apocalypsehowcomm | Event

Dogged

The message goes out to everyone on ADI's network. It seems to be something captured live. It's Pam Ruan, head of HR who holds a prosthetic finger up to her lips before whispering, "Everyone's pushing for transparency right now, right? Figuring out where threats are coming from and sharing. I think that should come at all levels. Let's see what Nia's talking about with Mr. Zyrian Steel, hmm?"

The camera flips around as Pam clearly creeps closer to an office door. There are muffled voices, and Pam sets the phone face up before using one hand to shove the thing under the door. The video shows a sliding picture of the office's bland ceiling for a moment before coming to a stop. The voices become much clearer.

"-down in Wolf Trap," a masculine voice is saying. Presumably, Zyrian Steel. "There's just no need for that."

"Zyrian, this ain't a negotiation." Nia Lehrer's voice is familiar to most people working at ADI at this point. They've likely heard her speak in some pre-recorded training videos at the bare minimum. Nia's tone is no nonsense and clearly on the edge of snapping in frustration. "You're not hiring us. I'm sending my people down to Wolf Trap next month. We've got evidence of those signalhead things being on the march, one down that way, your kick off for New Horizons in the park, and evidence out of there about the Lullaby Girl from some of my people."

There is silence.

"You remember her? Ava? Or Amber, it seems like. She's the one you gave us those Lucidio masks to help train our people against. Frankly, I'd be surprised if you don't remember her, Mr. S." Another drawn out pause. "You ain't been straight with me for a long time. You ain't been straight with ADI since Tawnya was Warden. You tell me you need us in Buffalo, payback for helping in Wolf Pen and Cortana and the mobile med units, and not only do half the staff come back with crab claws and whiskers, but I find out you're using us for business politics." There's venom in her tone. "Or were you just going to stay quiet about Etcher's enterprises competing with your own software companies? ADI is not your personal attack dog. You are our client. And I thought my friend. But I'm about 30 seconds away from firing you from both."

Further silence, then a heavy sigh. "And I was going to offer to send you and your staff on such a nice retreat." There's the sound of a chair being pushed back. "Warden, I think you misunderstand the nature of our relationship. You are the dogs. I am the master. I hold your leash. Or have you forgotten just how much technology I've donated to ADI over the years, how many of your systems run on things I built? We've had a mutually beneficial relationship up until now- Well… you and I have. Tawnya got to be a problem before the end, too. But I made sure that was taken care of."

"You self-aggrandizing son of a-"

"You're a much more practical woman than she ever was, even with those shiny ideals you hold so dear. You'll compromise for the greater good, to protect what's yours. Such a good Warden, looking out for her charges."

"What are you talking about? And get your hands the hell off my desk."

"Haven't you ever wondered about the title? Warden. Odd name for a leader of any organization, even one like yours. But maybe not so odd when you consider your more eldritch masters." A scoff. "The Hunt always does pick out the most oblivious avatars, doesn't it? What does a Warden do?" A beat. "She controls the monsters, Nia. Sniffs them out and contains them. And she goes after the poachers coming after her prey. Tell me, have you ever noticed how you're always picking up on threats far afield with uncanny precision. It's been getting stronger, hasn't it? Tawnya was the same way. As was her predecessor, I imagine."

"That's not- I wouldn't ever…"

"Wouldn't you, though? Every time you sent your own dogs after a threat, reveled in it, you were being such a good Warden, instilling terror in the hearts of your enemies, ADI's enemies. So many cults know who and what you are and they fear it. Fear the Warden of ADI, famed avatar of the Hunt. Even now, I know you've compromised yourself. Have you considered what that's done to you? You let that Visionary kid stay alive. I rather think that might have been the start of your slide, hmm? Making exceptions, just this once.

"Now," he continues, voice growing louder and footsteps starting toward the phone, "I realize this is a lot to take in, to think about. Why don't you do that self-reflection while I attend to other matters? You are doing good work, puppy. I need a dependable pet to take care of all those nasty pests who keep trying rituals. But no need to worry about the New Horizons launch, really. I'll just-" Zyrian pauses and everyone will have a view of a middle-aged caucasian man with dark, slightly graying hair and a beard. He's wearing khakis and a Hawaiian shirt, and he's looking down at Pam's phone.

"Well… fuck." He stomps a heeled shoe on it and the transmission ends abruptly.

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Reflections of Regret (cw: violence, death, child harm, altered mental states)
i.
It's one of the mirrors in the training room. Yelena doesn't even notice it at first, intent as she is on hunting for the little pewter hound statue one panicked member of the admin team had seen - seen, and fled from as it apparently grew into something larger-than-life and appallingly hungry.

Movement flickers in the glass as she passes and--

It starts with the sound of tires squealing, a loud thump, and a child's wail. The scene in the mirror looks simple enough - a young blonde girl, perhaps eight or nine years old, struggling to disentangle herself from a bicycle that's just been struck by the shiny chrome bumper of what is probably a luxury car, though it's difficult to tell for certain, as narrow as the angle seen through the mirror is. Car doors open and shut, and a man's voice rises, concerned.

