Event - For Sport

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For Sport

➥ Breaking It In

(cw: mentions of apparent mutilation of/violence against animals and animal death)

The conference room on the upper floors of ADI HQ is bright, airy, perhaps unnaturally so for the grim tidings that bring people here today. Those who have recently arrived will be ushered to the meeting by ADI employees or by Bonnie. It's not just the newest arrivals, but some other people who seem to be longer-term employees. The room is rather large and arranged like a lecture hall. Bonnie takes up a seat near the back, looking somewhat uncomfortable, but smiling at anyone who greets her.

At 9 AM sharp, a person steps into the room and heads to the front. They have curly hair and are wearing a gray business suit with a dark blue bow-tie. When they address the group at large, they speak in a calm, measured tone. "Good morning. I appreciate some of you may be here more reluctantly than others, but… there are matters of import to all of us to discuss. Some of you may have seen me already. I am Reyes Amador, assistant to Ms. Lehrer, the head of ADI. Earlier this week I sent out a message regarding some unusual activity at Coffin Beach. Thank you to those who investigated."

Their eyes seem to find the people who did, in fact, go looking, whether they found something or not.

"We have determined the creatures are shape-shifters. Some sort of, em... horse thing. In lieu of a term they might give themselves, we are referring to them as kelpies. Given the locations these were found, as well as other information into disappearances and deaths and mutilations of sea mammals in the area, we believe the kelpies are coming from the Essex Bay area to the north.

"For those willing to assist, we are mounting a reconnaissance mission. This is not intended to engage kelpies, just to find out where they are and how we might best approach an attack. All supplies, transportation, and monetary compensation will be provided. We will meet at ADI HQ in main lobby at 6 PM three days from now. Essex Bay is a remote site and conservation area, accessible only by boat, and not without a scientific permit. As you may guess, we will be traveling under cover of nightfall." Reyes smiles.

"I will be accepting questions about further details. I understand this is the first mission away for many of you, and you may have concerns. I will do my best to allay them. Bonnie also has some experience in these missions, if you would like first-hand accounts. Please also feel free to discuss amongst yourselves if this is a mission you think you are ready for. You will not be required to attend, nor penalized in any way if you do not. There is additional work to be done here, both with continuing examinations of the bodies we have and other efforts unrelated."

➥ Move the Goalposts

(cw: kidnapping, violence, sadism)

It happens away from the safety of ADI HQ one evening or so early in the morning, it's still dark, away from the potential for help, maybe. One moment, you (and possibly someone you're with) are walking, and the next, you will find someone has grabbed you and slammed you into the nearest surface. For those unable to fight back, a cloth will be held to their noses and mouths--chloroform, something to knock them out. For those able to fight or even to escape thanks to not actually being corporeal, they'll find that it is a trio of people who have attacked them. They wear jagged smiles and they're all much too sharp around the edges beneath their clothes. Those who saw the kelpies at Coffin Beach may recognize these people as something like them.

"Run, rabbit, run," one of the group says, voice rolling out like a gurgling tide.

Those who run will be chased and, if caught, chloroformed. Perhaps you're lucky, though. Perhaps you can race them back to safety. Or perhaps you'll find help along the way to protect you. Either way, the kelpies are relentless in their pursuit unless one of their number is injured or their prey can make it to ADI. The kelpies seem reluctant to actually enter ADI HQ or their housing, and will break off pursuit there, slinking back to the shadows.

➥ Curveball

(cw: kidnapping, violence/violence and mutilation against apparent animals, sadism, body horror, transformation, potential for claustrophobia)

For those unlucky enough to be caught, they'll find themselves waking amongst mud and bodies. Living, breathing bodies, thankfully. You have been tied up, but not gagged, and left with a group of other captives. A nearby fire casts light over everything, showing a large group of naked people with long, scraggly hair hauling a seal up out of the water. The animal fights them with a cunning that might seem odd, but the kelpies just laugh at it. They get it up near the fire, one raises a knife, and stabs into the seal, dragging the blade down its belly.

The seal bellows and then goes limp, seeming to collapse in on itself. It isn't long before a woman is drawn from the skin, shaking, fighting, wild-eyed with terror as her captors shove her around the fire in their own game. A few others turn their attention to the captives who are just beginning to wake and move about. They approach, one grabbing the skin the woman had come out of, others grabbing more skins from a nearby pile.

