Day 8: Evening

[wizardseason]

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: April 1st - April 15th, 2020 ]

The light rain has changed into a downpour, coating the island, its forests, and its people in a constant barrage of water. After the events of the afternoon, it's like it's all being washed away.

Except it isn't, because the events of the day all happened. They're all real. And social media is abuzz about the loss of Harsen Island's mountain. Now, it's all just flat. There are forests, but Craydon is no longer a mountain-side town. Instead, they have a cog train that rolls horizontally across the flat ground from the main train station and over into their very flat town in the woods. Bamborough's hillside hotels with dozens of floors higher up for an ocean view are now down with the rest of the buildings, and only the highest floors can see out over the touristy area to the water. Far Haven, in contrast, has barely changed. You can't flatten something that's already flat. The only textures left on the island are the silver humps of two ships, one near Far Haven and the other near Bamborough. There's also a hump at the center, the cave entrance, leading down into the cave where the bodies were. For anyone who goes to look, there's a new body there now.

- [1] -

The participants in the fight against "Eight" put up a valiant fight, eventually defeating it in a show of heroic justice somewhere along the tracks. In all the rain, its yellowed body is disappearing away into the ground as it washes away.

- [2] -

#childlost

Sxicq is... somewhere. The internet lost them again. Wherever they're at, it's not out on the surface of the island.

- [3] -

The monsters, meanwhile, have returned back to their home in the garden. At least, the ones who seem to live there.

Five and Six are in their rooms on the main floor with the doors open. Five is laying on her bed, tacking away on her flip phone. Six is in his room, sitting on the edge of the bed, also on his phone. If there's anyone in Four's room, it's unknown due to the closed door. Also on the main floor is the Wizard. She's casually sitting in one of the more plain of the thirteen chairs, reading an unnamed book. There's a steaming mug of cocoa on the coffee table in front of her.

On the second floor, Ten's room is the only one open. The doors for Seven, Nine, and Twelve are all shut. If anyone heads in to look for Ten, they'll find him writing in a small notebook with the title "Chef Notes" on the front.

On the top floor, Eight's door is shut but has a small "Text me" sign dangling off of the handle.

- [4] -

If anyone goes looking for the newly surfaced space ships, all they'll find is the smooth metallic surfaces of them rounding out of the terrain. If there's a way in, it's not obvious to others

The Weather

• Heavy rain.
• 59°F / 15°C
• A constant wind.

---

Prompts:

• 5:00pm Onward: Monster House, The Garden: For any heroes who are up for meeting any of the monsters, this is their opportunity. Some closed doors will have no one behind them, but the open doors are a guaranteed someone to talk to. Will they talk to the monsters, each other, or the Wizard downstairs in the sitting area?


• 5:00pm Train Station, All cities: All trains have been suspended, citing the "unknown conditions of the island's tracks" after the events of the day. No one is allowed to ride the rails, no one is allowed to go anywhere. Is your hero trapped at a train station waiting for an uber? Does another hero come to their rescue? What's the deal?


• ?:00pm General Post, Anywhere: Does your character go to investigate things around the island? Do they meet with other heroes somewhere over coffee? How are they handling being cut off from the world? Their family? Their loved ones? How do they feel seemingly being made the enemy of all people of the world?

---

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.

OOC Mortality Warning: Any hero who actively seeks out the Protector IC will be at a high risk of death in some manner. He is on the move, tread carefully!

---

Activity Check: April 2020

[ IRL Timeframe: April 1st - April 30th, 2020 ]

Comments

[wizardseason]

Uh! The first two texts come back to Luka instantly, both at once:

Yes
Very yes

...Smooth? Or not smooth?? The next responses come all at once, eight seconds after the first two.

Yes I do
It's very fun
I'm still new

[eutychia]

Luka blinks curiously at the message, analyzing their tone more carefully now that Gyre had questioned it.

Are you OK?
A lot happened today.
Just want to make sure you're cool.


Hopefully that doesn't freak him out more.

[wizardseason]

Eight stares at Luka's questions on his screen for several moments before he sends three texts all at once.

Very cool
Just busy
And worried

...It's only after he sends it that he realizes he could've maybe sent a little more. Maybe he should've-- So he does, and another text pops up eight seconds later:

About surviving

[eutychia]

Well, that was a troubling addition if Luka had ever seen one, and his expression falls suitably as his phone reads it out.


You're going to survive, I promise.
What makes you think otherwise?


Luka's not sure if Eight's even willing to divulge this information. It's pretty personal. But he wants to reassure the monster if he can, so it's worth a shot.

[wizardseason]

There's a delay before the next texts come in, but just as usual they come in a big bundle all at once. How does Eight even do that...?

Just worried
Lots of unknown
Small chance of success

There's a bit of a pause again before one last text comes in separately:

You have to survive too

[eutychia]

Well, me too. Kind of.

This admission felt uncharacteristically vulnerable, and Luka hurries to follow it up with some reassurances.


We're good at defying odds, though.
So we're going to survive no matter what bullshit the Protector tries to pull on us

[wizardseason]

Good
He's bullshit
Hate him

The text reply comes... actually at the exact moment Luka hits send? It's like he knew what Luka was going to text before he sent it maybe? How else did he respond instantly to what Luka had said and using the same word Luka had used? Weird.

