Event - Connectivity

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Connectivity

➥ Misinformed

(cw: theft, home invasion, paranoia)

The years have gone missing. Something's taking the books and papers from homes and libraries, even shops. Tracking it headed your way. -CP

You might be one of those the cryptic message is delivered to directly if you met and worked with Cindy Parsons, a local newscaster from Wolf Pen, WV. They seem to be making good on a promise to help a select few out after the people of ADI stopped an apocalypse ritual on their doorstep. If you didn't get a direct message, you might hear murmurs of it from various sources around ADI HQ. Gossip has a way of spreading, especially when there's some potential supernatural threat in it.

Sure enough, for intrepid researchers, they'll be able to find news reports of a strange series of threats heading from West Virginia toward Gloucester, starting with Cindy's reporting about a town about 20 miles north of Wolf Pen. Every book and newspaper, whether physical or digital, that was published in the year 2020 seems to have disappeared within certain towns. Local police are flummoxed.

And then it hits Gloucester.

The public library puts out a request for any information on the missing materials as well as a request for donations to replace their books and other printed materials. Who would do this? While replacing digital items is time-consuming and costly, the physical copies of things are even harder to manage, especially with so many libraries in the region being hit by this effect. The year 2020 has been wiped out.

Everyone will find that their own personal libraries/information stores have been picked clean, as well. Homes that seem secure will always have some sort of evidence of potential breaking and entering. However safe you thought you were in your home, however safe your coveted knowledge, it can disappear in an instant.

The library has requested volunteers assist in raising money for them to replace everything as quickly as possible, in the event the knowledge fiends who did this can't be found. Community-minded individuals might defy ADI's guidance and take up their own volunteer efforts, interacting with locals to knock on doors, start a bake sale, or start some kind of money-making activity to assist the library.

Those with more caution in their step will be tasked by ADI with searching Dogtown for the missing materials. They have a hunch about this. Maybe it will prove fruitful.

➥ Misplaced

(cw: cuts, wounds, foreign objects embedded in flesh, supernaturally-induced apathy)

un: gracefully
Everyone, this is Neil Grace, Head of Security. We have a problem on our hands. A field agent recently returned to Gloucester with a cursed artifact that shattered upon entry into town. This field agent failed to inform anyone for several days as they tried to fix the problem themselves. They are being dealt with.

What we know right now is that the artifact was a crystal, something associated with the Lonely. It may be responsible for the recent disappearance of printed materials from around Gloucester and elsewhere in the country. I've attached a location pin that should give you the point for where the crystal shattered. We're getting reports that people living in that area are displaying unusual behavior. Please work in teams of at least two. Be careful, and avoid touching crystal pieces where possible.

- Neil

It's easy enough to find the park where the shattering happened. There's an unnatural quiet and emptiness throughout the park with pockets of sound. Eagle-eyed (or just persistent) individuals will be able to track down shards of crystal that have embedded themselves into trees and along the ground. Given the distance they seem to be from the initial shatter point, it's clear some supernatural force was involved in flinging these things.

Anyone spending a decent amount of time at or around the park will begin to note that it's not just the environment that's off here, but some of the people, too. That guy you spotted on a bench, ostensibly watching some squirrels? He hasn't moved. It's hard to tell if he's even breathing, but approach him, and he'll glance up before looking away again. There's no affect on his face, no real engagement. Trying to talk to him will garner painfully slow and mono-syllabic responses. There's just no life or personality to him. And the longer you talk, the more the cold seeps in. It's getting harder to care about what you were doing. Maybe this guy has it right. Just do nothing. Stop trying.

You might still spot the wound on his neck and the glinting shard of crystal that seems to be embedded there. But do you even want to bother? It's hard to summon the will to do so when the important things stop mattering and thoughts of other people slip away.