"Hush, hush... you'll have your freedom soon... while you can swim." The words come just before the kelpie slices your bonds and throws the skin over you.

The skin grapples your body, twisting tight around you, encasing and restraining. Your body is different now, thick and round, ungainly in the mud. Your legs have fused together and your arms have shrunk to thin flippers. This is not your body, you can feel how foreign it is, how you're crammed into the too-small confines of it... but you have instincts to go with it. Water is freedom! Or it's an attempt at freedom. It's either swim for your lives as some mockery of a selkie or stay and see how it feels to be cut open. Luckily for you, you'll find yourself psychically linked to the other selkies around you. Maybe you can do something together? Best think fast because the kelpies are setting their sights on new prey to chase once they've finished with their latest victim.

➥ Below the Belt

(cw: violence/violence and mutilation against apparent animals, body horror, gore)

The journey to Essex Bay isn't a long one, but it's somewhat treacherous as a small group of powerboats make their way into the refuge. The mission is simple: find where the kelpies are and see if there are any strategic points of-

Was that a seal? There are, in fact, many seals that pop up once boats enter the bay. The animals might seem to have an unusual cunning about them. Will they lead you somewhere useful? Perhaps try to flop themselves into your boats? The point is, there are seals accosting you in the middle of the night, and that's weird. Perhaps they have something they want to communicate.

Or was that a horse? A crocodile? There's something that seems to have noticed you, and it's smart enough that it's going to try to tip you and anyone else in your boat into the water rather than trying to engage otherwise. Sit down, you'll rock the boat.

➥ Sticky Wicket

(cw: potential for severe burns/injury, pain)

ADI is engaged in far more than one mission at a time, and for those not dealing with Essex Bay, or even before that, there are pick-ups to handle. Artifacts, you've been told as you're paired with someone else, whether you like it or not. The mission is simple: go to the Docks, collect a package from a locker there, and return with it to ADI. You've been provided an exact location and a code for the combination lock. The section of the Docks you've entered seems to be one with a lot of empty warehouses covered in graffiti, but the locker is there, something heavily reinforced and designed to be virtually impossible to get into. There's evidence that people have tried to gain entry without success.

Your code works, though, and you have your prize! You've been given strict instructions not to open the box the artifact is in… but there's nothing technically stopping you now, and there is a strange pull toward it.

Those who can't help themselves will find they have just picked up… some piece of sports gear! It looks wholly innocuous. Touch even a finger to it, though, and a horrific, searing pain will consume your entire body as 3rd-degree burns bloom across the skin where you've touched your artifact.

Or maybe you have a will of iron and sense enough not to touch strange, supernatural objects. What should be an easy mission is quickly derailed by some young punk darting out of an alleyway to try to steal your package. Or, at the very least, knock it from your hands. The youth is not alone, either. You've found yourself on someone's 'turf,' and they want what you've got. Are you cruel enough to let them have it?

➥ Mod Notes

• BREAKING IT IN (21 July): Both Reyes and Bonnie will be available to answer questions that characters might have or listen to their complaints. Please put "NPC Requested" somewhere in your top-level response if you would like a mod response. For characters who can access their supernatural abilities and have some measure of supernatural spidey sense, both Bonnie and Reyes will register as off, but in different ways. Characters are welcome to attempt to use whatever powers they believe will work on the NPCs. There are potential IC consequences for this.
  
  
• MOVE THE GOALPOSTS (23-24 July): Characters are welcome to capture or kill the kelpies. The only information they will be capable of providing to those who capture them and attempt to compel them for information is that they consider the entirety of the Massachusetts coast as their 'hunting grounds.' Whether that's true or not, it's what they believe.
  
  
• CURVEBALL (23-24 July): Kidnapped characters will become seals! Sort of. Psychic seals who are extremely ill-fitted to the skins they're in. The only way to escape their current state is to be cut open and pulled out. As soon as they start to flee, the kelpies will chase them. Those who are captured will be cut out, toyed with, and shoved back into a skin again and again to continue the chase until they simply can't go on anymore.
  
