Event - Heavy

[apocalypsehowmods]

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Heavy

➥ Deep

(cw: claustrophobia, existential dread, power loss, victim-blaming, time distortion, supernatural compulsion and hunger)

After the cold snap and plumbing issues comes the calm. For a few days, at least, nothing seems to break. Or break more than normal where the Flophouse is concerned. A heavy snow sweeps through and covers the streets. Not a blizzard, but thick white fluff that forms a blanket overnight. The snowplows aren't prepared and it's simply… quiet. People stay indoors, waiting for the weather to clear a bit. There are light flurries throughout the next few days, topping off the snowfall, and for the most part, the city just shuts down.

Even ADI puts out a notice that employees should stay home. Stay safe, stay cocooned in what warmth you have. Just… stay. Each day the message comes out from a generic work email, help@adi.com:

Shelter in place. No work today. Stay safe. We'll get by without you.

The next day is the same. The snow piles higher overnight, covering windows and freezing doors shut.

Shelter in place. No work today. Stay safe. We're s̴̳͘͠ͅt̶̨͂̍r̵̯̼͊͝ŭ̷͚̳g̶̠͋̓g̴̳̱̔͘l̸̤̻̎i̷̭͑͠ń̵̗͜͝g̷̤͂, but we'll get by.

Day after day. Frost creeps into the corridors of the ADI housing complex and the Flophouse. There is no food or other supplies coming and it feels like the hours are stretching out more and more.

Shelter in place. No work today. S̴̬̓t̸͉̿a̴̫̿ỳ̸͉ ̸̠̉s̸̲͆a̶͙͊f̶̢̏ē̷̤. We can't keep doing this, but we have to.

Attempts to leave the housing areas will be met with walls of snow that appear to be impossibly high. Around the flophouse, especially, it's as though they've been placed into the bottom of an icy hole. The walls stretch up higher than anyone can climb or fly, with only a pinprick of bluish light coming down from the opening above, deeper than anyone can dig through. Not even a magical portal or beam of heat can get through. There's just a wall of snow and/or ice through the portal and more snow beyond the beam. What's more, anyone who has supernatural abilities or is tied to a patron, even those not actively trying to feed that patron, will find themselves feeling increasingly drained, like something is sapping away whatever reserves they have, leaving them hungrier and hungrier, their powers waning by the minute, with a very limited set of options to feed upon.

S̸͉͗ḣ̷̦ȩ̵͒l̷͈̍t̸͎̽e̵̺̓ř̵̠ in place. No work today. S̴̬̓t̸͉̿a̴̫̿ỳ̸͉ ̸̠̉s̸̲͆a̶͙͊f̶̢̏ē̷̤. Why aren't they coming? This is their fault.

S̶͔͆h̸̅ͅȅ̴̮l̵̬̈́t̷̯́e̴̥̐ř̷̙ ̶̳̕ì̷̲n̵͓͌ ̷̮̋p̵̟̈́l̶̢̎a̷̺͠c̷̻̈́ḙ̵̊.̷̦̇ ̴̬̀N̸͕͌o̵͎̊ work today. S̴̬̓t̸͉̿a̴̫̿ỳ̸͉ ̸̠̉s̸̲͆a̶͙͊f̶̢̏ē̷̤. Why aren't ỹ̸̡͐ͅô̷͕̫ù̶̟̣͊ coming? Ḟ̴͓i̷̤͗x̶̨͝ ̴̜͒t̵̯̅h̴͔͛i̸͖̽s̶̱̚!

((ooc: Plain text versions of all messages are located here (LINK). You can also hover your mouse over the distorted text for hover text translations.))

➥ Chasm

(cw: warped perceptions, memory-loss, implied trauma, supernaturally-induced feelings of missing out)

You've missed a step.

After what seems an interminable time, someone is finally able to tunnel through, to get out of the massive snowy prison everyone has been trapped in and-

And the city looks normal. Checking the wall you just came through, it's not actually there. As soon as one person makes it out, the effect collapses for everyone. There's a wintry wonderland of Gloucester beyond, and it seems like things have gone on without everyone. But there is a sense in the air that something has happened, something earth-shattering that everyone missed out on.

