spoofer: (tower)
Xistentia: Mod ([personal profile] spoofer) wrote in [community profile] xistentia2017-05-31 11:00 am

Mingle Log #1: Landmarks of Xistentia

Characters: All characters who opt in
Summary: A party to mark the first wave of incoming characters in Xistentia, punctuated with weird physics and an unexpected trip to the heart (or mind) of F.A.T.E.S.
Date(s): Late May 2017
Warnings/Notes: Sexual content and other potentially offensive or triggering material to be noted in headers.

Mix and Mingle
Landmarks of Xistentia

It starts with the daemons, because of course it does. At sunset, they begin to ring and beep and urge you to follow directions through the city. For those with animate daemons, be they animals or people, the programs are even more intrusive. Pushing and pawing and urging you to get up and go. The destination is not far from the first reclaimed parts of the city— a tall tower covered in overgrown moss and trees, located near the beach, the Westernmost edge of the city. Even with the chaos of vegetation growing over it, it's clear that the building is a miracle of technology and style.

"Connection is essential," the daemon tells you. "However, genital contact is not required."

You have reached the Central Citadel, and it's time to party!

EARLY BIRDS

But F.A.T.E.S. is as susceptible to peer pressure and trendy trends as anyone else! Early birds will find that the atrium lounge is a true mess at first. Birds nesting in the ceiling, thorn plants all across the floors, and the bottles and cups at the white bar are empty. As parties go, this sucks. However, within a few minutes of the first arrivals, changes begin to overcome the club area visibly. It is exactly the same as the way the city has begun to accommodate the visitors, but far more accelerated. Soon, the lights begin to power on, filling the room with ambient illumination. Plants recede, but do not disappear entirely. High above, the ceiling suddenly morphs to display the starry night sky. And most importantly of all, there's booze.


With any luck, someone around here knows how to bartend, because F.A.T.E.S sure does not. Various liquors from across the multiverse are available, along with drink umbrellas, speared olives, mixers and wedges of fruit. However, the cocktails that automatically fill the glasses vary in taste from acceptable to horrific. Luckily, the bar does not keep anyone out.
FASHIONABLY LATE

If you're more than thirty minutes late, the kinks have worked themselves out. The party is now in full swing. F.A.T.E.S. has surrendered drink mixing duty to various refugees[1], resulting in much more palatable alcoholic beverages. Someone even found chicken fingers, which are making the rounds.

However, it appears that the invisible supercomputer is still trying to DJ. Predictably, the music ranges wildly based on the listeners-- one moment, you have 17th century lute music; the next, Trance. Blink 182 may even make a brief auditory appearance. It is not particularly easy to dance to this nightmarishly incoherent soundtrack, but it does provide a cross-section of multiversal experiences, for those of us who care about that kind of thing.

Alternatively, you can explore. The Central Citadel is filled with odd rooms. In the presence of only one or two explorers, the tidying effect doesn't happen nearly as quickly. Characters may find jungle-eaten conference spaces, computer laboratories, or even more sophisticated situation rooms thronged with vines and flowers. Somehow, the screens and monitors seem to work just fine with blossoms poking out of the harddrives. Rooms with beds are available as well, some of them already pre-carpeted with romantic roses. You might also find your way into a gym, where slightly rotted bokken and a dusty boxing ring nonetheless make for an interesting way to meet people who aren't into roses and laptops.
BONUS ADVENTURE: THE TEMPLE

Characters who meet new CR at the Citadel have a special experience. When the two (or more) individuals get to talking, their daemons both abruptly interrupt with a very important, not at all loaded question. "Do you want to see something cool?" If the daemon was too big to come inside, the question is posed via earpiece or whatever other device.

The correct answer is "Yes." And with that, the characters are abruptly transported to The Telexistence Temple, on the Easternmost edge of the city. The sudden quiet seems deafening; the darkness is almost blinding before one's eyes adjust to the lines of light running through the tall stone walls. It is much cooler here than it was at the Central Citadel, but it has its own eerie dignity.


