Involuntary RPG Journal Entries

In light of the extreme and unjust measures taken at yesterday's protest, those of us who were part of the planning stages are encouraging people to continue protesting the treatment of our fellow students and the inaction of the IVF regarding the Vols at the Voronezh Training School by participating in a sit-in. Why should we attend classes and training as if life is back to normal?

This of course remains an individual decision, but if you would like to pledge your support, please comment below saying so. It's not an official petition, but with limited internet hours and suspicious service, it's a start.

It's important that we all know exactly what is going on, so this is the information we have been able to gather thus far:

- If you do choose to join in the sit-in protest, visiting privileges tomorrow will not be revoked.
- No concessions or exceptions are being made for imprisoned Vols who were caught in the crossfire, so to speak, or who may be experiencing PTSD due to the kidnappings in December.
- There has been no response from the Dean regarding the status of the guards at the protest, only that it is "under investigation".

I know there have been multiple inquiries and many people are concerned. Please feel free to use this post to share more information.

Along those lines, please make sure that your families and friends back home know what's going on. Our internet access has been limited, but our phone minutes have not. If you are so inclined, ask your loved ones to get the news out to the media. If this gets bigger, we need people to know what's going on.

Thank you.

Well, those are some questions answered, at least.

I feel like I keep hearing George Cooper's name flung around in relation to the powers mishaps this past weekend, and I can't help but wonder: was George Cooper so powerful because of some chemical reaction? Was he as powerful as he was here at IVI before he was contained here? The articles about his murders suggest they were isolated incidents, contained to a few people. It's probably safe to assume his victims were all in one nightmare.

So either he simply didn't exercise the full extent of his abilities before he was taken into custody, or something happened here. I always assumed it was the latter, but now I am not so sure.

A disquieting thought, to say the least.

Given how beneficent the IVF has been presenting themselves so far, I cannot imagine that they would begin trying to isolate the chemical(s?) that triggered this past weekend's adventures, but then I don't know the first thing about medicine and chemistry. Ethically, we'd have to volunteer for any testing, but given the widespread effects and how uncontrollable they were I seriously doubt it would be put into practice.

Perhaps if they put the volunteers (who among us would?) in a separate force field?

[Filipe]

I've been wondering - how does Lidia relate to you, and who you are? I understand if you'd rather not discuss, but it's been bothering on my mind.

For those of you who haven't already, please be sure to comment on Dani's post with your new abilities so we can match up who's been switched with who. Although her power does not normally work like this, it does not seem to have been a one-to-one match, so it's very important that everyone figure out who is in possession of their powers and aid where they can.

To reiterate, that should be worked out on Dani's post.

This post is to address the matter of Saturday. I am not entirely sure of who possesses memory-altering powers, but my best guess so far is that we had another powers mishap involving such an ability and this is why nobody can remember Saturday.

It does not, however, explain the mentions of borrowed clothing.

[...] Or these texts on my phone.

Dios. What happened?!

[EDITED TO ADD] Does anyone have photographs from last night on their phone? I have a theory...

"Unity of Vols".

What a joke.

Terrorists or vigilantes, deserved or not, puppet or perpetrator, conspiracy or retribution... we can't know what is really happening out there, just that it affects us, and affects those we love, and we still have no say in any of it.

It is getting a little tiresome.

A question for the comic book fans (as my allotted internet time keeps falling down a black hole of news reports, dissertations, and conspiracy theories) - indulge me, please: how did the X-Men originate?

The organization, I mean, not the superheroes.

Just curious.

[PEACOCKS]

So dinner tomorrow night, 7 pm, where we can exchange our pub night drink tickets for Guinness has been approved.

Do you have any other requests, Padraig?

See you all then.

[Peacocks, minus Padraig]

Now that we're all back, I thought it might be nice for Padraig for us to do something together as a team, since it will be a while before we're all obligated to be in each other's company again. Perhaps dinner? Something simple.

I've downloaded an app that will chime the hour and procured a bag of grapes if anyone wants to join me at midnight. Assuming we aren't all asleep, of course. But 2013 could use some good wishes, I think. (One for each chime, for those of you who aren't familiar.)

It's nice to have traditions that don't rely on champagne and a plus one, I have to say - gives room to observe the passing of the year without having to be particularly 'celebratory'.

I'll also be burning a list of everything awful that's happened this year if I can find enough paper. Superstitious, maybe, but comforting all the same. I don't know if I really believe in expelling all the negative energy, but it can't hurt. Neither can the other half: giving thanks for all the good things that have happened in 2012.

Chief among the positive, I'm grateful to have come to know such incredible people that I never would have met otherwise. There is a lot not to like about the IVF and their institute, but I can't ignore that I would have never gotten to know my classmates, teammates, and friends otherwise.

