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kaisou2024-10-03 12:45 pm
October Event Log (Space Horror Edition)
OCTOBER EVENT: HEAVY
TRIGGER WARNING: This event features heavy use of hallucinations, reliving past traumas, mental corruption and PVP death. Please proceed with caution.
Day OneWherever you drift off to sleep certainly isn't where you wake up the following day. Or... you assume it's day, as there is no natural light to truly clue you in. You wake on a bunk in a metallic room along with three other app users, also tucked into their comfy little bunks. A quick survey of your surroundings, and you will find you are on a sizeable spaceship. Outside the window, a blue planet slowly turns- those who have a knowledge of space might be able to recognize this as Neptune- you are far, far from Earth. Stepping out of the bunk room, you will find other doors opening to other bunk rooms, with similarly confused app users inside. No one has any idea how you got here. You will find your communications devices do not work- after all, you're a long way away from any cell towers. You'll be glad to see your abilities work just fine. Telepathy outside of the ship is impossible- perhaps distance matters here, too.
Exploration of the ship will show a worrying absence of any crew. You can see dried blood on several metallic surfaces as you move around. Canteens are stocked with freeze-dried astronaut meals, all perfectly edible, but there is no sign anyone has been eating anything in here for some time. You can see another ship docked outside the one you're in- the name on the side claiming it as The Lewis and Clark. There doesn't seem to be any way to get to it currently, though. The door leading to the docking station is locked tight. You eventually come across the bridge, with blood-crusted computer systems still running. Those tech-savvy amongst you might be able to get some informational screens up, which tell you that you are aboard The Event Horizon. This is a scientific vessel which was researching a means of faster space travel. They intended to do this with something called "The Gravity Core" - a device which would create an artificial black hole, which would in theory allow the user to bend space-time and cut a journey of thousands of years into a single day. So it turns out you're sitting in a spaceship with the means to create the most destructive force in the galaxy right next to you. Super! A few of the video files are corrupted, which will need some work getting to play. Ominously, every now and again the screens of the computer flash up a single, desperate message: Libera te tutemet ex inferis.
If you so decide to check out that Gravity Core, you will find a tunnel with sharp, moving sides. It moves like a meat grinder. Luckily there is a narrow walkway- wide enough for you to walk single file through it without getting hurt on the spikes. Worrying, some more of that dried blood can be seen on the spikes as they rotate. It's probably fine. The tunnel opens up into a big, circular, spiked room. There's a pool of water at the bottom of the room, and in the centre is a strange contraption, a ball with three spiked rings, about 10 meters in diameter. For now, they're just turning around one another slowly, never stopping. Congratulations, you found the Gravity Core! Anyone with demonic or holy ties will be deeply unsettled by this device. They can't put their finger on what it is, but they know it's deeply unsafe, and feel intense discomfort being anywhere near it. For now, there doesn't seem much to do other than get used to their surroundings. They can check the lock that could take them to the Lewis and Clark- their only way off this ship, but the lock is a complex series of rusted cogs. There seems to be no way to undo these locks no matter what you try- not even abilities will work on it. It's like some outside (or inside) force is preventing you from an early escape. For now, it seems you're stuck here.
Day TwoAt the start of day two, the whole ship shakes- anyone near the Gravity Core will witness the rings suddenly all line up, stopping their slow spiral. Everything is still for a moment, and then the center of the Core suddenly glows in a blinding flash of light, then... it settles- the lights around the center pulsing on and off like a heartbeat. The entire surface of the ball at the center of the core turns into a shimmering, water-like substance. Anyone nearby will feel an overwhelming urge to touch it. Should you give into the intrusive thought, you will find your hand sinks into the center as if it is made of water. With no warning, something on the other side GRIPS you, and pulls you in with a sharp tug. No one around can grab you in time before you vanish into the sludge.
For a moment, everything is still- then as quickly as they were pulled in, the poor souls dragged into the Core are unceremoniously spat out. The Core returns to normal, the rings spinning slowly around one another again. Those spat out will lay on the ground, catatonic, eyes open wide, staring in terror at... something - nothing seems to wake them. You may be left worried about what to do with your friends, but there's something else too. Something prickling at the edge of your consciousness. Perhaps it's a distant noise that almost sounds like a voice, a shifting shadow you swear was a person. Today, these things linger just on the periphery of your senses- there to unnerve you, but you cannot put your finger on what they are.