➥ Missed Connections

(cw: socioeconomic disaster; scarcity)

There aren't further network communications regarding the state of the search for the crystal shards...because sometime in the afternoon after Neil's message goes out, there simply aren't any more network communications at all. As the day goes on, the initial assumption is that ADI's internet provider is falling down on the job, leaving headquarters, official housing, and ADI-networked devices without access. The same is true over at Bonnie's Flophouse, though, and local staff soon realize and reveal that their own home internet and phone services are no longer working. All internet, cell phone, and landline services are down for the count...making it a little difficult to immediately figure out just how widespread the problem is.

It's treated as a minor inconvenience around ADI for the first few days. Surely things will get back up and running soon, everyone will get a rote apology from their service providers, and it will turn out to be the result of vandals or some accident taking down a major fiber optic cable–it wouldn't be the first time that's happened in the USA. There's a lot of grumbling around the offices thanks to frustration over lack of access to electronic records and the need to tramp all over the building to track down a coworker and speak face to face instead of shooting off a quick message. Around Gloucester, businesses either close their doors or muddle through on a cash-only basis, reluctantly writing off a day or two of profits while they await the internet's return.

Except it simply...doesn't. Days turn into a week, and then two. What struck most as an inconvenience becomes a quiet, ongoing catastrophe. Hospitals and emergency services resort to whatever handheld radios they can get their hands on to deal with what patients they aren't able to reschedule or send out of town, with pharmacies and medical and veterinary offices scrambling to re-establish lines of communication via overworked staff physically relaying written messages across town. The supply chain all but grinds to a halt, so even after most local businesses reopen on a cash-only basis, shelves begin to go bare, leading to a panicked rush on what remains–mainly, over-the-counter medication and non-perishable food get bought up at accelerated rates and become increasingly scarce within Gloucester. Local banks are swarmed by residents attempting to withdraw what limited stores of cash are available, and even trusted customers who are able to access their accounts face days-long waiting periods. What's worse, the outage makes it impossible for ADI's off-worlders to access their salaries within Gloucester: the prepaid debit cards ADI uses to distribute payments can't be accepted by businesses and cash advance services have been toppled by the outage.

The outage includes Gloucester, Dogtown, and the surrounding small towns that rely on Gloucester for most of their services, but outside a certain radius it seems things are business as usual for the rest of the country (aside from national interest in Gloucester's strange ongoing disaster). It's possible to reach an area with internet and phone service within a day's drive in order to get cash and supplies from outside banks and businesses, but within a week the knock-on effects begin, with panic-buying and panic-withdrawals making supplies and cash increasingly hard to come by in the surrounding area. Within a week ADI begins doing their best to provide cash payment to staff in need, but the company and the banks on which it relies simply don't have enough cash on hand to pay out everyone's weekly salaries in full.

There are, indeed, apologies from service providers, their public statements provided both via the internet for the world at large, and via fliers within Gloucester. At first these apologies come alongside promises that services will be restored shortly, though there's a conspicuous lack of a promised timeline. As the outage drags on, though, the apologetic messages become more and more vague about what's being done to fix it, promising only that they are giving the matter their full attention.

There was a time when the world did not rely on the internet to function, and there are worlds where that's still the case. Here and now, though, it's becoming more and more clear how heavily everyone relies on those connections.

➥ Without a Trace

(cw: reality warping, memory loss, potential for gaslighting or misperceptions of self or reality)

Memory is such a delicate thing. It shapes everything from interactions to perception to sense of self, and yet can be malleable to all sorts of things: our conviction, another’s perception, or even injury.

It might not be noticeable at first, when the changes come. It might be little things here and there, barely worth commenting on like a misplaced pen. Maybe you don’t remember that restaurant being there….yet when you step inside, they greet you like you’ve been a regular for months. Maybe that coworker you’ve been chatting with daily is now a stranger. Maybe your best friend slowly fades out of thought and mind. Even if you knew them before arriving here.

Do you even remember the world you came from anymore? Do you truly?

For other people,it might be instantaneous. Waking up one morning reveals things aren’t as they should be, as friends and worlds simply vanish from your thoughts. There’s no rhyme or reason or promise that those who so adamantly claim to know you aren't simply lying. After all, everyone knows how insidious this place can be. Why….you’ve been here longer than most, haven’t you? You’d surely know better.

