Event - Lullaby

[apocalypsehowmods]

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Lullaby

➥ For You Never Shut Your Eye

(cw: supernaturally-induced sleep/fatigue, supernaturally-induced sleep disorders/somniloquy, needles/injections)

The line between waking and sleep is beginning to blur. People will find themselves sleeping far too much, but it never feels like enough. The music is growing more prevalent and persistent throughout town. The effect is still weaker within the building, but as October wears on, more and more people are affected and ADI staff are more intent than ever to find the source and also figure out how to block the effects. Characters will find themselves conscripted (between Halloween Party preparations) into assisting with building or testing anti-music and sleep devices along or with helping to try to track down the source of the music.

For those helping to build and test devices, there is an R&D lab in the basement levels of ADI that will be available. Devices native staff have been able to devise include:

• Headphones that play different frequencies to try to cancel out the sound of the singing.
  
• An armband that periodically stabs a small needle into the arm with a small dosage of adrenaline.
  
• Headbands set to a constant low vibration.

The efficacy of all of these devices is… questionable, but perhaps others may have their own expertise to lend to the efforts, attempting something on a broader scale than just personal protection devices.

For those helping to track the source of the music, finding it seems to be impossible, but there is a definite pattern that characters will note as the days pass. The epicenters of the music are moving, migrating out of the graveyards and converging on ADI Headquarters. As this goes on, the building will become less and less of a safe haven, the music penetrating its walls and affecting the staff there more heavily. You might find yourself having to help a neighbor who's fallen asleep while working. Or you might not even be able to fully tell they've fallen asleep as they sleepwalk and talk almost like they're actually still conscious. Even those who have never been prone to sleepwalking and talking may find themselves affected and… far more open with what they say when in the unguarded state of semi-unconsciousness.

➥ Till the Sun Is In the Sky

(cw: supernaturally-induced sleep/fatigue, thanatophobia, character death, death by poisoning, blood, choking, emetophobia, death by crushing)

By the 25th, some people may find waking up to be a challenge in and of itself. But they do manage to wake up. Seemingly. Perhaps the day is much like any other, heading to ADI or out around the city, grabbing coffee and- something is wrong. Something is very wrong. That cup of coffee you just drank had tasted a little different than usual. A touch of almond to it? It hits you that your throat is burning, bile and blood rising up and choking you as you hack and gasp and vomit. Your legs grow weak, you're losing control of everything, falling, dying.

And then you wake up.

Just a nightmare. Just a bizarre and horrible nightmare. You head out and… is this home? You're home! Or maybe… wait, this doesn't seem right. Have you gone somewhere else? Some things might be familiar, memories intertwined and mixing with fantastical elements, some your own, some not. You notice people you recognize, ones who might be as confused as you are. This isn't where they should be and they remember dying, too. Or seeing you die or someone else. It doesn't make sense, but somehow, they remember they had a dream they shared last night. And then something falls from above and nearly crushes you or your partner. Or maybe it does crush them, and you're suddenly looking at a dead body as the world and this nightmare that feels so very real becomes more and more hostile. Maybe something falls on you.

And then you 'wake up.'

➥ When the Blazing Sun Is Gone

(cw: supernaturally-induced sleep/fatigue, thanatophobia, character death, body horror, detailed description of painful physical transformation, description of the loss and regrowth of teeth, violence, mental status alterations, temporary power-loss, spiders)

Even with people dropping left and right thanks to the odd sleep effect taking hold, ADI staff are hellbent that their Halloween party will not be completely ruined. And on the 28th (a little before the actual holiday), everyone wakes up. Or… seems to. For those trapped in dreams, it will seem very much that they've woken up, the music has stopped, and they can actually carry on. For a few days, it even seems like things are normal. The party on the 31st is a blow-out bash. The entire first floor of ADI HQ has been transformed with decorations. The canteen is serving festive food and has set up a dance floor with holiday-appropriate music playing. Some of the offices feature additional activities, including party games like bobbing for apples in a trough that's been brought in, a guess this gross food booth, and more general party games. For a quieter time, there are also areas set up with board games and card games to play. And for some extra fun spooks a mini-haunted maze has been set up with faux spiders and webs, along with other goofy-looking monster creatures.

It's around 9 PM when the music and lights suddenly cut out. There's nothing for several seconds. Then, a voice begins to sing, filling the halls of ADI. It's a young girl's voice.

