galambs: (Apple Plate)
Recursion Helpers ([personal profile] galambs) wrote in [community profile] tornheart2017-10-02 09:11 pm

Dream A Dream [OPEN]

Who: Open Log (All)
Where: Dreams
Summary: The Awakening takes a strange turn
Warnings: N/A

"Are you ready, my black lambs? Let's get to work..."

Dream a Dream

In the morning of October 1st, a message will flash across Applenet:

Uhh... shit. Forget the countdown! Something's wrong. Well... let's mix things up a little differently this time! Nothing bad will happen!... probably...

That sure explains absolutely nothing. Thanks, Luci.

However, as day turns to afternoon, and afternoon turns to evening, a familiar feeling will start to fall over everyone. Both those who are Awakened and those who are not will recognize it as the same kind of exhaustion that has fallen over them in the past when they first got the Applenet app. The Awakened will feel this urge particularly strongly, perhaps as a point, and they'll inevitably end up turning in for the night much sooner. Sleep will come easy to them...

... And so will their dream.

All of the Awakened will show up in the same place: an apple orchard where all the trees are heaving with their fruits. Unlike the bright cheerful sunshine of where they met Luci, this place is overcast, and the trees' branches threaten to brush against each other. Instead of seeing their mysterious benefactor in person, everyone's phones will go off again, and a message from Luci will be waiting for them. All of it can be summed up thusly:

Instead of the previous Awakenings, which were clearly a little risky, Luci has decided to use the dreams of those who used to be Awakened but have since fallen asleep again. Not only will it not set off those who are sleeping again- weird shit happens in dreams all the time right?- but it's guaranteed to draw less attention from their enemies. Probably.

Of course the whole thing is still going to be dangerous! Dreams always have Shadows, and Luci seems pretty cheerfully matter of fact that is particular dreamer has ones that are pretty dangerous... but that just means a reason to Awaken!

It's at the last minute that Luci adds something else. Within the Sleeper's dream will be something called a Dreamer's Heart. It'll be guarded by a particularly noteworthy Shadow, and while it's not necessary to Awakening... maybe it will help speed things up?

Luci isn't really interested in answering questions right now; he seems a bit preoccupied. Still, with that message given... as the Awakened look up from their screens, they'll notice a single door standing within the orchard. They can stick around to organize for as long as they want, but, when they're all decided on moving forward, the door will be available to be opened. And as they walk through...

Goodbye Teamwork
They all find themselves in the midst of an enormous white hallway.

Awakened and unawakened both are together, with no indication of how any of them got there. The walls are eerily smooth, and the lights are almost offensive in their brightness as they buzz from high above. Should regular hallways be this big? It's enough to make everyone, no matter how tall or big they are, to feel as if they're children again...

Doors line up along the walls, also far too big than seems should be right. People should be careful going through them, however. Some don't seem to open for certain people at all. Other doors will put them in another hallway, or a strange room that looks like a hospital-phobic person's worst nightmare. The worst part? Sometimes the doors never seem to lead to the same place as they went before... or they'll outright disappear once you've gone through them. Beyond the hallways, it's a place full of deceit and trickery. The Awakened will have to be careful where they go, or it becomes all too easy to get turned around...

... And separated.

We've got Company
The halls and rooms aren't left empty for long.

People will notice them just for a moment, lurking in the corners of rooms or far down at the hallway. They're figures that, in contrast to the intruders of this dream, seem to fit in perfectly with the enormous dimensions of the place. At a glance, from the corner of an eye, they don't seem all that strange. On the peripheral, from a distance, they're just... people. Men, if one had to guess. For a split second, they always seem perfectly still.

Then they lunge.

It's upon a closer look, or as the creatures are moving, that it becomes obvious that the proportions are all wrong. The shoulders are too broad, the arms too long, and, somehow, it's impossible to see their faces. It always seems as if the light is shining from behind them, covering their faces in shadow. And, of course... they're incredibly tall.

With their reach being what it is, it's no surprise that their preferred method of attack is to try to grab whoever they can. Those who look particularly young are their preferred targets, but they go whoever seems most vulnerable. The good news is that their size is all talk. For those who have Awakened, they're perhaps a little tough, but nothing that can't be brought down, especially with teamwork. These creatures always seem to work solo for the most part. It should be noted, however, that they come in two varieties: in pitch black suit-and-tie or shockingly white lab coats.

These tall creatures aren't the only dangers in this dream. The more that it's explored, the more that much smaller shapes can be found scurrying around. They're the size of children, beings that seem all the tinier in the face of the taller enemies, and their heads seem to be covered in a perpetual haze of fog. What's dangerous about them isn't that they're a source of violence. In fact, the dream children shy away from any outright battles. It's before such things happen, in the face of the tall enemies lurking around, that they're a problem. The dream children will shove and trip other people, effectively throwing them under the bus, before they try to run away on their own. An environmental hazard, almost, more than enemies.

The Inner Heart
As it turns out, Luci was wrong. There's not a Shadow guarding a Dreamer's Heart.

There are two.

