enodia_ic | THE STORM

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THE STORM

THE RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

~~It was a dark and stormy night...~~

Shortly after 2AM, the sound of howling wind accompanies the rise of a bizarre storm and wakes up just about everyone in Enodia Station. Outside, the dark sky is overcome with swirling color like a frenetic aurora borealis and chaotic bolts of energy leap through the air with unpredictable ferocity, leaving scorched patterns and destruction in their wake. The raucous gale continues too and some residents claim to hear a whistling, melodic sound obscured within it. Barely audible but just there. Zeke Zelizer even insists they recognize the tune (it's obviously Help Me by Alkaline Trio!), though nobody else agrees or believes them. Perhaps more importantly, Noah Moon remembers hearing a similar melody just before the pulse. How strange.

Despite the presence of several backup generators, the storm also causes the Station to lose power soon after it starts, leaving the buildings dark and stuffy and increasingly hot on this summer morning. Occasionally, power returns long enough for the lights to flicker, but it never fully returns while the storm rages. Even the forcefield that surrounds the Station goes down and stays down. Electrical devices are similarly impacted, going dead in an instant and refusing to work properly, though some sporadically come back to life. Enoch Waldinger is able to use their phone to get a brief recording of the storm from a cracked window before the device gives up the ghost.

In the midst of this unfolding chaos, the directors make the call that everyone should shutter up their windows, stay put, hunker down on the lowest available floor, and wait this out. This message is passed along to everyone via a telepathic shoutout from Director Mora's assistant. While a few residents are working overnight shifts for Medical or Security and end up stuck in other buildings, this leaves most of the Station's occupants on the first floor of the Residential Building and forced into an unintentional sleepover. Get cozy, everyone! Some arrive dressed in their pajamas and wrapped in blankets, ready to try to get back to sleep, while others show up with candles, snacks, and the intention to start games for a proper sleepover experience. Either way, it's going to be a long night.

AROUND THE STATION

While most residents stay put, not all do.

Those that want to access other buildings to check on things there are directed to Lenz Polzin, who can create a portal to send them where they need to go. Probably. Who knows how this storm might impact anyone's abilities? Shortly after dawn, Director Madgy directly requests that Eden Chen and Annie Song be sent over to the Research Building to check in on the Liminal moles. With the power out, the forcefields that reinforce their cells are down and the last thing he wants is for the creatures to escape or wreck the place.

Those that want to go out in the storm itself will either need to sneak out from an upper floor or walk directly past members of the Security Division that are now stationed by the exterior exits. While Director Riddle hasn't instructed them to stop anyone that wants to leave, she has instructed them to strongly discourage this because of the danger outside and to let her know about anyone that heads out into the storm.

OUT IN THE STORM

Any character that wants to leave the Residential Building, either via teleportation or by heading out in the storm, will need to fill out the form below just to see how that goes. They're taking a risk, after all!

Any character that chooses to leave the Residential Building may or may not be able to get back. This will be clarified in their results. Players should keep this in mind when making the decision to leave.

AFTER THE STORM

The storm finally begins to calm in the early afternoon. The wind quiets, the sky clears, and the inexplicable energy crackling through the air disappears. Heading outside, residents find that the buildings are damaged, but this is mostly limited to the char marks from that wild energy and the occasional broken window. Unfortunately, [Character F] finds that they didn't secure their windows properly; at least one room in their apartment is filled with broken glass and was thoroughly wrecked by the storm. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to get things back in order! Around the grounds, the natural world is similarly scarred and the area is littered with the debris of unsecured objects and damaged flora.

While exploring the grounds, Minty Payne encounters the bizarre bird that had been previously captured in the Riftlands. It briefly imitates them before screeching and starting to get aggressive. They scramble to recapture the bird by bribing it with a snack and leading it into a corner where it can be captured and are able to do so! Fortunately, this was the only Liminal creature to escape and the Liminal moles remain safely in their cages in the Research Building.

» VIBE CHECK: How is your character feeling about the storm? What are they hoping for when they roll up for the Residential Building sleepover? Are they dressed in cute pajamas or looking like a scruffy mess?

