The Deadland

I have a request to make from the inhabitants of Mercy Apartments! [Day sounds cheary and friendly] I have made a prototype of a poison that should be able to paralyse and kill these monsters pretty quick. But I need people to volunteer to be test subjects, we need to know if the poison is strong enough.

[There is a pause and it sounds like she is eating something] Name's Day by the way, I live in room 145. If you're happy to help test let me know and then you can come get a gun from me.

I have enough poisoned darts for five or six guns. Fighting experiance isn't needed, since the point is non combtants will be able to kill monsters this way but since the poison isn't finalised yet being able to run fast might be useful! [She laughs though it's not too obvious whether she is joking or not]

Oh and bring gloves if you have them, I have a few that I got from storage though if you don't have your own!

So... how long is it supposed to be until this universe, um, revitalizes itself? Did anyone ever say?

Lightning was indeed up and about early, as promised, leaving Day to her vaguely incomprehensible water project and Fang to sleep. Both had made off-hand promises to drop by, whether to learn, help out, or in both of their cases, needle Light incessantly, but that didn't mean they needed to be there at some goddess-forsaken time in the morning.

She did, because she needed to hunt down a few feasible weapon types first. The conversations over the radio had driven it home that as far as weapon stocks went, they were in serious trouble. So she had made a few rounds, moving through the city with antigrav-enhanced speed, and had returned to the courtyard with a variety of poles, sticks, knives and sporting equipment. These she stashed in the corner. She'd eaten during the search, so with nothing else to do, she picked a 'weapon' at random and started to try out a standard GC warm-up. The others would arrive soon, if anyone did actually arrive.

When that failed - the pole she'd chosen was too long and heavy for some of the higher flips - she switched to one she'd seen Kain use. Maybe it'd be easier to pretend the thing was a spear.

The night's sleep had restored what the world had drained, and when Lillet woke up, she knew instinctively that she'd have enough mana to alchemise a little of what she needed to be useful. Since she already had the flask and materials assembled, it wasn't a case of drawing a Rune so much as inscribing a small symbol on the inside of the flask with one glowing fingernail, and then pressing her entire palm against the suddenly-warm glass to infuse it with enough mana to create life.

The substances swirled within the glass, chaotically at first, but soon enough eyes formed, a mouth, the cat skull grew and malformed and sprouted muscles and skin and fur, barely fitting into the flask, and the rest of the creature's body formed within the narrower neck and expanded into the air, claws wriggling a little until Lillet obliged and tugged them straight. By the time it blinked and stared through its flask at her, she was ready to lift it and set it upright.

"My creator!" It greeted her, cheerful voice muffled by the flask. "What do you command?"

"First things first: we're going on a walk," she said. "I have to introduce you to everyone!" And, after a short pause, she knelt down to inscribe something else on the flask.

Hello, the writing read, My name is Blende. If found, please return to Lillet Blan!.

With that, she collected it in her arms (it snuggled as well as it could), and left to knock on everyone's doors. They'd be up, right?

That morning, Lightning and Golbez were standing guard outside the front doors to the Mercy Street Apartments, making sure nothing dangerous tried to get in. No monsters would be getting past them.

Visitors might also have a hard time of it. But as long as you don't mean any harm, you'll be let through. Probably.

…And to think that just yesterday I had hoped to hear the sounds of animals in the city. Such a desolate place without birdsong, though the howls of animals, while many, haven’t helped. [she tapers off, a little lost in thought before continuing]

For those who haven't met me yet, my name is Ouka. I've been given directions to set up a clinic in Room 112 at the Mercy Street Apartments - [stops abruptly, before sneezing] I’m sorry, for those in need of medical attention. Unfortunately, it’s not in the best of states this morning…all this dust is rather troublesome. But it’s serviceable. Anyone in need of healing is welcome to stop by. I will do my best to treat you.

[the door to room 112 is wide open, with Ouka on her knees on the floor, trying to get at the last piece of dust. feel free to walk by or come in and say hello]

Outside the bakery on Mercy Cross there are several bits of the attacking beasties thrown about, namely arms and legs and chest cavities and whatnot, chopped up much like you’d expect from the butcher next door. And one of the front plate glass doors is bent, tempered glass crinkling and cracked in spider-web like designs as its nearly off its last hinge. Through the blood there isn’t a trail of any footprints inward, though there is a man inside the bakery, packing loaves of bread into a large brown paper bag with a strawberry danish between his teeth. If money only mattered, he’d be into the cash register as well.

In a black long sleeve shirt, one sleeve pulled back to his elbow and a pair of dark jeans, he’s finally changed out of his white sleeved jacket to something a little more inconspicuous to rummage around the shops in. And even this inconspicuous outfit is splattered with a bit of blood.

[Action]

[Normally, Mami Tomoe was a very competent, focused fighter. Watching her fight was like watching a deadly dance, all smooth movements and precise shots.