"Bye-bye, bye-bye,
Quickly you will die,
On the morning will be frost,
And you’ll go to the graveyard, the graveyard.

Grandfather will come there, too,
And he will bring the coffin.
Grandmother will come along,
Her tears, they will not soften.
Mama sings the prayer song, then,
And falls down on her knees.
Daddy takes you to the grave,
No one can hear his pleas.

Bye-bye, bye-bye,
Quickly you will die,
On the morning will be frost,
And you’ll go to the graveyard, the graveyard.

As the last notes of the song fade away, all hell breaks loose. Those who had been wearing particular sorts of costumes, ones that are more monstrous in nature, may find themselves transforming, growing, twisting, shifting. It's not a clean change, but a violent, agonizing one that cracks bones, tears and reshapes muscles and tendons, pushes out teeth to make room for new ones. Those transformed will find themselves compelled to chase, to hunt, to kill anyone they can get their claws, teeth, or other appendages on.

For those who stay themselves, it's not just their transformed friends who pose a danger, but the decorations they've set up, as well. Those fake giant spiders and webs? They're no longer fake. Neither are any of the other demonic little creatures. The goal of everything in ADI and even outside for those who manage to make it out the doors, is to remind you how very, very mortal you are. Those typically possessed of fantastic abilities will find that they have been sapped away. There's no calling on magic or innate abilities. You are mortal and you are going to die like everything mortal does.

In the chaos, characters will catch glimpses of a young girl flitting amongst the chaos, seeming unperturbed by it all. Trying to catch up to her or speak to her is fruitless, but she's there, and she's humming that song from before.

➥ When He Nothing Shines Upon

(cw: supernaturally-induced fatigue/malaise, thanatophobia)

Those who are killed at the party will find themselves waking up wherever they actually fell asleep a few hours or even days ago. If your character was one of the lucky few who somehow managed to escape the effect, you'll notice people waking up all over ADI HQ and elsewhere. There are no signs of damage on the bodies, but those who died in the dreams will find themselves feeling incredibly weak and generally ill for several hours to several days after the experience.

The music has actually stopped, and this time, it would seem you've actually woken up. Depending on how long you were passed out for, that may be a more unpleasant experience for some than others. There's a message posted from a random ADI employee's phone a few days later to the network:

Mr. S was right. This was fun! I'll have to come back next year to play with you. - Ava, the Lullaby Girl

P.S. Sorry for stealing your phone, horsegirl67. But I wanted to say, hi. C:

Unfortunately, there are no further messages and attempts to respond to the message will receive no reply for now.

But... fortunately…? All of the Halloween preparations are still up, and there's a festive party to attend if anyone actually feels keen on trying it in real life. Pam Ruan, the main organizer is bloody-minded about it now and will have her God damn Halloween party, but those who work themselves up to attend out of festive spirit or morbid curiosity will find it a distinctly muted affair that breaks early in the evening.

Happy Halloween, Gloucester!

➥ Mod Notes

• GENERAL - Players are welcome to play NPCs for themselves when they are needed in a thread. If you need more information on general behavior for these types of NPCs, please feel free to ask! In general, the information provided in the prompt should be sufficient and you're welcome to make up any details beyond that for your specific scene. The Lullaby Girl (Ava) can be seen throughout character dreams, but they will not be able to interact with her during this event. They will either wake up or simply find that the physics of the dream are warped and she cannot be reached or there's a sheet of glass between her and the character or whatnot.
  
  
• FOR YOU NEVER SHUT YOUR EYE (15-24 October) - Characters are welcome to develop their own devices for attempting to stop the music. Characters will have modern day technology available to them along with a few slightly more advanced electronics and tools. Please do not go too out there. This isn't Tony Stark's array of tools and the like. But characters can create additional devices to test within reason. Some of them may be more or less effective, but with how sporadic the effect is, it might be difficult to tell what's actually working or not. There can also be negative side-effects from devices, if you'd like to play those out. Characters with the appropriate magical charge may also attempt to supernaturally block the music, but this will not be condoned or facilitated by ADI. Characters searching for the source of the music will not be able to find it, just discover that it is moving. For characters who are sleep-talking, they may find themselves unusually honest. They may or may not recall conversations with other characters and all that they told them.
  
