The Eyes Have It? [OPEN Log + Network]

[bindlestifflost]

Who: George Milton + Various
When: November 1-30, 2022
Where: ADI and various places around Gloucester, including Helping Hands
Summary: Helping Hands, one of the civic organizations responsible for aiding the unhoused in Gloucester, comes under attack by likely avatars of the Eye after George attended a County Commissioners' meeting and persuaded the commissioners to table passage of an ordinance to prevent public sleeping. After George recruits members of ADI to join the cause, strange items show up, unsettling graffiti spreads, and it's clear none of this is random. Can ADI employees save the volunteers and those they serve from further mayhem, or are they doomed to costly failure? Original and updated plot posts here and here!
Warnings: Eye trauma, hallucinations, mutilation, mind altering, parasitic infections, paranoia, body horror, mind control, shame, bodily injury, potential for death


The post to the network is from @ Milton and reads as follows:
You probly seen the fliers around the cafeteria
and offices lately for Helping Hands.
I been putting them out. I been meeting with
Ms. Joyce and Ms. Belinda and think their doing
good work for them what ain't got nowhere to go.

I'll be going to a volunteer orientation there in
a couple of days. I been given a company car to
drive so I can give a few people rides if they
need them. You got any questions just shoot them
to me here. I'll answer what I can and pass them on
to Ms. and Ms. if I can't.

Volunteer Training (Nov. 5)

Those who show up at the training can either catch a ride with George or make their way some other way. They'll get to meet Joyce and Belinda Everson and some of their regs at the organization's headquarters, what looks like an old storefront with the glass papered over by flyers and newspaper in a dying strip mall, get a more thorough rundown of the program and its various opportunities for volunteering, and get fed sandwiches, chips, and Hostess snack cakes with either water or Hawaiian Punch to drink. Opportunities abound from hands on volunteering that involve sorting clothes and food donations, cleaning up the shelter, passing out bags of toiletries and winter wear for the coming winter weather, and going on night time drive alongs to see if anyone needs help on the street to various types of fundraising, doing mailings, helping with bake sales and rummage sales, and organizing a Thanksgiving Feast at the local Moose Club for the unhomed, volunteers, and their guests.

Volunteering (Nov. 6-30) Anyone can choose from any of the above lists of tasks for their character to help out with. Joyce and Belinda might mention at the training that they've seen a couple of unsavory people hanging around lately that don't seem like the people they usually help or anyone they've ever seen before. A particularly observant volunteer may even see a little eye spray painted somewhere near the store front.

From the 1st-10th weird-ish things may happen at any volunteer opportunity or shift, from people getting oddly testy with each other to outright arguments or fights breaking out among people who aren't usually like that.

From the 10th-30th you can assume ADI employees have investigated enough to realize this is a pattern, and it's strange. This is when patrols will start and actively trying to track down artifacts that come into play from the OOC plotting list may be encountered. Please read the mod info carefully, and let's handle it the same way they handled Wolf Pen. No one will be specifically named as the person who eventually spots the warehouse, and no one can move on it yet. ADI handlers advise against it.

Artifact Hunting (Nov. 10-30) Weird things are afoot and about. Some of them have been donated to the shelter and organization or the soup kitchens. Some have been delivered or gifted to Joyce and/or Belinda and other volunteers. Some people living on the street are finding themselves plagued by them, too. They need to be rounded up and taken off the street as safely as possible, but as everyone knows, this is an extremely dangerous endeavor. Handle with care!

Guard Duty (Nov. 10-30) It's not enough just to take these artifacts out of play. Graffiti painted on various buildings is causing violence and unrest, turning friend against friend. The perpetrators need to be prevented from spreading the chaos, and the graffiti needs to be cleaned to remove its damaging influences. Those on guard duty may notice strangers passing by giving odd looks and eventually may find themselves lured from their posts for dead end and moderately dangerous chases. Do you split up? One giving chase, one staying behind? Or do their tactics of divide and conquer succeed?