People on the streets seem to have a look about them. Haunted? Something happened, but when they're questioned about it, they can't seem to come up with an answer as to what. They just seem… confused, overwhelmed. Yes, something happened. No, they can't tell you what. Weren't you here for it? Didn't you see it? Didn't you feel it? How could you have missed something that big?

That feeling will sit with characters as time passes, dragging down on them. It may even begin to feel like a physical weight for the most affected. You missed it. You could have done something to change things, but you missed it.

➥ Stuck

(cw: flooding; natural disasters; damage to homes, workplaces, and possessions; references to burial, suffocation, crushing, and murder; supernaturally induced anxiety, responsibility fatigue, and feelings of inadequacy; illness.)

The feeling of having missed something only intensifies back at ADI headquarters. It looks as though the storm itself attacked the building; several exterior doors have been broken off their hinges, ice expanded within the metal past its breaking point, and the expansive water damage and muck ground into the carpets, walls, and battered elevators conjure images of an indoor avalanche…or a glacier pushing its way through, slow but biting cold and utterly inexorable.

There's no time to dwell on what's happened, on the days of hunger and isolation nor whatever disaster occurred here. There's too much to do, too much to fix, one crisis after another. There's the obvious problem: the need to repair the building and proof it against the cold wind that still blows in across the foyer, but no matter one's work area there is more to do than can be done. Endless requests and projects flood in from every quarter, all of them urgent, all of them important. As soon as one thing is finished, three more problems emerge: contracts to manage, investigations to be made into reported phenomena, glitching computers to repair, vandals to repel from the gaping wound that is the lobby entrance in the middle of the night–the list goes on, and on, and on.

Rumors circulate, stories about a prisoner in the depths of the building's secret basements who disappeared into the crushing ice and grit that had filled the cells, disagreements about whether it was a rescue or if the unnamed prisoner was suffocated, snuffed out by some indiscriminately vengeful force. No one seems to know the truth; no one even seems to know the name of the prisoner, who they were, what they had done to end up there. No one has the time to look too deeply into it; even head of security Neil Grace, is caught leaping from task to task, never catching up long enough to turn his attention to the matter in any meaningful capacity.

The struggle to keep up, the futile effort to keep one's head above water, never relents. No matter one's priorities at work or at home, something is always wrong, always in need of attention, the knowledge of things undone needling at the edge of consciousness like a toothache in one's soul. The Flophouse is in a disastrous state worse even than ADI headquarters, a wild-eyed Bonnie all but pouncing on residents with an endless list of tasks to fix it, to make the building livable again. At the ADI apartments, exhausted caretaker Benny Holt seems to traipse up and down the halls at all hours of the day and night with his toolbelt, gaunt and exhausted and tapping at doors in reply to requests to fix plumbing, lighting, and water damage that never seem to stay fixed. Local staff and interdimensional residents alike begin to fall ill, bodies and minds burning out under the strain, but giving yourself time to rest and heal means piling more work on those around you.

There is no time. There is no rest. There is only the work you are failing to complete.

➥ Sink

(cw: claustrophobia, suffocation or near-suffocation)

As if that isn’t enough, there’s still investigative work to be done. Once again, it seems as if Coffins Beach is a site of interest, as ADI has been tipped off that there might be something (or things) in the water. Again.

For safety’s sake - and perhaps to make sure that no one collapses out there alone - pairs are sent out to the beach to keep an eye on the water and to see if anything interesting has washed up. Orders are to both watch the water and walk along the beaches and through the dunes nearby.

Watching the water doesn't seem to yield any results, no matter how long it's observed. Nothing washes ashore either. But then there's the dunes. Sooner or later, it seems like climbing them and walking among them is all there is to do. Anyone who has spent any time at Coffins Beach might notice that they seem a bit larger than they have been in months past. Not inconceivably, but noticeably. There are dunes tall enough to scale the sides up to the top, though some are still no more than little mounds.

