EVENT #9: ADVERSITY 6468468

[expiationmods]

EVENT #9: INFECTION

When characters wake, they’ll find a message splayed across the screens of their tablets; it reads clearly:

⚠️ GNOSIA INFECTION DETECTED

THE ERADICATION OF YOUR EXISTENCE IS IMMINENT; PLEASE TREAT THE INFECTION ACCORDINGLY. YOU HAVE 7 DAYS BEFORE YOUR PROJECTED DESTRUCTION.

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU ELIMINATE THE GNOSIA.

As their devices flicker to life, another message follows shortly thereafter, a single word, one of the following: GNOSIA, DOCTOR, GUARDIAN ANGEL, AC FOLLOWER, or CREW. The word fades as quickly as it appears — characters will know instinctively what they must do, whether they’d be typically predisposed to it or not. Some may know less about how their role functions than others.

The game has begun. The air has changed, as if time has slowed to a halt. Aldrip is perfectly static and still, and a sense of foreboding will soon come over the city.

DAYS 1-2

The borders surrounding Aldrip have been sealed off by an invisible barrier. It cannot be pierced or damaged in any way. This is the first sign that something has gone terribly awry. Chosen will notice it: the way the city closes in on itself, the buildings much closer knit to one another, as if trying to ensure everyone has as much proximity to each other as possible. NPCs are present, but “lagging,” so to speak, often glitching out or taking longer to “load”. A sense of uncanniness permeates within the city – as if everyone is caught in a waking dream.

CREW are hit with it first: an overwhelming instinct that allows them to tell the truth apart from lies. They won’t realize what it is initially, but when they interact with others, they will frequently be saddled with a nagging instinct that indicates how truthful a person is regardless of the context they’re speaking or acting within. This instinct does not apply to every single interaction and manifests differently for everyone. DOCTORS will feel more in tune with the body, more keenly aware of anatomical knowledge they may not usually possess. GUARDIAN ANGELS will feel an urge to protect someone – or conversely, find someone to protect. GNOSIA will begin their transformation and AC FOLLOWERS will be drawn towards GNOSIA. GNOSIA can recognize other GNOSIA, but not AC FOLLOWERS.

Much of the city still operates despite the Gnosia infection; the NPCs seem largely unaffected by it. And yet when you interact with them, they are visibly off kilter, as if programmed incorrectly. Some may even appear as people from home, only to then glitch back to their normal selves. There is still a sense of calm over the city, but the first 3 days are an opportune time to host and participate in meetings, begin witchhunts, find hiding places and either choose to travel in groups or by your lonesome. Beware of the night: that’s when the Gnosia are most likely to interfere with the space time continuum and make their kills. Anonymous channels will be opened up to cultivate discussion.

Days 3-5

The tension wraps around everyone in Aldrip. Shadows gnaw at every corner. The city is far quieter, the darkness imposing, contributing to the evergrowing sense of paranoia.

CREW will begin to experience prophecies of the immediate future. Visions of what’s to come. Whether or not they’re at liberty of disclosing this or if anyone will believe them is the real question.

GNOSIA will have a go of it: in dreams, your worst memories, regrets, fears, everything you’ve compartmentalized in the hopes of forgetting and letting go of, will play on repeat for the duration of these days. Other Gnosia and AC FOLLOWERS may even intrude on these dreams and catch a glimpse. It will bring out the most vulnerable and darkest parts of you, especially in the presence of other Gnosia. This may lead to friendly fire – or it may be a bonding experience.

The HUMAN SIDE will experience the opposite in these dreamwalking scenarios: you will dream of your loved ones from back home; the things you cherished and were forced to leave behind when you came to Aldrip. Wracked with homesickness, you may begin to wonder: how willing are you to turn on the people you’ve come to care for here? How far are you willing to go in pursuit of victory?

DOCTORS and GUARDIAN ANGELS will experience manic highs and adrenaline rushes when they successfully treat or protect people. Their energy levels will increase, but they will also become prone to reckless or stupidly happy behaviors they would not usually engage in.

On these days, an especially peculiar event will take place: Chosen will wake in the square outside of City Hall, facing each other with a screen dividing them. The screen will project a series of questions; if they answer untruthfully, it will flash red.

The questions are as follows:

01. DO YOU LIKE HURTING PEOPLE?
02. WHO HURT YOU THE MOST?
03. WHAT ARE YOU MOST AFRAID OF?
04. HAVE YOU KILLED SOMEONE? HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT?
05. WHAT WILL YOU SACRIFICE TO BE HAPPY?
06. WHAT DO YOU HATE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF?
07. WHAT DO YOU HATE MOST ABOUT OTHERS?
08. WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED METHOD OF MURDER?
09. WOULD YOU HURT THE PERSON ACROSS FROM YOU?
10. WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR LIFE FOR THE PERSON ACROSS FROM YOU?

At the end of the questionnaire, characters must vote whether or not the person they’ve been matched with are Gnosia or Human. If both characters answer the same thing, they will find themselves “tethered” to one another, either mentally or physically, and will be forced to spend the rest of the night together. If both characters answer differently, they will be free to go. Will you be cruel enough to share what you learned with the others?

