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
Yeah - I'm - [ a light, frustrated exhale ] - I think I lost something.
[ There's tension in his voice. He doesn't immediately fire off accusations, even if it seems obvious that someone must've lifted his belt and tools while he was sleeping. Giving up on the search of the immediate area, Jayce hauls himself back up to his feet, his gaze slipping across the area (maybe Viktor took the tools to work on one of those androids - not that he needs tools...) before landing on the stranger and his chair again. Jayce is familiar with vastaya, so non-human features aren't a shock to him.
He rubs the back of his neck, tension stiffening his shoulders. ]
... any chance you saw someone walk by with a toolbelt?
no subject
A toolbelt... I didn't pass anyone on my way to here but I noticed someone leave in that direction a few moments ago, though not whether they carried anything with them.
[ A gesture of one hand in said direction towards the adjacent side of the pool with more seating and less visible places, and those words offered with apologetic regret. Something which makes sense to idly look for in hindsight, though it doesn't offer much help in the present. Which is all Sunday needs o decide to set down the book in his hands onto the chair for later when reading the history of a region unknown to him seems far less important. ]
It would be bold for someone to take something from you. [ Bold - but not unheard of no matter the situation. ] Do you recall if anyone was nearby before you fell asleep?
no subject
No - [ He'd been out like a light. The dark circles under his eyes are an indicator that he's recently short on sleep. ] But my partner might have been by and borrowed them.
[ He'd like to think that, over the idea that someone stole them - literally right from under him. ]
I think I'll take a look around either way. [ A faint smile. ] Thanks.
[ Which means he should probably put his pants back on, and his brace. At least no one's borrowed those. Jayce reaches for his things and sits to start dressing himself. ]
no subject
[ To say the least, since aside from it meaning there was no theft it'd also mean the tools would be easily located. The sort of thing Sunday rather doubts as he glances in the direction where he'd pointed and considers it.
A second later, he sets the book down onto the chair when both might as well be forgotten. Whatever thoughts he'd had of relaxing (relatively speaking, anyway) are placed aside when this feels more important. That could just be his well-honed habit of taking charge of a situation coming back to the surface, but there's also only so long he can stay idle. ]
I would be happy to assist you. I may recognize who it was that left if they've not gone far. Or if nothing else, I can help look if you describe the tools in question. [ Though - there again is the habit of someone used to leadership as he's more or less invited himself along, and Sunday inclines his head. ] Should you not mind the offer, that is.
in which I summarize tool stuff in the introspection
No - I'd appreciate the help.
[ Jayce has become warier with people than he once was, but the offer seems genuine to him. As Jayce slips into his pants he'll quickly describe the toolbelt and a few of the tools themselves, trying to get a feel for whether his companion knows anything at all about what Jayce is talking about.
Lastly, he starts pulling the brace on his left leg, adjusting and tightening the straps around his thigh. As he finishes up: ]
How many of these diffusion zones have you seen so far?
no subject
Just this one so far. I've heard mentions of others which have since disappeared from those at the cafes I've visited or from customers at my place of work, but time has not allowed me to explore them as of yet despite my curiosity.
[ Something only intensified by being here as he glances towards the pool when someone swimming laps splashes noisily before turning his attention back to the other man. ]
What about you, have you been to many?
[ If there even are enough to qualify as 'many' - but Sunday's already considering that he should really get out and explore more. ]
no subject
I heard about the last one, but I wasn't up for the trip yet. [ A fleeting, unintentional glance at his injured leg. Wryly: ]
It didn't sound as relaxing as this, either.
[ But he regrets not taking the chance to explore it, especially after his talk with the storm chaser at the grill earlier. He seemed to think the way to get back home was hidden within the nature of the diffusion zones. ]
no subject
[ Aside from being a resort clearly meant for relaxation as every bit of their surroundings encourage it, even with the androids around that remind him of the Intellitrons he knows, the similarities between there and Penacony end. Relief far outweighs any disappointment; he has not been away from home near long enough to call it anywhere near homesickness. That this is temporary is something close to reassurance, truthfully, though he may regret thinking as much once it disappears. ]
It does not seem to be a port between star systems, either, at least not in the ways I'm used to.
[ But that? That had been slightly disappointing to discover. ]
no subject
A port between star systems?
[ As in... space travel? Or is he misunderstanding?
Either way, he's briefly distracted from his search for the missing toolbelt, wanting to here more about this, whatever experience Sunday may have had traveling beyond a single planet. Well, before coming here. ]
no subject
[ Sunday's response is almost absent-minded - as close to a thing as he gets, anyway, since his attention is split between Jayce and looking carefully at any guests they pass attempting to place the face he remembers. This would be easier if there were any wisps of thoughts to pick up on but listening for those provides nothing but silence.
It's the latter which makes it take an additional second or two for the question to click as he looks back to Jayce. ]
There are many across the cosmos to allow residents of one star system to visit another, relocate there... any number of reasons, though I myself am more familiar with the greeting of visitors to mine as it is a popular destination. Something not offered at your home, I take it?
[ This wouldn't be the first conversation he's had with someone where that's the case, but it doesn't make him less curious to hear about yet another potential world that's different from what he knows. ]
no subject
[ The ships, he assumes, since Sunday mentioned a port. And if they're using a method of teleportation - the distance is immense compared to what they developed with hextech.
Jayce has now entirely forgotten about his toolbelt, and is ready pelt Sunday with a million questions... ]