#panevent02

[mc-adarsh]

texts from a found phone

@zaidshair Tim: I found this phone on the forest floor. Can you tell me who it is? Tim: The owner of the phone. Tim: There is nobody nearby. I checked. Tim: The screen photo is a dog.

[little-baski]

CLOSED STARTER for @chancedarling location: NEAR THE HUB timestamp: EVENT 02: PART 02: DEEP EXPLORATION

Arm bandaged, duct tape forcing the headphones even stronger against their face, and eyes that were constantly red, Baskar made for a sorry individual. But so did a lot of other residents on the island. So they didn’t feel like they were very different from most. There was a healer around, but either they hadn’t run into them yet, or they had no interest in healing small - and already bandaged - wounds. 

It was okay, they’d stay in the back for a bit, they’d keep away from people for a bit, they’d–

Baskar jumped, a loud noise from the hub then footsteps nearby, they swung around and almost collided with another islander. “I’m sorry!” they crooked.

[panopticonrpg]

EVENT 02. PART 2: DEEP EXPLORATION

With the effects of the hornets' punishing sting on five different people, one reveal becomes evident: one of the explorers (the influencer BabyMama or 'Beema') is still out there, possibly alive, definitely injured. The fate of the others? Supposedly undetermined, likely dead. But Beema needs saving. If it was you out there, wouldn't you want rescuers to save you? On top of that, it seemed one vision provided a vital answer to the behaviour of the hornets: a glimpse of the multi-eyed gigantic hornet, its head not just one TV, but hundreds. Hidden in some electronic wasteland of a cave, possibly near Beema's hiding spot. This robotic behemoth seems to be the epicentre of the hornet's origin, or at least a place to find some answers. Meanwhile, the hornets various attacks around the small village is cut off by a united click-whirr, shared between all the hornets. They all rise into the air and hover, buzzing in unison like some terrible mechanical song. You are witness as the hornets pivot towards the back of the Medicentre, landing in a swarming clump. Collectively, they begin to dig. They begin to dig deep. You're now faced with a choice: head into the wilderness to find Beema, or the hundred-eyed hornet? Or, remain in the village, to find out what these hornets are trying to dig for.

OOC INFORMATION

Muns have a choice what they want their characters to do next:

OPTION ONE: go into the wilderness to find Beema, and/or find the multi-eyed giant (extra giant!!) hornet. This massive hornet seems to be very important, all screens depicting views from the hornets back on the beach. What is the purpose of this huge hornet? How is it connected to all the smaller hornet drones?

OPTION TWO: remain at the home base to monitor the digging hornets behind the Medicentre. The hornets will not attack any longer. Curious characters are free to poke and prod hornets at the Medicentre, but be careful of getting hit or swatted by the furious mechanical digging. What will all this digging reveal? Or is this simply more destruction to sabotage our motley crew?

The success of your characters depends on you (they are allowed to fail, for that tasty character development and/or plot 😍); and as always, Muns are welcome and encouraged to message the Mods with any ideas or questions!

[mc-adarsh]

Adarsh nodded, a slight frown as the salad was taken from him. If he started working in the medi-centre - to use his cool power - she better not make him make tea. He put water in the saucepan, then got out two cups. He'd found coconut milk in little packages in the warehouse, but he suspected that Akhila might not be interested in the version of tea he'd slowly been growing used to. Biting his lip he considered the offer. Having turned away from her to prepare the herbs, waiting for the water to boil before adding them to the saucepan.

He did smile at the mention of 'performing miracles'. Appealing to his ego worked to take some of his doubt away. "You'd have to make sure I can sleep somewhere," he said. Because if he got to choose what injuries he healed, he'd take the worst ones. He wanted to figure out how his power worked, what the limits were, if Mariya being off her tits was thanks to his ability or just a one-time deal.

He let the herbs simmer and turned back to Akhila, who was gladly eating the food. "I'll think about it," he said, as if trying to claim some control. He'd show up there anyway, one way or another. He couldn't say no to this opportunity, to be useful and important, to better his reputation.

end.

