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

[edealistical]

Or they stick around to observe the fruits of their dark labors, and we would never even know!

[has that ever really happened]

...What are you talking about? I've never heard of a California.

Hartschild is in Eisenberg. Southern continent below Eternia - I guess you're across the ocean, then.

[siggey]

Behind a camera, maybe. I haven't had a chance to take a closer look at everything, but I wouldn't be surprised if this place's chock full of them.

{ I stare. ]

California, in the United States of America? The land of the free?

Uh... I've never heard of these places before. Is that in Europe?

[There's no way you wouldn't know continents like America and Europe no matter how young you are! ...Right? ]

[edealistical]

The land of the free? ...You don't mean brigands? You belong to a roving band of thieves?

[The suspicious squint has returned.]

Eisenberg is in Eisenberg. I don't know how much clearer that gets. It's a continent.

[siggey]

How do you even draw that conclusion? We've been a civilized society for hundreds of years, and I'm not a thief, I'm just a regular college student!

[ I can't believe this. Does she seriously not know ANY of the places I just mentioned? ]

I've never heard of that continent before, it's not in any atlas. I may not be a geography major, but even I know that much! This makes no sense. You're really not making any of this up? Or hit your head, or... something?

[edealistical]

Most people who harp on about freedom and deposing the king are bandits, in my experience.

[It's not her fault you're so suspicious.]

And I've never heard of the places you're talking about, either. One of us hit our heads, anyway.

[Her gaze settles on Sigma's head bandage.]

...Or maybe both of us.

Unless... well. It's a stretch, but time travel is possible, after all.

[siggey]

Monarchy's from an age long gone, even in Europe. It's all about democracy these days, mostly.

[ What did I do to deserve this? ]

I might've been gassed, but I'm pretty sure my memory's fine. I can remember everything up until I got in my car pretty clearly...

[ Can I? I briefly run the events through my head. The masked man comes back to mind. Just who WAS that?

I shake my head. ]

No way. That sort of technology doesn't exist.

[edealistical]

It's not technology. It's the power of the Crystals connecting us all. I've already looped through a few cycles.

[Edea shrugs.]

The place you come from might have just... evolved very differently. I'm sure there are still Crystals there, though.

[there aren't]

[siggey]

[ ...That sounds like something straight out of a fantasy novel.

Or a video game.

My head hurts, I don't want to think about it. ]



Let's try something else. I'm Sigma. What's your name?

[edealistical]

Edea Lee, former Knight of Eternia.

[No wonder she thinks he's a bandit.]

It looks like we're all in the same boat here. We've got to try and work together to figure out what's going on... and get back home.

[siggey]

Oh.

[ Wow.

I have a gut feeling that the less I ask, the better. After all, I doubt drilling this girl about her hometown or why she's a knight is going to help us get out of this place. ]

Can I just... call you Edea, or should it be something else?

[ You need to be polite around knights, right? Not like I've ever been to the UK... Can women even be knighted? What's the female form for 'sir'? 'Ma'am' doesn't sound right. ]

Yeah, definitely agree on that one.

[edealistical]

Oh - I left the Sky Knights long ago. It's... complicated.

[Unless he wants to hear the whole hour long story about the Sky Knights and their atrocities and her subsequent betrayal, of course.]

Edea is fine.

But if I'm not a Knight in name, I shall always try to embody the spirit of one. I won't rest until we're all free and the perpetrators have been brought to justice.

[siggey]

I'm... sorry to hear that?

[ I'm good, let's keep moving. ]

Alright, good.

[ She seems like a nice and righteous person though, everything weird set aside. ]

Yeah, so let's start with what we know. Do you remember anything about how you were captured? Were you doing anything important that sticks out, before you woke up here?

[edealistical]

...I was entering the beam of light that would take me into the fourth parallel version of my world to restore the Crystals that would bring forth the devourer of worlds - so we could destroy it for good.

It's always very jarring, but I've never ended up anywhere but back in Caldisla.

[So just... slightly important]

[siggey]

That sounds... important.

...I'm sorry to hear that.

[ ANYWAY. I'm picturing entering an elevator and going for the lobby or something, but instead when the doors open you're somewhere else entirely. After talking to Edea for a few minutes though, I decided to keep the elevator analogy to myself. ]

Uh... so basically, you stepped into something that should've brought you to a very specific place, but instead, you ended up here instead. That right?

[edealistical]

That's exactly right.

I don't know how or why it happened, but I've got a job to do. Whatever's happening here... I can't let it interfere with my mission.

The fate of millions of worlds depends upon it.

[siggey]

[ She makes my degree sound pretty insignificant when she talks like that... Wait, am I getting roped into this crazy narrative--?! ]

You didn't get a chance to freak out at least, I guess. Anyway, we need to find a way out. You just woke up not too long ago, too?

[ I'm gonna guess she didn't really have had a chance to take a look around. We should probably do that soon. ]

[edealistical]

I just took a look out the door. It's some sort of torture park. There's all sorts of mechanical contraptions here...

[siggey]

Uh...

As creepy as this place is, those aren't torture devices. They're worn down and look out of shape, but they're all actual amusement park rides.

[ I squint out the window too, trying to get a better look at what she might've seen. ]

They're not dangerous if you follow the normal safety procedures, since people are supposed to ride them for fun. Which one looked the worst to you, anyway?

[edealistical]

...Amusement?

[Edea frowns a little.]

What's so amusing about being looped through a metal track in a steel death trap? They all looked pretty bad...

[siggey]

It's for the thrills. Kids love it - if they pass the height requirements to get on the ride, anyway. Heck, even adults do! You're too... archaic to understand.

[ I feel a little sorry for her, now. How can anyone grow up without having ever been on an amusement park ride? I can only hope to God that it's not too late for her, not yet. ]

[edealistical]

Archaic?

I thought you were calling me a 'kid' just now. You should make up your mind about this.

[siggey]

How old are you, anyway? --I mean, I'm not gonna press if you don't wanna tell, but you look really young. Physically. You act like you're out of fantasy middle ages though, so that was more about the time period you sound like you're from.

[edealistical]

I just turned eighteen. And it's not a fantasy, you know. It's my life, and it's just a little bit stressful right now, actually.

[siggey]

It's a... genre. We just call it that, where I'm used to.

[ Right. A genre called 'fantasy', like how comedy is called 'comedy' and action is called 'action'. At least she probably doesn't really get what I mean, probably... ]

Wait... Really?

[ I can't help but stare back at her incredulously, tearing my attention away from the one ride off in the corner that actually looked fun to try. ]

You look 15, maybe 17 at most...

[edealistical]

W-Wha -- Why are you criticizing the way I look?! Looking young doesn't mean anything! I've defeated the strongest warriors in the world in combat; do you wish to test my strength?

[Edea will assume a fighting stance, since you know, he's an adult male she's sure he knows how to fight.]

You won't be disappointed.