epidemiology | EVENT ★ THE SICK AND THE DEAD

EVENT ★ THE SICK AND THE DEAD

THE LAST HURRAH

STATE OF WOODHURST

Things are bad. There's more infected on the streets every day, ravenous since their would-be victims are all boarded up in their houses. Audentes members who are infected are likely feeling ravenous now, too, and some of them are far gone enough that they might need to be subdued.

The city is in a state of panic, and the military has been given permission to use lethal force if necessary to stop people from leaving quarantine; keeping the virus contained is the number one priority of the federal government. As for the local government, all non-essential persons have been given leave until further notice for their own safety.

The police department is still running, but they're in a constant war against the infected, forced to retaliate fatally more and more each day. They have no time to focus on any other crimes.

Some citizens would be thankful if Audentes ran some "errands" for them — attempting to loot what's left of the stores, for example — or accompanied them outside as protection. Many people have family to see, some of them on the other side of the city, but it's nearly impossible to get there without a bodyguard of some sort. Someone could possibly make some cash this way, but there's something more important to do.

MEANWHILE . . .

The hospital, formerly chaotic, has devolved into outright bedlam. Theft and fights with the staff are increasingly common, and frenzied people are constantly demanding a cure the doctors don't have. Fortunately, it looks like Audentes does. Science-minded recruits have been hard at work creating a vaccine, which is widely available already, and a cure, which is rolling out slower.

Administering the vaccine is risky, as it requires escorting people to the hospital without getting killed, as well as hoping the infected constantly wandering into the hospital have been taken care of.

Administering the cure is even more so; it's highly recommended that the infected be unconscious before being given the cure. Even Bristol sufferers have to sleep! If not asleep, knocked out or otherwise sedated will do. It is absolutely not recommended for anyone to go at an angry infected with a syringe, but it's not like anyone's going to stop you... except maybe the infected.

Escorts and security guards are necessary at the hospital. The police department has offered their services, with their main priority being the vaccine. Until everyone is vaccinated, the city can't afford to think of a way to safely administer a cure to the infected population, so anyone interested will have to do it themselves. Stock up on syringes at the hospital and get going!

DR. PERCY

For those more interested in seeking out the source of the virus rather than treating it, it's not difficult to surmise that "Doctor" Percy is hiding out in the sewers. Very deep in the sewers. He's apparently built a subterranean expansion: a series of winding, metallic tunnels with many forks and dead ends. Be careful when exploring, as you might run into one of Percy's robotic bodyguards before finding him.

But once he is found, tucked away in a wide cavern . . .

It seems he's preparing a hasty exit, with almost everything packed up and his human disguise dropped. Without it, he appears to be an alien of some sort, but not one that Audentes has run into yet. His skin is amber, smooth, and slimy. He has several pairs of wide-set eyes of different sizes, but no nose. His mouth extends far across his face, and below it is a wattle, not unlike that of a turkey. Peeling off him at all times are scales; apparently, he's shedding more than just his disguise.

He's completely alone, without another Zymandis agent in sight, and not a particularly good fighter. Subduing or killing him would be easy, especially when it's several against one. When first encountered, he says nothing if spoken to, and only attempts to run.

If attacked, he will summon several robot bodyguards -- seven-foot-tall bipedal constructs who only listen to Percy's commands, directed via remote control. They will fight to the death to protect their master, who will use the distraction to again try to run.

It looks like the choices are clear: Audentes must choose whether to non-lethally subdue him or kill him. If subdued, what happens to him afterwards is still up in the air. Whatever your decision, it's highly likely you'll meet some resistance from the other members of the team, so get ready to argue.

CYOA

Each character will only be able to officially do one of the following choices.

Confront Percy.
Protect citizens.
Spread the vaccine/cure.
Other.

For the sake of tallying, we ask that each individual character submit their choice separately rather than in a group. The Dr. Percy encounter will be open for 48 hours only, after which participants will receive the outcome, which will be based on their choices. The rest will be open for 7 days, will not receive a reply, and will only be used only for tallying purposes. Making a choice is not mandatory, but the choices will affect whether Audentes passes or fails the mission.

You may of course thread out other options, but they will not count for the purposes of the pass/fail tally. Again, you may only officially choose one option per character.

OOC NOTES

Because this log is being posted late in the month, threads are eligible for March or April AC, but not both. Though the encounter with Percy will be a short one, the rest of this log will last two IC weeks. After that, characters will be immediately rifted away from Woodhurst without warning.

THOSE WHO RECEIVE THE CURE: As the virus is not a degenerative disease, characters will suffer no lasting (physical) trauma caused by it. Side-effects from the cure may include nausea, weakness, vertigo, rash, brain fog, numbness of the face, insomnia, dizziness, fatigue, heart palpitations, or vomiting. This may last for anywhere up to four weeks.

THOSE WHO RECEIVE THE VACCINE: Side-effects may include irritability and hunger for anywhere up to four weeks.

Questions about Woodhurst can be submitted to this thread. Questions about the game in general should be directed to the FAQ. You may submit mission ideas or player plots at any time.

