apocalypsehowcomm | Event - Material Goods

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Event - Material Goods

Material Goods

➥ By Hook or By Crook

Photo of a white delivery truck waiting outside a building. There is a caucasian driver just visible inside.
(cw: potential for violence, criminal activity, bombs/bomb threats, injury, incarceration, police brutality)

It's not difficult to identify the crates marked for Things of Beauty. They're colorful things, some might even say garish. Whoever chose them has a particular sort of taste, and it seems to be stuck somewhere in the 70s. They're stacked up on one of the docks, waiting to be loaded into delivery trucks by burly dock workers who look alternately annoyed by the hideous crates and disturbed by something about them. Anyone stopping to eavesdrop will hear one of them mention that he heard the crates murmuring. The concerns will be dismissed quickly as they move to load up the trucks, though.

The boat that's brought these over seems… confusingly small, like it's something local, rather than anything international. Getting onto the ship, itself, would be impossible during the day, and it seems to leave after having dropped off the boxes, heading out of port and off to places unknown. Anyone checking the ship's name–The Tarabroo–will quickly find it's not a ship that seems to be appropriately registered. The Tarabroo, as an internet search, does bring up some interesting information about a black hound with two snouts that oozes gasoline and breathes fire. It seems to be a legend associated with the Appalachian region.

There are, of course, many ways to disrupt the supply chain, and while stopping the actual boat that brought things isn't an option, there's slashing tires, incapacitating drivers, and attempting to shift or destroy cargo. However you try to stop things, best be careful not to get caught. There's security on the docks day and night, and they don't take kindly to intruders. You might find yourself boxed, tased, or otherwise incapacitated, if caught, and arrested by the police if a longshoreman doesn't decide to just punt you into the harbor for getting in their way. Enjoy the very icy swim.

Or maybe you're going the more… call in a bomb threat, or a gas leak, or otherwise cause a mess of paperwork route. It's not a simple task, either way. The people dealing with the bureaucracy at the docks seem to be uncannily well-organized and are quick to dismiss obvious lies. There might be more luck with bomb threats and gas leak notices at Things of Beauty, but after one or two, the police are going to catch wise to lies and start looking into exactly who has been making those calls.

For those who are caught, either in the act on the docks or making calls that tie up police resources, you'll find yourself chucked into the city jail for a night, maybe with someone else who was caught. The police seem to have varying degrees of what's considered appropriate use of force against those they catch, especially once they find out they're associated with ADI. You're horning in on their turf and making their lives difficult? How about they leave the lights glaring on you all night while playing some really annoying music and taking away any semblance of comfort? If you got arrested by a particularly angry officer, you might even end up with some bruises or a bloody nose for your trouble, before you're released.

➥ Comfortably Numb

Photo of a caucasian hand pinching what appears to be a phone case made out of pale flesh/skin.
(cw: body horror, injury (hands/arms), bleeding, mouths where there should not be mouths, supernatural drugging/apathy)

Despite best efforts, at least some of the product intended for Things of Beauty do actually make it there. Not many, but a small amount. ADI is tasking volunteers with the mission of acquiring whatever product has made it into the hands of the public… by whatever means necessary. (Which will likely amount to stealing.)

What is the product? Well, it appears to be… phone cases that have the approximate appearance and texture of flesh. Maybe even human flesh. With so much apparently persuasive marketing ahead of time for a product that will “change lives”, the fight to acquire one of these phone cases is intense and people are paying absurdly high prices for them. Those that aren’t able to buy the phone cases from the store itself can be seen offering even more money to those walking away with the precious goods.

Their efforts are all apparently in vain, though. Once someone has their hands on a phone case, they seem to be even more obsessed with it than they were with obtaining it. Any attempts to get them to relinquish the object–either legally or through less honest means–are rebuffed. They also appear to be very reluctant to let the cases physically leave their hands as well.

