epidemiology | [EVENT POST] I FEEL STUPID, AND CONTAGIOUS.

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[EVENT POST] I FEEL STUPID, AND CONTAGIOUS.

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.

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[Shizuo breaks into a wide smile--decidedly at odds with the smaller smiles he tends to slip into very sparingly and mostly on accident--and leans down closer to the childrens' level, planting his hands on his knees.]

Ah, an autograph? Well, I guess I could risk it just once, since it's for you guys. [He drops his voice, equally conspiratorial as he presses a finger to his lips in a hushing motion:] But you've gotta promise to try your best to keep this a secret, okay? We're undercover right now, so it's real important to be sneaky.

[He's regarded with wide eyes and eager nodding.] Okay, we promise! [And this earns a wider smile in turn.] Hey, thanks. Alright, now I've got your promises--huh, I haven't got a pen right now...have you guys got anything to write with? [The girl raises her hand excitedly.] Yeah! I've got, um, I have my crayon... [Which she proceeds to pull out of one of her pockets; green, and more of a stub at this point, but Shizuo accepts it cheerily.] Wow, you guys are prepared for anything, huh?

[He looks up at Riza.] Uh, got any paper or something else that can get written on...?

[Look, they're kids, who's gonna believe them if they start spouting stories about aliens and zombie viruses and people from different planets. (No one, unfortunately. She's never had kids of her own but she's been around Elicia enough times to know.)

More importantly though—she's completely taken aback by Shizuo's transformation from quiet and reluctant bartender to effusive wannabe actor, more than willing to make small children's dreams come try with a few simple flicks of his wrist. It's certainly a sight to see, and she wishes she had some way to record the event and keep it for posterity. (No video camera, alas, but maybe—she reaches up to twist once at a ring hanging off a chain around her neck before tucking the chain back under the collar of her shirt.)

She's still largely in awe as Shizuo asks her for a stray piece of paper, and stays silent as she digs through her wallet for something she won't need later. It ends up being a business card, boring and stodgy but with a nice empty back for Shizuo to write on.]

Will that work?

[Otherwise he could totally go the route of wild concert fans and sign the boy's t-shirt....not that such an idea ever dawns on her.]

[It's true, at least.....and it really does help that what they're telling them isn't even actually a lie in any particular form, albeit just too unbelievable to be true coming from children's mouths. Shizuo's trying hard enough as it is just to keep more or less channeling his clearest memories of Kasuka on tv for another minute or so--though most strangers probably wouldn't be able to tell, as easily as Shizuo accepts Riza's business card and turns back to the children, beaming warmly all the while. Signing t-shirts doesn't exactly occur to him either, really...but this is just as good. Who knows how crayon goes together with fabric anyway...]

Yeah, this should work great! Thanks. Let's see...well, can't just leave one of you without an autograph. So I'll do two, how's that? [He tears the business card in half, and then starts scribbling on each of them with the crayon--gingerly, so he doesn't end up snapping it in half, and attempting to use the edge of it instead of the dull end for a bit more precision. Ah, his handwriting is still very light and objectively terrible once it's all said and done...

But that ends up not mattering at all in the long run, since it's his name in kanji anyway. The children note this immediately as they each accept a piece of the business card from him with a nigh-reverent air, comparing them between each other with wide eyes.]

Look, it's like, alien letters...he really is from another planet! [....Honestly, it had mostly been to save space, but you know what? Fine, he'll go with this. Shizuo laughs.] Yeah, that's my name! But I'll give it to you guys like this since I just know you'll keep our secret for sure. This'll be between us, alright?

[Shizuo returns the crayon to the girl, and then draws upright, tucking his hands into his pants pockets and....giving the kids an actual honest-to-god wink, wow, he really is going all out on this--]

So hey, could you two do me a favor? We're gonna keep watch over here to make sure no more bad guys come this way, but somebody's gotta make sure all these people here are doing alright. Could you guys check around and make sure nobody's hurt? Tell us right away if somebody is, huh?

Oh, sure--
Okay! We'll tell you right away! [And the children dash off into the small crowd, clutching their autographs in delight.]

[Shizuo's smiling until they're out of sight--and then he turns around and back to Riza with a sigh, rubbing at his face a bit as the act deflates almost immediately.]

