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quietplacelogs2018-01-15 08:09 pm
bequiet) wrote in quietplacelogs2018-01-15 08:09 pm
INTRO LOG #1
INTRO LOG #1
Muzzle and Mute
Content Warnings: Disorientation, memory loss, confusion
Themes: Arrival, survival, exploration, horror
You wake, standing. A thick, muddy red dust coats your skin and clothes - it sticks to your tongue and blocks your vision. Inhale and it chokes you, exhale and your breath puffs out in front of your face in a transparent maroon cloud. It tastes of copper, tangy and harsh. Movement is difficult, every limb tingles and aches. Look to your left, your right. Evenly spaced in each direction stands another person indistinguishable in every way from the next. You're disoriented and lethargic, unable to grasp onto a single thought. A pinprick of light blooms ahead and grows steadily larger; a door has opened.
Hands grip your wrists, push at the small of your back and guide you out of the darkness into a room with four walls and a thin, sagging ceiling. The plaster is peeling, the air is musty, and the floor is slick. White plastic piping juts up from the center and curves into multiple spouts, clean water flowing in uneven streams. Those hands pull your clothes off and clear the dust from your body, redress you in handsewn jumpsuits. By the time they’re through, you will have begun to come back to yourself.
A finger is pressed to your lips. Kind eyes meet your own and a single word is whispered - hush.
Led out of the room in a line, you’re taken down a short hallway and into another, much larger room. There’s a woman waiting for you there, a child hugging her leg, and a cloth bag in her hands. She reaches in and pulls out a device, passes one to each of you. Once finished, she begins to move both hands in graceful gestures, a language. One of the people who helped you lifts their device and the screen lights up, tracks the woman’s hands. Letters appear on the screen and you understand the device’s purpose. She tells you what she knows and it’s not much.
This world is haunted. Noise attracts them, so it is not allowed. Communication is through body language, soundless writing, and the device. She tells you that your feet must be light and your mouth never used. There is a community outside these doors, where you can survive together, but only if you agree to one thing: complete and total silence. You'll have time to talk it over. You may ask one question and receive one answer.
Acceptance allows you to journey outside. The ground is marked in pathways of sand, lining the paths to each building and everywhere in-between. You notice that the locals hold their devices always, aloft and glance to it often. It will not vibrate or make a sound to signal a message. Notices appear. Rules. Guidelines. Feet on the sand and never anywhere else. To open a door you brush your fingers along the hinges - oiled and you may enter. If not, take the brush from the can sitting nearby and coat the metal with the dark liquid.
Now, you're to settle into your new home.
The Man in the Hat
Content Warnings: Heavy lifting, following the rules, alcoholism
Themes: Moving in, survival, exploration, horror
Once you’ve claimed a room for yourself, it’s time to acclimate to the community. Natives will ask what you need and take you along the sandpaths to different areas in the city to gather supplies - furniture and the like. Heavier items will require assistance and will take longer. Houses are mostly empty so if you and your housemates need something, you’ll have to carry it and put it inside the home. Do not make any noise or the natives will refuse to help you. Getting to know your housemates is key to a smooth transition. They are going through what you are right now; take the time to get to know them. Make house rules.
As the first day gives way to night, the natives can be seen moving at a faster pace outside. They’re hurried, though not frightened. Some even smile at you. When the sun sets behind the ruins of what was once picturesque Reims, your device will signal that it’s time to meet at the center of the community. There, natives will stop each person and give them a small gift - a trinket, a token to show that they are trying their best to make all the new arrivals feel at home. These are all items from the character’s home or from another character's home (they will not be anything that belongs to anyone else). Small, soundless and either something taken during the application process or something brand new. They will have no powers to speak of and are meant to be a momento. If asked, the natives found them the same way they found each of you.
