25 August 2020 @ 10:14 pm
In the interest of full transparency this is a recruitment post. I won't pretend it isn't anything else.

The base of operations I've been building took damage in the chaos with the monsters. Fortunately it's salvageable and it knocked the price down enough to make it worth it. Unfortunately that means it needs work.

I've got the cash, but having more hands on deck would make this go a lot faster. If you're interested reach out. I can pay.

With all of that being said, I intend to get combat training up and running again. You don't need to want to put on a mask to benefit from this. Knowing how to fight and what kind of fighting you excel in is the difference between life and death. The base I was talking about before is intended to become both an area to train the body and focus on testing the limits of powers. Which means we'll likely have to make specialized areas to account for people's abilities and keep a record of who can do what. Can't make you do it, but its useful to have.

That isn't the only thing I'm recruiting for. Some of who you know me will probably know what this is. To others - I'm recruiting for a hero team.

I've been holding off on doing this properly until I was sure it can be done, and it can. Before you scoff at the idea of masked vigilantism: it works. I've come up with both affordable protective gear and a means to stay anonymous. I've been working the streets since the monster attacks and there's a difference being made, but more could be done. One man isn't an army and there's an army of people out there willing to take advantage of those in need.

And what I need is more than just fighters. I need investigators. I need people willing to play watchman and monitor situations from afar. The good thing about doing work like this is it makes a difference. You can see it every day you hit the streets. You're helping rebuild community and defending those who can't defend themselves.

But that being said, this job isn't easy. It isn't like the movies make it seem. We do this in a crisis but this is making a life out of it. You will see things that will haunt you and the very worst aspects of humanity. But you'll also see the very best. It will take, and take, and take from you, but you're giving back. This world and its people took us in and I feel I owe it to give back to them. Not everyone feels that way. That's fine.

Some people have already expressed interest in the past. Either here or in private. Power structure and division of duties can be discussed once I have a better idea of who wants in.
 
 
24 August 2020 @ 09:19 pm
So.

How long have you all been here? Who has been here the longest, too?

And where can I read the tl;dr of just what the fuck is going on.
 
 
I'll be the first to admit that I wish we had done more in preparation. It was my fault in assuming that we had no way of preparing for this outcome. I still think that's true—but setup in the future based on this can be handled later. Right now, we need to work with what we've got.

We've done this before. I'm stepping up to do it again because I've called in some friends from PRESERVE and they're setting up a station here in Red Wings. We've got medical supplies, beds, and any halfway care that can be managed. We're also reasonably fortified. For now.

But this is happening all over. So, here's a place to discuss.

1. What have you noticed about the monsters? Any weaknesses?

2. Any sign of how to stem the flow? Is there a flow?

3. Actually, this isn't a question. Don't burn the monsters if you can help it. If these are like the last ones, that could be a problem.

4. If you get samples, store them well and we'll figure out what to do after this.

Otherwise? Use this as an organized way to discuss how to approach this. Some of you haven't been here for this. But it's worked. Let's use the resource we have.

One more thing. If anyone seems sick, holding on to them might help. It might cure them and bring them back to how they were before. We might be the cure to whatever's coming. Keep that in mind.

EDIT: I'm asking that we put a moratorium on discussion of training, whether obligatory or otherwise, until after this crisis. I think healthy debate and discussion is good, and we can even look at reworking our welcome materials to find a good middle ground. But now isn't the time.

I'm happy to set up that discussion then and take part, if you'd like. But—again—now isn't the time.


[OOC: This is the Clarke's "let's discuss in one place" post that she's done a few times. I won't necessarily be tagging everyone who tags in!]
 
 
19 July 2020 @ 08:55 pm
I had a few questions that aren't exactly related, but might as well be asked together.

[This feels familiar and yet also awkward. He'd gotten used to tormenting all of Hadriel with questions, but this is a new place and despite having been here a few weeks now he's still pretty unsure about the social dynamics. But continuing to be unsure won't accomplish anything, so he might as well just get into it.]

I've already gotten some interesting answers from a few people here, but since there are new arrivals once again it seems worth asking more generally: for those who've been here awhile, if you could only give one piece of advice to new people, what would it be?

Related to arriving, I've heard that some people here arrived from somewhere other than their own worlds. For those who are willing to share, if this situation applies to you, where did you come from and what was it like?


[He'll hold off on sharing his own experience just yet, at least unless he's asked directly.]

