[plot] Water in the desert I

[theearth]

Who: Cultists, an alien, and YOU, the (un-)invited numbered!
What: Gossipping. Weird lobster worship. Speeches. Fingerfood and other snacks. Dealing with cultists in general. The beginning of the geographical changes in Las Vegas and appropriate PANIC.
When: 22nd
Where: Thomas & Mack Center; The University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Warnings: People from the ranks of the cultists have committed murder and other crimes in the past; those deeds will, if mentioned, be treated in a glorifying manner or at least be condoned.



The cultist gathering takes place on the evening of the 22nd at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. The cult has rented the large multipurpose Thomas & Mack Center. The entrances are controlled, the guards cult members who will check the membership of everyone who enters. Numbered with invitations will simply have to either show their invitation or prove that they are the numbered in question; numbered that are not invited but not on the anti-invited list will be let in if they announce interest in their purpose or in learning more about themselves.

There is a large lobster statue in the middle of the hall, a high stage behind it. A pool of water surrounds both, filling the whole center.

A. Arrival and first stage
Snacks and drinks are handed out everywhere and the cultists chat happily with everyone who is around - they will happily talk to numbered as well, calling them "special ones", "superheroes" or "children". Some are rather excited about them being there, others less, but there is clearly nobody that doesn't think positively about it.

B. Ceremony/Worship and Announcements
As the lights go out, people will stop talking and put down whatever they are holding. What follows is a ceremony of roughly an hour that mostly includes singing, meditation and some short speeches on cleansing oneself and being true to oneself, and one on how those that don't do it will fall and burn. Cultists will be happy to give numbered pointers re: what happens next and what they should do.
Afterwards, what seems like all head cultists - those with the sign that causes echoes step on the stage and one after another address the gathered public, some longer, some shorter. Some are of more technical nature - number of members, funds, expansion plans -, others very philosophical, and yet others religious. There is talk of the city being lost and impossible to clean, but that the those who trust in Refined Shell will be saved. That all members may take it into their own hands to clean themselves and help the world be cleaner, but that soon, Refined Shell will be with them, and her children with her. Her children will guard her and be guided by her, as they all should be; and though it is harder for them to see their true core than it is for normal humans, and many will be lead astray, those that succeed will lead the world to a better future, and those that follow Refined Shell now will be the first when that time comes.

At this point, they'll call out to all numbered in the audience, and cultists sitting nearby numbered people will encourage them to get down to the stage, wade through the water and get up there to introduce themselves and say hi. The whole audience will cheer for those that dare to go down, and they'll be offered a seat on the stage.

C. Aftermingle and Panic
After the official part is done, there is general mingling and people are slowly starting to leave... just as the first earthquake hits the room. And then another one, and then steam rises from the water in the middle of the hall, and after a bit it starts to boil. The handful of cultists that is packing up on stage screams in terror at their only way off it suddenly being made up of boiling water, and most of the cultists leave the building in similar panic. FUN ALL AROUND.


♒ You may play cultist NPCs yourself, but if you'd like a mod-npced cultist to talk to your character(s), please indicate it in your subject line when the thread starts and/or preferably notify Fae here.
♒ Please put up your own thread starter under the appropriate heading A, B or C.

Comments

A - Arrival and Mingle

[theearth]

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Jasmine felt like she was walking on eggshells. She hadn't expected to get this kind of invite, but she felt she had to do something, given everything the group had put into going to Vegas. This was... this was their chance to make up for all of it.

And now, here she was in the thick of things, in the den of those who had killed people she'd known, being offered snacks.

Of course, she had to avoid showing this outwardly, and did her best to not look threatening.

[dragon_blossom]

Marina doesn't really have much faith in a lobster-themed cult to really be all that useful, frankly. Despite how shaken up her worldview has been lately, she still has a religion that isn't built around crustaceans, and that bit of it just makes the whole affair seem silly to her.

There's a chance that it might matter, though, and Jasmine seemed to want to go, so that was that. "Pretty nice setup here."

[hungryhunter]

Sasha, being overly friendly as she is(and frankly kind of sad that she'd come alone), decided to approach Jasmine the second she saw her and recognized her as another Numbered.

Though normally she'd greet someone much more playfully, Jasmine instead gets a decidedly more deadpan "Having fun?"

[gogoghostpowers]

"Wow," Cure Phantom mutters with a glance down to the snacks in one hand and the cup of Kool-Aid in the other. "This is a lot like all the network parties we've had before. Just with a lot less snakes and a lot more...fans."

[onecream_fivesugar]

Speaking of fans! There's a certain fan of Cure Phantom wandering around. She was perfectly aware that Danny had been invited to the gathering thanks to the Cure Phantom tag on tumblr and had decided to come check out the place for herself after an alien gave her ice cream.

...What is her life?

