Day 8: Morning

[wizardseason]

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: February 10th, 2020 - February 19th 26th, 2020 ]

After the events of Day 7 and the chaos that it brought, the heroes have learned a number of things that most of them still aren't sure they're ready to know. What will they do with their knowledge? How will they share it with each other? How will--

At about 6AM, everyone receives a text from Garrot. Anyone who saw him the evening before may be surprised to see him forming complete sentences and, uh, threatening everyone? Is he okay? Anyone brave enough to want to text him back?

What a great start to the day, an early text. But that's... surprisingly the only shake-up? It's eerily calm.

The Protector had been knocked out to sea by the Wizard, spawning a number of serious worried conversations on social media. Is he okay? Was he dead? Is it time to panic? There were plenty of memes, too. Like the wizard in the foreground with sunglasses, a golf club, and a wide smile with the protector in the background and the words "time to go golfing" memed accross the image. At least some people were still in a joking mood.

The Wizard, too, had a collection of social media posts about her current circumstances. The overall opinion was that she was way scarier than before, was she a terminator? Wizardinator?

To make matters worse, Sxicq was missing. The hashtag #childlookout was trending with almost hourly updates of the island. Sxicq didn't make themselves difficult to find, which meant that spotting them even from distant photos or drone snaps was pretty straightforward. But there was no sign of their characteristic glow or disruptions anywhere. No bigfoot-esque sightings in the back of other photos. No panic that they were eating entire restaurants' stocks of food.

Nothing.

Talk about a calm before the storm, especially since Eight had alluded to several of the heroes that there was still going to be a fight today.

It turns out to be another opportunity for the heroes to collect themselves, gather information, and get themselves on stable ground. It's warmer today, and there are passing waves of light rain all over the island. Little drizzle showers that stick around just long enough to make you seek shelter, but not so long that you wonder when it'll let up. The sun dares to peek through every now and then, occasionally at the same time as the drizzling rain.

Eighth Morning Event: None.

---

The Weather

• Light rain.
• 68°F / 20°C
• A gentle breeze.

---

Prompts:

• 6:00am The Text, All Cities: "Mandatory medical exams today at 8AM at Far Haven General. The front desk will see you're escorted. You will be frisked, multiple times. Hospital staff says no weapons, no chaos. We can't piss them off.
  
  That means nobody gets their animal companions, since some of you are idiots. They'll be left at the front door before going off on a guided tour. If you or yours don't cooperate, it will be assumed that you want to harm the Princess and you will die.
  
  See you then!"
  
  At about 6AM, everyone receives that text from Garrot. Anyone who saw him the evening before may be surprised to see him forming complete sentences and, uh, threatening everyone? Is he okay? Anyone brave enough to want to text him back?


• 8:08am Eight, All Cities: Anyone who decides they're going to text Eight to make a plan will find that he doesn't answer any of his texts until 8:08am. He replies to everyone all at once, at exactly 8:08 and 8 seconds. Whether your hero sent one text at 6am, or eight texts between 6 and 8am, all the answers come at exactly the same time. If anyone asks to go to the garden, they'll be deposited on the landing pad in the garden... at 8:08am. Predictable.


• 9:00am The Wizard, The Garden: The Wizard can be found in the vegetable section of the garden for any heroes who go looking for her. She's tending to the plants, picking weeds, watering the beds, and preparing new sprouts to grow in the empty spaces.


• ?:00am Anywhere, All Cities: Surely your character has to be getting up to something this morning, somewhere. This is a general catchall post for any threads among heroes that occurs. Whatever your character is getting up to, however they're preparing, or however they're coping. This is the place for it. Eight said there was going to be a fight this afternoon, after all, so there's something on the horizon at least!

---

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

---

Activity Check: February 2020

[ IRL Timeframe: February 1st - February 29th, 2020 ]

Comments

6:00am The Text, All Cities:

[wizardseason]

"Mandatory medical exams today at 8AM at Far Haven General. The front desk will see you're escorted. You will be frisked, multiple times. Hospital staff says no weapons, no chaos. We can't piss them off.

That means nobody gets their animal companions, since some of you are idiots. They'll be left at the front door before going off on a guided tour. If you or yours don't cooperate, it will be assumed that you want to harm the Princess and you will die.

See you then!"

