MINGLE ∞ LOG — June 2025

[thediadem]

Mingle ∞ Log

No Lifeguard on Duty

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Jump ⇅ :: Intro — Prompts — NPC Interaction

Summary

What's going on?

An unexpected heat wave in mid-June, coupled with the cycling shutdown of all air conditioning units in motels across the Blocks, has made the summer unbearable. Meanwhile, the ever-eager storm chaser, Felix Bjurstrom, has uncovered a fancy resort with a pool in a diffusion zone only 1 hour out from Panorama. Lucky, right? Well...kind of. It's got some quirks.

When is this happening?

June 10 - 30

What should I know?

• This area is one of many diffusion zones that appear throughout the planet.
• A storm chaser is someone dedicated to studying the cosmic phenomenon in the Diadem. Felix is a pioneer in his field.
• A winding highway filled with old empty barrels will take you to the zone.
• Characters can travel with a friend to save on gas! Parking's limited, so it might not be a bad idea.
• At any given time, there's max several dozen visitors. Most work long hours, some are traveling through the diffusion zones, and others prefer not to risk the drive or waste precious gas, so it won't draw a huge crowd (but there's still a crowd!).
• This is a mingle rather than an event. Plot-heavy elements will be minor. The game's first proper event will be posted in July!

What does my character know?

• Having lost his phone, Felix will spread the word using good old-fashioned printed posters that he's put up around Panorama. A young woman is seen helping him. They appear to be close. Some say that's his daughter.
• Though the timing is impossible to predict accurately, Felix believes that due to this zone's unusual proximity to an anchor point, it has a high chance of persisting for 2-3 weeks.
• Directions are printed on the posters, though characters are also free to stumble across the zone by accident.

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Travel — Map — Setting

Introduction

The resort looks like your typical upscale vacation spot: a beautiful pool, lovely cabins, and plenty of pool chairs. The sky is perpetually nighttime and there are two moons. One moon is smaller than its sister and glows purple. The other looks like the Earth's moon. The weather is pleasantly warm. In fact, conditions are almost too perfect.

Other fluxdrifts are here, too, and you might come across them, all of whom are taking advantage of the pool. They'll converse superficially with you and will come and go randomly. You'll want to keep a close eye on your belongings. Other than cooling off, this isn't a bad place to start making connections. Life in the Diadem is better when you've got allies if not friends.

Just outside the resort is a spacious parking lot, designed for visitors. Nobody's following parking rules so put your car anywhere it fits. If you get blocked in, well, that's a problem for when you leave.

At the end of June, the diffusion zone will flicker and morph into an unremarkable overgrown park, long abandoned to the decades.

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Prompts

As you wander around, you discover deactivated androids in many of the poolside huts. These androids cannot be mistaken for any organic species: their chassis is metal, and their heads are shiny. Circuits and wires are visible. But each is dressed distinctly human in a way that borders on disturbing. You spot lipstick drawn on some of the metal faces, as though they're playing dress up...or as if they don't realize they aren't human. One android is frozen in place with a diary clutched in its hands. Another has a hairbrush for its nonexistent hair.

Something seems to have destroyed them—perhaps a powerful EMP wave that knocked them all out. All except one.

The Bartender

The poolside bar is at the eastern end of the resort. There are plenty of seats. A few are occupied by deactivated androids. The bartender is also an android and appears to be the only functional one in this place. He speaks with a modulated voice and has a neutral accent. He exhibits the following behaviors if you sit at his bar:

• Icebreaker. Whether you're alone or with a companion, he'll try to get you all to be friends, asking random self-generated icebreaker questions. He'll be visibly disappointed if you don't play along.
• Bartending. While cheerful, he can't make the correct drink: it's always too strong, incredibly weak, added salt instead of sugar, messed up the ice. He's obviously doing his best, but it's just not working. The harder he tries, the worse he performs until it becomes a comedy of errors with stuff falling over, ice dumped in your lap, champagne corks flying, and any number of slapstick mishaps. You can help him out by mixing the drink yourself.

If you're nice to him, he'll introduce himself as Thomas Lustras. He's happy to tell you about his son. Strange, you think, but who says androids can't have paternal instincts? Yet, when the android takes out his wallet to show you a photo of his son—named Edward Lustras—the picture is that of a human child, roughly 5 years old, in the arms of his human father.

The driver's license in the same wallet confirms that Thomas is (was?) a real person. The picture on the license matches the human male in the photo. A half-scorched business card states that Thomas was a consultant at Outer Rim Resettlements. Thomas believes he's on a company retreat and wistfully declares he's eager to return home to his son.

Maybe don't look too closely. After all, this place will soon disappear. And so will he.