Even when the cases start growing mouths. Toothy mouths that are employed to bite at their hands. If people notice this disturbing occurrence, they don’t appear to care at all and continue to jealously guard their possession even as it makes a mess of their hands. Victims of these cases can be identified by the blood covering their hands, if they don’t happen to be holding on to the case.

Tracking down and retrieving all the cases will take a few weeks. It also poses a bit of a logistical challenge. Seeing the victims being utterly unaware or uncaring of their mangled hands doesn’t make any sense… until you physically come into contact with one of the cases. Then the reason becomes crystal clear (or will become crystal clear, in hindsight.) Touching them–even with gloved or otherwise protected hands–quickly begins to produce both an obsession with keeping possession of the object and an indifference to pain of all kinds, including emotional. Disposing of them becomes unthinkable, which poses something of a challenge for the mission characters have been given. However, if the cases are taken out of a person’s possession, both the numbing and possessive effects quickly wear off. They can then be destroyed or even just thrown away. Hopefully where no one else will be able to find them again.

➥ Feed Me, Kahlil

Photo of a bloodied, dark-skinned hand reaching out in supplication.
(cw: severe emotional distress, emotional blackmail, internalized victim blaming, kidnapping, injury (hands/arms))

Things are not beautiful at Things of Beauty. In the days leading up to the launch the proprietor, Kahlil Nassir, sporadically haunts the place with a wide-eyed, tearful look and bandaged hands he tries to hide under long sleeves, his presence peppering the place with outbursts at complaining customers and his own numb, blank-faced employees alike. Weirder than that, perhaps, is how often he isn't seen around his shop at the height of the new product launch and the days following. ADI's investigations department has been having trouble sniffing out just where he's been going; it appears that he hasn't gone home in at least half a week by the time they finally give up on subtlety.

On the morning of January 18th, Kahlil is hauled kicking and screaming into an interrogation room on floor B1 of ADI headquarters. It seems that a pair of native ADI investigators took it upon themselves to stake out Things of Beauty and caught him pulling into the alley behind the shop several hours before opening time. He was driving a car that wasn't his own and that investigators suspect might be stolen, and at the time they apprehended him they also confiscated several cardboard boxes full of more fleshy phone cases that had been in the car's trunk.

This rather heavy-handed approach has not been immediately fruitful. Kahlil is clearly terrified but has been refusing to answer questions. Tensions are high at ADI; not all staff believe that bringing him in was the correct move, and removing him from the situation doesn't seem likely to have completely cut off the supply chain or sales of the phone cases. He's here now, though, and information is needed. Anyone who thinks they can get him to talk will be allowed to try, though higher ups make it clear that torture is not permitted.

➥ The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary

Black and white drawing of the legendary cryptid, the Vegetable Lamb of tartary. It is a medieval-esque rendering with a sheep propped up on a thick stem that originates at its belly.
(cw: body horror, uncanny valley, pregnancy imagery, loss of skin, implied animal death, implied human death, unsanitary conditions, self-doubt/body image issues)

The warehouse is virtually silent when people enter. No sounds of industrial machinery, no signs that anyone is there, just the low hum of electric lighting and a heater running. The entryway appears to be utterly unremarkable, and it's not until moving deeper in that people might begin to notice something off. It starts with a smell, the scent of rotten, putrid meat, and the deeper into the heart of the warehouse one travels, the more pronounced that scent grows. The walls, too, take on a moist, unpleasant sheen, turning from an industrial gray to something that looks almost… living, flesh-like. Touching the walls, people will find they feel warm and quiver slightly. It's like touching the inside of a mouth. The doorways, too, seem to be warped, appearing to be more like gullets than anything else. They squeeze inward whenever someone passes through, shrinking just a tiny bit more with each passage. If there are too many people going in, they may find it significantly harder than they expected to leave.