About an hour after they were spat out by the Core, the poor souls dragged into it suddenly bolt awake, that "the darkness is coming". It takes a hot minute for them to settle down again, and realise where they are. If you were one of those unlucky people, you cannot remember what you saw while you were inside the Core- all you remember is that it was terrible- and yet, you want to go to it again. You are convinced the absolute right thing to do is to open the Gravity Core again and for you all to step inside it. It's where you all belong. For now, you can be convinced to not do the blatantly stupid and dangerous thing and restart the Core, but as one day moves into the next, those urges only grow.
Day ThreeThose who were dragged into the Core are much, much worse off the next day. Your feelings about needing to restart the Core are even stronger - and those who weren't pulled in will need to guard the controls to prevent it from being forcibly started up. Those who fell in start calling themselves "corrupted" and you will do everything in your power to convince everyone that you need to open the Core. Perhaps you want to embrace what's on the other side of that Core- the horrors you saw. Or perhaps your spirit was so broken by the terrifying mixed-up memories you can only partly put together that you feel it's inevitable- that you may as well submit to the Core because there's no escape from it. The way you all speak about it makes it sound like hell, quite literally, and nothing will sway you from your desire to go back into it and drag everyone on the ship with you. You will be willing to fight and attack your fellow prisoners on the ship, to lie to and cajole them - anything that gets you to those controls.
Things aren't so hot for those not corrupted by the Core, either. The flickering visions you had yesterday turn into full-blown hallucinations today. These hallucinations are steeped heavily in your mental traumas and regrets. Perhaps you feel responsible for the death of a loved one- that person will appear and speak to you. Or perhaps you were attacked by someone in your past- now that attacker will stalk you through the ship. Perhaps your actions inadvertently caused a great disaster- victims of that disaster will appear to you, fingers pointing in blame. No matter what weakness of your mind is preyed upon, these hallucinations will chip away at your grasp of reality fairly quickly. They will do everything in their power to convince you to attack the others on the ship- be it through cajoling you or through simple trickery such as appearing before someone nearby, making you lash out at them, unaware you have struck the wrong target until it is too late. Worse still, everyone can see everyone else's hallucinations- there is no hiding from them or pretending they are not real. They are here and they are ready to push everyone into attacking one another. Those fully corrupted by the ship may see hallucinations of their own, too- but nothing overrides their desire to get the Core restarted.
Either through the efforts of those with tech-savvy skills, or from following old, tattered manuals you find stuffed behind a console, you are finally able to uncorrupt the ship's video files. The first shows the original Event Horizon crew, they are smiling and happy. The captain states they are about to open the Gravity Drive for the first time and hopes that soon they will be light years away from here, with minimal effort. Confidently, he smiles at the camera, stating "Ave, atque, vale. Hail and farewell." The screen suddenly goes fuzzy, and screams can be heard in the thick static. The screen goes dead. What follows are small video clips, tiny glimpses into madness. Once smiling happy crew go through a living nightmare as their world crashes down around them. You might see one sobbing about seeing her dead best friend she couldn't save, or perhaps another screaming at an invisible foe- you will even see the crew turn on each other, the camera catching the glint of a knife or a thrown punch. No matter what, it's clear that the previous crew went through exactly what you are going through now- and they destroyed one another over it.
There is one final video to play. This is of the captain, his face is bleeding from a deep gash in his cheek, and one arm hangs limp and useless at his side. In the background, screaming can be heard:
"I stashed the explosives around the Horizon. It's the only way to get the damned doors open. She won't let them free. She'll take them to hell. They won't even fight it. They're not interested."
Static fills the screen for a moment, and the screaming is louder, followed by banging. The captain gives a frustrated groan and smacks the camera with his good arm, clearing it up.
"If any of you are still alive, you've got to blow the doors apart. The ship's hull is designed to take it, just get into the umbilical and get the fuck out- it's oxygenated. Don't let her win. Don't let her drag you into hell with the rest of them. Don't-"
A loud CRASH occurs off-screen. The captain turns, to be tackled to the ground by someone else, covered in blood and barely recognizable as human. The figure drops to the ground on top of the captain, out of view of the camera. But his screams are heard. Terrified, bloodcurdling screams. When they stop. The figure stands. It's one of his crew, the woman who had been talking about her dead friend. She raises her hand, stained with blood, looking at it curiously for a moment, before turning to the camera.
