Chapter 2

[thenine]

Who: OTA
Where: Quad
When: Week 2, Day 5 - Week 4, Day 6
Summary: Chapter 2 prompts!
Restrictions/Warnings: Violence, blood, et cetera. For anything surpassing 'R' on a rating scale, please create your own log.
Notes: Please title your subject line in the following format -- Open / Closed | Date. OOC event information can be found here.

Quick Navigation
The Nine
The Company
Westies
True Leithians
Leith
Resistance
The RAC

The Nine: Poisoned Well

With the heir delivered and Lady Derrish returning to health, balance has been maintained amongst the Nine. Swift and efficient - and, some would say, unbelievable - medical attention administered may have steadied the Lady's life, but for those in the ruling houses, the atmosphere of tenuous peace only grows thicker. Land Kendry has launched an investigation - with particular focus on Land Hyponia - into the source of the 'attack' on Lady Derrish's health. Of course, that is only the surface, and some suggest, with hushed voices, that there may be more to Land Kendry's goals than to weed out an assailant. Land Hyponia has long since been in support of maintaining the Seventh Generation Accords, which it defends staunchly against any opposition. One of the most agitated among those in disagreement with the Accords is Land Kendry. Now is the perfect opportunity for them to rearrange the pieces in their favor, and with the information they've fabricated, they'll be able to replace the head of Land Hyponia with someone who is - at least hopefully - more pliable to their agenda. The Derrish have their own suspicions, the cure surfacing all too conveniently timed to have been a coincidence. When Land Kendry's investigation procures evidence pointing to Land Hyponia as the culprits, inflaming the crime with implied - yet vague - ties to the resistance, the Derrish publically accept the accusation. Behind closed doors, the solution seemed to have come as uncannily easily as the cure, and suspicions only rise. But for now, the two houses remain allied - ready to use one another for their own interests. For those among the nobility, it's the time to reevaluate alliances, assuring the old and gathering the new. The more support you have, the safer you are - unless, of course, you chose the wrong friend. Some turn to other members of the nobility, some to the RAC for hired guards, some to the Company to mandate investigations unsuitable for Killjoys, and some may even turn to the underbelly of society to accomplish anything necessary to stay on top. Or to simply stay alive.

The Company: Cleaning House

There will be no accolades, and no rest, for the hard working Company officials following the response to the True Leithan attacks. Assignments shift from one thing to the next, moving from bureaucratic nightmare to bureaucratic nightmare. While there’s always busy work to distract from the intrigue behind the scenes, it’s not liable to be any safer. Some officials will be charged with maintaining peace and order on Leith, as the outbreak of a pandemic slowly spreads over the moon. From helping the afflicted find their way to a place of treatment, to safe and efficient body disposal—burning corpses by the hundreds—to attempting to track down the source of the virus, it's best anyone assigned here take heed ‘lest they find themselves falling ill as well. Westerley, on the other hand, is a different kind of headache. With Harvest Week in swing, most company officials will be reaching for a drink of their own at the end of their shifts. Rowdy workers celebrating their time off, spending their hard earned Joy frivolously, and citizens whisked away by the atmosphere of celebration all mingle throughout Old Town. Property damage, fighting, less than subtle illegal activity, and crowding all become more of an issue than they usually are during this time. It's the perfect setting to lay down the law, or to not be noticed by it. On top of it all, each and every member of the Company's workforce can expect to have their documents double and triple-checked. Those with any suspected ties to Leith are likely to undergo a more serious investigation. One-on-one interrogations become common practice, and whether you're trusted or suspect, you may come face to face with a companion in your duties. True Leithan sympathizers are what the Company review is after, but anything else unturned will surely not be ignored. Cover your bases.

