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
But he's never seen anything like this. The same basic patterns as a human – the same as a fluxdrift, even – but... different. Denser. More massive, by powers of tens.
Which just makes the mundanity of the scene that much... weirder? Surreal? He frowns as the man – or whatever he is – proceeds with what appears to be a petty crime. Not that there's really such thing out in the diffusion zones, but– ]
You can't just conjure some? [ He asks, equally deadpan. ] From that limitless well of cosmic magic or whatever it is you're made of?
[ Cutting through the fat. He never liked small talk, anyway. ]
no subject
If he’s at all surprised that he’s apparently been perceived on a level that usually comes with some sort of soul sight, Emet-Selch only shows it in the way his eyes tick back up to look at this man, one pale eyebrow arching just slightly.
He doesn’t pull punches, even having some idea of the power of the man he’s looking at, Emet-Selch will give him that much. ]
Can you? From that unfathomable mass of abject horrors making a mess of your soul, perhaps?
[ Fight him. (Don’t fight him.) ]
no subject
Stephen's eyes narrow at the slight – or warning shot, in truth. A growl, reverberating through the charged molecules and cosmic dust between them. I see you too. ]
I dressed for investigating, not bar-hopping, [ he replies, as he circles the other side of the bed – a flimsy barrier between them, but one he's wary to breach nonetheless. ] Figured if I can get a general sense of the trace matter in different diffusion zones, maybe I can pick out the similarities – and why they all ended up here.
[ He fixes his eyes on the tall man. Raises a brow. ]
How we ended up here.
[ There's an implication there. Not we, the fluxdrifts. We, those who shouldn't be caged. ]
no subject
That luminous, golden gaze tracks the movements of the other man, expression unchanged, as he moves around the bed. A bit of respectful distance, he notes. So, he’s nosy and sharp-tongued, but not wholly a fool.
“We,” he says, like they’re of the same breed. They most certainly are not, though if this prison can cage even Emet-Selch, there is not much else it cannot hold. ]
And you are?
no subject
[ His conversation with Bjurstrom the other day opened him to the benefits of shared information while in his weakened state, even from fluxdrifts without extra eyes to see Beyond. Imagine, then, getting help from one who can. ]
Maybe – if we pool resources – we can get somewhere. Figure out what the hell's going on.
no subject
You have quite the interesting way of approaching someone with whom you wish to collaborate.
[ Said as he continues to idly dig through this suitcase. He’s going to get enough jabs about this stupid orange shirt. He doesn’t need more. ]
Do they not have manners in whatever void you crawled out of?
no subject
I didn't crawl out of my void. [ He flexes his fingers into a loose fist. ] I was seized. Like you, I'm guessing – unless you've got a vested interest in hanging out with robots by the pool, in which case, [ he gestures at the door, ] by all means.
no subject
[ Idly.
Emet-Selch isn't one to go throwing around his phenomenal cosmic power on a whim. There are so few instances where he finds it worth the effort, and so far he's not been swayed to do anything other than rely on his sharp tongue, as ever.
He'll give in eventually, if only because he understands that this is a world that operates more on favors than it does actual currency.
His eyes flick over the man in front of him again, watching him posture and gesture and carry on, and it's a bit like looking in a mirror. Hells, is this what it was like to deal with him? No wonder the erstwhile hero of the star didn't much care for his company.
A beat, he heaves a sigh, shoulders sagging for a moment. He's not certain he's going to like this little alliance, but— ]
I am not here by choice, no. If I could leave, I would have done the moment I arrived.
no subject
And – if the resigned shoulders are any indication – he at least recognizes why it wouldn't be a bad idea. If I could leave, I would have done. Stephen's half-smile fades as his expression turns more serious. ]
Exactly. [ He leans forward in the rattan chair, its tropical bird-patterned cushions a stark contrast to his shift in tone. ] Haven't found anyone else yet who's as... potent as you, which means that as far as I can tell, if you can't get out of here, no one can.
[ His eyes narrow. ] No individual, anyway. But your magic's different from what I'm familiar with, and from your end, I'm sure mine is too. If we can figure out the blind spots on each other's sides, combine them, then maybe... [ He trails off. Figures that regardless wherever the guy's moral compass might point, it's best to go for broke and figure it out. ] ...We can get everyone home. For good.
[ No one's ever accused Stephen Strange of being under-ambitious. ]
no subject
[ A derisive snort. Just what he wanted, to be the king rat in a trap full of rats. Being singled out in such a way does little for his ego and instead drops quite the promise of responsibility on him instead – a responsibility he does not want. Has he not toiled enough? Not been denied the chance to rest for eons already? Stars, he is tired.
So, his first thought is to tell Stephen just what he can do with these grand plans of his and carry on as he has been, beholden to no one and nothing but himself.
On the heels of that urge is the bitter truth that the more people there are trying to unravel the mystery of this place, the better their chances of escape. He might not be keen on working to free everyone, but in so doing he might find the means for himself to slip out quietly. ]
I suppose I am not opposed to the idea of cooperation.
[ It’s as close to an outright yes as Stephen is likely to get from him. ]