  
• BELOW THE BELT (24 July - night): Characters may encounter their selkie-fied comrades! Unfortunately, while the selkies can communicate with each other psychically, they are incapable of human speech. They are also being actively hunted by the kelpies. Characters may kill any kelpies they come across. Capture will not be possible in this case while they're in their horse forms. If PCs do not eradicate the kelpie threat that night, NPCs who have joined the mission will do so. Unfortunately, reconnaissance has become engagement, whether they like it or not.
  
  
• STICKY WICKET (21 July - 5 August): You may select any piece of sporting gear you'd like for your character to pick up as long as it can fit in a reasonably-sized box. The pain associated with the burning will last only as long as a character is touching the object. Holding onto it for more than a minute will likely result in coming very close to death. Characters with inorganic appendages will find that the artifact will start to melt that appendage, whatever it is made of and it will still, somehow, hurt while it does it.
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Comments

Keith | Voltron || OTA

[marmoron]

1. Breaking It In

[ the meeting is one keith largely keeps to himself in. he stands towards the back of the room, arms folded and leaning against the wall. he doesn't opine as much out loud, but in his experience recon missions have a nasty habit of escalating very quickly. at a point, while the director speaks, his attention goes around the room to try and evaluate potential teammates he might be assigned to work with. when the briefing is over, he approaches a fellow presumed other worlder.]

Do they always give you this little information to work with?

2. Move the Goalposts

[ though originally from earth, keith's never set foot out of arizona before and being in some alternate reality version of massachusetts is odd in ways that technically shouldn't be. one way or another though, he's determined to get a good feel for the area since he's probably going to be stuck here for some undetermined amount of time.

funnily enough, he'd have probably liked this place a lot. spooky stories, allegedly haunted ghost towns -- it's all right up keith's alley. or at least it was before the space war consumed his life. but that's neither here nor there. deciding that he's going to check out dogtown before the mission starts, hw's glancing at the map for the babson boulders and raising an eyebrow at the names of the landmarks. ]

Get a job? [ he huffs a laugh. ] This place supposed to be haunted or meant to shame people?

[ so it looks like keith's actually in decent spirits today. it's just such a shame that this little excursions going to be made a little spicy by some kelpies. ]

3. Beneath the Belt

[ funnily enough this is the first time keith's ever been on a boat. while he's handling it just fine, he's not necessarily thrilled about it. what does make the whole experience much much better, however, are the seals that intermittently come nosing towards the boats. as fond of animals as keith is, when there's nothing else going on he leans over the sides to wave at the water doggos. ]

Woah... I've only seen pictures of these guys before. Didn't know they were so friendly. Hey, buddy. You got a name?

[henchgal]

[While she can't tell him her name, not like this, she hopes that nodding in response to that question will get his attention.

Meredith is...well, she stands out among the seals as one who moves slower, her flippers more like floppers, if you will. She doesn't seem interested in moving away from the boat very much, tucked up beside it, hiding from the kelpies.]

[marmoron]

[ there's a lot to be processing here, lots of moving pieces to figuring out this whole kelpie fiasco. keith realy should know better than to get distracted by seals, but how is he supposed to ignore when the seals are apparently nodding along to his question?

he blinks, stares really, then: ]

Can you understand me?
[ hd holds out his hand, holding it above the surface of the water. ]

Boop my hand if you do?

[henchgal]

[She boops his hand three times in a row, to make it clear it's not just incidental, before looking up at his face--to see what comes next. More questions, Keith.]

Closed to Aelwyn

[marmoron]

[ just why did the allegedly brilliant minds of ADI think it was wise to send keith and aelwyn together on a mission? truly, this is one of the greatest mysteries of all when considering keith's exact reaction to seeing his partner for the mission was a very unenthused: no.

but they're at the godforsaken drop off point at the docks now and with the indicated warehouse less than two miles out, it doesn't seem all that likely that the mission can actually fail, right? riiiiiiiiight?

keeping an exaggerated sigh to himself, keith turns to aelwyn with an oh-so-overjoyed look on his face and mutters: ]

Whatever you do, just don't get in my way.

i'm so fucking sorry keith

[aelwyn_aberration]

[Professionally, Aelwyn is a bit annoyed at working with someone who really is unlikely to agree to work with her for even a moment. Personally, Aelwyn is delighted at being paired with such an easy target. Thanks Reyes, she owes you one.]