"In the future, this is where you may access information about your worlds. Recovery information, save points, and both passive and active world entry points are located here." A beat. Possibly the daemon is watching you stumble around. "Most of the tools have been disabled in order to prevent damage from inebriated users."

However, two pieces of technology continue to cooperate. First, a huge slab of glossy black stone the height of a desk, emitting holographic Head Up Display upward, the Chronological Cartographer. Your character must touch the device. Immediately then, a bright flowing diagram of data begins to spin through the air, whirling with lines and circles and familiar names. It is a chart of the worlds your characters have lived in before and the people they have met in the past timeline. The splitting point to Xistentia is clearly marked, and your future here is a red line wavering in darkness. Toy with it a little, and you'll even be able to pull up significant dates, friendships, enemies. Moments of transformation. F.A.T.E.S. remembers it all, and it is only a quick teleport from the Citadel. (Fortunately, it is also a quick teleport back.)

Second, there is a monitor with another HUD. It displays a HUD with a single prompt: Amenities needed?[2]

Starting the next day, the Temple will be accessible to all characters at all hours. Those granted access the night before will be able to find their way back with companions.



Footnotes
  1. Some may be NPCs! Please avoid killing or maiming them without mod discussion first.

  2. Go here and fill out the form, reply to that comment, if your character is going to take F.A.TE.S. up on the amenities request.
locoparentis: (Declan - cuppa)

[personal profile] locoparentis 2017-06-07 11:43 am (UTC)(link)
Yes.

[He saw Ronan first, after all. Remaind looks at Adam with that same unfathomable gaze. Declan's daemon possesses no friendly demeanor, even though that's the entirety of who Declan pretends to be.]

How long have you been together?

[There is no judgement in that question. He just wants to know.]
locoparentis: (Declan - charm the room)

[personal profile] locoparentis 2017-06-07 11:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Declan laughs a little, then, and it's such a natural, charming sound, that one would almost refuse to believe that he was related to Ronan Lynch, human crowbar. If they didn't look so much alike it would almost seem impossible, but they do and so it isn't.]

Fashionably early.

[There's no such thing but when Declan says it it almost feels like there is.]

This place here, not this party here.
locoparentis: (Declan - get it ladies)

a;

[personal profile] locoparentis 2017-06-07 11:47 am (UTC)(link)
[Declan is watching this unfold with no shock or surprise registering on his face; he's used to magic but that's not why. The mastery of lying, instead, is what does the trick here. He puts his chin in his hand and his snowy white owl - shockingly not reminiscent of any magical boy with a scar on his forehead, for some reason (maybe it's that Declan is so utterly and unfashionably mundane) and nods.]

Whiskey neat, please.

[Because if the booze is free, indulge.]
hasitsthorns: (Tʜᴏᴜɢʜ I'ᴠᴇ ᴛʀɪᴇᴅ)

[personal profile] hasitsthorns 2017-06-07 12:08 pm (UTC)(link)
I did not, actually, but considering he made it here when he wasn't supposed to... I'm starting to believe he might be even if Vanyel says he's not.

[ Perhaps not actually magical, but... lucky. Definitely lucky.

'Genuine and kind' are not things Rose would use to describe herself.
But she doesn't say that and instead smiles at the compliment, like she knows she's supposed to.
]

I guess we'll see. I hope. Who knows.
fiachdubh: (Default)

[personal profile] fiachdubh 2017-06-07 12:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ronan would disagree with Declan on the amount of curiosity Matthew is capable of showing, but it's neither here nor there. It doesn't matter, not in the grand scheme of things, which is that the Lynch brothers aren't all safe. ]

So you came here alone? Where's what's her name. Ashley?
fiachdubh: (009)

[personal profile] fiachdubh 2017-06-07 12:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ronan shrugs, but follows Axel towards the bar anyway. He's fine with his half-full bottle of whiskey, but whatever floats whoever's boat. ]

