Intro Post

[shitstorm_eve]

Welcome to Carlyle... Waking Up It's happening again. All around town. Maybe it's in the cereal aisle of the general store while no mothers with squalling children are traversing it. Maybe it's in the middle of the town's lonely graveyard, full of hundred-year-old graves in the middle of the night. Maybe in the local city hall restroom, eyes opening to a gaze-full of toilet paper, or in the town's settler museum full of wagon wheels and old farming paraphernalia. There are still a few government workers milling around since the first influx. People in bland suits of various shades of grays and browns, nothing particularly impressive, but if they approach someone who doesn't seem to belong they'll bring them through the intake process. Though there's a chance that, instead, they'll meet a kindly marshall. Average middle-class white guy, a tall Midwesterner with some scruff and a formal uniform and a stocky build. He will discretely move them through if it's needed, make sure they have an ID and paperwork and phone and some concealing clothes if they have the body type that works for it. If they look special or like someone the government might want, he'll try to keep things on the down-low for them. Better than to lose people again. Getting Familiarized When investigating the town, they'll find it with trace damage from the night before. Someone is replacing a door that has ax-marks in it. Another is rebuilding a fence, a crashed car ready to be towed away. And yet another person is filing an insurance claim with his agent, his shed completely burned down and the air closeby filled with the scent of settled smoke. Most of the residents of Carlyle are friendly. If you stop and ask for directions, they'll give them. It's also a time of year in which there are lots of outsiders, on top of current events. Unfortunately, if anyone's dressed in an entirely unfamiliar way, someone might over-react. They may excitedly run to get one of the agents, or they might scream about it happening again, or they might be absolutely delighted and want pictures so they can go viral on FaceBook. There's a cafe in town where there's are a slew of reporters, talking about post-Vesanalia clean-up and the lost arrivals. At first, someone who wanders in might be mistaken for another reporter, there to order coffee or jam microphones at the management outside. But someone might be smart. A towns-person might notice something off, a familiarity in their gaze, or might hear them say something suspicious. The next thing they know, those reporters are turning their microphones towards the newcomer. Settling In Someone might need somewhere to sleep. Well, there's a nice little hotel where it's free. There's probably government surveillance if you care about that sort of thing. Otherwise, your rest will go undisturbed and have the average conveniences of a mediocre bed, a Febreeze smelling duvet, a somewhat new TV, and bathroom with a tile pattern installed in the 80s. One could try a barn, but there's a chance they'll be run out by an angry man in honest to god overalls and an unironic cowboy hat with a pitchfork. They could also try to sleep in a vehicle. Let's just hope the owner doesn't come checking before morning.

Comments

[thesecondtolast]

While she doesn't relax outright, the amount of tension that leaks out of her shoulders at the word 'us' is nothing to sneeze at. It's something, to know that she isn't alone in this whole... situation. The sigh that she gives is more of a sigh of relief, though it turns to anxiety at that question. "... yeah," she says quietly, head ducking and arms wrapping around herself protectively, "I... I don't know if I can though. I woke up on top of that big building in the center of town." What was it that they'd called it? Um... "C-city hall, I think." Which was to say she'd already been seen by a pretty large number of people. And there wasn't any way to really explain things away, as far as she could tell. She grimaces. She's been to quite a few worlds by now, and even the ones that were aware of outsiders had... never really reacted like this. It was more than a bit unnerving. "Why are they even trying to register us, anyway? It's almost like... like they were prepared for us."

[sociallychallenged]

"Not sure where you're from that they give you a phone like that, but uh..." Hoo boy. This does feel like something that'll need a sit down. "There were people that showed up here before. Nobody knew where they went. Seems like it became sort of a popular internet mystery- that's a uh.... You know what. I don't know how to describe the internet. It's a global thing where people can talk at thin air and hope someone-" don't say 'gives a shit' "-cares. And people started caring after the first ones were missing.

"Now there's a new group of us. So they have people here to register us. I got a feeling that because they can't keep us, they want to keep an eye on us. And in the meantime, all these people? Are just really excited to get proof we exist. It gets them more attention on the internet.

"I hope that makes sense." Because honestly it was confusing to even him.

"But if you don't want them to know about you, I won't say anything. I think you should definitely find out how some things work and uh... get a regular phone." Somehow? Shit. He'll have to go find that guy in the ranger hat. "Did you actually already know what the internet was?" Despite the weird phone? Or did he just make a giant ass of himself?

[thesecondtolast]

That... was an interesting explanation? It doesn't... really entirely ring any bells. There's probably a world or several out there that knows about it, probably. But for now it's just kind of confusing. Both from an explanation standpoint, and given that it seems to involve... normal person things that she's still getting a grasp on. Like the whole 'wanting attention from thin air' thing. "I... I'm not sure," she says finally, "Is it some kind of computer thing?" Because that... puts things into a bit more context at least. And gives her some confidence that she'll be able to figure it out, given that she's better at computers than... most of the people she knows well.

[sociallychallenged]

"Yeah, it's a computer thing." Which is more simple than it could be. He's really trying to not be one of those "series of tubes" guy but when he's thinking of fucking streaming services and people having channels where they chat at cameras and he can't even say it's just typing. To him, they might as well be preaching to the sun for attention.

God, he's gotta do that now? Jesus, he does not want this job. He does, however, need money and compromises must be made. "It's easy to figure out how to use it. Luckily if a phone or computer is hooked to the internet, they got things called 'internet browsers' and 'search engines', where you just type in a question and it'll give you a list of things to read that might have the answer." Or they might have something vaguely related by nine degrees of separation. "They'll explain everything better than I can."

"My name is Hank Anderson by the way. How long have those people been bothering you?" The photographers, he means.

[thesecondtolast]

"Xion," there's something... nice, she thinks? About being able to give her name without reservation. Maybe there should have been, this being a strange world, her unable to leave, things like that. But still. There's a very different weight about it, compared to... before. Note to self though, look for a computer connected to "the internet" later. For now though. "I... I'm not sure? People have been trying to catch me since I woke up. I keep... running... whenever they find me." And by running she means 'portaling the shit out of here,' but that's.... a complicated thing to try to explain. And slightly unnerving she's found?

[sociallychallenged]

"Xion, huh?" Unusual name. Probably would make her stand out a little if she gave it. Poor kid, here all alone, too.

"I was lucky enough to show up with my partner, so maybe you'll have someone close to you show up. You'll have to help explain this all to them, too. Better than I am to you." He chuckles in sort of a friendly way, knowing he's not all that great at it.

"I think you might not have a bad idea there." Just running. "The next town is a half-hour drive, though. Just so you know. Lots of open fields. So if you have to run further than the town, be careful." He only knows this because of the Youtube videos he's been shooting.