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[Unbelievably Majestic]

 

The biggest moments in life are those in which we accept change. And I don't mean when you've bought a pack of hobnobs at the shop and only had a nice crisp twenty in your wallet. I mean those times when we acknowledge that everything will be different from now, and embrace it. Those are the times we grow. And in doing so, we improve. This world has a transition coming.

Will we embrace it, or will we crumble?

 

 

[Music 1]
Imagine in your minds eye the sprawling, bustling city of Okahame from above. The people bulge and swarm among the streets, moving like busy ants from their homes to their work places. Cars slide silently about the complex maze of roads almost as if in some kind of strange dance. And as you get closer the sounds hit you. The buzz of life. The people talking and walking and breathing along side one another, the cars, the distant siren, the random tastes of music from the occasional open window. All of it coming together to create one noise. One city. One life... Down on the streets and amid the crowd, you would feel the weight of all that life if you cared to try. And down onto the streets is where your minds eye should take you, because there you will meet someone. There, you will meet "Dave". I do not know Dave's real name. Nor where he came from. But I know this: Dave is the single most important living person on the planet.

He has short, neat and combed-to-the-side hair. His eyes are brown. His skin has never dared to even dream of catching a tan. He wears a cheap suit and tie, the latter of which has little pictures of cakes all over it, because it is his birthday today. And like everyone around him, Dave is on his way to work. So, the question you must be wondering right now is simple. Why? Why Dave? Why is Dave the single most important living person on the planet? Well, that's easy.

That's because about two days ago Dave was walking to work just like you had imagined. And when he was half way down a busy street he got a splitting headache. (It looked like a real doozy, I've seen the footage.) It built up fast and only got worse. Eventually Dave couldn't take it anymore. He dropped to his knees clutching his forehead and screamed out in pain.

Twelve nearby people dropped dead. A thirteenth man fell into a coma. Dave ran away and disappeared in the confusion and horror of it all.

The authorities are trying to tell us that this incident was the work of a gas-leak. A gas-leak on the main streets of 2nd Noon. A gas-leak that hit thirteen -fourteen if you include Dave- people, in the center of a tightly packed lunchtime crowd, and nobody else. Don't believe it. It's ridiculous. You can't keep burying your head in the sand and claiming that nothing at all strange is going on in the world. Because it is, and we need to accept it. Because then we can prepare for it. We can adapt and embrace the change. And we either do that or it'll destroy us, that is if we don't tear ourselves apart first.

And this is why Dave is the most important living person. He is proof. Sure they have scrubbed the tapes, scoured the internet for leaks and put out false information about what really happened. But Dave himself is proof. Living proof. And if we can show people that, well, the governments won't be able to put the genie back in the bottle.

So, I don't know your real name Dave, or if you'll ever read this. But if you do. Come and find us. We want to help.

Signing off.
~Myriad

[Music 2]
Thomas tugged at his hood, tucking his head deeper within the cloth. He looked about warily again as he had been doing every few seconds for the past few minutes. Hell, he'd been doing it for the past few days. But even more so now as he contemplated his actions. It was one thing to keep your face hidden and skulk around on the streets, it was another thing entirely to enter a building full of cameras, computers, and exactly the type of people that might recognize the mysterious 'Dave' from the photos Myriad had leaked.

He took a deep breath, tugged at his hood again, and strode into the internet cafe as casually as he could. Which wasn't too casual. Luckily nobody seemed to have started pointing in his general direction and whispering. So he kept moving, found himself as empty a spot as he could, and logged into his Myriad account. Quickly as he could he opened up his usual Myriad chatroom and hoped there were people around. CosmicShit, CobaltPeacock, Ladders, Yami, Dexamillion01, Tailor, JackOfNoTrades and snack_attack. There were a good few people online. That was probably a good thing. Maybe one of them could help.
 

Spoiler

Dangerzone has signed in.
Tailor: Oh shit!
Tailor: Hey!
Dangerzone: OH GOD I NEED HELP
Tailor: Nice of you to finally grace us with your presense.
Yami: hey danger
Yami: whats up?
Tailor: You missed the game last night.
Tailor: So we couldn't play. :/
Yami: i couldn't play anyways i told you
Tailor: Yeah I know.
Tailor: Just yanking his chain.
Yami: lol
Dangerzone: STOP I NEED HELP
Yami: ?
Tailor: Okay, I'll bite.
Dangerzone: IM THE DAVE GUY FROM MYRIADS NEW STORY
Tailor: What's wrong?
Taior: Oh.
Tailor: Pfft.
Tailor: Yeah of course you are.
Yami: i thought your name was thomas
Yami: not dave
Yami: lol
Dangerzone: IM F*****G SERIOUS RIGHT NOW
Dangerzone: I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO
Dangerzone: PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR ME
Yami: yeah
Yami: tailor was looking for you last night
Yami: to play a game
Tailor: I was.
Tailor: But you weren't around.
Dangerzone: HOLY S**T GUYS
Dangerzone: SHUT THE F**K UP
Dangerzone: HOW DO I /.,CJFENSDXM
Dangerzone: NCUY'S;.'DZNUMC
Dangerzone: WHAT DO I DO
Yami: fine

Yami: ill play along
Yami: myriad said hed help right
Yami: in the newest post thing
Dangerzone: YEAH
Dangerzone: BUT I DONT KNOW HOW TO FIND HIM
Dangerzone: HOW THE HELL WOULD I KNOW THAT
Yami: tailor said he knew him right
Yami: he knows his brother or something
Dangerzone: DOES HE

Yami: something about a brother

Yami: thats what he said
Yami: unless hes as full of it as you definitely are
Dangerzone: IM BEING SERIOUS
Yami: and tailor is being suspiciously quiet
Yami: he was here a second ago
Yami: and now hes not
Dangerzone: PLEASE TELL ME YOU WERENT MAKING S**T UP TAILOR
Yami: come on
Yami: of course he was
Yami: why dont you try spamming every chatroom with 'help me im dave'
Yami: you might get myriads attention eventually
Dangerzone: YEAH
Dangerzone: AND EVERY OTHER F***ER ON THE WEBSITE
Dangerzone: VERY STEALTHY
Yami: make a post in the forums
Yami: i am dave
Yami: seeking hot young myriad
Yami: for long walks on the beach
Yami: yes i like pina coladas
Dangerzone: FOR GODS SAKE
Yami: and getting caught in the rain
Myriad has signed in.
Tailor: Ta-daaa.
Yami: holy shit
Myriad: Is Dave here?
Dangerzone: YES
Dangerzone: ME
Yami: you actually know him tailor
Dangerzone: WHAT DO I DO
Yami: wtf
Myriad: It's going to be okay.
Tailor: Told you so.
Tailor: And I saw you talking s**t about me.
Myriad: Tailor is going to come and meet you for me.
Tailor: What?
Myriad: You know the bridge that crosses from 5th Noon to 4th Rise?
Dangerzone: YES
Myriad: Can you be there in two hours?
Myriad: Tailor will meet you there.
Dangerzone: YES ILL BE THERE
Myriad: Then bring you to me.
Tailor: You actually believe him?
Dangerzone: THANK YOU
Myriad: I have seen pictures of the man I had named Dave.
Myriad: I have seen Dangerzone's profile picture.
Myriad: He is not lying.
Tailor: For real?
Tailor: Okay. Sure.
Tailor: I'll meet him.
Dangerzone has signed out.
Tailor: No problem.
Yami: im coming too
Yami: not a chance in hell id miss this s**t
Tailor: That might be a problem.
Yami: what
Yami: why
Tailor: You may not have noticed.
Tailor: But Myriad isn't exactly the most public person.
Myriad: I thoroughly checked out everyone in this chatroom before joining.
Myriad: So as to not be tracked down by undesirables.
Myriad: The fact I am here means I believe I can trust them.
Yami: woo
Myriad: I shall see you later Tailor.
Tailor: If you say so.
Myriad has signed out.
Yami: i still cant believe you know myriad tailor
Yami: that's insane

 

 

[Music 3]

It didn't take Thomas two hours to reach the meeting point. He was on the 5th Noon side of the bridge looking out over the east river. There were a lot of people around. The was a small shopping district on this side of the bridge. It made sense, there was a lot of foot traffic. Just looking around now he could see a great deal of people milling about in clusters or solo headed from shop to shop, stopping by the hot-food vendor. Sitting on benches and such. Doing normal things that Thomas wasn't sure he'd ever get to do again.

