Day 8: Morning

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 ]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

"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?"

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.

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.

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!

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.

Edited 2020-02-11 01:36 (UTC)

omg why is there an infection

໒( = ᴥ =)ʋ

hey!!!!

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.》

True to his habits, Eight doesn't answer Matilda's text immediately. She's left dangling for an hour and eight minutes before his reply blips up on her phone:

"Not dead? Nice."

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.

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. （>﹏<）

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."

Edited 2020-02-11 03:46 (UTC)

Gyre does not recognize it as funeral attire. He doesn't really know what a funeral is, much less that there's a particular dress code for one. It just looks like a suit to him, and while he appreciates the silhouette it gives the bigger man, he misses the significance of it.

Or well, he misses it until he meets Garrot's eyes. Then he flinches back a little, a deep, mirrored sadness entering his eyes. It's so strange to see Garrot look like that when he has been so forceful and cheery for so long.

He goes to him automatically, reaching up to touch his arm, then his side with this gentle worry. While he hears the irritation in his voice, he doesn't know what it's for just yet, assuming the man is just stressed and tired. He certainly looks it.

"Yeah, let's go. I just don't want them to touch me," he murmurs, beginning to step towards the door in the hopes they can get back inside quickly.

The doctor sees and feels Gyre's touch, but aside from a faint twitch in the corner of his mouth, he... doesn't react much. There's a soft grunt of acknowledgement as the elf starts towards the door. Maybe things will be okay. So Garrot keeps pace, intensity and steel returning to his gaze as his eyes dart to the other knight for the briefest of seconds before fixing on the path ahead.

"Is it okay if I touch you?" The question is calm, even gentle, as Gyre may notice the large, clawed hand hovering over his far shoulder, waiting for permission before it tries to wrap around. And if he declines, it will immediately relent.

But Gyre will definitely notice that the few people in the lobby this morning are all dead silent, unwilling to approach. They're busy staring with awe and fear... mostly at Garrot. The way he's dressed and moving and speaking and the way he just handled the Gyre problem is... a lot.

"That's enough." The words are stern, loud and utterly neutral as they echo through the lobby. And suddenly, nobody is looking at them. Garrot still doesn't react.

Gyre watches his face for a moment, trying to read him. That failure to react has him absolutely worried, but he's not about to interrogate him here in front of everyone. He moves inside, glancing back at the hand over his shoulder. There's this brief moment of hesitation here. He can feel something in the air, a weird, tense energy that's making his skin prickle. Why are they afraid?

"It's fine if it's you," he finally says, letting this wary trust leak into his voice. He trusts Garrot. He cares about him. Much as everything about him screams that he should get out of here right now, he's giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Said benefit takes critical damage when the man barks at everyone in the room and they all look pointedly away. He is allergic to authority and that's what Garrot is projecting in waves, more so than usual. It makes his whole body tense under that hand. He keeps walking with him, but it's more delicate, more skittish. He'll bolt at the first sign this big dude is going to lash out at him.

While that hand was gentle on first touch, there's a moment of shaky wavering the moment Gyre tenses. For all the force in his approach, this isn't how he wanted to do this.

But he had to do everything he could to hide this from the people, from the animals, from anyone who could say a word to the Protector. He just hopes Gyre could understand, later. In the meantime, that hand gently pushes on Gyre's shoulder, guiding them both around a corner and out of sight of basically everyone.

"You shouldn't have had to go through that. I know you, I should've had a better plan for you, I-" The words come tumbling out, not anxious enough to be frantic, but fast, until he catches himself. Garrot needs to stay in complete control of this situation and himself.

"I'm sorry." As he says those sobering words so readily, he gives his friend's shoulder a light squeeze. "We can talk when we're upstairs, okay?" Garrot gestures to a door down the hall. Elevators can break down. Trap people. Nobody's taking those today.

Oh my god, Garrot. He's genuinely about to jump out of his skin as they round the corner. He notices they're alone, and the Protector trying to stab him in the back in one of these lonely hallways leaps into his mind unbidden. He doesn't think Garrot would do that, but there's clearly something wrong and--

He does jump when the other starts talking suddenly, and so quickly. His attention darts upwards, a moment of anxiety that resolves almost immediately into this gentle worry. The moment he apologizes, Gyre reaches up and cups hands around his cheeks, his fingers wandering back to twine hair loosely around them.

He looks over his face again, the tip of his tongue stuck just slightly out of his mouth as he thinks about what to do next. If they were wild elves, he'd just confront him about what was wrong right here, right now. But there's clearly something making him act like this, something more then whatever distressed him so badly yesterday.

