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EVENT

Reverted
The city of Recollé...have you looked beyond the city lately? It may be time to do so.

I.

The good news, perhaps, is that everyone is back in their original bodies. The last few weeks may have been trying and embarrassing for several of you, but never fear! You're all in this together.

The nice thing about returning to your original body is that everything else seems to disappear along with the unintentional swapping. Your dreams on the evening of the 16th and the 17th are unoccupied and you're blissfully alone. Hallucinations fade away and the city almost feels brighter and cleaner. The messy paint job from May and June slowly flakes off to reveal a sparkling almost-new landscape below. All buildings, landmarks, flora and fauna are back to their original colors. The sky, however, is still painted a strange wash of colors and symbols.

The other nice thing about returning to your original body is that it's much easier to feel the sudden, sharp pain on your palm at midnight on the 18th, a needling high-pressure pain that lasts for all of 30 seconds. Upon looking at your hand, however, you'll notice something new.

In bright red font there's a new marking that reads: 13 Days:23:59:59.

58. 57. 56...

The timer steadily counts down, each second synced with each beat of your heart. As the days pass by the timer will slowly shift from the red to a dark, ominous purple. The glow of the mark becomes harder to ignore, and there doesn't seem to be a way to remove it. Good luck with that.

II.

The Retrospec app doesn't seem to be much better. The scrambled messages and posting errors seem to have stopped and users are no longer receiving messages and pictures about themselves.

In fact, the app seems to be quiet for a while.

As users continue to use the app they will find that any post, comment or message that they send via the app will be tagged with a different ID. Instead of their name, all messages will be from Alpha##### or Beta#####. The string of numbers will be unique for each user and cannot be changed at any time. Individual mailboxes will be attached to your name, but the Alpha/Beta ID has made its way there, too.

Over the course of the rest of the month, Alphas (those who have had the app for at least a year from August 2017) will find that messages to other Alphas are sent more easily than to Betas (those who have had the app for less than a year from August 2017) and vice versa. Messages to anyone from the opposite "faction" may drop out half-way or appear blank entirely. It might be wise to find a better mode of communication in the meantime.

III.
Even if you're alone in your dreams, you're not alone in the waking world. No one is free from the timer on their palm, though they may come to find that it impacts some users more than others.

Some users will experience a steady pulsating in their hand as the timer counts backwards, each second ticking by. Standing still just long enough will send the pulse out of their hands and through the rest of their body, over their arms and through their feet straight into the ground.

The earth begins to shake under these unlucky users, little quakes and trembles that spread out and seek out anyone else nearby. Whether you know this person or not, whether you're alone or several of you are impacted by this earthquake, the ground beneath you splits open and you're pulled straight down into the crevice, falling aimlessly. Instead of finding your own life flashing before your eyes, you'll find yourself witnessing events, faces, and memories that are important to the user the pulses came from.

On the outside of things, the user will promptly collapse into a coma-like state no matter where they're at. Inside their mind, however, a scene begins to set itself to welcome you as you land. It isn't a memory and it isn't a hallucination. It's a construct of someone else's innerworkings that have trapped you and blocked you in.

As the haze around you dissipates, the puzzle you received earlier this month floats in front of you. Whether you have finished building it or not it is now fully completed and all of the words have faded except for "Gordian Knot."

Your cell phones will not work in these dreamscapes, and even Retrospec seems to be disconnected. It's up to you to venture further into someone else's mind and help them untangle whatever mystery is hidden within themselves.

IV.
So about that timer. As time begins to run out, more and more people begin to experience dream dives and encounter the knots of others that they must fix. Even inside the dreamscape, the timer glows just as brightly as it had out in the real world and it continues counting down.

At least it gives you a sense of time and just how many minutes, hours, or days you've been stuck inside someone's subconscious. You might even realize that the timer is directly tied to just how much time you have to unravel the knots of your friends, loved ones, and strangers.

Easy, right? Take caution, citizens. The monsters and demons lurking in the corners of someone else's psyche can manifest to something quite powerful. You will not wake up and be booted out of someone's dream if you are attacked, but your physical body and mind will shut down and remain unconscious for one week.

Be careful how you approach these knots, however! Should you change any part of them too much, the host will find themselves rejecting this new information. Too great of a change will result in the loss of an important memory to them and no way to recover it inside the dive.

Even with these possible losses divers are responsible for fixing what's gone wrong and relieving the knot wound tightly in the host's mind. Venture forward, explore, and break it apart to awaken then. You will be greatly rewarded for your effort.