 

He leaned against a railing and tried to look as inconspicuous as he could. It would have been easier if he hadn't lost his phone back when 'it' happened. He could look so damn inconspicuous with a phone. He'd just pretend he was texting people or something. Hell, maybe he actually would text people. That'd confuse the hell out of everyone who was definitely staring at him at this very moment. 'Oh he's just pretending to be texting so nobody pays attention.' They'd think. 'Nobody is buying it.' They'd say. Then they'd sneak a peek and 'Oh, what's this? He's really texting people? Oh my! My world has just been blown wide open. I don't know what's true anymore. Maybe I'm the one who's pretending to text people. I need a lie down befo-'

 

"Hey dude." Said a soft voice from behind. Thomas almost had a heart attack then and there. He spun in a flash to look at who had spoken, all his greatest fears overcame him at once playing out in his mind. "Woah, woah. Chill. Calm. It's me. Tailor. You know, we're meeting here and stuff. Just. You take a minute man, you look rough."
 

Thomas fell back against the railing in a particularly vigorous lean, breathing heavily into his shaking hands. "Oh god. I thought you were the police or something. Can we go now?"

 

Tailor cast a glance around. "Have you met Yami yet?"

 

"What? No." Thomas asked with a look confusion

 

"Then we can't go yet. He'd complain for years if we didn't wait for him."

 

"Yami's coming too?"

 

"Yeah, and few others. People got over excited about Myriad showing up in the chat. They decided to make this the 'first official group outing' or something. We'll just hang out here for a bit. People will come. You want a hotdog while we wait? I'm gunna get a hotdog."

 

OOC:

Spoiler

And so it begins. I had to end this there. It was going to be even more ridiculously long than it is already. I figured it'd be kinda cool for you all to meet up, grab a hot dog or something. Introduce yourselves to each other in real life and stuff before moving on. If anyone would like to reply to or talk to anyone in the chatroom style then I'm sure we can figure it out easily enough. Stuff is gunna start happening somewhat soon.

Edited by Unbelievably Majestic, 04 April 2016 - 11:28 AM.

[Crouching Bacon]

There were three days before the next Sunset Anons raid; the target was a small office building the group scouted last time they visited the Outlands. From the looks of it, it had only been recently abandoned, which meant the risk of running into private security could be high. But then again, that only meant that something in there was worth guarding. Besides, selling some scrap was a great way to raise funds for spare bike parts. And pizza.

 

Rosca licked her lips at the thought. After a quick update on After Hours, she switched her screen onto the Myriad chat. A few hours ago, it had been relatively tame save for a few shitposters here and there who were quickly booted out of the group--nothing too interesting.

 

Eventually some guy who called himself Dangerzone came along, squealing about being that Dave on that Myriad post. It was a bold claim, but not an entirely original one. For every genuine nutcase, there were also a thousand other special snowflakes dying to be noticed. Despite that being the case, Rosca decided to watch the chat closely, relieved to find something to kill the time.

 

Then it happened. Myriad came online. She immediately opened up a private chat channel and notified the rest of the Sunset Anons's. Unfortunately, no one was online at the time.

 

Or was it because Myriad didn't want them online? It wasn't impossible, if their capabilities were as powerful as they implied them to be. Just in case, she decided to hold off on telling the rest of the S.A.'s. This was one lead she'd have to sniff out on her own first. It helped that it wasn't too far from her gramps' place.

 

snack_attack: Anyone else down to meet? Might be the start of the fuckin' revolution. Hell if I'm sitting this one out.

She shut the computer down, put on her backpack and ran out of her grandfather's apartment, shutting the door with a bang.

 

---------------------------------------------------------

 

A blur of pink and white shot past the traffic, barely beating the green lights.

 

"Damn, I'm getting slower. Gotta step it up a notch, next time."

 

She arrived by the foot of the bridge, three seconds slower than usual. The massive crowd made it frustrating to bike through, so she got off and walked with it, scrutinizing the people who walked past her.

 

It hit Rosca that she had no idea what Dangerzone looked like. Were people supposed to start fainting around him? No clue on Yami either or Tailor. She kicked an empty can in frustration. There was nothing she could do but wait. Rosca parked herself by the bridgeside cafe, glaring at the snooty people who drank cups of overpriced tea with raised pinky fingers, while trying her best to keep a lookout for gathering people--an almost impossible task given the mass of human traffic that passed this route.

 

And as a back-up plan, Rosca certainly wasn't above starting a commotion via public vandalism. There was a sweet new can of spray paint she had been itching to try out. The bridge was as good a canvas as any, after all.

 

Soon enough, a customized version of her avatar was spray painted onto one of the brick walls: a fist grabbing some bacon.

[Orcraniil]

Lance sat in his computer chair in a state that probably couldn't be further from lucid. His eyes were dull, unfocused. It hadn't been his first night pulling an all-nighter for school work, and he was vaguely aware it wouldn't be his last. Something about this one really drained him though, He couldn't remember the last time he felt so tired. A zombie-like groan escaped his mouth as he forced his eyes open and leaned forward into the light from his two computer monitors. On one sat the essay he'd been grinding out all night. On the other was the Myriad chat room and a music program. The Myriad chat had, like most days, been relatively silent save for some idle chatter and the occasional invasion from unwanted guests. The usual sort of thing for internet chat rooms. 

 

Something seemed off with the Myriad chat room. It had seemingly exploded in activity in the few moments he had rested his eyes. Lance scanned through the activity and was shocked to see the Myriad group may be having it's first meet-up.

 

Leaning over his keyboard, Lance rattled off a short sentence and locked his PC. Grabbing his wallet and phone, Lance walked out his apartment's front door and headed towards the meeting spot. The bridge from Fifth Noon to Fourth Rise wasn't very far from where he lived.

 

Spoiler

snack_attack: Anyone else down to meet? Might be the start of the fuckin' revolution. Hell if I'm gonna sit this one out.

JackOfNoTrades: The bridge isn't far from where I live, I'll be there.

 

Lance thought that it might be a bit difficult to recognize each other without... y'know... the screen names and forum icons, but this was the only lead he had. What or who is Myriad? Well, he was hopefully about to find out. Lance threw on some headphones to make the walk just that much more pleasant and relaxing.

 

As he approached the bridge, Lance scoured the area for anyone looking particularly... suspicious? But not really having a criteria for "suspicious" certainly didn't help. The bridge was as crowded as ever, making the task even more arduous. There was a bit of commotion and turned heads providing a slight clue to... something that may be going on the bridge. Pushing through the crowd, Lance was greeted with the sight of a fist grasping bacon. It was a familiar sight if he'd ever seen one, and certainly a creative calling card for the others. A young red-headed girl wielding a paint can stood in front of the graffiti with an approving look on her face.

 

Lance hesitantly approached, giving her a slight wave.

 

"Yo... snack? It's Jack. Or I suppose I'd be Lance right now" He said sheepishly. No matter how he tried to say it in his head, it always came out a bit awkward sounding.

 

"Any idea where the others might be?"

 

OOC:

Spoiler

o/ 

Lance introduces himself! I put the online chat in a spoiler block because idk how to use BBCode like Paper* did. 

