logsinthenight | INTRO LOG: AUGUST

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INTRO LOG: AUGUST

characters: everyone.
location: all over beacon!
date/time: the first part of august.
content: a few new faces, the teleporter is up to old tricks, and overall just loving not being trapped in an underwater science station right about now.
warnings: n/a.

welcome to beacon.

The first thing you're aware of as you come to is the glow of a lantern, just within reach. Hazily, you start to recall the events leading up to your arrival. You died, somehow, but how does that equate to you being wherever you are?

The second thing you're aware of is that you're being handed a slice of cherry pie by a six-limbed masked creature with a hairnet. Looking around, you find yourself inside a school cafeteria. The school looks to be in decent condition, despite being dark and clearly abandoned - except by whatever this creature is. Stick around long enough and they will also serve some chicken nuggets and a box of milk. Wander a bit, and you may find a memorial wall for dozens of unfamiliar names and faces. Where is this?

A few answers can be found if you pick up and look through the tablet that's settled right beside the lantern. Some of the information is a little out of date at this point, but the most important details are still there: yes, you're really dead, keep your lantern close, and watch out for the spirits. You might notice mention of a ferry, but that's odd, especially if you're nowhere near the lake...

Leaving where you are and using the provided map on the tablet will help you find your way to town, and along the way you might find some out of place items, like crates of food or toiletries or clothing. Feel free to grab what you find as you make your way there, your new neighbors are sure to appreciate it.

Luckily for all the newcomers, the tablet and the town have some resources available for getting acquainted with their new situation! In fact, as soon as they're prompted to enter a network username, an app containing all sorts of useful welcome information will launch. It's still a little messed up (maybe someone might want to record a new message?), it has plenty of important information to share. Newcomers can always check out the weekly bulletins and the records that were thankfully saved from the bad storm a few months ago. If that's not enough, there's many long-time residents of Beacon that will be happy to share how things go around here. If not in person, network works too.

hide and seek.

The teleporter repair team has been hard at work, and their hard work has paid off. Items have arrived in Beacon aplenty! Only, the aiming protocol is still a little off and it's still all over. Whoops. While anyone with a specific request will find a spirit guide to help them find their wares, everything and anything else is fair game for a little fun.

The spirits are in a playful mood, and have taken the liberty of locating all these lost sundries and supplies. And of course, after that, they chose to hide them around town. Spirits vary from great at hiding things (lining a hollowed out trunk with swim trunks) to downright terrible (is it really "hiding" that sheet of plywood when you put it behind a streetlight that is smaller than it is?), though they seem to enjoy the experience either way.

Need something in particular and don't know where to start? Don't worry, spirits will be happy to give hints. If you can understand their esoteric forms of communication, that is. Others give away the game in the fact they hide with the items themselves, and find the prank so hilarious that little snuffles and giggles are an easy clue to the stowed stash. If characters play along long enough, the spirits will give up the game and will show the poor things with no seeking skills what they've hidden. Still, why not have a little fun with it? The spirits sure are!

ooc.

Hey there, wonderful players, and welcome to The Next Night! We're so glad to have you with us, both new and old. For a run-down on what's upcoming in August, please see the August gameplan, or check the calendar for a quick overview!

As a reminder, things like newcomer arrivals, item deliveries, and lantern repair all depend on the help of the characters in the game! If your character would be interested in assisting with the equipment at Dr. Solis' Lab in any way, please let us know!

DELIVERIES

The newly ported in items have arrived, but as in July, they're still kind of everywhere. Learning to use this portal technology is hard, and more hands helping out are always appreciated! As mentioned above, the spirits will readily help find people's personal requests, but the general resupplies? Guess you'd better be willing to play the spirits' latest little game. The following can be found, one way or another:

The monthly store restock, which provides enough food, general sundry items, and basic supplies to comfortably last the group a month. You can check what kind of items to expect in a monthly restock here.

For Elektra Natchios: several slightly oversized t-shirts and sweatpants made of comfortable materials, a bottle of black nail polish (chip resistant), a bottle of whiskey with a slight odor of sewer when the bottle is opened (though it tastes fine), and a teddy bear.

For Rosinante Donquixote: 4 boxes each (25 rounds per box) of shotgun and flintlock pistol ammo, except in every box two of the rounds have been replaced with nerf darts that some poor kids probably lost long ago.

For Fitz Kreiner: A limited set of lockpicking tools and a set of locks to practice on, and some paper umbrellas which may require some disassembly before they can be used.

For Matt Murdock: an assortment of 14 lovely rings (not all pictured here) as well as 6 rings to share with his friends!

If you submitted an item request last month and we've missed it here, let us know!

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I see. [They can cause hallucinations. Perhaps it's similar to the chemical weapons developed by all those disgusting Pre-War corporations. How on Earth spirits would get hold of such things is another question... and maybe he should lay off trying to apply logic to a place that's demonstrated it operates on none.]

Thank you for the intel. I'm already at a disadvantage here without my power armor and lacking an acceptable supply of ammunition, so it's important that I understand as much as I can. You've been very helpful, sir.

[File it away and go over it later.]

