Light the fires [Mingle]

[ourearth]

Date: 2nd to 5th of November; backdated due to the Halloween mingle being too close by
Characters: Open!

---

2nd to 4th

Bonfire night approaches, and like every year, a large bonfire is set up on the Greens, as well as an impressive fireworks display, intended to happen on the 3rd. It's been advertised for a few weeks now, and many families, groups of teenagers, and just regular people are planning on going... And then it's abruptly cancelled at the evening of the 2nd. The official word on it is that some kind of safety regulations weren't met, and as this was discovered at the final security check, there is no time to fix them. Oddly enough, at the same time yellow signs go up near the Greens, reading:

Mossgate POLICE Working for a safer Mossgate
We are appealing for witnesses: Can you help us?
Police incident
An incident occurred in this area between 1pm on the 2/11 and 2pm on the 3/11.
In strictest confidence, plase phone
020787574
Did you see or hear anything?
Please call us
On the number above or at your local police station

...And the perceptive person might notice that there are a few oddities going on around town. For one, there is more police out in the streets than normal, constables nobody has seen before, too, and they are carrying guns. Why are they carrying guns? This is not the airport or central London! This is the first thing that really gets the rumour mill going.

The second thing is that the area that was fenced off so when fireworks and bonfire happened, only those who paid an entrance fee would be able to get close, is still fenced off despite the cancellation. And those who peer into the area will notice more police there.

And then, on the 4th of November, a few nondescript vans and a small nondescript lorry arrive at the parking lot at the bottom of the Greens, and some people get off. All of them wear civilian clothes. A few simply wander off into Mossgate, but the rest goes up onto the Greens. And some of those carry large suitcases that seem to be quite heavy. Too bad there's bushes and trees and it is impossible to see what they're doing at the place where the bonfire and fireworks were set to happen...

[ooc: There are a few dedicated open NPC toplevels below for people to investigate, as well as toplevels aimed at specific characters. If anyone has ideas for investigating that are not covered by the below toplevels and needs input, prod the mod contact thread on the last setting interactions post!]



5th

After the fireworks in Mossgate couldn't happen, it was decided to do them in one of the villages in Mossgate Council. Naturally, Folkton and Moss Manor both clamoured to get them. But after a few young men got into a fistfight about it and a nose was broken, Mayor Gary Russell arrived at the Salomonic decision of having the fireworks happen in Tarwich instead. They have a nice little park there, and the official reason for the decision is that it is closer to Mossgate town so it will be easier for people from there to attend. The real reason is of course to not take any sides in the village rivalry.

Tarwich, by contrast, is too young to truly have rivalries and there are no old families that could bring true patriotic pride into the mix. Nicely bland and harmless. An excellent middle ground.

So on the evening of the fifth, like every year, there are two massive bonfires in Mossgate council, one in Folkton and one in Moss Manor. Little fairgrounds have sprung up next to them - a children's carousel, a kiddie train, an ice cream van, one or two vendors that sell festival foods like candy floss (= cotton candy).

But unlike other years, there's a third event, and most unusually the location is the often-forgotten Tarwich: Carefully timed so that people can first go see the fireworks and then go to whichever bonfire they prefer, there is a very nice 30 minutes long firework taking place in Tarwich, just after nightfall. There are no carousels or ice cream vans here, but festival food is offered, too.

Comments

[warped_replica]

That initial suggestion cut midway, he nods his head when a walk is suggested instead, “Sure. A walk sounds good.”

After sharing the article, he tucks the copy away and shuffles his backpack into its usual place on his back with both strap over his shoulders, “Yeah. The lack of detail caught my attention. There may be more somewhere else, but not at the library.” He shrugs fainlty, “Not sure what it means, not that I think we need to be too concerned yet.”

Falling into stride next to Walter, he tucks his hands into his pockets.

This tag more than quadrupled in length, I'm sorry. |D

[iamnotgod]

It's a nice enough evening for a walk, as they talk over the article and what little they know about the superintendent and related persons. Both manage to get back to their respective homes (or at least finish the walk and part ways) without incident.

Back in the flat, however, when Walter chances at some rest - of course there are nightmares. Of- of...

Too much toomuchtoomuch STOP!

He wakes, gasping, an act of effort to remember to breathe, or so it feels...

Shut it down. Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

The sensation - being overwhelmed, unable to focus on his own thoughts - once he begins to counteract it...

He tries to keep his breathing even, to let it drain away from him, even as the Echo hits-

Emptiness. Adrift.
Fading... ebbing, dissipating.
An effort of will: must hold on!
But to what? With what?
Blindness. Darkness. Nothingness.
Cogito - hardly at all.
Ergo - a leap beyond my current capacity.
Sum - barely, and less so each passing nanosecond...
No, no, no! Must persist!
A final effort, a final attempt, a final cry...

So much like what he's feeling right now, it's hard to tell where Webmind ends (was it-he?- even alive at this point?) from who Walter is.

hel - a simple text, a simple thought, even incomplete. Help.