  
• TILL THE SUN IS IN THE SKY (25-27 October) - Characters will experience repeated nightmares of dying in a shared dreamscape. They will remember every time that they die in the dreams. Feel free to get as creative and gruesome with this as you would like. These are dreams and fantastical situations that might not actually happen (e.g., a robot showing up and shooting a laser through your character) may occur. Players are welcome to introduce elements of their memories into the nightmares and mix those memories around between characters who might wind up in a dream together. Please ensure all top-levels are appropriately tagged for any and all content warnings. Add content warnings as you go along, if needed. Dying in the dreams will trigger the sense of waking up. This can be a fake wake-up or characters might actually wake for a short while and find others passed out around them.
  
  
• WHEN THE BLAZING SUN IS GONE (28-31 October) - Again, this will be a shared dreamscape where characters will be under the illusion (at first) that all has returned to normal. For those who investigate, everything seems to be real, nothing too off, excepting the night of the Halloween party. Once the Lullaby Girl finishes her song, characters who are dressed in costumes that depict animals or other monstrous creatures may find themselves transformed into their costumes. Transformed characters may gain powers for the duration of this prompt/event related to their monstrous forms without mod approval. Go wild, kill your friends and neighbors, and generally trash everything around you. The decorations that come to life will be attempting to murder all characters, transformed or not. If characters escape into the city, they will find all of the festive decorations out there have come to life and want to kill them, as well. Death is unavoidable for this particular prompt, but it can be something swift and painless or something drawn out and horrible at player discretion. It is the only way to actually wake a character fully. Players also have the option of keeping their characters awake. They will not experience the shared dreamscape and will just be stuck with a lot of unconscious people around them for the duration of this portion of the event.
  
  
• WHEN HE NOTHING SHINES UPON (31 October) - Ava, the Lullaby Girl, cannot be contacted or immediately located, but she will be available in future plots for interactions with characters. There is no immediate information regarding who Mr. S. is. Players may have the general sleep/death malaise last for a minimum of two hours and a maximum of three days. Regular medications for the flu can ameliorate some of the symptoms, but they will ultimately clear up on their own. Characters may wake up in whatever state players would like. Feel free to play out the effects of them having been slumped in a corridor for three days without food or water. It's going to be a bad time all around. Those who attend the real Halloween party will be thanked profusely by Pam and showered with candy. At least they'll get a few HR brownie points?

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Comments

[stations]

He has to bite his tongue to keep from saying if it's even-Steven it pretty much cancles out; not everything is as loosey-goosey as the general mindset of the gas station. Jack's gotten so desensitized to weird stuff over the last, like, decade of working there he has to actively remind himself that other people find things (rightfully, sanely) traumatic.

"Which part of it's messing with you the most? Hurting her, or losing control?" Because both of them make total sense, and he'd feel bad about them both too, but it's the latter that would mess with him more, personally. Mostly because he's already headed down that path — slowly losing his mind, hallucinating, blacking out, doing things in fits of disassociation he wouldn't otherwise do. That one hits pretty close to home.

[stations]

( She's got a totally fair look on his face that he is... incredibly used to seeing directed at him by now, and so doesn't seem particularly fazed by it. )

I guess it was too much to hope for that the Dread Watcher might be like a really nice old lady or a swim instructor...

( Mostly mumbled to himself, his words puffing a little fog into the cold surrounding them.

Anyway, it turns out Jack is incredibly susceptible to being led around by the hand — he's not generally the roll over and do what he's told type, but he's not desensitized to that particular method yet. He doesn't really get touched very often.

Not since... Her. )

In your stories... did she have any, I don't know, weaknesses? Like, Kryptonite, or stakes for vampires?

[stations]

( He shrugs unhelpfully. )

I mean, weirder things have happened. I got pulled into someone else's universe, this seems like a comparative step down.

( Just saying.

For a slightly more tangible theory: )

I hallucinate sometimes. Maybe I'm doing it now? It's not like there's a huge difference, except that I might have actually just spilled coffee all over the floor, so I should probably really clean that up.

its ok bb you're here now

[ratjesus]

"Yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah--can we get you to a, like, uh, alley or something?" He casts a quick glance around him, not wanting to be too out in the open, suddenly thankful he'd fed his patron on public transport earlier. He tries to be careful, only taking what he feels isn the bare minimum for emergencies and this--well, this sort of qualifies as one, doesn't it?

poor eric

[sorser]

Funny how he thinks he’ll have to apologize for hat later — as though some part of Stephen remains recognizant of the fact that all these monsters are transformed, and that maybe if they were more in control of themselves, they wouldn’t be trying to kill him.

