logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DREAMERS)

Entry tags:

EVENT LOG: ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DREAMERS)

characters: all characters that signed up as a dreamer for the event.
location: dreamland feat. beacon of the past.
date/time: november 16-29.
content: the dreamers investigate beacon as it once was.
warnings: psychological/existential horror. further cws will arise depending on the location; mods will cw tags appropriately, and you will too!

say your prayers, little one.

Hello, dreamers. Welcome to Beacon.

Below, each group has a toplevel ready and waiting for the investigation to begin. Feel free to tag in however to establish a tag order, and mod responses will begin once each character has tagged in. If you need a refresher on how the event will work, give the OOC info another read!

As for those of you in the ~~sin bin~~ opt out area...

The Beacon of the past isn't all too different from the Beacon of the present, frankly, except for a few notable exceptions. For one, it's far better lit: daylight leaves everything feels a lot brighter and more sensible than eternal night does. Several advertisements for community theater in the Invincible are hung up (Tryouts for the Ice Man Cometh! Cometh try your luck!) and minor lost and found posters are tacked to a community bulletin board nearby. Oh, and a merry little tune is playing on loop from a record player set up outside the Invincible.

It's cheerful, if not a little off-putting. But the signs of life are clear, even if the forest still looks darkly oppressive over yonder.

Additionally, since investigation threads 1) rely on mod responses, and 2) will likely move on the slow side given the nature of the event/size of the groups, if you would like to have your characters "mingle" in their assigned location, please feel free to write your own toplevels! We ask that you post them as separate toplevels not in response to the mod toplevels (so our inboxes don't get super flooded/we don't accidentally miss stuff). Remember that groups may only interact with each other during the event, but you're welcome to assume timey-wimey shenanigans to excuse why your characters are mingling instead of searching for clues—they do have two weeks in this dream, technically, and dreams are not always linear. If your investigation thread has not yet progressed to a point in which you've got enough of a handle on the setting to write a separate mingle starter, ask the mod you're working with! We'll fill you in on some OOC details so you can mingle accordingly while still allowing for characters to discover those details ICly in the investigation thread.

If you're still jonesing for more threading action during the event, we encourage you to check out the TDM!

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[Sadly, Kansas references are familiar only to Castiel and Scarlett.

Ignis inspects the device for a few more moments, then carefully wraps the string around it, so it doesn't tug off of the metal part. He can't tell what it is so he offers it to the woman to take a look as well- if she wants to. If she doesn't, he'll just pocket it.

He steps out of the shade of trees and takes a deep breath. Wow, the sun really does feel good. Wherever they are, this light is like a blessing, after spending months in the darkness.

He approaches the building, assessing it from bottom to the top- broken windows, walls, rusty metal-]

Hmmm... this place looks abandoned. [Which can be both good and a bad thing.] Front door over there?

[Even if Castiel offers to split, Ignis would suggest they stay together. There's no one around so splitting up would be very bad. He places a hand on the door and gives it a nudge-]

Hopefully, this place can actually provide answers.

[ It's the first time she properly looks at either of them, Scarlett's head snapping around in Castiel's direction, an eyebrow slowly creeping up to the sky. Her head tilting infinitesimally as she tries to get a read on how serious he's being right now.

The Soldier spent most of his life in a freezer and even he knows what The Wizard of Oz, is. How are you even real?! ]

Sure thing, Scarecrow.

[ Stepping up to join the others, she doesn't bother to take the device but there does appear to be a flicker of recognition in the cursory glance she offers it. Does she think she knows what it is? Likely. ]

Might want to hold onto that.

[ Is she going to share with the folks at home? Pshh.

Needing zero encouragement, Scarlett starts towards the building. Taking in her surroundings as she goes as if looking for signs of anything that would set this place apart - other than the obvious sunlight - such as animal tracks or scat that had been so lacking in Beacon.

She'll wait just long enough for something to happen - assuming it even does, before encroaching on Ignis' personal space. ]

You're dead. What's the worst that can happen?

