JULY EVENT LOG 2.0

[recollecters]

EVENT

CRASH AND BURN The last day of the ReConvention finds con-goers crowding the convention center for last-minute panels and purchases. The halls fill with attendees bartering for wares, attending autograph sessions and showing off their cosplays. But for a select number of people, time is of the essence. Those who scanned their QR codes at the Retrospec booth will notice that their countdown clock draws closer to zero. With each second ticking closer and closer to the end, a sense of urgency settles around the crowd. But, perhaps you’re one of the ones who will carry on as if nothing is happening. Or maybe you didn’t scan your code at all. It doesn’t matter though. There’s nothing stopping the clock from its descent backwards, and as the timer strikes zero a loud, piercing roar echoes off of every wall of the convention center. I. Those who were brave enough to scan their received QR codes (and even those who didn't but received one regardless) will find that their mobile devices shock them, a quick electric burst that leaves behind a white-hot sort of pain. When you open your eyes after the initial hit, a floating treasure chest appears. While there may be multiple chests surrounding you, it seems you may only open those with your name on them. Another beam of light shines upon opening your prizes, orbs skyrocketing through the air as they circle briefly before settling around you. A surge of energy ignites within, and for some lucky few new companions and items have also been rewarded to those who played Jim's game. But…perhaps they aren't the ones you expected. Perhaps they make no sense at all. Why not give them a try? II. But seeing how the convention center continues to shake, it might be better to find out what’s up. The source of chaos can be traced back to Seto Kaiba's gaming booth as a projector in the wall releases monster after monster that pour out of the projection and come to life. Though the TV above Kaiba’s booth is shattered, the projector keeps rolling and the monsters appear while destroying the booth itself in their haste to be free. Among the rubble left behind the blue glow of the Retrospec symbol shines brightly from a side-panel of the projector. For those in the convention center, there is the option to run and hide. With the building shifting due to the onslaught of attacks, piles of drywall, cracks and crevices and more provide for good hiding spots to give you time to make a new plan. Of course, there's always the fight option. What will it take to bring these beasts down? Maybe it's best to lure them outside instead and away from civilians. III. Or perhaps that was a bad idea. Whether citizens manage to wrangle the monsters outside or not the beasts will make their way out on their own, fighting amongst themselves and chasing people through the city's streets. Even those who didn't attend the convention will find that the infestation spreads to every district of the city itself, and their QR-given items and abilities kick in. They aren't going for the kill, but they will follow any moving target including those who aren't on the Retrospec network. Though these citizens may run, hide or need rescuing, if asked they will simply remark that the city's always had a bit of a monster problem. However, now that the fight's moved outside, it's easier to see the distinct red tint to the monsters' eyes every time they blink. A monster that has to forcibly change direction will flicker for a moment, like an image buffering and loading. Even when a monster unleashes an attack, some fighters may take the full impact while others get away with minor to no damage. In those moments, it's easier to bring them to a halt. When a monster meets its demise though, something strange happens. The flickering is more rapid and faster, and the creature will dissolve into black blocks and spores that evaporate into thin air. What the hell was that? Now probably isn't the best time to ask questions. IV. The fighting rages on but with the sun still hanging in the sky it's impossible to tell what time it is. One of the monsters seems to have knocked out the nearby cell phone tower, too, taking down not only cell phone reception, but the entire Retrospec network as well. It goes on for what feels like hours with the sun beating down from above. Retrospec users battle monsters and fight to reconnect while the network errors out any time someone tries to send a message about the city under attack. It seems as though a new wave of monsters appear just as the last one dies down. It's with a sudden jolt that reception on your mobile device returns, but Retrospec appears to be in a maintenance mode where the network is still inaccessible. A quick glance at the date on your phone reveals that instead of the mere hours you thought, nearly five days have passed by and you realize the date is now August 3rd. Upon that realization everyone's devices begin to chime with several notifications and the monsters all seem to pause for one brief moment. Not long after, Retrospec members will also find themselves frozen in place no matter how hard they struggle. The spell on the monsters breaks as they swoop upon these unfortunate few, picking them up in their claws, hands or mouths. A large swirling portal opens not far away and one by one creatures dive straight through the portal with the Retrospec users. These portals may spit you out anywhere in the city, but several of them send residents to Peach Beach. Strangely, the monsters are nowhere to be found, but way out in the distance appears to be a creature, swallowing up the ocean in a swirl of waves. You can try to run out to fight it, but the moment your feet touch what used to be the ocean floor a forcefield throws you back to the sand allowing the ocean to slip away right before your eyes. The moment the last drop is drained, that monster disappears, too. What happens next? To be continued… And welcome to the wrap-up of the ReConvention! As Prompt IV says, monster attacks will continue through all five days (July 30th, 31st, August 1st, 2nd and 3rd) and the network will not be accessible to anyone in-game from now until August 3rd when a mod-posted Retrospec post goes live! Please feel free to play with the monster attacks as you wish! You can have your characters escape via glitches in the monsters, or you can fight the monsters and and your character can actually take damage for a real battle (though death is not an option at this time.) We leave that up to you! Please do not post any threads in this log or in your inboxes set for after this log just yet! We will be setting up August's event via this log and for plot purposes we ask that you refrain from doing anything prior to our Retrospec post on 8/3. Those who are in Group One or Group Two will learn more about their small-focus teams on August 3rd when your logs goes live. Please direct questions about this log to the mod comment here. Thanks!

Comments

[manufactured]

[...He can take a hint, Jaeger, give him a second and he'll get up.]

Even if it isn't, there's enough weaponry in there for it to be a bit less of a concern.

[It'll...hopefully be fine.]