Westies: Harvest Week

Harvest week is in full swing throughout Westerley - visa workers have been shuttled back in droves from their time on Leithian farms, many of whom were willing to take some of their observations to information brokers for a price. Most had superficial information to sell (the state of unease on the average farm due to the impending Accords, the increased suspicion that the migrant workers were forced to endure, the fear of retaliation by the rebellion for the True Leithian attacks), others with reports of increased security and weapons caches on the farms of those whose sympathies lie with the “heroes” of the attack in Old Town. Old Town, however, is even more of a chaotic mesh of humanity with the mass influx of returning bodies. Bars stay busy day and night, the hokk and ale flow almost faster than most can keep up, and many Enforcers and Killjoys alike can make a good bit of extra joy (or free drinks) by moonlighting as security at the more popular locations. Despite all of the fun to be had, there is still the undercurrent of unrest, because Company checks have increased even more and Intake has become a revolving door of petty criminals being held for the smallest infractions. Everyone is on edge as the Resistance grumbles and the Nine search the shadows for something or perhaps someone. The unrest only worsens once Leith is placed under quarantine. And through it all, criminal activity is on the rise. Somehow, despite the strict regulation and transport of migrant workers, there is an increased access to Jakk and Bliss. Norn has an ever growing market, and weapons dealers are in high demand both in Eulogy and by private buyers alike. Something is brewing beneath the revelry, and no one wants to be caught unable to defend themselves, it seems. Not that any amount of firepower can defend against disease when P43X shows up on W3D7--but it can certainly make the symptoms worse.

True Leithians: Second Stage

Wounded and pressed to a corner, the beast rears its head and bares a maw of teeth and ruthless pursuit. The True Leithian organization does not take pause to mend wounds left in the wake of last week’s retaliation, no. They do not seek the comfort of safe haven and recovery. Instead they turn their anger and fear inward, sacrificing their own for what they believe to be the greater good. On Week 2, Day 6, three individuals slip into the crowds of Leith, mingling with the revelers and the families celebrating Harvest Week. They share smiles and laughter, they share conversation and drinks, but most importantly, they share infection. Each of the three is responsible for disseminating P43X, a viral bioweapon designed by Zan Nikora on behalf of the military in years past. During its conception, the aim of P43X was simple: to create a weapon which could demoralize and destabilize an entire population within a matter of days. To create madness that builds in the blood and eats into the brain, spreading through every tier of society. And though its use has long been out of commission, its engineer has lingered. Zan Nikora, kidnapped and held under threat of death not to himself but to those he holds dearest, is made to choose between the lives of his family on Westerley or the strangers on Leith. His choice is obvious, though far from easy. Reassembling the buried curse takes time, supplies, and testing. He is provided amply with the last two but scarcely with the first. But still he complies. When his madness maker is complete and his existence becomes a potential loose end, it’s not freedom that Zan Nikora tastes, but the poison of his own medicine. Only once the voices in his head have risen above whispers and turned to screams, when his mind can no longer hold secrets worth sharing, does he see his family again. It takes six days*. Six days and Zan Nikora stumbles through Old Town, eyes unseeing, mind riddled with disease—infection spreading. Mod Note: *W3D6. Cure and vaccines will be developed and disseminated beginning on W4D3, but will not be fully administered to all locations until W4D5.

Leith: Pocket Posies

Harvest Week in Leith marks a period of joy and relief. Bazaars are open longer, the ordinary bustle of the business day replaced with celebration and festivities throughout the evening hours. Vendors offer games for adults and children alike, the sky is a constant wash of soft pinks, purples, and greens from holographic firework shows, and music fills the air from different stages. All walks of life are welcome to join in the merriment, just so long as they have the right to be there. Anyone suspected of an invalid visa or citizenship papers are dealt with harshly, but quietly. Tucked away into the darkness of a holding cell like all of Leith’s more problematic elements. It is a time of peace and relief, this week, and they will not abide disruption. But within the hallowed days of celebration, a sickness grows, incubating. Spreading. First, it begins with an ache deep within the muscles. The body tires too quickly, the flesh burns with a blanket of rising fever. Whispers skirt at the edge of hearing, unintelligible but audible, filling the audio cortex with illusions and lies. Food loses its appeal, though the body yearns dearly for energy it cannot hold, and breathing becomes tighter, harder. Next the tide of high fevers, of lethargy. The brain devolves into paranoia and mania, the mind races with delusions and hallucinations. Pain follows, a pain that seems to emanate from every nerve without relief or pause, seeping through the muscles and aching within the very bones of a person. Some may wish for death, and for many, that wish will be granted in an unending sleep when the fatigue pulls darkness across the mind, plunges the last thoughts of a person into static slumber. But not all will succumb so readily, and therein is the weakness that ultimately shelved P43X during its initial creation. Its impacts are not uniform—while much of the population suffers dearly, most are sustained with timely medical interventions, and many others recover with the prowess of their own immune system. For Leith, bountiful in money and supplies, most of P43X’s more fatal properties are circumvented or delayed. But even in this lush world of affluence and peace, there are the poor, the underprivileged, and the weak. They are not afforded the same haste of care, the same salvation. Instead, they’re given graves of sanitizing fires, and their bodies turn to ash.