He isn't speaking English. Someone particularly good with languages might recognize Dutch.

ii.
The second time, she notices as soon as her reflection starts moving - and it is noticeably her reflection this time, clad in black tactical gear, stalking down an alley to close with an older, dark-haired woman. She draws a knife, sharp and starkly utilitarian.

The dark-haired woman is good, but Yelena is better - and, crucially, is not only willing but intent on using lethal force. The knife goes in once, twice. Blood sprays.

Outside the glass, a slightly-older Yelena watches, fixed, black eyes wide, as her reflection pulls the knife out again, and slashes it across the other woman's throat - and that shakes her out of it. That isn't how it happened. Not quite.

She's only half-conscious of unclipping the baton from her belt and slamming it hard against the glass.

Groundskeep
There are enough people working on getting the utilities back up in the ADI housing complex, and Yelena has little to add to the efforts that isn't already there. For the moment, at least, she's busying herself - in between artifacts cropping up like particularly unpleasant fungal blooms - with scrubbing paint from the walls.

In the evening, she visits a few neighbours to hand out candles, just one of a number of useful items she'd taken to stockpiling between being snowed in and witnessing the hoarding behaviour that had swept the town when communications went down.

She won't turn down some assistance, or a - well, probably a lukewarm drink, at this point.

Wildcard
Hit me up at

quantumvelvet if you want to plot out something else!

It's horrific.

Rue does not mean to peer into the mirrors of others once they begin to understand what each one is displaying. They seem to show memories of sorts, some true and some manipulated, these secret blips into the lives that ADI's employees lived before coming here to work for them. So truly, Rue does not mean to pry, it would be entirely indecorous to, but it just keeps happening by accident.

So Rue catches Yelena staring frozen in front of one of those terrible mirrors and immediately moves to her side, intends to bodily pull the woman away for her own sake, but the scene draws the owlbear in just the same, leaves them still at Yelena's side as they watch the woman slash another's throat, the spray of blood so intense it cause Rue to jerk back as if splashed.

And before they can even speak, the mirror is shattered to pieces and Rue throws up a wing to protect both themself and Yelena from the sprinkling of shimmering pieces of glass.

"Yelena! Oh, are you quite alright?"

Yelena startles back at the motion, eyes rounding, as though she's only just become aware of Rue's presence when the owlbear moves to shield them both. She's torn between shame - while she doesn't keep her skill at violence secret, this isn't a piece of her life she would willingly share with most at ADI, even in its adulterated form - and relief - the sight of soft green feathers is enough to jolt her the rest of the way back to reality, having no place at all in her memories of home.

She shudders once, and closes her eyes before nodding sharply. "Fine. I'm fine." Her voice is a little rough, underscored by ragged breathing that can't entirely be laid at the feet of the force with which she'd hit the mirror.

The mirror, which hadn't quite exploded, but had certainly shattered dramatically. Her eyes snap open again, taking in Rue in a darting sweep. "--I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Once the threat of dramatically shattering glass has passed, both of Rue's great paws move to Yelena's shoulders instead, positioning themself in between their friend and that damn mirror, giving her the view of soft feathers and pastel fabrics instead of the horrific scene she'd just been forced to relive.

"My darling, I am much more concerned about you and your wellbeing." A beat, their large, dark eyes blinking slowly, while they take in the woman standing in front of them. Rue has never once seen Yelena look so shaken before. It honestly frightens them. "But I am fine." Only worried.

"My office is just around the corner, here, let us move somewhere more private." Away from any prying eyes. "Do you like tea? I'll prepare a cup for you."

"I..." Yelena's teeth click together as she forces herself to swallow the attempt to brush off Rue's concern. It's harder, somehow, than horror or disgust would be. It makes her feel like the victim of a trap.

Which she is, of course - there's no justice in the horrors of the mirrors, in old sins dredged up for no other reason than to inflict pain, whether they play out as they'd truly happened or are, as in this case, twisted into something even worse.

It's still uncomfortable to see herself that way. That this is almost certainly the point - to drive wedges between them, to drive them all even deeper into their secrets and their regrets - doesn't escape her.

She exhales slowly, steeling herself against the urge to retreat and lick her wounds in private. "I do like tea, yes. Thank you."

It certainly seems like it, new ways to widen the fractures already threatening to divide all of them, new darknesses to be swallowed up whole within. Even if they have not fallen victim to these horrific, secret-spilling mirrors yet - yet - seeing their friends and coworkers be forced into revealing such intimate details of their past lives, secrets they have been keeping close, it tugs at Rue's heart, makes them so desperate to help.

They once held so fiercely onto a secret that no one learned of it for well over a millennia, so Rue understands the importance of keeping such things to yourself. Of getting the chance to reveal it on your own time, without the threat of pressure. No one deserves this.

"Come with me."

If she should so choose, Rue is all too happy to take control and gently guide Yelena with them towards their office, a warm brush of feathers against her back, Rue deliberately avoiding other ADI employees so that no one sees the state their friend has been left in. And once they are in their office, they gently push the woman into a chair, dragging a fleece blanket over her shoulders, a great paw delicately brushing the hair from her face.

"You are safe here." Your secret is safe with me.

Event - Dogged

Yelena Belova | MCU | OTA

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