recolle | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The bear continues to stare at Tatsuo and then proceeds to raise it paw, and beckons Tatsuo to come closer. The voice that comes out of the bear sounds exactly like Patrick Stewart. Of course Derek's bear would sound like one of the actors form Star Trek!]

"You. Derek needs your help. Will you help Derek, and unlock the door to his missing memories? These are memories Derek has been desperately trying to remember. If you will, you must answer four questions to prove that you truly care about Derek. Do you accept this task?"

[It's talking to him. Is that a good sign or a bad si--- but then the bear mentions missing memories. So Tatsuo nods.]

Yeah. I accept.

[The bears nods and then pats the space next to him, inviting Tatsuo to sit next to him if he wishes.]

My first question for you is: What do you think is Derek's best quality?

[Tatsuo is going to stay over here, thank you very much Mr Bear]

He loves his family. No matter what life he's living, family is always important to him.

[The bear nods.]

Simplistic, but accurate. Next question: What is your relationship with Derek?

[Tatsuo frowns. Because the first answer that comes to mind... doesn't feel entirely right. The bear talks about Derek trying to get back memories, but Tatsuo knows his own memories are flawed right now.]

We're neighbors... but.... honestly... he's like family to me. I can't... remember everything right now, but I think that's what we are. Family.

[The bear looks Tatsuo up and down.]

Family, huh? Didn't know Derek was Asian...

[The bear clears his throat.]

However, an acceptable answer. Your next question is: Derek's birthday is coming up in September, what will you get him?

[Tatsuo raises an eyebrow at the bear]

You don't need to be related by blood to be family, bear.

[and though he knows the answer to the next question, he's a little reluctant to give it]

How do I know Derek's not somehow going to find out? You are a representation of his psyche, aren't you?

[The bear nods.]

That I am. However, as his psyche, I've also been able to suppress childhood memories of his for almost twenty two years. I can hold out for a few weeks if you need.

So, what are you getting Derek for his birthday?

[twenty-two years, what???]

A board game. It kind of like a haunted house mystery board game. Because of how it's structured, it's different every time you play it and there's over fifty mysteries. So it is highly replayable.

A board game huh? Well it better be fun.

[The bear clears his throat.]

Final question: Will you promise to share what you are about to see with Derek when you wake up?

[The bear gives a very serious look at Tatsuo.]

[It's only the best board game ever, but there's no need to elaborate that point to Derek's psyche.

He nods in response to the bear's final question.]

Yeah, I'll tell him. I promise.

[The bear nods.]

Your answer is acceptable.

[The bear suddenly lights up and a key, a very old looking key, comes out of the bear. If Tatsuo takes it he will be pulled back to the room with two doors. Tatsuo now has the key to open the door he couldn't before.]

Whoa!

[what is with all this yanking around?

still. he has the right key for this door now.

so let's unlock this sucker.]

[The yanking around makes things fun!]

[When Tatsuo opens the door, he will see a small garden behind a two story English house. A young 3 year old child that looks a lot like a younger version of Derek runs around giggling being chased by his two parents, his birth parents.]

"Mummy is going to catch you Damien!"

[Little "Damien" giggles with glee. What is this? A different name?]

[The dad bends down and holds a very familiar bear, minus the Sherlock Holmes outfit out the the little boy.]

"Don't you want your bear Damien? Come get your bear!"

[The little boy runs over to his father and grabs the bear.]

His name is Derek!

[Tatsuo watches the scene, smiling at the happy scene. This must be Derek's childhood home...

Wait.

Damien?

Who the heeck is Damien?

Did Derek have some long lost twin or someth--]

His name is Derek!

[What.]

Edited 2018-10-02 18:11 (UTC)

[Eventually the memory will end and soon switch to a new memory. It's almost as if Tatsuo is watching a movie of young Derek (Damien's?) life.

It's evening and the dad comes home from work. He looks troubled. The wife notices and walks over to him. Young Damien is playing with his toys on the floor.]

"Lucas, is everything alright?"

[Lucas looks up.]

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Work is just... I guess the last accountant for the company did a shitty job and now I have to clean up his mess. The accounts are off."

[The wife hums in understanding.]

"Well, whatever it is, don't use that sort of language around Damien. He's three. He doesn't need to start having a potty mouth yet."

[Damien looks up from his toys and giggles.]

Potty mouth! Potty mouth!

[The wife sighs.]

"Look what you caused."

[Lucas just chuckles.]

[Time passes and and Tatsuo is pulled into another memory. Lucas is home again, late, and he looks on edge.]

"Adaline?"

[The wife, Adaline, comes out of the kitchen, Damien is in his high chair playing with his food.]

"Lucas, is something wrong?"

[Lucas's forehead is furrowed.]

"Do you know how long that black car has been outside our house?"

[Adaline's face shows confusion.]

"Black car?"

[She walks over to a window and looks out.]

"I don't know... a while? Why?"

[Lucas's face is straight, jaw set tightly.]

"Never mind. It's probably just a neighbor's car..."

[The scene changes again Tatsuo is in Damien's bedroom. Damien is sitting up in his toddler bed listening to his parents talking. Lucas has clearly come home early from work.]

"ADALINE! ADALINE!"

[You can hear a faucet being turned off and movement from another room.]

"Lucas! Damien is sleeping! Why are you home? What about work?"

[Some sort of bag is dropped to the floor with a loud thunk.]

"We have to leave. My company, it's a front for the mafia."

"What?"

"Remember how about a year ago I thought the accounts were messed up? All that missing money was going to the mafia. My boss tried to brush me off, told me not to worry about it. I didn't listen. I thought I was doing the right thing. Last night... I felt that someone was following me and then that black car out front... I think I'm being targeted and so are you and Damien because I know what I know. We have to leave. Pack enough clothes for you and Damien for a week. We have to leave NOW!"

