day zero

[guestcontrol]

dreamland day zero 42 players remaining. [You wake up in a temporary barracks set up behind an amusement park. The weather is chilly but pleasant, and there aren't any lines for the rides - in fact, it seems you have this place to yourself. The entire park appears to have been abandoned some years ago, and though everything is in working order, it is overgrown with plants and seems rusted and unsafe. As for you, something has happened, though you aren't sure what. There's a throbbing pain in your head, and you can't focus, as though you're coming off heavy pain medications. However you think you should look, you look like a human now. Under the bandages wrapped around your temple, old and smelling like blood, you'll find a recently stitched up scar wound and the inability to focus on your memories. You have no knowledge of how you came to be here; you may even have forgotten certain aspects of your life, or feel confused about them. The fact of your missing memories is obvious, a dark blank spot. Under the bandages around your wrist, you'll find a brightly colored bracelet, decorated with the face of the smiling cartoon animal on your wall, embedded into your flesh. It beeps a merry tune and welcomes you to DreamLand Fun Park. Just then, a voice comes over the loudspeaker.] "Good morning to all of our new guests! The park is now open! We'll get started later, but for now, have a magical day with your new friends! Oh, and there may be a few nasty side effects to your medical condition. If you meet someone having trouble adjusting to reality, please be polite!" [In your room, you'll find a small box containing several personal items - no weapons, magical items, or technology advanced beyond the early 21st century, and nothing dangerous, but otherwise anything you would ordinarily find on your person is there. Of course, nothing with cell reception or internet connectivity can manage to pick up a signal. If you swipe your bracelet against the steel door, it unlocks. You may now explore your accommodations, or venture out into the park.] profiles character statuses setting This is an IC mingle covering the first day! Night roles will go up Monday at 4 PM EST, but you are welcome to continue to thread here once that happens. Make sure to follow any updates on plurk!

Comments

[terci]

Oh.. yeah... [He rubs the back of his head awkwardly]

I wish I could tell you more, man. [He felt bad, because usually he'd be all over something like this. He'd probably at least know what state or country they were in by now..]

...uh in any case, my name's Dipper! I guess introducing myself is better late than never?

[eventhandler]

[He nods, his expression softening somewhat. Well, it would only waste time, just worrying about what was going on. He needed to get to the heart of the situation as soon as he could.]

Dipper. I'll...remember that. I'm Royce. Royce Bracket. A pleasure.

[terci]

Nice to meet you... Mr. Bracket? [He's not sure if he should call him by his first name or be formal...]

So.. are weird situations like this normal for you? [He's a little curious! Royce seems kind of like someone who knows what to do in a time like this, so it's got Dipper intrigued. He may or may not have the impression that Royce is some cool detective]

[eventhandler]

You can call me Royce. ["Mr. Bracket is my father", he wants to say, but this is hardly the time for discussing his personal life.]

Ah, well...if you are asking if I've been transported to a another place without, well, without my knowledge. Erm. No. But I do...I do work with unique sorts of problems back home. I mean, I was certainly the first one to encounter them. [He frowns.] But...that's over. That's over now.

[terci]

Were you.. some kind of detective or something? [The wording at the end.. "that's over now", interests Dipper.. but he's not sure if Royce means it's over because of where they were now or if it was something personal.. so he decides to leave it alone.]

[eventhandler]

[Things happened. Things that went out of his control. It wasn't...pretty.]

Detective? [He raises a thick eyebrow. Oh, sort of like a forecaster back home, that's what he means. He shakes his head.] No, I...I'm an engineer. Architect, more specifically. Though recently, I pursued more...personal projects. Grew tired of the profession, somewhat.

[terci]

An architect? So you worked on buildings and stuff? [Hey, that's pretty cool..]

What made you grow tired of your profession?

[eventhandler]

Yes. Statues, buildings, parks...whatever the people wanted.

[He lets out a sigh.] The people...the people always wanted something different after a while. My work was ephemeral. It didn't last for very long. Never did.

[terci]

Oh... sorry, man. [He shrugs a little.]

Isn't that kind of a waste of resources though? I mean, them wanting to replace the stuff you already did with new stuff.

[eventhandler]

The city of Cloudbank...well, you see, it's not entirely resources that are used to construct it. It's not like there are none used at all...buuuut there are certain things that allow it to change so easily without wasting much energy or resources.

I discovered it, you know. The thing that changed everything. Took a long time, very long time...but I discovered the source. That was my personal project after I left my work.

[terci]

Woah, that's awesome. [Oh man look at that excitement in his eyes.]

So you could like, change a statue into a building or something? Without having to do use any new materials?

[eventhandler]

Oh, yes. It wasn't...well, it wasn't very hard, if you knew the mathematics behind it!

[He seems to become a tad bit more animated than his usual weary self - he did love his work when he had it, after all.]

It was the result of something called the Process. It was behind everything that changed. Like...numbers making up a code, in a way.

[terci]

Like... programming something in binary?

[eventhandler]

A little more complicated than that. It involved...lots of math. Lots and lots and lots of math. Predicative algorithms, integrals...that sort of thing.

The Process, they were...almost like creatures, in a way. Like incarnations of code...

[terci]

The code.. was alive? [This is so interesting and weird and Dipper loves it]

[eventhandler]

In a way, yes. It really all depends on how you define "alive", really. It's very, well, hard to pin down. But the Process evolved. It even...well, to my surprise, took on the visual traits of people, occasionally. Learning. Copying...it was all rather fascinating!

[terci]

Woah, that sounds like something straight out of a movie! [He pauses for a second, before looking a bit unsure.]

Wait, they took the form of people? Kind of like a.... shapeshifter..?

[eventhandler]

Not a movie. It was very, very real.

[He shakes his head.] Ah, no. No, not exactly. They still looked like themselves in their forms, very inhuman, they just...took on some features that made them seem very human-like as well! Two legs, two arms...a head...truly, it was like nothing I had seen before.

[terci]

That's crazy, a program that can turn from a building to a statue, and eventually to a human. [Wait, if this was all true, wouldn't Dipper have seen it before? Unless..]


Where are you from, anyway? You said something about a.. Cloudbank?

[eventhandler]

No, that's not quite correct. The Process...they'll never be human. They're just...protocols. The ones who do the work behind the scenes to build the buildings, you see, they...they aren't, er, actually part of the architecture. Do you see?

[A nod.] Yes. I came from a city called Cloudbank. Have you never heard of it...?

[terci]

Oh! Yeah that makes sense. [He nods.]


No, I haven't heard of it, though. Is it in like, Europe or something?

[eventhandler]

[He stares.]

What's "Europe"?