Edited by Orcraniil, 03 April 2016 - 09:26 PM.

[Unbelievably Majestic]

[Music]

Yami arrived at the supposed meeting spot really quite early. It was quite close to the place she'd been... well, there's no better way to put it really, the place she was currently living illegally in an abandoned building. So she'd arrived nice and promptly, all quick and totally in the right place and what not, only to discover she'd left one abandoned spot for another. Because there was bugger all around here. Not even a stray dog or one of those overly confident city-dwelling pigeons. She pulled out her phone and got on the chatroom.

 

Spoiler

Yami has signed in.

Yami: hey

Yami: so

Yami: like

Yami: where are all of everybody

Yami: and stuff

Tailor: Yeah.

Tailor: I get you.

Tailor: It's pretty crowded.

Tailor: I'm over by the hotdog stand. If you want to come find me.

Tailor: We can look for the others from there.

 

Pretty crowded? Yami glanced around. Not a soul in sight. There was a hotdog stand though. A broken, grimy, lonely mess of a hotdog stand. It didn't look like it had sold a hotdog in about a billion years, and the ones it did sell weren't all that edible on a good day in the peak of it's hotdog vending career. She walked over to it anyway and looked around.

 

Spoiler

Yami: i cant see you

Yami: i think

Yami: maybe

Tailor: Are you looking near the hotdog stand?

Yami: yeah

Yami: im there now

Yami: i think that

Yami: maybe

Tailor: Can you here me shouting?

Yami: oh

Yami: go ahead

Yami: im listening

Tailor: I'm the one shouting "Hey Yami, I'm over here."

Tailor: I figured that would explain a lot by itself.

Yami: try a bit louder

Tailor: Even if I didn't explain it.

Tailor: I'm being pretty f**king loud.

Tailor: This hotdog salesman is giving me some real unhappy looks.

Tailor: I don't know what he's so uppity about.

Tailor: He sells hotdogs.

Tailor: Giving me the stink eye.

Tailor: You don't get to act like you're better than me.

Tailor: Not until you don't smell of ass sweat and cheap sausage you douche.

Yami: lol

Yami: thats a good one

Yami: did you tell him that

Tailor: Nah, maybe I'll say it later.

Tailor: After I get a hotdog that hasn't been spat on.

Yami: good move

Yami: anyway

Yami: yeah

Yami: i definitely can't hear you

Yami: i think

Yami: maybe

Yami: you went to the wrong place

Tailor: Bulls**t.

Tailor: I already met Dangerzone.

Tailor: This is totally the right place.

Tailor: Where did you go?

Yami: the old park

Yami: in 4th falls

Yami: like we agreed

Tailor: You're...what?

Tailor: Are you like...

Tailor: High?

Tailor: Or something?

Tailor: Nobody has ever mentioned that park in our chatroom.

Tailor: Like...

Tailor: Ever.

Yami: someone did

Tailor: No.

Yami: im pretty sure

Tailor: You're pretty wrong.

Tailor: Just come to 5th Noon, by the bridge to 4th Rise.

Tailor: Okay?

Yami: sure

Tailor: You know the way?

Yami: yeah

Yami: im yami

Yami: i know all the ways

Yami: its my thing

Tailor: Sure.

Tailor: Come along then.

Yami: kay

Yami: see ya there

 

A short drive on her beloved scooter later and Yami arrived at the 'proper' meeting spot. She knew someone had mentioned the park though. Bunch of idiots all thought they'd said something different. She parked up and headed on into the crowds. She contemplated shouting for Tailor like he had done. But then she remembered he had done it already and it hadn't worked. Not realizing that the reason it hadn't worked was because she hadn't in fact been within earshot. Instead she found her way to the hotdog stand and stood by it again.

 

Spoiler

Yami: hey guys

Yami: im here

Tailor: Cool.

Yami: where are you now

Yami: did you leave the hotdog place

Tailor: No I'm still here.

Tailor: Can't see you though dude.

Tailor: Do something.

Yami: kay

Yami: can you see me now

Tailor: what are you doing?

Yami: i moved over a bit

Tailor: Dude.

Tailor: That doesn't help me.

Tailor: I don't know which one you are, and everybody's moving.

Yami: hang on

Yami: ill do it again

Yami: did you see

Tailor: Same problem man.

Tailor: Look around.

Tailor: For someone who looks pretty f**king annoyed at the dips**t he's chatting to on his phone.

Tailor: Because that'll be me.

Yami: oh

Yami: okay

Yami: good idea

Yami: i think i might see you

Tailor: Cool.

Tailor: Come over.

Yami: it wasn't you

Yami: was it

Tailor: Huh?

Yami: you didn't just tell me to piss off did you

Yami: because that was me

Tailor: No that wasn't me.

Yami: i have another idea

Yami has shared a photo.

Yami: here

Yami: thats me

Tailor: ...

Yami: see

Yami: im near the hotdog stand

Yami: like i said

Yami: can't see you anywhere

 

Someone poked her in the back. She lazily turned to look at him.  The guy who had tried to get her attention seemed quite annoyed. Maybe she was standing on his shoelaces? She checked. She wasn't. He didn't even have shoelaces. He had like... elasticy bits. So she asked the most pertinent and eloquent question that came to mind. "Yeah?"

 

"It's me. Tailor." He said with a voice of resigned disbelief hinted with annoyance.

 

"Oh hey, Tailor. Told you I know all the ways. I found you. But where'd you come from?"

 

"I was right behind you. I was in the photo. You actually just took a photo with me to prove that you couldn't find me."

 

"Oh. That's cool. Anybody else in there? Could be the first group photo."

 

"It would have been easier to find you if you had mentioned at some point that you're not a dude. I was looking for an actual human-being man guy. Like a business man or something. Not a super strange girl who apparently has a couple dead birds on her belt." Yami smiled at him casually and stared as though trying to see his soul. Or just... through him at some strange foreign planet or something. Maybe she was just drifting off on a strange train of thoughts. Tailor couldn't tell. Suddenly she seemed to get slapped back into reality.

 

"I'm gunna take more photos and find everyone else." She declared. "That seems to work."

 

A few minutes later, after accidentally taking a photo of a symbol she recognized from somewhere Yami led Tailor to the side of the bridge where snack_attack had started to gather people. Dangerzone followed behind Tailor as casually as he could. "I can not believe you actually found them with that stupid idea."

 

"I told you. I'm Yami. I know all the ways." She walked off to join the others.

 

OOC:

Spoiler

Somehow posted at the same time as CB. >.<

 

Assume this is after. I guess. Just a bonus cheeky update to bring the NPC's together with the rest of you guys.

 

Also I had fun with it. So, yeah. :3

Edited by Unbelievably Majestic, 04 April 2016 - 01:44 PM.

[Crouching Bacon]

Rosca put the spray paint back in her bag, then looked around to see if anyone of note recognized it. Soon enough, a youthful man and stepped forth from the anonymous masses and introduced himself.

 

"Yo... snack? It's Jack. Or I suppose I'd be Lance right now. Any idea where the others might be?"

 

So Lance it was. He was disappointingly mundane; Rosca decided to adjust her expectations. Internet forums, even those that dealt with government conspiracies, were also home to relatively normal people after all. Well, at least he looked normal on the outside.

 

She gave him a quick nod of acknowledgment, a little "hey, 'sup there, I see you exist" kind of nod.

 

"My friends call me Ros but you can call me Rosca. No idea where they are, either." A smirk tugged at her mouth. "Lance, huh. What're you here for?"

 

But before he could speak, she had already turned his back on him, spray painting his forum avatar beside hers.

Edited by Crouching Bacon, 04 April 2016 - 01:37 PM.

