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.
omg you are so fine friend, you know i'll wait forever for dee tags c:
she is definitely feeling better now than some of the other evenings, so much that his comment about long island has her laughing, nodding. knowingly. plus there is always something comforting about interacting with someone who knows anything at all about new york, a kind of grounding moment for her. ] Yeah, exactly. So if you want to try it- don't do it here. Honestly, I wouldn't necessarily try it in Panorama either. You might have to take my word for it.
[ part of karen considers heading back to her hut, then - leaving the interaction there, casual and positive, and then not pushing it too far. but something keeps her lingering, as charles pulls himself up into a barstool next to her with a healthy pour in his glass, and karen smiles back to him. as he laughs at her joke.
he introduces himself, and karen decides actually, she doesn't really want to head back to the hut just yet, and slides into the bar stool next to him. ] Karen Page. And yes- I got here a few days ago, and my car got gridlocked in, so I've been enjoying what I can. The bar's been nice, though I would love a working restaurant. The options for food are... [ she makes an ehhh face, tilting her hand back and forth, before returning to that friendly smile. ]
But the beds are much better than the ones in the motels back in the city, that's for sure.
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It's been a long time since he spoke to a beautiful woman at a bar. Not that it's his intention to see it that way, just that Charles is fully aware of how funny it is that he's a decade off that experience. When it used to be his every day life in New York and then in London, when he was young and arrogant. He feels all of his years these days. ]
I will take your word for it, you seem very trustworthy, and kind to try and spare others the agony it sounds like you've experienced.
[ His tone is light and humorous, matching her attitude well with equal warmth and chattiness. It's coming back easier than he expected. He can talk to people again, imagine that. His eyebrows lift at that and he glances toward the parking lot and back at her. ]
I'd offer to help you with the gridlocked situation but I'm afraid I am quite useless at it. What I can offer you is this.
[ He leans over and picks up a drink umbrella and offers it over to her. He'd be no use in car parking. He can only do his own van and people are not going to listen to him unless he uses his abilities which he avoids doing. But he can at least listen to woes! ]
The beds are so much better. And the cabins are large, almost too much so compared to the cramped motel I'm used to now. I don't get much privacy as I'm surrounded by people I know. No offense to them of course, I love them dearly, but I'm used to having quite an impressive private office at my school.
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so - when charles responds in kind, friendly and chatty and open enough to the conversation, karen all but beams. there is something innately charming about the other man, and karen is more than happy to entertain it. more than happy to enjoy it, really. ]
Agony is a good way of putting it. [ she says, laughing around the rim of her glass.
it's when he leans over and picks up a little toothpick umbrella that. her eyes go from the umbrella to him and back, before she takes it with a smile and drops it in her glass. ] Perfect. Now I feel like I'm on vacation. [ and really, she wasn't looking for any real help with her car - she's accepted her fate, her new unemployment status, and her forced vacation well enough. she's sure once the days go by and people start to file out it will be easier to get her car free, so she's not all that worried about it.
listening to woes and a good conversation is all that karen really wants, anyway. and maybe she can do the same for him. ] The motels back in the city, right? The rooms aren't that big at all, and it feels like they put too much furniture in them, you know? And if you're sharing- that's a lot of people in not a lot of space. It's cramped for me and it's just me. [ that gets a kind of chuckle out of her - no offense to them, I love them dearly and she nods, understanding the feeling. ]
You work at a school? What grade?
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[ Charles doesn't know where Raven is exactly, although she's popped up a few times, knowing that he's here and indulging in her own need for a little getaway. Avoiding Erik and the others, but not him, which he appreciates the change in. If nothing else, he can see this experience as a chance for them to reconnect, as they've been apart so long. The others seem more open to Raven than they are Erik which is good, as Charles is completely unreasonable about her.
He puts a little umbrella in his whiskey glass as well because while in Rome and also to match her. He used to be a very social and extroverted person, he used to love being around people. His powers were under better control back then, especially while he was in London and balancing the citylife successfully, and he would always seek out others. How he became a recluse is a sad story, but not one that he needs to hold onto now. ]
Yes I'm staying with one of my students, he's very protective. And then surrounded by a few other equally protective ones, so it's a close-knit situation. I'm not complaining, or at least I hope you'll never say that I did.
[ He presses a finger to his lips in a request for her to keep silent. She is somehow very easy to jump into a sort of playful back and forth, or maybe they both are seeking that sort of easy comfort and found it in one another. ]
I'm a professor, or I was. Technically the degree is in mutation, I planned on being a science professor, but I ended up founding a private school in upstate New York.
[ He sighs. ]
Unfortunately this place has no education to speak of, on the lower levels let alone at the higher, so I'm quite out of luck in the job department right now.
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[ and karen is honest about her excitement, though she can't help the way she feels a swell of loneliness at the concept, too. she hadn't even considered that her family might end up here, that there might be people she knows. since the first day it has all been new faces, new ideas, the concept of homes that aren't her own and are beyond even her understanding of what home could be. it has felt a lot like she'd been doing everything she can just to tread water, and while she is genuinely happy for him, not an ounce of insincerity. it just happens to also be layered with... she would hesitate to call it jealousy. but she supposes that is part of it.
charles puts his own umbrella in his whiskey glass, and she holds out her cup for a quick cheers - taking a long drink as soon as they clink glasses. she has no context for whether or not he's being overly extroverted, or if this is outside of the norm. all she latches onto is the fact this is easy, that he seems to be just as interested in the playful back and forth, and a decent drink.
