the corner, she stops, a large silver door coming into view.]

Guess this is where we were heading? Should we open it?

Well, I know I want to.

[Eleanor took in the door. It was almost as tempting as a giant red button. But then she sighed.]

Better not though. We're supposed to text that guy first, right?

Right.

[She will do that now. And...wait.]

[Eleanor watched Yukiko send her text, then leaned against the wall, head bobbing faintly as she mentally counted the seconds. Fifteen...twenty...]

Soooo, I guess we'll be waiting a bit. [She grinned cheekily and waggled her eyebrows.] Wanna make out?

[Damn it Eleanor.]

[Smiling good naturedly, Yukiko pats Eleanor's shoulder.]

Not...right now. Maybe when this is all resolved.

[Eleanor put on a big fake pout, but it lasted all of maybe five seconds before it was gone. She was kind of terrible at things like that.]

Fiiiiine. [She said with a laugh as she pushed off the wall again, pacing towards the middle of the hall.]

So, what do you think is behind the door?

Hopefully the mayor? I...don't know.

[But yeah. Yeah...]

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