Luceti Valley - The Second Log

[lucetimods]

Who: Everyone
What: The second part of the experiment. Things begin to unravel.
When: August 7th - August 10th
Where: Luceti itself
Summary: Check out the mod post for more. This covers Day 6-9!
Rating: Varies with thread. Please move explicit stuff to appointments post with appropriate warnings.

Luceti Valley continued in its own merry little way. The rich got richer, the poor got poorer. A new tax hike had ensured increasing animosity between both groups, despite the protests of the every charitable Lord Mayor. But on the sixth day, something happens and people begin to notice things are unusual. Idle thoughts that if thought about too much is bound to get you a visit to the police station for an hour or so. Or worse, it may just get you committed.

Meanwhile, the asylum continues to gain more and more patients. Those that are trapped there will find escaping difficult, but there may be more to this place than they first assumed...

On the tenth, battle breaks out across Luceti Valley. People begin to exhibit powers and abilities they didn't know they had. The police begin rounding up these people to lock up. If they resist, its bound to come to blows. Even though no one has regained their memories of their true self yet, it becomes apparent that some trickery is afoot, even if they might not know the source or why.


Note: This is the second log! There will be a third and final event log for the aftermath. There will also be two separate logs specifically for finding John and defeating Zompano. For those of you that signed up, we'll be randomizing the results and replying to the selected characters later tonight. In the meantime, keep enjoying the event! If you have questions, direct them here.

Comments

[endgames]

[Well that saves the problem about how to bring it up. He fidgets.]

I didn't ask... but he's offered. He found out what was happening.

[therewerefifty]

[The car gives a lurch at that. Makie near freezes, and automatically applies the break. Momentary hiccup. She picks up speed, instead.

Shit. That's all she needed.] How?

[endgames]

[On reflex, he holds a hand out to brace himself, gripping the arm rest on the door a little more tightly until the car gets moving again.]

We were arguing. [He wishes he could sink into the seat further.] About the hike. It just came out.

[therewerefifty]

[Dammit. He had to know eventually, but the worst way to tell him award goes to...

Her fingers clench on the steering wheel.]

So he offered you a job. Take it.

[endgames]

[He watches her closely. Ever composed, his mother is, but he knows she's angry with him. Her knuckles are impossibly white on the steering wheel; her words too clipped, and to the point.]

...Are you sure?

[therewerefifty]

It's not like life is full of good choices, is it? [Despite her best efforts, her voice is taut. Really, Tony isn't a problem. She forgave him years ago. This is a blessing. So why-- why is she getting so upset about this? Because she can't take care of her own son? Because--] If Tony wants to help, let him help. Maybe I'll get to see him be a good father for once before I die.

[...oh, that came out far more bitter than she intended.]

[endgames]

[The knife that's been in his gut for the past year twists hard once again.]

Can you stop saying you're going to die?

[therewerefifty]

Do you think if I stop bringing it up it will stop being true? [Her voice cracks on that-- and if she's lucky he'll just think his mother is being emotional. Her chest feels so tight.] Maybe it's time we just accepted that fact, you know? The sooner I--

[And her mouth snaps shut before she can finish that, because oh she knows how wrong it is to say.]

I can't help the way life has turned out, Shikamaru.

[endgames]

[The color's drained out of his face; whether out of horror or anger, it's hard to tell. Most likely it's a little of both.

He gave her so much grief growing up. It's not fair if it ends like this. And well, he doesn't trust anything he has to say right now will be smart, or not childish, so he returns to glaring out the window with his mouth in a tight line.]

[therewerefifty]

[The dead silence is just as awful, and Makie wishes they could somehow rewind back the last five minutes. It doesn't matter, does it? That Tony knows. That Shikamaru feels forced to go to him, that she can't help him herself, hurts... life was never meant to end up like this.

But neither of them chose it. She should accept that fact herself. There's... no honour in living like this.

A moment later, she wonders where that thought even came from and scowls at herself. And darts a brief glance at Shikamaru on the other side of the car.]

...

I'm not going to be mad if you take the job.

[endgames]

[Mm. He's not calmed down much, but he can try.]

That's good. It's gotta be better than taking his handouts.

[therewerefifty]

[...that's right. Now that he knows, he'd insist either way. At least this way, her son can keep some of his pride.]

He's always been that way. [Ever since...

...since Shikamaru was young...?

Her voice sounds more distant, now. Which might be an improvement; less miserable, at least.] What kind of work do you think he'll offer you?

