Day 1

[mirror_mod]

The first sign is maybe different for all of you – the hard ground underneath you, the lack of a body next to you, or no blanket to pull over your shoulders when you reach for it. Either way, when you open your eyes you know for certain you aren’t in the castle.

It’s a little too quiet here, except for the sounds of people around you moving about. There is a strange, unreal quality about everything, as if were viewed through the grimy patina of an old piece of film or photograph and half-realized blurs of images and words seems to hang suspended in the air like solid smoke – there but not quite there.

The group seems to be at the edge of a dead forest, the trees dark and twisted and the ground swirling with mist. A path seems to lead into the depths, but the sky that way is cast with dark umber and hanging shadows that don’t seem terribly inviting.

Not far off, however, is a long stone bridge stretching over a chasm of nothingness and leading to what looks like a city. Far beyond the rooftops, there is the briefest glimmer of dazzling light, gone almost as soon as you see it.

((OOC: WAIT FOR SECTIONS PLEASE! Aaaaaand GO!))

WAKING UP | THE CITY

Comments

[mirror_mod]

[Did you glance down the alley where the spider went? Because a ways down there you can see, in the middle of a courtyard, a tall twisted-looking stone spire. It seems carved from a rust-colored stone rather than black, and worn soft around the edge like it's been here for a very long time, but it's probably familiar nonetheless...]

[cloakand_danger]

[It caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, just as he was turning away to follow the group. He turns back toward the alley slowly, afraid that he's seeing things, afraid that he's not, but he has to know for sure.

And there it is. Worn and colored like dried blood (how perfectly suitable) though it may be, it is the Marker. A horrifying shiver runs across his skin, and without thinking he's backing away until his back is pressed hard against the wall of a building behind him.]

Not that. Not again. The castle...doesn't repeat itself.

[He seems to be in control of all his faculties, but...that's what he thought last time. How will he know if it happens again? The very thought of it makes him tremble in horror, but he can't look away. He is certainly not going to approach it...not this time.]

[perfectisnteasy]

[CLU's making his way across the bridge when he sees this User ahead of him recoil and flip out. okay, that's odd. instantly, he makes for the alley to have a look for himself, disc in hand]

[cloakand_danger]

D-don't- [He swallows and tries again.] ...Don't get too close to it. It...something like that showed up at the castle once. It...it affected some of us mentally.

[he killed people by feeding them to monsters because he believed he was purifying the world.]

[perfectisnteasy]

Affected you? ... You mean -- [he stops and turns, cocking his head at Yuan curiously] it reprogrammed you?

[cloakand_danger]

...I...suppose that's one way of looking at it. [Odd phrasing, but sure.] Perhaps somewhat accurate, even. It didn't overwrite much of our personalities, but it gave us some new beliefs, simple objectives, wordless and clear. [His gaze has gone distant.] The Marker is to be protected. Worshipped, even. Those who say otherwise must be purged.

[He shakes his head, coming back to the present.] ...It's not a week I like to remember.

[perfectisnteasy]

Huh, sounds almost like a virus. [now he's REAAAALLY curious. he looks back at the Marker, wheels in his head turning.]

You think a thing like that might have the power to reprogram the castle itself?

[cloakand_danger]

[He laughs bitterly.] I wonder. The original was destroyed, and the world change did end when it was. Still, it seems unlikely that something powerful enough to affect the castle itself would leave alone a resident capable of destroying it, so I suspect it was just another of the castle's games.

[perfectisnteasy]

[CLU takes a moment to think that over, then turns back to Yuan, smiling maybe a little brightly for someone discussing mind control] You know, that's the most sound logic I've heard out of a User since I arrived here. What's your name, man?

[cloakand_danger]

[this strange person is calling him a user. Yuan is not sure how to feel.] ...Yuan. And just what do you mean by 'user'?

[perfectisnteasy]

A human ... or just someone not of the Grid, like me. [he holds up his disc by way of explanation]

I'm CLU. Stands for Codified Likeness Utility. I was the Grid's system administrator, 'fore me and my User got sucked over here.

[cloakand_danger]

You're...a computer program? [That's...one of the stranger life forms he's encountered within Paradisa, although it does explain the glowy lines and why this guy isn't half-naked like everyone else.] I...see. I think.

[But even that can't distract him from the presence of the Marker lookalike for long. He glances back at it, and has to suppress another shiver.] ...I don't know that this one is the real thing. I haven't had any compulsion to touch it yet. ...But I'd still recommend not lingering near it.

[perfectisnteasy]

[oh god computer logic is going to get him into so much trouble GO FIND HIS USER, YUAN, OMG.]

So ... this marker. Everyone it affected, they were all Users, right? No programs?

[cloakand_danger]

[It's okay, it's just a statue that looks like the Marker. Yuan's just freaked out because of the memories and the fact that last time he didn't know he was being mind-controlled until afterward. Also other stuff related to his own rather bloody past.]

I don't think there were any programs in the castle at the time for it to test itself on, so that may not be the best way to measure the danger. And if you're wrong, you'll be a threat to all of us. Are you really willing to risk that?

[perfectisnteasy]

... [he frowns, weighing the odds. if Rinzler were here, he'd just make HIM do it, but he's the only program present, and if he gets corrupted, there's no way he could analyze the programming of the thing. and no one who could fix him, save Flynn, which ... with Alan and Sam as variables, is less and less likely.]

Maybe not. Not right now, anyway. I'll have to come back to it.

[cloakand_danger]

Whatever. If you can find it again later, be my guest, but for now let's put some distance between ourselves and that thing.

[he doesn't care he doesn't care he doesn't care, he's just pushed to the limit of endurance as far as his phobia and it's making him very cranky]

[perfectisnteasy]

If it's not helping us find a way out, it's wasting our time. You're right, Yuan.

[and he'll head off, but the Marker statue is still getting firmly marked in his mental map. next time, Gadget.]