Akhila’s attention narrowed, though it didn’t seem out of the ordinary, and considering how they’d met she wouldn’t put it past Adarsh. Two-faced rat felt awfully strong all considering, Akhila had met Chance. The lad was perhaps a little foolish, but nothing that deserved such venom from Adarsh. One to keep an eye on, if she cared the squabbling habits of men. She didn’t. Akhila was quite content to leave them to it and take a portion of the couscous salad for herself.

“I’ll take a cup of camomile.” Akhila’s expression lift with the faintest twist of a smile. It dissipated as she turned to lean against the cabinets. Akhila chewed on a decent mouthful of salad, debating the merits of texting Una to ensure she was safe from harm. Though there was one hurdle to that. Akhila had never asked for her number. Akhila stared blankly at the wall, another forkful of salad, and then another. “I mean what I say Adarsh, you’d be incredibly useful at the medicentre but I won’t force you into it.” 

His presence wouldn’t just split the load, or help Akhila to divide and conquer. Potentially, Adarsh could siphon off the workload of people with bumps and grazes. Superficial wounds, perhaps even those with ones far worse if the story of Chance was to be believed. Akhila was thrilled by it. Still, she stared blankly at him tapping the fork to the bowl. “I’ll let you decide where and when you want to perform your miracles.”

[little-baski]

CLOSED STARTER for @selinswonderland location: NEAR THE MEDI-CENTRE timestamp: EVENT 02: PART 02: DEEP EXPLORATION

While given the stress of the day and the constant noise of the buzzing - and now the digging - in all honestly all Baskar wanted to do was to lay down in the water, submerge their ears far enough so they were completely covered in water, and pretend the world didn't exist.

The down-side to that plan was that they'd be willingly running away from danger and thus from helping people.

Which went against everything they stood for. So they ignored the constant noise - though they were constantly frowning - and tried to offer help where they could. And not spend too much time watching the hornets dig at the medical centre. Unearthing something.

They pushed their headphones closer to their ears. "I wish they'd stop, but I don't think we can stop them," they said outloud to Selin.

[little-baski]

OPEN STARTER  location: MIDDLE OF CAMP timestamp: EVENT 02: PART 01: THE DRONES 

Una had called Baskar brave some time ago. But right now, they felt anything but. Lost and scared was better. They were walking through the inhabited area hoping to meet someone who could help them, while most people were hiding or… or… Baskar could hear them, but the buzzing was much louder, persistent, constantly there. Either close by or far away, not that it really mattered, there were so many of them, and so much reaction to them as well. Their disorientation had resulted in being stung by one, leading to a memory. Of a person they didn’t recognise, crawling through the mud. Their hearing was normal for a moment, but that didn’t make the scream that ended the vision any less horrifying. The sight of a hornet with a hundred tiny cameras, different from those they’d seen before. 

They’d managed to run from the hornet, but now they were waddling through the area with a bleeding arm pressed to their chest and a face wet from tears. Sniffing as they roamed in the hope that something or someone appeared. Or not, they felt overwhelmed by the buzzing, the pain, and the memory. They saw a person - barely - coming from the opposite direction, and raised their hand helplessly. “Please, can you help me?” they asked in a whisper, barely audible. “It hurts. So much.”

[mc-adarsh]

CLOSED STARTER for @alexpanganiban location: MEDI-CENTRE timestamp: EVENT 02: PART 01: THE DRONES / PRE-DRONES ATTACK

Adarsh had managed to drag himself to the medi-centre, finding it filled with people when he claimed a spot on one of the beds, too tired to really register much of what was going on. He didn’t need medical attention, but he could use a nap and clearly his bungalow wasn’t free from being knocked into. As Akhila had already accidentally found it when in need of help for another person. Here he could rest, regain his strengths, maybe shine some more when he had the energy to flex his new power. 

He wasn’t sure how long he’d slept, but when he woke up again, the place was empty. 

He blinked awake but found no trace that anything was amiss. Else he hoped they wouldn’t have just left him to fend for himself. His head felt a lot clearer, meaning he’d gotten a few hours at least. 