No, just one. Well, two. Three, actually. [ He doesn't want to count Declan, but he has little choice. He doesn't lie. ]

Who says I'm happy about being cut off? [ He's absolutely not. His brother might be dying without him, and Gansey is nowhere to be found. Hell, at this point, Ronan would even worry about Henry fucking Cheng. He's not happy about not being able to go home, or check in. ] My brother and my best friend are still back there. They could be dead for all I know.
hasitsthorns: (I'ᴅ ʀᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ʙᴇ ᴡʀᴏɴɢ)

[personal profile] hasitsthorns 2017-06-07 12:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Nothing Rose can blame him for, really, because she wouldn't either. ]

Rose. DJ Thornz, if I can find the booth though. [ Literally no one calls her that, please don't encourage her. ]
hasitsthorns: (ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴇʟʟ ʜᴇʀ)

[personal profile] hasitsthorns 2017-06-07 12:26 pm (UTC)(link)
And wouldn't you know it, I feel fine.

[ Musical references. He's probably not surprised, considering her previous upset about this absolutely tragic playlist. Thankfully, he's been distracting her from the awful sounds coming across the speakers for the time being. ]

Do you have anyone from home here? [ It makes it easier, or so she's been told. She wouldn't know. ]
aberth: (( ninety - four. ))

[personal profile] aberth 2017-06-07 12:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The only clue that Declan has caught him unawares is the tightening of his shoulders, the way they draw together and up in a defensive motion. He doesn't respond straight away, instead watches Barricaded, and then looks up towards the bar to where Ronan is. ]

Not long enough.

[ They haven't had the chance, really, to put the thing that's happening into words. Life keeps moving too fast, and they've lost too much. Part of him wants to tell Declan it's none of his business, that he can't control his brother like he wants. Part of him is trying not to make things worse. ]

I don't care if you have a problem with it. It won't change things.

[ Well, that second part is losing apparently. He doesn't necessarily consider himself someone brave, but. He wants to be there for Ronan, nothing's going to stop that. ]
hasitsthorns: ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴀʟʟᴇʏ ᴏғ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ (Iᴛ's ᴇᴍᴘᴛʏ)

[personal profile] hasitsthorns 2017-06-07 12:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ah. It's Era Ra, the quiet dragon woman from the forest the day they'd all arrived. She hadn't actually expected to see her here. For some reason, she didn't strike Rose as the party type... Though perhaps that's why they'd run into each other whilst exploring the perimeters instead of out on the dance floor. Which is just as better because Era is spared her sourness at the absolutely terrible music. ]

A striking dummy? Uh. [ The blond glance around, curls bouncing as she swivels her head. Hm. Hmmm. ]

You mean this thing?

[ said as she steps over to what is instead a striking dummy, hidden from immediate view a little ways behind the boxing ring. ]
Edited 2017-06-07 12:56 (UTC)
aberth: (( seventy - six. ))

[personal profile] aberth 2017-06-07 02:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Barricade. So Barricaded now, I guess.

[ He thinks there was a Barricade in one of the movies. Gansey had played it on his laptop once, and Adam had been fascinated but ultimately fell asleep midway through like he always did every time he managed to sit down for more than five minutes at a time. ] What do you call yours? [ And of course, of course hers is a tree. A moving tree.

I don't know, but we'll find out.

[ Because he hates admitting that something is beyond him as much as he hates being told that someone else doesn't hold the information. Adam glances at the screen, but then looks away. He hadn't liked what his own held and truthfully, he hasn't any right to the information they've gathered on Blue either. So he keeps his head down and paces a little, still talking to her. ]

I don't like thinking we've been watched though.
fiachdubh: (Default)

[personal profile] fiachdubh 2017-06-07 02:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Really, that's your DJ name? [ He has to raise an eyebrow, sarcasm dripping from him. ]

I'd recommend changing it.
fiachdubh: (Default)

[personal profile] fiachdubh 2017-06-07 02:36 pm (UTC)(link)
So you think this is a sentence? We're serving time?