It doesn't matter which, when you fall into it. Small hill or gentle mound, one minute you’re walking on the surface. The next minute, as you put your foot down, it begins to sink. It can't be sinking, of course, sand dunes on a beach don't have quicksand. They’re nothing but dense piles of sand. You can't fall into a sand dune.

You are falling into a sand dune. There’s a hole in the sand, just wide enough for your body and you have fallen into it. Perhaps you're a little bit lucky and your partner witnessed it. Maybe you aren't and you suddenly just disappear. It's a long fall, though, down a tube of sand that seems hard-packed around the edges. At first. The drop is just far enough that light can be seen from above, but not the top of the hole itself. Call out. You might be heard. And maybe your partner is already trying to get you out.

But the moment you hit the bottom, it seems like the hole becomes unstable. Especially if someone is above and trying to reach down. Even if they're not, though, sand begins to crumble from the edges and sides of the tunnel, falling down on the body trapped at the bottom of it. A slow trickle, not a burial. Not yet. Still, it could be, if rescue doesn't come, if the person left up above can't dig you out. Meanwhile, the sand falls and falls, pressing down on limbs and creeping up your body. It’s cold and struggling only seems to make the sand fall faster.

Surely you’ll be rescued before it covers you completely. Or soon after. Surely.

➥ 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 prompts should be sufficient and ordinary people will act like… ordinary people! You're welcome to make up any details beyond that for your specific scene. Please remember that character deaths are permanent and plan accordingly!
  
  
• DEEP (16-20 February) - Characters will be trapped in their homes for five days, confined to either the Flophouse or the individual apartment buildings within the ADI complex. It will feel like significantly longer, even for characters with fully accurate internal clocks. Travel outside of these bounds will be impossible, even with the use of supernatural abilities. The network will be fully operational; though, not the regular internet or anything beyond the internal ADI network. Characters will also receive periodic messages from help@adi.com begging for help, even as they order everyone to shelter in place.
  
  Characters who are outside their homes when the snow starts will find they're able to get inside just fine, but will not be able to get out again. Characters may be trapped with people who are not their standard roommates/at their usual housing, if they're unlucky (or lucky).
  
  
• CHASM (21-24 February) - The first character(s) to break through the snow barrier will feel an especially powerful weight fall upon them before there's suddenly just… nothing. The snow walls are gone. Even if another character was in the middle of digging through, the snow is just there one minute, then gone the next. Characters will experience a profound sense that they have missed something. This may dissipate within a day or maintain over several days. Anyone trying to question residents of the city will receive confusion and incredulity, but no answers. There is no indication that anyone seemed to notice the walls of snow. Even some of the natives at ADI will be perplexed. All non-native NPCs and some native NPCs will have experienced the same thing as the PC characters.
  
  
• STUCK (21-28 February) - The need to be doing more than they can will be ever-present for all NPCs and player characters. Those who would choose to eschew responsibilities at work or try to reprioritize will find that there is always something in need of doing that is important to them, to the point where new problems may seem to arise in impossibly, almost cartoonishly quick succession. Tasks and problems can be mundane matters related to work, building repair, and living spaces; as well as minor supernatural occurrences similar to past Dogtown TDM prompts (players are welcome to make up small supernatural encounters; anything that would affect other characters beyond a single thread should be submitted as a player plot). Characters may find themselves feeling mentally foggy and struggling to focus on core issues in the face of this inundation of needs from the people and environment around them, and may fall sick from overwork. These effects will overlap with both the Chasm and Sink prompts.
  
  
• SINK (24-28 February) - Characters who find themselves falling into one of the dunes will end up in what appears to be a vertical tunnel that is definitely too high to climb back out of, regardless of how tall the dune actually seemed to be when they were on top of it. The temperature of the sand is very cold and in addition to possible suffocation, characters may find themselves slowly freezing. Struggling or rescue attempts will quickly make the walls of the tunnel unstable. Additionally, the tunnel may not be exactly straight, depositing characters slightly or more than slightly off of their original falling point.
  