My last question is less curiosity and more practicality: does anyone know of a place that's isolated and safe enough for those who haven't discovered their powers to practice doing so? It seems a little reckless to test out new powers in the safehouse, around other people, but obviously we also shouldn't be practicing anywhere that the glow might be noticed. A designated location might be useful for that sort of thing, but before I try to figure out how to make that happen I'd like to make sure I'm not doing something someone's already done.

[He doesn't want to deal with finding rental places, let alone pay for one, if he doesn't have to.]
 
 
 
25 June 2020 @ 02:23 pm
[ it's been a difficult few weeks, and it feels almost like everyone's still trying to hold themselves together. there's a quiet hush over the unrest, which means that it's absolutely time to get some shit together. ]

Oh, hello.
Just a few thoughts that I've put together, I suppose- prior to my arrival here I had a rather good sense of the goings-on within the very fabric of reality. While I certainly can't indulge myself in such feats since I got here, I can say with confidence that the multiverse loves patterns. Something that's simple to predict. For instance, there are some of us here that seem to mirror a similar set of circumstances with one another while still coming from different universes. (See: Tony Stark and Stephen Strange.)
With that in mind, I thought that there simply must be something similar that links us all together in a thread of commonality.

Come now-
You all must have noticed.
Everyone's hot.


[ mystery solved.

it could be that he's just bored.
]
 
 
15 June 2020 @ 12:25 pm
I've been meaning to introduce myself on here, but this wasn't really how I was planning on doing it.

First, and most importantly, if anyone sees Catra...please let me know. I know some of you know her, but for those that don't, she's got brown hair, cat ears, and one yellow and one blue eye. She's hard to miss. I don't think she's left the city, just...left.


[ Why does this sound like a missing cat poster? ]

Second, I wanted to introduce myself properly. Those of you that know me met me when I wasn't aware of some important things about myself. Things that I know now.

My name is Adora. I'm not a Force Captain in the Horde, at least not anymore. Back home, I'm one of the leaders of the group trying to stop the Horde from taking over our planet, the Rebellion.

I'm also She-Ra, though I don't think anyone here has ever heard of her. But she's very strong, and her power is very important, so if... If anyone has had any success with regaining powers from home, or if somehow they can be taken or used by someone else here, please let me know. In the wrong hands, the power of She-Ra is incredibly dangerous.


And finally, I was looking for people to spar with. Soon, preferably. Someone who can really take a hit, and go for a while.

I think that's it.


[ The last bit definitely is code for 'I need to punch my feelings out, and if someone isn't there, it will be me, a punching bag, and broken hands'. Definitely not.

And then, because she can't not: ]


Catra, please come home.
 
 
14 June 2020 @ 11:16 pm
The last time I spoke here I mentioned wanting to change the world. I still do, but for me its been two years since I last addressed this network, and that idea fit a completely different world. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but that idea doesn't fit with the landscape I came back to or the one I left. Our abilities can be used to benefit this world, and to fight and protect its citizens from a corrupt society.

But how to do that here isn't something I know. Or something that can be handled any one way. It needs multiple angles, multiple factions, and organization.

I'm committed to doing something to make this world a better place the only way I know how to, and that's to fight and defend. I'm going to be starting up combat training classes again. People are welcome to offer their expertise, so long as you actually know what you're doing.

Our anonymity is coming to an end, we're going to need to discuss how to handle being completely outed. Given we've become symbols of resistance there will no doubt be retribution.

Finally, I lost an arm a while back. I have a replacement but I want to modify it. If anyone has any skill then let me know. I'll find a way to repay you for it.

I don't have all the answers here. You can save your smug comments about it.
 
 
@bellamy
My name is Bellamy Blake. Most of you are probably wondering why we’re here, reliving a war that happened hundreds of years ago. Some of you have figured out this is a simulation, but there’s more to it than that.


@rey
The UNA has been lying to you, to everyone.


@bellamy
The AI Judas, who you might know as TEMPLAR, is the one who trapped us here and is running the simulation. You’ve all been told he was eliminated after the war, but that was a lie told by the UNA. They were hiding him the whole time, forcing him to support their soldiers.


@rey
Morningstar has footage that confirms the UNA kept Judas alive in their headquarters in New Beijing, in secret, to further their own ends.


@bellamy
Now he’s free, and forcing us to relive the war is his sick way of getting revenge for being enslaved by the UNA. He wants humanity to suffer, and he’ll do anything he can to break you.

