Fearfest 2k15

[restingstitchface]

WHO: YOU!
WHERE: De Chima University; exhibition center and campus grounds.
WHEN: Saturday August 15th, 4.45pm start.
WHAT: A registration at the annual technology fair, with a fireworks display!
WARNINGS: Non-consensual use of fear toxin, disturbing mental images, cannibalism and violence. Characters are going to be a psychological mess.

"A kind of light spread out from her. And everything changed color. And the world opened out. And a day was good to awaken to. And there were no limits to anything. And the people of the world were good and handsome. And I was not afraid any more."
- John Steinbeck, East of Eden.


Disunity had been the aim of last month's game. Secrets and lies and truths in fiction. Suspicions in minds. Doubts on tongues. Gossip block-printed in rags. Newspapers, from tabloids to broadsheets, had carried the news; some left-leaning publications had made a greater dinner of the expose than others. Scandalous magazines and imPort celebrity weeklies showed versions of the same 'exclusive', and many daytime shows pandered to the demographic who believed there was nothing to worry about if you had nothing to hide.

The last swearing-in of the summer has people gathering in the Exhibition Center of De Chima University, where certain imPorts have worked before. Spread out over the campus, every imPort will rub shoulders with the local students and faculty of the School of Applied Technology. Inside they will see a staircase with an events banner strung over the atrium. Outside there are modern interpretations of classical statues, on square plinths, and inside there's metal sculptures of scientific and technological principles. Rules discovered by those who studied the world they lived in; procedures and concepts of both organic and inorganic forces. Next to them are standing banners flapping in the breeze, tied to weights, to which blue, purple and silver balloons have been tied with thin string.

The Exhibition Center, located next to the park, is hosting the annual highlights of scientific progress this Saturday evening. The spacious Exhibition Hall that occupies most of the interior space serves as the focal point for the annual technology fair, and expects a smart-casual dress code. The focus of this evening is on medical technology and the benefits imPort involvement can bring. People are free to wander in and out of the building as they wish. The forecast is for a warm, clear evening, with no coastal wind or rain to bring cool relief. People are also free to wander around the center to explore rooms and corridors not locked and bolted to the crowd. Everyone is free to investigate for troublemakers or to cut through the crowd - or to see what isn't locked down and there for thieving. But try not to be caught by the security cameras!

If you climb upstairs or catch a lift to the upper levels of the Center, you will be able to access the grand and expansive glass floor that gives you a bird's eye view of the Exhibition Hall far below - if you've got the guts! There's a stack of supplies stored behind a large exhibition banner attached to the far wall, and you may peek inside to check them out. There's nothing that seems suspicious. A couple of anti-flammable canisters, containing nothing more suspicious than foam. Just try to enjoy the sights beneath your feet.

MEDTEC - the National Exhibition for AMERICAN Medical Technology

With the minutes passing by, with hundreds of figures in the crowd moving between the Exhibition Hall and the various function rooms, the event seems to pass without celebration or accident. That is no promise the evening will be uneventful.


REGISTRATION - 4.45PM - 8PM

The doors are thrown open to the crowd, who are free to collect their passes in advance from any available kiosk, or by digital means; electronic tickets on their phones to hard passes collected from the mailman or the University's box office. For those last-minute registrations, passes are available just inside the doors. Feel free to arrive early or wander in ten minutes before closing. It's all good!


MEDTEC - 4.45PM - 8PM

Get out on the floor. You are free to watch any of the displays local companies and R+D have to offer. This is a good time to watch the crowds or to slip out for a visit to the rest of the center. If you wander upstairs, you'll find locked corridors and rooms. But feel free to wander towards the glass ceiling that's above the Exhibition Hall.

Companies who provide to both civilians and the military are here - though you'll notice a lack of high-level technology for the latter. There's a hexagonal stage at the back of the Exhibition Hall that's standing ready for the imPort displays coming later. Please do not touch the tech if signs say not to. But don't think that means you can't try.


IMPORT DISPLAYS - 6.30PM - 8PM

The stage is lit. You may want to head over if you wish to see what your fellow imPorts have cooked up - or even to put on your own show! You'll get an explanation about the cash prizes on offer, and the scholarships. Or you'll wonder why you're watching this ass-patting when there's hardly an inch of space anywhere around the stage.