Then the party starts. Sort of. A soundless, stitled kind of celebration. Fun is meant to be had, but it’s not an overly joyous occasion. The natives simply don’t know how to cut loose. There will be extra food in the form of one and two; Phillipa even brought some of her homemade bread. If you stumble across a man wearing a hat, the only man in town who does, and agree to go with him when he offers to show you his house - he’ll gift you with a jar of hooch; it’ll burn on the way down.
Sound Eaters
Content Warnings: Threat, danger
Themes: Survival, exploration, horror, game plot
It’s the second day of your stay, and the natives call for an emergency meeting at the Town Hall. Everyone is paired off (see below) and are asked to walk the perimeter looking for anything out of place and patching any areas that might have been affected by weather. Once finished, the same is done on the inside, and when the community leader is satisfied, the main hall is opened up so that everyone can congregate. Characters, during this time only, are allowed to make sound. This is so that the natives can explain why silence is so necessary...
The Sound Eaters.
In an effort not to frighten everyone, the natives won’t go into the history just yet, but they will warn that when someone makes a sound, it attracts them. They don’t know what they look like because they are so fast. If you’re too loud, then in the blink of an eye, you’ll go through a room reset. This is because either the natives ‘silenced’ you or the Sound Eaters have. They will explain that the room came at the same time the Sound Eaters did and that it doesn’t work for the natives. Sometimes, it doesn’t work on new arrivals. Death, for those born in this world, is permanent. If you attract them, you’ll get someone killed. Hence the need for no noise. During the meeting, the natives will tell each character of their own experiences. Their losses. The families they have left and how they’d do anything to keep them alive. They don’t know if you’ll be reset, but is that a risk you’re willing to take? The meeting will last a few hours and will end on a somber, ominous note - at the end of the month, they are taking everyone to meet them.
OOC
From your mods:
Please be mindful of content - if something triggery comes up or if it goes up a rating to say, something sexy, mark your threads in the subject line. We're very flexible and allow any material; we just want our players to be respectful of each other. If you have questions, pp the mod account, use the faq or comment to the appropriate post below. Have fun!
[Closed]
2B wonders, a little, what the danger truly is. Why must they be so silent? But she cannot see an enemy and these are orders from humans, therefore it isn't something she has much interest in enquiring further into.
When she is paired off with a human, she observes the man's appearance before she salutes with her left hand over where her heart would be, were she human.
[The Man in the Hat - Closed to 6O]
There isn't much of interest for 2B in the party. Socialising was never particularly her strong point and the silence is near stifling. Food is unnecessary and she's not about to consume some and effectively take away nourishment from humans who actually need it.
She's about to leave when she sees a familiar head of blonde hair and her voice catches in her throat, silently mouthing Operator 6O's name. Hearting her distorted voice over the Bunker intercoms was so painful.
She takes a step towards 6O, not believing her eyes. But if she is here, that means it's entirely possible for 6O to be...
no subject
A warmth blooms in her chest, and filled with joy and relief (for if 2B is standing there, then she must be all right, she must have escaped the Logic Virus), 6O smiles. She can feel a warm pressure behind her eyes, and as with 9S, she must fight to keep her crying silent, as she mouths '2B!' and then closes the gap between them. Uncaring of protocols and propriety, 6O flings her arms around 2B in a tight hug, burying her face against the other android's shoulder and trembling with the chaotic blend of emotions pulsing through her circuits.
no subject
It takes 2B a moment to respond, but when she does, she wraps her arms around 6O, relieved her operator is here. Emotions are prohibited, but it doesn't matter any more. She always wanted 6O to be happy.
Still, hugging isn't something that comes naturally to 2B, so she kind of awkwardly holds 6O while they both work through their emotions.
no subject
To feel 2B hug her back - however awkwardly - just gives the warmth strength, and she bites her lip against a sob. 6O has so much she wants to say to 2B, and yet, here they are in a place where sound is prohibited. So eventually she pulls back enough that they can look at each other. Though her eyes glitter with tears, she smiles brightly, truly happy to see 6O.