➥ Mod Notes

• GENERAL - Players are welcome to play background 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! Although, the people of Gloucester seem to be becoming more and more aware of supernatural phenomenon and they are frightened by it. You're welcome to make up any details beyond that for your specific scene. Also, please remember that character deaths are permanent and plan accordingly!
  
  
• MISINFORMED (16 January - Ongoing) - The books/newspapers/printed materials are simply gone from Gloucester. No amount of searching will dig them up, unfortunately. It's clearly some supernatural force that's removed them. The evidence of a break-in to their residence/wherever they're keeping their things will vary from very obvious to subtle, depending on what might invoke the most dread in a particular individual. ADI personnel will be particularly on alert at HQ as there seems to be evidence of a break-in there, as well, even if they can't trace the source.
  
  Characters will need to reacquire things if they lost them from their personal library, and the Gloucester (and ADI) libraries being short on materials from 2020 will be an ongoing issue for the foreseeable future as replacements are tracked down. Characters who wish to volunteer are free to create whatever money-making endeavors they see fit. ADI leadership will be disapproving due to the potential danger associated with community outreach like that, but they're not going to actively stop anyone. Players are welcome to say their efforts are successful, but they should not be raising tens of thousands of dollars here. The locals of Gloucester are middle class for the most part, but they don't have that kind of spending money. Those who wish to investigate Dogtown, instead, are encouraged to submit search requests on the Dogtown Search page.
  
  
• MISPLACED (17-31 January) - The shards have been flung improbably far afield with characters able to find them all over the park. It's not just people in the park at the moment who seem to have been hit with the shards, either. Teams might find themselves knocking on doors after spotting shattered windows or the like, only to find people who can't seem to be bothered to do anything about the damage or their situation. The apathy effect vanishes once the shard is removed from a person, but holding it will produce a lower grade apathy as well as a sense of emptiness in the person holding it. Smashing the crystals into smaller pieces will just scatter low-grade apathy across the ground for anyone to track into their homes.
  
  
• MISSED CONNECTIONS (17-31 January) - Any access to internet or phone services during this period will require a long drive out of town to reach an area beyond the spread of the outage. There's no physical cause for the outage to be found–anyone who travels out to find out what's happening with the effects to restore the internet will find the service providers just as baffled and frustrated as anyone else.
  
  
• WITHOUT A TRACE (17-31 January) - Any memory can be lost, from the details of a person’s world, to their friends and family, or even lovers. How quickly the changes take is up to player discretion, but the changes can be reversed through reminders of attachments to other people, places, or things. Help from those close to people is encouraged! On the other hand, players are welcome to keep any memory losses they would like; however, any formative memories that are lost that would drastically change a character's personality from their canon presentation will be returned at the conclusion of the event. Permanent losses can be important memories, but please refer to Rule #4 in Apocalypse How's ruleset. "Characterization must be consistent with canon/the original story the character is from, when taking into account in-game developments. Characters should be recognizable as the character throughout their tenure in the game."
  
  

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Comments

ii

[ruevealing]

[Finally!! Someone understands how difficult it is for the former rich people out there.

Rue is still new enough to all of this that the novelty of shopping isn't quite lost to them yet, but the excitement behind it is certainly killed when there's simply nothing available to purchase. Still, they take their time even in the crowded panic of the store, to wander up and down the long aisles. Lucky for them, their partner is just about the opposite of picky when it comes to food, so a spare tin or two of sardines or spam here might actually work, even if it isn't exactly up to Rue's standards.

Naturally, they're glamoured when they come across Caitlyn, their human disguise taking the form of a petit frame with sharp features, dressed in a long, fitted peacoat with sleek gloves.]

Do you mean the dwindling supply? [Rue's gaze slides along the barren shelves, mouth pinching tightly at the sight.] It's getting worser by the day. Is this normal for stores like these? I'm afraid I don't have a clue.

[clavesregni]

[Caitlyn looks up as Rue approaches before sighing in frustration, her gaze sliding back to the vast absence of pasta before her.]

