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

[bloodalwaystells]

It is his, in so many ways, and none of the questions lingering in her mind are wrong. Right now, he's precariously perched on the line between what his life was and what it would become, and part of him knows that, without knowing exactly what is going to happen.

There's the vague feeling that it will be terrible, but that still leaves a lot of options.

"It's mine," he says, a little vaguely. It takes him a second, but he settles on, "This is my house. Was my house? Is." He steps aside, after a long moment of scrutinizing her. He's trying to make her fit into this narrative, but he's not quite there yet.

Except that she's a friendly face, and that it's safer for her to be in the house with him, than out and exposed on the stoop.

"Would you like some coffee?"

[sorser]

[Ah, well. What great customer service. Yet Stephen has a feeling the choice was purposeful, as there’s little point in having an attentive server that’ll keep sticking their nose into their conversation.

He settles in, the dream still having left his body worn and jittery from adrenaline.]

A memory of an old foe. His name is Dormammu, and as you could probably guess, he isn’t exactly all that friendly.

[He drums his fingers against the table surface, briefly.]

He’s a dark entity from another dimension. Tried to take Earth as its own once. I had to make certain that didn’t happen.

[sorser]

[It is the look of a dubious doctor, who will continue with these questions until he gets a better notion if Jon really doesn’t need anything from him.]

If you keep a to-do list, keep it on there. [Stay hydrated!] I know it sounds silly, but you’d be surprised at how often individuals neglect their baseline health just because their minds are on other things.

[A bit stiff. Stephen pauses, then straight-up says:] You look tired. I know you’re here only because you have to be, but you might as well take advantage of it. You can tell me if something’s ailing you, outside of what we’ve all just experienced.

[the_archivist]

I worked in academia. I really wouldn't be surprised.

[Especially consdering what he knew about his own working habits.]

I'm always tired. Have been long before this. And the stiffnes is... old injuries. It's fine.

[chrisisofaith]

"Ah." That line sounds...familiar. Five years of hunting those who hunted him, their search for a young maiden buying him some anonymity as he moved, but the stakes were the same. Chris Sonom would surely die if caught no different than if Crystal had, but he'd pulled strings and whispered in ears and moved the pieces on his side of the chessboard as the Listers had moved theirs until one of them could finally declare 'checkmate.' It very nearly was them on more than one occasion.

"I wish you luck on that course, then, it was never an easy one. Just don't forget other people will want to help, good people, people who will see the same evil you do and not stand idly by. Don't discount them. For now...perhaps one of these doors is your room?"

cw: family deaths

[carmesi]

[the voices and sounds from stephen's hallway of existence bleeds into wanda's, perhaps amplified by the utter silence on her end. bits of rock and cement roll off to join the pile on the ground, a TV playing static on the side, the threatening beep of uncertain danger an exaggerated red against her features.

at his question, she looks around for the first time, and finds it familiar. her parents are under the rubble where the couch was, the wall an open hole looking out into a battleground.]

Home.

[amidst all that's broken and left standing. the uncanny nature of this situation does not escape her and, unwilling to stay in this half of a broken world, she raises a hand, reaching out for him.]

Help me out.

[she needs to climb out of this nightmare, the way she usually does, but this time with the assistance of a new presence in it.]

[abrightboy]

“I’ve done better. I usually go years without killing all my friends,” he jokes weakly. He scans Neal’s face, then drops his gaze. “I’m just. …I’m glad to see you. I’m… glad you didn’t walk the other way when you saw me coming.”

[abrightboy]

“And the Panthers are, like, a gang?” Malcolm confirms.

honestly cw on that for the remainder of the thread I'd say, I don't see this getting better

[lowficharm]

Martin has no idea what's going on, and when he doesn't, he tends to get finicky into why something makes no sense or that it's wrong as if he can logic his way out of a problem. But if traveling through the apocalypse with Jon taught him one thing, it's that at a certain point you just have to take someone at face value when they're giving you a Look that this is Serious. Mercy's got one of those on plain as day right now, and it means he's going to keep quiet and follow behind.

And oh, it's bad out here. This is Slaughter-touched if he's ever seen it, amplified in the ways to make you fear the carnage of it all. He almost feels sick, but he's trying to keep his eyes on Mercy-- and then she just starts yelling and running and he has to follow suit.

"Don't-- don't yell!" He barely says it, gripping the knife hard and looking now to the people shooting, trying to be a moving and otherwise unremarkable target. She said this would protect him-- protect them. He just has to seriously believe that.

hell yeah hell yeah HELL YEAH

[lowficharm]

[See, one might assume that with as tall and wide as Martin is, he'd be totally used to just barreling through things on sheer strength. Unfortunately, he has spent his Whole Life trying to be much smaller, and that means his confidence in how much destruction he can cause with his bare hands is pretty damn minimal. Stephen goes for it though and he's considerably smaller, so certainly he can--

As he's doing the mental math, the skeleton reaches out. And all that planning flies out the window as Martin screams like a five year old and punches it directly in the face.

Despite him trying to look small and weak, Martin very much isn't, and the skeleton reels back from the hit long enough for him to run through. Though he does take a moment to call behind him.]

Sorry!

[Why is he apologizing? No one knows. Especially not him. He's just going to focus back on Stephen now.]

Uh, it-- okay! So! What's the plan!

[thatsreallygreat]

"I'm not annoyed," he assures with an easy smile. "People do all kinds of things when they're uncomfortable. And a lot of them try not to talk about themselves."

And that's okay. Caduceus doesn't think there's a right way to do this (there are wrong ways, though), and most of al he wants this to be helpful for Jack.

"Did you do that a lot? I have a friend that does it sometimes. Or she just stares until you change the subject. Didn't really work on me."

