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!))




deployed: (016.)

[personal profile] deployed 2016-08-08 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
And you don't.

[ The protest is instant. Nirad may as well be a stranger but for the places their minds touch, but Bellamy's aware the lanyard around his neck makes him safer at the same time it lessens Nirad's safety. It doesn't sit right. ]

You should—Keep it.

[ Not that Bellamy's stealth abilities are really in top form right now. He digs fingers into Nirad's shoulder, swallowing against the urge to vomit. ]

You're leaving with me?

[ Assuming they get out. Bellamy's uncertainty about the alternative coalesces between them, unspoken. What happens if they catch us? ]
nirsighted: (02)

[personal profile] nirsighted 2016-08-08 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[A buzz of anxiety, flickering high under the moment that Bellamy's finger tighten and then quickly ratcheted down. Tied down. It's fine. They're fine.]

It's okay. I don't need it. [He means it, seems - no, feels - genuine. He'll be all right. No one will notice him. Not for long, anyway.] We can help each other leave. --Are you okay?

[He feels... not all right. Can taste some of that lurching seasick feeling through the thready link between them, but tries not to think about it too hard. If he does, they might both start feeling worse. It wouldn't be a good idea to, uh, leave anything behind.

Right. Okay. Not thinking about it. The corridor comes to a T-intersection. Nirad doesn't bother to flatten himself against the wall, just steps out and peers in either direction. There's a light blinking and a security terminal at the end of the hall before a set of double doors. They'll need to get through them to reach the lift, he thinks.]


Okay, we're good. No one's here.
deployed: (010.)

[personal profile] deployed 2016-08-09 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
[ The bleed of anxiety doesn't do anything for Bellamy's nausea. It wedges in his gut. He frowns, turning to study Nirad's face. Why not? Why doesn't he need it? But maybe he'll ask after, once they're clear. ]

I'll live, [ as far as he can tell, anyway. ] Let's go.

[ This doesn't feel like the stealthiest approach, but they aren't in any position to be picky. ]

This'll get us through the terminal?

[ Though busting through is also an option on the table at this point. ]
nirsighted: (Default)

[personal profile] nirsighted 2016-08-09 05:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Uh. [Well.] It might.

[Which is an okay possibility as far as he's concerned. There's going to be problems no matter what, but-- well, Bellamy has a pass. It's fine. They just have to slide into a group of employees getting rushed out and there won't be any issue. There are probably plenty of people looking to evacuate and the badge clearance got him here. It's probably good to get them out.]
deployed: (079.)

[personal profile] deployed 2016-08-13 10:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you have a gun?

[ Weapons, any kind of weapons. It might not be advisable, but it would make him feel safer to have some kind of leverage. He doesn't know how he crippled that guard or if he can do it again. ]

Oh god, [ He breaks, one hand clutching his stomach. ] I can't do it.

[ More to the point, he doesn't know if he can make it out of this without throwing up at least once. ]
nirsighted: (02)

[personal profile] nirsighted 2016-08-18 06:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Uh-- [A nervous, mental buzz - a frenetic pulse of anxiety feeding off the nauseating roll of Bellamy's own stomach. He blanches, pales, shakes his head. No. No gun.

And tightens his grip on Bellamy's arm. He's a little wild eyed, breathing faster and shorter now. Don't throw up, he thinks. Don't throw up, don't throw up, don't--]


It's okay. It's fine. You'll be okay. [There's something thin about the assurance, like it's as much for his benefit as it is for Bellamy's. Still, Nirad pulls him along - closing distance to the doorway and it's security checkpoint. When they're close enough, he grabs the badge around Bellamy's neck and waves it at the door sensor. The door pops open.

In the hallway beyond, a handful of people are moving quickly toward the power lift. Most of them are carrying their things - a bag there, a coat folded over an arm here, a mess of technical equipment stuffed into a purse. A few of them glance in the direction of the open door.]
deployed: (016.)

[personal profile] deployed 2016-08-25 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ What's going on? Why does it matter?

They didn't exist. Isn't that what they'd been told? They weren't real, so what did it matter if Bellamy threw up? But Nirad's fear overrides Bellamy's confusion. He swallows hard, even as he feels himself heave. Nirad's practically dragging him. Bellamy's awareness of that fact has him trying to find his feet, straighten up, but his body wants to bend double and expel the contents of his stomach across the floor.

All in all, not great for keeping low profile. ]


They're looking, [ He mutters. ] We should just run. If we wait they'll call for more guards.

[ It's a bad plan. But Bellamy doesn't see another one readily available, and the lack of weapon means that all he has are his hands. Can he do the same thing he'd done to guard to those people? He's careful not to let his hand slip, to stay clutched in the fabric of Nirad's sleeve as he absently tries to dig in and find the same impulse that had sent the guard crumpling to the floor. ]