Ah, damn...I still keep forgetting things are in English around here. You think that'll be alright? [Surely improvised green crayon autographs in kanji aren't going to blow their cover...right??? Shizuo doesn't know. He's busy sinking right back into his proper frowning self, about now.]

[What a good show......can she launch into a round of wild applause and demand an encore? But from the looks of things, his few minutes of momentary fame have taxed him more than he'd let on. It's like watching a balloon suddenly untied, deflating to a ghost of its former self, the shape still barely there but the contents completely gone.

A strange transformation, but still one she considers herself privileged to see. (And one she hopes to see again one day in the future, if she's entirely honest. He still looks the best with a smile on his face, in her opinion.)

Her gaze shifts, sliding towards the retreating backs of the children, both exuberant over their good luck of the day. (Never mind that they might have both been three minutes away from becoming zombie chow.) She smiles, a ghost here then gone.]

They did say it was even in an alien language, didn't they?

[Japanese, technically, but it might as well also be an alien language for her for all that it looks like a bunch of scribbles on a piece of paper. But back to the kids—she nods at their now-tiny figures, eyebrows raised.]

You seem to do well with kids.

[You'd truly better have cherished this entire sight, Riza....he's probably not gonna do it again for another hundred years or so smh. (Or well, whenever more children in need of a distraction crop up probably, but. That's how it feels in his heart....)]

Yeah, guess they did...hah, funny how people see things just in different countries. [Though he's not about to be particularly offended over a pair of children calling Japanese characters alien script, especially if it means he hasn't just compromised their entire mission with green crayon scribbles. Shizuo watches the retreating forms of the children until they're lost in the crowd himself, though Riza's remark has his attention refocusing on her after a bit. He grimaces vaguely, shrugging.]

Ah, I don't really think so...Kasuka sort of is, though? That's the kind of stuff he'd say, back there. [Shizuo rubs at the back of his neck, shaking his head.] I hate lying like that...feels like I'm trying to sell a false product or something, you know? ...But I hate scaring kids too. [And he's frowning back over at the crowd again, even though the children are well out of sight by now.] Talk about a shit situation. Hope they all get out of here okay.

[Ah, what a waste.....! Clearly it's time to find more children to mob Shizuo with.

The mention of lying has her sobering - it's never been an activity she's approved much of either, both in herself and in others - but she merely tips her head to one side, understanding and reassurance settling across her face.]

You gave them hope and something to look forward to. Better than than more hours spent worrying over their parents and their friends.

[When it comes to children, the future generation....she's willing to allow leniency, if it means they'll have one more happy day in their lives. But it's a softness that fades too quickly as reality invades once more, and she straightens back into position.]

We should try and find their parents though, if you don't have someone else you were already searching for.

[Clearly....just mob him with all the children honestly, the cuter the better. Add some spice to his life...

Shizuo dislikes disingenuous things in multiple forms, really, especially if he's doing those things himself. He's got no illusions about the sort of person he is, and he doesn't like trying to cover that up for most any reason, even if sometimes it might make things easier for him. That's where he and Kasuka really differ, in the end.....but at least his dislike of leaving children unhappy is even stronger than putting up a front that he's not, for a small amount of time. If that's what it takes, sometimes...

Well, then that's just what it takes. And Riza's words do take the shitty-feeling edge off being fake like that too, admittedly.]

...Yeah, guess that's true. [Though that's about all he's going to admit, if it. Though maybe Riza can spot the reassurance anyway, in the slight relaxing of his shoulders, a bit of tension slipping away. Shizuo nods shortly at her suggestion.] --Nah, I might as well stick around here for awhile. Haise and I were together before all this stuff went down, but I already know he'll be fine, so... [He waves a hand vaguely.] We'll bump into each other later, I bet. That sounds like a good plan to me. Let's split up and ask around, huh?

[And so they do.]

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[EVENT POST] I FEEL STUPID, AND CONTAGIOUS.

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i'm still not over this, i hope you know

1/2 thats fair tbh, i cant believe im actually USING THIS ICON ICLY

val how did this thread get here

i have no idea but i welcome it wholeheartedly

ME NEITHER...i yell back as i finally return to this a million years later omg

omg you are a-okay, i've been dead this entire month anyway

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