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
vash ➤ trigun stampede ➤ OTA!
➤ EN ROUTE
➤ ANDROIDS
➤ WILDCARD-ISH
androids
Seven hells. What did you do?
no subject
it's clear from his startled yelp that he hadn't been expecting anybody else (read: anybody else of real flesh and blood, and not just hunks of human shaped metal) to stumble upon this mess either. the loud clattering of the android dropping at emet-selch's feet has vash whipping his head around, staring with wide eyes that almost seem to catch the distant light eerily, making them glow.
it's probably just reflecting off his bug-eyed sunglasses. probably. ]
Oh my gosh, are you okay? I'm really, really sorry!
[ scrambling to his feet, vash drops a hand here, but catching it with one foot so at least it doesn't make so much of a noise - and immediately drops another finger as he turns. he's making enough noise to play a scrapyard all by himself ... ]
no subject
I am fine. Watching you, however, is beginning to hurt.
[ He steps over to take some of these arms and hands off of Vash’s, well, hands. ]
Give me that. You look a fool.
[ Yoink. ]
no subject
that is, if he stops making enough noise to wake the dead. ]
I'm sorry ...
[ despite the clear note of apology in his tone, vash is smiling - almost as though it's an unconscious habit for him to, but he does seem genuinely grateful as the other steps closer to offload some of the limbs from his clutches, allowing vash to bend down to pick up all the fallen bits and pieces from the floor. ]
no subject
[ Sorry, that is. The man has repeated it plenty of times already. More than a bunch of defunct tin cans deserve, and Emet-Selch is hardly so offended to need it more than once.
As Vash bends to scoop up the bits he’s dropped, gold eyes flick to his prosthetic, then to the pile of limbs in his arms. ]
Just what are you planning on doing with all this?
no subject
Um ... Nothing?
[ does that sound convincing enough? probably not. ]
I mean ... I was just curious! I didn't mean to break them!
no subject
They were broken when we arrived. Clearly it did not take much to make it worse.
no subject
he is the furthest thing from a scavenger, but it is true that these parts, if you're lucky, would bring in some dollars at the right places. ]
They must have been out here a long time, don't you think?
I didn't realise they'd just fall apart like that ... it's sad.
(no subject)
en route
Okay no it's cool it's fine it's fine. Clint's found the obstacle course of it all to be mildly fascinating. It has to be part of the weirdness that is diffusion zones, and they don't seem to be marked, so...50/50 on whether they might've been full of toxic mutation-causing chemical or just oil or something.
But they're empty now. He's got one hefted up in the passenger seat at the moment, with some harebrained thought that it might be worth something (scrap metal) or be useful (containment, carry a bunch of shit), but he's starting to think actually it might very well just be straight garbage. Hard to know what's worth anything in this wacky world, and he wonders if he's going to end up with a cramped little motel room full of junk that actually isn't worth shit.
He pulls off the road not too far from...someone who looks like they went bowling for the barrels with their truck. God, for all the nostalgia, he does wish he had a truck, or something with a little more space. Maybe if he's bound and determined to take this thing with him, it can be wedged into the trunk?
Unimportant. What's important is this guy doing his damnedest to clear the way.]
You good, friend?
no subject
now, normally most people around here would be more than a little bit wary at a strange car pulling up on them. in fact, clint shouldn't be surprised if he had a gun or two pointed at him upon arrival like that - but not vash. his head lifting up from behind the barrel at the sound of the approaching engine, vash peers through dust-streaked glasses at clint, his expression breaking out into a wide, friendly grin. ]
Ahoy there!!!
[ it's not a boat, vash ...
he drops the barrel with a resounding clang back onto the ground, very narrowly missing his feet, before straightening up to wedge his knuckles against the sore spot in his lower back. ]
Yeah, I'm good!! [ chipper, too ... ] There's a lot of them here, you better be careful!
no subject
Will do. [And he will. He's driven in worse circumstances.] You...want a hand with that?
