time is running out

[locum_tenens]

WHO: Niska Elster
WHERE: Bunker
WHEN: December 20
OPEN TO: All! Feel free to catch her in the bunker, in the escape, or back in town
WARNINGS: Violence and sexual discussion in the link. Niska's sneak preview runs from 1:01 to 1:16 if you see hers

---

While it's not something Niska readily talks about, she often sneaks back to the bunkers in the early hours of the morning when she can be assured that no one else will be there. With no need to sleep and her rigged charging system putting her at full power before four AM typically, it gives her a solid three hours to work with the systems.

It should be much easier to strip away the lines of coding here after her work with conscious synths and helping Mattie with her code, but there are trips and layers and, frankly, damage that she's not sure where the cause is from. Not only that, but compared to David's technology, it's primitive.

These are all excuses. Niska will later rely on them to help with her feelings of inadequacy about what happened.

She'd thought that she'd finally peeled back one of the layers to undo the glitching in the iteration lists so that she could see what's been redacted when her next push of coding suddenly went awry. The code doesn't work the way it's intended, but something clearly has been triggered. She watches the windows cascade as a program begins to function and then, her device sounds a notification.

Watching her wrist warily, Niska knows the timing is far too coincidental to be an accident. When she opens it, there's a new application that counts down. Twenty one days, five hundred and four hours. Until what? She doesn't have time to fixate on it for long when Niska sees the other message. Fifteen video seconds, which, when she opens it, reveals something she's been trying very hard not to reveal to anyone. She shuts it down, her panic not surfacing, but clear in the way her eyes scan the area.

"No," she says, calmly and coolly, but that starts to fade away as her processor works, trying to solve this. "No," she says, because she'd watched the coding deploy. She knows it's not only to her. Bending over the console, she begins to work faster in order to reverse what she's done, but even though she manages it within the hour, she knows it's too late.

People would have received the application, as well as the message. The only worry now is where she can hide. If her message, if her video is out there, then people will know of her secrets. Not the worst of it, thank whatever chance has made it so, but it's bad enough. Packing up her things, she shuts down the bunker's computers and runs, brushing past trees and in her hurry, she loses one of her contacts.

Having to stop, she bends to start working it back into her eye, but it's lost her precious time. The sun is coming up and she's on the outskirts of the village, looking rough and disheveled, her hair a mess, and if she had a proper heart, it would be racing.

Everyone that approaches her is someone to be wary of, now. Anyone could have been sent her message and as she tries to tidy herself up, she knows that she's not acting as she usually would, but her anxiety is clear in how she moves and watches others. This isn't turning all the synths conscious, but it feels very much like something has shifted and it's her fault.

Again.

[LOCKED & OTA] So the hearts keep breaking, and the heads just roll;

[scrappiness]

WHO: Jane Foster
WHERE: Bunker & Beyond
WHEN: 19 & 20 December 2018
OPEN TO: Bruce Banner, Thor, OTA
WARNINGS: Infinity War spoilers, maybe? Not from Jane, but it's possible in general conversation.

---

Bunker - Dec 19

LOCKED To BRUCE & THOR

If there is one single thing Jane Foster is absolutely sure of in life, right now, this very moment, it is this: She really hates Asgardians.

...Okay so, maybe hate is kind of a strong word — Is supremely, intensely irritated and inconvenienced by might be a more accurate fit, but it isn't nearly as easy to say. And maybe it's just semantics, maybe if Thor was in front of her, that irritation would be blunted or at least replaced by irritation at how attractive he is instead, but the fact remains that right now, right this second, sitting in a "safe house" that is seriously not even safe, Jane hates Asgardians.

She was minding her own business — In Shanghai and minding her own business — when the Guys in Suits and Sunglasses turned up and took her gently-but-firmly by the elbow, Dr. Foster, please come with us, yada yada. SHIELD doesn't care that she was in the middle of some very important calculations with Asia's foremost expert on relativistic astrophysics — Wait, is SHIELD even a thing anymore?

Not that it matters, because she's in a safe house now, and the whole point is that Loki dared to enter Earth's atmosphere. Because of course he did, of course he couldn't really be dead. He's the intergalactic version of a bad penny, and the protocol is, when he turns up, she gets shoved into a room somewhere.