At about 6AM, everyone receives that text from Garrot. Anyone who saw him the evening before may be surprised to see him forming complete sentences and, uh, threatening everyone? Is he okay? Anyone brave enough to want to text him back?

Regardless, upon reaching the hospital, it's impossible to avoid the sight of Xaljim holding one of Garrot's phones, orbiting the head of a confused but excited-looking intern. Other animal companions may be awkwardly milling in the background. Or maybe yours doesn't trust this plan at all?
Those lucky and fearless enough to endure multiple full-body searches find their way to the same area of the hospital that Sxicq was on, days ago. Except all things considered, it's in a bit of disrepair. The explosion damage is still pretty obvious, and it looks like the power's out. The security cameras aren't even on. The only room with a living touch is the one Garrot stands outside. The final barriers of entry are another pat-down and... putting all cell phones in a box. Someone's obviously paranoid about something.

At some inevitable moment, everyone has gathered (or damn close). It's only then that Garrot enters the room, closes and locks the door, and smirks like he just committed the perfect crime.

"Thank you all for coming, and sorry about... all that." Despite the stern tone and literal threats he used to get people here, he does sound apologetic. "Now that we're alone, you're here to share what you know about the Protector, the Wizard, Sxicq, and this shitty little game of theirs. Who wants go first?"

[tropicalstorm]

Haizea's already awake and about to go warm up for the day when she gets the text. What the fuck is this tone? From Garrot? Excuse??? She's baffled, but as usual, her texts are straightforward.

I don't need an exam, I'm fine.

[daddykong]

Social media is incredibly informative, especially when he has some of his children doing the snooping for him. But unlike Haizea, Garrot is... not straightforward.

Zea, you fought Seven. You don't want to disrespect your people and get killed, do you?
Besides, it'll be a good chance to get our hands on each other. Alone.

text

[scandeled]

omg why is there an infection

໒( = ᴥ =)ʋ

[daddykong]

Matilda has always had a way of cutting through Garrot's bullshit, right to his emotional, gooey center. He hasn't seen much of her, but...

Maybe. Seven was gross, and I want to make sure. Things will only get harder from here. Nobody else needs to die.

But then, a moment later, there's another text.

I'm so glad you're okay. （>﹏<）

Text

[sustainer]

What a horrible text to get first thing in the morning. He looks at his phone for a beat, growling in distaste and rolling over to ignore it. He's not going to listen to that idiot man threatening him like that. He's been on the Protector's shitlist for days by now, and he's still alive. Nothing Garrot can toss at him after that really scares him.

He spends about ten minutes with his eyes closed again, trying to convince his body to get just a teeny tiny bit more sleep, before a spike of realization is driven into his brain. Garrot had mentioned having a meeting today. Was this his idea of gathering them all?? Threats???

He doesn't text anything back, grumbling the entire time he gets himself up and takes himself into town. His clothes are in disrepair after meeting with Seven so he shows up in a pair of dark, sturdy jeans (stolen), a plain grey t-shirt (gifted by a wild elf charity project), and a half trench (also stolen) lined with brand new rabbits' fur (hunted by him) rather then his usual well used, handmade clothes.

He gets about as far as the first frisk before he gets absolutely furious with this process. He uh didn't know what the word meant on reading it, so having someone insist they needed to put their hands on his body for safety almost results in a second Gyre punch on hospital grounds. Luckily, the person in question backs off a little when he starts nearly frothing at them, hissing and snarling like an actual animal. He retreats after that, pacing around the front courtyard and growling at his phone as he speaks Amarosian into it.

《I'm here. Make these people leave me alone.》

[daddykong]

Garrot, as the CEO of Hospitals, was definitely informed as soon as Gyre started... struggling. First by the staff, and then by Gyre himself. After the staff's alert, however...

《I'm already on my way. Stay there.》

The Monkey Knight was already running to that entrance. The paranoia of planning all this led to him knowing the fastest ways in and out of any door in the facility, so it's only a minute or two until the behemoth strides out the door, eyes locked directly on poor, pacing Gyre. He's wearing a suit, save the tie, but it's... all black, which Gyre may recognize as typical funeral attire. His opening text was aggressive and he's carrying himself like he's ready to fight, but his eyes, they're... pained. Sad.