In all the chaos of exploration and combat, it's easy to pick them out from the other childish shapes running around. Befitting of their names, they're completely black - literal walking shadows. The only color apparent on them.... would be the glow emanating from their chests, each possessing the half of a heart.

Unlike the other beings in this dream, neither of them have any interest in really interacting with the Awakened or the Unawakened. Sometimes they'll lurk, around corners or in a doorway, watching, but they're quick to run away before all else. Cornering them might be troublesome... a fact that's made all the more difficult by how the pair don't stay together, instead running away on their own or trying to disappear in the crowds of dream kids.




kokuyoyo: (Woke up with a squirrel in my bed.)

[personal profile] kokuyoyo 2017-10-04 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
[Before anything else, before even glancing at his buzzing phone, Chikusa's gaze flicks almost desperately around the orchard, hoping to see.... Well. It doesn't matter. But the person he wants to see most, in the end, isn't there, and it's with some reluctance that he finally glances down at the information Luci is sending them all.]

[He doesn't care about any of this, right now. For all he knows it's important, that he needs to free himself so that he isn't kept trapped in this place, he just can't bring himself to care. All he wants to do... is lay down in the place that calls itself his room and never get up again.]

[But here he is anyway, against his well, and he shoves his phone into his pocket. This place doesn't have him in his regular clothes, the ones that Ciro Bonavida stocked his closets with... but they're not his Awakened clothes, either. It's the plain green uniform of Kokuyo Middle School...]

[For a long moment, oblivious to anyone else, he stares down at himself before jerking his head to stare at the door.]


...There's not really any point in talking, is there?
kokuyoyo: (Apparently I kept telling people I was)

[personal profile] kokuyoyo 2017-10-04 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
[When he'd stepped through the doorway, feeling his clothes warp and shift to a now familiar cat, Chikusa had thought that it would just be another tiresome night as with all the others.]

[He hadn't expected it to cut this deep.]

[As the lights glare into his lights, all the white nearly enough to blind him, Chikusa comes to a complete stop. It's a painfully familiar sight to him, one that burns all the more with Mukuro not at his side. For a second, he feels like a little kid again, but now he doesn't even have the reassurance of Ken by his side. In the enormous hallway, sterilized and ominous, helplessness clogs in his throat.]

[Such feelings don't show on his face. However, for those who bother to look, there's no denying how Astaroth's massive snake form starts to curl all the tighter around Chikusa as if to suffocate him even as its gaze stays straight ahead... Right where Chikusa's is.]
transient_specter: (you like it rough huh?)

[personal profile] transient_specter 2017-10-04 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
[There's something about this place that makes him uneasy. Maybe it's because of the whole Igor thing? He's not sure what it is, but something about it gnaws at him.]

[He doesn't like it.]

[But for Chikusa to simply stop, refuse to move, and for his Persona to tighten around him a bit... Makoto heads over to his 'brother', not even bothering to hide the concern on his face.]


Do you recognize this place?
kokuyoyo: (I don't do stupid things anymore.)

[personal profile] kokuyoyo 2017-10-04 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
[Makoto's voice slips through, and Chikusa blinks- a few times, actually, just to have his eyes adjust to the brightness. His gaze slides to Makoto afterwards, only to immediately shy away.]

...Hospitals are all the same...

[It's all he says, his chin ducking into the tall coat collars of his outfit.]

...I think you have other things to focus on.
transient_specter: (kanon what the fuck)

[personal profile] transient_specter 2017-10-04 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
[... Something's wrong, but he's right. There's other things that they need to focus on.]

Anything noteworthy nearby?

[He hefts his swordgun onto his shoulder, glancing around the area. There's some movement a little ways off, but nothing too close yet...]
kokuyoyo: (Woke up with a squirrel in my bed.)

[personal profile] kokuyoyo 2017-10-04 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
It's a hallway. [As usual, his voice is deadpan.] There are a lot of doors.

[...Well. Obviously. Not contesting Astaroth's slow curl round him, Chikusa lets out a slow breath. He should be more helpful, he knows. They can't afford to lose anyone to carelessness.]

Luci seemed to think this place would be dangerous... So we shouldn't let ourselves get split up. Especially the new ones...
transient_specter: (you want me to put what in where?)

[personal profile] transient_specter 2017-10-04 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
[He's not blind, you idiot.]

It'll be hard... in a place this segmented, people are likely to break off to investigate some thing or another.
kokuyoyo: (I don't do stupid things anymore.)

[personal profile] kokuyoyo 2017-10-04 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)
...Just sit on them.

[What do you mean that's not a viable solution?]
transient_specter: (hey woah no don't kick me)

[personal profile] transient_specter 2017-10-04 05:20 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't think that's going to work. It's like dealing with half a dozen Takerus...
kokuyoyo: (At which point did I decide that it)

[personal profile] kokuyoyo 2017-10-04 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
....What?
megacurious: (Thinking)

[personal profile] megacurious 2017-10-04 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[Forget the countdown? From what he knows from the last Awakening due to the app's security being compromised, Augustine knew this won't be good for the new users of the app. And while he was still a little uncomfortable at this event, he still needed to be here in order to protect the Unawakened.

