EVENT #11: ADVERSITY 4590683

[expiationmods]

EVENT #11: REMEMBER YOU ARE MORTAL

This event takes place in conjunction with a player plot that is open for participation! Participation in that plot is not needed to experience the world effects outlined in this log. You can find the log for the player event here!

THE STORY SO FAR (click to expand)

-Over time, characters have discovered that the world of Expiation is actually a large, elaborate simulation run by an AI that seems to be intent on helping them atone for their crimes. This news is well-known by the Chosen, enough so that any new character who wishes to handwave this knowledge is able to do so.

-In September 2024, that AI needed to be reset as a consequence of some catastrophic systems failures. So far, there has been no downside to this reset–but the AI has also been strangely absent since then.

-Things have been quiet in Aldrip since September, aside from the routine arrival of new Chosen. The locals seem less than happy with the Chosen, though, as if they have already branded them all criminals. As if they no longer trust them…

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11

The moon looms large and full over the buildings of Aldrip this morning.

… Wait. The moon?

It’s true: Aldrip seems to have settled into an eerie perpetual twilight, lit by the full moon and little else. The ambient lighting is dim, but not dark, still light enough to see by. Which is good, because nothing else seems to be serving as a source of light. No sun, no street lamps–nothing. How odd is that?

In fact, it seems that no electronics are working during this strange week. Tablets don’t turn on, computers won’t work, even the lights inside the houses are unresponsive. STEM club’s dark web devices remain capable of some rudimentary communication, however.

The Dark Hour permeates Aldrip entirely. Well. Almost entirely–more on that in a minute. But first: monsters of all kinds will be more prominent during this time. If you would like to add new monsters to the bestiary, you can do so here! Monsters will be more aggressive and enterprising, freely roaming the streets of the city and attacking more boldly than they otherwise would.

Now, all is not lost, here. Because some Chosen-owned spaces remain immune to its effects. Notably: the Inn, the Willow Clinic, and some other player-run businesses can serve as safe houses, as well as some storehouses that were constructed long ago. The lights will still go on in these locations, though the network restrictions above still remain in effect.

For the most part, monsters and other event happenings will avoid safe houses, though if you’d like to play around with that, we see no reason why you shouldn’t. Just remember that characters and players who choose to limit their participation in the event are making use of these spaces, and be respectful of that.

As for outside of the city…who knows? A thick, impenetrable mist surrounds Aldrip, keeping all characters within the city for the duration of the event. Anyone who may have been outside of Aldrip before the event began will mysteriously find themselves inside the city as the Dark Hour takes hold. Better make your way to a safe house…and good luck out there.

MY OWN WORST ENEMY

Who is the monster and who is the man?

It seems that monsters aren’t the only obstacle roaming the city. The Chosen may find themselves facing doppelgangers, of themselves or of fellow Chosen. In terms of appearance, they may be identical to the Chosen they reflect, to the point of being difficult to tell apart. Some may have minor changes–different eye color, different clothing, things like that. But in many cases, it may be impossible to tell which is real and which is not based on looks alone.

These doubles reveal a dark reflection of the characters they look like: their deepest fears and regrets, repressed desires they refuse to admit, feelings and experiences they’ve never told anyone about…all of these things and more will come to the surface with them. These doubles desperately want to see a character’s accused crime confronted, and they will do anything to make that happen, even resorting to violence if they must. The doubles have all the original powers and abilities of their real counterparts, making them extremely difficult (but not impossible!) to fight one-on-one.

Some characters may find themselves inexplicably drawn to their doppelgangers, as if called by some force. They may feel compelled to seek them out, as if they’re unable to rest so long as their double roams free. This is an optional effect, but should you be looking for an excuse to get your character out and about–please feel free to utilize it.

Doubles can be injured and incapacitated, but not killed; the only way to eliminate them is through acceptance and recognition. Characters do not have to do this alone; in fact, having some moral support or coaching may prove useful. Confronting the double and accepting or seriously reflecting upon the crime they’re charged with will make the doppelgangers first turn docile, and then disappear, leaving the original character feeling lighter and more sure of themselves.

A MINOR TECHNICALITY

What happens to a simulation when the electronics stop working?

Good question.