Why would I get in your way? I can't stare dreamily at you, if I'm facing away from you... [Yeah. Sorry Keith. She's doing this and she's doing it on purpose.] What was your name again? Kenny?

this is fine???

[marmoron]

[ the only indication aelwyn gets that keith was even listening is that at the end of his quick scan around the docks, he turns to shoot her the flattest look. ]

Keith. [ a beat. ] And if you're sleepy, then stay here.

[ why else would she be staring after him dreamily?? god help him, he's just a little oblivious here. ]

You're just gonna be more of a risk.

[ AND WITH THAT SAID, off he goes towards the pick up site. ]

[aelwyn_aberration]

[Oh my god... He doesn't know what dreamy means... This is the best day of Aelwyn's life. She takes a moment to blink in surprise before she starts giggling.]

Don't be racist, Keith, I'm an elf, we don't sleep.

Who am I a risk to, anyway? You? I'm flattered that you think I'm so dangerous.

[She trails along after him after less than a moment's delay.]

[marmoron]

[ keith doesn't stop walking. he should because getting whatever this stupidity is out of their systems so they can actually focus on getting to the warehouse quietly without attracting the local hoodlums would have been wise, but frankly he doesn't actualy expect aelwyn to keep following him for much longer anyway.

he doesn't look back, but his tone's every bit as surly as his expression so she's not missing much. ]

We? [ insert eyeroll here. ] I've met space elves who do, so quit acting like you're some offended elven spokesperson. [ not that the alteans identify as "space elves" but that's what they are, so.

also he's just not even gonna bother addressing her second question. just keeps walking with his arms folded. ]

3!

[lowficharm]

[Martin's been desperately trying to catch someone's attention as the boats roll in, still not fully in control of this seal body but starting to realize what exactly is going on. He's figured out how to go decently fast, but not how to properly stop, so Keith gets to see him just sort of... moosh his way into the side of the boat.

At least it doesn't seem hurt, but he does give him possibly the most mournful bark. What he wouldn't give for someone who could communicate with animals right now.]

[marmoron]

[ oh my god??? the impact rocks the boat just enough that keith has to windmill a little to try and stay upright. in the end, he doesn't actually manage that and ends up on his butt. wincing, he jumps back up to look over the side of the boat.

are they being attacked or -- wait. he squints. stares at the sad seal floating alongside the boat. ]

I think it's confused. [ that's directed at an npc aboard the boat with him first, then he leans a little over the side of the boat to uh.. talk? ]

Hey buddy. That was a bad bump. You don't have a concussion do you?

[ is that a thing? seal concussions? ...and why is he talking to the seal like the seal can talk back anyway? god knows, but keith is low key pretty delighted by how friendly this one seems?? ]

[lowficharm]

[He doesn't seem hurt, but it's kind of hard to tell when all he really wants to do is lie down and be sad regardless. Martin almost doesn't recognize that he's being talked to until he sees Keith looking down at him, and he just kind of circles a little next to the boat, lying on the surface of the water. He can't afford to stay too long- those kelpies will be back any moment, he's sure- but if he can get these people to do something, maybe then they can move on to the 'getting him out of here' part.]

He turns his head to Keith and makes a very quiet bark, trying to let him know that he hears him and can understand, but also not to alert the kelpies that must still be nearby.]

[marmoron]

[ okay. keith isn't exactly a marine biologist or any kind of wildlife expert, but there's an odd vibe that he's getting out of this encounter -- like the seal's looking right at him, thinking, perceiving, communicating -- and for a beat, keith thinks it has to be the paranoia again. that or he's having a goddamn disney princess moment.

either way, the seal doesn't appear to be going away and keith gives the agent driving the boat a nudge to turn off the engine. no slicing the seal open on the boat propellers please and thank you. ]

Think the seal's hiding from something in the water.