You seem to have been here a while, or you're at least confident in your knowledge.

Edited (Realized that sounded hilariously conclusive, lmao) 2020-08-05 05:36 (UTC)

Over a year. One of the longest who's still left.

[Hard to picture, but it's true now. Weaver, then Will, then those who came in the first group after the last reset. Well, and perhaps Diode although he is only recently returned, and Clara, who perhaps doesn't count, being a robot without any obvious lantern.]

I'm Rosinante.

[He leans forward to offer a hand without standing up. Even sitting, he's certainly tall enough - so there's no need to tower over someone indoors just to introduce himself.]

[Though he almost does, out of reflex, he can't bring himself to introduce himself by rank. Even in a place where no one knows what the Brotherhood is, he knows that he's no longer fit to represent them.]

Danse. Pleased to meet you, apart from the circumstances.

[He provides a firm and perfectly military handshake.]

I arrived with my laser rifle, but unfortunately my limited supply of fusion cells requires me to relegate it to emergency use only. [Delivered with all the confidence of a man unaware that he sounds like he swallowed a thesaurus.]

[Yeah, that's, hm. Some precise wording there. Well, he has nothing at all against someone having an education and using it. He's the one who hangs out with Will all the time, after all.

Anyway, the mention of a laser rifle makes his eyes light up a little. That's more than enough to take his mind off the madness the world eater instilled, and the growling stomach that came with it.]

Laser rifle? You have that with you?

Always.

[It's clipped to his belt with a makeshift holster that he appears to have rigged up out of junk. He doesn't hand it over, but does allow a close-up look.]

It's the standard-issue primary weapon, but I've made some custom modifications to it.

[Standard-issue, he says? That's a familiar phrase. He gives the rifle an appreciative look, already coming up with things to ask about such an exotic weapon, but first -]

Are you military back home, then?

[The question almost seems to catch Danse by surprise. Less like he's surprised Rosinante asked, and more like he's just realized the answer.]

Not anymore.

[If he's lucky, maybe Rosinante will take that to mean "because now I'm here and dead." His luck hasn't been great recently.]

[Could be because he's dead, could be because he quit. Those kinds of questions can wait - either way it's sensitive to someone who's brand new here.]

I was in the Marines back home. Commander, actually. Feels like a long time ago now. This is our standard issue, though.

[He reaches for the holster at his hip and withdraws an antiquated-looking flintlock pistol with a wood stock.]

Never heard the word "laser" before I got here.

Commander? I apologize. I'd have used your proper rank if I'd known.

[Enjoy your new form of address until you ask him to stop, buddy.

Danse examines the pistol with a discerning eye.]

A classic flintlock. Beautiful piece, and very well-preserved. I've only seen one like that once or twice in my life. ["Life." Ugh.]

It's all right. I've gotten out of the habit of it. Doesn't feel right when most people here are civilians.

[Shrug. There are a few who insist, and he lets them. It's fine. It's a role he's happy to let them help him maintain here - that of the dedicated, loyal soldier who simply seeks to help defend them all. It's a role he didn't exactly play perfectly in life, but here, he's content with it.

He can't help but crack a smile at the "well-preserved" comment though.]

It's the usual where I'm from. This, or a rifle for some units. But I've gathered that most people here are from places where the common technology is pretty far past what I was used to. And then somehow you also get all this.

[He pulls a cigarette from a pack in his pocket, but waves it at the swords and axes around them while it's still unlit.]

I'll respect your preference on the matter, if you'd rather I call you your name, Commander.

[He's gathered that there are some temporal shenanigans going on here (in addition to all the other types of shenanigans.) It's the only explanation for a town this pristine. Some might call Beacon run-down, but to a wastelander it's practically luxurious in many ways.]

Firearms technology had progressed far past the flintlock even before the Great War, making them quite rare outside of collector's items. Those still in existence have certainly stood the test of time, and it's a testament to their craftsmanship.

Meanwhile, these sorts of laser rifles were in common circulation in the Pre-War military. There were enough of them to make them fairly easy to acquire even after the bombs fell, hence their use as the standard sidearm for the Brotherhood.

Doesn't matter to me. I'm no commander here but some people like using titles.

[Cultural, probably. He accepts both equally, alongside the few who have also decided instead to grant him nicknames. He dismisses the topic with a shrug, then unscrews the top of his lantern so he can light the cigarette and have a draw.

There's a lot that Danse just said that goes well over his head, but he takes it in as best he can. The result will just have to be a lot of questions.]

The Great War - I've heard of that. Are you from Earth, then? Early on, we had a medic and a footsoldier from a place called America that fought in a war with that name.

Yes, I am from Earth. America as well, though nobody calls it that any longer.

[If only the original Great War had been the last of them. Danse is wise enough not to assume that they're speaking about the same war, just yet.]

This place truly does recruit its inhabitants from varied times and places.

It does. Seems to favor Earth, though. More come from there than any other world. How long ago was the Great War for you?

[Maybe he can put together a rough timeline eventually. He's slowly becoming familiar with the history of that world, at least in broad, vague strokes. Cao Pi must be the one from farthest back in time, at something like thousands of years previous to most he's met, while Kuai comes from a far future point, and Dr. Ingram farther yet - far enough where he's never been to Earth but at least he knows of it, and considers most of the people and events here that reference it to be thousands of years in his own past.]

