INTRO LOG - JANUARY 2014

[rekindlemods]

Who: Everyone
Where: The Welcome Center
When: 20th January, afternoon
Summary: The new arrivals, freshly pulled from their worlds or others, awaken in a strange place...
Warnings: Inbox death may occur. System overload at own risk. SOME NPC RESPONSES WILL BE SLOW UNTIL THE ONE WHO PLAYS THEM IS PRESENT.

It's a shuddering breath, a sensation of being pulled to elsewhere and finding oneself pressed against something on the soft and some place cozy. However, before one can fully stir, there is and odd, warm stirring sensation that lifts you up from wherever you've been dropped, when you begin to drift off once more.

Yet the feeling passes quickly, and when you awaken, you begin to realize your surroundings. It's a small room with what some might recognize as a Far Eastern theme when it comes to decor, from the walls to the sofa you find yourself on. Illumination is provided by carefully crafted lamps, and even a candle flickering on a nearby desk. The doors are made from paper and wood, with a thin frame; through them it's easy to hear other people stirring, talking, or coming to.

You are not alone...

And perhaps even a small fuzzy cat just outside, making a persistent 'miiiiii' sound in order to get you up and about. There's also the sound of more noise from further downstairs, and even the faint whiff of something warm and tasty. And to add to all of that, close at hand there's a note that reads:

WELCOME CENTER
Newcomers: Please come downsatirs to the lobby for refreshments and your welcome packets!

Odd... This wasn't written in your own language, and yet you find it easily understandable. Soon enough, if you don't enter on your own, there's a gentle knocking on the door as someone comes from downstairs to usher you along.

"Welcome to Saeng Seong! I know you must be confused as to where you are and what's going on, but we promise to explain this to you once you've had a chance to stretch your legs!"

Whether you go downstairs immediately or linger a little longer, eventually you must come down and get out of the small space, and sooner rather than later would probably be better. You'll find yourself in a well-lit lobby, filled with comfortable-looking couches and chairs. Along one wall are refreshment tables, loaded with all sorts of warming, comforting food and drink, including some you probably aren't familiar with. On the wall opposite are a pair of desks, each with a sign and a person seated behind them -

Irene, General Assistance
Devin, Technological Assistance

Unlike a few waves before, the only people in charge seem to be the people behind the desks. They look a bit busy.

However, before you can go over and give them a piece of your mind and ask questions, the same person who ushered you downstairs hands you a manilla envelope that contains your welcome packet, urging you to read this before asking the two figures questions that the packet likely answers.

Inside it, you will find: a ring with a key and apartment number on it, some kind of cash card, a map and informational guide to the city, and a letter folded neatly on the top -

Welcome to Saeng Seong!

You are among a new group of arrivals to our city, from many far-apart worlds.
We have gathered you here because our city is in a crisis, and we are at our last resorts. The energy of the city is in a slow downward spiral, and is dangerously close to expiring altogether.

That's where you come in - you and everyone else we've brought to the city. Unlike those of us here, you have the potential to generate the energy the city needs, but you'll need to work together to do it.

Why? Because the energy can only be generated when two people touch each other. Any touch will do, but it must be between two of you who are new to the city. If you don't keep in contact with someone, eventually your energy will begin to drain as well, making you dangerously ill.

A few other things:

The closed-off sections of the city are closed off for a reason; approaching them will cause your energy to drain very rapidly. We're working to open the rest of the city to you as soon as we can, but for now, please remain within the two central districts of the city.

You have been given a key to a one-bedroom apartment in a complex set aside for you and the other new arrivals, near the riverside in the 1st district. You're free to change your living quarters whenever you like, and we encourage you to move in with someone in one of the larger apartments. When you want to change, just come back to this building to exchange your key.

We've also included a cash card with a living stipend; if you're unfamiliar with this system, or the network established for new arrivals, you can talk to Devin in the lobby for help. It's what he's here for. If you need medical assistance, contact Mai, one of our nurses.