DRINKS AND NETWORKING - 8PM - 9PM

The Exhibition Hall is closed. The function room next door is thrown open for imPort milling. Make friends around the tables and order free food and drinks from the bar. Sit back, throw your feet up and take a load off. Lighten up! You're here to let your hair down. Please listen out for the public address that announces the upcoming awards show in Conference Room 2, and the fireworks display that's scheduled at 9:10pm outside. You'll get a good view of it from the park.


UNIVERSITY GROUNDS - 8PM

To those exploring the grounds outside the center. Have fun. The balmy night is perfect for walking around without a jacket. Feel free to sling it over your shoulder and enjoy the hot summer air. How the hell is it this warm, anyway? Don't jump in the fountain by the park, kids. Don't put bubble-bath or soap in it, either. Go past it and check out the park, or not. 7You may like to step back into the city. Just be careful of the traffic.

You are free to avoid the main roads for smaller side-streets, but that won't help you. The trash bins hold too much litter. You may wish to investigate them, but will find nothing. But much of the urban area and parkland is turned to a new, sinister purpose. There are minute bombs hidden in drains, or in flower baskets. In every miniscule place in the corner of your eye that escapes your notice. Timed devices primed to detonate in sync with the green and yellow fireworks overhead.

At 9.30PM, the earth will seem to split open and rumble. People screech and shriek about a range of hallucinations; from finding their loved one's body in the city morgue, to being the meal for a pack of monsters, to a flock of crows diving from the railings and rooftops to rip them apart. Those terrified of spiders see nothing but; on the floor, in windows, crawling up the walls. Some folk cough and splutter. Unable to breathe, they suffer a heart attack and can die on the spot. Others are given to a frenzy by the gas, and some experience flashbacks to hideous crimes - except they are the lunatic responsible for murdering children, or the killer stalking people through the streets at night.

It smells of pollution. It smells of fireworks. It smells of street food. There's the sound of blaring horns due to the traffic. There's the smell of fire, caused by the delirious rioting, and blood spilled by those around them, whom they cannot see. The gas enters cars, apartments and buildings with their windows open; the chaos echoes indoors as much as out. Those driven to a murderous lunacy pursue other victims of the gas through a twisted, nightmare version of their neighborhood, and violently resist any calls to cease and desist.

The gas hangs heavy on the air and fills the campus, engulfing the streets, entering the university buildings and student apartments. People around you are panicking, violent, delirious. You might experience what they do. You might hear the screaming, the illegible yelling and see cowering people talking of spiders, ghosts and scarecrows. You might rush indoors to help. You might meet friends who you wish to kill. Or you might run off in a manic state - unable to realize you're running into open traffic. Oh dear.


AWARDS - 9PM

Celebration time. The University has arranged a judging panel that has deliberated on the technology imPorts put on offer - this is the hour where your contributions to local society are being noticed and celebrated. Between the floor and stage, to the assembled chairs and technological displays dotted around the vacant exhibition hall, there's little standing room. You're free to stare down from the glass ceiling high above, or to stand at the back of the crowd below, but don't crowd the doors.

At 9.30PM, with the judges leaving the hexagonal stage so the Head of Applied Technology can present the first award, you might hear a loud hiss of air. A gas leak! The particles are colorless till they meet the oxygen in the room and form a grey cloud that fills every inch of space, from the upper echelons of the ceiling above the glass, to the chairs and the floor down below.

It doesn't smell, and the effects are instantaneous. All noises and images will twist and warp. You might find the neon lights burn as hot as sun-fire. You might see the room on fire and hear the horrific screaming of those trapped and dying in the ruined building you now find yourself in. Perhaps you smell ashes. Or perhaps you smell saltwater and brine - you're drowning! Or you might be one of the few. The brave. The unaffected. Look around and you will see some in the crowd clawing their faces to oust whatever they think is wriggling beneath their skin. They scream and they cry. Others devour their own skin, suffering from hunger - or they eat the flesh of others. They turn on each other. They turn on you.

If that's not enough there's a different show in store. You might be unfortunate enough to be on the glass floor when it kicks off. Enjoy it or don't. It's all the same.

