August Aftermath: Make Me Okay

[lifeaftr_mods]

AUGUST AFTERMATH: MAKE ME OKAY

Who: Everyone!
What: After the harrowing events of mid-month, it's time to process what you've been through
When: August 24th and onward
Where: Ensō and/or Nastrandir
Warnings: Discussions of violence, injury, forcibly altered mindsets via magical influence, and character deaths. Other than that, tag as you go!

Nastrandir: Can I Fight When I Don't Know How
The morning of August 24th, the day after a Storytelling that was notably later than usual, you will wake to the restoration of your average selves, barring any extenuating circumstances due to recent deaths. The dead will rise again on Ensō, at the Storyteller's Temple, while everyone else will simply wake where they last laid themselves to rest. There's nothing left to do but, perhaps, try to come to terms with all that's just happened.

You've probably witnessed some terrible things, over the past few days. There's a very good chance that you were the one doing the terrible things. Whether you were responsible for the slaughter of a fellow adventurer, watched the fray from the distance, or suffered the spontaneous combustion that seized everyone who hadn't managed to shake away their false memories in time, it's at least all over now. Or...mostly. Any stray sirens that haven't been smashed by the event's end are still shrilling away, though their dangerous effects seem to have been rendered inert without the aid of the broken merotome spilling its memories into everyone else's heads. Likewise, a handful of automatons still wander the island of Nastrandir. Those that have not succumbed to mud and rust and irreparable damage are still capable of firing upon hostiles. Anyone who may have fought by their side before will discover that they're now far less friendly, and will treat former members of the Red Team just the same as they would with any other intruder: with deadly fire.

So you can pick yourselves up off the ground and clean up what remains, or you can say to yourselves: Fuck That, and instead head back to Ensō. Or you could elect to keep exploring Nastrandir, if you're truly a glutton for punishment.

Ensō: Am I Bleeding From the Neck Down
On Ensō and its accompanying islets, it's begun to rain.

It's not a genuine downpour, but more of a gentle, melancholy drizzle. The rain is cool and likely refreshing, particularly if one is just coming away from the humidity of Nastrandir.

Potentially as a form of apology, anyone who goes digging through their belongings will discover that one of the following has ended up in their packs:

[ ♆ ] If you were a member of the Red Team, you will discover that you now own a rather awkwardly-shaped object, about three feet in length. A set of written instructions will inform you that this is known as a redsword, and that, upon placed upon any wet area or body of water, will drain and dry it out over the course of five minutes. This item is single-use, and only works for a ten-foot radius.

[ ♆ ] If you were a member of the Blue Team, you will discover that you now own some very fetching footwear. A set of written instructions will inform you that these are called skip-skops, and can be used to walk on water or wet land without sinking or getting wet. Standard limitations when crossing between islands or attempting to go beyond LifeAftr's limits will still apply. This item is single-use, and will dissolve after one hour total.

[ ♆ ] If you were Neutral, you will discover that you now own, er, this. A set of written instructions will inform you that this object is called a furball, and that it works as a sort of miniature, diminished version of the sirens you spent all that time destroying on Nastrandir. Once planted, it will rapidly grow into a tall, screaming tree full of lorby-like creatures that automatically causes all natural animals in the vicinity to become aggressive for one hour, maximum. This item is single-use.

It's not much, but it might make some of the hell that you suffered through over the past few days worth it! Almost, anyway. In the meantime...relax, lick your wounds, and try and forgive yourselves for what's happened. Please remember to let us know if your character perished in this event! Remember also that death penalties will be reduced following this event; characters will only need to contend with them for a week, and participation in Non-Compulsory AC will not be necessary in removing them.

---

If you're interested, the following links may prove handy:

[ ♆ ] OOC Event Info and Plotting Post
[ ♆ ] Nastrandir's Intro
[ ♆ ] Nastrandir's Locations Page
[ ♆ ] Search Requests Page
[ ♆ ] Deaths Page

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[eudaimonikos]

I'm the only reason we all knew each other to begin with. I picked them out for a torture experiment I was doing, and I stole her from the angel warehouse to help. She didn't know she was helping with torture, I just lied to her a whole bunch.

[motherfucking_ghost]

You stole-- What the fuck, every other sentence you say makes this story wilder and wilder! You stole an afterlife AI from an angel warehouse to help with a torture experiment.

And I thought my life-and-sort-of-afterlife was weird.

[eudaimonikos]

It's not as though it was guarded. Angels are very stupid.

[Because that's the problem here.]

Janet's my best friend. We're - we're partners.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Maybe they thought no one was crazy stupid enough to break into heaven's warehouse for an interdimensional robot with a gullible OS!

[eudaimonikos]

How was it crazy stupid? They never noticed. I faced exactly zero consequences for that.