  

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Comments

yes good

[twicelost]

Damned snow wall. Katrina glares at it, taking a moment to rethink her approach. Her focus widens from this obstacle to the rest of her surroundings, for threats or opportunities.

That's when she notices Bruno, just at the edge of her perception. The smallest shift, the tiniest sound, and she knows it's him. She knows because he's been... braver, she would say. Sneakier, and sneakiness requires a measure of bravery. Especially from him, the roommate who seems to startle if she so much as looks at him. Something about all of this has made him braver, in the same way that it has made her feel uneasy, more aware of the fragility of life.

"Bruno."

She turns in hos direction, even though she expects just her voice has made him hide out of her sight.

"You came for help climb?"

[thedoctorsmate]

Donna heads out onto the beach, and the sand creaks in a way that's just a bit disturbing. Like they're walking across old hinges that need a bit of oil. She tries not to let it get to her as she glances out to the shoreline. They're supposed to be looking for things in the water, supposedly. She does look back at his question, though.

"Yeah, he's, um... I guess it's a sort of PhD thing? He's not human. Dunno his real name, but that's what he goes by. The Doctor. Reckon it's stuck long enough, probably counts for his real name at this point."

[thedoctorsmate]

"Wha-! We're three stories up! Get back here. Don't you dare!" She's scrambling to her feet now, moving to try to grab Callisto and stop her going out.

[demonicmiracle]

If he's being honest, he's less interested in actually spotting something, and more eager for the opportunity to stretch his legs and get away from all the strange shit going on at ADI headquarters.

Half-assing things is kind of his brand, anyway.

And what Donna says is more interesting than some nonsense happening in the water. He glances at her a little sharply, with obvious interest. "What sort of not human?"

Stuck

[thedoctorsmate]

The door. Unless you just poofed in out of thin air, then-

[...]

Did you pop out of thin air? People do that here.

[She had when she'd first arrived, after all.]

[thedoctorsmate]

That tone earns him a longer side-eye. She's been open about the Doctor up until this point, though, and he's with ADI. There doesn't seem to be much danger in telling him. Not like he'd be doing himself any favors if he tried to out the man if he ever turned up. "Alien sort. Had any run-ins yourself?"

[demonicmiracle]

The tension that had quickly crept in disappears at Donna's answer; it isn't another demon with the same corporation as him. Which was a silly fear, considering how eagerly he was greeted when mistaken for this Doctor. No one gets that excited about seeing a demon.

"We don't really do that kind of thing where I'm from." He doesn't know about Newt's run in with the aliens, but that was Adam's doing, so it probably doesn't count anyway.

There's more he could say, and he hesitates for a second, fussing idly with his sleeve, not sure how much he should reveal. If Donna hangs out with someone who's an alien, though, she probably won't freak out too much. "But I'm not exactly human, either."

[thedoctorsmate]

She stops walking and turns to look at him again, giving him a long, scrutinizing once over. "If you tell me you're a Time Lord, too, and you all regenerate into the same set of bodies, I swear to god. First? That's really creepy! Like out of this world creepy. Second? Why?

"I know he already lopped off his hand and got another one. You're not... hand... brothers, or something, are you?"

[demonicmiracle]

Those were... a series of words that Crowley theoretically understands individually, but that make absolutely no sense when he tries to conceptualize what the Heaven she's talking about. Time Lords and hands and some other nonsense???

"No — I — wh — you — what?" The tripping over his words in confusion is probably, also, familiar. "I mean, I've had this same body a couple times, but not like whatever the deuce you're going on about."

He assumes.

[musicdied]

"It gets easier with practice. I promise. And I'm always here to help, if you have something you need to talk through with someone."

She's silent for a moment, studying him as she puts her own thoughts in order.

"Thank you," she finally says. "I won't hug you, because I know that much touch is overwhelming, but - thank you."

Deep

[graveyounglady]

Aye.

[Mercy has a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, even with her thick coat on, but seeing this girl... she pulls it off and offers it to Mirabel.]

Here. You look colder'n I feel. What are you doing out here on the steps? Rooming with someone who's going... stircrazing?