GOGO - 9.30PM - 10PM

At 9.30PM, you may think the metal warping around you is just another part of the hallucination. But it's real. The expo hall groans as the walls react to another power, and the displays twist as if a greater force is squeezing them and pulling.

Before too long, the smaller things rattle and jump back and forth across the room. Pens, instruments, small change, etc; even piercings will tug at the skin with increasing force until they may just rip out to join the rising storm of metal. You can stay and test your luck, dodging unpredictable attacks, or you can risk escaping into the night, out from underneath an increasingly unstable roof. Just pray the decoration in the hall doesn't crash into you as you flee.

At 10PM, the stress of the chaos is finally too much for the expo hall. The supports have twisted beyond recognition, the walls damaged by their own warping and displays crashing into them at force. There's a loud crack as one of the supports snaps under the weight of the glass ceiling and with a heavy shudder the whole network starts to unravel and sends the ceiling crashing down. Anyone on the second floor may be lucky enough to get out of the way before it drops, or perhaps they can grab hold of a railing that will creak under their weight.

Or maybe you are one of the unlucky ones who rides the glass from above, all the way to where it shatters across the floor.

FIREWORKS - 9PM

Ten minutes past the hour, as a loud bang echoes for each firework shot into the night, the sky over the park is filled with the sort of brilliance one would only see on the Fourth of July. You might ask what's a nighttime event without fireworks, anyway?

For that charming couple on their date, to the curious student, an extravagant display comes on the rocket-propelled tails of rockets and bombs and flares. Look to the sky and lose yourselves in the colors as they appear - crimson stars and butterflies, and the pink crackling comets that leave behind a tail of effects. A red geometric circle of lines and dots glitter and break apart into smaller circles, then scatter and disappear, their fuel and powder spent. Memories of the sight are left behind; the smoke barely visible overhead; the smoldering gunpowder - and the warm company of whoever you're with. Perhaps you're one of those unafraid to visit such events alone. Perhaps you have a brilliant memory and the sight has burned itself into your eyes. One display follows another till the last; the end of a 25 minute display mentioned over the public address and published in the brochure.

At 9.30PM, the fireworks fizzle out. The display is over. It should be over. Then there's one more show - a collection of rockets and flares colored in yellows and greens, the colors one associates with poison and sees in cornfields. The colors are sickly and nausea-inducing as they explode in the night sky. It's just another display, right? Then cracks appear in the sky itself! All the yellows and greens, blacks and blues run into the white, hollow emptiness.

Perhaps you believe those eyes in the firmament are real. Or you're part of the crowd who believes the entire sky is falling down. A stampede breaks out. The slow are trampled underfoot. Students, faculty and guests stand shock-still. Some are clawing at their eyes. Others cannot contain themselves and empty their lungs with unfocused wailing. From the sky fall shards of glass. A flood of color threatens a deluge, even as the smoke and particles of the toxic gas contained in those green and yellow fireworks are carried by the wind over the locality.


AFTERMATH - 12:30AM AND ON

There's a collection of police, emergency services and reporters in a boundary around the university area and affected streets. Safe on the edge of the gas cloud, they are evacuating the surrounding areas. Ambulances and stretchers are ready for the wounded; RISE and any relevant factions may be helping with the chaos - or caught up in it themselves.

You might be trapped within the gas, cowering in fear. You might irrationally run into the lights you see in the haze, not knowing what you are seeing or the faces that watch you scramble by, screaming illegibly. You might be directing others in the chaos. You might be one of the people driven manic by it all. You might emerge from the mist with blood on your hands. You might recall how it got there. You might not. But you won't forget this night, will you?

Comments

Cisco Ramon | OTA

[pobrecisco]

IMPORT DISPLAYS ~6:30

[ Cisco has set up a large display centered around a mannequin dressed in what is clearly a prototype, but is still an impressive looking suit that will look very familiar to anyone who has seen the Flash in costume. It looks like plain, dark grey leather, though the signs around it point out that the fabric is reinforced with polymers to deflect damage from most basic weapons, resist extreme temperatures, and reduce friction.