The lack of supplies, yes. [There isn't even anything all the way at the back of the top shelf, which usually has something. Normally Caitlyn's height means she can reach supplies there, but with everybody buying everything so rapidly, there's nothing there to reach.]

I... [She'd never even been in a shop like this before arriving in Gloucester, so she can only speak to the last six months.] It hasn't been like this since I arrived. If they didn't have the exact thing I was looking for, there were at least alternatives. Now, though... [A helpless gesture to bare shelves.]

[ruevealing]

[Well, looks like no pasta tonight for anyone. Truly, this is the worst thing to happen to Rue in centuries.]

That's more or less the same experience that I've had these last few months. I feel quite foolish, but it never once even occurred to me that there may come a time when it would simply all run out. I suppose I presumed the supplies were endless. Back where I am from, we never were left wanting for a single thing.

[How ridiculous it feels now, seeing it from the other end.]

Do you think - Pray, we aren't in any danger of starving, are we? It couldn't possibly be that bad, could it?

[clavesregni]

I don't know, I--

[She never wanted for anything, either, back home. And she's never really thought about supplies running out - the possibility simply hasn't crossed her mind before. She's learned that some people go hungry, but she thought that was to do with lack of money, not lack of food.]

Surely they won't let us starve. Gloucester isn't cut off from the outside world. They'll... they'll send supplies in.

[ruevealing]

[It was much easier to simply turn a blind eye when it wasn't directly affecting them, wasn't it?]

No, but of course. [Rue's posture straightens, reaching up to adjust the collar of their jacket, eyes flitting one last time back to the empty shelves.]

You are right. They will not leave us to sit and starve. That's ridiculous. We're simply worrying over nothing. Instead of standing here and commiserating, would you like to take a brief stroll with me? I feel a little fresh air would set my head right again.

[clavesregni]

[Caitlyn scowls. Leaving would feel like admitting defeat, but the empty shelves are a formidable foe.]

Yes, I suppose. [Her new acquaintance seems like pleasant company, at least. She starts walking, trusting they'll come along with her despite the fact that her intention very quickly veers from a stroll to clear their heads to brainstorming ways to solve the issue.]

Do you think we ought to contact shops outside of Gloucester? If we could just explain the situation, I'm sure they'd offer to help.

[A thought occurs, which is that she has no way of determining the address of any shops without using the internet, and so has no way of sending them a letter. Back home, her mother would know which merchant clan supplied the inventory needed, and she could simply send a missive to their leader, who would recognize and respect House Kiramman. Here... Caitlyn has no idea what merchant clan operates "Stop & Shop" or how to contact their leader.]

We could even acquire an automobile and drive out of town ourselves to find food.

[Caitlyn has never driven an automobile, but how hard can it be? It also doesn't occur to her that she has very little money to pay for anything, even if they could get to a shop outside town.]

[ruevealing]

[Rue follows along at the woman's side without hesitation, eager to get away from the growing crowd of displeased customers as possible. They have a feeling that no amount of reassurance will appease them in the face of such empty shelves. Best to make their quick exit and start looking elsewhere.]

Could we? Truly?

[Now that is an exciting prospect! Even though it's been three months since they've arrived, Rue has seen no reason to approach any of the public transportation in Gloucester. For one, outside of fairy teleportation circles, walking was simply what one did where they were from. And two, well, to be honest, Rue doesn't exactly know how well their true form would stuff into a sedan. It's a tricky subject to broach, especially when the very idea of just getting up and driving away from the city sounds so utterly thrilling.]

I have no experience with motor vehicles, but I must admit, the idea sounds quite exciting. Do you think we could, truly? Just hop in a car and drive the next town over for the supplies we need? No one would stop us?

[How can they be so certain that the next town over won't be facing the exact same situation?]

[clavesregni]

Why not? Who would stop us?

[Now that she's got it in her head, taking an automobile and driving off to find food sounds like an excellent plan. It's something to do rather than sit in Gloucester running the risk of slow starvation. They could solve the problem, feed the town!]

