January Event Post [OPEN]

[neosapienmods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHAT: Kicking off the game's plot with an event post
WHERE: Various Locations
WHEN: January 16th
WARNING(S): Violence

WHO DECIDES WHO THE HEROES ARE?

Watch on YouTube

1: CHIPPIN' IN

Things have calmed down in Arcadia since the Yakashbah banner protest, mostly through the increased presence of police there. Several arrests had been made, the streets cleared out of possible ill influence, and in general given a clean sweep to make certain nothing like that would be happening again any time soon. An unfortunate side effect, however, to the increased presence and awareness of authority in what was meant to be a youth-friendly zone was a drop in business. Fear of coming across trigger-happy military police kept a lot of kids from returning to their regular hangouts, and several business owners complained that this was well worse than simply having a banner hanging around. Thankfully, the commerce-minded at Douman Zaibatsu had a solution that they figured everyone would get excited about.

A new video game.

Kamo Entertainment, the famed media wing of the Douman Zaibatsu, had a workable build of their latest project ready to demonstrate to the public, and Arcadia needed to draw people back in after a police crackdown, so it was a win-win situation as far as they were concerned. Hyped up all over the net, the debut of the public demo of "Heroes II", the long awaited to the co-op arena game that swept the world for years, was going to be a huge event.

Massive crowds spill in to give the game a try. While it's still the standard "build your hero" virtual reality co-operative arena game, where a team of players of various classes and abilities work together to take down waves of terrorist forces, the sequel sports an "augmented reality" mode where elements of the gameplay can be overlaid onto the immediate environment around you, allowing you to take down "New Horizon" mutant thugs in places you know well, with the game constantly adapting to your physical space.

It's... impossible not to notice that like the last game, all of the heroes are human and cyborg peace officers and military types associated and sponsored by various allied corporations of the Douman Zaibatsu, and all of the enemy units are "loosely" inspired by Yakashbah and other meta-nationalist groups. "New Horizon" isn't a subtly disguised name, after all.

But it's causing crowds to form again, and a somewhat positive atmosphere to settle once more into Arcadia - for the moment.

2: WOKEN FURIES

... A moment that doesn't last more than a few days into the event. In the middle of the night, the streets of Arcadia are rattled by several violent explosions. Panic, far more pronounced and sharp than that which had struck before when it was just a banner, swept through the late night crowds, fleeing away from the sound of blasts and bursts. DZ military police, which had lightened their presence previously, immediately mobilize to address the threat, but are quickly overwhelmed. Baring the familiar symbol of a struck-through eye, a unit of super-powered 'terrorists' have come to make a statement about Kamo Entertainment's thinly veiled propaganda, a statement with an exceptionally violent exclamation mark.

They seem to be targeting Kamo Entertainment equipment and employees, as well as anyone that gets in their way. DZ police, ordinary citizens, even other metas. If you're here to stop them, you make yourself a target. Previous Yakashbah attacks were more focused than this, aimed at minimizing civilian collateral, but this particular group seems to revel in violence, wanting to be as destructive as possible, to make their own point about how real life is no video game, and their war is incredibly real.

Fight or run, the choice is yours, but Arcadia's just become a real life battlefield, instead of a virtual one.

3: AFTER HOURS RUN

For those that stayed behind in NSO Headquarters, just as the news broke of the attack and the more competent and trained amongst the group mobilized to try and help people, the NSO Headquarters goes on emergency lockdown. An alarm sounds, and red lights drone, as Aya Hosada's voice comes out over every terminal, tense and terse.

"Intruder alert! Everyone stay where you are, we've got NSO security looking for them right now! Don't do anything stupid!"

She sounds like she means it, but as a means of preserving trust with their occupants, the rooms at NSO have no autolock function, at least not an active one, and while they CAN be locked from the inside, there is no actual force keeping residents from hunting down the intruder on their own. Rumor spreads through the building quickly, and someone swears they saw a shadowy figure making their way down to the sublevels of the building...

Do you pursue? Or do you try to keep yourself, and those around you, from playing hero?

