[EVENT POST] I FEEL STUPID, AND CONTAGIOUS.

[dishearten]

CHARACTERS: Open to all!
DATE: 3/11-3/12, ICly
WARNINGS: Zombie attacks? Violence? Shopping???
SUMMARY: Lockdown at the mall! Grab your CDs and your soft pretzel, it's about to get bad.

LET'S GO TO THE MALL LOCKDOWN Business has been rough for Woodhurst Shopping Center ever since riots and unrest about the Bristol Virus have shunned most to their homes. Perhaps ill-advisedly, in attempts to draw a few more customers back into the polished halls of the grandest shopping experience Woodhurst has to offer, a weekend of big sales, great bargains, and fun family activities was widely advertised in the Woodhurst Watch. There was even a scheduled public concert, performed by the University Choir. The turnout was smaller than hoped, yet the air was quite optimistic. Shoppers enjoyed the day of activities and fun, and the sense of security was bolstered by the increased security detail. There was even some members of the press on hand to document this return to normality in a troubled time. Everything was going well, until a scene broke out in the food court. Security tried to quietly remove members of the choir that suddenly seemed to snap, plowing into one of the food stands and starting to feed on raw meat. However, a good handful of them escaped instant confinement, and while many of the visitors fled the mall as soon as they could, soon Police Detail arrived and put the entire building on lockdown. Nobody in and nobody out until the situation was resolved. 18:00 TO 23:00 HOURS Anyone unlucky enough to be trapped in the mall is left to their own devices, with very little knowledge to go on. This includes many civilians, as well as a small number of Audentes agents. This also includes a small number of infected, more than just the university choir. There's a voice over the loudspeaker imploring people to hide in stores, barricade doors, and stay put until help arrives. The majority of the infected seem to linger in the Food Court especially. Bad news for anyone trapped and starting to get hungry as the hours pass by, without any obvious assistance from the outside. The members of ALASTAIR have a choice, help protect or just do their best to avoid the infected themselves. Characters can get into the Security Office for a camera feed on what is happening in the mall, and potentially use it as a base of operations to work from. 00:00 TO 02:00 HOURS It becomes apparent that the number of infected in the mall are somehow increasing, despite the lockdown. It means that those that have squirreled away into stores and outlets are growing less and less safe as infected numbers multiply and they begin attacking barricades. To make matters worse, anyone that hasn't found cover will find the infected extremely reactive, and willing to give chase around the mall. The security feed indicates the infected seem to be coming in from the Parking Garage. Investigation will reveal a sewer outlet on the bottom floor. Characters will have to decide whether they should utilize the tunnel as a means of escape, or if sealing it off would ultimately leave the remaining hours of lockdown a little less violent. 04:00 TO 09:00 HOURS It's been an agonizing 12 hours, and with surprisingly little aide from the outside. With time to make preparations and put plans in place, now it's time to end this lockdown once and for all. Audentes is tasked with neutralizing the remaining infected as well as escorting any remaining civilians to safety, by any means they decide on. It is up to Audentes to decide how the end of this event plays out, be it removing or otherwise drawing away the lingering infected, or putting them down once and for all. There are plenty of civilians that have been bitten and attacked, leaving the question in the air as to whether they are infected as well. What should be done with those that could be bringing the virus back to their families? The team is going to have to decide on the answer to that.

Comments

c!

[keeper]

[ Here one would say, "It's been the longest night of his/her life," however with Audentes that's never really true. (But even if Aqua's had her share of tough shifts, it doesn't make this one any easier.) She's exhausted, nothing but a dogged sense of duty to keep herself moving quietly through the mall, looking for infected to sedate, civilians to steer.

—Perhaps the civilians could use a little sedating as well.

Her ears catch onto a soft melody and she follows it to the source, a familiar recruit and and crying child. Her greeting is brief, she's careful not to startle either of them before she brings herself to a kneel next to the odd pair. ]

...May I help?

[ex_mettacrusher33]

[Oh thank god, he knows this woman. Mettaton manages to focus on that bright, blue hair despite his eyes having every intention of closing, and he offers her a smile.

Yes. Yes, please help. Please.]

If that's what you want. [He shrugs nonchalantly and nudges the girl, who peers up at the sound of a much softer voice. Her interest only lasts as long as it takes for her to notice Aqua's... aqua hair, and she gapes at it, transfixed.] I'm not sure this one's a fan of Sondheim, so if you have any better recommendations, I'd appreciate them.