Again, welcome, and thank you for all your help.

Irene
Arrival Liaison

Outside, and through the translucent glass you can see a banner hanging from the tiled roof of the building across the street. It's looking oddly bright and cheery against a darkened and chilly looking sky:

WELCOME TO SAENG SEONG
(ENJOY YOUR STAY!)

Comments

Lloyd Irving | Open | Outside in the plaza

[redcladidealist]

[Four days. He's been out here four days and starting into a fifth, waiting for newcomers to show up. He'd known he might have been a couple days early, but he hadn't wanted to risk missing their arrival. At least he'd had Yuan to take shifts with him.

But still. Four days. Lloyd's just about ready to drop his head in his hands, and he can't keep himself from groaning. Four days of watching a plaza he's painstakingly covered with a thin layer of sand and erasing tracks when people walk through it.]

Ugh, I'm so bored. When are they going to come?

[Nope, he has no idea that the newcomers are inside. Six months they'd show up in the same spot. Why would things change now?]

[outplays]

[ Akashi leaves relatively early, basically once he's gotten his mind wrapped around the situation and figured out where to go from their starting point. Still, there are some questions that he has that he'd like to ask from somebody who's been in the same position he's in now. And it's not really that difficult to figure out that Lloyd probably isn't a native -- he's waiting outside the welcome center but wasn't part of the official reception. ]

Excuse me... are you a local?

[redcladidealist]

[When someone leaves the building, Lloyd's first thought is a resignation to the fact that he's going to have another set of tracks to erase. He sighs, getting his rake ready.

Only the guy doesn't just pass him by. Lloyd blinks, straightening up when he's addressed.]

Huh? Um, not really? I've been here a while, but this isn't my world. Why? Why do you ask?

[outplays]

Because I just arrived here myself.

[ And he has tons of questions that he wants to ask, but the rake is definitely an attention-grabber. He gestures towards it -- ]

Are you minding the sand here?

[redcladidealist]

You just arrived?

[Wait, that doesn't make any sense. Lloyd's been here all morning, watching for arrivals. Unless...]

You mean just last month?

[At the question, he scratches the back of his neck, able to admit how odd he probably looks.]

I'm just trying to keep the sand ready for when new people start to show up. I want to use their tracks to find the Gate we all came through. I figure it'll be right in the center.

[outplays]

No, just now. [ And while the idea of the sand certainly has some interesting merit, unfortunately, Akashi is going to have to let him down: ]

We all woke up in the building I just came out of.

[redcladidealist]

What?

[That pronouncement is met with startled denial.]

But the Gate's supposed to be outside. People always show up here!

[outplays]

I suppose it's possible some people showed up outside, but everybody I've seen so far seems to have woken up indoors. [ And Akashi just shrugs slightly because, well, he wasn't the one invested in this experiment. ]

I assume the "gate" is whatever path between where we came from and here?

[redcladidealist]

Just a few people? Or a lot of them?

[Because he doesn't want to give up painful hope yet. He is invested in this.]

Yeah. I figure there's got to be an Otherworldly Gate that connects this world with everywhere else. I've used a Gate like that before. You just have to know where it is, and what makes it open, to use it. But it's not supposed to move. It should be here.

[outplays]

Perhaps six or seven, myself included.

[ From what Akashi can gather of this conversation, it's becoming increasingly clear to him that the letter really wasn't lying about gathering people from many worlds. The explanation sounds mostly like science fiction to him, but considering the situation he's in now, he's not inclined to discount it quite yet. ]

So I take it that people showing up in groups like this is a regular occurrence.

[redcladidealist]

[Six or seven isn't just a few. Maybe not a lot, but it means this guy isn't the exception.]

Oh man... If it's that many... What changed? [He nods, answering Akashi's question.] People show up here every single month. Usually at the same time, but this time it was a couple days late...

[Wait. Wait, there's something to that.]

I wonder if that has something to do with you showing up in a different place.

