[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

[ex_mettacrusher33]

[Hm... the name doesn't ring a bell, but it's safe to assume it's another teammate. Mettaton just puts the information aside for now.]

Getting a few supplies for the quarantine, actually. I figured our sick friends could use a bit of quality entertainment. That and. You know. Who doesn't enjoy a good sale? [He chuckles, but it's the sort of morose laugh you'd make if a storm of biting geese crashed the wedding you spent your entire life planning.] You see how well this turned out.

But oh, where are my manners! It's Mettaton, darling. [He's holding out his hand now, palm down, expecting a kiss.] And we are?

[ex_adept136]

[The wry tone is impossible to miss, and Haise's expression is appropriately sympathetic. It's terrible that those good intentions were met with this unfortunate, chaotic mess. But that does seem to be how things happen for their team, much as he wishes it were otherwise. They're not the luckiest squad.

Or if somehow they are, he'd feel truly sorry for the others out there scattered across time and space.

Mettaton might be in for a little disappointment, since Haise meets that gesture by collecting his hand and giving it a gentle shake like the softest businessman alive]

Haise Sasaki, please feel free to call me Haise. [Since so many of his colleagues either use western conventions or go simply by one name, like they're musical artists. And this guy is, so that's apt] Good to meet you, despite the circumstances.

[ex_mettacrusher33]

[The handshake gets a tight frown, but no comment. Again, a teammate misses the opportunity to kiss his hand. Will this injustice never cease?

Whatever. It is always good to meet Mettaton.]

Oh, the pleasure's all mine, sweetheart.

...So. [So. Mettaton folds his hands behind his back and rocks on his heels. Well...] It's a waiting game now, is it? Have you heard any good news about this lockdown?

[ex_adept136]

[The question turns his expression somber, something hardening behind his eyes as he schools his expression. He wishes that he had better news, he truly does, but unfortunately all there is to say falls quite sort of that. The change in his countenance is simply a measure to mute his own disappointment]

Unfortunately, the number of infected appear to be increasing. I'm only here to check up on the civilians here.

[He tucks his arms behind his back, one hand holding onto the opposite wrist with an uneasy shift of his weight. Much as he wants to, he avoids glancing toward the door]

They must be getting into this building, somehow.

[ex_mettacrusher33]

... [Of course there's no good news. If he had actual human eyeballs, he'd be rolling them into the back of his head for how annoying this constant swell of awful has been.

Well! They'll just have to make their OWN good news, won't they??]

And I'm certainly glad to know we have people looking into that, but I'm even more grateful for the assistance in keeping the civilians safe. It's a lot less glory than solving a mystery, but no less important!

'fraid I've had my hands full though and haven't quite had the time to check the network. Does anyone have a place in mind for the recently infected?

[ex_adept136]

[Haise can easily agree that looking after the civilians is vital. It may not strike others as exciting, but it's no less imperative than getting to the bottom of this, and they're a team for a reason. Their efforts can be effectively divided, provided they ever learn to coordinate.

He's...still rather hoping for that day to come]

Others may have a different approach, but I've been dropping them off in one of the vacant stores under renovation. There's less for them to get into in there, and I knock them out and restrain them beforehand.

[And he's been thankful that at least a certain one-armed ninja had been inclined toward similar measures. Better to give a potential cure a chance than mow people down, since it's not so much saving if their lives are snuffed out]

I left a note, so hopefully no one misunderstands.

[ex_mettacrusher33]

...Oh.

[Oh yes. Restraints. That... thing that Mettaton didn't do to his friends in the Employee's Lounge. That thing he told Peridot to do, before they split up. That thing that would be the... smart thing to do, since the infected might actually just eat one another.

He coughs, lamely, into his hand.]

Question! Hypothetically, of course: how did you restrain them?

[ex_adept136]

Ah, well...

[To Haise's ears, it sounds not at all like a hypothetical question. And that's enough to give rise to some measure of concern, eyebrows knitting together as he wonders if this means some infected aren't getting restrained. That could potentially undo some of their work thus far...

At the same time, he knows resources are limited, so he can't fault his associates if they were unprepared for this situation. How could they be?

He takes a moment to rummage through deep coat pockets before producing a handful of zip-ties, holding them out for his associate to collect if he so chooses]

I've found these are effective enough.

[ex_mettacrusher33]

[Ah, how CRAFTY! That's... significantly easier to both do and explain than bending metal pipes around their upper torsos. Good thinking, Haise!!

Mettaton cheerfully collects the ties from the other's hand, leaving a star-shaped stamp in their place.]

Wonderful! Thank you, darling. I'm just. Going to head into this Employee's Lounge for a minute. No need to worry about it.

[ex_adept136]

[Haise hadn't quite expected anything in return, considering that they're teammates. As much might be plain to see in the curious way he looks at that stamp for a moment, but he returns his attention to Mettaton soon enough.

And with his suggestion, Haise strands straighter, for whatever good it does with respect to his short stature]

If you have no need of assistance, I'll hold the fort here then.

[At the least, he's capable of looking out for the civilians in the meantime]