[ orcas? do killer whales even live out here? or is it the fucking kelpies? either way, he turns his attention back to the seal, holding out his hand. ]

Listen it's not safe here either. We're trying to get closer to an island over there, so stay away from the boats.

move the goalposts

[earthshine]

[ well. shiro has to admit: this round of abduction is considerably less restrictive. it helps when the abductors are working more as employers and thus, have bypassed the slave labor and inhumane experimentation in favor of sending them out to quote save the world. shiro doesn’t doubt adi or their mission -- not fully, at least. he’s seen enough weird shit in the past couple of years to know that normalcy is relative and that the supernatural isn’t a made up concept to sell movies or stories. a healthy level of skepticism for the organization itself is good though, at least in the first couple of weeks until they’ve proven themselves to be exactly who they’ve presented themselves as.

giving them nice living quarters, albeit strict when it comes to rules, and letting them roam the town, as well as the nearby areas is a favorable start to earning more of shiro’s trust. currently, he’s out with keith -- because of course he is -- to familiarize themselves with the kind of environment they’ll be working with for however long this is meant to take. a little ahead of keith on the trail, shiro tips his head to his laugh and glances over his shoulder.

technically, they aren’t on the mission yet. pay attention, don’t become distracted, stay vigilant -- all fall to the wayside for the time being and shiro is caught up in the more relaxed atmosphere of this round of scouting. so he quirks a smile and backtracks. ]

Getting a job is spooky to some people.

[ does that count? he pauses once he reaches keith’s side and then he’s peering down at the map, quickly scanning down that list of gps coordinates to fall on -- ]

Be clean. [ it’s such low-hanging fruit but he goes for the obvious anyway. ] You're lucky it doesn't say be clean cut. Otherwise you'd be getting the heebie jeebies right now, huh?

[marmoron]

[ and there goes keith's sense of humor, expression falling on a decidedly not-pout. ]

Not you too, Shiro.

[ do you know just how many people got on his dang case when they were clothes shopping? gosh, it's like folks here are more focused on being fashion forward than they are about y'know, preventing the apocalypse. allegedly. not that keith's been given a specific reason to think adi's invented a bunch of tall tales, but he's had more than enough experience in dealing with folks not being entirely forthcoming with all the information.

and no. he's not just talking about the galaxy garrison doing a massive cover up of first contact with the galra on kerberos with a bullshit "pilot error" smear job. his thoughts are drifting to allura and coran as well for keeping zarkon's bond to the black lion a secret. but for now that's neither here nor there.

he folds the map back up, shoving it into a pocket, still looking slightly disgruntled. ]

What's wrong with the way I look anyway. [ grump. not that this matters to him, okay. he does't huff, but you can practically hear it anyway as he starts walking into the outskirts of the long abandoned vilage settlement. ]

[earthshine]

[ listen. shiro is a big fan of keith’s chosen hairstyle. the only reason he likes to razz him about it is because of the garrison. sure, galaxy garrison isn’t run like the conservative military compounds of years past, with the uniform haircuts and strict grooming policies. shiro isn’t exactly the poster child for regulatory hair either, not with the flopped mess upfront. but he does own a comb… and uses it daily. speaking of which, he picked up a brush for keith at marshall’s, in case he forgot. he’ll need to remember to give it to keith later.

though, judging by keith’s reaction here, perhaps he should hold off on that indefinitely. the not-pout, which is actually a pout, is fine enough on its own but then keith starts referring to himself as wrong and… -- sure, it’s a throwaway comment, one that could mean nothing. however, shiro’s fairly convinced there’s a kernel of genuine uncertainty there. shiro was there, afterall. at the garrison and through these past months in the castelship. maybe shiro really ought to lay off; keith gets enough people piling on him for inconsequential shit all the time anyway.

so some light damage control it is. briefly jogging until he catches up the few strides, shiro falls into step next to keith and bumps his shoulder to his -- or more specifically, his upper arm to keith’s shoulder. ] Hey. [ sorry, is the real meaning behind the word, the gesture and the smile -- yeah, shiro is turning his head to offer up an apologetic smile. ]

This is coming from someone with mix and match hair. [ self-deprecating humor; nice. he means for it to take the attention off keith and to open himself up for some retaliatory razzing. all in all, his tone is jovial, despite more or less throwing himself under the bus. ] Clearly I have no room to talk when it comes to looks.

