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.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thediadem) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
diademlogs2025-06-08 10:11 am
no subject
[ There's a bit of hesitation before she answers.
Before this. Like it can so cleanly delineated, her life parceled out into two discrete portions: before Panorama, after Panorama. It wasn't like she came from thin air, either. It's disconcerting, to think about whatever negative space she left behind when this world carved her out of her old one. Has it replaced her with a copy, one with hair that didn't frizz and a mouth cleaned out with soap? Or was her grandfather handing out missing posters all around the Taunton reservation? Is she finally part of the statistic?
She ends up propped up against the hood of the van, somewhere between sitting and leaning. It is a really nice night— despite the fact that her car's clock had said it was only 11AM and that had been roughly fifteen minutes ago.
Like she said. Weird as shit. ]
What about you, man? What's your story?
no subject
Other end of the country. New Mexico. Albuquerque, mainly. Desert city. Nothin' special, but it was home.
[ And now he's here, somehow struggling even more to find his place in the world. He always thought about packing up and finding a fresh start, but now that it's here, he doesn't know what to do with it. ]
Got in a fight. [ He gestures to his face. It's not as obvious as when he first got here, but there are some fading bruises still slightly visible if you know what to look for. ] Next thing you know, I'm wakin' up in that med tent back over by the scrapyard. Still not entirely sure if I'm dead or this is just a bad trip. [ He looks past her, across the parking lot. ] You check out the resort yet?
no subject
The next bit makes her laugh. It probably shouldn't, and she touches the back of her fingers to her mouth apologetically. ]
Well, I can tell you — you're definitely not dead.
[ The dead have a smell, a chalkiness, a coagulated milk in their veins. He's just... dude. She can't think of a better word to describe it.
As for the resort, Nash shakes her head slightly. ]
No, not yet. My evening job let the most senior people book off first.
[ So, she spent a few days washing dishes and serving tables while her veteran fluxdrift coworkers lounged by the pool and got absolutely plastered on terrible cocktails. It's fine. Cinderella had to delay going to the ball and she married into royalty; this is even better than that, because it doesn't involve any potential inbreeding. She grins over at Jesse, excited to get the day-night-day started. ]
But I bet I can kick your ass at beer pong.
no subject
He leans back against the van with a slow shift of weight, the dilapidated hunk of metal creaking behind him like it's got something to say. Then she grins and tosses out the beer pong line, bold and casual like she's done it a hundred times. His eyes widen with surprise as her words hit him sideways--the kind of challenge that carries no venom, just energy. And fuck, it's been a long time since someone talked to him like this. Like he's just some guy. Like he could just have fun and take a load off instead of scrambling to do damage control or to stay afloat every five seconds. He's not used to it. He keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it's starting to dawn on him that maybe he can finally stop running here. He huffs a breath through his nose, lips quirking into something that's more smirk than smile. ]
You talk a lotta game for someone who hasn't even seen the pool yet.
[ Jesse tips his head, studying her with exaggerated thoughtfulness, like he's weighing the odds. ]
Alright, alright. How 'bout this: if I win, you owe me a drink. A good one. Somethin' with a dumb little umbrella or a name like "Cosmic Punch". You know. Resort-type shit. [ There's a beat, like considering the alternative is an afterthought. ] And if by some miracle you win, I'll be nice and let you pick the terms.
[ His voice is easy, even, but there's a glint in his eyes that says he means it. That he's not just tossing it out to kill time. That he's paying attention. That maybe, under all the shit and haze, he's still the kind of guy who wants to believe in a little give-and-take, even if he's not sure how anymore. Somewhere beneath all the chaos is a guy who just wants to have fun and make some connections. He wasn't in a position to do that back home, but maybe here he can have a fresh start. He shoves himself off the van, straightening up and dusting his hands off like he's getting ready to kick some Beer Pong ass. ]
Sound fair?