Resistance: Sleeping Dogs

The chaos of the festivities that go along with Harvest Week provides the perfect cover for the Resistance to begin moving once again. New cells need to be formed in the wake of so many executions and new members need to be recruited. Info brokers with Resistance-leaning sympathies have an opportunity to make a little extra joy by putting the disconnected sympathizers in contact with one another, aiding the vetting of Company insiders that need new handlers within the organization. For Resistance members already embedded within, they need to work now to find new locations to store what supplies remain and to begin rebuilding the stockpiles of weapons and supplies re-confiscated by the Company. Some may have heard of abandoned mines or facilities that can be retrofitted out in the Badlands while others are needed to track down rumors of Company made fallout shelters located within the under-city tunnels. For this, Company moles are essential - the only hope of accessing these shelters is with long forgotten Company passcodes. And the Scarbacks, well. Everyone’s heard rumors that there are many within their ranks willing to help with recruitment and contraband transportation, though there’s little the Company can do to restrict their movements at this time. Because of this, Scarbacks may also be the only ones that have a chance of getting into Leith once the quarantines go into effect. Those already aligned with the rebellion will be tasked with coordinating supply movements, making a deal or three with the devil on behalf of those unwilling to back down from the promises of the Accords. Caution and purpose should drive their movements because if the True Leithian attack is any indication… those nationalists are not going to let go of their precious land and status without a long, bloody fight.

The RAC: Holding Pattern

Warrants still flow in with a regular consistency - enough to keep the average team or agent quite busy. Every harvest season there are visa jumpers that need to be caught and low-level warrants claiming petty theft from farms by Westie migrants. The increasing number of disturbances and crimes in Old Town guarantee a plethora of local warrants to capture criminals across the moon or those that managed to escape an Enforcer’s arrest. Some, however, have either been requested by Seyah Kendry herself or volentold by their seniors within the RAC to conduct investigations into the attack on the Nine. And not all of these investigations are on the Lady’s behest. Some of the Nine aren’t quite willing to take Land Kendry’s word as law and have quietly requested their own investigations into the attack in Old Town and the Land Derrish misfortunes. (MOD NOTE: There will be a comment thread for teams to sign up for the specialized plot related warrants on the monthly warrant post, located HERE. Once teams have posted for a plot warrant, the mods will give them a location and focused assignment.)

Comments

OTA - Westerly (Old Town)

[sin_of_wrath]

1
[For the first few years, a typical night in the bar came with a few predictable events--ones that usually inspired a few drinking games among consistent patrons. Whenever someone commented on the owner's height or how young he looked, there would be a sip of beer. If he responded with 'I'm not a kid', then there would be another sip. The rules deteriorated into entire shots depending on how often something happened just to mitigate alcohol poisoning. Meliodas himself had gotten used to the games and allowed them to pan out if only because it was good money for his little dive.

What really got the drinks flowing was any given night when an old or an extremely new face would come in, surprised to see him for one reason or another. In both cases, there would be someone getting dragged out of the bar by their shirt or their hair--depending on the offender. Someone would be looking for an obscure sort of revenge against this young man or they heard rumors and wanted a piece of him for their reputation. The end result was always the same. Someone ran or they were tossed out to the street from the door.

To boot, there was a round mechanical pig patrolling the bar, looking to take orders and playing horrible music near constantly. Anytime someone got sick of it, they paid the pig to shut up and the droning melodies would end, punctuated by a cheer from other patrons. Each night, the young bar owner seemed to take a sadistic delight in this arrangement, collecting money from the annoying moving jukebox with a snicker every chance he had.