"Liberate tutame ex inferis."
The video cuts out and there are no more.
The message is clear- the only way off the Event Horizon is to blow up the doors and get to the Lewis and Clark - preferably before the Gravity Core is activated again and you are all dragged, quite literally, into Hell.
Day FourSo now you know what you need to do. You need to find the explosives stashed around the Event Horizon and blow those doors to kingdom come. Not a simple task, with your corrupted friends and your own hallucinations trying to stop you from doing just that. You will likely have to fight your friends plenty in the search for the explosives- as the corrupted folks absolutely do not want you to escape. There are fives explosives to find, hidden in The control room, the engineering room, the med bay, the kitchen and finally, unhelpfully, near the controls of the Gravity Core. You will need to gather all of them and get them attached to the doors. They are, thankfully, simple to use and soon blow the doors clear off. They open to a yellow tube that leads into the waiting Lewis and Clark. There's no gravity in the tube, even if it is oxygenated, so you will have to float your way there. But...
The Event Horizon SHUDDERS in what you could only describe as anger when the doors are blown off. The captain's warning was right. The ship certainly doesn't want you to get away from this. The corrupted finally managed to get the Core started again, gleeful at pulling you all into hell. There is no switching it off, all you can do is fight your own hallucinations to get to the Lewis and Clark. Perhaps you have enough of your senses to try and pull the corrupted folks aboard with you- but they will fight you every step of the way. The only way you'll get them aboard the Lewis and Clark is by incapacitating them and dragging them to escape.
The Lewis and Clark is, blissfully, pre-programmed to return to Earth- though it may take a real long time to get there. Ship instructions bleep at you to put yourself into stasis for the long journey, but luckily, you do not need to worry about that. The Lewis and Clark pulls away from the Event Horizon- blasting quickly away. All you can see of it is a bright blue light as the Even Horizon swallows in on itself- taking whoever so remained on board with it. The hallucinations abruptly stop, and you are left only with the stark reality of all that has happened as the ship zooms forward.
After only about fifteen minutes on the Lewis and Clark, you feel yourself enveloped in a white light- then suddenly you'll find yourselves in a pile at the entrance to Blue Fish Park- as if you were spat out by any other spirit gate. Those who died on the Horizon will find themselves amongst you, none the worse for wear. Physically, at least. The corrupted will find their minds clear of the Core's influence, their memories of what they did aboard the ship can either either fuzzy or crystal clear. Regardless, you are now all back in Kaisou and safe- though the mental trauma of what happened may linger for a while.
The dominant element this month is Earth! Anyone with an affinity to the wind element will find themselves boosted throughout the month. This could mean a boost to their power, having more energy, feeling more inspired with creativity, having better luck on different attempts -- the boost can manifest in all sorts of different ways. By contrast, anyone with an affinity for Water will be experiencing the opposite. Perhaps their powers will be weaker, they have less energy, they're having a creative block or general worse luck - again it can manifest in all sorts of way and players are free to play with this mechanic as they'd like.
The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here. There will be a midmonth Zodiac post on the 15th. If you wish to have your character in this event, you MUST SIGN UP by October 6th.
Characters NOT involved in this plot ARE allowed to comment as hallucinations that the characters on the ship are seeing. However, these hallucinations are hallucinations ONLY. They cannot relay any information the hallucinating character doesn't already know, and the real version of the hallucinated character will have know memory of being a hallucination.
Day One
[ for some, waking up in a spaceship drifting among the stars would be a horrifying concept. And certainly, Vash the Stampede recognises the danger of the unknown reason to why this is where they were--after a moment to check to make sure he hadn't somehow ended up back on No Man's Land--but. Truth be Told? Landing in the middle of a space ship was one of the least scary things for this man.
Once he recognised the sensation of being in space, there's even a twinge of excitement that runs through him as he quickly makes his way through the ship alongside those who'd been spirited away alongside him. Be them new friend or old, he's got a smile on his face and for now, he's entirely unconcerned. ]
If we can find the control room, maybe I can figure out how to fly this thing. I'm not unused to space travel. Touching down on a planet that's suitable for human life would be the best bet--the crew might be in stasis somewhere.
I grew up on a ship like this.
