AWAKENING

[cordibus]

Who: Everyone
When: Midnight, June 6th
Where: Green Valley Orchids
What: It is time.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

The subway stop near the orchards was not the type of place that most people liked to be when darkness fell. The orchards near the school were set up almost like a public park, which wasn’t so bad in and of itself, but it’s also the area where over half of the murders happened before the curfew was first put in place. It was a place people didn't go unless absolutely necessary and most had started taking alternate routes to avoid the stop. As one of the first subway stations built in the city, its architecture didn't really mesh with those that came after it. It had jagged corners where the smell of wet earth lingered, making it unpleasant even for those brave enough to continue to use it, and there had even been talk of closing it permanently once routes and nearby stations had been revamped to be better able to take care of the traffic.

Due to this, it only has the bare-bones of a shelter, fallen into disrepair as the curfew was enforced city-wide, and a couple of night guards, (probably already asleep due to the lack of activity they’re expecting), so characters arriving there will be mostly unnoticed. For a place that had such a bad history, most people rightfully avoid it.

For most of them it will be their first meeting with each other. There will be a bit of time to talk before their phones display a zero. Plenty of time to talk about what they suspect and what might just happen...and that horrible vision they had shared. Then there’s that countdown on their phones...ticking away the last few minutes.

ZERO UNTIL MIDNIGHT

The lights go out when the countdown ends. The lack of sound is, for lack of better word, worrying. Very soon, only the light of the phones serves as makeshift flashlights for the small group. But soon, even as words get displayed, a deep male voice echoes, which could be much more worrying.

FINALLY! Ahahahahah! Ahhh, damn does it feel nice to be able to speak and not
just write. Hey lambs, are you all ready?

Considering the choice of words, that might be Luci.

It's time. Can you feel your heartbeats increasing? Your mind about to explode? Questions swirling in your mind? Just make sure you don't go alone. Groups are
best, go all together and you'll never find the answers.

The voice laughs again.

Not that you have much of a choice at this point! Have fun, give them hell, and tell
them I sent you! I'll be taking care of that pesky guard problem for you.
...Let's go for a night stroll."

Communication ends just as abruptly as it started. No time to back down now, as the door where the guards are staying is quickly locked on its own before the subway system itself appears to be taken over by a virus that flashes on every available screen. With a click, the locked doors to the outside are swung open.

A voice in your mind warns you this might be the biggest mistake you'll be making in your entire life...and yet your heart feels like it's going to burst from your body from the joy you feel...

AWAKENING

It begins with a scream nearby. The same noise that they heard during the vision. The trees begin to turn grey as the sounds of hundred of creatures moving can be heard from all sides. The application opens, displaying them all in real time.

The group is surrounded.

By all logic, they should be running, but their legs feel bolted to the ground. They can't move.

The creatures begin to get closer. The trees start to rot nearby.

Breathing begins to increase. The sound of voices and memories quickly flashing before their eyes that might cause some to clutch at their head...exactly the same thing that the man had been doing back in the vision. If they look down at their hands, they will see them fading, see-through.

Yet for them, something is different. Just as the creatures are about to attack, they stop. A vision of the Velvet Room flashes before the eyes of those gathered as the two attendants silently nod. Then a return to reality as a light of color pierces the night from their hearts. A single voice can be heard, drowning out anything they might be hearing.

The time is now. I am thou, thou art I! Your mind is trapped, but I can set your soul free! My other self, will you die, or fight back?

Accept me for who I am! Forge this contract by letting go of your fears! Revolt against this world, and TEAR OUT YOUR HEART!

It laughs and fades, as time quickly returns to this world. There's only a few seconds to react before it all goes to hell. A faded hand to reach into your chest.

The choice is yours. Death...or Awakening.

THE BATTLE IN APPLE GROVE

It’s a feeling unlike they have ever felt. Never have their bodies been so alive. Their minds fill with lost memories, their bodies adapting into tools to defeat the creatures before them.

Defeat...destroy...unlock the skills of your heart and show them what it means
to cross you."

The voice is encouraging, almost. To those with navigator skills, the voice speaks up once more as well.

Lead them into battle. Hone their skills into true annihilation!"

It’s time to reclaim the night.

