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

[thefinalpower]

Nnh...

[ If Rue offers her a hand, Power will take it, and slowly climb to her feet. She's still a little bit out of it, her crosshair eyes dull and glassy, and her grip on the baggie as tight as ever. ]

It was but a nap. I was resting.

[ruevealing]

[Hesitant as they are to touch others while glamoured like this, of course Rue offers their hand to help Power back to her feet. Just hopefully the woman is a little too distracted by the shards sucking the life out of her to care for the feel of feathers and talons pulling her up.]

Well! [And now that she's up, Rue is just going to give a surprisingly forceful tug towards the medical tent.] I imagine that sleeping in your bed might produce better results. And there would be considerably fewer strangers interrupting your beauty rest. Here, you can sit over here.

[Just need to get her sitting down and then Rue is absolutely swiping that baggie.]

[thefinalpower]

[ Whoa. Whoa! What the heck, this person is strong! Luckily, Power is too zonked out to question that properly - that, and the fact that their hand didn't feel like a hand. ]

I'm already devastatingly beautiful, even without bedrest.

[ She does, however, take a seat once they arrive! ]

[ruevealing]

[Alright, even Rue can't help the slight amused curl at the corner of their mouth at that.]

Naturally. I do have eyes, I see that myself.

[Power takes a seat and Rue moves around the tent, a little rustling here, a little shifting items around there, before the disguised owlbear is right back in front of the woman. They hold out a bottle of water and a small medication cup with two tablets of off-brand Advil.]

Here, let's trade.

[thefinalpower]

Very well, if we must. You have excellent taste.

[ And excellent taste clearly means excellent judgement, which is why Power takes the water bottle and medication in hand without much of a fuss. It also means she has to put the baggie of shards down to have a free hand!

She squints suspiciously at the pills... ]

... What are these meant to do?

[ruevealing]

[What can Rue say? They have a millennia of experience with subtly manipulating fey into getting what they need. It's a talent.]

It's a pain reliever pill, meant to ease aches and pains. He's asked for me to hand it out to anyone who comes in contact with those shards.

[They'll just pluck that baggie up, ready to dispose of it the sharps disposal container (it was probably the best they could think of in the moment).]

Most of those we've treated today have come in feeling achy and lethargic after coming into contact with these.

[thefinalpower]

[ It's a talent that will certainly come in handy when dealing with Power! ]

Ah, of course! Very sensible.

[ She pops those pills and downs the water, already sounding much perkier than before. ]

I think... I shall take a nap, soon. Not because I'm tired, but because I did such a good job of acquiring the shards, and I deserve a reward for my hard work.

[ruevealing]

[Honestly, this couldn't have gone any easier. Rue is suddenly very excited to relay all of this back to Dr. Carter.

Just going to step away and shove this baggie full of shards into the sharps container, it's a bit of a squeeze but Rue will get it, one second.]

Please, if you'd like to rest here, you're perfectly welcome to after all of your hard work. It's the very least we can do in thanks. And if you'd simply like to sit with me, I'd welcome the company. I realize now that we have missed proper introductions. My name is Rue, it's a pleasure.

[thefinalpower]

I'm Power!

[ Luckily for Rue, Power is too tired for a more grandiose introduction. Usually it'd be more along the lines of 'you are in the presence of POWER, TREMBLE BEFORE ME', but... nah, Rue seems nice enough, and Power's good to just vibe here, sitting on the edge of the cot and kicking her feet back and forth. ]

Careful handling that bag, the shards would likely be worse if they pierced the skin. Not everyone has my strong resistance.

[ruevealing]

Well, I'm most delighted to make your acquaintance, dear Power. And for your courage and cleverness in collecting these shards. But you need not worry. Dr. Carter assures me they shall be safe in this small magic box.

[why??? Rue honestly didn't even ask. Magic medical box sounds like reason enough to believe the doctor.

Baggie fully stuffed into the sharps container, Rue makes a show of dusting their gloved hands off before turning to smile at the woman.]

Are you new to this land? I admit, I've only been here for a handful of human months and still I'm catching up on meeting everyone working with ADI.

[thefinalpower]

[ Oh, Power is just beaming. She was VERY brave and VERY clever, thank you for noticing! Rue definitely knows how to handle her particular brand of delusional arrogance. ]

I am new, in fact! I arrived a week or two ago. It was a very rude awakening, although my lodgings are adequate, aside from the draconic 'no-pets' laws.

... 'Human months'?