[Scarlett will note that this forest is pretty much identical to the forest of Beacon, though of course it looks different in the daylight. She'll also notice though that there are many signs of life around! Cicadas, yes, but birdsong can be heard as well. There's a squirrel hopping around in the tree branches, and if she's particularly nature savvy, she'll notice marks from a deer's antlers in a nearby tree.

But, going into the building, they'll find themselves in a small lobby with an adjoining stairwell—or, what used to be a stairwell. It's long since collapsed, cutting off access to the upper floors. From here, there's only one option: Another set of doors, these made out of thick steel.

Over the doors, there's a sign: SOLIS LABS]

Abandoned doesn't always mean empty.

[ Both in terms of knowledge and in terms of... well. Company. Danger.

Castiel turns for a moment and regards Scarlett with a hint of confused exasperation. ]

I am not a straw man.

[ With a tone as if he can't quite believe he has to say that.

Yet here he is and here they are.

His gaze tracks up the stairwell. Thinks he could use his wings to bypass the opening if need be, if they can find a way for the humans to climb. It's a consideration for later, should there be no other way to ascend. It brings with it another uncomfortable thought. ]

We should watch our backs. There's little telling what might be in here.

[ From wild animals to more supernatural company. The Beacon they exist in has no animals, but spirits, some of them hostile.

This Beacon has... sunlight and animals. Spirits? They'll have to wait and see, perhaps.

At any rate, the name above the doors makes him frown. ]

Sun...

[ Certainly worth nothing, given the primary difference between where they usually find themselves, and where they've been stranded. Castiel is going is going to try that steel door - with supernatural force, if it doesn't budge otherwise. ]

Completely true, [Ignis agrees as they all enter the building. He doesn't comment on their back and forth teasing (he hopes it's teasing), seeing he has no horses in this race since he doesn't understand the joke behind it.

When he sees the collapsed stairs, Ignis sighs. Too bad he doesn't have warping, it would've been an easy climb. Which only leaves the door.

SOLIS. Hmm... it doesn't ring a bell. He's been to the library multiple times and never ran across the name.

Ignis shoots Castiel a look with a nod of approval to go ahead and open the door, summoning a dagger from armiger (thankfully the powers still work here). He stands on one side, prepared to defend if they have anything large and deadly jumping at them when they open the door.]

[ Scarlett stares long and hard at the back of Cas's head. A thousand comebacks dancing on the tip of her tongue but every one of them likely to fly over his head. ]

It's just too easy...

[ She doesn't look too worried about the place being occupied, Scarlett moving past Ignis to take the lead, heading towards the stairs despite their current state to try and get an idea of what made them collapse in the first place. She's not oblivious to those metal doors, however, even as she inspects the debris.

Her back to the others as she speaks; ]

Hey blondie. Head over to those doors with that thing you found. If it starts ticking real fast? Get the hell away from them.

[When Castiel and Scarlett move toward the stairwell, something moves! It seems they've disturbed a small flock of pigeons that have taken up residence among the ruins. They scatter, cooing in irritation as they fly up and out a broken window near the third story. And yes, they can see all the way up to the third story given the state of the stairwell, but there's nothing particularly remarkable up there. Just wreckage from the collapse, which as far as Scarlett can tell, looks to have happened due to the building being left in disrepair. It's odd, though; this building doesn't look that old.

Ignis will be able to summon his dagger this time, but attempting to use magic and special abilities may not always work as expected... 🤔 And should he approach the door with the device he found, it won't react.

But when Castiel opens the door, he'll reveal a lab. Or, well, it looks like equal parts physics lab and machine shop. It's large, taking up almost this entire main floor, and quite messy—though, hm, this lab doesn't seem to be abandoned and run-down like the rest of the building. In fact, they'll notice that the windows lining the wall face the building's entrance, and some of those windows were definitely broken on the other side.

In any case, this lab is quite large, and this is what all the gang will notice at a glance:

Immediately in front of the door, they'll see some general shop machinery that takes up about half of the room. To their right, they'll notice a workbench littered haphazardly with small pieces-parts and tools, as well as a lot of potted plants.