"Will it be easier if I go with you?" The question comes out tired, almost hollow, but with an edge of irritation. He's trying so hard to keep the world in the dark about this, and he's not about to have Gyre fuck everything up because he can't control himself for a couple minutes. "We can dodge all that and I'll handle you when we're up there."

Gyre Loredump

[sustainer]

Gyre is not much of a public speaker. He did his fair share of performing for people in his day, but it's been a long time since he did anything except play his fiddle near other people. He looks decidedly hesitant as he takes his turn.

The worse part of this is that he's got absolutely no public speaking etiquette. He just starts to talk, coming to various ends and answering questions as they come, turning his explanation into something like a conversation.

This takes awhile, of course, but eventually, he manages to explain everything he knows. Once he's done, he hesitates for a beat, glancing around at everyone in the room.

"That's all. Uh, thanks for listening?" That's how these people end big, long talks, right? He has no idea.

[daddykong]

Garrot doesn't wait long enough for Gyre to really have much of a break after wrapping up his talk. In fact, it's a moment of shocking restraint from him to wait all the way until the awkward little elf is done. Frankly, he figured that interrupting the poor guy would derail his explanation entirely.

"Wait." He raises a hand, a common enough gesture for Gyre to stop what he's doing: not paying attention to the doctor. "He can take our powers?!" His fists are clenched far too tight, and his wide eyes show that he's really concerned about that. "How?! What does he have to do? How far away does he have to be? Can he take our powers and use them, or just take them away? Can we get them back?!"

Garrot knows full well that Gyre probably can't answer a single question that was just thrown at him. But he needs to try before he makes plans to grill another, less cooperative source of information.

[eutychia]

Luka shifts uncomfortably, busying his hands as Gyre recounts his experiences with the Protector, down to the most recent and most dire just the previous day. This was far from a man who merely stood by as treasonous knights were inevitably done in by their own choices, as the Protector had previously described himself.

Of course, the idea that the Protector was willing and able to kill Gyre in cold blood wasn't breaking news, but Luka had tried so long and so hard to rationalize the Protector's behavior - to try and understand his motivations. It was clear now that he was an indefensible liar and Luka stews quietly in his seat, desperate to confront him about it.

Luka speaks up when Gyre mentions the Protector's last words to Fen.

"Why would he say that to them? It's so... sentimental." Luka's expression one of pure bewilderment. "Not like him at all. I didn't take him as someone who cared much for those little guys."

[disguiseself]

[Olivia listens to Gyre quietly, her expression unreadable. She lets out a sigh when he's done, her tail swishing anxiously.]

Not that I don't believe you, given all you've been through but, did you confirm that the Protector... killed them? [She wrings her hands as she asks. She hadn't ever thought of the Protector as a hero of any sort, but her suspicious being true wasn't exactly good news.] What did you see?

Luka infodump

[eutychia]

Luka leaves that text firmly on 'read' status. He listened, half-awake, as the screen reader rattled out Garrot's message. Garrot's planning something, he thinks. It doesn't sound like an emergency. Those precautions technically don't apply to the Princess anyway. And it's 6 AM, far too early to be 'thinking about things' after the events of the previous day. So Luka drops his phone back onto the bed beside him unceremoniously and sleeps in for awhile longer.

When Luka finally does arrive to the meeting, he's late. Not terrible late, but noticeably so. He's carrying a large iced coffee with an excessive amount of whipped cream on top, and wearing one of his signature pairs of ridiculously expensive sunglasses.

He'll use Gyre's presentation as a segue into his own sharing of information.

"I'll take any questions." He says flatly after finishing, flourished with a long sip from his coffee. "But that's about all I know."

[daddykong]

"What pieces of shit." The words are about as even and cool as Garrot can manage in his current state. His arms are crossed, and he's looking towards but past Luka and scowling.

"You're telling me they have a one-in-four success rate when things go well, and they made a bet?!" The last word is hissed, swimming in rage. "Stupid, reckless fucking idiots." He groans, rolling his eyes and planting his face in his palm as he loses anything resembling respect for either of the alleged scientists. You do not make jokes and bets when there are countless lives at stake! But the facepalm gesture seems to pacify the eruption Garrot seemed close to letting loose, if only for now.

"What do you think it means, power for a contract?"

[sustainer]

Gyre sits in stunned silence for several moments. Most of what Luka said, he can fit in with what he already knew, but there are two pieces that make his mind go blank each time he tries to think about them.

