#panevent

EVENT 4: THE PENALTY

{{ It was enraging, but also a little exciting. The Tower, after all, must have seemed like a glittering diamond to Panopticon's newest test subjects. A diamond just out of reach and filled with promise.

And these 21st century animals were far more entitled than their predecessors.

"They broke in," Mr Hook relayed with a lazy satisfaction, slight annoyance as he flicked through the footage. "They found the records room, in fact."

"I told you paper contracts was a stupid idea, Hook. But. I can do you one better," Dr Pan was pacing in the lavish meeting room. She paused to sarcastically make a marquee with her hands. "Survivors! From the first test group! Two of them found their way back into the village, like little rants in a maze. One is that celebrity. The other...is familiar...but...." Pan snorted. "Anyway. Only took them twenty years."

Hook sat up, hand clenching into a fist on the table. "Survivors? Daring to return!? But our shareholders won't like it....we were so sure the hornets got them all. The gravepit....our shareholders adored that." Hook huffed, really pissed now. Silence, until a small, thin-lipped smile crawled over his face. "Dr Pan, since your failed batch will now be mingling with my new kids, how about we impose a penalty?"

Dr Pan thinned her eyes, ignoring the snipe at her work. "What are you proposing, Mr Hook." }}

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On the island, the loudspeakers crackled to life after a year of disuse. Again, a similar tinny melody crooned over the beaches and bungalows and inside the medicentre. And then a robotic voice - meant to sound calming - spoke.

"Good afternoon, volunteers. You have uncovered the truth, as we'd hoped, and sooner than scheduled. Congratulations! However, two volunteers from a previous failed experiment have returned and your benevolent hosts have issued a warning against them. We do not approve of the co-mingling. Your food supply will be cut off starting a week from now. This prohibition will be in effect until the predecessors are...removed. HAVE A GREAT DAY IN PARADISE. D̵̛͕͚̘̹̓̓̿̐Ơ̵̢̦̄͒ ̸̼̊Ņ̶̖̰͙̈́̈̂͆̌O̶̪̤̻̦̍T̸͔͕̟͉̬͗̓͑͝ ̵̢̟̤̗̎̌̊̚͠B̷̢̺͇̾͑̈́E̶̜̞̤̹͍̕ ̴͉̗̞̍̽̕A̷̻̣͓̰̥͊̀F̵͔̺̩͋̀̅̾͝R̶͓̍̕͠A̷̹̭̹̰͠Ḯ̷̡̧̯͔̣́D̶͚̞̎!! (do not be afraid!)"

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OOC INFO:

EVENT 02. PART 1: THE DRONES

After the General Meeting, a group of four prepared for a trip into the wilderness. Their goal: to explore outwards, see what they could find of the rest of this strange place. They used walkie talkies at first, reporting back to the others on the beach some findings: lots of trees, an incline, huge volcanic boulders, a waterfall. A plateau. More caves. Something else...then the walkie talkies cut out, as to be expected. The exploration team was out-of-range.

Two days passed.

It started late evening, with a hum that at first only Baskar Klein could hear, given their ability. Something akin to a hum, a buzz in the air with a slight tic tic tic underneath it.

In the morning, a light mist hovered over the forest; and instead of the usual sunrise, the sky remained darkened and mottled over the tree canopy, like angry clouds. What appeared through the mist, however, was much worse than a storm: giant hornets.

A whole swarm - hundreds, perhaps thousands. They flew out of the wilderness like a flying army, invading all the spaces people inhabited. Each hornet is about as long as a person's arm, with a big wingspan. This was, without a doubt, an attack.

You didn't need too close of an inspection to realize these hornets were not prehistorically large living insects. Instead of eyes and mandibles, each hornet's head was affixed with a staticky, reflective, small TV monitor as their face.

Their stingers though, seemed ready to strike.

[tw insectoid image under the readmore]

EVENT 02. PART 2: DEEP EXPLORATION

With the effects of the hornets' punishing sting on five different people, one reveal becomes evident: one of the explorers (the influencer BabyMama or 'Beema') is still out there, possibly alive, definitely injured. The fate of the others? Supposedly undetermined, likely dead. But Beema needs saving. If it was you out there, wouldn't you want rescuers to save you? On top of that, it seemed one vision provided a vital answer to the behaviour of the hornets: a glimpse of the multi-eyed gigantic hornet, its head not just one TV, but hundreds. Hidden in some electronic wasteland of a cave, possibly near Beema's hiding spot. This robotic behemoth seems to be the epicentre of the hornet's origin, or at least a place to find some answers. Meanwhile, the hornets various attacks around the small village is cut off by a united click-whirr, shared between all the hornets. They all rise into the air and hover, buzzing in unison like some terrible mechanical song. You are witness as the hornets pivot towards the back of the Medicentre, landing in a swarming clump. Collectively, they begin to dig. They begin to dig deep. You're now faced with a choice: head into the wilderness to find Beema, or the hundred-eyed hornet? Or, remain in the village, to find out what these hornets are trying to dig for.

OOC INFORMATION

EVENT 01. PART 2: THE FEAST

Your new home...

You’re off the cruise ship - but where are you? There’s nothing else in the horizon but deep ocean; inland, the beach gives way to thick wilderness, and a raised plateau with small, bungalow-style houses peppering the landscape. They all look exactly the same, and are scattered like a small village - or like someone tossed them on the land like dice on a board. To the east, a large brick and stone building squats in a field. Something about the building hums; closer inspection reveals generators situated around the back. The same with a warehouse building to the east - in fact, generators seem to power all electricity around the empty village…but what was powering the generators?  No gas tank, no batteries, no solar panels even.  But they chugged along nonetheless.