» THE HALLWAY: Many of the residents end up camping out in the hallway of the Residential Building's first floor, clustered into small groups to doze, talk, or even play silly sleepover games. Whatever gets them through the storm!

» IN APARTMENTS: It's up to those that have an apartment on the first floor whether or not they want to let others into their homes. Let everyone know your verdict here and open up your room to scenes if your character is willing to take others in!

» AROUND THE STATION: Not everyone chose to stay in the Residential Building. Those that didn't can fill out a form here to see how that went!

» AFTER THE STORM: Once the storm has passed, explore the grounds to inspect the damage or just try to unwind.

» OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

(CODE)

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"Well, the door's right behind you." Not a terribly mature response. This is the first time in days that Raine has acknowledged Enoch's existence, which is enough time for Enoch to accept that Raine was right and he is, in fact, still mad at him. Enoch isn't sure if it annoys him more that he's clinging to such an irrational emotion, or that Raine is still able to have an effect on him.

In a fit of pique, Enoch makes the door out of the apartment disappear. Then the floor ripples under Raine's feet, turning into polished wooden boards. The world lightens. The storm goes quiet. Raine now stands on the deck of a small lakeside cottage, looking out at the water. It's daytime, maybe close to noon, and chilly enough to be early spring. On a nearby wooden table is a laptop (open to a spreadsheet filled with numbers) and steaming mug of tea, but no one in sight.

There aren't many locations in Enoch's repertoire—places he knows intimately enough to recreate in detail, like the research lab. His whole life is work. Three months ago, before Enodia shut down, he wouldn't even have had this place.

Despite the door being gone, Raine knows he could (and probably should) just leave anyway. But the lakeside cottage is much more appealing to him than the stormy residential building, and as the illusion settles his shoulders relax. He takes a few tentative steps towards the table and pushes the laptop's screen back and forth to test it. It feels real, but he abruptly imagines what he must look like from Enoch's point of view and his hands drop his sides awkwardly.

"This is nice," he finally concedes, turning around to look out over the water. "Where is it?"

"Maine. Sebec Lake. I wanted to be close, for when the station re-opened." There's something embarrassing in the admission that Enoch spent those three months waiting so close to Enodia. But the alternative was facing the rest of his life outside of work, and he just... couldn't. Better to hole up in Maine, away from everyone he knows, and sort through his backlog.

Enoch steps into view a few feet to the right of Raine, also staring out at the water, although what he's actually looking at is the roiling storm beyond the sliding doors of his balcony. To Enoch's eyes, the lake is a silk tulle veil draped over reality, lovely but transparent. He's experienced what his illusions must feel like to other people only once.

He puts a hand on the painted wooden railing surrounding the deck (not real, his senses tell him). "Someone should start a betting pool for how long it takes before Enodia shuts down again. I give us three weeks."

Raine doesn’t think it’s embarrassing. He’d fled the country entirely, which is worse. But he looks over the view again with this new information — that this was where Enoch had spent his sabbatical. Glancing back down at the laptop on the table, Raine involuntarily imagines an alternate universe where Enoch had actually received one of the many scrapped apology emails he’d drafted in those months.

If Enoch hadn’t just rebuffed his halfhearted attempt at saying sorry last week, Raine might’ve made the mistake of bringing up the unsent emails now. Even knowing the sentiment is unwanted, his guilt still prickles at him like a burr.

But he lets it go, for now, and turns his full attention back to Enoch as he speaks. Raine wouldn’t have guessed that he was anxious over the possibility of a second shutdown, but he’s always had a hard time guessing at what will or won’t impact him emotionally.

“I think we can make it until Halloween,” he says. Unclear whether he’s trying to be optimistic or just contrary.

Either option elicits a smile from Enoch, who immediately suppresses it. They're less than ten minutes away from someone saying something that causes the other person to walk away, because that's how all of their conversations go now. It's not in Enoch's nature to blunt his sharp edges for the sake of keeping the peace. But it's also past 3 AM, and he's too tired to go for the most confrontational thing to say right now.

"How unfortunate for you. The longer things go on, the more parties you'll be forced to attend." He glances over his shoulder at the cottage (the front door of his apartment). "They've already turned an emergency situation into an all-night floor party."