"There were..." he starts, hesitating for a second. Which side of this should he ask about first? The more hopeful one, probably, right? "Did he say how they were able to save the three that they saved?"

Garrot Loredump

[daddykong]

After the other lectures conclude, everyone's favorite doctor moves front and center, and after a long, deep sigh, it's clear he's not messing around. His suit, pure blacks with no tie looks the part of someone in mourning or an affluent emo phase. Admittedly, both are true.

"Everybody sit down and shut up. No questions until I say so, got it?" None of this will be easy given his emotional state, so it's best if he just... goes. And doesn't have to stop. And he does, Garrot starts his lecture with the eloquence and poise of someone who's truly quite used to the boardroom and research conferences. But Garrot does not make jokes. He does not smile. He does not make eye contact. Eventually, after divulging a number of findings, he'll open things up for questions. An edge has crept into his voice and his breathing becomes audibly and visibly deeper. When the questions, if any, conclude...

"Alright. Let's keep going, okay?"

And then he continues through more findings. As they get more complicated and troubling, Garrot finds himself moving to lean on a nearby table as he speaks between deeper breaths. And as he begins to finally share what he's learned about the Protector, the claws on his supporting hand begin to carve gashes into the table because it's all he can do from getting violent.

“For someone so powerful, he isn’t just arrogant, he’s stupid.” Garrot puts his free hand on his hip, firmly stabilizing himself using that poor table. “He needs to trust that at least one of us will side with him so we can keep him in check. I…” His fists clench, the table is further carved,, and he takes a step towards the center of the room. “I want to try. He… he deserves it, I mean-” Garrot laughs, an edge of hysteria creeping in by the end. Someone’s not okay. He knows this, and he looks straight down at the ground. “He’s the reason I’m a father in the first place! I have to repay him for them, y’know?!”

“I have to repay him for killing so many people, for killing my father.” As he looks up at his friends, Garrot doesn’t just look feral, teeth bared into a predatory grin, his brow furrowed brow his eyes constricted into tiny, cat-like pupils. No, that’s not enough, he’s crying, tears streaming down his face that he seems entirely unable and unwilling to control. “And if anyone, no matter how powerful gets in my way…” It’s obvious he’s talking about the Wizard, the monsters, Sxicq. But the way his eyes scan the others in the room, it’s an open invitation. “Then their loved ones get to watch as I rip their idiot throats out. Because murder’s what this little game’s really about.”

Then, after taking a deep breath and a step back, Garrot exhales one long, shuddering sigh and leans fully into the table he’s already so brutalized. Saying it out loud took a lot out of him to say the least, and he’s just sort of staring blankly into the nearest wall. For now, he might be able to answer questions. But he looks twitchy, like he wants to leave before tears and snot stream anymore noticeably down his face, though the tears never stopped. But the toll that knowledge has taken on him is impossible to miss.

its less of an info dump and more just a dump

[scandeled]

This is all almost unbearable. Matilda's quiet throughout most everything, unusually so, aside from the occasional gasp or whimper at appropriate times. Everything's awkward, but as things start to come to an end, she completely panics and bolts up in her seat abruptly. "E-Everyone!" She announces, snapping her rose-colored goggles down over her face so swiftly that it's audible-- and she lets out a startled noise at her own action.

"I-- I don't know anything else. But... the iniquity of my deception is too much to wear upon my shoulders anymore." She pauses, hesitating only briefly, before blurting out all too quickly----

"Gyreisn'ttheonlyonewhoseesthewizardinhisdreams"

8:08am Eight, All Cities:

[wizardseason]

Anyone who decides they're going to text Eight to make a plan will find that he doesn't answer any of his texts until 8:08am. He replies to everyone all at once, at exactly 8:08 and 8 seconds. Whether your hero sent one text at 6am, or eight texts between 6 and 8am, all the answers come at exactly the same time.

If anyone asks to go to the garden, they'll be deposited on the landing pad in the garden... at 8:08am. Predictable.

sent around 7am

[scandeled]

hey!!!!

sent sometime after gyre's speech

[disguiseself]

hey, i hear you're planning some sort of distraction fight?

what did you have in mind?

9:00am The Wizard, The Garden:

[wizardseason]

The Wizard can be found in the vegetable section of the garden for any heroes who go looking for her. She's tending to the plants, picking weeds, watering the beds, and preparing new sprouts to grow in the empty spaces.

