//SCENARIOS.EXE
PHASE I [ 20 00 ]
The evening begins promptly at 8:00 PM. There will be crowds gathered, lining up to get in. Everyone will be allowed, children, adults, the living and flesh-filled, the robotic, and the undead. The music will be thumping as far as the sidewalks outside, and the first thing everyone will notice would be bowls of candy everywhere as far as the eyes can see. They'll be sitting on top of the tables in all their innocent glory. For the most part, they are harmless.
But not the candy corn. Never the candy corn. Within it is a secret chemical that causes those who consume it to exhibit attraction to the nearest object/person to them, whether it be inanimate or otherwise. They will feel compelled to be close, to kiss and touch whatever is around them, though the effects only last an hour or so. Consider it a low-leveled aphrodisiac of sorts.
PHASE II [ 2122 ]
You're dancing. You're moving to the music. Or you're clinging to the walls and wondering why you're even here to begin with. That's when the holograms start playing around with you. The image flickers frequently until a face appears. You can swear it's talking to you beneath the music.
'We need you. We want you. Join us. Come to the back room. Number 005.'
The closer you get to the hologram screens, the louder the voice becomes until it disappears completely, leaving you to question how real it was.
PHASE III [ 2217 ]
For those brave enough, you go into Backroom #005. What awaits you there is a room full of masked and costumed figures. You don't know if they are human or not, but they watch you eagerly, inviting you to join their private party. Unfortunately, if you chose the backroom, you chose wrong. You chose very wrong. The door is going to be slammed shut and locked, and all the figures will then pull off their masks and reveal faces familiar to yourself. Faces from your world. They'll ask you accusingly why you haven't saved them yet. What's taking you so long. Did you forget them?
Their eyes will glow as they crowd in on you, yelling and growing more caustic until the lights flicker. When you can see clearly again, the entire room will be empty save for a single glass of wine sitting on the table. You'll be sure someone was inside just a moment ago. You were definitely talking to someone. You can't be going crazy, right?
PHASE IV [ 2345 ]
Fifteen minutes to midnight. The music is getting louder and more intense. You've been eating candy or drinking all night (or avoiding food entirely if you're wise enough). Yet the music lures you in with its haunting tone, and you spot in the middle, a masked figure dancing more hypnotically than the rest. He's waving his chainsaw around as he puts out his lethal dance moves, and you are being drawn by the music into a violent dance off. You can fight the feeling, you can try and run. Unfortunately, none of the other natives and robots see the masked man but you. Only outsiders can see him, and the closer you get, the more you reach out to touch him-
you discover he's only a hologram like any other. Your fingers move through his shape, and distort it, but you're still so sure it's real.
BONUS [ whyo'clock ]
One of the back rooms has a beautiful fortune teller by the name of Aria. She will be seated inside, welcoming individuals or groups of people to give them their fortunes, and she will be giving them bizarrely specific and intimate details about their life from their underwear preference to how many partners they've slept with and how many moles they have on their ass. Prepare for awkward embarrassment. Ah, but what does the future hold in store? She'll smile when asked, and then her face will fall apart until a drill protrudes from the center to try and stab through your face. If your reflexes are fast enough, you can dodge it. If you're too slow, prepare for a hospital visit to the CERES Medical Facility.
Once that ordeal is over with, her face will reconstruct itself back to normal, and she will smile and say your future looks very bright in CERES.
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with trigger-y or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the meme. ]
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Alex | Golden Sun
[If you wear a mask all the time, do you still need to put on another one? Alex certainly hopes not, because he's not taking off the one he came with for any reason.
Really, he wouldn't have bothered with this at all, but the claims of the greeter amused him. "Surrender to our baser urges." For someone beyond such things
usually, it could be a rather telling night about all these people around him. He's also quite convinced he doesn't need to partake of any food or drink, so the tables go ignored.While Alex was also sure he considered dancing beneath him, even for him something about the music was...drawing. Instead of hanging back in the shadows against the wall, he approaches the dance floor. However, he only stands still and watches on the edge between the dancing and the tables. This makes likely makes him stand out like a sore thumb, or at least quite easy for anyone to bump into.]
Phase III
[He wasn't sure why he decided to investigate the vision. He was typically very selective about his every action. Something about it had just been so intriguing, though...
Even beneath the mask, Alex clearly looks perturbed when he emerges from Backroom 005. Most of the faces hadn't bothered him in the least. In fact, despite them basically stating that they were willing to depend on him, it was close to the attitude he expected from others.
But of course, "most" doesn't mean "all". He wasn't sure what bothered him the most, what those select few had said, or the fact that it was managing to affect him.
At this point, he's not using his usual scrutiny and will address anyone who goes by him. His message is just too important to not get out.]
Tell whoever is responsible for this that they might want to cease these juvenile displays before there is...trouble.
phase iii
[Waaaait a second. So maybe masks are a thing, but Sheba is sure she's heard that voice before. She's sure she's seen that exact same shade of blue hair before, too. The clothing is different than she remembers, but -
Ew, gross. Was she really about to agree with Alex of all people?]
. . .
[She stays quiet, folds her arms over her chest, and stares at him with narrowed eyes. Yeah, he kind of looks like Alex... 30 years later and he's still not subtle at all. Sheba isn't sure whether she should just ollie on out or try and engage him, so for now she'll just keep staring at him silently. It's probably a little unsettling.]
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Alex can't help but note that despite the mask, Sheba doesn't look any different than she did 30 years ago. He knew full well that he was the only one involved with the Golden Sun who should be able to claim that description. Something was odd and he didn't know what, but that didn't mean he still wouldn't try to play that to some sort of advantage.
