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

[brickinthewall]

[She knows immediately to drop for cover, even if it's just a flash bomb. She shuts her eyes and stares straight down into the ground. The popping deafens her, jars her really. At least it doesn't throw her off entirely.

When she rises, Hanna begins to assess the situation, the hurt, the bleeding, the damaged, the people fleeing from the scene. They should've stayed home, all of them.]

Good work, kid.

[Is all she offers to Giorno as she passes him.

No fire, not now, she finally decides. Uncontrollable, unpredictable. Their mess would need to be limited.

But... The Showstopper.

Too heavy to carry, too unwieldy to simply have for an emergency. Now that the area's been cleared, scattered, she could probably go get it and come back. The best scenario would be for no one to see her set up the gate. But if they did?

Well. Too bad.]

I need something from back where we're staying. Might save us time and trouble for a while from having to come back out here again.

[tropism]

Thank you.

[ heartfelt and sincere. he surveys the crowd. they're injured and hurting right now, but as soon as they get their legs again, another riot is going to start. people are desperate to run out of westerley, especially now that there's a higher chance of them dying instantly without knowing why. westies have a high tolerance of their circumstances on any given day, but not when there's a plague like this where people become keenly aware of their position in the food chain.

he glances at hanna as she says it, and purses his lips. ] I'll wait.

[brickinthewall]

No, you're coming with me. I'm not risking losing you on the job.

[If shit hits the fan, it hits the fan. Giorno's as much her ward as he is a trainee and a coworker. She couldn't do this, not again, not lose another one.

Funny how she's so willing to let a hundred die for the sake of one, willing to let things go awry just to have one person she gives a shit about to stay alive.

Ass backwards way of thinking.]

That or you're going to find cover and make sure you're out of a line of sight.

[tropism]

[ hiding sounds .... boring. he wants to protest, he can handle himself, after all. has been handling things ever since he was young; her being a higher-level killjoy was convenient for him as well, but he's not going to just die out there without her.

on the other hand, it's nice to be wanted. giorno thinks about it, and then nods. ]

Alright. I'll come with you. [ they've done enough here for now, the company goons can hold them off until they return. that's fine. ]

[brickinthewall]

[She says nothing, then, but leads him, snakes through back alleys and avoids crushes of citizens for their sakes. They didn't need to start riots outside of their own jurisdictions.

Hanna had chosen a real hole in the wall, a place that never asked questions and didn't care for answers either. It was, honestly, pretty disgusting, but she had never planned on actually sleeping there.

She just needed a close weapons cache.

The Killjoy just waves off a person at the entrances and marches towards the room.]

How's your heavy lifting?

[tropism]

Not too bad.

[ giorno was getting accosted before hanna had just given her approval of him in this space. otherwise he's just observing the room before hanna moves to her cache, and he joins her on her side. ]

What's this?

[brickinthewall]

Booty.

[Ha ha very funny.

She pulls out a heavy box, shiny and chrome, then sets her bow aside.]

The Showstopper. Heavy-duty cables, takes about a minute and a half to set up. [Her hands start to dig for attachments and mods for her bow. Lucy alone would never be able to handle the sheer weight of the Showstopper. Luckily, she'd learned how to take it apart and put it together in record time.]

Set up the box on the end of the bow. You pull it and aim it for a hard surface. [Honestly, the box isn't all that big, but it's metal within metal. Of course it's heavier than it looks.] It's got screws, right there, that bury into the wall. Give a bit and it starts to grow and set up. Gotta make sure you got another side, though. If not, the fence is worth shit. The plan is to get the fence going and hopefully not have to deal with the area too much unless someone figures out how to disarm it.

[tropism]

[ they're gonna start by coralling them, then. not a bad idea. and entirely way too much help offered to company people who should technically be doing more. nevertheless, giorno just nods at her explanation, taking in the instructions, and then finally. ]

A minute and a half to set up, that's not bad. Let's take it outside, then - is it ready?

[brickinthewall]

It's always ready.

[Once everything's out and ready to go, she kicks the lid of the box closed. Downtime would be good for the both of them. Probably a good idea to start getting some meds too. She's not keen on finding out how the plague would affect her.]

Get good enough and I'll find a way to make you a Showstopper of your own.

[tropism]

Well, you know me. Even when I was a child, I'd always dreamt of being able to disperse a mob.

[ the walk back to their area wasn't necessarily more subdued; although people were a lot more cautious of approaching them because of what they'd done earlier, it had certainly emboldened a few of the more rebellious ones who are now trying to goad others into attacking them as well.

what a day. normally giorno doesn't mind the way the city tends to bare its teeth every now and then, but today giorno feels his patience wearing thin. power and order are the only things he cares about in this world - in his own terms. always in his own terms. and this kind of rowdiness, understandable though it may be, is not in line with what he wants. ]

Let's finish this quickly.

[brickinthewall]

You're more of a ballbuster than I am, kid.

[The return was less... rowdy than the arrival. The few that did try to attack didn't get very far, in all honesty. She just palmed a few noses to shattering bits and that was the end of that stunt.

Once they're in the perimeter, close enough to the entrance, she starts to set up the Showstopper proper. The Killjoy's muscles tense as she lifts the weapon, the instant cage. No matter how much she worked out, Hanna could never feel like she's strong enough to pull the damn thing.

But it shoots, the metal spokes piercing the brick and concrete. The sensors detect the opposing wall, and so the gate begins to build. Once to one wall, up, back to the next wall, extending cables and electricity crackling.

Not long after, the gate is up, and Hanna's been ignoring the gawkers entirely.]

[tropism]

[ it's good. and giorno doesn't even need to add to it, a cage is enough to instill a very primitive level of fear in a lot of people, especially to those people who really didn't have a lot to begin with.

giorno was one of them, right up to the point where he became a killjoy. is still one of them; the lines are a bit difficult to draw even if he does a very good job of keeping to his words to the RAC. they say the warrant is everything, but giorno wants a lot of things, is greedy enough to stick his hands into whatever pie he can get. he can't say he doesn't pity his fellowmen, but all the same, giorno giovanna has a dream.

that dream involves power. and he can't achieve that if he keeps wanting to pity them, so throwing away ties conveniently - when it suits him - becomes a very good skill of his. home becomes nothing but a pile of dirt; home becomes everywhere.

that moment of quiet contemplation done, he turns to hanna: ]

We should do a check-up after. Just in case.

[brickinthewall]

We'll come back in a few hours. Should be fine for a while unless they decide they're really cool with being dead.

[She shoots a dead-eyed stare at a few young men who were already getting ready for a fight. The death glare shuts them down almost instantly.

Hanna has no dreams like Giorno does, only revenge, and nightmares of waking to a world ruined at her hand. She's not quite so difficult at her dreams, but she's bullheaded, like Giorno.

Maybe that's why they got along so well.]

Nice job, kid. You're not too good for greasy food, right?

[tropism]

I'm not too good for any kind of food. Provided it doesn't make me sick.

You have to treat me, because I'm a poor level 1 agent who needs to be fed.

[ hah. ]

[brickinthewall]

Yeah, yeah, fine, I'll feed you this time. You'll be getting me back one of these days when you're not level one.

[And she's counting on it, because at least it means he's not dead.

So she leads him, towards some hole in the wall, a place that wouldn't care who comes and goes. They need that anonymity right now. Desperately.]