Though what he didn't expect is that instead of having to go to a location in Eddan, he found himself in the same apple orchard dream, which was somehow different. What is even surprising is that he is now wearing his usual white lab coat, blue shirt, black pants, and brown loafers instead of the clothes that "Armand Sauveterre" wore along with his smartphone in his hand.

However, the only thing that interests him is the huge door in front of him, which he guesses that this must be the way to help the Unawakened to wake up their memories. Thankfully, he took on some few lessons on archery and fencing for a few months now so he won't have to repeat that same position he was in back there.

Yet as he stares at the door while contemplating at what's on the other side of the door, he notices that Chikusa, which he notices that he is wearing a school uniform that he never saw before, muttering something.]


I think so. Although, we still need a strategy before we can go in and wake up the Unawakened users.
transient_specter: (holy shit that's cute)

[personal profile] transient_specter 2017-10-04 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
... He always rushes in and makes a mess of things. He means well, but... he's not strategic.

[Still, though, there's a fondness to his voice.]
kokuyoyo: (I don't do stupid things anymore.)

[personal profile] kokuyoyo 2017-10-05 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
[Perhaps it's just the atmosphere. That has to be it. That has to be the reason why Chikusa quietly bristles at the way Makoto's voice shifts, his fingers kneading into his palms.]

[It doesn't show in his voice, of course, or his face.]


Then I can put them to sleep. I think my aim is reliable enough for that...
transient_specter: (you like it rough huh?)

[personal profile] transient_specter 2017-10-05 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
... All right. I'll try to keep them in line, but... we'll both do what we can.

[And meanwhile, he'll keep an eye on Chikusa. Something's... not right. At all.]

Yell for me if you need cover?
sociallyarcward: (Default)

[personal profile] sociallyarcward 2017-10-05 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
[Jaune considers the problem. A new Awakening, but once again slightly different from the last time. Nothing has ever been the same, making it rather difficult to strategize.

What else was new? Jaune frowns at the door
]

I think there might be plenty of point to talk -- we may not know what is past that door, but having more of a plan than what we've had in the past might be helpful.

[He really didn't want a repeat of what had happened with the rats.]
spoilsfun: (Default)

[personal profile] spoilsfun 2017-10-05 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
Shinichi was finally starting to get used to all these sudden changes in height. This time he doesn't waste any time at being surprised, but instead immediately looks around the crowd for two familiar faces.

After he spotting her in the crowd, he glances back down at his phone and frowns. Not that anyone could see it under the mask.

"This seems poorly planned."
sociallyarcward: (Default)

[personal profile] sociallyarcward 2017-10-05 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
[Jaune winces at the light. It's so bright that at first he doesn't notice the distorted surroundings. When he does, however, he shudders. He had surprisingly not been to hospitals too often, but enough that he didn't enjoy the experience. The fact that this was a dream world with distorted proportions -- making him feel small -- didn't help matters.

He stood there for a moment, hand on the hilt of his sword as he took it in, and took a breath.
]

All right...we should probably break into small groups and start systematically checking the doors.
miseris_socios: (grr...)

[personal profile] miseris_socios 2017-10-05 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Riki was yelling.]

[Probably way too much yelling, but leave him alone, he was having a bad day. One of the Tall Enemies had grabbed him, and despite knowing that yelling was definitely not going to help he still couldn't not yell. The one that had grabbed him and he'd struggled, the monster flipping him over and slamming him against the ground.]

[He'd stared for a moment, his heart beating in his ears. He didn't notice that his heart was glowing softly through his shirt - not completely out, but enough to be visible.]

[Still, he was in a tricky situation at the minute. The Tall Enemy was coming back for him, and kicking them clearly didn't work.]
kokuyoyo: (I don't do stupid things anymore.)

[personal profile] kokuyoyo 2017-10-05 06:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Chikusa merely tucks his face further into his coat. However, that doesn't stop his voice from going through Makoto's mind.]

I'll let you know if I need anything- which will be sooner rather than later.
transient_specter: (hey woah no don't kick me)

[personal profile] transient_specter 2017-10-05 07:02 am (UTC)(link)
All right.

[He heads off to try to find some of the others. Hopefully they haven't gone too far...]
secretmakesawoman: (Because high on the mountain)

[personal profile] secretmakesawoman 2017-10-06 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
[Strange dreams have become awfully common as of late. So when Christina finds herself wandering into a brightly lit hall, it does not seem so strange at first, though certainly uncomfortable. The harsh lighting feels clinical in a way that gets under her skin.]

[But then the hallway becomes filled with other people, dressed in the strangest garments. It makes her feel rather out of place. Unsurprising, considering the dream put her in her usual teacher attire. She stares, baffled and yet uneasily reminded of a different dream.]


Again...?

[She whispers to herself. There were nowhere near this many people last time though. Hesitantly, she approaches the crowd.]

Excuse me, what is going on?

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