Thisavrou Head Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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thisavrou_log2017-09-24 01:07 pm
savmods) wrote in thisavrou_log2017-09-24 01:07 pm
Arc II Final Log A: Therapy
Who: Everyone who goes to the Mediation Center
When: September 24
Where: Underneath Region 5
What: Rescues, bossfights, and decisions
Warnings: Manipulation, mindfuck, brainwashing, violence, and any trauma you might bring. Label your headers!
At the bottom of the complex lies a stair. At the bottom of the stair lies a passage, and it's around here that communications to the world above cut out completely. Shaped stone progresses to an unshaped cave, and while the stairs down were illuminated, this chamber glows only with a dim silver light—produced, it seems, by something on the ground. Water?
A pool.
Its light illuminates robed figures, standing in the space ahead. All wear the silver cloth that marks the intermediaries. All regard you silently, features muted and distorted in the dark. For once, at last, the intermediaries of Thisavrou have no words for you and yours. But as you step forward, as your weapons raise, the light from the pool flares up.
Reality mirrors, and then melts away.
[For more information, and to participate in the vote regarding the intermediaries' fate, check out the OOC post linked above. The setting transition will occur immediately after this log; you're welcome to thread smaller-scale aftermath things, but please avoid dating anything more than an hour or so forward.]
When: September 24
Where: Underneath Region 5
What: Rescues, bossfights, and decisions
Warnings: Manipulation, mindfuck, brainwashing, violence, and any trauma you might bring. Label your headers!
Running. Fighting. However you've spent the last few weeks, it's been a busy time. The overwhelming force brought to bear against the reclamation depot was successful in re-arming most combatants, and those targeting the network hub managed to safeguard your communications, disrupt the Savrii's, and download no small amount of data on the side. Soldiers and noncombatants alike have built defenses and helped each other stay safe against the killers that tried to intrude. A few individuals have even tried to sway the public.
Still, there are those who haven't been successful. And whether in death or in captivity, a select few of your number are no longer by your side.
Both before and after the disappearance of their friends, a subset of those fighting the Savrii have made it their mission to track down a certain lair. Streets were scoured. Mediation centers searched. Some turned their focus to interrogation, others to following traces left by those who disappeared. Analysis of the communication data turned up a secured relay in Region Five, and as the pieces start to come together, those who promised Mother aid will hear from her again. Two minds that she formed bonds with have filtered back to her awareness. Shadowed—changed—but... not so far. Under the ground.
As convenient as the sudden re-emergence is, you have little choice but to pursue it. And with the added vector, a way beneath can be turned up. Past Region Five's sewers, in a transfer point linked to the EN-line, lies a set of tunnels wide enough to hold a single car that end in a plain, unassuming door. A chokepoint? Kill zone? The assumption wouldn't be unreasonable, but no matter how long you prepare outside, no one will come. It's even unlocked.
The path to understanding is one everyone must choose to take.
Still, there are those who haven't been successful. And whether in death or in captivity, a select few of your number are no longer by your side.
Both before and after the disappearance of their friends, a subset of those fighting the Savrii have made it their mission to track down a certain lair. Streets were scoured. Mediation centers searched. Some turned their focus to interrogation, others to following traces left by those who disappeared. Analysis of the communication data turned up a secured relay in Region Five, and as the pieces start to come together, those who promised Mother aid will hear from her again. Two minds that she formed bonds with have filtered back to her awareness. Shadowed—changed—but... not so far. Under the ground.
As convenient as the sudden re-emergence is, you have little choice but to pursue it. And with the added vector, a way beneath can be turned up. Past Region Five's sewers, in a transfer point linked to the EN-line, lies a set of tunnels wide enough to hold a single car that end in a plain, unassuming door. A chokepoint? Kill zone? The assumption wouldn't be unreasonable, but no matter how long you prepare outside, no one will come. It's even unlocked.
The path to understanding is one everyone must choose to take.
explore
One goal of this trip will be met at its beginning. A few adjoining passages off the entrance lead to a control room with a unique console: one capable of shutting down the Artifixx device locking the Ingress Complex off. Once this is done, the team waiting aboveground can embark on their own mission. Those exploring the center will find their own uses for the room; a map of the complex can be turned up, and the console also offers control over the doors. No monitoring devices appear to be included, though. Apparently, those in charge saw no need.