Then, there were the nights when the bar owner would challenge his patrons to arm-wrestling after dipping into his own stock a bit too much. Inebriated and merciless, he'd close after sending folks to the clinic with a discount on drinks as an apology the next time they came.]

2
[With the Company's usual approach to threats taken in mind, Meliodas decided to up the security in the bar just a little bit. He turned the pig's settings on 'Higher Aggression' to target any patrons dressed too well for the setting. Anyone with nice clothes would have obviously been an informant from the Company--or at least a patron that had disposable income and could afford nicer drinks. Either way, harassing customers into buying more expensive drinks would have benefitted him just as much as protecting his life.

Despite this, he took the usual spying for what it was--suspicion about him in general. It was no shocker that the Company would want to continue keeping tabs on him given rumored rises of aggression towards the Nine but he was no rebel and didn't subscribe to any politically driven publications so he didn't worry too much about things like his search history. Any investigations of Meliodas' use of networks would really just pull up the kind of filth to make someone blush rather than contemplating overthrowing a government.

On occasion, he would take aggressive steps for himself. Sidling up to customers while taking their orders, getting close and appearing as friendly as possible, he went out of his way to try and turn on whatever charm he could scrounge up to encourage more financially stable patrons to pony up and support the local dive bar. He had bills to pay. Shame was hardly an issue.

One night, he gave up trying to lay the charm on and simply hammered a sign on the front door that read 'Cute/Handsome Waitress/er Sought - Interviews Inside'.

He looked irritated as he regarded the sign as if it were a white flag cast. It was a sign of his utter defeat.]

What a shameful way to realize I'm not even remotely charming...

(OOC: Let me know if you'd like a closed prompt! If not, the contents of both prompts span multiple days so you're free to start off a thread using the events within. Otherwise, if you have questions you can catch me at dannication!)

2

[tropism]

[ giorno stops by his place for a break, and regards the sign with amusement. ]

If you'd listened to me from the very beginning, you would've realized that a lot sooner.

[sin_of_wrath]

[Though he looked somewhat impassive, Meliodas slapped the sign with a little more force than he intended and the wall behind shook a little.]

Har har. You better watch out or I'll make you play host full time.

[tropism]

That will bring you fame and fortune and I don't think you can pay me enough for it.

[ he leans against the frame. when the sign was a bit crooked on the side, giorno helpfully pushes it up. ]

Have you been keeping out of trouble?

so many giovanni threads in my other game D: sorry

[sin_of_wrath]

There isn't anything worth making trouble about in this neighborhood.

[Though, anyone with half a mind would notice Meliodas' knuckles were skinned and scabbed over when he slapped the sign and as he held the door open for Gio.]

Some jerk threw me across the street last night, though. Course, I was doing my best to be an upstanding citizen.

[tropism]

Not always.

[ giorno follows through, shutting the door behind him quietly. from his pocket, he procures a strawberry-printed bandaid, which he unpeels and sticks on his knuckles. ]

And anyway, nowadays, it's very difficult to be an upstanding citizen what with ... everyone being in panic mode.

[sin_of_wrath]

[Giving pause, Meliodas looked to the bandaid and felt his mood sink through the floor and into an even darker and dustier place.

The dead stare he gave the bandaid said it all.]

...

[He felt like crying but decided, in a newly inspired fit, that revenge was better than toiling in shame. Later.]

Look at you, though--talking about 'nowadays' when you're so young! [Meliodas saw the irony in saying it and didn't let it slow him down at all.] Though, it is true. I haven't seen epidemics like this in my time, either.

[tropism]

I didn't know there was an age limit on certain words.

[ giorno seats himself comfortably on the bar. if he'd noticed meliodas' pause earlier, he doesn't make mention of it at all. ]

[sin_of_wrath]

It's like a badge of honor, being able to claim certain things, you know.

[Placing one hand on the bar, Meliodas jumped over it and landed on the soft, segmented rubber mat behind it. Some days, he thanked himself for being smart enough to put a drain under it for the sake of cleaning.]

That said, how's? Any interesting warrants you feel like bragging about?

[tropism]

Nothing much. Crowd control isn't exactly the most exciting thing, though necessary at times like these.

There's my training regimen, but that's something that I've been working on for a while.