And Jane knows better than anyone that there's no sense in arguing about it, but she does it anyway, because they take away everything on her — Her notes, her cell phone, her lip balm — and give her a five-year-old copy of People and think that's appropriate. Thor also apparently dared to enter the atmosphere along with his brother, and how does she know this? His selfie was on Instagram and she saw it over one of her guardian/captor's shoulders while she was yelling.

It's really Too Damn Much, she thinks as she takes a break from railing to slouch into a chair with a huff, having no idea at all that the next time she opens her eyes, she'll have to re-calibrate that barometer altogether.

Behind Town Hall - Dec 20

OTA

Jane has found a telescope. In a place where you're lucky to find a pen and paper, this feels like a major coup, but there had just been this guy like, hey, I got this as a present and I am a botanist, please don't break it. He did not, strangely, seem that concerned about what she might discover with it, but to each their own, right? As long as their own involves Jane never giving this telescope back.

One thing she'll give this place: The light pollution is virtually nil. She's been warned, emphatically in a few cases, that there are Bad Things in the woods that will probably think she is a snack, so it's nice that she can just head out to the fields behind the town hall, cleared and lonely now that winter's arrived, and sit with her new telescope and the pencil and little bit of paper she begged from the same guy, and make observations — Tiny, cramped observations that she has to lean very close to the paper to see because of how dark it is, even here in town. From a distance, she probably looks like a wayward woodland creature balled up against the chill until she swings back up again, telescope lifted to her eye.

Is it cold out here? She hasn't really noticed.

He's just a ghost dressed in weeds.

[houmaprotector]

Who?: Alec Holland
Where?: The Inn
When?: December 22.
Open To: Kat.
Warnings: Violence, Fire, Character Death.

( Read more... )

You owe us both so much more

[imareporter]

Who?: Eddie Brock/Venom
Where? Outside of the Inn
Open To? Wanda / / OTA
Warnings: Emotional Abuse. Eddie Brock had a really shitty childhood.

( I was an important man! People looked up to me! )

Closed to Eddie, but visible to people in the Inn around lunchtime

[to_defend]

WHO: 7
WHERE: The Inn, later the forest, separate text to Altaïr 
WHEN: Lunch (Day after for text)
OPEN TO: Eddie  (Altaïr for text)
WARNINGS: Panic, will add as needed, Venom

---

Lunchtime

A routine had not so much been established as it had organically grown into being; 7 waking up mid-morning, going through ablutions and touching up the braided hairstyle that Altaïr taught her, which kept it up and out of her way. Then, she'd join Eddie for lunch at the Inn. She was warming up to the idea of people in general, even as it seemed more and more sifted in everyday; and while she may not be as relaxed as Eddie, she's not quite darting eyes about as she used to. One major change is that she's stopped carting her spear about everywhere she goes; this is not a hunt, it's a casual meal, and she's grown to the point that she recognizes it does not need to come with her here. All in all, it's a normal day, normal routine, normal conversation ... until there's an alert on her wrist device. She stares at it, frowning, then glances to Eddie before back at the device. Hesitantly, she taps the alert, and a little timer pops up.

It feels so good that people know now. Especially 7. It's hard to tell if it's Venom spilling over into him when he looks at her, but Venom is allowed his pleasures too. Indeed they're in more of an accord and while he sips at his water. It's peaceful. He nods to her and smiles, feeling awake and pleased to be here for the first time since his arrival. When she looked at the phone he paused, peering over and...

"When is that --" Before she can finish her thought, there's another little alert ping as a file message is received. 7's staring at it like one might stare at an angry rattlesnake - machines made her nervous and wasn't this just a miniature one? - but eventually reaches forward to open it, curiosity getting the better of her.

( 44:20-44:35 if you have the movie )

( 44:20-44:35 if you have the movie )

-- and that's where the video cuts.

