Mingle ∞ Log
No Lifeguard on Duty
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.
∞ Links ∞
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.
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.
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thediadem) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
diademlogs2025-06-08 10:11 am
no subject
[There are more artful ways of describing what has happened, but no. Nonsense feels right in the moment. To highlight the fact further, because there's always refuge in absurdity, the dhampir offers a little huff and a deeply dry remark of:]
All I found was a croissant in my pocket, and it was the one I had been holding only a few moments before.
no subject
[ He's not one hundred percent sure what a croissant is, but it sounds terribly French. ]
Where were you before you ended up here, if you don't mind my asking? I've been wondering if there might be some sort of connection there, between all of us who just arrived.
no subject
[The dhampir manages a gentle shrug. His own conclusion is that there's no true connection to be found, but Alucard would love to be proven wrong.]
Paris, France in January of 1792. I just watched the people of France execute their king.
[Alucard's tone is dry and observational, with no particular strong feelings about any of what he's just said. People do regicides. Politics change. So goes the arc of humanity.]
no subject
[ He wouldn't live to January of 1792 if he had stayed home, even if he managed to avoid the noose his whole life, and as the thought strikes him he feels a rather intense thrill at the idea that he's learning about something that would otherwise have been entirely beyond his reach. ]
no subject
[At least Alucard thinks he was in India. The years blend together after a century or so. But he's not inclined to share that detail yet. Instead, Nassau.]
I've not gotten down to that part of the world, although I recently met a colleague from Saint-Domingue. [He's fairly sure that isn't the best word choice, but the nuances of that situation is exhausting.] They've had their own rebellion of late.
no subject
[ Isn't that always the thing with revolutions? Having only really participated in one, maybe he's not an expert, but he can extrapolate. ]
Forgive what I'm about to say, I mean it as a compliment, but unless you've sipped from the fountain of youth, how can it be you were in India in 1715 and spry as you are in January of 1792?
no subject
[Jack offers a very good chance for a terrible joke with the question.]
And if I have taken from the fountain?
no subject
Well, I suppose I'd like to know where you found it.
no subject
I come by it naturally. I believe England has a few vampire stories, yes?
no subject
Slowly: ]
Yyyyyes. Although perhaps not the ones I think you're about to tell me.
no subject
[The last mention does have some heat to it, but Alucard is quick to move past it.]
My mother was human, my father was a vampire in his 400s by the time they had me. Generally vampires are bitten by other vampires and partake of the blood of their creator in order to transform. They're considered undead, and to keep their body at the same age they were bitten, they drink the blood of the living. [No story, just facts.]
A dhampir, which is what I am, doesn't need blood. They just appear to go paler and paler over the centuries.
no subject
[ A perhaps underwhelming response, but Jack's mind is racing. You can practically see the steam coming out of his ears as he absorbs this information. Vampires, dhampirs, blood, and a man centuries old. He thinks, ten steps ahead as always, of himself in 1792, preserved exactly as he looks now, watching the monarchy fall in Paris.
God, he has to tell Anne about this. ]
And – again, apologies in advance if this sounds rude – how many centuries would that be for you?
no subject
Hardly rude, and I wouldn't offer any of that information if I wasn't willing to answer the question. I was born in the 1450s, so I'm three hundred and change.
[The dhampir pauses, tugging on a lock of his own hair which is is not quite white, but more of a truly bleached blond.]
I used to have far more golden color in my hair back then.
no subject
[ His mind is racing. He drums his fingers on the table by his lounger, whipping off his glasses with his other hand, leaning a little closer. ]
What does it feel like for all that time to have passed around you?
no subject
[He pauses, not for dramatic effect but to consider how personal to make this and what would be better off generalized. There's nothing but nuance to give here, but the whys of it, that's the important part.]
Some days, I feel fully out of my element and every inch my age. This place is a very good example. Nothing is familiar, the alcohol is questionable colors, the city we drove in from has no beauty to the buildings there. Complaining about it makes me feel ancient. But if something is happening, if there's a fight or some dynamic situation or something that demands my attention, time hasn't moved on at all. I'm the same as I ever was and that is a good thing.
Then there are the days where I feel no particular way about it and it is simply a matter of putting one foot in front of the other and moving onwards with the proverbial tide of time.
no subject
The places change, but the people don't.
no subject
[Alucard will leave it up to Jack to decide how literal the ghosts may or may not be. The answer is yes to both interpretations.]
But it keeps you grounded and human, and in my experience, that's where the risk of a long life lies. You can forget what it is to only have one life time, and your ethics, morals, values those can become monstrous and cause real harm.