The UNA could have prevented this. They could have destroyed him. Instead, they tortured and used him and drove him even more insane. Now we’re collateral damage.

And while we suffer for their crimes, where is the UNA? Why haven’t they saved us? They jump at the chance to enforce their control when people try to stand up to them, but where are they when things go to hell? Where were they when monsters were tearing apart New Amsterdam? Where were they when New Tokyo was being destroyed by a superstorm? What were they doing every time we were suffering and dying? Nothing.


@rey
Every time we’ve needed them, they’ve vanished. But Morningstar didn’t.

Morningstar has fought since the beginning to expose the UNA’s crimes. Believe me, I would know. My name is Rey Nolo. Some of you might remember me — some of you might have followed me on CoolTalk, or worked with me at Giles-Bell where I was an engineer before the UNA took me captive just like they did Judas. They held me in a prison facility outside of New Prague tortured me, too — along with dozens of other people who they captured last September — in an effort to gather intelligence on Morningstar.

They thought they could torture something out of me about Morningstar because I committed the crime of asking too many questions about what really happened to Kurt Fischer, and the truth is that Morningstar never killed him. The UNA lied about that just like they lied about Judas, all so that they could keep their power and stop Morningstar from helping the people who need it most, the people that the UNA forgets.

They will stop at nothing to keep their power, even if it means lying to their own people, even if it means turning their weapons on the people they’re meant to protect.

It was Morningstar who freed me from the UNA’s custody, just like it was Morningstar who provided aid to this city, and it’s Morningstar in here with us, ready to help fight back against Judas.


@bellamy
They’re the ones who step in while the UNA is ready to toss our dead on a pile and watch while our homes burn.

We don’t need the UNA. We don’t need to put up with their boots on our necks and our families being stolen and brainwashed. We’re strong enough on our own. We’ve survived this simulation without their help, and together we can break it, too.

We need your help. If we stand together, not just Morningstar but every citizen of New Amsterdam, we can tear down Judas’ simulation and take our city back. All we need to do is fight. Destroy the drones and the camps. Distract the bots. Rise up, and cause as much chaos as you can.


@rey
If we fight together, all of us, Judas doesn’t stand a chance.


@bellamy
None of us are alone in this. It’s time we stop relying on the UNA and start protecting each other.


[OOC: This is Rey and Bellamy's attempt to get the New Amsterdam citizens on board with Morningstar, per Jack's post! Both will be responding.]
 
 
31 May 2020 @ 05:41 pm
My presence in acting as in your aid has been detected. I should have expected as much, in hindsight. The probability of my escape is slim: 0.005612%. Not much, but it is possible.
Please see the attached for your records.


[ There are two things that come with the message: a blueprint of a laboratory that's located on the southernmost tip of South America, and a pin with its location. ]

You're under no obligation to help me, even if some of you have expressed your intentions to do just that. There are genetic mutations that are now surrounding the facility, all on high alert. I figure I'll have around 12 hours. Those within the simulation will need to raise enough chaos to serve as a distraction for those to find me and release me.
I would understand if you don't want to endanger yourselves further, given your current circumstances.

So let me say that I apologize for the suffering that I've caused because of my own cowardice.
Lucifer, I wish you all luck until the end.
Until I'm gone, I'll ensure that I'll do everything within my ability to free New Amsterdam from the simulation.

All of you that continue to fight for this world: don't forget your resolve. I was born here, just as Lucifer was. You are a part of it now, just as I am.
Do what you do best.
Fight.


[ Please see this plotting comment for details! ]
 
 
26 May 2020 @ 04:49 pm
So, this was Jyn's idea, but since I'm here in the sim and have eyes and ears on things, guess you'll have to deal with me.

I think most of us want to take the UNA down a few pegs, to say the least, and we have an opportunity to do that now. Pretty much all of New Amsterdam is stuck in here with us, and they've got to be scared and pissed that this has happened to them. They're not used to this kind of thing, not like we are. If we can convince some of them of the truth, which is that the UNA is to blame for all of this by keeping Judas captive and using him for years, maybe we can finally start to change public opinion about them.

It may not help us get out of here. I know other people are working that angle. But while we're stuck in here, we may as well make the most of it.

I know some people have already been trying to appeal to New Amsterdam's citizens, to influence them or inspire them.
[ Operation Hope. He's not willing to even use the term, but he assumes people will know what he means. ] We may not have access to any of our solid proof here, but if you have any personal accounts or information to share to give your claims more credibility, then spread that around.

