INTRO LOG - OCTOBER 2013

[rekindlemods]

Who: Everyone Where: The Welcome Plaza When: 18th October, afternoon Summary: The new arrivals, freshly pulled from their worlds or others, awaken in a strange plaza... Warnings: Inbox death may occur. System overload at own risk. SOME NPC RESPONSES WILL BE SLOW. The lanterns flicker and the shadows rise... Perhaps you felt a rumble beneath your feet, a sensation of what you were standing upon giving way underneath you as something pulled you in and away from what it was you were doing. Or, perhaps it was simply a gentle tap on your shoulder before you had the same tugging sensation from behind your navel. No matter which it was; there is one other constant: lp... A quiet rustle of the wind, wherever it is coming from as it hits your face. help... u... The earth grumbling beneath you resounds with something unintelligible. Of course; it's the earth. Dirt can't speak, after all. Yet it won't stop, nor does the wind. All you wanted to do was sleep... Yet suddenly it stops, and as you begin to stir, you begin to feel the crisp wind still seems to be picking up, yet as it settles, it's almost as if it whispers something to your ear. 'elp... u... sh.... Before you can make sense of it, it is gone; and when you awaken, you begin to realize your surroundings. It looks like...a plaza of some sort? As they look around them, the ground beneath them is an intricate mosaic - a water fountain at the center of the plaza in this foreign world. There are many buildings around its perimeter, making this location seem like a central hub of whatever town this was. Some may even recognize the peculiar design of the buildings and sloped tiled rooftops as a Far Eastern theme. Were they somewhere along the Pacific? Who knows! But what is quite apparent is this: Along with the many buildings surrounding the plaza, the first thing that is noticeable is the amount of people sitting or standing around you in a similar daze. You are not alone... One building seems to stand out among all the others; one that seems large enough to house all of the completely lost and confused masses gathered here to the welcome plaza. A sign outside the door reads: WELCOME CENTER Newcomers: Please come inside 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, someone comes from inside the double doors to usher you and everyone else inside. "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 we're inside and away from this windstorm!" Whether you go inside immediately or linger outside a little longer, eventually you must come in from the slight autumn chill, and sooner rather than later would probably be better. ...What was that shadow from the corner of your vision? 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 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 Mai, Medical 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 inside 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 four districts in the south and west parts 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 newest and brightest doctors. Again, welcome, and thank you for all your help. Irene Arrival Liaison Back behind you, others still linger, and through the translucent glass you can see a banner hanging from the tiled roof of the building across the street in the blistering summer day: WELCOME TO SAENG SEONG (ENJOY YOUR STAY!)

Comments

[redcladidealist]

The moment when Stein adjusts the screw in his head, someone off to the side makes a strangled noise. Lloyd hadn't really been looking at the man. He'd just caught the movement in a passing glance. But one glance at the wrong moment had been more than enough.

"Holy cow, what happened?! Mister, are you alright?!"

[screwmeister]

Stein glances over at Lloyd, grateful for a solid, bright distraction from the eerie shadows. Not that anything but blank confusion shows on his face, because:

"What happened, I don't get it. What do you mean?"

He doesn't think he looks that upset with the situation. Naturally the thought of the screw looking out of place doesn't occur to him at all.

[redcladidealist]

Alkajsdfal how can he not know what Lloyd's talking about? Oh man, maybe his brain got damaged by that screw! The teen reaches out, intent on steadying Stein in case the injury is bad enough to make him collapse.

"Just- just keep calm! I'm sure there's a doctor here!" He doesn't wait for a response before raising his voice. "Can anybody in here heal?!"

[screwmeister]

Stein watches Lloyd reach for him with the same blank expression but doesn't move. What an energetic kid he's found, eh?

"Actually..." he raises up one hand in a small wave, "I'm a doctor. Are you injured or in pain?" He doesn't seem to be very concerned over the whole situation. He's more bemused than anything.

[redcladidealist]

"You are?" Surprise stops Lloyd in his tracks for a moment, derailing his train of thought. Then the question and the situation catch back up. "What? No, I'm fine! You're the one who got stabbed in the head! Can you even treat something like that yourself?" How is he not dead?

[screwmeister]

"Stabbed in the head?..."

Stein reaches up and turns the screw a couple of times, thinking. What could he mean by...oh! The screw stops after two turns with a click and Stein points to it like he's had an epiphany. Which he sort of has.

"You mean this right?"

[redcladidealist]

"Yes, that!" Lloyd cuts off and stares in shock. He just- "What are you doing?! Doesn't that hurt? It's going all the way through to the other side of your head!"

[screwmeister]

"What, of course not." Stein, ever the teacher, slips out of his usual monotone and into a slightly warmer lecturing tone to explain. "I put it there myself, it helps me think. Quite frankly I don't think it would be as effective if it were only partially embedded. The intricacies of the brain--"

Stein catches himself before he goes off on a tangent that Lloyd almost certainly doesn't care about. He figures he better get back around to the original point, since Lloyd doesn't seem like the kind of person to have an epic attention span.

"--well, I'm sure you get the picture without the finer details." Stein smiles suddenly, like he's made up his mind about something. "It's cute that you're so concerned though. If I was really in trouble I'm sure you would have been a big help!"

Okay, that was a tad patronizing at the end, but hey. He was being almost one hundred percent serious.