Failure to break the knot and save the host from this comatose state will result in all parties suffering a loss. At first it may not be obvious, but over time it will be clear an important memory or item has left your possession.

Is it just limited to dives though? Some users will feel that even with successful diving they don't quite feel like themselves. It seems as though there's some further self-evaluation they must meet in order to fully recover who they are...or were, as it may be.

Tick-tock, Retrospecters. Mind the time.

BONUS.
Ever since he moved in back in February, the lights have always been on in Zee's office and home at the top of the Towers. Office hours are whenever he feels like making them and he's usually reachable by phone, email, or app.

However, beginning on the 18th, messages to his inbox begin to go unanswered. Checking the inbox itself will reveal a change as well.

Delta#02018329 is no longer receiving messages.

On the 19th, the lights go off permanently. Beginning on the 20th, anyone who ventures to his office will find the building empty and locked, no sign of Zee at all. Reaching out to him receives a bounce-back error message.

Any previous correspondences with him will remain, though his name has been replaced with his Delta ID.

It's hard to say what's happened, but after some time, all users will finally receive a message from Delta#68422.

Stop him.

No other messages will be sent or received from this account.

Welcome to

recolle's August event, part 2!

As notated in the plotting post, the dreamdives are now live! Players are in charge of creating their own unique dive experiences for characters to explore and play through. These can be as harmless or as dangerous as you'd like. However, please be sure to let us know here if your character will be failing a dive and what memory/item they will be losing!

For Prompt II, characters IDs will be comprised of the following: The date your character first appeared on Retrospec (so in Zee's case, that was 02/01/18) and the last four digits of your character's IC inbox as found in the HTML (in Zee's case, 8329.) These IDs will be more relevant in September, but for ease of playing/making sure no one ICly overlaps please use these numbers!

Friendly reminder that if your character will be keeping their new AUs, please reply to this comment on the OOC plot post! As per Prompt IV, characters who are failing to recover their original AUs will begin to notice something is off and will not be able to accomplish what is needed to regain their original AUs. What this is is up to you!

As per the plotting post, threading out successful dream dives will earn you a free memory! Qualifying threads must be at least five comments from you and can be from you either hosting a dive or participating in one. Please note that failed dives will not be eligible for freebies.

Any questions you have regarding this event may be directed to the mod comment here. Be sure to review the mods' question thread on the plotting post for important information as well!

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[ Yeah, let's not go up. That's a bad idea. Let's just press that downward facing arrow, that's a safe bet that it'll take her all the way down and out, right? ]

[The elevator thrums as it starts to move down; from outside, chains rattle distantly like the figure had turned suddenly. But nothing immediately happened in the elevator; nothing barged in, the lights remained on without so much as a flicker. There wasn't any tinned elevator music, though.

This may be dangerous. Do you want to go all the way down?]

[ She'll go to at least ground level-- if there's anything below that, Mio will try her hardest not to go there but if she has no choice? We're going all the way down. ]

[The further down Mio goes, the less reality seems to function properly. The elevator door opens to brief static before that clears to another hallway with a harsh buzzing sound.

This hallway was even more barren than the first, to the point of being nondescript white. Like whoever thought about them just skimmed past those thoughts.

Two guards were wheeling a strange cage with another masked and helmeted figure suspended in the middle. There wasn't any rust or blood on the mask or chains; they were all sharp and new, like this dream was back further in time.

And this time, Mio's noticed. One of the security guards spots her in the elevator, and shouts.]

"Hey! What are you doing there?!"

[ Well, shit.

She can't help but pull her arms towards herself, feeling a little protective when the security guards show up. If she has to come up with an excuse, she has to do it quick. Tearing up, she keeps her voice shaky. ]

I-... I got lost and saw a lot of blood and...!! I was really scared that something might happen to me!

[The security guard who'd first shouted seemed unswayed, and started to advance towards the elevator.]

"This area's not open to the public."

[The second one hung back, near the restraint cage. He shook his head.]

"That some researcher's kid?"

[ Ahh, how annoying. She wonders how much longer she can keep it up, but she can at least let her tears settle and keep her voice shaky. ]

I didn't know... I just... I don't want to be here anymore.

[The guard sighs in exasperation as he finally reached the elevator, reaching for Mio's arm. He wasn't being too aggressive, but wasn't gentle in his movements either.]

"Come on, this isn't some daycare center. It's dangerous here."

[The second guard piped up again.]

"Who are your parents, kid?"

[ She's not exactly comfortable with the grip on her arm, but she won't fight against it just yet. The tears stop at least as she sniffles, not certain how she should answer.