[OOC: For the purpose of this battle, the shadows all have 1HP and are strong against nothing. That means any attack will be able to kill them, weapons and guns included. For this log only, CHARACTERS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO COMBINE SPELLS, as knowledge of this will be unlocked later on. There are about a HUNDRED shadows to be defeated, so there are as many needed for your characters to enjoy killing off. You are free to NPC them and to create situations and close calls.

An OOC PLANNING POST can be used to ask questions or to form teams.]

Comments

1

[kouteipenguin]

[Michi had also withdrawn pretty quickly after arrival. He set up his contribution to everyone by unceremoniously dumping his collection of water bottles out and standing them up, then moped in a corner for a while. But there's really only so much of that that he can take before he's looking around for distractions again.

There's Haruka, still. Michi hadn't really said much to him since he picked him up, had he? And though they hadn't known each other that long, he still felt obligated towards him in a large way. 01 had always been there. He and 1001 (and what turned out to be Yoshio) were Michi's first friends on that app. What he's doing now, Michi isn't even sure. Something dangerous. Something really illegal. But they're all in so much danger now that it's hard to even care about that fact. What does that say about the world they're in right now, that explosives don't even seem like the most dangerous thing they could be doing?

Michi gets up, taking one of his water bottles, and walks over. He stops a little ways away, oddly hesitant. Okay, so he does care about the whole explosives deal at least some.]

Hey...

[probablynoteren]

[For all that there are plenty of people he knows here (too many, and it's frightening if he lets it be, the fact that those important to him are tangled up in this -- the fact that so much of his life is somehow wrapped up in this -- and yet also a horrible relief; he tries not to think about it), and a few people he's picked up along the way... Haruka can't let himself get too wrapped up in what would be goodbyes in disguise, or commiserating in their fright; he doesn't really have the leisure for brooding, either, but here he is.

There are a million things he needs to get done before midnight, but at the moment where Michi approaches him, he isn't doing any of them -- and he's so focused on not doing them that with the distance between them it takes him several moments to realize he's being stared at. And that someone has spoken.]

... Hey. [after a moment, he nods and makes a vague motion in the hopes that Michi will stop hovering regardless of how much of a mess his stuff is including the explosives] You found what you needed to?

[Which incidentally includes both things and people, in the peculiar economy of words Haruka tends to get into when his mind is elsewhere.]

[kouteipenguin]

[He'd have waited there for however long it took, unwilling to press things, but once invited there's only a moment's hesitation before Michi steps carefully forward, setting down the water bottle offering near Haruka before sinking down to the ground, knees pulled up to his chest.]

I dunno. Probably not. I really dunno.

[He's repeating himself, but it's not clear if he realizes that or not. His eyes focus first on Haruka, then flick back over to rest on some of the myriad supplies that Haruka's assembled. It seemed easier when he just thought he should do this than actually saying it, but that's been the case for basically everyone he's talked to. They're all going to die. It shouldn't matter.

But that just makes it matter more, anyway.]

But, uh. Look... thanks. For everything.

[He could stop there, but he doesn't. Once he starts, he finds the words just start flowing.]

I know it wasn't by choice that we shared the same demon username. That didn't have to mean anything. It didn't to some people! But... this would have been a lot harder to deal with if we hadn't all stuck together.

[probablynoteren]

[Haruka hadn't thought much of anything like thirst or hunger, especially at this time of night even if they're apparently marching off to feed themselves to a Shadow or fifteen (they're not going to become food, so there's no need to fatten themselves up for it, that's nonsensical), but given that there's water, takeout and all sorts of things going around the subway... He's kind of grateful for it. For the fact that everyone is doing what they can, and covering for each other even if many of them hardly know each other. At least there's that.

And at the very least, he's thirsty enough to down at least half the water bottle at once after all the running around both he and Michi have already done before the main event. Once that's done, he finds himself staring down at the top of Michi's funny bushel of hair and listening to him ramble. Had Haruka been any wordier than he really is, he probably would have joined him.

Instead, he bats away the stray urge to give him a quick pat on the head, and waits for his words to slow down enough to get one in edgewise.]

Thank you for the water. [even at the end of the world (that's an exaggeration, even if it feels a little like it), routine and courtesy take precedence] And you don't have to thank me. We helped each other, even if it started with a username. We'll keep helping each other.

[His voice gains in firmness as he speaks, dredging the words up from somewhere even he can't quite reach. He's not speaking exclusively to Michi any more, even if he is definitively included; the quietness of his voice is more anticipation than hush.]

We'll stop all this.