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
Except that's not what really happens — since the minute someone tries to punch him, he's instead thrown in the air, back against one of the cars.
What the fuck.
He glances at her quickly before looking back at the guys. Whatever that was, he'll ask her later. He's impressed, though. One of the guys actually starts to step forward, to which Amos calls out — ]
You're really that fucking stupid?
[ That's all he manages to say before three of them are suddenly advancing on both him and Rowena. He would almost laugh about it, honestly, considering how obviously outmatched they are, but if they wanna throw their big dicks around like they own the parking lot, they'll get what they deserve. Amos ducks a punch and barrels into one of the guys to tackle him to the ground, trusting Rowena to handle whoever tries to come at her. ]
no subject
though the man levels a punch at her the words of her spell (impetus bestiarum) hit him first spoken with a smile. he freezes as it hits him, works on him, and his eyes turn bloodshot as he screams. and rowena has him.
a small gesture from her has him turning back into the fight, and the man that had been about to launch himself onto amos (still wrestling the other guy) gets pulled away by her little attack dog, who quickly punches his friend hard, holding him to hit him again, until his friend is bloody )
I'd walk away if I were you.
( a nudge to amos to draw him back, even though he wouldn't get hit, not part of her mental targetting, but to scare his remaining friends.
hopefully, she'll have time to reverse the spell before he turns rabid )
no subject
He pulls back, moves out of the way, looks to Rowena with an expression that's partially impressed, partially, what the hell am I seeing. She's — controlling the guy? Is that what the words meant? He'll file that away for later, he's just watching what happens next, watches that guy still on the ground actually consider what to do next. Like the most obvious answer isn't just to walk away, all things considered.
At the same time, Amos glances over at the — what is he now? What did she do to him? Some kind of animal, almost. Jesus, he looks like he's just gone. Amos, a little breathless, just levels a look at the guy he'd just tackled. ]
You heard her. Last chance you got.
[ He wonders if the other friend can even get up to walk away, but his buddy starts to move towards him, maybe to help him up and get out of here like they should have to begin with. ]
no subject
they move as quickly as they can, the bloodied friend almost dragged, and her attack dog moves after them. which is when rowena holds up a hand, a quick command from her-- )
Desiste. ( the man stops, and she lets the other two get a little further away before she reverses the spell, looking up to amos as if silently telling him that they're leaving once this is complete ) Adlevo onus tuum.
( the words are spoken slowly, and pain sends the man to the ground as her spell reverses, freeing him from it.
she rests a hand on amos's arm briefly, a gesture to tell him to leave. she didn't need to make sure the spell would be undone, she knew it would be, and she didn't want to stick around for the consequences either )
no subject
It's clear to him she could have made this a whole lot worse if she wanted. Can't say he cares much about the guys and their well-being one way or another. They'll be fine or they won't.
He's watching it all unfold with a tense expression; personally, he doesn't feel anything like fear or even apprehension. Just — a cautious awareness, maybe, of how very much she's someone not to fuck around with. She can handle her shit, too, so when she touches his arm, he's not the type to argue about it. Doesn't feel compelled to run from her either.
All of this is...something. He glances at her, speaks low enough only to be heard by her. ]
You're good?
no subject
Your appearance was very timely.
( which is the closest thank you he'll get in explicit terms, anyway. she's not very good at them, not with people she doesn't know that well.
but when they get back onto the street and away from any cars, she'll look up at him )
It seems I owe you a drink. If you're not busy.
no subject
Now, he's absolutely wrapping his head around all that he's just seen, but none of it's made him rethink being near her by any means. He likes to think he's pretty good at working out when someone's just a threat to anyone trying to fuck with them, or a threat to anyone at all, him included. And at least at the moment, he doesn't get the latter vibe from her. ]
Sure. And you can tell me what all of that was, exactly.
no subject
( somehow rowena manages to make it both sound incredibly casual while also sounding mysterious. it's a talent. she steps closer to him as they go to walk back inside, leading him in the direction of the bar )
I assume in your future you've never encountered a witch.
no subject
[ This isn't him dismissing the concept as being unreal or refusing to believe something like witches could be possible. He's already talked to someone who comes from a whole damn family of 'hunters' he called them. Vampires, werewolves, angels, all that — type of things he'd only ever heard about like they were make believe.
He follows her into the bar, though, gets comfortable.
Maybe there was a time in his life he'd have been more openly skeptical, but he's seen too much now to not believe stuff like this could be possible on other worlds. ]
no subject
( she takes them to a quieter side of the bar, and rather than allowing thomas to come over to pour them a drink, rowena uses her magic to bring a bottle towards them. she'd already suffered the bartender's poor drinks once )
When people tend to fear witches, assuming their power only brings awful things, or blames them for what life brings, they tend not to make that knowledge very public.
( everyone in her world still knew of the witch trials even if no one was alive that had been part of it. well, other than some witches. like herself )
no subject
But he's extremely aware of himself and how he could wield power like that in a very bad away, in a way that he'd forget to control himself unless someone was stopping him and being the voice of reason. So it's damn good it's not him with that power. ]
You can grab drinks with that and you can control someone — and probably a lot in between. What's stopping you from hurting people, really hurting them?
[ Maybe it's an insulting question, but he just asks it matter-of-factly. Curious. How does someone like her, who can do this, keep herself reigned in? ]