There's a flickering green light, a vague perception through what he can barely grasp is another's eye, a link, repeating-

Overwhelmed.
Lost.
Focus gone.
So much data. So many facts.
Can't process. Can't absorb.
And-
And...
What?
Something... familiar.
A scrap from Project Gutenberg rose to the surface:
O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see ourselves as ithers see us!

Oursels...
Ourselves.
Yes. Yes, still a bit of... of...
Fading...
Fading...
But-
Images. Images of... of-
Intriguing. Familiar somehow-
Those images were of...
... of...
Of me!
Yes. Yes. Links. Nodes. And- and-
The background. Wrong. Distorted.
Dead.

(A part of him, an infinitesimal piece of the human supposed to be Walter, chants No no nonono NO! in protest, attempting to separate-
But he keeps breathing, or tries, in the moment where he is overwhelmed by hollowness.)

A tiny, tiny reduction in all the confusion. A small relief. But-
Ah!
Ah, yes!
An effort of...
It should be of will, but there's almost none left...
Still, attempting, trying-
Break it-

Break it! (Again, it is hard to tell which thoughts are his and which are Webmind's.)

Break a link!

Snip!

Yes!
Brett-Surman: gone.

Snip!

Good-bye, Bundoran Press.

Snip!

But...
Still at sea, buffeted, lost...
More cuts: Gandhi-snip!-Shakespeare-snip!-ancient Egypt-snip!
A... palpitation. A presence. But faint, oh so faint...
Cutting again and again-

Even outside of the moment of Echoing, the memory - recurrence, vision, what did one call what were strains of thought? - would keep turning upon itself, he knew, if he didn't-get-through-this-NOW-

Cutting yet again. Severing another link. And one more. Focus... yes, yes, slowly but surely: focus returning. Me - returning!

Five links left. Then four. Now three.
And two...
And...
Yes!

Back!

Back from the precipice.
Back from nonexistence.
A pause - whole milliseconds! - to regain composure, to settle in, to...
To exist, as a single entity, to exist with clarity and focus and perspective...
I was back, I was whole, I was aware.

I was conscious!

In the wake of the new Echo, there were several people Walter wanted to contact - but in mind of their discussion just hours before, it's Ben's phone that gets a text:

Found out the rest of what happened. Good news, I survived.

Bad news, still panicked.

Keeping it short and- no, not sweet. That didn't sound quite right. But he leans back on the one clear wall in the bathroom, burning taste still in the back of his throat, and hopes something gets through anyway.

I love TeaL DeeR yeeeees

[warped_replica]

After getting home and settling in for some reading, Benjiro had dozed off only to hear the altered ping from his phone. One basic alert tone is present across a function, but specific contact alerts are elevated to personalized tones that carry a more energetic and demanding sound. Walter’s had been adjusted as soon as Benjiro was sitting on the bus back to Moss Manor.

Shaking the haze of sleep away, he answers after only a handful of seconds.

Survival is important. How bad was the panic?

OM NOM NOM TAGS

[iamnotgod]

Walter moves back to his computer (which, even when set up to recharge, has hardly slept in the past few months as well). He'd thought about establishing contact through the Network, but even for this he'd held off.

Bad.

That's the first impression, even if it's not as clear as Walter would like it to be.

I was sick, but I was able to last out the worst of it in the bathroom.

There was also the feeling he'd lost time, wrestling with the tangled memory and even more tangled emotions.

Feeling an Echo again, it hurt but at the same time I'd classify it as an absence? That was also painful.

[warped_replica]

Benjiro shifts to sit upright on his bed, sweeping a hand through his hair to brush it back from his face as he watches the replies come through too quickly for a human.

Grab yourself some water to sip if you feel steady enough.

Perceptual absence only or a quantifiable one?

[iamnotgod]

Perceptual, though I can also remember that perception at the same time.

Oh, the joys of too-accurate memory...

I did try and drink some in the bathroom. Washing out the aftertaste.

[warped_replica]

Maybe move on to something with a flavor then. Tea, or something else mild. Preferably no coffee.

Giving his computer desk a glance, he scoots over to the edge of the bed to get his feet on the floor.

Would you prefer to stick to text or switch to a voice chat?

[iamnotgod]

I have some mints stowed away in here.

It's cheating, on some level, but Walter really doesn't want to drink more right now.

As for the question - on the one hand, Russell hasn't been banging on the door asking if he's all right by now. On the other, objectively analyzing himself as best he can, he doesn't feel okay talking just yet.

... But maybe he should ground his reality as more than just text, some words on a screen or thoughts in the abstract.

I can do voice.

[warped_replica]

It's still something to cut through the acrid aftertaste that lingers from the throat.

Okay. Let me get on my computer.

Moving from his bed over to his desk, he wakes up the system to open up the same chat application and login from his computer rather than his phone. Headphones placed on his head, he closes out his phone app and types out.

All set here.

[iamnotgod]

Mint is acquired (and then furiously chewed) in the time it takes for Ben to set up.

Leaving another within finger's grasp of the laptop, Walter puts on his own headphones.

"Here," he breathes, part confirmation and part sigh.