Edited 2023-06-17 00:47 (UTC)

"I don't mind parties sometimes," Raine says, although his tone clearly implies that he'd prefer it if there weren't one currently happening in his living room. It's why he's still here, even if he also feels that clock winding down. Ten minutes is generous. He shouldn't have come in here at all. But the solitude is nice, even if it isn't real, so he lingers for a moment to admire the lake.

"Will I fall over if I lean on this?" he asks, indicating the railing.

Enoch crosses his arms, head tilting thoughtfully as he looks Raine over with his usual probing intensity.

"Only if I want you to," he says. The answer is somewhat more complicated than that, but Enoch just smiles, leaving Raine to guess how.

Raine becomes very focused on the railing, examining it for any sign of falsity, but mostly avoiding Enoch's intense stare. He chuckles at the response, equal parts uncomfortable and amused.

"I better not risk it," he finally says, still not looking up at him.

The railing looks and feels sturdily built, with a coat of white paint that can't be more than a year old. Someone's scratched initials into it with a knife: DN + RS. The graffiti marring the otherwise perfect paint job had annoyed Enoch for months, but he couldn't help bringing that detail into this memory. The more editing he does, the weaker his illusions.

"I'd be offended, but you're probably right not to trust me," Enoch says lightly.

"I think you'd let me fall over, yeah," Raine says very quietly, although he reaches out to run his hand along the railing as he says it. For a second he looks like he might say something else, but then he doesn't.

Enoch has always enjoyed studying Raine, and isn't the least bit deterred by his stubborn refusal to meet Enoch's gaze. It isn't only scientific interest (although of course that's been a factor since the beginning). For someone normally so straightforward, Raine can be impossibly inscrutable. Enoch thinks he could watch him for another thousand hours, and still not understand him.

"I'm not sure I'm that predictable." Enoch sounds more amused than offended. "But if you believe I'd let you fall, it does make things more challenging."

"I know you love a challenge," Raine says, glancing up at him for just a moment before looking away again. The intense attention has always made him a little uneasy for reasons he hadn't quite been able to pin down before their relationship ended. He used to hold up a hand as if to avoid being photographed or outright admonish Enoch for staring, but to do either thing now would mean admitting he feels like something intimate is happening, so he just awkwardly laughs instead.

He is a little curious, now, and after weighing his options he decides that ultimately, falling on his face wouldn't be that bad.

"Okay, fine," he says, taking his hand off the railing for a second. Ignoring his embarrassment, he looks back up at Enoch instead of the railing and keeps eye contact as he leans his weight over onto it.

Enoch does love a challenge. He hadn't yet decided against letting Raine fall over out of spite, but he enjoys proving his competence, so... fine. His illusions aren't real, but they do exist outside of his own mind, given form and shape by an idea and able to affect the world through the belief. They're strongest when Enoch is there to actively tend to them—a wallet to carry, a piece of cake to taste—but concentration alone can't make the railing hold Raine's weight if Raine doesn't want to trust him. Nor will it hold if Enoch's desire to look good is less than his desire for petty revenge.

(It's a test, of sorts. Enoch can never resist a test.)

For once, Enoch breaks eye contact first, looking down at the railing. No signs of splintering. No cracks in the illusion. Everything holds, as solid as real wood. "Well." He sounds surprised, almost. Pleased, definitely not. "That's interesting, isn't it," Enoch says flatly, and lifts a hand, snapping his fingers.

The railing vanishes from under Raine's arm, along with the morning lake and the quiet cottage. Sounds rush back in: the wind outside, music playing next door, and voices in the hallway. Enoch's apartment is dark, lit up only by the storm and the light coming through the front door, which still stands ajar. Enoch is nowhere to be seen.

Edited 2023-06-18 07:36 (UTC)

Raine stumbles as the railing vanishes, and laughs at himself, and only then looks around the actual room and realizes Enoch is gone. Or maybe lurking. Or maybe he'd been an illusion the entire time.

"I'll leave you alone," he excuses himself, suddenly struck by self-consciousness. He turns to leave, although he stops at the threshold to raise a hand in front of him, checking that the door is actually open before he exits.

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THE STORM

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch

IN APARTMENTS: Raine & Enoch