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MINGLE ∞ LOG — June 2025

Mingle ∞ Log

No Lifeguard on Duty

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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( after the poor drinks that rowena had found in diadem, and given the delightful appearance of the resort, rowena had hoped for a much nicer selection. given the first drink given to her, even though all she'd ordered was neat whiskey, she wasn't certain that would be true. rowena didn't know whether it was the alcohol itself or the strange person serving her (android. she doesn't know that) but after the next two drinks seemed to be worse, she was out of luck.

when someone sat down beside her, she leaned to them, keeping her voice low as she gave them a mild warning )

I'd keep your order as simple as possible.

( even though that hadn't helped her much )

[ The woman that joins Rowena at the bar is dressed from head to toe in black. She's diminutive even in her six inch heels but she carries herself with a breezy powerful confidence that defies her stature; she could very much have been in this bar every day of her life for all the ease in her stride as she slides onto a stool and smiles at the android barkeep like she knows him.

Of course it's all synthetic. A mask of habit. Sally's pristine expression cracks at Rowena's comment and instead she looks unamused but not surprised, like a disappointed cat. ]

Damn it, and he looks so reliable, too.

[ It's a friendly sarcasm, said with a little scarlet smirk. Sally waves to the android to get his attention, and says:]

Can you manage 'anything but Whiskey', dear? That's not too tall an order, is it?

Well, he couldn't manage whiskey.

( said with a little scorn but mostly disappointment, strongly chiding the failure of the bartender )

Perhaps anything else might work better.

( not that rowena knows what the drink she has is. and not that she knows whether the bartender is understanding more than just a simple order )

Oh my god, men.

[ The frivolous complaint is muttered beneath Sally's breath, even before the very well meaning android fellow brings her a glass of club soda with ice. Her flat stare prevails very briefly before her polite, if sharp-edged smile folds back into place and she produces a very pretty synthesized laugh. Maybe she'd still be stuck on 'it's a fucking android!' but at this point Sally has already met a much more impressive android, and this one is getting between her and alcohol. ]

I can't tell if he thinks he's being clever

[ She replies breezily, relents a long sigh, and hops the counter like an agile little squirrel. ]

Whiskey, dear? I mix chemicals, not drinks, but I think I can manage passing you the bottle and fetching some ice on my way to a nice White Russian or two

The bottle on its own will be enough.

( and it would certainly save her the hassle of trying to manage her way through ordering another drink from the android, one that's still hovering by them even as sally is moving to get their drinks herself )

I think you'll be more useful over there.

( rowena gestures vaguely to the other end of the bar where some others are waiting to be served. better luck to them )

[ Jack came with his guardians to the pool and so far it's been very nice! He never got a chance to do anything like this before and he's had a good time simply walking around and looking at everything. They've always been in motels, never anything so fancy and impressive. He has watched everyone else enjoying the pool but not gone in himself, although the ends of his jeans are wet from sticking his feet in the water for a little while.

He spots Rowena and goes to join her, eyes widening slightly at the sight of the android. ]

What is that?

[ Jack's seen robots in television and movies before but this is real and in front of him, and it's very unique. He smiles politely at the android though. ]

I would like a drink please!

[ He doesn't know what drink. ]

Don't.

( there's a warning hand that rowena puts up to stop the server before he can reach for anything, brushing him off before she turns to jack )

Have you had a drink before?

( she's not against him having a drink, it isn't a question of age given their complexities, but the fact that he hadn't properly ordered something and was opening himself to anything that had rowena holding this off. that and the drinks had so far been terrible )

I assume given Dean there was a beer at some point.

I had my first beer when I was three days old! Don't tell Dean, but it wasn't very good.

[ Jack has just tasted a lot of other things that are better. He likes fruity or sweet things, and beer is too stale for him. He drinks beer because that's what Dean sets in front of him or the others are having, so naturally he mirrors them. Eats what they eat, drinks what they drink. He's tried more unique things since coming here, out of necessity. It's been interesting. ]

I can't get drunk so it all just tastes like different kinds of flavored water.

[ Jack did try once, snuck a few of them to see what happened because he heard tales, and nothing ever did. He doesn't have a human metabolism. He doesn't gain or lose weight, he doesn't get physically sick from anything, and his body doesn't react like a normal human. His taste though isn't like an angel, thankfully. ]

I want something fruity and with an umbrella.

( oh, dear boy, she tells dean all the time that his beer isn't very good. that's why there's whiskey and she's very grateful for it. it's also why she's not intending to subject jack to something terrible, waving the bartender off with her hand.

she slips around the other side of the bar once he's gone, disposing of her drink and pouring herself a better whiskey first )

Any particular flavour?