She for the most part had avoided running into Danny, half by chance and half by actual skill. However, her luck shifts when she decides to look into getting something to eat. As she's on her way to the table she gets bumped on the shoulder by someone passing by which knocks her into the back of a certain white haired superhero. It takes Robyn a second to recover and realize just who she bumped into.

She has to think fast. She can't let the people around here know that she knows Cure Phantom, that could be used against him. ...Like it already had been. She couldn't run away because well... there were too many people around, and she'd likely run into someone or trip. Plus he could fly, it'd be easy for him to catch up to her.

That left her with one option. She grabbed onto his shoulders and started to shake him furiously. Her eyes beamed with excitement

"You! Are you Cure Phantom! Oh. My. God! That is soooooo cool! I'm your biggest fan!"

[wirsinddiejager]

"I could do with less of the creepy cult vibe," Alan mutters in response next to him.

If he's looking intensely uncomfortable and awkward, that's because he is. He hadn't really wanted to accept the invitation, but in the end curiosity had won out. And, he had to admit to himself, it's not like he's got anything better to do.

[chalicejoker]

Hajime's in his bug monster form, mingling around the area as the Lord of the Bugmen. He is not entirely comfortable here, mostly because he's never been a fan of big social gatherings, not even when he's at least got a hammy bug monster persona to hide behind. There is, of course, also the matter of being here at the invitation of a murderous cult full of crazy people, which has left him quietly vowing not to touch anything that looks like Kool-Aid.

He is, however, kind of awkwardly holding an open jar of mustard because some cultist thought he would like it.

[bridgeburning]

Goodness, look who's here! Badri may have mentioned to some of the numbered he met selling ice cream that he'd be coming, but they'd be forgiven for assuming he'd flake out. After all, he seems to be the spaciest and least reliable doofus to have ever lived.

Still, here he is! Munching away on a family-sized bag of Doritos, by all accounts. Noisily. He's approaching people he recognises as Numbered here and there to strike up conversation - try to avoid him spraying chip crumbs all over you, guys, he's not good at the whole don't talk with your mouth full thing yet.

"It's called Refined Shell, you know." Munch munch munch. "Or that's what they told me. The crab thing."

[alilyinthemoonslight]

Lily had arrived with Winter, with a mild feeling that if she ever had to be asked the question, "what's the weirdest date you two ever had?" she has a front runner as to the answer. For the most part, she's trying to keep herself mostly quiet, hanging near Winter or Jasmine primarily - at least, as far as the cultists go. She'll engage in any familiar Numbered she sees openly.

One distinct thing however, is that she seems a little more on edge than normal. Maybe a little jumpier, or looking around a bit more warily. It's not just for the cultists. The last she was in Las Vegas, it... hadn't ended well and she'd last remembered it drugged up on painkillers but still in horrible pain. The memory's all that much more vivid being back in the city, having had to go through the hotel she'd been laid up in, seeing the streets she'd bled out on.

She's keeping herself together, but she is notably concerned.

[drama8om8]

Octavia is being quiet. Which isn't exactly a huge deal or particularly noticable, but it's probably a pretty unsettling sight for anyone who knows her. She's even avoiding the free snacks! What madness is this?

The icing on the weirdness-cake is revealed when a cultist begins walking towards her and she hunches over and scuttles away. That's right. Octavia Serket is actually trying to deflect attention.

WHAT.

THE.

FUCK.

Feel free to engage despite her obvious reluctance. Though you might have to sneak up on her, considering.

[scramasax]

Apparently, he had been invited, more than a modest handful were going and were making an informative mission of it, and the teleportation machine was housed in his new workplace.

Out of senses of duty and spurring, morbid curiosity, he's come along - and between the television broadcast and the church catacombs, his nerves are a mess, but he's feeling productive. If dead paranoid; the occasional voice is too loud, sounds as if it's saying something which it isn't -- another reason to stick within tracking distance of familiar voices and names or epithets.

Or aim to, it seems he's lost track for a moment -


"Uh -- excuse me, have you seen..."

[hungryhunter]

Those who know Sasha--or remember any of her more interesting network posts, at the very least--probably think of her as the kind of person that's almost always smiling. Today, however, that's decidedly not the case as she looks kind of...down.

She's apparently not upset enough to pass up free food, though, as she seems to be eating something constantly, and may approach anyone she can pick out as numbered.

[originaloddcouple]

Then there's these goofballs. Apparently they thought this was a costume party, because they dressed up as a cop and a robber.

Nonetheless, they seem to be in high spirits, as usual. They're all to willing to smile and talk with anyone that says hi.

Open to anyone, even cultists!

[umbrael]

Don't let that icon fool you! Doyle is here and SO HAPPY TO BE A HUMAN AGAIN OH MY GOD

Also don't let that icon fool you, because while he is a humanish shape, he's still looks off. His eyes are bright red, his pupils are slitted, his ears are longer and pointed and expressive, and his teeth are sharp.