[ From what Chainsawd had explained to him, they were here to help, because if they didn't, there would be no home to come back to. But it might be wrong to think of it that way, it might be that they have no choice but home is actually fine. For all he knows, it could be the case. ]

So you chose to go to this Eudio place?
aberth: (( ninety - nine. ))

[personal profile] aberth 2017-06-07 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It feels like the first time.

Rolling thunder, crashing waves, an engine pushed to its capacity. Adam makes a noise against Ronan's lips, feels a reckless energy settle inside of his veins. He knows, objectively, that they should be more focused on figuring out what's happened, where they are, what they'll do. He knows and yet he just deepens the kiss, still gripping Ronan by the hips, his tongue pushing into his mouth.

He needs this, needs him, because it's the only thing keeping him sane right now. Ronan is the only thing stopping him from smashing up something.
]
aberth: (( ninety - eight. ))

[personal profile] aberth 2017-06-07 05:01 pm (UTC)(link)
you should play it.

[ If he wants, anyway. ]

i think they had a movie.
aberth: (( eight. ))

[personal profile] aberth 2017-06-07 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not really in to music. [ A pause, as he reconsiders. ] Or I just don't have much time to listen to it. My boss used to play country music all the time, though.

[ He frowns a little when she says Eudio, but he's trying not to be Americentric. ]

No, Virginia. Where's Eudio?
deathstouch: (012)

[personal profile] deathstouch 2017-06-07 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Aric's eyes stay focused on Kavinsky -- in a way that's typical of anytime the other is near him. He finds it difficult to look away from him. When Kavinsky smiles like that, it's even more difficult to look at anything else because to Aric, it's the most beautiful thing in all the worlds.

The glass is rested on the bar, laughing, a brief subtle chuckle as the other tugged at his mouth and he doesn't resist, though he says: ]


How are you going to see that in my mouth?
locoparentis: (Declan - gross)

[personal profile] locoparentis 2017-06-07 08:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Presumably dead.

[He says this flatly, without intonation, because fuck you, Ronan.]
locoparentis: (Declan - his father's son)

[personal profile] locoparentis 2017-06-07 08:29 pm (UTC)(link)
My brother. His friend.

[Ronan isn't being outed unless he wants to announce it to the world. There is no pause between these things; there is no hesitation with the world friend.]

You?
locoparentis: (Declan - his father's son)

[personal profile] locoparentis 2017-06-07 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[Declan's mouth twitches a little, almost like a smile, and he shrugs.]

I thought you were smarter than to assume that.

[Because Declan certainly doesn't have a problem with it. Not the way Adam thinks, at least. He shrugs a little, and the owl at his shoulder turns his moon face upside down to look at Adam.]

Stand down, soldier.
amplifyings: (❃ you think you've lost your love)

[personal profile] amplifyings 2017-06-08 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ Blue shakes her head in response. When could she have gotten to a hospital? One second she was standing inside of her house and the next she was on the verge of drowning -- swallowing saltwater as she struggled to find some kind of air to pull into her lungs to keep her alive. And, once she'd found herself on dry land, there wasn't a hospital in sight.

Not that she could tell, at least. So, she was stuck with having to make due with a little bit of fresh water and a lot of crossing her fingers. Who knew what kind of bacteria was floating around in the air and whether or not getting it into an open wound would have caused any serious damage.

(But, on the plus side: at least she still looks pretty badass, right?) ]


I probably should've, but it doesn't hurt much anymore. I cleaned it the best I could, so I think it'll be okay.