( does she knows much about mixing drinks? no. but she does know what pairs well together from having cocktails over the years, and figures she can make something without the salt the android had put in her drink. jack deserved something decently tasting )

[ Jack waves at Thomas as Rowena shoos him off. He likes the android, they had a nice talk, but he definitely shouldn't keep serving people drinks. Jack's pretty sure he watched him put rocks at the bottom of one, maybe thinking it was ice. He managed to stop the person from drinking it, but it's a concern. ]

Coconut! That's something people like on beaches, right?

[ Jack's only experience with this kind of thing is through movies and television. So much of Jack's knowledge of things relies on outside media because he doesn't get to go many places. He thinks maybe if he survives this fight with Chuck, and he doesn't go back to the Empty, he'd like to go to another country. Maybe one with elephants. It's unlikely he'll get to do that, but it's a nice idea. ]

Castiel's here. [ Jack looks a little glum. ] I'm learning a lot about him, but it's still hard knowing he'll never love me like my father did.

[ It's almost like his Castiel is dead for real, but he has his ghost walking around. Jack likes getting to know him, he's been able to ask all kinds of things he wouldn't ordinarily think of with his father, but it's at the cost of something he values deeply. ]

[ Wriothesley isn't much of a drinker but he does know that liquor usually leads to a loosening of lips, and he's new enough around town that any knowledge really is useful knowledge to him. So, dressed in a dark red hoodie and black jeans, he saunters over to the bar. Takes a seat.

And then promptly gets a warning that he should be mindful of what he orders by the woman already present. He can't help but raise an eyebrow. ]

That so? Think I should stick to water?

I would say to drink nothing, but that would look out of place.

( though despite having stated how terrible her drink is, rowena's still drinking it. sipping, really. the smaller her mouthful the more she can accept the taste of it, even if it isn't making it more enjoyable to drink )

Water should be safe enough.

[ Truthfully, he could probably handle just about anything that's passed his way - and had, a long time ago - but whether he wants to is a whole different story. He gives her words another moment of consideration, then motions for a water. ]

Everything else here treating you okay so far?

[ Anything else here he should avoid.... ]

[ Jesse slides onto the barstool beside her with a soft creak of worn denim and a grunt like he's already regretting this decision. Rowena leans in and gives the quiet warning. He glances at her, then at the robot behind the bar, who attempts to do something fancy with a cocktail shaker and ends up spilling half of it on the floor instead. ]

...Yeah, I was kinda gettin' that vibe.

[ Jesse replies under his breath, eyes narrowing and head tilting as the bot enthusiastically pours pickle brine into what looks like a glass of orange juice. He's about to ask Rowena what she ordered when the bartender spots him and perks up like a kid picked first for dodgeball. 'WELCOME, VALUED GUEST! May I interest you in our house special?' Great. Jesse leans back like the thing might explode. ]

Uh, just whiskey. Neat. Like...just the whiskey part. No salt, no juice, no...fireworks?

[ The android hums. 'Acknowledged!' It grabs tequila. Jesse squints. ]

Okay. That's not whiskey.

[ There's the sound of metal clinking, a shaker rattling. Something explodes in a puff of foam. Jesse watches with morbid fascination before muttering to Rowena again: ]

So he's a robot or whatever, sure, but like...you think maybe he thinks he's a bartender? Like, someone programmed the confidence but forgot the actual drink part?

( rowena would have warned jesse not to order whiskey, given that had been her terrible decision, but the drink came too quickly for her to stop him. despite disliking her own, rowena sips it again, pulling slightly less of a face at it. it wasn't whiskey, it wasn't good, but it was better than what it could have been.

and then he gives her more information, that the bartender was actually a robot and that itself was slightly surprising. she's never met a robot before, and perhaps it explains the strangeness of his appearance )

Unless he wasn't made to do this.

Maybe he was supposed to do somethin' else... [ Jesse mutters, quieter now, almost to himself, like he's rolling the idea around in his head. ] Like fix cars or kill people or...I dunno, do taxes. But now he’s stuck here, playin' mixologist for a bunch of what's it called...fluxdrifts? Under a couple a weird-ass moons? Bummer, yo.

[ The last part is aimed at Thomas, but he's too busy mixing up a concoction that's probably not fit for human consumption. Jesse squints up at the sky. Yep, purple moon's still there. ]

God, this place is so messed up.

[ Jesse lets out a groan, grinding his palms into his eyes then drags his hands down his face just in time for a glass to be placed in front of him. There's smoke pouring off of it, and he's not sure whether that means it's cold or hot. Jesse eyes it suspiciously, and Thomas doesn't seem to be going away until it's taste-tested. He cringes, picking up the glass and turning to Rowena with potential last words. ]

Think I should try it?

It's your risk.

( considering that rowena was risking hers by still drinking it she couldn't exactly tell him not to drink it. though knowing what hers was it also just tasted awful rather than being something that would harm her )

You did at least see which bottle he used. Even if tequila shouldn't react like that.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

MINGLE ∞ LOG — June 2025

★ THE BAR

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