During long travels, the humans would all be in cryostasis while we tried to find a suitable planet to inhabit. The fact that the ship is empty save for us... we just have to find them.
no subject
[Robin looks at the newcomer; she doesn't recognize him, save for whatever Zodiac has shown her. But everyone that she's met in Kaisou so far have been good people, and she has no reason to suspect otherwise for Vash.]
That's relieving to hear.
In my past life, I also lived among the stars. But nothing like this; I'm afraid I won't be terribly useful here.
no subject
Were you just a passenger on the ship you lived on, rather than one of the engineers? That's okay--I think you have ways of being plenty useful even if you don't know how to fly a ship.
I work with someone who doesn't know how to use a stove and he's great.
no subject
For right now though, Noah offers a small smile, looking a little anxious all the same when things are explained.]
Do you really think there's other people here? Besides us? [...wait, that sounds kind of rude, actually. He pauses, biting his lip for a moment.] Ah, I'm sorry, I- I know I spent part of my past life in space, but I couldn't tell you anything about it whatsoever.
[Space is not so great when you don't have very many memories about it, whoops.]
no subject
[ if there was something wrong with this ship, they should have departed ages ago. And yet... ]
Usually if you abandon a ship, it's because something has gone wrong on it and it's decommissioned. Which usually means it's put out of flight. And yet, it's just idling out here. With all its systems still on and mostly functioning.
[ it's... wrong. ]
--Oh! Are you... remembering a past life? I have a few friends like that, too.
no subject
[The door was locked tight, the gears were rusted shut, with no way to that ship whatsoever. In some ways, it was distressing- as if being told forcibly by something that they were not being allowed off the ship at all.
Noah crosses his arms uncomfortably, shifting one foot to another.]
Someone told me the planet out there is Neptune- that's... I don't want to say impossible, because I'm finding what I thought wasn't possible before actually can be possible. But I don't know how I could suddenly arrive here, with no warning. Or any of us, really.
[He's never been in a situation like this before.]
Have you visited the Core, yet?
[At the question, though, he pauses, then nods.]
Yes. I lived on a planet called Penacony in my past life. I know at some point I left, but I have no idea as to why.
no subject
[ he's not entirely sure how he feels about EITHER option, truth be told. the makings of a frown starting to appear on his face. ]
Neptune, huh. That's a pretty far distance from Earth. It'd take ages to get between here and there...
[ how could a ship be all the way out here? maybe that's why it was empty--its so far from earth they couldnt possibly hope to make it back in their lifetimes--did all the people on board die...? ]
I haven't visited the core. I don't really understand technology like that, from what's been described. I'm better with computers and the machinery--that sort of thing...
[ ...hm. ]
Seems weird. Something organic in the middle of the ship like that feels... wrong. I don't know how to describe it, but it feels wrong. Like it's out of place even in reality? If that makes sense.
It probably doesn't I'm so sorry.
no subject
[There's no other explanation he can really make work at this point.
But when he hears Vash speak about the core being unnatural, almost organic, he blinks- and immediately responds.]
No, it uh... actually does. For me, at least. [There's a frown at this as he thinks, not upset at Vash, but more frustrated at the situation.] Anytime I get close, I get a headache. Usually I'd just associate it with being not used to space, but... something keeps telling me it's wrong.
[Noah offers a sort of half-hearted gesture. He's not quite sure what else to say.]
no subject
But Sunday understands and Vash is weirdly over the moon about it.
Even if the situation is shit. ]
I'm not used to space anymore either, but there's something about that thing that screams 'wrong'. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels it...
[ he gives a small breathless laugh. ]
I think staying far, far away from it is the best and only choice.
Usually, ships that go through a crisis like this have a... black box, a 'final message' from the attendants last in the cockpit.
It's missing, or hidden in code.
But it has to be somewhere. Someone must have hidden it, or messed with it.
Which makes this situation even more dangerous.
no subject
[Headaches were normal when they came to him, usually because of dehydration or lack of sleep. This throbbing in that back of his head, one that ebbs and flows depending on where he is is not normal in the slightest.
"We do not trust it. There is much here that should not exist, or should not be. Be cautious, child."
Concordia speaks, and Noah crosses his arms, not liking the implications of their situation.]
What kind of crisis would make a ship so empty? I don't remember seeing damage in the halls or the rooms I passed by, either. [A pause, and his eyes flick over the entirety of their surroundings. His nerves are already starting to be hackled, and nothing has even happened yet.]
It almost feels like it's been abandoned.