004 - well shit

[kokuyoyo]

Who: All these paranoid losers
What: After an alarming post on applenet that speaks of a compromised system, everyone deals with this as best they can: with heaps of paranoia.
Where: All over Eddan, presumably
When: The remaining seven days
Warnings: None planned but warn in your headers if it gets to that territory

For most, summer vacation is a blessed time, at least for those who attend the prestigious Green Valley. So much hard work that's put into the classes they attend must be rewarded with a wonderful break, and various apartments, homes, and the streets of Eddan itself are filled with the excited chatter of students who are enjoying the sweet summer air.

However, for a certain chosen few...

I see you. These are the words which might be weighing down on them heavily even as they attempt to go about their established lives, a gloom that even the brilliant sunshine can't block. For those who know the truth of Eddan, it's frightening to know that something like the dangerous Shadows they've seen might be coming for them while they're unprepared. For those who've had yet to Awaken, who are still new to all of this.... Perhaps they might be dismissing it, perhaps their lack of knowledge makes it all the more scary, but either way...

The question remains: what are they going to do in response?


[OOC: Consider this a mingle log for characters to play out how they're reacting to this latest shitshow. Not mandatory to use, just to help make it easier!]

[For Awakened characters, some things to keep in mind:
1 - It's been suggested for characters to pick up Control Tower to get fit
2 - They're on the lookout for somewhere outside the school apartments to meet up at since that makes it tricky for non-dorm students and also the adults
3 - Genda has let loose some sheep as identifying markers.]

[For non-Awakened characters, feel free to notice people carrying those sheep, if they indicate having them!]

Comments

open to Awakened characters

[kokuyoyo]

As he had mentioned on the app immediately once the alarming post went up, Chikusa's apartment in the school building is open to anyone who wishes to spend the night or just drop by. As usual, his enormous collection of mugs, plus any coffee, tea, iced tea, or hot chocolate people could want. You just better pay him back, you bastards.

Koujirou Genda ll OTA

[beastfang]

Roaming Leaf (Lazer's Pawn or Green Valley Dorm area) [A]

Logistically remaining at home unless absolutely necessary or until called for was the better option, but it wasn't until that post had gone up and plans for meet ups in person were thrown about that he realized just how isolated he was. So despite tactical sense saying to stay put he instead found himself alternating days between roaming the common areas, and sometimes dorm rooms of any Awaken or Unawaken that realized who he was and allowed him to stay a moment, of the Green Valley Dorms. Or 'window shopping' around various stores near Lazer's Pawn, when not in the store itself either looking at some items that could come in handy or handing over another bag of various sheep.

For those that may come across him in the dorms his backpack is once again filled with various sheep again and some are also left at the pawn shop to be picked up by others. All in various styles and colors with the black star on their foreheads, and ribbon collars in various colors with either the navigator or combatant symbol stitched carefully on said ribbons.

About midway through the week Genda is also carting around 'special ordered' plush animals. Some personalized sheep and others different animals that had been requested of him. All with ribbon collars with the appropriate symbol for the one that asked for them. Handing them out as he finds the new owner for them. Or perhaps you seen one and decide to ask about the specially made ones.


Cutting Flowers. (CT Practice Area) [B]

Though there were scheduled days for actual practice, even in the summer, that didn't mean the doors weren't open for those who wanted to practice on their own. Or just wanted to escape the heat outside into the air conditioned stadium that housed the CT field for Green Valley. While Christopher had been a member he had not been die hard at such thus never did extra practice. Genda however had seen how much accuracy had been needed when they had used those abilities of theirs. So after that unsettling message Genda found himself drifting here when not observing the two known spots for meet ups. Someone may find him setting up targets, or practicing on top of one of the towers. Some days you may even find him methodically using one of the foam crossbows used by the Bishops. Moving around obstacles and firing at specific items as if trying to be able to correct his trajectory at a moments notice if need be.


Wildcard [C]

((Have a prompt that doesn't fit the starters up above then hit me up with it. Will go prose or brackets so choose what you feel comfortable with. All sheep pics are thanks to James aka Chikusa's player.))