Maybe she should be honest? If she's screwed somehow with this, then she'll have to go with Plan B. ]

Do... you know the name Sonozaki?

[The guard keeps yanking Mio along, back towards the restraint cage, his partner, and the cage's quiet occupant.]

"Huh? I don't know any Dr. Sonozakis, do you?"

[The second guard shrugs.]

[ She does follow when she's yanked, but she's not happy about it. ]

It doesn't matter, I just need to leave the building so I can go home.

"Look, kid, we can't just let people wander out. They might talk to the press. Understand?"

[The security guard's goodwill--at least what presumably passed for it--was running thin now. They were within arm's reach of the cage now.]

I'm eighteen.

[ Her tone is a little tense. ] What exactly are you going to do to me?

[The guard's tone is terse, and he scowls as his grip remained resolute.]

"That's the Director's decision, not mine."

[He yanked on her arm too far, and suddenly scrambled to catch and pull Mio back again away from the cage. The helmet on its occupant's face made their expression inscrutable, and the cage's "floor" is oddly empty of any items. The second guard spoke up, alarmed.]

"Hey, be careful! Nothing gets dropped in there, remember?!"

[ There's a bit of a screech when she's pulled like that all of a sudden, but she manages to keep her footing. ]

Then take me to that person right now.

"Are you nuts? You want to see the Director?"

[The scream made the prisoner jolt a bit, like they'd woken from a doze. They glanced around, as much as the restraints would let them.

It'd be a shame if something were to fall in the cage, especially now that they're paying attention.]

Well, if I can't leave, then that's my only option here, right?

[The first guard shook his head with a scowl.]

"Fine. It's your funeral."

[And he started pulling Mio past the cage.]

[ Is she really going to die... she honestly doesn't think so, but she'll at least hopefully get tugged as her eyes glance one more time at the cage before heading past it.

She just hopes things will be alright.

Maybe it's not as bad as they say it is. ]

[As Mio was dragged past the cage, the helmeted figure within it met her gaze.

Suddenly, something smashed into the cage floor--like it had been struck by a fist propelled at inhuman speeds. There was nothing visible there--just sudden, startling sound. The second security guard jumped--and his phone fell from his pocket. It began to ring as it fell, and the guard tried to catch it--

He'd stuck his hand into the cage.

The prisoner looked at him, he looked at her, and the realization of just how much he'd fucked up started dawning on his face.

And calmly, casually, translucent hands ripped his arm off.]

[ And it's in that exact moment that her movements stop, her eyes growing wide in what seems to be a rather distinct way and when she sees the arm getting ripped off like that, Mio just finds herself screaming. ]

[The mauled security guard didn't get time to scream. His head followed shortly after his arm, and the corpse dropped to the one-pristine metal. The first guard let go of Mio, pushing her away from the cage and drawing his side arm with a panicked shout. He fired--but the bullets didn't go anywhere, stopped in midair right at the edge of the cage.

A vector pulled a bundle of keys from the dead guard's pocket, languidly picking through them all to find the one she was after. Once the prisoner did, she started to undo the locks of the restraints holding her in the cage. The first guard's fear ratcheted up, and he dumped the rest of the magazine's worth of bullets at the prisoner.

It was no use. The restraints dropped with heavy, metallic thuds on the floor, along with the suspended bullets. The guard's gun clicked empty, and translucent hands reached past the cage bars to kill him too.

Oddly they didn't touch Mio, though she was easily within range. After the last guard's body crumpled to the ground, the vectors set about prying the bars of the cage open.]

[ Mio's eyes widen at the fact that she seems to somehow be safe from the attacks, the corpses just surrounding her. It makes her sick to her stomach but she manages to keep herself together, even now that her hands are covering her lips to stop herself from screaming a second time.

She even blink backs her tears, her breath caught in her throat as she can't even say the word she wants to say immediately.

But eventually she manages to say it, her voice cracking and shaking. ]

.... why?

[The figure paused a moment in wriggling free of the cage, glancing towards Mio with that impassive metal faceplate. There seemed to be six tiny holes in it, presumably way they could see. They still didn't give a hint of emotion; not the slightest shred of remorse, nothing.

Why? Wasn't it obvious? A vector picked up a restraint cable, and dropped it to the floor again. She was free now. Is that what she meant?]

[ It's definitely obvious now as she takes a step to make sure that she's not blocking the way, given that she's the only other living person left. ]

You're not going to kill me?

(no subject)

long_live_the_queen - 2018-09-15 22:48 (UTC) - Expand

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