[outplays]

... How was the weather the last few times that people showed up like this?

[ Because to him, it seems more like if something changed, it was probably done on purpose. The most obvious thing to him -- maybe it's colder now than it was in the past, so waking up outside wasn't a very practical option. ]

[redcladidealist]

The weather? It was pretty warm when I got here, and for a while after that. It's winter now, though, so it's cold. Why? What does the weather have to do with people showing up?

[He honestly doesn't see the connection. He's thinking of the Gate he suspects is there like it's a physical thing, like a tree or a rock, always there no matter what the weather is.]

[outplays]

Well, to me, it seems that if there is something willfully controlling the passage of people into this place, then it'd make sense for people to show up indoors during the winter and outdoors during the summer. Assuming, of course, that kind of thing is controllable.

[ And since they have no way of confirming that -- not now, at least -- theories are just theories. ]

[redcladidealist]

...you think they can move the Gate?

[That sounds so crazy, because how do you move a Gate? You couldn't in his world, because the Gate's tied to giant rocks.

But there's no rocks here in the plaza. There's nothing to show where the Gate is. If it's not tied to something, then maybe...?

Man, it would help if he really knew how Gates like this work.]

I guess... if they could do that, then it'd make sense to change places when it's cold. Did everyone show up in the same room inside?

[drivenbatty]

When are who going to come?

[The albino man looking at him curiously apparently just came out of one of the nearby buildings, and judging from the unfolded map in his hands, he's probably one of the newcomers. There's also a tiny black kitten hitching a ride on his shoulder and enthusiastically chewing on his hair.]

Expecting someone special?

[redcladidealist]

[Whoa. Pale. Pale and old, if he's got hair that white. That's Lloyd's first impression of the man. The kitten, tiny, young, and black in stark contrast, only heightens the effect. Startled, the teen only barely remembers his manners.

Well, what passes for manners with him.]

No one specific. I'm just waiting for the new people, gramps.

[drivenbatty]

Well, you found one of them, but I usually prefer "Jeff."

[His voice is dry, but he smiles, apparently not taking offense.]

Have you been here a while?

[redcladidealist]

Wait, you're new? How new?

[Oh, right, names. Sorry, his train of thought's been kind of derailed.]

I'm Lloyd. I've been here about six months.

[drivenbatty]

Good to meet you, Lloyd.

[That's...not quite the reaction he was expecting.]

Um, yeah. Very new. Maybe...I don't know...an hour, tops? Why, is there something wrong?

[redcladidealist]

Good to meet you, too.

[Except now he's even more off balance.]

But- You- Nothing's... wrong. It's just... You were supposed to show up out here. People always show up out here.

[drivenbatty]

They do?

[He seems genuinely surprised by this.]

Really? When I came to I was in that building there.

[He points over his shoulder to the building he'd just left.

They had a buffet and everything. Maybe they changed it recently?

[redcladidealist]

[Lloyd nods as he responds.]

Every month since I got here, except this one.

[He follows Jeff's gesture with his eyes, staring at the building as though if he looks at it hard enough, an explanation will jump out.]

There was food? [That... Something about that...] Then, they knew you were going to show up there?

[drivenbatty]

Really? Well. I have to say I'm rather glad for the change then. It's a bit chilly.

[He follows Lloyd's gaze and nods.]

They must have, yeah. They had cats up for adoption too. It's where I got Needles here.

[He playfully scratches the kitten's chin. She responds by batting at his finger with her paws.]

[redcladidealist]

[Lloyd absorbs that for a moment, then lets out a breath, finally forced to accept the proof right in front of him.]

Dammit, couldn't they have told us they were changing things? I've been sitting out here for days.

[He's not expecting Jeff to answer that. He's just grumbling to himself.

At least the kitten earns a slight crook of a smile.]

Free cats, huh? I'm more of a dog person myself, but he's pretty cute. Why'd you call him Needles? Did he claw you?