Pushing himself up from the comfortable bed, he walked through the place. He couldn’t hear any buzzing nearby, or any kind of noise really. Every man for himself in this place clearly. 

His eyes shot to the door when he heard it open. 

And the sight for a moment was too much for his brain to process. He had to still be dreaming. A very good dream, definitely, but definitely dreaming. To say he hadn’t fantasised about Alex since their kiss and hot moment was an understatement. 

He was unsure where this new fantasy came from. But two Alexes certainly was something. 

“Uhm…” 

Too many errors. 

"There's two... do you need medical assistance?" He blinked again. "Either I'm seeing double or I'm still asleep. There's two of you."

[mc-adarsh]

CLOSED STARTER for @tejvirani location: AT THE HUB timestamp: EVENT 02: PART 01: THE DRONES

The place seemed in disarray, which was fair, given the amount of huge robot hornets and what little anyone could do to stop them. They were flying by in droves, or coming at people in groups of three or more. Some people were hiding, some were trying to stop them, mostly it seemed as if these things had all gotten a plan told to them before setting for the beach, and then somewhere upon arrival half of them had forgotten the directive. Meanwhile, Adarsh, resident healer, was trying to do his part. He had a moment to shine here, a situation in which he could both test out his ability, and gain some good will among the populus. There really wasn’t a better moment. 

He felt the results of the healing however, the exhaustion that slowly seeped into his bones. He’d rest at the medi-centre later. Right now he went places where there were plenty of people, where he had the possibility to use his powers. 

And the hub certainly managed to take the cake. And it seemed safe for exactly three seconds before the chaos started. The buzzing rippled through the air as suddenly a large group of the robots flew overhead and descended towards the place. 

Adarsh’s eyes widened slightly before he started kicking furniture aside so people could run away faster. He bumped into a familiar face, the handsome one from the warehouse, as people started screaming and trying to get away from the location.

[panopticonrpg]

EVENT 02. PART 1: THE DRONES

After the General Meeting, a group of four prepared for a trip into the wilderness. Their goal: to explore outwards, see what they could find of the rest of this strange place. They used walkie talkies at first, reporting back to the others on the beach some findings: lots of trees, an incline, huge volcanic boulders, a waterfall. A plateau. More caves. Something else...then the walkie talkies cut out, as to be expected. The exploration team was out-of-range.

Two days passed.

It started late evening, with a hum that at first only Baskar Klein could hear, given their ability. Something akin to a hum, a buzz in the air with a slight tic tic tic underneath it.

In the morning, a light mist hovered over the forest; and instead of the usual sunrise, the sky remained darkened and mottled over the tree canopy, like angry clouds. What appeared through the mist, however, was much worse than a storm: giant hornets.

A whole swarm - hundreds, perhaps thousands. They flew out of the wilderness like a flying army, invading all the spaces people inhabited. Each hornet is about as long as a person's arm, with a big wingspan. This was, without a doubt, an attack.

You didn't need too close of an inspection to realize these hornets were not prehistorically large living insects. Instead of eyes and mandibles, each hornet's head was affixed with a staticky, reflective, small TV monitor as their face.

Their stingers though, seemed ready to strike.

[tw insectoid image under the readmore]

OOC INFORMATION:

Robo-hornet attack! NOTE: The hornets will not attack people unless provoked.

Example of the robo-hornets:

This event is great chance for your characters to work together! Fend off the hornets, discover more about what makes them tick, and/or use their special powers against the flying horrors. Below is a list of more information that everyone is free to interact with!

Their TV faces will sometimes show flickering video feed of things recorded on the island: other characters, locations, your character's face staring right back at them....

A small swarm tries to attack the Warehouse. Who will stop them?

Another swarm tries to attack the Medicentre. Who will stop them?

The swarm breaks off into smaller groups, with intent.  

One murder hornet specifically goes for the generator that @alexpanganiban bled on to destroy it!

A swarm attacks a giant dog-tiger that comes pelting out of the trees, trying to defend itself. It's the same beast that attacked @chancedarling!