[Diabolical Rhapsody]

Dahlia was dawdling idly as a pencil hung precariously from her mouth, no matter how hard she wracked her wits. She just couldn't picture this concept wall. To meld in florescent pink with metal grey and still make it look snazzy and classy at the same time was quite a paradox, one that had her by the throat. The presentation was due in a few days and she had been drawing blanks for the past two days.

 

Her only reprieve were the forums and its regular brand of bizzare. It was her only relaxation. The sudden activity drew her close to her laptop screen and in a few dizzying minutes she had a new purpose for the day. Her group interaction with the people online. The place was quite far from her residence but she had her Ducati to rely upon. Thinking upon how others will recognize her, she didn't dress her usual bold self rather she fitted into a jumpsuit with a hilarious print of smoking hot poop and set forth. With this, there won't be many problems she thought. Afterall, her handler name enabled her to wear this.

 

Whizzing through the streets, she shortly reached at the meet up point. Parking her bike at the cafe, she walked towards the bridge, logically it was the vantage point for everyone and one location that everyone can find. Walking up to the base, she noticed a familiar looking graffiti of hand holding bacon and a very satisfied looking girl besides it. As one of the crowd approached her, few others also joined shortly after.

 

The group looked to be younger than her but she wasn't the one to feel out of place in that. She silently walked to the lady with the can and said

 

"So, I guess you are snack_attack?" a brief smile appearing on her visage as the words came out. Her hair were a stout red unlike the girl besides her but still they were both redheads.

[Vafhudr]

Joey Smallwood - Ladders
 
Reporting in. 
 
(The Event) occured approximately 24 minutes ago. 
 
It's not on the news yet. In about 17 minutes the first camera crews will show up and tell the world a plausible lie. For 2 minutes ago a video was posted. Not much on it - bodies on the ground and sidewalk. Shaky cam; a woman in back ground repeating "oh my god, oh my god". 
 
10 minutes ago the chatroom of Myriads became active. 
 
Joey Smallwood had it opened on his computer, just one more distraction on his dashboard adding to the clutter. He was absentmindedly browsing the internet with no real purpose but mindless entertainment. He had just came back from school and he was more than happy to put the day behind him. He was technically in charge of the house until his parent's arrived from work, in approximately two and a half hour. Preferably he would start the evening meal ahead of time with the help of his younger siblings. Everyone was doing their homeworks at the time. It was something of a habit. Homeworks before supper, continued in the evening if needed with the parent's assistance, followed by free time until bed time. It was a solid formula. Joey had been, in a mix of teenage rebellion and bad habit, moving away from this set up in favour of wasting his time on the internet. 
 
We have already seen the aforementioned conversation. 
 
Ladders: uh yeah i should be able to make it
Ladders: idk when ill make it though
Ladders: i need to take the bus if we are meeting up downtown
 
Joey was a mature young fellow. His parents allowed him to go on escapades on his own volition, preferably vetted beforehand, and to a known friend and family's place. They would not be down with the idea of Joey going downtown to loiter with internet strangers. Joey himself was unsure - some people are best left as online connaissances, not actual, physical, friendships. 
 
On the other hand, history was happening. For once he could be more than a faceless commentator of the mysterious phenomena that had come to take up some much space in his imagination. And there was always this odd sensation whenever the internet seemed to catch up to the real world. 
 
A bit sweaty from anxiety, he nevertheless packed himself a bag, looked up the time on the nearest bus stop (4:16, about 10 minutes to get there. He should be in downtown by 4:48 - add another 10-15 minutes to find the spot. He estimated being at the meeting ground by 5, by his own calculations. 
 
He clambered down the stairs and called:
 
Joey: Sasha! Sasha! SASHA!
Sasha: WHAT.
Joey: Yo. I am going out for a while. 
Sasha: Wait. Why. Where are you going?
Joey: Hang out with friends.
Sasha: (rolls her eyes and scoffs) Yeah right. You and what friends.
Joey: You know that really hurts. Stabs me right into my cold, shriveled heart. 
Sasha: No but seriously what am I supposed to say to mom and dad. 
Joey: Just tell them I am at a friend's house.
Sasha: Which one. 
Joey: Just say that I said a friend's house - and I should be back later in the evening and I will probably have eaten.
Sasha: You are being super sketch bro-bro. Did you get a girlfriend?
Joey: (annoyed) No.
Sasha: There goes a plausible alibi - and possibly a good talk from mom and dad when you'll come back.
Joey: Please don't be the instrument of my downfall.
Sasha: Whatev. What are we supposed to do for supper anyway.
Joey: You and Jeremy can make some past or some thing. 
Sasha: Inspired.
Joey: Look. I got to go. I need to catch a bus. Be vague to mom and dad. I'll try and deal with the fallout when I come back.
Sasha: M'kay. It's not like I am putting myself in trouble for you.
 
With this Joey put on his shoes and his cap and walked briskly to the bus stop. Fortunately, the bus was about 3 minutes late so no running was involved. 
 
Once on the bus he took out his phone. Time to go mobile.

 

(The Event) occurred 34 minutes ago. Camera crews have arrived. The existence of a survivor has begun to spread on the internet. 

 

Joey scrolled through the convo as the bus noisily made its way downtown. He pointedly ignored the evil eye an old lady on the reserved passenger seat was giving him - disapproval was written all over her sagging jowls. Youth these days - always glued to their damn phones. 

 

Well sorry lady I don't carry a fucking bag of yarn and knitting needles for occasions like this. 

Like, jesus. 

 

It is worth mentioning that the old lady was in fact crochetting her way through something that resembled a hat. Maybe. How she could wear some much wool on such a hot day of September was beyond him. 

 

Nothing new on the convo front. It seems, though, by the amount of responses that there would be quite a few of them. That, he hoped, would make them a bit easier to spot. He shoved his phone in his pocket and pulled out his wallet for a quick check. There was, thankfully, money in there - he was planning on buying at least one hotdog when he would get there. 

 

Downtown. 

 

Rush hour and it's attendant congestion were setting in the streets as about a quarter million people trying to flee the downtown area at the same time. There was, remarkably, a lot less people on the sidewalks than on the streets. Or at least, the crowd seemed to be thinning considerably as he approached his destination. 

 

Well. There was the hot dog stand. 

 

Ladders: welp im here

 

He snapped his phone back in his pocket as he approached the hot dog stand. As he approached he saw a small group of people trying to look inconspicuous. Some butterflies rammed aggressively into the walls of his stomach. Is that them? He realized that he had no idea who was there. 

 

Ladder: i now have a hotdog

Ladder: i repeat

Ladder: i have acquire a hotdog, all dressed, with a side of fries

 

Welp, that should get the attention of at least someone, or so he hoped as he walked away from the stand, food in hand, looking for a place to eat his shitty street food. 

[Orcraniil]

Judging from her scathing gaze followed by the slight nod of acknowledgement, Lance gathered the redhead with the 'tude was less than impressed with his appearance. Though it bothered him a little, he had to admit that keeping a low-key appearance would likely prove helpful so he shoved that discomfort aside. The lower their expectations, the better.

 

"My friends call me Ros but you can call me Rosca. No idea where they are, either." Her mouth crawled into a smirk before she dropped the "Lance, huh. What're you here for?".

 

Well, she was direct at least.

 

"I suppose a mixture of boredom and curiosity, how about yourself?"

 

Lance replied dryly, and returning the question right back at Rosca who had started painting his forum avatar (A deck of cards, go figure) next to hers. First impressions? She was creative for coming up with the idea of spray painting forum avatars at the very least. Personality-wise, Lance wasn't sure he had a good read on her. She seemed to be the blunt and honest type, but something nibbled at the back of his mind that maybe that wasn't completely right. Regardless, Lance never really prided himself on his ability to judge the characters of people around him. She wasn't outright hostile at least.

