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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diademlogs2025-06-08 10:11 am
no subject
Almost like clockwork, the glass shatters as soon as the man makes a comment about it. The sound is loud and sudden enough that Fern startles in her seat, her hair bristling almost like fur and her ears twitching to attention. After the initial shock, she catches her breath and settles with a sigh.
The "machine" looks at them, his tone somehow sheepish even though it also sounds like he's speaking into a metal can. "Oh! Terribly sorry about that. I'll get it clean up shortly."
Fern isn't even sure what to say to that, but then the man's offering her something. She stares at the toothpicks for a few seconds, trying to figure out why he's giving them to her, but— ]
Oh — right. Thank you.
[ It's not a fork, not even close, but it will have to do, so she takes one and then uses it to spear her "hot dog." If she doesn't say something they'll be in a terribly awkward silence while the android tries to clean up his mess, so Fern figures she may at least try to learn something. ]
Thomas... I was wondering. Did someone make you? Is that person here?
[ Fern doesn't know if he'll even answer her, but better that she asks the questions, right? ]
no subject
[ Great. Logan looks down at his whiskey like that'll somehow remove him from the conversation. It's not as though he doesn't like Thomas. Which, okay, he doesn't, but that's not the point. It's just, he doesn't wanna know more about whatever fuckin' tragedy tore down this little pocket dimension. What's it matter? Nothing. Not when it's gonna flicker out of existence in the next week or hour or however long they've got.
Thomas comes over, all perked up cheerful behind his immobile metal features.
Me? Well, I could hardly bring my mother on a company retreat, now could I? The android polishes a glass with an old rag. What about your mum?
The tin can watches the wolf girl expectantly. Now Logan's watching her, too. Well? Is she gonna answer? 'Cause she kinda brought this on herself. ]
no subject
She chews a bite of hot dog as Thomas responds to her, though her expression pinches with confusion as that term crops up again. Company retreat. She had seen something similar written in a journal clutched in the metal hands of another one of the androids, one of the lifeless ones, and she hadn't been sure what it was about then either.
He speaks of his mother, as if he doesn't realize that there's no way he could have been birthed. (As far as she knows. Maybe things work very differently on other planes.)
Suddenly both Thomas and the bar's other patron have their eyes on her, and Fern heaves out a sigh.
But yes, she did bring this on herself, and so she gives a snappy reply to shut things down. ]
What about her? She's dead.
[ Thomas lapses into a beat of uncomfortable silence, murmuring an apology before he excuses himself to clean up the mess he made. It seems that Fern at least got him off their backs purely by making things awkward.
She glances back to toothpick man, pitching her voice low so that Thomas hopefully doesn't eavesdrop. ]
... What's a company retreat?
no subject
Does kinda feel bad for her, though. He doesn't ask, just files that information away like he files everything away.
He takes a toothpick of his own and sticks it between his lips. A what? Oh. She's really from someplace nothing like what he knows, huh? Must be strange. ]
Paid vacation for a bunch of jackasses. [ That probably sums it up. Somewhere out there is a person who might've given her a better answer, but, well. He's what she's got. ] Don't ask me what they do there, I've never been on one. [ He eyes her for a second. ] Where you from, anyway?
[ Or should he be asking when? ]
no subject
She draws a hand up to her chin, thumbing at it for a moment as a frown grows. Her response is flat. ]
They get paid to... do nothing.
[ She's not following, but it doesn't seem he has much more info for her than that. When he asks her a question, she straightens, taking another bite of her hot dog before she responds. She hasn't fully finished swallowing it, but she doubts he'll care if she talks with her mouth full. ]
I'm from Faerûn. More recently, Barovia. [ Not that a single person here has recognized either of those names. ] ... And you?
no subject
She can add another name to that list of people who've heard fuck all about that. His brows furrow. ]
What, fae as in like fairies? [ He might regret asking that. On second thought, don't answer. ] New York. Lemme guess, doesn't mean much to you, either.
[ He's not from anywhere, anyway. But New York's been the easiest one to give out. Actually, there's been a disproportionate number of New Yorkers he's bumped into. He's chalking it up to a coincidence. Just to save himself another headache. ]
no subject
New York. She shakes her head — much like any other plane she's heard about since arriving here, it doesn't ring any sort of bell. ]
There are some fey in Faerûn, though they're originally from another plane called Feywild. [ Not that she's met many of the fey, as they're the sort to stick to themselves deep in the woods, rather than populating the cities. ] Faerûn is a continent of the Forgotten Realms.
[ Still, him even knowing of fairies is some small link between them, so she focuses on that. After taking another bite of her late-night meals, she asks: ] You have fey in this "New York," then?
no subject
Knew a guy with wings once. [ But no, that's not what she means. Logan also doesn't get into it so she can take that comment how she wants. ]
You've, uh [ he motions with his glass at the android, the cars ] never seen anything like this, have you?
[ What, she just got in her car and started driving? Starting to wonder if a lot more people did that than he thought. Might explain the fucking disaster that's the parking lot out there. ]