The moment the video had stared, 7 had frozen stock still; seeing them all again - seeing this moment - when she's least expecting it is an absolute punch to the gut. She feels her blood turn to ice and her breath catches in her throat and that anger - palpable, unresolved, tucked away but not forgotten, flares up and for a moment she's not even sure where she is. When it cuts out, she pulls in a sharp breath, suddenly aware of the Inn again and glancing around like a rabbit that somehow inadvertently found its way into a fox's den. She looks at Eddie, part of her wants to say something, to explain, to get rid of this terrible burden that's weighing her down, everything between the loss of 2, the anger toward 1, the Machines, being here, being human, and how it's no longer just her secret.

"...What the hell?" It just bursts out as V stirs awake inside of Eddie. Are those toys?Is this some sort of...movie? TV show? he blinks at 7, at her horror, "...Did you- I take it you didn't mean to get the TV?"

Had the video continued, it would have shown 7 doing exactly what she does now; instead of answering Eddie, she pushes away from the table, ignoring any words or actions that speak otherwise, she turns and tears out of the Inn and runs as fast as she can towards the seclusion of the woods; somewhere dark and alone where she can tuck away from everything and everyone and try to process what just happened.


Text to Altaïr

UN: windmaker

hey. i was wondering if you were free today? i have something I want to show you.

[It was hard enough sending that text, so it takes a little longer after she's actually sent it to send the followup;]it's important. i think. it is to me.

no one knows what the future holds ( OTA with closed sections )

[tosavecocoon]

WHO: Oerba Dia Vanille
WHERE: House 38, up north in the kirin fields, back at house 38 outside
WHEN: Dec 20th, 21st, 22nd
OPEN TO: House 38 starter is closed to Phryne, exploring is closed to Ashley and Natasha, last section at the house with the kirin is OTA
WARNINGS: possible mentions of torture, loss of agency, zombie-like monsters and getting turned into one. Her sneak preview is from 4:05 to 4:20 on the clip

---

House 38, closed to Phryne

It starts out like any other day. Vanille wakes up, happily dons all of her various bangles and jewelry, and dresses in a combination of her normal clothes and something appropriate for the weather. It's nice to have all of her clothes and jewelry back. For a few minutes each day she can almost pretend that she's back home in Oerba, before anything happened to them at all.

Except today something pings on her wristband. She frowns at it, noticing the countdown. She doesn't know the calendar that this place is using, so it doesn't mean much to her. What catches her attention instead is the clip that plays next. The clip is only a few seconds long, but she recognizes too much about it. Sure, she and Fang haven't set foot inside Orphan's cradle before they woke up on Cocoon, but she recognizes it all the same. That being in the background... that laugh. Those weapons on the ground are all familiar, too, in a stronger way. Those are the weapons of her family. Her new Cocoon family. And they've all somehow gone Cie'th with Fang and Vanille being the only ones still upright.

This can't be anything. It can't. Vanille doesn't remember this happening. Maybe it's the future? But how? And why? Or maybe she's just like Fang and can't remember this part. Maybe something else happened. All of these new Cie'th, just like the Calvary. But these are her family, turned Cie'th for no purpose than because she and Fang failed their Focus. Because Vanille keeps running.

Guilt nearly swallows her. As she presses her hands to her ears and squeezes her eyes shut, she lets out a horrendous shriek. Both dog-like creatures start barking and making noise, clearly as distraught as their human mistress. The redhead dissolves into inconsolable sobs, rocking where she sits on the edge of her bed, clearly in no fit state to do anything.

exploring, closed to Ashley and Natasha

With Ty gone, there are only about two people left Vanille wants to take out on an exploration. She has several acquaintances and people she wouldn't mind hanging out with. But Ashley and Natasha are currently at the top of her "take out exploring" list. So, after letting Phryne know that she's going to explore a bit, she sends Natasha and Ashley separate messages, asking them to go exploring with her. Taking care to make sure her llamas are okay without her, she packs her own bag with supplies and rations, pats Bhakti and Raine on the head, and makes her way outside.

With her two other friends coming along, Vanille leads the way up north. She's much more subdued than she normally is - no tearstains in sight at least, but there's a determined set to her jaw that speaks of some kind of deep pain she doesn't want to talk about. Eventually, during one of their breaks, Vanille spots a group of horses. Her face lights up more than it has been since they started out and she decides to make camp so she can spend some time just watching the majestic animals. Good thing she brought some rope this time. She might need it if she tries to bring some of these home with her.

