[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

[dishearten]

( it's not impossible. it'll depend on what the people end up needing protection, and to what degree. he's not going to close the safest hideout to the members of woodhurst if things get incredibly grim, that's just not the sort of person Graham is. )

If we can avoid giving them reason to question, we should. We're trying to keep our appearance here as nominal as possible.

( if there's no other option out, though, he won't protest. saving lives is more important than keeping their cover, he doesn't care about ALASTAIR enough to keep himself absolutely glued to their rules. )

[daimeinashi]

I am aware. [He gets on Naruto's ass about not using the rasengan or his shadow clones too publicly all the time]

That is why we keep the civilians clear and blame damages on the infected afterward.

Unless you have another solution, at least.

[dishearten]

Infected are still human, and we're not known for exploding.

( or being strong enough to break through heavily reinforced walls. it doesn't mean it's a no... it's just a not yet. it's too soon to call whether they'll be able to find their way out on their own. graham steps close to the monitors, pale eyes getting lost in the screens and trying to keep up with the movement in all of them. )

I intend to look for one. If it comes to that, though, I won't protest.

[daimeinashi]

No, but they can set combustible material alight in the midst of a rampage. There is enough of it within this mall to be believable.

[But he shrugs. He'll get out of this mall one way or the other, and Sai is somewhat naturally submissive, due to his training with Root.]

In the meantime, it will be best to prevent the infected within this building from escaping with us, by whatever means we ultimately use.

[dishearten]

I agree. We need to find where they're coming from. The numbers in the mall are rising, and that doesn't make sense considering the gestation period for Bristol. They've got to have a way in.

( he couldn't guess what it is, not yet anyway. if they found it, though, they might be able to use that exit for themselves... or at least seal it off for the time being, to keep more infected from entering. )

[daimeinashi]

...I could find it. [A pause.] But it will be a tradeoff between efficiency and discretion.

[It's a huge mall, and the most discrete creatures he can draw are really fucking small. Rats would be the best bet, but also he has to avoid too many, or they'll be easily noticed.]

[dishearten]

( he'd be a fool to ignore the offer, so he nods. Graham has no magic, unless his capacity to speak to animals counts. it doesn't help him any here, and if someone else might have answers faster? he would not risk the lives of everyone present by ignoring magical answers. )

I'm Graham. If you find something, I'd be happy to hear it. Either through magitek, or you might be able to find me here for the sort term.

should we wrap up around here?

[daimeinashi]

My name is Sai.

[He settles down on the floor, then, and pulls out his scroll and brush again.]

There is no need for me to leave here to search.

[He draws up some rats, and in the service of discretion, releases them in waves. First five, then ten, then twenty. It's far less than his standard capability; he has enough chakra for hundreds, but that many could not go unnoticed for long. He releases a few more at sporadic intervals and sends them in different directions, such that it would be difficult to trace the source of them back to this room.

While he searches, eyes closed in concentration as he tracks the movements of his rats, it'll give Graham time to look over the security feeds.]

sounds good! wrap here i think

[dishearten]

( that's ... certainly an interesting skill. Graham glances at him for only a moment, but he doesn't let himself be too concerned over it. he won't trust magic to give him all the answers, so he will search with his eyes as well. between the two of them, they're sure to find something.

and thankfully, it appears that Sai does not mind working in companionable silence. it's easier for them to focus on their objectives, that way. now that he's in, Graham is determined to make the most of the location; he'll linger until he finds something in the cameras that draws his attention away. )