A few hornets go after the Odyssey to partially decimate it

Sometimes the hornets will hover over something as if in thought, and then change course to attack something else.

Paired-off hornets go after certain people, ignores others completely. Seemingly random, but if you want your character to have hornets try to sting them, leave a react in the discord announcement!

Hornets can be destroyed. They're all robotic inside, filled with a weird reddish oily blood-type substance....and something else?

[mc-adarsh]

CLOSED STARTER for @unathorn location: IN THE FOREST timestamp: EVENT 02: PART 02: DEEP EXPLORATION

Adarsh certainly wasn’t the right person to be looking for Beema. But it made sense to him: he had the ability to heal people, he had met the hornets head on already, and he didn’t think any of them would seriously hurt him because he was important in some way. In a big way, he just hadn’t figured out what way yet. 

But it proved difficult to find a single person - and a huge robot with hundreds of tv screens - in the forest. Perhaps he should’ve taken the kid with the enhanced hearing, or anyone else with good tracking skills. 

Opportunity presented itself however, because as he ran through the forest, he came upon someone who might as well have the right skills for this: the lady who could turn into a wolf. And a monster, but he wasn’t worried about that right now, if she was out here, she was probably not worried about it either. More worried about finding Beema. 

Whereas he simply wanted to play the hero. 

“Hey! It’s Una, right? Are you out here to look for Beema too? Perhaps we can team up.” He was definitely striking a better image in comparison to her. He might’ve hit two people, but for all people knew, he definitely had control over who he hit.

[little-baski]

CLOSED STARTER for @lindiwe-in-camelot location: AT THE HUB timestamp: EVENT 02: PART 01: THE DRONES

The buzzing was not fun. Not fun at all. Sure, Baskar knew exactly where the Hornets were, they knew where they were flying off to, what places they might appear in next, and so forth. But it was also far too much noise. Too much sensory overload that even if they were aware that if they headed to the left they’d run into a swarm of them, they also barely registered it. Running into the next group of them scooping over the area looking for a next target. What were they doing? 

They didn’t want to know. They wanted them to finish whatever it was that kept them busy and then disappear. There were tears in Baskar’s eyes. Their teeth gritted together, every new almost altercation left them five seconds away from freaking out. But intensity was something they could handle. It hadn’t ever left them unable to cope, survival mode was in their blood. 

So when they did run into the next swarm, they were quick to shoot away and seek a place to hide. Running past the hub’s kitchen and scooting low to disappear behind the bar. Not the most well-hidden spot, but hopefully a bit too crammed for the large robots to fly into. 

They weren’t alone in thinking it a safe spot. 

Despite not having been to the meeting - because it had been far too busy - they’d seen Lindi a few times before. They recognised her without needing to hear her voice. 

Though right now it seemed a good idea to keep quiet for a moment. They pressed their finger against their lips, because they could clearly still hear the buzzing. The never ending buzzing.

[mc-adarsh]

CLOSED STARTER for @coltbuckley location: NEAR THE HUB timestamp: EVENT 02: PART 01: THE DRONES

A healer. Who would’ve guessed that. Certainly not Adarsh. It was ironic. He felt like the most violent person on the beach, the one who had been called out for punching two people during Lindiwe of England’s meeting. Yet he was the one with the ability to heal wounds. Or at least… he’d healed two people so far. Maybe three. Though he still wasn’t sure if this meant he had to backpedal his believe on Chance. Perhaps he’d been responsible for the other surviving being mauled by a tiger-creature, perhaps it had been Chance themself. 

Regardless, this seemed like a perfect time to have the power triggered, with blood thirsty hornets flying around the place like killer bees waiting for people to upset them. Targeting several places around the area for unknown reasons. 

And enough people whose first reaction to huge flying insects was trying to swat them away. 

“Hey! Just stand still and don’t upset the thing, or they will sting!” he yelled to a face he’d seen around before but never interacted with.