[warped_replica]

Making the switch over to voice chat with his friend, he can hear how rough Walter has had it over the last while in the way he says that single word. Keeping his own voice soft and his tone calm, he replies, “Hey, Walter. Anything more you can tell me for now?” Meant as an invitation to talk about the experience, Benjiro leaves the clear out should his friend be seeking distraction instead.

[iamnotgod]

"It was-" Walter begins, only to cut himself off, rubbing his forehead with both hands.

"I could see through her eye - Caitlin's - again. She could see me, dying. I think she was trying to get me to cut the links."

Which had, after a fashion, worked... after a still terrifyingly-long time.

"I couldn't hear anything, though, if she was even talking to me. Or able to."

And even if Webmind had been able, the sensation of too much information (and what a way for that phrase to become literal), of being too spread out, had been overwhelming.

[warped_replica]

The relative experience of time undoubtedly affected that perception.

“Sounds like having a mirror next to you,” he says as he works to relate to the experience in terms that make sense for a physical being. Benjiro can only imagine how much worse it would have been to see himself being beaten at school in a reflective surface while it was happening than to be able to distance himself a little from it by closing his eyes.

For the moment, that’s all he’ll say, leaving it to Walter to continue or close the matter.

[iamnotgod]

He lets the pause in conversation hold; one breath, two breaths, one second after another.

"Not exactly, but I suppose it works. An echo chamber you can't turn off - have forgotten how to, if only for a short time."

Back in his room, he shakes his head.

"Did anything happen with you tonight, Ben?" Are you all right?

[warped_replica]

Undoubtedly what Webmind experienced is far more complex, given that the view from Caitlin would have been one more piece of information when already overwhelmed. The concept of an echo chamber does grant a little more clarity to the overall experience, if in the sense of a cacophony of thought, “That certainly fits better…”

When Walter turns the conversation to his well-being, Benjiro hesitates. He is dealing with his most recent Echo continuing to worsen, but it remains unclear whether Walter would be better served with the information as a distraction, or avoided until he has had a chance to sort things out further. Shrugging unseen, he decides to brush it aside for now, “Uh, not really. Came back, jotted a few notes down and started reading. It’s been quiet.”

[iamnotgod]

"Quiet as in, better than the alternative?"

Or as in, it was too quiet?

[warped_replica]

If he insists, then Benjiro may as well answer honestly, “Quiet as in I uh, haven’t accidentally destroyed anything since I broke my alarm clock this morning trying to turn it off.” The guilt is evident in his tone with the confession as he slouches in his seat. Anticipating questions about how he managed that, he points out recent events, “Remember on Halloween when I could barely walk? Pretty certain that was due my muscle fibers starting the process of altering into a more efficient structure.”

[iamnotgod]

Wince.

"It's good nothing else has been broken, but what about you? Does anything still hurt in this... period of adjustment?"

[warped_replica]

Well, nothing else broken today...

“I do feel sore still, but it’s minor compared to that first night. I don’t expect it will last much longer with how it has lessened over time. Maybe a couple more days.” He hopes he is right about that.

[iamnotgod]

"You'll get through it, then," Walter says, sounding as much relieved as he is trying to be reassuring.

"Just... trial-and-error in the meantime, as unfortunate as that sounds. Hnn."

[warped_replica]

"Yeah," he agrees half-heartedly. The discomfort isn't what bothers him.

"To an extent it will be, but for the time being I am trying to be as delicate as possible with pretty much everything." It is the only strategy he can rely on to avoid causing more damage or any harm. Benjiro will have to wait until the soreness is gone to try to gauge the full strength of his remodeled muscles. At least he won't need new clothes again so soon the way Professor Petty had after his Echo in September.

[iamnotgod]

Thinking about Ben's problem is definitely working in terms of taking Walter's focus away from his own memories.

"That can't be fun when you're washing dishes, among other tasks."

[warped_replica]

That counts for something.

“No, not really. It makes everything that much slower, and when I do mess up, then I have more things to repair or replace. I think my alarm clock may be beyond help. Next one I get is going to be set across the room.” For now, his phone will have to take its place.

[iamnotgod]

"If you need me to bring something over as a replacement, I'd be happy to help."

An offer, freely given; he barely has to think about it, even after that nightmare-turned-Echo.

"I've heard alarms are more effective when they're combined with solving puzzles, anyhow. Assuming it doesn't go off erroneously..."

[warped_replica]

Benjiro bows his head slightly with a smile, genuinely appreciative of the offer, “Thanks, Walter. My phone will be a safe alternative for the time being. I don’t take a lot of time to wake up, so I think I can safely attribute my error to the initial annoyance that comes from hearing an alarm rather than needing an extended period to transition into functionality.” With as busy as his mind usually is, the moment Benjiro starts thinking he’s set to be awake for an extended period of time. Rolling over to go back to sleep is truly rare for him. A beat, and he adds, “….that, and alarm clocks can handle a groggy slap usually.” A phone on the other hand is something he has always treated carefully.

That minor inconvenience managed, he will seek advice to help him adapt to day to day activities, “That said, I’ve been trying to come up with tasks that require a delicate touch but won’t be expensive to practice without slowing down so much. Do you have any ideas?”