[scythegun]

[Thanks, Wesker!!]

That's true, isn't it! It'll be nice to use a gun again!

[Admittedly he's never actually fired at anything living (if these monsters can be considered "living") but that probably won't be a problem! They are just monsters, after all.]

[manufactured]

[All right, he's just going to get up and...stumble a little bit, because wow. Wow? Wow. He is really not accustomed to this level of activity...at all, and the adrenaline is starting to crash hard now that the fight is over and he's had a moment.

He'll catch himself, though.]

We should keep moving. There are likely more where those came from, and we don't want them to find us before we're rearmed.

[Come on, let's go.]

[scythegun]

Ja, of course!

[The shooting range can't be too far now, right? Let's keep going!!]

[manufactured]

Will you be all right if we encounter anything else?

[The question is casual enough, but at the same time, dude, try really hard to not overexert yourself and pass out or something. Thankfully our destination isn't far.]

[scythegun]

[He doesn't really want to admit that he's tired out, but lying about it certainly won't get him anywhere.]

I'd prefer to avoid any more fights if we can help it!

[...That's not really an answer.]

[manufactured]

[...It's enough of an answer, honestly.]

Likewise. I don't have enough rounds to handle anything else on my own, unless it's something that dies rather easily.

[scythegun]

[Thank you for that...]

So we need to hurry! Once we get there we can rest for a bit and resupply!

[LOOTING \o/ ]

[manufactured]

[LOOTING...

Thankfully the place isn't too difficult to find, nor is it terribly far; as long as they stay away from, you know, large concentrations of panic and screaming it should be all right.]

...These things aren't discriminating between those of us that have been chosen by Retrospec and those that haven't. I'm not sure what to make of that.

[scythegun]

You'd think they'd only target Retrospec-users if this was caused by Retrospec, right? We have a better chance of fighting them off, anyway. But I suppose there's little use in trying to make sense of this.

[Nothing else Retrospec's done makes sense, anyway.]

[manufactured]

Zaveid actually thinks this seems a little low for Retrospec's usual standards - they cause problems, surely, but unleashing monsters that are highly likely to cause casualties on a civilian population seems a bit much.

[...]

...We're taking that man out drinking once this is over, incidentally.

[scythegun]

Oh, I didn't know you two were acquainted! Of course we're taking him out drinking; I'm sure he's just as fun as you are!

[...But right, Retrospec...]

It does seem a bit much though, doesn't it? I'm not sure what they'd be getting out of this, unless they want people to die for... some reason.

[manufactured]

[...Jaeger...]

I can't imagine what that reason might be; it isn't as though most of the population is an inconvenience for them.

[Given how accepting they are of everything that happens...

Anyway. The shooting range is right around here; given that it's a Sunday (to our knowledge, anyway) and all hell is breaking loose, there shouldn't be too many people around, if there are any at all.]

[scythegun]

[Ah, here we are! It looks clear for the time being, so let's go ahead and let ourselves in!]

I suppose everyone is hiding somewhere until all this blows over. That's convenient for us!

[manufactured]

Yes and no. It's likely their supplies are locked up...

[This is the second goddamn round of breaking and entering that he's done this month. This one is probably upgraded to burglary, depending on whether or not we consider looting during a crisis like this a crime that's punishable by law.

What the hell happened to his absolutely normal life, seriously.]

[scythegun]

They should have keys somewhere around here, ja?

[He'll start looking behind the counter then, let's see if we'll have any luck with the keys. If smashing our way in is an option then great!! But keys are probably the best way to go here.]

[manufactured]

[I mean, there's probably a fucking gun safe somewhere in the back, let's hope we can find keys...

He'll help you look eventually, just...let him find somewhere to sit down for a bit and put his head in his hands; it looks kind of like he's dealing with a migraine or something - he isn't, but this is just...kind of a lot, give him a second.]

[scythegun]

[Hmm. There doesn't seem to be anything up here...]

...Are you okay?

[You don't look like you're doing all that well, um.]

[manufactured]

...I should be. I... Yes, I'll be fine.

[...Look, he spent most of the morning in a crowded space and then all hell broke loose and now we're looting a fucking shooting range because we're possibly all going to die, it's a bit much.]

[scythegun]

[Jaeger looks a little skeptical at that, but it doesn't take long for his expression to shift back into the usual cheerfulness.]

It's been a hell of a day already, hasn't it? We'll be fine. I'm sure of it!

[It's easier to believe that right now since they're indoors and no monsters have broken in.]

[manufactured]

Exactly; I know. It's going to be fine.

[And he does know that - this entire thing is honestly less actual panic and more generalized "look at him, he's got anxiety" but he'll manage either way, just...give him a moment to breathe.]

[scythegun]

Precisely! You have my help, after all~!

[He'll laugh once that's out there and go back to searching for the key over here to let Wesker have his space for a little bit.

...They really will be okay, right?]

[manufactured]

[There are only so many places to keep keys; these are thankfully reasonably easy-access due to the place having been locked up for the evening on Saturday. So from there it's just a matter of dealing with the gun safe in the back, most likely.

...Wesker appreciates the space, by the way.]

[scythegun]

[It's no problem. He's here to help, after all!

Anyway, once he finally locates the keys he'll head on over to check out the gun safe in the back. This should prove to be interesting, at least!]

[manufactured]

[...Given that it's a shooting range, they're probably not in the greatest condition? Like, shooting range guns tend to be pretty abused and scuffed up, they're not kept pristine, though they're functional and definitely maintained enough such that they won't just explode on you.

If it's anything like a standard shooting range, there are probably shotguns along with basic handguns and stuff back there. Rentals, you know?]