They have automobiles for rent. I'm sure we'd just have sign some sort of promissory note guaranteeing we'd bring it back in the same condition.

[ruevealing]

[Who would stop them? The very idea is thrilling to Rue. Suddenly, it is the only thing they want to do.]

Then we must! Think of all of those that we'd be able to help by bringing back supplies! [an excited beat, before Rue adds,] And we'd be able to restock on pasta!

[Just as important, of course]

But I must speak plainly, my true form is a touch larger than the glamour that ADI provided for me. Would we be able to take a larger vehicle, perhaps? I don't believe I'd fit very easily in those smaller kinds.

[clavesregni]

[The thought of someone being too large to fit in a small automobile doesn't phase her - not everyone in Piltover is human, and some of the vastaya she's met are easily eight or nine feet tall. It must be frustrating for someone like that to have to navigate a world built exclusively for humans.]

Yes, I've seen larger ones. We could get one without a roof, if that would be more comfortable for you, though in this weather I think it would be cold to drive at speed in the open like that.

[The automobiles she's familiar with at home couldn't go much beyond 55 kilometers per hour, but she's seen even the cheapest looking ones here drive that fast down the smallest streets. She can only imagine what it would feel like to be hit by the February air at the speeds these automobiles are capable of reaching.]

Or they have large fully enclosed ones. They're called vans, I think. We can go to the automobile shop and choose the one that would suit you best.

[ruevealing]

[After a lifetime of hiding their true form, the ease with which Caitlyn responds - and so casually as well! - is simply astounding to Rue, who almost can't help the soft, pink color rising to their cheeks. It's the very best answer the owlbear could have been granted, and beyond their shared camaraderie in taking a car neither of them know how to drive out for a joyride, it absolutely endears Caitlyn to Rue immediately.

They will not forget this.]

Perfect! Then it's settled. We shall take a van! Which will be the perfect size if we need to bring back boxes of supplies along with us!

[No longer too hesitant to approach, Rue reaches out to gently take Caitlyn's hand in their own feathery paw, their touch absolutely careful of their talons, even in their excitement.] I believe I've passed that exact automotive shop in town before! It's just this way, yes?

[clavesregni]

[If Caitlyn has any issue with the physical contact, it's merely the surprise at Rue's hand (paw?) feeling so different than it looks. But once she gets past the momentary surprise of feathers and talons, she enthusiastically squeezes their paw.]

I think so, yes. [She hurries down the street in the direction she believes the automobile shop to be.]

[ruevealing]

[Oh.

Rue is used to confusion or a natural recoil to their touch by humans - they not only expect it but completely understand why it would be so frightening for them - but to have someone not only grip them back but to enthusiastically squeeze at their paw? They can't even begin to put into words how such a touch makes their heart swell.

They absolutely won't forget her easy welcome.]

I must confess, since I have never even been in such a vehicle before, are you quite confident in driving? Even if I can fit, I doubt such things are built with my size in mind. And there's so many intricate buttons and levers!

[clavesregni]

I'm sure I could pick it up easily enough. The ones I saw at the Progress Day fairs never looked that complicated.

[There's a wheel, pedals to make it speed up, stop, and shift gears, and a brake lever, and an ignition switch, if she's remembering correctly. And switches to adjust the fuel and the throttle. Nothing she won't be able to learn before they've even left the shop.

She spots the tube-shaped puppet waving in the breeze, and shortly thereafter, the lot full of autos.]

We're almost there!

[ruevealing]

Most excellent! How lucky I am to be with you then!

[This certainly feels like a total disaster waiting to happen but also the most exciting day of both of their lives.

Heading onto the auto lot feels a bit like a dream, being surrounded by such shiny, vibrantly-colored vehicles on all sides and vibrating long tube-like men. What a strange place to do business!]

There's so many of them! How are we to choose!

[clavesregni]

I'm sure we can choose whichever we like! We'll start by figuring out which ones are big enough and go from there!

