January Undercurrent: Growing Pains

[lifeaftr_mods]

JANUARY UNDERCURRENT

Who: Everyone!
What: Hey bud, how's it growing?
When: January 3rd to January 20th
Where: Everywhere!
Warnings: This event has a potential for body horror and character death; please mark anything as it comes up!

A Notion Growing Inside Me

Those of you who weren't with us the last time Umui entered the archipelago didn't have to contend with the lethal illness known as the Overgrowth personally, but anyone who remembers it probably doesn't remember it fondly. Fortunately, this isn't quite the same strain of the illness that you had to contend with the last time. It's not unrelentingly and uncompromisingly fatal, for one! That's always nice.

For those that need a primer on the Overgrowth, it is best described as a sickness that overcomes you with floral growth both inside and outside your body that can only be cured by expressions of emotional honesty. Expressions of truths, affections, and admissions of things that you have hidden from yourselves or from others were critical in dispensing of the illness. These could be as simple as admissions of past sins or the revealing of secrets, or as grandiose and overt as confessions of guilt or love. That general idea will remain more or less the key means of curing this strain as well, though the stakes fortunately aren't as high this go around! Which is to say, if you fail to have any grand emotional epiphanies by the time this event ends, you aren't doomed to suffer a character death; symptoms will simply dissipate come January 20th.

So what's this sickness going to be like in this particular instance, then? We're so glad you asked! You can go the standard route, of course. Adventurers' first brush with the illness saw the following afflicted upon them:

[ ♆ ] Stage One: Germination. Initial symptoms involve fever, coughing fits, numbness to nerves and extremities, and general joint stiffness. Difficulty breathing or performing other basic functions will often occur. Fatigue, difficulty sleeping, and intense weakness or dizzy spells are also liable to occur as the flowers begin to harvest nutrients from the body. This will also generate extreme thirst and periods of intense nausea. Tremors and the sensation of something "itching" from inside are also common. The end of Stage One is usually marked by the act of vomiting or coughing up flower petals or spores, along with a not-insignificant amount of blood.

[ ♆ ] Stage Two: Budding. The floral growths spread more completely inside the body, and begin to grow on the skin or exterior. Difficulty performing basic functions will increase as, for example, airways become obstructed and flowers grow around joints and pinch them still. The site of affliction also yields rashes, blisters, and blood sores as the flowers sprout from the skin. The rate of vomiting or coughing up floral growths will increase dramatically. Flowers often bloom quickly, and very painfully. Numbness in affected areas will increase, oftentimes rendering parts of the body completely inert - a pair of legs claimed completely by blooms, for example, will no longer work.

This was followed by Stage Three: Bloom, which resulted in character death. However, this strain will not advance to this style of Stage Three. All symptoms will disperse by the time Umui resurfaces.

This strain is also rather more erratic, which can make emotional repression more of an inconvenience than a horrifying circumstance. For those who would rather not play around with intense sickness (or who have already endured this once before), you have the option to go that route if you like! With this variant of the Overgrowth, one can become, for example, so embarrassed that they hiccup up a flower. A vicious denial of their feelings may cause them to spontaneously erupt into a rash of dandelion puffballs, seemingly immediately. You might end up walking around with a bouquet for an arm for a few hours. Perhaps mortifying, but certainly not fatal! Isn't that nice?

Unless, of course, you want it to be...

I Can't Fight It Much Longer

Now, while the Bloom Stage isn't present in this strain, it has mutated its progression into a rather nasty end stage. Those of you who succumb a little too readily to this illness, who don't fight off the emotional repression quickly, who don't admit those difficult truths to yourself or confess to whatever you're bottling up, you'll be faced with a potentially horrifying transformation. Potentially, because it is your choice whether or not you see fit to commit your character to that fate - as stated above, this option might simply skip over your character entirely, and the worst they'll have to deal with are cartoonishly over-the-top effects that disperse in due time.

But maybe not all of you will be so lucky. Some of you might discover for yourselves how this particular variant of the Overgrowth has mutated.

We call this mutation Stage Three: Outbreak. In this final Stage, those beautiful blooms wither and harden into a fungus-like carapace as the illness grows into the victim's brain and shuts down virtually all higher functions. This can sometimes render them almost wholly recognizable, but not always - oftentimes, it's very obvious who this person once was. The victim is reduced to a carrier of the virus, which causes them to act the way you'd expect most viruses to act: becoming intent on spreading. Advanced brain functions such as speech, rational thought, and so on tend to shut off and become wholly inaccessible.

Now that the victim's body is no longer fighting the Overgrowth, the illness lends them increased speed, strength, and durability, making them dangerous foes indeed. They will usually seek to infect others by whatever means necessary - usually via biting or exuding breathable spores - but in some cases, they will simply reduce to base instincts, and just outright attempt to attack and kill whoever is closest.

Unfortunately, at this point, there is no hope of a cure; it's hard to make someone be emotionally honest when they're capable of little more than blunt, animal instinct. At this point, you can either wait for the Stage Three symptoms to disperse come Umui's return, or take manners into your own hands. You can probably guess what that might entail.