[sorser]

It’s impossible to tell what Stephen perceives, versus what Neal experiences — senses have been stirred and muddied up in this dream-turning-nightmare, and he sees red. Blood flowing freely from a carotid. The bite of something sharp across his own neck.

Blink and it’s gone. But a stranger greets them instead, a man who should be a walking corpse for the dead color of his skin, and the bullet hole pierced through his skull.

He isn’t sure he wants to play along with a dream already gone so morbid, lain with death beneath a sunny surface, so Stephen ignores the question outright—even if it wasn’t directed at him—and focuses on Neal instead.

“I can get us away from here. It isn’t taking long for things to turn ugly.”

[mistersquirrels]

"I mean, like, everything? Just...everything."

He rubs the back of his head, trying to think of a better way to put it. "I guess this entire world gives me bad vibes, y'know? Though Dogtown gives extra bad vibes, I think. Like this whole world is just a bad vibes factory."

He stuffs his hands in his pockets and nods, a friendly smile on his face.

"I try to be nice to people, but I'm not always, not all the time. I wish I was, though. World would be a better place if everyone was good to each other."

[mistersquirrels]

"Oh."

Eric's face falls, because he gets that. He gets wanting to be part of something, wanting to be happy.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be part of that. Or to be happy." He tilts his head, trying to think of a good way to put it. "And that it's hard to feel happy right now because of how bad everything sucks right now. That just means you're human."

[mistersquirrels]

[Totally, totally fine.]

well I think i'm glad that you're being honest like it would be a lot worse if you weren't and everyone was trying to hide how scary everything is

I don't blame you guys at all, I think this place is just like at a higher level of suckage than most other places

though scary shared dreams does take the cake lemmie tell ya

[bloodalwaystells]

It's not an easy life, but the need to survive is a powerful thing and he'd already seen far too much. Jaeger had made his choice, and while it wasn't an easy one, it bought him a little bit of his soul back. Made him feel a little less lost and helpless in the face of an evil that thrived entirely too well in human society.

"I'm starting to learn that," he says gravely. "There are good people. People who don't deserve this life."

He gazes around, trying to make sense of his surroundings for the moment because things keep shifting on him. Is his room here? His office? Someplace, at least, that he can lay down for a few minutes? That would be nice. Staying on his feet is getting difficult, and while there's still that dreadful sense of urgency, falling down isn't going to help the situation.

"I think I've very tired right now." The idea of finding his room, any room, is a good one. Thoughts keep sliding away like bright, sinuous fish in water, too fast and too slippery to catch.

[graveyounglady]

"What's... a vibe?" Is she missing something? Does he have some manner of magical sight she's lacking? Because he seems fairly certain about these things, whatever they are. Maybe they're like- "Oh! Are they like foul vapors? The sort that bring disease?"

She can get on board with everyone being nicer to each other, but let's sort out the vibes first.

[mistersquirrels]

"A vibe is like..."

He gestures with a hand, words failing him. He's never been asked to define vibe before...?

"Foul vapors?" He makes a face. "No, it's not a diseased fart cloud. It's more like...you ever hear a really good song? Like really, really good music and you just sorta wanna move your head along to it? Like that. Like a vibration, sorta."

[graveyounglady]

"But those are... good vibrations?" There's something she's missing here and continuing not to hit. Mercy's brows furrow. "It's like listening to bad music, then? Or..." Her gaze drifts to the side. "The sort of music that makes you feel terrible? Too much all at once?"

[mistersquirrels]

"Yes, exactly! You got it!"

...he thinks. He's not sure if he's making sense here but he's trying a lot.

"Like the opposite of really good music. So like that good feeling but turned inside-out?"

That makes sense, right?

"So like, if you've ever seen a movie and you hear scary violin sounds, you know that the hero is about to get jumped by a monster. That's what this place reminds me of."

[graveyounglady]

She thought she had it, but now he's confusing things again, bringing in movies. "Oh! I've seen those." As she... should have. What with... being a modern person. In this modern world. Yes. "Movies with violins. I don't like the scary ones, though. We got enough of that in the real world. Ne need for them looking so real in our stories with the moving pictures, is there?

"I ain't felt none of these vibrations one way or the other... except the once. I was listening to... someone playing on a street corner and it was fun at first, but then it started going wrong."

[mistersquirrels]

"Scary movies are a lot more fun when you're not living in one," he says almost solemnly, nodding his head in agreement.

Well, he tried? He opens his mouth to explain more about good and bad vibes when what she says makes him pause.

"Wait, wrong? Like what do you mean, going wrong, exactly?"

[lesbeau]

[She snarls at him, eyes wild, because she can't just give up on this. As much as it's seeing her, she's trying so hard to see back, to have the power to force it to cow under her gaze. But she doesn't have the favor of it, not yet, not in the history that he carries. But something in her still can't run. It can't just-- leave, not when she doesn't know what it is. What it means.]

Why don't you talk, huh! You're just gonna look? Look at this, then!

[And this time she's going for it's eyes, trying to find some way to shut them, or barring that, getting more violent about it.]

[lesbeau]

hey quick question what the fuck. thanks.

anyway thats not really what im talking about i dont want to die and make a warlock pact to come back to life. why is everything around here fucked up necromancy.

YA GOOD i will backtag forever

[lesbeau]

[Look, Beau is in a very similar situation here. She's not the kind of person to freak out over impending hell, because she's more likely to go silent when she's really fucked up. It's just a lot.]

Uhhh, yeah, that sucks. And you have to stop it? What the hell are you gonna do?

[This is the point where someone else in her crew would be telling her she's being very rude right now, and she kind of hears it in the back of her mind. There's a palpable few seconds before she speaks again, though.]

... I mean, because you kind of look like you're just some guy.

[Cool, that's worse.]