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

later...ish, still in the same place

[decommission]

Guess I missed the debriefing, huh? [ Any humor's been drained from his voice as he calls from the kitchen area to the common room, the fridge door open and his head half stuck inside. He's been out of it for most of the day, drifting in and out of sleep. His head's still buzzing ever so slightly, like a radio on the wrong frequency. Back turned and half stuck in the fridge, he calls over without turning. ]

You want anything? [ He's grabbing a can of something soda-like. It's sugary, and it's cold, which is good enough for Steve's bruised face. ]

[headinjuries]

You kinda had a good excuse.

[ Sam still has only a half-understood idea of what went down while he and Lexa were outside - even the broodlink wasn't much help in figuring it out, since the only member of his brood involved had been Bucky, towards the end, and...that was a can of worms he wasn't even going to think about opening. ]

Uh, one of those drinks that wishes it was Mountain Dew? [ Wait. Steve does not have a frame of reference for Mountain Dew. ] I mean, the stuff that's kinda neon yellow.

[decommission]

[ Mountain Dew doesn't ring any bells, but whatever it is it sounds uh, refreshing? He does, however, definitely remember opening a can of something that had that particular glowing shade of yellow inside. Gently closing the refrigerator door with his foot, he heads back over to the living area to hand it over. ]

Splode? [ Spelled splodE for some dubious graphic design purposes. He keeps reading it as splod. ] I can feel my teeth dissolving just thinking about that color.

[ This time there's some light humor in his voice. ]

[headinjuries]

The dentist hasn't given me any horrible ultimatums yet, so I must be doing something right.

[ Or maybe there's just a limited amount of scolding to go around, and the doctor already claimed the entire allotment for yelling at him about all the concussions.

He accepts the can, pops it open, and takes a long swig. ]

Thanks.

[decommission]

[ A light huff, and he tilts his head to the side in a silent no problem, letting the cool aluminum ease some of the soreness against his face for a minute. ]

Where'd you end up after the blast hit? [ He'd felt some of the others nearby, distantly. Could've easily been anyone else in Anakin's place - or more of them, if the explosion had been just a little bigger. That phantom limb, the place where Anakin had resided in his head, pulses at the thought, angry and raw and demanding more attention than he's willing to give it. He bites back a grimace. ]

[headinjuries]

Lexa and I got Kun-Kun outside. One of his people was hurt, but he looked like he'd be able to make it to the hospital okay.

[ It had been a pretty awkward meeting, but they'd gotten the promise of a meeting and everyone had walked away from it. With the way things went that night, that's about all Sam can really ask for. ]

[decommission]

[ That's something. Sam's young, but the kid's got his head on straight. While Steve isn't so sure about the symbiote picking kids as their Hosts, the world Sam comes from means he's got experience with sticky situations. Makes a difference, and out of respect for the way the kid handles himself, Steve keeps his own concerns about Sam's age unspoken.

But there were a lot of other kids at the parlour close to Sam's age. Someone put them all in the line of fire. ]

The organizers must've been expecting trouble. [ His mouth twists to one side. ] But there were a handful of arcades involved, and it was just a rumor Kun-Kun was gonna be at this one.

[ Whoever planned this had less than two days notice to prepare. Seems suspicious. ]

[headinjuries]

[ Your future self sure didn't think Sam had his head on straight when he tried to take on the Hulk mano-a-mano, Steve...

There's no way they wouldn't expect trouble, he figures. High profile events get enough security without having extremely divisive figures involved and recent acts of terrorism going on around the city. But if someone had that little time to prepare, and the staff knew there was some risk there - ]

Do you think they got help from inside?

[ Nailing down the right place - there hadn't been incidents or even news of unexploded bombs found at any of the other places he could've been - and getting everything placed with so little trouble...it's kind of a tall order, without help. ]

[decommission]

[ What the frickity frack is a hulk ]

Maybe. [ Might be worth keeping in mind if they're going to be dealing with these guys in the future. He shakes his head. ] Were you guys able to set up another meeting?

[headinjuries]

Yeah. [ He stops for a long sip of that horrifyingly neon soda. ] He seemed kind of...I don't know. Not too eager about it, but he said he'd get us in touch with Sheena Frey, and one of the people with him said she'd make sure he didn't forget to follow through.