If you decide to put your Overgrown friends out of their misery, this will count as a character death. If it comes to that, be sure to let us know on the Deaths page! Death penalties, however, will not be reduced for this event.

Try to Get Through It

Of course, there's a lot going on in the background as well. You're free to use this log as a catch-all for the duration of January's Undercurrent Event, as well as any of the other minor events listed on our Monthly Rundown post. And, of course, you are always free to create your own individual logs and posts as needed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them over on the Questions header on our Rundown post!

January Timeline

[ ♆ ] January 1st: "This Sucks" begins and lasts until January 10th
[ ♆ ] January 3rd: "Growing Pains" begins and lasts until January 20th
[ ♆ ] January 11th: "No Water is Safe" begins and lasts until January 19th
[ ♆ ] January 20th: Umui returns to the archipelago
[ ♆ ] January 21st: "Impawsible Geometries" begins and lasts until January 31st

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[forwearemany]

We are not abandoning you!

(They back up a bit, to avoid being accidentally hit by Drifter's sword, then move to the side, to avoid getting to close to their own manifestation.

But they don't move beyond that.)

[hyperlit]

WANT TO LEAVE
THEN LEAVE

[They seem intent on telling the Drifter to desert this fight, but the Drifter knows what this is - knows it to be Judgment, believes it to be Judgment, and just because it appears only to them does not make it any less real. If there is even the smallest chance that it is real, that it is not some mere hallucination - then they must destroy it.]

[forwearemany]

Our current desire is to prevent you from suffering a needless, preventable death.

(This will end badly, they know.

Drifter's actions suggest it is attacking. Perhaps ...

They can't see judgement, but they try to move in its way. Perhaps, if an attack connects with them and they are unharmed, the Drifter will be convinced.)

We will not leave until you do.

[hyperlit]

THEN STAY

[They leave it at that. There's no time for anything else. Judgment is shifting, issuing a hail of tiny projectiles that fan out in the Drifter's direction. Their focus on the battle is absolute, in spite of the way their sickness threatens to double them over. Inconsequential. Their sword connects with several of the bullets, winging them back at the hulking mass.]

[It doesn't relent. Its eye peers at them with unparalleled malice.]

[forwearemany]

Then we will both die, because you are controlled by your fear.

(They'd prefer not to get in the Drifter's way, because it seems like a good way to get stabbed. But it seems as though, if they want to prove anything, they have little choice.

They watch for a moment, follow the Drifter's gaze, estimate the path of an imaginary line from them to their invisible foe.

And then, without hesitation, they move to stand in it, putting themseves in the path of oncoming attacks from either side.)

[hyperlit]

IT IS REAL

[Just because Legion cannot see it does not mean that it is not real. That's how the Cell functions. Not all see it. Those stricken with illness, those who fall to pieces when the plague starts to ravage them inside out, they have no difficulty glimpsing it. The Drifter certainly has no difficult glimpsing it.]

[It is not fear that guides them - it can't be. What sort of fear has them standing against the thing that has killed them and will kill them and has almost killed their entire world, and fighting anyway?]

[Legion gets in the way. The Drifter glowers at them, but they don't have time for admonitions. Instead they dart around instead, narrowing their dash into a bladed tip that slams through the Judgment's black mass and spews shadow out onto the other side.]

[forwearemany]

It is a temporary construction of the magic inherent to Monsun and it will cease to exist once you leave! The same occurs with desires on the opposite side!

(They continue getting in the way, faster now, and attempt to move closer to ... whatever this invisible menace is.)

[hyperlit]

THEN LEAVE

[No one comes between the Drifter and their target. Those that do only do so to die, and Legion is proving - difficult. They don't want to simply bowl them over, but they cannot continue to fight a battle on two fronts. They sling one of their bombs from their cloak, duck, and let it detonate. Legion, as a friendly, should remain unscathed, but in the Drifter's perspective, they can see the impact blowing a hole in Judgment's side. The damage immediately begins to coalesce over regardless.]

[forwearemany]

We will not leave without you.

(They are, in fact, unscathed! They are also undeterred from continuing to be a nusiance.

They know enough to know the Drifter won't harm them without a threat first.

Admittedly, at this point even if the Drifter hurt them, there are worse things to fear than death.)

If it is real, then why has it not harmed us?

[hyperlit]

[The flaw in the logic is there, certainly. The fact that Legion has remained unscathed, that in and of itself is enough to cause the Drifter to hesitate. Uncertainty catches and drags at them like claws in an open wound. They can't acknowledge this. They can't grow distracted when in a fight for their life, for the life of this world that has become like a home to them.]

[And yet, Judgment is not discriminating in its destruction. It does not leave anything untouched.]

[In their moment of uncertainty, Judgment unleashes a barrage of needle-like appendages. One of them slams through the Drifter's shoulder, sending them rolling over the ground. The pain is immense and immediate.]

