spoofer: (bicycle)
Xistentia: Mod ([personal profile] spoofer) wrote in [community profile] xistentia2018-02-08 12:31 pm

Prison World #3: Panultima (tw violence, torture, coercion)

Characters: Ensemble Cast, maybe even you!
Summary: The third prison world in Xistentia is a terrifying subdimension where sentient people exploit each other in order to run technology that will fend off D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. The 'ruling' class, Primus, are bound to a system of coupling (see: fake dating!), legacy and nepotism, whereas the Servus are put through an elaborate media circus (see: Hunger Games). You're here to study this world. And perhaps even to free those captured.
Date(s): February 8-20
Warnings/Notes: Violence, torture, coercion

Panultima
You cursed your gods and died

The Primus Life

If you thought Earth was a tough neighborhood, welcome to Panultima. Here, life is sweet. At least, as long as you're one of the Primus class.

It's a sprawling city of wicked spires and elaborate canals, covered in a luminous, translucent shield. Rather than a circular planet resting in orbit, instead, it's a flat plane of matter suspended in space, the foundations of the buildings rooted in only a hundred feet of stone and unknown technology. But the vast majority of citizens care little for that. After all, the city has every amenity and experience one might desire.

Restaurants line the streets. Theater is at an apex in development, with a particular focus on integration of moral philosophical themes. Gondolas run the canals, whereas a railway races over the winding laser-track in the air. Fashion is diverse, colorful, characterized by wild shapes, patterns, and accessories. Food imported from worlds both thriving and dying across the multiverse. At the numerous colleges and institutes, premier technology and opera are under constant invention and reinvention.
COUPLE STUFF

Primus culture emphasizes couples. Trios. Larger groups of lovers than that, even. After all, with romantic love and loyalty to care for, and survival hanging on it... who has the time or energy to care about justice for all?

Not these guys!

In this world, the mission and pleasure roll together well. The implant picks up information, so your main job is to explore. Perhaps you and your partner might enjoy yourself a glow-in-the-dark cocktail in a smoky bar where a two-headed singer is providing the music, a tour of the massive shield generators in the sparkling complex. Or pick fruit from one of the hundreds of bonding trees in the city's central park— so named, because it requires successful completion of questions to "the newlywed game" for each before one of the luscious, sweet fruits is released from a vine.
THE SERVUS LIFE

But for the little guy, life is considerably shittier. Welcome to the arena, the fully manipulable bubble reality set up to torture the slave class. The emotions of pain, fear, anguish, and wild, adrenal victory.

Most days, it looks like a forest— incidentally, very much like Xistentia. There are dozens of hybrid creatures in it, most of which are edible, others toxic, several very dangerous. However, the ground below can change at any moment, turning into mud or belching acid baths. Or you might find yourself abruptly attacked by a bear with biological armor growing from its huge shoulders. The control room, operated by Primus, is concealed from view. Its role is to keep the environment challenging for those competing, shifting the settings of the place to advantage some and cripple others.

But the arena's programming isn't the only threat.

Instead, you have a motley host of macabre killers, other Servus locked up in here just like you. Some have survived in here for years, earning favor from audiences thanks to the amount of pure horror they squeezed out of their victims. Some of the better-known brands are the Bantam Butcher, a fallen angel whose first kills were those who took his wings, and now thrives on torture. The trapmaster seems to have control over environmental factors that rivals the control room. And the baker trio will eat the flesh from your bones if they catch you.

For infiltrators, the challenge is worse. Not only might you need to kill, survive, and explore the arena with your implant— but if you want to save the very same people who are out to murder you, how are you going to do that?
Breakout!

Several days into the mission, and that's when it happens-- the control room shuts down, under attack. And suddenly, there's pandemonium. Within the arena, some of the servus know immediately what this means— and they're willing to make a break for it, cutting each other down, crippling each other if it means that the Primus might have slower-moving people to contend with and allow them to escape. Others seem to have long since given up, failing to respond as the trees suddenly go dark and motionless, the birdsong dying into silence. After all, where is there to go? It's either D.E.S.T.I.N.Y., or to join the system that hates them, isn't it?

