Mingle Log #1: Landmarks of Xistentia

[spoofer]

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.

Comments

[fiachdubh]

[ Ronan's smile turns a little wicked when he turns towards the voice, something filthy to it. He knows, and he doesn't care</>, just how much everyone he's ever met hates this song. His smile feels sharp when he presses his tongue against one of his canines. ]

The murder squash song. Best. Song. Ever.

[ He raises an eyebrow, like he's daring anyone to disagree with him. ]

[fiachdubh]

Well, is there anything better than to hear it?

[ Fuck it. It's fairly easy to spot the DJ deck, and Rona makes his way over, jumping behind the computer, his grin growing more and more like he's about to unleash a storm upon the whole place.

And boy, when he does find the song after some quick research, does he unleash it.

He'd almost feel a little sorry for the party-goers, if only he wasn't so easily pleased by ruining the mood. He jumps off the DJ deck, and raises an eyebrow at the guy he'd been talking to, holding a hand up in the air, no words necessary. ]

[fiachdubh]

[ The laughing is a good thing - not that Ronan would care if the guy was pissed off at Ronan playing his favorite, atrocious song. He tends to sing or play this song to get reactions, and of all of them, laughter is one he'll readily accept. ]

It's absolutely music in my world. [ He pretends to be scandalized - does a bad job of it, though. ]

This is a musical masterpiece.

[fiachdubh]

[ Ronan, for all that he doesn't lie (the murder squash song is a masterpiece, okay. It's a high-brow work of art, people just don't understand), he has an excellent poker face, one that he's been practicing for years, for class and lawyers and overbearing friends.

And it's firmly in place right now. ]

See, you're getting it. Interesting.

[ Nevermind that he just doesn't like what most people do because he's a contrary asshole, and he likes angry, loud electronic music that makes him blood thrum in his veins. That is one of the few things he and Kavinsky had in common, now that he thinks about it.

Which is a random thing to think about. ]

What kind of music do you listen to? Is it as boring as the pan flute tripe we had five minutes ago?

[fiachdubh]

I'll make you a mixtape.

[ Ronan grins again, and this time it looks more sincere than it has before, if only because he's remembering making one for Adam, and how it'd been in the cassette deck of the Hondayota without fail since Ronan had put it in the car. There was something like pride and fondness in his smile.

The usual, the guy says like anyone's taste in music is any kind of 'usual'. Ronan has assessed in the past that music is more biased than any other form of art - just in his small group of friends, they could agree on classic movies, excellent TV, even plays. But never music. Music was this illusive medium they could fight over for hours. ]

Sounds boring. Broadening your horizons seems like a good idea.

[fiachdubh]

[ Ronan's features go back to neutral as the conversation shifts. Poking at the skin under his bracelets, he nods, furtively looking over to where Adam is sitting, Barricaded making little police noises around him. ]

Yeah, I was home. Were you not? [ And how would it be possible, please and thank you.

At the term 'boyfriend', Ronan's eyes slide to Adam again, lingering for a moment before he turns back to the conversation. ]

Trap? As in 90's grime hip-hop? I thought it was music reserved to drug dealers.

[ Is your boyfriend a drug dealer, Axel? ]

[fiachdubh]

Well. I guess this isn't much of a change for you then. [ not like it is for Ronan. The thought prompts him to take a swig of whiskey, tipping his head back as he drinks. The alcohol burns down his throat in this reassuring way that Adam hates. Ronan closes his eyes for a second. He probably shouldn't get smashed, if they're going to be sharing a bed. ]

You two met there, then? This... convergence of universes?

[ Why are you asking, Ronan. You don't give a shit. It just feels like the thing to do. And maybe if they know more about this multiple universes bullshit, they have a way to get home. Or get people here. ]

D'you know how to travel between worlds?

[fiachdubh]

[ Ronan looks around them, and shrugs. To him, this place looks like a high-tech version of everything he's over known - brick and mortar, too much vegetation, the slight scent of mint in the air. ]

You don;t think this is functional?

[ After all, there's booze. That's good enough for Ronan.

At the question, Ronan straightens, but he can't help himself. His eyes dart off, landing on Adam, who's talking with someone Ronan doesn't know, himself. He's never cared about Adam knowing he was looking; it was easier for him to know, anyway, made things clearer. But that doesn't mean that Ronan's going to start... what? Gossiping? He looks back at Axel, running his hand under his nose. ]

Yeah, I am. [ Ronan is an excellent conversationalist, what. ]

Hm. It's like we're completely cut off from the worlds we used to be on. Which is, once again, very pleasant to consider.

[fiachdubh]

[ 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.

[fiachdubh]

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?

[fiachdubh]

[ 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. ]

[fiachdubh]

[ Ronan swallows hard, and then takes a swig of his bottle, wanting to dull away the feelings burning in his chest. He's a curious guy, and he believes in all sorts of impossible things, but what Axel is describing sounds... well, too good to be true.

Ronan's lived knee deep in fear, death, and the fear of death for the past few years. It's his every day, now. He takes a dismissive inhale through his nose, immediately shoring himself up with his usual defenses. ]

Sounds boring, [ he repeats. He's intensely uncomfortable with the turn the conversation has taken, Axel looking full of feelings. ]

If you want a hug, or something, I'd recommend you turn to someone else. [ It's harsh and mean, but that's Ronan for you. When he's uncomfortable, he pushes back. It's quite obvious. ]

[fiachdubh]

[ If it's honesty he wants, then Ronan is definitely there. Lying is a pointless exercise, in his opinion. He's not a people-pleaser. ]

Doubt you'd say I remind you of anyone if you knew me better.

[ If he knew what he could do, anyway. Ronan's abilities are pretty unique, after all.

(If only he knew how wrong he is.) ]

Note that this isn't an invitation to try.