All bounties listed with a 3/25 due date are now closed. There are two open bounties remaining on the Bounty Board, which will need to be turned in by the end of the mission on 8 April. ( 1 2 )

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[Yeah, she is starting to regret this more and more with each passing second, but... but. It seems only right to do it this way. She infected him, she's sure of it, and having him stab her with a needle seems like the most poetic way to close the book on this miserable disaster of a mission.

But on the other hand...] Hey. [She reaches over for his hand, holding it between both of hers, and peers over at him intently. (She also tries not to lean in too close, just in case he's about to projectile vomit all over her.)]

I can do it myself if you don't think you can. I just want you here when it happens.

[ He's probably not going to projectile vomit all over her. Probably. He is going to stab her with this needle, though, if it kills him. Not because he just wants to stab her, although he'd be lying if he said he'd never thought about it, but because he wants to be at least somewhat useful. She's basically been taking care of him this whole time, he wants to do something so he won't have been a complete baby burden for the whole mission. ]

No, no, no, I can do it. [ A pause, then, just in case she doesn't believe him, ] I can do it. [ He closes his eyes for a moment and takes a few breaths before opening them again, slightly less light-headed than before. Slightly. ] Okay, hold out your arm. Let's... do this. ...Yaaay.

[It's fine, she really doesn't mind. He's a baby burden the rest of the time, anyway.

She manages to smile a little when he gets all anxious and trying-not-to-be-anxious about it, Classic Rhys™, and rolls her sleeve up.] Try not to give me an embolism, ha ha. [HA HA.]

...Haha, an embolism, wow, I hadn't even thought of that. [ THANKS A LOT, FIONA!!! If he wasn't nervous before, he sure is now. He'd be nervous even if he weren't this dizzy, but it doesn't help; he blinks a few times before taking her arm and leaning in veeery close so he can see what he's doing. (And hopefully not vomit on her.) ]

Sooo, I'm just gonna... stick this thing into your arm now. So. Get psyched. [ He squints as he lines the needle up with her skin, then squeezes his eyes shut just as he gives her the shot, which is probably not what you're supposed to do, but whatever. At the exact same time, he also says, ] This totally doesn't hurt at all, [ as if that is somehow going to trick her into it not hurting??? He doesn't know, he's giving it a shot. ]

[It's not like this is Fiona's first time having a syringe taken to her, but she's also not in the habit of stabbing herself with needles that often, so --] Ow. You lied to me. [She's deadpanning it, though, don't freak out.

And don't puke. Don't freak puke.] I'm kidding. It's fine. You're doing good.

[ He cautiously opens one eye, then the other, like he's going to see some horribly grisly scene instead of a needle in someone's arm. After breathing a little sigh of relief, he slowly pushes the plunger down until it bottoms out, then takes the needle out and starts to fumble with a pack of Band-Aids. His fine motor skills aren't so great right now, but he gets it open after a moment and presses an obnoxiously patterned Band-Aid over the injection site. It's all he had, he wasn't about to go wandering around the zombie-infested city just to find a cooler Band-Aid. ]

Ha. Whew. Okay. That... was stressful. And by 'that' I mean, like, the past month and a half. [ He sets the syringe down and blinks, the room still spinning a bit. ] You okay? Did I kill you? [ He's kidding. Mostly. ]

[Whoa, this was super medical, A+ for accuracy. She makes a little face at the pattern, but just to help him relax about the whole situation; she doesn't really care what it looks like, but being kinda dickish to each other is normal, and normal is not scary at all.

Bending her arm up, she looks over at him.] I'm not sure. I don't feel dead, but, you know. It's hard to tell. [ZING!] How about you? Okay?

[ That wasn't even that funny, but he laughs anyway, since it's nice to be able to joke about dying again without it getting weird and sad. Now he can talk about dying as much as he wants and no one will care, yay??? He's not sure what one actually does with a syringe after it's been used, so he sets it down on the coffee table in the hopes that it'll just take care of itself. Maybe they'll leave it for the next occupants to find, like a present. ]

Haha. Yeah, except for the room spinning. I'm hoping that's gonna stop at some point? [ He blinks a few times like that'll make it better, then leans forward a little bit. ] Sooooo, um. [ He clears his throat awkwardly and rubs the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable with the Sincerity™ he's about to show. Dropping his hand so he can look down and focus on fidgeting with his fingers, he says, ] Youuu were pretty cool during all this, and. I know that can't have been easy. So I just wanted to say thanks.

[Wow, where is this coming from? Sincerity? Disgusting. She wrinkles her nose a little just out of habit, though they've been kind of super sincere with each other for the last few weeks anyway, so it's not that bad.

Laying her hand gently on his shoulder, she lowers her voice to something more serious than her usual lilt and looks down to watch his fingers, too.] Listen, we're partners now. We're in this together. [u and me against the world, baby!!! Just kidding, she means business partner more than ~life partner~. Business partner whose face she kisses.] If you need me to be the strong one, I'll be the strong one.