 

Not long after Lance returned the question the two were joined by Yami, Tailor, and Dangerzone. Yami had a strange air about her that Lance couldn't really place a finger on. Tailor and Dangerzone both seemed to be alright guys, Dangerzone being a bit older than Lance, and Tailor a bit younger. Tailor still had that late teens-early twenties sarcasm down pat. Dangerzone seemed... normal? Despite what they'd read in the chat room, he could've been just another guy living his life grinding out work and going home for all Lance could tell. He was a bit more fidgety than your average person would be, but he couldn't be blamed for the situation. Assuming all rumors were true, he was entrusting his life in the hands of anonymous people on the internet. It doesn't take a genius to think about the different ways that could go wrong. For him to be so desperate, there was something there.

 

Lance made the appropriate introductions to Yami, Tailor, and Dangerzone before another stranger joined the motley crew. She was a redhead, but unlike Rosco, her hair was darker and more subdued. She seemed to be on the older side of the twenties, though by Lance's reckoning it was hard to tell. There was so little difference between people in their early-late twenties that they all more-or-less looked somewhat similar. Some people showed age worse than others, of course. The newcomer confidently strode towards her fellow redhead and said with a smile, "So, I guess you are snack_attack?".

 

Lance pulled out his phone and brought up the chat to see Ladders throwing out a status update. He was somewhere around with a hotdog and a side of fries. Lance gave the newcomer a nod of acknowledgement not unlike one he had just received from Rosca.

 

"I'm off to go see if I can find Ladders." Lance said before turning towards the hotdog stand. Looking around for someone with a hotdog with the works and a side of fries, Lance saw a brown-haired teen walking away from the stand glancing around as if he were looking for a suitable place to stop. Lance threw up a message on the chat before heading towards the prospective member of the crew.

 

Spoiler

Ladders: i now have a hotdog

Ladders: i repeat

Ladders: i have acquired hotdog, all dressed, with a side of fries

JackOfNoTrades: Yo Ladders, I think I see you. I'll be right there. Everyone else has pretty much all met up.

 

Lance walked up to the teen holding his meal and gave him a smile, "Hey, I'm Jack." He offered a short greeting that probably wouldn't mean anything to some random kid, but Ladders would know.

Edited by Orcraniil, 06 April 2016 - 05:05 AM.

[Crouching Bacon]

"I suppose a mixture of boredom and curiosity, how about yourself?"

 

She stopped painting and swiveled her head in Lance's direction, only to see him making introductions for a group of new people. Yet another woman, a fellow red-head (Rosca wondered whether it was dyed or au naturel), approached her.

 

"So, I guess you are snack_attack?"

 

The lady was wearing a jumpsuit with smoking shit designs all over it. Rosca mentally flipped through the active users in the past few hours, deciding upon CosmicShit. With an approving nod, she looked her over.

 

"Ha. Real witty, lady. I'm Rosca. This here's Lance. And those are..." she trailed off, moving closer to the group as Lance proceeded to make the introductions. He seemed to be a fairly amiable guy, acting as de facto Mr. Congeniality. Three new people joined the group, but it wouldn't be official until Myriad showed up. That's what everyone came for, wasn't it?

 

Rosca looked at Dangerzone and wondered just how dangerous he was, if the whole fiasco was for real, legit. Tailor and Yami seemed alright, though Yami seemed to be out of it, as if part of her mind found permanent residence in a place that would never be earth, or her actual physical body. She thought Tailor was cute, too.

 

All of a sudden, Lance went off to fetch yet another member of the group. It was a boy by the hotdog stand, holding a hotdog, being a weenie. He seemed to be about her age. She wondered what school he attended and whether or not his hotdog had jalapeno peppers on it.

[Jod]

"Demand for agri-products has shown a continuous trend of increase, accelerated by an ever increasing urban population, by 20xx we predict that the demand will be more than triple of what we can supply" said the man, gesturing wildly at so many charts projected on the screen. " It to capitalize on this that we propose our new technology, a concept of hyper farming... blah blah blah" continued the suit, getting increasingly excited as he got ready for his big reveal.

 

Gregory however had already lost interest, it wasn't even funny how late this fellow was to the table. He had identified this particular opportunity years in advance, and had long since made targeted investments towards the same. Bored he flicked open his phone, and popped open the myriads message boards. Their was always something fun happening there.

 

He scanned through the messages, as he went further down the thread his eyebrows slowly began to raise. Wow, I was looking for fun, but this is something else entirely he though. Though meeting IRL was intriguing ...  for a completely different set of reasons apart from plain curiosity.

Greg rapidly thumbed the touch screen as he replied to the thread.

CobaltPeacock: Well, count me in... I could do with a bit of excitement.

It was at this moment that the suit was done with his presentation, before the young man could say anything else.

"I'm sorry, but your proposition does not seem lucrative and several years to late" said Greg, as he rose from his chair and exited the meeting room, leaving the young man sputtering wildly.

----

As Greg walked against the milling crowd that made its way through the busy. His tall almost famished frame somehow cutting a stark contrast to the crowd. He was dressed in a dark blue suit, clearly tailored. Underneath that he wore a black shirt loosely buttoned. His head was gaunt as per usual, and his hair in wild disarray. Greg had long  since given up on trying to tame his mane, and he cared far to little to get it cut regularly.

 

As he peered through his shades, he spotted a small  rag tag group lounging at the rendezvous. They weren't doing particularly well at being conspicuous. He made his way towards them, "Hello, you folks from the boards?" he called out, being careful in divulging to much information. After all he had no idea if they were who he thought they were. From what he remembered, Myriad would be able to identify him anyway.

Edited by Jod, 09 April 2016 - 04:54 AM.

[KDPtheKing]

"Finally finished!!" Throwing his hands in the air as he relished in his achievement. Dexter, a short, 15 year old boy with red hair so shaggy you can't see his eyes, had finally finished building his first computer. It took him a very long time to save up the money to do so. He worked I his family's laundry matt a couple hours a day after school and took on tech jobs for people he met at home and in his short time here in Okahame. He was just happy to finally have a computer where viruses would never intrude because nothing was created to attack it. Without any regard for himself, he sprinted to the door out of excitement. When I say no regard, he fell through one of the empty boxes that were scattered around his room as he made his way through the mess to his door. "MOM," he yelled as he opened the door, "I come see!!"

"Okay honey, I'm coming." She knew he was over excited but it's to be expected when one accomplishes a goal. The whole computer thing was still lost to her. He had a guaranteed career with the family laundry-matt and they now owned two after moving to Okahame yet he didn't want that. But, the look on Dexter's eyes when his mom saw it only showed her that he had a passion for what he was doing. It made her slightly happy even though she wanted something different. "Oh my. That's a full fledged computer. I hate to admit it son but that is pretty neat." Then she looked around the room and she was no longer proud. "Now before you dive your nose into it, clean up this room!!"

He hurried and cleaned his room, threw away the boxes, and hopped on his computer to catch up with his fellow chat buddies on Myriad. "Hmm......what's going on today. What does the 'pipe bomb' have I store for us today." Dexter scours the chat as he reads conversation and joins into a few he found interesting. Then, HE, logged on. "OMG ITS MYRIAD!!" His excitement made him fall backwards out of his chair. Dexter quickly climbed back up and started to pay close attention to the conversation, stealth fully. "Meet-up? Us? Well, I have wanted to meet of few of these people here. Well, I'll be there, 4th Rise to 5Noon bridge. I'll take a train."


Later that night, he made his way to the bridge and saw some people around huddled around the area of the bridge near a hotdog stand. He began to get anxious. You see, even though he is 15, he is very underdeveloped. He is very conscious of this fact and that causes him to be a bit shy. Still, he didn't have many friends reality and they were the only ones he actually opened up to.

He walked up to a dark headed guy with glasses and tapped him on the shoulder. In a timid voice he then asked, "Hey, I'm Dexter, is this the spot?"