The Warehouse (Nov. 28-30) They've finally slipped up enough for a few different guards to realize all of this activity is taking place out of one particular warehouse. ADI staff advises against approach and claims they're putting their expertise to use for surveillance. Approach will not be allowed at this time, but there's a sense it might be soon.

Civic Unrest (Nov. 1-30) With police cracking down enforcing existing loitering laws, groups of 5 or more are being harassed by officers and told to disperse. This may not sit as well with some as others. The wrong kind of interference could land you a night or more in the clinker. There's more than one way to deal with law enforcement overreach, both with recording devices or active protest outside the courthouse. Whatever you do, this is your opportunity to stand up for the unhoused and make your voices heard.

Comments

George Milton | Of Mice and Men | OTA

[bindlestifflost]

Network:
George will be answering any network posts regarding his initial post. If you want a network post, just indicate it somewhere in the subject line, and we'll handle that like a network thread.

Getting there in Style:
There's room for 4 other people besides George in the car. He's fairly talkative, so anyone riding is bound to have something of a conversation with him along the way, whether it's a chance to catch up with old friends and/or co-workers or meet someone new.

At the Training:
George is paying attention to Joyce and Belinda when they're speaking but is willing to be approached during the breaks or lunch. He'll be more focused on the organization and what prompted him to get involved for these talks than random chit-chat.

Volunteering:
At various points during the month, George can be found cleaning the shelter, working one of the soup kitchens, sorting donations, or on nighttime ride-alongs. When things start to heat up, he'll be willing to team up with anyone having to deal directly with someone being shady or rolling up on new graffiti.

Artifact Hunting:
George's talents are better served with this than being a guard. I'm willing to have him help someone else with their own artifact encounter or have him be helped either with one of the kaleidoscopes or an analog wristwatch. (1 for each artifact prompt for him, since there's no way he'd keep using or wearing something affecting him like this. First come, first serve.)

Kaleidoscope:

George hasn't seen one of these since he was a kid, and it doesn't look all that different from the childhood toy. However, once he has it lifted, he seems nearly transfixed. This really shouldn't be possible, these fantastic visions of returning to Wolf Pen and seeing Robin, Ruth, and Noah prospering. He has a room of his own, and in addition to the work he finds around town, he keeps the house maintained for them.

It's difficult to put it down. Someone calling his name finally gets him to manage, but it's the figure standing behind them that has his full attention, a tall, hulking man with soft blue eyes and a lumpy hat in his hands he's wringing. "Why'd you do it, George?" he asks.

George glances at the person with him. Yep. They see him, too. He swallows in a suddenly dry mouth and holds a hand up. "Now Lennie, don't you go gettin' yourself all worked up, awwright? We need to talk about this. Can we do that?"

The big man starts to advance.

Wristwatch:

He'd been needing a new timepiece since his old one got ruined the night he jumped in the river. This one is a little old fashioned, which means it's just his style. As he's coming out of the pawn shop, he notices somebody he either already knows or has seen around ADI. His impulse to catch up to them is cut short. They know. He's sure of it, but it's too late. They've already seen him. Nothing for it but to force a smile and approach. "Hey. How's it goin'?" He looks mostly normal, maybe a tightness around his eyes.

Civic Unrest:

George has his hands up as he's backing away from a much taller officer. He glances nervously at the group of teens who have been barked at to get moving from in front of the convenience store. One of them has already had a slurpee knocked out of his hand, splattered on the ground.

"I ain't tryin' to cause no trouble, Officer," he says. "I'm jes' sayin' it's obvious the kids ain't up to nothin'. They jes' got out a' school. You really think all a' this is necessary?"

"Keep talking, and it's going to be necessary for me to cuff you and stick you in the back of my squad car. How's about that for necessary, you damned hick? Mr. Milton? Yeah, I know who you are. You run your mouth too much."

The kids take the opportunity to hop on their bikes and take off, leaving George to face the hostile officer alone.

