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
He's getting better, but he probably won't feel good until he is useful and balanced. It will happen eventually, he is trying to be patient. If he ends up having to take a job he hates, Charles will likely be so glad to have one, he won't care that much. It's a process. He is far more interested in the Rogue conversation than him being an unhelpful roommate.
Charles waits for Logan to consider what he's said, he can see the question lands and it causes him to consider, and he figures the man might have to think before speaking. He is without any judgment on his part, what Logan is feeling is legitimate, whatever the reason. He equally thinks about what Logan says before replying. ]
You are also the only one who can fully understand. You too have been captured and experimented on, Logan. And no one came for you either. It is a little harsher, as she had reasons to hope people would, but that hopelessness, it is something you've experienced.
[ Charles saw it clearly in his mind, his pain so much at the top of his mind and seeping into his skull that he couldn't avoid any of it. He doesn't have to touch Rogue's mind to know that there are similarities in these experiences. ]
I will speak to her, of course, and help in any way I can, but what she needs right now is to be loved, and to feel loved. And you have a great deal of it in you, Logan. It's one of your best qualities, to have so much heart for someone who has been through so much. It's what is driving your struggle with Scott as well.
[ Logan cares and that's exactly why he's pouring over with feelings about telling Scott the truth and dealing with the Jean of it all. ]
The mind is full of a great deal of light and darkness, from the perspective of a telepath, and you have bright patches within it. I think those parts frighten you more than the darkness, but you shouldn't let it.
sorry for the wait!! can prob bring this to a wrap? 🎀
Maybe what Charles is trying to tell him is it's not too late to try again. Even if it feels as though it might be.
For a while, he doesn't answer. His heart, huh? Yeah, he doesn't know about that, but Charles sees things in people no one else does. Logan's learned to believe him when it counts. Just harder to do when it's turned around on him. And it's funny, you know. Since the war kicked off, he's understood his exact purpose, understood what he could be for the Professor, the mutants who needed him, the endless fighting. His place was clear. His meaning was clear. Now he's been yanked right out. Dumped into this world where he's left with a bunch of shattered pieces he can't fit together and nothing makes any damn sense.
Still. They're with him, the X-Men. The last thing he wants to do is abandon them.
His expression flickers, as conflicted over the Professor's words as he is appreciative. It does mean something to him—means a lot, actually—to hear all that from one of the only people whose opinion of him he cares about. Just...might take a bit. Before he absorbs everything. Before it sinks in and sticks. ]
I'll try. [ He hesitates. ] Thanks, Charles.
wrapped!
I'm here for all of you.
[ Different from who he would be, but not that much. They're still his X-Men. And he failed his first class of them, so he wouldn't do it again. ]