Saw being the operative phrase. The entry passages give ways to halls and rooms, styled similarly to the temporary residences placed in Region 6. This complex is far more extensive, however—even if now, as then, you seem to be the only persons present.
A small infirmary with soft blankets and warm lights. A set of classrooms and meeting spaces, with circular tables designed to foster unity among a group. The library, full of books and datafiles about the Savrii's history, ready and waiting to educate those in need. There's even a small garden. It's all solid and real. All comforting and kind. A place of learning. Of rest. Just waiting to be filled.
And, perhaps, not recently abandoned. Those who search the rooms in depth will turn up recent indentations on the beds. A hair or two, from restless sleepers, or a residual scent. Your friends were here. They weren't alone. And if you search enough halls and passages, you can find the way down.
Saw being the operative phrase. The entry passages give ways to halls and rooms, styled similarly to the temporary residences placed in Region 6. This complex is far more extensive, however—even if now, as then, you seem to be the only persons present.
A small infirmary with soft blankets and warm lights. A set of classrooms and meeting spaces, with circular tables designed to foster unity among a group. The library, full of books and datafiles about the Savrii's history, ready and waiting to educate those in need. There's even a small garden. It's all solid and real. All comforting and kind. A place of learning. Of rest. Just waiting to be filled.
And, perhaps, not recently abandoned. Those who search the rooms in depth will turn up recent indentations on the beds. A hair or two, from restless sleepers, or a residual scent. Your friends were here. They weren't alone. And if you search enough halls and passages, you can find the way down.
reflect
At the bottom of the complex lies a stair. At the bottom of the stair lies a passage, and it's around here that communications to the world above cut out completely. Shaped stone progresses to an unshaped cave, and while the stairs down were illuminated, this chamber glows only with a dim silver light—produced, it seems, by something on the ground. Water?
A pool.
Its light illuminates robed figures, standing in the space ahead. All wear the silver cloth that marks the intermediaries. All regard you silently, features muted and distorted in the dark. For once, at last, the intermediaries of Thisavrou have no words for you and yours. But as you step forward, as your weapons raise, the light from the pool flares up.
Reality mirrors, and then melts away.
The Protected:For all individuals, in all categories of effect, the light from the pool remains the one fixed focus. Silvery and warm, clear and vibrant: a glimmering center where all reflections coalesce. To break the illusion, its power needs to be blocked—through literal obstruction, or destruction at its source. Contact with the water holds great risk, and can bring you further into the simulations, but once the pool is dealt with, all effect will disappear.
While all parties present will be affected by the pool's reflections, those who took the link with Mother will be shielded to a degree. For you, perceptions blur and shadow, replacing the sight of those around you with a myriad of ghost-forms. Some turn on you. Some move away. Some wear the robes of the intermediaries, while others look more like those you know—as allies in this place, or enemies back home. While characters who fall within this group will have trouble discerning illusion from reality, it is clear to them illusions are in play. It will also be clear, however, that some attacks are very real. Are the attackers your friends, distorted and confused by simulations? Or your enemies, using them as cover to strike out? You're in the best position to sort one from the next, but it still won't be easy.
The Affected:
Those without safeguards will find the simulations much more solid and complete. Is there an enemy you failed to defeat? A friend you wronged, or lost, or were betrayed by? Or perhaps your focus truly is single-minded, your greatest enemy the intermediaries you came to stand against. Whoever you fear most; whatever you failed or want to confront, you'll find it here beside you, by the pool. This vision threatens your life, your friends, and your purpose. Fight, be killed, or run out into the darkness, but your nightmares—and your enemies—won't stand idle.
The Controlled:
There are those you came to rescue. There are others, who lived in this place before you came. The intermediaries do not fight, not with fists or weaponry, but they have followers still ready to risk their lives on their behalf. And they have captives who have been given no choice at all. Mixed in among the ghosts and nightmares are the Savrii loyalists and the player characters they have taken. Each has their own reasons, but they will attack you, and the harm they do is very, very real.
As is yours.
choices
You stand in a natural cave of unshaped stone. Without the pool, the only lights are what you brought, but all of them at least show you the truth. The companions who came with you, and the ones you came to save. The handful or so of other bodies mixed into the fight—barely a dozen individuals in total. And at the back of the chamber, a group twice that in number, arrayed in robes and silver cloth.
The intermediaries do not repent.