(For other such encounters, feel free to change the opening details. Old guys down by the docks, whatever strikes your fancy.)

Volunteering

[abrightboy]

"I didn't realize soup kitchens actually served soup. I thought it was a sort of... catch all term for... any food," Malcolm muses as he stirs the pot.

[bindlestifflost]

"It ain't always soup," George says, taking a stack of styrofoam bowls over to the service area for the dinner crowd that ought to be showing up within the hour. "With the weather changin', it's good to get something hot in 'em. Soup's easy. Lotta bang for the buck."

[abrightboy]

"Well, it smells good," Malcolm tells him. "I hope they like it." He looks over. "Is this kind of how they do meals in the bunkhouses you were talking about? It looks like you really have a grip on how to handle it."

[bindlestifflost]

"Naw, we didn't never have nothin' to do with the cookin'. They brought in the Japs for that. We'd set outside most a' the time unless it was rainin', and they'd bring out the pots and dish it onto the plates or bowls." It was always very efficient, though.

"I been doin' this off and on since I got here. Not with Helpin' Hands. I didn't know about them, but the Baptists got one a' these set up a few blocks away."

Civic Unrest

[edalyn]

Eda just happens to be leaving the convenience store with a drink in her hand. The witch is minding her own business for once... which lasts for about as long as it takes for her to spot the kids taking off, and the fact that it looks like a cop is harassing someone she recognizes.

Her nose wrinkles. It's not exactly hard to pick a side. She likes George well enough, whereas she's of the opinion that almost all cops are, in fact, bastards. Should she get involved? All things considered, probably not. Is she going to? Absolutely.

She walks over to stand a little to the side of George, and rests her free hand on her hip.

"Hey, fancy meeting you here," she says, casually, and as if she didn't already see him and decide to insert herself in the situation.

"What seems to be the problem, officer...?" she asks, glancing the man over. He may stand much taller than George, but so does she. She doesn't look impressed, let alone intimidated.

[bindlestifflost]

He wants to tell her to keep going, because he knows from experience anyone else getting involved isn't going to help him. It will only hurt them. He also knows enough of her to know she's unlikely to listen, and he isn't going to give the cop more ammunition. "Hey," he offers, glancing at her to the side.

"The problem is none of your business," the officer snaps, still staring down George. "The problem is little pissants who don't know when to keep their noses out of places they don't belong." He jabs George in the chest with a stubby forefinger hard enough to force his shoulder back a little.

George's jaw tightens, eyes flashing. For now, he doesn't rise to the bait, his glance at Eda meant to ask her not to either. With mutinous anger clouding his expression, who knows what message he actually sends?

[edalyn]

To be honest, she's not quite sure what message he's trying to send. It might be intended to make her behave, but the anger doesn't make her want to.

Then again, she's not jumping straight to violence, which might well be showing some level of restraint by her own standards.

"Really? 'Cause from here it looks like the problem with this whole place is cops who don't know when to do that." She keeps her tone polite in a way that sounds increasingly insincere.

[bindlestifflost]

"Uh huh. Well you can both stay right where you are right now. We'll see what my backup thinks of your attitudes," he says, reaching for the radio to call for them.

George clenches and unclenches his fists. "If you's gonna arrest us, ain't like you need backup," he snaps. "Or that gun and billy club a' yours jes' for show?" All of this over some loitering kids? Really?

It's not just entities stinking up the air with evil. Same as it ever was, he guesses. He jerks his head to the side, trying to indicate maybe Eda could make a break for it if she wants.

civic unrest

[twicelost]

A young woman who is shorter than them both approaches calmly, with perfect posture and an intense gaze. Really intense. Intense enough that she might make things worse, but Katrina will always step up for her tribe, so here she is, standing between George and the officer.

"Officer. What is 'hick'?"

Maybe if she plays into the "I am foreign and learning your language" thing, the police officer will be distracted from his aggressive policing.

