The Deadland

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

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?

[RADIO]

The monsters are attacking. If you can't fight [WHAT IS THAT RATTLING SOUND], stay safe inside. If you can, we should fight them off and gather the Energy.

[ACTION]
[Minato is near the entrance of Mercy Street Apartment, a metal bat in hand and a 'gun' in his other hand. When one of the monsters come in to attack, he points the gun at his head and fire.]

Orpheus!

[Instead of certain death, a blue aura surrounds him and a strange, mechanical man appears to attack the monster.]

[radio]
[ if the child handed it to her, it's got to be useful, right? So after a few minutes of fleeing to find somewhere safe, she examines it and - a little doubtfully - presses the button. ]

H-hello? This is Lillet Blan, a student of the Silver Star. Oh, but that might not mean anything... um, I'm a magician, but without crystals I can't-- Oh n- [ aaand it cuts off as she has to relocate ]

What am I meant to do with a Laboratory, out here?

[action]
[ at any point in this weird broadcast, you can come across Lillet running from building to building, trying to find a safe place to draw a Laboratory Rune from the overly large tome she's cradling. And failing. ]

Uh... Where did that little kid go? He was saying something about a wish and helping this universe?

I was in the middle of something really important. I mean, I'd really like to help! But I need to finish what I was doing back home first. Can I just leave for a little while and then come back after that's done?

…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]

[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.]

[ when Rat can focus again against the lurch and shift of worlds and consciousness, it's the smell that hits him first. The overwhelming stench of rotten flesh and clotted blood, offal and bacteria. And the rust of iron.

When his vision slides back, he recognises the cage for what it is. What he doesn't recognise is the pile of meat that must have been a large animal at some point in the past. He's used to dead things, though, and after he remembers to breathe shallowly and through his mouth, he can occupy himself with working out a way out of the cage some bastard left him in.


An hour or so later, and he's exhausted himself trying to break the lock with alternatively a large rock and a shard of femur. It's only after this resounding failure that he deigns to try the radio. ]

Someone want to tell me why I'm in a fucking cage?

Shion opened his eyes, the dream had been so strange, so vivid. The child figure, who had he been? Shion was a little shaken, because dreams were not something he often had, not one that felt that realistic and yet were so divorced from real life.

He blamed Rat and all the books he was making him read. Shion sat up to inform his friend of this and his mouth dropped. He was still dreaming? No surely he could not have this much rational thought in a dream.

There were noises all around him, and he thought he heard a gun shot in the distance. A gun shot? Where was he? Even though he had gotten used to the West Town this was not there. This was... somewhere else entirely.

More noises, getting closer. Shion soon found himself surrounded by three... well they looked like a fusion of feline and canine but that wasn't scientifically possible either. He stood very still hoping they would react in the ways dogs did. As they got closer he started to doubt that. Maybe he should try to run.

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 ]

[There's a brief hesitation before Yosuke decides to finally press the button. He's been contemplating this for a bit now. And now that everything doesn't feel like it's spinning - that it's all starting to make the slightest bit of sense.]

Hey -- so, uh. Does anyone else think maybe we should get some kind of... roll-call going or something?

[He's not used to being the one to step up. But not hearing from anyone he knows is making him wonder.]

I know there's supposed to be a meeting later, but until then. You know, so we have a better idea of how many people are here and I guess in case we can find anyone we know from our... own homes, or whatever it is. This is still pretty confusing, huh. If we're gonna be stuck here, it's probably better we try to look our for each other a bit, right? Especially with how... crappy things look.

[An awkward, really forced chuckle.] Yeah, so -- my name's Yosuke. Yosuke Hanamura. Aaaaand, I guess we're all gonna be stuck here together for a while.

[There's a bit of static, the feed not being cut yet. There's something else he wants to add, but refrains instead -- so just after, there will be a beep and the feed will cut.]

[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.