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.
hangingtree: β„π•Œβ„•π”Ύπ”Όβ„ π”Ύπ”Έπ•„π”Όπ•Š ❚ alone (UPRISING NO. 049)

[personal profile] hangingtree 2017-06-12 08:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ If Axel knows anything about Katniss is that she has a drastically different preference than him when it comes to trees or strange towers. At least out there she felt more in her element, felt like she could handle whatever came her way, even if the creatures weren't ones she was used to.

Of course, there were also fewer people in her immediate area in the woods and that plays a huge part in her discomfort.

She nods slightly at that bit about Eudio, although it never truly felt like home - or a second home - to her. Especially there at the end when Finnick left. But that doesn't ultimately matter anymore, so she focuses on that last part instead, letting out a quiet snort. ]


Maybe we're already dead, though. Maybe none of us actually made it out of Eudio.

[ Cinnad lets out a huff in response to that, his breath ruffling Otisd's feathers somewhat, even with the distance between them. ]

You're not dead. I can take you to the hospital to have your vitals checked if you don't believe me.

No thanks, [ she quips back without even a fraction of hesitation. ]
(deleted comment)
hangingtree: β„π•Œβ„•π”Ύπ”Όβ„ π”Ύπ”Έπ•„π”Όπ•Š ❚ alone (UPRISING NO. 006)

[personal profile] hangingtree 2017-06-22 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Katniss can't - or doesn't bother trying to - stop the scowl that comes to her face at the idea of them being copies or something similar. It's too close to Muttations for comfort, and she's already suspicious enough about this place, about the daemon that refuses to leave her side.

But no one's been killed yet, at least not that she's seen, and there hasn't been a cache of weapons in some obvious spot, free for the taking. (Not that they were ever free at the Cornucopia...) She tries to take solace in that, though it hardly helps. ]


Or that's just the crap they're trying to sell us on. [ A brief glance in Cinnad's direction and then Katniss's attention is back on Axel, her scowl still present. ] But that's what I mean: I don't trust or like this place. [ She crosses her arms over her chest. ] I just wish there was some way to check all of this out; I'm not good with blind trust.
(deleted comment)
hangingtree: ℂ𝔸𝕋ℂℍ𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝔽𝕀ℝ𝔼 ❚ alone (UPRISING NO. 111)

[personal profile] hangingtree 2017-06-27 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Katniss takes issues with participating in things she knows nothing about, but as loathe as she is to admit it, Axel makes a good point. Still, she takes a moment to look around them again - scowl deepening somewhat as she does - before she lets out a harsh, quick sigh. ]

Hopefully observing actually reveals something and we get answers sooner rather than later. [ She's not holding her breath on that, though.

When she looks back to Axel once again, the scowl's softened somewhat, her face relaxing. It's obvious she's resigned herself to moving on from the conversation, if not letting her concerns go completely. ]
Are you enjoying the party, at least?
(deleted comment)
hangingtree: ℂ𝔸𝕋ℂℍ𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝔽𝕀ℝ𝔼 ❚ alone (UPRISING NO. 132)

[personal profile] hangingtree 2017-06-29 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Right. [ Somehow the tone of that one word conveys that Katniss will force someone to give her answers if she has to; she's not going to just accept silence from this place and the people that are running around it. There has to be something somewhere that can tell her what she needs to know, and she's not going to rest until she finds it.

She nods in agreement to that bit about familiar faces, although she'd wager that Axel knows far more of them than Katniss does. She's only really talked to a couple people that knows, but that's better than nothing.

As for the music? ]
I'd be fine if there was just consistency to it. I'm getting a headache from the constant switching between styles.
(deleted comment)
hangingtree: ℂ𝔸𝕋ℂℍ𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝔽𝕀ℝ𝔼 ❚ alone (UPRISING NO. 087)

[personal profile] hangingtree 2017-06-30 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ A very smart move, Axel; you're learning.

The comment has Katniss's brows knitting together, although it's not a scowl this time, just confusion. The name doesn't ring a bell but it's not like that's terribly surprising. ]
Who's Rosie, and what was she right about?
(deleted comment)
hangingtree: β„π•Œβ„•π”Ύπ”Όβ„ π”Ύπ”Έπ•„π”Όπ•Š ❚ alone (UPRISING NO. 059)

[personal profile] hangingtree 2017-07-17 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh. [ Katniss isn't really sure how else to respond to that, so she just remains quiet for a number of seconds. Then, a bit awkwardly, she clears her throat. ] I, uh, hope she doesn't hold it over your head or anything, I guess.

[ She's known people who do that, who tease her about things she's said or done in the past. Or where she comes from. Generally, Finnick meant it in a nice, affectionate way, but who knows if this Rosie person would do the same. ]