With the focus broken, their powers are too weak to alter your minds here. Still, if you allow it, they will speak. They insist their actions were for the betterment of Thisavrou. They insist they saved it from the harm dealt out by you and yours. Converse as long as you would like to—or as long as your allies will wait.
But in the end, it comes to your decision.
The intermediaries do not repent.
With the focus broken, their powers are too weak to alter your minds here. Still, if you allow it, they will speak. They insist their actions were for the betterment of Thisavrou. They insist they saved it from the harm dealt out by you and yours. Converse as long as you would like to—or as long as your allies will wait.
But in the end, it comes to your decision.
[For more information, and to participate in the vote regarding the intermediaries' fate, check out the OOC post linked above. The setting transition will occur immediately after this log; you're welcome to thread smaller-scale aftermath things, but please avoid dating anything more than an hour or so forward.]
no subject
Can't fault you for bravery, but--
[And here, she steps to the side, taking one of Ginko's arms with her, and twisting it back, behind him — with just enough force to hold him, just sly of painful.]
--lacking a little in the raw power department.
no subject
He keeps struggling, his chest heaving as his breaths become faster and more desperate. He tries to stomp on her foot, though he doesn't expect it to do much good.] L-let go!
no subject
[As expected, the foot stomp is barely registered—but it doesn't cause any more pressure on Ginko. Holding him in place, he's merely disabled, held fast in an adult's practiced grapple.]
no subject
[He can feel his throat tightening, the threat of tears burning behind his eyes. He clenches his jaw and tries to swallow them down.]
I have to! I can't-- I can't let you all kill them, I can't let it happen again, I can't--!
no subject
Shifting herself, she moves, still holding Ginko, until she can look him in the eyes properly.]
Okay. I understand. I won't kill anyone—but in return, you have to tell me what you can't let happen again.
Think you can do that for me?
no subject
A moment later, though, he speaks again, his voice still shaking.] You-- you should know. They came before, they tried to help, y-you all killed them.
no subject
Don't think I was there for that one. Can you brush me up on what happened?
no subject
[His voice breaks off with another sob. He can't. He can't keep talking about this, he can't--
What is he even trying to do here? Why is he even trying to talk about this, why is he--
What does he have left to be afraid of? It hits him like a train, how pointless this is - he's already been caught, whether she kills him or not, he didn't manage to do anything to help. He can't do anything, he can't save anyone - he was no more good this time than he was before.
Why bother bargaining for a life that's so completely pointless?]
You-- 'M not telling you anything else, just-- Just hurry up.
no subject
[Still holding his arms behind him, she looks around, peering through the dark at the other figures, light flashing in illumination on and off from the dying pool.]
If I let you go, what are you going to do?
no subject
[He almost sounds frustrated by that. Frustrated, confused, desperate - why not? He makes another effort to struggle free.]
I'll-- I could try to attack you again. Or-- or get your gun and run away.
no subject
She holds on as he struggles, the firm pressure never abating.]
I'm not leaving you—and if you attack me, we're just going to end up right back here.
I call ceasefire. We call this, until we're out of here. Then you can aim as many kicks at me as you want. Okay?
[It's a desperate attempt—better than restraining him, but doubtful he'd accept.]
no subject
He shakes his head, just in a slight movement at first - then more insistently.]
I don't-- wh-why would you do that? Why... why take me out?
no subject
[Turning her body until she manages to lock eyes with him, she speaks, slowly, deliberately, each word dropping like a lead weight.]
I was in here for 45 days. I know what it's like, to lose who you are, have it replaced with something else—and hardly notice the difference, until you do. Until is starts to drive you insane. This place, this whole structure, is making things worse, not better. Everything you see, every image that dances across your mind, telling you I'm here to kill the ones you trust—that's this place.
no subject
[Part of his brain insists that can't be true, she must be lying, but... he can't find any concrete reason not to believe her.]
no subject
[Having gained his attention proper, her tone lowers, softens around the edges. There's no wheedling—just concrete statement of fact.]
You don't have to trust me, but let me help you.
no subject
What about the... the others? Is... is everyone else gonna be okay?
[Everyone else who's still left, at least.]
no subject
Everyone. Safe and sound. We're not leaving anyone behind.
no subject
If... if you're sure.
[He takes a deep breath.]
...What should I do to help?
[There's got to be something.]