[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]

OHOHO, I BEG TO DIFFER! THAT HAIR! THOSE EYES!! NOTHING COULD BE MORE STUNNING!!

(WELL, ASIDE FROM ME, OF COURSE. BUT WHEN YOU'RE AS HANDSOME AS I AM, THAT'S HARDLY PLAYING FAIR, EH?)

[That gets another set of giggles out of her, then even more as he lifts her above his "head" and settles her down onto his metal frame. She laughs when he hands her a microphone and challenges her to a singing competition, to see "WHICH ONE OF US IS TRULY THE TALENTED ONE HERE", and shrieks in delight when he swoons and collapses in defeat when she "wins" (he caught her, thank you).

By the time she "drags" him back onto his one wheel, she's tired enough to be rubbing at her eyes in between giggles. "YES, YES, YOU MAY HAVE MY ROOM," he tells her, "BUT ONLY BECAUSE YOU DEFEATED ME!! PREPARE YOURSELF TO A SLEEPLESS NIGHT ON THE FLOOR TOMORROW, DARLING. BECAUSE YOUR VICTORY WILL BE SHORT-LIVED!"

It's when she running off to inspect her winnings that Mettaton finally turns back to Sans.]

...YOU KNOW I'M NOT STAYING HERE, DON'T YOU?

[skelepun]

[While Sans was never the biggest MTT fan, his brother was at least top five, and it made the live version playing out in front of him a weirdly nostalgic affair. Enough to smooth out the exhaustion of a long night. It was a herculean effort to stay awake at all, and one Sans didn't quite follow through on.

Still. Any bits he missed probably weren't that important. He remembers to applaud in the right places, anyway. Even the end, as she runs away, and Sans feels himself coming to grips with a conversation he'd rather skip.]

If you feel like you gotta. [That exhaustion is suddenly more visible on his face, informed both by the long night and his mild frustration over the fued. If that's even what this was about, anymore. The gaps in what the old him might know and what he knew now were still too uncertain to guess at.] Far be it from me to stand in the way of a dumb argument.

[ex_mettacrusher33]

[Argument? What on earth is Sans...

Undyne. Of COURSE.]

IS THAT WHAT SHE TOLD YOU? HOW TASTELESS. CAN'T SAY I'M SURPRISED SHE WOULD MAKE THIS ABOUT HERSELF.

[Really, it's no surprise at all. For all the love in her heart for literally every other monster on the planet, she's never liked, appreciated, or even remotely tolerated Mettaton. Every time there's an olive branch or an attempt to show her that he is a person, it's blown out of proportion. He couldn't enjoy his first moments in Oska (EITHER time!) without being questioned or harassed. He couldn't express himself about their disguises. He couldn't give her a clear reason for refusing to play a security guard without her implying he was an emotionless narcissist. But sure!! Fine!! This is all HIS fault! It's ALWAYS Mettaton's fault!!

Whatever.

He's crossing his arms over his "chest."]

THEY NEED ME THERE. IT'S A SHORT STORY AND IT MAKES AN AWFUL HEADLINE, BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS.

[skelepun]

Heh, well. When I asked you, you ran in the other direction so fast I think my skull spun. [He shrugs.] Can't control the news cycle if you don't give interviews, pal.

[Still. This is a new wrinkle. He taps his fingers against the arm rest, thoughtful.]

Not that I think it's any of my business, but eh. Worth a shot. Who's they?

[ex_mettacrusher33]

[Well that's...

...That's. Ha.

That's circumstantial. A coincidence. He was very busy that day.

Moving on, the lights on Mettaton's front panel blink into the shape of a question mark in want of an eyebrow to raise.]

OUR TEAMMATES, SANS. OUR SICK TEAMMATES? THE ONES WHO CAN'T INFECT ME?

[skelepun]

[Oh. Right. Those guys. He's been here a week, cut him some slack.]

Didn't realize you were such a bleeding heart.

[ex_mettacrusher33]

[...There's a sharp crunch of metal gripping tight against metal. His screen is red.]

OH.

YES, I CAN SEE THAT.

I'VE ONLY SPENT MY ENTIRE LIFE ENTERTAINING THE ENTIRE UNDERGROUND AS THEIR SOLE CELEBRITY AND PREMIER DISTRACTION FROM OUR EVERYDAY ENNUI AND YOU, OF ALL PEOPLE, KNOW JUST HOW FULL MY SCHEDULE ALWAYS WAS. YOU, OF ALL PEOPLE, KNOW HOW LITTLE TIME I SPENT ON MYSELF SO I COULD BRING JOY AND HOPE TO EVERYONE ELSE.

BUT NO. I CAN SEE WHERE YOU'RE COMING FROM. DON'T WORRY YOUR LITTLE HEAD ABOUT IT.

[He's leaving.]

1/2

[skelepun]

[]

2/2

[skelepun]

I'll be sure to pass that onto BP next time I see him.

[ex_mettacrusher33]

[He's winding the cord around his wrist.]

PLEASE DO. HE NEVER APPRECIATED ANYTHING.

[Did he even know how long it took to write, produce, and perform entire albums dedicated entirely to his work ethic? A normal person would have fired him the moment he stole product or started smoking on the job. But no, Mettaton kept him on! Because he's NICE!! He's a GOOD PERSON. No one ever appreciates him.

Huff.]

REMEMBER NOT TO FEED THE GIRL AFTER MIDNIGHT.

[skelepun]

I make no promises. [He shrugs, sliding down deeper on the couch. If Mettaton wants him to rise to display, welp. He's known him long enough. Surely he must know how fruitless that endeavor is.] Papyrus loves midnight snacks.

[Of course, as Mettaton approaches the door...]

Oh hey, one last thing, though. [A wink.] Maybe try chilling out a little. Cutting people some slack. You might like it.

Just a thought.

[ex_mettacrusher33]

...

[Cutting people slack? Implying what? That he doesn't? That is a lie. Mettaton has been nothing but nice to everyone.

There's a poof, and he's back to his EX mode. His cloak shutters on immediately afterward as he unplugs himself and heads toward the door.

Of course he's smiling. What else does he do?]

I'll keep it in mind, darling.

[B Y E]

[skelepun]

[Well, that makes two of them.

Sans is taking a nap.]