EMPTY CHAIRS AT EMPTY TABLES

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: All
WHERE: Concordia - VEN DIAGRAMS HQ + BOUT IT OUT PARLOR + BEARINGS APARTMENT BLOCK
WHEN: Late Day :022 + Early Day :023
SUMMARY: The results of all your hard work - for better or worse. One win, one draw, one loss. Anakin Skywalker bites the big one.
WARNINGS: Violence, non-graphic character death.

IT’S BEEN A LONG DAY. Unfortunately, that’s not about to change any time soon. In the late hours of the evening, two things are happening: the final round of the Bout It Out expose between Kun-Kun and The Darkling is spooling up; meanwhile, the infiltration team at Ven Diagrams is working to retrieve information on H+H1 from the company’s security drive. Unfortunately, neither is going to reach the natural conclusion.

At the REGAL STREET GAMING PARLOR, emotions are running high. After a long day of simulation violence and the reveal of Kun-Kun’s new automaton fighting avatar, the crowd has been stoked to a few pitch. The music’s loud but the crowd is louder: cheering and booing, shouting for every landed or evaded strike. There’s an electric pulse of excitement in the air-- and then there’s a very literal one as an electromagnetic pulse rocks the Regal Street Parlor. The Bout It Out ring shorts and the entire parlor is pitched into total, window-less darkness. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds for the crowd’s excitement to melt into panic. Pushing, shoving, shouting - a piercing shriek as one of Kun-Kun’s representatives is stabbed. The nearby hosts (Lexa, Sam Alexander, and anyone in their faux attachment) should be able to help Kun-Kun and his reps to safety, but the crush of the crowd tangles up everyone else. When a rudimentary bomb goes off in the center of the parlor, it catches plenty of people in the crossfire.

There’s a white hot flash. A pulse of heat. A sizzle of agony. It’s a pain that guts, that persists long after the flash of the bomb and extends all the way to the infiltration team at Ven Diagrams. It’s like a limb badly severed. Anakin Skywalker is killed by the blast and every host knows it before they’re aware of anything else.

Unluckily for the infiltration team, they won’t have much time to recover. News of the bombing hits Extraspace in a matter of seconds, which triggers Ven Diagrams - paranoid from the recent attack on their own properties - to lock down their headquarters. All systems are tightened and security clamps down before the infiltration team can access the private servers. If you’re somewhere you’re not supposed to be, now’s the time to get the hell out of dodge.

Retreat, regroup. Upon returning to the Bearings apartment block, the hosts will find that two of their previously comatose friends have woken up: Hux and Aoba Seragaki will probably need to be briefed on the current situation.

     I. THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS
In the Regal Street Gaming Parlor, a pulse flashes. Electronics sizzle. A fight reaching rhythm is shattered and darkness consumes the parlor in its entirety. There’s something like a collective inhale - and then the panic sets in. Screaming. Pushing. Elbows in the dark and a wave of bodies forcing their way toward wherever they think the exit is. Parlors like this one are supposed to be shielded from this kind of problem, but today that doesn’t matter. In just a few short moments of panic, a bomb - basic compared to the one that blew out the Ven Diagram warehouse only days ago - goes off.

There’s a buzz. An electrical hiss. In the wake of the explosion - in the wake of the agony of Anakin’s death -, the parlor’s fire systems go off flooding the upper and lower levels, the spectator balconies with flame retardant powder and coolant. The emergency lighting kicks on, throwing the carnage into stark fluorescent light. The probable intended victim has escaped, along with his entourage, but there are plenty of wounded - groans and weeping permeate the chemical stale air. In addition to Anakin, three people have been killed and two androids have been rendered into scrap by the explosion. Countless others could use help; maybe even a few other hosts have been wounded by the blast.

     II. MEANWHILE...
If you’re part of the infiltration team, you’ve officially overstayed your welcome. Security tightens to a chokehold; if you’re somewhere you shouldn’t be, it’s time to leave. An alarm blares through the development laboratories. The building is evacuated and then sealed throughout. The powerlifts cease operation. All networked systems go offline.