[keeper]

[ She nods wordlessly in acknowledgement to Mettaton, and then blinks down at the little one with a warm smile. ]

Rest, child.

[ She reaches out to give the girl a gentle pat on the head, coaxing her to blissful sleep with an invisible dusting of magic. The girl's eyes close immediately, and her head lolls against his collarbone. One of them taken care of, she directs her attention to her teammate. ]

...Are you injured?

[ Despite his human shell, she remembers that he's not so organic underneath. (And while she isn't much of a mechanic, perhaps she can get him to someone who is...) It doesn't occur to her he might be low on battery, but as fortune would have it, she can easily generate a charge for him. ]

[ex_mettacrusher33]

...

[What did she just do? What sort of Sandman, bring me a dream nonsense is this? Mettaton doesn't stop himself from gaping as the girl immediately falls into a deep slumber. Aqua can just... do that?]

I will pay you to teach me that spell.

[He means it. He could get so much done if he could just knock out Undyne any time he saw her. He will pay Aqua a King's Fortune (of $200) for this dark magic.

...wait. They're talking about him, aren't they? Good enough. That's his favorite subject.

Gently, ever so gently, he starts to pick the girl up into his arms, silently debating on what to do with her. There's some other civilians nearby, the ones he had seen earlier. She should be safe with them, but...] As for me, well. It'll take more than one little apocalypse to get this fabulous curtain to fall. Can't... say I'm doing so well in the whole "not shutting off" department is all. [Sigh. This girl should weigh 50 pounds soaking wet and he can barely lift her...] You wouldn't happen to have a portable charger, would you? A few double As? Honestly, sweetheart, I'd take a potato at this point.

[...that's a joke. He's not charging with a potato. He has limits.]

[keeper]

[ The sudden, deliberate offer has her faintly raising a brow; she isn't sure if he's entirely serious, if only because she's barely proficient in sarcasm herself... But she nods anyhow. ] Perhaps another time.

[ Right now they've got to make it out of this mess intact... (She doesn't get the potato reference either, clearly she's never played Portal 2.) ]

I believe I might have a solution for that, though... [ This really isn't the most discreet place to be summoning lightning from her fingertips... ]

If we could move somewhere more discreet...

[ Hopefully he gets the hint, and she offers to help transfer the dozing child to another caretaker. (Her blue hair nets her a few stairs, but otherwise the bystanders are gracious, quite willing to help in what little ways they can.) ]

[ex_mettacrusher33]

[Mettaton watches as Aqua takes the girl away, biting his lip. He... did promise he'd stay with her, at least until they found her mother. How does he know the infected won't keep coming while he's gone? What if she wakes up and realizes he broke his promise?

Whatever. It'll be quick. Just get up.

...

...uh.]

So here's the thing...

[He's rubbing at his legs like someone frantically trying to keep warm. Uh... Guess who has four limbs and two of them aren't working???]

[keeper]

[ ...Oh dear. ]

...Oh dear.

[ Okay. She'll have to improvise. She shuffles at an angle besides him, repositioning herself so that any curious eyes will only catch a glimpse of her back. (As for the security cameras... It's just a risk she'll have to take; she'll keep the spell as muted as possible.) ]

Where do I direct the charge?

[ That is to say, where... is his battery/charging port... ]

[ex_mettacrusher33]

[Oh yes!! This is SO GREAT!! You know, he was just thinking to himself: HOW COULD MY DAY GET ANY BETTER?? He wasn't counting on it to! It was just a flight of fancy!! How could someone so wonderful be singularly blessed with such AWESOME luck???!

Sigh. Okay. It's fine. Everything's fine. This is not the end of his day... It's fine. It's fine.

He reaches for her hand to pull it to the back of his neck. With the cloak on, visually there doesn't seem to be anything there. Touching... There's an obvious circular indentation where nothing but skin should be.]

[keeper]

[ That's a remarkably convenient location, enough of Mettaton and what shadows cast between them to completely block out her hand from observation.

She nods to him and begins to focus her magic, working patiently as to not accidentally short-circuit him with a haphazard burst of energy (if such a thing were even possible). ]

...Let me know when.

[ A small charge builds at her fingertips, first a pop of static, then the crackling flow of lightning. She doesn't bother glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone's watching, doing her best to feign nonchalance as she holds her hand still at the back of his neck. ]