Two hundred and ten years. The present year where I came from is 2287.

[So... maybe not the World War I "Great War."]

Humanity is still trying to recover from the destruction they brought upon themselves.

[Yeah he has no idea, his knowledge of Earth wars is not quite exact enough. Same name? Same war. So two hundred years past that puts Danse maybe around the same time as some others, but a little bit farther past unless laser weapons are more common than he's realized. Huh.]

People don't talk about it much here but I think a lot of them aren't too involved in politics or military issues. They seem to have pretty normal lives. What sort of destruction are you talking about?

Near-complete nuclear destruction, to put it bluntly.

[Small detail about his world, really. Just a little footnote.]

Mankind's obsession with technology outpaced its restraint, its willingness to use it responsibly. Greed became the catalyst for an escalation of tensions, then war, then the day that planet was nearly annihilated by atomic bombs. Only sheer luck or a miracle prevented humans from going extinct as a species, and two hundred years later, we're still trying to pick up the pieces.

[Atomic bombs... another phrase he's learned here. He had been looking unfocused into the dark while listening, enjoying the cigarette, but now his eyes turn sharply to Danse's.]

Those bombs - people tried them here. When the first world eater arrived, they fired one at it and survived. So everyone in town who it hadn't killed or decayed took masks and went underground, and they fired a volley of them at it. They never learned if it actually worked but it was the strongest weapon they had.

Did the people of your world ever come up with something stronger?

[His brows knit together with concern.]

No, they didn't. It was impossible to come up with something even stronger than atomic bombs when said bombs reduced the world to an irradiated wasteland, caused billions of deaths, and brought technology to a standstill.

Those people are lucky they didn't have the same thing happen here.

It might have. Hard to say, with it all dark and overgrown. But the world eaters had the billions of deaths part already covered, so I think they were pretty desperate.

[And here they are, left with swords and axes for weapons. The bomb Weaver built worked on that one world eater but how are they going to make more?]

Mind answering something for me, though? What's radiation? Because people keep using that word when talking about the bombs here.

[Something in the air, something they're afraid of, but he's never gotten a real description.]

I have a hard time imagining an enemy worth that level of desperation.

[But he's always going to be biased against nuclear weapons. He had to live in their aftermath.]

Radiation? Put simply... [Oh, that's a promise he shouldn't have made...] It's a form of energy given off by certain naturally-occurring elements, such as radium or uranium. Radiation waves are powerful and able to pass through other types of matter, so it can be used as an energy source or in other legitimate applications.

Unfortunately, radiation is extremely harmful to all living things. Unshielded exposure damages the cells, causing burns or sickness. Extreme exposure can cause mutations, but is more often fatal. Worse yet, the energy takes a long time to dissipate, so even hundreds of years after the bombs fell on Earth, high levels of radiation are present in the ground, the water, and even the air in some places.

[That's as simply as he can put it.]

[It's lengthy, but truly not a bad explanation. He gets most of it. Trying to read some of the physics books in Dr. Solis' lab for the last month means enough of the words are familiar where he gets the gist of it, or so he'd like to think. That, plus hanging around Will, who has a tendency to go off on subjects at length, then patiently back up and explain when he asks questions.]

Plutonium's one of those elements, right? There was a sample of it in the museum once, and Pluto sometimes asked us to bring her some if we found any, which I figure she was using as a power source for their station, but maybe also for the bombs she was planning to build. We never did find more, though. Just looked like a rock to me.

Correct. That's the insidious thing. Without a device to detect its energy, it's entirely possible not to know radiation is present until it's already begun affecting the body. Many of the scientists who discovered these elements later succumbed to radiation poisoning without understanding what caused it.

[It seems so naive now. But a lot of the prewar world strikes him as naive.]

Where I come from, it's a constant concern. People have developed preventative medications and treatments to help the effects of radiation, and there are devices to filter it out of our water supply. But without such things here, it's better we simply avoid having any exposure, regardless of the source.

[This place is fairly nice. He'd rather it not turn into a second wasteland, with pre-dead residents this time.]

Edited 2020-08-08 22:37 (UTC)

Good to know. Interesting that something that looks like a rock could be so harmful. If the people here were wearing masks in town back when this place was alive, and that was over a hundred years ago, do you think the air is safe now?

[Got to be, right? It was more than a hundred years, even.]

The people who had that rock, I don't remember any of them saying it burned them, but maybe they just never mentioned it on the network. Seems important to keep track of something that dangerous.

Yes, I would say so. It would take something like an atomic bomb to spread the radiation wide enough to be troublesome to current residents.

If the plutonium sample has become misplaced, it's probably not going to cause any trouble. A sample that small is unlikely to cause any widely-harmful effects to anything not directly in contact with it. So as long as it isn't inside the local well or underneath someone's pillow... [Was that a joke? It sounded a bit like a joke.]

I apologize for the rambling explanation. It's something I have more experience with than most.

INTRO LOG: AUGUST

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