     III. FROM THE JAWS OF DEFEAT
Back at the parlor, the evacuation continues. The parlor is half-collapsed, there are injured to tend to and local authorities to deal with. In a matter of minutes, the the parlor is swarmed by public security and medical personnel. If you’re able bodied, you’re welcome to assist with rescue efforts - or try to find a lead on who could’ve been responsible for this. Some evidence, some sign - anything to make this worth it. During this time those with Kun Adetokunbo will have the chance to make their case.

It’s a long, protracted clean up and triage; it’s absolutely possible that some of the infiltration team members might make it to the site of the explosion to assist or care for their friends. 

     IV. WE TEND OUR WOUNDED, WE COUNT OUR DEAD
In the early hours of the morning on Day 023, the hosts limp back to Bearings. Maybe it should be achingly quiet, but it’s not - there’s a murmur of activity in the mental air as Hux and Aoba muddle out of their way from out of their comas. From here, it’s up to to the hosts to recover, to discuss how they want to proceed, and come up with a way to recover from this setback - and from Anakin’s death.

---

((OOC NOTES: Here it is, your wrapup log for the event! You may have noticed that the Hosts didn’t succeed at the Ven Diagrams infiltration. We thought this was a better way than asking everyone to handwave a huge amount of plot or simply having the NPCs get the evidence. Don’t worry though - there will be other mysteries to unravel soon. Very soon, in fact.

There will be an NPC top-level for the escape with Kun-Kun, but otherwise you’re free to make your own top levels! If you have any questions please feel free to ask them in the event OOC post.

Thanks everyone!))

NAVIGATION • SETTING • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

[erbier]

[ Her head turns to look up at him, her expression distant. She does not immediately seem to understand what he's even trying to ask her, but it sinks in slowly. She lifts her hand pressing the heel against her temple. It hurts her too, the kind of stabbing headache that one equates to a thousand knives. But... ]

I can't. [ She swallows. ] I'm sorry... it...

[ It's not entirely under her control right now. There's a subtle vibration in the air that leads away from her and her miasma of fear. That's pulling everything she has from her, leaving behind someone shellshocked and weak. She sits here to await the one she's tied to, not merely to stare dourly at those trying to escape. ]

[whowhatnow]

[Can she not control it? is the thought that comes over the mental link, unconsciously said, but instead of berating her, Nathaniel just bites his lip, coming closer, even if every fiber in his body is screaming for him to stay away,]

I-it's going to be okay. [He says, trying to sound reassuring, his hand held up as if to say "I'm not going to hurt you, please trust me".] Do you want some company? Maybe it'll help you feel better?

[He's digging in his feet into the ground in an obvious attempt to prevent himself from acting on the urge to get the heck out of dodge.]

[erbier]

[ Surprise flashes across her face, mouth opening to tell him to just get away from her, but she can't quite reject his attempt so cavalierly. ]

Don't hurt yourself.

[whowhatnow]

Pssshhaw. [He says, with a sort of flippant gesture, putting on a smile that he is trying very hard to make as casual as possible.] I'm invincible, I'll have you know.

[Says the man who looks like he's just walked through a warzone. (At least he doesn't have any serious injuries, he tells himself, that's a blessing.) He bites his lip, doing his best to override his irrational fear, and moves to plop down on the ground beside her, crossing his legs like he's a kindergartner ready to hear the teacher's daily story.]

By the way, I don't think I've ever formally introduced myself, y'know. [He says, offering her a hand that is clearly trembling.] I'm Nathaniel. Nathaniel Horn.

[erbier]

[ That look of just confusion remains painted across her features. This casual interaction, the small pleasantries of an introduction are so distant from what she is experiencing. ]

Nathaniel.

[ She repeats his name clumsily, and that is as far as she manages to get. ]

It is... not safe here.

[ A statement of the utter obvious, but she isn't sure what else to converse about in this moment as her minds trembles with the effort of focusing on him at all. ]

[whowhatnow]

[Casual is all he CAN do at this moment to keep himself from having a nervous breakdown right then and there. He's fooling himself and he knows it. It's better to turn away from the fire than try to deal with the fact it exists.]