[That is how she is choosing to interpret Aelwyn wanting to keep away from her. Yes. It's not something worse. Just... just being cooped up.]

[worthallthis]

"You're my team. What you need is important," Winter assures her. Besides, she'll help him figure out what Entity has him, and how to stop. He can't do that if he's scaring her all the time.

Then, squaring his shoulders a little against the couch as if preparing for a mission, he adds, "Including a hug. If you need one."

He pauses, then admits, "Just maybe. Not for long." He can do it, but it's not comfortable.

[lesbeau]

[Don't worry, Beau's response is also more pissed than scared. Sure, this isn't an ideal situation and she doesn't love being in this hole right now, but she's far from trembling. Frankly, more than anything, she's grumbling to herself as she tries to stay steady.]

One minute, one fucking minute I wanna get some view on the situation and it's the fucking sand! It's the goddamn sand! Everything is so fucked I swear I'm gonna--

[Wait, why is she sinking? Beau tries to grip harder at the sides, putting the pressure to suspend herself between them, but despite it seeming hard packed it's just... not stopping. It's moving like water, no traction, no stopping.]

Something's not-- it's not moving like sand! It's a trap!

[oldbookshop]

[ Easy come, easy go, as answers are concerned. Well. Easy go, anyway. It was always a bit of a long shot. Everyone is so occupied.

Case in point, this young man (in the sense that Aziraphale feels everyone is young, comparatively) with the ladle. ]

I'm so sorry, but I haven't. [ He thinks? ] Unless it's a good thing that I haven't, in which case I don't think I'd be especially sorry. Unless you're looking to exterminate, in which case I absolutely can't directly contribute.

[ He has maybe not been asked if he's happened to see rats around within the past calendar century. ]

But I don't expect you'd be wielding a ladle for that sort of thing.

[oldbookshop]

[ A point both practical and valid. Championic. ]

I certainly hope I haven't. Went through the orientation a few weeks ago and it's still a mess sorting things out. [ Being humanish is inconvenient at nearly all turns. Untenable. ]

But if I've come through the door it must be for a reason. Suppose I have something to deliver. You've already been instrumental, my dear, thank you.

[ He sets his stack of files on the nearest empty table and starts flipping through them. This is now a temporarily shared office. ]

[oldbookshop]

[ Aziraphale: I think I want to break you and mentally and spiritually consume you which is a problem.

Crowley: This awaken something in me to be dealt with later. ]

I seem to recall... [ Recall...... recall what. No, he knows. He just needs a minute.

It's dreadful when bickering takes up energy like this. Is Crowley struggling? Must be. He was just quite injured. All the more reason to make him see reason faster.

Stubborn thing. ]

I seem to recall you noting that the both of us are in a bit of a pickle. Now, if you've got nowhere to run and you can't use me to-- to handle things in turn. Which I do believe you've also said.

[ Local tired pedant trying to divest brain cell rights.

This is no fun. Go figure. ]

Well, I think that rather does leave you at a tactical disadvantage.

[demonicmiracle]

[Shockingly, the implication that Aziraphale could physically overpower him does not help with the 'I hope this doesn't awaken anything in me' problem, but if the past couple of millennia have taught Crowley anything, it's how not to get distracted by how he feels about Aziraphale.]

If I didn't know how to handle someone more powerful than me, I'd not have lasted those first few years in Hell.

[It's an underhanded tactic, to use this particular argument, because it just so happens to be something he doesn't ever talk about, especially not to Aziraphale. When he talks about Hell, it's to complain about paperwork or assignments or Hastur popping up announced. Sometimes he'll mention the threat of Hell, but he never talks about how bad it really is, or what it used to be like.

So this is brand new information, offered up on a platter.

He draws his legs up to sit cross-legged on the sofa, as if settling in, getting comfortable.]

Don't forget that I'm good at my job, Aziraphale.

[For all the laziness and complaining, when he sets his mind to it, he knows how to tempt someone, how to convince them to just give in to what they want.