Along the windows, there's a filing area with a few cabinets and drawers that look to house records of some kind, as well as a drafting desk. There's also two long tables that make up a small computer lab of sorts, with six individual terminals that house very fancy computers (compared to like, 2019 Earth times).

On the wall opposite the windows, the team will find four 3D printer stations and, nestled in the back corner of the room, a whole mess of electronic equipment that does who knows what! Wires shoot off in every direction, so only a learned eye will be able to make sense of this mess. There are also a few whiteboards filled with equations lining the walls near this equipment.

Aaaand finally, on the far wall opposite where the gang has entered, there are two doors. Explore away, dreamers.]

[ Castiel doesn't like computers very much. Oh, he understands math and science, certainly. But give him a cell phone or a laptop, and he'll experience a struggle. Billions of years old, and a creature that outside its flesh and bone vessel exists as a wavelength of celestial intent, Castiel knows how to navigate string theory, or manipulate the the clean precision of quantum physics and the messy unpredictability of spontaneity to make it nigh impossible for Naomi's forces to catch him. Still thwarted by the concept of voice mails and pop up ads, though.

Still he takes a moment to let his eyes travel around as he moves into the lab.

It's the whiteboard that draws him first, though he also takes note of the filing cabinet and drafting desk, as well. The mess of wires won't make much sense to him, but he's hoping to glean some information from the equations on the whiteboard. ]

Is either of you familiar with the machinery in here?

[It's a mess, is what it is. It's an abandoned building so it's expected, but he's still wondering if they'll manage to find something in this chaos.

Ignis knows how to use a computer, but he is not an expert in data mining or otherwise dismantling it. While he grew up in a modern city, his way of studying was more... old school. Books and libraries and such. His focus was military, tactics, and economy so, sadly, he has no knowledge about computer science.

He will, however, try to turn the computer on and look at the papers scattered around. There's little expectation that the thing will turn on, but here's to trying.]

No. It doesn't resemble anything I know from my world, [Ignis says as he opens a drawer of the filing cabinet. Much like Castiel, he hopes something interesting will catch his eye.]

[Castiel will notice some drawing on the drafting desk as he glances around. When he arrives at the whiteboards, though, he'll realize right away that these are quantum physics equations scrawled over every inch of the boards. In fact, given Castiel's expertise, he'll be able to tell that these equations were working toward opening a portal, though they're too fragmented for him to be able to put the equations to use on his own. The fact that they're equations geared at opening up a multidimensional portal is the important takeaway, here.

Meanwhile, when Ignis tries the computer, he'll find that not only does it boot right up, but the screen it loads seems to function like your average computer, more or less. There's quite a bit of data saved to the device, but some particular file names will catch his eye: MUSEUMCATALOG.XLSX; 0182934_PORTALTEST.DSX; SUN.EXE; SOLIS_PORTALNOTES.TXT.

And when he opens the filing cabinet... Oh, there aren't files in here at all, it seems. Instead, he'll find a small handheld device with a simple screen. It can be turned on, but the screen will remain blank. There are no buttons or switches on the device, though there's a socket on the machine's underside. Something could be plugged in here.]

[ Castiel frowns as his eyes scan the equations. A sinking suspicion begins forming in him, but he doesn't voice it yet. He needs further intel until the gut feeling can form into an actual theory.

Gut feeling... strange, how he has these now, after just a few years among human company. Or maybe he's always had them and never knew them for what they were. Heaven prefers cold, hard logic. ]

It appears they were working on opening a multidimensional portal.

[ He reports it to his companions - doesn't even know them, truly, but knows enough that in this place, they have to rely on one another. He doesn't see a reason not to share this. They're perched in the same ferry.

That's how the idiom goes, right?

He wanders over to the drafting desk, to investigate those drawings he saw - trusting for now that whatever the other two find, they'll let him know. ]

[ It's all a little too familiar for Scarlett as she moves inside the lab, a tension radiating through her body as she casts a gaze over the printers and computers. ]

Define familiar. [ Her voice gruff. ] I've seen similar I guess.