[ How else is he supposed to take that besides LIFE PARTNERS 4EVA&EVA. How!! That's enough sincerity for today, so he snorts and rolls his eyes. ] "Strong one," okay, that's not really what I said. [ He's been fending off the urge to literally eat her face, don't tell him he's not strong!! (Mostly) joking: ] Can't even take my thanks without talking yourself up, god. See if you get one of those ever again.

[ He stops fidgeting, finally, and looks back up, leaning back in his seat and propping his feet up on the coffee table. Sickies can do what they want, no manners required. ] Sooo, what are you gonna do for the rest of the mission? Basically everything good got messed up by pseudo-zombies, so.

[Oh my god, legs up on the table, why is he being super caszhj now? Vomit-caszhj. She knits her brow at him a little dubiously, unsure if he's trying to act cool and aloof to prove a point of what, and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear.]

Uh, well. Not spend my time frivolously ignoring what's going on around us, I guess. [Like some people are suggesting, apparently??] I figured I'd get my hands on some vaccines and go out... you know, among the huddled masses.

[ Don't judge his caszhjness! He's just trying to be caszhj enough to brush off his sincerity, leave him alone. He squints a little, displeased; the huddled masses don't need her, who cares about the huddled masses! They're all going to get the vaccine anyway. Eventually. Probably. ]

Yyyyeah, or. You could stay here and take care of me while I puke, that sounds fun, right. [ Yes, he's a baby, whatever!!! He has had a bad time this mission, he's allowed to be a baby!! ]

Oh, you want me to hold back your hair and rub your back? Poor baby. [She's being a dick, which she will regret in about fifteen minutes when the effects start kicking in for her, too. But right now, it's dicks all the way.

Sighing, she reaches up to brush some loose strands of his hair back into place.] I'll be back. I just want to do what I can while I feel up to it.

[ He frowns, crossing his arms — he is a poor baby, she has no right to say it sarcastically! — and slumping down in his seat petulantly. Just enough to physically show his displeasure, he's too tired to move around too much. ]

Yeah, okay, fine. [ He sighs dramatically. ] I just... hope I don't die from this totally experimental cure before you get back and then you'll have to live the rest of your life filled with regrets and what-ifs.

What if... I didn't get to watch you puke? Well, I've already seen that. [A lot. She has seen it a lot; he's a puker.] So, no regrets there.

Ha, ha, ha. [ This is slow, sarcastic laughter, if she wasn't sure. His frown deepens into a baby scowl. ] Nooo. [ And if he dies today, she'll be sorry she didn't get to see him puke. She'll be relishing all those times she got to see it. You know, maybe. Or maybe not. ] What if you could have stopped me from dying horribly, allll alone in this house. What if you could have been there to hear my dying words? Have a heart about my hypothetical death, come on.

[God, he's so clingy!! She thought the clinginess (and X-TREEM passive aggression) would go away once he got the cure, but maybe it hasn't kicked in yet, so she'll try to be patient. She places her hand on his cheek in case he's still feeling the effects and in case a little physical contact will help him calm down.]

Why do you really want me to stay?

[ It's, like, 50% coming down off the cure and 50% just him, sorry. He squints at her for a moment before speaking. ] Is not wanting to be alone during an actual zombie apocalypse while I recover from almost being an actual zombie not a good enough reason? That feels like a good enough reason. At least from where I'm sitting.

[ He knows, deep down, that he's being a little bitch about this, as he is about many things, so he follows up with, ] It's fine, go... heal the sick and feed the poor or whatever. But you have to promise that if I die, you'll make my tombstone say "I told you so." And "Here lies Rhys: devoted friend, businessman, total hottie." [ He's kidding, but also not. ]

[This whiny baby, god. She'd kiss him right now if she didn't suspect he just finished puking before she walked in, so instead she presses her lips to his forehead as she stands up.]

I'll be gone an hour, tops. You can time me. Then I'll come back and we can be miserable and sick together -- or we can get buried next to each other. "I'm with stupid," [she says, pointing at Rhys, and then points at herself as she continues,] "I'm stupid."

Oh, my god, wait, does that make you stupid. [ Whaaat!!! Incredible. It doesn't matter if she meant it, those are going to be the engravings on their gravestones now, even if they are buried a million miles away from each other. She gave him her word, a gentleman's agreement.

He curls up on the edge of the couch, resting his head against the arm, milking this with a weak little cough. Coughing isn't even one of his symptoms, he's just being dramatic. ] I started timing you, like, thirty seconds ago, so.

[She's only stupid because he told her so! Because having a tombstone that says "I told you so" is dumb, but obviously "I'm with stupid" is perfectly fine.

She rolls her eyes a little, then comes over so she can bend down and kiss his face again.] Okay. I'm going. Thank you for saving me. [By injecting her with the thing; he didn't really do anything else. But she needs to give him some praise to bask in while she's gone.]

[ She knows him so well, he needs his requisite amount of pets before she can leave. This isn't even slightly the amount of pets he will be fishing for when she comes back, though, so get excited for that. He smiles but doesn't say anything — partially because he's scared he might puke again soon and opening his mouth might be a bad idea — and just curls up tighter until he's a little roly poly watching her go. Hate to see u go, but love 2 watch u leave. ]

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EVENT ★ THE SICK AND THE DEAD

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