diademlogs | MINGLE ∞ LOG

Mingle ∞ Log

No Lifeguard on Duty

Jump ⇅ :: Intro — Prompts — NPC Interaction

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.

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Travel — Map — Setting

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.

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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.

Questions? Ask here

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We could have had paradise.

[ of course it's not realistic. but for a moment he lets himself imagine a simpler world, one where things didn't turn out this way. no purgatory, no leviathans, no naomi, no metatron— no amara and no lucifer. ]

What good has my love ever done anyone? [ castiel snorts. then he waves a hand, as though to dismiss the question. ] That was rhetorical. Don't answer.

... I'm gonna lie down.

I can answer if I want to. [ Jack says, a little defiantly, which is rare for him but he doesn't like it. ] Your love is literally the reason I exist, and that I am the person I am instead of Lucifer, and while that may not mean anything to you, it means something to me. My fathers didn't have a good father, so they loved me the best way they could, and I'm not sorry about that.

[ Jack doesn't ordinarily string so many words together in a row, he is typically a quiet person, but it's also because there isn't a lot to encourage him to speak more. It's not a lack of interest, but he normally gauges every word he uses, and every time he's spoken out of turn, he learns from it. But he is emotional and his words are precise, from the heart. ]

I'm sorry that you're sad, Castiel, and that things didn't turn out the way you wanted them to, but life is like that sometimes, even I know that. You should drink all of this water and lie down, and I will check in with you when you're less drunk.

... I wish you understood.

[ there are a lot of reasons why jack is here, but his love is— just part of the problem. whatever he may have given him, he also gave him this burden: to believe he deserves to die, and that the world would be better for it. if he is jack's parent, how can he say he hasn't failed? this is not the life he would want for a child he's meant to care for.

this isn't the life he wanted for anyone.

castiel kicks off his shoes and pulls himself up into bed, ignoring the water. of course he can't sleep, only lie in silence and stare at the far wall. if jack wants to stay and watch him, he won't ask that he go. but he won't stop him from leaving, either. ]

I want to, Castiel. I want to understand you, and get to know you, and be a part of your life, even if you don't get why.

[ Jack wouldn't see it as a failure but he'd probably understand too. Life is just hard, like he said. Castiel wanted to give him something good and real, he truly did, but they aren't able to have nice things like that. Jack will never say a bad word against his parents. He knows in his heart they always tried to do what they could for him, in their own ways.

Jack takes the water and puts it next to the bedside. He does leave the cabin so Castiel can have some privacy, he knows that his presence can be intense, but he doesn't go far. He'll keep an eye out and stay until he sees Castiel emerge sooner or later, so he is sure he is okay. ]

MINGLE ∞ LOG — June 2025

no subject

can wrap here or on yours he'll go away haha

SOB... i'm sorry jack

And wrap here! RIP