Occasionally, you may see what looks like a strange, thin line, just from the corner of your vision. Early in the week, trying to look at this line straight on reveals…nothing. It seems to vanish.

As the week continues, this strange happening seems to intensify, bit by bit. By midweek, Wednesday or so, you’re able to look at this line head-on. It seems to be a small crack, little more than a hairline fracture, outlined in light. As the weekend creeps closer, this crack seems to grow, bit by bit, becoming more pronounced, the gaps between it getting larger.

By the weekend, it’s wide enough that you can see through it.

What you see is difficult to describe. You seem to be looking into a large metallic structure, so large that the end seems to curve off into the horizon. How far does this go on? There’s a ceiling overhead, so high up that you can’t make out details. Much of this structure seems to be empty within, but you see a floor at foot level, made of metal.

The gap is wide enough that you can stick your hand right through it. When you do so, you begin to feel a strange tingling, starting at the tips of your fingers and extending to the part of your arm that goes into the crack. Nothing about your hand changes, really, but when the tingling subsides, you get the strange sensation that you’ve been unable to feel anything with that hand, up til now. Something about the air against your skin feels more real, here. As if your senses were muted before…

The crack never widens more than this. It is sometimes visible to just one person, and sometimes it can be visible to a group. This crack can appear in any surface, in any location, but it always looks the same and always reveals the same structure within.

Interesting…

ENDING

In conjunction with the conclusion of the player plot, the Dark Hour comes to an end one week later, on November 18. Monsters vacate the city, the sun reappears…this happens slowly, over the course of the day. By Tuesday, the network and electronic usage is restored. By Wednesday, the crack in the world seems to be gone for good. By the weekend after the event, all doppelgangers seem to have vanished.

This is fine, we always say. And it is! Everything is back to normal!

…

Or is it…?

WILDCARD

Make your own fun! Just because it’s not in the prompts doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Have at it! Go crazy! Try not to break anything (too much)!

♡

Comments

[incorrigibles]

That was two months ago. [ said with a cheeky raise of his brows. but, right, okay, ] Sure, why not. But I'm only agreeing to part-time, because I also promised to help with the whole inn thing...

[ anyway, that aside — silco's words that follow make something flash in his eyes as he thinks back to jinx, thinks back to how truly frustrated she had been... thinks to her wanting to leave, saying how she should just go instead of being left behind. and though he believes there were a myriad of reasons for her to feel like that, well. one of them was, ]

No one said anything about shame, but in my experience, that's usually why people would, you know, hide or lie about their relationships. [ he says this very conversationally, with a half-shrug like it's just an innocent observation instead of the pointed accusation it is in actuality.

also — no?? don't put his boyfriend in danger just for a weird experiment?? junpei is delicate, okay... ]

[conflictresolution]

Of course you did. I understand your loyalty to Richard.

[He knew they were from the same country even if it was considerable time apart, but he also suspected that Richard needed the support as well. His own hand in that business was bookkeeping only and it extended to showing Richard how to keep track of everything. The younger man was smart, and Silco knew better than to appear at that very public establishment too often.

Silco's expression remained politely neutral, schooled instantly as he could see where this line of commentary was heading. It only increased his suspicions that Jinx had spoken to Charles about the situation, and this one was apparently an investigator. He'd give a little credit to the powers of deduction as well.]

You said you weren't ashamed to admit your feelings for him, did you not? [He took that track instead, heading off what might be an unfortunate conversation. He was, after all, unwilling to admit anything of the depth of his own relationship with Richard. He was respecting a boundary for once.] I wouldn't know. I keep my relationships to business where it doesn't involve my daughter.

[He made a point of regarding Charles with that same polite interest.]

[incorrigibles]

[ another half-shrug; loyalty? yeah, maybe. he'd say that richard is his friend — and there's very few things he won't do for those he truly counts his friends, the people he really cares about. richard himself would likely speak of loyalty, yes — what with the whole king thing charles had tried to address... with negligible results.

but yes, a detective is as a detective does; thirty years of investigative instincts are hard to shake. ] I did, yeah. And I'm not lying about our relationship, am I?

[ not the one here who's lying, he seems to say, without even really saying that at all.

and since silco happened to mention jinx all on his own... ] Your daughter's a smart one. Have you considered, I don't know, not keeping your relationships where she can't see them?