[For, uh, everything else he's done, sure. But not that specifically!]

[motherfucking_ghost]

Because who thinks of robbing angelbots! Had nobody ever tried before?

[eudaimonikos]

I doubt it. We've got our own series of Janets, we usually just use those. But they're demon-made, and they - well, they wouldn't have worked for what I needed.

[motherfucking_ghost]

They wouldn't have worked for a torture experiment.

[eudaimonikos]

No.

[man why do you need so much elaboration on this?]

I was trying to torture people psychologically, instead of the regular old flesh-melting routine. Demon Janets don't have any subtlety.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Well damn, buddy, you didn't imply that. They're just like stabby robots, fire and brimstone--do you have demons to do that? Don't you do that?

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, no, Janets don't usually torture. They maintain the structure of the Neighborhood pocket dimensions, provide anything that we need, act as quick reference materials... There's a lot of back-end work to keeping a mini-reality running, you know.

No, the problem with our Janets is just that they're all dicks. I wanted the humans to think we were their friends.

[You know, for easier manipulation!]

[motherfucking_ghost]

Sounds like an upper management type of problem. 'Janets too dickish, make funnier', send memo.

You ever get to walk amongst the people or whatever? On the human plane of reality.

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael chuckles.]

You kidding? That memo's not worth my life. You don't want that sort of attention from upper management. [...] I mean, I've got it now, but that's a whole other thing.

We're not supposed to go to Earth. I did anyway, spent a year or so hiding out there. Mostly just keeping an eye out for my human friends.

[motherfucking_ghost]

So they're your friends now. Yeah, I could see how upper management's got their beady little demon eyes boring into the back of your skull. Probably don't take kindly to their lot making nice with the mortals.

[eudaimonikos]

Nah. I'm about three seconds from execution at any given time.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Still alive and kicking, though, somehow. That counts for something.

...What happens when you guys die?

[eudaimonikos]

We don't, technically. We get broken down to the atomic level, and every individual atom is placed on the surface of a different sun, where it - still alive and able to feel pain - burns for...ever. The screams echo throughout the entire afterlife!

[motherfucking_ghost]

[He gives an impressed whistle.] As far as eternal damnation goes, I'm hard-pressed to think of anything worse than that.

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael opens a hand and sort of shrugs.]

It's a punishment for demons who screw up. If we just used a regular torture, like we do on humans, then it wouldn't be as much of a deterrent.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Why not use that on humans? Like, it wouldn't be fun to watch or anything, but that'd sure be a hell beyond all hells.

[eudaimonikos]

You can't really retain enough awareness on the atomic level to experience pain. That, and it wouldn't be fun to watch.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Good point; different anatomies and ways to experience the world around you.

[This entire conversation is 50 shades of surreal, but it beats thinking about killing Tex! He looks deep in thought for a moment, or, looks it as far as an expressionless helmet can.]

So like religions, those don't matter, right, everyone goes the same? Do you have any beliefs that you can't demonstrably prove?

[eudaimonikos]

No, that doesn't matter. Things you do with religion matter - if you're a dick about it or not - but it's not weighted any differently than regular dick behavior.

[That second question, though, that's...something he's never thought about before. Does he have beliefs he can't prove?]

I think... [mmmm, let him gather his thoughts for a moment] I think that there are moral truths, and that our system has completely failed in trying to quantify them. We've tried to make an objective, numerical system: everybody who steals a loaf of bread loses twelve points, for example. But I don't believe that human action can ever be so black-and-white. It is different if you do it to feed your family. But that's not the kind of thing anyone could ever prove, so...is that what you mean?

[motherfucking_ghost]

For a demon? Yeah. That sounds like a good example. No wonder your bosses hate your guts. I think you'll find a lotta people, humans, agree that moral objectivism is bullshit. There's grey! There's always a lotta grey areas.

I mean, not everyone. Some people think the rules--many of which are arbitrary, by the fucking way--are absolute. The vast majority will agree that murder is wrong. That should deduct a lotta points, right? But then it gets greyer with self-defense. Actual self-defense, not bullshit self-defense. Even something almost everyone can universally agree on is going to cause grey areas.

And you can't prove any of it cuz it's subjective, and in the case of your system, you definitely can't prove shit, cuz it bucks the system.

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael leans forward, listening attentively. This is his shit.]

Yeah, killing a person will lose you points. You gain some back if you saved someone else's life by doing it, but I don't know if your own counts. That's all Accountant work.

And that's the least of the problems with the system. Humans are held accountable for every eventual consequence of their actions, even ones that they couldn't possibly foresee. It's very difficult to buy anything these days without the money going to some evil corporation somewhere...the only real way to avoid point deductions is through complete isolation, but then you'll never be able to gain enough points to get into Heaven.