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

[feintofhart]

[ The door barely cracks open an inch, Claude's narrowed green eyes peering out to see what's happening. He rather likes Minato, but that means very little; the Gnosia are still wickedly smart and capable of pulling off tactics and trickery in order to get to their victims, and staggering over here pretending to be in distress is one of the more expected gambits.

Only... that coughing fit isn't feigned. And it could be that Minato got into a spot of trouble with someone like Claude, fighting against their forces, but at the heart of things, Claude is simply softer than he thinks he is. He curls away from the door for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut with a quietly muttered oath. He doesn't have time to play the mind games he normally would.

The door swings open. ] In, hurry, hurry, [ he says, ushering Koromaru in as well. (If they are Gnosia, Koromaru will be trouble. Claude doesn't fancy the idea of those fangs wedged deep into his neck. He's not particularly gentle as he manhandles Minato into a chair, afraid that the kid will just teeter over if left to his devices long enough. His gaze is concerned as he stares down at him, eyes following that dark shadow over his neck. ]

Gods large and small, you'd better not stab me as soon as I turn around, [ Claude says fretfully to himself, grabbing a jug of water and pushing a glass into Minato's hands. ] What the hell happened?

[memori3s]

[ As soon as the door cracks open, Koromaru's tail wags at a million miles an hour. He leans against Minato's leg and nudges at him, urging his companion to step into the apothecary. Claude is wise to set Minato onto a chair, given that he'd nearly crumpled to the ground without the door's support.

Minato reaches out to accept the glass of water. He drinks hungrily, not realizing just how parched he'd been. He struggles to avoid gulping it down, slowed by the burn in his throat.

His hand trembles around the empty cup. Koromaru steps forward, tilting his head sideways to carefully clutch it in his jaws. The dog turns to Claude and offers the cup back to the man.

Eventually, Minato speaks: ]

...Gnosia.

[ His voice is hoarse. He reaches up to rest a hand near the bruises at his neck. ]

...Ryoji.

[ Misery bleeds through his low voice. Minato shuts his eyes, exhaustion written all over his face. ]

He's gone. Dead. ...Kotone and Scott --

[ There's another coughing fit. Koromaru whines, sitting near Minato and resting his chin on the teen's knee. ]

[feintofhart]

[ Ryoji's name isn't familiar to him. Scott, he recognizes - that kid who he took wyvern riding once; he'd been so excited - as well as Kotone, that girl he'd met at the desert when they'd gone exploring. Just a bunch of kids, just like Minato. Whether they were killers themselves or mere victims, nobody in this mess deserves any of this. To hear that so many are already dead isn't a surprise, necessarily, but it does make things feel more and more grim as time draws on. ]

Just hold on for a second.

[ He mutters a quiet incantation underneath his breath and waves a hand over Minato's throat, feeling some of that magical energy stored within him deplete, just a little. He's no Ethlyn, no Marianne, no dedicated healer capable of bringing people back from the brink of death. But he can do at least this much, enough to ease pain, heal bruises, bring someone back little by little, and so that's precisely what he does. Minato will not feel the entire ordeal lifted from him, but the worst of the pain eases, as though he's taken a particularly powerful painkiller. ]

It's okay. You're safe now.

[ It's not okay. He just watched his friends die. There's nothing Claude can say that will make that better. ]

The person who did it -- who are they?

[memori3s]

[ Minato flinches away from Claude's hand as it hovers a little too close to his injury for comfort. But as the throbbing pain in his throat begins to recede, there's a pang of guilt once he realizes the man had moved to heal him. It's a little easier to speak now even if the marks haven't disappeared.

His voice remains a mere murmur though, afraid to raise it and risk someone overhearing. ]

Ryoji -- he was infected. I warned Scott and Kotone so they could heal him.

[ Minato's eyes drift shut. The image of Kotone's eviscerated body comes flooding back. ]

I didn't see it, but... Ryoji killed Kotone. It had to be him.

[ And then he goes quiet, eyes open again but averting his gaze from Claude. He clams up; no matter how upset he is with Scott for taking Ryoji's life, he can't bring himself to relay that information to Claude. Even now, he doesn't want to heap accusations onto Scott. It's different when it comes to Ryoji, given that Ryoji was dead.

But Scott? Scott was still out there. The last thing he wants to do is endanger him.

He does offer one piece of information though. ]

Scott -- he's... still alive. I think. ...I don't know.

[ After all, it's not like Minato knows what happened with Scott once he'd left the other teen. ]

[feintofhart]

[ Ryoji and Kotone, dead. Grim - especially what he knows of the chipper young woman, barely out of her teens if that - but unavoidable. The one thing he's holding onto is the fact that they know damn well that death is meaningless here, that people always seem to come back from it, that they will return. Not unscathed, but alive.

It's not something he's willing to count on in a pinch, but it's the only comfort that they have once the deed is done. But Scott... ]

And Scott. Is he a Gnosia too? [ He looks Minato in the eye, gaze steely, as though not willing to let Minato look away from the enormity of what he's experienced. A kinder person would heal Minato, send him off to rest and stand watch over him until he's recovered enough to speak on it, when it isn't so terrifying, isn't so fresh.

Claude isn't kind enough for that. ]

We need to know. If he is and he isn't dealt with, the only result will be more death. [ Though he knows what one of Minato's reservations must be, so he amends: ] I have a way of knocking people out, and an ally who's capable of curing them. If he is, you have my word we'll do our best to restore his mind.

[ He doesn't give his word that he won't wind up killing him anyway. But it's something, at least. ]