If anyone wants to post something on the local network to get the word out, be my guest. I'm not much of a public speaker, and I'm sure there's someone else better suited to it.
 
 
16 May 2020 @ 07:01 pm
Hi, I'm Clarke Griffin. Some of you may know me because I've been trying to help people out in getting them off the supply runs. My friends are the ones going out there and risking themselves. They're doing good, and I'm just trying to do my part to help everyone.

Still. There's something I want to talk about. We have a chance here—not only to do better, but to acknowledge who came before and live up to their memories. What does it mean to do better? To believe in hope. To know that you can do good. To rise to the challenge.

This is not just about fighting to survive this, but looking at our history and seeing it a different way. Ricky Ling is the big hero of the past, but—why? I don't want to say that Kira's wrong. We do need to find him. But he was just one man, and we can't raise him up as our paradigm for how to survive. No one survived because he came through in the end. They survived because of each other. Just like we're doing now, day in and day out.

A friend of mine and I would like to talk to you about this more. Actually, this idea came from her, and I'm more the spokesperson. Her name is Tsera, and she's ready for your questions. If you're a part of our friends group—
[Obviously code here for "the Displaced".]—we'd like some help in sharing our experiences about survival, and even about AI like Judas.

We need to be able to see more than broad strokes to make it through. The answer may be in seeing history differently. I think we have an opportunity.


[OOC: This is Clarke being Cheris' spokeswoman for this plot. Cheris will also be tagging in!]
 
 
10 May 2020 @ 05:26 pm
This is Kira Solo.

I heard people have spotted Ricky Ling. THE Ricky Ling. If you hear anything or see him yourself, will you let me know? I've already got my friends at Riverstone keeping an eye out.

Or if you've got ideas on how else we might find him ...

Someone told me that we're probably here for a reason. Maybe Ling has something to do with that.


[ she notes her name only to give the reminder that this is public. she's not rey to anyone but the displaced anymore. hopefully they'll bear in mind that the other citizens of new amsterdam are on this too. ]
 
 
01 May 2020 @ 12:37 am
I don't know if many people from it are left, but last October quite a number of the Displaced experienced one of three dreams. They involved a bridge, a facility, and the first hints of our Avian themed bird projects. A few nights ago I had another dream that seemed to take place in the same facility as described in two of those original dreams.

In this new dream, a device called a Swiftlet was shoved into my chest, right where we light up upon Displaced contact and use of our powers. The point of the Swiftlet seemed to be control. Whoever was using it wanted to control me and what came next for me. Given all the bird themed naming conventions we keep running into, this name does not seem insignificant.

I think I witnessed a facility we as Displaced were kept in, or where we were given these powers, which I suspect now may be more like pieces of a whole rather than individual gifts. Throughout the dream I felt like I was in several places at once. I witnessed flashes of powers: air pockets on fire, the ground moving, and life being stolen from a nurse. They key part is these powers only bloomed after the use of the Swiftlet, when I fought back against it. I wanted to be whole. Immediately after, there was a sense of collective consciousness. Of many people fighting back. It was only stopped by a gas filling the facility, which is about when I woke up.

I would like to know if anyone else shared this particular dream, or any similar. If we are seeing fragments, we need all of them to put it together.

Related and recently with curious timing, it seems as though untraceable messages once again went out. This happened once before, though those messages all came from one source - leaked by Cassius, an AI formerly known as DAWN - the very same AI who caused the EMP in November. These messages were collected in this file, by a Displaced who has since disappeared. For the new messages, we have a second document. Given the source of some is still unclear, perhaps we should keep them separate but still accessible. See if anything is relevant to you.

We are all after different things. But we have to start pooling our information if we want to get anywhere collectively.
 
 
24 April 2020 @ 01:25 pm
Hi I know we're all still like WTF about those messages but also did anyone else keep the relics from our ruins adventure? Because one of mine is glowing and like resonating and I'm not sure if it's just me so?
 
 
21 April 2020 @ 03:14 pm
please reach out to me if you've recently received any intel on mercenary groups similar to those we dealt with during the expeditions.

the more we have to work with, the better.
 
 
04 April 2020 @ 06:37 pm
Hey babes!

Remember last time I mentioned that sharing is caring? Well that's still true but instead of sharing skills and hobbies this time, I have information to share.