[redcladidealist]

Lloyd's attention span suffers on the best of days, but going into neurology when he's hung up on what he thinks is a life or death crisis staring him in the face? Yeeaaahh, Stein's got a good gauge on this. And the fact that he is hung up on that apparent crisis is the reason he doesn't respond to the patronizing tone as he normally would on any other day. His mouth drops open. This guy can't be serious.

"How can a screw in your head help you think? It's going right through your brain! I'm not a doctor, but that can't be a good thing!" And he did it to himself. "Are you insane?"

[screwmeister]

Stein pretends to think about that one for about three seconds before he gives in and laughs. What a perfect question.

"Yes!" he says brightly once he's done. "Don't say it like it's a bad thing, it's worked pretty well for me so far." He holds up a finger to show he's not done yet, a crooked smile lingering on his face. "So if you wanted to change your brain so you could think more clearly how would you do it?"

This time he doesn't even sound patronizing, even though there's still humor in his voice. He looks more like a teacher expecting an answer to a pop quiz question than anything.

[redcladidealist]

"Not by stabbing myself in the head!" Lloyd doesn't need to think long and hard to know that that wouldn't solve anything. "If I need to think, then I just go someplace quiet so I won't get distracted. I don't need to change anything in my head!"

And even though Stein looks and sounds so calm, Lloyd still can't help but regard him with alarm. How can he sound so okay with the idea of driving a spike into his skull?!

"What even gave you that idea?"

[screwmeister]

"Boooooooring," Stein complains, cigarette drooping as he frowns, "that idea is too boring. 'I'll just go someplace quiet and avoid distractions, I don't need to change anything'. How can you ever discover anything interesting with that attitude?"

Stein definitely sounds mocking as he mimics Lloyd--he even pitches his voice up a little in an attempt to sound like a whiny teenager.

"You see when I was presented with the problem of how to think better I thought it might be interesting to physically change the brain. And, as you can see the experiment was a success."

[redcladidealist]

"What's boring about not killing myself? If I'm dead, then there's no way I'll discover anything." He still wants to know how Stein is even alive.

Scowling, Lloyd folds his arms defensively. He doesn't like being mocked. "I don't need to change myself. I like the way I am. If I need something different, I can just change the world around me. That's way less dangerous than stabbing a screw in my brain."

[screwmeister]

"So in other words you'd rather experiment on other people than yourself. I can't blame you, it's definitely a more appealing option at times."

That's totally the point Lloyd was making, right?

[redcladidealist]

"Wait- What?!" Lloyd practically helps, wide-eyed. "That's not what I said at all! I said I'd rather change the world! I wouldn't do something like that to someone else!"

[screwmeister]

"Changing the world is changing other people. The way you go about it is irrelevant, you can't deny you're altering someone's life for better or for worse."

Ooh, that was a quick response, and there's a gentle mocking quality to his voice that is no doubt utterly infuriating.

[redcladidealist]

"That's not the same as experimenting on them!" Lloyd's protest is vehement. If Stein is trying to ruffle his feathers, his tone is definitely working. "They still have a choice! They don't have to do what I want."

[screwmeister]

"Oh really, you're saying that if you set out to change my mind and I resisted you would just let it go?"

It's a trap Lloyd, don't fall into it!

[redcladidealist]

Lloyd opens his mouth. Closes it. Scowls because it does feel like there's a trap in there somewhere, but he can't pin down where it is. Folding his arms, the teen stubbornly refuses to back down, though.]

I guess it'd depend on what you were trying to do. If I had to stop you, then I'd stop you. [He lifts his chin, still scowling.] But that doesn't mean I'd force you to change your mind!

[screwmeister]

Stein outright laughs at that, though he at least manages to contain himself after a few seconds.

"They have a choice until you take it away. They can make up their own mind but you'll make them do it your way if you feel like it regardless of their feelings." The mocking tone is back. This is just too rich. "Do you even listen to what comes out of your own mouth? There's no point trying to scold me for a theoretical situation when you just admitted you'd do the same."

[redcladidealist]

"No, I wouldn't! It's not the same thing!" Man, this guy's starting to tick him off! It doesn't help that his logic almost sounds real until he realizes just what this guy said. Lloyd's fists clench, and it's all he can do not to growl when Stein laughs. "Stopping someone from doing something wrong isn't the same as forcing their mind to change! If you locked me up in a prison, I'd still be me even if I couldn't do anything. But if you did something that forced me to change my thoughts and the way I think without any decision from me, then you just changed who I am! That's completely different!"

[screwmeister]

"You're the one who used the word change in the first place." Just like that, Stein is back to mild-mannered, and his voice is completely dull again. Calm is best in the face of adolescent excitement, Stein has found. "For that matter no one is talking about forcing people into anything but you. Don't you think you're taking this a little personally?"

And, okay, it's also funny watching Lloyd do mental gymnastics. So sue him.

[redcladidealist]

The abrupt change in demeanor throws Lloyd off balance. His mouth works in silence as he tries to work through the accusations before he finally manages a defensive protest. "Wha- You're the one talking about experimenting on people! Who wouldn't take something like that as a threat?"

[screwmeister]

"I don't think experimenting on my own body is a threat to you."

Of course that's only how the conversation started but a technicality's a technicality.

[redcladidealist]

"But you-! I-! Augh, quit twisting my words like that!" Lloyd's hands somehow find their way to his head, gripping his hair in frustration. "Just- Nobody should experiment on anybody, not even themselves!" There! There's no way Stein can misconstrue that!