B

[draculabackwards]

After speaking with Chikusa on a need to get more physically fit, he'd been told about Command Tower. Alucard hadn't really had the time to ever watch a match or even understand the rules. He did recognize an opportunity to practice skills in plain sight, however.

It galled him that he had to practice at all. He'd once had so much power to burn that he couldn't keep track. Now? Not so much. It did seem someone else had the same idea, practicing with the crossbow. Alucard watched Genda for a little while before asking, "You might do a better job with someone aiding you."

A

[kokuyoyo]

As he'd promised, Chikusa's door is indeed open to anyone over the summer break. However, as Genda steps into the dorms, this will be obvious not from the other boy's apartment but by the fact that he is in fact down in the common areas. Chikusa's necessary independence combined with Ciro's slowly learning to be has come in handy. It means he has a good idea of how to cook and bake.

Thus the results are being offered on some of the tables, a variety of simple cookies on various paper plates. Chikusa is setting one up, along with a small note of "For anyone staying the summer! - Ciro Bonavida" set besides it.... along with, of course, a sheep picture. One that neatly matches the one hanging from a belt loop on his pants.

There will be a lot of people dropping by his apartments. Might as well have plausible deniability in the form of offering free food.

As he sees Genda, Chikusa gives a slight nod to him. "Seeing someone in particular?" he asks quietly, as if he doesn't have a decent idea.

Augustine Sycamore | Closed to Chikusa

[megacurious]

[Armand doesn't know what is happening right now. Ever since that last Apple.net post, he begins to worry what will happens next. Right now, he isn't using the app nor using his phone out of fear that whoever is trying to hack the app might find out his real identity or his family's.

Thankfully with that phone call he had, Armand manages to put his paranoia aside as he takes his seat at the table inside the cafe before he waits for Ciro to come by. Sure, it's not one of his lower cycle students, but seeing any of them is enough to ease his worries for a while.]

[kokuyoyo]

[It's easy enough to find the professor, considering the meet up they've arranged and the description Makoto gave him. Looking every bit the regular student out for summer break, Chikusa steps inside the cafe and gives a brief look around. Anyone who didn't know better would assume him simply looking for someone... but, honestly, he's checking the escape routes and for anything suspicious.]

[It's not paranoia in their cases.]

[Soon enough, however, he makes his way to the table, nodding his head slightly.]

Thanks for meeting me on short notice...

[Taking a seat, Chikusa sets his bag to the side and his phone on the table.... displaying a small sheep charm whose neck-tied ribbon displays a particular symbol.]

[megacurious]

[Seeing Ciro arriving is enough for Armand to calm his paranoia for a while. Besides, what he knows so far is that Ciro wants to meet him to talk something school-related.]

It's alright, Ciro. What do you want to talk about?

[Of course, this brief period of peace is somehow shattered when Armand notices something from Ciro's phone, name the sheep charm that is attached to it. In fact, seeing it reminds him a lot of that dreadful app, which he is still uncomfortable regarding the current events that just happened.]

[kokuyoyo]

It was about next year's Flower Festival, actually...

[He's never been much good at acting, but he knows enough to at least pause for a moment.]

Is something wrong?

Kiriya Kujo | OTA | Lazer's Pawn

[truthkills]

Sure enough, the shop's proprietor can be found in the store throughout the day, ready to deal with anyone who might have gotten the code word "gashat" off of the app.

For once, he does not appear to be napping behind the counter. He's got a few "new" computers hooked up--new in the sense that they haven't been there before--and he actually appears to be working. Employees and regular customers might be shocked. He's got them all carefully turned so that they aren't visible from the door, and he'll look up when anyone enters--he's not actually wearing his sunglasses indoors, either. They're clipped to the front of his obnoxiously loud Hawaiian print shirt. "You looking for anything in particular?"