[Caitlyn has no problem striding right into the shop and making her presence known to a sales person, only to have the wind taken right out of her sails when she's told she'll need a valid driver's licence and to be over the age of 24.

She turns to Rue and asks quietly,] Are you twenty-four?

[ruevealing]

Oh! [Rue's eyes blink slowly, dropping their voice in a mimic of the woman's whisper.]

I am much older than twenty-four! Will that work?

[clavesregni]

[Caitlyn turns to the salesperson and says with a polite, hopeful smile,] My companion is older than twenty-four.

[The salesperson turns to Rue and asks, Do you have a valid driver's licence?

Caitlyn hasn't got a driving licence, ADI never even offered her one. If Rue isn't from this world, she's not hopeful that they have a licence either. But she turns to them, still hopeful that maybe they can make this work.]

[ruevealing]

[Alright look. Rue doesn't have a ton of experience in this realm or with any of these laws or its strange technology. But they do have a performance stat of +11 and they've been casually manipulating other fey their entire life.

Let them take a crack at this.]

My associate has asked for the agreed upon paperwork to rent one of your vehicles. Tell me then, what is the hold up? Do you have any idea the urgency of our request?

[Their mouth purses in distaste.]

Get us your supervisor, immediately. And stop slouching, sir, you're addressing local dignitaries. We were told our State IDs would be sufficient enough to procure a vehicle, but if you are deigning to tell us otherwise, I would seek to speak to your superior.

[The kid behind the counter absolutely doesn't make enough for all of this. And he especially doesn't want to call in his boss on what was supposed to be an easy weekend. So it's only a few more minutes of finagling before Rue is pressing the keys to a shiny van into Caitlyn's palm.]

[clavesregni]

[Caitlyn can only stand and watch as Rue talks their way into procurement of a van. She grew up around politicians and dignitaries; she knows a master of persuasion when she sees one.

She grabs their talon and hurries out onto the lot to collect their new vehicle.]

That was brilliant! Were you in politics, back in your world?

[ruevealing]

Please, let us be swift!

[The moment they are out of sight, Rue immediately deflates, quickening their pace to the lot.]

Not directly, though my whole court was run on them. You don't get very far if you aren't willing to play along. I picked it up quickly once I realized that.

[clavesregni]

[Caitlyn glances around the lot surreptitiously, suddenly worried that they aren't really allowed to take the van after all.

How do they find it? She's seen people push on the keys and...

Oh, it beeps! She's a little started by the sound, but hurries towards the van.]

My mother's a politician. I'm meant to succeed her when she retires, but I never really got the hang of it.

[She opens the back doors for Rue before opening the driver's door and climbing in.]

[ruevealing]

[This idea is only getting better and better.

Rue follows after the woman, carefully sliding into the back of the van and shutting the doors behind them. It feels like they can almost taste freedom!]

I must confess, since leaving my realm, I have never felt such easy relief in all of my years. It was like a poison, being enwreathed in such half-truths and loopholes all day long, never being able to take a single word at face value. Please, if you can escape such a fate, you would be much happier elsewhere.

[clavesregni]

[Caitlyn searches around the driver's area until she finds a slot to put the key in, and the engine grumbles to life. There are also an awful lot of little symbols lit up behind the steering wheel, which all blink off after a moment except one that appears to be a little person with a strap over its chest and waist. What does that mean, she wonders.

She looks sympathetically over her shoulder to Rue, what they're describing all too familiar.]

I hated it. Even as a child. I never want to live that sort of life. And I'm glad you're out of it.

[ruevealing]

[Even in a van, it's still a bit of a tight fit for Rue, their true form beneath the glamour having to bend their long, elegant neck just so to fit, but in the backseat, they look positively vibrating with excitement.

They close the distance by leaning forward, a paw resting near Caitlyn's shoulder on the driver's seat.]

And I'm most grateful you are too! We are both worth so much more than a life neither of us wish to live. We deserve to follow our dreams, however silly they may be.

[Over the woman's shoulder, Rue peers at all of the buttons and levers.]

What part could possibly be next?