There's a sound in the air, carried faintly through vents, and growing louder as people move toward the center of the warehouse. It's a bleating sound, like there are animals being kept in this place. Finally entering into a large central room, the source of the sound becomes clear: This room is infested floor-to-ceiling with what at first appear to be plants with fuzzy white flowers. They're roughly the size of fists, and in the form of giant puffballs on thick, glistening green stalks. The bleating is louder in this room and seems to be coming from the flowers. Anyone checking closer will find that the flowers are actually malformed lambs, their stalks more like umbilical cords growing out of their stomachs, propping them up.

All around the room, there are scattered evidence of animals being fed to the lambs. Blood and bits of bone are visible in the field of flesh. For the keen-eyed, they might also spot what appears to be some blood-stained clothes and larger bones.

The lambs will nip at anyone reaching for them, and those who manage to pick one up without being bitten will be in for an unpleasant surprise. The lambs split open, once they're 'picked,' sloughing off their skins and transforming into… the phone flesh cases being sold at Things of Beauty. These 'freshly formed' phone cases seem to have a different effect than their packaged and shipped counterparts. Instead of biting, they whisper.

They whisper your deepest insecurity into your mind. They promise they can take that away if you just hold them, if you just feed them. Unfortunately, these early stage phone cases haven't developed a numbing effect, yet, and when they bite, it hurts, but maybe it's worth if for them to be able to take away the thing plaguing you most?

Those not waylaid by the cases will have a tricky time dealing with the plants themselves. They don't seem to respond to being burned with fires fizzling out on their uncomfortably moist bodies and within the warehouse that pulses almost like it's a living thing itself. There are other options, though. Poison maybe? Hacking them to pieces? Eating them? The warehouse has all of the standard safety equipment one might think of. How would you go about murdering a field of fleshy flowers that grows back at a disturbingly rapid pace? The lambs seem to be able to regrow from any part of a live plant.

➥ 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. Please remember that character deaths are permanent and plan accordingly!
BY HOOK OR BY CROOK (15-16 January) - Information on the Tarabroo as a cryptid is sparse, but stories seem to tie its appearance to disasters involving mines, particularly anything where a collapse or explosion led to the release of a tailings pond. These ponds hold the poisonous cast offs generated during mining operations and are highly toxic. When they break and run downstream, it can poison a landscape for miles.

Anyone attempting to look into the crates at the docks will get a sneak preview of the flesh phone cases, but not have time to really do much with them.

In terms of the dock disruptions, players are encouraged to get creative! Not every officer will be abusive if your character ends up arrested, but some will be. Characters will be held overnight, then released with a fine ranging from $500-$2,000. No complaints to the police from those who are jailed will be taken seriously, but ADI will help to pay fines... provided you're working with them regularly.
COMFORTABLY NUMB (16-31 January) - The effects of the phone cases are not instantaneous, but they do come on quickly enough that characters attempting to steal and dispose of them on their own will have serious difficulties in accomplishing the second part of the task. The phones can be dealt with in any way that destroys them except for the use of fire (thus neutralizing their effect) or brought into ADI for disposal. (Or they just can be thrown away, though that does run the risk of them being rediscovered and is not ADI’s preference.)
FEED ME, KAHLIL (18 January) - Characters will have the opportunity to talk to Kahlil in this prompt. Please respond to the NPC Threads comment below for responses from him. Shortly after he's brought in, investigations reveal that the car he was driving belongs to Hakeem Williams, a retired bank teller who was reported missing last week. Legally-minded individuals might realize that a private investigations company like ADI "taking Kahlil into custody" constitutes kidnapping–Kahlil is certainly aware of that fact.
THE VEGETABLE LAMB OF TARTARY (18-19 January) - While the vegetable lambs' whispering will mainly focus on body image insecurities, if your character does not have those, they will hear the lambs whispering about other insecurities that plague them. Fire is the only option that will not work to kill the lambs, and they're numerous enough that no one person will be able to wipe them all out, whatever method they're using. Once the lambs are killed, the walls of the factory will revert to normal walls. Until then, they will appear to be uncomfortably close to real flesh and will bleed if cut. The 'blood' that comes out will appear to be putrid, black, and corrosive.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[As much as Beau follows a moral code, this wouldn't be the first time she was responsible (directly or indirectly) for kidnapping someone. Whoever this guy is, he has to know something, and if he's being haunted by something maybe they can offer some kind of deal or protection to keep it at bay. Whatever the reason, the best thing Beau does is find the truth, and she's going to.