[daddykong]

Garrot has had quite a time this morning, between locking down a ramshackle hospital wing, getting beat over the head with other people's findings, and forcing himself to tell the others that the Protector killed his father.

But eventually, after all the fallout from that meeting subsides, Garrot makes his way to the Garden. There were some conversations that had some dire implications, things he couldn't wait another minute to ask about. Things like losing their powers or the shared history of the Protector and his enemy.

"Hey." It's one word, decidedly less pushy or aggressive than he's been in the past. No screaming or snarling or collapsing under the weight of heavy sedatives. He's... tired. "Can you multitask when you're gardening? I got questions."

?:00am Anywhere, All Cities:

[wizardseason]

Surely your character has to be getting up to something this morning, somewhere. This is a general catchall post for any threads among heroes that occurs. Whatever your character is getting up to, however they're preparing, or however they're coping. This is the place for it. Eight said there was going to be a fight this afternoon, after all, so there's something on the horizon at least!

[daddykong]

Garrot has had an absolutely harrowing morning. He's had less-than-ideal sleep, organized a hopefully-black-box hospital meeting, and amassing all the knowledge that the others know. Then he shared his own, named his father's killer, had it out with Gyre, and left in an overly dramatic huff. And then he went to go question the Wizard while completely and regrettably sober.

The man needs a break! And as he gets that break, the others may find him in one of two places, doing one of two things.

They may catch him while he's still in his black suit in Twelve's Garden, near the lake. The suit's jacket and black shirt are hung conscientiously atop a nearby guidepost, his socks and shoes neatly at the base. Garrot himself is nearby, wearing a gray t-shirt and those suit pants.

He may be meditating, sitting cross-legged and breathing deeply with... a large pile of used tissues just next to a nearly-depleted box. Despite some sniffling, he seems pretty relaxed. On the other hand, he may be training, his breathing and movements deep and slow and deliberate as he runs through forms with his fists and staff like they're automatic.

Island-side, Garrot can be found in Craydon, doing much the same. His entire suit has been delicately folded and placed into a box nearby, and he's spending this time in that same t-shirt and a pair of workout shorts.

If he's found meditating, he's doing so on a fishing pier. As it's the middle of the morning, the way the fishers step around him and the way he remains utterly unflinching as they work probably warrants some questions. But if he's not meditating on the pier, he's taken to the beach for more intensive practice. Whether it's two swords, a kusarigama and gauntlet, or a sword and shield, he's clearly putting the Protector's gift to good use. His breathing is forceful, his movements are precise, and the force of the strikes is undeniable, whether due to the weapons whistling through the air or the heavy impacts against the sand. Try not to get sand in your eyes, spectators...

For the first time in maybe a week, Garrot seems to have found a few moments of peace. But even he knows that all peace is bound to end... when someone says hello.

text to Ten

[sustainer]

After a decidedly stressful meeting with the other knights, Gyre is ready to not be around people for a bit. He retreats out of the building with his shoulders hunched, skittering away like a bug trying to escape the light.

It's not until he's gotten into a secluded little section of the park and taken a few breaths that he realizes he has things to ask about. There's still so much going on today, and despite everything, he wants to play the best part he can. First though, he has a kid to ask after, pulling his phone out and speaking Amarosian into it. Eight had been able to speak it back, so maybe Ten could too?

《Ten. How is seven》

The Beach

[tropicalstorm]

After her fashionably late entrance at the hospital and subsequently catching up on all the information the others have gathered, Haizea makes a quiet escape. This was going to break bad, and soon.

She finds herself in seclusion out on the beach, and makes a series of calls on her personal phone. The first is to Reggie, her right hand man, the closest thing to a brother that she has, and the only member of her gang that she trusts fully with her kids. The second is to Shirona, who runs a lot of the more technical parts of her operation. The third is to Carmen, her enforcer. And the fourth is to Fiore, the oldest of her six kids.

The details of these calls will remain a mystery, as after she hangs up, she takes a deep breath, snaps her personal phone into two pieces, and hurls them out into the ocean. She strips down to her one piece swimsuit after this, leaving her clothes and knight phone on the sand, and runs into the surf until it's deep enough for her to swim.

Might as well get some swimming in now while she can.