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

[exarched]

[ All foreign words, it seems, and solidifies that theory even before the other man responds. There is nothing wrong with curiosity after all, and G'raha is thankful that he is making this reconciliation process easy enough to read. Encountering an entirely different type of person is understandably confusing. At least he doesn't make fun of his totally appropriate outfit.

He nods--encouraging, even, as the other man draws all the correct conclusions. (And even seemingly adopts his terminology. That much does not go unnoticed!) ]

I have quite a few "human" friends-- [ Which does feel a bit odd, given that he would be considered "human" back home. But he is making a point to use familiar terminology himself. ] --though they would call you a "Hyur".

[ G'raha cants his head, curiosities of his own growing. ]

Where are you from, if I may ask? I take it you were equally curious about these "diffusion zones".

[retrievalist]

[ Eliot gives his head a little shake, like he's a old TV on the fritz or somthing, and then finally takes that seat on the ground next to his new friend's chair that he'd been meaning to.

The way he talks implies that humans—Hyur—exist alongside these Miqo'te. If Hyur and humans are the same then it would rule out aliens but would also imply something even more out there, like some quantum many worlds bullshit. But at least that would explain why this guy's accent sounds like Sophie at her most Duchess of Hanover. ]

Considering how rude I've been, you can ask me whatever you want.

[ Out of the corner of his eye he spots an equally red tail moving lazily against the chair and very quickly points his eyes forward. ]

Generally speaking? [ No his voice doesn't break a little, don't be ridiculous. ] Yeah. These "diffusion zones" are nothing like anything that exists on my star. So yeah, it's a point of interest you could say. In comparison to all of this [ and here he gestures with his hand around them ] my star's pretty boring. We only have Hyur, we only have one moon, we definitely don't have the technology to build androids like the ones here, and even if I was some kind of scientist, I don't think our science has come far enough to even come close to describing what the hell's going on here.

[ It all sounds a lot when put like that, but when it comes down to it Eliot has always been good at surviving. He just has to... adapt a little is all. ]

What about you? Is the diffusion zone what you've been taking all these notes on?

[exarched]

[ Rude? If anything, this mans concern about how he is coming off only paints him in better light in G'raha's eyes. Rather than concede any social indiscretions, G'raha smiles and shakes his head. ]

Not at all. 'Tis only natural that you would be curious when meeting someone--or something--that you have yet to. And I am beginning to see that Miqo'te or their counterparts are not as common across the cosmos as others.

[ So he better get used to it. At least people haven't been disparaging, which is all that really matters. If anything, G'raha feels a little special that he gets to be the first. (Don't worry, most are taller than him.)

G'raha does offer his rapt attention when the other man begins to explain his home world. Only Hyur? How interesting... And given that Etheirys now also has a single moon, he supposes it isn't that out of the ordinary. But the difference in technology is something that he has heard expressed by others in their situation. He nods at the right points, pausing actually to write a bit of that down as well. ]

With so many discoveries in one day, I would say you are taking it all in quite well.

[ Any thinly concealed awkwardness aside. You're doing great, buddy!

But now it's G'raha's turn as his tail flicks a little sheepishly behind him. ]

Ah...yes. Though these are ephemeral, I want to remember what we have seen. Moreover, the fact that they are commonplace enough, there may yet be similarities not only in what we find within them, but also how they appear or disappear.

[ He adds a final period before looking up again. ]

Doubtlessly more experienced "chasers" have notes and a wealth of experience we can work from, but I do like to note my initial impressions. We all come with our own areas of expertise.

[ He nods to the other man. ]

And you have a fresh set of eyes on all of this. What do you make of it?