Alongside the suit is a bunch of pamphlets on customizing suits to order, including an array of add ons. Most prominently on display of the add ons are a collapsible, arm-mounting shield meant to deflect high temperature attacks and, of course, basic weaponry, as well as a complex comms system set up, demonstrating the suit's ability to wirelessly sync up to the network and specific comms for live video or audio streaming. The camera is mounted and there is a live feed of anyone walking by. Feel free to make goofy faces into it!

Also on display are a pair of boots that look similar to the tech that Gogo uses—maglev runners for speed, though they are clearly labeled PROTOTYPE ONLY, NON FUNCTIONAL. Seems he didn't get everything finished on time. ]



AWARDS / FEAR GAS ~9:30

[ As soon as Cisco realizes what's happening, he's clapping a hand over his mouth and nose, really wishing he'd thought to include some sort of gas mask with his display. His vision goes blurry around the edges as he coughs, trying to clear the gas out, but it's too late, he's inhaled enough.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a blur of yellow, red electricity crackling around it, and he turns, trying to see if it's who he's terrified it is, but it zooms away, leaving only a random bystander clutching at where their heart has suddenly been shredded inside their chest, falling to the ground dead. ]

No, no, no! Not— This can't be happening...

Fear gas

[tucky]

[From Tiffany's perspective, all of her friends are turning on her. Cisco isn't quite a friend yet, but he's sweet and nice, and she'd thought that maybe he could become one - until she turns around and sees him now, and knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's just like all the others. The doofy flirting at last month's swear-in must have just been an act. He's here to grab her, handcuff her hands behind her back, and throw her in a solitary room for the rest of her sentence - possibly even for the rest of her life.]

Jesus, you fucking asshole. Just-- just back off of me; leave me alone!

[pobrecisco]

What— [ He looks up as Tiffany yells at him, and then there's a blur of yellow across the room, behind her, that catches his eye. ]

You have to get out of here!

[tucky]

[Technically, the fear gas isn't causing hallucinations in Tiffany. She isn't hearing or seeing things that aren't there - she's just interpreting absolutely everything as either a lie, or in a far more sinister way than it's meant. So when he says "You have to get out of here", she understands his meaning to be "You don't belong in society. You're dangerous and crazy, and you have to get out for everyone else's sake".]

Shut up, you don't know, you don't fucking know-- you can't make me go! There ain't even a jail here!

[pobrecisco]

Jail? What? No, you don't understand, look, it's not safe!

[ His chest is tight and his heart pounding, just like it was in the moments before Eobard vibrated his hand through it in the other timeline. Behind Tiffany, he sees the streak of yellow leave another body collapsing to the ground in its wake. ]

[tucky]

I don't want to go back; you just keep your fucking needles away from me.

[His hands are empty, but she doesn't buy for a second that he doesn't have a syringe of sedatives stashed somewhere. It's in his pocket, maybe.]

Why you? I liked you, you were nice-- don't come any closer!

[pobrecisco]

I'm just trying to help you! You have to go, now, before it's too late!

IMPORT DISPLAYS

[orions_shadow]

Above Cisco's display was a lamp post, and at some point, said lamp would cast the shadow of a fluffy bit of hair swinging from what appeared to be a tail. Perched ontop of said post was Shadow, eating some kind of meaty skewer.

"Heeey Cisco."

He calls down, looking over all of the neat techno-stuff before dropping down right in front of the camera. He approaches it and puts his face right up too the lens. "Cool."

[pobrecisco]

Cisco was flipping through one of his own pamphlets again, making sure everything was clearly explained, and knowing what to answer with if anyone had any questions. When Shadow's shadow casts over him, he glances up, surprised for a minute, then grinning.

"Hey!"

He laughs at the fisheye effect of Shadow's face on the display screen.

"Pretty sweet, huh?"

[orions_shadow]

A fish eye of him licking his chops, in fact. He looks like he's been enjoying his afternoon, though on the other hand he didn't quite look awake yet either. The meat skewer was breakfast in fact.

"It's cool." He would nod before biting back a yawn.

"You're making super suits?" His attention turns to the mannequin, tilting his head at the style of the mask. "What's it made of?"

He was wearing his hoodie again, which had finally made it through the laundry, though it was clearly well worn. It too had some pads on the shoulder, chest and back that appeared to be made of reinforced material.