[ The set up wasn't that different from what she'd seen in the bunker, close, but not a room she could remember being in. Still, it's enough to make her uneasy, the core in Ignis's hand another link between here and home and that alone is enough to see her reach for the Katana at her back; unleashing it slowly so as not to alarm the other two.

While she glances at the board, nothing there means anything to her, Scarlett's gaze instead narrowing on Scarecrow as he speaks. ]

Working on or created. [ Giving words to what they must all be thinking as she moves over to pick up the screen.

A slight grimace touches her lips, Scarlett's dark gaze swiveling towards Ignis before she extends it to him. ] You might need this.

[Ignis almost startles when the computer actually turns on. He didn't expect that in this ran down building anything works, that there's even electricity. He doesn't recognize anything on a whiteboard so he leaves all of that to them and sits at the computer to go through the files.

His eyes glance at her movements, but he says nothing and instead focuses on the screen, trying to make a sense of things that are written. 'Museum, catalogue, portal notes'. Ignis frowns and tries to open that last file, marked as SOLIS_PORTALNOTES.TXT. He really hopes it's a text file.]

It would explain how all of us, from different worlds ended up here, [Ignis adds, but the thought of a portal doesn't put him at ease. It alarms him.]

I wonder if that's how the World Eaters ended up here, [he mutters as he accepts what Scarlett offers him. Hmm... to connect or not? It seems dangerous. It might not work, but then again he also thought the computers won't work. Votes?]

[On the drafting desk, Castiel will find some technical drawings and schematics for some kind of tower. Judging by the plans, the tower is meant to serve as some kind of control hub for... something. The plans are incomplete, and the drawings themselves are as much a piece of art as they are technical schematics.

When Ignis opens the file, it will indeed load up as a text document, though parts of it have been severely corrupted.]

(Castiel retrieves the drawings of the tower and takes them over to his companions. As he notices Ignis intently focused on the document he opened, Castiel steps closer and reads with him, frown deepening between his brows.

It's not unlike humans, to pursue knowledge and enlightenment in whatever shape it may come, only to unearth things they're ill equipped to handle. Castiel himself is no stranger to that. He remembered opening Purgatory, swallowing thousands of souls to defeat Raphael... and realizing too late what had crawls out of Purgatory and into his veins right alongside the other souls. Too late to stop the Leviathan from feasting upon his grace and being unleashed upon the world.

It's a small comfort to know that here, it was sheere, blind curiosity that led to not dissimilar results. The question is whether the thing that came through was the first of the beings dubbed World Eaters or something else.

The implications for their existence here grow more harrowing, too - portals imply that his and Peter's tentative multidimensional theory holds up, and likely implies they may not be as definitively dead as this world would have them believe. That is an implication that weighs heavy - there will be those among their ranks, Castiel thinks, that would want to abandon this place and open portals back to their home worlds given half a chance, not stopping to think of what else they're opening doors for.

Castiel sets the drawings of the tower down on the desk for Ignis and Scarlett to see.)

Is there more? This information has heavy implications. We should gather as much information as we can.

[The luck keeps smiling on Ignis, that's for sure. The document looks corrupted, but there are enough parts to read through and gauge what it is about. Years look off, but this entire place seems off in itself so he doesn't give the dates the attention at the moment, focused more on the contents.

And the more he reads, the more sinking feeling in his stomach drops. Whatever this person was doing had set off everything into motion. Portals, what did it come through it? In what kind of dimension did the scientist peer into?]

Reached down inside and took something from me. [Ignis reads out loud and blinks, shiver stealthily creeping down his back.] What could that be...? There are more entries that follow, so the "thing" didn't kill him at that time...

[Ignis turns to Scarlett and Castiel-] Do you know anyone who could fix... [he pauses and frowns,] If we could get dr. Ingram to look at this, maybe he could decrypt and fix the document.

[After that, he will try to open the other files as well. He's a bit wary of the portal one but maybe it will show them something.]