[bindlestifflost]

George sucks a breath through his teeth when Katrina steps up and inserts herself between them. Ideally, he'd like to tell her (quietly) to let this happen. The more they fight it, the more likely they're both to go to jail. He should have taken his own unvoiced advice, and neither of them would be in this position now.

"What?" the cop asks, squinting at her. "Lady, I'm only going to say this once. You're interfering with the activity of an officer of the law. If you don't step aside, I'm within my right to arrest both of you."

"Hey," George offers. "No need for that. You wanna set somebody in the back a' that fancy car a' yours, I'm right here."

[twicelost]

She does step aside, looking at the officer, then at George.

"Is 'hick'... word for 'criminal'?"

Is she helping? She's trying to help by fixing that intense gaze on George.

[bindlestifflost]

"Naw," George says, focusing on her. He's not sure if that's going to calm the cop down a little or rile him worse. "He's callin' me a bumpkin. Somebody from the country 'cause I don't talk same's he does."

"Grammar lessons are over. You've got one final chance to get lost, or you can cool your heels here with your boyfriend," the cop says, losing his patience. He reaches for his radio to call for backup.

George knows it's not smart. Lord, he knows, but he's had it with being treated like the criminal when what the law is doing here is crooked as a snake on a hot road. He shoots one quick glance at Katrina, then lunges for his wrist to keep him from completing that call. "Get outta here!" Not that he believes she will. He had to give her the chance.

Kaleidoscope

[failedpromise]

George is a friend. Not a super close friend, but she trusts him. She was willing to join him in helping this cause, wasn't she?

...It also gives her a safer environment to test her new body in than actual missions... or so she thought.

She doesn't really think all that much of George picking up a kaleidoscope, though the way he seems to become transfixed by it does give her pause. "See something interesting?" He doesn't respond and she blinks, curious and somewhat concerned. "George?"

And then, well, he puts it down but he's not looking at her. His expression is enough to give her chills even before she hears the voice that makes her turn around. Someone is there who wasn't before. Someone George knows. He's asking him about something that sounds like it's a sensitive topic. It doesn't take a genius to put together what's going on, but Cortana is actually a genius, and so she puts together the basics quickly enough. Entity bullshit again. She swears under her breath, before moving to put herself between George and this ...Lennie? apparition that may or may not be about to attack them.

She moves to put herself between them-one advantage of a robot body is that while her strength and durability are still in the range of humanly possible, they're at the verymost extreme edges of it-and looks up at the big (damn, he's almost Spartan sized) guy.

"Look ...Lennie, was it? I don't know what's going on here, but I'm with George on this one. Maybe you should sit down?" She holds her hands up placatingly, even though she doubts an entity fueled manifestation of what's clearly something George doesn't want to think about is going to be reasonable by any metric.

[bindlestifflost]

"Be careful, Cortana," he mutters from behind her, hopefully too quiet for...Lennie, even though everything in him knows it can't be...to hear. "He's stronger 'n a mule kick if he decides to take a swing or grab onto you. It always took over half the bunkhouse to get him offa somebody if he got it in him to have a go."

"Hey!" Lennie demands. "No whisperin'! That ain't nice, George. You should tell him, Lady. Tell him it ain't nice." As vague as his eyes were a moment ago, they're focused now, angry. His heavy brow is drawn down over them into a mean line.

That's when George knows whatever this is, it can't be Lennie. He didn't have a mean bone in his body. "Listen, Lennie," he says louder. "You need to go on. Go on home. You hear me? This ain't no kind a' place for you." It talks like him. It seems to know things he did. He's hoping against hope it will respond to his stern tone the same way the real Lennie did. For a second or two, it seems like it just might.

Until it balls its fists and advances in several stomping strides. "You shouldn't've done it, George. You never should'a done it."

[failedpromise]

She nods at George, but decides against trying to whisper back. Good thing she's got a robotic body, then. To be honest, that makes her even more certain of her decision to get between them - a lot more difficult to break plastic and metal than it is to bruise flesh, even if she is restricted to the uppermost bounds of human strength.