[ Ronan starts explaining everything and it makes Blue's head feel like it's spinning. Time definitely didn't move in straight lines for them, but this was about as weird of a thing as it had ever done. Ronan and Adam were from some point in her future and while she had literally a thousand different questions for him about it, she also knows just how dangerous it is knowing that sort of thing. She can't help the curiosity, though, growing up surrounded by people who could tell what the future held and being the only one who couldn't had made her covet that sort of knowledge and those possessing it.

Then, he adds the kicker about Cabeswater. ]


If it's connected to Cabeswater then.... [ Her legs feel a little wobbly. Probably not a good sign. ] I think I should sit down.

[ And she does just that, finding a nearby empty chair and plopping herself down on it. ]

Do you know what it is?
amplifyings: (❃ you know that can't be bad)

[personal profile] amplifyings 2017-06-08 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ Blue's certain she's never once heard a laugh like that come out of Ronan -- and had the boy himself not admitted to Declan being his brother, she probably wouldn't have believed it. She would have assumed their too-similar looks were nothing more than a coincidence. Didn't everyone supposedly have a twin out there in the world somewhere? Maybe Ronan's was just slightly older. ]

If there's no one to see it, then I think it's just called 'early'.

[ Wasn't that some of the point of being fashionably late? To make an entrance and be seen? ]

I could say the same to you. [ There's something matter-of-fact about her tone, something a little shit-eating about her grin. ] I'm not even sure where here is, honestly. I'm still trying to figure all that out.
amplifyings: (❃ you were only waiting)

[personal profile] amplifyings 2017-06-08 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
[ Blue searches her mind for any memories of the Transformer movies and if the little car-turned-robot was one that she remembered. She does, but only vaguely, and not enough to remember any of the actual scenes that included it. ]

Shrub. [ She shrugs in an off-handed way. Blue hadn't at all been serious when she named it -- she's fairly certain that she'd been angrily trying to insult the poor thing -- but by the time she'd realized the mistake, the damage had already been done and her Daemon was announcing in its robotic voice that it would now be called Shrubd. And with that thought in mind, Blue corrects herself: ] Shrubd. [ And, yes, she's aware of how ridiculous of a name it is. ] It was an accident. Long story.

[ She looks through more of the information, curiously reading over various details that even she'd forgotten about and names of people that she'd only met for the briefest of seconds. Maybe they had been watched all this time, but by whom? And more importantly: ]

Why would someone -- something? -- need to watch us?
astralera: (Default)

oh man with the new /gpose options in SB i'll be able to get job action icons +u+

[personal profile] astralera 2017-06-08 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ The grin on her face is likely all the answer Rose needs that it's exactly what she had been asking over. Era wanders over light on her feet and graceful in a way only a seasoned warrior can be, and twirls the half-rotted bokken in a hand. ]

My thanks.

[ She was right - all it takes is one solid strike to splinter the weapon into a good many pieces. Very satisfying.

But it also makes her cringe a bit internally that a weapon was allowed to degrade to such a state in the first place. Era knows a fair amount of people who would take great offense to such a thing. The Carpenter's Guild in particular would likely pitch a fit. ]
fiachdubh: (026)

[personal profile] fiachdubh 2017-06-08 09:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ronan stops mid-swig at the physical intimacy thing. Wait, what? Slowly, he brings the bottle back down, swallowing the whiskey as a frown settles on his features.

The thing is, physical intimacy is still something that Ronan hasn't entirely come to terms with, for himself. He touches Adam like he would something he worships, and Adam touches him like a man starved, but neither of them are used to it. And Ronan's never understood, nor cared for casual relationships - he is not a casual person; he's not even really ever contemplated sex that much before Adam, the whole thing a vague possibility, nothing else. Not something he gave easily, like it was some kind of currency.

Which, of course, is why he's still a virgin and, nowadays, contemplating sex a lot more than he used to. Especially considering the whole 'genital touching' thing that Chainsawd mentioned earlier. If this place works in the same way, it's... unsettling. ]


So the place you came from was like, opportunistic-whoring-town. [ He doesn't phrase it like a question. ]

Page 6 of 20