4: IN THE FACE OF EVIL

In the Parish, crowds gathered for an entirely different reason. Namely, Yakashbah, in their makeshift bandana masks, have been holding a rally, signs out, in the name of Meta rights. They're angry about the power outages and rolling blackouts, particularly in the winter, where most people will suffer greatly from having a lack of access to heat. All in all, it seems like a peaceful protest, and there's no visible sign of any of them even being armed. (Though, with them being Metas, the police are still there to keep an idle watch. They don't seem particularly bothered, as this is a regular thing for them.) Everything seems routine until the news terminals all light up to the same footage as the night draws on.

Attacks in Arcadia. Yakashbah foot soldiers causing chaos and violence at a video game demonstration held by Kamo Entertainment. There's shots of blood on the streets, eruptions of energy blasts, explosions, gunfire...

Everyone, the local police of the Parish included, look deeply confused. Yakashbah was right there, weren't they? Conducting a peaceful protest? The Meta-nationalist group quickly disbanded, fearing the immediate worst, despite the local police doing little in the moment besides respond to their radios with confirmations that, yes, nothing violent was happening in The Parish at that moment.

Just what is going on? Everything in the media was pointing at the attacks in Arcadia being Yakashbah's doing. Several are murmuring, even shouting, that this is what happens when leadership is weak, that this is what happens when people are forced into a corner. That an even more aggressive sect rising within Yakashbah was inevitable. That the current 'leaders' of Yakashbah have lost control of the group, and soon enough nothing in Lower Ward would be safe...

Run into the Underground to chase the fleeing Yakashbah members, or stay around to try and keep a riot from breaking out in The Parish.

Comments

[windblownrose]

Andrei's smile slipped away, his eyes darkening for a moment. "A thing or two," he agreed, and found his reassuring expression again. "It's important... especially if you don't want to use your power."

He blew out a breath and shook his head. "But listen to me! Babbling on about philosophy while the bullets fly. Perhaps we should check the other end of this alley? I'm not sure where it comes out, but it must be a bit further away.

"I'm sorry to hear about your brother."

[idk_idk_idk]

"Y-yes, you're right! I think I've caught my breath now... let's go."

Huaisang had never told anyone the truth about his brother's demise... officially, Nie Mingjue died due to unexplained natural causes, and Huaisang made sure that any rumors about his family's meta-human nature were silenced before they had a chance to spread. He had a feeling that Andrei would understand that compulsion to hide his power away... he'd caught the dark look in the other man's eyes before he quickly covered it with false pleasantness. Huaisang knew that look too well.

The alley snaked through the restaurants and shops of the entertainment district, until it reached a darkened shopping street populated only by a few passerby who frowned in confusion at the distant sounds of gunfire and shouting. "I... I think we're safe now... thank you."

[windblownrose]

"I think we are." The young man still hadn't introduced himself... but, for a well-bred meta who feared his own powers, perhaps that was to be expected. Andrei lifted his head for a moment, listening to the distant sounds of chaos. No, it wasn't coming any nearer; but it wasn't fading, either.

He swept the stranger a theatrically old-fashioned bow.

"You're most welcome. Please, take care of yourself-- and head straight home." Straightening up, he smiled and waved a hand back towards the alley. "I'll just make sure none of my friends are caught up in this mess...."

[idk_idk_idk]

The exaggerated bow took Huaisang off guard and made him stifle a laugh despite himself. He was used to people bowing at him, but never with quite so much dramatic flourish. Little by little, he could feel his anxiety subsiding.

"Please take care of yourself as well. And..." He rummaged though the pockets hidden inside his voluminous sleeves until he found a small paper business card. There was no name written on it, but there was a contact number. "If there's any way I can thank you for helping me, please let me know."

[windblownrose]

Andrei took the card, scanning it quickly. No name, but a number: and having a number like that on hand could be very useful. He glanced up at the young man.

"I can't think of anything just now-- but thank you for the offer. One never knows what might happen in life."

He tucked it away into an inner pocket of his coat, to stay safe from damp or damage, and tossed Huaisang a bright smile in return.

"Until we meet again!"