[The memory starts to speed up, as if someone has pushed the fast forward button on a VHS player. Tatsuo will be able to see Adaline and Lucas packing their bags, getting Damien changed, struggling with a grumpy Damien because he didn't want to leave all his toys, but he was only allowed to bring his bear. The go to the bank and take out quite a bit of cash.

Tatsuo will see them go to the airport and take plane from London to Berlin, Germany. They then took a train from Berlin to Paris, France, followed by a plane from Paris to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, hoping to throw off any attempt of someone following them. There are many tired tantrums from Damien the whole way.

Eventually, they are in a car driving into the United States. Damien is awake, holding his bear tightly. Tatsuo will be seated next to him as Damien's parents talk in hushed tones.]

[It's a lot to take in. Almost too much. But Tatsuo is pretty sure he got the gist. Damien's father noticed something off about his employer's accounts. And he ended up finding out too much. It reminds him of Nishida.

When the memories finally reach the car, his brain is starting to hurt a little. He looks over at little Damien, wondering how this all fits into Derek's life. How'd they ever go back to the UK?]

[Damien continues to hold his bear tight as his parents continue to talk. Their hushed tones become more clear and Lucas sighs.]

"Fine, we'll to to your sister in DC. But first I want to stop off in the next city. I need to do something."

[They soon reach the city of Recolle and Lucas drives the car to a bank and parks the car. He grabs a floppy disk case filled with disk from his bag in the back seat. He reaches over and rubs Damien's head and gives him a forced smile.]

"Hey there buddy, how are you feeling. You keeping Derek safe and warm?"

[Damien looks at his dad.]

I'm hungry... so is Derek!

[Lucas's smile falters.]

"We'll eat dinner soon OK? Daddy just has to do something at the bank first."

[Lucas lean forward and gets out of the car. He goes into the bank and comes out about 40 minutes later. When he returns and looks back at Damian and motions to his bear.]

"Hey, can I see Derek for a moment? I got something for him."

[Damien hands his bear over to his dad and Lucas turns the bear over. He pulls out a key. He finds the hold in the back of the bear where it was originally stuffed, and shoves the key in, hiding it in the fluff of the bear. He then hands it back to his son.]

"There you go buddy. Derek is going to keep something safe for me."

[Adaline looks on with a worried look.]

[The scene moves forward and it is now dark and they are driving through the woods on the outskirts of Recolle. Tatsuo will still be in the car next to Damien. Damien is trying hard to stay awake but his eyes are bleary. From the rear view mirror it is easy to tell that Lucas is tiered and desperately needs sleep. Adaline is passed out in the seat next to him. Suddenly, Lucas's head falls forward and the car starts to veer into the other lane. There are lights ahead heading straight for them. Adaline suddenly wakes up and sees what is happening.]

"LUCAS! THE CAR!"

[Lucas jolts awake, but they are too late, a semi-truck hits them and their car is thrown to the side, and starts to flip. Damien screams in fright, holding tight to his bear. However, since he wasn't in a car seat, he slips out of the seat belt and though the window. He will land on asphalt and roll into the shoulder. His body facing the wreckage of his parents car. Tatsuo will be standing next to him, watching the rest of the scene. The car is upside down and Lucas and Adaline are trying to get out, but they are stuck.]

Mummy... daddy...

[This impact his body is a huge shock on is body and it is affecting his ability to stay awake. But just before he passes out, the car Lucas and Adaline were in burst into flames, trapping them inside. Damien start to cry, but soon passes out from his injuries. The scene goes black and Tatsuo will be alone for a moment.

Then a white ball of light will appear in front of Tatsuo. In the ball of light he will be able to see scenes of all the memories he just witnessed.

Behind him he will hear sniffling. If he turns around, he will see an adult Derek. But, is it the Derek he knows? His is still wearing a shirt and tie, but it's not the same ones he wears when he goes to the hospital. The tie is looser, not that it really matters, because it's practically on the ground in a wrinkled mess as Derek is curled up in a ball.]

[Shit. Shit. What the hell was this? Derek's parents are alive! In England! What the hell was that accident?!

And then it's gone. And it's just him and Derek.... or is this Damien?]

Derek?

[Derek doesn't notice Tatsuo at first. It is almost as if he can't hear Tatsuo and he just continues to sniffle. The white ball of light that Tatsuo saw suddenly floats over to Derek and enters his head. The ring box Tatsuo had floats out of Tatsuo's pocket and, while glowing, enters into Derek's back, just at the spot where Derek's heart would be located.

One the lights disappear, Derek ceases sniffling. He looks up at who called out his name, completely unaware that some balls of light just entered his body.]

Tatsuo? How- how did you get here?

[Yeah. This is some weird dream bullshit.]

I think we're dreaming again. Though, I think it's a bit more than a dream.

[Derek frowns at Tatsuo's comment.]

It's definitely more than that. I can't get out. I've been trying to get out for weeks! But there is something blocking me from leaving. It's almost as if some part of me... doesn't want me to come out... doesn't want to be me... I know that sounds weird but... I don't know how else to explain it. I think... I think I'm in my own mind... or in some kind of dream...

[Derek sits up fully and sighs.]

I don't know why I'm here...

[Oh. Is this is Derek's other life?]

Sorry... could I ask your question, Derek? What's your last name?

[Derek gives Tatsuo a confused look.]

That's a dumb question, you know my last name Tatsuo. It's Matthews. Been that way since I was seven. Hasn't changed.

(no subject)

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive

Re: dreamdive