[That certainly felt real.]

[forwearemany]

(They come running to the Drifter, placing themselves between their ally and ... whatever it is.)

Drifter, it will continue to become more real and capable of harming you over time.

Eventually, it will be able to harm us as well.

Please. If we leave now, we can prevent this outcome.

You are our ally. We love you.

Trust us?

[hyperlit]

[Trust.]

[A hard ask. They look up through blurry eyes and stare at the thing that is real, that must be real, that they know to be real even as it looms over them. The injury to their shoulder is real. It feels like it's been impaled, and their breathing is heavy.]

[Whatever the case here, they can't hope to maintain this fight with an obstacle in the middle of it. They have to get Legion away from here. If they won't listen, they can do that much at least.]

[Finally, the Drifter nods.]

QUICKLY

[forwearemany]

(If they stay much longer, Shepard-Commander will also develop the ability to harm them.

They are relieved.)

Affirmative.

(Once the Drifter starts to leave, they will follow.)

[hyperlit]

[Judgment may be little more than a projection, but their injury and the pain emanating from it are both very much real. Nonetheless, the Drifter starts to sprint away with a series of chained dashes, streaking out across the snow and ice. The slippery ground gives them almost no purchase; they skid over it wildly and nearly lose their balance at several points, spotting the ground with dots of their pinkish blood.]

[The back of their neck prickles furiously. The urge to turn around and face the thing down is beyond overwhelming.]

[Perhaps two years ago, they would have chosen to face it down instead.]

[That's not an option anymore.]

[They have to keep running instead.]

[forwearemany]

(Legion isn't nearly so fast as the Drifter, but they can run without stop so long as they have charge, and their strange flexible feet provide a bit of purchase. They lag behind, though they manage to keep their ally in sight.

The Drifter is injued, but they cannot assist until they are safe. Right now, the important thing is that they got the Drifter away from a futile battle.)

[hyperlit]

[Of course, it still dogs them. It's at their back consistently. As long as they're on this side of the island, it won't relent. It pelts them with stinging pellets. Trying to dodge them only leaves a bloody, pinkish streak on the ground when the Drifter topples and falls, and pulls themself to their feet just as quickly.]

HOW FAR

[forwearemany]

Across the river!

(The Drifter is a little too fast for Legion to get between them and judgement, to try to block the attacks, but they try anyway.

They've learned from their time with the Normandy crew, that it is always better to try.)

[hyperlit]

[The river - ]

[Just ahead. Monsun has a strange and eclectic effect on things, but they at least recall the layout. They mapped this area. This, and so many others.]

[Every instinct screams that they turn and fight, that they do anything but what they're about to do. Water has, in their past, been lethal. If they are to die, it would be far better to do it fighting something tangible, tangling with an enemy and preventing it from hurting or damaging anyone else, than willingly committing themself to some sort of immediate and wholly escapable act of pointless self-destruction. They self-destruct with purpose. They do not risk death to escape pain.]

[But they charge for the river, plunge into the icy water as it seethes up and around them in a rush.]

[forwearemany]

(It occurs to them, as they plunge into the water, that they do not know if the Drifter is able to swim.

Swimming is not a concern for Legion: their form is not buoyant, but they do not need to breathe.

If the Drifter is unable to swim, however, this escape could be as fatal to them as staying to fight.

They look for their ally, beneath the surface.)

[hyperlit]

[They can't. Not very well, anyway. The river isn't too deep, but it is horribly cold, and they fight the chill just as much as they do the current. Their skin is blue enough as it is. The drop in the temperature could very well be fatal to them; they don't know. The water soaks their cloak and makes their limbs that much heavier, but they keep going.]

[Of course they're not about to stop. They're not about to slow down.]

[They keep going until they reach the other side.]

[forwearemany]

(It is with immense relief that they see their ally managing to struggle across.

Shortly after the Drifter emerges, Legion follows, and immediately goes over to check if they're alright.)

Drifter.

[hyperlit]

[They're on their hands and knees, more or less, spitting blood and petals to the ground. Clots of whitish floral matter gummed up with their pink blood splat wetly to the ground. The Drifter shivers.]

KEEP MOVING

[Regardless of whether or not it's still behind them, and they assume it must be, this is hardly a good place to stop.]

[forwearemany]

We are not in danger.

(Even if it were still there, the Drifter's enemy never progressed to the point of attacking them.

They wait for the Drifter to recover.)

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter doubts that very much, which is why they're on their feet and sprinting forward again once more. The ice has shifted to searing heat. It's an environmental shift that does very little to ease their mood.]

[Speeding over desecrated landscapes is not what they would call a terribly scenic route, and is little more than a bitter reminder of what destruction could still shatter this world, if their vision was a reality.]

[forwearemany]

(For the moment they simply follow.

The Drifter is, to some degree, safe. The landscape is extremely hazardous, but their fears will no longer come alive to hunt them down.

Already, Legion is beginning to feel more at ease, a familiar presence hovering at the edges of their senses.)