What Aziraphale wants is to feed, and Crowley knows him better than he's known any human he's tempted.]

[bossyboiler]

"Not right now," Kate replies in an even tone. She doesn't want or require anyone's help. She is the cook after all. The kitchen is her domain and woe to anyone who disturbs her domain.

"Unless you're not hungry right now... I can put it off." Kate isn't worried about Yelena. Yelena always seems to have an appetite

[myfavoritemurder]

"Hey!" Callisto protests, as if Donna is being the unreasonable one here; she jerks her arm away, aiming a sharp elbow at her abdomen.

"It's not like I'm trying to take you with me."

Let her jump out the window in peace, Donna; god.

[myfavoritemurder]

Quicksand!

[Callisto guesses immediately, because, well - guess what she has personal experience with. She doesn't have rope, or a whip, or anything else that she could toss down for Beau to grab onto, but she does have... hmmm.

Less than a minute later, one end of a makeshift "rope" will be thrown Beau's way. It's fashioned out of Callisto's coat and snowpants, tied leg-to-arm.]

[bloodalwaystells]

"False reports wouldn't surprise me given the past few days, but we should be sure," he says absently, gaze going back to the water for a moment before returning to the sand. Searching, watching, and expecting...well, he's not sure what to expect, except that it might be nothing and it might be a disaster in the making.

Being sucked underground? It wouldn't be the first time, though the dunes look too tightly packed to house anything underneath. He takes a few steps toward the banks of sand, his sensible boots leaving heavy tread behind.

Almost as an afterthought, he grabs his camera and snaps off a few shots, turning in a slow circle to capture the shore, the dunes, the general landscape around them. If there's nothing in them of interest? Maybe they'll make a pretty postcard. He lets the camera fall to its strap again after a minute, and then indicates the higher ground with a tilt of his head.

"We can make a circle, and if nothing shows, come back later to see if anything else has changed."

[musicdied]

"It's not a need," she says, the corners of her lips quirking upwards in a small smile. The fear has receded - not entirely gone, but abated to concern that cannot quite be considered food by entities that feed on genuine dread.

"It was more...a way of expressing affection without actually grabbing you. Because you're not just my team, you're my family."

[lesbeau]

[See, this is the part where it gets confusing, because Beau is pretty sure quicksand is not supposed to be on a beach. It's not even really sand all the time! It sure as shit shouldn't be in dunes! But whatever, whatever, she'll yell at it when it's not killing her.

Beau goes for the clothes when they're offered, trying to pull her arms out together while her legs are anchored to keep her in place. But, despite all of her safe attempts, the ground seems to morph as she moves; her feet are fine and steady when she takes out her arms, but the moment she grabs on there's suddenly no anchor beneath them. The instant surge of gravity into bare air is too disorienting for her to hold on, and in moments she's dropping again, screaming out a variety of curses as she goes.

At least she does hit the... bottom? It's a tight end of it, but she seems to have finally stopped sinking, even though she's curled in on her ass with her knees to her chest.]

This shit does not act like quicksand! This is magic, this is absolutely fucking magic!

[lowficharm]

[C'mon Crowley, just let yourself sink into hell, it's fine. It's so fine. Anyway. Martin at least rolls over when they're talking, because he's a little tired of his face being in the carpet and he'd rather not be that kind of carpet muncher, thanks.]

I kind of doubt it. Remember, we're cursed or something, so if we try to do other stuff too far out people start dying? I, I don't know if they've talked about that recently.

[That was a new one, coming here. Always a fun way to have things get worse.]

I guess they could... I dunno, dock my pay or whatever, but at this point I can't be arsed to care.

[lowficharm]

[His first thought isn't to look up, just assuming outright it's going to be someone who has more power than him yelling. But her voice sounds different than anyone he's heard thus far, and that gets him to tilt his head to the side and look. And uh, wow, that's-- really not what he was expecting? What was he expecting. Who knows.]

I... I'm fine, it's-- I'm not injured. Just tired.

[He sighs and seems almost to melt a little bit into the ground.]

Everything... is a nightmare. Right now.