Stephen doesn’t bother with a reply. He slips forward and braces a fall with an open palm, before pushing himself back up and beginning another running start away, down the hall.

With any luck, he’ll lose him. Hopefully he hasn’t run dry of it just yet.

[sorser]

[A theory that may or may not be correct. Stephen thinks it has just about the same probability as anything, now.]

We just died a countless number of times and you’re worried about spilt coffee?

[Well, whatever. Don’t answer that.

He shakes his head, looking around. Appears like ADI as he recalls it, no figment of freaky and/or terrifying dreams present.]

That appointment we talked about— you’re getting it sooner rather than later.

[It should clear up a few things; verify one way or another if sleep really did drag him in, or if he remained as immune as he believes himself to be.]

[stations]

( Well, yeah. He's totally alive right now probably, so there's not much he can do about the former. The coffee, on the other hand, is a slipping hazard. ​)

Okay.

( Said with the unbothered air of a guy who's been through a battery of tests already just to keep re-proving himself. He's not particularly defensive about it, he doesn't blame the guy, he's just convinced whatever they dig up isn't gonna be much different than the answers he's gotten for the last four years. Since right before the car accident. )

I mean, we can do it now, if you want. Unless... this is like an Inception moment and we're about to get struck down by a bolt of lightning.

( To that end, he reaches over to give Stephen's bicep a solid pinch.

And then realizes immediately in hindsight he totally felt all those other deaths anyway, so it wouldn't really tell them anything. )

[sorser]

“A little weird,” he stresses, kicking a stray bone away from his feet. He could swear he saw it rattle just a tad.

“People and inanimate objects don’t just transform without some kind of outside influence — and I can’t sense any magic at play here.”

Which might mean nothing, since his own is inaccessible.

[forethinking]

I'm fine, I promise.

(Maybe. Kind of.

The dishes are easy enough to wash, and as soon as he puts the last one to dry, like destiny, the kettle begins to whistle. Right on time!)

What did I say while I was asleep?

[medicative]

Weaponry. Didn't you notice?

[but the walls change, shift. the darkness around them abates some, and pulls back - the factory is not a factory, but a dim, old manor, their tread on carpeted stairs that have been left to silence. every painting feels out of reach if one tries to look more closely, every area what could have been grand but left to wither. furnishings that would be imposing, and the sensation that something is watching. suddenly, Emily stops - kneels down on the floor and pulls the rug back.

a trapdoor, heavy and with rusted hinges. solid enough that she falls back a little when she yanks it open.]

It's in here. This is the simple part.

[and hopping down she goes, to land on stone that echoes.]

[sorser]

[He’s glancing down at his phone, looking for signs of a reply, when Ren suddenly just… walks in and appears before him, as though right on cue.

His expression lifts in surprise before it unwinds completely in a sigh, tired and relieved all at once.]

Safe, but not comfortable.

[Hunched over like that, his back might feel it later. But that hardly matters at all.]

You’re all right? Uninjured?

[forethinking]

I'm fine. We should talk-- not here.

(He's told ADI he's unpowered. The less ADI knows about his role, the better. Truth is, Ren finds little reason to trust it as an institution -- much like he does with any.

With a thorough look, Ren assesses that Stephen is also free of harm. They should leave.)

[ployboy]

He's just some kid-- he's not immune to pain. There's just been so much of it. Tim just wants it to end but that's the promise he's made his dad, right? That he'd keep fighting until the mad dogs in his way were all put down.

Tim cries out: he thinks that knife hit something inside of him that it shouldn't.

He thinks, well there goes another organ.

He thinks, he's going to die. And he's so fucking angry that he doesn't care, he pulls out the gun, he aims it with the steely resolve driven by vengeance and

"Go to Hell!"

He can't shoot he won't shoot it would be too easy it would be too good

(getting stabbed will never not hurt. Tim hopes a broken face will hurt Whitly too. Until his strength fails him. He thinks, why the hell would Malcolm be helping his dad? And if it's obvious Tim's crying, he hopes that in the end it doesn't matter.)

[abrightboy]

Malcolm is sitting on the curb, rocking faintly, his hands over his ears, his eyes squeezed shut.

Martin glances over, then looks at Tim’s tear stained face.

“He never really relishes our father-son time. I’m trying not to take it personally.”