"Well, he is right... I mean, I never liked it when ONI spooks would talk about me like that." She tries to defuse things a bit, but it's pretty clear it's not working. Cortana moves, keeping herself between the two of them even as 'Lennie' advances.

"Whoa!"

Wristwatch

[outofthepast]

Nick's been doing a lot of guard duty. It's a good task for somebody who can't sleep, who can tune his motion detectors and auditory sensors up nice and high, walk slowly around the site and wait for something to happen. This means that during the daylight hours, when the job's a little less necessary, he is absolutely jumping at the chance to get out and about. Even a synth gets bored sometimes.

"Hey George. I was just stretching my legs a bit. Everything was quiet last night, at least. How's it going with you?"

[bindlestifflost]

"Not too bad. Finally got around to gettin' me a new time piece after my last one stopped workin' after its dunk in the river." He finds he doesn't want to show him the watch.

"I say new. You know how shabby most a' what comes out of pawn is." Is he eyeing him funny? He knows he killed Lennie, sure, but maybe he thinks it's worse than it was. Maybe he thinks he wanted to. Maybe it's one reason he doesn't sleep.

"You, uh...which way you headed?" He sounds overly friendly to himself. Needs to play it cooler, dammit.

[outofthepast]

He grins at that. "Oh, boy. Dunno if I'm the right guy to judge how shabby anything secondhand is around here." Given Nick is both shabby and secondhand himself, and also from a time and place where everything is.

"Nowhere in particular. Just needed to go out for a stretch of the ol' legs, somewhere I didn't patrol 78 times last night." He counted very precisely. "What about you?"

shows up late for civic unrest :V

[lowficharm]

Of course this would be happening. George tries to do something nice and someone- or something of the universe, more likely- screws everything up. Martin naturally wanted to help in all this, but he is a bad man for direct confrontation and he certainly doesn't want to escalate the problem. But... maybe he can do some diversion, instead. Get this guy out of here.

So he enters quietly to one side of the officer, giving a tiny wave. "Hi, hello, terribly sorry but-- you're police, right? I, I really need to report something."

[bindlestifflost]

The cop frowns, looking at Martin like he's something annoying he'd like to swat away. "I'm busy. It'll have to wait."

George is careful not to show any recognition. He also doesn't immediately try to run for it. There's a chance he'll still distract him better, but if he doesn't, he's not about to leave him here alone to face his wrath.

[lowficharm]

Martin tries to do his best to look like a generally concerned citizen, bringing his hands together in a tight ball. "Sir, so sorry, don't mean to interrupt, it's just-- there's a man over there with a gun, he was heading into the bank? I heard some yelling, I, I think it's really trouble over there, and you're the first one I could find!"

Yes, it's a little flimsy, but anything to catch attention. He's also careful not to look at George, but sort of hopes this might at least get the guy to turn on him.

Backdated to October (sorry this is so late)

[failedpromise]

(Look, Cortana needs to learn to move around in what's shaping up to be a much more solid and heavy than she's used to body. And dancing is fun.

So can you really blame her for showing up to dance class in her robot body? Sure, it's half finished, with lots of mechanical bits showing, the movements are jittery - it's definitely got a bit of an uncanny valley vibe - and the whole thing gives off the impression of being ready to fall apart... but she's gotta test this shit somehow.)

Hey George.

(At least her voice sounds normal?)

[bindlestifflost]

[By this time, George has come to expect that he should probably just plan on being surprised by whatever new thing Cortana has cooked up, so it's not entirely a shock to see her like this. But it sure is different.]

Hey, Cortana.

[Nobody else is there yet and may not be. Sometimes it's like this.]

That's new.

[Understatement.]

Wantin' to test it out? See how it goes?

[failedpromise]

(Cortana is just full of surprises. Isn't it delightful?)

Apparently robot bodies don't require a connection to an entity to function.

(She grins.)

Figured dancing would be a good way to help me get used to movement like this.