The cameras on the tall poles lovingly follow your movements, everywhere. What catches your senses - particularly your nose - is the scent of food.  On the coast overlooking over the ocean is a wooden patio, spacious enough to hold over 200 people.  The patio is empty, save for one long table near what looks like a barbeque-and-bar counter.  Under covered nets to protect it from wandering critters, are dishes and dishes of food. Hot and cold food, non-alcoholic beverages in large dispensers, dishes to please every palate and dietary needs.  Given how empty this place is, it's unclear how the food - freshly made and beautifully arranged - even appeared.  Was it here before you woke up, or did it manifest somehow during the panic of waking up on the Odyssey? The loudspeaker message glitches, garbles up and then suddenly changes to a woman’s soft and cheery voice: COME CHECK OUT THE BUFFET AT THE HUB! You must be S̡̧̧̡̨͔̜̲̞̖̥͚̦̎T̡̜̦͖͈̥̈́̈́̓͐͘A̻̘̜̣̱̫̳͖͉͊̃̅́̄̑͘Ŗ͕̞̜̩̟͑͆͂͐̐̊̑̀̊͝͠͝͝V̛͙͍̘̟̞̓͛͒͐̇̀͑̐̋̿̈́Í̧̻̗͊̃̎͆̍̅̕͜Ņ̧̧͙̲̬̳̞͇͇̊͆́͒̋̊̔̽̕͝Ḡ̡̦͕͔̘͎̥̻̅̾̉̂̅̎̄̋͌́͝͠ (starving) after your long travel to get here.

OOC info below the cut!

EVENT 01. PART 3: FINALE

The looped voice and muzak on the loudspeaker slows so gradually, at first it's barely noticeable. But that continuous cadence imprinted on your mind for hours now, is out of sync with reality. The voice and music slows...sloooowwwws, groaning and stretched in an agonizing way, until it suddenly cuts out. Then silence. Nothing else has changed, but the dull tune and chipper voice is gone. It's evening now, and the only noises around you are the occasional thunks and whines from the tilted Odyssey, the hum of the weird generators, and the sounds of nature. It's difficult to know what to do next. Your phones have no connection to home. No rescue has shown up. It's just you, alone...with everyone else. Some people might end up sleeping from exhaustion, others might stay awake. Regardless, night is inevitable, and the stars above provide little comfort. They look crooked, as warped as the loudspeaker recording on its last breath. The night is long, or maybe it's too short. Because the moment the sun peeks over the horizon, you're met with a loud, piercing howl from the loudspeakers. It's hard to tell if it's a sustained human scream, or a warning siren, or nails down a chalkboard. The louder it gets, the more uncomfortable your mysterious bracelet feels - tingly for some, hot for others, or spiky, or ice cold. When it all calms down, you look over at one of the others - a woman named Maria, from Portugual or maybe Brazil. She starts to speak, "O que--?" Maria suddenly explodes into a billion grains of salt, and dissolves into the sand. Not all of you can tell, but your special ability has triggered.

OOC Information

EVENT 01. PART 1: THE ODYSSEY

Where it all begins...

You’re not sure what wakes you up, or why. But you awake somehow, somewhere. Your senses come alive with sounds, smells, sights you don’t recognize. And you may realize: this is a cruise ship. But you weren’t on a cruise ship, moments before. And horrifyingly, this cruise ship is pitched dangerously towards its starboard side. You’ve got to leave the ship, but how? You discover it’s been shipwrecked off the coast of land - a rocky reef below, azure blue waves lapping lazily on a sandy shore that stretches out. Beyond that, trees and pathways - paved pathways, curiously enough. From the vantage point on the ship, the paths lead inland, to what looks like buildings. Civilization! Whatever you had with you, is still on you - be it a purse, phone, clothing, whatever. But there’s one strange thing attached to your wrist, that you’ve never seen before: a white-strap bracelet, with an odd coloured stone embedded in it. You can remove the bracelet if you choose, but some instinct tells you not to throw it away. Other than that, you feel completely normal. And it seems, you’re not alone. Then, loudspeakers on tall poles (and are those CCTV cameras as well?) blast across the beach, and that’s when you hear the bland muzak and an even blander, cheerful voice over it:  WELCOME TO PARADISE. D̵̛͕͚̘̹̓̓̿̐Ơ̵̢̦̄͒ ̸̼̊Ņ̶̖̰͙̈́̈̂͆̌O̶̪̤̻̦̍T̸͔͕̟͉̬͗̓͑͝ ̵̢̟̤̗̎̌̊̚͠B̷̢̺͇̾͑̈́E̶̜̞̤̹͍̕ ̴͉̗̞̍̽̕A̷̻̣͓̰̥͊̀F̵͔̺̩͋̀̅̾͝R̶͓̍̕͠A̷̹̭̹̰͠Ḯ̷̡̧̯͔̣́D̶͚̞̎!! (do not be afraid!) The voice plays over the speakers on the island every five minutes or so, on repeat.  It’s a pleasant tone, if a little irritating, like loudspeakers at some outdoor event, or an airport, or a megamart, that keeps announcing the same message, over and over.

OOC info below the cut!