[marmoron]

[ by the time there's a bump to his shoulder, the not-pout has let up, even if keith keeps his arms folded. as far as being miffed goes, it's not a mood that really holds up in light of getting to explore his very first ghost settlement. while keith's preferred branch of the paranormal leans heavier towards cryptids, ghosts and spirits still stoke some smidge of curiosity. not that he's convinced that hauntings by the deceased are an actual phenomena, but who knows -- different reality, different rules? and besides, if their own reality has room for quasi-sentient robot lions, then who is keith to go dismissing spirituality and existence on different planes anyway?

he's forcibly taken out of his head though, when shiro's commentary takes on self-deprecating notes. mix and match hair? no room to talk? though keith doesn't come to a stop, he slows enough their strides match up evenly and they're walkiing side by side. shooting shiro a quizzical side glance, he blinks up at the streak of premature white, then turns his gaze back forward.

the first abandoned house is about a hundred yards off, and it can really barely be called a house anymore. the foundations are there, along with three walls that all come up to about three feet tall along with the suggestion of a second floor that's not loonger there if the partly crumbled spiral staircase is any indication.

again though, that's not where keith's focus lands. shiro's hair had come as a bit of a surprise to him that day he rescued his best friend from the garrison, and even now they haven't really talked about it directly. stress is still the best explanation keith has for it, and... well, given the nature of that stress, can keith really be faulted for leaving it be?

but if shiro's bringing it up here and now in a context that suggests he doesn't like it about himself.... ]

I don't think it's anyone's business to comment on your hair. [ keith frowns slightly, tone firm. fuck people who're going to be rude about appearances, okay?? ] ... but do you not like it?

1. Breaking It In

[twistedbones]

I'm curious about that myself.

[Odds are Thackery isn't who Keith was addressing, but all the same the agreement comes from the mouth of a black cat currently sheltering under a chair to avoid getting kicked by accident in the crowd.]

omg i never got this notif, sorrry about the late

[marmoron]

[ okay. so that's definitely a response, but it's coming from underneath the table? he's seen at least one kid running around adi headquarters, so maybe another kid got spooked by talk of monsters?

except when keith glances underneath, he comes face to face with a black cat. ... a talking black cat?? ]

Wait. Was that You talking to me just now?

[ he's skeptical.... but listen close and there's faint excitement underneath it. ]

I would have no leg to stand on re: lateness

[twistedbones]

Yeah, I can talk. You were the one saying we haven't been told enough, weren't you?

[marmoron]

[ .... okay, so this isn't just a talking cat, it's a sassy talking cat. consider keith's day made he laughs. ]

Can't argue with that. I'm Keith. Do you have a name?

closed to Reyes! (belatedly requesting an npc!)

[marmoron]

[ it's the day after the "recon" mission that keith ends up at headquarters, looking for some higher up to speak to. the director would be his preference, but instead he ends up finding reyes.

for now. maybe that's good enough. ]

Okay. I have to know. How many agents from other worlds have died on these missions?

[ straight to the point, apparently. also this line of questioning may or may not be partly fueled by bayard induced paranoia. sorry, reyes.... ]

[apocalypsehownpcs]

[Reyes is looking particularly somber. They're up on the second floor in one of the private offices. The place his a minimalist sort of quality to it with few decorations save a photo on their desk of themself with their arms wrapped around Bonnie. It's this photo that they look at for several seconds before responding.]

More than anyone would like. People native to this place, as well. This is why we make all field missions optional. The kidnappings... this is not a thing that has happened before. We have attacks, one or two maybe, at most. So many at once? No. It doesn't make sense.

[marmoron]

[ the grief is obvious enough that it makes keith pause. he's not necessarily inclined to believe adi's being entirely transparent with every detail, but ... death is a difficult and touchy subject. he unfolds his arms and takes a re-centering breath. ]

So they're getting bolder. [ a beat. ] Or more desperate. Which do you think it is?

[apocalypsehownpcs]

If they are connected to anything? I think there is something else. One of those that was caught before it died said that someone brought them to Essex Bay. They were further up north and they were caught by... something, then just woke up in the Bay and started doing what they always do.

[They tap a thumb against their desk before sighing.]

Someone is looking to cause problems where they weren't before. One of the other cults, perhaps?