This Mami, however, was barely a shadow of what she once was. Her mind and heart had been a wreck when she woke up in that strange room. The conversation with that strange child - I can grant any wish you want - had only brought up another wave of horrible memories. She was confused, upset, and stuck in the middle of a complete breakdown with nobody there to help her.

So when she appeared in the world proper, and near-immediately found herself face-to-face with a strange hybrid monster that should not have scared her after all she had seen, but was utterly terrifying to her in her current mental state, she did the first thing her horror-stricken mind thought of: run.

So she does. As she does, enough sense comes back to her to fight, defend yourself. So she turns, summons a rifle, and fires. Her hands are shaking too much and the bullet just about grazes the creature, so she discards it and summons another rifle. This shot manages to hit, but only barely. So she summons a third, aims, squeezes the trigger...

Click.

It's empty.]

What...

[Her shock and confusion causes her to hesitate just long enough; the monster, wounded and snarling, pounces.]

[Radio; some time later]

[The voice coming in over the radio is shaky, but a bit less frightened than its owner had been when she first woke up.] This place... I don't understand. I should be dead. How... how am I here?

[OOC: the action is first come, first serve, to keep things from getting confusing! If someone else tagged the action already, feel free to tag the radio post instead.]

The creatures at first are quiet as they come into the city. But as more and more of them flood the streets the louder and louder they get. And Homura is sleeping-- the door locked and barred, the windows closed-- inside the back room of a store across from the hospital. She quickly notices two things as she wakes up: the sound of the monsters and the fact that her surroundings have changed. Her first thought is that she walked to another store in her sleep, and her second thought is what on earth is that noise?

Homura approaches the window and peers outside. The moment she does that a lot of them seem to see the motion behind the curtains and so they start to approach. She's instantly awake and transformed; they come closer and closer and then one is trying to smash through the window. Homura backs up and pushes aside the dresser she'd put in front of the door. She moves away with the door shutting behind her just as there is the sound of shattering glass.

And out the front she goes. She has no rifle, the kind of gun she feels most comfortable with-- she's a small girl and the recoil is easier to handle-- but she has a handgun. A handgun and a limited amount of ammunition. Rushing through the changed store she presses her back against the wall and readies her weapon, firing carefully as the monster breaks down the store's door.

[ ooc: starter in prose, feel free to switch to action! ]

[Voice // Open]
There's some things in our apartment I don't think we're going to need, but just getting rid of them when someone else might find them useful... Well, that sounds like a bad idea.

So-- does anyone want to trade, or pool our excess resources? Things we don't need right now might be useful in the future, or to anyone else that shows up here.

[Action // Mercy Street Apartments]
[After making his audio post, Souji can most easily be found in the hallway in front of rooms 202 and 203, moving back and forth between the two, often times while carrying stuff. He'll periodically slip downstairs and through the rest of the second floor and will be at it for the rest of the afternoon.]

The town square is silent.

Cornelia paces, waiting for people to show up. She thumbs the hunting knife she'd picked up from a house near where she had woken up. Should any troublemakers appear, she was prepared-- unless, of course, they appeared with a gun. The city was too big to explore alone; too dangerous to wander the streets aimlessly. So that's why she doesn't have one herself. The only reason she didn't go to pick anyone up so they didn't have to traverse alone was because that would be setting herself up for an ambush. For a similar reason she waits off to the side of the square, concealed behind a food vendor, rather than sitting in the middle.

Trusting these people could be her downfall-- so she won't trust until they've proved themselves. But they're largely children. And she thinks of her late sister because of that. Euphie wouldn't want these people to go around alone in a place where any danger could be lurking. So that's her primary motivation in doing this. It's a mixture of that and the wholehearted desire to go home, to find the answers of this place. Cornelia knows returning home could be impossible with or without help, but she isn't about to give up on that hope. So she seeks help, because her chances are higher that way.

She scans the surrounding areas, alert. If that false Zero were to appear before her, she thinks, child or not-- she would destroy him. Anger swells once again, a sort of madness and hysteria that she finds unbecoming in other people. Cornelia breathes.

[ ooc: Mingling post! Starter in prose, please don't hesitate to switch to action. Cornelia isn't going to be coming out of the shadows until there are a few people there/ someone she knows appears, so please interact among yourselves!

Speaking at the Square
At the Apartments ]

[ After listening to everyone else speaking with that Lara woman on the radio, and then hearing someone else order everyone to get inside, Fletcher quickly complies. He hurries inside the building nearest to him -- Shallow Apartments on Travel Rd. -- and finds a chair to sit down in.

This is all a little much for him. ]

[There's crackling, a voice at first too muffled to here before clarity strikes it.] ... Hello? Hello.

I know you're new here, you've just arrived. Welcome to Asper City.

[static] I'm Lara. Stay safe.