Are you inside the arena, or out? Are you there to help the fleeing Servus, or are you merely ready to scramble on home yourself and save your own skin?
Footnotes
  1. Please ensure that threads are marked with appropriate content warnings!
  2. The plotting post for this event can be found here, and the original announcement with some other details is here.
dothelokimotion: (I can’t find a trace of you anywhere)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2018-04-20 10:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ Loki merely hums. Accusing him of a lack of feeling is normal. He's accepted it and there is truth in such statements. What kind of sentiment can Loki muster? Who would care if he was gone, truly? He had no friends, no allies. He was alone. He was alone even when he was with people. ]

No matter. I'm used to it.
shadowblends: (❧ bothered)

[personal profile] shadowblends 2018-04-23 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
You shouldn't be, [slips out immediately, causing kurt's brow to furrow. he should have worded that a little better--]

What I meant was that it's not fair for people to make you feel like your emotions aren't valid. [his gaze centers on loki again.] Because they do matter.
dothelokimotion: (You could say really awful things)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2018-04-26 10:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ Loki doesn't meet Kurt's gaze. It is unfathomable to Loki. Accepting such a statement would go against everything he's done, everything he's suffered. If they mattered, no one seemed to believe it. Until Loki stopped believing it too. Oh, it still hurt but the realness of it is debatable. ]

Perhaps.
shadowblends: (❧ nerve-racked)

[personal profile] shadowblends 2018-05-01 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
[the lack of eye contact tells him enough. he sighs then lowers his head, attention focused on something nonspecific in his peripheral, although his lips are slightly curled at the edges.]

If 'perhaps' is as close to consideration as you get, I'll take it.
dothelokimotion: (We live in a pattern)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2018-05-01 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
Why?

[ What meaning does it hold? ]
shadowblends: (❧ inquire)

[personal profile] shadowblends 2018-05-04 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
Because you matter to me.

[plain and simple, really.]
dothelokimotion: (It’s impossible to be killed by a gun)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2018-05-04 05:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ Loki stares openly because what. ]
shadowblends: (❧ cautious)

[personal profile] shadowblends 2018-05-08 08:17 am (UTC)(link)
[he tilts his head, eyebrows raised in a questioning manner like "what?" because loki can't seriously think he'd lie about that.]
dothelokimotion: (That we'll never detect)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2018-05-08 08:56 am (UTC)(link)
I — Surely you are joking.
shadowblends: (❧ thoughtful)

[personal profile] shadowblends 2018-05-12 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
I don't make it a habit of jesting about such things.
dothelokimotion: (Think before you wish)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2018-05-14 09:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ Loki stares before laughing sharply. ]

You really picked badly.
shadowblends: (❧ charming)

omg that icon

[personal profile] shadowblends 2018-05-16 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[at first, he appears shocked, but kurt can't help smirking at loki's comment.]

Nobody said my choices have always been the best.
dothelokimotion: (Fear is a reasonable response to life)

shh it's gr8

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2018-05-17 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ Loki's smile sharpens. ]

As far as choices go, it's not one that ends well.
shadowblends: (❧ blank)

it absolutely is fffff

[personal profile] shadowblends 2018-05-18 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
I do believe I'm more than capable enough to make my own decisions.

[a beat.] And to figure out if I've made an awful one or not.
dothelokimotion: (To deny the sky)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2018-05-18 10:58 am (UTC)(link)
[ There's a snarl on his lips. ]

Then you will know soon enough.
shadowblends: (❧ disheartened)

[personal profile] shadowblends 2018-05-19 09:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[kurt doesn't seem all that phased by the unpleasant look, although his features do soften somewhat.]

That I will. [another brief moment of hesitation.] I suppose this is where I should take my leave, then? I'm grateful you decided that going out with me was worth the time.
dothelokimotion: (I can’t find a trace of you anywhere)

[personal profile] dothelokimotion 2018-05-20 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ For a brief moment, Loki looks chastened, even contrite before he schools his expression. ]

. . . I suppose you're welcome.
shadowblends: (❧ come again?)

[personal profile] shadowblends 2018-05-20 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[despite loki's brief inability to keep his manner neutral, he smiles, rising from his seat and dipping his head in leave-taking.]

If you ever feel up for it, we should go out again sometime. [then, nightcrawler straightens.] Farewell, [he adds before vanishing with a bamf.]