OOC

Spoiler

I'm talking to Lance in this one. Trying to make an entrance like only an underdeveloped 15 year old can. Can't believe I'm a shota.........

[Vafhudr]

Joey Smallwood - Ladders

 

Let's get to the meat of things here, the juicy information, the real, hard data. 

 

The hotdog does not have any hot peppers or anything. Joey IS a weenie. He doesn't like spicy things. They hurt him and he recoils from anything that hurts him. He is a devotee to sweet and salty. In other words he likes boring food and the more risqué and exotic have an unfortunate tendency to wreck havoc upon his stomach and intestines. 

 

Wow. Information. The information era. So much of it. Let's not go too much in details. 

 

Back to dork. 

 

Dork was looking around, unsure which group of people pretending to act normal was the right one. He thought he could find internet people in a crowd no problem, that is, until he was confronted to this situation.

 

They look like people. Shit. The plot thickens. Or so he thought as he took a bit of his hotdog. the underside of his box of fries was feeling aggressively greasy. Or maybe that was just anxiety?

(spoiler alert: it's the fat seeping in the barely laminated cardboard)

 

But wait. Someone was now walking toward him. It was a dude. An older looking dude. Was he walking toward him? This was a hard call to make. Joey was trying real hard to look cool and not all sketchy. He continued to "casually stroll like I am totally not going to meet internet people and possibly the sole witness to a supernatural event". Gotta stay cool. 

 

Again. He didn't look like an internet person. He was expecting at least 100 more pounds of excess doritos and maybe a neckbeard. This handsome youth was lacking both. Avoid eye contact. Shit too late. He is looking at Joey. 

 

The dude waves. 

 

Joey stacks his hotdog on the fries. A harder maneuver than it should have been as the man at the concessionary put the ketchup straight on his fries like a fucking heathen. Now there was no way he was not getting some ketchup on his hotdog. This vexed him. He did it anyway. Curse you hot dog man. His hand now free he rose to the entreaty - only to stop midway and look back. Okay. He doesn't seem to be waving at someone else. That would have been embarrassing.

 

Joey, shyly: "Hm. Hello there."

Joey, half mumbling these goddamn words: I... guess you must be with the forums yeah?

Joey, realizing how weird it is to say these words out loud: "Or at least chat. I'm Ladders. What about you?"

 

Way to make an impression, dork. It was becoming clear to Joey that he would never be able to show his face to this person again after such a poor display. 

[Unbelievably Majestic]

[Music 1]
Meeting up like this was all well and good, or it would have been usually. A few days ago Thomas would have loved to do this. He would have been all over it. All excited to meet people and whatnot. But now, now it was a terrifying mess of experiences and emotions. Still, it was interesting to meet the people he'd been talking to so much lately.

Tailor seemed a little more grumpy than Thomas would have imagined in real life, but he kind of liked that. He found it funny. Which was not the sort of emotion he had expected to feel any time soon considering what had happened. Yami was somehow stranger than expected, plus apparently, Yami was a woman. Neither he nor Tailor had seen that coming. Still, after meeting her he couldn't really imagine her as being a man. It just didn't work. Yami was Yami, which was a woman. It was surprising but it somehow made a lot of sense to him. So there was that whole mix-bag of emotions ranging from surprise and confusion upon introduction through to amusement and strangeness later on.

The rest of the group he hadn't really talked to one on one, which kind of surprised him, he though they'd be full of probing questions and 'prove it' demands. Maybe they were actively trying to give him some space? Whatever the case the result was the same, and he was glad not to be having any extra attention upon him. The larger group made him feel like they were drawing attention, but also like maybe he could just blend in and not be noticed by anyone that looked. It was making him walk a fine line between the feelings of safety and of complete exposure. All of this was underlined by the fact that Thomas was absolutely terrified by anyone that even came near him, or the group, and if a police siren went off in the distance he felt his heart stop briefly, but Yami would throw him a comforting smile to calm him down. How she always knew just when to look his way he would never know.

All in all it was a bad day for Thomas. So he was grateful when everyone had, at long last, gathered together and Tailor finally spoke up. "Come on then, let's take this show on the road. We've got a meeting to get to." He declared, and he started walking across the bridge. Yami was being weird again and she ran on ahead of the group as if she knew what she was doing and where she was going. She must have realized she didn't because she stopped about halfway across the bridge and leaned on a railing. She probably didn't want it to look like she had made a mistake. But then... Would Yami even care about that? Thomas had a hard time imagining she would, but then again he just couldn't read her. Thomas realized he'd been staring at her a lot. He really should stop. It might seem rude or- was she talking to herself? That shouldn't have been a surprise.

"No?" Yami asked aloud in her usual half-a-dream voice, not caring for any of the looks passersby gave her. She shook her head slightly. "Sure." And then she walked back towards the group with her usual easy smile.

"What were you doing?" Tailor asked as she returned.

"Oh, just talking to myself, you know? Why?"

"No reason." He replied a little too quickly. "I wasn't even that curious." He glanced back over to where she had been standing. "It was just weird. For you to go and... stand... never mind." He ended with a sigh.

Yami was being weird Thomas decided as he watched the exchange. It made him uncomfortable. Though, actually... Was Yami being weird? To say Yami was being weird was weird in and of itself. Surely Yami being normal would be Yami being weird, Yami being weird was Yami being normal. So Yami wasn't being weird, because she was being weird which was normal Yami. His logic ran in large convoluted circles a few times more while he chased it's tail for a short time. Tailor clicked his fingers in front of his face and brought him to reality. Thomas mumbled out an embarrassed apology.

"Hey, it's okay. I said stop worrying, it won't be too long now."

"Yeah. Thanks. Uhh... Where's Yami gone off to?"

He shrugged. "She said she wanted one of those hotdogs. I guess she'll catch up. I told her where to meet us."
 

[Music 2]
Tailor led the group on across the bridge. The crowd thinned out a bit as they moved further. Thomas assumed something like a lunchtime rush must have ended or something. It wasn't so strange. He was just being paranoid. There was nothing to be scared about. He huddled closer into the middle of the group and kept going. And that was when the weird thing happened. He didn't know when it had happened but the next time he looked further than the immediate group around him Thomas realized something. The crowds had completely stopped. How did he not notice? It was like he had actively ignored the fact that it was happening until it was too late. Thinking back he remembered seeing the thinning crowds. He had even noticed the quiet that had descended on the bridge. But a little voice in the back of his head told him to to pay attention, it was fine. He looked around. It seemed other people had noticed suddenly too.

 

All the people were gone but for their own group and a single woman standing in front of them, in the center of the bridge. Thomas didn't like this. He glanced back, wondering how far he'd have to run if he needed to make a dash for it. He figured he could have made if not for the fact that the bridge was gone. It wasn't there anymore. Over at the edge of the land was the crumbled beginnings of a bridge, and about two supports back the bridge was now broken. But we just walked there! His brain yelled, as though denial would make the bridge less... bridge-less. It almost looked like the aftermath of letting an angry child loose on a model bridge with a big hammer. Except that it was nothing like that at all and was instead a very real broken bridge. Thomas was good at metaphor.

 

"Hey guys." The woman said. Soft voiced. Soft smiled. Soft gazed. She had white, breeze-catching hair that floated around her head, a mid-length, breeze-catching skirt that floated around her legs, a cool breeze-cutting sword that hung at her hip and a... Wait, was that Yami?!

 

He was trying to wrap his mind around what was happening when a woman flew from the sky to land beside the... different, Yami. "I told you I'd find them." Yami said to the new arrival with a casual grin. She turned back to the group, her hand resting on her sword hilt. "Come along now, we were friends once, this doesn't need to get unpleasant. There's a certain someone who wants to meet you lot."

 

Tailor groaned and put his palms to his face. "Not like this." He muttered.