[endgames]

Tch. A janitor at this point, if I'm lucky...

[Still bitter about the night before, though maybe starting to feel sorry about some of the things he himself said, he doesn't think much of her tone at the moment. She's not talking about dying again, so that's what's important to him. At least thus far.]

[therewerefifty]

Tell him you're worth more than that. Though Tony should know you're too smart to waste on janitorship, even if he is angry at you.

[At us.

She's still distant, though some strain has entered her voice. Something doesn't feel right, and now she's scouring her memory for things she really ought to know.]

[endgames]

Yeah right. You know me. I brought home more F's than A's on my report cards until senior year. He has no basis to give me better than that.

[therewerefifty]

School grades aren't the same thing as intelligence. [This coming from a school teacher.

...]

What were your last grades?

[endgames]

They were-- [Suddenly, he can't recall. Unease washes over him, before he brushes it off. What does he care?] Good enough to pass. That's all I bothered with.

1/2

[therewerefifty]

No, what were they? [Insistence. There's a sense of unreality taking hold, and she's more frightened than uneasy. Is this a side effect of the medication? She did just switch over-- everything feels off. Even the words school grades feel like they don't belong, and that's ridiculous. She went to college, for chrissakes. She went to--

--to where?

For a long, yawning moment, she doesn't even remember what college is. Or--]

[therewerefifty]

[--what the hell she's doing right now.

She stares at the steering wheel. And through the window at the world moving by so fast. (It's not really, barely 40, but--) Driving. It's driving. It's--

Somthing terrifying, is what it is. Her breath catches, hitching right up into a choking sound and her hands yank back off the steering wheel.]

[endgames]

[His head snaps back to look at her, hearing something like fright creep into her voice. Shout.]

Mom? [She is porcelain (is she always?) in her panic, and he gets the sudden feeling that he's watching cracks form in the glass. He thinks the look has frozen his insides until her hands come up off the steering wheel and he startles.] Mom! Oi!

[He jumps, reaching across to grab the steering wheel.]

[therewerefifty]

[Makie lets him, pressed flat against her seat like she's trying to phase straight through it, partly in pure terror at a sudden and ridiculous unknown-- and partly because it feels like her mind is a yawning abyss, as she reaches for facts that she knows should be there and finds nothing.

It really is only a split second. And then there's panic of another kind. Namely: the car has veered for the sidewalk, shoppers yelping and trying to get out of the way. Shikamaru is fast enough to yank the car back onto the road just before it collides with anything or anyone, and Makie reacts with a complete amateur's panic - she slams on the accelerator and the brake at the same time.

The car fishtails, rear door crunching into a fire hydrant. About the last thing she does is throw up an arm in an attempt to brace her son.]

[endgames]

[Leaning over as he was, with one arm stretched to steer, he was in an awkward position to start otherwise he'd have done the same for her. Had he been any closer, or had his mother not tried to brace him, he'd have probably knocked his head into the dash when everything in the car lurched forward with the impact.

He wonders if he hit something anyways. He can't remember it, but his ears are ringing.

Raising his head, he looks first out the rear window, looking for what they hit. Not a person or another car, so it doesn't matter right away. His eyes dart back to Makie, breathing hard.]

You all right?

[therewerefifty]

Yes...

...no. [What was that? Her breath is coming in sharp, fast gasps, and Makie's hand fumbles for the door handle, wrenching it open and all but tumbling out onto the pavement. Bystanders have gathered, but that doesn't really matter. As long as she didn't hit anyone--]

I can't drive. Not now. Not-- how do I forget what a car is?

[endgames]

[He slides himself over the seat, following her out the driver's side door rather than exit on the opposite side. What the hell is she talking about?]

Just sit and try to calm down. [He puts a hand on her shoulder, looking around them at the crowd that's forming.] You're-- You're probably just rattled.

[That seems plausible, right? He's a little rattled himself...

The fire hydrant behind them is spewing water, but he doesn't see any bodies. Injured ones, anyways. There's a lot of people gathering, all muttering to themselves. A kid darts off from them calling for an officer.]

[therewerefifty]

[Rattled covers it. Adrenalin's still jumping through her system, and Makie is frightened, still grasping at half-memories that don't quite add up. But she's jumped to what she thinks is a reasonable explanation for it-- which is no less terrifying.

She does as told, though, finding a place to sit, folding down on her knees to stare at the water gushing across the road.] I need to see... Dr Law. [The words are thin and gasped, forced through the tightness in her chest. She knows what's coming next.]