[kouteipenguin]

'Fun' Baalberith had been kind enough to specify to "look for the guy in the shades and stylish colorful shirt". Kidou's still a tightly wound ball of nerves underneath his determined expression as he enters Lazer's Pawn, looking around with eyebrows furrowed. One wrong move, he feels, could be costly. He's obsessively read everything possible to prepare, but somehow it just doesn't feel like he's prepared enough.

In addition to his now everpresent shades, 'Michi' decided to take matters into his own hands for this. With some work, he'd edited one of his plain shirts into one that sports a hand-made white fabric sheep sewn over the left breast. It was the only tie he could think of that would set him apart without giving too much away.

It takes a lot of his self control to not jump at the question.

"Yeah." How to put this... as nonchalantly (aka dramatically cold) as possible. For all his effort not to stand out, he's just too good at acting suspicious. "Are you familiar with gashat?"

[truthkills]

A slow grin spreads over Kiriya's face as he abandons those computers he's messing with and goes to lean on the counter. Part of the reason for this grin is satisfaction that he's found another person affected by this weird app thing. Most of the reason is because this kid is just so bad at being nonchalant about this. "Well," he says, "I'm the only guy around here who knows what they even are, let alone used one, so yeah, you could say I'm pretty familiar with them."

[hachitaro]

Kei heads into the shop, a little nervous - but maybe he shouldn't be. He's familiar with these kinds of places. It's not like he's never sold stuff to them before. He just hasn't hit this place yet - he's been rotating his locations. Maybe they all talk to each other, but he sure hopes that they don't.

... Otherwise the occasional sale he makes to them might quickly become an issue. In any case, he grins and leans on the counter. "Yeah. Someone told me you've got gashats in stock?" Not that he knows what those are, but eh.

[truthkills]

"No," Kiriya says, turning to face his customer, "not in stock, but that's the magic word anyway." He gets up from his chair and goes to casually lean on the countertop. "Need a weapon, huh?"

[hachitaro]

"Yeah. I'm the guy who asked about CT weapons." He's actually doing a decent job of looking nonchalant, grinning up at Kiriya. "I've got some stuff that you might like in trade." He can also probably cover the difference in cash, but he knows damn well not to open with that. That'll just get him ripped off - not that he doesn't know roughly what CT equipment should be worth.

[draculabackwards]

He'd only met Kiriya in person once, but Alucard had talked to him more through the application afterward. One never knew where an ally could be found. Someone with a lot of contacts in the city was certainly welcome. Along with being able to shop for a lot of random items without it drawing any attention.

"I'm looking for either sports equipment or anything involving musical instruments. Just not accordions."

[truthkills]

"Ah, I haven't had an accordion in here in a few weeks, it's totally an accordion-free zone now." He grins. "But I've got a whole lot of other stuff. Someone brought a tuba in last Tuesday."

[kokuyoyo]

Will wonders never cease. Still, Chikusa takes it as a sign that if he's doing that, then the pawnshop is good to go on conversation and steps further in.

"....Just if you got any more new mugs..." New being a relative term here, obviously. Slowly, in no particular hurry, he starts to browse the different shelves. "...And the rough percentage of how many suspicious people frequent your shop." He'd like to find some of the more shady parts of the city, if possible. Just in case.

[truthkills]

"Nah, no more new mugs." Kiriya abandons whatever he's doing with those computers for the time being. "And what, you running some kind of shady census?"

[mirrors_wish]

[After this]

Mira is pretty sure this is the right place. She's been here before, just for a couple of stories for the school paper, and she remembers the owner matching the description of "sunglasses indoors," even if she'd disagree on "stylish" colorful shirts.

"Excuse me?" she asks. "I think I talked to you before, about answering a few questions?"

It sounds...well, not entirely innocent. But nonspecific enough, especially given she's done interviews for the school paper before, that nobody might guess anything too out of the ordinary.

[truthkills]

Ah, awesome, just what he needs, an interview. There's a sigh as he turns away from the computers he's messing with to go lean on the counter. "Depends on what the questions are; I'm not gonna answer anything that could incriminate me in a court of law." Which seems like a flippant and Kiran enough thing to say.