[Before he really does drop a barrel on his feet.]
no subject
anyway, despite the heat and the very physical work he's been doing hauling these (mostly) empty barrels across the dirt road, vash doesn't seem like he's broken a sweat - but he makes a big show of it anyway, taking a bouncy step towards the other's car before stopping; it just occurs to him that it might not be such a good idea.
but he's offering to help, right? so he mustn't be that much of a bad guy? ]
Well ... if you're sure! I don't want to stop you if you've got somewhere to be, though...
no subject
[He's not actually interested in the pool, but he knows there's plenty of much more casual people heading out for specifically that reason. How's this guy not dying with that big old coat on?
He hops out, intent on helping, even if only for a bit.] Go faster with two of us. You're doing everyone a service trying to keep everyone from swerving around like crazy. Just don't overdo it.
wildin
There was just something about standing in the stillness of a perpetual night with the flickering pool lights drifting below him. If he let himself get drawn into the moment, it was sort of… almost… like a sliver of the aurora he was so used to was spreading out below his feet.
Sort of. Almost.
He really would have liked to have been looking up at those two moons with Him. Maybe, if there were two of them… if he could capture both of their shines in the palm of his hands, a second miracle could occur.
A lot of deep thoughts for a lad staring up at the stars at the pool’s edge with nothing to grab on to in case of an emergency. How silly of him.]]
i am SO SORRY
the point is, now that it's gotten a little bit quiet, he is going to seriously roll up his elbows and try to clean up the mess a bit around here ... and people really have left stuff everywhere.
spotting an empty cup near one of the loungers, vash bends down to pick it up ... and accidentally butts up to an zhe from behind, throwing the other off balance just enough for something horrible to happen.
it would, indeed, be terrible .... ]
this is exactly what we wanted DONT PRETEND
so,
terrible.
There was only enough time for An Zhe’s eyes to go round as saucers, a yelp caught in his throat like a squeak.
He went down face first, catching all the sights of those flickering blues and lights as they swept up to consume him with a splash.]]
no subject
Oh no!!!
[ nearly dropping the tray he's been holding, vash whirls around with a panicked look to his face, just in time to see a tiny (very tiny.... or not that tiny) figure drop off the edge of the pool with a splash.
now, vash can't swim. he's never learned how to, which makes sense from the point of view of someone who's spent the majority of his life on a desert planet, but it really would have come in handy at this moment, no?
not that vash is letting that stop him, not even taking off his coat before he leaps into the pool after an zhe. ]
no subject
An Zhe did not know what to do in this situation. He knew he should hold his breath, but there was already water in his mouth? And his eyes were already burning? How were his limbs supposed? To Work? Should he turn into a mushroom? Would he just sog himself to death?
Ah, and now his vision was turning completely red. It was already too late, and it'd be embarrassing if he went down without making a single effort.
So he reached out! Grasping for whatever he could get his hands on.]]
let's go with a wildcard!
( he rescues the glass from thomas’ trembling (can a robot tremble? apparently so) hands, skating it along the surface of the bar and towards himself before the thing can ruin it any further than it already has. john peers at it critically, his scowl deeply etched onto his face. the problem is, he’s rather particular about martinis, and quite frankly he has no idea what the thing threw in there towards the end. (actually, strike that. he does, the information slipping into his mind almost as if to taunt him: lime juice, so it’s more of a gimlet than anything. dissatisfaction deepens his frown further, though he can’t find it in himself to place too much blame on thomas. the android seems to be trying his best, even if the endeavor seems to only make his performance as bartender worse. john glances to the tall, blond young man sitting nearby before passing the drink toward him. )
Here. It’s not what I wanted—though, it should be fine enough. Assuming you don’t dislike gin, that is.
( he’s already resolved to making his own drink, even if diving behind the bar to try to find wherever they’ve hidden the vermouth is well beyond him. instead he’s reaching over to nick a glass already filled with ice, waving thomas along to (poorly) tend to the next customer down the bar a ways from where they’re seated before reaching out to claim the bottle of gin that had been left on the counter. )
Anything else, you might just want to make for yourself. I don’t believe dear Thomas can be trusted.
sorry for the delay!!!
but a free drink is a free drink, and more than that, the opportunity to strike up a conversation with a stranger kind enough to offer one has vash's face lighting up into a bright smile as he catches the glass in his hand, raising it in a chipper salute towards the other. ]
Oh, don't worry! I'm not picky!!
no worries! (:
the cybernetic bartender being completely inept at his job wasn’t a proper reason, in his mind. )
Oh. Good. Well, if I notice anyone else abandon a poorly-made cocktail on the bar, I’ll let you know.