[ SHE CAUGHT THAT! ]

[ruevealing]

[hehehe]

Do they truly care about pets on the property? To be honest, I haven't tried to break any of the rules ADI has set in place, but that seems like the easiest one to circumvent.

[break a rule, power. do it!!!]

Yes, that's right! It is a measurement of time that I've learned humans use. Quite strange, isn't it? To think they should need anything greater than a day but smaller than a year. They aren't even all the same number of days!

[thefinalpower]

I have considered it, but...

[ Power glances away, and looks momentarily downcast. This is probably a good indication that what she says next is actually sincere, rather than absolute bullshit. ]

... My pet isn't here with me. 'Twould feel disloyal. I agree about the humans though, they're ridiculous. All one needs is days, nights and seasons.

[ruevealing]

[Rue reaches forward to drop a feathery, taloned paw most gently against the woman's shoulder. Just for brief, comforting touch.]

My apologies, that must be difficult. What does your pet look like and answer to? I can keep an eye out just in case. This place does seem to draw in those from all over. They may join you soon enough.

[They can only hope.]

Ah, so you aren't human either? What a surprise! It's so difficult to tell off of property.

[thefinalpower]

He may be safer back home. His name is Meowy, he is a most excellent cat, and he loves me very much.

[ Power glances down at Rue's... hand?? when they reach out to her, and blinks. That sure doesn't feel like a hand! At the acknowledgement that netither of them are human, she breaks into a huge, enthusiastic grin. Non-human club!! ]

Indeed! 'Tis an insult to be disguised as a pitiful human! In my true form I have glorious horns [ they're like four inches tall ], fearsome sharp teeth, and eyes that strike fear into the hearts of man! What about you? You must have claws, yes?

[ruevealing]

If your Meowsy should ever cross my path, I will let you know immediately.

[Rue's careful expression brightens at Power's huge grin. She must be feeling better already!]

Ah, yes, I do. My true shape is that of an owlbear. I'm a touch taller, with wings and claws. I should most like to see your horns and your fearsome teeth. They sound quite frightening!

[thefinalpower]

As do your wings and claws! Truly, you must be a sight to behold.

[ She is definitely feeling better, you can hear it in her voice. The slightly deranged enthusiasm is back in full force! ]

... and thank you. Should you ever meet him, I shall allow you to pet Meowy as long as he permits it.

[ruevealing]

[Oh! Rue is not usually complimented on their more animalistic features. Without their feathers, they can't quite hide the soft blush of delight warming their cheeks.]

You're too kind. We must have lunch or take tea on property at some point. If only to see one another for our true selves.

[And even without knowing the woman really, Rue feels like this is a very big gesture from Power.]

Thank you. As long as he consented, I would love to pet him. I've always been fond of cats.

[thefinalpower]

[ Ooh, fancy! Power has never had a fancy tea party before, but like hell is she ever going to admit that. She will be so fancy. ]

Indeed! In all of our true, fearsome glory. It shall be glorious!

Meowy is very friendly, I'm sure he'd be amenable to the idea. He likes most people.

[ruevealing]

[The absolute fanciest.]

Truly.

[a small, thoughtful beat]

But not too overly fond of feathers, right? I already had one run in with a wild cat-man who wanted to chase me around.

[thefinalpower]

Don't worry, he's never shown interest in hunting anything but mice. He has truly appalling survival instincts.

[ this is because Power has been feeding him since he was a scrawny stray, and he is now bordering on chonky! ]

... Ribbons may be a problem, I amuse him with those sometimes.

[ruevealing]

[Please, ADI. Please bring in the chonky cat.]

Ribbons I shall remember! I would so hate to tease him.

[thefinalpower]

[ BRB, petitioning the mods to give Power her chonky cat! ]

Oh, he would enjoy it! The trouble is that he cannot tell the difference between a ribbon meant for playing, and a ribbon that dangles from an outfit. Or a tie. Or a hoodie string.

[ruevealing]

[we revolt until the chonker is here with us]

Ah! That's about what I'd expect of a cat, even one as intelligent as he no doubt is. I'll keep that in mind, however, for the day that we do meet.

[It will happen. We are putting this out into the universe.]

Pray, my dear, while you're here, would you like to help me practice my bandage ties? I've been in need of someone to practice on...

[thefinalpower]

[ CHONKY! CAT! CHONKY! CAT! ]

Of course! I can share my vast repository of medical knowledge with you.

[ This is, of course, absolute bullshit, although that is probably to be expected by now. ]

... As long as none of your practice involves bloodletting. That is strictly off-limits.