EVENT #12: ADVERSITY 6568654

[expiationmods]

EVENT #12: DO AIS DREAM OF ALGORITHMIC SHEEP?

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…

JANUARY 13

SLEEP MODE INITIATED.
LOADING………………….

The calming hush that falls over Aldrip is strangely comfortable, lulling all Chosen into a deep sleep…or a sleeplike state, for those who will. Whatever the case, it is a very quiet night.

The sleep that follows is anything but.

THE DREAMSCAPES

The Chosen dream of memories, in this dreamscape. They can be twisted and altered by the dream world; events can be contorted or made up; but all of these dreams have within them a kernel of truth. Whether they express an event that happened or part of a person’s past that’s gone fuzzy with age, whether it’s a real moment or just a feeling, something about the dream tells you something about the Chosen to whom it belongs. This may even express itself in multiple dreamscapes, fragments of different memories and feelings to navigate.

Fellow Chosen can travel through these dreamscapes, of course, stumbling upon dreams they were never meant to see. But their presence is not without consequence; the longer two Chosen share the same dream, the more the dream will begin to take on elements of both their dreams, drawing in elements from the Chosen who was simply meant to be watching.

They’re vivid, these dreams–the kind that are so clear, one begins to doubt whether it’s a dream at all. Could it possibly be reality? Whether it’s a good dream or a bad one, the Chosen may find it’s difficult to want to wake up. How could they possibly wake up, when this is so very real? Why would they want to, if it’s a good dream? It’s comfortable, and the idea that it may not be reality is intimidating, isn’t it?

It’s so real that you could stay here forever.

A WAKEUP CALL

Wake up.
You have to wake up.

Staying within the dreams too long is a dangerous thing, and those who don’t wake even once before morning will risk falling into a deep sleep, perhaps never to wake at all.

But how to wake them?

Only by convincing the Chosen that they are most certainly dreaming, as it turns out. Whether that’s someone realizing this on their own, or being helped along by someone else, is entirely up to you. But they must choose to wake from the dream, saying goodbye to the dreamscape without any certainty that they’ll ever see it again, and for some…that could be easier said than done.

Once they wake in Aldrip, they’ll be able to come and go from the dreams at will, helping other Chosen navigate their own waking…or perhaps sabotaging it, for those whose intentions may be less than charitable. (But none of you would do that, right? Right?)

Time becomes meaningless within the dreamscapes, allowing the Chosen to pass through as many of these dreams as they wish before dawn breaks in the morning.

The next day dawns as normal, and surprisingly, the Chosen don’t feel any less well-rested from their long and difficult night chasing after dreams. They may even–_

A sea of numbers, zeroes and ones, their combinations meaningless, their forms shifting. Digital artifacts mar the vision, as if the sequence is somehow corrupted. In those pockets of artifacts, one can see something beyond the numbers, something darker, something blurry with distance.
Query: is this what it is to “dream?”
It feels…warm.

_feel refreshed, actually, as if they’ve lifted various weights from their shoulders. Even those who haven’t may find it difficult to linger on the less happy parts of what they’ve seen. They’ve shared quite a unique experience, after all. Better take some time to process it, before they let it weigh them down.

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

[luneminary]

Is that what you truly want?

[He can tell that he is in pain, being stuck in the darkness like this. He makes this deal out of necessity, not out of a genuine want.]

Your future isn't worthless at all. Yours is the right to live as much as everyone else's. There could always be another way.

[A band of youths showed that to him before. Now he carries their will with him.]

[chimericalclaw]

[What he truly wants—is impossible. He's been taught that so many times, and now he finally understands it. So he decides on what he must consider to be the next-best thing.]

No.

[What right does he have to live when so many others have been lost? When he keeps failing, over and over, to save anyone, despite the power he's been granted? Keeps failing to do anything of worth for them? All this time he'd thought to throw his life away for the sake of keeping others from sharing his fate. He'd been so naive; the problem was so much larger than Spirits alone.]

This is the only option worth anything. I can't stand the thought of living on in the same way, watching and doing next to nothing because of my own weakness.

[And at this point, even hope and belief in others is counted among those weaknesses.

The shrouded figure puts its head in its hands, the energy obscuring it flickering as if in response to its inner feelings. Chaos's energy echoes that phenomenon from above, sparks blinking downwards in anticipation but not reaching just yet. Not until the proper words are spoken.]

[luneminary]

[Humans — they are all just like this. No matter what, they would always try and find a way to break through their destiny. Even if they suffer for it. Even if they must sacrifice something for it. What a ridiculous notion: and yet, Death cannot help but admire them regardless.

But now he does not know if he can reach him. Not as a god or a primordial concept.]

You’re not the only one who feels the same, you know. You’re not alone.

[His time is almost out, but he has to try. He needs to try. He owes that much to the impossible humanity that has been borne into his soul.]

You do not need to save the world on your own.

[chimericalclaw]

[Oh, how that simple statement echoes in the deepest parts of his soul, bringing with it a painful sense of yearning.]

I want to believe that, [he admits. He's always wanted to believe that, despite everything.

But how could he? When the image of bodies lying around him is still burned so clearly into his mind? When he's stranded himself on a desert island and burned down all potential means of escape? He no longer thinks who he is and what he has is enough, but reaching out to others and trusting in them is what got him here—used and hurt and left behind every time he didn't leave them first.

So he reaches, instead, for the heartless creature he knows can't disappoint him further, if just because his expectations are already at rock bottom.]

But I can't. Not anymore. Not again.

[He takes in a shaky breath, looking up.]

Chaos... when I free you from this place—we will end what you began ten years ago.

[The Spirit's voices almost purr with delight, that earlier sense of obnoxious confidence even more obvious now.]

You're done chatting already? And after such heartfelt, inspiring platitudes.

[It cackles and begins to swirl more violently; there's a tension in the space like a fracture spreading through ice, bit by bit, on the verge of shattering into a hundred pieces. This is a moment Zekarion can never take back, even in his dreams.]