 

Thomas felt sick. He could feel the world spinning in his head. The bridge. The distant buildings, everything looked like it had fallen into disrepair. The world was literally crumbling around him. He didn't understand it. "What the f**k is happening!?" Thomas yelled in a screechy voice as he felt half-way to fainting.

Spoiler

Welcome to bridge-town. Population: Flying girl, Sword-wielding Yami and you guys. Maybe Sword-Yami just wants to be friends? :3

 

IamX: You are the girl who joined Yami on the bridge. You're a fly-er now! All it took was a happy thought. Who knew? Imma PM you some info and things so you know whats up.

Edited by Unbelievably Majestic, 14 April 2016 - 12:15 AM.

[Diabolical Rhapsody]

"Thanks, If you so love that bacon, maybe you can drop me a PM. I have a friend in label printing, he can get you a similar jumpsuit of your choice." Dahlia said to the girl before the boy introduced as Lance took it upon himself to make introductions. It can't be said that anyone apart from Yami anyone else caught her attention. The girl had a weird air around her, like she was an Elf hidden in plain sight or maybe some other race from one of Dahlia's favorite High-Fantasy settings.

 

Her white tresses were seriously mesmerizing to look at and that lost look was something to fall in love. Maybe it was her bisexual side acting up and Dahlia had to fight hard to stop herself from having a taste of her. She fell back into the group as more people joined in. One of them, a famous millionaire, who won't remember her but she did. She had slogged hard for a design piece for this whimsical bastard who never ended up buying it.

 

Every time she entered the business chambers, that monolith of cast iron reminded her of backing out from going all in for your passion. But it was a good learning experience. Even if the deal was never finalized, her name grew from it. She was her own entity, away from the reputation that her folks had gathered.

 

Soon Tailor decided to go meet up with Myriad and Yami started acting whimsy or perhaps weird. Like drawn into a movie, the setting all changed with a few steps and she ended up showing her true form.

 

She was an elf!! and that had Dahlia letting out a slow whistle. Before she could think of this getting any better, they were joined by Ironman! well more like a Supergirl but the superhero landing was spot on.

 

"Sweet Lord! that's awesome." she said out aloud as the girls chatted and Yami said something weird again.

 

That they were friends once? so is it Elf pride that she won't consider her a friend now? Dahlia was confused but grumpy Thomas started blabbering and clutching his head. Much like the seizure from the video that Myriad had posted. Were they going to die? What a fun way to go! Dahlia stepped on right behind the two girls in her excitement.

 

"Let's get where you are taking us. This oughta be lots of fun." she said with a large grin on her face.

Edited by Diabolical Rhapsody, 14 April 2016 - 03:42 AM.

[I-Am-X]

Claire

 

Landing right next to Yami, she responded with simple "Yea....Yea...." not hiding her irritation in the least. Why was she irritated? Oh for the simple matter of not only having wasted her precious time wasted searching for these people but the fact that Yami beat her to it. She took a deep breath and calmed down a little but that soon appeared to have been in vain with Yami's latest comment.

 

Turning to Yami, "You moron, you trying to scare them?" she glared as she whacked Yami in the back of the head. Figuring getting a meaningful reply from her would be useless, she sighed and turned towards the group. "Just shut up and follow us. Don't be getting any ideas now." she growled, unaware that her rebuke probably made things worse compared to Yami's statement.

 

Whether this was done intentionally or not is anyone's guess but the fact remains, after she spoke, she glared right into the eyes of Thomas in particular.

Edited by I-Am-X, 15 April 2016 - 06:16 PM.

[Orcraniil]

The younger kid with the hotdog stacked on top of fries shyly gave his introduction

 

"Hm. Hello there. I... guess you must be with the forums, yeah? Or at least chat. I'm Ladders, What about you?",

 

Just as Ladders had introduced himself, a tap on his shoulder and a whisper of a voice stopped Lance from responding

 

"Hey, I'm Dexter, is this the spot?", another young kid, this one with red hair began his introductions. Lance stepped back so the he wasn't standing between the two.

 

"Alright, well, this works out. Dexter, Ladders, I'm JackOfNoTrades but you guys can just call me Lance out here. I'm glad you guys made it. Follow me, and I'll lead you to the others." Lance said, turning to lead the two young members to the group that was gathering next to the vandalized wall. When they got there, the group had gotten another person. After some quick introductions, it turned out to be CobaltPeacock aka Gregory, and he also turned out to be the oldest of the group.

 

Once the group had finally gathered together and basic introductions were finished, Tailor stepped forward and spoke up, "Come on then, let's take this show on the road. We've got a meeting to get to" he said, and started making his way across the bridge. Then Yami started running on past Tailor to the middle of the bridge, eventually stopping around half-way and leaning on the railing. She was indeed an odd one. Tailor expressed Lance's confusion and curiosity, only to have his question be answered with a simple "Oh, just talking to myself, you know? Why?"... Lance had no clue what to think about her. 

 

Just when everyone had focused their attention off of Yami and Tailor had just snapped Thomas out of his daze, Thomas popped a question,

 

"...Uhh... Where's Yami gone off to?"

 

Tailor gave a shrug and a simple explanation, and the group carried on. The crowds surrounding the group thinned until they eventually stopped. Lance took note that he wasn't the only one to notice, at least that he could tell. Thomas, in his paranoia (an understandable paranoia, in Lance's opinion) moved closer towards the middle of the group. Everyone else either didn't notice or just kind of accepted the situation. Lance picked up on Thomas looking increasingly panicked and followed his gaze to see that the bridge that they were walking on was crumbling as they moved forward, eliminating any means of escape from the situation. Well then. That's not something you see everyday. Lance gave Thomas a reassuring pat on the back to let him know he wasn't the only one who noticed. Then the woman who was standing in the center of the bridge interrupted Lance's train of thought with a soft but clear "Hey guys."

 

Looking up, it was Yami, and Lance almost left that as it as her being weird, until he saw the blade hanging at her waist. 

 

Wait... She has a sword now? That's not a hot dog at all!

 

The sudden introduction of the weapon flipped the alarm in Lance's brain. Slowly, carefully, Lance slid his hand into his right pocket, as if he was shifting position. Lance wrapped his fingers around his flip knife and placed his finger on the knob on the side that would let him flick the blade out. You know... Just in case. If there's one thing Lance Messer doesn't like, it's feeling helpless. The knife, while not actually likely to be relevant, provided him with some reasurrance that he wasn't totally helpless.

 

Then the weirder also happened.

 

Sword-Yami was joined by a flying girl. No, Not kidding, she was flying. She touched down next to Yami and, similarly to Yami, her hair was also of a similar color. Where Yami's was bleach white, this girl's was silver-ish. It didn't help but to increase the strange otherworldy atmosphere that Yami and the newcomer exuded.

 

"Come along now, we were friends once, this doesn't need to get unpleasant. There's a certain someone who wants to meet you lot."

 

Tailor responded with a classic palm-to-Face "Not like this."

 

Lance gave Yami and the newcomer a hard frown, Tailor's response was likely the one to pay the most attention to. Something isn't going to plan, and that might keep the group from meeting Myriad. The first of the chatroom squad to make a decision was Dahlia.

 

"Let's get where you are taking us. This oughta be lots of fun", she said while grinning. Either she didn't feel the tension, or didn't care. The flying girl whacked Yami in the back of the head while exclaiming "You moron, you trying to scare them?". Well, it wasn't any more comforting to find the flyer was violent even to her allies. Then she turned her ire towards the group. "Just shut up and follw us. Don't be getting any ideas now.", she growled, then gave Thomas a pointed glare that could melt ice.

 

Lance gave off a nonchalant whistle as he shifted to stand between the glaring woman and her target. Avoiding eye contact with her, he looked at Tailor. "Hey man, you called this meeting, I'm with you. I don't know who these two think they are or what they're doing, but if they aren't with you or taking us to Myriad, I'm not interested in whatever they're selling."