[conflictresolution]

[Silco understood the value of loyalty; he had plenty of those who rode his coattails to the top, but they also knew the consequences of crossing him. He had made his fair share of examples because people didn't learn any other way. Those that remained loyal were rewarded and given plenty of motivation and leniencies.

Yet, his mismatched eyes found Charles, and the unspoken words were like a weight between them.] No, you are not. No doubt your beau appreciates your candor.

[His expression closed at the question regarding Jinx, and his blue eye narrowed as his jaw tightened. He had known she was friendly with Charles, but it seemed that she had released more details about him. Charles was an emotional person, and it seemed that moderating his words didn't come easily.]

Have you considered that you're stepping into dangerous territory, boy? And in a matter which does not concern you. For being a self-proclaimed detective, you don't investigate particularly well, do you? [He turned away from Charles.] You should leave. I have things in order here.

[incorrigibles]

I know, [ he says, in a tone that is less pointed and more, well, surprisingly mature for someone his apparent age — but he has existed for longer than silco has, in truth, and that does show sometimes. ]

I know it's none of my business, and I promised I wouldn't say anything. That's sort of why I can't investigate much either, can I? But since I'm a detective, yeah, I can also deduce some stuff. [ he is very much not leaving... but keeping himself just to that side of incorporeal, so if anything were to try and touch him now, it'd simply go through him. ]

I'm just saying it 'cause I'm concerned about someone I really care about. But if it's because of what I think it is... I don't judge him, either. [ him, not named, but they both know who he means. ] I don't know how things are in your world, but being gay in mine's... well. It used to be a crime even in the 20th century. Hell, it still is, in some parts of the world. And back then... you'd be judged, and executed, and worse, your soul said to be doomed, just for loving someone. Someone born in a time like that, well, no wonder if they've internalised it all, believe it to be true, and wanna hide it all.

[ a shrug. ] And you're right, this is just conjecture. But before I go, and I am gonna go, okay, you don't need to throw me out... just one question. If your daughter's hurt badly enough to leave you for this, if she decides you don't love her enough anymore and goes away... is that something you can live with? [ if he phrases this as a hypothetical rather than something jinx has actually outright said to him... then he's not betraying her confidence, right? and even if he is — someone needs to say something, and clearly no communication is happening there. so, yes, he's meddling in something that's none of his business; but he's doing it because he cares, and that's how he justifies it to himself. ]

[conflictresolution]

You admit it's none of your business, and yet here you are. [Silco's body language was changing, tension straightening his back where he normally would roll his shoulders forward to appear less threatening. His expression hardened and gave nothing away, but his mismatched eyes were cold and flinty.

He did find it some kind of twisted joke that Charles would take both Richard's and Jinx's side in whatever this little intervention was. He was used to being the 'bad guy' as it were, and he felt his temper rising towards the surface at the implications that he wasn't perfectly aware of the situation that he was pigeon-holed into. There was no winning, only mitigating damages.

Silco was no fool; he knew Jinx well enough and had endured enough of her possessive tantrums in the past to read that this hypothetical was likely to be anything but. He wondered what Jinx would think of this one spreading her grouching words back to the source, but it didn't matter did it? If he lost her... he would burn this place to the ground, but first he would find a way to make everyone suffer first.

So the choice was before him on Charles' behalf, wasn't it? Lose Richard or lose Jinx. He wasn't disillusioned by the possibility, but he had been trying to manage the situation all the same.

He pushed a hand through his hair and simply turned away.] I can live with you leaving and offering no further assistance.

[He had no plans on talking to Charles further or even again.]

🎀

[incorrigibles]

Right, [ charles says and — yeah, he can see silco's not happy about this. and so he does turn towards the mirror, but stops after a few steps, looks over his shoulder with a quiet, ]

For what it's worth, I tried to defend you guys. Explain why Richard's the way he is. Not sure I got through to her, but... I did try.

[ he doesn't expect that to make any difference to silco, but he figures he might as well say it out loud, regardless. ]

Not easy, being in between the rock and a hard place, is it? I get that. Just... hope you can manage it, anyway. [ another step towards the mirror, his head turned towards it, ] Sorry for disturbing you. [ and then he just steps into the mirror itself, its surface turning liquid as he disappears into it. ]