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.
caelus: (pic#11477118)

[personal profile] caelus 2017-06-19 05:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ Despite the bump, she seems to be recovering well, and Jim's content with that. ]

Happens to the best of us, I'm afraid. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[ When she indicates the stone, he clears his throat and takes a step back. ]

It seems to be a ---timeline. Personal history, maybe? It had my whole life on there. If you'd like to try it, be my guest.
miss_brilliant: (gaze)

[personal profile] miss_brilliant 2017-06-24 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, well. I don't have as much practice as some figuring out how to get my feet to listen to me in less the optimal lighting evening without alcohol in my system. Just goes to prove, high IQ does not equal common sense.

[she doesn't say it like bragging. She knows she's a genius, of course, but her skillset is limited, and not nearly as much as her life experience. Even her time in Eudio didn't give her much practice with being drunk in the dark.

She tips her head a bit at his explanation, taking a hesitant step towards the panel]
What? That's...well, I'd say ridiculous, except I've seen more unbelievable things even before all this. [she needs to make a list of 'impossible' things she's lived through and rank them, at some point.

The fingers of both hands curl in for a long moment as she considers. Then she draws a breath; she'd promised in Eudio that she wasn't going to back away from new experiences, and she's going to try to hold to it here. She steps forward as quickly as she trusts her clumsy feet to move, then puts an only faintly trembling hand to the panel.

At first, she only squints at the glowing display, then as she picks out names and follows where they are on the line, a soft breath leaves her lungs]
Oh. [that's all she can manage for a moment, as a shaky hand moves up to the display, zooming in on Nick's name and further back--but not far enough, not really--the word 'accident', before she yanks both hands back so the glowing words and lines disappear.

She does manage to smile when she turns back to Jim]
Uh, yeah, I'd say your theory on what that is is right. ...wow. That's...really something. But I guess considering what we've been told about everything going on here, it's not terribly surprising something like this exists.