But who cares?! He can fit through doorways again! He can walk without having to manage where his tail is! He can pick things up with his hands! He can talk without having a parrot to translate!!!

He hasn't really felt as hungry lately as you might expect a giant lizard to, but that is not stopping him from loitering around the snacks. If it doesn't taste right, that's just because it's cheap. Ah sweet, sweet horrible catering food, he even missed you. He's even missed talking to people, which is the real shock, here. If anyone had ever interacted with him on the network, they wouldn't recognize him now - well, one part, because he's not a dinosaur anymore, but another because he looks so damn happy.

[purestambition]

Arriving by herself, decked out in Junketsu, is none other than Saretha Kaiser. She feels strangely unthreatened in this situation, all things considered - she's used to dealing with people she'd already consider snakes and crooks, so if anything the cultists' apparent honestly - however misguided or insane it might appear - is strangely sort of welcome.

Of course, there are very few people who'd probably consider her a "friend" on the Network. Probably the closest one there is someone she pays so all things told, she's not looking to chat up much of anyone, though it certainly won't stop anyone from questioning her.

She's here to observe, mostly. She hopes it stays that way, but if it doesn't... well, she's prepared.

B - On Stage Happenings

[theearth]

[radiantchicken]

Torin, being as obviously Numbered as he is and already wearing some nice white robes, has found himself ushered onstage. He's not really sure about this whole thing, but he's at least going to be polite to the strange humans, regardless of how he feels about their ideas. There's a lot of troubled "Hrm"-ing and mustache-stroking.

not actually onstage, just observing

[waltharius]

Walter resists the call to go onstage, blending into the crowd and pretending he's just some doofus with a huge Kool-Aid stain down his shirt. Probably because he is a doofus with a huge Kool-Aid stain down his shirt. Instead, he watches anxiously. This all feels so wrong, and empty, and hollow, and...

...and that last bit is definitely an echo coming on. There's nothing, though -- no memory, and no tentacles, thank goodness, but he knows that feeling. Something's going to happen.

There's a sudden, intense pain in his leg. So sudden he doesn't even make a noise; he just breathes in sharply. When he finally looks down, he sees a crossbow bolt embedded in his thigh. Blood is starting to seep through his pant leg.

Still no words. Only staring.

[umbrael]

Nope. Nada. Nuh-uh. Not happening. He's not going on stage.

Yes, he was in a good mood at the start of this whole thing, but he's not chipper enough to go up on stage, not in front of so many other network people, and not over something like - whatever this was. That was committing a little too much, even if it was the gushing invite that brought him here.

Doyle stays where he is with his arms crossed, not going on stage at all. Nope. You can't make him.

[purestambition]

It's almost needless to say that if given the opportunity to get up on stage in front of a bunch of people, Saretha is someone who's going to practically leap at the opportunity. Although not doing much jumping, when called upon she strolls up with all the confidence anyone who's met her might expect.

The question of course, is if this is such a good idea.

For just about anyone, really.

not on stage

[wirsinddiejager]

Usually an arrow appearing out of nowhere in his friend's leg would be more than enough to get Alan's attention and he would be right there worrying about Walter. However, he's a little distracted by a pulse of his own. The memory hits him first, throwing him off balance enough that he's completely unprepared for the second part of the Echo.

There's a sudden hiss of steam and a stab of pain in both his arms - and just like that, both his forearms are gone, with only strange, bloodless stumps in their place. The regeneration is already starting, a steady cloud of steam rising from both injuries, but it's still a disturbing sight. It's an even more disturbing experience, and Alan lets out and alarmed yelp of "What the fuck?!"

C - Aftermingle and Panic

[theearth]

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Jasmine had expected all of this to go absolutely tits up, but she expected it to come from the cultists suddenly turning on everyone. Jasmine hissed as she looked around, trying to shield the people closest to her with her wing.

"EVERYONE!" she cried. "Come on over this way! I'll try to blast us out of here...!"

[squicksilver]

Because he's ostensibly a "non-numbered" — as far as the Children of the Shell know, anyway — he'd been ushered out of the hall by his CotS minder during the ceremony proper, which was fine with him. It promised to be long, boring and unimportant. Besides, anything of interest would likely turn up on the Network afterwards, and he could read it at leisure. He'd come here anyway simply to chat with the cultists, and look for common threads or anything easily overlooked. So he'd spent the time texting his professional contacts, returning emails, and talking to his agent about a potential project in LA.

When he's let back in, he makes a bee-line for the bar, easily losing his minder in the crush of people. And then, just as he has finally scored a (free) vodka tonic...

The earth begins to shake and people start shrieking. The glass falls from his hand as he sinks to his knees, gasping, as two echoes pulse through him.