[ When the others are done reading, Scarlett takes her turn to pour over the various entries. Her eyebrows knitting together before it would appear something registers. ]

Docs our best bet... but might be worth discussing all this with Rastus and The Keeper. [ Lifting her gaze from the document to glance from one to the other. ] You ever wonder how they manage to get the stuff we ask for?

[ She could leave it there, keep on ignoring the elephant in the room but as she moves away from the group to inspect one of the 3D printers, she almost sounds casual as she adds; ]

Assuming we ever see them again.

[MUSEUMCATALOG.XLSX turns out to be what it says on the tin: a spreadsheet containing a catalog of items on loan to the local museum. A bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos, an unidentified plant specimen, and a pair of four-legged trousers are among the list.

0182934_PORTALTEST.DSX opens some sort of modeling program. The computer groans in protest as the program loads and seems to run through a series of automated protocols before a prompt appears on the screen: NEW RESIDENTS FOUND. SELECT MODELS TO PRINT.

A list of all of Beacon's current residents loads up, each with a checkbox next to it so that they can be selected. SUN.EXE will not load until at least one name is chosen.

The 3D printers light up as Scarlett approaches, apparently waiting for further instructions as all the screens announce that the printers are on standby.]

[ Castiel leans back from the screen a little after reading the information over Ignis' shoulder. This Beacon... this place. It's different than the one they occupied not so long ago, that much is certain. And yet the computer contains a file of the current residents. Castiel may not understand computers but he understands that their temporal functions are much more linear than this. The question is - does this mean they're actually still in the same place, but overlapped into a sunnier version due to, perhaps, an instability in its multidimensional make up due to the rifts opened in the past - and perhaps still open now - or if this is a temporal anomaly of some kind. They lack the insight, despite the resources at their finger tips,but Castiel is interested.

When Ignis discovers that the last file, sun.exe cannot be execused without selecting at least one name on the list, Castiel puts a hand on hous shoulder and nods at the screen. ]

We don't know if the effect is harmful, but finding out might be beneficial. Select me for that. I'm both more resilient to harm than most residents in this place, and more used to being blown up.

[ He doesn't look like he's joking. ]

If no harm is done and we gain more information, we can act from there.

Edited 2019-12-02 22:21 (UTC)

[Ignis' mind was on a similar track as Castiel's. The portals opened and took them a while back to show them the past and things that had transpired. But the data shows the present state as well and Ignis is utterly confused. It feels weird seeing his own name on that list and he hesitates to actually run the program now.]

That's not something you should get used to, [Ignis says. But seeing that the man is not joking, Ignis scrolls through the list and clicks on the man's name.]

I'll run it now. In three, two, one-

[-and Ignis runs the program.]

[When Ignis selects Castiel's name from the list, the 3D printer Scarlett is looking at lights up and begins to print something. Meanwhile, the modeling program closes, having completed its purpose, apparently. It'll take a few minutes for the printer to finish its job.

When Ignis runs SUN.EXE, the screen goes gray with static until it shorts out completely, blinding Ignis and Castiel with a flash of white light as the monitor hisses and smokes. The screen splits with a violent snap, a bolt of electricity shooting out toward Ignis.

While Castiel's vision will be permanently foggy for the remainder of the dream, he'll be able to make out the silhouette of Ignis jerking backward and crumpling to the floor. If Castiel moves to assess the damage, he'll note that Ignis's eyes look as those they've been burned out with a concentrated beam of energy, a beam powerful enough to pierce straight through his head, leaving a gaping mess of the back of his skull.

Ignis Scientia is dead.

The room is silent save for the printer, still chugging away at its task, and the creak of a door swinging open. One of the doors at the back of the lab seems to have opened on its own.

When the printer finishes, its tray opens to reveal its work: A perfect replica of Castiel's lantern. The only difference between it and the one Castiel is carrying is that this new lantern isn't lit.]

[ Castiel, technically, by all accounts, does not need to breathe. he does, mostly because it's any body's instinct, and more hassle than it's worth to try and counteract that. Still, when he sees the ruin left behind of Ignis, Castiel sucks in a short breath.

