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

[coordinatroll]

[ Mitama nods with a polite smile as the woman manages to get the first two questions off her list; the name is unfamiliar, and although she's a curious girl by nature, she has no intention of prying into a stranger's affairs... for now, at least. ]

This is rather personal, isn't it? [ The girl taps her cheek thoughtfully. ] I wouldn't say I was hurt by any one person in particular...

[ Whatever little squabbles she might have gotten herself into pale in the comparison to what has been done to her by the society she had the misfortune of living in until arriving to this world. ]

... People of the Kamihama City.

[ She admits eventually, and the question disappears. Looking at the next one, however, she finds herself stumped. What does scare her the most? Her fate as a magical girl? She's made peace with that. People turning away from her? She's more than used to it by now. ]

This one's a bit tricky... do you have an answer already?

[truestrike]

[It's very personal. And as her eyes slowly go down the list of questions an uneasiness twists in her stomach. It's only going to get worse.

Nothing like baring your soul to a complete stranger.]

Just answer the best you can.

[She offers the girl what she hopes is an encouraging smile. And when she answers...well, of course Tifa is a bit curious. But it's really not her place to ask. Especially if she's not entirely willing to reciprocate.

As for the next question, Tifa takes a moment to respond. There are several ways she can answer this question, but they wouldn't necessarily be what scares her most. Finally, she responds with:]

Losing the people I care about.

[The question vanishes.]

[coordinatroll]

[ Mitama returns the smile, listening to the other's answer carefully. It wouldn't be a stretch to call that a generic or even boring answer, but it's clear originality isn't the point of this exercise. And it's not like there's anything wrong with her reply ─ on the contrary, the girl thinks this would be the case for most people. Hearing that also makes her realize what her own greatest fear is, even though it's slightly more specific. ]

My little sister getting hurt.

[ Just thinking about it scares her far more than anything that might happen to her. Mikage is still very much a child, and Mitama wishes she could lock her up away from the world in an attempt to shield her from its cruelties... but that's impossible, of course.

With a small sigh and shake of her head, the girl moves on to look at the next question... Ah. That one... might be the thoughest one yet. She'd much rather skip this one, but she knows better than to try that ─ she doesn't think they would've made it this easy to avoid answering, since that would defeat the purpose of the whole thing. ]

I... believe I might have. Not directly, mind you, but...

[ She bites her lip, unsure of how much she should reveal for the answer to count. It's weird that she feels this pang of guilt in her chest, too; the people of Kamihama have wronged her beyond imaginable, and so they deserved their fate... or so she'd thought when she decided to kill them all. And now that she has some insight into Gnos, shouldn't she feel happy about it? This should be for the best, and yet... ]

I have thought about it. Every single day.

[ That confession seems to have met the conditions of this little experiment, and the question vanishes from her side of the screen. ]

[truestrike]

[Generic or not, it's the most honest answer she can give. Maybe it seems like an every day worry that many people would fear, but for Tifa, it's a reality that she's lived through. She's watched, in real time, everyone in her life be cut down, burned, and left for dead. And she hadn't been able to do a thing to stop it. That kind of loss, at such a magnitude, leaves one hell of a lasting impression.

As she listens to Mikage's response, she's flooded with empathy. She might be an only child, but she can understand the desire to protect someone who is so young and unguarded. Vulnerable to the world. It makes her think of Marlene, the young daughter of a friend who she has more of less helped co-parent. There's nothing she wouldn't do to prevent Marlene from getting hurt. She can't help but break from their exchange of answers to ask a simple question.]

How old is she? Your sister.

[The next questions...hit her like a blow. She's not quick enough to disguise the pain they cause, it sits plainly on her face, lips pinched and turned downwards. A part of Mikage's answer lingers in her mind 'not directly'. The same could be said for her, about the destruction of Section 7. It hadn't been done directly by her. By her hand. But she's still guilty. All of those deaths are still weighing on her shoulders.]

...Yes, indirectly.

[Her tone turns harder when she speaks again, answering the follow-up question.]

I didn't just think about it. I tried to kill him.

[Not that it had done any good. The questions fade away one by one.]

[coordinatroll]

[ It's only natural for humans to treasure their loved ones more than anything, and losing them can push even the most morally correct people into a desperate search for revenge. She briefly wonders if the questions are meant to guide them towards revealing their pasts; vague or not, the pieces are already beginning to fall into place. "I tried to kill him"... Would "he" be the Sephiroth person the woman mentioned earlier?

And well. It's none of her business, really, and she should address the question that comes from her companion rather than the screen first. ]

Twelve. Still very much a child, yet she thinks she's a grown woman already... and gives her sister no small amount of headaches while at it!

[ Despite that, there's no malice in the way Mitama says it ─ quote the opposite, she lets out a small laugh, shaking her head while at it. Being a big sister is hard enough as it is, but combined with the fact both of them are magical girls? It becomes less of a simple concern for her safety, and more a fight for survival.

The girl's smile is still there as she studies the next question, but it turns a little wry when she replies. ]

... I've given up on happiness quite a while ago.

[ The screen accepts this answer, moving along to the next inquiry without any issues. ]