The Grill

It's not a vacation without a grill! Not a grillable item is in sight, though, so you'll have to rely on what you can bring out of Panorama. Some of the visiting drifters will pitch in to share, unloading hotdogs (some synthetic, others authentic, and some far past expiry), burger patties (same) and buns, and "kebabs" made of blocky frozen vegetable squares. The squares vaguely resemble corn, mushrooms, and pineapple. The texture is passable, like a flavor-infused block of tofu.

Fire up the grill and take turns grilling. You'll also have to manage the propane. The grill's also prone to sputtering out, requiring regular minor repairs to get it back up and going. Any loose bolts or screws can be taken out of the dead androids to replace the rusty ones in the grill. You're unsure if you should feel uncomfortable doing that or what, but it is a solution.

Parking Woes

Like any crowded event, the parking lot can get chaotic, and the lawlessness of the diffusion zones doesn't help. While some are happy to help barbecue, others are more interested in picking fights over who got to the parking space first. It won't take much for a fistfight to break out, and a knife fight isn't out of the question, either, though nobody'll be killed (this time).

You can let the troublemakers beat each other, or you can try to intervene if somebody who doesn't deserve it is getting harassed. Just avoid causing too much of a scene. Breaking noses is acceptable; gutting someone head to toe is not. There are Enforcers visiting the zone, and if you interfere with their nice pool time, they won't hesitate to haul away everybody involved and make you sit in jail for a few days.

Questions? Ask here

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Comments

[godjr]

Jack killed Dean and Sam's mother, Mary, who was his adopted mother as well. Sam did forgive him, because it was purely accidental, and Jack has felt deep guilt and regret about it. He felt that way even without a soul, which isn't ordinary, but his sadness transcended that. But he doesn't blame Dean for being unable to see past it. On some level Jack believes that Mary of all people would forgive him, knowing he would never choose to hurt her, but he can't forgive himself ultimately. And that's why he'll take anything Dean can give him; in a way, he's punishing himself just as much as Dean is.

His eyes widen at that response and then his eyebrows furrow. "I ... guess it is. I think I choose to be grateful because I shouldn't exist, and I'm glad that I do. And it's nice to know that my death will have meaning." Not everyone gets that. He's very fatalistic and accepting about it. Jack's had very little joy in his life. He'd probably say he's had happy weeks at most, maybe months if he was being gracious. He's only three years old and so much of that was in turmoil and pain. But he likes to see the good parts when possible.

"I hadn't thought of it much," he admits. "I've just been focusing of getting back." Because it's the right thing to do. He has a mission. The Winchesters are very mission oriented. Jack could have tried to open a rift in space to go back, and he chose not to, so he's not being completely unreasonable about it. Amos has given him something to consider. He does for a few moments, glancing away, before his eyes go back to Amos and settles there.

"I would like to make friends." That is an easy one for him. "Ones that aren't afraid of me." Jack was in a bad position to make friends before because he only bonded closely with humans who hated angels. So he was at an immediate disadvantage. They came to respect and care for him, but always with that underlining fear of what he was. "I would really like to see an ocean and maybe go on a ship. And maybe go to a class, I've never been to school." He smiles. "I've never seen a play. Or gone to a concert. I'm told people like those."

To him these would be really big things to accomplish. Basically a bucket list that would be small to anyone else, but to Jack they're major.

[churnback]

If Amos knew Jack had done any of that, he wouldn't have any judgment for him. No one he knows or is loyal to was affected, so it's not the kind of thing he'd feel much of anything at all about. But that's not his family, not his people. They can feel whatever they're gonna feel.

Nice to know that my death will have meaning. God, this kid — every minute he talks, Amos just thinks of all the shit out there that could hurt someone like him. Not physically, no, he'd shown him a glimpse of his power. But in his head, the way he doesn't look like a kid but acts like one, the way he seems to have this huge fucking heart somehow in spite of everything. He can't fathom what that would be like, he just knows this world (any world) messes people up, but especially people like Jack.

He has a few things rolling around in his head after Jack lists out the things he wants to do and see, but he sidesteps all of that for a minute.

"What do you wanna do right now? All of this —" Granted, it's not exactly decked out here, but there are still things to do, and he glances around for a moment, waving a brief hand. "And you're holding a tray. Pick something."

[godjr]

Jack's been through more in three years than most people do in a lifetime. Mostly low lows, with some shining bright ups, but for as chipper as he can be, and earnest, there is an underlining sadness to him. An unspoken understanding that his life hasn't been fair and his death isn't either, but that there's nothing to be done about it. He still is optimistic, about the world and the people in it, including this one. He's been taught to value life and he does. Just not entirely his own.

"Oh." Clearly Jack hasn't given that much thought either. He saw that he could help by serving people with the tray and just automatically offered to do that. He's been trained to be of service, and he instinctively likes to help too. He clings to the tray for a moment, unsure if he wants to put it aside, he did take on this task voluntarily.

"What do normal people do? I guess I could go in the pool. Or have a drink." He sounds uncertain. He's been observing others.