There's no doubt the man is dead. There's nothing there to fix, even if Castiel were to pour the entirety of his limited power into him.

Guilt used to be a white hot coil, a sharp pain somewhere in his vessel's ribcage that would eventually settle, burning hot, in his guts. These days, it's a dull, chafing ache, a yoke he bears with slumped shoulders.

It should have been him.

A sunlit Beacon that has all their data. Multidimensional portals, something coming through. A control tower, suspiciously shaped like a lighthouse. A printer that creates unlit replicas of lanterns. World Eaters. ]

We should move on. We can come back for the body later.

[ It sounds like he wants it to be clipped and efficient, but there's a wariness to his voice, a tension in his jaw and more emotion than usual in his eyes. Still, Castiel is good at pushing his feelings aside and focusing, soldiering ever onwards towards more doom.

He moves to the doors, and will go through the one that just opened, with or without Scarlett. ]

[ She lets out a snort at Cas's words about being blown up, apparently more amused by it than shocked or surprised. Keeping an ear on the conversation happening around her as she inspects the printer for some kind of button that says print?! (Look. Technology and apocalypses don't mix. )

Her silence is enough of an indication that Scarlett doesn't object to what they're doing, still seemingly more interested in the printer but at the sound of hissing and cracking? She drops to the ground, lifting an arm up to shield her face more from instinct than any idea it would help.

Even without looking directly at the source of light on the screen, like walking indoors on a sunny day, her eyes take a few seconds to adjust. Scarlett finally focusing on the body only a little way from her - the black holes where sockets had once been. In the dream world they're in, her mind conjures up the acrid stench of burning flesh, the memory more than the sight causing her to grimace as she goes so far as to lean in closer to see exactly what the hell had happened to him.

She looks like she wants to argue, only perhaps not for the reason most would expect. People die all the time and a body isn't anything more than a thing to slow you down but she figures she'll save that argument for when the time comes. What she does do, however, is look for the screen and the core that Ignis - though honestly? She doesn't know his name - had been holding onto, figuring she might as well put the two pieces together before following Cas into the other part of the lab. ]

[When Scarlett plugs the device into the screen, the screen immediately lights up and begins to chirp. A meter on the screen is labelled as "COUNTS PER MINUTE" with three sections labelled as well: SAFE, UNSAFE, and LETHAL. The needle swings to hover smack in the middle of the UNSAFE section.

As Castiel and Scarlett make their way into the adjoining room, they'll see that it's a dim workroom outfitted with a workbench and as many shelves as can fit into the little space. This may have been a closet, once.

Hundreds of lanterns line the shelves, some pristine and new while others are in a desperate state of disrepair. Some could hardly be called lanterns at all, and some are more modern while others are classic in design, ranging in age and style and color and even function. Each lantern is unique, and all of them are unlit.

The workbench is littered with various scrap pieces that look like metal and wood at first glance, as well as a pile of many complicated and precise tools, like one might use to repair antique clocks or jewelry. Off to one side of the bench, there's a laptop lying open, a text document loaded up on the screen.

Finally, seeped out from under the workbench and taking up a bulk of the floorspace is strange heap of molten metal, though it's solidified and cracked with age by now. It's slightly warm to the touch.

As Scarlett enters the room with the device in hand, it chirps wildly. The needle swings past the LETHAL zone and right off the meter.]

[ The sound alerts Castiel, and he glances back at Scarlett. Even not knowing what it is she's holding, the sound spells danger quite unmistakably. Castiel holds up a hand. ]

I'll be fine if you'd prefer to stay back.

[ That said, the sound will not deter him from entering.

He will want to read the document on the screen. If there is time after/beyond beyond that and no further instructions/programs are found on the laptop after closing the document, he'll try to locate his own lantern and see if grabbing it or attempting to turn it on will offer any insight. The document has priority though. ]

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inthenightmods - 2019-12-11 06:07 (UTC) - Expand

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