John Miles/Jaune Arc | OTA

[sociallyarcward]

A. Stress Baking Part 3 | After School
For anyone who was close friends with John, it shouldn't have been too surprising to find him in one of the Home Ec rooms with an apron on, dumping sugar into a measuring cup. John was a notorious stress baker and while he usually kept this to his own home, it was really starting to become noticeable to his mother. She knew her son and if he kept baking batches of cookies every other week she was going to start to get suspicious of what was bothering him. She may have not been John's mother, but he had such strong memories of her and it just wasn't right to worry the poor woman. Besides, he may not be in a home ec class this year, but he had obviously made friends with the staff and they didn't mind him using their kitchens and ingredients from time to time.

As long as he left samples.

You might have even been drawn to this section of the school because of the warm, delicious smell of freshly baked cookies or maybe you have your own after school baking to do. Whatever the case, you're likely to find John balancing hot cookie sheets fresh from the oven or whipping up some white frosting. Today's batch theme seems to be a mix of moons, stars, bunnies and sheep.

B. New Club? | Morning
Prior to Awakening, John had no interest in the game that most of Eddan was obsessed with. He had no talent for it and it just wasn't his thing. It didn't help that he had a pretty busy schedule between school, work, and student council duties. Even after Awakening, Jaune hadn't quite understood the game and had sort of let it slide that a lot of the Awakening were starting to view it as an opportunity to train and get together without others batting an eye. Not to mention he was STILL busy with those other things.

But, now? Well, he was starting to see the appeal of using it as a way to work on strategy and coordination. It wouldn't make sense to have a mass battle like the one they fought before and where so few of them had actually worked as a team. John had decided he would wake up early one morning to watch a practice and see if he could figure out the game. He'd also snagged a book from the library on the rules of the game, but so far all it was doing was sitting next to his backpack as he watched. His backpack which, just so happened, to have a new sheep keychain charm dangling from one of the side pockets (though it was partly obscured by the book).

He hadn't quite worked up the courage to ask if he could try yet. It seemed like a good idea just to see how it worked.

C. Wildcard
((Feel free to run into John at other locations or if you have other ideas for a starter and want to interact with him have at it!))

[Note: I will match format if you do not want to use prose and instead use brackets]

[power_of_dominance]

Normally Sein would grab something from his family's place, but since he's in a different part of town and in need of a caffeine fix he stops by a different place. At least he's familiar with this particular cafe, though he wonders if a certain someone is still there.

He slips past an exiting customer, taking a deep breath once he's inside. Yup, same familiar, good smells. That's a good sign. And it's not too busy, either, which is good for his anxiety. Still, he huddles into his coat a bit (please don't let anyone stare) and steps up to the counter.

"Hi, can I get a large hazelnut caffe mocha to g-- wait, John? Is that you?" Well, that answers his earlier question.

[sociallyarcward]

Normally John didn't take morning shifts during the work week due to obligations at school. However, his mom had asked him as a favor since one of the normal workers had called in saying they'd be late. It was his mom, so he couldn't exactly say no. However, his replacement would hopefully be in soon, though the timing was uncertain...something about her dog getting out of the yard and needing to be caught.

He wasn't really paying attention, but when he heard his name stated with such familiarity he looked up. It took him a minute, but only because he wasn't used to seeing him here. "Sein? Morning! It's good to see you."

B

[kokuyoyo]

Jaune isn't the only one interested in watching CT. Chikusa, as the one who suggested it in the first place, obviously has been lurking around. In fact, he lurks all the way over to where Jaune is watching, a messenger bag over one shoulder and a sheep charm hanging from his pants belt loop.

"...Finally done cooking?" Yeah, he might have wandered by Home Ec once or twice while doing other things.

[sociallyarcward]

Jaune looked away from the field, just in time to miss a big cheer. Had someone scored? He wanted to look back to see what he'd missed, but that would be rude to Chikusa who had just approached him and asked a question.

"For now. I think I got it out of my system," he replied. "If I'd known you were around I would have given you some of the cookies."