"Okay," he says after a beat, turning to move ahead of him towards the door Garrot pointed out. He obviously wants to get there, pausing and glancing over his shoulder to make sure the other is staying close. "What floor are we going to?"

This guy is the truest monster. While Matilda's more than used to getting ghosted on via text message, something about the situation here makes her more and more annoyed-- especially when she realizes what time it is when the reply comes back.

Ｕ^皿^Ｕ grr!!

dont be indurated about it!!! we really are dying out here its not a tv show!!! whats your deal?

"Fourth floor, east wing." If Gyre were reading the signs, he would realize that they were on the first floor, in the west wing. Of course, Garrot knows that they're actually going to the third floor, west wing. Two flights of stairs. In case anyone was listening. "Let's go."

He gives Gyre another gentle pat on the shoulder and then increases his pace, opening the door to the stairs like it was nothing and stomp-stomp-stomping up them. Garrot's body is still working, even if his mood isn't. But soon they reach the door, clearly labelled "3F, West" and Garrot opens it, holding it so his friend can go through.

It's dark. Creepily so. The power's off beyond the threshold. There's a bit more of a draft, due to the gaping holes in one room, and Gyre may recognize some features. This is where Sxicq was.

"We're here, come on." Garrot knows how weird this looks and how he just blatantly lied. But he can't keep doing this, he just needs to get everyone together and it'll all be fine. So his eyes get that sad, hurt look again and his ears even start to droop like when he was normal. By his standards. "It's safe. Please?"

so gross omg i almost regurgitated my entire lunch

thats what i told 7 too. it was very mawkish. i kind of feel sad for it... ＵＴｪＴＵ but im ok!

The best part is... he doesn't even need to lie. He actually wants to provide Matilda with medical care now!

You ran into Seven?!

Get to the front desk by 8 and they'll bring you to my office. No excuses!

I'll hug you really hard and afterwards I'll buy you some tea or something.

He climbs the stairs directly behind him, sticking close until Garrot peels off to open the wrong? door?? He continues along the landing for a moment, beginning to climb the next flight of stairs when he realizes that the other has uh stopped? Why?

"But you..." he starts, his mouth closing when Garrot gets that sad look in his eyes. How can a man that big look like a puppy when he needs to? He sighs roughly through his nose, looking decidedly frustrated for a beat. But he wants to talk to him, about what happened yesterday if nothing else, and so he goes back to him. He pauses briefly in the door, looking him over.

"I trust you," is all he says in that moment, turning down into this fucked up hallway. This debris is the shit that knocked his head off a couple days ago, and he definitely looks wary as he waits to see where Garrot is intending for them to meet. This here is certainly isolated enough, in his opinion, but he'll go wherever else the man wants to take him right now. Lead the way, buddy.

All at once, two texts bloop up on Matilda's phone as if they were sent simultaneously. No short second delay. Instant. Boopboop. Two texts.

"Said "Don't die" before."
"You listened."

Maybe it's the prickly, controlling, threatening side of him coming to the forefront, but Garrot is legitimately surprised to see Gyre comply. No arguing, no bullshit. Wild.

"Phone in the box, please." Garrot's voice is tired, almost like he's talking to a child. On a table is a box with a simple doodle of a cell phone taped to it. The doctor pushes a few buttons on one phone, and then drops both in the box.

While he's standing there, facing Gyre, the elf may notice that a sudden line of Garrots extends from behind him and into a room, causing quite a stir as their hands thump against furniture and walls. They're... checking things? There's a lot of muttered utterances of "Nope" from the clones in the room until, like a rubber band contracting, they suddenly start disappearing.

"There. I'll be another second." He gestures with his head towards the room he just examined, and suddenly another line of clones stretches into an adjacent room, and the process repeats.

What! Is! Happening!!!! He walks into the room and automatically puts his phone into the box. He has no attachment to the thing. He literally only checks it to communicate with the other knights who are, presumably, going to be here with him soon.

Not yet though, apparently. He watches Garrot stringing his clones into the room, banging on the walls, announcing that whatever they were checking is apparently not there? He looks more and more confused as he follows into the room in question, his eyes beginning to squint as if he might be able to pick out more detail in this process and understand it that way.

He can't. This is baffling. "What are you doing?" he finally asks, arching an eyebrow at him.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 15

Day 8: Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

The Weather

Prompts:

Procedure:

Activity Check: February 2020

6:00am The Text, All Cities:

8:08am Eight, All Cities:

9:00am The Wizard, The Garden:

?:00am Anywhere, All Cities:

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text

sent around 7am

Text

reply at exactly 8:08am

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