Which is why as soon as she gets clearence, she's sauntering in, pen behind her ear and notebook in hand.]

Hey. Kahlil, right? I know it's probably stupid to say this is a decently safe place to talk, but it's the best you've got right now, so I'd go with it if I were you.

[He eyes her warily, hands resting on the table but his knuckles white where they grip one another.]

You're not the police. You can't do this to me. Let me go, I won't tell anyone, I just have to get back to--I have to go. You have to let me go.

[She just sighs a bit, sitting down opposite him and removing the pen from her ear.]

Yeah, yeah, we're not. But I don't think you want them in on this. Not with all those skin cases on you that would start biting them.

[Beau looks towards him, serious but level. It's going to take a lot to get this guy to trust her, but if she has to get violent, she probably can.]

I dunno what other people have said to you, but it sounds like to me you're just a guy in over your head with some dangerous stuff. We can help with that.

I don't have anything like that on me. You people took all my stuff, remember?

[His stuff meaning those cardboard boxes full of fleshy phone cases. Yep.]

Say I believe you. Why should I trust you?

[Yeah. The stuff. Beau gives him an up-and-down, scrunching her mouth a little.]

I mean, unless you know someone who's going to come jailbreak you out, I dunno how you think you're winning on this unless you make yourself valuable. And that means contributing. This is why people make agreements before they go on trial.

[She doesn't exactly know the word 'plea deal', but she's thinking it.]

Oh, am I going to get a trial?

[Arms crossed, he gives her just the most unimpressed look.]

I told the others what they wanted to know. If I'm not valuable after that...kind of seems like I'm screwed, doesn't it? Because look, if you can think of anything else that'd help I'm kind of done holding out, here, but I don't want to end up dead in a ditch once you don't need me anymore.

Look, I'm usually the type not to do this, but I'm gonna be honest with you- I have no fucking idea. It sure wasn't my idea to drag you in here after jacking your place either. But what I do have a say in is what I write in here.

[She points to the notepad, as if that wasn't obvious.]

You've gotta have some motivation. If somebody put you up to this, now's the time to sell them out. Or, you make sure this never happens again to anyone else. I want to know your story, Kahlil. And you're running out of time to tell it.

Jacking my...what have they done to the shop?!

[That's got him worried. He loses the sarcastic attitude, back to worried immediately.]

I told the others--it was this guy Ignatius von Brandt. He set me up with that, that company, sent me the plants. Wouldn't take the money back even if I'd had it.

[Oh, and here Beau meant his car. Happy coincidence.]

So why you, Kahlil? How did you meet 'this guy' and how did he trust you with whatever this stuff is? You had to have talked to him.

[Or written, or some kind of log. She kind of doubts he'd just hand them out to anyone, but it would make him harder to trace.]

How did he trust me--

[Kahlil lets out a bitter laugh.]

He was nice at first, came into the shop a couple times, asked me how business was going. He made it sound like he was setting me up with a loan, like it was just...just money. I guess you could call it trust when he started blackmailing me to do what he wanted. It'd kill my mom if I lost the shop. But then, I'm pretty sure he'd kill both me and my mom himself.

[She is writing this down, but her eyes are staying close to him, trying to keep the conversation going.]

So he just picked you. Found you and thought you'd be a good mark for him. Gotta say, surprised you're not selling him out sooner if your life is on the line. Unless... you think he'd come for you?

I guess? I don't know why he chose me.

[But the way his shoulders slump, it's pretty clear Kahlil knows he was an easy mark.]