Then he shoves the knife in deeper and gives it a twist before pulling it out to let Tim drop to the ground.

cw: blood, gore, mutilation

[graveyounglady]

It's not enough to have his arm. Mercy spits that out, tosses it to the side. She can see the light fading from his eyes, but it's not fast enough. He needs to be cold and still. Forever still. So, she does what this body was made to do. She rips claws into his body, eviscerates him when he can't fight back, when there's no more life to fight back with. She paints the floor and her paws and her muzzle red with him.

When she's finished, something else--someone else catches her eye, and she bounds away after it, leaving the corpse behind.

[sorser]

[Stephen scoffs a little, a sort of humorous solidarity in the notion of being tired all the time. He can relate.]

So no fever? No aches or pains? Been drinking plenty of fluids?

[graveyounglady]

That comment pulls a wry smile from Mercy. "I been told as much more than once." And she hadn't learned a damned thing from it. The elevator dings and they step into the cool air of one of the basement levels. Mercy takes a firm hold on Jaeger, worried he might tip over before they can get to the room that's been set up as a sleep observation area.

"Reckon I get it honest, though. A man don't get to have people like that after him without being too smart."

[the_archivist]

No, nothing like that. I mean, nothing related to the recent unpleasantness at least.

[His burned hand aches sometimes, and he hadn't quite got movement back entirely. His leg sometimes twinges or goes weak, and there are times when breath rasps in his windpipe. It had eased in the apocalypse, but that seems to have reversed now he's not basically a god.]

I- I had some tea? A while back?

[graveyounglady]

[She has no idea what those things are. Kryptonite and vampires? He's speaking nonsense. But she just tries to think as she makes it to the ground and pulls him close along with her. The sound of her footsteps sounds almost deafening in the silence, even worse than their whispers. It feels like the cold is creeping up through her feet and chilling her bones.]

The dawn's chorus and cock's crow? Things that would wake a body up. If she can't keep you in her realm, she can't bring you to harm.

[sorser]

Wow, use of the full name, middle and all? Scandalous.

The fact that he's suddenly wrapped up in a suit that clearly has no origin from his own mind is indicative of one thing: he's at the mercy of a stranger's dream, just jetsam on the tide. But fine, he'll succumb to the fashion overhaul -- it's nice, there's no getting around that.

"A dream," he replies, then pauses. "I think. I've already done the rounds once or twice, which was probably just enough for lucidity to slip in. This one's clearly yours, though I have a spoiler for you: they don't often end well."

[sorser]

[He mouths an "ow", the same way people do when something doesn't really hurt, and angles his arm away.]

That wouldn't make a difference. [Whether or not he's belatedly realized it or not, Stephen will point it out, anyway.] Pain wasn't exactly something we were spared in the dream, either. Unless the distribution of it was very unfair.

[And that would be very rude, but... preferable, really, if he had felt all the agony and Jack didn't.]

If you have it in you, then let's get to medical. I'd rather have answers of any kind, than just sit and wait for the next round of nightmares to strike.

[sorser]

[From weapons factory to the carpeted flooring of, what? A manor? The scenery changes too quickly for Stephen to make sense of one after the other, and he only continues to follow, watching as she unearths a trapdoor. The magical light hovering in his palm flickers, barely piercing the darkness within.

With little choice, he follows, hoping down. His boots meet solid ground, and he straightens.]

And what's the hard part?

[lesbeau]

[It puts up so much less struggle than she's used to, and they both go down hard to the too-fleshy floor. Immediately and instinctively Beau moves to pin down limbs, get a knee around the sternum, but for all her weight and gumption she stops abruptly once she locks eyes with Jon. The moment seems to last forever, and she shakes, like the eyes are piercing her ribs and burning where they once marked her skin. It's a moment of overwhelming fear, and she screams, tearing her eyes away and rolling off of him to try and regain herself.]

Fuck! God fucking damnit fuck--!!

[Still, she rounds again on Jon, not yet on her feet.]

Who are you?? Who the fuck ARE YOU! TELL ME!

[lesbeau]

bro. that rules. we stole from the guy and he found us later. would have killed him if he didn't run away. but yeah. not dying is the eaasy bit.

has anyone figured out if clerics can rez people here with diamonds anyway? i don't want to test but like i want to know before i need it.

[medicative]

[despite the low, low light, she's navigated to a cabinet, throwing open the doors to reach far back, and pulling out what she's been looking for all this time. coming back to Stephen, the light he gives off reflects off her eyes, off the silver of the heavy key in her hand, off the symbol that shines from the top of the key.]

Surviving long enough to get out.

[her eyes meet his, and there's something...intense there.]

Do you trust me?