[Unbelievably Majestic]

The flying one was angry. Violent. She even hit her own friends. OH GOD, what did he ever do to deserve this?! The flying one looked him straight in the eyes too. Like she knew. Like she knew how scared he was. Like she knew how much his head was hurting. How scared he was that it might happen again. OH GOD, what if it did? What if he killed all of his friends? They only wanted to help him. They didn't deserve to die!

He wheezed and clutched his head.

Stop! Stop it! Don't do it again. Not now. Not ever. Never again. Oh God. Why did she have to look at him. Why did she have to do the flying and the hitting and the staring... Why did she... why won't it...  "Why won't it stop?" He breathed the words through gritted teeth.

He was on his knees now. He was vaguely aware of it. Behind the building pain in his head he could feel stone on his knees. Cold stone. Was that the last thing he'd ever feel? The last thing he'd see? His own knees on cold, hard, uncaring rock. No. He didn't want that. He just wanted normal. To be normal. For it to stop. For- Whose feet were those?

He glanced up, to see Yami looking down at him. A lazy smile upon her lips. She had the same eyes as before. Eyes made of daydreams, peering through him. She could see his soul, he decided. She could see his pain. Was he screaming at her? She reached out to touch his face. Her fingers reaching slowly towards him like she expected him to be made of smoke. She brushed his cheek and everything went to black.

---

Thomas fell to the floor and, for a moment, all was still. Yami took the opportunity to smile and look to the clouds. "That's better." She said gently. "Nothing will hurt you now."

 

Tailor spun at her and pointed, rage plastered upon his face. "What did you do?! What the hell are you doing?! Why are you- no - WE-" He corrected himself, gesturing at the group. "Here!?" He jabbed his pointing finger towards the floor.

 

Yami responded by looking very confused at him, and then down at Thomas. Her eyes widened as she seemed to realize something was odd. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "He nearly killed you all." She said it so simply. So calm. Like it was no big deal. Maybe it wasn't to her, but it sure felt like something of a biggie to Tailor.

 

"What? Bulls**t! He's not got a weapon. He doesn't even have a goddamn hotdog! Why would he do that anyway? He wouldn't! Not to mention, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"

 

"He doesn't need a weapon. That's why you're here. The Myriad thing. Twelve people dead and whatnot. That's why we're here. It's beginning. All that stuff. And, no, he wouldn't have killed you by choice, not now at least. Or yet. Maybe yet. Or did he?" She stared through Tailor for a second looking confused. Confused and, Tailor was growing more and more convinced, completely insane. "I made him sleep." She added simply. She turned and pointed at Dahlia who had come to stand with her and Claire. "Anybody else coming quietly like Dahlia? Well, not quietly. She's having fun. You can talk and stuff. Coming with us like Dangerzone is would be you all coming quietly." She thought for a moment before rephrasing the question. "Who wants to come quietly and who wants to be awake?"

[Crouching Bacon]

As everyone eventually coagulated into some kind of group, Rosca took note of their names, hanging back to observe them, and at the same time, give them a head start on distance. She didn’t particularly feel like pushing her bike all the way to wherever it was that they were headed to, so she rode a few paces behind the group—close enough to hear what they were all talking about, but far enough to actually ride the bike as slowly as possible, which was quite frustrating for Rosca. She decided to concentrate on the back of Tailor’s head. And the smell of bacon and eggs in the morning.

 

Then all of a sudden, Yami veered off by herself to the edge of the bridge, doing Yami-things. It was Rosca’s new word for the unusual things the woman did, which was probably 99% of her daily activities. Not that she minded; it was refreshing to be around a bunch of nutjobs for a change... and they were supposed to be older than her.

 

Rosca let her foot come down, bringing her bike to a halt. Then, like Thomas, she noticed the lack of people in the previously jam-packed area. A conspicuous woman replaced them all-

 

“That’s some serious air her skirt’s getting. And that hair--are we in a fucking shampoo commercial?”

 

Now, Yami wasn’t just doing Yami-things. She was doing things that weren’t supposed to even be possible. Rosca decided to expand the meaning of Yami-things. Just then, another girl flew in to join the party. Literally. The way Tailor face-palmed told her that this was probably not the best situation to be in. Or maybe he just didn’t like party-crashers? Thomas was very confused but he handled it in a very uncool manner, which placed him as a definite weenie in Rosca’s books… until she remembered his abilities. Not that there was any way to escape it; the bridge was broken now, and she had a sneaking suspicion that they weren’t anywhere, if that made sense.

 

Then the party-crasher started running her mouth and giving them all directions. Rosca glanced at Lance to see what Mr. Congeniality would do. Her eyes widened as the man took a stand and sided with Tailor. Things quickly went to shit after that; Thomas fell to the ground, his powers awakened, but then he was quickly put to sleep by Yami’s touch. Tailor lost his shit soon after that.

 

It was all very bizarre; wasn’t Tailor supposed to be in control? He was Myriad’s contact after all. Why does Yami seem to know more about Myriad than he does?

She thought hard. Awake or asleep? Thomas seemed like he was still breathing. Rosca poked Joey, whispering quickly.

 

“Dude. If shit happens, you better make sure my bike makes it in one piece.”

 

Then she raised her voice, deliberately ignoring the sword dangling at Yami's hip.

 

“Hey Yami. If you made him quiet just like that, doesn’t that mean you’re like him too?”

[Unbelievably Majestic]

“Hey Yami. If you made him quiet just like that, doesn’t that mean you’re like him too?” Rosca asked.

 

A good question, Yami thought as she nodded to herself. Right to the point. Straight and direct. No curvy lines. It was worth an answer. A good one. So she focused hard. "Like him? Yes. We all are. Like him. Like him and not like him. I like him." She said with a soft smile, looking down at Thomas. "He's not like us. It's sad. But frowns can be turned upside-down. So we'll try. We'll see. We can all dream. Thomas is right now."

Edited by Unbelievably Majestic, 20 April 2016 - 05:08 PM.

[Orcraniil]

"Why do people confront the unknown with yelling? At least try to maintain some kind of composure." Lance said, giving Tailor a hard look. Sure, there was a flying girl and Yami had a sword and had somehow incapacitated Thomas (who, by her explanation had nearly killed us all, whether that was true or not Lance was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Whether the video that shows Thomas' headache and the following deaths of several was staged or legit Lance didn't want to find out firsthand).

 

Rosca raised her voice, "Hey Yami. If you made him quiet just like that, doesn't that mean you're like him too?"

 

It was a good question. Straight to the point. Yami's answer, however, was anything but. Not like he could've expected anything else.

 

"Like him? Yes. We all are. Like him. Like him and not like him. I like him." she said, smiling. "He's not like us. It's sad. But frowns can be turned upside-down. So we'll try. We'll see. We can all dream. Thomas is right now."

 

Lance turned to Rosca

 

"So, you get any of that? I think I understood it. Maybe. Fuck, I don't know." Lance admitted, still turning her dialog over in his head, trying to decypher what she could've been talking about. We are all like Thomas, but not like him? That could go any number of ways. We all have powers? Well, except we don't. We certainly are all human beings, though we are different in terms of ethnicity, age, raising, and any number of other factors. Was Yami thinking on a large scale? Or just minor details? Lance dropped that train of thought, realizing he'd soon be chasing his figurative tail and making absolutely zero progress.

 

While Lance had previously stated that he'd side with Tailor, he was already starting to regret the choice he made. In one outburst Tailor simultaneously proved himself to be both relatively unreliable and having an incredibly closed mind. Yes, strange things were happening in front of them, but wasn't that the point of all this? To find out just what Myriad is about, to peel back the clean, plain veneer that surrounded the city and see just what Myriad was trying to show to the world.