[mc-adarsh]

Adarsh should've probably considered his words more carefully, but he also found this situation to be ridiculous. Not more than people bursting into sand and waking up on a beach with ample supplies and room and boarding. But incredibly, wrongly ridiculous. He only noticed he was - once again - projecting his anger without properly expressing his thoughts when Selin told him off. His frown deepening for a moment.

He couldn't imagine he'd had any friends before, being who he was. Or at least, hadn't made them easily. He hadn't even noticed he was throwing a fit without it having to be pointed out. Seemed eager to fall into the same trap again. With the same person as well. Was he going to be like this whenever he was faced with problems and puzzles he couldn't solve?

Selin got to her feet easily, which was a far-cry from the hobbling she'd suggested earlier. He bit the inside of his mouth hard and shook his head. "Sorry," he said, genuinely. He wanted to explain, but he fell short on words, and there was so much he wanted to figure out, actions he wanted to take to make it all make sense. His brain was trying to warn him that he couldn't do both. He growled in frustration at the constant battle within his - to him - unknown being. "You're healed," he pointed out. "You have blood on your pants but no wound anymore, no scratches on your hand, no problem standing. Either you have a second ability, or I did that. But I don't..." He pushed himself off of the log, joining her with a frustration energy that said he was ready to go. "I can't do thoughts and actions right now," he attempted to explain.

"If this is my ability, then great." Not great, not great at all. "But you're right, and we should warn people. And you can walk, so we'll be faster," he said as he started on the path back to the beach. The hornets not forgotten, the flowers certainly had been, but at the front of his mind was only the pull towards this new knowledge.

Selin wasn't sure what to make of Adarsh's comment. In a different situation, if she had considered him as someone in on all of this, that remark would have sounded like a threat. But as someone who didn't remember himself, that didn't seem likely to Selin (unless it was an act? No, now wasn't the time to suddenly get suspicious. But she wondered what he meant. That she would be a potential next target after being spared? She wasn't sure, but her main concern was making sure that others were aware of what was going on and that they were safe.

She wasn't feeling as sore as she had been when she tumbled down here but she wasn't understanding why Adarsh was acting so serious about this. She wasn't a big fan of him reverting back to his aggressive tone with her, looking angry in a way that she was feeling better? She didn't think she would ever get his deal. "You can say please, you know." she told him as she stood up, holding out her arms and gesturing to herself as if to say, 'look i'm standing, happy now?'

"I feel fine, it was just a little fall, it could have been worse. But I don't get what is going on right now. So you can either explain it or keep it to yourself. But if you want to remain weird and cryptic, I'm gonna go check on some people." she advised him, feeling like giving choices and an ultimatum worked in getting him to feel pushed to express himself out loud. Of course he didn't need to, whatever he was thinking about didn't have to concern her, but his scowling was making her feel uneasy and every moment counted in making sure her friends out on the beach were safe.

[little-baski]

Having said their piece, Baskar decided to ignore Zaid further. Gritting their teeth together against the other’s obvious - though perhaps oblivious - attempt to make the blame fall on them, they kept their attention on the little creatures. It didn’t matter that they were robots, it didn’t matter that they were not made of flesh and blood, couldn’t think for themselves. Baskar’s goal had been to get the little creatures from the clutches of the robot hornet. 

Meanwhile Zaid had decided that his goal - getting Baskar ‘safe’ - justified all means. And Baskar would sit with that guilt, even if the guilt was mostly that they shouldn’t have trusted Zaid in the first place. They’d so wanted to look up to the chef, but people had a way of disappointing them. It wasn’t anything new. 

They packed up the bananas, and the biscuits, returned to them now they knew the robots probably wouldn't eat them - so they gave them the packaging instead. Pack filled, creatures still cooing at their legs, Baskar turned to leave. If Zaid didn’t think he did anything wrong, then Baskar didn’t have the energy to convince him. But they didn’t need him to protect them, not if this was his version of protecting them. 

They left Zaid without another comment, hearing everything, even Zaid’s last ‘I… didn’t do anything wrong’, they hoped they were correct in that it sounded almost like he didn’t believe it himself. 

end.

