onemind: (Default)
THE N E S T ([personal profile] onemind) wrote in [community profile] station722016-07-28 09:20 pm

EMPTY CHAIRS AT EMPTY TABLES

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!))




adamance: (you have to eat carrots)

[personal profile] adamance 2016-08-01 05:47 am (UTC)(link)
[There is a moment in which she pauses, because if there is anything that has come out of her experience as being a part of the Nest, it's that she's reluctant to grow closer. Her suspicions lie with the symbiotes and the heart of it rather than the people. Yes, there are those who can't be readily trusted, but her broodmates aren't among them. (In a way, even Rhys is predictable, if not reliable.)

Still, it's odd to feel that warmth. She's seen it as commander, but here she is nothing like that. It gives her pause, and she draws herself up, deeply inhaling and then exhaling.]


I am. I cared for Kun-Kun before I left. [Her eyes examine him for a moment.] Were you injured before you left? [His clothing is tattered, but she assumes that he is able to hide any injury because of his shapeshifting.]
whowhatnow: (human is)

[personal profile] whowhatnow 2016-08-02 05:16 pm (UTC)(link)
I got a few scratches here and there, but I'm surviving. I mean, everything still works fine, so I think I'll be alright.

[He says, with a sort of half-wink - it's apparent by his face that he's exhausted. He's smiling, but there's the sense that he might just drop to the ground any minute.]

How's, uh, that Kun-Kun guy? Is he going to be okay?
adamance: (CLOSE UP TIME)

[personal profile] adamance 2016-08-03 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
He will be. I don't think he was prepared for this level of ... politics. [It's clear from her words that Lexa herself is unfazed by that aspect of things. It's almost chilling how much she faces this as if it's something to cope with. Yes, her body is sore, and there is a part of her uncertain where to begin, but at least she is acclimated to high-stress situations like this one.]

We'll see how well he comes through for us in the future.
whowhatnow: (it came from outer space)

[personal profile] whowhatnow 2016-08-06 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think anyone was prepared for this level of politics.

[Nobody was prepared for it at all, he thinks. Except for the bomber themselves, of course, but who knew where that guy was? Did they even have any clues to track them down? Nathaniel didn't know.]

Do you think he might help us find out what happened?
adamance: (CLOSE UP TIME)

[personal profile] adamance 2016-08-06 04:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I was prepared. [It's not self-serving contradiction. Lexa wants to ensure that the others know where she is best utilized. As it turns out, this is precisely the place where she feels at her best. But she knows that's not the case for most.]

I don't believe he does know. He's competent enough when he calms down, but I don't believe that he and his representatives planned for this. Unless, of course, he's received threats.

[But her understanding is that a bomb would have been found in advance.

Hopefully.]
whowhatnow: (the invasion)

[personal profile] whowhatnow 2016-08-12 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, you're kind of like "prepared" in human form. The rest of us...eh, not so much.

[He clicks his tongue.] Ah, what a shame. Though you should ask him about if he's received threats or not. Any clue we can get is better than no clues at all, right? How long do you think it will take until he's good and ready for questioning?
adamance: (passive observation)

[personal profile] adamance 2016-08-13 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
It may be soon, though he said that he intends to put us in touch with the leader of Mind Life. Depending on how that goes, it may be irrelevant to loop back to him. [Lexa recalls his trembling hands when she first brought that up. It had been odd to her at the time.

Frankly, it continues to be odd.]