( said as he leans basically fully over it to grab the soda gun so he can be sure he gets tonic in his glass and not—soda, or bitters, or gasoline, or whatever else poor thomas would’ve managed with the nozzle in his own hand.
finally with a more satisfactory drink in hand, he sits back down on his stool, lifting the glass to vash with a small smile of his own. he takes a sip, setting it down. )
What do you think? ( a brief pause. ) Of the drink, but of this place as well.
parking lot pals - lmk if you'd like anything changed!
He ought to keep his nose out of it, really. It's just that he's terminally unable to do so. It seems as if everywhere he goes, people are willing to tear each other apart over nothing at all. He's just turned from healing a particularly nasty skinned knee for an elderly woman carrying a baseball bat, only to find that yet another fight has broken out in the interim. He can't guess what it's about, but a man is stepping into the middle of it, making placating gestures at both sides. They both round on him instead. ]
Oh no... Please tell me you have a plan in mind. [ Adrian murmurs, mostly to himself. He's too far to be overheard by the group, he thinks, but he starts edging his way towards them. Nearly everyone he's met so far has been more than capable of handling themselves, so he doesn't intervene immediately, but he will step in if it looks like the peacemaker will be harmed. ]
:" perfection
but!!!! he really can't help it, okay? at the first sign of any aggression or tensions mounting, his body does the opposite of turning around and pretending he is deaf and blind ... which is why vash finds himself in the middle of three very angry people, one of them holding a crowbar in his hand.
really, blunt weapons made of bone-breaking materials should be banned. or at least, left safely inside the vehicles. ]
Come on ... Let's just forget about it! Should we just ... go inside and have a drink, yes? Like friends?
[ clearly, none of the people pay any attention to vash - the argument seems to be not actually about the parking spots, but about the cut in on the way to the zone. something about petrol or whatever. the fact that they completely ignore him might be a good thing - but again, vash just doesn't know when to quit.
the said crowbar is raised menacingly above the heads as the shouting pitches in volume, and vash darts in front of the man to try and get him to lower it again to the shouting of what the hell is your problem???. ]
Seriously! No need for any of that her--- whoa!!
[ just barely in time, he takes a step backwards, narrowly missing the end of the makeshift weapon as it comes down. ]
little bit of insect body horror
But that hope does not last as he watches the man continue his attempts at peace. He can hear the conversation now, and it's almost painful to listen to, not because he thinks the earnest attempt isn't admirable, but because it reminds him far too much of his own past attempts. Surely, one of these people will finally listen to reason someday... it's just that it's never these people, or this day.
Is there really no choice but to force the issue?
He digs around in his materials pouch — gods, he misses his spell focus — as he walks forward, searching out a tiny vial with a single living flea. He clutches the vial to his chest. When the crowbar comes down, he's glad to see that the man's reflexes are fast, but it's clear that this is getting out of hand. ]
Swarm. [ Adrian makes a gesture that one might almost mistake for blowing a kiss. His hand covers his mouth briefly, and then extends toward the man with the crowbar. All of his little golden freckles disappear one by one, racing under the surface of his skin towards his face so that they can fly directly out of his mouth. The swarm of golden insects cloud around the man's head, stinging and biting until he staggers several feet away, swinging the crowbar wildly. They won't kill him, but they're certainly a nuisance.
He nods toward the peacemaker as he takes a place beside him. ] Perhaps our friend here is right. It's best if we all calm down and go our separate ways while the day is still young.
[ The remaining two people could not have more opposite reactions. One is too busy laughing at crowbar man's misfortune to hear what he's said, and the other has turned a very unflattering shade of angry red. It's entirely possible that Adrian has only made this worse.
You think your little trick is cute? A fist swings right for his face. On second thought, maybe a spellcaster shouldn't have gotten into melee range... What was that he said earlier about not having a plan?? ]