"I was trying to protect you! Them hornets was going after you next." A little contradictory to his point, but Zaid was convinced that he'd succeeded in chasing them away. "I had to get you out of the way so you wouldn't get hurt." By the hornet, but also by Zaid.

He held the broken bits of the little monkey-bots as Baskar sobbed with the living(?) monkeys. Zaid shook his head. "I didn't commit any crime. Nowt to 'get away' with, is there," Zaid replied with a mild snarl. Some of the mobile monkeys came over, reaching up their little robot hands at Zaid. He crouched down, handing them the parts of their brethren. More cooed at Baskar, cuddling in an almost urgent way. Their need to comfort and console Baskar taking precedence over anything else.

"You don't get it," Zaid said, standing up again and dusting his hands. He pointed at Baskar with one hand, the other resting on his hip. His voice low and clipped. "I was looking out for you. If you hadn't pelted out with no plan but kicking fucking robot hornets, maybe things would've gone different. We see this differently, yeah? End of the day, they're just robots. And in that split-second I had to make a choice: you or them. I chose you. If that haunts you, that's a you problem, right. I didn't do anything wrong."

Baskar somehow wasn't swayed by Zaid's 'I wasn't wrong' argument, as they gathered the bananas, and started heading back to the beach. The monkey-robots eagerly following Baskar in a long giggly, cooing conga line. "I didn't do anything wrong!" Zaid yelled at Baskar's back.

Leaving Zaid standing alone in smoking, charred remains of his convictions. And much quieter, all alone around the silent forest: "I...didn't do anything wrong."

[little-baski]

end.

It took Akhila a moment to readjust. She had forgotten, in her haste to get down into the pit before anyone else could go down to disturb the bones. She had forgotten that Bashar was not likely accustomed, nor inclined for the gravity of this. Nor was Akhila in truth, but she had an exceptional interest that was momentarily outweighing the horrors. Akhila tenderly took Baskar’s arm in her hands, the blood had stained outwards but again, superficial. They could deal with it later, but Akhila felt confident in saying they shouldn’t. She kissed her teeth, gaze cantered back momentarily to the pit, the mass grave. Then back to him.

“It isn’t a dream.”

Akhila reached up to squeeze their other shoulder, the good one, lightly. There was no-one else to pawn him off to. Pity, because she really did want to go down into the pit. Then in equal amounts Akhila had every desire to turn her back on it. Treacherous and provocative urges that had gone as quick as they’d come. She exhaled hard, and then committed to the decision to turn away, for now. “Let’s get you inside and clean you up.”

Her jaw set tight. She may have been the one to suggest going inside, going home, how queer it was it’d so quickly become that. But Akhila’s gaze was keenly on the remains. Angular bones piled atop of one another in such a way it was difficult to distinguish one corpse from the next. The remnants of belongings did little to carve them out as individuals. Akhila heard herself say through the terse clasp of her jaw. “I could do with a cup of tea anyway.”

It would do them both good. 

They could return, or rather it would be Akhila that would return. For now Akhila turned and guided Baskar with her. “Come Baskar.”

[mc-adarsh]

Tim: Me neither. And also not yet, but down the line. Maybe. Tim: Both, I think. I don't understand why people keep animals in their house. Tim: English is most likely my third or fourth language. I'm saying that because I have no idea what pedantic means and I am pretty sure the google translate app doesn't work. Tim: Still no blood trail. Tim: Later, I can tell you all about it after I've seen what's in those pictures for myself.

Zaid: you consider me a friend? bloody hell. can't imagine you had much friends in your old life mate Zaid: darling don't demean yourself Zaid: LOL okay fact unlocked: Adarsh hates pets. Or pet-owners, not sure which. both Zaid: don't be literal, it's pedantic. you know what I meant. but perhaps you are more sensible. you find anything notable yet? Zaid: this morning? blinding??? tell me everything bhai

[a long pause]

Zaid: oh fuckign hell. the hornets stopped [Zaid sends two photos in quick succession: hornets in mid-flight. Then a photo of what they revealed] Zaid: they're headed in the forest! get back here.