If she isn't just watching the horses, she might be staring into the campfire or seeing how her companions are doing. She needs to introduce her llamas to Ashley when they get back... and maybe this is a good time to tell Ashley more about who, and what, she is. As for Natasha, there's always time to get to know each other. It isn't as though Vanille has been hiding everything about herself and her world anymore. Just the important details. But the longer she spends here, the more she thinks that these people really don't know what l'Cie are. And maybe they won't be afraid of her.

at home with the kirin, ota, around the evening of Dec 22nd

Eventually, once she's gotten her new pair of horses settled into the pen and introduced them to the four llamas, Vanille decides to spend some time outside with her menagerie. She still needs names for two of the llamas and now she has to pick out names for the horses. That will give her something to do for a while, pondering names. 


She does have to keep an eye on Raine, though. Bhakti seems to have a healthy appreciation for the new beasts, keeping his distance until they seem to accept him. Raine, on the other hand, is used to the llamas, which are gentle and tolerant of a lot of things. The horses startle too easily and after the first few mishaps with them, Vanille picks up her errant puppy and holds onto him. Eventually, she sets him down inside her room, where she doesn't have to worry too much about him, and returns to getting used to the horses. Later, she'll let Raine back outside, but for now she needs to keep things as calm as possible for the horses.


This proves to be easier said than done, she realizes, as the horses stare at the latest person approaching. Their nostrils flare, ears twitching everywhere. Vanille runs her hands down both of their necks, quietly talking to them. "It's all right. It's just another person. You're gonna be fine. Promise!" 

And maybe she's saying that as much for her own benefit as theirs.

This is why we can not afford to close an empty casket

[fooloftheking]

WHO: Bobo Del Rey
WHERE: Butcher shop, open to anywhere around the villages
WHEN: 12/20 - 12/23
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: Death. Anger. Rage issues. Thoughts of self harm. Knife wound. Likely violence.

---

( Violence is the fruit of unreached understanding that flowers from the lips of scoundrels )

all it takes is a snap

[notsoangry]

WHO: Bruce Banner
WHERE: Steve's House (closed), Schoolhouse (open)
WHEN: December 20th-21st
OPEN TO: Steve Rogers; OTA
WARNINGS: Spoilers for Infinity War, if you want your character to see this, now is the time!

---

HOUSE 18, closed to Steve Rogers

Bruce is in a good mood. His birthday went well, hey he survived another year, and he's been surrounded by friends, both new and old. The Hulk is still no where to be seen. Things could be a lot worse. He currently is focused on several projects, spinning around his brain, but he went by Steve's house just to check in on him. And honestly, sometimes he needs a distraction from his own mind. They're in the house amiably chatting about nothing in particular when suddenly a ping is on his wrist band. Bruce only glances that way in case it's an important message, but then his eyebrows furrow as it's not something he's seen before. "That's odd." There's a countdown to calendar date. "Weird. Steve, look at this, has this happened before?" He is about to ask more when a video begins to play. Bruce is confused at first, but unfortunately the moment when he realizes what is happening, it's too late. Bucky is already turning to dust before their eyes when he quickly jerks his hand away from Steve and take several steps away. He's white as a ghost, the memory washing over him all over again.

SCHOOLHOUSE, later that day and the 21st Bruce is holed up at a corner of the schoolhouse with several journals in front of him. They are the ones that are filled from cover to cover, the most integral of his notes, and he's filling in the last of one now with the most recent situation. The wristbands had a countdown, pointed toward what he believes is January 10th, and it comes accompanied with a memory. For him, it's like a cold bucket of water has not only been poured over his head, but also jammed down his throat to the point where all he feels is the ice in his veins. He can't seem to get warm. Maybe it was because the first time he was in shock and it was right after a battle, but now he seems to really be taking in the reality. The snap. His hands shake as they write and occasionally he'll stop and watch the video again. To see how realistic it is, he'll argue, but also, because he wants to know why this and why it stops there. The meanings are going to burn him in the end. He's still there the next day, looking more haggard than before, and no closer to answers.