DAYS 6-7

As the population of the city thins and the NPCs grow more sparse, Aldrip begins to resemble a ghost town more than it does a metropolis. Desperation is potent. Buildings are blocked off. People have retreated into themselves, makeshift clinics to treat Gnosia infection have been created, and the typical liveliness of the city has whittled down to nothing.

GNOSIA will be more volatile than ever; their instincts to kill will extend to fellow GNOSIA. It doesn’t matter who they murder – so long as they’re able to find a victim, be it amongst their own or otherwise, they will gladly take it. The aggregate consciousness of the Gnosia will be stronger than ever. GNOSIA and HUMANS alike will hear each other’s internal voices in bursts, all at once, and be privy to things they shouldn’t be.

DOCTORS and GUARDIAN ANGELS will need more help than usual. Their abilities have slowly drained their energy reserves, and they will find themselves veering into deep emotional lows alongside being saddled with a physical exhaustion they cannot fight. Alliances with CREW and former Gnosia will be pivotal in their path to victory. In these final days, CREW and AC FOLLOWERS have heightened stealth that make it significantly harder for them to be detected by Gnosia. Use this to your advantage.

Eventually– the skies of the city darken and time skids to a halt.

The week has ended. Everything stops.

Who has claimed victory? The Gnos, or the Humans?

Wildcard

Just because it’s not in the prompts doesn’t mean it can’t happen. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments below! Otherwise, get to tagging!

♡

Comments

[endcaller]

Indeed I was, though I must confess I've yet to fully understand its meaning.

[He knows what he must do but the why and how of this entire situation remain frustratingly out of his grasp.

The robot under his arm seems to blink then its bright eyes are replaced by a dark screen holding a single word: DOCTOR

Fandaniel slowly turns his gaze to the robot and flicks it with his finger until the word dissipates.]

Quite.

But let's not tell the world that. I want my inevitable gruesome demise to be grand or hilarious. You're not helping.

[ashesofkatarr]

[As she looks at him longer, Visas finds that his nature is coming more into focus. It is not a pleasant one. There is a core of malevolence in him that seems to extend deep, like a gravity well.

It makes it easy to believe that his statement is not a sarcastic or facetious one.]

What makes you think it is likely to be either? I have seen gruesome deaths, and none of them have been anything but gruesome. They have neither humor, nor glory.

[endcaller]

Well, the death I have tried so hard to deserve was denied me when I came here.

Quite troubling, that.

[The robot vibrates and he bends over to set it on the floor.]

It would have been a good death, I think.

But since I am now here and very much alive another end must await me. I intend to play my cards so that my end is either one that leaves an impact or, at the very least, leaves an amusing headline.

"Local scientist slaughtered by invading Gnosia" is hardly compelling.

[He looks Visas over, smiles, and says...]

If you had any say in the matter wouldn't you prefer for your gruesome death to be somehow memorable?

[ashesofkatarr]

[Memorable? What does that matter to him, Visas wonders. In her days with Nihilus, she craved an end to her suffering, one that he continually denied her. But she had no thought of being remembered for it. She simply wanted the meaningless of her continued existence to cease.]

I have yearned for death, but no longer.

Why does it matter to you, what people say of it after it is over? You would not be there to know of it.

[endcaller]

Ha.

Because I would soon be back, wouldn't I?

That is one of the grisly truths I've learned about this world. Our ends are not ends for very long. The dead return. Over and over.

[He lifts a hand to his chest.]

But that doesn't mean I wish to throw my life away on anything trite! I want my death, my first death, to be a worthy one!

Hopefully, in time, I will be returned to my star, and to my true final demise.

[For a moment he is silent, still looking her over with a calculating eye.]

...You did know that the dead return here, yes?

[ashesofkatarr]

...No. I did not know that.

[Somehow in all the questions people had answered for her, that hadn't come up. But she hadn't thought to ask what happened after death... she had no reason to think that it would be anything other than what happened everywhere else.]

I have never heard of anywhere where the dead return. How is it possible?

[endcaller]

I have a few ideas, but no answers.

Admittedly, I only heard about this as idle gossip. Nobody has sat me down to explain how this world handles death in any detail.

[His silver eyes narrow and he rubs his chin thoughtfully.]

An experiment is in order.

What say you and I have a night out on the town and commit a murder or two? All in the name of science, of course!

[ashesofkatarr]

[Visas draws back.]

At one time, I would have joined you, and gladly. [She has come to understand that the "people" that make up most of Aldrip's population are animated mannequins, more or less, and it has been tempting to cut one open to inspect its workings.

But the Jedi Exile, who treated her droids with such affection, would not have done such a thing... would not have approved of someone who followed her doing so.] Why does it fascinate you so?

[endcaller]

Why does our collective inability to die fascinate me?

[Fandaniel lifts a hand and wiggles his fingers in amusement.]

How can it not?

If we cannot die that means we are so dearly important that even death is denied us as a means to escape our prison. Is learning more about this not worth joining me and gladly so?