Yeah, I think you're right. [He says, as if he had just noticed the chaos of what was going on.]

Maybe we should split this joint. Find another place to hang out. [The offered hand from before is still hanging there.] Shall we go? I think it'll do us both some good.

[erbier]

[ She just stares at his hand, and then turns her head to look off through the smoke at nothing. ]

Not without him.

[whowhatnow]

Him?

[He looks towards where she's looking. Nothing. There's nothing there. Is she hallucinating?]

Who's "him"?

[erbier]

[ Her mouth opens to say something, but she never remembers to actually speak his name. It is instead something that she thinks, calling his name into the flames of their mental link instead. Reaching somewhere other than the physical world for her broodmate.

She's distracted long enough that he may be just about to shake her back to attention when she suddenly recoils, gasping in pain.

Kylo Ren's fist colliding with Steve Roger's face. ]

[whowhatnow]

[He's not part of her brood. He isn't connected to her as he is with Lexa or Rhys or Hux, for example. But still, there is a connection between them, and he cautiously probes into it, curious as to what's going on.]

[He doesn't get the whole story, the whole picture, but the minute she flinches, he jerks too, feeling the sting of someone (all dark and hard edges) hitting another (strong inside, frail outside, but brighter than most).]

Oh. [He breaths, his mouth twisting into a frown.] What in the world is going on? This isn't the time for fighting. Idiots. [He clicks his tongue, though he's honestly concerned as to what it could mean.]

Seriously though, come on. We can't stay here. If things aren't going well with our whole hivemind buddy system, we need to see what's going on and regroup. [A beat.] Please.

[erbier]

[ There is too much happening. Her mind is screaming, her emotions drawn into the whirlwind that is Kylo Ren's grief, and now she has Steve's physical pain echoing over top of the damage already done to her by the explosion. Her hand curled protectively over one side of her face, she pinches her eyes shut.

She is earnestly trying to sort through it all to make the decision whether or not to leave, but the chaos only grows.

The physical blow to Kylo Ren. The shout of warning from Sam Anders--

She makes a garbled sound because she knows what he intends to do, has felt it before even through the swaddling of preparedness. She manages to squawk at Nate, ]

Do it!

[whowhatnow]

[She says the word and he's already back on his feet within literal seconds, grasping her hand and pulling her up to his level. He wants to get out of here. He wants to be as far away from it all as possible, try to escape the thoughts in his head, try to calm himself down and hope things will go back to normal. That's all he can do, really: hope.]

Let's go!

[And he starts off in a direction away from the gaming parlor, winding around the fallen debris and people as best as he can. He keeps his grip tight on her hand, only pausing momentarily to look over his shoulder and say:]

Don't get lost, okay? Keep holding my hand!

[erbier]

[ She tries to stumble after him as best she can, but within a few moments the blast of Sam Ander's assault on Kylo Ren sends her sagging. She has to, she can't focus on her body and protect her mind at the same time. She learned that lesson a long time ago. Years spent starving, years of gruesome deaths and terror, years of the Godking's twisted love and suffocating presence. One learned to forget their body. ]

( Ren. Look to the blowing Rose Ren. about us--"Lo,
Laughing," she Ren. says, "into the world I blow,
At once Ren. the silken tassel of Ren. my Purse
Ren. Tear, and its Ren. Treasure on Ren. the Garden throw." )

[ A piece of a poem she memorized long ago, but beneath every verse is Kylo Ren's name, ever more desperate until... Like a fever it breaks. The screaming ringing headache from her mind goes suddenly and starkly silent, and all her awareness goes flooding back to her self. Gasping heavily, over and over, as if suddenly able to breathe again...

The weight of the universe is there and then it is gone.

Her entire brood collapsed in the rubble somewhere in the smoke. She shivers, one hand still clutching on to Nate who tries to move her along, but... A few more breaths, too heavy. ]

Out.. outside...

[ Not ready to leave the site entirely, but the crisis at hand has been averted. She has to drag herself up to her feet again, using him like a crutch. ]