auroraexpress | Event: A Prelude

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 8, evening
Where: around

[It's a beautiful evening in the jungle tonight. It's warmer than usual, and some new plants have appeared, black vines that climb up the trees near the Aurora, opening hundreds of tiny white flowers that glow in the darkness. They let of a sweet smell that's soothing like a chamomile tea, and are filled with a dew that, if consumed, leaves characters feeling relaxed and just a little more likely to act on positive impulses.

However, the vines of this plant aren't so harmless. When broken they drip a milky white substance which irritates the skin, leaving red welts that burn and last anywhere from an hour to a full day, depending on how long the substance is in contact. Eating this won't kill you but it'll give you really intense heartburn and nausea for a few hours.

Additionally, if you're walking around in the nearby jungle, you might trip over one of the small cracks that have appeared in the forest floor. Mostly they're not visible underneath the grass and underbrush, but the bigger ones have caused a slight unevenness in the ground that can catch careless toes. There doesn't seem to be any particular pattern or origin to the cracks, nor do they have any other affect on their surroundings. They're just there, suddenly, in a roughly 100-foot radius from the train.

But there's plenty of reason to ignore these natural phenomenon, because there are some new teammates waking up in your carriages! In response to this new wave of arrivals, existing players will hear a cute jingling ringtone come from their Chain. Upon checking, the screen displays... a silly animation of balloons and confetti and the words "WELCOME NEW HEROES", which goes away on its own after a few seconds or when characters tap it. The same display is shown on the big screen in the lounge, in which trays full of colourful drinks have mysteriously appeared. The drinks taste like Kool-Aid and change some part of you the corresponding colour -- pink hair, blue skin, purple eyes, or maybe just a literal green thumb!]

[[OOC NOTE: Newbies can review the arrival scenario on the navigation page if necessary. The drinks in the lounge come in any colour you want, and cause colour shift in whatever and however large an area you want. It could just be a strand of hair or it could be your entire body, whatever you feel like playing with.]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Vague grunt, handwave.

She gone.]

[. . . OKAY BYE. . .]

[what if]

[he attempts to follo wher]

[At the bottom of the ladder, staring up.]

I thought you wanted to be on the roof.

[Being on this train is like babysitting a hundred very weird children. What's happening now?]

I did. And now I don't.

[hopping off the ladder onto the ground, landing gracefully on his feet. like a cat]

What's your name?

Emilia.

[Blink, with creepy glowing eyes.]

Do you remember yours?

[looks a bit surprised at the question]

Is there a reason I wouldn't?

I'm the only one in my car that remembers mine. They're all going by cat names.

[shes not a fan of the cat names.

She hops off of the ladder if he's going to climb down, though.]

[. . . raises a brow, trying not to laugh]

Iiiiis there something wrong with cat names?

Well, what are they going to do when they remember their real ones? It's a little childish.

Will they remember their real ones?

[he doesn't know how this amnesia thing works]

You buy back memories, one at a time. Eventually they're going to.

[that's. . . odd. . .]

Buy them back? With what?

Did you wake up here today?

[She saw the announcement, but...

Holds up her phone.]

You're looking for this, you should have been left one.

[blinks]

[then reaches into the pocket of his onesie and pulls out his phone]

[tah-dah!!]

. . . does this thing have a memory store app?

Yes. ...Sort of. The money is called 'sparks.' I used it to buy back a skill I forgot.

[. . . . . . huh]

[. . .]

How does it work?

Do you. . . have to get something implanted in your brain?

[???? IS IT MAGIC]

It gets shown on a screen, for people missing other things. I just suddenly... remembered. It just came to me.

[She scowls, crosses her arms. It's weird. It's creepy.]

[huh]

. . . all right.

[weird, but he rolls with it]

It's a little strange, though. If you can buy back lost memories and skill, then why can't you just get them all back at once when you arrive?

They claim that the memories were lost when we were retrieved, and we need to gather the power necessary to get them back ourselves.

. . . who is "they?" The Construct? The Star Prince?

[what's the chain of command, here]

I heard it from the Construct, but you're asking the right questions. I don't know if the Star Prince even exists.

[ha]

[his mouth curves into a slow grin]

Now we're thinking along the exact same lines. Are we sure that whole introduction spiel the Construct gave us isn't a lie?

No. I've been assuming it is, but there's not much we can do about it either way. They do seem to actually pay us for bonding with each other, so that's something.

Mmm. Maybe, but. . .

[he trails off]

[because complacency isn't like him at all]

But?

(no subject)

purrtagonist - 2019-01-31 18:45 (UTC) - Expand

ewestmarch - 2019-01-31 22:48 (UTC) - Expand

purrtagonist - 2019-02-03 01:25 (UTC) - Expand

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