[eutychia]

That... is weird, Luka thinks, quirking an eyebrow. He knows Eight is a fast texter at times, but not typically that fast. And the similar phrasing was the extra weird cherry on top!


I mean
Yeah
Same


In light of recent events Luka couldn't find it in him to make any excuses about the Protector's intentions anymore. He sighs audibly before navigating back to his phone's keyboard.


How'd you respond so fast?
It's like you knew what I was gonna say LOL

[wizardseason]

Luka admitting that about the Protector is a very much "Eight will remember that moment" fortunately. But at the next texts, Eight's response is delayed again. But it comes once again as a bundle of three.

Can see phone
Yours
Others

[eutychia]

... Okay, interesting! Phones were a pretty heavy reflection of a person's being, potentially containing a lot of personal information. Luka sincerely hopes Eight doesn't have quite as much of an insight into his private life as full access to his phone would give someone.


Like everything on our phones?
How long have you been able to do that


He cringes thinking about this. Eight has already witnessed Luka making a fool of himself enough!

[wizardseason]

Fortunately for Luka, he isn't left with his thoughts for too long. Eight's texts are instantaneous again, three arriving immediately after Luka hits 'send'.

No
Screens only
Forever?

That should hopefully be a reassurance? Eight knows people get weird about their phone privacy.

[eutychia]

It's somewhat of a reassurance. There are certainly private things that have been displayed on Luka's screen before. But Eight being privvy to that was nothing compared to the privacy breach of the Protector's constant monitoring, so Luka's able to shrug it off a bit more easily.


Oh
That sounds useful

The concept reminds Luka of something he should probably ask!


About yesterday...
Sxicq said we should contact you if we needed them
How do you contact them?

[wizardseason]

Excuse you, Luka, everything the Protector did was for the sake of the world. If he were here, he'd ground the Princess for a whole week... no, a month!

Fortunately neither of these two are the Protector, so they both are free of all that judgmental nonsense. This time, Luka's responses arrive one at a time, one every few seconds.

Very useful

A longer pause.

Text
But not phone
Hard to explain
Hm
Why?

[eutychia]

Grounded for a whole entire month is pretty extreme, but better than forty years. So it could be worse.


Just curious cause they said they didn't want to use the phone with me
It's kind of like text telepathy?
Can all of you guys do that with them or just you?

[wizardseason]

You know what, Luka? Grounded for forty decades! How about them apples? The Protector says it's for the sake of the world.

Fortunately Luka's having a nice conversation with Eight, and the next texts come back as a bundle again. All at once:

Sounds right
Only me
I asked them first
They said yes

[eutychia]

(The Protector stole forty decades. That's as many as forty tens. And that's terrible.)


Cool cool
Do they only fuse with you too?
They gave me weird vibes when they talked about wanting their pieces back
I just wanted to make sure everything's okay about that?

[wizardseason]

(You know someone's bad when they're worse than Lex Luthor.)

This time, there's a big delay before the texts come. This time, they arrive slowly, spaced a little too far apart.

Fuse non-exclusive
Pieces complicated
Not sure
Eleven will ask
Tomorrow I think

[eutychia]

Yeah, complicated sounds like an understatement tbh
I like Sxicq and I like you
So I want you both to coexist in a way you're all happy with
Maybe I can ask Eleven about it
Do you think they'd talk to me?

[wizardseason]

Eight uh... needs a second here. Reading the words "I like you" on Luka's screen before reading it again on his own screen was a lot. He reels for a moment before dodging it entirely and answering the last question:

Yes
They're very busy
But you're scheduled
With Eleven

[eutychia]

Luka's surprised to hear that he's apparently already scheduled with Eleven, despite only briefly meeting them previously? It's far from the most bizarre thing that he's heard today, though, so it doesn't faze him as much as it could.


I'm already scheduled with them?
Nice
Anything I should know about them that you can share?

[wizardseason]

Unbeknownst to Luka, Eight echoes that 'Nice' out loud when he reads the text. He's ready with a reply with Luka asks the question and it pops up immediately.

Be yourself
They're all business
Ask questions
Invite Nine

[eutychia]

Okay, easy enough


Luka's the best there is at being Luka, and he's dealt with a lot of business types (they tended to be boring, in his opinion), so he's not overly worried about the first parts.


I can try to bring Nine
I haven't really met her though
How essential is that part?

[wizardseason]

Luka is the best at being Luka, that was an undeniable and immutable fact of the universe. If Luka produced a movie about being Luka, Eight would be first in line to get a signed copy.

Not essential
Just helpful
Can't text her
Without permission I mean

[eutychia]

Wait you need permission to text her?
Is it like a mental thing like with Sxicq...
Or is she just mean?


This was vital intel. If Nine was some kind of hardass it would greatly change Luka's approach.

Actually I asked Ten if you were mean too before we actually met
I'm glad you didn't turn out to be

[wizardseason]

Doesn't like interruptions
Makes appointments
Bad at improvising

The first texts come all at once, before a long pause, and then--

What did he say

But also he's re-reading again and again that Luka says he doesn't think he's mean.