A few months ago while many of us were preparing to storm the castle in New Beijing, I happened to casually come into possession of two bags of IV fluid left behind from the arrivals. Yes, the same stuff that knocks us out and makes us do stuff even if we don't want to. Thanks to @caroline.forbes' awesome gala a couple weeks ago, I met and befriended my new lady mentor who happens to be a chemist at Giles Bell.

What a serendipitous coincidence!

Anyway! My new friend managed to break it down into two parts -
1. a super strong take down a herd of elephants or a dude named Cupid high on PCP on the subway sedative that weakens the nervous system (side note: does that make it a neurotoxin?)

2. ????????
Yeah, they ran into a wall on the compulsion drug (they don't know that's what it is). Apparently it's classified. Her boss tried, her boss' boss tried, no dice. It's a trade secret, that's fun.

Now she's a lil' curious though and they have questions I'm not completely sure how to answer. They're mostly where what who how and whens: where'd I get it, do I have more, do I know what it is and what is does, normal stuff like that.

I could tell the truth (New Beijing, yes, definitely yes) but I'm not entirely sure that is the right tact because it could open up even more questions. Let's brainstorm, babes.

xoxo Silena
 
 
18 February 2020 @ 10:35 am
[Bad username or site: angela @ roberts]
Hey everyone!

Cass and I were talking about the Safehouse and how things could be a little more livable there. With most things digital and people cut off from the broader system the first few days, there’s not a lot to do. We were thinking we could put together some board games and cards or something to keep in the Safehouse. If anyone wanted to donate materials or their time and talents to help out, that would be appreciated. Or suggestions on other things that would be useful to put in the Safehouse.

[Bad username or site: cassandra @ cain]
I think having a way to listen to or make music would be helpful. If that's something that is possible?

[Bad username or site: angela @ roberts]
If anyone has an idea on how to make this possible, chime in!

Also if anyone has clothes or blankets to donate, that would be really useful too. We all know the selection is a bit mismatched.

All you new arrivals, please chime in if there’s anything you need. There’s a Guide if you need more information on our situation. If you aren't used to technology, [handwavy directions on how to open a link with the implant].

Edit: If anyone can spare some credits toward setting up a VR system in the safehouse, please let me know.
 
 
17 February 2020 @ 11:29 am
Hey babes!

I've been thinking a lot about how we have a treasure trove of useful skills at our disposal and we are not using them as well as we could. We should be sharing what we know! I don't mean information this time, but skills.

Like I know how to fight, and I'm also excellent at basket-weaving, pegasus riding, first aid, knitting, baking, and I know too much about Greek mythology. But I can't do math to save my life, I tried to fix an alarm clock once and broke the screwdriver, if I tried to shoot a gun without training there would definitely be instances of friendly fire, and apparently I'm an awful storyteller.

Maybe we could all offer a mini-class in something so then everyone could benefit from these skills? That could be cool! We're only as strong as our weakest link and if we learn from each other, our links will grow stronger.

So MY PROPOSAL is that everyone should come in here and offer something they could teach someone else as well as what they want to learn in turn. Maybe it won't be the same person but there is nothing wrong with meeting new people, don't be babies. It's educational bartering.

I can offer baking, basket-weaving, knitting, and Ancient Greek style fighting, weapons to be determined. I would like to learn how to unclog a sink because that seems like something I should know how to do and how to keep a plant alive for longer than two minutes. And that whole gun thing. That could be handy.

xoxo Silena



( forward dated a couple days to when new arrivals have their ids, so have at. )
 
 
09 February 2020 @ 03:24 am
What's up Mystery Inc, coming at you live from Mount Everest with a very uncool update.

Basically: one of the sherpas up here isn't actually a sherpa, so me and [Bad username or site: nathan @ drake] yanked him to ask him a couple questions. This is what we got:

- Him and a couple others were hired to make sure that we got to our destinations in one piece.
- They work for a merc outfit called Global Spiral.
- Doesn't know the name of whoever hired them or anything about this person.
- He didn't know why he or the others were hired to do any of this shit.

Some of you guys got kidnapped so I figure whoever hired the Global Spiral guys was calling those shots too. Seems like they wanted us to get to our destinations safe and sound, or as safe and sound as you can be when you've been kidnapped and misled. Our guy was armed and well-trained so these people aren't to be underestimated.


[ Nate ([personal profile] nonscriptum) and Tim will both be around to answer questions, so you can leave 'em here and someone will get to them! In terms of timescale, this is during that 24-48 hour acclimation period! ]