[pobrecisco]

That meat skewer looked pretty good, and reminded Cisco he'd skipped lunch in favor of putting finishing touches on his display before hauling everything to De Chima. Oh well, there were supposed to be free refreshments for dinner later, he'd eat then.

"Yeah," he said, handing Shadow one of the pamphlets. It's got lots of pictures of how everything works. "A reinforced polymer I used back home. It was way harder to get it together here, but I managed." He was pretty proud of himself for that. Hell, he was pretty proud of himself for everything. Working without state of the art facilities and on an incredibly limited budget was hard. He was really hoping to win some grant money tonight.

He eyed the pads on Shadow's hoodie. "What're those?"

[orions_shadow]

Or maybe this cat might be willing to play delivery boy. Never know, do ya? Finishing off the meat on the skewer, he takes the pamphlet and opens it, glancing it over.

Reinforced? Suppose that Cisco was more than just a movie nerd after all. Must have been all of those extra years in school. He chuffs with amusement at is silent joking at Cisco's expense. Still, he had to respect the effort put into this, it wasn't easy coming up with durable clothes back home, even if you did manage to find someone to make you something.

"This? Don't know what it's made of but it stopped a bullet once. The red parts are resistant to the elements too." The red being the base fabric, the black armored pads built over it.

"Got it from that damned school I told ya about." That is, it was his uniform once upon a time, remade into a functional article of clothing.

fasfsf sorry, switching format, doing full prose is too much for my fried brains rn

[pobrecisco]

Huh.

[ He looked at them again, inspecting them a little more closely this time, but without getting all up in Shadow's face. ]

Would you mind if I took a closer look at what they're made of sometime? I wonder if there's any similarity between them and the polymer I use.

imPort displays

[superposition]

[Qubit comes across Cisco's display while he's making his rounds of the floor, and gives the suit on display a quick once-over before taking a brochure and skimming through it. One of his goals at this event is to start putting names to faces, and even if the name isn't in the pamphlet, he's got a pretty good idea who this is.]

I'm guessing this is for the guy who breaks the sound barrier in sneakers?

[pobrecisco]

[ He grins, clearly pleased to be recognized. ]

That would be the original model. Well, the original-original was meant for the fire department back home. This is version 3.0. It's meant to be a base that's customized for the user's individual needs and powers. If I manage to win enough grant money to make more, that is.

[superposition]

[Ahaha grant money... boy is he glad he doesn't have to deal with that for now. Turns out you can work pretty cheaply when all you need for supplies is literal garbage.]

Don't want a corporate sponsor?

[pobrecisco]

A couple people approached me to work for them, but I'm not sure I wanna do anything that official just yet.

[ Not to mention his last boss turned out to be a supervillain. ]

I haven't been here that long, so I'm just kind of enjoying the chance to do my own thing as a hobby for now. Almost like a vacation. Until I really hit a wall with resources, at least.

[superposition]

[... You know, Cisco's starting to remind Qubit of a younger himself. He turns his attention to the maglev boots, picking up one of them and turning it over in his hands as he listens.]

Well, for a hobbyist, this is fantastic. What are these meant to do?

[pobrecisco]

They're maglev boots. Designed for a drastic reduce in friction and an increase in the wearer's top speeds.

They're, uh, not finished, though. [ He frowns slightly, glancing out into the crowd. ] A friend of mine was going to work on them with me, but she never showed.

6:30

[you_tried]

[ Okay, everything here is clearly very impressive and high tech and nifty, and that's cool, but the important thing? The really immediate need here?

Booster is absolutely going to make dumb faces into the camera. ]

[pobrecisco]

[ Cisco grins, watching him for a minute. It's amazing the attention a live camera will draw. ]

Clearly I should've set this thing up to livestream to UStube or MeTube or something.

[you_tried]

[ For Booster, anyway, who'll take any opportunity to look at his own face. ]

Not unless you plan on paying me royalties, buddy!

[pobrecisco]

You'd charge royalties for a free video stream? Wow.

[you_tried]

I have to pay the bills, don't I?

[ This is a joking smile. Probably. ]

[pobrecisco]

[ He hopes so, at least, because he's laughing. ]

How's that work out for you?