Sell him out to who? It's not like I could go to the police with--with bloodthirsty potted plants. They'd think I was nuts. I don't know what he's going to do now, but I'm not expecting some kind of rescue, if that's what you mean.

I mean, us. You can sell him out to us.

[She makes a note of the fact that he doesn't think he's walking out of here, which gives her at least a couple of options.]

So what's his deal, anyway? Just spread chaos? Do you know anything else about him, what he does, where he lives?

I can now. You know that from where I've been standing, you people looked just as dangerous as him, right? I know you had people come to the shop. And then your people kidnapped me, remember?

[He shakes his head.]

I don't think he's from Gloucester. I hadn't seen him before he showed up last fall.

Alright, alright, point taken. I forget this place doesn't have the reputation of my old job.

[Where she could just flash that she's with the ~Cobalt Soul~ and people would trust her. Sucks that it no longer flies.]

We've heard he's got some ties to a few other cities, so we doubt it too. But this has been going on that long? Six months or so?

What, are you some kind of ex-cop?

[He nods.]

Since...August? It was a while after that when things got bad, but that's when I met von Brandt.

Eh, not really. More like an investigator. It's a long story.

[Meanwhile, she's writing down that information, trying to put more together in her mind. It's obvious by now that Kahlil is just a puppet, and that... sucks, actually. But maybe they can work with it.]

I know you don't have reason to trust us. But if you could help us bring this guy in, we could really get somewhere. Stop this from happening to anyone else. I'm not gonna sit here and say everything's going to be the same or it's not dangerous, but you could make a difference in all this.

I'm pretty sure I've already told you all enough that he'll kill me if he finds out. And it's not like I like the guy.

[He lets out a mirthless laugh.]

It's just...my mom. I can't let her get hurt by this. I think he might go after her instead of me.

[She hums, thinking over it, because what he says makes sense, and it would suck.]

We could bring her in too, I guess. Or at least help with some added security. Not, uh, not like we brought you in, we're not going to suplex your mom.

[Eugh, she's probably making promises she shouldn't be. Beau shakes her head a moment as if to clear it.]

Unless he really wanted to punish you somehow, there's no reason for him to go after her. Especially if you're already facing repurcussions by being in here. But depending on how things go I don't think it's unreasonable to offer you help with all this.

I'd rather she just...if she could be safe just not knowing, that seems better? She's all the way down in Florida since she retired and gave me the shop. She doesn't know...I don't think she knows anything's going on. I don't want her to get mixed up in all of this.

[He lets out a wry chuckle.]

And I really don't want you to suplex her.

I'm not going to go all the way to Florida to suplex your mom. Not even if I hated you.

[Said with a tone of humor in her voice, as well. She has no idea where Florida is, but like, it's probably far by the way he's talking about it. She'll reference a map later.]

Well, look. Personally, I think this has been pretty helpful. And I didn't have to threaten to snap you in half or anything, so. Better than a lot of other people I've talked to. You got anything else you want to go on record about all this? Or just to me.

[The weak smile fades as he lets out a thoughtful sigh. Brow furrowing, he thinks it over.]

Just...I didn't mean for any of this to happen. And if you haven't already destroyed those cases you took, you need to do that.

Oh, yeah, we're not keeping those.

[She goes to stop, and then actually holds a second.]

Actually, quick question on that, do you know how to get rid of 'em? You ever tried?

I mean...I tried. They don't burn. You can...well, you can smash them, sort of, but it's...messy.

[Beau gives him a little nod as if to say 'well that's fair' and scribbles that down.]

Hey, anything helps. And seriously, thanks for talking it out and making it easy. You're not that bad a dude.

[That's not...the most comforting, but it's one of the nicer things she's said in her life, so it'll have to be good enough.]

See you around, Kahlil.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event - Material Goods

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would you like to forward date this to after his threads with Aelwyn and Meredith below?

yeah let's go with that since I disappeared for a bit LMAO

I mean you've got good timing since I was gone all last week

well that works then!!

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