[Peacocks, Space Crew, Dani, Ivan, Raphael, Javier... lol Cati has no friends, oops]
That goes especially for you. Feliz año nuevo, mis amigos. May this one be better than the last.

You would think that once you turned in your paper, you'd welcome the opportunity to think about things other than that subject (in this case, folklore - the last of my independent study projects, menos mal). You would think.

I ultimately didn't do my paper on origin stories, but I do have an awfully big soft spot for them (in particular, how the rabbit came to be on the moon), and I think it's a particularly interesting topic for us. Nobody really knows, yet, where Evolved Humans came from, or why. It'd be interesting, and fun, I think, to do a project collecting the various folk explanations for our existence. Who knows, maybe some of them might even have a grain of truth.

What are some that you've heard of? (My abuela was fond of "harbingers of the apocalypse" until my abilities manifested.)

[Peacocks]

My curiosity is getting the better of me. Has everyone made their decision regarding the RFID chip?

I am sure it comes as no surprise that I am opting out.

Well, let's hear it:

Are the RFID tracking chips further proof of the IVF's unsavory intentions?

Or reasonable precautionary measures taken in a dangerous time?

I suppose it's too much to hope for those rumors of trips to the beach to come true, now. Then again, an IVI-supervised trip would be considered safer than a trip home. I'd like to think Jace's concerns about December are unfounded, but given the circumstances...

Kidnapping and using Vols for unsavory purposes was not unheard of back home. Indeed, it is part of the reason I chose to keep a low profile (and was lucky enough to have an ability that let me do so), even among my relatives. Now? Even if I haven't made any appearances on Creeping IVI, that is impossible. My family is not very good at keeping secrets. A sobering thought, I must say.

Sorry about the noise this morning. I think I've cleaned up all potential splinters. I don't really know what happened, sorry.

Dani, staff said they should be installing a new door soon.

First of all, a very happy birthday to my roommate, Dani, who deserves all the best wishes you can bestow upon her.

Secondly, best of luck to everyone braving pub night tonight. Personally, I've seen enough camouflage, booby traps, disappearing friends, full body tackles, elemental mishaps and puddles of blood (?!) already to sate me for the entire weekend. I'm not looking forward to my time with the egg this week.*

*ooc note to peacocks: yes, cati already carried the egg. this is part of the misdirection campaign.

Edwin's questionnaire (still haven't gotten around to filling that out, sorry Edwin) has got me thinking about Vol identity, or rather, the relationship between identity and Vol-hood, if you will.

For instance - how many of us identify as Vols first, everything else second? I feel it must be a very small number. Before now we were so scattered, the most minor of minorities.

Of course the idea of such simplistic identification is problematic to begin with, and so dependent on context: outside of Mexico, I am a Mexican. Inside, I am from Mexico City; I am a member of the Mendez Villanova family; I am just myself, no labels needed. Some things are a given, until something is taken away. Outside of IVI, can we really have identified as Vols without having known other Vols? Can a community exist without contact with other members? I suppose the internet has made that easier for some, but what about others?

Then there is the more individual question: how much does being a Vol define who you are? How did you identify before you became a Vol? Is it even relevant? We all go through so many changes at that age anyway, there are any number of factors that can alter our view of ourselves - the schools we attend, the people we meet, the things we do. Again, I suppose context is key - some powers are unavoidably life-changing; others, less so.

I'm just thinking out loud; feel free to ignore.

I'm glad to see that someone is taking up a medium of protest that doesn't involve violence or inciting bodily harm Malcolm Macdonald. For that alone I'd like to commend Daisy Hughes.

Tasers and solitary confinement are not what I signed up for. I didn't sign up for any of this - none of you did.

Something to keep in mind, I think.

Another thing to keep in mind: they have no good cause to tase peaceful protesters, and they surely don't have enough solitary confinement cells for all of us.

Daisy, will we be gathering somewhere?

Team Peacock
I know this will make things harder for you, friends, but it will likely be hard on everyone today. I hope to see some of you on the lawn.

Solomon Tyler, I hope you have a very good reason for abducting my teammate today.

[pasted here is a photo of Catalina grinning and holding up her hand; around her wrist is a blue and green friendship bracelet]

Our team leader may leave something to be desired, but at least Team Peacock is muy chido!

Well, I'm basically not a Vol until 8:20 pm. Think they'll let me out for the day? I could go on a short walkabout, admire the countryside, try not to get killed by snakes or spiders or drop bears. I think it'd be good for my constitution, which seriously needs some work according to my physical assessment. Why don't I ever have the appropriate powers when I need them?