and he is charming. karen picks that up easily enough with how he smiles, how he talks. it helps keep a smile on her face, especially as he mentions staying with a student in that cramped motel room. she laughs, not at him or his situation, but at the way he presses a finger to his lips. ]
My lips are sealed- no wonder you need a vacation. You have multiple students that made it out here with you? That has to be stressful. [ a professor - that somehow fits almost exactly what she pictured for him. for a brief moment she just sort of watches him, like she's really taking him in, before nodding.
it does not clock for her - how she may or may not know someone else who is also from upstate new york. instead, she hears new york and feels an instant sort of relief. ] A scientist turned- what, headmaster? Not the wildest career shift I've heard of. But I'm sure those kids must love you. And be glad you're here. I'm from New York, too- Hell's Kitchen. Can't say I knew of any schools upstate, but that's pretty country from what I've heard. [ and at his comment of being out of a job, karen snorts - sympathetic to his plight, though she's not quite sure she'd want to go into the same career direction out here even if she had the chance. ]
Well- you could always be the first.
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[ There is no one that Charles loves more than Raven, but the distance between them has become wide. She still walked away from him at the White House, on to whatever her life will be after that, so they couldn't fully reunite. This is one of the few things he is positive about while stuck in this place. A chance to reconcile with her.
They haven't yet had the hardest discussions about what went wrong between them, but they are working up to that. There is a huge gap that will take time to fill in, but Charles is ready and eager to work on it with her.
Charles gives her a cheers back and this does feel like he's gone backwards in time a little, to a time when he liked chatting with strangers at a bar. It's a nice feeling, honestly, it's not only the alcohol that is making him relax. It could be that Karen herself is just good at that, she does seem very warm and open, traits that not everyone possesses. ]
It is, and here is the strangest part, they know an older version of me. I say students and you might think teenagers, but no, they're in their twenties and thirties. [ Logan is older than that but it requires explaining and he's not going to. ] They were teenagers when they met me. It's all very confusing.
[ Charles sees no real reason to hold back facts like that, and also that it seems like it happens here occasionally so she might want to know it for her own reasons. It's difficult for him as he tries to establish his own connection with them and also live up to their expectations. Charles doubts that he fully has, but the attempt has been there. He hopes that matters. So far, it seems to, but there is still a lot to understand. ]
Hell's Kitchen, in the city, do you like it there? New York's always been too loud and busy for me, personally, but I am an old fuddy duddy.
[ It is literally too loud for him. He has barely tolerated Panorama and London was easy when he was there, but it's still no New York City. ]
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You have to take the chances you get, right? Especially with siblings.
[ she doesn't know charles' story. doesn't know anything about where he's been, or why he and his sister were, apparently, estranged. but she does feel for him, for that feeling of distance. because no matter what happened between them or what went wrong, they at least have the time now.
karen lets that pass them both by, deciding that it's not worth letting her own thoughts get in the way. she is here specifically to have a good time, to have a chance to relax and untangle herself from the stresses of this place, to maybe flirt and chat and have a good time at a bar.
and she's happy to do just that - maybe talk a little bit about nothing, have some casual easy conversations about lives neither of them are living anymore. but then charles continues, his tone still casual, like he was talking about the weather, and he says they know an older version of me. karen blinks, a bit confused, as she sets her drink down on the bar (she hasn't had that much, has she?) she tilts her head a bit, her tone innocent enough, though still confused. ]
What do you mean? You teach older students?
[ that's about as far as she can wrap her mind around it - this concept of knowing a younger or older version of someone. but in this case in the opposite direction she would think. she can't help the way that curiosity wells up in her, so charles may have accidentally opened up a whole different line of questioning he thought.
except that he brings up hell's kitchen, and her focus immediately shifts - everything about her brightening a little bit. it's obvious she loves the city, loves hell's kitchen, and misses it in equal measure. she nods, and then laughs a little. ]
No- it's definitely loud. A lot of people can't do it. I just... [ she pauses here for a moment, her smile fond. ] I grew up in a really small town, more mountains than people. Now that was quiet, and slow, and it kind of drove me crazy. The sound doesn't bother me nearly as much as I thought it would... I think it reminds me that there are people around, living their lives. It's nice. And kind of comforting? [ her laugh here is a little sheepish - no matter what sides of new york she's seen, or experienced, or knows are there, the lights and sounds haven't quite worn off. ]
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[ Charles is feeling hopeful about Raven and their reconciliation. He is in general a hopeful person, but she's given him enough leeway to feel like they're going somewhere together. They'll see if things get worse if they have to talk out more serious aspects of their division, but she's at least here, and talking to him, and he'll take the win. Erik being there is a whole other problem but he's letting her deal with her feelings regarding him separately. He's not getting closely involved in that one. ]
No, as in I'm from their past. I'm from 1973, and they are from decades later. I have experience recently with time travel, so it appears this place is also a bit out of time.
[ Logan was sent back in time and they don't know if his plan succeeded, but that happened whether it makes full sense to him or not. And now here they are and he has Scott and Rogue to worry about as well, which he's willing and eager to do. But that doesn't mean it is logical, only that it's something to accept. Charles doesn't know if she's aware of that being a thing here yet, but perhaps if not it'll be useful information. He certainly didn't know what to make of it when he arrived.
He listens to her talk of New York City and smiles genuinely as she does. Her genuine fondness for it is obvious and that's always nice to see. He feels that way about his school, which is not an entire city, but it's all about a place that one feels like is home. And he's so far away from it, as is she. ]
I understand exactly what you're saying. It's very alive.
[ If she doesn't like the quiet, then going somewhere the opposite would have been preferable. Charles needs the quiet, but Raven was always interested in something more exciting. ]
What is it you did for a living?