He lets the silence hang between them for a few moments.]
If you're bothered by something, Sheba, it doesn't do much good to say nothing about it.
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I MEAN, yes, her looking 30 years too young is definitely something Alex should be confused by. As for Sheba, she's just confused in general. What's he even doing here...]
I wasn't expecting to see you at all. [And it's not a pleasant surprise, either. What he can see of her expression past the mask and her body language makes that abundantly clear. To be fair, she's still sort of on edge from running into Menardi earlier, so it's not entirely because of him.] It seems like a lot of people I don't really want to see are showing up here...
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Really? And after it's been so long...
[He shakes his head a bit in (possibly mock) disappointment before continuing.]
I admit encountering you was a surprise for me, as well. Just how many unwelcomed acquaintances have you come across?
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[Alex, Menardi, and... someone Alex doesn't know. The joys of being a CRAU. She frowns a little and brings up a hand to fuss with her cloak.]
...I sort of get the feeling that getting the people in charge around here to take us seriously might be easier said than done. [She doesn't really know the people in charge from Adam - but her last experience in a similar situation taught her that most, if not all, of her efforts were utterly futile.] Complaining to them might not do a whole lot of good.
[And then, more quietly - more to herself than to him, really - ] But at least we've got our Psynergy here. [Which puts this one leaps and bounds above the last place she was at.]
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Perhaps it would be a struggle for just you. There appears to be many other people here, however.
[A ghost of a smile comes to him before he moves on.]
Of course we have. At least SOME Psynergy dwells within every Adept.
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She rolls her eyes, but lets the matter of whether or not getting people to listen to them would be a struggle drop for the moment. Instead, she sighs and takes up another topic.]
That's true, but there are some places where using Psynergy just isn't possible. [Her hand comes up to her temple, fingers brushing briefly over a scar that is, thankfully, mostly hidden by her bangs.] It's a relief to know this isn't one of them.
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[Her final statement piques his interest. He doubted she meant a Psynergy Vortex, as the certain death that would face her in one would be of more note than anything else. If there are other situations, he needs to take note of where these might be so he can stay away.] Is that so? Where could that possibly be the case?
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I haven't had enough time to figure out if it's connected to this place or not, but there was a... they called it an amusement park. It wasn't very fun, though, and no one was able to use powers of any kind there.
[She shrugs.] Psynergy works just fine here. For example, right now I can tell you're thinking I'm crazy. [She hasn't cast mind read - which he'll know, being an Adept - so she's probably back to joking again.]
iii;
[ The voice that speaks comes from a man standing some distance away, a champagne glass held delicately between his fingers. Rather uncharacteristically, there seems to be only water inside.
He is too wearing a mask, but from what is visible of his face he seems to be around his twenties. ]
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Obviously the decision is theirs, but I can't vouch for their safety if this persists. Particularly with such a variety of people they've involved.
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If you intend to exact revenge on them and succeed, I would be impressed. This place is harder to influence than you think.
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His frown diminishes a bit before he replies.]
Heh, I never said I would be the one enacting it. I merely feel it's inevitable at this rate.
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There is dissent brewing, but brewing it will stay. This place runs on much more complicated technology than we can grasp, so it would be more prudent to stay safe and take caution.
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My stay here has been brief, but I admit that their technology seems most impressive. And while logically one shouldn't try to take on a power they have no hope against, I'm also quite certain that logic is not a strong trait in many people.
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A wise choice. Opportunity comes to those who are prepared for it, after all.
[ But it also means that he may have an opponent now. ]
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Alex is seeing this new person not quite the same way. It's more like he might be good to...direct should anything that required doing arose.]
Of course. There are very few who can compete with powers they don't even begin to comprehend. It's only a matter of time until someone does, however, and it would be unwise for these people to ignore that.
[But he won't complain, especially if he ends up being said someone.]
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phase the first!
It works well enough--namely she forgets the mask is there, but once it starts to feel a bit warmer and she starts to sweat a little more, you bet it's going to come right off like a jacket would. She wipes at her forehead, catching sight of Alex's blue hair out of the corner of her eye.]
Phew. It's kind of hard to think in here... I wonder how long this party's supposed to go on.
[She babbles to herself and no one else in particular, not expecting anyone to even hear, let alone respond.
Then her eyes land on Alex, and... well, after observing for a while, she decides he could really use some loosening up.]
Hey, there! [a cheerful wave] Gosh, it looks like you're getting a bit stiff, standing so still like that...
Are you feeling okay?
Re: phase the first!
He turns his attention to her with an expression that's very hard to read clearly.]
I assure you that physically, I'm perfectly fine. However, something about this noise is rather...irritating.
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Regardless, even if he is a bit hard to read, he at least responded to her--which gives her plenty to work with.]
I can't argue with you there. The pounding makes it so hard to think...
I'm probably going to go home with a killer headache. How unfair is that?
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...If he decides she's worth much more of his attention. At the moment, he's not convinced she has enough drive to be anyone he'd "associate with".]
I do believe that type of discomfort is avoidable in this situation. I don't see anything barring one from leaving.
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But I only just got here.
[And she really means that in every sense of the word.]
And you don't look very eager to leave yourself. How come?
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So even though you dislike some of the circumstances, you feel as though it's worth staying? Why is that?
[And tactic #1: avoid answers any unnecessary questions if he can by changing the topic. Not that he didn't have a perfectly acceptable response, but this was easier if he could get away with it.]
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Fine. I can go first, I don't mind.
Honestly, I won't know if it was really worth it until the end... but it's always worth it to try your best and stick things out. I'm already here, after all.