She lifts her hands, and they tremble just slightly as she signs.
'I had a terrible dream before waking up here. I dreamed that Home got a virus. You tried to warn the Commander, but it was too late. I think you escaped.'
Thinks but isn't certain; it was hard to be certain of anything amid the distortions of the Logic Virus. But... she hopes she's correct and that 2B and 9S escaped. They're both here, after all. She isn't quite sure why she is, too, but 6O prefers not to question that.
The trembling is a little worse there, and she pauses to collect herself, biting her lip. It's difficult to restrain herself from making noise. The Command Room was always filled with sound - reports filing in and out, alerts, the perpetual chatter of Operators to their assigned units. Only in their private quarters was it ever quiet, really, and even then the quiet hum of stations' systems was ever-present.
'I'm so glad to see you again!'
no subject
She doesn't need to know both of them are dead.
But 2B does smile, a small upwards curl at the corner of her lips. For once, one can see it reach her eyes; she doesn't have her visor. Unlike 6O, however, 2B hasn't downloaded the sign language. So it might be strange to see her dig into the pocket of her jump suit and type what she wants to say.
I'm glad to see you, Operator
no subject
Kind of.
Except without the veil and the visor and 6O almost can't believe her eyes, seeing this smile. It's such a rare sight on 2B's face, and 6O can't help but smile even more at that. She kind of wants to hug 2B again, but she restrains herself and digs out her own device in turn.
I'm happy to see you too, 2B! I'm glad you're here. How are you feeling?
no subject
They never had the chance to complete their work for the humans on Earth, but perhaps they can do something to assist the humans here. Her fingers glide over the device's surface.
Same as usual.
It's not entirely a lie; dealing with mixed emotions and ploughing right through them anyway is pretty much her baseline state.
You were using the same sign language as the humans here. Can you help me learn it?
'Learn'.
no subject
Of course! There's a sign language dictionary loaded onto the devices - they use it to translate signs to text, but I can copy it into your memory for you! Just a -- oh! Would you like me to do any other routine maintenance or checks while I'm at it?
After 2B gives her answer to that, 6O nods.
Ok! This will only take a moment.
And then she accesses 2B's data; not being a nosy scanner model, 6O gets straight to business, doing any requested checks and then copying the dictionary data over. Even so... she's a bit slower about it than she normally would be. Way more methodical and by the books than she necessarily would have been back home.
no subject
While 6O is doing her maintenance, 2B observes her Operator's actions. It's unusual for 6O to stick so closely to protocol. After a while, 2B asks 6O. "Are you alright?"
Somehow, it's easier to express herself in her own head. Words that are usually stuck in her throat flow more easily during maintenance.
no subject
"... I'm worried about Logic Virus damage."
no subject
Unfortunately, she's no Operator or Scanner. Entering other androids' systems without assistance is completely beyond her capabilities. Maybe there's some other way she can reassure Operator 6O...
...But it means 6O's 'dream' will no longer stay that way.
She's always hidden truths from 9S, but it's hard to hide from 6O, who sees everything. Sometimes, 2B wonders how she finds the strength to still be so cheerful, despite it all. She supposes... it will only be a matter of time 6O will learn the truth. Even if she can't be truthful to 9S... maybe she owes it to 6O. She doesn't know.
"If you can't find any traces of a Logic Virus in me, you won't have any either.
several days later..........
But, in the end, he stayed quiet. Why? Well, curiosity would surely kill him before any monster would.
His new partner analyses him just as he does the same to her. Many members of their ragtag group have already proven themselves beyond the realm of normality, with some flat out non-humans mixed in. The way she cordially greets him is a clear sign that he has nothing to worry about. He, remembering that body language will be his biggest assets in this place, returns the favor, nodding and gesturing with his hand towards the path laying out before them.
Shall we?
and then it was my turn to take several days......
My name is 2B
If they are to be working together, at least for this, she can manage this level of social interaction.